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  4.    <title>ZeroHedge News</title>
  5.    <link>https://www.zerohedge.com</link>
  6.    <description/>
  7.    <language>en</language>
  8.    
  9.    <item>
  10.  <title>Bidenomics Implodes: Consumer Sentiment Unexpectedly Craters In Biggest Miss On Record</title>
  11.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/bidenomics-implodes-consumer-sentiment-unexpectedly-craters-biggest-miss-record</link>
  12.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Bidenomics Implodes: Consumer Sentiment Unexpectedly Craters In Biggest Miss On Record&lt;/span&gt;
  13.  
  14.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Moments ago the University of Michigan released the latest "report card" on Bidenomics, and to nobody's surprise - except perhaps a certain senile teleprompter reading, diaper wearing puppet in the White House - it was a total disaster, as Sentiment "unexpectedly" plunged from 77.2 to 67.4, &lt;strong&gt;the 9.8 point drop the biggest since August 2021...&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  15.  
  16. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/UMich%20monthly%20change.jpg?itok=MWrNbSir" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/UMich%20monthly%20change.jpg?itok=MWrNbSir"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="8218bd9d-a78a-4dc1-93a2-cfcfa29fa0e9" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="275" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/UMich%20monthly%20change.jpg?itok=MWrNbSir" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  17.  
  18. &lt;p&gt;... and was not &lt;strong&gt;only a 7-sigma miss to expectations of a 76.2 print...&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  19.  
  20. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/7%20sigma%20miss%20plunge.png?itok=SHZeB3BJ" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/7%20sigma%20miss%20plunge.png?itok=SHZeB3BJ"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c5ce1670-ed9b-4038-923e-09d6a3a7d879" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="188" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/7%20sigma%20miss%20plunge.png?itok=SHZeB3BJ" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  21.  
  22. &lt;p&gt;... but was &lt;strong&gt;the biggest miss on record!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  23.  
  24. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Umich%20biggest%20miss%20on%20record.jpg?itok=gGeW_U-C" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Umich%20biggest%20miss%20on%20record.jpg?itok=gGeW_U-C"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="d6967041-d771-4af5-a2fb-f52225b7208d" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="283" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Umich%20biggest%20miss%20on%20record.jpg?itok=gGeW_U-C" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  25.  
  26. &lt;p&gt;The collapse in sentiment was broad based, &lt;strong&gt;and hammered both current conditions - which plunged from 79.0 to 68.8, badly missing estimates of 79.0 - and also expectations&lt;/strong&gt;, which plunged from 76.0 to 66.5 (and far below the 75.0 estimated).&lt;/p&gt;
  27.  
  28. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Umich%20all%20may%202024.jpg?itok=FGQZayiX" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Umich%20all%20may%202024.jpg?itok=FGQZayiX"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="f2e20daf-416f-420e-8e50-a98d267360cc" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Umich%20all%20may%202024.jpg?itok=FGQZayiX" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  29.  
  30. &lt;p&gt;The decline in sentiment was broad across &lt;strong&gt;age, income and education groups, and also reflected growing concerns about high interest rates. &lt;/strong&gt;While the labor market has driven economic growth over the last year, the downbeat assessment highlighted in the report adds to evidence of a slowdown.&lt;/p&gt;
  31.  
  32. &lt;p&gt;“Strength in household incomes has been the primary source of support for robust consumer spending over the past couple of years, so a softening in labor market expectations is concerning and -- if it continues -- may lead to a pullback in consumers’ willingness to spend,’’ Joanne Hsu, director of the survey, said in a statement.&lt;/p&gt;
  33.  
  34. &lt;p&gt;But wait there's more, because if that was the "stag" part of the report, the UMich report also confirmed that the "flation" isn't far behind, as the inflation outlook suddenly deteriorated quite dramatically, to wit: &lt;strong&gt;1Year inflation expectations jumped from 3.2% to 2.5%, the highest since November 2023 &lt;/strong&gt;(and far above estimates of 3.2%), while &lt;strong&gt;5-10 Year inflation expectations also rose from 3.0% to 3.1%, the highest since November.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  35.  
  36. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/umich%20inflation%20exp_0.jpg?itok=Xwgq78mm" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/umich%20inflation%20exp_0.jpg?itok=Xwgq78mm"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="13415ffc-7aa1-4156-8a59-3c3e3dd4bc78" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="283" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/umich%20inflation%20exp_0.jpg?itok=Xwgq78mm" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  37.  
  38. &lt;p&gt;If that wasn't enough, the university's measure of buying conditions for durable goods, some of which are financed, also decreased to a one-year low. And finally, consumers’ perception of their financial situation, as well as short- and long-term economic outlooks, decreased this month.&lt;/p&gt;
  39.  
  40. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“Worse yet, consumers expect the pain to continue, as expectations for interest rates deteriorated considerably this month,” &lt;/strong&gt;Hsu said. &lt;strong&gt;“Only one quarter of consumers expect interest rates to fall in the year ahead, compared with 32% in April.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  41.  
  42. &lt;p&gt;One possible reason for the shocking collapse in the print is that, as Pantheon Macro noted ahead of the print, UMich is in the process of switching from phone to an online survey, which according to Pantheon was, get this, "likely to weigh on the headline sentiment because people on the phone are more optimistic than the online applications." Riiight. If anything the transition from phone to online just means that people are actually more truthful in their responses and, well... we just saw the result!&lt;/p&gt;
  43.  
  44. &lt;p&gt;In short: the verdict for Bidenomics is in, &lt;strong&gt;and it's a complete disaster, &lt;/strong&gt;as for Powell's recent laughable comment that he can't see the "&lt;strong&gt;stag" &lt;/strong&gt;nor the &lt;strong&gt;"flation"... &lt;/strong&gt;well, Fed chair, they just bit you on the ass.&lt;/p&gt;
  45. &lt;/div&gt;
  46.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  47. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T14:26:14+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Fri, 05/10/2024 - 10:26&lt;/span&gt;
  48. </description>
  49.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 14:26:14 +0000</pubDate>
  50.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  51.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926850 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  52.    </item>
  53. <item>
  54.  <title>Watch: Hundreds Of Marxist Extremists Storm Tesla's Gigafactory Berlin</title>
  55.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/watch-hundreds-marxist-extremists-storm-teslas-gigafactory-berlin</link>
  56.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Watch: Hundreds Of Marxist Extremists Storm Tesla's Gigafactory Berlin&lt;/span&gt;
  57.  
  58.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;All hell is breaking out at Tesla's Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg on Friday as hundreds of woke Marxist extremists storm the property. &lt;/p&gt;
  59.  
  60. &lt;p&gt;Videos on X show hundreds of people running towards the massive factory. &lt;/p&gt;
  61.  
  62. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  63. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;BREAKING: Far-left extremists just tried storming a Tesla factory near Berlin: &lt;a href="https://t.co/yspqWa0afZ"&gt;pic.twitter.com/yspqWa0afZ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  64. — End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/1788902369511555364?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 10, 2024&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  65. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  66. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="de" xml:lang="de" xml:lang="de"&gt;Hunderte Aktivist:innen haben erfolgreich das Werksgelände von Tesla erreicht und feiern das Erreichen ihres Ziels!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  67. Die Produktion steht still. Heute wird kein Auto gebaut.&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DisruptTesla?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#DisruptTesla&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/P0tWwwjChR"&gt;pic.twitter.com/P0tWwwjChR&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  68. — Disrupt (@disrupt__now) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/disrupt__now/status/1788892760285512092?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 10, 2024&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  69. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  70. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;„Say it loud, say it clear &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ElonMusk?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#ElonMusk&lt;/a&gt; is not welcome here”&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DisruptTesla?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#DisruptTesla&lt;/a&gt; action in &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Gr%C3%BCnheide?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#Grünheide&lt;/a&gt; starts now &lt;a href="https://t.co/ZXjvohTsCV"&gt;pic.twitter.com/ZXjvohTsCV&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  71. — the brake (@TheBrakeNet) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/TheBrakeNet/status/1788842671139623398?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 10, 2024&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  72. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  73. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="de" xml:lang="de" xml:lang="de"&gt;Im Zuge der Tesla Aktionstage blokieren Aktivist*innen eine Straße mit einem Tripod. Sie fordern alternative Orte des Zusammenkommens für Alle statt dreckiger Autos! 🥳🥳 &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/stoptesla?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#stoptesla&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/iEMGRVcBZm"&gt;pic.twitter.com/iEMGRVcBZm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  74. — Disrupt (@disrupt__now) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/disrupt__now/status/1788891774464700529?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 10, 2024&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  75. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;"&lt;strong&gt;Most of those demonstrators do not come from Grünheide if any at all,&lt;/strong&gt; they are not just against Tesla but against any form of capitalism and that's a pretty ridiculous claim as its the best system to balance capital between poor and rich that exist.&lt;strong&gt; Its a wild mixture of people &lt;/strong&gt;mainly believing in the lies of the media and activated from environmental organisations who amplify an ill designed protest," one X user said. &lt;/p&gt;
  76.  
  77. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  78. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;A few hundred demonstrators, who are against capitalism and do not want vehicles to be produced at all from anyone, were tpday, Friday stopped by the police as they marched towards the Tesla site at 🇩🇪 Giga Berlin.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  79. Activists tried to break into the Tesla factory premises in… &lt;a href="https://t.co/Y5z6JWRdmL"&gt;pic.twitter.com/Y5z6JWRdmL&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  80. — Alex (@alex_avoigt) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/alex_avoigt/status/1788902566782181876?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 10, 2024&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  81. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In March, the far-left militant/environmental group known as "Vulkangruppe" (Volcano Group) claimed responsibility for sabotaging the power grid near the Tesla factory&lt;/strong&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;
  82.  
  83. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/far-left-eco-terrorists-attack-german-power-grid-causing-outage-teslas-gigafactory"&gt;"No Tesla Is Safe": Eco-Terrorists Attack German Power Grid, Causing Outage At Gigafactory&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  84. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Power was restored to the factory days later. &lt;/p&gt;
  85.  
  86. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/tesla-gigafactory-germany-has-power-restored-after-leftist-eco-terrorist-attack-power"&gt;Tesla Gigafactory In Germany Has Power Restored After Power Grid Attack By Leftist Group&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  87. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;The West has to have a very serious conversation about shady non-governmental organizations funding chaos across Europe and the US. &lt;/p&gt;
  88.  
  89. &lt;p&gt;From eco-terrorist attacks in Germany to migrant invasions across Europe - and across the Atlantic, migrant invasion on the southern border to BLM protests during Covid to pro-Palestinian demonstrations shutting down critical infrastructure (bridges, highways, and airport terminals) and colleges and universities - this chaos is all funded by Marxist NGOs that all have one goal: kill capitalism and America. &lt;/p&gt;
  90. &lt;/div&gt;
  91.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  92. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T13:55:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Fri, 05/10/2024 - 09:55&lt;/span&gt;
  93. </description>
  94.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 13:55:00 +0000</pubDate>
  95.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  96.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926821 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  97.    </item>
  98. <item>
  99.  <title>Dog Gone: Kristi Noem Cuts Short Book Tour Citing 'Bad Weather'</title>
  100.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/dog-gone-kristi-noem-cuts-short-book-tour-citing-bad-weather</link>
  101.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Dog Gone: Kristi Noem Cuts Short Book Tour Citing 'Bad Weather'&lt;/span&gt;
  102.  
  103.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="https://realclearwire.com/articles/2024/05/08/kristi_noem_cuts_short_book_tour_citing_bad_weather_150912.html"&gt;Authored by Philip Wegmann via RealClear Wire&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  104.  
  105. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/650112_jpg_92.jpg?itok=oUPGNRJy" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/650112_jpg_92.jpg?itok=oUPGNRJy"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="6fc63e79-7cd1-4647-8d68-6898c88cc87f" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="386" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/650112_jpg_92.jpg?itok=oUPGNRJy" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  106.  
  107. &lt;p&gt;S&lt;strong&gt;outh Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has cut short a disastrous book tour after receiving withering criticism for her story of shooting an ill-behaved puppy and unverified claims of meeting North Korean dictator Kim Jung Un,&lt;/strong&gt; RealClearPolitics is first to report. The book, released Tuesday, is titled “No Going Back.”&lt;/p&gt;
  108.  
  109. &lt;p&gt;Noem sat for a series of in-person interviews in New York and was scheduled to travel later in the week to Washington, D.C., before canceling the tour, citing inclement weather.&lt;/p&gt;
  110.  
  111. &lt;p&gt;“Gov. Noem has sold a lot of books on this tour and is back in South Dakota to be prepared for &lt;strong&gt;some potential emerging bad weather systems&lt;/strong&gt;,” spokesman Ian Fury told RCP. Tornadoes touched down &lt;a href="https://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/240506_rpts.html"&gt;in the state Monday,&lt;/a&gt; according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Noem sat for interviews Monday and Tuesday in New York before returning home.&lt;/p&gt;
  112.  
  113. &lt;p&gt;Noem was slated to sit down with RealClearPolitics on Thursday before her team canceled the interview and declined to make her available over the phone.&lt;/p&gt;
  114.  
  115. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Once heralded as a rising star on the right, in one week the governor was reduced to a punchline.&lt;/strong&gt; She provided all the material. “We were supposed to have Gov. Kristi Noem on the show tonight, but she canceled. Her staff blamed bad weather,” &lt;a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2024/05/07/gutfeld_rips_gov_kristi_noem_for_canceling_you_would_have_come_off_looking_a_lot_better_than_you_do_now.html"&gt;deadpanned Greg Gutfeld&lt;/a&gt; Tuesday night. “We go to locals for reaction.” The Fox News funnyman then cut to a clip of barking dogs.&lt;/p&gt;
  116.  
  117. &lt;p&gt;Noem had billed her book as “a how-to guide” for political activism, pegging its publication to the ongoing veepstakes to join former President Trump on the GOP ticket. Calamity followed when an excerpt leaked to &lt;a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/apr/26/trump-kristi-noem-shot-dog-and-goat-book"&gt;The Guardian&lt;/a&gt;, and what was planned as a national audition was overshadowed by the grisly stories the governor told about herself.&lt;/p&gt;
  118.  
  119. &lt;p&gt;Noem writes of dragging a 14-month-old dog into a gravel pit on her property after the poorly trained animal spoiled a pheasant hunt and attacked a neighbor's chickens. &lt;strong&gt;She killed the puppy named “Cricket”&lt;/strong&gt; with a shotgun. After dispatching the dog, she turned her attention to an unruly goat. Noem took a shot, but the billy jumped. She writes in her memoir that she left the goat tethered, retrieved more ammunition, then “hurried back to the gravel pit and put him down.”&lt;/p&gt;
  120.  
  121. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Despite a growing firestorm of criticism, the author went ahead with her tour, &lt;a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2024/05/05/cbss_brennan_calls_out_gov_kristi_noem_falsely_claiming_she_met_kim_jong_un.html"&gt;sitting down on Sunday&lt;/a&gt; with Margaret Brennan of CBS News. &lt;/strong&gt;The story from two decades ago, Noem insisted, showed her willingness to make tough decisions.&lt;/p&gt;
  122.  
  123. &lt;p&gt;“This dog was a working dog and had come from a family that had issues with this dog and I had put months and months of training into this dog. This dog had gone to other trainers as well,” Noem said.&lt;/p&gt;
  124.  
  125. &lt;p&gt;“So all of that is the facts of the story, and all of that shows that when you put someone in a position where they have to make a decision and they want to protect their family and protect children and other people from getting attacked from an animal that has attacked others and killed livestock, that’s the choice I made over 20 years ago. And that I didn’t ask somebody else to take that responsibility for me,” she continued.&lt;/p&gt;
  126.  
  127. &lt;p&gt;Noem also appeared to joke in the book about euthanizing President Biden’s dog, Commander, who was removed from White House grounds after numerous biting incidents.&lt;/p&gt;
  128.  
  129. &lt;p&gt;“What would I do if I was president on the first day in office in 2025? Thanks for asking. I happen to have a list. The first thing I’d do is make sure Joe Biden’s dog was nowhere on the grounds (‘Commander, say hello to Cricket for me’),” Noem wrote. The White House was not amused.&lt;/p&gt;
  130.  
  131. &lt;p&gt;“We learned last week, obviously like all of you, in her book that she killed her puppy," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Monday. “You heard me say that was very, very sad. We find her comments from yesterday disturbing. We find them absurd.”&lt;/p&gt;
  132.  
  133. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Perhaps more disastrous was the claim Noem made about traveling to North Korea and meeting Kim Jung Un when she served on the House Armed Services Committee in Congress&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  134.  
  135. &lt;p&gt;“I’m not going to talk about my specific meetings with world leaders. I’m just not going to do that. This anecdote shouldn’t have been in the book and as soon as it was brought to my attention, I made sure that that was adjusted,” she said when pressed about whether the meeting took place.&lt;/p&gt;
  136.  
  137. &lt;p&gt;The publisher of the book, Center Street, announced that subsequent printings of the book would not include the reference. An audiobook, which the governor narrated, is also expected to be edited and updated. The passage in question is brief and sparse in detail.&lt;/p&gt;
  138.  
  139. &lt;p&gt;The North Korean anecdote is two sentences in a 260-page book: “I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor, after all).”&lt;/p&gt;
  140.  
  141. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Prior to the book tour, Noem made little secret about her ambitions for national office.&lt;/strong&gt; She was quick to &lt;a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2023/08/27/amidst_vp_talk_noem_insists_debate_wasnt_job_interview__149680.html"&gt;criticize the field challenging Trump&lt;/a&gt; for the nomination, and in February, the governor traveled to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump and pitch him on joining the ticket. According to sources with knowledge of the meeting, Noem showed Trump polling from Kaplan Strategies that showed her boosting his chances in Wisconsin and Michigan with her as a running mate.&lt;/p&gt;
  142.  
  143. &lt;p&gt;Doug Kaplan, the pollster who conducted the survey, cautioned in a brief interview with RCP that those positive numbers were from “a lifetime ago.”&lt;/p&gt;
  144.  
  145. &lt;p&gt;Noem is now haunted by the dog she dispatched two decades ago. During a Tuesday interview with Stuart Varney on Fox Business, the governor became impatient with the host when he kept returning the conversation to how the dead puppy affected her chances at the vice presidency.&lt;/p&gt;
  146.  
  147. &lt;p&gt;“Enough, Stuart. This interview is ridiculous, which you are doing right now,” Noem said. “So you need to stop. It is OK. It is. Let’s talk about some real topics that Americans care about.”&lt;/p&gt;
  148.  
  149. &lt;p&gt;“I’m afraid we’re out of time,” &lt;a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2024/05/07/gov_kristi_noem_to_fox_host_you_need_to_stop_asking_about_the_dog_this_interview_is_ridiculous.html"&gt;Varney responded.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  150. &lt;/div&gt;
  151.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  152. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T13:30:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Fri, 05/10/2024 - 09:30&lt;/span&gt;
  153. </description>
  154.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 13:30:00 +0000</pubDate>
  155.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  156.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926593 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  157.    </item>
  158. <item>
  159.  <title>Biden Set To Announce Tariffs On China EVs</title>
  160.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/investors-brace-bidens-imminent-tariffs-china-evs</link>
  161.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Biden Set To Announce Tariffs On China EVs&lt;/span&gt;
  162.  
  163.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Biden administration is expected to make a major announcement on China tariffs as soon as next week that will impact semiconductors, solar power, and electric vehicles, according to &lt;a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-10/biden-poised-to-impose-tariffs-on-china-evs-strategic-sectors"&gt;Bloomberg&lt;/a&gt;, citing people familiar with the matter. While the possibility of additional tariffs has been widely known, the specific industries to be targeted have now been identified. Moreover, Beijing will likely release angry comments after Biden's speech next week, followed by a tit-for-tat response. &lt;/p&gt;
  164.  
  165. &lt;p&gt;Two of the people said the decision to hit China's "new three" green goods comes after a review of Section 301 tariffs, which were first implemented under former President Trump in 2018. The tariffs primarily target electric vehicles, batteries, and solar cells, with existing tariffs being maintained. They said the announcement is planned for Tuesday. &lt;/p&gt;
  166.  
  167. &lt;p&gt;The Biden administration is making a bold move against Beijing in an election year as polling data spirals lower as Bidenomics has become a complete failure. It's not us just saying this. Billionaire investor and Duquesne Family Office Chairman &amp; CEO Stan Druckenmiller told CNBC's Joe Kernen earlier this week that &lt;a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/stanley-druckenmiller-gives-bidenomics-f"&gt;Bidenomics is a disaster&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;
  168.  
  169. &lt;p&gt;Last month, the president said he would impose  25% tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum. Earlier this week, the administration said it would revoke Intel and Qualcomm's &lt;a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/intel-shares-fall-after-new-estimate-shows-second-quarter-revenue-below-midpoint-after"&gt;export license&lt;/a&gt; to supply semiconductors to Chinese firm Huawei. &lt;/p&gt;
  170.  
  171. &lt;p&gt;If China were to retaliate, in a tit-for-tat effort, they could hit Elon Musk's Tesla or &lt;a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/china-ditches-us-farmers-brazilian-ones-protest-farmland-ownership-rules"&gt;continue reducing&lt;/a&gt; US agricultural exports of corn and soybean. &lt;/p&gt;
  172.  
  173. &lt;p&gt;"Instead of correcting its wrong practices, the United States continued to politicize economic and trade issues," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Friday, adding, "To further increase tariffs is to add insult to injury." &lt;/p&gt;
  174.  
  175. &lt;p&gt;Meanwhile, if reelected, Trump has promised to hit China with a tsunami of tariffs, vowing a 60% tax on all Chinese imports. &lt;/p&gt;
  176.  
  177. &lt;p&gt;US Senator Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, warned Beijing will respond:  &lt;/p&gt;
  178.  
  179. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  180. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;"We know how China reacted when Trump put tariffs on ... and they hit agriculture with it. I can't be sure that China would hit agriculture the same as they did in the Trump ones, but they're going to hit back."&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  181. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  182.  
  183. &lt;p&gt;In markets, Chinese shares of solar firms fell on the news:&lt;/p&gt;
  184.  
  185. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Longi shares drop 1.8% in Shanghai, JA Solar -1.7% in Shenzhen, Xinyi Solar -3.8% in Hong Kong&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  186. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;The yuan weakened in both onshore and offshore markets, while CSI 300 Index fell: &lt;/p&gt;
  187.  
  188. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;
  189. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;USD/CNH gains 0.1% at 7.2270, pair on track to rise 0.5% on the week, biggest weekly advance since the week ended March 22&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  190. &lt;/li&gt;
  191. &lt;li&gt;
  192. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;USD/CNY rises 0.1% at 7.2251&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  193. &lt;/li&gt;
  194. &lt;li&gt;
  195. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Bloomberg's dollar spot index steady; USD/HKD is little changed at 7.8139&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  196. &lt;/li&gt;
  197. &lt;li&gt;
  198. &lt;p&gt;CSI 300 Index, benchmark of onshore China stocks, falls as much as 0.6% before paring about half of its decline.&lt;/p&gt;
  199. &lt;/li&gt;
  200. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;"It'll definitely cause investors to pause on stocks that are potentially exposed," said Xin-Yao Ng, director of investment at abrdn. He added, "Everyone knows it's a risk." &lt;/p&gt;
  201.  
  202. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Snag_1f43e224.png?itok=a4QcQ7Wk" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Snag_1f43e224.png?itok=a4QcQ7Wk"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="2c607575-e4fa-4c67-893d-5b5ed52ebc5a" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="258" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Snag_1f43e224.png?itok=a4QcQ7Wk" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  203.  
  204. &lt;p&gt;Here's what other Wall Street analysts are saying (list courtesy of Bloomberg):&lt;/p&gt;
  205.  
  206. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  207. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AllianceBernstein (John Lin)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  208.  
  209. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;We are not overly concerned about that because to us geopolitics is now a structural part of investing in China" &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  210. &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;"Everybody understands that there will be periods where things get a little worse and there will be periods where things get a little better. And that fluctuation to us is really an opportunity to add or reduce risk but not a reason to stay away from the market overall"&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  211. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ANZ Banking Group (Khoon Goh)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  212.  
  213. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;News of the US imposing more tariffs against some Chinese imports has seen the yuan weaken slightly&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  214. &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;The threat of more tariffs have been known, but if the final outcome is for a more targeted approach, then there is unlikely to be much of a lasting effect on the yuan&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  215. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Maybank (Fiona Lim)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  216.  
  217. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;"You can't say that this was not expected. Such trade-war era kind of tensions have been in the making ever since Trump spoke about imposing 60% tariff"&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  218. &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;People's Bank of China is keeping the yuan in a tight grip via the fix and offshore liquidity management and that may limit bearish swings to a certain extent&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  219. &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;"USDCNH-USDCNY premium could widen in such an environment"&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  220. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TD Securities (Alex Loo)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  221.  
  222. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;It wasn't a total surprise to us. Trade tensions would likely increase if Biden puts heavy tariffs on China's products in the coming weeks&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  223. &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;We anticipate that yuan would trade on the backfoot given such unfavorable news but expect the PBoC to continue to intervene and smooth out any excessive weakness in the CNY &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  224. &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Regional currencies are more sensitive to moves in the USD path now since China has been effectively anchoring the yuan&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  225. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Eastspring Investments (Ken Wong)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  226.  
  227. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;This news on the proposed tariffs in particular for Chinese EVs was widely expected&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  228. &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;Even so, we are seeing a bit of a pullback in EVs and renewable stocks in HK/China this morning&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  229. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Saxo Capital Markets (Charu Chanana)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  230.  
  231. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;The tariff announcement is a reminder that geopolitics remains a key aspect in considering exposure to China market, and valuations or government support measures are not the only catalysts&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  232. &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;This means valuations may continue to "take the ebb and flow of geopolitics into account" and also "increased exposure to domestic-oriented sectors"&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  233. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;IG Markets (Hebe Chen)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  234.  
  235. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;"The US's latest tariff hike on China EV is poised to trigger unprecedented shockwaves through the industry" &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  236. &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt; This move not only deals a crippling blow to China's new strategic ambitions, but it also marks a potential tipping point, broadening the trade war between Washington and Beijing to a new level &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  237. &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;For Chinese stocks, particularly EV companies, the new tariff decision is akin to a looming tsunami. Investors are bracing for a significant upend as the full impact of the new tariffs unfolds&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  238. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Shanghai Jade Stone Investment Management (Chen Shi)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  239.  
  240. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;We've long been expecting more anti-China rhetoric and policies to be amplified closer to the election, and though this is surely a piece of negative news, to us, and to investors in general, the marginal effect is diminishing &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  241. &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;"China has proven through the years that its core edge lies in a strong and comprehensive industrial structure, and that cannot be challenged with tariffs" &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  242. &lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;There are plenty of ways for companies to work around this&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  243. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  244.  
  245. &lt;p&gt;Deepening a trade war with China comes as Biden's polling data is absolutely awful. &lt;/p&gt;
  246.  
  247. &lt;p&gt;This shows Biden's polling data versus headlines in corporate media featuring trade war-related news.  &lt;/p&gt;
  248.  
  249. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Snag_1f42cf0e.png?itok=smAE3xij" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Snag_1f42cf0e.png?itok=smAE3xij"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="2800191b-301d-4e8e-b8fc-c98cc1af92c1" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="201" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Snag_1f42cf0e.png?itok=smAE3xij" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  250.  
  251. &lt;p&gt;A tough-on-China stance could be a new strategy the administration attempts to win back voters.&lt;/p&gt;
  252.  
  253. &lt;p&gt;... it won't work. &lt;/p&gt;
  254. &lt;/div&gt;
  255.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  256. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T13:05:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Fri, 05/10/2024 - 09:05&lt;/span&gt;
  257. </description>
  258.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 13:05:00 +0000</pubDate>
  259.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  260.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926803 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  261.    </item>
  262. <item>
  263.  <title>Boxing Promoter Don King Endorses Trump For President</title>
  264.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/boxing-promoter-don-king-endorses-trump-president</link>
  265.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Boxing Promoter Don King Endorses Trump For President&lt;/span&gt;
  266.  
  267.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/boxing-promoter-don-king-endorses-trump-for-president-5646425?utm_source=partner&amp;utm_campaign=ZeroHedge&amp;src_src=partner&amp;src_cmp=ZeroHedge"&gt;Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times&lt;/a&gt; (emphasis ours),&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  268. &lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/image_92%28413%29.jpg?itok=Pu4M_kBS" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/image_92%28413%29.jpg?itok=Pu4M_kBS"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;figure role="group" class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"&gt;&lt;img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="4d86a814-bfb8-4170-8c6a-036264fc3954" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/image_92%28413%29.jpg?itok=Pu4M_kBS" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500" /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;&lt;em&gt;Boxing promoter Don King attends the Presidential Debate at Hofstra University, in Hempstead, N.Y., on Sept. 26, 2016. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  269.  
  270. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Iconic boxing promoter Don King has endorsed former President Donald Trump for president in the 2024 election.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  271.  
  272. &lt;p&gt;The 92-year-old made the remarks on May 8 on the sidelines of an event after being asked if he has a message for President Trump, who’s facing a bevy of court cases that threaten to derail his presidential campaign.&lt;/p&gt;
  273.  
  274. &lt;p&gt;“&lt;strong&gt;Get reelected&lt;/strong&gt;,” Mr. King said. “&lt;strong&gt;And we must reelect him to save ourselves.&lt;/strong&gt; You know, a vote for Trump is a vote for yourself. Because we’ve got to fight the system of lies and the creation of wrong being right and right being wrong. That’s got to be eliminated.”&lt;/p&gt;
  275.  
  276. &lt;p&gt;He called President Trump “the only man who’s got the intestinal fortitude to be able to stand up and fight the system like it should be fought,”&lt;/p&gt;
  277.  
  278. &lt;p&gt;Mr. King said the former president “underestimated the power of this strong system of corruption and hypocrisy.”&lt;/p&gt;
  279.  
  280. &lt;p&gt;While Mr. King didn’t elaborate on the “system of corruption and hypocrisy” that he had in mind, it could be a reference to the numerous legal battles that the former president is fighting that he and his supporters argue are thinly veiled attempts to use lawfare to derail his comeback bid.&lt;/p&gt;
  281.  
  282. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“I want to say to him, let’s [save] America, let’s save ourselves, and then we can help others to be safe,” Mr. King added.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  283.  
  284. &lt;p&gt;President Trump &lt;a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/112407083496906253"&gt;shared&lt;/a&gt; the video on his social media platform, Truth Social, thanking Mr. King for his endorsement and message of encouragement.&lt;/p&gt;
  285.  
  286. &lt;h2&gt;‘He’d Be Muhammad Ali’&lt;/h2&gt;
  287.  
  288. &lt;p&gt;Mr. King’s sympathies for the former president are well-established, with the boxing promoter being one of few celebrities who endorsed then-candidate Trump in the 2016 election.&lt;/p&gt;
  289.  
  290. &lt;p&gt;Introducing then-candidate Trump at a church event in Ohio in 2016, Mr. King called him “courageous and brave” and said he believed the future president would fix the “corrupt” and “rigged” system and bring the country “back to inclusiveness.”&lt;/p&gt;
  291.  
  292. &lt;p&gt;In mid-2017, after President Trump had spent several months in office, Mr. King told Politico Magazine in an &lt;a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/07/14/don-king-donald-trump-black-man-215362/"&gt;exclusive interview&lt;/a&gt; that he believed he was doing an “excellent job” while lamenting the fact that his presidency was being overshadowed by the so-called “Russian collusion” scandal, which later turned out to be a hoax.&lt;/p&gt;
  293.  
  294. &lt;p&gt;At the time, Mr. &lt;strong&gt;King told Politico that he believed President Trump was constantly in the crosshairs of the Washington establishment&lt;/strong&gt;, saying that they would try to “keep him down” at almost any cost—even saying that he warned the president to be on guard for assassination attempts.&lt;/p&gt;
  295.  
  296. &lt;p&gt;“If Trump were a boxer, who would he be?” the interviewer asked the legendary boxing promoter.&lt;/p&gt;
  297.  
  298. &lt;p&gt;“He'd be Muhammad Ali...because he’s going to win,” Mr. King replied. “He’s going to run his mouth, he’s going to talk a lot and he’s going to win.”&lt;/p&gt;
  299. &lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/image_92%28414%29.jpg?itok=FXkpIAZL" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/image_92%28414%29.jpg?itok=FXkpIAZL"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;figure role="group" class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"&gt;&lt;img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="370b5d77-49c4-4cf9-aa24-d39ffef481b3" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="341" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/image_92%28414%29.jpg?itok=FXkpIAZL" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500" /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;&lt;em&gt;The then-U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, along with boxing promoter Don King, answers questions from the media after a day of meetings at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Dec. 28, 2016. (Don Emmert/AFP via Getty Images)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  300.  
  301. &lt;p&gt;The former president has won the support of a number of prominent figures in the fight world, including Mr. King’s best-known protege, former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, and Dana White, CEO and president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).&lt;/p&gt;
  302.  
  303. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mr. Tyson endorsed then-candidate Trump for the 2016 election, while Mr. White said recently he supports his 2024 comeback bid.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  304.  
  305. &lt;p&gt;“He should be president of the United States,” Mr. Tyson &lt;a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mike-tyson-endorses-donald-trump-2016_n_562e8853e4b00aa54a4aba46"&gt;told HuffPost in an exclusive&lt;/a&gt; interview in 2015. The former champion said he thought a business-minded leader like Trump was exactly what the country needed.&lt;/p&gt;
  306.  
  307. &lt;p&gt;“Let’s try something new. Let’s run America like a business, where no colors matter. Whoever can do the job, gets the job,” Mr. Tyson said.&lt;/p&gt;
  308.  
  309. &lt;h2&gt;‘Unfazed’&lt;/h2&gt;
  310.  
  311. &lt;p&gt;Mr. White gave his endorsement in an &lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avzIa4x_9Y4"&gt;appearance on&lt;/a&gt; the Lex Fridman podcast in April, calling President Trump “the most resilient human being I’ve ever met.”&lt;/p&gt;
  312.  
  313. &lt;p&gt;“They’re trying to attack him. They’re trying to ruin him—unfazed,” the UFC president said. “He will walk through fire.”&lt;/p&gt;
  314. &lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/image_92%28415%29.jpg?itok=31C8Kyct" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/image_92%28415%29.jpg?itok=31C8Kyct"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;figure role="group" class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"&gt;&lt;img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="13d0f477-5f98-4ecf-9010-d435fba1af54" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/image_92%28415%29.jpg?itok=31C8Kyct" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500" /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;&lt;em&gt;Former President Donald Trump (R), alongside UFC CEO Dana White (L), attends the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 299 mixed martial arts event at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Fla., on March 9, 2024. (Giorgio Viera/AFP)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  315.  
  316. &lt;p&gt;Asked if he thinks President Trump will win reelection, Mr. White said he’s unsure given the “dirty” and “ugly” nature of politics.&lt;/p&gt;
  317.  
  318. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“Obviously, I’m rooting for him and I’m behind him and I hope he does.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  319.  
  320. &lt;p&gt;It comes as the former president has complained about being stuck in a New York courtroom for his so-called “hush money” trial while he could be out campaigning for reelection.&lt;/p&gt;
  321.  
  322. &lt;p&gt;In a case officially known as The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump, the former president is accused of hiding so-called hush money payments to an adult performer by falsifying business records. If found guilty, he could face a prison sentence.&lt;/p&gt;
  323.  
  324. &lt;p&gt;President Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, and before he entered the courtroom on April 15, the first day of the trial, he reiterated his position that the case is politically motivated.&lt;/p&gt;
  325.  
  326. &lt;p&gt;“This is really an attack on a political opponent. That’s all it is,” he told reporters outside the courtroom before going inside.&lt;/p&gt;
  327. &lt;/div&gt;
  328.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  329. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T12:40:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Fri, 05/10/2024 - 08:40&lt;/span&gt;
  330. </description>
  331.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 12:40:00 +0000</pubDate>
  332.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  333.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926589 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  334.    </item>
  335. <item>
  336.  <title>US Futures, Global Markets Storm Higher, Eye All-Time Highs</title>
  337.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/us-futures-global-markets-storm-higher-eye-all-time-highs</link>
  338.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;US Futures, Global Markets Storm Higher, Eye All-Time Highs&lt;/span&gt;
  339.  
  340.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;US equity futures pointed to even more gains on the last day of trading, leaving the S&amp;P 500 set for a third weekly rise — the longest run since February. The rally was given fresh legs yesterday by more earnings optimism coupled with disappointing economic data - this time the highest initial jobless claims since last August - that supported the case for Fed rate cuts, but the real test will come with a key US inflation print next week (where we laid out a case for why as OER catches down to real-time rates, CPI may print a big miss).  As of 8:00am, S&amp;P 500 futures higher by 0.3% &lt;strong&gt;after the index closed less than 1% away from its all-time high&lt;/strong&gt;, with Nasdaq futures rising 0.4%. European stocks are up 0.9% set for a new record high with Asian stocks also gaining. Treasuries and the dollar were flat; earlier on Friday, the yuan weakened on the news that &lt;strong&gt;Biden’s administration is poised to unveil a sweeping decision on new China tariffs as soon as next week, &lt;/strong&gt;with the measures expected to focus on industries such as &lt;strong&gt;electric vehicles, batteries and solar cells, &lt;/strong&gt;with existing levies largely being maintained. The macro slate includes May preliminary University of Michigan sentiment and April monthly budget statement.&lt;/p&gt;
  341.  
  342. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/ES%202024-05-10_7-53-25.jpg?itok=Jl6fT2FR" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/ES%202024-05-10_7-53-25.jpg?itok=Jl6fT2FR"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="b7e79337-8a10-42e6-a790-360856cd7fcb" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="259" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/ES%202024-05-10_7-53-25.jpg?itok=Jl6fT2FR" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  343.  
  344. &lt;p&gt;In premarket trading, 3M Co. rose 1.2% in premarket trading after HSBC raised its recommendation to buy from hold. The bank notes the company’s earnings showed nascent signs of an “inflection in growth and margin gains from restructuring” at the manufacturing giant. Akamai fell 10% after its forecast for adjusted earnings per share for the second quarter missed the average analyst estimate. Analysts note weakness in the infrastructure software company’s content-delivery network business. Here are some other notable premarket movers:&lt;/p&gt;
  345.  
  346. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Bumble rises 3.1% as BofA upgrades the online dating company to buy from neutral on both valuation and upside to growth.&lt;/li&gt;
  347. &lt;li&gt;CRH gains 4.3% after what the analysts see as a positive start with performance driven by pricing, early-season activity and favorable weather in important markets, despite lower volumes in Europe.&lt;/li&gt;
  348. &lt;li&gt;Dutch Bros gains 2.6% after Cowen raises the drive-thru coffee chain’s rating to buy from hold, expecting that 2024 will be a “beat &amp; raise year.”&lt;/li&gt;
  349. &lt;li&gt;Ginkgo Bioworks slumps 11% after the genetic engineering company cut its revenue forecast for the full year, following first-quarter sales that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations. The miss and outlook cut triggered a downgrade at William Blair.&lt;/li&gt;
  350. &lt;li&gt;JFrog drops 12% as the software development company’s earnings report failed to impress investors after this year’s rally. The results could prompt questions around the timing and potential contribution from AI-led workloads, which didn’t appear to have much effect this quarter, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Sunil Rajgopal wrote in a research note.&lt;/li&gt;
  351. &lt;li&gt;MacroGenics sinks 68% after the drug developer reported five deaths in a mid-stage trial of its investigative therapy for prostate cancer. Analysts downgraded their ratings on the stock as confidence in the firm’s program takes a hit following the safety data.&lt;/li&gt;
  352. &lt;li&gt;Natera rises as much as 20% after boosting its revenue guidance for the full year.&lt;/li&gt;
  353. &lt;li&gt;Novavax surges as much as 217% after the vaccine maker signed a licensing agreement with Sanofi that includes commercializing a combined Covid-19 and flu shot.&lt;/li&gt;
  354. &lt;li&gt;Progyny drops 25% after it reported first quarter revenue below average analyst estimates and cut revenue guidance for the full year. KeyBanc analysts downgraded the fertility benefits management company to sector weight from overweight, writing that they “are becoming weary” as more questions arise on visibility into revenue and customer trends.&lt;/li&gt;
  355. &lt;li&gt;SoundHound AI rises 15% after the voice AI software company reported first-quarter revenue that beat expectations and gave a revenue outlook range for the full year that met the average analyst estimate.&lt;/li&gt;
  356. &lt;li&gt;Sweetgreen climbs 19% after the salad restaurant chain’s revenue topped estimates and it boosted its same-store sales forecast for the full year.&lt;/li&gt;
  357. &lt;li&gt;Unity Software falls as much as 4.2% after the video-game software development company reported an 8% drop in first-quarter revenue. Analysts say the shares will remain rangebound until the company’s new CEO crystallizes his own strategy.&lt;/li&gt;
  358. &lt;li&gt;Yelp drops 4.1% after it adjusted Ebitda guidance for the full year and missed the average analyst estimate. Macro headwinds for restaurants and growing competition from delivery platforms could also pressure the online review company’s revenue, according to Jefferies analysts.&lt;/li&gt;
  359. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;The rebound in stocks found fresh momentum from very poor US unemployment claims Thursday, which backed the case for rate cuts before next week’s key US inflation print. Meanwhile, so-called value and cyclical sectors are helping to broaden out a rally that had been fueled by tech giants. Traders will be watching for hints on the timing of policy easing from Fed officials including Michelle Bowman and Neel Kashkari before next week’s CPI data.&lt;/p&gt;
  360.  
  361. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;"A rally of the laggards is our key allocation call, and so far, we’re witnessing signs that it’s happening,”&lt;/strong&gt; said Florian Ielpo, head of macro research at Lombard Odier Asset Management. “For this to persist, the market needs to maintain a delicate balance — a sweet spot where the job market remains mildly soft and earnings growth continues.”&lt;/p&gt;
  362.  
  363. &lt;p&gt;European stocks are &lt;strong&gt;set for their best week since the end of January &lt;/strong&gt;on a slew of better-than-expected earnings reports and growing confidence that interest rate cuts are still possible this year. &lt;strong&gt;The Stoxx 600 rises 0.9% to a record high &lt;/strong&gt;with mining, utility and construction shares leading gains. Here are the biggest European movers:&lt;/p&gt;
  364.  
  365. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Enel shares rise as much as 3.5% after 1Q earnings came in materially above expectations, de-risking the utility firm’s full-year outlook and suggesting it could deliver the top end of its guidance.&lt;/li&gt;
  366. &lt;li&gt;Munich Re shares rise as much as 2.6% after BofA lifts its rating on the company to buy from neutral in a note citing “underappreciated earnings strength.”&lt;/li&gt;
  367. &lt;li&gt;Legrand shares advance as much as 3.3% to highest since January 2022 after Citi double-upgrades to buy from sell.&lt;/li&gt;
  368. &lt;li&gt;EDP shares climb as much as 4.6% after the company said investment will decelerate in 2024-2026 as it focuses on “top projects.”&lt;/li&gt;
  369. &lt;li&gt;IAG shares climb as much as 1.8% after the airline group posted a operating profit beat for the first quarter, driven by ongoing recovery in leisure traffic and the timing of Easter.&lt;/li&gt;
  370. &lt;li&gt;Fluidra shares gains as much as 5.5% after JPMorgan upgrades the Spanish pool maker to overweight from neutral.&lt;/li&gt;
  371. &lt;li&gt;Iveco shares rise as much as 7.1% following its first-quarter results, which Morgan Stanley says represent a positive start to the year for the Italian commercial vehicle maker.&lt;/li&gt;
  372. &lt;li&gt;CCC shares jump as much as 19% after the Polish fashion retailer reported strong 1Q preliminary earnings with a 39% beat on Ebitda.&lt;/li&gt;
  373. &lt;li&gt;Dino Polska shares drop as much as 4.4% after it reported further erosion of Ebidta margin, reflecting an ongoing price war in the Polish food retail market.&lt;/li&gt;
  374. &lt;li&gt;Rightmove shares fall as much as 5.3%. The online property portal reiterated its revenue and margin guidance after tweaking other targets.&lt;/li&gt;
  375. &lt;li&gt;Getinge shares drop as much as 9.7%, the most in more than three months, following a US FDA letter to health care providers expressing safety and quality concerns about some of the Swedish medical technology firm’s cardiovascular devices.&lt;/li&gt;
  376. &lt;li&gt;BFF Bank shares plunge as much as 32%, the most on record, after Bank of Italy ordered a temporary halt on profit distribution and expansion abroad as a result of a probe into the Italian specialty finance company.&lt;/li&gt;
  377. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asian stocks tracked the gains in the US where a rise in initial jobless claims spurred a dovish reaction. Hang Seng &amp; Shanghai Comp traded mixed with Hong Kong stocks surging on reports China is considering a proposal to exempt individual investors from paying dividend taxes on Hong Kong stocks bought via the Stock Connect, while the mainland faded its initial gains with the US reportedly set to impose tariffs on China EVs and key sectors after a review which could be announced as soon as next week. Nikkei 225 rallied at the open but then slipped from intraday highs with participants reflecting on Household Spending data, US-China and tensions and amid a busy day of earnings releases for Japan. ASX 200 was led by energy, telecoms and financials but with gains capped amid mixed consumer stocks.&lt;/p&gt;
  378.  
  379. &lt;p&gt;In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index steadied and Treasury yields were little changed across the curve as traders awaited commentary from several Fed officals; Sterling rose after a much stronger than expected UK GDP print, which saw the country emerge from recession, provided a modicum of support to the pound which is up 0.1% against the dollar. The Norwegian krone tops the G-10 FX pile, rising 0.3% after CPI topped estimates.&lt;/p&gt;
  380.  
  381. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;USD/NOK dropped 0.3% to 10.8155 as the Norwegian krone led G-10 gains against the dollar; Norway’s underlying inflation rate fell less than analysts expected last month&lt;/li&gt;
  382. &lt;li&gt;AUD/USD fell as much as 0.3% to 0.6599, while NZD/USD dipped as much as 0.3% to 0.6014, on a report that the US is poised to unveil a sweeping decision on China tariffs&lt;/li&gt;
  383. &lt;li&gt;GBP/USD inched up as much as 0.1% to 1.2541, after data showed the UK economy bounced back from a shallow recession&lt;/li&gt;
  384. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;In rates, treasuries are little changed with futures holding Thursday’s advance, underpinned by gains for gilts following UK data raft including GDP, manufacturing and industrial production. US yields are within 1bp of Thursday’s closing levels, 10-year around 4.46%, with gilts and bunds outperforming by 2bp and 3bp in the sector; curve spreads likewise little changed, 2s10s holding Thursday’s flattening move. Gilts have rallied despite stronger-than-expected UK GDP figures, with UK 10-year yields falling 3bps to 4.11%.&lt;/p&gt;
  385.  
  386. &lt;p&gt;In commodities, Oil prices advance, with WTI rising 0.6% to trade near $79.80 a barrel and near the week’s high. Spot gold climbs 1.1% to around $2,372/oz.&lt;/p&gt;
  387.  
  388. &lt;p&gt;Looking at today's calendar, the US economic data slate includes May preliminary University of Michigan sentiment (10am New York time) and April monthly budget statement (2pm). Fed officials’ scheduled speeches include Bowman (9am), Logan (10am), Kashkari (10am, 2:15pm), Goolsbee (12:45pm, 2:15pm) and Barr (1:30pm)&lt;/p&gt;
  389.  
  390. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Market Snapshot&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  391.  
  392. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;S&amp;P 500 futures up 0.3% to 5,254.00&lt;/li&gt;
  393. &lt;li&gt;STOXX Europe 600 up 0.7% to 520.47&lt;/li&gt;
  394. &lt;li&gt;MXAP up 0.8% to 177.68&lt;/li&gt;
  395. &lt;li&gt;MXAPJ up 0.9% to 554.50&lt;/li&gt;
  396. &lt;li&gt;Nikkei up 0.4% to 38,229.11&lt;/li&gt;
  397. &lt;li&gt;Topix up 0.5% to 2,728.21&lt;/li&gt;
  398. &lt;li&gt;Hang Seng Index up 2.3% to 18,963.68&lt;/li&gt;
  399. &lt;li&gt;Shanghai Composite little changed at 3,154.55&lt;/li&gt;
  400. &lt;li&gt;Sensex up 0.2% to 72,580.19&lt;/li&gt;
  401. &lt;li&gt;Australia S&amp;P/ASX 200 up 0.4% to 7,748.96&lt;/li&gt;
  402. &lt;li&gt;Kospi up 0.6% to 2,727.63&lt;/li&gt;
  403. &lt;li&gt;German 10Y yield little changed at 2.46%&lt;/li&gt;
  404. &lt;li&gt;Euro little changed at $1.0783&lt;/li&gt;
  405. &lt;li&gt;Brent Futures up 0.2% to $84.02/bbl&lt;/li&gt;
  406. &lt;li&gt;Gold spot up 0.9% to $2,367.89&lt;/li&gt;
  407. &lt;li&gt;US Dollar Index little changed at 105.23&lt;/li&gt;
  408. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Top Overnight News&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  409.  
  410. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Stocks rallied on earnings optimism and US data that supported the case for interest-rate cuts. A raft of Federal Reserve speakers are slated for Friday as traders await a key US inflation print next week.&lt;/li&gt;
  411. &lt;li&gt;President Joe Biden’s administration is poised to unveil a sweeping decision on China tariffs as soon as next week, one that’s expected to target key strategic sectors while rejecting the across-the-board hikes sought by Donald Trump, people familiar with the matter said.&lt;/li&gt;
  412. &lt;li&gt;Britain bounced back strongly from a shallow recession, providing some relief for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who has so far struggled to deliver on his promise to grow the economy.&lt;/li&gt;
  413. &lt;li&gt;Money managers are piling into the European Union’s bonds in anticipation of a major shift in their status that would open up the bloc’s debt to a bigger pool of investors.&lt;/li&gt;
  414. &lt;li&gt;JPMorgan Chase &amp; Co. is on track to include India in its emerging market debt index from June with most of its clients ready to trade despite some “teething issues,” according to the firm’s global head of index research.&lt;/li&gt;
  415. &lt;li&gt;China CPCA said China sold 1.55mln passenger cars in April, -5.8% Y/Y; Tesla (TSLA) exported 30,746 China-made vehicles in Apr&lt;/li&gt;
  416. &lt;li&gt;US Treasury Secretary Yellen said inflation has come down substantially but is not where it needs to be, according to a Marketplace interview.&lt;/li&gt;
  417. &lt;li&gt;White House is poised to nominate Kristin Johnson to fill a top role at the Treasury overseeing banks, according to Bloomberg citing sources.&lt;/li&gt;
  418. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  419.  
  420. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;APAC stocks mostly tracked the gains in the US where a rise in initial jobless claims spurred a dovish reaction. &lt;/strong&gt;ASX 200 was led by energy, telecoms and financials but with gains capped amid mixed consumer stocks. Nikkei 225 rallied at the open but then slipped from intraday highs with participants reflecting on Household Spending data, US-China and tensions and amid a busy day of earnings releases for Japan. Hang Seng &amp; Shanghai Comp traded mixed with Hong Kong stocks surging on reports China is considering a proposal to exempt individual investors from paying dividend taxes on Hong Kong stocks bought via the Stock Connect, while the mainland faded its initial gains with the US reportedly set to impose tariffs on China EVs and key sectors after a review which could be announced as soon as next week.&lt;/p&gt;
  421.  
  422. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Top Asian News&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  423.  
  424. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;US is set to impose tariffs on China EVs and key sectors after its Section 301 review as early as next week, according to Bloomberg.&lt;/li&gt;
  425. &lt;li&gt;China is unlikely to lift home purchase restrictions completely, according to CCTV.&lt;/li&gt;
  426. &lt;li&gt;Honda (7267 JT) FY (JPY): Pretax profit 1.64tln, +86.7% Y/Y, Op. Profit 1.38tln, +77% Y/Y; says it will buy back of up to 3.7% of own shares worth JPY 300bln.&lt;/li&gt;
  427. &lt;li&gt;Earthquake felt in Taiwan's capital Taipei; magnitude 5.7, via EMSC.&lt;/li&gt;
  428. &lt;li&gt;China Auto Industry CPCA says market sluggishness was worse than expected while some automakers still derived to produce and resulted in rising inventories at dealerships&lt;/li&gt;
  429. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;European bourses, Stoxx600 (+0.7%) are entirely in the green, taking the lead from a mostly positive APAC session. Both the FTSE 100 and the DAX 40 made fresh ATHs today. &lt;/strong&gt;European sectors hold a strong positive tilt, with the exception of Autos and Media, with the former continuing the losses seen in the prior session. Utilities takes the top spot, lifted by post-earning strength in Enel (+3.6%) and EDP (+2.5%). US Equity Futures (ES +0.3%, NQ +0.3%, RTY +0.4%) are entirely in the green, albeit modestly so, attempting to build on yesterday’s advances.&lt;/p&gt;
  430.  
  431. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Top European News&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  432.  
  433. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;UBS expects the BoE to start cutting interest rates in June (prev. expected Aug)&lt;/li&gt;
  434. &lt;li&gt;Over one in two firms with Germany's residential construction sector reported a lack of orders in April, via Ifo; 55.2% (prev. 56.2%) reported this&lt;/li&gt;
  435. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;FX&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  436.  
  437. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Steady trade for the USD after yesterday's data-induced losses dragged DXY to a low of 105.20. Uni. of Michigan is the main data highlight but is very much in the shadow of next week's CPI print. If DXY trundles lower once again, support ahead of the 105 mark comes via the 7th May low at 105.03.&lt;/li&gt;
  438. &lt;li&gt;EUR is steady vs. the USD with EZ drivers once again lacking in today's session. EUR/USD made an incremental high at 1.0786 but catalysts today for a push beyond 1.08 are not obvious. ECB Minutes due at 12:30 BST / 07:30 EDT.&lt;/li&gt;
  439. &lt;li&gt;GBP is the marginal best performer across the majors following hotter-than-expected UK GDP metrics which sent GBP/USD higher from 1.2519 to a 1.2540 peak before running into resistance at the 200DMA.&lt;/li&gt;
  440. &lt;li&gt;USD/JPY's ascent has once again continued after a brief blip yesterday in a week that has seen jawboning from officials fail to stop the rot. The next inflection point will likely be US CPI data.&lt;/li&gt;
  441. &lt;li&gt;Antipodeans are both marginally softer vs. the USD after benefitting yesterday from the dollar's post-data selling pressure. AUD/USD remains on a 0.66 handle in quiet newsflow with the monthly high at 0.6647.&lt;/li&gt;
  442. &lt;li&gt;NOK: A slightly hotter than expected CPI which has sparked some modest NOK strength, sending EUR/NOK lower from 11.6940 to 1.6820.&lt;/li&gt;
  443. &lt;li&gt;PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1011 vs exp. 7.2102 (prev. 7.1028).&lt;/li&gt;
  444. &lt;li&gt;CNB Minutes (May): Easing process could be paused/terminated at any point at still restrictive levels. Holub &amp; Frait mentioned the possibility of 75bp of easing, ultimately went for 50bp&lt;/li&gt;
  445. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fixed Income&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  446.  
  447. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;USTs&lt;/strong&gt; are flat with specifics light thus far though the docket ahead is packed with multiple Fed speakers. &lt;strong&gt;USTs&lt;/strong&gt; are holding at 109-03+ matching yesterday's auction-driven high but still a handful of ticks shy of the WTD peak at 109-09.&lt;/li&gt;
  448. &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gilts&lt;/strong&gt; gapped higher by 15 ticks despite hawkish direction from the strong UK GDP numbers earlier in the morning. Upside which has continued and extended to a 98.29 fresh WTD high as markets digest the BoE beginning to thread-the-needle to a first cut in the near term.&lt;/li&gt;
  449. &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bunds&lt;/strong&gt; are bid but to a slightly lesser degree than &lt;strong&gt;Gilts&lt;/strong&gt; with specifics light thus far. Upside which has paused at a 131.40 peak shy of 131.63-86 from earlier in the week.&lt;/li&gt;
  450. &lt;li&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Italy&lt;/strong&gt; sells EUR 9.25bln vs exp. EUR 7.5-9.25bln 2.95% 2027, 1.10% 2027, 3.45% 2031, 5.00% 2040, 2.15% 2072 BTP.&lt;/li&gt;
  451. &lt;li&gt;Orders for Italy's BTP Valore reach EUR 11bln (circa. EUR 10bln on Thursday). &lt;i&gt;Books close at 12:00BST&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  452. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Commodities&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  453.  
  454. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Crude benchmarks in the green but only modestly so as markets await an update to the Israel-Hamas situation after hostage negotiations ended and Israel pledged to continued with its operation in Rafah. Brent July off best levels and currently resides around USD 84.20/bbl.&lt;/li&gt;
  455. &lt;li&gt;Precious metals are supported and seemingly benefitting from the modestly bullish tone for fixed income thus far. XAU up to a USD 2370/oz peak thus far, eclipsing the 21-DMA of USD 2337/oz with ease and bringing USD 2400/oz and then USD 2431/oz into view.&lt;/li&gt;
  456. &lt;li&gt;Base metals are firmer, lifted by the broader risk tone and somewhat softer Dollar; though Aluminium is the standout laggard after a sizeable LME stock update of +424k (prev. -2.75k).&lt;/li&gt;
  457. &lt;li&gt;Saudi's crude oil supply to China to fall by 5.8mln/bbl in June vs May, via Reuters citing sources.&lt;/li&gt;
  458. &lt;li&gt;LME Stocks: Aluminium +424k (prev. -2.75k)&lt;/li&gt;
  459. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Geopolitics&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  460.  
  461. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Israeli PM Netanyahu said they have destroyed 20 of Hamas's 24 battalions so far and hopes he and US President Biden can overcome disagreements, while he added that they have to defeat Hamas in Rafah.&lt;/li&gt;
  462. &lt;li&gt;Israel's army reportedly carried out bombing operations on buildings east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, according to Al Jazeera.&lt;/li&gt;
  463. &lt;li&gt;US State Department said Secretary of State Blinken confirmed to his Egyptian counterpart US President Biden's "clear" position not to support the Rafah operation, according to Al Arabiya.&lt;/li&gt;
  464. &lt;li&gt;US Secretary of State Blinken is expected to submit Israel conduct report to Congress today and is expected to criticise Israel but say it isn't breaking weapons terms, according to Axios.&lt;/li&gt;
  465. &lt;li&gt;Group of 20 US Senators introduced a bill that would restrict funding to the UN or any organisation that gives the Palestinian Authority higher than observer status, according to Asharq News.&lt;/li&gt;
  466. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;US Event Calendar&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  467.  
  468. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;10:00: May U. of Mich. Sentiment, est. 76.2, prior 77.2&lt;/li&gt;
  469. &lt;li&gt;10:00: May U. of Mich. Current Conditions, est. 79.0, prior 79.0&lt;/li&gt;
  470. &lt;li&gt;10:00: May U. of Mich. Expectations, est. 75.0, prior 76.0&lt;/li&gt;
  471. &lt;li&gt;10:00: May U. of Mich. 1 Yr Inflation, est. 3.2%, prior 3.2%&lt;/li&gt;
  472. &lt;li&gt;10:00: May U. of Mich. 5-10 Yr Inflation, est. 3.0%, prior 3.0%&lt;/li&gt;
  473. &lt;li&gt;14:00: April Monthly Budget Statement, est. $250b, prior $176.2b&lt;/li&gt;
  474. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Central Bank Speakers&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  475.  
  476. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;09:00: Fed’s Bowman Speaks on Financial Stability Risks&lt;/li&gt;
  477. &lt;li&gt;10:00: Fed’s Logan Participates in Moderated Q&amp;A&lt;/li&gt;
  478. &lt;li&gt;10:00: Fed’s Kashkari Participates in Q&amp;A&lt;/li&gt;
  479. &lt;li&gt;12:45: Fed’s Goolsbee Speaks in Moderated Q&amp;A&lt;/li&gt;
  480. &lt;li&gt;13:30: Fed’s Barr Gives Commencement Speech&lt;/li&gt;
  481. &lt;li&gt;14:15: Fed’s Kashkari, Goolsbee on CNBC&lt;/li&gt;
  482. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;DB's Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  483.  
  484. &lt;p&gt;Risk assets posted further gains yesterday, thanks to growing confidence that central banks would still cut rates this year. In part, that was because of the weekly initial jobless claims in the US, which hit an 8-month high and added to fears that the labour market was cooling further. But alongside that, the Bank of England announced their latest policy decision, where Governor Bailey said it was “ likely that we will need to cut bank rate over the coming quarters ”. So this all cemented the theme that global monetary policy was heading towards a less restrictive stance, not least after the Riksbank’s rate cut earlier in the week. The next hurdle will be the US inflation numbers for April next week, but so far this month at least, investors have moved to expect a more dovish stance of monetary policy than they thought would happen at the end of April.&lt;/p&gt;
  485.  
  486. &lt;p&gt;This trend was very helpful for equities, with several European indices up to new records yesterday, including the STOXX 600 (+0.19%), the FTSE 100 (+0.33%) and the DAX (+1.02%). Indeed, it marked a 5th consecutive advance for all three indices, and it leaves the DAX on track for its best weekly performance since November, having risen by +3.81% since the start of this week. Meanwhile in the US, the S&amp;P 500 (+0.51%) was up to a 5-week high, and the index remains on track for a third consecutive weekly gain for the first time since February. On top of that, it’s also been the strongest performance for the S&amp;P 500 over 6 sessions so far this year, having advanced by +3.90% since its recent low on May 1. The gains for the S&amp;P 500 were broad-based with 10 of 11 industry groups higher on the day, and came even as the Magnificent 7 (-0.07%) was weighed down by losses for Nvidia (-1.84%) and Tesla (-1.57%).&lt;/p&gt;
  487.  
  488. &lt;p&gt;That jobless claims data was the initial catalyst for the advance yesterday, and up until that point, S&amp;P 500 futures had actually been in negative territory. The release showed that initial jobless claims were up to 231k (vs. 212k expected) in the week ending May 4, which was their highest level since late-August, and above every economist’s estimate on Bloomberg. But even though the data was weaker than expected, it meant investors grew more confident that the Fed would still cut rates this year, as it added to recent prints suggesting the labour market could be cooling. For instance, last week’s data showed job openings were down to a 3-year low in March, whilst the broader U6 measure of unemployment (which includes the underemployed and those marginally attached to the labour force) rose to its highest in over two years in April, at 7.4%.&lt;/p&gt;
  489.  
  490. &lt;p&gt;But even with the uptick in jobless claims, this isn’t necessarily a leading indicator of a downturn. For instance, there was a previous spike last year, which pushed the 4-week average above 250k by late-June. But after that, the numbers came down again shortly afterwards, and there wasn’t a notable rise in the unemployment rate. And for the time being at least, the smoother 4-week average is still only at 215k, so it’s important to bear in mind that lots of other indicators are still looking more positive, and the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow indicator is suggesting that Q2 growth will come in at an annualised +4.2% rate.&lt;/p&gt;
  491.  
  492. &lt;p&gt;This belief in future rate cuts was supported by the Bank of England’s latest decision as well. The main headline was that they kept rates unchanged at 5.25%, in line with expectations. But unlike the March meeting, when the vote was 8-1 to keep rates on hold, there was now a 7-2 split after Deputy Governor Ramsden also voted for a cut. Moreover, there was an additional line in the statement, which said that the committee would “consider forthcoming data releases and how these inform the assessment that the risks from inflation persistence are receding.” Then in the press conference, Governor Bailey said that a cut at the next meeting in June was “neither ruled out nor a fait accompli ”, and he suggested that the reductions in bank rate could be “possibly more so than currently priced into market rates”. There are two more CPI prints coming out ahead of the BoE’s next decision, so those will be in focus ahead of that, and this morning we’ve also got the Q1 GDP release shortly after we go to press.&lt;/p&gt;
  493.  
  494. &lt;p&gt;Overall, the decision and these comments led investors to price in a growing probability of a rate cut by the next BoE meeting in June, with overnight index swaps raising the chance from 55% the previous day to 60% by the close. Front-end gilts also rallied on the prospect of faster rate cuts, with the 2yr yield coming down by -5.7bps. 10yr gilts did lose a bit of ground, with yields up +0.2bps, but that was actually an outperformance relative to the rest of Europe, where yields on 10yr bunds (+3.3bps), OATs (+4.3bps) and BTPs (+3.7bps) all saw larger moves higher.&lt;/p&gt;
  495.  
  496. &lt;p&gt;Meanwhile in the US, Treasuries outperformed after the jobless claims data led futures to dial up the likelihood of rate cuts this year. For instance, 46bps of cuts were priced in by the December meeting at the close, up +1.9bps relative to the previous day. In turn, the 2yr yield was down -2.1bps to 4.82%. And 10yr yields were down -4.1bps to 4.45%, with long-dated Treasuries supported by a solid 30yr auction that saw the highest direct bidder share since July.&lt;/p&gt;
  497.  
  498. &lt;p&gt;Overnight in Asia, this strength for risk assets has broadly continued, with the Hang Seng (+1.74%) rising to its highest level in almost nine months, whilst the Nikkei (+0.24%) and the KOSPI (+0.60%) have also advanced. The exception to this has been in mainland China, where the CSI 300 (-0.28%) and the Shanghai Comp (-0.22%) have both lost ground, which comes as a Bloomberg report said that the US would announce new tariffs on China. The report cited people who said an announcement was scheduled for Tuesday, and there would be a focus on strategic sectors including electric vehicles. Elsewhere, US equity futures are also positive this morning, with those on the S&amp;P 500 up +0.09%.&lt;/p&gt;
  499.  
  500. &lt;p&gt;To the day ahead now, and data releases include the UK GDP reading for Q1, Italian industrial production for March, Canadian employment for April, and in the US there’s the University of Michigan’s preliminary consumer sentiment index for May. From central banks, we’ll hear from the Fed’s Bowman, Logan, Kashkari, Goolsbee and Barr, the ECB’s Cipollone and Elderson, and the BoE’s Pill and Dhingra. We’ll also get the account from the ECB’s April meeting.&lt;/p&gt;
  501. &lt;/div&gt;
  502.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  503. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T12:15:07+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Fri, 05/10/2024 - 08:15&lt;/span&gt;
  504. </description>
  505.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 12:15:07 +0000</pubDate>
  506.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  507.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926789 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  508.    </item>
  509. <item>
  510.  <title>United Airlines Boeing 737 Makes Emergency Return To Japanese Airport After Wing Flap "Irregularity" </title>
  511.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/united-airlines-boeing-737-makes-emergency-return-japanese-airport-after-wing-flap</link>
  512.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;United Airlines Boeing 737 Makes Emergency Return To Japanese Airport After Wing Flap "Irregularity" &lt;/span&gt;
  513.  
  514.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wednesday:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  515.  
  516. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/watch-boeing-767-cargo-plane-crash-landed-turkey?ref=biztoc.com"&gt;Boeing 767 Cargo Plane Crash-Landed In Turkey&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  517. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thursday:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  518.  
  519. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/boeing-737-crashes-after-failed-takeoff-african-airport?ref=biztoc.com"&gt;Boeing 737 Crashes After Failed Takeoff At African Airport&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
  520. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Good morning, readers. There has been another Boeing incident overnight. This news is particularly alarming for anyone flying domestically or internationally on a Boeing jet, especially given the two Boeing mishaps earlier this week. &lt;/p&gt;
  521.  
  522. &lt;p&gt;Aviation news website &lt;a href="https://simpleflying.com/united-airlines-b737-8-flight-166-to-guam-emergency-wing-issue/"&gt;Simply Flying&lt;/a&gt; reported a United Airlines Boeing 737-800 that departed from Fukuoka Airport in Japan earlier today experienced an "irregularity" with a wing flap(s). &lt;/p&gt;
  523.  
  524. &lt;p&gt;UA166, which was taking off from Fukuoka Airport to Guam Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport, climbed to an altitude of 10,000 feet after takeoff, then leveled off and held a holding pattern. Around this time, pilots detected a wing flap(s) issue. &lt;/p&gt;
  525.  
  526. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;"Eventually, after holding for more than 30 minutes, the aircraft began its approach to FUK by descending and lining up on the airport's sole runway, runway 16/34, with the United Airlines aircraft landing at the aircraft on the former configuration," Simply Flying said. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  527.  
  528. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2024-05-10_06-32-37.png?itok=uII77BC5" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2024-05-10_06-32-37.png?itok=uII77BC5"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="bfbca8cc-89eb-4f09-bae1-af069a050d69" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="366" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2024-05-10_06-32-37.png?itok=uII77BC5" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  529.  
  530. &lt;p&gt;Simply Flying, local media outlets nor officials provided additional information about the flap 'issue.' &lt;/p&gt;
  531.  
  532. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2024-05-10_06-56-08.png?itok=niA3mnAE" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2024-05-10_06-56-08.png?itok=niA3mnAE"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="268dc3ec-b6d9-4843-a69d-1bb3a829bf3e" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="222" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2024-05-10_06-56-08.png?itok=niA3mnAE" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  533.  
  534. &lt;p&gt;What's important to understand here is that flaps are crucial for producing additional lift in takeoff and landing procedures. For the pilots out there, the flaps are critical for more lift on a 'normal' approach that provides reduced speed and controlled flight ahead of the round-out phase of landing. In other words, with full flaps deployed, a steep approach on landing means reduced speed and shorter runway distance is needed. A straight-line approach with no flaps deployed means higher speed and more runway distance required.&lt;/p&gt;
  535.  
  536. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/flaps-768x422.png?itok=gTr7rV0T" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/flaps-768x422.png?itok=gTr7rV0T"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="d2c9d99e-5d53-482b-ba32-7c6dee285572" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="275" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/flaps-768x422.png?itok=gTr7rV0T" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  537.  
  538. &lt;p&gt;Given the brief aviation lesson about wing flaps, the 737-800 usually requires 6,500–7,000 feet for landing. Many calculations go into that, including weight and wind. Data shows the plane used the entire 9,186-foot runway, a possible indication of wing flap issues. &lt;/p&gt;
  539.  
  540. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2024-05-10_06-42-41.png?itok=QM70sxFN" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2024-05-10_06-42-41.png?itok=QM70sxFN"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="817fa3c9-9246-4292-9bb4-c2ddfc745064" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="561" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2024-05-10_06-42-41.png?itok=QM70sxFN" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  541.  
  542. &lt;p&gt;The good news is that the plane landed without an issue, and all 49 souls onboard were safe. &lt;/p&gt;
  543.  
  544. &lt;p&gt;Another day, another issue with Boeing.&lt;/p&gt;
  545. &lt;/div&gt;
  546.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  547. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T11:45:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Fri, 05/10/2024 - 07:45&lt;/span&gt;
  548. </description>
  549.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 11:45:00 +0000</pubDate>
  550.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  551.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926760 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  552.    </item>
  553. <item>
  554.  <title>As The Dollar Falters, Gold Becomes Insurance, Not Speculation</title>
  555.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/dollar-falters-gold-becomes-insurance-not-speculation</link>
  556.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;As The Dollar Falters, Gold Becomes Insurance, Not Speculation&lt;/span&gt;
  557.  
  558.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://mises.org/mises-wire/dollar-falters-gold-becomes-insurance-not-speculation"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Authored by Douglas French via The Mises Institute,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  559.  
  560. &lt;p&gt;Economics trumps sentimentality, and gold’s elevated price has some people raiding the family jewelry box to pay bills. &lt;/p&gt;
  561.  
  562. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  563. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“Young people are not wearing grandma’s jewels. Most of the young people, they want an Apple watch. They don’t want a pocket watch,” &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;Tobina Kahn, president of House of Kahn Estate Jewelers told &lt;a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-14/gold-prices-at-a-record-high-are-keeping-pawn-shops-busy"&gt;Bloomberg&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  564.  
  565. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“Sentimental is now out the door.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  566. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  567.  
  568. &lt;p&gt;When times are tough, treasures change hands, the late Burt Blumert, once a gold dealer and Mises Institute Board Chairman, used to say.&lt;/p&gt;
  569.  
  570. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“Prices are high, and I need cash,” &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;Branden Sabino, a thirty-year-old information technology worker said, adding that with the cost of rent, groceries, and car insurance rising, he doesn’t have any savings. He sold a gold necklace and a gold ring to King Gold and Pawn on Avenue 5 in Brooklyn.&lt;/p&gt;
  571.  
  572. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  573. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“People are using gold as an ATM they never had,” &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;said store owner Gene Furman.&lt;/p&gt;
  574. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  575.  
  576. &lt;p&gt;At King Gold, fifty-five-year-old Mirsa Vijil pawned a bracelet to pay her gas bill.&lt;/p&gt;
  577.  
  578. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  579. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“Gold is high,” she said, adding she’d never pawned her jewelry before but will do it again if she needs to.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  580. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  581.  
  582. &lt;p&gt;Adrian Ash, director of research at online gold investment service BullionVault says there is twice as much selling as a year ago on BullionVault’s platform. “People are very happy to take this price.”&lt;/p&gt;
  583.  
  584. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  585. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“It’s very busy and we are getting more calls than ever before about clients wanting to bring in their jewels,”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; Kahn said.&lt;/p&gt;
  586.  
  587. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“I’m telling the clients to bring them in now, as we are at unprecedented levels.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  588. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  589.  
  590. &lt;p&gt;So while there is plenty of liquidating to pay the bills, demand at the United States Mint is tepid, with sales in March the worst since 2019 for its &lt;a href="https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/american-eagle/gold-bullion"&gt;American Eagle&lt;/a&gt; gold coin.&lt;/p&gt;
  591.  
  592. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/GoldBills-W.jpg.jpg?itok=W82Z-MoK" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/GoldBills-W.jpg.jpg?itok=W82Z-MoK"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a759509f-c3e3-474a-8955-783289fe8a8e" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="375" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/GoldBills-W.jpg.jpg?itok=W82Z-MoK" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  593.  
  594. &lt;p&gt;It turns out more than a few of those &lt;a href="https://www.douglasinvegas.com/blog/2024/4/14/millennials-in-costco-we-trust"&gt;well-publicized&lt;/a&gt; Costco gold bar buyers are having trouble selling them. The bars, not being American Eagles or other similar gold coins, are not as liquid, given that the seller, Costco, will not buy them back. The &lt;em&gt;Wall Street Journal&lt;/em&gt; &lt;a href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/selling-costco-gold-bars-f14e966f?mod=Searchresults_pos2&amp;page=1"&gt;reports&lt;/a&gt;, thirty-three-year old Adam Xi called five different gold dealers to get a price he would accept for the gold bar he &lt;a href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/costco-gold-bars-ff8e60d5?mod=article_inline"&gt;bought at Costco&lt;/a&gt; in October.&lt;/p&gt;
  595.  
  596. &lt;p&gt;He was offered $200 less by one dealer than the $2,000 he had paid. But he found a Philadelphia coin dealer near his home willing to pay $1,960, or twenty dollars under market price.&lt;/p&gt;
  597.  
  598. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mr. Xi has learned, or should have learned, that buying gold to turn a quick profit is a fantasy. His plan was to rack up credit-card points buying the gold and then quickly resell it for a profit.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  599.  
  600. &lt;p&gt;Buyers can expect their gold to immediately lose around 5 percent of its value, according to Tom Graff, chief investment officer at the wealth advising company Facet. One pays a premium to buy and pays fees to sell.&lt;/p&gt;
  601.  
  602. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  603. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;“You need a holding period that’s long enough to overwhelm that cost,”&lt;/em&gt; said Graff.&lt;/p&gt;
  604. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  605.  
  606. &lt;p&gt;Luke Greib told the &lt;em&gt;Wall Street Journal&lt;/em&gt; that he sold a one-ounce Credit Suisse bar on a Reddit page dedicated to trading precious metals to avoid taxes and fees.&lt;/p&gt;
  607.  
  608. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Buying physical gold is purchasing insurance against monetary mischief by the Federal Reserve, not to earn a profit via a quick flip.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  609.  
  610. &lt;p&gt;Perhaps it’s hard to imagine currency destruction so devastating that your gold would serve as not only a store of value but a medium of exchange. Peter C. Earle explains in a &lt;a href="https://www.aier.org/article/the-new-zimbabwean-zig-sixth-time-a-charm/"&gt;piece&lt;/a&gt; for the American Institute for Economic Research,&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt; “During the peak of its 2008 hyperinflation, [Zimbabwe] experienced a catastrophic economic downturn, characterized by the issuance of billion—and trillion-dollar banknotes that were, despite their nominal enormity, virtually worthless.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  611.  
  612. &lt;p&gt;Dr. Earle writes that twenty-eight years of inflation “topped a total 231 million percent” and “the ZWD was demonetized in 2009.” The government is making its sixth attempt at a new currency, Zimbabwe gold (ZiG). “ZiG is there to stay forever,” &lt;a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-24/-zig-usd-zimbabwe-s-zig-a-step-toward-abandoning-us-dollars-official-says?embedded-checkout=true"&gt;said&lt;/a&gt; Vice President Constantino Chiwenga. “This bold step symbolizes government’s unwavering commitment to the de-dollarization program premised on fiscal discipline, monetary prudence and economic revitalization.”&lt;/p&gt;
  613.  
  614. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Reportedly, ZiG “is backed by a basket of precious metals including about 2.5 tons of gold along with $100 million of foreign currency reserves held by the central bank.”&lt;/strong&gt; As always, the Zimbabwe authorities are already blaming speculators for price increases. “Speculators should cease,” Chiwenga said. “Behave, or you get shut down or we lock you up.”&lt;/p&gt;
  615.  
  616. &lt;p&gt;Dr. Earle has his doubts about whether the Zimbabwean authorities will maintain the ZiG backing with the required rigor. While he hopes for success, “Without fundamental changes guaranteeing private property protection, pro-market reforms, and safeguards against corruption, though, the ZiG is likely to retrace the unfortunate steps of its predecessors.”&lt;/p&gt;
  617.  
  618. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The reason to buy and hold gold is just in case the Federal Reserve goes the way of Zimbabwe.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  619. &lt;/div&gt;
  620.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  621. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T11:20:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Fri, 05/10/2024 - 07:20&lt;/span&gt;
  622. </description>
  623.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 11:20:00 +0000</pubDate>
  624.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  625.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926562 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  626.    </item>
  627. <item>
  628.  <title>Actual Collusion? Missouri AG Accuses Biden DOJ Of Coordinating With Trump Prosecutors</title>
  629.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/actual-collusion-missouri-ag-accuses-biden-doj-coordinating-trump-prosecutors</link>
  630.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Actual Collusion? Missouri AG Accuses Biden DOJ Of Coordinating With Trump Prosecutors&lt;/span&gt;
  631.  
  632.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey &lt;strong&gt;filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request &lt;/strong&gt;on Thursday as part of a probe into whether the Biden DOJ coordinated with Trump prosecutors.&lt;/p&gt;
  633.  
  634. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Y4WXIABADFC25DIWMDJ7W52SOM_80.jpg?itok=mltnFRdS" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Y4WXIABADFC25DIWMDJ7W52SOM_80.jpg?itok=mltnFRdS"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="90908984-4b73-4cc0-936a-6bb3aa1394c1" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="334" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Y4WXIABADFC25DIWMDJ7W52SOM_80.jpg?itok=mltnFRdS" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  635.  
  636. &lt;p&gt;"The investigations and subsequent prosecutions of former President Donald J. Trump &lt;strong&gt;appear to have been conducted in coordination with the United States Department of Justice,&lt;/strong&gt;" Baily posted in a lengthy thread on &lt;a href="https://x.com/AGAndrewBailey/status/1788736566837358682"&gt;X&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  637.  
  638. &lt;p&gt;"This is demonstrated by &lt;strong&gt;the move of the third-highest ranking member of the Department of Justice, Matthew Colangelo, to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in order to prosecute President Trump&lt;/strong&gt; in December 2022," Baily continues.&lt;/p&gt;
  639.  
  640. &lt;p&gt;What's more, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg worked hand-in-hand with NY Attorney General Letitia James in pursuing civil litigation against Trump, &lt;strong&gt;which he used to campaign on&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  641.  
  642. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  643. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Given the timing (Bragg charged Trump only after he declared his candidacy for President), the weakness of the charges, and the charges keeping Trump off the campaign trail, there is substantial reason to suspect &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@POTUS&lt;/a&gt; has coordinated with Bragg and others to prosecute Trump.&lt;/p&gt;
  644. — Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/AGAndrewBailey/status/1788736604065988945?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 10, 2024&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  645.  
  646. &lt;p&gt;As &lt;a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-ag-launches-new-probe-communications-doj-trump-prosecutors"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Fox News&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; reports further;&lt;/p&gt;
  647.  
  648. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  649. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Bailey argues that &lt;strong&gt;Bragg’s decision to bring the prosecution "despite its transparent weakness has nonetheless had the effect of keeping former President Trump off the campaign trail&lt;/strong&gt;, which President Biden has bragged about." &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  650.  
  651. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;He cites a post on X from the official Biden-Harris campaign on April 24, which says, "&lt;strong&gt;While Trump is stuck in court,&lt;/strong&gt; President Biden is keeping a very robust schedule of campaign events. He’s been to Pennsylvania to talk about the economy, Virginia to talk about clean energy, and Florida to talk about abortion." &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  652. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  653.  
  654. &lt;p&gt;Baily is seeking &lt;strong&gt;all communications, including documents, calendar appointments, meeting minutes and agendas related to Colangelo's move to work in Bragg's office&lt;/strong&gt; - as well as similar communications between Bragg and NY AG Leticia James and Fulton County DA Fani Willis. &lt;/p&gt;
  655. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  656.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  657. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T10:55:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Fri, 05/10/2024 - 06:55&lt;/span&gt;
  658. </description>
  659.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 10:55:00 +0000</pubDate>
  660.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  661.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926639 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  662.    </item>
  663. <item>
  664.  <title>Six Reasons To Own Bitcoin In Retirement</title>
  665.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/six-reasons-own-bitcoin-retirement</link>
  666.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Six Reasons To Own Bitcoin In Retirement&lt;/span&gt;
  667.  
  668.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://bitcoinmagazine.com/markets/6-reasons-to-own-bitcoin-in-retirement"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Via BitcoinMagazine.com,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  669.  
  670. &lt;p&gt;For newcomers, especially those in and around retirement age, &lt;strong&gt;the idea of investing in or owning bitcoin can evoke reactions from skepticism to disbelief. If you look beyond the popular narratives, however, you might find there is more to the story than first impressions suggest. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  671.  
  672. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/bm-x-unchained---6-reasons-to-ow.jpg?itok=u-OuZIbm" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/bm-x-unchained---6-reasons-to-ow.jpg?itok=u-OuZIbm"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="95345af3-0e5e-4257-9d1e-6ca33bbba365" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="188" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/bm-x-unchained---6-reasons-to-ow.jpg?itok=u-OuZIbm" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  673.  
  674. &lt;p&gt;Here are six reasons to consider owning at least some bitcoin during retirement.&lt;/p&gt;
  675.  
  676. &lt;h3 id="1-bitcoin-helps-broaden-your-asset-allocation-base"&gt;1. BITCOIN HELPS BROADEN YOUR ASSET ALLOCATION BASE&lt;/h3&gt;
  677.  
  678. &lt;p&gt;Traditionally, investors use a strategy called &lt;a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/assetallocation.asp"&gt;asset allocation&lt;/a&gt; to distribute and shield funds from investment risk over time. A sound asset allocation strategy is the antidote to putting all of your eggs in one basket. There are several types of asset “classes” or categories over which to distribute risk. Customarily, advisors seek to establish a dynamic mix between debt instruments (i.e., bonds), equities (i.e., stocks), real estate, cash, and commodities.&lt;/p&gt;
  679.  
  680. &lt;p&gt;The more categories you employ to distribute your assets and the less correlated those categories are, the better your chances of balancing your risk, at least theoretically. Recently, due to unintended consequences caused by the aggressive expansion of societal debt and the money supply, assets that were previously less correlated now &lt;a href="https://www.fidelityinternational.com/editorial/blog/chart-room-why-stockbond-correlations-are-turning-positive-03685b-en5/"&gt;tend to behave more in kind with one another&lt;/a&gt;. When one sector gets hammered today, several sectors often suffer together.&lt;/p&gt;
  681.  
  682. &lt;p&gt;Regardless of these present-day conditions, asset allocation remains a well-conceived strategy for moderating risk. While still in its relative infancy, bitcoin represents an entirely new asset class. Because of this, owning at least some bitcoin, especially due to its &lt;a href="https://unchained.com/blog/bitcoin-not-blockchain/?utm_campaign=btcmag-launch"&gt;distinct properties when compared to other “cryptocurrencies&lt;/a&gt;,” provides an opportunity to broaden your asset base and more effectively distribute your overall risk.&lt;/p&gt;
  683.  
  684. &lt;h3 id="2-bitcoin-offers-a-hedge-against-inflation-and-currency-debasement"&gt;2. BITCOIN OFFERS A HEDGE AGAINST INFLATION AND CURRENCY DEBASEMENT&lt;/h3&gt;
  685.  
  686. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  687. &lt;p&gt;As a retiree, protecting yourself from inflation is crucial to preserving your long-term purchasing power. In the asset allocation discussion above, we referenced the recent and aggressive money supply expansion. Everyone who has lived long enough to approach retirement age knows that a dollar no longer buys what it used to. When the government issues large amounts of new money, it &lt;a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/debasement.asp"&gt;debases&lt;/a&gt; the value of the dollars already in circulation. This generally pushes prices higher as newly created dollars begin to chase the existing limited supply of goods and services.&lt;/p&gt;
  688. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  689.  
  690. &lt;p&gt;Our own Parker Lewis &lt;a href="https://unchained.com/blog/dollar-crisis-to-bitcoin/?utm_campaign=btcmag-launch"&gt;touched on this extensively&lt;/a&gt; in his &lt;em&gt;Gradually, Then Suddenly&lt;/em&gt; series:&lt;/p&gt;
  691.  
  692. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  693. &lt;p&gt;In summary, when trying to understand bitcoin as money, start with gold, the dollar, the Fed, quantitative easing and why bitcoin’s supply is fixed. Money is not simply a collective hallucination or a belief system; there is rhyme and reason. Bitcoin exists as a solution to the money problem that is global QE and if you believe the deterioration of local currencies in Turkey, Argentina or Venezuela could never happen to the U.S. dollar or to a developed economy, we are merely at a different point on the same curve.&lt;/p&gt;
  694. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  695.  
  696. &lt;p&gt;In contrast to fiat currencies, no one can increase the supply and arbitrarily reduce bitcoin’s value. There are no centralized authorities that govern its monetary policy. Despite &lt;a href="https://seekingalpha.com/article/4398232-bitcoin-is-not-hedge-against-inflation"&gt;arguments to the contrary&lt;/a&gt;, bitcoin is similar to gold—but not exactly, because gold miners continue to inflate the supply of gold each year at a rate of 1-2%.&lt;/p&gt;
  697.  
  698. &lt;p&gt;As bitcoin is slowly introduced to the circulating supply (i.e., mined), its inflation rate decreases and will eventually cease. This fact makes bitcoin uniquely scarce among global monetary assets. Ultimately, this scarcity, along with bitcoin’s other monetary properties, should safeguard its purchasing power. As such, owning bitcoin during retirement offers you a hedge against inflation.&lt;/p&gt;
  699.  
  700. &lt;h3 id="3-bitcoin-offers-an-opportunity-for-asymmetric-returns"&gt;3. BITCOIN OFFERS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ASYMMETRIC RETURNS&lt;/h3&gt;
  701.  
  702. &lt;p&gt;Bitcoin’s capacity to mitigate many of the challenges we discuss here rests on its ability to achieve asymmetric returns. Its supply is fixed (there will only ever be 21,000,000 bitcoin), and demand for the asset is growing steadily. As this limited supply collides with increased store-of-value adoption from individuals, institutions, and governments, bitcoin has the potential to dwarf the returns of nearly every competing asset class.&lt;/p&gt;
  703.  
  704. &lt;p&gt;It’s worth noting that people generally improve their returns with bitcoin when they hold it for the long term. In the modern era, retirements lasting decades or more are increasingly common. Over such time periods, even a limited allocation to bitcoin offers ample opportunity to benefit from its upside potential. You just need time to hold through the short-term volatility, which contrary to popular belief, is &lt;a href="https://unchained.com/blog/bitcoin-is-not-too-volatile/?utm_campaign=btcmag-launch"&gt;not evidence of it being a poor store of value&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  705.  
  706. &lt;p&gt;Sequestering a portion of funds solely for appreciation during retirement runs somewhat counter to conventional wisdom. Modern retirement planning generally optimizes for the liquidation of portfolio funds to provide income. However, setting aside a small amount of bitcoin—kept steadfastly gated from funds earmarked for income—opens the door to benefit from the monetization of bitcoin’s limited supply.&lt;/p&gt;
  707.  
  708. &lt;h3 id="4-bitcoin-offers-protection-from-the-risk-of-long-term-bonds"&gt;4. BITCOIN OFFERS PROTECTION FROM THE RISK OF LONG-TERM BONDS&lt;/h3&gt;
  709.  
  710. &lt;p&gt;Conventionally, high-grade bonds—held directly or as fund shares—make up a &lt;a href="https://finance.zacks.com/percentage-retirement-funds-should-bonds-be-4536.html"&gt;significant part of most retirement portfolios&lt;/a&gt; due to their low risk levels and tendency toward capital preservation. However, things have changed.&lt;/p&gt;
  711.  
  712. &lt;p&gt;Monetary expansion and increases in societal debt have forced bond yields—or the amount of interest paid (i.e., coupon)—to historically low levels. The yields on most bonds today fall well below the rate of inflation. This “negative real yield” means that owning a bond can cost you money. But the difficulty doesn’t end there.&lt;/p&gt;
  713.  
  714. &lt;p&gt;Because retirees need funds from their portfolios to pay bills, they generally must sell assets at current market rates to derive income throughout retirement. In the case of bonds, at present, this can be very problematic. Consider the following equations.&lt;/p&gt;
  715.  
  716. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;
  717. &lt;p&gt;How much money does it take for a bond paying a 2% rate to yield $20? Answer: $1,000. ($1,000 x 2% = $20)&lt;/p&gt;
  718. &lt;/li&gt;
  719. &lt;li&gt;
  720. &lt;p&gt;How much money does it take for a bond paying a 4% rate to yield $20? Answer: $500. ($500 x 4% = $20)&lt;/p&gt;
  721. &lt;/li&gt;
  722. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;These two equations reveal that to yield the same $20 return, the market value of the underlying bond changes based on the interest rate promised.&lt;/p&gt;
  723.  
  724. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;
  725. &lt;p&gt;When interest rates go up, the market value of bonds goes down.&lt;/p&gt;
  726. &lt;/li&gt;
  727. &lt;li&gt;
  728. &lt;p&gt;When interest rates go down, the market value of bonds goes up.&lt;/p&gt;
  729. &lt;/li&gt;
  730. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;The market value of bonds has an inverse relationship to interest rates. Consider that interest rates today hover near historic lows. Over the next twenty to thirty years, what will happen to the market value of bonds held by retirees if interest rates increase substantially? The answer: the market value of their bonds will collapse.&lt;/p&gt;
  731.  
  732. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/220418_bond_yields_6_reason_to_o.jpg?itok=qTOiGt-N" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/220418_bond_yields_6_reason_to_o.jpg?itok=qTOiGt-N"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="3242e329-ba18-480a-a6af-556c4731033d" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/220418_bond_yields_6_reason_to_o.jpg?itok=qTOiGt-N" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  733.  
  734. &lt;p&gt;This changes the entire risk paradigm for bonds in retirement portfolios and potentially makes them far less safe than typically imagined. Bitcoin exists in a separate asset class from bonds; it is a bearer instrument that is not exposed to the same money market risks. As such, owning bitcoin may help you offset at least some of the potential risk incurred from owning bonds in retirement.&lt;/p&gt;
  735.  
  736. &lt;h3 id="5-bitcoin-offers-a-potential-solution-for-long-term-healthcare-risk"&gt;5. BITCOIN OFFERS A POTENTIAL SOLUTION FOR LONG-TERM HEALTHCARE RISK&lt;/h3&gt;
  737.  
  738. &lt;p&gt;Another area of concern for retirees is the cost of healthcare. Here, I am not referring so much to ordinary medical bills but rather to the potential to incur long-term care expenses in later age. Insurance is available for long-term care, but it has some unique and increasingly difficult challenges to overcome.&lt;/p&gt;
  739.  
  740. &lt;p&gt;Healthcare, in general, takes a double-hit when it comes to price inflation. Not only do healthcare costs rise due to monetary debasement, but healthcare faces additional headwinds from demand spurred by &lt;a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2020/65-older-population-grows.html"&gt;growth in the aging population&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  741.  
  742. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/retirement-age-increase-chart-pr.jpg?itok=yngd3prc" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/retirement-age-increase-chart-pr.jpg?itok=yngd3prc"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="15945d05-cd29-4f81-bea2-90a915edca26" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="319" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/retirement-age-increase-chart-pr.jpg?itok=yngd3prc" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  743.  
  744. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Source: &lt;a href="https://acl.gov/sites/default/files/Aging%20and%20Disability%20in%20America/2020ProfileOlderAmericans.Final_.pdf"&gt;Administration for Community Living – 2020 Profile of Older Americans&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  745.  
  746. &lt;p&gt;States regulate insurance for long-term care. To keep policyowners safe, insurers face scrutiny over where and how they invest policy premiums. To preserve capital required for future claims, insurers generally rely on low-risk, intermediate and long-term bonds. However, as our discussion above on bonds reveals, low yields and the potential for rising rates complicate this practice. One immediate fallout is that premiums for long-term care insurance policies have risen substantially.&lt;/p&gt;
  747.  
  748. &lt;p&gt;We noted earlier bitcoin’s usefulness as an inflation hedge and its potential for long-term price appreciation. As it relates to long-term healthcare, it may make sense to set aside some bitcoin explicitly dedicated as a hedge for this rapidly increasing expense.&lt;/p&gt;
  749.  
  750. &lt;h3 id="6-bitcoin-offers-you-individual-sovereignty"&gt;6. BITCOIN OFFERS YOU INDIVIDUAL SOVEREIGNTY&lt;/h3&gt;
  751.  
  752. &lt;p&gt;The final reason we’ll consider for owning bitcoin in retirement is that it offers you increased individual sovereignty. Bitcoin provides you a level of ownership that is not achievable with other assets. It can easily be carried across borders with &lt;a href="https://unchained.com/blog/what-is-a-bitcoin-seed-phrase/"&gt;a hardware wallet or seed phrase&lt;/a&gt;, for example, or transferred peer-to-peer anywhere in the world at low cost.&lt;/p&gt;
  753.  
  754. &lt;p&gt;If you hold bitcoin securely in a wallet you control, no central bank can steal the value of your bitcoin by printing it into oblivion. No CEO can dilute its value by issuing more of its “shares.” Nor can a bank arbitrarily block access to or confiscate your funds. Unlike centralized financial custodians, which can be ordered to freeze or withhold funds on the whims of government or other third-party authorities, bitcoin with keys properly held is resistant to these kinds of overreach.&lt;/p&gt;
  755.  
  756. &lt;p&gt;Specifically for retirement purposes, you can also hold your own keys for bitcoin in an IRA. Products like the &lt;a href="https://unchained.com/bitcoin-ira/?utm_campaign=btcmag-launch"&gt;Unchained IRA&lt;/a&gt; are a robust tool for building and saving your wealth on a tax-advantaged basis. And holding your bitcoin keys in the form of a multisig collaborative custody vault allows you to eliminate all single points of failure while you do so.&lt;/p&gt;
  757.  
  758. &lt;h3 id="sound-financial-principles-and-owning-bitcoin"&gt;SOUND FINANCIAL PRINCIPLES AND OWNING BITCOIN&lt;/h3&gt;
  759.  
  760. &lt;p&gt;Benefitting from bitcoin does not require committing to wild speculation or thoughtless abandonment of sound financial principles. In contrast, the more you look at bitcoin through sound financial principles and apply them to your thinking, the greater the opportunities it provides. One steadfast financial principle that coincides with bitcoin ownership is prudence.&lt;/p&gt;
  761.  
  762. &lt;p&gt;Macro-economic investment strategist &lt;a href="https://bitcoinmagazine.com/tags/lyn-alden"&gt;Lyn Alden&lt;/a&gt; often speaks of establishing a “non-zero position” in bitcoin (i.e., owning at least some). The risk of losing a few portfolio percentage points in a worst-case scenario is, in my estimation, worth the potential upside. But to be clear, each person’s situation is unique. You must do your own research and make the best decisions you can about what works in your particular scenario.&lt;/p&gt;
  763.  
  764. &lt;p&gt;*  *  *&lt;/p&gt;
  765.  
  766. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Visit &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="https://unchained.com/pricing/?utm_campaign=btcmag-launch"&gt;Unchained.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt; for $100 off any Unchained financial services product with code “&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="https://unchained.com/pricing/?utm_campaign=btcmag-launch"&gt;BTCMAG100&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  767. &lt;/div&gt;
  768.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  769. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T10:30:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Fri, 05/10/2024 - 06:30&lt;/span&gt;
  770. </description>
  771.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 10:30:00 +0000</pubDate>
  772.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  773.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926551 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  774.    </item>
  775. <item>
  776.  <title>New York Flight Attendants Accused Of Smuggling Millions In Drug Money To Dominican Republic</title>
  777.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/new-york-flight-attendants-accused-smuggling-millions-drug-money-dominican-republic</link>
  778.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;New York Flight Attendants Accused Of Smuggling Millions In Drug Money To Dominican Republic&lt;/span&gt;
  779.  
  780.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Four flight attendants from the New York City area have been accused of participating in &lt;strong&gt;a multimillion-dollar drug money smuggling operation&lt;/strong&gt; which saw $8 million make its way to the Dominican Republic, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.&lt;/p&gt;
  781.  
  782. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/JFK-Flight-Attendant-Smuggling-Perp-Walk-2_80.jpg?itok=hgrljafG" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/JFK-Flight-Attendant-Smuggling-Perp-Walk-2_80.jpg?itok=hgrljafG"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="f20daac0-b868-4dc9-9f95-97ee11240888" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/JFK-Flight-Attendant-Smuggling-Perp-Walk-2_80.jpg?itok=hgrljafG" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  783.  
  784. &lt;p&gt;The accused, identified as Jarol Fabio, 35, of New York City; Charlie Hernandez, 42, of West New York, New Jersey; Sarah Valerio Pujols, 42, of the Bronx; and Emmanuel Torres, 34, of Brooklyn, allegedly transported the funds over a span of several years, &lt;strong&gt;exploiting their positions as flight attendants to bypass the stringent security measures in place at JFK International Airport.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  785.  
  786. &lt;p&gt;“&lt;strong&gt;These flight attendants smuggled millions of dollars of drug money and law enforcement funds&lt;/strong&gt; t&lt;strong&gt;hat they thought was drug money from the United States to the Dominican Republic&lt;/strong&gt; over many years by abusing their privileges as airline employee[s]," stated U.S. Attorney Damien Williams. "Today’s charges should serve as a reminder to those who break the law by helping drug traffickers move their money that crime doesn’t pay."&lt;/p&gt;
  787.  
  788. &lt;p&gt;According to prosecutors, the scheme &lt;strong&gt;involved using their status as "Known Crewmembers"&lt;/strong&gt;—a designation that allows flight crew members to undergo less rigorous security screenings—to smuggle large sums of cash without detection. This privilege, intended to streamline operations for crew members, became their tool for illegal activities.&lt;/p&gt;
  789.  
  790. &lt;p&gt;Delta Airlines, where two of the defendants were employed, has been cooperative with the authorities following the revelation that security protocols meant to protect the passengers were systematically abused.&lt;/p&gt;
  791.  
  792. &lt;p&gt;According to court documents, &lt;strong&gt;the detailed operation was exposed with the help of two cooperating witnesses&lt;/strong&gt;, themselves previously arrested on money laundering charges. These witnesses played a pivotal role in unveiling the transactions that tied some of the smuggled funds to fentanyl sales, adding a dire public health dimension to the criminal activities.&lt;/p&gt;
  793.  
  794. &lt;p&gt;In one incident, &lt;strong&gt;prosecutors detailed how Hernandez and Pujols divided over $120,000 in drug money in December 2019&lt;/strong&gt;, with each taking their share on subsequent trips to the Dominican Republic. Such episodes illustrate the methodical approach taken to avoid detection while exploiting their roles within the airline industry.&lt;/p&gt;
  795.  
  796. &lt;p&gt;If convicted, the penalties are severe. Torres and Fabio face up to 15 years in prison, Hernandez could see 20 years, and Pujols, facing an additional smuggling charge, could be sentenced to up to 25 years. These stiff potential sentences reflect the serious nature of their alleged crimes, which compromised airport security systems and endangered public trust in the safety of air travel.&lt;/p&gt;
  797. &lt;/div&gt;
  798.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  799. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T09:45:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Fri, 05/10/2024 - 05:45&lt;/span&gt;
  800. </description>
  801.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 09:45:00 +0000</pubDate>
  802.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  803.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926644 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  804.    </item>
  805. <item>
  806.  <title>"The Polling Data Has Been Wrong All Along": Watch Biden Deny Economic Reality In Train-Wreck CNN Interview</title>
  807.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/polling-data-has-been-wrong-all-along-watch-biden-deny-economic-reality-train-wreck-cnn</link>
  808.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;"The Polling Data Has Been Wrong All Along": Watch Biden Deny Economic Reality In Train-Wreck CNN Interview&lt;/span&gt;
  809.  
  810.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://modernity.news/2024/05/09/look-at-his-face-biden-denies-economic-reality-in-car-crash-cnn-interview"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  811.  
  812. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;During a brutal CNN interview aired Wednesday, Joe Biden looked shocked when host Erin Burnett reeled off a list of stats detailing how bad the economy is. Instead of suggesting how he is going to improve the situation, Biden denied any of it was real and claimed every poll showing Americans favouring Trump on the economy is wrong.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  813.  
  814. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Biden-4.jpg?itok=HG2JF_w5" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Biden-4.jpg?itok=HG2JF_w5"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="cbfc7e70-cf30-4b55-b7e2-7ea743914b56" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Biden-4.jpg?itok=HG2JF_w5" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  815.  
  816. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“Voters, by a wide margin, trust Trump more on the economy,” &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;Burnett noted, before listing possible reasons for that including the cost of buying a home having doubled, real income accounting for inflation being down, economic growth being way short of expectations and consumer confidence being near a two year low.&lt;/p&gt;
  817.  
  818. &lt;p&gt;“Are you worried that you’re running out of time to turn [the economy] around?” Burnett asked Biden.&lt;/p&gt;
  819.  
  820. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“We’ve already turned it around,” &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;Biden bizarrely claimed, before adding that&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt; “the polling data has been wrong all along.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  821.  
  822. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  823. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Biden looks shocked as CNN host Erin Burnett reels off a list of stats detailing how bad the economy is. Biden claims he's already "turned it around" and that every poll showing Americans favouring Trump on the economy is wrong. Full report here: &lt;a href="https://t.co/smaN0DjOVD"&gt;https://t.co/smaN0DjOVD&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/K2wTAwdrse"&gt;pic.twitter.com/K2wTAwdrse&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  824. — m o d e r n i t y (@ModernityNews) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/ModernityNews/status/1788530844442767483?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 9, 2024&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  825. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"&gt;
  826. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Jesus, look at his face at the 20-second mark onward. He's acting as if he's hearing this economic data for the first time.&lt;/p&gt;
  827. — AdamInHTownTX (Not a Neurologist) (@AdamInHTownTX) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/AdamInHTownTX/status/1788302956913123699?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 8, 2024&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  828. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  829. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;That ain't gonna help instill confidence in voters. If this is his idea of a turnaround, what the hell would a recession look like?&lt;/p&gt;
  830. — AdamInHTownTX (Not a Neurologist) (@AdamInHTownTX) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/AdamInHTownTX/status/1788304972691484875?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 8, 2024&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  831. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"&gt;
  832. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;He looks completely bewildered why those words are coming out of her mouth. His cue cards don't cover this.&lt;/p&gt;
  833. — Mydaughterismyhero ❤️✝️ (@popparoni) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/popparoni/status/1788312494458773920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 8, 2024&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  834. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;When Burnett pointed out that Grocery prices are up almost a third, Biden shrugged it off and claimed Americans “have the money to spend.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  835.  
  836. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  837. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;CNN: "Grocery prices are up 30%+ ... that's a real day-to-day pain that people feel..."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  838. BIDEN: "They have the money to spend!"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  839. Then he repeats the debunked lie about Snickers bars and "corporate greed." &lt;a href="https://t.co/3qJDyK1bvy"&gt;pic.twitter.com/3qJDyK1bvy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  840. — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1788347473892638830?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 8, 2024&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  841. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"&gt;
  842. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;They must not show him these polls. &lt;a href="https://t.co/xFe1OZILGk"&gt;pic.twitter.com/xFe1OZILGk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  843. — Kelkat (@Tweetytweeter63) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/Tweetytweeter63/status/1788302993546264755?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 8, 2024&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  844. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;He repeated the tired lie about creating millions of jobs that everyone knows is complete rubbish because&lt;strong&gt; he’s including jobs that were reinstated from the pandemic:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  845.  
  846. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  847. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;"Why should people here believe that you will succeed at creating jobs?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  848. BIDEN: "I've never failed! I've created over 15 million jobs!"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
  849. (UNMENTIONED: The vast majority of those jobs were simply recovered from the pandemic) &lt;a href="https://t.co/XQlNz6tdZk"&gt;pic.twitter.com/XQlNz6tdZk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  850. — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1788344862657429766?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 8, 2024&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  851. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Biden also told an absolute whopper, &lt;strong&gt;claiming that inflation was 9 percent when he came into office,&lt;/strong&gt; when in reality it was 1.4 percent.&lt;/p&gt;
  852.  
  853. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  854. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Biden tells an absolute whopper of a LIE in a car crash CNN interview by claiming inflation was 9% when he took office. In reality it PEAKED at 9.1% a full 17 MONTHS after he became President. Full report here: &lt;a href="https://t.co/smaN0DjOVD"&gt;https://t.co/smaN0DjOVD&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/OZrUNIdThZ"&gt;pic.twitter.com/OZrUNIdThZ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  855. — m o d e r n i t y (@ModernityNews) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/ModernityNews/status/1788530746199617846?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 9, 2024&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  856. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;After Biden took office, inflation surged to rates unseen since the early 1980s, peaking at an annual rate of 9.1 percent in June 2022, a full 17 months after he took office.&lt;/p&gt;
  857.  
  858. &lt;p&gt;Yet, he is claiming it was ALREADY at 9 percent.&lt;/p&gt;
  859.  
  860. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Since Biden took office, the average prices of goods and services have &lt;a href="https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=1.00&amp;year1=202101&amp;year2=202403"&gt;increased 19 percent&lt;/a&gt;, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  861.  
  862. &lt;p&gt;By comparison, during Trump’s four years in office, prices increased by 8 percent, or roughly 2 percent per year, which is the normal annual rate of inflation.&lt;/p&gt;
  863.  
  864. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  865. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Biden is a Proven liar.&lt;/p&gt;
  866. — SMHonk (@SMHonk1983) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/SMHonk1983/status/1788381711119868393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 9, 2024&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  867. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;*  *  *&lt;/p&gt;
  868.  
  869. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via &lt;a href="https://pauljosephwatson.locals.com/support"&gt;Locals&lt;/a&gt; or check out our unique &lt;a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/"&gt;merch&lt;/a&gt;. Follow us on X &lt;a href="https://x.com/modernitynews"&gt;@ModernityNews&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  870. &lt;/div&gt;
  871.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  872. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T09:44:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Fri, 05/10/2024 - 05:44&lt;/span&gt;
  873. </description>
  874.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 09:44:00 +0000</pubDate>
  875.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  876.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926386 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  877.    </item>
  878. <item>
  879.  <title>Foreign Migrants Account For Nearly 6 In 10 Violent Crime Suspects In Germany</title>
  880.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/foreign-migrants-account-nearly-6-10-violent-crime-suspects-germany</link>
  881.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Foreign Migrants Account For Nearly 6 In 10 Violent Crime Suspects In Germany&lt;/span&gt;
  882.  
  883.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://modernity.news/2024/05/08/foreign-migrants-account-for-nearly-6-in-10-violent-crime-suspects-in-germany"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Modernity.news,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  884.  
  885. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Foreign migrant suspects are responsible for nearly 6 in 10 violent crimes in Germany according to new figures released by the federal government.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  886.  
  887. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/080524germany.jpg?itok=zGbjWvGq" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/080524germany.jpg?itok=zGbjWvGq"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="5d5bed0d-4149-4423-8169-3fc5bd846ae8" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="281" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/080524germany.jpg?itok=zGbjWvGq" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  888.  
  889. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Despite comprising roughly 14.6 per cent of the population, foreign migrants were responsible for 58.5 per cent of all violent crimes.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  890.  
  891. &lt;p&gt;Foreigners without a German passport make up 111,517 suspects alleged of violent crimes out of the total 190,605 suspects for the country as a whole.&lt;/p&gt;
  892.  
  893. &lt;p&gt;The statistics were released by the Federal Criminal Police Office and reported by broadcaster &lt;a href="https://www.n-tv.de/politik/Zahl-tatverdaechtiger-Auslaender-springt-nach-oben-article24858209.html"&gt;NTV&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  894.  
  895. &lt;p&gt;The number of non-Germans suspected of violent crimes rose by 14.5 per cent over the previous year, while foreign migrants also account for 187,000 out of the total 424,000 suspected thieves.&lt;/p&gt;
  896.  
  897. &lt;p&gt;&lt;iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="381" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/amPo2qhBdH4" title="A stunning piece of GOOD news." width="677"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  898.  
  899. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“Excluding immigration crimes, the number of non-Germans suspected of any crime rose by 17.8 per cent in 2023 to 923,269 suspects, representing nearly half of the 2.25 million total suspected criminals last year,”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; reports &lt;a href="https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/04/10/migrants-make-up-nearly-six-in-ten-violent-crime-suspects-in-germany/"&gt;Breitbart&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  900.  
  901. &lt;p&gt;NTV tried to justify the criminality of foreign migrants by asserting that they have experienced violence in their homes countries, which “lower(s) the threshold for using violence.”&lt;/p&gt;
  902.  
  903. &lt;p&gt;Notably, the figures don’t include foreign migrants who later obtained German citizenship or those with a foreign migration background via one of their parents.&lt;/p&gt;
  904.  
  905. &lt;p&gt;Andrea Lindholz, a member of the Bundestag parliament for the centre-right Christian Social Union (CSU) party, said &lt;strong&gt;Germany is reaching its “limit” in its “ability to integrate” migrants, adding that integration comes with a high cost.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  906.  
  907. &lt;p&gt;As we highlight in the video above, there is now majority opposition to mass migration amongst Germans, despite the establishment demonizing those who hold such views as right-wing extremists.&lt;/p&gt;
  908.  
  909. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The German government previously &lt;a href="https://modernity.news/2024/04/10/government-vows-increased-deportations-as-violent-crime-explodes-in-germany/"&gt;vowed&lt;/a&gt; to increase deportations of foreign criminals after a huge increase in migrant crime.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  910.  
  911. &lt;p&gt;The anti-mass migration AfD is the second biggest party in Germany and the most popular amongst young people, but the federal government is trying to ban it in the name of ‘preserving democracy’.&lt;/p&gt;
  912.  
  913. &lt;p&gt;*  *  *&lt;/p&gt;
  914.  
  915. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via &lt;a href="https://pauljosephwatson.locals.com/support"&gt;Locals&lt;/a&gt; or check out our unique &lt;a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/"&gt;merch&lt;/a&gt;. Follow us on X &lt;a href="https://x.com/modernitynews"&gt;@ModernityNews&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  916. &lt;/div&gt;
  917.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  918. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T09:00:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Fri, 05/10/2024 - 05:00&lt;/span&gt;
  919. </description>
  920.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  921.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  922.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926550 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  923.    </item>
  924. <item>
  925.  <title>Malta's Central Bank Governor Charged With Fraud And Misappropriation Of Funds</title>
  926.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/maltas-central-bank-governor-charged-fraud-and-misappropriation-funds</link>
  927.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Malta's Central Bank Governor Charged With Fraud And Misappropriation Of Funds&lt;/span&gt;
  928.  
  929.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;They say central bankers can always print money out thin air: in this one case, however, the head of Malta's central bank could desperately do with a bigger money printer, or at least a much better attorney.&lt;/p&gt;
  930.  
  931. &lt;p&gt;Malta's attorney general filed charges of fraud and misappropriation of funds against Central Bank of Malta Governor Edward Scicluna as well sa the country's Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne, Reuters reports citing court documents. At the same time, in what appears to be a sweeping crackdown on regime corruption, more serious corruption charges have also been leveled against former prime minister Joseph Muscat, his chief of staff and a former health minister - all in connection with a hospital privatization scandal dating back to 2015.&lt;/p&gt;
  932.  
  933. &lt;p&gt;The charges follow a four-year inquiry instigated by the opposition Nationalist Party over a deal which handed management of three state hospitals to a previously unknown group, which had no experience in the medical sector.&lt;/p&gt;
  934.  
  935. &lt;p&gt;The 30-year deal, which was conservatively valued at 4 billion euros ($4.23 billion), was annulled by Malta's highest court in February after it found fraud.&lt;/p&gt;
  936.  
  937. &lt;p&gt;Scicluna was finance minister and Fearne was a junior health minister at the time of the deal. Scicluna, &lt;strong&gt;who is a member of the European Central Bank's Governing Council, &lt;/strong&gt;has not commented on the accusations, but has previously denied any wrongdoing. Fearne has rejected the charges.&lt;/p&gt;
  938.  
  939. &lt;p&gt;"I have absolutely no doubt that the court will find nothing other than my complete innocence," he said in a statement.&lt;/p&gt;
  940. &lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/scicluna.jpg?itok=9L_HqeZi" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/scicluna.jpg?itok=9L_HqeZi"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;figure role="group" class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"&gt;&lt;img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="86b2a1e0-f797-4a2d-8f43-3a6556c8fbba" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="335" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/scicluna.jpg?itok=9L_HqeZi" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500" /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;&lt;em&gt;Edward Scicluna &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  941.  
  942. &lt;p&gt;Muscat, chief of staff Keith Schembri and former minister Konrad Mizzi face charges of money laundering, corruption, bribery, trading in influence and setting up a criminal association. All three men have denied the accusations.&lt;/p&gt;
  943.  
  944. &lt;p&gt;Muscat resigned in January 2020 after media revealed that he and Schembri had a close friendship with businessman Yorgen Fenech, &lt;strong&gt;who is awaiting trial for complicity in the 2017 car bomb murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. &lt;/strong&gt;Muscat has not been linked to the murder investigation, at least not yet.&lt;/p&gt;
  945.  
  946. &lt;p&gt;Prime Minister Robert Abela has criticised the way the inquiry was conducted and has defended Fearne, saying he would remain in office and had no doubt about his integrity.&lt;/p&gt;
  947.  
  948. &lt;p&gt;However, he has not confirmed whether he will press ahead with previously announced plans to nominate him next month as Malta’s next European Commissioner.&lt;/p&gt;
  949.  
  950. &lt;p&gt;No date had been announced for the formal court arraignments when the accused will be asked to file a plea.&lt;/p&gt;
  951. &lt;/div&gt;
  952.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  953. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T08:15:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Fri, 05/10/2024 - 04:15&lt;/span&gt;
  954. </description>
  955.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 08:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
  956.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  957.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926556 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  958.    </item>
  959. <item>
  960.  <title>Eurovision Gripped In Controversy Amid Heckling, Calls For Boycott Over Gaza</title>
  961.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/eurovision-gripped-controversy-amid-booing-calls-boycott-over-gaza</link>
  962.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Eurovision Gripped In Controversy Amid Heckling, Calls For Boycott Over Gaza&lt;/span&gt;
  963.  
  964.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/trending/eurovision-israel-booed-controversy-palestine-eden-golan"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Via Middle East Eye&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  965.  
  966. &lt;p&gt;The Eurovision Song Contest was mired in further controversy on Wednesday when the&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel" target="_blank"&gt; Israeli&lt;/a&gt; contestant's dress rehearsal performance was &lt;strong&gt;met with boos and shouts of "Free Palestine" from the audience&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  967.  
  968. &lt;p&gt;Eden Golan's performance of "Hurricane'' ahead of the second Eurovision semi-final on Thursday took place as Israel &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/how-israel-control-rafah-crossing-gaza-cut-vital-aid-lifeline-palestinians" target="_blank"&gt;plans its incursion&lt;/a&gt; into the southern Gaza city of Rafah where almost 1.5m displaced Palestinians have fled to.&lt;/p&gt;
  969. &lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/europv.jpg?itok=E9ZlUY5e" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/europv.jpg?itok=E9ZlUY5e"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;figure role="group" class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"&gt;&lt;img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="90a1fbdf-834b-4168-a8fa-7200721872de" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/europv.jpg?itok=E9ZlUY5e" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500" /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;&lt;em&gt;Singer Eden Golan representing Israel with the song 'Hurricane' performs on stage during the first rehearsal before the second semi-final of the 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Malmo Arena in Sweden on 8 May 2024.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  970.  
  971. &lt;p&gt;Israel also faces accusations of war crimes and genocide for its &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/israel-war-gaza" target="_blank"&gt;ongoing assault&lt;/a&gt; on the Gaza Strip, which has left a reported more than 34,900 Palestinians dead, the vast majority civilians.&lt;/p&gt;
  972.  
  973. &lt;p&gt;"Easily the most booing I've ever heard at #Eurovision but no major disruptions of Israel at the first show with a crowd," &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/BenRothenberg/status/1788315064409207169" target="_blank"&gt;journalist Ben Rothenberg posted&lt;/a&gt; on X, formerly Twitter.&lt;/p&gt;
  974.  
  975. &lt;p&gt;One person who said they attended the show &lt;a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/eurovision/comments/1cniy8z/comment/l37mus9/" target="_blank"&gt;said&lt;/a&gt; several members of the &lt;strong&gt;audience left during Eden Golan's performance&lt;/strong&gt;, and returned for the following contestant.&lt;/p&gt;
  976.  
  977. &lt;p&gt;"Eurovision ignored &lt;strong&gt;public backlash and outrage &lt;/strong&gt;from other musicians over Israel being allowed to perform at Eurovision while it continues its genocidal slaughter in Gaza," &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/afshinrattansi/status/1788501315313709387" target="_blank"&gt;posted&lt;/a&gt; another user alongside a clip from the show.&lt;/p&gt;
  978.  
  979. &lt;p&gt;In response, Israel's national broadcaster Kan, which is responsible for choosing the country's submission for the competition, said in a statement: "Eden stood on the stage during the dress rehearsal with pride and gave an incredible performance. &lt;strong&gt;They did not silence her and they will not silence us&lt;/strong&gt;."&lt;/p&gt;
  980.  
  981. &lt;p&gt;Golan also added in a &lt;a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/eden-golan-booed-at-eurovision-dress-rehearsal-vows-not-to-be-deterred/" target="_blank"&gt;statement&lt;/a&gt; to Israeli media that she was receiving love and support. "I am proud to represent my country, particularly this year," she said after the incident.&lt;/p&gt;
  982.  
  983. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Watch: heckling and booing intensifies for Israeli singer...&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  984.  
  985. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"&gt;
  986. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;oh the booing was beautiful &lt;a href="https://t.co/uEZnIWcZZm"&gt;pic.twitter.com/uEZnIWcZZm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  987. — Nozzy 🇮🇪🇭🇷🇪🇪 (@noztheboss) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/noztheboss/status/1788306997739180209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 8, 2024&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  988. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;While some users &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/ParmisLJavan/status/1788332468665274553" target="_blank"&gt;argued&lt;/a&gt; that singers are not responsible for the actions of their government and that art should not be mixed with politics, others countered that her song submissions and decision to represent Israel during the war are political acts.&lt;/p&gt;
  989.  
  990. &lt;p&gt;"When an artist like her actively chooses to represent her country, and actually records two previous songs that are deemed too political by the EBU [European Broadcasting Union], she is far from being an innocent or detached being from the current political situation," &lt;a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/eurovision/comments/1cniy8z/comment/l37m53x/" target="_blank"&gt;wrote one user&lt;/a&gt; on a Reddit discussion board.&lt;/p&gt;
  991.  
  992. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Golan's initial song, October Rain, had been rejected by Eurovision organizers who took issue with the apparent reference to the 7 October attacks&lt;/strong&gt;. After a request by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Kan agreed to change the lyrics despite initially refusing.&lt;/p&gt;
  993.  
  994. &lt;p&gt;"Her choosing to represent Israel with that song is per se a political act," the Reddit user continued, and added that booing was a relatively calm form of protest. "It's not harassing her outside the event of representing the country and is not putting her in any material harm. It is just a natural form of protest given the situation," they added.&lt;/p&gt;
  995.  
  996. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  997. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Eric Saade full performance at eurovision that they removed from all social media because he is a Palestinian wearing a keffiyeh. &lt;a href="https://t.co/Tx6YiqymtU"&gt;pic.twitter.com/Tx6YiqymtU&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  998. — Sitoz⭐️ (@sitoz_) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/sitoz_/status/1787993020773638570?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 7, 2024&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  999. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Another user commented that the disapproving shouts and boos were a way to "send a message" to the EBU, which organizes the competition. "They can censor and silence people all they want but people who love this contest are being fucked over and they need to see how pissed many of us are."&lt;/p&gt;
  1000.  
  1001. &lt;p&gt;The discussion comes just after the EBU &lt;strong&gt;rebuked Swedish-Palestinian &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/trending/eurovision-palestinian-scarf-keffiyeh-eric-saade-controversy" target="_blank"&gt;pop singer Eric Saade&lt;/a&gt; for compromising “the non-political nature of the event” by wearing a Palestinian scarf, the keffiyeh&lt;/strong&gt;, wrapped around his wrist in his opening performance at the first semi-final late on Tuesday.&lt;/p&gt;
  1002.  
  1003. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"&gt;
  1004. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Love love love&lt;br /&gt;
  1005. Boos and shouts of Free Palestine 🇵🇸 could be heard during &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Israel?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#Israel&lt;/a&gt;'s song at rehearsals for the semi-final of the &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Eurovision?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#Eurovision&lt;/a&gt; song contest in &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sweden?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#Sweden&lt;/a&gt; 🇸🇪 &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreePalestine?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#FreePalestine&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PermanentCeaseFire?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#PermanentCeaseFire&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/InvokeArticle6Genocideconvention?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#InvokeArticle6Genocideconvention&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EndTheGenocide?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#EndTheGenocide&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EndtheOccupation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#EndtheOccupation&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/qJ5FhYWamj"&gt;pic.twitter.com/qJ5FhYWamj&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1006. — Dyor (@Powerfulmindx) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/Powerfulmindx/status/1788586753122603082?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 9, 2024&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1007. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ireland's act, Bambie Thug, similarly said they were &lt;a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/2024/05/08/eurovision-bambie-thug-was-asked-to-remove-pro-palestinian-ogham-writing-for-performance/" target="_blank"&gt;forced to remove&lt;/a&gt; pro-Palestine symbols from their performance. The artist had "Ceasefire" and "Freedom for Palestine" written in ancient Celtic script as part of the costume, but was ordered to change it by the EBU.&lt;/p&gt;
  1008.  
  1009. &lt;p&gt;Protests are expected on Thursday in Sweden ahead of Golan's performance in the second semi-finals as part of continued demonstrations against Israel's participation in the competition.&lt;/p&gt;
  1010. &lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/malmoprotests.jpg?itok=DPL-VbBi" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/malmoprotests.jpg?itok=DPL-VbBi"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;figure role="group" class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"&gt;&lt;img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="4babf6f9-d185-4834-a5d7-e073071e3ddf" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="333" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/malmoprotests.jpg?itok=DPL-VbBi" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500" /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;&lt;em&gt;Protests in Malmo, Sweden on Thursday. Source: TT News Agency/Reuters&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  1011.  
  1012. &lt;p&gt;According to various reports, &lt;strong&gt;the city of Malmo has majorly beefed up its &lt;a href="https://www.thejournal.ie/eden-golan-israel-eurovision-booing-dress-rehearsal-6374600-May2024/" target="_blank"&gt;police presence&lt;/a&gt;, brought in reinforcements from neighboring countries&lt;/strong&gt;, and has even &lt;strong&gt;cleared out local jail cells&lt;/strong&gt; in case of mass arrests.&lt;/p&gt;
  1013. &lt;/div&gt;
  1014.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1015. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T07:30:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Fri, 05/10/2024 - 03:30&lt;/span&gt;
  1016. </description>
  1017.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 07:30:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1018.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1019.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926486 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1020.    </item>
  1021. <item>
  1022.  <title>Visualizing Europe's GDP-Per-Capita By Country</title>
  1023.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/visualizing-europes-gdp-capita-country</link>
  1024.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Visualizing Europe's GDP-Per-Capita By Country&lt;/span&gt;
  1025.  
  1026.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Europe is home to some of the &lt;a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/visualizing-the-105-trillion-world-economy-in-one-chart/"&gt;largest&lt;/a&gt; and most sophisticated economies in the world. &lt;strong&gt;But how do countries in the region compare with each other on a per capita productivity basis?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1027.  
  1028. &lt;p&gt;In this map,&lt;a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-europes-gdp-per-capita-by-country/"&gt; Visual Capitalist's Pallavi Rao shows &lt;/a&gt;Europe’s GDP per capita levels across 44 nations in current U.S. dollars.&lt;/p&gt;
  1029.  
  1030. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/EuroGDP_Site.jpg?itok=lrWVPVFq" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/EuroGDP_Site.jpg?itok=lrWVPVFq"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="bbbf254b-c23c-435c-8784-a0294082fe0e" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="659" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/EuroGDP_Site.jpg?itok=lrWVPVFq" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1031.  
  1032. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Data for this visualization and article is sourced from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) via their &lt;a href="https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/NGDPDPC@WEO/WEOWORLD/"&gt;DataMapper tool&lt;/a&gt;, updated April 2024.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1033.  
  1034. &lt;h2&gt;Europe’s Richest and Poorest Nations, By GDP Per Capita&lt;/h2&gt;
  1035.  
  1036. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Luxembourg&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;Ireland&lt;/strong&gt;, and &lt;strong&gt;Switzerland&lt;/strong&gt;, lead the list of Europe’s richest nations by GDP per capita, all above $100,000.&lt;/p&gt;
  1037.  
  1038. &lt;table class="tablepress tablepress-id-4211" id="tablepress-4211"&gt;&lt;thead&gt;&lt;tr class="row-1 odd"&gt;&lt;th class="column-1"&gt;Rank&lt;/th&gt;
  1039. &lt;th class="column-2"&gt;Country&lt;/th&gt;
  1040. &lt;th class="column-3"&gt;GDP Per Capita (2024)&lt;/th&gt;
  1041. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/thead&gt;&lt;tbody class="row-hover"&gt;&lt;tr class="row-2 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;1&lt;/td&gt;
  1042. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇱🇺 Luxembourg&lt;/td&gt;
  1043. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$131,380&lt;/td&gt;
  1044. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-3 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;2&lt;/td&gt;
  1045. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇮🇪 Ireland&lt;/td&gt;
  1046. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$106,060&lt;/td&gt;
  1047. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-4 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;3&lt;/td&gt;
  1048. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇨🇭 Switzerland&lt;/td&gt;
  1049. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$105,670&lt;/td&gt;
  1050. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-5 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;
  1051. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇳🇴 Norway&lt;/td&gt;
  1052. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$94,660&lt;/td&gt;
  1053. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-6 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;5&lt;/td&gt;
  1054. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇮🇸 Iceland&lt;/td&gt;
  1055. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$84,590&lt;/td&gt;
  1056. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-7 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;6&lt;/td&gt;
  1057. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇩🇰 Denmark&lt;/td&gt;
  1058. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$68,900&lt;/td&gt;
  1059. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-8 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;7&lt;/td&gt;
  1060. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇳🇱 Netherlands&lt;/td&gt;
  1061. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$63,750&lt;/td&gt;
  1062. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-9 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;
  1063. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇸🇲 San Marino&lt;/td&gt;
  1064. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$59,410&lt;/td&gt;
  1065. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-10 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;9&lt;/td&gt;
  1066. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇦🇹 Austria&lt;/td&gt;
  1067. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$59,230&lt;/td&gt;
  1068. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-11 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;10&lt;/td&gt;
  1069. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇸🇪 Sweden&lt;/td&gt;
  1070. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$58,530&lt;/td&gt;
  1071. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-12 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;11&lt;/td&gt;
  1072. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇧🇪 Belgium&lt;/td&gt;
  1073. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$55,540&lt;/td&gt;
  1074. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-13 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;12&lt;/td&gt;
  1075. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇫🇮 Finland&lt;/td&gt;
  1076. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$55,130&lt;/td&gt;
  1077. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-14 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;13&lt;/td&gt;
  1078. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇩🇪 Germany&lt;/td&gt;
  1079. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$54,290&lt;/td&gt;
  1080. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-15 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;14&lt;/td&gt;
  1081. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇬🇧 UK&lt;/td&gt;
  1082. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$51,070&lt;/td&gt;
  1083. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-16 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;15&lt;/td&gt;
  1084. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇫🇷 France&lt;/td&gt;
  1085. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$47,360&lt;/td&gt;
  1086. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-17 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;16&lt;/td&gt;
  1087. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇦🇩 Andorra&lt;/td&gt;
  1088. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$44,900&lt;/td&gt;
  1089. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-18 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;17&lt;/td&gt;
  1090. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇲🇹 Malta&lt;/td&gt;
  1091. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$41,740&lt;/td&gt;
  1092. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-19 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;18&lt;/td&gt;
  1093. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇮🇹 Italy&lt;/td&gt;
  1094. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$39,580&lt;/td&gt;
  1095. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-20 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;19&lt;/td&gt;
  1096. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇨🇾 Cyprus&lt;/td&gt;
  1097. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$37,150&lt;/td&gt;
  1098. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-21 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;20&lt;/td&gt;
  1099. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇪🇸 Spain&lt;/td&gt;
  1100. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$34,050&lt;/td&gt;
  1101. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-22 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;21&lt;/td&gt;
  1102. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇸🇮 Slovenia&lt;/td&gt;
  1103. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$34,030&lt;/td&gt;
  1104. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-23 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;22&lt;/td&gt;
  1105. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇪🇪 Estonia&lt;/td&gt;
  1106. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$31,850&lt;/td&gt;
  1107. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-24 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;23&lt;/td&gt;
  1108. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇨🇿 Czech Republic&lt;/td&gt;
  1109. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$29,800&lt;/td&gt;
  1110. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-25 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;24&lt;/td&gt;
  1111. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇵🇹 Portugal&lt;/td&gt;
  1112. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$28,970&lt;/td&gt;
  1113. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-26 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;25&lt;/td&gt;
  1114. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇱🇹 Lithuania&lt;/td&gt;
  1115. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$28,410&lt;/td&gt;
  1116. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-27 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;26&lt;/td&gt;
  1117. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇸🇰 Slovakia&lt;/td&gt;
  1118. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$25,930&lt;/td&gt;
  1119. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-28 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;27&lt;/td&gt;
  1120. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇱🇻 Latvia&lt;/td&gt;
  1121. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$24,190&lt;/td&gt;
  1122. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-29 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;28&lt;/td&gt;
  1123. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇬🇷 Greece&lt;/td&gt;
  1124. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$23,970&lt;/td&gt;
  1125. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-30 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;29&lt;/td&gt;
  1126. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇭🇺 Hungary&lt;/td&gt;
  1127. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$23,320&lt;/td&gt;
  1128. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-31 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;30&lt;/td&gt;
  1129. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇵🇱 Poland&lt;/td&gt;
  1130. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$23,010&lt;/td&gt;
  1131. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-32 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;31&lt;/td&gt;
  1132. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇭🇷 Croatia&lt;/td&gt;
  1133. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$22,970&lt;/td&gt;
  1134. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-33 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;32&lt;/td&gt;
  1135. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇷🇴 Romania&lt;/td&gt;
  1136. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$19,530&lt;/td&gt;
  1137. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-34 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;33&lt;/td&gt;
  1138. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇧🇬 Bulgaria&lt;/td&gt;
  1139. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$16,940&lt;/td&gt;
  1140. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-35 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;34&lt;/td&gt;
  1141. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇷🇺 Russia&lt;/td&gt;
  1142. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$14,390&lt;/td&gt;
  1143. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-36 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;35&lt;/td&gt;
  1144. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇹🇷 Türkiye&lt;/td&gt;
  1145. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$12,760&lt;/td&gt;
  1146. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-37 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;36&lt;/td&gt;
  1147. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇲🇪 Montenegro&lt;/td&gt;
  1148. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$12,650&lt;/td&gt;
  1149. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-38 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;37&lt;/td&gt;
  1150. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇷🇸 Serbia&lt;/td&gt;
  1151. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$12,380&lt;/td&gt;
  1152. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-39 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;38&lt;/td&gt;
  1153. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇦🇱 Albania&lt;/td&gt;
  1154. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$8,920&lt;/td&gt;
  1155. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-40 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;39&lt;/td&gt;
  1156. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇧🇦 Bosnia &amp; Herzegovina&lt;/td&gt;
  1157. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$8,420&lt;/td&gt;
  1158. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-41 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;40&lt;/td&gt;
  1159. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇲🇰 North Macedonia&lt;/td&gt;
  1160. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$7,690&lt;/td&gt;
  1161. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-42 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;41&lt;/td&gt;
  1162. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇧🇾 Belarus&lt;/td&gt;
  1163. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$7,560&lt;/td&gt;
  1164. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-43 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;42&lt;/td&gt;
  1165. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇲🇩 Moldova&lt;/td&gt;
  1166. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$7,490&lt;/td&gt;
  1167. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-44 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;43&lt;/td&gt;
  1168. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇽🇰 Kosovo&lt;/td&gt;
  1169. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$6,390&lt;/td&gt;
  1170. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-45 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;44&lt;/td&gt;
  1171. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;🇺🇦 Ukraine&lt;/td&gt;
  1172. &lt;td class="column-3"&gt;$5,660&lt;/td&gt;
  1173. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;tfoot&gt;&lt;tr class="row-46 even"&gt;&lt;th class="column-1"&gt;N/A&lt;/th&gt;
  1174. &lt;th class="column-2"&gt;🇪🇺 EU Average&lt;/th&gt;
  1175. &lt;th class="column-3"&gt;$44,200&lt;/th&gt;
  1176. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tfoot&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note: Figures are rounded.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1177.  
  1178. &lt;p&gt;Three &lt;strong&gt;Nordic countries&lt;/strong&gt; (Norway, Iceland, Denmark) also place highly, between $70,000-90,000. Other Nordic peers, Sweden and Finland rank just outside the top 10, between $55,000-60,000.&lt;/p&gt;
  1179.  
  1180. &lt;p&gt;Meanwhile, Europe’s biggest economies in absolute terms, &lt;strong&gt;Germany&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;UK&lt;/strong&gt;, and &lt;strong&gt;France&lt;/strong&gt;, rank closer to the middle of the top 20, with GDP per capitas around $50,000.&lt;/p&gt;
  1181.  
  1182. &lt;p&gt;Finally, at the end of the scale, &lt;strong&gt;Eastern Europe&lt;/strong&gt; as a whole tends to have much lower per capita GDPs. In that group, Ukraine ranks last, at $5,660.&lt;/p&gt;
  1183.  
  1184. &lt;h2&gt;A Closer Look at Ukraine&lt;/h2&gt;
  1185.  
  1186. &lt;p&gt;For a broader comparison, &lt;strong&gt;Ukraine’s&lt;/strong&gt; per capita GDP is similar to Iran ($5,310), El Salvador ($5,540), and Guatemala ($5,680).&lt;/p&gt;
  1187.  
  1188. &lt;p&gt;According to experts, Ukraine’s economy has &lt;a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2012/03/09/underachiever-ukraine-s-economy-since-1991-pub-47451"&gt;historically underperformed&lt;/a&gt; to expectations. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the economy contracted for five straight years. Its transition to a Western, liberalized economic structure was overshadowed by widespread corruption, a limited taxpool, and few revenue sources.&lt;/p&gt;
  1189.  
  1190. &lt;p&gt;Politically, its transformation from authoritarian regime to civil democracy has proved difficult, especially when it comes to institution building.&lt;/p&gt;
  1191.  
  1192. &lt;p&gt;Finally, after the 2022 invasion of the country, Ukraine’s GDP contracted by 30% in a single year—the largest loss since independence. Large scale emigration—to the tune of six million refugees—is also playing a role.&lt;/p&gt;
  1193.  
  1194. &lt;p&gt;Despite these challenges, the country’s &lt;a href="https://www.csis.org/blogs/development-dispatch/road-recovery-ukraines-economic-challenges-and-opportunities"&gt;economic growth&lt;/a&gt; has somewhat stabilized while fighting continues.&lt;/p&gt;
  1195. &lt;/div&gt;
  1196.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1197. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T06:45:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Fri, 05/10/2024 - 02:45&lt;/span&gt;
  1198. </description>
  1199.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 06:45:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1200.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1201.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926548 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1202.    </item>
  1203. <item>
  1204.  <title>New "Guide" Teaches UK MPs To Spot "Conspiracy Theories"</title>
  1205.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/new-guide-teaches-uk-mps-spot-conspiracy-theories</link>
  1206.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;New "Guide" Teaches UK MPs To Spot "Conspiracy Theories"&lt;/span&gt;
  1207.  
  1208.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://off-guardian.org/2024/05/08/new-guide-teaches-uk-mps-to-spot-conspiracy-theories/"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Authored by Kit Knightly via Off-Guardian.org,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1209.  
  1210. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The British government has issued a new guidebook to all sitting MPs to help them spot “conspiracy theories”.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1211.  
  1212. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/westminster.jpg?itok=U-WRDRec" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/westminster.jpg?itok=U-WRDRec"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="86da4f24-8c21-427e-9fc3-260b0d9e28a1" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="375" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/westminster.jpg?itok=U-WRDRec" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1213.  
  1214. &lt;p&gt;Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt  MP, who commissioned the guide, &lt;a href="https://www.prweek.com/article/1871749/new-guide-aims-help-mps-fight-disinformation"&gt;has warned that&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;
  1215.  
  1216. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1217. &lt;p dir="ltr"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;The proliferation of conspiracy theories across the UK is deeply disturbing. They are deliberate campaigns to spread disinformation and fear &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1218.  
  1219. &lt;p dir="ltr"&gt;&lt;em&gt;[…] &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1220.  
  1221. &lt;p dir="ltr"&gt;&lt;em&gt;If they go unchallenged we risk the public being conned and their wellbeing potentially damaged. These campaigns are also a threat to the health of our democracy. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1222.  
  1223. &lt;p dir="ltr"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;It is essential that we give the public and their representatives the tools they need to combat this phenomenon.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1224. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1225.  
  1226. &lt;p&gt;And claimed the aim of the new guide was to:&lt;/p&gt;
  1227.  
  1228. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1229. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;protect the public from the damaging effects of misinformation and safeguard the integrity of our democratic process,”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1230. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1231.  
  1232. &lt;p&gt;Which sounds just lovely, doesn’t it?&lt;/p&gt;
  1233.  
  1234. &lt;p&gt;Oh, and just in case any of you are still caught up in the party politics illusion, the guide has full cross-party support, the Shadow Leader of the House called it&lt;a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/penny-mordaunt-mps-conspiracy-theories-lucy-powell-members-of-parliament-b2540966.html"&gt; “a must-read”&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  1235.  
  1236. &lt;p&gt;The report was co-written by “experts” representing several non-governmental organisations, and fact-checkers including:&lt;/p&gt;
  1237.  
  1238. &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;
  1239. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://fullfact.org/about/funding/"&gt;FullFact&lt;/a&gt; – funded by (among others) Google, Facebook and the Open Society Foundation.&lt;/p&gt;
  1240. &lt;/li&gt;
  1241. &lt;li&gt;
  1242. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.isdglobal.org/partnerships-and-funders/"&gt;The Institute for Strategic Dialogue&lt;/a&gt;  – funded by (among others) the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, Facebook, over a dozen national governments and the UN.&lt;/p&gt;
  1243. &lt;/li&gt;
  1244. &lt;li&gt;
  1245. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://gnet-research.org/partners/"&gt;Global Network on Extremism and Technology&lt;/a&gt;  – The academic research arm of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, a thinktank &lt;em&gt;“designed to prevent terrorists and violent extremists from exploiting digital platforms”&lt;/em&gt;…and which is &lt;a href="https://gifct.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GIFCT-Annual-Report-2023.pdf"&gt;funded by&lt;/a&gt; (among others) Facebook, Amazon, Youtube and Microsoft.&lt;/p&gt;
  1246. &lt;/li&gt;
  1247. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;In short, it’s all a rather incestuous funding pool of the same handful of tech giants and billionaires paying “experts” to tell them what they want to hear.&lt;/p&gt;
  1248.  
  1249. &lt;p&gt;But we probably shouldn’t judge until we’ve read the “guide” itself, which is tricky because it doesn’t seem to be publicly available (seriously I looked everywhere, if you’re aware of a copy online post it in the comments and we’ll add it the link here).&lt;/p&gt;
  1250.  
  1251. &lt;p&gt;Fortunately, our old friends at the Guardian have &lt;a href="https://www.dumptheguardian.com/politics/article/2024/may/07/what-conspiracy-theories-are-uk-mps-being-told-to-look-out-for"&gt;given us a little taste&lt;/a&gt;, here’s three things they’re warning about.&lt;/p&gt;
  1252.  
  1253. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Great Reset&lt;/strong&gt;, which the Graun describes as…&lt;/p&gt;
  1254.  
  1255. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1256. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;…a vague set of proposals from the &lt;a href="https://www.weforum.org/"&gt;World Economic Forum&lt;/a&gt; to encourage governments to move to adopt more equitable policies, the concept has been hijacked by conspiracy theorists claiming it is a bid by a small group to exert control.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1257. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1258.  
  1259. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;…which is wonderful, because it’s essentially &lt;em&gt;admitting it’s true&lt;/em&gt; and then &lt;em&gt;pretending it’s not&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1260.  
  1261. &lt;p&gt;The Great Reset is, indeed, a WEF initiative. It was launched in June 2020 with the backing of world leaders and captains of industry, it aims to totally and completely rebuild the way our society works, including how we travel, what we eat and where we live.&lt;/p&gt;
  1262.  
  1263. &lt;p&gt;You can read about it in Klaus Schwab’s own words &lt;a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/now-is-the-time-for-a-great-reset/"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, or see their handy diagram:&lt;/p&gt;
  1264.  
  1265. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/WEF-great-reset-plan-650x595.jpg?itok=X8Zrub6S" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/WEF-great-reset-plan-650x595.jpg?itok=X8Zrub6S"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="6abf3e72-07c2-46fd-9efa-2b0652016373" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="458" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/WEF-great-reset-plan-650x595.jpg?itok=X8Zrub6S" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1266.  
  1267. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How is that NOT “exerting control”? &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1268.  
  1269. &lt;p&gt;How does one go about transforming the farming, travel, taxation and employment policies of every nation on Earth without “exerting control”?&lt;/p&gt;
  1270.  
  1271. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Eating Insects is another “conspiracy theory”, apparently. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1272.  
  1273. &lt;p&gt;With the Guardian warning that:&lt;/p&gt;
  1274.  
  1275. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1276. &lt;p&gt; [conspiracy theories] have included claims – fuelled by attempts to reduce meat consumption – that the WEF wants to make people eat insects.&lt;/p&gt;
  1277. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1278.  
  1279. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The only problem being that the WEF really &lt;em&gt;does&lt;/em&gt; want people to &lt;a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/02/how-insects-positively-impact-climate-change/"&gt;eat insects&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1280.  
  1281. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/wef-eating-insects-headline-1-65.jpg?itok=rU-fUlba" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/wef-eating-insects-headline-1-65.jpg?itok=rU-fUlba"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="36435de4-9e6b-4e4c-8ab0-5e771da55635" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="239" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/wef-eating-insects-headline-1-65.jpg?itok=rU-fUlba" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1282.  
  1283. &lt;p&gt;Like, a lot:&lt;/p&gt;
  1284.  
  1285. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/wef-eating-insects-headline-2-65.jpg?itok=6971Kcmv" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/wef-eating-insects-headline-2-65.jpg?itok=6971Kcmv"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="bb1224ea-e336-40b5-8862-881061b39a2e" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="243" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/wef-eating-insects-headline-2-65.jpg?itok=6971Kcmv" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1286.  
  1287. &lt;p&gt;You know what? The Guardian &lt;a href="https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/may/08/if-we-want-to-save-the-planet-the-future-of-food-is-insects"&gt;wants people to eat insects too&lt;/a&gt;. So does&lt;a href="https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/insects-invertebrates/why-eating-insects-could-help-fight-climate-change"&gt; the BBC&lt;/a&gt;. And&lt;a href="https://time.com/5942290/eat-insects-save-planet/"&gt; Time&lt;/a&gt;. The list is endless.&lt;/p&gt;
  1288.  
  1289. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This is – to use an overused word – gaslighting of the highest degree.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1290.  
  1291. &lt;p&gt;They are at once saying &lt;em&gt;“hey, we all need to eat insects to save the world”&lt;/em&gt;, and then claiming anyone who repeats it back at them is a conspiracy theorist.&lt;/p&gt;
  1292.  
  1293. &lt;p&gt;To encompass how mad this is you have to picture it being done on an interpersonal level.&lt;/p&gt;
  1294.  
  1295. &lt;p&gt;Imagine a double-glazing salesman comes to your door, wearing a double-glazing company logo and holding a double-glazing sales catalogue and says &lt;em&gt;“I think you should buy some double-glazing”&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  1296.  
  1297. &lt;p&gt;To which you reply,&lt;em&gt; “No thanks I don’t need any double glazing.”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1298.  
  1299. &lt;p&gt;At this point the man screams &lt;em&gt;“Double glazing? Who said anything about double glazing!? You lunatic!”&lt;/em&gt; storms off down the path, gets in his double-glazing van and drives away.&lt;/p&gt;
  1300.  
  1301. &lt;p&gt;It’s just that insane.&lt;/p&gt;
  1302.  
  1303. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Climate Lockdowns are the third “conspiracy theory” the Guardian warns us about, claiming:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1304.  
  1305. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1306. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The ISD identified “climate lockdown” as the catchphrase for the conspiracy that the climate crisis will be used as a pretext for depriving citizens of liberty.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1307. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1308.  
  1309. &lt;p&gt;But climate lockdowns are not a conspiracy theory either, they were first posited in a report in October 2020 published by Project Syndicate and the &lt;a href="https://www.wbcsd.org/Overview/Panorama/Articles/Avoiding-a-climate-lockdown#:~:text=Under%20a%20%E2%80%9Cclimate%20lockdown%2C%E2%80%9D,structures%20and%20do%20capitalism%20differently."&gt;World Council for Sustainable Development&lt;/a&gt;. The &lt;a href="https://off-guardian.org/2021/06/10/is-a-climate-lockdown-on-the-horizon/"&gt;proposed lockdown&lt;/a&gt; included banning private vehicles, the consumption of red meat and “extreme energy-saving measures”.&lt;/p&gt;
  1310.  
  1311. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Since then we have been inundated &lt;a href="https://www.envirotech-online.com/news/air-monitoring/6/university-of-birmingham/lockdown-air-quality-boost-in-oxford-helped-41-reduction-in-adult-asthma-hospital-stays/61909"&gt;with peer-review studies&lt;/a&gt;, claiming lockdown is good for the environment.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1312.  
  1313. &lt;p&gt;The Guardian itself headlined, &lt;a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210303160620/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/03/global-lockdown-every-two-years-needed-to-meet-paris-co2-goals-study"&gt;in March 2021&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;
  1314.  
  1315. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1316. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Global lockdown every two years needed to meet Paris CO2 goals – study&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1317. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1318.  
  1319. &lt;p&gt;It was such an unpopular story that they&lt;a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240418080124/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/03/global-lockdown-every-two-years-needed-to-meet-paris-co2-goals-study"&gt; sneakily changed the headline&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  1320.  
  1321. &lt;p&gt;It’s fairly clear that “climate lockdowns” are far from a conspiracy theory, that they were planned and then abandoned (or delayed) due to public anger at the first lockdown.&lt;/p&gt;
  1322.  
  1323. &lt;p&gt;*  *  *&lt;/p&gt;
  1324.  
  1325. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So, it looks like at least three of these “conspiracy theories” MPs are being “warned against” are actually…true. At least partially.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1326.  
  1327. &lt;p&gt;Oh well.&lt;/p&gt;
  1328.  
  1329. &lt;p&gt;Still, it’s reassuring to know that unnamed experts from billionaire-funded NGOs are writing “guides” teaching our elected officials about the dangers of wrongthink.&lt;/p&gt;
  1330.  
  1331. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What a great way to &lt;em&gt;“safeguard the integrity of our democratic process”.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1332. &lt;/div&gt;
  1333.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1334. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T06:00:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Fri, 05/10/2024 - 02:00&lt;/span&gt;
  1335. </description>
  1336.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 06:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1337.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1338.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926545 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1339.    </item>
  1340. <item>
  1341.  <title>The TikTok Ban Is The Next Patriot Act</title>
  1342.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/tiktok-ban-next-patriot-act</link>
  1343.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;The TikTok Ban Is The Next Patriot Act&lt;/span&gt;
  1344.  
  1345.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://mises.org/mises-wire/tiktok-ban-next-patriot-act"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Authored by Aaron Sobczak via The Mises Institute,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1346.  
  1347. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20240311/HR%207521%20Updated.pdf"&gt;HR 7521&lt;/a&gt;, called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, is a recent development in American politics. &lt;/strong&gt;TikTok has been in the news for the past few years, after the public became aware of its connections to China. The popular social media mobile app is currently owned by ByteDance Ltd, a Chinese company. China and the United States currently have a rocky relationship, leading to fears that the Chinese government could potentially use this app to spy on American citizens. Several states and counties voted to &lt;a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/montana-passes-bill-blocking-users-downloading-tiktok-rcna79622"&gt;restrict the usage&lt;/a&gt; of the app in some ways, mostly disallowing government employees from using it on government-owned phones. &lt;strong&gt;Earlier this month, the United States Congress passed a piece of legislation that would restrict the app’s availability if certain requirements are not met by ByteDance.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1348.  
  1349. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/TikTok-W.jpg.jpg?itok=JcwnHGyl" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/TikTok-W.jpg.jpg?itok=JcwnHGyl"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="b5bfefcb-5830-4d07-b0bd-b7efb361160d" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="375" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/TikTok-W.jpg.jpg?itok=JcwnHGyl" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1350.  
  1351. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Putting aside the idea that politicians rarely have pure motives, this act has the potential to be just as dangerous as the &lt;a href="https://www.justice.gov/archive/ll/archive.htm"&gt;Patriot Act&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt; With a supposed goal of protecting American national security, the Patriot Act granted sweeping permissions to the federal government and the National Security Agency to spy on American citizens, with far less due process. In addition to having the potential to violate privacy rights and the Fourth Amendment, this new act is a blatant attack on property rights. Mobile device manufacturers and owners have every right to install whatever software they would like, as it is their property. &lt;strong&gt;Any illusion of a right to national security is immediately contradicted as collective rights are &lt;a href="https://mises.org/libertarian-papers/why-libertarians-should-reject-positive-rights"&gt;positive in nature&lt;/a&gt; and thus not rights at all.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1352.  
  1353. &lt;p&gt;When looking through this act, several parts stick out.&lt;/p&gt;
  1354.  
  1355. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It begins by restricting any entity from distributing, maintaining, or updating any application that is controlled by a foreign adversary. &lt;/strong&gt;As skeptics of the state would point out, this is already problematic. It should be obvious that one cannot adequately trust the American national security regime to determine which countries or entities are adversarial. A recent egregious example would be when the United States was determined to paint &lt;a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/9-11-and-iraq-the-making-of-a-tragedy/"&gt;Iraq&lt;/a&gt;, and Saddam Hussein, as a uniquely evil power that assisted with the events of 9/11. Additionally, one can point to how the Trump and Biden administrations &lt;a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/2020/03/29/president-trump-extends-coronavirus-shutdown-until-april-30/"&gt;supported&lt;/a&gt; covid lockdowns,&lt;strong&gt; thus making Americans who understood the Constitution and property rights look like enemies in the eyes of many&lt;/strong&gt;. The state has proven itself to be incapable of telling Americans who or what they should fear.&lt;/p&gt;
  1356.  
  1357. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The act then goes on to even ban the hosting of internet services that enable the use of these apps, furthering the state’s control over the internet. &lt;/strong&gt;In addition to these fears of further government censorship, Senator Rand Paul has pointed out that many Americans &lt;a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4527989-rand-paul-proposed-tiktok-ban-makes-no-sense/"&gt;own a stake&lt;/a&gt; in ByteDance; this restriction would mean that the government is taking away American property without suspicion of a crime. The act does not just restrict companies that are directly controlled by a foreign government but even companies that are owned by private citizens of an adversarial state. When it comes to government censorship, the Chinese government is the gold standard.&lt;strong&gt; The American government is following in the steps of the Chinese Communist Party. &lt;/strong&gt;The Constitution and the natural-law-based rights that the United States was founded upon conflict greatly with this level of state censorship.&lt;/p&gt;
  1358.  
  1359. &lt;p&gt;Setting aside any pretense of national security, this act will restrict competition in the American marketplace, if not incidentally.&lt;strong&gt; Companies such as Alphabet and Meta will benefit greatly from a huge decrease of competition in the social media marketplace. &lt;/strong&gt;Additionally, foreign cooperation in the global marketplace serves to spread the values of capitalism and free expression. It is understood that free trade greatly reduces the risk of traditional warfare between states, resulting in greater global competition.&lt;/p&gt;
  1360.  
  1361. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Further alienating states that are considered adversarial is shown to diminish peace.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1362.  
  1363. &lt;p&gt;This is seen in how &lt;a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/05/08/iran-advances-nuclear-program-withdrawal-jcpoa/"&gt;Iran&lt;/a&gt; reacted to the end of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, how &lt;a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/with-one-small-step-trump-makes-history-in-north-korea/"&gt;North Korea&lt;/a&gt; positively reacted to President Donald Trump’s brief attempts to normalize diplomatic relations, and how &lt;a href="https://libertarianinstitute.org/news/russia-exits-cold-war-era-pact-nato-suspends-participation/"&gt;Russia&lt;/a&gt; reacted to the expansion and aggression of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.&lt;/p&gt;
  1364.  
  1365. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;While not quite as wide-ranging as the Patriot Act, this recent act is dangerous in multiple ways.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1366.  
  1367. &lt;p&gt;The natural rights to free expression, property, and privacy are at further risk with legislation such as this.&lt;/p&gt;
  1368.  
  1369. &lt;p&gt;One can point to how this will greatly support very large companies such as Alphabet and Meta in the American marketplace, &lt;strong&gt;companies that have spied on American citizens on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1370.  
  1371. &lt;p&gt;Additionally, already-estranged nations are less likely to come to any sort of reasonable agreement as they are continually backed into a corner by the global community.&lt;/p&gt;
  1372.  
  1373. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Skeptical Americans who are knowledgeable of history should not trust the American national security regime to properly determine who their enemies are, or the best way to keep Americans safe.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1374.  
  1375. &lt;p&gt;This legislation will only give increased power to the expansive state, power that the state has proven itself unable to use judiciously.&lt;/p&gt;
  1376. &lt;/div&gt;
  1377.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1378. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T03:40:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Thu, 05/09/2024 - 23:40&lt;/span&gt;
  1379. </description>
  1380.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 03:40:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1381.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1382.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926544 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1383.    </item>
  1384. <item>
  1385.  <title>Visualizing The Tax Burden Of Every US State</title>
  1386.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/visualizing-tax-burden-every-us-state</link>
  1387.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Visualizing The Tax Burden Of Every US State&lt;/span&gt;
  1388.  
  1389.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;This map graphic visualizes the total &lt;strong&gt;tax burden&lt;/strong&gt; in each U.S. state as of March 2024, based on figures compiled by &lt;a href="https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-highest-lowest-tax-burden/20494"&gt;WalletHub&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  1390.  
  1391. &lt;p&gt;It’s important to understand that under this methodology, the tax burden measures the &lt;strong&gt;percent of an average person’s income that is paid towards state and local taxes&lt;/strong&gt;. It considers property taxes, income taxes, and sales &amp; excise tax.&lt;/p&gt;
  1392.  
  1393. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Tax-Burden-by-State_Site.jpg?itok=lHgw6kkD" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Tax-Burden-by-State_Site.jpg?itok=lHgw6kkD"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a9570c6a-89f1-431f-98df-5590d7150d84" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="642" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Tax-Burden-by-State_Site.jpg?itok=lHgw6kkD" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1394.  
  1395. &lt;h2&gt;Data and Methodology&lt;/h2&gt;
  1396.  
  1397. &lt;p&gt;The figures we used to create this graphic are listed in the table below.&lt;/p&gt;
  1398.  
  1399. &lt;table class="tablepress tablepress-id-4229" id="tablepress-4229"&gt;&lt;thead&gt;&lt;tr class="row-1 odd"&gt;&lt;th class="column-1"&gt;State&lt;/th&gt;
  1400. &lt;th class="column-2"&gt;Total Tax Burden&lt;/th&gt;
  1401. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/thead&gt;&lt;tbody class="row-hover"&gt;&lt;tr class="row-2 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;New York&lt;/td&gt;
  1402. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;12.0%&lt;/td&gt;
  1403. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-3 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Hawaii&lt;/td&gt;
  1404. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;11.8%&lt;/td&gt;
  1405. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-4 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Vermont&lt;/td&gt;
  1406. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;11.1%&lt;/td&gt;
  1407. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-5 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Maine&lt;/td&gt;
  1408. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;10.7%&lt;/td&gt;
  1409. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-6 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;California&lt;/td&gt;
  1410. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;10.4%&lt;/td&gt;
  1411. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-7 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Connecticut&lt;/td&gt;
  1412. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;10.1%&lt;/td&gt;
  1413. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-8 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Minnesota&lt;/td&gt;
  1414. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;10.0%&lt;/td&gt;
  1415. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-9 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Illinois&lt;/td&gt;
  1416. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;9.7%&lt;/td&gt;
  1417. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-10 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;New Jersey&lt;/td&gt;
  1418. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;9.5%&lt;/td&gt;
  1419. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-11 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Rhode Island&lt;/td&gt;
  1420. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;9.4%&lt;/td&gt;
  1421. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-12 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Utah&lt;/td&gt;
  1422. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;9.4%&lt;/td&gt;
  1423. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-13 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Kansas&lt;/td&gt;
  1424. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;9.3%&lt;/td&gt;
  1425. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-14 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Maryland&lt;/td&gt;
  1426. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;9.3%&lt;/td&gt;
  1427. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-15 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Iowa&lt;/td&gt;
  1428. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;9.2%&lt;/td&gt;
  1429. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-16 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Nebraska&lt;/td&gt;
  1430. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;9.2%&lt;/td&gt;
  1431. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-17 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Ohio&lt;/td&gt;
  1432. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;8.9%&lt;/td&gt;
  1433. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-18 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Indiana&lt;/td&gt;
  1434. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;8.9%&lt;/td&gt;
  1435. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-19 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Arkansas&lt;/td&gt;
  1436. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;8.8%&lt;/td&gt;
  1437. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-20 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Mississippi&lt;/td&gt;
  1438. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;8.8%&lt;/td&gt;
  1439. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-21 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Massachusetts&lt;/td&gt;
  1440. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;8.6%&lt;/td&gt;
  1441. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-22 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Virginia&lt;/td&gt;
  1442. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;8.5%&lt;/td&gt;
  1443. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-23 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;West Virginia&lt;/td&gt;
  1444. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;8.5%&lt;/td&gt;
  1445. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-24 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Oregon&lt;/td&gt;
  1446. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;8.4%&lt;/td&gt;
  1447. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-25 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Colorado&lt;/td&gt;
  1448. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;8.4%&lt;/td&gt;
  1449. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-26 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Pennsylvania&lt;/td&gt;
  1450. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;8.4%&lt;/td&gt;
  1451. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-27 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Wisconsin&lt;/td&gt;
  1452. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;8.3%&lt;/td&gt;
  1453. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-28 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Louisiana&lt;/td&gt;
  1454. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;8.3%&lt;/td&gt;
  1455. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-29 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Kentucky&lt;/td&gt;
  1456. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;8.3%&lt;/td&gt;
  1457. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-30 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Washington&lt;/td&gt;
  1458. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;8.0%&lt;/td&gt;
  1459. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-31 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;New Mexico&lt;/td&gt;
  1460. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;8.0%&lt;/td&gt;
  1461. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-32 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Michigan&lt;/td&gt;
  1462. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;8.0%&lt;/td&gt;
  1463. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-33 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;North Carolina&lt;/td&gt;
  1464. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;7.9%&lt;/td&gt;
  1465. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-34 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Idaho&lt;/td&gt;
  1466. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;7.9%&lt;/td&gt;
  1467. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-35 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Arizona&lt;/td&gt;
  1468. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;7.8%&lt;/td&gt;
  1469. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-36 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Missouri&lt;/td&gt;
  1470. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;7.8%&lt;/td&gt;
  1471. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-37 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Georgia&lt;/td&gt;
  1472. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;7.7%&lt;/td&gt;
  1473. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-38 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Texas&lt;/td&gt;
  1474. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;7.6%&lt;/td&gt;
  1475. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-39 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Alabama&lt;/td&gt;
  1476. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;7.5%&lt;/td&gt;
  1477. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-40 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Montana&lt;/td&gt;
  1478. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;7.5%&lt;/td&gt;
  1479. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-41 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;South Carolina&lt;/td&gt;
  1480. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;7.5%&lt;/td&gt;
  1481. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-42 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Nevada&lt;/td&gt;
  1482. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;7.4%&lt;/td&gt;
  1483. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-43 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Oklahoma&lt;/td&gt;
  1484. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;7.0%&lt;/td&gt;
  1485. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-44 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;North Dakota&lt;/td&gt;
  1486. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;6.8%&lt;/td&gt;
  1487. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-45 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;South Dakota&lt;/td&gt;
  1488. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;6.4%&lt;/td&gt;
  1489. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-46 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Delaware&lt;/td&gt;
  1490. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;6.4%&lt;/td&gt;
  1491. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-47 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Tennessee&lt;/td&gt;
  1492. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;6.1%&lt;/td&gt;
  1493. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-48 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Florida&lt;/td&gt;
  1494. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;6.1%&lt;/td&gt;
  1495. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-49 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Wyoming&lt;/td&gt;
  1496. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;5.7%&lt;/td&gt;
  1497. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-50 even"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;New Hampshire&lt;/td&gt;
  1498. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;5.6%&lt;/td&gt;
  1499. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr class="row-51 odd"&gt;&lt;td class="column-1"&gt;Alaska&lt;/td&gt;
  1500. &lt;td class="column-2"&gt;4.9%&lt;/td&gt;
  1501. &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;p&gt;From this data we can see that &lt;strong&gt;New York&lt;/strong&gt; has the highest total tax burden. Residents in this state will pay, on average, 12% of their income to state and local governments.&lt;/p&gt;
  1502.  
  1503. &lt;p&gt;Breaking this down into its three components, the average New Yorker pays 4.6% of their income on income taxes, 4.4% on property taxes, and 3% in sales &amp; excise taxes.&lt;/p&gt;
  1504.  
  1505. &lt;p&gt;At the other end of the spectrum, &lt;strong&gt;Alaska&lt;/strong&gt; has the lowest tax burden of any state, equaling 4.9% of income. This is partly due to the fact that Alaskans do not pay state income tax.&lt;/p&gt;
  1506.  
  1507. &lt;h2&gt;Hate Paying Taxes?&lt;/h2&gt;
  1508.  
  1509. &lt;p&gt;In addition to Alaska, there are several other U.S. states that don’t charge income taxes. These are: &lt;strong&gt;Florida&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;Nevada&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;South Dakota&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;Tennessee&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;Texas&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;Washington&lt;/strong&gt;, and &lt;strong&gt;Wyoming&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  1510.  
  1511. &lt;p&gt;It’s also worth noting that &lt;strong&gt;New Hampshire&lt;/strong&gt; does not have a regular income tax, but does charge a flat 4% on interest and dividend income according to the &lt;a href="https://taxfoundation.org/location/new-hampshire/"&gt;Tax Foundation&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  1512.  
  1513. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out &lt;a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/visualizing-the-countries-with-the-lowest-corporate-tax-rates/"&gt;this graphic&lt;/a&gt; which ranks the countries with the lowest corporate tax rates, from 1980 to today.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1514. &lt;/div&gt;
  1515.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1516. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T03:20:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Thu, 05/09/2024 - 23:20&lt;/span&gt;
  1517. </description>
  1518.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 03:20:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1519.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1520.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926540 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1521.    </item>
  1522. <item>
  1523.  <title>Thursday Humor: What Is The Optimal Temperature For Global GDP Growth?</title>
  1524.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/thursday-humor-what-optimal-temperature-global-gdp-growth</link>
  1525.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Thursday Humor: What Is The Optimal Temperature For Global GDP Growth?&lt;/span&gt;
  1526.  
  1527.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://mishtalk.com/economics/what-is-the-optimal-temperature-for-global-gdp-growth/"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1528.  
  1529. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;A group of climate alarmists have concluded that global GDP will be 23 percent lower on the current path.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1530.  
  1531. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/How-Does-Temperature-Affect-GDP.jpg?itok=3xvaNbXf" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/How-Does-Temperature-Affect-GDP.jpg?itok=3xvaNbXf"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="362a352f-e31b-4837-be71-85193eae459d" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="308" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/How-Does-Temperature-Affect-GDP.jpg?itok=3xvaNbXf" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1532.  
  1533. &lt;p&gt;I was aware of the &lt;strong&gt;ridiculous article &lt;/strong&gt;when it came out.&lt;/p&gt;
  1534.  
  1535. &lt;p&gt;I stopped reading when I noted that all countries were all given equal weighting. For example, Nigeria has the same weight as the US.&lt;/p&gt;
  1536.  
  1537. &lt;p&gt;The authors tried to mitigate this in various ways but it was obvious that the authors would bend the data and the report to match their goals.&lt;/p&gt;
  1538.  
  1539. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Today, I am pleased to present a complete and thorough trashing of the Nature article.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1540.  
  1541. &lt;p&gt;Please consider &lt;a href="https://econjwatch.org/File%20download/1297/BarkerMar2024.pdf?mimetype=pdf"&gt;Global Non-Linear Effect of Temperature on Economic Production: Comment on Burke, Hsiang, and Miguel&lt;/a&gt; by &lt;strong&gt;David Barker&lt;/strong&gt;, emphasis mine.&lt;/p&gt;
  1542.  
  1543. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1544. &lt;p&gt;The journal Nature published an influential article in 2015 by &lt;em&gt;Marshall Burke, Solomon M. Hsiang, and Edward Miguel (hereafter BHM) &lt;/em&gt;purporting to show that higher temperatures will lower economic growth in warm countries.&lt;/p&gt;
  1545.  
  1546. &lt;p&gt;The Web of Science reports that the paper is in the top six one hundredths of one percent of economics and business publications by citations, and Google Scholar shows 2,269 citations. BHM (2015) also received significant attention in the popular press. Hsiang further developed this work and cowrote a chapter of the National Climate Assessment (Hsiang et al. 2023) claiming that higher temperatures would reduce the rate of economic growth.&lt;/p&gt;
  1547.  
  1548. &lt;p&gt;BHM’s analysis is shallow and misleading. &lt;em&gt;The authors use data with characteristics that are known to create spurious regression results without making proper adjustments or even acknowledging these characteristics. They estimate parameters of a quadratic curve relating temperature to growth, and then cherrypick countries to include in a chart that appears to confirm the shape of this curve. &lt;/em&gt;The curve is then used to project growth rates into the distant future using temperature scenarios that a more recent comment in Nature described as either “extremely unlikely” or “unlikely”.&lt;/p&gt;
  1549.  
  1550. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Description of BHM (2015)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1551.  
  1552. &lt;p&gt;BHM (2015) use annual data representing 166 countries from 1961 to 2010 on temperature and economic growth. &lt;em&gt;All countries are equally weighted, and every country is assigned a single average temperature for each year. &lt;/em&gt;Because some data are missing, there is a total of 6,584 country/year observations instead of the 8,300 that could be used if data from all years in all countries were available.&lt;/p&gt;
  1553.  
  1554. &lt;p&gt;The headline result of a 23 percent reduction in GDP comes from taking each country’s projected GDP per capita with and without climate change, then taking the weighted average by population, and then taking the percentage difference between the weighted sum with and without climate change.&lt;/p&gt;
  1555.  
  1556. &lt;p&gt;The headline result, that warming will reduce global GDP per capita by 23 percent, is more than double the mean estimate of BHM’s bootstrap estimation, which they do not report. &lt;em&gt;BHM claim that their result is “globally representative”, but it does not hold without Greenland and the regions of the Sahara and Central Africa, and it does not hold in large regions of the world&lt;/em&gt;. Simulations support the hypothesis that spatial autocorrelation may be the cause of BHM’s results, and robustness checks also suggest that their results may be spurious. BHM has been the subject of methodological criticism (Newell et al. 2021; Tol 2019; Rosen 2019), but my paper is the first to precisely document its deceptive practices.&lt;/p&gt;
  1557. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1558.  
  1559. &lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thesis Falls Apart&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  1560.  
  1561. &lt;p&gt;Barker notes that if you remove Greenland and regions of the Sahara and Central Africa from the analysis, the entire BHM thesis falls apart.&lt;/p&gt;
  1562.  
  1563. &lt;p&gt;He also comments on dummy variables and notes that if the analysis started one year earlier, the BHM thesis also falls apart.&lt;/p&gt;
  1564.  
  1565. &lt;p&gt;On the geek side, Barker notes “Any data, no matter how noisy, will generate a smooth quadratic curve if one variable is regressed on another and its square and the predicted values of the dependent variable are plotted against possible values of the independent variable.”&lt;/p&gt;
  1566.  
  1567. &lt;p&gt;Thus, the nice smooth graphs of BHM are automatic by design.&lt;/p&gt;
  1568.  
  1569. &lt;p&gt;Regarding the lead chart, Barker says “&lt;em&gt;Five countries are cherry-picked to make the relationship appear to be significant. While the figure is not a crucial part of BHM’s analysis, it is indicative of the misleading approach of the paper, and suggests alternative methods of measuring the relationship between growth and temperature.&lt;/em&gt;“&lt;/p&gt;
  1570.  
  1571. &lt;p&gt;Much of his rebuttal is complex and not light reading. I picked some highlights that I thought would be generally understandable.&lt;/p&gt;
  1572.  
  1573. &lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Optimal Temperature&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  1574.  
  1575. &lt;p&gt;I am confident there is no such a thing as an optimal global temperature. Such a belief precludes technology advances that can mitigate climate impacts.&lt;/p&gt;
  1576.  
  1577. &lt;p&gt;At best, an optimal temperature is unknowable and changing. And it’s ridiculous to believe we could or should try to hit the optimal temperature even if it exists.&lt;/p&gt;
  1578.  
  1579. &lt;p&gt;It’s clear BHM had an agenda and manipulated the dates, the countries, the years included, and the dummy variables to produce the desired result.&lt;/p&gt;
  1580.  
  1581. &lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Forcing the Data to Meet the Non-Science&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  1582.  
  1583. &lt;p&gt;BHM&lt;em&gt; &lt;/em&gt;forced the data not to meet the science, but to meet a belief in non-science. I fail to see what they gain by this.&lt;/p&gt;
  1584.  
  1585. &lt;p&gt;At best, they now look like a pack of incompetent scientists, and at worst a pack of complete liars.&lt;/p&gt;
  1586.  
  1587. &lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cheers From the Cult&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  1588.  
  1589. &lt;p&gt;The people BHM address are in the same cult and need no convincing. OK, BHM got cheers from the cult. If that was the goal, congrats.&lt;/p&gt;
  1590.  
  1591. &lt;p&gt;But if the goal was to convince the skeptics, they failed miserably.&lt;/p&gt;
  1592.  
  1593. &lt;p&gt;Some of us saw through the nonsense right from the beginning. And now we have a stellar rebuttal from David Barker to back us up.&lt;/p&gt;
  1594.  
  1595. &lt;h2&gt;&lt;strong&gt;March to Madness Continues&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;
  1596.  
  1597. &lt;p&gt;The lie of the day is from the EPA: Carbon capture will pay for itself (thanks to IRA subsidies). No, it won’t even with subsidies. Expect blackouts and a higher price for electricity.&lt;/p&gt;
  1598.  
  1599. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Global-CCS-Capacity.jpg?itok=bDkQ1iA5" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Global-CCS-Capacity.jpg?itok=bDkQ1iA5"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="df69907d-d3f9-4d0e-8955-69201868622e" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="316" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Global-CCS-Capacity.jpg?itok=bDkQ1iA5" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1600.  
  1601. &lt;p&gt;In case you missed it, please see &lt;a href="https://mishtalk.com/economics/bidens-new-carbon-capture-mandates-will-cause-blackouts-increases-prices/"&gt;Biden’s New Carbon Capture Mandates Will Cause Blackouts, Increases Prices&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1602.  
  1603. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The march to energy madness continues.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1604. &lt;/div&gt;
  1605.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1606. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T03:00:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Thu, 05/09/2024 - 23:00&lt;/span&gt;
  1607. </description>
  1608.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 03:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1609.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1610.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926518 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1611.    </item>
  1612. <item>
  1613.  <title>Chris Cuomo Admits Taking "Regular" Doses Of Ivermectin After Previously Saying Those Who Took It Should Be "Shamed"</title>
  1614.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/chris-cuomo-admits-taking-regular-doses-ivermectin-despite-once-saying-those-who-took-it</link>
  1615.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Chris Cuomo Admits Taking "Regular" Doses Of Ivermectin After Previously Saying Those Who Took It Should Be "Shamed"&lt;/span&gt;
  1616.  
  1617.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;After once claiming on air that people taking ivermectin should be "shamed", Chris Cuomo has done an about face on the drug, admitting on the PBD Podcast this week that he is taking a regular dose of it to deal with long Covid. &lt;/p&gt;
  1618.  
  1619. &lt;p&gt;In January, Cuomo revealed he's dealing with "long COVID," the lasting effects of a previous infection. On the PBD Podcast hosted by Patrick Bet-David, the NewsNation host said he's using antiviral medication to combat inflammation and "brain fog."&lt;/p&gt;
  1620.  
  1621. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"&gt;
  1622. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en" xml:lang="en"&gt;Trust the science… &lt;a href="https://t.co/uKe7o631Gt"&gt;pic.twitter.com/uKe7o631Gt&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1623. — Clown World ™ 🤡 (@ClownWorld_) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/ClownWorld_/status/1788321542562074868?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 8, 2024&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1624. &lt;script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;p&gt;He said: “I’ll tell you something else that’s gonna get you a lot of hits. I am taking … a regular dose of Ivermectin. Ivermectin was a boogeyman during COVID. That was wrong. We were given bad information about Ivermectin. The real question is, why?”&lt;/p&gt;
  1625.  
  1626. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Why, Chris? Perhaps its because you and Don Lemon were on-air daily providing a constant stream of misinformation about the drug?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1627.  
  1628. &lt;p&gt;He continued: “Everyone’s going to say ‘Joe Rogan was right. No, Joe Rogan was saying – yeah, he was right – that’s not what matters. &lt;strong&gt;What matters is, the entire medical community knew that Ivermectin couldn’t hurt you. They knew it … I know they knew it."&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1629.  
  1630. &lt;p&gt;"How do I know? Because now I’m doing nothing but talking to these clinicians, who at the time were overwhelmed by COVID, and they weren’t saying anything!”&lt;/p&gt;
  1631.  
  1632. &lt;p&gt;But back during the pandemic, Cuomo took to the air to widely discredit ivermectin, despite it appears on the WHO's List of Essential Medicines and having been dosed for humans millions of times. &lt;/p&gt;
  1633.  
  1634. &lt;p&gt;Cuomo said during the pandemic: &lt;strong&gt; “What person – you know you talk about cancel culture and who to shame – Ivermectin? A de-wormer? Really? … they need to be shamed. They need to be called out and shamed, brother.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1635.  
  1636. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/cumono_0.jpg?itok=xmRJJhsu" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/cumono_0.jpg?itok=xmRJJhsu"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="42486d6a-97f6-481d-816a-f95522918634" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="284" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/cumono_0.jpg?itok=xmRJJhsu" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1637.  
  1638. &lt;p&gt;Like all ridiculous liberal talking points, the truth tends to emerge only when involves the well-being of those espousing lessons on how others should live their lives. Cuomo now says about ivermectin:&lt;b&gt; &lt;/b&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“It’s cheap, it’s not owned by anybody, and it’s used as an anti-microbial, antiviral and has been for all these different ways, and has been for a long time.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1639.  
  1640. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; “My doctor was using it during COVID on her family and on her patients, and it was working for them. So. They were wrong to play scared on that. Didn’t know that at the time. Know it now, admit it now, reporting on it now.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1641.  
  1642. &lt;p&gt;Back in August 2023, when we published "&lt;a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/unforgivable-ivermectin-swindle"&gt;The Unforgiveable Ivermectin Swindle&lt;/a&gt;", we noted...the &lt;a href="https://quoththeraven.substack.com/p/the-unforgivable-ivermectin-swindle" rel=""&gt;truth finds a way&lt;/a&gt; to make its way out eventually.&lt;/p&gt;
  1643. &lt;/div&gt;
  1644.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1645. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T02:40:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Thu, 05/09/2024 - 22:40&lt;/span&gt;
  1646. </description>
  1647.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 02:40:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1648.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1649.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926464 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1650.    </item>
  1651. <item>
  1652.  <title>Chinese Stock Rally Likely To Stall Without Robust Earnings</title>
  1653.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/chinese-stock-rally-likely-stall-without-robust-earnings</link>
  1654.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Chinese Stock Rally Likely To Stall Without Robust Earnings&lt;/span&gt;
  1655.  
  1656.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;By Henry Ren, Bloomberg Markets Live reporter and strategist&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1657.  
  1658. &lt;p&gt;Earnings for China Inc. are looking somewhat better, though likely not enough to keep fueling the recent stock market rally.&lt;/p&gt;
  1659.  
  1660. &lt;p&gt;Strategists say the bounce spurred by low valuations needs a full-blown earnings recovery to continue. Remember the lesson from China’s Covid reopening trade, which began favorably in late 2022 and lasted only three months.&lt;/p&gt;
  1661.  
  1662. &lt;p&gt;During that period when the MSCI China Index rallied 59% from trough to peak, analysts raised forward earnings expectations by about 10%. However, earnings revisions turned negative starting in February 2023, and Chinese stocks never managed to regain their strength.&lt;/p&gt;
  1663.  
  1664. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/china%20reopening%20rally%202.jpg?itok=fAM9NcnX" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/china%20reopening%20rally%202.jpg?itok=fAM9NcnX"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e880258d-e223-4d95-b9b4-34c19eb68e60" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="271" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/china%20reopening%20rally%202.jpg?itok=fAM9NcnX" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1665.  
  1666. &lt;p&gt;This year, after a 25% rebound from the bottom in January, &lt;strong&gt;Chinese stocks are once again at a tipping point, with investors turning to earnings for potential catalysts. First-quarter reports so far are decidedly mixed.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1667.  
  1668. &lt;p&gt;Firms listed on the mainland have recorded a 4% decline in earnings as their gross profit margins lingered at low levels, according to UBS strategists. It’s a similar picture for MSCI China components.&lt;/p&gt;
  1669.  
  1670. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Companies making up a third of the benchmark index posted a 5% drop in sales&lt;/strong&gt;, JPMorgan cautioned in a May 1 note.&lt;/p&gt;
  1671.  
  1672. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/a%20share%20revenue%20growth.jpg?itok=DYby5y6j" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/a%20share%20revenue%20growth.jpg?itok=DYby5y6j"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="2926a774-ac5c-46d7-85f8-e1eae7988e45" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="315" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/a%20share%20revenue%20growth.jpg?itok=DYby5y6j" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1673.  
  1674. &lt;p&gt;Next week’s reports from big-cap internet companies probably will determine how this earnings season registers on the index level. Weak retail sales growth in March and a decline in per-capita tourist spending during the May 1-5 national holiday are bad omens for the sector, which is highly affected by consumer sentiment.&lt;/p&gt;
  1675.  
  1676. &lt;p&gt;Better earnings are critically important, especially at a time when tailwinds that lifted Chinese stock gauges into bull territory are tapering off. The MSCI China Index is now technically overbought for the first time since January 2023.&lt;/p&gt;
  1677.  
  1678. &lt;p&gt;Meanwhile, Japanese equities have stabilized and US markets have digested the idea that fewer Federal Reserve rate cuts are coming, reducing the urgency for global funds to diversify away from developed markets.&lt;/p&gt;
  1679.  
  1680. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/msci%20china%20overbought.jpg?itok=YCkZa_UJ" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/msci%20china%20overbought.jpg?itok=YCkZa_UJ"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="f080f889-299a-4a2a-ba25-9cfa5c371af3" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="264" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/msci%20china%20overbought.jpg?itok=YCkZa_UJ" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1681.  
  1682. &lt;p&gt;But it’s not all doom and gloom. The &lt;strong&gt;number of mainland-listed firms missing estimates declined this reporting season, and large-cap stocks are undergoing more upward earnings revisions, according to Morgan Stanley strategists led by Laura Wang&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  1683.  
  1684. &lt;p&gt;Some select industries still show signs of improvement, despite macro data being “weak and mixed,” said Vivian Lin Thurston, a fund manager at William Blair Investment Management in Chicago. Export-driven companies and appliance makers have stood out, she noted.&lt;/p&gt;
  1685.  
  1686. &lt;p&gt;Still, more patience is required if the recovery is to broaden. “What we do have is some better news on some specific sectors because the expectations are very low,” said Societe Generale strategist Frank Benzimra. “But it’s just too early to say that this is a sustainable upturn.”&lt;/p&gt;
  1687. &lt;/div&gt;
  1688.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1689. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T02:20:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Thu, 05/09/2024 - 22:20&lt;/span&gt;
  1690. </description>
  1691.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 02:20:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1692.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1693.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926642 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1694.    </item>
  1695. <item>
  1696.  <title>How People Get Around In America, Europe, And Asia</title>
  1697.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/how-people-get-around-america-europe-and-asia</link>
  1698.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;How People Get Around In America, Europe, And Asia&lt;/span&gt;
  1699.  
  1700.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;This chart,&lt;a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/how-people-get-around-america-europe-asia/"&gt; via Visual Capitalist's Pallavi Rao, &lt;/a&gt;highlights the popularity of different transportation types in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, calculated by modal share.&lt;/p&gt;
  1701.  
  1702. &lt;p&gt;Data for this article and visualization is sourced from &lt;strong&gt;‘The ABC of Mobility’&lt;/strong&gt;, a research paper by Rafael Prieto-Curiel (Complexity Science Hub) and Juan P. Ospina (EAFIT University), accessed through &lt;a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024001272"&gt;ScienceDirect&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  1703.  
  1704. &lt;p&gt;The authors gathered their modal share data through travel surveys, which focused on the primary mode of transportation a person employs for each &lt;strong&gt;weekday trip&lt;/strong&gt;. Information from 800 cities across 61 countries was collected for this study.&lt;/p&gt;
  1705.  
  1706. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Transport_Site.jpg?itok=VM2oh4ln" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Transport_Site.jpg?itok=VM2oh4ln"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="3a2d55ef-239c-406b-a239-1198337b1bf4" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="685" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Transport_Site.jpg?itok=VM2oh4ln" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1707.  
  1708. &lt;h2&gt;North American Car Culture Contrasts with the Rest of the World&lt;/h2&gt;
  1709.  
  1710. &lt;p&gt;In the &lt;strong&gt;U.S. and Canada&lt;/strong&gt;, people heavily &lt;a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/vehicles-per-capita-by-country/"&gt;rely on cars&lt;/a&gt; to get around, no matter the size of the city. There are a few exceptions of course, such as New York, Toronto, and smaller college towns across the United States.&lt;/p&gt;
  1711.  
  1712. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2024-05-09_11-06-25.jpg?itok=dKm1zVz_" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2024-05-09_11-06-25.jpg?itok=dKm1zVz_"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="1d4b426b-dbf0-4d97-bbf5-26e75dee5e24" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="270" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2024-05-09_11-06-25.jpg?itok=dKm1zVz_" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1713.  
  1714. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Note: *Excluding Mexico. Percentages are rounded.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1715.  
  1716. &lt;p&gt;As a result, North America’s share of public transport and active mobility (walking and biking) is the lowest amongst all surveyed regions by a significant amount.&lt;/p&gt;
  1717.  
  1718. &lt;p&gt;On the other hand, &lt;strong&gt;public transport&lt;/strong&gt; reigns supreme in South and Central America as well as Southern and Eastern Asia. It ties with cars in Southeastern Asia, and is eclipsed by cars in Western Asia.&lt;/p&gt;
  1719.  
  1720. &lt;p&gt;As outlined in the paper, &lt;strong&gt;Europe&lt;/strong&gt; sees more city-level differences in transport popularity.&lt;/p&gt;
  1721.  
  1722. &lt;p&gt;For example, Utrecht, Netherlands prefers walking and biking. People in Paris and London like using their extensive transit systems. And in Manchester and Rome, roughly two out of three journeys are by car.&lt;/p&gt;
  1723. &lt;/div&gt;
  1724.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1725. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T02:00:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Thu, 05/09/2024 - 22:00&lt;/span&gt;
  1726. </description>
  1727.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 02:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1728.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1729.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926539 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1730.    </item>
  1731. <item>
  1732.  <title>Democrats Attack Judge For Delaying Trump Florida Trial</title>
  1733.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/political/democrats-attack-judge-delaying-trump-florida-trial</link>
  1734.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Democrats Attack Judge For Delaying Trump Florida Trial&lt;/span&gt;
  1735.  
  1736.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://jonathanturley.org/2024/05/09/democrats-attack-judge-for-delaying-trump-florida-trial/"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Authored by Jonathan Turley,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1737.  
  1738. &lt;p&gt;While pundits, politicians and the press have long &lt;a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4652538-democrats-cry-foul-over-judge-cannons-handling-of-trump-documents-case/"&gt;expressed outrage&lt;/a&gt; over attacks on judges by former President Donald Trump, many are now attacking any judge who delays any trial of Trump before the election.&lt;strong&gt; Democrats have accused Judge Aileen Cannon of being politically compromised, if not conspiratorial, in her delay of the Florida trial over the mishandling of classified documents. &lt;/strong&gt;Yet, there is ample reason for the delay that many of us anticipated in this type of case when it was filed.&lt;/p&gt;
  1739.  
  1740. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Cannon2021_004.jpg?itok=dH9QXexb" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Cannon2021_004.jpg?itok=dH9QXexb"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0a36eeed-4acc-49f4-ab4b-0572f7c51d5f" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="667" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Cannon2021_004.jpg?itok=dH9QXexb" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1741.  
  1742. &lt;p&gt;For months, many of us have said that we doubt that this type of trial could be held on the rapid schedule demanded by Special Counsel Jake Smith. Smith has repeatedly sought to curtail trial review and even appellate rights of Trump to advance his schedule.&lt;/p&gt;
  1743.  
  1744. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;His office has made convicting Trump before the election the overriding objective of its motion &lt;/strong&gt;— a sharp departure from past Justice Department efforts to avoid trials to influence elections.&lt;/p&gt;
  1745.  
  1746. &lt;p&gt;As a criminal defense counsel, I have handled classified material cases and they are notoriously slow. Smith could have prosecuted this case in the shorter time frame if he simply charge obstruction. That would have also eliminated the glaring contrast with the handling of the Biden investigation into the current president’s retention and mishandling of classified material.&lt;/p&gt;
  1747.  
  1748. &lt;p&gt;Smith decided to charge an array of document charges related to classified material. The defense must have access, review, and can appeal issue related to the classified procedures. Yet, Smith wanted both the array of document charges and a fast track to trial. The Supreme Court has agreed with Cannon that Smith desire to secure a conviction before the election is not the overriding consideration.&lt;/p&gt;
  1749.  
  1750. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Judge Cannon is faced with recent admissions that the government mixed up files in the boxes and staged the famous photos of document strewn over a floor with classified jackets. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1751.  
  1752. &lt;p&gt;Most importantly, disputes over the relevant documents continues as expected in the case.&lt;/p&gt;
  1753.  
  1754. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Nevertheless, leading democrats are denouncing Cannon as a partisan hack.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1755.  
  1756. &lt;p&gt;Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on federal courts and oversight subcommittee, said &lt;strong&gt;accused Cannon of “deliberately slow-walking the case.”&lt;/strong&gt; Ignoring the fact that similar cases have taken much longer to go to trial, Whitehouse simply declared &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“it is hard for me not to reach the conclusion that this [judge] is deliberately slow-walking the case to put it into a position where should [Trump] be elected, he can order that the investigation and prosecution be terminated.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1757.  
  1758. &lt;p&gt;His colleague Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) insisted that &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cannon was “managing this case in a way that is making it highly unlikely that it will be resolved in a timely fashion.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1759.  
  1760. &lt;p&gt;Coons added &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“Justice deferred is often justice denied.” &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;It is a bizarre statement. Classified documents cases routinely take longer to go to trial. The alternative is to cut off the ability of the defense to fully review the documents and review objections for resolution before trial. Yet, because the defendant is Trump and these Democrats want the trial to influence the election, such defense protections are now evidence of judicial bias.&lt;/p&gt;
  1761.  
  1762. &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;They, of course, ignore that Cannon has ruled repeatedly against major Trump motions in the case.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1763.  
  1764. &lt;p&gt;Sen. &lt;a href="https://thehill.com/people/peter-welch/"&gt;Peter Welch &lt;/a&gt;(D-Vt.), a member of the Judiciary Committee, said Cannon’s “at it again, doing everything she can to delay.”&lt;/p&gt;
  1765.  
  1766. &lt;p&gt;Sen. &lt;a href="https://thehill.com/people/richard-blumenthal/"&gt;Richard Blumenthal &lt;/a&gt;(D-Conn.), offered the most telling line. He said &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“I question whether this judge understands the magnitude or the legal import of this trial.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1767.  
  1768. &lt;p&gt;Indeed, it is the timing as much as the charges that makes this so important to the Justice Department and the Democrats. Smith has crafted this case to impact the election and the failure of the court to support that effort is apparently grounds for recusal.&lt;/p&gt;
  1769.  
  1770. &lt;p&gt;Blumenthal called for such a motion before the window is lost before the election: &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;“It’s a classic dilemma for justice that a particular judicial officer may be conducting a trial that could be better done by somebody else.”&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1771.  
  1772. &lt;p&gt;Despite the statement of his colleague Coons, this is a case where justice delayed is justice.&lt;/p&gt;
  1773. &lt;/div&gt;
  1774.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1775. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T01:40:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Thu, 05/09/2024 - 21:40&lt;/span&gt;
  1776. </description>
  1777.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 01:40:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1778.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1779.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926509 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1780.    </item>
  1781. <item>
  1782.  <title>Manhattan Apartment Rents Gain Momentum, Signal Potential Record Highs This Summer</title>
  1783.  <link>https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/manhattan-apartment-rents-gain-momentum-signal-potential-record-highs-summer</link>
  1784.  <description>&lt;span property="schema:name" class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"&gt;Manhattan Apartment Rents Gain Momentum, Signal Potential Record Highs This Summer&lt;/span&gt;
  1785.  
  1786.            &lt;div property="schema:text" class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"&gt;&lt;p&gt;While the rent component of the consumer price index has shown a strong disinflationary trend since peaking in the summer of 2023, high-frequency data reveals rent prices in key metro areas are moving higher. &lt;/p&gt;
  1787.  
  1788. &lt;p&gt;Several high-frequency rental data points show that the cost of signing a new lease on a house or apartment is rising again despite decelerating rent component print in the &lt;a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/consumer-prices-print-hotter-expected-led-surge-energy-shelter-costs"&gt;March Consumer Price Index&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;
  1789.  
  1790. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/Snag_1a2bf0b1.png?itok=efoQsm95" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/Snag_1a2bf0b1.png?itok=efoQsm95"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="192a9c29-7485-4a51-9f38-f34d62b49c28" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="267" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/Snag_1a2bf0b1.png?itok=efoQsm95" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1791.  
  1792. &lt;p&gt;Let's begin with Manhattan apartment rents, hitting a new record for April, &lt;a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-09/manhattan-apartment-rents-climb-to-highest-on-record-for-april"&gt;Bloomberg&lt;/a&gt; reported, citing a new report from appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate.&lt;/p&gt;
  1793.  
  1794. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/rents_0.jpg?itok=1-bBjegq" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/rents_0.jpg?itok=1-bBjegq"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="d05cfed1-6339-4be5-9593-3ad2bff782aa" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="230" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/rents_0.jpg?itok=1-bBjegq" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1795.  
  1796. &lt;p&gt;New leases signed in April topped an average of $4,250, up $9 from last April. Overall, prices peaked at $4,440 last August, sliding marginally in the fall months, and have since moved higher at the start of the year. &lt;/p&gt;
  1797. &lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/inline-images/2024-05-09_08-48-09.png?itok=7hh156IX" data-link-option="0" href="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/inline-images/2024-05-09_08-48-09.png?itok=7hh156IX"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;figure role="group" class="caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images"&gt;&lt;img alt="" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="b3995d39-7272-4e65-a56d-c927585b7d60" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="285" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2024-05-09_08-48-09.png?itok=7hh156IX" typeof="foaf:Image" width="500" /&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;&lt;em&gt;Source: Bloomberg&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
  1798.  
  1799. &lt;p&gt;"The question is whether we're going to beat last summer's all-time highs," said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel. &lt;/p&gt;
  1800.  
  1801. &lt;p&gt;Miller pointed out that rents are likely to "beat last summer's all-time highs" given their current trajectory and momentum.  &lt;/p&gt;
  1802.  
  1803. &lt;p&gt;Looking at CoreLogic data, its latest Single-Family Rent Index, which examines single-family rent price changes nationally and across major cities, "regained strength in February, posting the highest annual appreciation since April 2023," according to Molly Boesel, principal economist at CoreLogic. &lt;/p&gt;
  1804.  
  1805. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a data-image-external-href="" data-image-href="/s3/files/inline-images/2024-05-09_08-48-58.png?itok=uOT-J4sV" data-link-option="0" href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2024-05-09_08-48-58.png?itok=uOT-J4sV"&gt;&lt;picture&gt;&lt;img data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="af57cf4e-910f-4e63-8ffe-7f603717e89d" data-responsive-image-style="inline_images" height="363" width="500" class="inline-images image-style-inline-images" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2024-05-09_08-48-58.png?itok=uOT-J4sV" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" /&gt;&lt;/picture&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1806.  
  1807. &lt;p&gt;CPI rents will be deflationary as they catch up to lagged real-time indicators. However, if high-frequency data continues moving upward, there's a risk CPI rents could turn back up later this year. &lt;/p&gt;
  1808.  
  1809. &lt;p&gt;If this is the case, then potentially more bad news for Bidenomics and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who is enabling this fiscal trainwreck as inflation continues to crush working poor households. &lt;/p&gt;
  1810.  
  1811. &lt;p&gt;Recall, earlier this week, Stan Druckenmiller told CNBC's Joe Kernen that he rates &lt;a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/stanley-druckenmiller-gives-bidenomics-f"&gt;Bidenomics an "F."&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1812. &lt;/div&gt;
  1813.      &lt;span rel="schema:author" class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" lang="" about="https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="" class="username" xml:lang=""&gt;Tyler Durden&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1814. &lt;span property="schema:dateCreated" content="2024-05-10T01:20:00+00:00" class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"&gt;Thu, 05/09/2024 - 21:20&lt;/span&gt;
  1815. </description>
  1816.  <pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2024 01:20:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1817.    <dc:creator>Tyler Durden</dc:creator>
  1818.    <guid isPermaLink="false">926410 at https://www.zerohedge.com</guid>
  1819.    </item>
  1820.  
  1821.  </channel>
  1822. </rss>
  1823.  

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