During President Donald Trump’s wide-raning news conference held at the White House on Monday, he was asked about the much anticipated Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which is of course stirring much controversy given European fears that he’ll do a deal which sidelines Ukraine’s interests. 

“This is a war that should never have happened,” Trump began in this section of the presser. “This is a war that wouldn’t have happened if I were president, it would never have happened.” These statements are nothing new, but what followed is a first.

Trump then interestingly for the first time used language about the Friday planned summit which appears aimed at greatly tempering expectations. This is after several rounds of US-backed Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul failed to produce any breakthroughs.

Trump described the talks with Putin as merely a “feel-out meeting” and said that Putin “wants to get involved”. He then voiced his belief that Putin wants to get the war “over with”.

“I’ve said that a few times and I’ve been disappointed because I’d have a great call with him and then missiles would be lobbed into Kyiv or some other place,” Trump stated.

He futher pledged that he’ll tell Putin “you’ve got to end this war, you’ve got to end it”. And he sought to once again reassure European leaders -“who I get along with very well” – saying they will be the first phone call after the talks are over.

As for whether a final deal could be achieved in Alaska, Trump emphasized that “it’s not up to me”. Again choosing language which seeks to manage expectations, Trump casually said: “I got a call to say they’d like to meet, and I’m going to see what they want to meet about.”

“I’d like to see a ceasefire, I’d like to see the best deal that could be made for both parties, it takes two to tango,” he added, which could be interpreted as a jab toward Ukraine.

Trump at one point in his comments mistakenly said: “We’re going to Russia. That’s going to be a big deal.” He perhaps has a future trip to Russia in mind, as a return gesture for Putin coming to American soil to talk.

But then near the end of the remarks he offered a corrective, saying “I thought it was very respectful that the president of Russia is coming to our country, as opposed to us going to his country, or even a third, third party place.”

Such warm words said of Putin will likely make Zelensky nervous, hearkening back to the opening months of Trump taking office, when Trump’s relations with Zelensky hit a low-point, and criticisms aimed at Kiev came weekly. Some analysts have already pointed out that these Monday statements from Trump don’t bode well for Ukraine and a favorable settlement on its terms.

‘This is a feel-out meeting’ — Trump on Alaska sit-down with Putin

Claims Putin ‘wants to get it over with’, but laments missiles flying into Kiev after ‘great calls’

Says 5–7k dying weekly, Ukraine now drafting 60-year-olds https://t.co/iZLnNvgjtl pic.twitter.com/cFBJcRXLPq

— RT (@RT_com) August 11, 2025

Meanwhile, Zelensky in fresh statements has highlighted Russia has only stepped-up aerial attacks on Ukraine of late. He talled that in just the past week, Russia sent more than 1,000 air bombs, nearly 1,400 drones and several missile strikes on Ukraine. But Ukraine has also been hitting Russian oil refineries on a weekly basis at this point, as both sides continue to target energy infrastructure.

Ukraine’s position has been to accuse Russia of simply trying to buy time, and that it’s not actually interested in negotiating peace. The fact that Trump is even meeting with Putin is being felt as a huge slap in the face in Kiev.

Authored by Michael Snyder via TheMostImportantNews.com,

Why are social media platforms filled with videos of Americans complaining about grocery prices right now?

Needless to say, those videos must be striking a chord, because some of them are receiving millions of views. Government bureaucrats are telling us that the cost of food is only going up a few percentage points per year, but we can all see that is a load of nonsense. A trip to the grocery store has become an enormous expense, and this is especially true if you have kids to feed. As I wrote about earlier this month, one survey found that in 25 percent of U.S. households at least one person is skipping meals so that there will be enough money to pay the bills. Sadly, we are being warned that the cost of groceries will go even higher in the months ahead.

Several years ago, I kept warning my readers over and over again that soon the cost of groceries would become very painful.

Without a doubt, that time has arrived.

According to a recent AP poll, the cost of groceries is a “source of stress” for 86 percent of U.S. adults…

Does your run to the supermarket cause a spike in your blood pressure? You’re in good company.

The overwhelming majority of Americans – 86% – say the cost of groceries is at least a minor source of stress. The number includes 53% who say it’s a major source of anxiety in their lives right now. That’s according to a new Associated Press/NORC poll.

Those are very alarming numbers.

But this is the world that we live in now.

And this is why we are seeing so many videos on social media about grocery prices.

Someone put together a compilation of some of the best videos where people are really flipping out emotionally…

In my entire lifetime, I have never seen it so bad.

At one grocery store in Chicago, one woman admitted that it feels like “you’re spending your soul on groceries”…

At a South Loop grocery store, customers experience sticker shock and frustration.

“No matter if it’s organic or if it’s regular, it’s still going to be an arm and a leg for it. It’s like you’re spending your soul on groceries,” said shopper Tria Hutson.

This is one of the reasons why I get so frustrated with the talking heads on television that are telling us that everything is fine.

Just look around you.

People are hurting.

Some companies are trying to hide their price hikes by keeping the prices the same but putting less stuff in each package.

This is known as “shinkflation”, and Jim Quinn recently shared a personal anecdote from his own life…

I think a personal anecdote I’ve experienced will show you the devious methods corporations will use to pass these tariffs along. I have been buying a pack of coated paper plates at Wal-Mart for years. The pack contained 70 paper plates. Within the last four months, the pack was reduced to 50 plates, for the same price. They know the average dolt, after years of government schooling, is deficient in math skills, so they would not realize they just experienced a 40% increase in price per plate. This will show up nowhere in the fake BLS numbers. Shrinkflation is just as bad as inflation, but they can hide it and pretend all is well, while maintaining their profits.

I am sure that you are running into the same thing.

Unfortunately, this is just the beginning.

How can I be so confident in saying that?

Let me give you just one example.

Approximately two-thirds of U.S. adults drink coffee, and approximately one-third of all the coffee we drink comes from Brazil.

Thanks to the 50 percent tariff that was just placed on imports from Brazil, coffee is about to become a lot more expensive…

The U.S. relies heavily on Brazil to import coffee for the 165 million people who need their daily caffeine fix, but Trump’s 50 percent tariff threatens the long-term availability and price of the drink.

“When people go to their local coffee shop, whether it’s Starbucks or something else, by and large they will likely be buying some form of Brazilian coffee,” Monica de Bolle, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told NPR.

“A 50 percent tariff will kill that market.”

I still remember the days when you could get a cup of coffee for 10 cents.

What did your latest cup of coffee cost you?

Of course everything else is becoming more expensive too, and our cost of living crisis never seems to end.

As a result, 62 percent of Gen Z Americans have no emergency savings at all…

• 62% of Gen Z have no emergency savings, nearly double the rate of baby boomers.

• 51% of Americans would use a credit card for a $500 emergency, with usage jumping to 70% among students.

• Two-thirds of consumers have six months or less in savings, with Gen X the least prepared.

• 76% lack a credit card set aside for emergencies, relying instead on everyday-use cards.

Most of the country is living on the edge financially.

The middle class is steadily shrinking, and those that remain in the middle class have much less discretionary income than they once did.

So restaurants all over the nation find themselves torn between rapidly rising costs and customers that now have a lot less money to spend…

Ike’s Chili in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been around for 117 years, surviving a myriad of challenges like the Great Depression, the Covid-19 pandemic and a once-in-a-generation burst of inflation. But 2025 already holds an even more complicated challenge.

“The cost of everything’s just going up, and we’ve got to figure out how to manage it right,” Len Wade, a managing partner at the restaurant, told CNN.

He pointed to surging beef prices as an example, specifically hamburger meat on the wholesale level. In July, those prices were up nearly 21% compared to the same month 10 years ago, federal data shows. And passing the buck to customers might not be the best solution, Wade said.

Tourist destinations from coast to coast are experiencing the same thing.

Las Vegas is getting far less tourist traffic than it once did, and those that do arrive are tipping a lot less…

Las Vegas servers say they’re feeling the heat as high prices and declining tourism hammer their tip earnings across the Strip.

Tipping in Sin City is reportedly down by as much as 50% among servers, as some of them blame the economy and policy while others point to high prices, a tipping backlash and poor service.

On Reddit’s r/VegasLocals forum, one cocktail waitress wrote, “I used to average about 80 cents a drink. Now I’m averaging about 10 cents.”

Nobody can deny what is happening.

We really are experiencing a very serious economic crisis.

Sticking our heads in the sand and pretending that everything is okay is not going to fix anything.

Our standard of living really is collapsing, and a lot more pain is ahead as our economic bubbles continue to burst.

We were warned that this storm was coming for a long time, and now it is here.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

The federal government is looking into Harvard University’s patent rights, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in an Aug. 8 letter to Harvard President Alan Garber.

The Department of Commerce is initiating a “march-in” process under the Bayh-Dole Act, a federal patent policy allowing recipients of federal funds to retain patent rights over their inventions made with federal funding.

The Act’s “march-in” rights, however, give the federal government the authority to grant licenses of such patents to third parties under certain conditions where federally funded inventions are not being adequately developed or utilized for the public good.

In the letter, Lutnick said that Harvard has “failed to live up to its obligations to the American taxpayer and is in breach of the statutory, regulatory, and contractual requirements tied to Harvard’s federally funded research programs and intellectual property arising therefrom, including patents.”

As a result, Naveen Athrappully reports for The Epoch Times that the Department of Commerce is initiating a comprehensive review of the institution’s non-compliance, and will initiate the Bayh-Dole Act “march-in” process through which Harvard’s federally-funded patents could be taken over by the government.

Lutnick said that the federal government intends to license Harvard’s patents to third parties.

March-in rights under the Bayh-Dole Act have not been exercised by any federal agency in the 40 years since its enactment.

In an emailed statement to The Epoch Times, a Harvard spokesperson said, “This unprecedented action is yet another retaliatory effort targeting Harvard for defending its rights and freedom. Technologies and patents developed at Harvard are life-saving and industry-redefining.

“We are fully committed to complying with the Bayh-Dole Act and ensuring that the public is able to access and benefit from the many innovations that arise out of federally funded research at Harvard.”

This is the latest escalation in a series of government actions taken against Harvard since Trump took office. The federal government has accused Harvard of anti-Semitism, non-disclosure related to foreign funding, and race-based discrimination.

According to Harvard’s website, the university held over 5,800 patents as of July 1, 2024, and had more than 900 active technology licenses with 650-plus industry partners.

The administration values the groundbreaking scientific advancements that come from the federal government’s partnership with institutions like Harvard, which are funded by “significant taxpayer dollars,” said the letter.

“However, this privilege carries with it critical responsibility for Harvard to ensure that intellectual property derived from federal funding aligns with the Bayh-Dole Act, its associated regulations, and our contractual agreements, thereby maximizing the benefits to the American public,” it said.

With regards to patents, Harvard has failed to comply with disclosure and ownership requirements under the Act; has not taken effective steps to achieve practical applications for inventions; and is not in compliance with a requirement to give preference to the U.S. domestic industry, the letter added.

The Commerce Department’s actions are aimed at addressing these failures, Lutnick wrote.

The letter asked Harvard to provide a comprehensive list of all patents it received from federally funded research grants by no later than Sept. 5. The university must also provide sufficient information to prove that it was in compliance with the Bayh-Dole Act.

“Taxpayers deserve the benefit of the bargain. If Harvard won’t honor the Bayh-Dole Act, then we will find someone who will,” Lutnick said in an Aug. 8 X post, sharing the letter.

Trump-Harvard Tensions

Thus far, the federal government has canceled over $2.6 billion in federal funding to Harvard, including a cancellation of $2.2 billion in federal grants after the government accused the university of failing to combat anti-Semitism on campus.

“Harvard’s leadership has created an unsafe campus environment by permitting anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators to harass and physically assault individuals, including many Jewish students, and otherwise obstruct its once-venerable learning environment. Many of these agitators are foreign students,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a May 22 statement.

Harvard had sued the federal government on May 23 over the funding freeze, with both facing off in court in a July 21 hearing. The case is ongoing.

The university argued in the lawsuit that the funding freeze was a “blatant violation” of the Due Process Clause, First Amendment, and the Administrative Procedure Act.

“It is the latest act by the government in clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government’s demands to control Harvard’s governance, curriculum, and the ‘ideology’ of its faculty and students,” the lawsuit said.

Harvard also highlighted that it has taken steps to combat anti-Semitism. It admitted that members of Jewish and Israeli communities have reported “vicious and reprehensible” treatment following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack against Israel.

“Harvard made substantial changes aimed at ensuring its campus is safe, fair, and welcoming to Jewish and Israeli students,” said the complaint.

“Harvard has adopted new accountability procedures and clarified policies; imposed meaningful discipline for those who have violated applicable policies; enhanced programs designed to address bias and promote ideological diversity and civil discourse; hired staff to support these programs and impacted students; and enhanced safety and security measures.”

Meanwhile, the university is showing signs that it may be aligning with the federal government’s demands.

On July 29, Harvard said that it would hand over employment forms of thousands of its staff members following a request from the DHS.

The form, Employment Eligibility Verification, is used to verify the identity and employment authorization of an individual who is hired to work in the United States. The processing of the form is managed by the DHS’s Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

Former diplomat and Democratic senator Adlai Stevenson once remarked that “a hypocrite is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump and make a speech for conservation.”

If so, this week in politics was nothing but the worst form of stump speeches.

In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) declared that the move by Texas Republicans to redistrict mid-decade was a “legal insurrection of our U.S. Capitol.”

In Texas, Democratic State Rep. Jolanda Jones (D) must have felt “insurrection” did not quite capture the infamy. Instead, she insisted, “I will liken this to the Holocaust.”

Others repeated the Democratic mantra that it was the death of democracy.

That includes former President Barack Obama, who had said nothing when Democrats made his own state the most gerrymandered in the union.

In Illinois, surrounded by Texas legislators who had fled their state to prevent a legislative quorum, Gov. JB Pritzker (D) bellowed that gerrymandering was an attempt to “steal” congressional seats and to “disenfranchise people.”

It did not matter that the stump Pritzker and Texas Democrats were standing on in Chicago is located in the most gerrymandered state in the country. The redistricting law, signed by Pritzker left Republicans with just three of the state’s 17 congressional seats, even though they won nearly half the votes in the last election.

What is missing in any of this is any sense of shame.

The most telling moment came when Pritzker went on the Stephen Colbert’s show on CBS — a show that offered him a reliably supportive audience and a long track record of 86 percent of jokes slamming conservatives or Republicans.

Pritzker received roaring cheers when he said that he was protecting democracy from Texas gerrymandering. Colbert then showed him the map of Illinois, which features ridiculously shaped, snaking districts that stretch across the state — all drawn to maximize Democratic performance in elections. Pritzker just shrugged and joked how they had kindergarteners design it. Colbert and the audience laughed uproariously.

So let’s recap. Pritzker had just declared gerrymandering a threat to democracy. He followed up by making a joke of his own unparalleled gerrymandering. The New York audience cheered both statements.

Some of the outrage by Democrats seemed part of a comedy routine. In Massachusetts, Gov. Maura Healey pledged to retaliate by gerrymandering her heavily gerrymandered state. The problem? It is already so badly gerrymandered that there are no Republican House members in the state — there haven’t been any since the 1990s.

We have reached the point in our age of rage where one’s hypocrisy can be openly acknowledged but then dismissed with a chuckle.

It is not cheap to lock Republicans out completely in heavily Democratic states. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) quickly pledged to order a new round of gerrymandering in a state where Republicans constituted roughly 40 percent of the congressional vote in 2024 but received only about 17 percent of the House seats. To reduce the Republicans to near zero would require passage of a ballot proposition, costing more than $200 million, even as California faces a budget crisis and a deficit greater than $20 billion.

And that may prove to be just a fraction of the true cost.

In response to the gerrymandering, Democratic strategist James Carville seemed to call for what Texas State House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu (who fled to Illinois) described as “launching nukes at each other.”

Carville insisted that once the Democrats retake power, they should “unilaterally add Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia as states” and pack the Supreme Court to guarantee that the Republicans can never win again.

He is not the first Democrat to openly advocate such a plan. In an October 2020 interview, Harvard law professor Michael Klarman explained how Democrats needed to use their power to enact “democracy-entrenching legislation,” which would ensure that “the Republican Party will never win another election.”

Perhaps you can appreciate the unintended humor there. But Professor Klarman noted that Democrats would still have to gain control of the Supreme Court to make such legislation stick.

What is striking about the Carville interview is that he was describing rigging both the legislative and judicial branches, all in the name of democracy. Carville admitted that “in isolation,” each of these ideas may be objectionable and open “Pandora’s box.” However, when done together, they somehow become acceptable. It is akin to saying that burning a home is arson, but torching a city is urban renewal.

Nevertheless, Carville declared: “If you want to save democracy, I think you got to do all of those things because we just are moving further and further away from being anything close to democracy.”

Again, no one listening to such unhinged ranting would fail to see the hypocrisy. What is chilling is that no one really cares. You can stack the Supreme Court and the Congress. You can gerrymander legislative and congressional maps. You can even engage in ballot cleansing by barring Republican and third-party candidates from elections. You can do all of that and still claim to be righteously defending democracy.

You can even commit the most venal acts as a form of virtue signaling … even though there is not a scintilla of virtue in what you are saying.

There may be one benefit to Carville and his counterparts in opening up Pandora’s Box. In the story, Pandora released an array of evils on the world, including sorrow, disease, vice, violence, greed, madness, old age, and death. However, few recall the last thing to escape the jar and perhaps the thing that the vengeful Zeus least wanted humanity to have: hope.

It is possible that citizens will finally get fed up listening to these self-righteous hypocrites and join together to end gerrymandering once and for all. Rather than yield to our rage, reason could still prevail in this country in barring or at least limiting partisan redistricting. When we do that, these clear-cutting politicians will not have a stump to stand on.

Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and the author of the best-selling book “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”

Vice President JD Vance stated on Sunday that Washington will no longer directly fund the purchase of weapons for Ukraine amid the seeminglyl never-ending war with Russia, and expressed hope that Europe would step up.

“We’re done with the funding of the Ukraine war business. We want to bring about a peaceful settlement to this thing,” Vance told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures”.

“Americans, I think, are sick of continuing to send their money, their tax dollars of this particular conflict but if the Europeans want to step up and actually buy the weapons from American producers we’re OK with that, but we’re not going to fund it ourselves anymore,” the vice president continued.

So while this seems a step in the right direction of finding peace settlement, his comments still signify a White House greenlight of sorts to keep the proxy war going.

Already this more ‘indirect’ system of supplying Kiev has been in effect for some time – which sees European nations purchase and transfer American miltary hardware for Ukraine. And so it’s not exactly a full commitment to turn the US arms pipeline off, and in some ways it could lead to less restrictions on the type of advanced hardware given to Ukraine. Dozens of F-16s have already been transfered to Ukraine’s air force in this way.

Vance in the Fox appearance commented on the open question of whether Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will also be present at the venue for the Trump-Putin summit.

While admitting that it wouldn’t be a good idea for Putin and Zelensky to meet directly at this early phase, Vance held out hope that this could soon be arranged based on progress made.

“One of the most important logjams is that Vladimir Putin said that he would never sit down with Zelensky, the head of Ukraine, and the president has now got that to change,” he said.

The vice president added that White House is working on “scheduling and things like that around when these three leaders could sit down and discuss an end to this conflict.”

Zelensky is still making his voice known amid concerns that Ukraine’s interests could be sidelined. “Ukraine is ready for real decisions that can bring peace. Any decisions that are against us, any decisions that are without Ukraine, are at the same time decisions against peace,” he asserted in a video posted on X.

European leaders are also warning that any potential deal Trump reaches “must protect Ukraine’s and Europe’s vital security interests.” They are also making clear that Russia can’t be allowed to just change borders by force, and so territorial consessions must not be on the table without Ukraine’s consent.

Meanwhile, Zelensky is still taking measures to keep spending big on defense of the nation – anticipating more funding from Western partners to come.

And elsewhere in Europe…

If Trump 🇺🇸 wants to hand Alaska or parts of it back to 🇷🇺 I guess he can do that. But he has no right whatsoever to trade away the territory of any other nation. None. https://t.co/ZBoo0DiXeO

— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) August 11, 2025

Zelensky announced the following a meeting of his staff on Telegram Monday, according to Ukrinform: “I gave instructions to significantly increase funding for combat units and to do so in a way that is fair, so that brigades truly get greater capabilities. The updated rules are as follows: 7 million hryvnias per brigade for each battalion engaged in combat operations, which means that funding will increase by tens of millions of hryvnias.”

Authored by Simon White, Bloomberg macro strategist,

The dollar’s primary trend will be lower for longer as the speculative short positioning has been covered, while the fiscal outlook for the US will deteriorate further as the economy slows.

The DXY is in the process of another failed attempt to bounce. It’s the second try to rebound off its early July low to hit the buffers in recent weeks. That’s likely to be the pattern for the time being as the fundamental outlook for the dollar will keep it under pressure.

The short dollar trade had become so crowded that it was a case of when, rather than if, we would see a bounce. Short positioning of speculators in USD currency-futures had become quite stretched, based on CFTC Commitment of Traders data.

While there is a still a net short position in the dollar overall, the short versus developed-market currencies such as the euro and sterling has been covered, and positioning is now net long again. Speculators are still net short the dollar versus emerging-market currencies (and that’s getting shorter), but when it comes to the DXY, it is only developed currencies that matter (mainly the euro).

Macro and CTA hedge funds, too, look to have covered their dollar short. The sensitivity of their returns to returns in the dollar had become more negative than it had been for over three years; now it is back to being neutral.

Of course, speculators and hedge funds might start to go long the dollar, but not if they are paying attention to the US fiscal situation. The deficit is already in the order of $2 trillion a year. If there is a recession, however, a 6-7% of GDP deficit could easily become double digits.

That risk of one is rising.

The economy is beginning to slow, which means a drop in tax revenues – already anticipated by leading indicators — will stress the government budget further.

Markets never move in straight lines, least of all currencies, but for the dollar the up moves are likely to prove increasingly transient in the face of dominant down ones.

Chinese lithium stocks surged overnight after Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL), the world’s largest battery maker, suspended production at its Jianxiawo mine in China’s Yichun lithium hub. The move triggered a limit-up move in lithium carbonate futures and fueled speculation that Beijing may suspend other projects as it addresses the deflationary pressures of overcapacity across the economy.

China’s anti-involution campaign to curb overcapacity – most particularly in the lithium market –  has led to the temporary closure of CATL’s Jianxiawo mine, which accounts for about 6% of global output. The move comes as the battery market remains heavily pressured in a glut amid softening demand for electric vehicles and President Trump’s push to roll back green incentives in favor of common-sense energy policies. 

Here’s the equity market impact:

• Tianqi Lithium +19% (Hong Kong),

• Ganfeng Lithium +21%,

• Australian miners +14 to 25%.

Lithium carbonate futures on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange hit the 8% daily limit at 75,500/ton yuan. Contract prices are 87% lower than the 600,000 yuan peak in late 2022. 

Sources close with Bloomberg say operations at the Jianxiawo mine could be shuttered for at least three months. This is part of Beijing’s anti-involution campaign targeting oversupply across sectors from batteries to steel.

“I think it will mean the lithium price in the near term has very big upside,” Bank of America analyst Matty Zhao told Bloomberg in a television interview earlier.

Citigroup analysts told clients that this mine closure is “part of the government’s anti-involution initiative,” adding that it “should help China to re-price its strategic resource in the long-run, and the government can ensure lithium is mined and extracted in a proper and compliant way.” 

Comments from Goldman analyst James McGeoch to clients indicate the anti-involution will be a slow-burn policy that will quietly tighten capacity in aluminum, coal, steel, lithium, EVs, etc., with its impact only materializing in about 12 months.

Here’s more from McGeoch: 

Talking to trading – limit up today, most likely is same again tomorrow, feels different to 2024 (that was on back of lower prices and having a output target), this is a forced shutdown from local govt, seen as anti-involution driven. Risk of lateral damage to other mines is real …just adding to a mkt that has been normalising. The ask is do we create a deficit mkt in 2026? The 3months that CATL has indicated is unclear if the govt is also thinking 3m? What is required to restart (Permit expired, seeking renewal)….Todays trading, Limit up, CME is a really wide mkt (bids +5-6% however nothing really trading).. On Friday there was a large spodumene print (+8% or $60, at $825t fastmarkets reported, however no trades visible), today Spodumene printed +$100 to $925t,  it had gone up thought the noise on prodn adjustments, then rolled down, we had thought the mkt fades it, however the price action on Friday suggested that view was changing and here we are… Today lithium onshore is RMB81k/t (lithium carbonate), limit up is +8%, feels like 100kt is the resistance level…if I can point to a comp it would be Coking Coal, it went up on noise of curtailments, haven’t seen the curtailments (weather and other factors have impacted supply nonetheless) and its stayed up. So even if there is no follow through, there is enough smoke to keep the mkt looking for the fire…. ALB US looking +c.12% having been +7% on Friday,  the SI had almost halved coming into this, id call it a post Anti-Involution adjustment. There has been noise of prodn adjustments around, confirmation of does make it different. …its a dirty comparison but look at the likes of AMR/BTU/HCC. I also hold a view that Anti-Involution is real, you wont get a big headline, rather you have an initiative that will just chug along, we will look back in 12months time and the numbers will attest to the intent – Ali, Coal, Steel, Lithium, EV etc.

. . . 

By Jane Foley, senior FX strategist

The Nasdaq ended Friday at a fresh all-time high, lifted by big tech and a very good week for Apple. The week brought the start of new tariff rates on exports from dozens of countries to the US, but sentiment found support on news of concessions, particularly the exemption on semiconductor tariffs for companies that produce in the US. Over the weekend news emerged that Nvidia and AMD have agreed to give the US government 15% of revenues received from chip sales in China in exchange for export licences. The news highlights the controversy over the sales of H20 chips to China. Some US security commentators have warned that the chips will enhance China’s military and undermine the US’ relative strength in AI. 

Looking ahead, some countries are still hoping for a reduction in their specific tariff rate, Switzerland and India amongst them. The Swiss government said on Friday that it was still in discussions with the US after the shock announcement of a 39% tariff on August 1 and last week’s warning that the country’s exports of gold bars to the US could also be impacted by the tariff. While Swiss negotiators have been keen to offer a better deal to the US, India has pushed back against pressure from Washington triggered by its purchases of Russian oil. That said, on Friday Reuters reported that India’s biggest state refiners had bought at least 22 mln barrel of non-Russian crude for delivery in September and October. Indian state refiners had been largely absent from the spot market since the start of the Russia/Ukraine war, instead sourcing supplies from Putin. Brent oil futures were on the back foot this morning on hope that this week’s meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin will increase the likelihood of an end to the war in Ukraine.

On Friday, Trump announced an August 15 summit with Putin in Alaska. At a meeting of security officials hosted by US Vice-President Vance and UK Foreign Secretary Lammy in the UK over the weekend, Ukraine President Zelensky won support from European leaders and NATO over his concerns that Russia and the US could try and dictate the terms for the end of the war. European leaders are urging Trump to increase sanction pressure on Moscow. Vance described Friday’s forthcoming meeting as a “major breakthrough for American diplomacy” but suggested that a peace deal is unlikely to satisfy either side. Fearful of a land grab by Russia, Zelensky has said that any decisions taken without Ukraine would be ‘stillborn’. The White House has indicated that Trump was open to Zelensky attending the meeting, but that preparations were being made for a bi-lateral meeting. The Kremlin last week ruled out a meeting between Putin and Zelensky. Russia currently holds around 20% of Ukrainian land. 

The Fed’s Bowman made it clear over the weekend that US labor market fragility had strengthened confidence in her call for three Fed rate cuts before the end of this year. The FOMC is due to meet in September, October and December. Bowman, along with Waller, dissented at the July Fed policy meeting, favouring an immediate rate cut. Towards the end of last week reports suggested that Waller had emerged as the favourite for the new Fed Chair. Over the weekend, former Fed governor Bullard and Sumerlin, former economic advisor to Bush, reportedly joined the list of candidates. 

Very weak Canadian labor data on Friday have strongly underpinned market expectations for another BoC rate cut. Employment plunged by 40.8K in July, the biggest fall since the pandemic. 

In France, a new development on the government’s efforts to tackle the budget deficit emerged last month with PM Bayrou’s proposal to cut two bank holidays. On Friday, he proposed that negotiations on the topic should be concluded by the end of next month

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

COVID-19 levels are rising in the United States, with the highest numbers occurring along the West Coast, according to new data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

On Aug. 8, the CDC stated that the national wastewater viral activity for COVID-19 increased from “low” to “moderate” from the previous week, according to an Epoch Times review. The region with the highest number of cases is the western United States, it stated.

“Wastewater monitoring can detect viruses spreading from one person to another within a community earlier than clinical testing and before people who are sick go to their doctor or hospital,” the CDC says on its website. “If you see increased wastewater viral activity levels, it might indicate that there is a higher risk of infection.”

Louisiana and Hawaii reported a very high number of cases, according to the CDC’s map. States reporting a high number of cases were California, Alaska, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Texas, Indiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and South Carolina.

In contrast to the CDC’s wastewater-based estimates, a separate update based on laboratory results and released on Aug. 8 shows that COVID-19 is currently at “low” levels in the United States but is “increasing.”

“COVID-19 laboratory percent positivity is increasing nationally,” the CDC stated. “Emergency department visits for COVID-19 are increasing among all ages. COVID-19 wastewater activity levels and model-based epidemic trends indicate that COVID-19 infections are growing or likely growing in most states.”

However, overall respiratory illness levels can be considered “very low” across the United States, according to the CDC. That includes influenza, considered “low,” and RSV, which is “very low,” according to the agency.

The CDC has not updated its COVID-19 variant estimates since mid-June. The CDC stated on its website that because of “low numbers of sequences being reported,” the agency is now moving to “longer reporting periods” for the various variants.

But in the last update, it noted that there were growing proportions of variants such as NB.1.8.1 and XFG, which were both declared “variants under monitoring” by the World Health Organization (WHO) in May and June, respectively.

“The available evidence on NB.1.8.1 does not suggest additional public health risks relative to the other currently circulating Omicron descendent lineages,” the WHO stated about the NB.1.8.1 strain.

The United Nations health body issued a similar statement about the XFG variant in June.

The NB.1.8.1 appears to have been driving a rise in cases across mainland China since earlier this year. However, because of the Chinese Communist Party’s history of blocking access to information and publishing inaccurate data, including underreporting COVID-19 infections and related deaths since 2020, it is difficult to assess the true scale of the current outbreak.

The updates come as Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has changed the COVID-19 vaccine policy since the Trump administration took over earlier this year.

Last month, the HHS dismissed all 17 members of the CDC vaccine advisory panel, ordered the removal of mercury from influenza vaccines, and ended the CDC’s COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for pregnant women and healthy children.

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

The Trump administration is seeking to launch an initial public offering of shares in mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac later this year, a senior administration official said on Friday.

The IPOs could give the two government-backed entities a combined valuation of nearly $500 billion, according to the senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Details of the share sale have not been disclosed, and it remains unclear whether the companies would go public as a single entity or separately. The official said that President Donald Trump is weighing all options.

The Epoch Times has sought comments from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which regulates the entities, but did not receive a response by publication time.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac provide liquidity and stability to the U.S. housing mortgage market, which have been placed under government conservatorship since 2008 following a substantial downturn in housing markets at the time, according to the FHFA.

The two entities buy mortgages from lenders and either hold the mortgages in their portfolios or sell them as mortgage-backed securities.

It is uncertain whether the entities would remain under government conservatorship if the IPOs move forward. The Treasury Department holds preferred shares in the companies and warrants to purchase about 80 percent of their common stock, according to a 2021 statement.

Trump initially announced in May his plan to take Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac public, saying he would discuss with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and FHFA Director William Pulte before making a decision.

The president later emphasized that the government would retain its oversight of the two entities, even as it relinquishes control by taking them public.

“I am working on taking these amazing companies public, but I want to be clear, the U.S. Government will keep its implicit guarantees, and I will stay strong in my position on overseeing them as President,” he wrote on social media.

Bessent told Bloomberg in February that the release of the two entities from government conservatorship would depend on the implications of mortgage rate trends.

“The priority for a Fannie and Freddie release, the most important metric that I’m looking at, is any study or hint that mortgage rates would go up,” he said.

A primary mortgage market survey by Freddie Mac showed that U.S. mortgage rates have continued to decline, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 6.63 percent as of Aug. 7, down from 6.72 percent the week before.

Sam Khater, chief economist at Freddie Mac, stated that the market research indicates that homebuyers could potentially save thousands of dollars by getting quotes from a few different lenders.