Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A new human case of highly pathogenic avian influenza has been confirmed, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on May 30.

The patient is a Michigan resident who works with dairy cows. The patient’s age, gender, and work location weren’t disclosed by federal or state officials.

The patient likely contracted the bird flu from cattle, officials said. The person experienced symptoms after “direct exposure to an infected cow,” Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan’s chief medical executive, said in a statement.

The case is the third confirmed among humans in the United States this year. The previously confirmed cases, one each in Texas and Michigan, also cropped up in farm workers.

Both of those workers experienced inflamed eyes and have since recovered, as did a person who contracted the illness in Colorado in 2022.

Globally, more than half of cases reported to the World Health Organization since the early 2000s have resulted in death.

The new case is from a different farm than the earlier case in the state, according to Michigan authorities.

The new patient experienced symptoms including cough without fever and eye discomfort with watery discharge. The person was given an antiviral, is isolating at home, and is seeing the resolution of their symptoms, according to the CDC.

Antivirals used against influenza include oseltamivir, also known as Tamiflu.

The person wasn’t wearing personal protective equipment (PPE).

“This tells us that direct exposure to infected livestock poses a risk to humans, and that PPE is an important tool in preventing spread among individuals who work on dairy and poultry farms,” Dr. Bagdasarian said.

None of the patient’s contacts have developed symptoms, and none of the farm’s other workers have reported symptoms.

There’s no signs of person-to-person transmission of the influenza, also known as the bird flu or H5N1, CDC and Michigan officials said.

While the CDC maintains that the risk to the general public is low, it says farm workers are at greater risk and advises them to take a number of precautions, including wearing masks and gloves when dealing with animals with suspected or confirmed cases.

There are about 105,800 workers on U.S. dairy farms as of 2023, according to IBISWorld.

The bird flu jumped to cows in late 2023 or earlier this year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists.

Cases have since been confirmed in 67 herds across nine states, including Michigan, the department says.

The flu has also spread to other species in recent years, including foxes, bears, and alpacas.

US Floats Bulk Milk Testing

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently proposed allowing farmers to bulk test the milk of their dairy cows for bird flu rather than test milk from individual cows before gaining approval to ship them across state lines, according to state and industry officials and agency documents.

The department in late April began requiring lactating cows to test negative before being shipped across state lines. It later said the order likely helped prevent the spread of the virus to new states.

The USDA reported 2,492 pre-movement tests as of Wednesday but said that number does not equal the number of animals tested.

A pilot program for bulk testing milk could begin in June for farmers who choose to participate, according to documents the USDA sent to industry officials this week.

Agriculture officials in six states said on May 29 they were reviewing the USDA’s proposal for the program. The USDA declined to comment.

“Once it has support and participation from farms, the USDA program could help reduce the threat of H5N1 in dairy herds, further mitigate risk among farm workers, and continue to protect our nation’s commercial milk supply,” the International Dairy Foods Association said in a statement.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration estimated that 20 percent of the U.S. milk supply shows signs of the virus, although further testing found no viable virus.

Farmers said testing milk from bulk storage tanks offers the chance to collect a sample from all the cows within a herd and would be more efficient than testing samples from individual animals.

Bulk tanks of milk from individual herds would need three consecutive weeks of negative testing results to show the herd is free of bird flu and enter the new program, according to USDA documents dated May 24.

Farmers would then need to submit milk samples from bulk tanks weekly to maintain their status, the documents say. Continued negative results would mean no additional testing is needed before shipping cattle between states, according to the documents.

Three weeks of testing milk from bulk tanks isn’t enough to confirm a herd is free of bird flu, though, said Gail Hansen, a veterinary and public health consultant. Samples from healthy cows could dilute samples from a small number of infected cattle in the same herd when their milk mixes in the tank, she said.

“It may give people a false sense of assurance,” Ms. Hansen said.

Reuters contributed to this report.

President Trump is giving a live press conference following Thursday’s guilty verdict in his ‘hush money’ trial, in which he was convicted on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

“I paid a lawyer, totally legal. I paid a lawyer, a legal expense,” Trump said in reference to the payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels by convicted liar and former Trump fixer Michael Cohen. “It’s not sheetrock construction, or any other thing. It’s a legal expense. Think of that. This is what the falsification of business records were. And I said, what else are you going to call it?”

Watch:

Trump said he would have testified during the trial, and wanted to, but “The theory is you never testify because as soon as you testify … they’ll get you on something that you said slightly wrong, and then they sue you for perjury, but I didn’t care about that. I wanted to.”

“This is a scam. There’s a rigged trial. It shouldn’t have been in that venue. We shouldn’t have had that judge,” he continued. “As far as the trial itself, it was very unfair. We weren’t allowed to use our election expert under any circumstances.”

According to Trump, witnesses on his side “were literally crucified” by judge Juan Merchan.

“You saw what happened to some of the witnesses that were on our side. They were literally crucified by this man, who looks like an angel, but he’s really a devil,” Trump said, referring to Merchan.

A crowd of Trump Organization employees cheered the former president as he walked to the podium, passing by the escalator he descended nine years ago to announce what would become a successful 2016 presidential bid.

The former president rehashed many of the complaints he’s raised for months. He bemoaned that his request for a venue change was denied, and his push for Merchan to recuse himself was dismissed. –The Hill

Trump also slammed Merchan’s gag order that prohibited him from talking about witnesses in the case, along with court staff and their family members.

“Think of it: I’m the leading candidate. I’m leading Biden by a lot, and I’m leading the Republicans to the point where that’s over,” Trump said. “So I’m the leading person for president, and I’m under a gag order by a man that can’t put two sentences together.“

Following the verdict, several notable Trump supporters and prospective running mates condemned the verdict.

“Massively conflicted, Biden donor and Liberal judge + stacked jury with unconstitutional jury instructions + radical leftist prosecutor = wrongful conviction,” said South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem in a statement posted to X.

“No doubt Trump will be easily vindicated soon as the case will obviously be overturned on appeal.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) weighed in as well, posting “The verdict in New York is a complete travesty that makes a mockery of our system of justice,” adding that it was a “jury from the most liberal county in America.”

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) called the verdict “a disgrace to the rule of law and our Constitution.”

This decision is a disgrace to the rule of law and our Constitution.

Dems invented a felony to “get Trump,” with the help of a Soros funded prosecutor and a Biden donor Judge, who rigged the entire case to get this outcome.

This isn’t justice, it’s election interference.

— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) May 30, 2024

House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Friday that he believes Supreme Court justices are “deeply concerned,” and urged the court to step in when the case is appealed. Johnson told “Fox and Friends” that the conviction was “totally unprecedented” and “dangerous to our system” because it ruins people’s faith in the criminal process and the courts.

The American people are disgusted.

Whether it is President Trump or Justice Alito, the double standard is clear. pic.twitter.com/sE6fe4j8cc

— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) May 31, 2024

“People have to believe that justice is fair, that there’s equal justice under law. They don’t see that right now,” he said. “And I think that the justices on the court, I know many of them personally, I think they’re deeply concerned about that, as we are. So I think they’ll set this straight but it’s going to take a while.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called the outcome “the culmination of a legal process that has been bent to the political will of the actors involved.”

Today’s verdict represents the culmination of a legal process that has been bent to the political will of the actors involved: a leftist prosecutor, a partisan judge and a jury reflective of one of the most liberal enclaves in America—all in an effort to “get” Donald Trump.

That this case—involving alleged misdemeanor business records violations from nearly a decade ago—was even brought is a testament to the political debasement of the justice system in places like New York City. This is especially true considering this same district attorney routinely excuses criminal conduct in a way that has endangered law-abiding citizens in his jurisdiction.

It is often said that no one is above the law, but it is also true that no one is below the law. If the defendant were not Donald Trump, this case would never have been brought, the judge would have never issued similar rulings, and the jury would have never returned a guilty verdict.

In America, the rule of law should be applied in a dispassionate, even-handed manner, not become captive to the political agenda of some kangaroo court. -Ron DeSantis

I am, to put it mildly, no fan of Donald Trump, and I sure wish that Ron DeSantis–or nearly anyone else, for that matter–were the Republican presidential nominee. That said, DeSantis’s assessment here strikes me as clearly correct. https://t.co/m3lpYfQ7XE

— Ed Whelan (@EdWhelanEPPC) May 30, 2024

Developing…

Currently NATO defense and foreign ministers are gathered in Prague for two days of meetings as part of preparations for the major Washington Summit in July. At the meeting chaired by the alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg he urged that NATO countries must maintain support to Ukraine “for as long as necessary”.

Stoltenberg is asking 32 NATO members to commit a whopping $44 billion in military aid to Ukraine every year. President Zelensky has been urging more immediate aid to come at a faster rate, meanwhile.

Stoltenberg told the meeting in Prague, “Russia must understand that it cannot wait us out.” He reasoned further that “Allies have provided approximately 40 billion euros worth of military aid to Ukraine each year.”

He said that for Ukraine to have battlefield success, NATO countries must maintain “at least” current levels of support to Ukraine for as long as the fight continues.

Even though it has become clear that Ukraine front lines are crumbling, especially in places like Kharkiv oblast near the Russian border, this new initiative by Stoltenberg appears geared toward locking the alliance into further permanent commitments, lest any should waiver down the road.

According to analysis by the Austin-based Libertarian Institute:

Under the $100 billion proposal, counties would contribute aid equal to their financial commitment to the alliance. The US pays for about a quarter of NATO’s annual budget. If Stoltenberg seeks to lock in member states at their current commitment, the US will contribute over half of all aid, about $25 billion annually. 

NATO has been seeking a multi-year pledge from its members to supply arms to Ukraine. The commitment is meant to lock in assistance for Kiev even if a nation would later decide to alter course. The initial proposal from Stoltenberg was for NATO to commit $108 billion over five years. 

Meanwhile a US official speaking to The New York Times has said the conflict has entered “a new reality” and “perhaps a new era” after Thursday’s White House decision to allow Ukraine to strike inside Russian territory using US-supplied weapons systems.

Jeffrey Sachs with probably the smartest and most accurate assessment of the Ukraine war, and American foreign policy more broadly, ever caught on tape.

(20:17) Why did America push for Ukraine to Join NATO?
(58:34) What is a Neocon?
(1:25:28) Regime Change Never Works
(1:36:27)… pic.twitter.com/uNzzDDzn1L

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) May 28, 2024

“The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use U.S.-supplied weapons for counter-fire purposes in the Kharkiv region so Ukraine can hit back against Russian forces that are attacking them or preparing to attack them,” an administration statement confirmed. “Our policy with respect to prohibiting the use of ATACMS or long-range strikes inside of Russia has not changed,” the statement added.

After unexpectedly slumping last month to 37.9, the Chicago PMI index cratered even more unexpectedly in May, when it defied hopes of a rebound to 41.5, and instead tumbled even more, sliding to a cycle low of 35.4 which was not only below the lowest estimate, but was staggeringly low. To get a sense of just how low, the last two times it printed here was during the peak of the covid and global financial crises…

… which seems to suggest that at least according to Chicago-based purchasing managers, the economy is in a depression.

This is how the final number looked relative to expectations.

Looking at the report we find the following:

• Business barometer fell at a faster pace; signaling contraction
• New orders fell at a faster pace; signaling contraction
• Employment fell at a faster pace; signaling contraction
• Inventories fell at a faster pace; signaling contraction
• Supplier deliveries fell at a slower pace; signaling contraction
• Production fell at a slower pace; signaling contraction
• Order backlogs fell at a faster pace; signaling contraction

Did nothing rise? One thing did:

• Prices paid rose at a slower pace; signaling expansion

So we have not just a depression, but a stagflationary depression in which everything else is going to hell, except prices: they keep on rising.

And while it is unclear what has prompted this unprecedented bearishness (the surely negative contribution from Boeing is likely to blame for a substantial portion of the apocalyptic outlook), one thing is certain: Goldman will have to come up with even more goalseeked surveys that explain away reality and tell us how purchasing managers really should feel…

… if only they knew just how great Bidenomics was for them.

Predictably, the Kremlin is fuming at widespread reports that the Biden administration has made a U-turn on its policy which previously prohibited Ukraine from attack Russian soil with US-supplied weaponry.

Former Russian president and current Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev has warned that Russian forces could strike back from any point where attacks are launched, including on “NATO specialists” advising Ukraine forces.

“NATO countries that have approved strikes with their weapons on Russian territory should be aware that their equipment and specialists will be destroyed not only in Ukraine, but also at any point from where Russian territory is attacked,” he said on Telegram, according to TASS, also noting that “the participation of NATO specialists could be seen as a casus belli.”

“All their military equipment and specialists fighting against us will be destroyed both on the territory of former Ukraine and on the territory of other countries, should strikes be carried out from there against Russian territory,” Medvedev added in the warning.

He said that contrary to much of the West’s attempts to obfuscate the reality, Ukraine’s long-rage missile systems are actually “directly operated by servicemen from NATO countries.” He said this is tantamount to these countries’ direct participation in the war.

He explained that this raises the specter of major war and confrontation with the West, as in such a scenario where Russia attacks NATO personnel, the alliance would then have to weigh “possible retaliatory strikes… in the context of articles 4 and 5 of the Washington Treaty.“

Politico reported Thursday afternoon, “The Biden administration has quietly given Ukraine permission to strike inside Russia — solely near the area of Kharkiv — using U.S.-provided weapons, two U.S. officials and two other people familiar with the move said Thursday, a major reversal that will help Ukraine to better defend its second-largest city.”

The same official stipulated that the policy of not allowing long-range strikes inside Russia “has not changed.” However, this is surely going to be a distinction without substance or meaning from Russia’s point of view, as it makes attacking Russia’s sovereign territory with US weaponry ‘allowable’ for the first time. Clearly it’s a highly dangerous slippery slope.

For two years Biden was absolutely adamant that no US weapons could be used to strike Russia. Now he reverses the policy — aka, he lied. So where’s the pushback? Congress, media? What could be of greater consequence than lying the country into war with a nuclear superpower?

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) May 31, 2024

Other NATO countries have been openly advocating for hitting Russia with long-range missiles, and have even approved for Kiev to start doing so in a huge escalation. Denmark has even said it’s fine with Ukraine attacking Russia with Western-supplied F-16 jets.

Ukraine has been complaining that all restrictions need to be taken off if it is to defend against Russia’s recent major offensive in Kharkiv, which was launched from across the border. For example, Russian artillery is able to fire from rear positions within the Belgorod region near the border. It meanwhile remains part of Moscow’s stated aim to push the border deeper into Ukraine to create a ‘buffer zone’ – making it harder for pro-Kiev forces to shell Russian towns and villages.

Authored by Beth Brelje, Lawrence Wilson, T.J. Muscaro, Nathan Worcester via The Epoch Times,

When Wender Angeles arrived in the United States from Peru in 2006, he registered to vote as a Democrat because he related the party to the word “democracy.” He got involved with the party and voted for Barack Obama.

As he learned more about the two parties, he felt the Republican Party was a better fit.

“Later on, I was like, oh wait, this is not what I believe. But at the beginning, I was basically surrounded by Democrats,” Mr. Angeles told The Epoch Times in his family’s Exeter, Pennsylvania, living room.

“The Republican Party is more conservative. I am like that. I am a very traditional person. My wife and I, we basically are God’s people.”

Mr. Angeles is one among a large group of Hispanic and black voters who have moved away from the Democrat Party in the past eight years.

An April poll from The Wall Street Journal shows that 30 percent of black men in battleground states intend to vote for former President Donald Trump. Hispanic voters who lean Republican are approaching parity with those who lean Democrat.

A recent New York Times/Siena College poll indicates that the percentage of Black voters favoring President Trump over the past four years has risen by 19 points.

With his wife Leslie at his side and their four children, ages 5 to 18, listening in, Mr. Angeles, 38, said that his political shift stemmed from a desire to do what’s best for his family.

“My main thing in this world is my family. I like to take care of my family very well. I like to fight for my family. I like to think that my family, in the future, will be in a good environment and in a good community.”

Mr. Angeles works at a battery factory. On the side, he repairs and flips homes.

He compares everything in the United States to Peru, and he is troubled.

“When we were kids, life over there wasn’t good,” Mr. Angeles said. As they go back to visit, it has become 10 times worse, he said. People earn $300 to $400 a month yet the cost of food is more expensive than in the United States.

“The things I’m seeing right now, I saw in Peru 20 years ago,” Mr. Angeles said, pointing to what he sees as eroding family values and people acting disrespectfully to those with opposing views.

“I don’t want that. I don’t want this country, where I have my family, to go that way. Because I know how that feels. I’ve seen it before. And I don’t want to see it again.“

Rikeysha Brown, 34, a Burton, Michigan, social worker, voted for Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. She lost confidence in President Biden almost immediately after the 2020 election.

“I’m not happy with all the illegal immigrants coming into this country,” Ms. Brown told The Epoch Times. “I’m afraid for our country. We’re doing a lot for the rest of the world but we’re getting nothing back.”

She sees President Trump as the stronger leader, especially in dealing with terrorism. Ms. Brown values her Christian faith, which conflicts with President Biden’s social agenda, particularly relating to homosexuality and transgender policy.

“Trump speaks the truth,” she said, though his communication style is not always to her taste. “I had to get used to that.”

She believes he is “anointed and called” to be president.

“He is the chosen one.”

Before President Trump traveled to the Bronx in New York in late May for a campaign event, President Biden released an advertisement targeting black voters.

“Donald Trump disrespecting black folk is nothing new,” the ad said.

Some black voters say they don’t feel disrespected.

Alexandra Knoten, a black woman from Georgia, was a self-described “true Democrat.” Watching her family and friends vote blue, being a Democrat was “ingrained” in her. In recent years, she started paying attention and doing her own political research. She decided to vote for President Trump after comparing how things were when he was in office to how things are now with President Biden.

When Ms. Knoten announced her plan to switch sides, the feedback from family, friends, and coworkers was “a lot of positivity,” both in terms of expressing pride for her ability to speak her mind and respect for each other’s own opinions, she told The Epoch Times.

“A lot of people are thinking of voting Republican for the next election,” she said. “A lot are actually switching over and I’m actually pretty surprised.”

Gallup surveys show more black and Hispanic voters switching parties since the 2020 election. The survey found that 77 percent of polled black adults identified as Democrats or leaning Democratic in 2020. That ratio had shrunk to 66 percent last year. The pollen is based on Gallup telephone surveys conducted throughout the year.

A similar trend is occurring among Hispanic voters. The number who identify as Republicans has grown from 26 percent in 2021 to 35 percent this year. Meanwhile, the number of Hispanics who identify as Democrats has dropped 10 percentage points to 47 percent.

“People are leaving the Democratic Party and becoming Republicans,” Republican Michael Rivera, an elected commissioner in Berks County, Pennsylvania, told The Epoch Times.

“Their money is worth less. Salaries have not kept pace with inflation. The border is a huge mess and the Biden administration is doing nothing about it. And the economy is going in the wrong direction.”

Mr. Rivera, who is Hispanic, notes that for years, political analysts have lumped minorities into the Democrat Party. He says that is changing as Hispanics are starting to see that Republican values align with their own.

“This opens up a huge opportunity for Republicans to regain the presidency and seats in Congress, as well as down-ballot seats. The Republicans cannot take anyone for granted if we want big wins in 2024. The other side of the coin is that Republicans need to work together and across the aisle to get things accomplished.”

Jeniffer Rodriguez, 39, came to the United States from the Dominican Republic when she was 20. When she took the oath to become a citizen, she registered as a Democrat because it seemed to her that Hispanic people were Democrats.

Read more here…

Update:

Politico’s Lara Seligman quotes an unnamed Department of Defense official who tells her the Houthi’s claim about a missile attack on the USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea is “false information — there was no hit on the Ike or any attacks in its vicinity.” 

DOD official tells me this is false information — there was no hit on the Ike or any attacks in its vicinity. https://t.co/TiXgO6uaYE

— Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) May 31, 2024

*    *    * 

Reuters and Al Jazeera reported that Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed on Friday that rebels launched a missile attack on the USS Harry S. Truman, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, in the Red Sea.

In a televised statement, Saree said the strike was in retaliation for a series of US-UK strikes in three Yemeni provinces that killed at least 16 people. 

Saree’s X account published this statement (translated into English): 

Statement by the Armed Forces regarding the operation to target the American aircraft carrier “Eisenhower” in response to the American-British aggression in support of the Zionist enemy, which caused 58 martyrs and wounded, to dissuade our dear people and the Armed Forces from their position of support for the oppressed Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

After American airstrikes across Yemen killed 16 people last night, the Yemeni military under the Houthi-led government is claiming today to have targeted and directly struck the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower in the Red Sea. pic.twitter.com/nDjfBcqYcj

— Séamus Malekafzali (@Seamus_Malek) May 31, 2024

We recently pointed out how the US-led Operation Prosperity Guardian has widely been a failure as Iran-backed Houthis continue targeting Western ships (an incident earlier this week) in the Red Sea with missiles and kamikaze drones. 

In response, earlier this month, the Pentagon sent the USS Harry S. Truman to the region to ensure stability in one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes.

Also, this week, the sixth US MQ–9 Reaper drone was shot down over Yemen. 

This comes as containerized shipping costs are erupting again, following months of disruptions in the region. Yet another supply shock is unfolding… 

This story is developing. 

Authored by Omid Malekan,

News that a bank or payment provider is doing something in crypto used to be a big deal. When I first entered crypto a decade ago, it was often the biggest deal. One of the first major spikes in the price of ETH was triggered by the launch of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. Never mind that the corporations who joined it only wanted a permissioned version that’d never touch Ethereum itself. Crypto was still nascent back then and we coveted any blessing from an established authority.

So we cheered on J.P. Morgan’s supposed coin (which wasn’t) and the launch of Libra. We took note when the CEO of DTCC talked about replacing his proprietary database with a private blockchain (an objectively inferior proprietary database) and cheered on IBM’s supply chain solutions. We admired central bankers who uttered the magical word tokenization, even though it was clear they had no idea what it meant. Crypto was unproven back then and we took what we could get from the scions of finance.

But crypto is unproven no more. Bitcoin is a trillion-dollar asset, stablecoins are a force in payments and DeFi’s balance sheet is larger than that of most banks. The burden of proof is now on them.

It’s time to treat all TradFi embraces with a grain of salt, if not outright suspicion. Somewhere after the phase where they laugh at you, and in between the ones where they fight you and you win is the one where they try to co-opt you.

Consider the case of PayPal expanding its stablecoin to Solana. PayPal has actually been one of the better-faith TradFi firms in crypto. It introduced trading years ago and fought an uphill battle to issue its stablecoin. I’ve met some of their crypto folks, and they are extremely sharp. But lost in the shuffle of their stablecoin news this week was how they were raising merchant fees on Venmo by 33% (I only found out about it from my editor on Re-Architecting Trust, who runs an amazing donut business in Montana).

Why are they raising those fees? Because they can. Raising fees is what proprietary network operators do. Visa and Mastercard did something similar earlier this year, right around the time when Visa was making news in crypto with its own Solana expansion.

To be clear: the Visa crypto team is very smart and well-intentioned. They’ve identified productive things to do in crypto and are approaching them methodically. I’ve also written extensively about PayPal’s opportunities with stablecoins. But the soul of both companies is to own the network. And companies almost never change their soul, even in the face of existential disruption.

So brace yourself for a new wave of TradFi X Crypto announcements that a) Sound smart b) Incrementally move the needle for us c) Don’t threaten their core businesses.

I’m talking about crypto-meets-cards products that preserve interchange, stablecoins that don’t pay interest to end-users (and have the audacity to claim this is doing them a favor) and tokenization projects for assets that have no existing market.

Wall Street people on Tokenization and RWA panels love to talk about examples like real estate or private equity LPs. What they don’t talk about is tokenizing Apple stock on a public chain, even though demand for that product would be 100x greater, particularly in places where people don’t have access to US equity markets — which is almost everywhere.

But therein lies the rub, because tokenized AAPL would threaten the dominance of NASDAQ, DTCC, and the limited-set of brokers that have controlled the U.S. equity market for half a century. The people who run these companies are very smart, and only a fool would willingly lower the bridge over its most protective moat.

There are exceptions to this rule, such as the asset management firms who have embraced Bitcoin ETFs and tokenized money market funds. But those products don’t compete with anything the BlackRocks and Franklin Templetons of finance do today. If anything, they are tools the Buy Side can use to break free from the shackles of the Sell Side. A company like Blackrock pays hundreds of millions of dollars in fees every year to firms like J.P. Morgan, for the simple reason that the asset managers own the assets but the money center banks own the plumbing they move through.

But now, there’s a public blockchain for that. Crypto threatens the Sell Side by empowering the Buy Side. A tokenized Blackrock MMF on Ethereum is a better payment instrument than correspondent banking will ever be — which is why Larry loves crypto, but Jamie doesn’t.

Most people on Wall Street have really stepped up their game in recent years, and the daylight coming out of the Biden admin will accelerate that process. But it’s time for the crypto industry to do the same, and to be a lot more discerning about which aspects of the TradFi embrace we celebrate. Good executives protect their moats to the bitter end.

Authored by Pete McGinnis via RealClearPolicy,

In June 2023, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management proposed a rule that would require stricter financial assurance standards for oil companies operating in the Outer Continental Shelf. This costly rule became final on April 15, 2024, but in the 10 months since its initial proposal, BOEM did nothing to alleviate concerns for smaller companies that comprise of 76 percent of oil and gas operators in the Gulf. As a result, many of these companies could be forced out of business by extreme and unnecessary costs from this rule. The situation threatens an estimated 36,000 jobs, more than $570 million in federal government royalties, and $9.9 billion from our GDP.

Records obtained via the Freedom of Information Act show private meetings between Interior officials and representatives of the major oil companies as they cooperated on this rule. If you think that’s strange, you’re not alone. President Biden made clear in his campaign that he wanted to end oil and gas production on public lands. It’s baffling that Big Oil – among the administration’s most, if not the most, maligned businesses – would stand on the same side with environmental groups such as the Sierra Club who praised the rule. But needless government intervention makes strange bedfellows. Big Oil must think it won’t miss the small competitors the rule will drive from the market.

The conditions for obtaining an oil and gas lease include meeting obligations for decommissioning. Leaseholders must provide “financial assurance” that they can bear the costs to cap wells and restore the site. If the financial strength of the company is insufficient, costly surety bonds can be purchased to satisfy the requirements. However, a quiet omission is the larger threat for smaller operators.

Historically, joint and several liability protected these small businesses from the financial demands of surety bonds. Most small businesses operating in the OCS have assumed a lease started by a bigger oil company. Typically, a large company drills the well and harvests a large amount of oil (and profits), and then sells the lease. Under this system, all companies who have ever held the lease are liable for decommissioning. Accordingly, if any company who could be liable for decommissioning can prove capable of paying for decommissioning, no company is required to buy surety bonds.

The new rule is largely silent on joint and several liability, causing some uncertainty. It appeared that all present leaseholders will have to prove their financial strength on their own. BOEM’s director Liz Klein cleared up some confusion – and confirmed fears about the rule – at the Energy and Minerals Subcommittee hearing on May 23. She said that BOEM “would be going to those financial assurance requirements before we went to predecessors” when asked by Rep. Garret Graves (La.) about this issue. In short, the rule’s dysfunction appears quite intentional.

Mega oil companies will have little problem with the rule’s new credit rating requirement. Smaller companies, with fewer assets, may be unable to meet the new standards and need to purchase surety bonds. Small oil companies will now have to spend, conservatively, $379 million per year on surety bonds, but some estimates are closer to $800 million.

But all that assumes the market exists for those bonds. The Surety and Fidelity Association of America informed BOEM that the rule is either impossible or extremely cost-prohibitive for underwriting. The market supply of surety bonds in the OCS had already contracted before the rule. The problem is only going to get worse. Companies may not be able to acquire the needed financial assurances because the market likely will not even exist.

What makes matters worse is that all this cost covers a risk that is effectively a rounding error historically and in the context of the royalties flowing from the offshore oil and gas industry. According to BOEM, taxpayers have borne decommissioning liability totaling $58 million – from a single company that lacked predecessor owners of the platform to call on to cover unfunded cleanup costs. Against a conservative estimate of roughly $25 billion in decommissioning costs borne solely by private companies over the years, and the contribution of billions each year from all oil and gas royalties, the public is left to wonder whether this rule is a solution in search of a problem. The existing system of joint and several liability has protected the taxpayers and could continue to do so. The new costs to small oil businesses are for naught – unless the motivation is to make energy more expensive and drive out more companies.

That motivation makes sense for the radical environmental special interests, who have made clear they intend to shutter energy production at every opportunity. It doesn’t make sense for Big Oil companies, who stand to lose customers who buy their leases. Their support for the rule is short sighted.

Since BOEM knew this outlook and finalized the rule anyway, the motive must be something other than protecting taxpayers. Agency leadership at BOEM appears more concerned with penalizing responsible energy producers than protecting American families and businesses from out-of-control inflation stemming from their policies. 

Peter McGinnis is the Communications Director for the Functional Government Initiative (FGI). He has worked for political campaigns and advocacy organizations at the state and national level. He holds a dual B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Temple University.

Shares of Dell Technologies plunged the most in years in premarket trading in New York after the company posted in-line fiscal first-quarter results that showed the first revenue increase since 2022. Despite this positive news, investors were primarily concerned with the performance of the company’s artificial intelligence server business, which fell short of expectations.

The Texas-based company said Thursday that sales increased 6.3% to $22.24 billion in the quarter ending May 3. Analysts tracked by Bloomberg estimated an average of $21.62 billion. Profit topped $1.27 a share, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.23. 

Revenue from Dell’s AI servers doubled from the previous quarter to $1.7 billion, Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke said in the statement. He noted that the backlog for those servers increased more than 30% quarter-over-quarter to $3.8 billion. 

However, Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring pointed out that the strong quarter was overshadowed by the AI server backlog, which fell short of expectations. 

Here’s a snapshot of earnings (courtesy of Bloomberg):

• Adjusted EPS $1.27 vs. $1.31 y/y, estimate $1.23

• Total net revenue $22.24 billion, estimate $21.62 billion

• Infrastructure Solutions Group net revenue $9.23 billion, +22% y/y, estimate $9.06 billion

• Servers and Networking revenue $5.47 billion, estimate $4.89 billion

• Storage revenue $3.76 billion, estimate $3.98 billion

• Client Solutions Group net revenue $11.97 billion, -0.1% y/y, estimate $11.51 billion

• Commercial revenue $10.15 billion, estimate $9.66 billion

• Consumer revenue $1.81 billion, estimate $2.06 billion

• Adjusted operating income $1.47 billion, estimate $1.48 billion

Second quarter forecast:

• Sees revenue $23.5 billion to $24.5 billion, estimate $23.17 billion

Full-year forecast: 

• Sees revenue $93.5 billion to $97.5 billion, estimate $94.62 billion (Bloomberg Consensus)

• Sees adjusted EPS $7.40 to $7.90, estimate $7.70

With AI server sales and backlog failing to impress investors, shares of Dell tumbled 15% in premarket trading. If premarket gains hold into the cash session and settle more than -13% (Aug. 26, 2022) by the end of the session – this would be the largest single daily decline ever since re-entering public markets in late 2018. 

Parabolic moves higher never end well. 

Here’s what the rest of Wall Street analysts are saying about Dell’s earnings (courtesy of Bloomberg):

Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring (overweight, PT to $155 from $152)

• While near-term expectations get ahead of themselves, confidently buying the dip
• Dell’s unexpectedly strong April quarter revenue was overshadowed by AI server backlog missing expectations

JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee (overweight, PT $155)

• Dell’s margin choppiness is creating “a more attractive buying opportunity”
• Investors are likely to get anxious as the company’s strong revenue growth is coming at a cost “with margins coming in below expectations for both the reported and guided-to quarters”

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Woo Jin Ho

• While Dell’s AI-server sales have come in strong, its profit “less so”
• “Setting aside the frothy expectations, the momentum in Dell’s AI-server results is better than anticipated”

Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani (outperform, PT $165)

• While Dell’s results were “fairly solid,” its shares “reacted negatively post the print reflecting very high expectations”

Although Dell’s quarterly results were strong, the adoption of AI is still in its early stages, and investors had extremely high expectations to start.

On Thursday, Goldman tech trader Peter Callahan pointed out (read our full note here) a “very tough session today that saw: 1) extreme pressure across the software space (largest 1d move lower in ~2 years),  2) a big reversal in recent Momentum winners (NVDA / FICO / IT / DELL / MU types down -4%), and 3) sneaky outperformance of defensives, specifically (names like VZ, T, AMAT, SBAC, CMCSA up +2-4%).”

Callahan provided color on the Salesforce implosion:

• Software was clearly the focus today with CRM -20% on the day (worst day in 20+ years), which set the tone early and appeared to trigger what felt like capitulation…

Another must-read is “Goldman: There Is Growing Fatigue Around The Lack Of Performance Outside Of AI And Mag 7. “