The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is continuing efforts to transform warehouses into large-scale immigration detention centers despite a growing number of politically motivated lawsuits.
Officials with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently discussed plans to award contracts for construction and operations at warehouse sites in San Antonio and near El Paso, according to people briefed on the internal meetings. The administration is also examining how to continue work at a site near Hagerstown, Maryland, while complying with a court order limiting construction activity there.
The warehouse initiative has become a central part of the Trump administration’s broader deportation agenda, with officials arguing the facilities will allow ICE to process and detain illegal immigrants more efficiently through centralized hubs capable of housing large numbers of detainees.
Critics from both political parties have attacked the proposal, while several states have filed lawsuits claiming the administration failed to complete environmental reviews required under federal law.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin ordered a review of the estimated $38 billion project after taking office earlier this year. The plan was originally launched under former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
The administration appears determined to move forward with the project despite the legal challenges. ICE is reportedly preparing environmental assessments for the two Texas sites, with the goal of having both facilities operational by early 2027.
A DHS spokesperson said the department is reviewing policies and proposals adopted before Mullin assumed leadership and intends to work with local communities, including some in areas that strongly supported President Donald Trump.
SpaceX Reportedly Chooses Nasdaq And “SPCX” Ticker For Mega IPO
Elon Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX, has reportedly selected Nasdaq for its long-awaited IPO and is targeting a June 11 pricing, followed by a June 12 debut under the ticker “SPCX,” according to a Reuters report released late in Friday’s U.S. cash session.
Immediately after the report, odds for “SPCX” on the Polymarket bet, “What will SpaceX’s public ticker be?” soared to nearly 100%.
In April, SpaceX confidentially filed for an IPO with the SEC and is planning to disclose its prospectus as soon as next week, according to CNBC.
SpaceX’s IPO could raise upwards of $75 billion for the rocket company and dwarf Saudi Aramco’s $29 billion debut in 2019. The money raised would be used to fund an “insane flight rate” for the Starship rocket and to push ahead with deploying orbital data centers in low Earth orbit. The company’s valuation stands at around $1.75 trillion.
The timing comes amid a broader reopening of the IPO window for AI firms, with major chatbot startups such as OpenAI and Anthropic increasingly viewed as potential second-half candidates.
Goldman’s Tony Pasquariello offered additional insight on the upcoming SpaceX IPO:
In most every single client meeting that I have, the question of how the tape will absorb a series of mega IPOs comes up.
While understanding that potentially adding trillions of dollars of market cap is worth discussion, as mentioned a few times recently, I’d argue there’s good reason to be optimistic here (I’m a taker of opposing views).
I’ll add a few points to the running conversation here:
i. to level set, at $77tr of market cap, the US equity asset class is immense (the next closest country is China at $12tr).
ii. in 1999, 380 IPOs rolled off the assembly line; for 2026, GIR currently expects 100.
iii. asset size is one consideration, yet asset quality is another — I remember 1999, and let’s just say comprehensive asset quality didn’t stand the test of time.
Wall Street is certainly hungry for IPOs after a prolonged drought. This week, we saw AI chipmaker Cerebras surge nearly 70% in its debut.
SpaceX’s IPO filing could come around the 12th test flight of the Starship rocket, expected as early as next Tuesday.
Collum: Was Fed Chair Warsh Chosen For A Controlled Demolition?
Supposed monetary hawk Kevin Warsh, who was officially sworn in as the 17th Fed Chair earlier this week, will now face the dilemma of staying true to his hawkish roots or caving to his unabashed high-rate hating President. That is, of course, unless there’s a deeper plan at play…
Last night, Cornell professor Dave Collum hosted Michael Lebowitz and Stephanie Pomboy for a deep dived into ‘How F***ed Markets Are’ where Dave posited the theory that Warsh man be a demolition man for a managed crash.
Collum and co. also talked about the insane disconnect between the economy and financial markets… and why Pomboy has increasingly abandoned financial assets altogether in favor of gold and hard assets.
Dave’s Fed truther theory and other highlights from last night below:
Retail Retards
Collum warned that modern markets have become completely detached from traditional valuation discipline… but that reality will eventually set in.
“It’s my assertion that probably greater than 50% of the investors in the world don’t understand what valuation means… Everything’s a Bitcoin price now.”
Standard valuation metrics have compounded roughly 4% annually for 45 years and are now firmly in “the nosebleed section,” yet “nobody cares,” per Collum.
Classic warning indicators are now near historic extremes. Lebowitz noted that “CAPE is near its all-time high. It’s above the 1929 level and just short of the dot-com level.” He argued the bigger danger may actually be hiding in supposedly “safe” stocks like Walmart and Costco.
Pomboy has opted out of the mania altogether. How? Real assets.
“Markets can go on longer than you can remain solvent betting against it…. I finally just sort of resigned myself to buying gold… At the end of the day I have been outperforming those markets by only gold.”
— ZeroHedge Debates (@zerohedgeDebate) May 15, 2026
Why Warsh?
Collum posed the question of Kevin Warsh as Trump’s Fed Chair pick. Trump regularly announces that interest rates are too high and yet picks the ostensible hawk of the bunch to lead the Fed? But that may be a facade, according to Lebowitz:
“I think Kevin Warsh and Jerome Powell are the same guy.”
Lebowitz argued that the market may be projecting qualities onto Warsh that simply are not real. He acknowledged that Warsh currently sounds tougher, but there’s no way he’s gonna cut rates. “I thought he may come in and try to do 25 just to appease the president. There’s no way he could do that after the CPI and PPI data we had this week.”
Every Fed chair talks tough before markets crack (Greenspan was an Austrian/Ayn Rand-adjacent philosopher prior to his reign of easy money).
“Warsh was there in 2008, ’09 when they were introducing QE,” Lebowitz added. “Powell came off as very austere until the COVID hit the fan.”
Collum floated the darker theory that Warsh may have been chosen precisely because he is viewed as credible enough to oversee a painful reckoning. “What if Warsh’s assignment is ‘we need someone with the guts to usher this sucker down?’”
— ZeroHedge Debates (@zerohedgeDebate) May 15, 2026
Check out the full debate for their deep dive into the ticking timebomb that are private credit markets and more. Also available on YouTube and Spotify.
As artificial intelligence continues to permeate everyday life, the data centers needed to support the burgeoning technology are popping up across America – many close to residential areas. More than one-third of Americans now live within a few miles of at least one data center.
That proximity means many development projects are not going smoothly, as residents raise questions about the unknown effects on their resources. Both residents and developers who spoke to The Epoch Times pointed to transparency as a key issue.
The developers also said they are working to address residents’ concerns at the planning stage, adding safeguards to reduce water and energy requirements.
Meanwhile, grassroots opposition to data centers is gaining momentum going into the 2026 elections.
Built in Clusters
The United States currently has more than 3,100 data centers in operation and more than 1,800 in various stages of development, according to data provided by infrastructure intelligence and mapping platform Data Center Map.
Virginia, Texas, and California lead the nation in the number of data centers, according to the data. Virginia alone has a combined total of 711 currently operational, under-construction, and planned centers. Texas has a combined total of 544, and California, 333.
These data facilities are typically massive buildings housing information technology infrastructure, data-storage systems, and networking and processing equipment. They also require power subsystems, backup generators, and HVAC and cooling systems to prevent hardware from overheating.
According to a recent Pew Research Center analysis, 87 percent of existing data centers are located in urban regions, while 67 percent of planned data centers are targeted for construction in rural areas.
The analysis also reveals that 38 percent of Americans currently live within five miles of at least one operating data center.
“These structures tend to be built in clusters: Nine in 10 data centers are within five miles of another one,” the report notes. “As a result, a majority of Americans who live near one data center also live near at least one more.”
‘Wait a Minute’
According to Data Center Watch, community opposition to data centers is surging nationwide, shifting from individual zoning disputes into a national political force.
An estimated $152 billion in potential investment was blocked or delayed in 2025, including $98 billion in the second quarter alone—more than all disruptions combined since 2023 and affecting 20 projects, the research organization’s data show.
The activity accelerated sharply in the third and fourth quarters, with hundreds of activist groups across 42 states organizing to block the construction or expansion of data centers toward the end of the year.
“We came together and said no, and I’m very proud of the outcry of average citizens to say ‘wait a minute’ before going ahead with this,” Danei Edelen, who heads up the grassroots group Southern Ohio Responsible Development (SORD), located in Brown County, told The Epoch Times. Her hometown of Mount Orab, about 40 miles east of Cincinnati, is the latest target for a hyperscale data center.
“Some of these centers can use up to 5 million gallons of water, which is equivalent to a small town,” Edelen said. “As for the noise, it can be like having a motorcycle running 24/7.”
The group also has concerns about health hazards that could result from possible air pollution, water contamination, or exposure to high-voltage electricity.
With influence from SORD and other Brown County residents, the local government recently issued a six-month moratorium on the project, which could potentially encompass nearly 1,200 acres.
Clayton Tucker, secretary of the Texas Farmers Union and Democratic candidate for Texas agriculture minister, said he’s concerned about insufficient water for irrigation.
“It can cost up to $40,000 to drill for a new well, and some of these centers are water hogs, using incredible amounts of water here in the Dust Bowl,” he told The Epoch Times.
He said water levels in some wells in the state have already dropped by 25 feet.
Tucker also worries about the escalation of utility bills.
“Some of these centers are like building an entire new city, and power usage is expected to triple or quadruple by 2032,” he said.
Tucker has spoken with farmers in other states who have seen a recent influx of data centers.
He noted that although state and federal governments have had little involvement, local governments have been sensitive to their concerns. Action by several bipartisan city councils has managed to pause plans for data centers in Athens and San Marcos, Texas.
“Our main goal is to delay these projects and wait for better technology,” Tucker said. “Having centers that use no water and computer chips that use a fraction of the power with little or no noise would resolve a lot of resource issues.”
SORD is ready to go one step further by proposing a state constitutional amendment that would ban hyperscale data centers. The group is working to gather 413,000 valid signatures to qualify for a ballot measure in the next election.
The Biggest Problem
Jennifer Dunphy, public health consultant and author of “The Toxin Handbook,” told The Epoch Times that plans are already on the books for a new large data center within five miles of her home in Orange County, California. Her concern is more about what these centers could transform into for the future.
“The big question is about where these centers are headed,” she said. “As they need more and more power and resources, they’ll grow and become more complex, possibly adding health effects in the future.”
Currently, she noted, there’s no evidence directly linking data centers to any specific health effect, but there are concerns about electromagnetic fields and air pollution affecting people with co-morbidities such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and certain heart conditions, or the elderly.
Dunphy also believes the likelihood of water contamination from data centers is slim.
“I would be more worried about petrochemical or manufacturing centers producing chemical runoffs,” she said. “Then it becomes more of a concern.”
The biggest problem, she noted, is that there have been no large-scale studies about data centers and their impacts on local communities.
“We don’t know enough about these to have them in our backyard,” she said. “And no, I am not in favor of a data center near my home.”
Edelen said her group is not against responsible development.
“We just want more time to study the impact this may have on the community,” she said.
Emma Cox is the chief commercial officer for ClimeCo, a Houston-based global environmental advisory and decarbonization firm helping builders develop more responsibly by reducing carbon emissions and greenhouse gases.
“Data centers are going up incredibly quickly, and my caution is that some developers are not considering responsible growth,” she told The Epoch Times. “As a result, I believe both the environment and human health could suffer.”
The Texas Farmers Union seeks more openness and honesty when data centers are proposed.
“A lot of times, developers don’t tell you the whole truth,” Tucker said.
A Redfin-commissioned, Ipsos-conducted survey found that 47 percent of residents object to the construction of AI data centers in their neighborhoods, while 38 percent support the projects.
The survey also showed that younger Americans are more likely to support building data centers in their “backyard.” Politically, 49 percent of Republicans and 36 percent of Democrats support the construction of data centers.
‘A Convenient Scapegoat’
Daren Shumate, CEO of Shumate Engineering in Tysons, Virginia, has been involved in data center construction since 1998.
“From a developer’s viewpoint, there are two major requirements for site selection of data centers: ample power availability and the local jurisdiction that will allow you to build,” he told The Epoch Times.
While he acknowledged that these mega centers are water- and energy-intensive, he said safeguards are being built into plans for new facilities.
“Data centers are a convenient scapegoat when it comes to issues concerning water and power,” he said. “Many of the newer centers are now relying on air-cooled chillers or refrigeration as opposed to evaporative water systems and cooling towers. Those designs call for very low water usage.”
As a result, he said, a data center should have little effect on a community’s water supply or water rates.
Regarding power supply, Shumate said electricity usage varies depending on the size of the data center. It can range from 10 megawatts for smaller facilities to 200 megawatts for hyperscale centers, typically operated by Big Tech firms such as Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, and Oracle.
In some cases, these centers require additional buildings for cooling and other operations, often requiring another 100 megawatts per building, Shumate said.
“Unlike a regular office building that usually runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., a data center operates 24 hours a day and seven days a week. You turn it on and never turn it off,” he said.
While acknowledging concerns about power grid failures, Shumate said developers are taking steps to mitigate them.
“Most large data centers are now required to have back-up battery systems that will provide an uninterrupted power supply, and these batteries are constantly charging,” he said. “That means the centers won’t be putting any extra strain on the power companies when an outage occurs.”
Shumate also believes the expansion of data centers will have minimal effect on utility rates for local consumers.
“Local utility firms will be earning a huge amount of money from these centers, which they can use to improve their infrastructure without adding to consumer bills,” he said. “Better design techniques using LED lighting, insulation, windows, and other materials are designed to stabilize data center electricity usage.”
He also noted that many developers are establishing building criteria to ensure data centers are not located adjacent to schools or residential properties.
“While mechanical units can produce noise, developers can design systems to mitigate the data center noise,” he said.
Harry Sudock, chief business officer of CleanSpark, a Las Vegas-based data-center developer, has handled land acquisition and data center construction for nearly 40 years.
“Power availability and speed to delivery are actually more important than land prices when choosing a location,” he told The Epoch Times. “We also look for areas where there’s already a significant amount of electrical infrastructure in place, including former manufacturing hubs.”
US Gasoline Inventories Plunging On Surging Exports, Resilient Demand
Prompt Brent/WTI crude nearby futures increased by 5/7% week-over-week to $105/101 as flows through the Strait of Hormuz remained very low and on limited signs of progress on a US-Iran deal.
Meanwhile, as global oil inventories collapse at a record pace yet sliding Chinese demand and strategic releases from Beijing keep crude prices relatively stable, Goldman writes that the US gasoline market has become very tight, with inventories drawing at a rapid average pace of 0.7mb/d since April 1st to 5% below their historical seasonal median this week.
This has been driven by a combination of:
Surging net exports demand. US gasoline net exports are up 0.34mb/d year-over-year (4-week average)
Resilient domestic demand. Gasoline demand is resilient at just 0.2mb/d below its year-ago level (no demand destruction yet) and we are now entering the summer driving season.
Price incentives to shift production to distillates. Strong jet fuel and diesel margins are incentivizing refineries to increase yields of those products.
On the pricing side, wholesale gasoline prices in the US are approximately 15% ($21/bbl) higher than in Asia and Europe (Exhibit 1 above), and US retail prices are just $0.5/gal below their all-time high.
Goldman says that while it’s not the bank’s base case, the probability of US oil export restrictions likely rises with US retail gasoline prices.
Turning to oil, the IEA estimates in its latest Oil Market Report (OMR) an April deficit of 5.3mb/d, suggesting that the deficit may be less large than most had estimated last month, driven by:
Slightly lower IEA demand. Since the beginning of the crisis, the IEA has cumulatively (May – Feb OMR) downgraded its estimate of April demand by 3.1mb/d to 100.4mb/d (vs. a slightly smaller downgrade of 2.9mb/d in Goldman’s balance).
By product: Net cumulative downgrades by the IEA were largest (in mb/d terms) for LPG and ethane (11%), naphtha (13%), and jet and kerosene (7%) for which Goldman has also been seeing the highest risks of scarcity of supply.
By region: Net cumulative downgrades were largest for the Middle East (11%), China (5%), EM Asia ex China ex India (5%), and OECD Asia Oceania (7%). Notably, the IEA upgraded US demand from last month’s OMR by 0.5mb/d on resilient diesel and gasoline demand.
Less large IEA drop in Middle East Supply. The IEA estimates Gulf (defined as Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE) crude supply in April at 15.0mb/d, which is 4.0mb/d higher than the previous Goldman balance estimate (11.0mb/d) and 1.2mb/d higher than OPEC secondary sources (13.8mb/d).
The IEA supply beat was driven primarily by Iran and the UAE, likely reflecting less binding storage constraints than expected due to untrackable storage capacity.
The IEA reports that SPR releases from IEA countries averaged 2.1mb/d in April (but picked up significantly in the second half of the month). This has been a significantly larger offset for crude than for refined products — of the 90mb of total government inventories released since March 11th, 82mb are crude oil, while only 8mb are refined products.
US production in 2026 Q1 also surprised to the upside, with the modest beats concentrated in oil production by E&Ps (+2.1%) and liquids production by majors (+1.3%).
Jerome Powell’s term as Fed Chairman expires today, with Kevin Warsh now confirmed by the Senate as his successor.
The transition has implications beyond a change in the Fed’s leadership.
Further, Stephen Miran, who was appointed Fed Governor in September 2025 to fill the vacancy left by Adriana Kugler, is seeing his term come to an end.
Most noteworthy during his term, he dissented at all six FOMC meetings he attended, consistently pushing for 50-basis-point rate cuts.
It’s not a stretch to say he was the Fed’s biggest dove.
In the graphic below, we circle Miran’s year-end Fed Funds projection in the latest Fed’s dot plot.
As shown, Miran projected a year-end 2026 Fed Funds rate of 2.625%, nearly a full percentage point below the current median of 3.42%. That dovish voice is now gone.
Warsh’s arrival shifts the balance. Here are a few considerations worth keeping in mind:
The Fed tilted slightly more hawkishly: Warsh may prove more dovish than his reputation suggests, but it is nearly impossible he will match Miran’s appetite for cuts.
The next FOMC meeting on June 17th is unlikely to produce action. Given recent inflation data, we see little appetite for rate cuts at the next FOMC meeting despite new leadership.
Powell isn’t gone. He has pledged to remain a Fed Governor through January 2028, or until ongoing investigations into the Fed’s construction project and legal challenges against Governor Lisa Cook reach what he calls “transparency and finality.”
The bottom line: The Fed just got incrementally more hawkish, and the June meeting will be the first test of what that actually means. Moreover, Kevin Warsh will now be on the speaking circuit, so we can better ascertain his thoughts on inflation, employment, and how he will lead the Fed going forward.
Deadlocked At Square Zero: Very First Line Of Iran’s Latest Proposal ‘Unacceptable,’ Trump Says
Tehran and Washington are truly not just back to square one, but it’s as if no rounds of dialogue – direct or indirect – have even taken place. It’s more like being back at square zero – and the US President has just acknowledged it.
President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Friday while departing Beijing that even the very first first sentence of Iran’s latest proposal was “unacceptable” and blamed the Iranians for backtracking on the nuclear issue.
The first sentence was an “unacceptable sentence, because they have fully agreed no nuclear, and if they have any nuclear of any form, I don’t read the rest,” he said, stressing that he remains unsatisfied with the “level of guarantee from them.”
Trump’s remarks center on his allegation that Iran agreed to give up its “nuclear dust” but then quickly “then they took it back” – but then stated his view that Tehran will eventually agree to it anyway.
“I looked at it, and I don’t like the first sentence. I just throw it away,” Trump said.
He once again in the comments called for Iran to completely abandon any nuclear capability, insisting there can be “no nuclear of any form.” He described: “You’ve got to get all the fuel out and no more production. You have to get everything.”
Trump has said China’s President Xi Jinping is in full agreement that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon:
According to Trump, Iranian representatives acknowledged only the United States and possibly China possess the specialized equipment necessary to remove radioactive debris from the damaged sites.
“They said the only one that can remove it is China or the U.S.,” Trump said. “They said you were right. It is a complete obliteration.”
The president has said the nuclear material is now “entombed” under ground after nuclear sites were “obliterated” – from bombing operations last June and this latest round of US-Israeli attacks in February through March and early April.
Also this week while in China Trump told Fox News in an interview that he did not underestimate the situation in Iran, despite the constantly shifting and expanding timeline and stated goals within the early weeks of Operation Epic Fury.
TRUMP TO FOX: DIDN’T UNDERESTIMATE ANYTHING ON IRAN
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that the topic of uranium enrichment “is currently not on the agenda of discussions or negotiations,” but will be addressed in later stages, as cited in Tasnim.
On China and whether President Xi agreed to commit to pressuring the Iranians to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said Friday “we don’t need favors” but that “we may have to do a little cleanup work.”
“We had a little month-long ceasefire, I guess you’d call it, but we have a blockade that’s so effective, that’s why we did the ceasefire,” he said, after suggesting that the conflict with Iran could continue.
In yet another glaring example of failed “criminal justice reform” in blue cities, Cook County, Illinois officials have admitted that 243 dangerous criminals have gone completely AWOL from the county’s pretrial electronic monitoring program.
These include individuals charged with murder, attempted murder, and sexual assault — all supposed to be tracked by ankle monitors while awaiting trial instead of sitting in jail.
The revelation comes straight from Cook County Chief Judge Charles Beach II’s new transparency dashboard, which shows roughly 3,048 people currently on the program with 8 percent unaccounted for.
🚨 HOLY CRAP!! Cook County, Illinois Democrats ran a pre-trial program for murders and sexual assaulters so they WOULDN’T BE IN JAIL awaiting trial…
Of the criminals that have gone missing, 21 have been charged with murder, 13 with attempted murder, 103 with sexual assault, and 173 with aggravated battery.
A former Illinois police chief summed it up bluntly: “They have NO idea where they’re at. NONE. ZERO.”
🚨 THIS CANT HAPPEN! Cook County, Illinois just admitted they LOST TRACK of 243 criminals on ankle monitors, including 21 MURDERERS and 13 attempted murderers.
One of them was out on monitoring when he shot and killed a police officer and injured another during an armed robbery… pic.twitter.com/vPbE1ACawK
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) May 14, 2026
The criminals were supposed to be on ankle monitors. Instead, they’re lost, prompting what the report called a “wild goose chase.”
State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke called the figures alarming and warned of more victims if safeguards aren’t tightened.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s justice reforms — including elements of the controversial SAFE-T Act that pushed pretrial release over detention — are now under fresh scrutiny.
As one Illinois lawmaker noted in a follow-up post: “2,450 defendants on ankle monitors. 590 charged with violent crimes. 210 charged with aggravated weapons offenses. 85 felons caught with guns. 21 MURDER defendants. And 8% are just… gone. AWOL. Nobody knows where they are. THIS is Pritzker’s justice system.”
This isn’t some isolated glitch. The same program was ignored by a known career criminal with 72 prior arrests. He violated curfew, boarded a Chicago train, and set a stranger ON FIRE — exactly the kind of preventable horror that keeps repeating under these policies.
These repeat offenders keep being enabled in blue cities:
Recent cases like the cop-killing by an EM violator and the train torching show exactly where this leads. Illinois Democrats sold the public on “fairness” and “equity” in pretrial release.
What they delivered is a system where violent offenders roam free until they strike again — or simply vanish. The ankle monitors were meant to be a safeguard. Instead, they’ve become a joke.
Chief Judge Beach says more data and stricter violation reporting are coming. But after years of the same revolving-door failures, residents aren’t holding their breath.
Blue-city leaders keep doubling down on policies that prioritize criminals over victims. The body count — and the missing-persons list — keeps growing.
This is the predictable result of putting ideology over public safety. Until voters demand real accountability and law-and-order leadership, expect more of the same in Chicago and every other city following the same failed blueprint.
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Despite record low consumer sentiment (if you believe UMich), this morning saw the Empire Fed survey show New York state factory activity expanded in May at the fastest pace in four years, and firms grew more optimistic about the outlook.
That was followed by a much hotter than expected Industrial Production print (up 0.7% MoM vs +0.3% MoM exp and higher than the highest estimate) for April (and March’s decline revised stronger), lifting annual growth up to +1.35% YoY…
Source: Bloomberg
April’s gain for US industrial production was the largest since February 2025.
Manufacturing output rose 0.6 percent in April after edging up 0.1 percent in March.
The production of durables increased 1.2 percent in April, with gains in most categories.
The largest increase was in the output of motor vehicles and parts, which jumped 3.7 percent.
Nondurable manufacturing production edged down 0.1 percent, as declines in several categories – notably the indexes for chemicals and for plastics and rubber products, which both decreased 0.9 percent – were mostly offset by increases in the indexes for food, beverage, and tobacco products, for printing and support, and for petroleum and coal products.
Mining output edged down 0.1 percent in April after falling 1.6 percent in March.
The output of utilities increased 1.9 percent in April, with gains in both electric and natural gas utilities.
Capacity Utilization continued to rise to 76.1% (better than the 75.8% expected)…
So, if Americans are so pissed off (UMich), why is production and factory activity (and retail sales) picking up?
Stocks rallied after Jensen hopped on AF1 in Alaska. They rallied several times yesterday on Iran/China headlines, on Boeing selling planes headlines, and other soundbites from the much heralded Xi and Trump Summit.
As discussed in Wednesday’s report China and Trade, we did not have high expectations regarding this meeting. We did feel that the President wanted a deal badly enough, that we would get something to help markets, even though it seemed like China had a marginally better/better hand than the U.S.
What we were not expecting was a perfunctory set of meetings and press conferences.
The President is many things, but perfunctory is rarely one of them.
Perfunctory describes an action carried out quickly, superficially, or carelessly, usually as a routine duty rather than out of genuine interest or care.
It implies a lack of enthusiasm, effort, or thoroughness, often done merely to get a task finished. (via AI finding the Merriam Webster definition).
With a truly impressive entourage of politicians, political appointees and business leaders, the stage seemed set for something “bigger” than what we got. We often get more market moving social media posts in the middle of the night than we got as part of this historic meeting.
I did not have high expectations, but I was hoping for more than what we got.
I would rather have seen some confrontation and pushing an agenda, than what seemed quite “perfunctory”.
It leaves me (and possibly markets) a little confused.
Have stocks been pumped as high as they can?
What decision does the President make with Iran over the weekend?
It did not seem like there was any commitment from China to help, and according to at least some comments from the President, China was not asked to help.
Really, not sure what to make of the lack of headlines, but cannot help but think of those souvenir T-Shirts saying My President Went to Beijing and all I got was this Crummy T-Shirt.
It could have been worse.
It could have been a lot better.
But with bonds under pressure, the affordability issue getting more and more attention, and stocks at all time highs, I think markets needed something more than we got.
Maybe there will be a “surprise” statement or two in the coming days, following up on the meeting, but I am disappointed, and suspect markets are too!
