Baltic
Dry Index. 3005 -49 Brent Crude 105.78
Spot Gold 4537 Spot Silver 75.95
US 2 Year Yield 4.04 -09
US Federal Debt. 39.269 trillion
US GDP 32.138 trillion.
The function of entrepreneurs is to reform or revolutionize the pattern of production by exploiting an invention or, more generally, an untried technological possibility for producing a new commodity or producing an old one in a new way, by opening up a new source of supply of materials or a new outlet for products, by reorganizing an industry and so on.
Joseph A. Schumpeter
According to President Trump and the global stock casinos, Trump’s folly in the Persian Gulf is over.
Who won? Who cares? Look away from that falling oil price and normalised US Treasury yield curve now. War’s over (for now.)
For what did 170 Iranian primary school girls die in a USAF double strike on day one of Trump’s demented war on Iran?
President Donald Trump said
that Kharg
Island, the site of critical
Iranian oil infrastructure, has been "totally demolished" by U.S.
bombing, as he claimed that Iran wanted to negotiate a ceasefire.
During a call with NBC News on Saturday, Trump boasted that the U.S. military "totally demolished" the island, adding that "we may hit it a few more times just for fun."
Inside Iran: Sky News investigates Minab school
bombing
Sky's Dominic Waghorn reports from Minab,
Iran where more than a hundred women and children died when precision-guided
missiles hit a primary school.
Tuesday 19 May 2026 13:02, UK
Inside Iran: Sky News investigates Minab school bombing | World News | Sky News
In the stock casinos, party on like it’s
early 2019 again.
Asia markets rise as Trump says negotiations
between Iran and the U.S. in 'final stage'
Published Wed, May 20 2026 7:50 PM EDT
Asia-Pacific markets traded higher
Thursday, tracking Wall Street gains, as growing hopes that the Middle East
conflict could end soon cooled oil prices.
U.S. President Donald Trump said that
Washington was in the “final stages” of negotiations with Iran, according
to a pool report, helping lift investor optimism.
Oil prices have seen a sharp rise as the
Trump administration blockades Iranian ports, while the Strait of Hormuz, one
of the world’s most critical energy waterways, has been effectively closed by
Tehran.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 3.52% higher
after the release of the country’s latest trade data.
Exports rose at the fastest
pace since January, rising 14.8% in April, exceeding expectations
thanks to a surge in semiconductor shipments. Imports grew 9.7% year-on-year,
higher than an expected 8.3% rise, according to government data. The
country’s trade balance narrowed to 301.9 billion yen in April, from 643
billion yen in March.
Meanwhile, SoftBank Group surged nearly
20%, amid signs of AI’s strong momentum after Nvidia’s blockbuster earnings overnight.
South Korea’s Kospi extended early gains
to advance 7.68% while the small-cap Kosdaq was 5.02% higher. Index heavyweight
Samsung Electronics added more than 6% after a strike involving more than
47,000 of its workers was averted following a breakthrough in wage
negotiations. Another index heavyweight, SK Hynix, gained 11%.
Daniel Yoo, global strategist and head of
global investment department of Yuanta Securities (Korea) said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” he expects
Kospi to hit 10,000 by year-end.
South Korea will start 24-hour dollar-won spot trading on July 6, the finance
ministry said in a statement Thursday, part of ongoing reforms of its capital
market to boost economic growth.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.69%.
China’s CSI 300 gained 0.56%, while Hong
Kong’s Hang Seng Index gave up early gains to trade flat.
India’s Nifty 50 gained 0.42%, while
the BSE Sensex was up 0.50%
West Texas Intermediate futures were
0.78% higher at $99.03 per barrel in Asia trading on Thursday, while Brent crude added 0.67% at
$105.72 a barrel. In Wednesday’s session, WTI futures shed 5.66% to
close at $98.26 per barrel, while Brent crude pulled back
5.63% to settle at $105.02 a barrel.
Futures tied to the broad index slipped
0.3%, while Nasdaq 100
futures lost 0.4%. Dow
Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 52 points, or 0.1%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced
645.47 points, or 1.31%, closing at 50,009.35. The S&P 500 rose 1.08% to
7,432.97, while the Nasdaq
Composite added 1.54% and ended at 26,270.36.
Asia
markets today: Kospi, Nikkei225, Sensex, Hang Seng, Nifty 50
SoftBank Group shares soar 20% as Nvidia earnings
signal strong AI momentum
Published Wed, May 20 2026 8:40 PM EDT
Shares of SoftBank Group skyrocketed
Thursday as blockbuster earnings from Nvidia overnight signaled
strong momentum in the artificial intelligence space.
SoftBank Group shares, which had declined
for five straight sessions, rose 19.8% to add about $35 billion to its
market-cap Thursday.
The company’s fortunes are closely tied to
the AI boom through its stake in Arm Holdings, whose chip designs are used in
AI servers and data centers powered by Nvidia systems, and its investments in
OpenAI.
The Japanese giant has put in more than
$30 billion in OpenAI, with its investment gains in the company totaling $45
billion in the year ended March.
SoftBank’s sharp rally is being driven by
renewed optimism around a potential OpenAI listing, which helped propel Arm
Holdings shares up, said Andrew Jackson, head of Japanese equity strategy at
Ortus Advisors.
While the developments were largely
anticipated by markets, Jackson told CNBC the magnitude of the move was still
significant given SoftBank’s heavy exposure to AI-related assets. Arm Holdings
closed over 15% higher in U.S. trading hours.
SoftBank Group last week posted
a $46 billion annual gain at its Vision Fund, driven largely by the soaring
valuation of OpenAI as founder Masayoshi Son doubles down on artificial
intelligence investments. SoftBank added that gains tied to OpenAI totaled
about $45 billion in the fiscal year ended March.
Analysts at Fitch Ratings unit
CreditSights last week reiterated an “outperform” recommendation on SoftBank
Group debt, adding that a sharp rally in Arm Holdings shares has materially
strengthened the conglomerate’s balance sheet despite aggressive investments
into artificial intelligence.
More
SoftBank
soars as Nvidia earnings signal strong AI momentum
In other news, give peace a chance? Is
Trump’s economic war on the rest of the world finally about to end?
Tankers exit Hormuz as Trump, Vance talk up Iran
deal prospects
20 May 2026
SINGAPORE/WASHINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) -
Two Chinese tankers laden with oil exited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday,
shipping data showed, brightening hopes that the U.S.-Israeli conflict with
Iran may soon be resolved after positive comments from the U.S. president and
his deputy.
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the
war would be over "very quickly" while Vice President JD Vance talked
up progress in talks with Tehran about an agreement to end hostilities.
"We're in a pretty good spot
here," Vance told a White House press briefing.
Trump made his comments a day after saying
he had paused a planned resumption of hostilities following a new proposal by
Tehran to end the conflict.
"I was an hour away from making the
decision to go today," Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.
Iran's leaders are begging for a deal, he
said, adding that a new U.S. attack would happen in coming days if no agreement
was reached.
The United States has been struggling to
end the war it began with Israel nearly three months ago. Trump has repeatedly
said during the conflict that a deal with Tehran was close, and similarly
threatened heavy strikes on Iran if it did not reach an accord.
The U.S. president is under intense
political pressure at home to reach an accord that would reopen the Strait of
Hormuz - a key route for global supplies of oil and other commodities. Gasoline
prices remain high and Trump's approval rating has plummeted with congressional
elections looming in November.
The conflict has caused the worst-ever
disruption to global energy supplies, blocking hundreds of tankers from leaving
the Gulf while damaging energy and shipping facilities across the region.
Two Chinese ships, among a handful of
supertankers carrying Iraqi crude, exiting the Gulf this month, passed through
the narrow strait carrying around 4 million barrels of crude, according to data
from LSEG and Kpler.
Oil prices eased on the positive signals
from the White House and in the Gulf, with Brent crude falling to as low as
$110.16 a barrel, before regaining much of its losses.
"Investors are keen to gauge whether
Washington and Tehran can actually find common ground and reach a peace
agreement, with the U.S. stance shifting daily," said Toshitaka Tazawa, an
analyst at Fujitomi Securities.
DIFFICULTIES IN NEGOTIATIONS
Speaking to reporters at a White House
briefing, Vance acknowledged difficulties in negotiating with a fractured
Iranian leadership. "It's not sometimes totally clear what the negotiating
position of the team is," he said, so the U.S. is trying to make its own
red lines clear.
He also said one objective of Trump's
policy is to prevent a nuclear arms race from spreading in the region.
Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian
parliament's national security committee, said on X that Trump's pausing of an
attack was due to the realization that any move against Iran would mean
"facing a decisive military response."
Iranian state media said Tehran's latest
peace proposal involves ending hostilities on all fronts including Lebanon, the
exit of U.S. forces from areas close to Iran, and reparations for destruction
caused by the U.S.-Israeli attacks.
Tehran also sought the lifting of
sanctions, release of frozen funds and an end to the U.S. marine blockade,
according to Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi as cited by IRNA news
agency.
The terms as described in the Iranian
reports appeared little changed from Iran's previous offer, which Trump
rejected last week as "garbage."
More
Tankers exit
Hormuz as Trump, Vance talk up Iran deal prospects
Iran Warns of Wider War Beyond Middle East If US
Resumes Attacks
May 20, 2026 at 5:00 PM GMT+1
Iran said it would take the war beyond the Middle East if the US and Israel resume
attacks, after President Donald Trump threatened new strikes.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has gained influence in Iran since
the conflict started in late February, vowed “crushing blows in places you do
not expect,” according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
The threat hints at a possible escalation should Trump follow through on his
comments yesterday that he might order a new round of strikes in coming days.
Iran fired drones and missiles at several countries, including Israel and Gulf Arab states, after the war began.
Trump said today the US is in the “final stages” of negotiations with Iran,
according to a White House pool report. “We’re going to do some things that are
a little bit nasty, but hopefully that won’t happen,” he said according to the
report.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, meeting with Vladimir Putin in Beijing today,
added urgency to his calls for peace, state news agency Xinhua reported. “A
comprehensive ceasefire is imperative,” Xi said. — Philip Lagerkranser
AI fears are rattling bank workers after
Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters pledged sweeping job cuts as it adopts the
technology. His counterpart at HSBC, Georges Elhedery, said today that AI
will “destroy”
some jobs while crating others, urging employees to adapt. The two
leaders joined a growing chorus of bank CEOs extolling the cost-cutting
benefits of AI.
It’s not all smooth sailing for CEOs,
though. Winters moved
to calm staff today after his comments on replacing “lower-value human
capital” caused a social-media backlash. And some regulators are pushing to
ensure humans are providing
oversight of bank processes increasingly handled by AI.
Iran
Warns of Wider War Beyond Middle East If US Resumes Attacks - Bloomberg
Global Inflation/Stagflation/Recession
Watch.
Given
our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians.
UK inflation rate falls more than expected to 2.8% in year to April
20 May 2026
April's inflation rate fall partly due to energy price cap
The fall in the inflation rate in April is more of
a drop than analysts were expecting and it's partly down to the energy price
cap kicking in.
On 1 April the government's cap on how much
customers can be charged for each unit of gas and electricity fell by £117 a
year, or 7%, from the previous cap which applied between January to March.
UK inflation rate falls to 2.8%
The UK's inflation rate has fallen to 2.8% in the
year to April, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has announced.
That's a 0.5 percentage point fall from the 3.3%
recorded in the 12 months to March.
Expect a lull before the storm continues
Price pressures may have heated up in some areas -
but a fall in the domestic energy price cap in April, set some time before the
Iran conflict started, may likely have helped keep a lid on inflation as well
as bills last month.
But other things were creeping up - petrol prices
hit 158p per litre in April - up almost a fifth compared to before the war,
while diesel rose was up a third as global oil prices rose.
And higher costs will continue to filter through to
other items - from food to flights - but some impacts will take months to come
through.
So this is likely an inflation lull before the
storm resumes.
Economists predict that inflation won't get
anywhere near the double-digit rates seen just a few years ago - but how high
it goes will go depends on the as yet uncertain path of the conflict.
For most, incomes are still outpacing inflation,
and the support the chancellor is preparing to unveil may help some, albeit, we
expect a very limited number. But things will feel more stretched in the coming
months.
UK inflation rate falls more than
expected to 2.8% in year to April - live updates - BBC News
India announces second fuel price hike in a week, local media reports
Tue, 19 May 2026 at 2:37 am BST
May 19 (Reuters) - India hiked petrol and diesel prices
by around 0.9 rupees ($0.0093) per litre on Tuesday, local media reported, in
what would be the country's second fuel price hike in a week.
The price of petrol was hiked to 98.64 rupees a
litre from 97.77 rupees in Delhi while diesel was increased to 91.58 rupees
a litre from 90.67 rupees, media reported.
Last Friday, India raised petrol and diesel prices
for the first time in four years by 3 rupees per litre to recoup some of
the losses incurred due to higher global crude oil prices.
India announces second fuel price
hike in a week, local media reports
Petrol hits highest price since start of Iran war
19 May 2026
The average price of unleaded petrol has risen to
158.52p a litre, its highest level since the start of the Iran war, according
to the RAC.
Petrol and diesel prices surged when the conflict
began on 28 February, with the production and transportation of energy across
the Middle East slowing or stopping entirely due to missile strikes and drone
attacks.
The price of petrol last peaked at 158.31p on 15
April, falling by more than a penny until the start of May when it began rising
again, the RAC said.
The motoring organisation also said unleaded was
likely to increase to at least 160p a litre in the coming weeks unless there
was a "dramatic and sustained drop" in the price of oil.
Brent crude - the global benchmark for wholesale
oil prices - is currently trading at about $111 a barrel. Before the conflict,
Brent was trading at about $73 a barrel.
That in turn has pushed up prices at the pump. The
price of unleaded petrol was 132.83p a litre on average at the start of the
conflict.
The average price of diesel was 142.38p a litre. It
is now 185.92p a litre.
More
Petrol hits highest price since
start of Iran war - BBC News
Technology
Update.
With events happening fast in the
development of solar power and graphene, among other things, I’ve added this
section Updates as they get reported.
Japanese scientists achieve world record 25.14% efficiency for
perovskite-CIGS tandem solar cell
The
result was certified by Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial
Science and Technology (AIST).
May 18, 2026
Researchers from Tokyo
City University in Japan claim to have achieved a world record power
conversion efficiency for a tandem solar cell based on a top perovskite device
and a bottom cell based on copper, indium, gallium and selenium (CIGS).
The tandem device has a two-terminal (2T) configuration, an active
area of 1 cm2, and an certified efficiency of 25.14%. The result was verified
by Japan's National
Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST).
The previous
world record of 24.6% was achieved by German research institute HZB in
Febuary 2025. “Since then, improvement research has been conducted around the
world, but the 25% barrier had not been broken,” the Japanese team stated.
The scientists explained that the cell is based on bottom CIGS
device developed by AIST itself and top perovskite cell with an improved
perovskite absorber with higher cristallinity, which was achieved via a new
barrier layer placed between the two cells.
The layer promotes better crystallinity of the perovskite film by
providing a more suitable growth surface. At the same time, it reduces
interfacial recombination losses that would otherwise lower device efficiency.
It also prevents unwanted chemical reactions between the CIGS layer and
perovskite precursors.
The top cell was built with a substrate made of indium tin oxide
(ITO), a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) known as MeO-2PACz, the perovskite
absorber, an electron transport layer (ETL) relying on buckminsterfullerene
(C60) and tin dioxide layer deposited via atomic layer deposition (ALD-SnO2),
another ITO layer, an antireflective coating made of magnesium fluoride (MgF2),
and silver metal contact.
The CIGS cell was made with a soda-lime glass (SLG) substrate, a
molybdenum (Mo) back contact, a CIGS absorber, a cadmium sulfide (CdS) buffer
layer, and a zinc oxide (ZnO) window layer.
Tested under standard illumination conditions, the tandem cell
achieved an efficiency of 25.14%, an open-circuit voltage of 1.845 V, a
short-circuit current density of 16.25 mA/cm2, and a fill factor of 83.5.%.
The researchers said further efficiency improvements can be
expected by optimizing the cell configuration to improve the short-circuit
current. In addition, they aim to accelerate research and development toward
practical application through improvements in additives and passivation
technology, with no further technical details of the new cell design being
revealed.
Next, the
world global debt clock. Nations debts to GDP compared.
World Debt Clocks
(usdebtclock.org)
Stability leads to instability. The more stable things become
and the longer things are stable, the more unstable they will be when the
crisis hits.
Hyman Minsky
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