Zero Hedge

Australia Considers Emergency Powers To Protect Domestic Gas Supply

Australia Considers Emergency Powers To Protect Domestic Gas Supply

Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,

Australia’s government intends to consider using emergency powers to protect domestic natural gas supply in case of a shortfall on its east coast in the third quarter of 2026.

The potential consideration of using such powers would be part of the steps the Albanese Government is taking to secure domestic gas supplies for Australian households and industry as the Middle East conflict disrupts global energy markets.

Australian Minister for Resources, Madeleine King, has given notice of her intention to consider using powers under the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism (ADGSM) to protect Australian energy supplies in the event of a possible east coast domestic gas shortfall in the third quarter of 2026, the winter months Down Under.

The minister will consult with major gas producers over the next 30 days regarding supplies to the domestic market and will make a decision on whether to use the ADGSM by the middle of May, the government said.

“My decision to issue a notice of intent is a precautionary measure that gives me the flexibility to intervene if Australia is at risk of facing an energy shortfall,” King said in a statement.

“The notice does not place any limits on gas exports. Currently, Australia’s domestic market is well supplied with Australian gas.”

Australia remains a reliable gas supplier to international partners, but if there is a risk of domestic supply shortfall, Australians will be priority for energy supplies during the disruption on the global markets caused by the war in the Middle East, the minister said.

On Wednesday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said that wholesale gas supply on Australia’s east coast is expected to be tight and large volumes of gas will likely be required from storage to meet demand in the third quarter of 2026.

Apart from gas supply, Australia has moved to protect consumers from soaring fuel prices.

Early this week, the government halved the fuel excise on gasoline and diesel for three months in a bid to alleviate financial stress from spiking fuel prices.

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2026 - 19:40

Oracle's Dubai Data Center Reportedly Hit As Iran Expands Attack On AI Infrastructure

Oracle's Dubai Data Center Reportedly Hit As Iran Expands Attack On AI Infrastructure

According to Reuters national security reporter Phil Stewart on X, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has targeted a data center facility operated by Oracle in Dubai. 

Not much is known about the IRGC strike on Oracle's data center or what type of air-delivered munitions were involved. There is no word on what damage the facility sustained.

Context on Oracle's data center operations in the Middle East: 

Oracle's Dubai facility is its Oracle Cloud UAE East region, with the region identifier me-dubai-1 and region key DXB. Oracle says the Dubai cloud region is located in Dubai, UAE, and the company also operates a second UAE region in Abu Dhabi. 

Oracle's data center map:

Oracle's status page currently shows no operational issues in Dubai or worldwide. 

On Wednesday, the IRGC targeted Amazon's cloud computing operation in Bahrain. Also, last month, numerous data centers operated by U.S. companies were hit by IRGC drones (read report).

Earlier this week, Sepah News, the IRGC's official news outlet, named 18 U.S. companies with operations in the Middle East that are now considered "legitimate targets."

"From now on, for every assassination, an American company will be destroyed," the RGC-affiliated news outlet said.

The list of companies also included Cisco, HP, Intel, Oracle, IBM, Dell, Palantir, JPMorgan, Tesla, GE, Spire Solutions, Boeing, and UAE-based artificial intelligence company G42.

Related:

One thing the U.S.-Iran conflict has taught the world is that civilian infrastructure is not off limits, as well as the massive security gaps in protecting data centers from cheap drones. 

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2026 - 19:15

The Case Against Federal Reserve Independence

The Case Against Federal Reserve Independence

Authored by Alexander William Salter via AmericanMind.org,

It’s illegal in theory and ineffective in practice.

The independence of the Federal Reserve System has become a major source of public controversy. As political leaders signal dissatisfaction with monetary policy, officials and commentators rush to defend the central bank’s insulation from democratic pressure.

We are told, as if it were self-evident, that central bank independence is a pillar of sound economic governance.

But this confidence is misplaced. The economic case for central bank independence is far weaker than its defenders suggest. And the constitutional case is weaker still.

Start with economics. The standard argument is that independent central banks deliver low and stable inflation because they are insulated from short-term political incentives.

Elected officials, facing electoral pressures, might be tempted to juice the economy with artificially loose monetary policy. By contrast, independent technocrats can take the long view.

Early empirical studies did show that countries with independent central banks experienced lower inflation. Yet more recent research has cast doubt on this relationship.

The correlation is sensitive to different samples and methods. In many cases, the supposed benefits of independence disappear entirely.

A more plausible explanation has emerged. Countries that enjoy low and stable inflation share deeper institutional characteristics: respect for the rule of law, stable political systems, and credible commitments to property rights. These are the real foundations of sound money. Central bank independence accompanies these basic governance norms, but its standalone effect is debatable.

This matters for a free-enterprise economy. Monetary policy is not a neutral technocratic exercise. Interest rates are prices: the price of time, risk, and capital. When insulated officials tinker with those prices at their discretion, the result is distorted market signals. Cheap credit can mislead investors, encourage unsustainable projects, and redistribute wealth in opaque ways. Independence does not eliminate politics. It simply hides politics behind a veil of expertise.

If the economic case for independence is overstated, the constitutional case is entirely bunk. The Constitution is clear: Congress holds the power “to coin Money” and “regulate the Value thereof.” Monetary authority, like all legislative power, originates with the people’s representatives. Congress may delegate certain functions to administrative bodies, including by creating a central bank. But delegation is not abdication. Those who exercise delegated authority remain accountable to the laws Congress passes and, ultimately, to the chief executive charged with enforcing them.

Yet the modern Fed operates as if our constitutional framework were irrelevant. Its leaders enjoy significant protection from removal. Its decisions (targeting interest rates, allocating credit, regulating banks, etc.) have sweeping consequences for the entire economy. If this does not constitute the exercise of executive power, it is hard to say what does.

The Supreme Court has recently emphasized that administrative agencies cannot be insulated from presidential oversight simply because they possess technical expertise.

The separation of powers does not yield to convenience, nor to the promise of better policy outcomes.

Yet when it comes to the Federal Reserve, the Court has signaled a willingness to tolerate precisely such insulation—a “special case” for the most powerful economic institution in the country.

This exception is indefensible. Appeals to history or prudence, however well-grounded, are not constitutional arguments. An agency that wields executive power must answer to the chief executive. Concerns about how that works in practice does not justify ignoring the Constitution.

The truth is that central bank independence persists not because it is firmly grounded in law or economics, but because the alternative unsettles us. We worry, not without reason, that elected officials might misuse monetary policy for short-term gain. But the Constitution does not permit us to resolve that fear by concentrating vast economic power in the hands of unaccountable experts. A free and self-governing people must confront the difficult task of designing institutions that combine competence with accountability.

That begins with Congress. There are several legislative reforms that can restore the rule of law to monetary policy. First, lawmakers should narrow the Federal Reserve’s mandate to a single, clear objective—price stability—rather than the vague and conflicting goals it currently pursues. A simpler mandate would make it easier to evaluate performance and hold policymakers responsible when they fail.

Second, Congress should revisit the legal protections that shield senior Fed officials from removal. Freedom of judgment is one thing; freedom from oversight is another. Officials entrusted with such consequential authority must ultimately answer to elected leadership. Legislators ought to make it easier to fire central bankers.

Finally, the president should take a more active role in ensuring that the Fed operates within its statutory and constitutional bounds. This does not mean dictating day-to-day interest rate decisions. Instead, it means recognizing that monetary policy, like all exercises of government power, must remain subject to democratic control. President Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chairman is a good start. The two must work together to restore normalcy to the Fed’s everyday operations, something missing since the 2007-08 financial crisis.

Economic stability is obviously desirable. But we cannot purchase it at the cost of self-government.

Republican principles require officials to be answerable to the people.

If we are serious about preserving the constitutional order and free enterprise, we must abandon the comforting myths of central bank independence and restore accountability to the Federal Reserve.

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2026 - 18:50

"Save Every Drop Of Fuel": South Korea Tells Citizens To Conserve, Ride Public Transit Amid Energy Shock

"Save Every Drop Of Fuel": South Korea Tells Citizens To Conserve, Ride Public Transit Amid Energy Shock

The Gulf energy shock is now hitting Asian economies with full force.

In Seoul, President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday urged citizens to "save every drop of fuel," a new sign policymakers are moving quickly into crisis mode as the U.S.-Iran conflict raises the risk of nasty fuel shortages across some of Asia's most energy- and Hormuz-dependent economies.

Lee told lawmakers in a parliamentary address about the urgent need to conserve fuel. He warned that the Middle East crisis has triggered one of the worst energy shocks ever.

"I earnestly appeal to all citizens to actively participate in energy-saving movements in daily lives, such as taking public transportation and conserving electricity," Lee said.

He added, "The current crisis is not a passing shower that quickly subsides, but rather a massive storm whose duration is uncertain, making it all the more severe."

South Korea is trying to offset a collapse in energy imports from the Gulf region, with the Hormuz chokepoint still disrupted as the U.S.-Iran conflict enters its second month.

Lee's government proposed a $17 billion emergency program to cushion households and businesses against fuel price shock.

Seoul has already imposed a fuel price cap, expanded fuel tax cuts, and moved to secure alternative supplies of key petrochemicals such as naphtha, as well as urea for fertilizer.

Seoul also announced it will delay the shutdown of coal-fired power plants and has lifted caps on coal-fired electricity, as coal switching across Asia goes into high gear to offset losses in Gulf energy flows.

In South Asia, India has told coal-fired power plants to crank up power generation. 

Australian officials asked citizens to trade their cars for public transport to conserve fuel. Fuel shortages in the country have become visible in recent weeks because it is highly exposed to Gulf energy flows.

Last month, China halted refined fuel exports to the region to preempt a potential fuel shortage.

JPMorgan analysts recently explained that the energy shockwave from the Iran war is already hitting Asia, with Africa next, then Europe, and shortly thereafter the U.S., especially West Coast states.

Source

The disruption of petrochemical production in the Gulf region has also sparked a global plastics supply crisis. To note, China is the world's largest plastic consumer and producer.

Which country will be next to declare a fuel crisis and urge citizens to take public transportation? 

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2026 - 18:25

A Second Amendment Roadmap For The Next Attorney General

A Second Amendment Roadmap For The Next Attorney General

Authored by Aidan Johnston via Gun Owners of America,

President Trump campaigned on restoring robust protections for the Second Amendment. Yet more than a year into his second term, gun owners feel disillusioned, and many are planning to sit out the midterm elections.

Having viewed President Trump’s election as a generational opportunity to course-correct, the stark reality is that not all that much has changed with respect to the nation’s gun laws. Gun owners’ frustration centers not on the Administration’s broader record, but on the large number of times the Department of Justice under Attorney General Pam Bondi has fallen short on gun rights.

Ms. Bondi entered office with a mixed record on the Second Amendment. During her time as Florida’s attorney general, she supported a number of anti-gun restrictions after the Parkland shooting, including red flag laws, raising the age for gun ownership, Florida’s open carry ban, and a ban on bump stocks.

Understandably, then, gun rights groups voiced concerns during her nomination. In retrospect, they were completely justified.

For starters, President Trump ordered Bondi to prepare and submit a report examining Second Amendment infringements. But DOJ then sought an extension, and the deadline for DOJ's report came and went with no public evidence that it was ever delivered. This has left a visible gap where decisive action was promised.

But gun owners aren’t just disappointed in a lack of a public roadmap. DOJ and ATF thus far have failed to curtail three major Biden-era rules that candidate Trump pledged to eliminate in his first week.

First, Biden’s so-called “ghost-gun” regulation survived Supreme Court review in a case that the Trump Department of Justice should have immediately rendered moot.

Second, a regulatory ban on pistol stabilizing braces continues to be enforced against some firearms despite pro-gun injunctions.

Third, Biden’s universal background check rule remains on the books, with DOJ attempting various legal maneuvers to avoid it being struck down.

These unfinished tasks – and many more like them – fuel a narrative of inaction at the department level.

Contrast DOJ’s lack of forward progress on gun rights with progress elsewhere in the administration.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon is using the Civil Rights Division to challenge unconstitutional state-level gun controls, earning regular praise from Second Amendment advocates.

The Department of Veterans Affairs restored gun rights to more than 250,000 veterans previously flagged solely for needing fiduciary assistance with benefits.

The Treasury Department rolled back reputational-risk guidance that had pressured banks against serving the firearms industry.

The Department of the Interior expanded hunting access on federal lands.

And , Congress eliminated a century-old $200 tax on suppressors and short-barreled firearms.

But that Congressional enactment merely circles back to another area where Ms. Bondi’s leadership has lagged. After federal lawmakers reduced the National Firearms Act tax from $200 to zero, DOJ inexplicably continued defending related federal registration requirements against litigation by Gun Owners of America and fifteen Republican state attorneys general.

For its part, GOA repeatedly has offered to help DOJ deliver on President Trump’s campaign promises. But those proffers have almost always been rejected or ignored. Rather, we’ve received a number of requests to temper our criticism of Ms. Bondi, so as not to offend her notoriously sensitive feelings.

As a result, public statements proclaiming that Ms. Bondi’s DOJ is the “most pro-Second Amendment administration in history” became a punchline among Trump’s pro-gun base, rather than a rallying point. Among gun owners, the feeling about DOJ has been, ‘with friends like these, who needs enemies?’

Rather than advancing the president’s agenda on the Second Amendment, Bondi protected the institutional interests of the Department of Justice. Under her leadership, DOJ continued defending unconstitutional gun laws, fought to moot promising pro-Second Amendment lawsuits without resolution, slow-walked deregulatory efforts, and repeatedly assured gun owners that the status quo represented the best achievable outcome.

At one point, Bondi even “bragged” to Congress about ATF—an agency that tyrannized gun owners for four years under Joe Biden.

Gun owners did not vote for President Trump merely to preserve business as usual at the DOJ. Rather, they elected him to radically de-weaponize federal power and fundamentally reorient federal priorities toward safeguarding constitutional rights.

The net result is a paradox. Across most of the executive branch and in Congress, the second Trump term has delivered tangible gains for gun owners. Yet polling and grassroots sentiment still show a negative impression of the administration on firearms issues. Nearly all of that discontent traces back to DOJ’s utter failure to deliver on the President’s campaign promises.

The good news is that this problem is easily fixed by whomever becomes the next Attorney General. A clear roadmap exists:

First, announce immediately that the three Biden ATF rules are no longer being enforced. Direct the ATF to cease new prosecutions or administrative actions based on them.

Second, in ongoing litigation, pursue swift settlements that include binding commitments to non-enforcement and regulatory rescission of Biden-era gun control.

Third, instruct the department to stop defending plainly unconstitutional gun laws and regulations in court, consistent with recent Supreme Court precedent.

These steps require no new legislation and can be executed quickly. Implementing them would demonstrate fidelity to the president’s agenda, neutralize a huge source of voter dissatisfaction, and energize the gun-rights community ahead of the midterms.

Time is short. The midterms loom, and sustained enthusiasm from Second Amendment voters remains essential to building the durable majority President Trump envisions. The next Attorney General will have the tools to repair DOJ’s relationship with gun owners. What DOJ needs now is the will to use them decisively.

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2026 - 18:00

Inanity Of Identity Politics Exposed At Canadian NDP Convention

Inanity Of Identity Politics Exposed At Canadian NDP Convention

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

The recent convention of the Canadian New Democratic Party (NDP) became a microcosm of the inanity of identity politics found in forums ranging from politics to higher education.

Participants were given familiar “equity cards” as literal card-carrying members of groups demanding preferred treatment. The problem is when one identity group demands preference over another. The result, as seen in Winnipeg, was calamity and quickly became comedy.

Many in education have long pushed equity cards and “identity markers” to get students to define themselves by their race, disability, gender, or other criteria. Even computer science teachers are told to tailor their lessons to identity markers.

Such markers are treated as essential to creating “Identity safe classrooms.”

There are even DEI games where children are encouraged to “match” their identity groups.

At the NDP convention, people were given equity cards to give preference to certain identities over groups such as males or whites. The problem is that the cards create an entitlement that can clash with others’ claims to speak first.

The cards were based on identity categories, including gender, race and ethnicity, LGBTQ+ status, and Indigenous status. You were supposed to be able to jump ahead of others because of your priority identity.

One video shows a person holding up their green gender equity card to claim the right to speak first as another woman waves her pink race equity card to speak.

What followed were objections to people not yielding to those with greater priority or right to speak with one noting that cards for people who identify as Black women “have no value outside of this space.”

Then there was the speaker who called out another delegate for the sin of misgendering the speaking who identified as “non-binary.”

The collapse of the equity house of cards is due to the inherent myth that identity politics produces equity. It is, in fact, a separate system of privilege and entitlement. It is used to marginalize other voices in the name of amplifying other voices.

The greatest impact is to balkanize a population or party rather than emphasize common identities.

The alternative is to enforce uniform treatment of any speakers based on such novel devices as a line to speak.

Under this cutting edge approach, people are guaranteed to speak in the order in which they line up to speak. It may be a radical experiment for the NDP, but it has been shown to have some success in other areas.

* * *

Buy here. Read more about it here. 

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2026 - 17:20

Houthis Confirm Coordination With Iran, Hezbollah In Several Attack Waves On Israel

Houthis Confirm Coordination With Iran, Hezbollah In Several Attack Waves On Israel

Amid several waves of missile strikes out of Yemen onto Israel from Tuesday into Wednesday, the Iran-aligned Houthis have made it clear they are coordinating with both Tehran and Hezbollah.

Yemeni Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the Houthis have carried out several missile launch operations on "sensitive targets" in "southern occupied Palestine". The statement underscored this was conducted "in continuation of supporting and backing the fronts of Resistance" and as part of a "religious, moral, and humanitarian duty" toward allied forces in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine - specifically saying there was coordination with Iran.

Getty Images

The Houthis first announced last week they would be joining the war, but it has been the last 24 to 48 hours that Israel has really been subject of some of the biggest inbound rocket attacks in weeks.

This is because not only have Houthi forces stepped up attacks alongside Iran, but Hezbollah is increasing them too:

Four people were lightly injured as Hezbollah fired around 130 rockets at northern Israel on Wednesday and Thursday, the start of the Passover holiday, as the military struck dozens of sites in Lebanon belonging to the Iran-backed terror group.

The bombardment as Israelis celebrated the first two days of the Passover festival sent hundreds of thousands of people into shelters, as Iran continued to also launch missiles at the country, including the north.

The Houthis have very powerful, and longer-range rockets (compared to Hezbollah, apparently) - which were supplied (or assisted in terms of development) by Iran.

The Houthis are warning of more missile waves to come so long as Iran is attacked, saying the US-Israeli strikes "will only push free Yemen toward further escalation."

One conflict monitor has compiled some recent examples of the tight Iran-Hezbollah-Houthi coordination this week:

The coordination seems to have been primarily the timing of the launch, as Iranian missiles were launched at Tel Aviv and Bnai Brak at the same time, wounding 14, and Lebanon’s Hezbollah fired rockets at the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, announcing it as the start of the “Khaybar 2″ operation in defense of Lebanon.

The Houthis had previously targeted the resort city of Eilat with missile strikes, and there were missiles that hit that city, though Israeli media has continued to maintain that all the missiles and drones fired by the Houthis were successfully intercepted, so it’s not clear where the Eilat missile actually came from.

A big lingering uncertainty regarding Yemen's role in the conflict is whether the Houthis will start attacking Red Sea shipping once again. It has already threatened to, and such an escalation would add to deep uncertainty and rising prices in oil and energy markets.

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2026 - 17:00

US Apartment Rents Post Largest Annual Decline Since 2017 In March: Report

US Apartment Rents Post Largest Annual Decline Since 2017 In March: Report

Authored by Rob Sabo via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The national median apartment rent shook off the seasonal winter chill and inched up by 0.4 percent in March from February to $1,363, Apartment List reported.

A sign is posted in front of an apartment building with available rentals in San Francisco on June 9, 2023. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

However, the median rent was down by 1.7 percent from March 2025, the largest annual decline since Apartment List began compiling records in 2017. By comparison, year-over-year growth peaked at 18 percent during the winter of 2021.

Rents are generally soft or stagnant during the late fall and winter months as renters tend to forgo moving plans when it’s cold outside, but rates trend upward with warmer springtime and summer weather. The slight gain in March was the second consecutive monthly increase following a six-month span of declining rents, the Apartment List report said.

“This turn represents the market creeping out of the off-season, and we’ll likely see continued increases in the months ahead as moving activity ramps up, in line with typical seasonal patterns,” researchers at the organization wrote.

The national median rent peaked at $1,442 in August 2022 but has since trended downward, excluding seasonal jumps during the past three summers. Despite being 5.5 percent lower than its pandemic-induced peak, the national median monthly rent was still up 15 percent from $1,146 in January 2021.

Rents have softened behind a massive buildup of new apartment inventory. According to a February report by the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB), multifamily development starts peaked at 547,000 apartment units in 2022, though apartment starts had dipped by 35 percent from that level by 2024. Multifamily starts were expected to be stronger in 2025 at an estimated 413,000 new units, the NAHB reported.

However, new multifamily construction is expected to taper off in 2026 and drop even further over the following two years, the NAHB stated.

“The multifamily market has slowed due to tighter financing and elevated construction costs and is moving towards a more constrained development environment,” said Danushka Nanayakkara-Skillington, assistant vice president for forecasting and analysis at the NAHB, in a statement.

Multifamily completions, meanwhile, peaked in 2024 with more than 608,000 new units hitting the market, a 38-year high, Nanayakkara-Skillington added.

That surge in inventory has led to rising vacancy rates. The vacancy rate among stabilized properties (those with at least 85 percent occupancy) is 7.3 percent, the highest rate since 2017, Apartment List noted.

The aggressive delivery of new apartment inventory in Sun Belt states has put downward pressure on rents, CoStar Group said in its latest market report. Year-over-year rent growth was down by 1.3 percent across the South in March, while the Mountain region dipped by 2.2 percent, CoStar Group reported.

Multifamily market conditions are expected to remain soft through the year, Apartment List added.

“Year-over-year rent growth hit a new low this month, while vacancies and time-on-market are both at peak levels. The wave of construction that has been driving these conditions is waning, but it now appears that weaker rental demand may keep rental conditions soft,” researchers wrote.

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2026 - 15:20

US Apartment Rents Post Largest Annual Decline Since 2017 In March: Report

US Apartment Rents Post Largest Annual Decline Since 2017 In March: Report

Authored by Rob Sabo via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The national median apartment rent shook off the seasonal winter chill and inched up by 0.4 percent in March from February to $1,363, Apartment List reported.

A sign is posted in front of an apartment building with available rentals in San Francisco on June 9, 2023. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

However, the median rent was down by 1.7 percent from March 2025, the largest annual decline since Apartment List began compiling records in 2017. By comparison, year-over-year growth peaked at 18 percent during the winter of 2021.

Rents are generally soft or stagnant during the late fall and winter months as renters tend to forgo moving plans when it’s cold outside, but rates trend upward with warmer springtime and summer weather. The slight gain in March was the second consecutive monthly increase following a six-month span of declining rents, the Apartment List report said.

“This turn represents the market creeping out of the off-season, and we’ll likely see continued increases in the months ahead as moving activity ramps up, in line with typical seasonal patterns,” researchers at the organization wrote.

The national median rent peaked at $1,442 in August 2022 but has since trended downward, excluding seasonal jumps during the past three summers. Despite being 5.5 percent lower than its pandemic-induced peak, the national median monthly rent was still up 15 percent from $1,146 in January 2021.

Rents have softened behind a massive buildup of new apartment inventory. According to a February report by the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB), multifamily development starts peaked at 547,000 apartment units in 2022, though apartment starts had dipped by 35 percent from that level by 2024. Multifamily starts were expected to be stronger in 2025 at an estimated 413,000 new units, the NAHB reported.

However, new multifamily construction is expected to taper off in 2026 and drop even further over the following two years, the NAHB stated.

“The multifamily market has slowed due to tighter financing and elevated construction costs and is moving towards a more constrained development environment,” said Danushka Nanayakkara-Skillington, assistant vice president for forecasting and analysis at the NAHB, in a statement.

Multifamily completions, meanwhile, peaked in 2024 with more than 608,000 new units hitting the market, a 38-year high, Nanayakkara-Skillington added.

That surge in inventory has led to rising vacancy rates. The vacancy rate among stabilized properties (those with at least 85 percent occupancy) is 7.3 percent, the highest rate since 2017, Apartment List noted.

The aggressive delivery of new apartment inventory in Sun Belt states has put downward pressure on rents, CoStar Group said in its latest market report. Year-over-year rent growth was down by 1.3 percent across the South in March, while the Mountain region dipped by 2.2 percent, CoStar Group reported.

Multifamily market conditions are expected to remain soft through the year, Apartment List added.

“Year-over-year rent growth hit a new low this month, while vacancies and time-on-market are both at peak levels. The wave of construction that has been driving these conditions is waning, but it now appears that weaker rental demand may keep rental conditions soft,” researchers wrote.

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2026 - 15:20

US Defense Stocks Take Epic Fury Beating, Leaving UBS Asking Why

US Defense Stocks Take Epic Fury Beating, Leaving UBS Asking Why

Despite the launch of Operation Epic Fury against Iran in late February, U.S. defense stocks have moved lower rather than higher, prompting a UBS analyst to pen a note to clients this week attempting to answer why the makers of missiles and tanks failed to sustain a wartime rally.

Analyst Allyson Gordon asked the question: "Why Is US Defense Performance Lackluster?" 

Let's start with iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF, or ITA, a basket of major U.S. defense firms. ITA caught an early bid in the first phase of Operation Epic Fury, but the rally failed to hold shortly after that. By late March, the fund was down nearly 16%. The fund has since rebounded in recent sessions, trading around $223 on Thursday morning, but the defense complex's inability to sustain a war-driven rally caught investors off guard.

Gordon provided her take on why defense stocks has underperformed during the first month of the conflict:

Defense is one of the more asked groups on "lack of outperformance" in the wake of the Middle East conflict – I think a lot is in part a function of a high starting point with a ton of money piling into Defense at the end of 2025/start of 2026 on geopolitical tension and budget optimism, along with these being non-AI/non-cyclical big cap stocks attached to a good theme (i.e. exposure diversification). 

Now, there are also questions on midterms and supplemental. I still sense investors holding on but poor performance is forcing some cautious sentiment creep. RTX is the one investors are fighting the hardest on the recent lag.

She added:

Trading Color: Clear de-risking. Initially saw a rush of demand to start the year, but now the desk is much better for sale especially from the Long Only community. Most skewed in RTX, Lockheed Martin, Lam Research and Parsons.

In a separate note, Melius analyst Scott Mikus saw an opportunity in the sliding shares of RTX, formerly Raytheon Technologies Corporation. He upgraded the stock to "Buy" from "Hold" on the basis of "Epic Fury tailwinds."

Mikus said, "Given the need to replace missiles, missile interceptors, damaged radars, aircraft, and other equipment used in Operation Epic Fury, we are raising our estimates and price targets for the large defense primes."

"We see margin tailwinds for defense contractors as they move past stale-priced contracts and receive awards for mature production programs that are margin accretive," added Mikus.

The lingering question is how defense stocks will hold up as the Trump administration looks for an off-ramp to wind down the Iran operation, especially with U.S. gasoline prices now averaging above the politically sensitive $4-a-gallon level.

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2026 - 15:00

OpenAI Snaps Up TBPN, Slashes ChatGPT Pricing As Secondary Market Interest Fades

OpenAI Snaps Up TBPN, Slashes ChatGPT Pricing As Secondary Market Interest Fades

Update (1400ET): In a surprise move, OpenAI has acquired TBPN (Technology Business Programming Network), the influential daily technology talk show and media platform hosted by John Coogan and Jordi Hays. TBPN has become one of Silicon Valley’s most-watched programs for real-time tech news, M&A rumors, high-profile executive interviews, and AI developments - often described as “SportsCenter for the tech industry.” The deal gives OpenAI a powerful owned-media channel to directly reach and engage the tech community while accelerating global conversations around AI. The show will continue unchanged: live weekdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. PT on YouTube and X, with Coogan and Hays retaining full creative control and editorial independence.

Coogan, who has a long personal history with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (including funding from Altman for his earlier startups), called the acquisition a “full circle moment.” Both hosts emphasized that TBPN “will stay the same” but will now benefit from significantly more resources to scale.

At the same time, OpenAI is accelerating its consumer growth push by expanding access to its lower-priced ChatGPT Go subscription tier. Priced at roughly $8 per month in the US (a ~60% discount to the $20 ChatGPT Plus plan), Go delivers expanded access to GPT-5.3, higher message limits, more file uploads, image generation, and longer memory. The tier - first introduced in select markets last year and rolled out globally earlier in 2026 — is now being made available in dozens of additional countries as OpenAI seeks to drive mass adoption and daily usage ahead of intensifying competition.

These announcements appear designed to bolster OpenAI’s growth narrative and consumer momentum at a moment when secondary-market demand for its shares has cooled sharply (as detailed in our reporting below). 

* * *

Interest in OpenAI’s stock on secondary markets has cooled sharply, with some large investors now struggling to find buyers according to Bloomberg.

At the same time, capital is rapidly shifting toward its main rival, Anthropic, where demand is surging.

In recent weeks, holders of OpenAI shares—including hedge funds and venture firms—have tried to offload roughly $600 million in stock, but unlike before, buyers haven’t stepped in. Platforms that once saw quick turnover now report little to no interest. Meanwhile, investors are actively setting aside billions to gain exposure to Anthropic instead.

Much of this shift comes down to valuation and perceived upside. OpenAI’s valuation has climbed to around $852 billion, leaving some investors unsure how much room remains for near-term gains. Anthropic, valued significantly lower, is increasingly viewed as having more growth potential, making it a more attractive bet right now.

The Bloomberg report notes that major banks like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are adjusting—offering OpenAI shares with reduced fees to spark interest, while continuing to charge typical performance fees for Anthropic investments.

There are also strategic concerns. OpenAI is spending heavily on infrastructure and has been slower to expand into high-margin enterprise markets. Anthropic, by contrast, has gained stronger traction with those clients, reinforcing expectations of faster growth.

That said, Anthropic isn’t without issues, including legal disputes and recent security missteps. Still, investor appetite remains extremely strong, with secondary demand pushing its implied valuation far higher, while OpenAI shares are increasingly trading at a discount.

 

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2026 - 14:20

Three LNG Tankers Are First To Cross Strait Of Hormuz Since War Started

Three LNG Tankers Are First To Cross Strait Of Hormuz Since War Started

While a growing number of ships have been traversing the Strait of Hormuz, with Lloyd's List reporting a total of 142 vessels have transited since the start of March, but 67% of that traffic has a direct affiliation with Iran... and the figure rises to 90% when looking at traffic in recent days, as some ships have had to pay fees in yuan or cryptocurrencies before being escorted through the strait...

... one vessel class that has so far failed to make the key crossing are LNG-carrying VLCCs, which are critical to ease the Asian nat gas supply crunch because,  unlike oil, there are no Hormuz alternatives or bypass pipelines to bring LNG/nat gas to gas-starved Asian customers where demand destruction is now rampant. 

But that is about to change: according to Bloomberg, a liquefied natural gas tanker has entered the Strait of Hormuz, and if it successfully navigates the waterway would become the first such vessel to pass through the strait since the start of the war.

The Sohar LNG tanker, which appears not to be loaded with cargo, is moving eastward after changing its destination to the Qalhat LNG export terminal in Oman, according to ship-tracking data. The vessel, which is signaling that it’s an Omani ship, had been circling around the Persian Gulf over the past month, the data show.

LNG ships have avoided the strait since the conflict broke out on Feb. 28, disrupting about a fifth of the world’s supply of the fuel.

According to Bloomberg, which first reported about the crossing, the ship’s manager, recorded as Oman Ship Management on the Equasis database, didn’t immediately respond to calls or an email seeking comment. Its owner, Energy Spring LNG Carrier SA, shares the same contact details as its manager.

More importantly, the Sohar appears to be traversing the southern side of the strait which is unusual because ships have typically taken a northerly route at Tehran’s behest. In other words, it appears that the Omanese ship is making a run for it. 

While the Sohar vessel appears to be empty, the market is closely watching for LNG flows to resume and ease pressure on global prices, as the collapse in supply from the Persian Gulf  - with Qatar's huge Ras Laffan LNG facility damaged and shut-in indefinitely - compounded by outages at Australian facilities due to a cyclone last month, has sent consumers worldwide seeking alternative sources of energy. 

More importantly, the empty LNG tanker is not alone. According to data from Lloyd's List and Hormuz Letter, two other VLCCs, and these are laden with some 4 million barrels of Saudi and Emirati cargo unlike the empty Sohar, are sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, tracking close to the Omani coastline.

All three vessels are indicating they are heading to ports in Oman.

Why does this matter? Well, earlier today, Iran announced the "Oman protocol" which also includes tolls. And now ships are moving, although it wasn't clear if the ships had paid the toll demanded by Iran. 

As The Hormuz Letter notes, "The blockade isn't ending, but is being restructured. Iran is deciding who passes, under what terms, and at what price. This is what controlled access looks like."

Earlier today,  Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister of legal and international affairs, said the tanker traffic through the key oil-shipping route must be supervised and coordinated: “Of course, these requirements will not mean restrictions, but rather to facilitate and ensure safe passage and provide better services to ships that pass through this route.”

What he really meant is that going forward - all else equal - every ship will have to pay a toll in the millions, either in yuan or crypto. 

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2026 - 14:00

Gulf States Considering Network Of New Pipelines To Bypass Strait Of Hormuz

Gulf States Considering Network Of New Pipelines To Bypass Strait Of Hormuz

One month ago, at the start of the war, we said it was surprising that UAE's oil export terminal of Fujairah was not a bigger terminal as it bypasses the Straits completely, and predicted a "major infrastructure push here after the war."

Couple that with the latest news that the Saudi East-West pipeline is now running at capacity of roughly 7mmb/d (including non-oil products), and one can see the urgency gripping the Gulf in finding alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz which has emerged as Iran's biggest source of leverage in the war.

And that's just the start.

Confirming our observation from a month ago, the FT writes today that the threat of open-ended Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz is pushing Gulf countries to revisit costly plans for pipelines to bypass the choke point so they can continue to export oil and gas.

According to officials and industry executives, new pipelines may be the only way to reduce Gulf countries’ enduring vulnerability to disruption in the strait, even though such projects would be expensive, politically complex and take years to complete.

We have already discussed the 1200km East-West pipeline: the war has underscored the strategic value of this Hormuz bypass. Built in the 1980s after fears that the Iran-Iraq “tanker war” would close the strait, it is now a key lifeline, delivering 7mn barrels of oil a day to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, bypassing Hormuz entirely. 

“In hindsight the East-West pipeline looks like a genius masterstroke,” said one senior Gulf energy executive. 

Amin Nasser, chief executive of Saudi’s state-run oil giant Aramco, told analysts last month that the pipeline is the “main route that we are capitalizing on right now”. 

Now, the kingdom is considering how it can export more of its 10.2mn barrels of daily production by pipeline, rather than through Iranian-controlled waters. This includes examining whether it should expand the capacity of the East-West pipeline further or build new routes. According to the FT. previous plans for pipelines across the region have repeatedly stalled, undone by high costs and complexity. But Maisoon Kafafy, a senior adviser to the Atlantic Council’s Middle East programs, said the mood in the Gulf has now changed. 

“I’m sensing a shift from hypotheticals into operational reality,” she said. “Everyone is looking at the same map and they are drawing the same conclusions.”

To eliminate the threat of centralized "points of failure", rather than individual projects, the most resilient option “is not a single alternative pipeline but rather a network, a web of corridors”, said Kafafy, although she added that it would also be the hardest to achieve.

In the longer term, any new pipelines are likely to form part of trade routes through which a wider range of goods beyond oil and gas can flow. One option is the revival of US-led plans for an ambitious corridor that would run from India through the Gulf and then to Europe, called IMEC, one Gulf official said, although part of this project originally included a politically tricky pipeline that ran to the Israeli port of Haifa. 

Yossi Abu, the chief executive of Israeli company NewMed Energy, said he was confident that pipelines to the Mediterranean Sea would be built, whether they terminated at Israeli or Egyptian ports.

“People need to control their own destinies, with their friends,” he said. “You need oil pipelines, railway connectivity, throughout the region, onshore, without giving others bottlenecks to choke us.” 

A push for more bypasses means bumper revenues for local contruction companies. Christopher Bush, the CEO of Cat Group, the private Lebanese company that was one of the main builders of Saudi’s East-West pipeline, said there was plenty of interest in new projects even before the war began. “We have had inquiries about various different pipelines,” he said. “I have multiple different presentations on my desk.” 

But the obstacles remain immense, he added. The cost of replicating the East-West pipeline today, which involved blasting through the hard basalt of the Hijaz mountain on Saudi’s Red Sea coast, would be at least $5bn, Bush estimated. Proposals for more complicated multi-country routes from Iraq through Jordan, Syria or Turkey would cost $15bn to $20bn. “It has been looked at. There are even front-end engineering studies for [such routes from] Iraq. There is an opportunity that has been discussed,” he said.

But security risks include “a lot” of unexploded bombs in Iraq and the continuing presence of Isis or other militants. Pipelines running south to ports in Oman would also face the difficulty of passing through both desert and hard-rock mountains, Bush warned. Ports in Oman are not immune from Iranian security threats. Drone attacks on the key port of Salalah in recent days forced it to shut temporarily.

Political challenges also include who will operate the pipeline and control the flow. A network of pipelines would require Gulf countries “to abandon their individualist policies and combine. It was always deemed cheaper and safer to bring a ship, load a ship and sail a ship,” Bush added.

In the near term, the most viable options may be to expand the East-West pipeline and also Abu Dhabi’s existing route to Fujairah, just as we suggested weeks ago. This would increase capacity without the complications of new cross-border infrastructure.

Saudi Arabia could also develop additional export terminals on its Red Sea coast, including at the deepwater port being built for the Neom project. “I am sure they are looking at it as a possibility,” said Bush. “You have a lot of smart minds looking at all of this now. It is a big problem.” 

One senior energy executive said Abu Dhabi had “always had a plan B for a second pipeline to Fujairah”. But they added that no decisions are likely to be made until the long-term status of the Strait of Hormuz becomes clear.

Kafafy agreed that Gulf states will take a while to assess the situation with the waterway, but said they now recognise that the scale of the current energy crisis demands a new way of thinking. “The conversations have moved further along the chain,” she said. “I do not expect [the status quo] to return to where it was pre-conflict.”

* * *

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2026 - 13:40

Kremlin Asks US For Ceasefire At Bushehr Nuclear Plant To Get Remaining Russian Staff Out

Kremlin Asks US For Ceasefire At Bushehr Nuclear Plant To Get Remaining Russian Staff Out

Russia is seeking approval from the US and Israel for a ceasefire for the Bushehr nuclear ⁠power plant in Iran, RIA news agency reported Thursday. Airstrikes across the country have reportedly been on the uptick in the past some 48 hours.

"The travel routes will be communicated ‌to the relevant authorities in Israel and the United States, and we will use all channels to request strict adherence to the ceasefire ⁠during the convoy’s movement," the ⁠head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, stated.

Well over 500 Russian personnel were at the site prior to the US launching Operation Epic Fury, and the Bushehr complex has been hit at least three times by airstrikes, putting the complex and area at severe risk.

via Anadolu Agency

Likhachev said that a "final ⁠wave of evacuation" of some 200 people is tentatively scheduled for next week. There's been a lot of Russian technicians and personnel there given the plant was undergoing expansion, and it's Russia which first constructed Busherh - and so has technical expertise.

The Kremlin has accused Washington and Israel of putting the whole region in danger, and further of harming the cause of nuclear non-proliferation globally.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova days ago issued statement saying, "The drama of the situation is aggravated by the fact that countries attacking peaceful nuclear facilities in Iran are effectively undermining  the NPT, the IAEA's verification mechanisms, nuclear and physical security conventions, as well as the agency's relevant regulations," according to the ministry's website.

"Carefully crafted and internationally agreed solutions are not taken seriously by these states and can be discarded at any moment in favor of their selfish interests and geopolitical considerations," the spokeswoman added.

Zakharova further communicated that atrocities in Iran must cease, and nuclear sites must be safeguarded, referencing the latest attacks in the past days on the complex in Khondab, the factory in Ardakan, and the strikes near the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

"The aggressors continue to raise the stakes in their war in the Middle East, ignoring all associated risks, including the danger of widespread radioactive contamination," Zakharova had said last week.

She further chastised UN and international bodies for not stepping up to loudly condemn the US-Israeli operation. The IAEA has meanwhile urged de-escalation, also as Trump is said to be mulling a possible high risk special forces operation to seize Iran's enriched uranium.

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2026 - 13:10

Coinbase Exec Says Senate CLARITY Act Deal On Stablecoin Yield "Very Close"

Coinbase Exec Says Senate CLARITY Act Deal On Stablecoin Yield "Very Close"

Authored by Amin Haqshanas via CoinTelegraph.com,

Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal said the US Digital Asset Market Clarity Act is “moving toward” a markup hearing in the US Senate Banking Committee and could eventually move to a floor vote if senators resolve the stablecoin yield dispute and schedule a markup.

Speaking in a Wednesday interview on Fox Business, Grewal said lawmakers are nearing agreement on core elements of the crypto market structure bill, even as debate continues over stablecoin yield.

“I think we’re very close to a deal,” he said.

The remarks point to possible movement on one of the last major sticking points in Senate talks over crypto market structure legislation: whether stablecoin issuers or platforms should be allowed to offer yield or similar rewards. The dispute has helped delay a Senate Banking Committee markup, leaving the broader effort to set federal rules for digital asset oversight still unresolved.

US banks have pushed for restrictions, arguing that such incentives could draw deposits away from traditional institutions and disrupt the banking system. Grewal pushed back on that claim, saying there is no evidence to support fears of deposit flight.

The US House of Representatives passed the CLARITY Act on July 17, 2025. In January, Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott delayed a planned markup, which has yet to be rescheduled.

Trump blames banks for stalling crypto bill

Last month, US President Donald Trump accused banks of undermining efforts to pass crypto market structure legislation, saying they are blocking progress over disagreements on stablecoin yield payments. “The Banks should not be trying to undercut The Genius Act, or hold The Clarity Act hostage,” he wrote.

It was later reported that Trump met privately with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong just hours before issuing the statement.

Coinbase shares are down 23% YTD. Source: Yahoo! Finance

In January, Armstrong said Coinbase could not back the market structure bill “as written,” pointing to draft amendments that would eliminate stablecoin rewards and let banks restrict competition.

CLARITY delay could expose crypto to crackdowns

Last week, Coin Center executive director Peter Van Valkenburgh warned that failure to pass the CLARITY Act could leave the crypto industry vulnerable to a future US administration taking a tougher stance. He argued that rejecting developer protections in favor of short-term business interests risks creating a system shaped by political shifts rather than clear law.

“The point of passing CLARITY is not to trust this administration. It is to bind the next one,” he said.

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2026 - 12:55

Private Credit Bank Run Begins: Blue Owl Gates After Shocking 41% Of OTIC Investors Ask For Their Money

Private Credit Bank Run Begins: Blue Owl Gates After Shocking 41% Of OTIC Investors Ask For Their Money

A week ago, in an attempt to calm the market, Goldman's economists published a lengthy, if at times disjointed, report discussing why a crisis in private credit would not lead to another financial crisis.

We are about to find out if they were right. 

Recall that in mid-March, while attention was understandably focused on the Iran war, we explained why Blue Owl's February decision to commence liquidations of loans in its three core private credit funds to fund current and future redemptions, was the industry's "Margin Call" moment, to wit: 

First it was Blue Owl, the largest pure play Private Credit fund with over $300 billion in AUM. The company, the first to face massive redemption demands, refused to gate investors and instead announced it would sell $1.4 billion in private loans (it was unclear which loans were sold, but Goldman suggested that these are likely the best ones so as to find willing buyers, leaving the company with the toxic sludge) from its three BDCs (OBDCII, OBDC and OTIC) at 99.7 cents (a number which was meant to inspire confidence yet was laughable, especially since once of the "buyers" was a related-party insurance company, Kuvare, also owned by Blue Owl), to satisfy redemption requests. 

In our February 19 article describing the Blue Owl transaction, we said that "while it is unclear how deep the secondary market for private credit assets is, to the extent demand is relatively scarce, a transaction of this size could dry up market liquidity. If that assumption is true, other BDCs looking to exit portfolio investments could be jeopardized. Recall the immortal line from Margin Call: "Be First, Be Smarter, or Cheat."

We then said that "this could very well be Blue Owl's "Be First" moment... "Sell it all, today" especially if it were to later emerge that the secondary market is only deep for higher quality private credit assets, like the ones in the portfolio OWL is selling. In a concurrent report, Barclays warned that "if this transaction dries up secondary liquidity for private credit assets (or proves that the bid is only there for higher quality assets), it could be negative for other BDCs exploring portfolio sales."

In retrospect, this is precisely when the "Margin Call moment" of the private credit sector happened, because what happened next would make the market's head spin.

And unfortunately for Blue Owl, while the firm's catastrophic practices and financial engineering was indeed the snowflake that started the avalanche in the broader private credit sector, it has now boomeranged on the company itself and may have well led to its demise when two months after desperately seeking to avoid gating redemptions, the private credit giant announced it will in fact limit redemptions from two of its private credit funds after facing a historic surge in withdrawal requests that is unprecedented among major firms in the $1.8 trillion market.

Redemption requests in Blue Owl's marquee $36 billion Credit Income Corp. fund, one of the industry’s largest, soared to 21.9% in the three months ended March 31, according to an investor letter first reported by Bloomberg, up from "only" 5.2% in the prior period. But it was the smaller Blue Owl Technology Income Corp, which was at the center of the February turmoil, that was the real shock after its shareholders asked for a shocking 40.7% back, compared with 15.4% three months earlier, according to a separate letter. 

Both funds had previously met the requests in excess of its 5% tender offer. This time, though, Blue Owl - whose actions sparked the crisis that is now sweeping across pricvate credit - said it would join industry peers in capping redemptions at that level, “in accordance with the fund structure, reflecting our commitment to balancing the interests of both tendering and remaining shareholders.”

For the bigger fund, OCIC, that amounts to $988 million of redemptions honored and about $3.2 billion remaining in the fund, while for OTIC it means redeeming $179 million and keeping roughly $1 billion of investors’ cash, according to Bloomberg.

Craig Packer, Blue Owl’s co-president, said in an investor update that he believed the uptick in redemptions reflected a “period of heightened negative sentiment toward the asset class that has intensified as peers have reported tender results”.

And why would their tender results be intensified one wonders? Would it have something to do with that pinnacle of financial engineering where Blue Owl dumped many of its best loans to a related entity? Maybe Craig thinks that his investors are all idiots, but as he just found out, they may be far smarter than him.

“While we believe market perception has driven elevated tender activity, underlying credit fundamentals across our portfolio have remained resilient,” he added. “We continue to observe a meaningful disconnect between the public dialogue on private credit and the underlying trends in our portfolio.”

In the letters, OCIC said 90% of its shareholders chose not to tender, reflecting concentrated withdrawal demands, which means it was driven by institutions not retail investors who have been frequently blamed for all the ills plaguing private credit.. OTIC said its redemption pressure “was amplified by the fund’s more concentrated shareholder base, particularly within certain wealth channels and regions, and its specialized investment mandate.”

Both Blue Owl funds, which have returned more than 9% annualized since inception (not all too different from how Bernie Madoff generated double digits returns until one day his ponzi scheme collapsed), said they’re in a “strong position” to meet the 5% redemption requests and future tenders. OCIC and OTIC had $11.3 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively, across cash, available borrowing and liquid Level 2 assets as of the end of February, according to the letters.

While Blue Owl joins industry peers including Apollo Global, Ares Management and BlackRock in sticking to their redemption threshold on non-traded business development companies, the staggering magnitude of the requests underscores how Blue Owl has found itself squarely in the middle of worries about private credit.

The limitation on outflows highlights the risks to individual investors who had flocked to so-called non-traded private credit funds over the past three years in periods of stress. Those wealthy individuals had been promised access to higher-yielding investments in exchange for limited liquidity. Now they are regretting it. 

Private credit asset managers have diverged in how they have dealt with redemption requests, with some going to great lengths to cash out investors, while others have stuck to their limit. Still, no major manager has disclosed facing the percentage that Blue Owl’s BDCs were asked to pay back.

And with Blue Owl's private credit business now effectively in wind down mode, and mothballing the entire private credit industry, one wonders where so many crappy small and medium (mostly tech) companies will get the funding to exist. But before that, one wonders more just how wrong Goldman's analysis is that a private credit crisis won't impact the broader economy. We'll find out very soon. 

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2026 - 12:35

CEO Of Largest Public Hospital System Says He's Ready To Replace Radiologists With AI

CEO Of Largest Public Hospital System Says He's Ready To Replace Radiologists With AI

By Marty Stempniak of Radiology Business,

The chief executive of America’s largest public hospital system says he is prepared to start replacing radiologists with artificial intelligence in some circumstances, once the regulatory landscape catches up. 

Mitchell H. Katz, MD, president and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals, recently spoke during a panel discussion held by Crain’s New York Business. The trained internal medicine specialist noted how AI is increasingly being used to interpret mammograms and X-rays. 

This presents an opportunity to save on how much hospitals spend on radiologists, who have become more costly amid rising demand for imaging, Crain’s reported Thursday. 

“We could replace a great deal of radiologists with AI at this moment, if we are ready to do the regulatory challenge,” Katz said at the forum, held on March 25. 

Katz—who has led the 11-hospital organization since 2018—said he sees great potential for AI to increase access to breast cancer screening. Hospitals could potentially produce “major savings” by letting the technology handle first reads, with radiologists then double-checking any abnormal screenings. 

Fellow panelist David Lubarsky, MD, MBA, president and CEO of the Westchester Medical Center Health Network, said his system is already seeing great success in deploying such technology. The AI Westchester uses misses very few breast cancers and is “actually better than human beings,” he told the audience.

“For women who aren’t considered high risk, if the test comes back negative, it’s wrong only about 3 times out of 10,000,” Lubarsky said. 

Katz asked fellow hospital CEOs if there is any reason why they shouldn’t be pushing for changes to New York state regulations, allowing AI to read images “without a radiologist,” Crain’s reported. In this scenario, rads could then provide second opinions, if AI flags any images as abnormal. Sandra Scott, MD, CEO of the One Brooklyn Health, a small hospital facing tight margins, agreed with this line of thinking, according to Crain’s. 

“I mean, I’m in charge of a safety-net institution. It would be a game-changer,” Scott said about AI being used to replace rads. 

The discussion comes after Dario Amodei, PhD, CEO of Anthropic, recently made similar statements about artificial intelligence replacing rads. In a podcast interview, he falsely stated that AI has taken over the specialty’s core function, allowing doctors to focus more on the human side of the job. Radiologists roundly criticized Amodei’s remarks. Mohammed Suhail, MD, a San Diego-based rad with North Coast Imaging, said the same about Katz’s comments on Monday. 

“Undeniable proof that confidently uninformed hospital administrators are a danger to patients: easily duped by AI companies that are nowhere near capable of providing patient care,” Suhail told Radiology Business. “Any attempt to implement AI-only reads would immediately result in patient harm and death, and only someone with zero understanding of radiology would say something so naive. But in some sense, they’re correct: Hospitals are happy to cut costs even if it means patient harm, as long as it’s legal.”

* * * 

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2026 - 12:20

Iran To Attack Logistical Hubs In Israel, Gulf After Its Tallest Bridge Destroyed

Iran To Attack Logistical Hubs In Israel, Gulf After Its Tallest Bridge Destroyed

Earlier we reported there are signs that the US and Israel are expanding attacks on Iran civilian infrastructure, after reports emerged Thursday that fresh airstrikes hit a highway bridge connecting Tehran and Karaj, according to Fars News Agency. Several people were injured, and multiple areas of Karaj were also struck. The bridge was actually just constructed, having been inaugurated earlier this year.

Fars identified it as the B1 bridge, dubbed the highest bridge in the Middle East. Tehran also continues to get pummeled hard, amid reports that the prior 24 hours saw the biggest wave of Iranian missiles and cluster munitions on Tel Aviv to date. In response to the bridge attack, Iran state media says the country's armed forces are preparing a retaliatory escalation, with plans to hit Israel's core logistical backbone.

Tehran's strategy focuses on crippling three critical arteries that sustain Israel's war machine, per state media reports reference in Newsquawk.

At the top of the list are key north-south rail chokepoints, among them the Yarkon Bridge - which reportedly handles the vast majority of heavy IDF military transport. There's also the Jezreel tunnel - described as the sole route for moving fuel and ammunition from Port of Haifa inland. 

At the same time, Iran is eyeing the alternative logistics lifeline: the overland corridor running from Jebel Ali through Saudi Arabia and Jordan toward Israel.

* * *
ReadyWise Spring Sale - ends April 10. Stock up.

* * *

With maritime routes under threat, this desert supply chain has become increasingly vital to Israeli military logistics. Also, from Tehran's perspective, these locations highly vulnerable to precision strikes that could disrupt fuel flows and strain Israel's air power.

Additional targets reportedly include high-value infrastructure such as the Port of Haifa itself (Haifa's oil refinery has already been hit a couple times), which remains the country's the central hub of trade and maritime logistics, and the Rehout station, a key distribution point funneling cargo toward active war fronts.

In listing out these target locations Iran is strongly signaling a shift toward systemic disruption aimed at paralyzing logistics and fracturing supply lines - just as Washington and Tel Aviv are doing to the Islamic Republic.

Gulf targets have also been added to the list, after on Thursday the IRGC said it initiated an attack on an Amazon Cloud computing center in Bahrain.

Fars has cited the "destruction of the enemy's scientific and technological centers in the [Gulf] region, with a focus on Dubai.

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2026 - 12:05

Iran To Attack Logistical Hubs In Israel, Gulf After Its Tallest Bridge Destroyed

Iran To Attack Logistical Hubs In Israel, Gulf After Its Tallest Bridge Destroyed

Earlier we reported there are signs that the US and Israel are expanding attacks on Iran civilian infrastructure, after reports emerged Thursday that fresh airstrikes hit a highway bridge connecting Tehran and Karaj, according to Fars News Agency. Several people were injured, and multiple areas of Karaj were also struck. The bridge was actually just constructed, having been inaugurated earlier this year.

Fars identified it as the B1 bridge, dubbed the highest bridge in the Middle East. Tehran also continues to get pummeled hard, amid reports that the prior 24 hours saw the biggest wave of Iranian missiles and cluster munitions on Tel Aviv to date. In response to the bridge attack, Iran state media says the country's armed forces are preparing a retaliatory escalation, with plans to hit Israel's core logistical backbone.

Tehran's strategy focuses on crippling three critical arteries that sustain Israel's war machine, per state media reports reference in Newsquawk.

At the top of the list are key north-south rail chokepoints, among them the Yarkon Bridge - which reportedly handles the vast majority of heavy IDF military transport. There's also the Jezreel tunnel - described as the sole route for moving fuel and ammunition from Port of Haifa inland. 

At the same time, Iran is eyeing the alternative logistics lifeline: the overland corridor running from Jebel Ali through Saudi Arabia and Jordan toward Israel.

* * *
ReadyWise Spring Sale - ends April 10. Stock up.

* * *

With maritime routes under threat, this desert supply chain has become increasingly vital to Israeli military logistics. Also, from Tehran's perspective, these locations highly vulnerable to precision strikes that could disrupt fuel flows and strain Israel's air power.

Additional targets reportedly include high-value infrastructure such as the Port of Haifa itself (Haifa's oil refinery has already been hit a couple times), which remains the country's the central hub of trade and maritime logistics, and the Rehout station, a key distribution point funneling cargo toward active war fronts.

In listing out these target locations Iran is strongly signaling a shift toward systemic disruption aimed at paralyzing logistics and fracturing supply lines - just as Washington and Tel Aviv are doing to the Islamic Republic.

Gulf targets have also been added to the list, after on Thursday the IRGC said it initiated an attack on an Amazon Cloud computing center in Bahrain.

Fars has cited the "destruction of the enemy's scientific and technological centers in the [Gulf] region, with a focus on Dubai.

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2026 - 12:05

Trump Puts State Farm, Other Insurers On Notice Over Treatment Of California Wildfire Victims

Trump Puts State Farm, Other Insurers On Notice Over Treatment Of California Wildfire Victims

Authored by Chris Summers via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

President Donald Trump on March 31 told State Farm and other insurers to “get their act together” after meeting with California politicians and hearing about the difficulties facing the victims of last year’s wildfires.

A home is engulfed in flames during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area of Los Angeles County, Calif., on Jan. 8, 2025. Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

Two areas outside Los Angeles were devastated by wildfires in January 2025. In the Palisades fire, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported that 6,831 structures were lost, 973 were damaged, and 12 people died.

When combined with the nearby Eaton fire, which ignited in Altadena, north of Los Angeles, on Jan. 7, 2025, and claimed 18 lives, the two fires destroyed more than 12,000 structures.

“I have just met with various Political Representatives of the tragedy that took place in California concerning the burning of thousands of once beautiful homes,” Trump wrote in a March 31 post on Truth Social.

“It was brought to my attention that the Insurance Companies, in particular, State Farm, have been absolutely horrible to people that have been paying them large Premiums for years, only to find that when tragedy struck, these horrendous Companies were not there to help!”

Trump said he had asked Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin to give him a list of the insurance companies that acted “swiftly, courageously, and bravely” and those that were “particularly bad.”

The California Department of Insurance said in a June 2025 statement that Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara had launched a formal investigation into State Farm’s handling of thousands of insurance claims.

“Some troubling patterns that my staff will investigate include the frequent reassignment of multiple adjusters with little continuity in communication, inconsistent management of similar claims, and inadequate record-keeping or information-sharing among claims teams,” Lara said at the time. “These issues create unnecessary stress, prolong recovery, and erode trust. I urge any wildfire survivor facing delayed payments, claim disputes, multiple adjusters, smoke damage issues, or any other problems to file a formal complaint with my Department.”

On Nov. 13, 2025, Los Angeles County said that it had launched an investigation into State Farm’s handling of insurance claims filed by policyholders affected by the Eaton and Palisades fires, focused on potential violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law.

A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire as it burns homes on the Pacific Coast Highway during a powerful windstorm in Los Angeles on Jan. 8, 2025. Apu Gomes/Getty Images

“The investigation ... follows growing complaints from residents about delays, underpayments, and denials of legitimate wildfire claims,” the office of the county counsel said in a statement at the time.

“The County has heard loud and clear from wildfire survivors that State Farm’s delays are standing in the way of rebuilding,“ Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger said. ”Fair and timely insurance payments aren’t a privilege; they’re a right. State Farm must act quickly so survivors can rebuild their homes and their lives.”

In a Sept. 30, 2025, statement about the California fires, State Farm said it had served customers with more than 13,500 claims and issued $5.7 billion in payments “to families whose homes, cars, and property were damaged or destroyed.”

“Because many claims, repairs, and rebuilds are still underway, we expect total payments could reach $7 billion,” State Farm said. “Our leadership position in the California homeowners insurance marketplace means State Farm General Insurance Company—the State Farm company that provides homeowners insurance in California—insured more people impacted by this disaster than anyone else.”

The Epoch Times reached out to State Farm, and they referred us to the above statement.

Allan Stein contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2026 - 11:45

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