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Segers was set to make his Broadway debut as part of the new "Hadestown" cast taking the stage on Sept. 1.

Segers was set to make his Broadway debut as part of the new "Hadestown" cast taking the stage on Sept. 1.

"From the outset, we were clear that we needed a written document addressing our concerns on the IRS audit agreement and the anti-weaponization fund," Cornyn (R-Texas) and Tillis (R-NC) said in a joint statement.

Natasha Ward, a rising Australian track-and-field athlete, died at the age of 21, the New South Wales Athletics and the Sutherland District Athletics Club said in a joint statement on Thursday.

The 21-year-old allegedly grabbed the shoulders of a female crew member and shook her after she refused his request to hug him on board.

Groundhog Day

By Benjamin Picton, senior market strategist at Rabobank

It’s Monday morning again and it feels like Groundhog Day as I sit down to write that the US President has (again) halted strikes on Iran and teased that a diplomatic breakthrough is close. Brent crude prices have dutifully fallen in early trade, risk currencies are rallying and equity markets are poised to extend the gains posted late last week.

In his trademark bloviating style, President Trump posted to Truth Social that the USA was “locked and loaded” to unleash “levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II”, but that “for the future benefit of the WORLD” he had responded to a request from Iran and other Middle Eastern countries to hold off as the outline of a deal had been agreed. Trump went on to claim that the deal would include the “Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT”, as well as an end to the Iranian nuclear threat.

Obviously we’ve heard this one before. Iran’s Fars news agency reports that “informed sources” deny that any agreement has been reached on the status of the Strait of Hormuz, and that policy regarding the critical shipping route remains unchanged.

Meanwhile, Iran’s IRNA news agency reported that negotiations between Iran and Oman over the administration of the strait are in the final stages. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said that talks have centerd around agreeing a new route for shipping, and that the talks are unrelated to the question of whether Hormuz is open or closed. He said that issue is a separate discussion. However, markets will take the positive signal that agreeing a new shipping route implies future shipping. What it does not tell us is where the ships will head to and under what conditions.

Of course, the other aspect of the Hormuz Groundhog Day is that later in the week strikes typically resume, oil prices rally, equities sell, and bond yields rise. While there is every chance of that happening this week for now the impression seems to be of ‘strikes for strikes’. This would require somebody to break the current pause that seems to suit the purposes of both sides for the moment. Encouragingly, Iranian sources continue to stress “proportionality” in responding to US aggression, which seems to imply an unwillingness to escalate, but there also continues to be a sense that the civilian government in Tehran is not on the same page as the IRGC – who broke the most recent pause in hostilities by attacking US targets in Jordan.

Less than five days left until Trump announces the next massive Iran strikes at 4:01pm on Friday

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 3, 2026

The relentless logic of arithmetic continues to be the critical factor in Middle East developments. Markets have so far taken large draws in global inventories in their stride with price rises mostly insufficient to cause severe demand destruction. At the same time, higher prices have induced a supply response by lifting US oil rig counts by almost 11% since the war broke out, increasing refinery capacity utilization, and prompting OPEC+ to announce another 188,000 lift in production quota from September onwards.

The physical realities of war in the Eastern Europe and the Middle East have rendered the latter a mostly theoretical increase for the time being, but could contribute to a structural reshuffling of the energy deck on the other side of the current crisis. Product markets continue to provide the clearest hints of the seriousness of the current supply squeeze, with Singapore gasoil spot prices still sitting more than two standard deviations above the long-run spread to Brent.

China continues to play the role of balancing entry in global energy trade while also pedalling faster than most to reduce its dependence on imported energy. The manufacturing investment boom in solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles is helping to offset the slow-motion trainwreck that is the Chinese real estate market, while also building supply chain resilience and doing planet Earth a solid with regards to climate change.

While geopolitics and a protectionist tilt away from Chinese goods in an effort to safeguard domestic supply chains is underway, some are still happy to take the subsidy from China and import those cheap goods to boost domestic living standards. Australia is one such country, where new household battery installations in the first half of 2026 was roughly equal to total household battery installed capacity in the United States, a country with more than twelve times the population. BloombergNEF reports that Australia now ranks third globally in terms of installed battery capacity, behind only the USA and China. This sounds good in the short term, but critics will note that this perhaps invites new risks for Australia’s domestic energy infrastructure – not to mention the trade and security relationship with the United States.

Electric vehicle sales has similarly surged since energy flows through Hormuz were interrupted, with battery and hybrid vehicle sales reaching almost 50% of total sales in Q2 and interrupting Australia’s long-running love affair with diesel pickup trucks. The surge in EV sales has accrued mostly to new market entrant brands from China and to (largely Chinese-made) Tesla. Year-on-year sales growth in June was 131% for BYD, 89% for Tesla, 327% for Geely, 569% for Jaecoo, 1660% for Zeekr and 316% for Leapmotor. Four of the top ten, and seven of the top twenty best-selling brands are now Chinese.

The success of those new entrant Chinese brands highlights the challenges faced by legacy manufacturers in the US, Japan, South Korea and, especially, Europe – where marques such as Fiat and Citroen have already exited the market, while Peugeot is reportedly considering a similar move. In an era where supply chain sovereignty and industrial capacity matters for national security, how can legacy manufacturers compete with the Chinese industrial juggernaut without meaningful restrictions on Chinese trade or massive export subsidies of their own?

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/03/2026 - 11:00

“I felt insane for years because I didn’t know what was going on with my body."

The mother-daughter duo turned up for the netball final between Jamaica and Australia, joined by Prince William and both boys.

The mother-daughter duo turned up for the netball final between Jamaica and Australia, joined by Prince William and both boys.

The government said in last week’s statement that after “extensive discussions,” lawmakers had decided a public vote wasn’t needed.

The California family says a case of mistaken identity spiraled into online harassment after a viral video of a sea lion being kicked sparked outrage.

ESPN has found its Ryan Clark replacement on “Monday Night Football.”

She’s got much to celebrate, having recently sold her second book, "Mother F—ker," for a seven-figure sum.

She’s got much to celebrate, having recently sold her second book, "Mother F—ker," for a seven-figure sum.

"Really Only One Thing Worries Us A Lot": Here's What Keeps Goldman's Commodities Guru Up At Night

Samantha Dart, co-head of global commodities research at Goldman, joined Bloomberg TV on Monday morning and warned that diesel sits at the epicenter of a worsening global fuel supply squeeze, as Ukrainian drone and missile strikes disrupt Russian refining and the US-Iran war disrupts tanker flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

Dart joined Haslinda Amin on Insight with Haslinda Amin to discuss growing risks in diesel markets.

She warned, "The situation in Russia is really one thing that worries us a lot," adding, "The Russia issue has been going on now for, what, four years? So this can keep going."

Amin asked Dart: "And finally, your conviction call. What's the one bet in the commodity space for the next 12-24 months?"

Dart responded:

"Yeah, so I've mentioned a couple of things. I'd say on the oil side, as I mentioned before, diesel, I think is the oil product that is most vulnerable right now, not just because you have your seasonal demand strength ahead just in the winter, but on the supply side. And to your point in the beginning, it's not just that you run war, it's what's happening to the Russian refineries as well. And Russia is usually a pretty big exporter of diesel. And now they have restricted it."

Dart continued:

"So we are recommending a long diesel time spread. So going long the December contract of this year and short, the March contract of next year, so a spread trade.

And on the natural gas side, the sort of controversial call that we have is that after this crisis is over, this is a market in oversupply. So we look at the forward end of the curve, the back end of the curve, and it's overpriced. So we have been recommending a short for summer 2028 European natural gas TTF."

Watch 

Dart's conversation with Amin builds on another Goldman note published last week by commodity expert Daan Struyven, who warned that "Diesel is at the epicenter of the supply squeeze." 

Struyven introduced a new global refinery-runs nowcast, estimating that global refinery runs have plunged to their lowest seasonal level since the Covid era. 

Last week we noted that European gasoil crack has surged above $70 a barrel as refiners run near capacity, with diesel and jet supplies constrained by outages, shipping risks, and reduced Russian exports.

The diesel market is increasingly becoming a focal point for Goldman's commodities team as tight global supplies head into the seasonally stronger winter demand period. Disruptions stretching from the Hormuz chokepoint to Russian refinery outages and export restrictions are tightening an already constrained market, raising the risk of further price increases. If these supply pressures persist into winter, diesel could emerge as one of the most closely watched commodities.

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/03/2026 - 10:40

Here's Why the US Manufacturing Surveys Are Diverging So Dramatically...

Update (1015ET): As we noted below, there was a significant divergence between the two manufacturing surveys for July... which is not that unusual, and also an odd divergence between falling inflation expectations and universally rising commodity prices.

Based on the responses to the ISM survey, we may have found the answer... and it's a familiar one in this bifurcated economy...

• Green ones from AI, semiconductor, electronics and machinery firms report strong demand from AI data centers, chips and defense.

• Red ones from metals, transportation, chemicals and consumer-related sectors report weak demand, tariffs, higher costs, geopolitical risks and pricing chaos.

Simply put, the AI supply chain is booming; the rest is not.

*  *  *

Despite the recent slide in 'hard' data, US Manufacturing remained positive in July,and depending on which survey you are watching, was either flat... or surging.

• S&P Global US July Manufacturing PMI flat at 53.9 vs 53.8 flash and 53.9 for June - three month lows

• ISM US July Manufacturing PMI jumped to 55.6 vs 53.9 exp and 53.8 for June - highest since May 2022

Under the hood, ISM's Survey showed better than expected improvements across the board...

• Prices Paid 71.1, Exp. 71.0

• Employment 52.8, Exp. 50.0

• New Orders 56.7, Exp. 56.7

Inflation lower, orders and jobs higher...

But, S&P Global's PMI survey suggested evidence of supply chain disruption was also prominent in the latest survey data, with manufacturers signaling one of the sharpest deteriorations in vendor performance over the past four years. This contributed to slower growth in both inventories and purchases of pre-production goods, which eased to three- and four-month lows respectively

However, “although the headline PMI held steady in July," Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, warns that "beneath the survey we see some warning signs about the future growth trajectory."

Production rose at a markedly slower rate in July, linked to a third month of weakened growth of new business, in turn reflecting reduced inventory building after the especially strong precautionary stock accumulation reported in the second quarter. Williamson cited  "further pressure came from increased supply chain delays, falling exports, and further pushback on high prices from customers."

While input cost inflation moderated slightly, inflationary pressures remained elevated thanks principally to the combination of high energy prices and tariffs.

As a side note, ISM respondents saw inflation lower but almost every commodity higher in price?

In response, producers are either trying to raise selling prices to protect margins or boost productivity, hence July also saw another month of high factory gate price inflation and subdued job gains.

Williamson concludes rather ominously: “In this environment, business optimism about growth prospects slipped to the lowest since last October, underscoring the downside risks to the near-term outlook."

So - once again - choose your own adventure... is US Manufacturing stalling out (S&P Global) or surging at its fastest in four years (ISM)?

Tyler Durden Mon, 08/03/2026 - 10:35

A Mexican cartel leader who allegedly ordered a TikTokker’s live-streamed murder because she and his son had broken up, as well as a mayor’s assassination has been arrested. 

Before you buy or rent the new Evil Dead movie, here's when we expect to see it on HBO Max.

Disney has added a slew of costs to multiple parks in the US and over seas in the past few years.

Russia said on Monday ‌that six people, including three children, had been killed and about 40 injured at its Black Sea holiday resort of Gelendzhik in what it said was a deliberate Ukrainian drone attack on civilians.