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The transaction is expected to close in about a year, subject to regulatory and board approval.

The past four years have made it easy to forget what she looked like when she left.

Bursting Of AI Bubble, Collapse Of Circular Deals Are Among Top Risks To Global Financial System, BIS Warns

An artificial-intelligence bust (and thus bubble), inflation and fiscal stress are the three the most alarming threats to global prosperity at present, the Bank for International Settlements warned. In its annual report published on Sunday, the Basel-based institution - better known as the central banks' central bank - cited those on a list of “pressure points” that currently “demand attention,” with underlying financial vulnerabilities lurking that could amplify any shock.

“The global economy remains caught in the crosscurrents of progress and peril,” Basel officials said in the report. “Resilience is being increasingly tested and strained.”

The assessment highlighted AI-led risks prominently in a report that arrived on the eve of the ECB’s three-day annual symposium in Sintra, where a host of global policymakers will also scrutinize such stability dangers closely.

“Disappointment in returns could trigger a sudden pullback in financing and turn the capex boom into a protracted investment bust, with potential knock-on effects on financial conditions,” the BIS said, before observing that “a major equity-market correction could have larger macroeconomic consequences today than in the past.” 

Besides AI, the Basel officials went on to note that other assets could face similar dangers, and highlighted credit in particular.

“Repricing of risk this time, whether triggered by higher interest rates or an AI bust, has the potential to be similarly disruptive” in that segment to the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, the BIS said. 

On AI specifically, officials highlighted vulnerabilities linked to funding, including complex arrangements such so-called “circular financing” deals that can mix equity and debt with supplier-client contracts (as discussed here "The $1.8 Trillion Off-Balance Sheet Time Bomb At The Heart Of The AI Supercycle"). 

For instance, chipmakers and hyperscalers take stakes in AI labs or neocloud providers, who in turn commit to multi-year purchases of chips or computing power, the BIS said. Data center construction is more frequently outsourced to third parties that lease facilities back to hyperscalers on long-term contracts with embedded exit clauses.

Source: Morgan Stanley

“The terms of such deals are typically poorly disclosed, with risks of the same asset being pledged multiple times,” officials wrote.

The BIS’s separate warning of a possible return of inflation jars with some initial optimism that the current energy shock caused by the Middle East crisis might recede. Signs of progress over a peace deal this week brought the oil price down to levels below where they were when the Iran war broke out in late February.

BIS officials, in tune with peers at institutions such as the ECB, also worry that the disruption to energy supplies may not be over, that infrastructure will take time to rebuild, and that existing impacts could linger. 

That followed US data last week showing prices rising at the fastest pace in more than three years, and precedes numbers in coming days that may show euro-zone inflation still far above officials’ 2% target.

The last cost-of-living shock in 2022 “is still in the memory of economic agents,” BIS chief Pablo Hernandez de Cos told reporters, intending no puns with the whole "memory" thing, and noting that this can mean a “higher probability of second-round effects.”

The BIS also highlighted what has become a familiar warning about how fiscal dangers posed by high sovereign debts still loom large, with added complications given the other risks. Echoing counterparts such as the Paris-based OECD, it pointed to how hedge funds have become much more prominent as buyers of government bonds, often using funding that can quickly unwind when conditions deteriorate as part of their massively levered basis trades.

“These hedge funds employ highly leveraged strategies that rely on short-term financing on favorable terms, creating risks of fire sales and de-leveraging feedback loops,” the BIS said. “Financial stresses can now propagate quickly and broadly through funding markets, across borders and between banks and non-banks.”

This year has already seen moments of bond-market tension, with broad selloffs on the UK gilt market summoning memories of the country’s 2022 crisis, and similar developments in Japan causing global ripples that extended to US Treasuries. 

“Market reactions can emerge in any moment, depending on sometimes political events or economic events,” de Cos said. “It will be important to reduce these vulnerabilities before these market reactions might take place.”

In its capacity advising global central banks, the BIS said that a strict focus on monetary discipline remains essential, ensuring that inflation expectations don’t become unhinged on the back of the recent energy price spikes and other supply shocks, Bloomberg reported, yet as we noted earlier, the US has been above the Fed's 2% inflation target for about 5 years now, making a mockery of the central bank's core pillar. Officials shouldn’t shirk from raising interest rates if needed, even if that harms growth in the short term, BIS said, knowing fully well nobody would do anything that harms growth in the short term.

“Policies reinforce each other,” the officials wrote. “Disciplined fiscal policy underpins monetary credibility and financial stability. Robust regulation strengthens market resilience, preserves fiscal space and limits the need for frequent central bank interventions. Credible monetary policy anchors inflation expectations.”

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/29/2026 - 07:35

Lefty candidates across the country talk of ousting Jeffries and Schumer from leadership, while regular Democrats wonder if they have what it takes to beat back the radicals.

Comcast Shares Jump Most Since 2008 On Plans To Separate Units

Comcast shares jumped the most in nearly two decades on news that it plans to split NBCUniversal and Sky into a separate publicly traded company through a tax-free spin-off.

The transaction, expected to close in about one year, would leave Comcast shareholders owning stakes in both.

Comcast would remain centered around broadband, wireless, business services, and entertainment platforms, backed by a network that reaches more than 65 million homes and businesses.

NBCUniversal, which will also include Sky, will house Universal’s film and TV studios, NBC, Telemundo, Peacock, Bravo, sports, news, and the company’s theme parks business.

Comcast said the standalone media company will have the scale, content library, and intellectual property needed to compete with leading streaming platforms.

Mike Cavanagh will become CEO of NBCUniversal, and former Comcast CFO Michael Angelakis will return as CEO of Comcast.

Comcast expects to retain up to a 19.9% stake in NBCUniversal for up to one year after the spin-off and plans to monetize that position over time in a tax-efficient manner. The company said both businesses are expected to have strong investment-grade balance sheets.

Shares of Comcast in pre-market trading soared 23% on the news, the largest intraday gain since the 24.5% gain on October 28, 2008. On the year, shares are down 17%, as of Friday's close.

Goldman Sachs and PJT Partners are advising Comcast on the tax-free spin-off, with Davis Polk serving as legal counsel.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/29/2026 - 07:20

The Dodgers should play baseball, serve the community in broadly unifying ways and leave divisive political advocacy to politicians, campaigns and activist organizations.

Starting with the first US patent in 1790, our country's uniquely democratic approach to intellectual property set off a chain reaction that drives innovation to this day.

The unfinished genius of the American founding? It created a sense of possibility for more and more people — a standard larger than those who first proclaimed it.

From paper minidresses emblazoned with the faces of Richard Nixon and Robert F. Kennedy to lanterns given out by John Adams — it's American history as object lesson.

Scott Wiener was harassed — twice — in San Francisco this week by activists who confronted him in an aggressive and, frankly, frightening manner.

Amazon Prime Day Sales Rise 9% Year Over Year, Topping $26 Billion

Americans spent a record $26.4 billion during Amazon's four-day Prime Day sales event, a 9.3% increase from a year earlier, per Adobe Analytics and according to Reuters. 

The gains were fueled by heavy promotions across categories including electronics, appliances, clothing, toys, personal care products, and household necessities, as consumers looked to maximize savings amid ongoing cost pressures.

Industry analysts said several factors contributed to the stronger spending, including larger tax refunds and early back-to-school purchases, which gave many households extra flexibility to buy items they had been postponing.

Reuters writes that rather than spending freely, however, shoppers appeared to be concentrating purchases around major discount events to get the best value.

The data also suggests consumers remain selective. While overall sales climbed, retailers relied on promotions that were similar in size to last year's to generate demand, raising questions about whether deep discounts will remain necessary through the holiday shopping season.

Separately, Numerator reported the average Prime Day order fell to $47.66 from $53.34 last year, indicating many shoppers are still keeping a close eye on their budgets despite higher overall spending.

If there's one takeaway from this year's Prime Day, it's that the American consumer isn't necessarily getting stronger—they're getting more tactical. People aren't throwing money around because they feel flush; they're waiting for the biggest sale of the year to buy things they need anyway.

When households have to time purchases around deep discounts, larger tax refunds, and promotional events just to make the math work, it's another reminder that years of inflation have quietly eroded purchasing power, even if headline retail spending continues to look healthy.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/29/2026 - 06:55

Earlier this month, LA County voters chose to pass Measure ER, a 0.5% sales tax increase that ostensibly will last for five years and will apply to almost everything you buy.

The Palisades Fire trial ended with a hung jury. But for locals, the verdict has been clear since January 7, 2025: State and local officials are guilty of negligence.

Some residents of the Ambiance townhouse community in San Marcos, California, received a special gift for Independence Day: orders from their HOA to take down their American flags — or face fines.

"You need to build everything in life on truth. I go back to being a doctor. You got to search for the truth and use the truth for your solutions."

Record 1 In 16 People Worldwide Now Use Drugs, UN Report Says

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

One out of every 16 people in the world uses drugs, the highest level at any point in human history, the United Nations said in a June 26 post on X.

“While cannabis remains the most widely used drug, the global cocaine market has reached record levels,” the U.N. stated in the post. In the 10 years between 2014 and 2024, global production of cocaine has surged by more than 370 percent.

The numbers come from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) World Drug Report 2026, released on June 26.

In total, 331 million people worldwide used drugs in 2024, up by 34 percent over the previous 10 years. Cannabis was the most used narcotic with 256 million users, followed by opioids with 63 million, amphetamines with 32 million, cocaine with 25 million, and ecstasy with 21 million users.

There were about 63 million people with drug use disorders, with one in 12 undergoing treatment.

Among women with drug use disorders, one in 23 was receiving treatment. This figure was higher among men at one in nine. 

Out of the 14 million who used drugs via injections, almost 7 million had hepatitis C, 1.7 million were living with HIV, and 1.5 million had both.

The report observed that one of the “biggest reckonings with drug use in recent years occurred in Canada and the United States, which were rocked by an opioid crisis in the first two decades of this century that caused nearly a million deaths.”

However, the peak of the crisis “appears to have passed,” with 2024 figures showing a decline in opioid deaths involving fentanyl.

In a January 2026 report, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that drug overdose death rates involving synthetic opioids other than methadone fell by 35.6 percent between 2023 and 2024.

While opioid deaths have declined, the vast majority of such deaths took place in the United States and Canada, the UNODC report said, adding that fentanyl opioids continued to account for the largest share of such deaths.

The agency also highlighted the impact of nitazenes—synthetic opioids that are more potent than fentanyl—in the United States. In 2024, 409 deaths were attributed to nitazenes in 43 U.S. jurisdictions.

In a June 26 statement, UNODC said that drug manufacturers are inventing new synthetic drugs in a bid to avoid detection and bypass regulations. In 2024, five times more drug types were found in drug seizures than prior to 2000.

Monica Juma, executive director of UNODC, said there has been an “unprecedented spike” in new drug types entering the market, some of which are more potent or dangerous than existing ones.

“We are already suffering the impact: millions of premature deaths and healthy years of life needlessly lost; drug trafficking networks that are distorting economies; the destruction of lives, communities, and livelihoods; and the compounding of insecurity and violence,” Juma said.

“The imperative to focus on stopping organized crime groups has never been greater. We must surge deterrence efforts, increase intelligence-sharing, and coordinate joint operations, while investing more in prevention and treatment.”

Tackling US Drug Addiction

Last month, the Trump administration’s drug czar, Sara Carter, released the 2026 National Drug Control Strategy, detailing the roadmap that the United States plans to use to tackle the drug crisis.

While the strategy involves several measures, such as securing global supply chains from transnational criminals behind the influx of drugs into the United States, one of the key focus areas is the treatment provided to counter addiction.

Carter said authorities will “work tirelessly” to eliminate the demand for drugs in the United States.

“We will build a culture of resilience where living drug-free is the norm. We will empower educators, faith leaders, and families to protect our children from this chemical assault,” she said.

“And we will ensure that compassionate, effective treatment and recovery support are available to every American who is courageously fighting to reclaim their life from addiction.”

According to the strategy, the administration will seek to ensure that treatments for drug addiction are “more accessible than continued drug use.”

In a May 7 statement, Libby Jones of the Global Health Advocacy Incubator raised concerns about the Trump administration’s fiscal year 2027 budget request that cut funding for some addiction programs.

The request cuts $261 million from the Substance Abuse Prevention program and $576 million from the Mental and Behavioral Health subtotal.

“A strategy that says treatment should be easier to obtain than illicit drugs must have the infrastructure to make that real,” Jones said.

Meanwhile, in a June 19 statement, the Department of Homeland Security said that the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized 32 percent more cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, and marijuana nationwide in May compared with two years back.

“CBP has seized 56 percent more drugs this fiscal year through May than it seized during the same period of FY 2024,” the department said. FY refers to fiscal year.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/29/2026 - 06:30

Partisan politics have gotten in the way of celebrating our country’s 250th birthday. 

Rather than relying on the courts to force Mayor Mamdani to act, though, Gov. Kathy Hochul must step in to protect pedestrians and pedal cyclists. 

Trade $10, get $15 with the Kalshi promo code NYPMAX for Wimbledon.

For some Americans paying for emergency — or elective — care, not reading the fine print can mean a "0% interest" bill suddenly costs 30% more.