Iraq Offers Huge Discounts Up To $33 Per Barrel For Oil Shipments Via Hormuz
[2:19 PM | 0 comments ]

Iraq Offers Huge Discounts Up To $33 Per Barrel For Oil Shipments Via Hormuz

By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com

OPEC’s second-largest producer, Iraq, is offering huge discounts of up to $33.40 per barrel off the official selling prices for its crude that has to move through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iraq’s oil production and exports have been severely crippled due to the hostilities in the Middle East and the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which is the only way to move Iraqi Basrah crude grades.

Iraq was one of the first Gulf producers to slash upstream production and now exports a small part of its crude via a pipeline to the Turkish Mediterranean coast. But its key export port at Basrah, which handled the bulk of exports prior to the war, is constrained due to the unpassable Strait of Hormuz. Iraq has shipped some cargoes eastward out of the Strait thanks to bilateral agreements with Iran’s forces, but tankers now have to move empty westward of the Strait and travel deep into the Persian Gulf to load from Basrah.

Port of Basra

The inbound movement at the Strait of Hormuz is at a standstill, and renewed tensions, blockades, the U.S. Project Freedom to guide ships, the Iranian threats to said project, and Iranian expansion of the area of control at Hormuz are further complicating tanker movement west into the Persian Gulf.

Iraq is now offering a discount of $33.40 per barrel off the official selling price of its flagship Basrah Medium crude loading from Basrah on the Gulf in May, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing a May 3 notice by Iraqi state oil marketing company SOMO.

Basrah Medium that would be loaded between May 1 and 10 would be priced at a discount of $33.40 a barrel below the OSP, and at a $26-per-barrel discount between May 11 and 31, according to the notice seen by Bloomberg.

Basrah Heavy for loading in May is being offered to buyers at $30 below the OSP.

If a buyer agrees to some of the offers, SOMO’s notice says that “force majeure shall not be applicable to this offer, given that it has been issued under existing exceptional conditions already known to all parties.”

Tyler Durden Tue, 05/05/2026 - 15:00
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All's Not So Quiet On Any Front
[3:19 PM | 0 comments ]

All's Not So Quiet On Any Front

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

Project Freedom. Cute move! Notice that it’s not Operation Freedom. That would frame it as a military move.

The President is tactically framing this as a humanitarian action. Mr. Trump has advised Congress as of May 1 that hostilities with Iran (Operation Epic Fury) are terminated, at the 60-day limit of the War Powers Resolution. Commercial ships from countries not involved in the Iran / US dispute will now get escorted safely through the Strait of Hormuz by US naval vessels.

(Later amended by CENTCOM, around 9a.m. Monday as being protected by US Navy vessels “in the vicinity.”)

Any attack on these ships by Iran would prompt a forceful response and trigger a re-wind of the clock on the War Powers Resolution (WPR), meaning, another sixty days to conduct military operations, such as the destruction of key bridges and electric power plants promised earlier. Iran’s leadership — whoever that is — thought it could juke Mr. Trump on the 60-day deadline by stalling negotiations while it reorganized its remaining missile launchers. Tactical fail. Incidentally, the Supreme Court has never directly ruled on the WPR’s constitutionality or enforced the 60-day limit.

Also, by the way, the “neutral and innocent bystanders” designation means that oil tankers from Kuwait, the Emirate states, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia will be given safe escorts out of the Persian Gulf. That will have two effects: 1) avert the “shutting-in” of their productive oil wells (and the prospective geological damage to the oil fields); and 2) alleviate the price pressure on oil generally with new supply reentering the global oil market.

You can conclude that this “project” will bring new pressure on the “whoevers” running Iran to stop shucking and jiving about how this thing ends — which is them surrendering the 1000-pounds of 60-percent enriched uranium stashed somewhere on their premises. Of course, coming to terms on the nuclear bomb-making issue would allow Iran the possibility of becoming, once more, a normal advanced industrial modern nation, should it also decide to eschew the rule of the mullahs and their psychotic minions in the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC). But that remains to be seen.

The other major project underway is on the domestic US scene: the much-needed severe beat-down of the so-called Democratic Party that has become captive to seditionists, overt communists, racketeers, and jihadis.

DOJ prosecutions of color revolutionaries accelerate under Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. James Comey finally has to account for his “86 / 47” seashell prank in a Carolina federal court while a long-dormant case was revived in the Eastern District of Virginia of Comey having used Columbia prof Daniel Richman as a cut-out to leak classified information to the press at the inception of RussiaGate, 2017.

Nobody knows exactly what’s going down in the Southern District of Florida these days (no leaks) where a grand Jury was convened in January to hear evidence in the RussiaGate matter including the years’ long train of organized seditions aimed at bum-rushing Mr. Trump out of the Oval Office in his first term, plus the mounting of various other operations (2020 election-rigging, the J-6 “Fedsurrection,” and maliciously fake serial prosecutions) aimed at stuffing him in prison at the end of that term.

All this is being treated as a “grand conspiracy” involving scores of agency officials and lawfare ninjas operating in the penumbra at the edge of government.

Do not be surprised when rafts of indictments come out of the Fort Pierce, Florida, grand jury, probably in bunches, each bunch dedicated to a particular phase or operation.

Characters such as former President Barack Obama, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Senator Adam Schiff (D-CS), CIA-agent Eric Ciaramella, legal tacticians Norm Eisen, Marc Elias, and Mary McCord, Andrew Weissmann, crooked member of the Senate Intel Committee Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), and former CIA Directors Brennan with former DNI James Clapper, were involved in multiple seditions and possible treasons. Supporting actors such as the tag-team of Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, former Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein, former AG Merrick Garland, former Deputy AG Lisa Monaco, former Sec’y of State Hillary Clinton, “Joe Biden” autopen operators Jake Sullivan, Mike Donlon, Steve Richetti, Anita Dunn, Neera Tanden, former Sec’y of State Antony Blinken, and Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice, are probably in the mix somewhere, too.

The trials that come out of all this action will be mighty interesting shows. What they will show is what an absolutely criminal organization the Democratic Party became sometime during Barack Obama’s second term, and how each criminal act since then has provoked further criminal acts in the attempt to cover-up the train of crime.

On top of that, you see the first glimmers of action against the villains behind the Covid-19 operation, which was used as an additional instrument of sedition to eject President Trump from office with mail-in ballot fraud.

That was the eventual outcome anyway, though it appears that Anthony Fauci’s NIAID agency was subcontracting out the development of this disease at least a decade earlier. And now, Dr. Fauci’s chief advisor, David Morens, is indicted on extremely serious charges including conspiracy against the United States, destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations (multiple counts), and concealment, removal, or mutilation of records (multiple counts).

This is serious business. It is likely to lead to Dr. Fauci, Dr. Deborah Birx, and other public health officials who ran a dastardly number on the citizens of this land. Be advised: the autopen pardons of “Joe Biden” will be tested in court.

While all this goes on in the months ahead, don’t underestimate what is liable to emerge from the ongoing FBI investigations into massive social service and health service fraud by the Democratic Party in its Blue State strongholds.

It is going to get very ugly. A governor or two (or three, or more) could be slammed with indictments for colluding to conceal vast episodes of organized grift.

All that. . . and then the SCOTUS decision striking down Congressional redistricting along racial lines — probably leading to the loss of up to ten Democratic seats in the House later this year.

Ouch! That one is really going to sting.

So, if you happen to believe that the concluding scenes of Operation Epic Fury in Iran will somehow work to advantage the Democratic party to sweep the midterm elections, better rethink your strategery (as George W. Bush liked to style the art of political warfare).

Tyler Durden Mon, 05/04/2026 - 16:20
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Jane Street Paid Employees $9.4 Billion, Twice What It Paid Last Year, After Record 2025 Results
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Jane Street Paid Employees $9.4 Billion, Twice What It Paid Last Year, After Record 2025 Results

Jane Street Group has evolved from a niche trading shop into one of Wall Street’s most profitable firms and employees are reaping the rewards. The firm paid roughly $9.4 billion in compensation last year, more than twice what it distributed a year earlier, according to Bloomberg.

On average, that translated to about $2.7 million per employee, far ahead of traditional banks like Goldman Sachs. The massive payouts followed a record year in which Jane Street generated nearly $40 billion in trading revenue, outpacing major banks and rivals in the market-making business.

Bloomberg writes that the firm started in 2000 trading American depositary receipts before expanding into ETFs and other electronically traded assets. As more markets became automated, Jane Street scaled aggressively and now handles trading across equities, bonds, ETFs, and other products.

Its financial resources have grown just as dramatically. The firm’s internal capital base has climbed to roughly $45 billion, up nearly twentyfold over the past decade, giving it significant flexibility to capitalize on market swings without relying heavily on outside funding. It has also raised additional cash through debt markets.

That war chest has allowed Jane Street to move beyond day-to-day trading. The firm has built positions in high-growth tech companies, including Anthropic, and has also backed CoreWeave while exploring deals involving Fluidstack.

Jane Street also operates differently from most major financial firms. It doesn’t have a traditional CEO hierarchy and is instead overseen by a group of partners. The firm is well known for recruiting mathematicians, engineers, and problem-solvers to sharpen its trading systems.

Despite regulatory and legal challenges — including scrutiny in India and litigation tied to the collapse of Terraform Labs — Jane Street continues to widen its lead. It outperformed Citadel Securities last year and is continuing to expand, including plans for a larger office in London.

Recall, we wrote just days ago that Jane Street reeled in a Wall Street record $39.6 billion of trading revenue last year, more than any Wall Street bank. According to the report, the firm beat out all global investment banks after reaping $15.5 billion in the year’s final quarter, and with only 3,500 employees, it beat nearest rival JPMorgan by 11% during the year. The company's adjusted ETBIDA for the full year was a stunning $31.2 billion. 

While Jane Street’s profits were lifted by surging valuations of its stakes in privately held companies, the firm’s main business matching buyers and sellers across assets thrived on bouts of market volatility. The new annual record - which includes gains on long-term investments - shows "how the balance of power has shifted in one of the most lucrative arenas of global finance."

While it has kept a remarkable low profile, its recent public appearances have been less than laudatory: The company's record haul is confirmation that Jane Street, long known for its secrecy, was able to keep growing after getting thrust into the spotlight in mid-2025 when authorities in India accused of manipulating markets while running what had once been one of the firm’s most lucrative trading strategies.

Jane Street has denied those allegations and is fighting them in court. In February, Jane Street was sued by the bankrupt Terraform Labs estate, accusing it of engaging in insider trading that precipitated the $40 billion crash of cryptocurrencies associated with Terraform; this week the HFT firm also urged a judge to throw out that lawsuit.

Tyler Durden Sun, 05/03/2026 - 19:15
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Democrats Melt Down After Supreme Court Restricts Race Based Gerrymandering
[4:19 PM | 0 comments ]

Democrats Melt Down After Supreme Court Restricts Race Based Gerrymandering

The response from Democrats to the Supreme Court's decision to strike down race-based gerrymandering has been predictable - running high in emotion and devoid of objectivity.  The Democrat Party has understood for a long time that much of their power comes from inserting themselves as the spokespeople for the supposed "have-nots".  Racial hysteria being a key weapon in their arsenal to push the ongoing socialization of America. 

Its the reason why left-wing NGO's have been dumping millions of dollars into the very "hate groups" they claim to be fighting against.  Leftists need racism as a bogeyman; they have no power without it.  

It makes sense that Democrats are clinging to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), which prohibits voting practices (including redistricting maps) that result in denial or abridgment of the right to vote on account of race.  The assumption being that minorities (specifically black Americans) require rigged districts where they are the majority in order to maintain power in government.  

This obviously benefits Democrats, with around 83% of blacks voting blue in recent elections.  Predominantly black districts in states across the US have acted as assured seats in the House for Dems since 1965.  In 1982, Congress strengthened Section 2 by amending it to clarify that plaintiffs only need to prove that a voting practice has a discriminatory result (effect), not just the intent.

Republicans sided with Democrats in a grand virtue signal, but the results of the strengthened VRA have harmed conservatives ever since.  The Supreme Court's recent 6-3 decision in Louisiana v. Callais ends this 45-year-long mistake, at least, for the most part.    

The decision sets a precedent which largely eliminates the use of frivolous race-based challenges to redistricting maps and will lead to a loss of 12-19 House seats for Democrats over the next two years.  States which are planning to adjust their maps in light of the Supreme Court ruling include Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama.  A few other red states are looking into potential changes before 2028.

The Democrat reaction has been an absolute meltdown.  Impending district map changes threaten a loss of around 12 seats in the near term.

The underlying narrative promoted by the political left is that the ruling will result in black Americans losing the right to vote.  Chuck Schumer insinuates this in his frantic response, calling the decision a "return to Jim Crow". 

This is, of course, a fallacy.  No black citizen is losing their right to vote.  In fact, the Supreme Court ruling confirms that black voters and white voters are equal and that rigged districts based on race are not necessary.  Raging over the proposition of losing political power, Democrats are now calling for "packing the courts" as a means to dilute the Supreme Court and assert total control over districts and elections (a typical appeal to lawfare). 

Hakeem Jeffries called the Supreme Court a disgrace and said "everything is on the table" to undermine their decision. 

Other Dems echoed this strategy.  Their plan?  If they can't rig districts, they will rig the courts.

It should be noted that the political left only calls for these kinds of extreme measures when the court rules in favor of conservatives.  Objective positions and nuances within court decisions are not tolerated.  The threat is clear:  "Rule with us, or we will get revenge..."

Other left-wing politicians argue that the Supreme Court "has no authority" to change the VRA because they are not "elected".  When Democrats start to sound like activist libertarians, you know they're scared.

In the sprint to the Midterms the district changes will likely be minimal, but enough to potentially thwart a Democrat majority.  In 2028, the game could change dramatically.  Former President Barack Obama was lambasted for attacking the Supreme Court ruling, just days after cutting ads for a Virginia effort to transform that state's map into a 10-1 Democratic advantage. 

Top Illinois Democrats called the precedent a ‘crushing blow to our democracy', despite the fact that Illinois is widely considered gerrymandered to benefit Democrats.  It's only okay when they do it, not when conservatives do it.  

The Democrat response is a reminder that, if the political left ever returns to substantial government power as they had under the Biden Administration, they will break every rule and violate every principle in order to keep control.

Tyler Durden Sun, 05/03/2026 - 17:30
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CNN 'Expert' Says Iranian Suicide Dolphins Going After US Ships
[2:19 PM | 0 comments ]

CNN 'Expert' Says Iranian Suicide Dolphins Going After US Ships

Americans have been subject to a variety of creative wartime propaganda claims by their government stretching back many decades. From the 'incubator babies' hoax of the first Iraq war, to hyping 'mushroom clouds' over US cities during the 2nd Iraq War, to Gaddafi 'mass rape' allegations through distributing Viagra pills to Libyan troops - there seems to be no end to such bizarre claims out of the D.C. beltway, and the mainstream media is consistently a willing participant in spreading these proven lies.

Already we've seen some whoppers coming from the same sources on Iran. Even Vice President J.D. Vance, reported to harbor quiet skepticism and doubts about Trump's Operation Epic Fury, has floated the idea that Tehran could send out terrorists with 'nuclear suicide vests'. But leave it to the Iranian 'expert' pundit class to come up with something even more absurd: suicide bomber dolphins. The below clip was recently aired on CNN, and the MSM channel gave the wild claim an air of credibility, because of course it did...

CNN show host Kaitlan Collins did nothing to challenge the assertion, which Iranian leaders were supposedly "contemplating". For example, the supposed 'expert' pundit didn't even bother to establish whether Iran has ever so much as had such a program.

However, there has long been a United States dolphin mine locating program and research. But in this instance - during the Iraq war of 2003 for example - they simply assisted in locating mines threatening the Persian Gulf waterway, according to archived news articles.

The Iranians may have, going years back, experimented with deploying dolphins to assist in surveillance operations - akin to some cutting edge programs in other countries like Russia, but nothing is known of what became of this, and it would without doubt be a very expensive research program which would require a heavy, long-term time investment as well.

And to be expected, the 'suicide dolphins' narrative gets re-laundered by Fox News:

But it remains that there has never been evidence of any country deploying 'suicide dolphins' to take out enemy ships. When it comes to 'official enemies' of Washington, the pundit class can basically make up any nefarious and twisted allegation or plot and it won't be met with much scrutiny or pushback from the mainstream, if any at all.

When the MSM wants to float at outlandish claim and frame it as credible, another technique is to simply add "reports say" such and such a regime is "mulling" this or that.

Flipper Akbar!...

The propaganda claim then becomes impossible to confirm, but still gets widely circulated, and the 'method' keeps getting repeated, with only the most gullible buying into the claims (though sadly, this is way too many Americans).

The EyE-raNIAN SUICIDE aTTaCK DoLpHInS are COmINg!!!

Tyler Durden Sun, 05/03/2026 - 16:55
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