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20 May 2026

The IRS just agreed to never audit Trump again.

A one-page addition quietly attached to yesterday's $1.8 billion settlement permanently bars the IRS from examining Trump's tax returns, his family, and his companies. The original settlement said nothing about taxes. This showed up the next day. Former IRS commissioner Danny Werfel said he was "unaware of a single precedent where the IRS has agreed in advance to permanently forgo examination of previously filed tax returns for a specific person or business." The settlement was sold as accountability. The extra page is a lifetime audit exemption for the president. Source: POLITICO, FT

20 May 2026

When rates start to matter... NASDAQ versus inverse US 10-year yields remains one of the biggest macro dislocation charts out there.

Let's keep in mind that bond volatility is exploding higher JUST AS hyperscalers enter the most capital-intensive spending cycle in modern tech history. Source: The Market Ear

20 May 2026

Since the start of the war, gold has been negatively correlated to oil. Oil up, gold down. Why? Because the marginal gold buyer is not the West, it is EM Asia and Turkey.

Higher oil prices crush import-dependent economies like India: Oil ↑ → Growth ↓ → Currency ↓ → Import costs ↑ → Gold demand ↓. That’s why gold has been weak despite geopolitical chaos. India is curbing gold imports to defend the Rupee. Turkey already burned reserves. China is temporarily balancing the system by cutting crude imports. The real story isn’t “gold vs fear.” It’s commodities, FX, and EM liquidity transmission. Mental flexibility > rigid macro views. Source: Alexander Stahel on X Bloomberg

20 May 2026

We've officially reached the "brutal" stage in the global bond market sell-off. The 10y10y forward yield (red) is making new highs all over the place.

Japan's 10y10y forward has risen 30 basis points in just a few days. Even Swiss 10y10y forward is rising. Source: Robin Brooks

20 May 2026

President Trump called on AI companies to build, bring, or buy 100% of the energy needed for their data centers as part of his “Ratepayer Protection Pledge.”

Monthly tokens processed across Google surfaces: May 2024: 9.7T May 2025: ~480T May 2026: 3.2Q+ That is 7x Y/Y growth. Source: Wall St Engine

20 May 2026

GOOGLE JUST SHOWED HOW INSANE AI DEMAND HAS GOTTEN

Monthly tokens processed across Google surfaces: May 2024: 9.7T May 2025: ~480T May 2026: 3.2Q+ That is 7x Y/Y growth. Source: Wall St Engine

20 May 2026

Stop using Claude like it's 2024.

Here are the 19 rules I follow when I use Claude: Source: AI evolution

20 May 2026

Here's why soaring yields do matter. Annual US interest expense is currently $1.3 trillion.

For context, the largest US government outlay is Social Security. It is $1.6 trillion. Source: zerohedge

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