WAR! (or is it?)

Tesla Robotaxi Update

Japan's rice problem

Drink up! New guidelines coming...

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 Warm-Up
- WAR! (or is it?)
- Tesla Robotaxi Update
- Japan's rice problem
- Drink up! New guidelines coming...

Markets
- Not phased by Iranian attack - (well planned attack for markets - timing, newsflow and narrative of "successful mission")
- A ceasefire now - quick wars!
- P/E forward nearing 22
- Leading indicators - dropping
- VERY Resilient overall - dips are for buying
- NASDAQ 100 closing in on all-time highs - triple top

Dropping the F Bomb - 7am CNBC
- " Two counties that have been that have been fighting so long and so hard that they do not know what the "F***ck" they are doing"

Oil
- Drops from high of $78 to $66
- Iran bombing news spikes the price on Sunday night - and then....free fall....

Tesla
- Everyone is a flutter about the RoboTaxi test in Austin
- Stock moved up 10% on the news Monday
-- Everyone knows it is a long haul - but the hope and the promise is something that investors live on
- Tesla Robotaxis spotted speeding, making improper turns on first day of service, according to Bloomberg

HAMMER
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dan Caine, in a news conference Sunday, reviewed operational details of Saturday’s “Operation Midnight Hammer,” the well-concealed strikes against nuclear development facilities in Iran that both men called an “incredible and overwhelming success.”
- “We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” President Donald Trump said Saturday.
- Bunker Buster Bombs - lots of them
- Was it a success?
-- Monday: Iran coordinated the attacks on U.S. base in Qatar and gave officials advance warning to minimize casualties

Interesting
- Online job listing company CareerBuilder + Monster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday.

Leading Indicators
- A measure of future U.S. economic activity fell in May for the sixth straight month and triggered a recession signal, held down by consumer pessimism, weak new orders for manufactured goods, an uptick in jobless benefits claims and a drop in building permit applications.
- The Conference Board's Leading Economic Index fell by 0.1% to 99.0 last month after a downwardly revised 1.4% drop in April, which was the largest decline in the index since the spring of 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The decline matched the consensus expectation among economists polled by Reuters.
- "With the substantial negatively revised drop in April and the further downtick in May, the six-month growth rate of the Index has become more negative, triggering the recession signal," she said.
"The Conference Board does not anticipate recession, but we do expect a significant slowdown in economic growth in 2025 compared to 2024, with real GDP growing at 1.6% this year and persistent tariff effects potentially leading to further deceleration in 2026."

Global Rates and Central Banks - Update
 World Rates
Japan's Rice Problem
- Rice prices in Japan more than doubled in May, spiking 101.7% year over year and marking their largest increase in over half a century.
- The huge spike follows a 98.4% increase in April, and a rise of 92.1% year over year in March.
- Japan’s rice prices have been in the spotlight in recent times, with the government releasing emergency stockpiles to moderate the price of the country’s staple food.
- The surge in rice prices comes as Japan’s core inflation rate climbed to 3.7% in May, marking its highest level since January 2023.

DHUnplugged #758: Dropping the Hammer