Jeff Currie Dropping the Truth on CNBC

Jeff Currie, founder and CEO of Real Macro and a veteran commodities strategist formerly of Goldman Sachs and Carlyle, appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box on August 26, 2026, and cut through the usual noise. The segment title said it plainly: “The Strait of Hormuz is just one of many choke points being squeezed right now.” […]

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Mark Carney to Build a New Economy with the EU – It appears he is working for China and the EU, and not the Canadians.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government has accelerated efforts to deepen Canada’s economic and security ties with the European Union, framing diversification as essential amid escalating trade friction with the United States. Official statements and actions indicate a strategic pivot toward Europe (and select other partners) rather than prioritizing new comprehensive U.S. trade arrangements beyond existing […]

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US Treasury Begins Operation Economic Outcast on Iran

WASHINGTON — On August 24, 2026, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the launch of “Operation Economic Outcast,” describing it as an unprecedented campaign to sever Iran’s remaining economic lifelines. Speaking at a press conference, Bessent stated: “Today, at President Trump’s direction, the United States Treasury has begun Operation Economic Outcast… Our objective is to […]

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HF Sinclair posts a profit and closes its only Canadian lubricant (base oil) refinery. Not because of no profits, but it is not worth doing business with Net Zero Leadership.

HF Sinclair Corporation (NYSE: DINO) just delivered its strongest quarterly results in years while simultaneously announcing it will retire the base oil refining assets at its Mississauga, Ontario facility—Canada’s largest (and essentially only significant) producer of Group II and Group III base oils. The decision comes amid a highly profitable lubricants segment, not losses. The […]

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GE Vernova’s Gas Turbine Backlog Hits 116 GW. What Does This Mean for the AI Market?

Order a heavy-duty gas turbine from GE Vernova today, and it will not arrive until 2031. That production reality, confirmed on the company’s July 22, 2026, earnings call, sits beneath nearly every ambitious AI data-center power plan announced in recent years. GE Vernova closed the second quarter with a combined gas-power equipment backlog and slot-reservation […]

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West Texas Oil Producers Pushing Power Demand ‘To the Moon’

Oil and gas producers in the Permian Basin are driving electricity demand skyward in West Texas, even as technology companies race to site data centers in the world’s most prolific shale play. The dual surge—from electrifying drilling, fracturing, and production operations, plus hyperscale computing loads—is straining the regional grid and prompting warnings of potential reliability […]

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Ukraine Hits Lukoil Refinery. How Degraded is the Russian Refinery Capacity?

On the morning of August 21, 2026, Ukrainian drones struck the Lukoil-Permnefteorgsintez oil refinery in Russia’s Perm Krai, more than 1,500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Thick black smoke rose over the facility, one of Russia’s 10 largest refineries with a design capacity of around 13 million metric tons of crude per year (approximately 262,000 […]

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Will Choking Iran’s Economy End the War, or Are They Too Resilient?

In an August 20, 2026, Bloomberg Opinion column, Javier Blas argued that “choking Iran’s economy is the least bad way to end the war.” Drawing on firsthand observations of sanctions-induced collapse in Iraq, Venezuela, and Cuba—worthless currencies, skyrocketing inflation, and soaring unemployment—Blas noted that pure economic pressure has historically failed to force political change. U.S. […]

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Are we about to see paper catch up to physical delivery on oil?

The oil market is sending mixed signals that traders and energy watchers cannot ignore. Futures prices—the “paper” side of the trade—have been surprisingly restrained even as physical barrels face ongoing constraints from the prolonged disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. Diesel cracks are screaming tightness downstream, China has stepped back as the world’s swing buyer, […]

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