COURTNEY BULIS

Israel is explicitly warning Christian and Druze residents in southern Lebanon not to hide Muslim residents among them as their forces advance. Not a peep from Sheryl Sandberg.

Breaking: Kirk Cousins is signing with the Raiders, his agent announced on social media.

Ron Johnson: "I was disappointed in the Supreme Court justices. The Constitution is not a suicide pact. Maybe their ruling will be on the law and Constitution, but you have to look at the bigger picture here."

Trump has addressed the American people - and the world. The build-up promised something momentous. BUT what did he actually say? NOTHING. The expected attacks on NATO did not materialise, nor was there ANYTHING concrete about the plan regarding the war with Iran. Before the speech he had hinted that the US was on its way out. But there was nothing concrete on that front either. Trump apparently cannot find a way out of this war. But just look at the financial markets this morning: oil prices up - and equities sharply down. The most shocking aspect of this speech is that it was PREPARED, and yet despite that, Trump was utterly incapable of delivering any coherent message whatsoever. It genuinely appears as though the speech was written by a 19-year-old with no knowledge of the subject - it is plainly evident that there was neither a professional speechwriter nor any professional input on the substance. It strikes me that there are quite simply NO professional people around him. The speech was atrociously written - and delivered even worse. It is deeply peculiar. As an investor, one is left with the overwhelming impression that there is quite simply NO plan - that there are no professionals of any kind left in the American federal administration. My single greatest concern is that the situation is so chaotic that Trump will go on to make even worse decisions with far, far more deadly consequences in the time ahead. There appears to be no one who is seriously keeping a grip on reason. It is also abundantly clear that Trump can no longer back out. He is trapped in this war. And it is becoming increasingly likely that further escalation lies ahead - and it is perfectly obvious that the US now has virtually no allies left in the world - save for Israel and Russia. And finally - the fact that the US continues to push its allies further and further away through this utterly irrational behaviour must also carry economic and financial consequences, in that the US will find it increasingly difficult to attract capital. The world will be left in no doubt that one cannot rely on purchasing American weapons systems. One cannot purchase American IT systems. And it will become harder and harder to maintain the dollar's status as the global reserve currency. Note in this connection that should the economies of the Gulf states become significantly further weakened, they will sooner or later be compelled to abandon their peg to the dollar. While rising oil prices are in principle supportive of the dollar, the underlying reality is that Trump's actions are systematically undermining the dollar's role in the global financial system.

NEW: Google co-founder Sergey Brin spent $45 million to stop a California wealth tax. He's worth $222 billion, and doesn't want to 5% of that going to fund health care in his state. Right now he has a powerful ally — Gavin Newsom. But the people of California feel differently.

Rare footage of a sperm whale giving birth has offered scientists a window into the behavior of these large, elusive mammals.

There's a lot of confusion out there, including with Trump, that the US has lots of oil to sell to the world. We do not. We're a net importer of crude (~+3 Mb/d). The EIA reports that fact in great detail every week. The confusion stems from using the term "petroleum exports" which includes the bodacious amounts of natural gas liquids (NGL) that come from our wet gas plays. That stuff isn't "oil" and it is exported because it's wildly overproduced compared to our needs. Yes, the US is a net exporter of "petroleum," but it's also a net IMPORTER of crude oil. In other words, the US has none to sell. There's more complexity to why we export 3M b/d of crude (it's the wrong kind for our refineries) and also import 6.4 M b/d of crude (which is the right kind).

I sat next to a vaccinated person on a couch for two hours yesterday and am still unwell 24 hours later.

Stagflationary vibe to March ISM data with prices paid (blue) surging and employment (orange) remaining in contraction

Sensational that the last vestiges of duty to the British Empire means going out into your garden to check whether a large, geriatric reptile is dead or not,