Tim C

🇮🇷Iran’s IRGC released a footage reportedly showing U.S. F-35 jet being hit over Iran

Tesla FSD v14.3 is currently in testing and will go for a wide release “in a few weeks,” Elon says v14.3 could be sentient, hoping for big improvements and strides with that version

🚨The oil market disruption is far worse than headline prices suggest: Oman crude hit a record $173 per barrel on Wednesday, surpassing even the 2008 Financial Crisis spike. Dubai crude also surged to an all-time high above $150, as buyers scramble to replace supplies cut off by the Strait of Hormuz shutdown. The Hormuz closure has severed ~20% of the world's oil production from global markets, triggering the largest supply disruption in modern history. By comparison, Brent is trading at ~$115 and WTI near ~$95, massively understating the severity of the physical shortage. As a result, the gap between Brent and WTI is now the widest since 2013, as the Iran War disproportionately hits European oil supply. The problem is that Brent and WTI are the most commonly quoted benchmarks, but they only reflect North Sea and US supply conditions, not the Middle Eastern crisis. If the Strait does not reopen, Western oil prices will inevitably catch up, as US and European inventories are depleted and global supply tightens further. The real oil crisis has not even reached Western markets yet.

I'm currently in Dubai and the banks are getting weird. Citi and Standard Chartered literally evacuated their offices this week. Told staff go home, work remote. HSBC closed their Qatar branches. Hedge funds are in "contingency mode." That's a polite way of saying they're bricking it. Analysts are saying customers could pull out $307 BILLION if this goes on another month. $307 billion. Let that number sit for a second. Bank withdrawals are "elevated" — that's the official word. A guy I know who works at Emirates NBD told me they've had more wire transfer requests in the last two weeks than in all of Q4 last year. Iranian accounts? Those are getting flagged and frozen quietly. No announcement. The UAE central bank just launched their biggest support package since COVID. That's not a good sign — that's a panic button. People are moving money to Singapore, Switzerland, anywhere that isn't in Iran's flight path. The dirham is pegged to the dollar so it looks stable. But that peg costs money to defend, and everyone's watching it.

🚨 BREAKING: Tesla plans to launch its Robotaxi service in Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas in the first half of this year