‘Something sinister’: What we know about the FBI’s investigation into the deaths and disappearances of scientists involved in the space and military industries |

Many banks have raised their price targets for the S&P 500.

• Wells Fargo: “We continue to expect [the S&P 500] “It will overshoot to 7,300 by July, driven by AI monetization, spending from OBBBA, and the World Cup. But the World Cup is probably the last exciting event of the year,” according to Ohsung Kwon and others. “Sell the World Cup,” he told clients.
• Goldman Sachs: “We expect the S&P 500 to rise 7% toward our year-end target of 7,600,” Ben Snyder said in a recent note.
• JP Morgan: Dubravko Lakos Bujas and his team also set a new price target of $7,600. However, “if geopolitical tensions come to a quick resolution (a ‘blue sky’ scenario), we would…expect the S&P 500 level to be around 8,000.”

from chart TradingEconomics.com:

There’s one big thing

‘Something sinister’: FBI plans to investigate dead and missing scientists

Two of them just disappeared. One was found shot to death on the front porch of his home earlier this year. Three of them left home without their mobile phones. Two of them took off with handguns. But officials say they were all connected to the military space industry. The FBI said: luckCatherine Gioino“The FBI is leading the effort to find connections to the missing and deceased scientists. We are working with the Department of Energy, the Department of the Army, and our state and local law enforcement partners to find answers,” said House of Representatives Committee Chairman James Comer.

Iran

Ceasefire extended, but peace talks stalled as White House officials expressed dissatisfaction with Trump’s social media comments

A truce, something like: president trump extended the ceasefire Relations with Iran are indefinite, but the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. Two ships in the strait were shelled by Iranian forces. this morningone of the vessels, a Greek container ship, sustained significant damage to its bridge.

The story is boring. The ceasefire extension is aimed at allowing Iran’s fractured regime to reunite and organize a negotiating position. So many Tehran officials have been killed that it is really difficult for the remaining leaders to understand what the government’s position should be.

• JD Vance is do not have still flying to pakistan for scheduled talks. “Here in Islamabad, arrangements are in place for another round of talks, with parts of the city still under lockdown. But for now, hopes for talks to take place this week seem to have faded.” BBC says.

Speaking anonymously, Some White House officials say the president’s continued Truth social posts, many of which contradict previous posts, are hampering negotiations. luckJake Angelo reports.

What President Trump Said Yesterday on social media: “Iran doesn’t want the Strait of Hormuz closed, they want it open so they can make $500 million a day (so if it’s closed, they’ll lose!). They only want it closed because I’m completely closed (closed!) and they just want to “save face.” Four days ago, people came up to me and said, “Sir, Iran wants to open the Strait immediately.” But if we do that, there will never be a deal with Iran unless we blow up the rest of Iran, including their leaders! ”

• War is a boon for oil companies. The closure of the strait means oil companies are scrambling to find new sources of supply outside the United States and the Middle East. Halliburton CEO Jeff Miller said activity is likely to increase in Africa and South America. “We are already seeing early signs of recovery in North America. Outside of the Middle East, we expect our international business to grow.” luckJordan Blum details.

🤔 Straits theory: Is Trump’s real target China, not Iran?

If you’ve ever wondered why President Trump is willing to risk the inevitable unpopularity of opting for war with Iran, and then suffer the negative consequences of rising petrol prices and declining poll ratings, Macquarie analysts Thierry Wisman and Gareth Berry have a theory for you: control every maritime pinch point through which China’s imports and exports pass. In their own words:

• “Perhaps the economic war was part of a broader geostrategic plan aimed at giving the United States protection to control the Straits. [of Hormuz] indefinitely,” they wrote in the memo. luck. “Controlling Hormuz shares a common cause with recent US attempts to control other important ‘Straits’, such as Gibraltar, Malacca, the Greenland-Iceland-UK Gap (GIUK), and Panama. The country’s long-term “goal” may be to thwart Chinese hegemony by controlling all the physical nodes on which the Chinese economy depends for its logistics.To that goal, lower oil prices are of secondary importance.”

david zaslav

CEO doesn’t want $550 million exit package

The Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Skydance merger shareholder vote will take place on Thursday, April 23rd at 10 a.m. ET. There’s been some discussion about this, my luck My colleague Amanda Gelt told me that WBD investor David Geffen is making a deal with WBD, even though WBD CEO David Zaslav is likely to walk away with more than $550 million. he would rather work.

Fortune details

The housing affordability crisis isn’t just squeezing millennials, it’s also crowding out buyers in their 40s, 50s, and beyond. – Sean Tully

The board insists that leadership of the AI ​​strategy is in the hands of executives. executives disagree – Amanda Gelt

Meet the film school dropout who became a billionaire quantum computing CEO in days thanks to Nvidia – Sasha Rogelberg

CEOs of Fortune 500 companies say craving for work-life balance is a big red flag and, like Barack Obama, are willing to work weekends – Oriana Rosa Royle

Palantir releases mini-manifesto, calls some cultures “toxic and half-baked” and says Silicon Valley has a “moral debt” to the United States – Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez

today’s chart

There is a cap on the number of people who want to use cryptocurrencies

According to a study by Deutsche Bank’s Marion Labour and Camila Siazon, as the price of Bitcoin plummeted from late last year to January, the proportion of consumers using Bitcoin fell. Recently, however, adoption rates have increased again.

• Big picture: Over the past few years, adoption rates have remained roughly flat, rarely exceeding 12%.

number of the day

212

Polls show that Democrats are expected to gain seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in the upcoming midterm elections, compared to just 205 seats for Republicans. 270towin.com Christopher Hodge, Chief U.S. Economist at Natixis CIB. But the data shows that Democrats will not take control of the Senate, giving Republicans a 46-51 edge.

Today’s top page

It is unclear whether Apple’s new CEO John Tarnas is 50 or 51 years old -F.T.

Anthropic’s Mythos model is being accessed by unauthorized users -Bloomberg

Singapore’s foreign minister warns that Hormuz Island is just a ‘dry run’ if China and the US go to war in the Pacific -CNBC

SpaceX approaches deal with Cursor – Axios

It’s OK to have no peace plan: Why wartime markets keep rising -WSJ

Tucker Carlson says he’s ‘struggling’ with past support for Trump – now

One more thing

Unintended consequences of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz? More expensive condoms.

Malaysia’s Karex, the world’s largest condom producer, has announced that it will raise prices by up to 30% due to supply chain disruptions caused by the Iran war. Because the customer’s inventory is lower than usual, CEO Goh Mia Kiat told Reuters.. Entire industries across Asia are grappling with reduced supplies of plastics and other petrochemical-based products, from packaging to clothing. There is a shortage of plastic bags in Taiwan. South Korea is concerned that hospitals are hoarding syringes.