Helping our clients achieve superior risk-adjusted portfolio performance
is Merk's mission

FT: VW to shift from cars to missile
ft.com/content/1e41e6…

Good news on tokenizing stocks: Securitize teams up with NYSE to act as digital transfer agent. That's different from Nasdaq model that interfaces with DTCC.
wsj.com/finance/stocks…

Europe is supporting US efforts in Iran, they just don't want to be seen doing so publicly: wsj.com/world/europe/e…

WSJ's @NickTimiraos discusses the awkward Fed Chair transition to come, pointing to, amongst others, the "break" and "lack of continuity". That's mostly right, subject to an important caveat: Powell last December talked up productivity gains - a core argument by Warsh as to why

one of the more useful ways to track market tension in Iran is the spread between WTI and Brent crude (nearest contract). Here a 1 yr chart, lower pane shows the spread.
src: BBG

As a first for me, I'm recommending @paulkrugman as a weekend read/listen. @robin_j_brooks makes it possible with a discussion on the Hormuz shock.
paulkrugman.substack.com/p/talking-with…

CFTC positioning: USD as Iran hedge

Chart: dollar weighted exposure in million dollars versus number of non-commercial participants (speculators)
large dot: most recent
small dots: last year
grey dots: last 10 years
green: long
red: short
src: BBG, Merk