China’s Economy Has a Huge Weakness [Local manufacturers are struggling to make one very important thing: Profits] theatlantic.com/internationa… China is struggling to support zombie companies that are unproductive. China is less strong than they appear.

Before Tera’s 95% Crash, Punches Were Thrown and Warnings Missed bloomberg.com/news/articles/… The same was true of the US in 2008. Don't bail out market losers. Losses discourage future losses.

A French Accident Waiting to Happen bloomberg.com/opinion/articl… This is what I warned against many times at Aleph Blog. Now it is here. Is the rest of the EZ willing to subsidize France?

Vietnam’s $65 Billion High-Speed Rail Plan Faces Major Hurdles bloomberg.com/features/2026-… They will find a way! But it will take a lot of effort!

House Democrats are setting their political sights on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, pushing for his removal as the first spoils from anticipated wins in the midterm election wsj.com/politics/house-democ… Interesting idea. Worth trying.

Here are eight charts that show the depth of France’s financial distress, which is now prompting protests wsj.com/world/europe/eight-c… What will become of the France & the Eurozone if France defaults on its debts & other liabilities?

Options ETFs Are Booming. Beware the Trade-Offs. barrons.com/articles/options… Don't buy these. The cost & complexity will hurt you. If you want more safety, just allocate to an ultra short investment grade bond fund like $MINT (I own some as do my clients)

Why the Internet Needs a Memory [Publishers have every right to challenge businesses that exploit their work—but the Wayback Machine has become collateral damage.] theatlantic.com/technology/2… Support the Internet Archive; quite a resource.

Xinjiang, once the focus of international criticism, is key to Beijing’s plan to expand exports and energy production. wsj.com/world/china/xinjiang… China has been clever here, but they are still just as cruel to the Uighurs

More than half of Israel’s Jews descend from the countries in the Middle East and North Africa. They are key to understanding the country’s future. wsj.com/world/middle-east/is… Do you want to understand Israel better? Read this.

AI agents are coming for your bank’s easy money theprint.in/tech/ai-agents-a… But will banks create their own agents, much less agree on a common standard? Do they even want to try?

Inside the World of ‘Dark Nutrition’ We know more about nutrition than the fools do, but we really don't agree much on nutrition in the US. This bothers me as I have to cook meals for groups. nytimes.com/2026/10/21/magaz…

According to Goldman Sachs, an updated version of the Japanisation index — a gauge originally devised by the late economist Takatoshi Ito — shows that for the past five years, China has been consistently more “Japanised” than Japan itself. ft.com/content/512ef255-89c2… What I have said

“Touchy-Feely, but profitable”: How one family-run firm’s no-layoff playbook drives 18% growth wsj.com/business/bosses-want… Sounds really good, but if others can't imitate it, then maybe it's not really a system.

Money Managers Say There's Nowhere To Hide As Super El Niño Forms fa-mag.com/news/money-manage… This is one those dumb things where they have no idea what will happen.

Insurers face losses as riots in France become ‘like natural catastrophes’ ft.com/content/e0b2e8f1-6d3e… Riots are man-made, they are not natural catastrophes that cannot be controlled by the government.

Insurance Is the Big Problem Hiding the Bigger Problem open.substack.com/pub/howthi… If you can't get affordable insurance for your house, it is time to sell the house and move elsewhere.

Bond sale linked to Rolling Stone publisher's Manhattan HQ hits pause briefs.co/news/bond-sale-lin… Higher Treasury yields are packing some punch. Ready for GDP growth to slow?

Broadcom and other companies have objected to tokenizing their shares under a new regulatory framework wsj.com/finance/stocks/from-… Tokenization should be illegal.

Startups are extracting more copper using microbes miningweekly.com/article/sta… Pretty amazing. Way to go.