A liquefied natural gas tanker that recently switched flags to Russia appears to be loading fuel from a US-sanctioned project, marking Moscow’s latest move to expand its dark fleet designed to circumvent Western restrictions. The Merkuriy , which changed flags to Russia earlier this year and also switched owners to a little-known company, docked next to the US-sanctioned Saam floating storage unit...
A liquefied natural gas tanker that recently switched flags to Russia appears to be loading fuel from a US-sanctioned project, marking Moscow’s latest move to expand its dark fleet designed to circumvent Western restrictions. The Merkuriy , which changed flags to Russia earlier this year and also switched owners to a little-known company, docked next to the US-sanctioned Saam floating storage unit near Murmansk in western Russia, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Kpler. Saam is used to hold LNG from the blacklisted Arctic LNG 2 project. The move underscores Russia’s efforts to capitalize on high LNG demand across Asia as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz chokes a fifth of global supply and sends fuel prices higher. The shipments are being offered at a deep discount to spot prices to entice energy-hungry customers, Bloomberg reported last month. Read More: Russia Offers Sanctioned LNG to Energy-Hungry Asia at a Discount Russia has struggled to increase LNG exports in recent years due to sanctions imposed by the US and Europe, which has throttled production at its newest facility — Arctic LNG 2. Increasing the number of ships in the shadow fleet would allow it to boost exports to Asia. The Merkuriy displays hallmarks of dark fleet vessels: it is older than typical LNG carriers still in service and had recently been transferred to Celtic Maritime & Trading SA — a company not well known within the industry — via opaque intermediaries. The ship was previously managed by Oman Ship Management Co. Contact information for Celtic Maritime wasn’t immediately available. Three other former Omani tankers, which have also switched to Russian flags, are heading to the Arctic region or have already arrived, ship-tracking data show. Those vessels may also be used to ferry fuel from US-sanctioned projects.
SlavkoSereda/iStock via Getty Images The equity market is on a winning streak - 6 weeks in a row. The record streak was 13 in a row, back in the late 1950s. That tells me there is still room for this market to run. Why is this market so hot right now? I will answer that in my final thoughts at the end of this report. For now, let’s focus on which segments of the market are leading the charge highe...
SlavkoSereda/iStock via Getty Images The equity market is on a winning streak - 6 weeks in a row. The record streak was 13 in a row, back in the late 1950s. That tells me there is still room for this market to run. Why is this market so hot right now? I will answer that in my final thoughts at the end of this report. For now, let’s focus on which segments of the market are leading the charge higher and which have been left behind. By paying attention to money flows in and out of these market segments, we can get an idea of how to tilt our own portfolios. S&P 500 Last 4 Weeks Here is a look at the last 4 weeks of the 6-week rally. The easy explanation for such a strong run is the ceasefire in the Iran conflict. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. The ceasefire is fragile and could break down at any moment. There must be more behind this rally. S&P 500 last 4 weeks (ZenInvestor) Zoom Out to Twelve Months When we look at the market on a month-by-month basis, we can see how powerful this rally has been. April was up 10.4%, and May is off to a very good start. S&P 500 by month (ZenInvestor) S&P 500 Drawdowns Drawdowns are gone. We made 3 more new highs last week – Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Just look at that V-shaped bottom in late March and how closely we are clinging to the "zero drawdown" line. S&P 500 drawdowns (ZenInvestor) A Look at the Bull Run Since 2022 A gain of 106% in 3.5 years is not a record, but it is certainly respectable. Bull run since 2022 (ZenInvestor) Major Index Performance Last Week Nasdaq led all major indices again last week. That makes 3 weeks in a row for the tech-heavy index. The Mag 7 and their suppliers/partners are enjoying a resurgence. More on that later. Indices returns last week (ZenInvestor) Major Asset Class Performance Blockchain companies surged last week on a 2.5% bounce for bitcoin. Commodities were hit by profit-taking and the drop in the price of oil. Asset class returns (ZenInvestor) Equity Sector Performance Last week ...
Alibaba is preparing to unveil the integration of its AI platform Qwen and online marketplace Taobao, a move that seeks to drive shopping with conversations rather than keyword searches, according to a source familiar with the decision. The move will enable consumers to browse, compare and purchase items via the Qwen app by chatting with the artificial intelligence agent, rather than manually...
Alibaba is preparing to unveil the integration of its AI platform Qwen and online marketplace Taobao, a move that seeks to drive shopping with conversations rather than keyword searches, according to a source familiar with the decision. The move will enable consumers to browse, compare and purchase items via the Qwen app by chatting with the artificial intelligence agent, rather than manually navigating product listings. The Qwen app will have access to the entire Taobao and Tmall catalog of over 4 billion products, backed by a "skills library" capable of managing logistics and after-sales services.
Elon Musk has spent years talking about vertical integration across his companies. With Terafab, he is starting to put a price tag on it. A very large one. Wall Street is now watching closely. And Wedbush just told investors what it thinks the numbers actually mean for the companies involved. ...
Elon Musk has spent years talking about vertical integration across his companies. With Terafab, he is starting to put a price tag on it. A very large one. Wall Street is now watching closely. And Wedbush just told investors what it thinks the numbers actually mean for the companies involved. ...
Cameco Sees As Many As 20 AP1000 Nuclear Reactors On The Horizon Cameco leadership recently made announcements during their 2026Q1 earnings call regarding an expectation that as many as 20 AP1000 reactors will be announced for construction with support from the Department of Commerce (DOC) and the Department of Energy (DOE). Grant Isaac, the Chief Operating Officer and President of Cameco, provide...
Cameco Sees As Many As 20 AP1000 Nuclear Reactors On The Horizon Cameco leadership recently made announcements during their 2026Q1 earnings call regarding an expectation that as many as 20 AP1000 reactors will be announced for construction with support from the Department of Commerce (DOC) and the Department of Energy (DOE). Grant Isaac, the Chief Operating Officer and President of Cameco, provided some color on the call for the difference between the different department efforts and the stages of discussions under each. We covered the announcement from the DOC at length last fall, providing details on the $80 billion agreement between the US government, Brookfield and Cameco to deploy up to 10 AP1000 reactors across the US. Few updates have been given to this program so far. But Isaac comments that the “project continues to move along”. The efforts under the DOC contract appear to be focused on “ long lead items that are required in order to stand” up a fleet of large reactors. Considering the domestic and global supply chain outside of China and Russia has been more focused on sustainment and decommissioning, there is currently a lack of capacity across all the involved companies to build multiple reactors a year. The sole-producer of the reactor cooling pumps for Westinghouse AP1000 reactor plants, Curtiss-Wright, recently remarked that they only have capacity to produce enough pumps for three to four reactors per year . Significant expansion efforts will be required to remove deployment roadblocks for multiple different systems and components. Another question trying to be answered under the DOC program is under what model the reactors could be built. Isaac says. Isaac said, “those models could be a range of things from a federal build, own and operate to a federal build-own transfer model all the way to perhaps a financing of an existing nuclear operator who simply is just looking for financing.” But the ten large reactors being pursued under the DOC plan are a...