We know what’s coming and we are prepared.
IE: US faith in the stability of the dollar will be tested
Rumours of the death of the dollar are exaggerated, but only for now, writes the author of the article for The New Indian Express. The problems with the American currency are increasing, and the cause of this is Washington itself. Ultimately, the US will overplay their hand and lose their political prestige.
At the moment, there is no doubt in the US about the stability of the dollar as a reserve currency. However, considering the country's economic, political, and social problems, this faith will be put to the test.
To paraphrase Mark Twain's famous joke, rumours of the death of the dollar are exaggerated, although its health problems are increasing.
The problems with the dollar are mainly caused by Americans themselves. The unrestrained fiscal and monetary policies of the US - with a budget deficit and government debt at 7% and over 100% of GDP respectively - have reduced the dollar's long-term purchasing power. Since 1972, it has fallen by 99% against gold and lost 90% of its purchasing power in the market for real goods and services.
American politicians have always sought to use the dollar as a weapon to achieve their own goals, thereby compensating for economic weaknesses, such as lack of competitiveness. The US has sought to exclude foreign entities from international payment systems, such as SWIFT.
Washington imposes secondary sanctions to punish individuals and organisations that are not even under US jurisdiction. If a Russian company is under sanctions, anyone doing business with it may be subject to legal action, even if they comply with their own country's laws. This is done through a questionable system of dollar transactions that only pass through the US banking system. International banks and others have already faced legal action for operations that are legal in their own country. The threats are sufficient to disrupt dealings with organisations under US sanctions.
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🇺🇸 #Oklahoma high school principal (Kirk Moore) seen charging at and disarming a school shooter.
The suspect, identified as 20-year-old Victor Hawkins, was a former student who said he wanted to shoot up the school “like the Columbine shooters did.” While taking down the shooter, Moore was shot in the leg. He is expected to recover.
When the Principal woke up that day, he never thought he would be tackling a gunman.
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🇨🇳🛢 How much strategic oil does the world actually have in reserve?
Global strategic crude oil inventories stood at ~2.5 BILLION barrels as of December 2025, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
China holds by far the largest stockpile at 1,397 million barrels, more than 3 times the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve of 413 million barrels, which itself sits at only 58% of its full storage capacity of 714 million barrels.
China added an average of 1.1 million barrels per day to its strategic inventories throughout 2025, with preliminary data suggesting it continued building stockpiles in early 2026 ahead of the Iran War.
Japan holds the 3rd-largest reserve at 263 million barrels, followed by OECD European countries at 179 million barrels.
Meanwhile, the US is releasing 172 million barrels from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to suppress oil prices, part of a broader 400 million barrel coordinated release agreed by 32 IEA member nations in March.
🔗 ...
🛢 JP Morgan Warns Oil Market Out of Balance, Prices Must Rise
🔸The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil flows, has removed 13.7 million barrels per day from global supply in April alone. A JP Morgan research note warns the market has no good way to replace it.
🔸Normally, spare production capacity in Saudi Arabia and the UAE acts as the market’s shock absorber. But that buffer has effectively been removed, eliminating the system’s first line of defense.
🔸With spare capacity unavailable, markets turned to inventories
➤ Global stockpiles are now being drained at ~7.1 mbd in April, an extraordinary pace, according to the note.
🔸Meanwhile, demand is collapsing because supply simply isn’t reaching users — “forced demand destruction.”The hardest hit sectors include:
▪️ Petrochemical plants across Asia are shutting down or slashing output as LPG, ethane, and naphtha flows from the Gulf collapse
▪️ Airline jet fuel ...
🛢⛽️ Global oil inventories are heading toward RECORD LOWS:
Global visible oil inventories have fallen -255 million barrels since the start of the conflict on February 27, to 7,864 million barrels.
Total estimated oil draws, including non-OECD refined products storage, have accelerated to 10.9 million barrels per day in April, the largest monthly draws on record since 2017.
Cumulative estimated draws since the start of the war now stand at 474 million barrels, with Hormuz flows holding at ~10% of normal, or 2.0 million barrels per day.
Meanwhile, even in an optimistic scenario where Strait of Hormuz flows begin recovering by late April, it is unlikely to prevent global visible inventories from reaching all-time lows, according to Goldman Sachs.
As inventories keep falling, physical oil markets are likely to require sharply higher prices for immediate delivery, since buyers cannot wait months for cheaper futures delivery when stocks are running critically low.
Goldman also warns...
