Tom Wheatley

An IT Contractor

[Amanda Carpenter @amandacarpenter]

Kash Patel was using FBI money to buy BMW cars? The entitlement has no end. This deep-seated need to appear tough, cool, and rich warrants study. I cannot grasp it.

It's so arrogant.

https://t.co/FNKbCflKWJ

[Liz Ann Sonders @LizAnnSonders]

Large speculators still bearish on small caps as net positioning for Russell 2000 futures remains firmly in negative territory

[Brian Stelter @brianstelter]

Marshall McLuhan once predicted we’d wind up in a “post-literate” world. And now we have arrived, @rosehorowitch argues in a brand-new cover story for The Atlantic, “The End of Reading is Here.” https://t.co/kH1V3FQlzq

[Emoluments Clause @Emolclause]

#BREAKING: Hayes: “…according to Haberman and Swan, the price to get into Trump’s good graces would be high. In conversations with a Republican fundraiser who acted as a go-between, Trump would DICTATE the number, the EXACT dollar figure he wanted her to extract from each CEO. Within days, they write, MILLIONS of dollars and then tens and hundreds of millions were pouring into Trump’s various fundraising accounts. Worth considering for a moment, what are those fundraising accounts for? Can’t run for president again. Can’t run for anything. Where’s that money going to go?”🤔

[unusual_whales @unusual_whales]

Michael Burry: Donald Trump could not in a million years understand or make his way through any of my substack essays. But he can shoot from the hip and make money for him and his cronies better than anyone

[unusual_whales @unusual_whales]

"Layoffs driven by AI automation are largely failing to generate expected financial returns," per FORTUNE

[Amanda Carpenter @amandacarpenter]

This isn't going to age well.

[Tom Wheatley @itguyinwpb]

@LizAnnSonders Pull! 🚣‍♂️

[David Axelrod @davidaxelrod]

This is the fellow who was railing yesterday against communism.

[The Kobeissi Letter @KobeissiLetter]

The AI infrastructure buildout is entering a new phase:

US tech companies are committing to spend a record $850 billion on data center leases over the next several years.

This marks a +$570 billion YoY increase, or +204%, and +$200 billion QoQ increase, or +31%.

Meta, $META, added the most in Q1 2026, committing +$79 billion in new leases, a +76% QoQ increase, bringing its total to ~$183 billion.

At the same time, Microsoft, $MSFT, added +$41 billion, a +26% QoQ increase, bringing its total to ~$197 billion.

Oracle leads with the largest total commitments at ~$250 billion, having already secured many of the key sites needed to fulfill its contract with OpenAI.

Tech companies are doubling down on AI.

[unusual_whales @unusual_whales]

The share of households reporting a worse financial situation just hit the highest level in three years, per YF

[The Kobeissi Letter @KobeissiLetter]

BREAKING: World central banks purchased +41 tonnes of gold in May, the largest monthly addition since November 2025.

This follows +17 tonnes acquired in April, and marks the 3rd monthly purchase this year.

Poland led for the 2nd consecutive month at +18 tonnes, bringing its year-to-date total to +64 tonnes, with gold reserves now at a record 614 tonnes.

China added +10 tonnes, the biggest monthly addition since December 2024, increasing its official gold reserves to a record 2,331 tonnes, also accounting for 9% of total FX reserves, near an all-time high.

This also marks the 20th consecutive monthly purchase by the Chinese central bank.

At the same time, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan acquired +9 tonnes and +7 tonnes, respectively.

Central bank demand for gold is back.

[The Atlantic @TheAtlantic]

Ten years ago today, J. D. Vance called Trump “cultural heroin” in The Atlantic: “To every complex problem, he promises a simple solution … He never offers details for how these plans will work, because he can’t," Vance wrote of Trump.

Read the piece: https://t.co/RgEhVdJBZx

[unusual_whales @unusual_whales]

The number of Americans facing unemployment for at least 27 weeks has climbed above 1.8 million on average this year, per CNBC

[The Kobeissi Letter @KobeissiLetter]

What is happening with the US construction sector?

The hiring rate in US construction fell -0.3 percentage points in May, to 3.5%, the lowest since data began in 2000.

Since January, this figure has declined -1.1 percentage points, extending its 4-year downtrend.

By comparison, the 2008 Financial Crisis and 2020 pandemic lows were 4.5% and 3.7%, respectively.

This comes as 295,000 new workers were hired in the construction sector in May, the 3rd-lowest monthly total since the 2020 pandemic.

Excluding 2020, this is the 3rd-lowest reading in 10 years.

US construction hiring is historically weak.

[unusual_whales @unusual_whales]

A watch-sized gold ring was gifted to President Trump this week from a Belgian diamond group, months after it won tariff relief, per CBS

Isidore Mörsel, president of the Antwerp World Diamond Center, presented the ring to Bill White, the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium, to give to Trump. Mörsel said the piece was gifted on behalf of the centuries-old diamond community in the Belgian port city.

[Amanda Carpenter @amandacarpenter]

Kelsey Pfendler is about to SMASH the record--both men's and women's-- for a SOLO unsupported 2,400-mile row from California to Hawaii. Incredible. https://t.co/jresYzZyA7

[Bill Kristol @BillKristol]

Impeach and convict.

[The Kobeissi Letter @KobeissiLetter]

What is happening with the US labor market?

The difference between nonfarm payrolls and the household survey was a massive 564,000 jobs in June.

This comes as Thursday’s job report showed +57,000 non-farm payrolls were added last month.

At the same time, -507,000 Americans lost their job, the 3rd-largest drop since January 2024, according to the household survey.

The household survey is a closely followed metric because it counts each worker only once, even if they hold multiple jobs.

Year-to-date, total employment in the household survey has declined -1.7 million, to 162.26 million, the lowest since December 2024.

Over the same period, total nonfarm employment has risen +552,000, to a record 158.98 million.

Something does not add up here.

[unusual_whales @unusual_whales]

BREAKING: "Trump said that his children have access to ‘inside information’ due to his presidency," per RollingStone