The article discusses concerns about AI's impact on chip demand and prices, highlighting how AI-driven demand is straining supply chains, increasing device costs, and raising broader economic and societal questions about technological progress, market dynamics, and the future of work and resource allocation.
Opec+ has announced a significant increase in oil production quotas, reversing nearly two years of supply restrictions, which could lead to an oversupply in the market and impact oil prices, with forecasts suggesting a potential tightening in 2026-2027 as non-Opec producers slow their output growth.
OPEC Plus has agreed to increase oil output by 548,000 barrels per day starting in August, a move driven by a steady global economic outlook, which could lead to lower oil prices as supply outpaces demand in the second half of 2025.
Oil prices are fluctuating as traders anticipate an OPEC+ meeting where the group is expected to delay increasing oil output to prevent a future oversupply. Brent crude is trading above $72 a barrel after a recent decline.
The US Treasury is set to hold bond auctions for 3-year and 10-year notes today, with the market still cautious about supply and seeking a comfortable level for yields. The 3-year sale is expected to be a $50 billion new issue selling around 3.50%, while the 10-year sale is a reopening of last month's new issue for another $37 billion, currently trading at 4.27%.
BlackRock, chosen by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to sell mortgage backed securities (MBS) from failed banks, faces a dilemma between flooding the market and risking higher costs to hold the debt. While the FDIC hasn't given a timeline for the sales, it can't wait forever as it's paying the Federal Reserve interest on credit lines to hold the securities. The longer the assets are held, the less liquid and more off-the-run they become, and the FDIC needs the cash to pay for things like reimbursing depositors from the receiverships. The amount of supply is formidable, with roughly $90 billion in market value of the securities that BlackRock now needs to dispose of, far more than the gross supply of agency MBS last month at $56 billion.