Highest Level

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has increased the buyback of long-term U.S. debt to address market dislocations. • The move comes as Treasury yields have reached their highest levels in several years, with Bessent specifically monitoring 10-year yields as a key financial benchmark. • This action utilizes a "big toolkit" established last year to stabilize the Treasuries market and manage volatility.

• Major indices including the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq declined as oil prices rose due to escalating tensions between the US and Iran. • Treasury yields climbed amid national debt concerns, with the 30-year yield rising 5 basis points to 5.31%, marking its highest level since June 2007. • The market downturn reflects investor anxiety over tightening financial conditions and geopolitical instability affecting energy costs.

• Major stock indexes rebounded on Tuesday, ending a three-session losing streak driven primarily by strong performance in chip stocks. • WTI oil prices rose significantly during the session, reaching their highest trading levels in more than five weeks. • The market shift indicates a recovery in investor confidence following a period of volatility and consecutive declines.

• US layoffs reached their highest May level since 2020, with technology giants citing artificial intelligence as the cause for 40% of the cuts. • The trend highlights a growing shift toward automation, particularly in roles involving repetitive, pattern-based tasks. • Chris Hutchins of Hutchins Data Strategy Consultants warns that AI may be used as a convenient excuse for layoffs driven by other underlying economic factors.

San Andreas and San Jacinto fault systems in ‘critically loaded state’, increasing chance of ‘big one’ quake in futureSouthern California’s San Andreas and San Jacinto fault systems are at their highest levels of tectonic stress in 1,000 years in what scientists describe as a “critically loaded state”, according to a study published earlier this month.“Our results show that stress levels on multiple fault segments are now at or above the highest values seen in the past millennium and that the region may be capable of a large through-going rupture involving both fault systems,” Liliane Burkhard, the lead author of the study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, said in a statement. Continue reading...

• Global conflicts have surged to their highest levels since World War II, according to data from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program. • Conflict-related fatalities reached a record high in 2025, with approximately 244,600 people killed. • This spike represents the deadliest year for conflict-related deaths since the program began tracking data in 1994.

• Global conflicts have surged to their highest levels since World War II, according to data from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP). • Conflict-related fatalities reached a record high in 2025, with approximately 244,600 people killed. • UCDP senior analyst Shawn Davies notes a significant rise in interstate wars, signaling a shift in the global security order and increasing international tensions.