3. Retail Trading Coming Back Strong? HOOD +33% 5 days
Google Finance
4. Double Digit Earnings Growth Predicted for 2026
Prof G Markets
5. Key Arab Oil Producers Lost 40% of Output in March
Dave Lutz Jones Trading
6. Energy Security Pushing World Beyond Oil-Capital Group
7. Cheap Drones New Warfare.
Capital Group
8. N. Korea $285m Cyber Heist
WSJ
SEOUL—The largest cryptocurrency heist this year didn’t begin with malicious code, but with handshakes.
At a major cryptocurrency conference last fall, members purporting to work at a new quantitative trading firm approached representatives of Drift Protocol, a major player in the world of so-called decentralized finance with roughly half a billion dollars in assets. The two parties then spent months discussing a commercial partnership, both in person and over Telegram.
The relationship ended with the heist of roughly $285 million, according to TRM Labs, a blockchain analytics company that tracks crypto movements and analyzed the hacking episode.
Google
9. State Tax and Jobs Divide….Migration to Low Tax States.
Tech sector ETF flows. “Chart shows you Tech sector ETF flows by different exposures since ChatGPT’s release roughly 3 years ago … this is pretty rare, to see an industry group overtake the broader sector exposure in our work.”
Todd Sohn – Strategas
2. History of 12 Day Win Streaks for Nasdaq
Nasdaq Dorsey Wright
3. Israel Stock Market New All-Time Highs
Barchart
4. Quantum Computing Stocks New Highs
StockCharts
5. MU vs. NVDA One-Year Chart…Even on 3-Year Chart
Ycharts
6. Inflation in Car Insurance
Wolf Street
7. Peptides Moving to FDA Reviews
8. HIMS Talking Peptides…Stock +35% 5 Days
Google finance
9. Russian Blogger Gets 20m Views—“The People are Hurting”
Kremlin acknowledges criticism after blogger warns Putin ‘squeezed’ Russians could erupt
Accuses officials of misinforming him about problems
Video appeal gets more than 20 million views
Kremlin responds and says issues are being addressed
MOSCOW, April 16 (Reuters) – The Kremlin took the unusual step of publicly acknowledging sharp criticism of the authorities from a celebrity blogger on Thursday, saying work was under way to address a slew of problems identified by social media influencer Viktoria Bonya.
Bonya, who is well known inside Russia for her appearances on reality TV shows and other programmes, has a huge social media following, and a video appeal she made to President Vladimir Putin this week was watched more than 20 million times and liked over 1 million times on Instagram.
In her video appeal, Bonya – who lives outside Russia – said she supported Putin, but said that officials were not telling him the truth about the country’s real problems, that the Russian people were suffering, and that they were being squeezed so hard by corrupt officials that they might one day erupt.
“You know what the risk is?” she said. “That people will stop being afraid and they’re being squeezed into a coiled spring and that one day that coiled spring will shoot out.”
10. Saudi Fund to Back Away From LIV Golf Under Mounting Financial Pressures
The Saudi league, established in 2022, attracted some of the sport’s biggest stars with huge contracts
Yasir al-Rumayyan, left, the head of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, presenting a trophy at the LIV Golf championship in Michigan in 2025.Credit…Raj Mehta/Getty Images
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is on the verge of announcing it will withdraw financial support from LIV Golf, the upstart golf circuit it launched four years ago to compete with the PGA Tour, a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
The Saudi league splashed into professional golf in 2022, attracting some of the sport’s biggest stars with contracts that exceeded — by tens of millions of dollars — their career earnings with more established circuits like the American-run PGA Tour.
The move comes as Saudi Arabia’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund announced a new five-year strategy on Wednesday, with the fund’s governor saying it would slow down some of its biggest projects as it focuses on “increasing the efficiency of investments.”
“There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no relief.” Hendrix wasn’t writing about global markets, but he might as well have been. War in Iran, political turmoil, an AI reckoning, and a private credit crisis are dominating headlines all at once and investors are searching for a way out. But through the noise, American business keeps doing what it does best: innovating and producing higher earnings.
In my year-end 2025 letter, we discussed stock market volatility versus bear markets, with the expectation that 2026 would bring heightened turbulence. That expectation has arrived in force. Although the Iran conflict is front and center, the broader thesis from that letter remains intact. As the chart below shows, 100% of midterm election years since 1950 have produced significant corrections, averaging more than –17%. Add the well-documented pattern of –10%+ pullbacks surrounding the appointment of a new Fed chair, and 2026 is delivering both events in a single year.
The good news: one-year returns following midterm correction troughs have been positive every single time.
The number of tax returns the IRS has received so far this tax season continue to lag last year’s pace, but refunds are up more than 11%, IRS data show.
The average refund through Apr. 3 was $3,462, up 11.1% from $3,116 at the same time in 2025 while total returns received fell 1.6%, the IRS said. Total returns received was just over $99.8 million, down from more than $101.4 million a year ago.
Given the earliest filers tend to be the lowest income, refunds in the final week to the April 15 deadline the average payout could get another small boost, analysts said.
That should be encouraging news to Americans who are struggling under the weight of elevated prices and a slowing job market, analysts said.
“Tax refunds appear to be mitigating the gas price surge so far as both discretionary and nondiscretionary spending remain strong,” said Christopher Horvers, analyst at JP Morgan.
“As the tax season progresses, the middle-income-plus consumer should see a strong lift given the SALT (state and local tax) portion of the OBBB,” or One Big Beautiful Bill, he added.
Average refunds are big. How to get them faster?
“Combining direct deposit with electronic filing is the fastest way to receive your refund,” the IRS said. Most refunds are issued in less than 21 days for taxpayers who filed a flawless return electronically and chose direct deposit.
Nine out of 10 taxpayers already receive their tax refunds by direct deposit, but to boost that closer to 100%, the IRS began phasing out paper checks last September.
“Paper checks are over 16 times more likely to be lost, stolen, altered, or delayed than electronic payments,” the IRS said. “Direct deposit also avoids the possibility that a refund check could be returned to the IRS as undeliverable.”
How do I know when my refund’s coming?
Through the IRS “Where’s My Refund” tool, you can track when the IRS received your tax return, when it approved a refund and when it issued the refund. The money should land in your account within five days from the date the IRS approves your refund.
If you mailed a paper return and expect a refund, it could take four weeks or more to process your return, the IRS said.
Since refunds for Americans who claimed the EITC/ACTC can’t be released until mid-February for early filers, those taxpayers may have to wait until around March 3 to see their refunds in their bank accounts or on debit cards, if they chose direct deposit and there are no issues with the tax return.
If you don’t have a bank account, find one through the FDIC website or the National Credit Union Administration using their Credit Union Locator Tool. Usually, people can open a bank account pretty quickly. You can also ask your tax preparer if they offer other electronic payment options.
Otherwise, you might be able to deposit your refund onto a reloadable prepaid debit card or mobile app. Many reloadable prepaid cards and mobile apps have routing and account numbers, which may be different from the card number. Check with your financial institution to make sure your card or app can receive the deposit and double-check the routing and account numbers.
How should people use their tax refunds?
Along with that big check comes big responsibility, so make sure not to spend it all away, financial experts said. Here are some ideas:
Since refunds are expected to be larger than usual, splitting a refund can be a convenient way to manage your money. You can split the refund in any proportion you want, sending some to an account for immediate use and some for future savings, in up to three different accounts with U.S. financial institutions, reloadable prepaid debit cards, or mobile apps. You can use your tax software to do it electronically or use IRS Form 8888, Allocation of Refund if you file a paper return.
Plan how to use the refund before receiving it. This “reduces overspending risk by assigning the refund a job in advance — debt payoff, emergency savings, or essential expenses,” said Paul Ricci, chief executive of personal loans site Best Egg.
Put debt reduction and financial health ahead of lifestyle upgrades. “Applying refunds toward high-interest balances can reduce financial stress and improve credit utilization,” Ricci said. “Prioritizing emergency savings – 3 to 6 months of expenses — helps prevent future reliance on credit when unexpected costs arise.”
(Story was updated to include the latest IRS filing data through April 3)
This article originally appeared in USA Today and was provided by Reuters.
2. Huge Gaps in Tech Sub-Sector Performance….Semiconductor ETF Making All-Time Highs
StockCharts
3. Technology Stock Insiders Buying
Tech insiders. “Technology sector insiders keep buying (The chart shows the total number of corporate insiders of companies covered by the XLK ETF that have bought shares on the open market during the past six months). Make of it what you will.”
Jay kaeppel
4. Consulting Stocks Slammed by AI
Fiscal.ai
5. Contra Indicator? Hedge Funds Max Bearish
Ryan Detrick
6. Google Search Shows the World is Focused on The Price of Oil
The Kobeissi Letter
7. Real Rates Saying Lower 10-Year Rate Coming
Marketwatch-It’s a good bet that interest rates will be lower in coming months — notwithstanding the ultimate resolution of the war in Iran, beyond the temporary cease-fire agreement, and the extraordinary volatility of energy prices to which the conflict has led.
That’s because U.S. Treasury real yields — reflecting the difference between nominal yields and inflation — are higher than at any time since the 2008 global financial crisis, as you can see from the chart below. More often than not historically, above-average real rates have been followed in fairly short order by lower nominal rates. By
8. Population Growth Up 9X in 200 Years…Poverty Plummets
Arthur MacWaters
9. Eating the Same Meals Every Day Led to 37% More Weight Loss
Food variety is not the problem. A 12-week study suggests decision fatigue is the hidden variable in many failed diets.
Today’s Health Upgrade
The boring diet secret that actually works
Weekly wisdom
The problem with the scale
Nutrition
Number You Won’t Forget 37 Percent
The Boring Diet Secret That Actually Works
Most diet advice promises that if you just find the right foods, the right plan, and the right combination, it’ll finally click. What gets less attention is that the choosing itself might be the problem.
New research suggests the mental work of deciding what to eat every day and forcing variety undermines the effort people are already making.
A 12-week study found that people who ate a more repetitive, predictable diet lost 37% more weight than those who varied their meals more frequently. And researchers believe reduced decision fatigue may be driving the difference.
Researchers tracked overweight adults for 12 weeks in a structured behavioral weight-loss program, using real-time mobile food logs and daily weigh-ins. They measured two things: how much daily calorie intake fluctuated from day to day, and how often participants ate the same foods repeatedly.
Variety can be a good thing. However, in a food environment engineered with high-calorie options at every turn, variety creates exposure, which can make it easier to stray from the intended plan. Each new choice is another moment when willpower has to show up, and willpower is a finite resource for many people who struggle with their weight.
A predictable rotation of go-to meals can help sidestep that problem because the decision is already made.
This isn’t an argument against eating a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole foods. Prior research consistently supports dietary diversity within healthy food groups.
This study examines how much daily decision-making about eating can affect consistency. And because this was an observational study of people already in a structured program, the findings show an association, not a proven cause.
The practical move is simpler than any diet plan: build a short rotation of meals you like, already know how to make, and can eat without negotiating with yourself. Four to six reliable options — breakfast, lunch, dinner — that you cycle through during the week. Not necessarily forever. Just enough to take the daily decision off the table. If you need help with a no-calorie-counting approach, try the Pump Club nutrition tracker.
10. Urgency Culture Is Impeding Our Ability to Live Well
It’s time to learn the difference between urgent and important.-Psychology Today Ira Bedzow Ph.D.
KEY POINTS
We confuse activity with progress, reacting quickly without thinking about where we’re going.
Living well requires time to reflect, not just efficiency in responding.
If you don’t intentionally choose your priorities, your sense of urgency will choose them for you.
Our lives are increasingly getting faster and faster. A text message arrives; we feel compelled to respond immediately. An email appears, and we interrupt whatever we were doing to acknowledge it. We don’t even notice that the person we were talking to kept on speaking. We look at our phones and forget whatever else we were doing or where we were going. Like hamsters in a lab hitting a bar, we keep moving faster and faster to get our dopamine hit, mistaking activity for progress and urgency for importance.
Notifications buzz, calendars fill, deadlines approach. We move from task to task without looking at the bigger picture. Forget the trees, we don’t see the forest through all the paper-pushing. If something is asking for our attention right now, we believe it must deserve it.
But urgency and importance are not the same thing.
Urgent vs. Important
Urgent matters demand immediate action. Important matters shape how we live our lives. The problem is that urgent matters are almost always easier to address. They arrive clearly defined and time-bound” Answer this message, attend this meeting, meet this deadline. Once completed, they give us the satisfying feeling of progress.
Important matters are rarely that clearly defined, and, when addressed, they rarely give us a sense of making progress. Instead, they oftentimes give us a sense of needing to change direction. They may even overwhelm us if we are afraid to make that change.
Of course, there are issues that are urgent and important. If you don’t seek medical care for a serious and acute health concern, you may suffer significant long-term consequences. It is also totally understandable to drop everything to address family or other emergencies. These, however, are outliers, not the norm.
More often, decisions about how we take care of our health, develop strong relationships, or advance in our careers unfold slowly. They require reflection rather than reaction. Questions in these areas don’t demand immediate answers, but you do have to answer them, since they profoundly influence how you will live your life. Choosing how to spend our time, who to spend it with, and what kinds of work we engage in are among the most consequential decisions we make, but they never have the urgency as those things that pop up in our inbox or show up on our calendars.
When we respond to immediate cues rather than consider distant consequences, we gradually shift our attention away from what matters most. We become adept at managing the urgent while postponing—or forgetting about—what’s important. The result is that we may move faster and faster, but in reality we end up going nowhere or not knowing where we are going.
Life Grooves
Over time, the patterns we create through reacting rather than reflecting solidify into what I like to call “life grooves.” The more deeply those grooves form, the harder they are to step out of. Opportunities that once felt available may no longer seem feasible. Paths that once felt optional may start to feel inevitable.
In this way, urgency culture can quietly limit our freedom. It doesn’t mean that stepping out of a life groove is impossible. It just means that we need to be much more intentional and work that much harder to change the path our habits have set for us.
Living well requires more than efficiently responding to external demands. It involves choosing actions and cultivating habits that reflect the kind of person you want to become. But reflection takes time, and urgency rarely makes space for it. So, one of the first steps to living well is choosing to give yourself the time to make good choices.
This does not imply that urgent and important matters should be ignored. Deadlines matter. Responsibilities matter. But treating every immediate demand as equally significant risks crowding out the activities and relationships that contribute most to a meaningful life.
We need to find ways to resist this pressure, to create space for reflection even when no crisis demands it. This might include scheduling regular time to think rather than to do, taking a pause between receiving a request and responding to it, or setting aside device-free moments at certain points of the day or week to allow you to connect to other things.
If you are someone who wants to work on creating healthy boundaries, practicing the intentional “No” can protect time for relationships, recreation, health, or meaningful work. Planning for important but non-urgent matters—such as exercise, maintaining connections, or investing in your own professional growth—ensures that these priorities are addressed before they slip away or are imposed upon us by circumstance.
The question of how to spend a single afternoon may seem trivial, but the pattern of how we spend our afternoons shapes who we become. Not everything urgent is important, and the challenge is recognizing the difference before our habits create a life for us that we would rather not have.
Dave Lutz Jones Trading PRIVATE MARKETS PAIN– The software problem roiling private markets is about to face a big new test. A wall of debt maturities is looming for the industry just as artificial intelligence threatens to upend entire businesses in what’s been dubbed the SaaSpocalypse.
More than $330 billion of high yield, leveraged loan and business development company-linked software and technology debt is coming due for repayment through 2028, a chunk of it tied to firms owned by private markets. As companies look to refinance in the coming months, they face numerous headwinds, from fears about AI devaluing or replacing their products to the risk of higher borrowing costs spurred by the war in the Middle East.
4. IPO ETF 5 Years in Big Circle…13k Private Equity Held Companies Held for Over 7 Years?
StockCharts
5. Big Tech Seeing Valuation Re-Set, But Still 2nd Most Outperformers
The Irrelevant Investor
6. Palantir at Big Support Level Here -36% from Highs
