GEO-ECON · LEAD
Tehran says Hormuz stays shut until Washington accepts its terms. Washington says traffic is 80 to 100% of normal. The Revolutionary Guards say their mines stopped three tankers. Only one of these is a count.
On Tuesday, three official voices described the Strait of Hormuz. Each was confident, and they did not agree with one another. The lesson is not that one of them is lying. It is that a statement and a count are different instruments, and only one of them is built to be checked.
**Tehran's version.** Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told Iraqi television that indirect talks with the United States continue through Pakistan and Qatar, and that the strait will stay closed unless Washington accepts Iran's conditions. Iran has offered a seven-day plan under which the waterway would fully reopen on the sixth day. Araghchi said Washington had accepted the conditions but wanted "additional provisions". "The negotiating table is still there," he said.
Geo-economics · 4 min · Read the piece →
MARKETS · DESK NOTE
The Dow rose 1% on 3M and a row of steady quarterly reports while the AI names drifted. After the bell, SpaceX printed its first quarterly profit and Seoul rose 3.6% on it. Earnings did what forecasts could not.
Markets & Macro · 2 min · Read the piece →
POLITICS · DESK NOTE
At the government's investment summit, the economy minister spoke of more than €220 billion in commitments. Her ministry later said the figure covers all projects since January, not pledges made at the summit. The correction is the useful part.
Politics & Institutions · 2 min · Read the piece →
PSYCHOLOGY · DESK NOTE
A six-year study of more than 600 US workers found that people who fear AI will make their whole occupation obsolete are more likely to excuse small misconduct at work. The lead author's advice is aimed at employers, not workers.
Psychology & Behaviour · 2 min · Read the piece →
ENERGY · PODIUM VS PRINT
In August United's chief executive expected to recover all of the higher fuel cost in the fourth quarter. Tuesday's filing assumes jet fuel at $4.80 a gallon for that quarter and cuts the year's profit outlook.
Energy & Industry · 2 min · Read the piece →
MONEY · DESK NOTE
In her statement to the IMF's steering committee, the ECB president said the energy shock is too large to look through, but that rising long-term rates will slow growth and dampen pass-through. That is a reason for patience, written down.
Money, FX & Committees · 2 min · Read the piece →
ORDINARY · DESK NOTE
The Länder transport ministers meet today and tomorrow to discuss a smartphone tariff that charges each trip and stops charging at the Deutschlandticket price. The host minister says there is no money for it. Both points belong in the ledger.
Ordinary & Inherited Life · 2 min · Read the piece →
TECH · DESK NOTE
SpaceX and Tesla have each set up a committee of independent directors to look at a merger. Elon Musk backs the idea but, as a conflicted party, cannot take part. Corporate law's oldest safeguard just got its biggest test.
Tech & Compute · 2 min · Read the piece →
HEALTH · DESK NOTE
North Kivu's governor says 1,252 people have died of Ebola. The national bulletin says 1,176. The gap probably comes from counting probable deaths, but nobody has said so. A one-line clarification would help the response more than a press conference would.
Health & Care · 2 min · Read the piece →
SECURITY · DESK NOTE
Paris, Marseille and Lyon kept their targeted night-time restrictions after a calm Monday. Soldiers from Operation Sentinelle will support police for Saturday's marches, and 200 investigators are working through the weekend's damage.
Security & Order · 2 min · Read the piece →
CLIMATE · DESK NOTE
Météo-France's 03:04 bulletin has no red anywhere and only Gard in orange, for flooding. The rain has moved on. The water it left behind has not finished moving.
Climate & Weather · 2 min · Read the piece →