Authored by Jacki Thrapp via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Restaurants in Colorado’s capital are only allowed to serve water to guests if they ask, according to new restrictions by the Denver Board of Water Commissioners.

A scenic view of the Denver skyline at sunset, with the Rocky Mountains in the background and a forest in the foreground. Bill Ross/Getty Images

“Restaurants and catering businesses shall serve water only upon request,” the mandatory irrigation restrictions read.

The rules were issued in the Mile High City after the commissioners declared a Stage 1 Drought and made plans to seek a 20 percent reduction in water use. City officials expect drought conditions to last until April 30, 2027.

The update will affect many businesses, including the hospitality industry.

“Lodging establishments shall not change sheets more often than every four days for guests staying more than one night, except for health or safety reasons or upon express request of guests,” the Denver Board of Water Commissioners stated.

Drivers who attempt to wash their car are told to use a bucket or a hand-held hose equipped with an automatic shut-off nozzle if they don’t use a commercial car wash.

Residents can water their grass only two days per week, according to the schedule provided by city officials, but it is prohibited between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., when the sun is up.

“Current conditions indicate that this is going to be an exceptionally challenging year for our water supply,” Nathan Elder, manager of water supply for Denver, said at a Denver Board of Water Commissioners meeting.

“Snow pack levels are at historic lows and are melting earlier and more rapidly than normal.”

This graphic shows how much water is stored in mountain snowpack in 2025–2026 compared to previous years. Denver Water

Denver collects water from a 4,000-square-mile area across the state to serve 1.5 million people, but the rivers that feed the water supply have experienced record-low snowpack.

“Our Colorado River snow pack in our collection system is currently at 53% of normal. This is the lowest on record for the date,” Elder said during the meeting.

City officials warned that the snowpack, which contributes to the city’s water supply, has significantly decreased after a recent heatwave that pushed temperatures into the 80s in mid-March.

This graphic shows the drought conditions in Colorado on March 28, 2026. National Weather Service

The drought is currently affecting 3.6 million residents in Colorado, according to the National Weather Service’s Drought Monitor.

As of March 28, the Drought Monitor listed the Denver-metro area as under severe drought, while counties in the Rocky Mountains are under extreme and exceptional drought.

​According to the data, more than 74 percent of the state is in a drought.

The Dutch Finance Ministry informed members of Parliament in a letter on Monday about “unauthorized access” to several of its banking systems, including the digital portal for treasury banking.

“Because of the ongoing forensic investigation and for security reasons, several systems have been temporarily taken offline, including the digital portal for treasury banking,” Finance Minister Eelco Heinen wrote in the letter.

Heinen warned that the cyberattack has resulted in “around 1,600 public institutions that hold their funds with the Ministry of Finance” being “currently unable to view the balance of their treasury accounts digitally.”

He continued, “Participants in treasury banking include, among others, ministries, agencies, legal entities with a statutory task, educational institutions, social funds, and decentralized governments.”

“It is also temporarily not possible for participants to apply for loans, deposits, or credit facilities through the portal, change the intraday limit, or generate reports,” Heinen warned.

Heinen admitted, “At this time, it is not yet known how long this situation will last.”

He said investigations are ongoing in unison with the National Cyber Security Centre and other forensic security experts.

Heinen did not comment on who the responsible actor or actors were, or whether any ransom was involved.

To sum up, with the digital portal for treasury banking down, day-to-day cash management for a large swath of the Dutch public sector appears inaccessible at the moment.

So what happens if the portal stays offline long enough that the Dutch government cannot pay its bills?

Via Middle East Eye

Tehran believes the United Arab Emirates is playing an active role in the US-Israeli war on Iran and any ground invasion could lead to widespread attacks on Emirati state assets, two senior Iranian sources told Middle East Eye. A month into the conflict, which has battered global markets, Donald Trump is weighing whether to use ground troops to seize strategic islands in the Strait of Hormuz in an attempt to stop Iran from disrupting energy supplies.

Attention has particularly focused on Kharg Island, the hub through which roughly 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports flow, and Qashm Island which overlooks the strait. Such an operation would probably be launched from US bases in Gulf Arab states, which have come under Iranian attack in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes on Iran, which have killed at least 1,900 people so far.

Explosion in the Fujairah industrial zone from Iranian attack on UAE on March 3, via AFP.

Anti-Iranian sentiment has grown in Arab Gulf states, where retaliatory strikes have hit various targets, including key energy infrastructure. Combative rhetoric has particularly come from the close Israeli ally the UAE, whose ambassador to the US wrote a column in the Wall Street Journal this week saying a ceasefire would not be “enough” and the belligerents should push for a “conclusive outcome” that “addresses Iran’s full range of threats”.

The WSJ even reported that some Gulf Arab states were considering joining the US-Israeli attacks on Iran. However, according to a senior Iranian security official, leaders in Tehran now believe the UAE has played an active role in the war from the very beginning.

According to the official, the Iranian leadership has “decided to end a weeks-long period of tolerance towards Abu Dhabi, after concluding that the Emirati role went beyond simply hosting US military facilities already hit in Iranian retaliatory attacks”.

The official said: “Iranian intelligence believes the UAE also made some of its own air facilities available for operations against Iran.”

Abu Dhabi has served as an advanced platform for Israeli interests in the region, the official said. He suggested this included “deception operations” – false-flag Israeli attacks on Oman and at least one other country intended to look like Iranian ones.

He said Tehran assesses that “part of that cooperation has also involved the use of advanced AI infrastructure inside the UAE to support data collection and analysis for US and Israeli targeting, including information on Iranian figures and sites”.

The official added that attacks on Iranian vessels, small boats and coastal areas launched from UAE territory would now be considered by Tehran as a major escalation requiring a “strong response”.

Imminent attack

A separate senior Iranian diplomatic official told MEE that Tehran believes a US ground offensive may now be imminent. He said intelligence assessments – supported by information from Iran’s allied states, including Russia – increasingly point to a scenario in which an assault could be launched from the UAE.

Last week, Trump threatened to destroy Iran’s power plants if it did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which 30 percent of the world’s oil passed before the war. However, he has since twice delayed the promised attack, citing negotiations with Iran on a settlement that would end the bombing and allow oil to flow freely again.

The diplomat said Iran sees the current delay not as a genuine diplomatic pause, but as cover for the deployment of additional troops and preparations for a new phase of the war.

Reuters reported this week that the US is expected to send thousands more personnel to the Middle East, adding to the large American military presence already in the region. When the US and Israel on March 18 bombed South Pars gas field, one of the most important parts of Iranian infrastructure, Tehran responded by targeting energy facilities across the Gulf states.

Missiles and drones have also hit hotels, airports, data centers, ports and embassies in the region as the war has escalated. Yet the diplomat said Iran has so far deliberately avoided treating countries from which attacks were launched as fully enemy states.

“Iran carried out a deception in the skies over Dubai, costing the United Arab Emirates around $100 million.

Iran allegedly launched a missile equipped with flare decoys, prompting air defenses in Dubai to fire hundreds of interceptor missiles unnecessarily, reportedly depleting… pic.twitter.com/NHtdrdaz0t

— SilencedSirs◼️ (@SilentlySirs) March 29, 2026

For that reason, the diplomat said, Tehran confined itself to striking what it viewed as direct US military targets, or intelligence sites linked to the US and Israel, including some located inside civilian areas in countries such as the UAE and Bahrain.

That restraint, the diplomat warned, “would end immediately if any ground invasion takes place or if any part of Iranian territory or any of its islands becomes a target of a ground invasion”. Any country from which such an attack is launched would immediately be treated by Iran as an enemy, he said.

“Iranian strikes would no longer be limited to military or intelligence facilities but all state institutions and state-linked interests would become potential targets, including commercial and property assets in which the Emirati state holds investment stakes,” he said. “The previous rules will not hold if there is an invasion,” the diplomat added. “If any state participates in the occupation of even a single piece of Iranian land, that state will be dealt with as an aggressor.” This message, he said, has already been conveyed to the Emiratis.

*  *  * 

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

President Donald Trump again suggested that U.S. military action could be coming against Cuba as his administration has placed economic pressure on the communist-ruled island nation.

U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One at Pope Army Airfield at Fort Bragg, N.C., on Feb. 13, 2026, on his way to Palm Beach, Fla., to spend the weekend. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

“I built this great military. I said, ‘You’ll never have to use it.’ ​But sometimes you have to use it. And Cuba is ​next by the way,” Trump said at the Future Investment Initiative summit in Miami Beach, Florida, on March 27. He then added: “But pretend I didn’t ‌say ⁠that. Pretend I didn’t.”

After that, Trump said, “Cuba’s next.”

DJT: “Cuba’s next, by the way, but pretend I didn’t say that, please.” pic.twitter.com/qcle0y75c6

— Bruce Snyder (@realBruceSnyder) March 27, 2026

The Trump administration has opened up negotiations with elements of Cuba’s leadership ​in recent weeks, and the president has previously hinted that military action could be possible.

Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel has acknowledged that the country is in talks with the U.S. military in a bid to avert potential military confrontation. Cuba’s economy has been battered ​by disruptions in ​oil imports, which ⁠it relies on to run power plants and transportation.

Díaz-Canel said in an address that the purpose of the talks was “to determine the willingness of both parties to take concrete actions for the benefit of the people of both countries,” coming after Cuba said it would release 51 people from prison.

Prior to the U.S. operation to capture then-Venezuelan regime leader Nicolás Maduro in January, Venezuela had ​provided much ⁠of Cuba’s oil needs, but Caracas’s new government has ended those shipments. Earlier in March, Trump had said Cuba ⁠may ​be subject to a “friendly takeover,” before ​saying, “It may not be a friendly takeover.”

“They have no money. They have no anything right now,” Trump also said outside the White House in February, referring to Cuba. “Maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba.”

Trump has said that he would turn his attention to Cuba once the U.S. military operation in Iran is concluded.

“We could do them all at the same time,” Trump said in remarks on March 6. “But bad things happen. If you watch countries over the years, you do them all too fast, bad things happen.”

Cuba has been an adversary of the United States for decades, although there have been intermittent periods of engagement between the two countries. The United States has kept in place a trade embargo on the island for decades, prohibiting American businesses from engaging with Cuban interests, in part because the country held Soviet-made nuclear missiles during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Díaz-Canel, 65, took over as Cuba’s leader in 2021 after the resignation of 89-year-old Raul Castro, whose brother Fidel Castro had led the regime from 1959 until 2008. Fidel Castro died in 2016.

In January, Maduro was taken to the United States during the military operation, and he currently faces federal drug-related charges. During an initial court hearing in January, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Since then, the U.S. government has moved to open up trade with Venezuela, including the easing of sanctions against the country’s state-run petroleum company earlier this month. The U.S. Treasury Department in February issued a license for the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas reserves in Venezuela.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Bloomberg cites Iran’s ISNA news agency, which says local authorities have arrested dozens of people for selling SpaceX Starlink terminals across 19 provinces. 

These satellite internet terminals have become popular among opposition and activist networks operating in the country amid an ongoing nationwide internet blackout during the U.S.-Iran conflict.

Sardar Ahmad-Reza Radan, commander-in-chief of the Iranian police, was quoted by the outlet as saying, “From the beginning of the Ramadan War, 48 key members of networks, cells, anti-revolutionary groups, and espionage rings were arrested, and 139 Starlink devices were also discovered.”

سردار رادان: از ابتدای جنگ رمضان ۴۸ نفر از عناصر اصلی شبکه‌ها، هسته‌ها، گروهک‌های ضد انقلاب و جاسوسی بازداشت شدند و ۱۳۹ دستگاه استارلینک نیز کشف شده استhttps://t.co/aXibi8kDKA pic.twitter.com/IVHueV69xu

— خبرگزاری ایسنا (@isna_farsi) March 30, 2026

With the U.S.-Iran conflict entering its second month, the internet-tracking firm NetBlocks reported earlier that Iran has been under an internet blackout for over 720 hours.

⚠️ Update: It has now been over 720 hours since #Iran fell off the global internet with the digital blackout entering its 31st day.

As the shutdown continues into its second month, misinformation and propaganda increasingly fill the void both domestically and internationally. pic.twitter.com/pz5SNzFYiD

— NetBlocks (@netblocks) March 30, 2026

Before the conflict broke out, there were reports that U.S.-aligned activist NGOs had smuggled in thousands of these satellite terminals to evade a ground-based internet blackout designed to stop the flow of information and prevent widespread uprisings. A Starlink terminal connects to a satellite in low Earth orbit that beams internet hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away from ground-based repeaters in surrounding countries.

We also tracked the black-market prices of Starlink terminals in Iran shortly before the conflict erupted, citing a report that said these terminals, which normally cost several hundred dollars in the West, were going for as much as $4,000.

The internet blackout across Iran has created an information vacuum that is being filled by state-controlled narratives, while the US and Israel have hoped to run information operations on the ground through Starlinks.

Submitted by QTR’s Fringe Finance

This is the kind of environment where how you deploy capital matters far more than just being “in the market.”

One lesson I’d repeat to myself here: don’t go throwing all your cash into the market just because we’re down 10% from the highs. That kind of thinking assumes the decline is basically over, when there’s no rule that says it is. In fact, a 10% decline is just considered a correction, not a bottom, and according to historical market data by firms Fidelity, a meaningful share of corrections go on to become deeper bear markets.

The biggest mistake you can make here is treating this level like a clearance sale instead of what it actually is: a potentially ongoing drawdown.

And just because I recently put out a list of stocks I’m watching on further plunges does not mean I think we’re anywhere near a floor. If anything, it means the opposite.

I’m preparing for lower prices, not declaring victory. There’s a huge difference between identifying names you’d like to own if they move lower and actually stepping in aggressively. Too many people confuse “this is interesting at some price” with “this is safe to buy a shitload of right now.” Those are not the same thing, and in declining markets that confusion gets expensive very quickly.

What really concerns me is seeing posts like the one circulating on X right now . You have someone openly talking about being down 80%+, already having blown up once before, and the response is not caution or humility—it’s doubling down, levering up, and planning to take out loans to buy more if things fall further. That’s not discipline, that’s gambling dressed up as conviction.

The language sounds inspiring on the surface—“volatility isn’t loss,” “now is the time to go big”—but underneath it is the exact mindset that tends to get completely wiped out in prolonged drawdowns. When people start talking about “rockets” and “relentlessly margining in,” that’s usually not a signal of opportunity. It’s a signal of late-cycle behavior that hasn’t fully accepted risk yet.

And this is where people get hurt the most. If the market continues to fall, the worst place you can be is in high-growth, no-profit, no-cash-flow names that were already priced for perfection. Those stocks don’t just drift lower, they collapse. When liquidity dries up and sentiment shifts, they have nothing to fall back on. No earnings support, no dividends, no real floor.

🔥 50% OFF FOR LIFE: Using this coupon entitles you to 50% off an annual subscription to Fringe Finance for life: Get 50% off forever

They can drop 50%, 70%, 90% and still not be “cheap” because there’s no clear way to value them in the first place. In contrast, some of the “boring” or “disappointing” companies (as one subscriber put it) that I pointed out days ago, with real cash flow and durable businesses at least give you something to anchor to. Speculative growth names give you narratives, and narratives don’t hold up well in bear markets.

That’s why, if I’m going to buy anything here, it has to be done slowly. Very slowly. Scaling in is not just a nice idea, it’s essential. Markets can and do overshoot to the downside, especially after long periods of excess. If historical norms hold we could easily see significantly lower levels before a true bottom forms. Buying all at once because something is “down a lot” is one of the fastest ways to find yourself immediately underwater.

If I’m forced to be a buyer in this environment, I’m sticking with fundamentals first. That might sound boring, and again some people did call my picks from yesterday “disappointing”. But boring is kind of the point right now. These are large, well-defined businesses with real earnings, strong balance sheets, and lower valuations than they’ve traded at in recent years. There will be liquidity to buy them at any price and they are predictable. I know they’ll be around. I know roughly where valuation support starts to matter. There is at least some concept of a bottom because there are actual cash flows and profits underpinning the business.

That is not true for companies with no earnings and no cash flow. Those don’t have a theoretical bottom. They can always go lower, because their value is based almost entirely on expectations. And expectations can reset very, very quickly when the market environment changes. And then, to buy these types of “growth” names blindly by going all in just because we are down 10%? A great way to get wiped out. And trust me, I know from experience. Mind the disclaimer. God bless.

—

QTR’s Disclaimer: Please read my full legal disclaimer on my About page here. This post represents my opinions only. In addition, please understand I am an idiot and often get things wrong and lose money. I may own or transact in any names mentioned in this piece at any time without warning. Contributor posts and aggregated posts have been hand selected by me, have not been fact checked and are the opinions of their authors. They are either submitted to QTR by their author, reprinted under a Creative Commons license with my best effort to uphold what the license asks, or with the permission of the author.

This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any stocks or securities, just my opinions. I often lose money on positions I trade/invest in. I may add any name mentioned in this article and sell any name mentioned in this piece at any time, without further warning. None of this is a solicitation to buy or sell securities. I may or may not own names I write about and are watching. Sometimes I’m bullish without owning things, sometimes I’m bearish and do own things. Just assume my positions could be exactly the opposite of what you think they are just in case. If I’m long I could quickly be short and vice versa. I won’t update my positions. All positions can change immediately as soon as I publish this, with or without notice and at any point I can be long, short or neutral on any position. You are on your own. Do not make decisions based on my blog. I exist on the fringe. If you see numbers and calculations of any sort, assume they are wrong and double check them. I failed Algebra in 8th grade and topped off my high school math accolades by getting a D- in remedial Calculus my senior year, before becoming an English major in college so I could bullshit my way through things easier.

The publisher does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided in this page. These are not the opinions of any of my employers, partners, or associates. I did my best to be honest about my disclosures but can’t guarantee I am right; I write these posts after a couple beers sometimes. I edit after my posts are published because I’m impatient and lazy, so if you see a typo, check back in a half hour. Also, I just straight up get shit wrong a lot. I mention it twice because it’s that important.

First, Sony hiked PlayStation console prices, blaming “continued pressures in the global economic landscape.” Now, Sony Japan is warning that the global memory shortage has become severe enough to force a temporary halt to new orders for memory cards, as supply can no longer keep up with production needs.

“Due to the global shortage of semiconductors (memory) and other factors, it is anticipated that supply will not meet demand for CFexpress memory cards and SD memory cards for the foreseeable future,” Sony wrote in a press release.

Sony explained that, due to the memory shortage, it has “decided to temporarily suspend the acceptance of orders from our authorized dealers and from customers at the Sony Store.”

The suspension covers Sony’s CFexpress Type A cards in 240GB, 480GB, 960GB, and 1.92TB sizes, as well as CFexpress Type B cards in 240GB and 480GB. It also affects Sony’s high-end SDXC/SDHC lineup, including 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB TOUGH models, as well as SF-M and SF-E series cards ranging from 64GB to 512GB.

What this suggests is that even some of the largest consumer electronics companies are not immune to the global memory shortage, which is rippling across the world due to surging demand from data centers.

In February, TrendForce raised its Q1 2026 DRAM contract price forecast to 90%-95% quarter-over-quarter, while forecasting NAND flash prices would jump 55%-60% over the same period. Phison’s CEO warned the NAND shortage could force some consumer electronics companies to shutter production lines this year. 

Last week, Sony was forced to raise prices on PlayStation consoles, which infuriated some gamers.

“Hot take but I think things should get cheaper the more old that they are, crazy idea,” one X user said.

We told readers in late January: “If you want to buy any consumer goods, PCs, or smartphones … do it now, as it is for sure all the prices will be increased. Take an average PC, for example. The ratio of memory chips in the BoM [bill of materials] cost has increased from some 15% to almost 40%.”

There is hope: We detailed last week that “Google’s DeepSeek Moment,” introducing TurboQuant, sent memory stocks spiraling lower because its compression algorithm for large language models and vector search engines shrinks the amount of memory needed (report here).

*  *  * With all this creatine malarkey, don’t forget about SURVIVAL

The Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index continues to straddle the unchanged line, and despite a tiny dip from 0.2 in February, the highest print since July, to -0.2 in March, just below the 1.5 median estimate, the index remained near the highest level in a year and absent a modest and brief, post-Trump election spike, this remains one of the highest prints since mid-2022.

Curiously, the headline index barely dropped even though most index components (9 out of 12) showed a sharp decline, with just a handful rising fractionally.

But it was the survey responses that showed a decidedly negative view on the economy, except for respondents in Machinery Manufacturing. Below is a snapshot from the latest survey:

Beverage and tobacco product manufacturing

We have seen decreases in some of our costs, in particular agricultural raw materials. We have seen increases in the costs of our packaging materials, some of this related to increase in energy costs. We expect the Iran war to cause increases in energy costs for a period extending at least six months and potentially longer. This has increased our uncertainty for the rest of the year.

Chemical manufacturing

The Iran war and bottleneck in the Strait of Hormuz has caused significant supply chain disruption from China, allowing the U.S. chemicals sector to benefit from the supply bottleneck. We believe this to be short-lived and the situation to return to the lower demand levels in the latter half of 2026.

Computer and electronic product manufacturing

I am thinking about recommending to our board to close the company.
We have seen no impact yet from higher fuel prices. However, we expect to see this very soon, as our vendors will increase raw materials prices to include the increased cost for transportation.
We would like to see lower interest rates throughout this year.

Food manufacturing

Continuing confusion at the federal level, illiquid consumer base and falling federal government spending are not helping the food industry.
High density Hispanic channels are down. Costs are up, and freight is increasing fast. Tariff chaos has wreaked havoc with all of our export customers and seasoning suppliers.
We are worried about costs increasing due to fuel price increases. We are worried about a slowdown in the economy due to geopolitics.

Furniture and related product manufacturing

The Iran war and impact on energy prices are concerns as consumers have to deal with the rapid increase in energy cost. Hopefully it will moderate as the conflict curtails. That said, the more demoralizing impact of the constant circus out of Washington and inability to fund critical infrastructure like TSA is killing the animal spirits of our economy.

Machinery manufacturing

We are beating our competition due to the continued vertical integration plans that we are focused on implementing and improving. This requires a great deal of planning and money, but the payout is very sound.
Spring has sprung. It’s truly like the balm of Gilead. After an extended period of ailment and woe, the healing has occurred and we are on our way to greater things.  Our business growth thus far in 2026 is like a sweet fragrance that is healing our loss and hardship from prior years.
We are still seeing strong business activity with our backlog increasing.
Our company is seeing an increase in activity totally unrelated to the current geopolitical conditions. The effect of uncertainty delayed the start of a new manufacturing project in the U.S. (tariffs, capital expenditures) in 2025. Project 2025 is underway with a six-month delay and scaled back to accommodate a less ambitious picture for 2026. We are still recovering from 2025 plus a more conservative outlook for 2026. Things are trending upward in our field but at a much slower pace.

Miscellaneous manufacturing

Many external factors contributing to an unstable market.
If we could get our tariff reimbursement back, that would put us in a position to invest in growth. Without it, though, we don’t have the capital to invest in growth.

Nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing

We are waiting for home building activity to pick up, which is dependent upon interest rates.

Paper manufacturing

Overall business still slow. Have achieved limited price reductions in some raw materials that are in an oversupply condition but not enough to keep up with the decline in selling prices of our products. We still see upward pressure on labor and benefits cost. Margins are reduced from 12 months ago.

Plastics and rubber products manufacturing

Importing from China is precarious. The costs of product and freight are higher and slower. Suppliers are apprehensive. Their costs are increasing, especially a certain raw material plastic impacted by petrochemicals affected by cost of oil.

Printing and related support activities

We have been stupid slow recently, slower than we can recall in many years. We continue to believe it’s from the chaos and confusion coming out of Washington. In addition, now with the Iran war, prices are going to shoot up due to shipping costs, and tariffs are still in effect. So, there is no telling when business will start to improve. We have some nice work coming in soon, but it’s work we knew was coming.  We are seeing some improvement in our estimating backlog, which is a good sign of better days to come. The war is causing a disruption of raw materials prices as we are producing plastic-based products, virtually all of our raw materials are hydrocarbon based. Fifteen percent increases are normal.

The Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index continues to straddle the unchanged line, and despite a tiny dip from 0.2 in February, the highest print since July, to -0.2 in March, just below the 1.5 median estimate, the index remained near the highest level in a year and absent a modest and brief, post-Trump election spike, this remains one of the highest prints since mid-2022.

Curiously, the headline index barely dropped even though most index components (9 out of 12) showed a sharp decline, with just a handful rising fractionally.

But it was the survey responses that showed a decidedly negative view on the economy, except for respondents in Machinery Manufacturing. Below is a snapshot from the latest survey:

Beverage and tobacco product manufacturing

We have seen decreases in some of our costs, in particular agricultural raw materials. We have seen increases in the costs of our packaging materials, some of this related to increase in energy costs. We expect the Iran war to cause increases in energy costs for a period extending at least six months and potentially longer. This has increased our uncertainty for the rest of the year.

Chemical manufacturing

The Iran war and bottleneck in the Strait of Hormuz has caused significant supply chain disruption from China, allowing the U.S. chemicals sector to benefit from the supply bottleneck. We believe this to be short-lived and the situation to return to the lower demand levels in the latter half of 2026.

Computer and electronic product manufacturing

I am thinking about recommending to our board to close the company.
We have seen no impact yet from higher fuel prices. However, we expect to see this very soon, as our vendors will increase raw materials prices to include the increased cost for transportation.
We would like to see lower interest rates throughout this year.

Food manufacturing

Continuing confusion at the federal level, illiquid consumer base and falling federal government spending are not helping the food industry.
High density Hispanic channels are down. Costs are up, and freight is increasing fast. Tariff chaos has wreaked havoc with all of our export customers and seasoning suppliers.
We are worried about costs increasing due to fuel price increases. We are worried about a slowdown in the economy due to geopolitics.

Furniture and related product manufacturing

The Iran war and impact on energy prices are concerns as consumers have to deal with the rapid increase in energy cost. Hopefully it will moderate as the conflict curtails. That said, the more demoralizing impact of the constant circus out of Washington and inability to fund critical infrastructure like TSA is killing the animal spirits of our economy.

Machinery manufacturing

We are beating our competition due to the continued vertical integration plans that we are focused on implementing and improving. This requires a great deal of planning and money, but the payout is very sound.
Spring has sprung. It’s truly like the balm of Gilead. After an extended period of ailment and woe, the healing has occurred and we are on our way to greater things.  Our business growth thus far in 2026 is like a sweet fragrance that is healing our loss and hardship from prior years.
We are still seeing strong business activity with our backlog increasing.
Our company is seeing an increase in activity totally unrelated to the current geopolitical conditions. The effect of uncertainty delayed the start of a new manufacturing project in the U.S. (tariffs, capital expenditures) in 2025. Project 2025 is underway with a six-month delay and scaled back to accommodate a less ambitious picture for 2026. We are still recovering from 2025 plus a more conservative outlook for 2026. Things are trending upward in our field but at a much slower pace.

Miscellaneous manufacturing

Many external factors contributing to an unstable market.
If we could get our tariff reimbursement back, that would put us in a position to invest in growth. Without it, though, we don’t have the capital to invest in growth.

Nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing

We are waiting for home building activity to pick up, which is dependent upon interest rates.

Paper manufacturing

Overall business still slow. Have achieved limited price reductions in some raw materials that are in an oversupply condition but not enough to keep up with the decline in selling prices of our products. We still see upward pressure on labor and benefits cost. Margins are reduced from 12 months ago.

Plastics and rubber products manufacturing

Importing from China is precarious. The costs of product and freight are higher and slower. Suppliers are apprehensive. Their costs are increasing, especially a certain raw material plastic impacted by petrochemicals affected by cost of oil.

Printing and related support activities

We have been stupid slow recently, slower than we can recall in many years. We continue to believe it’s from the chaos and confusion coming out of Washington. In addition, now with the Iran war, prices are going to shoot up due to shipping costs, and tariffs are still in effect. So, there is no telling when business will start to improve. We have some nice work coming in soon, but it’s work we knew was coming.  We are seeing some improvement in our estimating backlog, which is a good sign of better days to come. The war is causing a disruption of raw materials prices as we are producing plastic-based products, virtually all of our raw materials are hydrocarbon based. Fifteen percent increases are normal.

Via The Cradle

The Iranian military denied on Monday being behind the recent attack which hit a desalination plant in Kuwait, labeling the strike a US-Israeli false-flag operation aimed at “destabilizing and destroying the region.”

“The brutal aggression by the Zionist regime against the desalination facility in Kuwait, carried out in recent hours under the pretext of accusing the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a sign of the vileness and depravity of the Zionist occupiers,” the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters of the Iranian army said in a statement.

via AFP

“We declare that US bases, personnel, and their interests in the region, as well as the military, security, and economic infrastructure of the Zionist regime in the occupied Palestinian territories, remain powerful targets for us,” it added. 

The Iranian military went on to urge “countries of West Asia must remain vigilant against the sedition of the US–Zionist axis aimed at destabilizing and destroying the region.”

Regional states “must put an end to the presence of the criminal US army and occupying Zionists in the region,” it stressed. The attack on the desalination plant took place on Sunday. 

“A service building at a power and water desalination plant was attacked as part of the Iranian aggression against the State of Kuwait, resulting in the death of an Indian worker and significant material damage to the building,“ said a spokesperson for the Kuwaiti Electricity Ministry.

This is not the first attack Tehran has labeled a false flag. Iran has also denied recent strikes on fuel tankers in Oman and a refinery in Iraq’s Erbil, as well as one that targeted an Aramco facility in Saudi Arabia at the start of the month. 

US journalist Tucker Carlson reported earlier in March that Mossad agents were detained in Gulf states for planning bombings.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on March 15 that the US has been using its new Lucas drone – modeled after the Iranian Shahed – to carry out false-flag attacks in the region and attribute them to the Islamic Republic. 

Tehran has said only US and Israeli-linked military and economic assets in the Gulf will be struck by its forces. Iran is warning Gulf governments against allowing Washington to use their bases for attacks on the Islamic Republic. 

Iranian drone and missile strikes targeted the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on March 27, wounding at least 12 US troops and damaging aircraft and buildings.

A senior Iranian intelligence official told The Cradle on March 26 that the Islamic Republic is preparing a “strong response” against the UAE due to the “active role” it has played in the US-Israeli war on it.

Roughly 90% of Kuwait’s drinking water comes from desalination.

“A decision has been made at the leadership level to end the weeks-long tolerance toward this country. In addition to US military barracks and bases in the UAE, which were targeted in Iran’s defensive attacks, the Emiratis also provided some of their own air bases to the US to be used in attacking Iran,” the intelligence officials went on to say, citing security reports. 

“The UAE is considered a foothold for Israel in the region,” the source continued, adding that Abu Dhabi has “carried out misleading operations against Oman and other countries” – likely a reference to false-flag operations pinned on Iran.