Not that anyone will care much in light of the Iran-related news barrage hitting every second, but moments ago the US sold $58BN in 3Y paper in what was a rather ugly auction. Let’s take a quick look.

In the week’s first coupon auction, the US sold $58BN in 3Y notes, at a high yield of 3.579%, up from 3.518% last month but in line with auctions since last August. The problem is that the auction tailed the When Issued 3.58% by 1.1bps, the first tail since August and the biggest tail since Liberation Day. 

The bid to cover was 2.546, down from 2.624 and the lowest since August. 

The internals were also mediocre at best: Indirects were awarded 59.8% as foreign demand was still there but at a subdued pace: the six auction average if 64.3%. And with Directs taking 20.7%, or on the low end of the recent average of 25.3%, Dealers were left holding a sizable 19.5%, the highest since April. 

Overall, this was a subpar, disappointing auction which however could be attributed to the melt up in stocks. However, if this weakness persists in the week’s upcoming coupon auctions, that could be a problem. 

Authored by Biraajmaan Tamuly via CoinTelegraph.com,

Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows have turned net positive over the past 30 days, while gold ETF demand has started to slow down after nine straight months of inflows. The shift comes even as gold prices remain elevated and sentiment around Bitcoin continues to cool.

With these contrasting trends in ETF flows and the historical pattern of Bitcoin-to-gold performance cycles, analysts are now examining data that may signal a gradual shift in investor demand between the two assets. 

Are ETF flows beginning to rotate?

According to the Kobeissi Letter, the largest US gold-backed ETF, GLD, recorded a $3 billion outflow on Wednesday, the largest daily withdrawal in more than two years. The move followed a 4.4% decline in gold prices, the sharpest drop since the Jan. 30 sell-off.

Gold ETFs had attracted $18.7 billion in January and another $5.3 billion in February, marking the strongest two-month start to a year on record and extending a nine-month inflow streak. The latest outflow points to investors taking profits after gold’s massive rally in 2025.

Bitcoin ETF flows moved in the opposite direction over the past month. The 30-day net flow shifted to a $273 million inflow on March 6 from a $1.9 billion outflow on Feb. 6

Bitcoin and gold net ETF inflows over the past 30-days. Source: bold.report

The holdings data measured in native units show the divergence more clearly. Bitcoin ETF balances moved to a net increase of 4,021 BTC on March 6 from −42,275 BTC on Feb. 6. Gold ETF holdings declined from 1.4 million ounces to 621,100 ounces during the same period.

The native units represent the actual underlying asset held by funds rather than the dollar value of those holdings. Tracking BTC or ounces isolates real accumulation or distribution without the distortion created by the price movements.

Head of growth at Horizon, Joe Consorti, summarized the current trend and said,   

“Gold is stalling out while bitcoin is soaring. BTC is set to overtake gold’s % growth over the last month as the U.S. economy accelerates and risk sentiment improves. The anticipated risk-off → risk-on rotation could be underway.”

Gold rallies precede Bitcoin recoveries

In a “2026 Look Ahead” report released at the end of December 2025, Fidelity Digital Assets analyst Chris Kuiper noted that gold’s 65% return in 2025 was the fourth-largest annual gain since the end of the gold standard. With respect to past rallies, Kuiper noted that gold is potentially near the late stages of its leadership cycle between the two assets. Kuiper said, 

“Historically, gold and bitcoin have taken turns outperforming. With gold shining in 2025, it would not be surprising if bitcoin takes the lead next.”

However, the rotation may take some time to unfold in the market. 

Bitcoin-to-gold ratio analysis. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

As illustrated in the chart, BTC needed roughly 147 days or 21 weeks to establish a sustained trend outperforming gold after Bitcoin’s 2022 bottom. The period marked a consolidation phase before the ratio began trending higher.

The BTC-to-gold ratio currently trades near the same consolidation zone seen during the earlier rotation phases in 2022-2023.

Kuiper also added that both assets can benefit from the persistent fiscal deficits, trade tensions, and geopolitical uncertainty as investors seek neutral stores of value outside traditional monetary systems.

The ongoing US-Israel and Iran war has reinforced demand for traditional safe-haven assets, which previously supported gold rallies during periods of geopolitical stress.

Meanwhile, macroeconomic strategist Lyn Alden expects Bitcoin to outperform gold over the next two to three years following gold’s recent rally in the past few months.

Game-changer? A premature post by the White House?… since deleted… A Wright Mess Indeed!

Oil dropped on the huge headline that the United States Navy has escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz, attributed to a tweet from US Energy Secretary Chris Wright:

US NAVY ESCORTED AN OIL TANKER THROUGH THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ

“President Trump is maintaining stability of global energy during the military operations against Iran. The U.S. Navy successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz to ensure oil remains flowing to global markets,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced.

Sending crude prices tumbling…

But, moments later, Wright deleted his tweet…

Here’s the clip of him saying the words…

Shortly thereafter, Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin reported that Wright’s statement was “not true,” according to sources.

Below is the deleted video:

This is not true, I am told from well placed military sources. No US military assets have escorted any oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz as of yet, despite Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s claim to the contrary. https://t.co/DeM6d8v7he

— Jennifer Griffin (@JenGriffinFNC) March 10, 2026

Many news wires noted right away on report’s impact on crude prices (lower) and stocks (lifting to fresh highs), as the US Navy escorting an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz would indeed be a game-changer, removing so much of Iran’s leverage… but failed to note the deletion and denial.

This key development, if true, could begin releasing millions of barrels of Middle Eastern oil currently stranded inside the Persian Gulf – dramatically increasing US leverage over the messy Strait of Hormuz crisis. 

At roughly 20 million barrels per day, and with a single Suezmax tanker carrying about 2 million barrels, the US would only need to escort around ten ships per day.

Of course, concerning this military escort plan, one well-placed ballistic missile or drone blowing up a US ship and oil ramps back up at whiplash. 

IRGC has (consider the source) denied the report of an escorted tanker traversing the Strait…

The deleted tweet (and denial) prompted a bounce back in crude…

The question is – was this a strawman to test the market’s reaction to such an endeavor?

They have their answer – a military escort will crush the oil crisis (in the market’s eyes).

The White House has reportedly said the statement was “premature”…

Energy Secretary removes a post about U.S. Military escorting the first oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz. WH Source saying the post was premature.

— Edward Lawrence (@EdwardLawrence) March 10, 2026

…so either it has happened (but they didn’t want it announced yet) or it hasn’t happened YET… and now Iran is ready?

Just days after we covered the story on Quantum Leap Energy’s non-binding MOU with a major U.S. nuclear utility, Canaccord Genuity analyst George Gianarikas reiterated his buy rating on the beaten down ASP Isotopes, with an $11 price target citing “material progress” toward commercial uranium enrichment on two continents.

On February 23, QLE inked a Pre-Implementation Services Contract with South Africa’s Necsa to site, design, build, and operate an enrichment facility at the Pelindaba complex. The deal gives QLE access to existing nuclear infrastructure, utilities, and a joint oversight committee. Gianarikas says it’s the clearest signal yet that licensed HALEU production in South Africa is moving from lab to market readiness.

The March 6 MOU we highlighted last week adds the U.S. piece: the unnamed utility will potentially help stand up domestic HALEU and LEU+ enrichment, conversion, and deconversion capacity while discussing offtake and financing. That’s critical ahead of the 2028 Russian uranium import ban we’ve repeatedly flagged as the biggest catalyst for non-adversarial supply chains.

The report also spotlights accelerating LEU+ adoption by conventional fleets. Westinghouse loaded the first ~6% LEU+ test assemblies at Southern Company’s Vogtle Unit 2 last April. Urenco secured NRC approval to enrich to 10% and produced its first commercial batch in December. Framatome is upgrading its Richland plant and just filed for an 8% enrichment limit. Partners include Constellation (23% of U.S. nuclear output), Duke, Entergy, and Vistra.

As we first detailed after the Silicon-28 mega-contract and US radiopharmacy buy, then again when Trump Jr. and Eric Trump-backed funds poured in and when Renergen cleared regulatory hurdles, Canaccord is framing ASPI is one of the few names positioned across HALEU, medical isotopes, and quantum materials: a veritable cornucopia of next gen energy buzzwords. The South Africa and U.S. milestones now de-risk the commercial ramp in exactly the way we’ve been tracking.

Canaccord flags the usual risks including regulatory approvals, South African political noise, and balance-sheet needs, but ASPI is attempting to fill the HALEU gap that TerraPower, Oklo, and the entire advanced-reactor wave need. With the 2028 ban looming and AI data centers screaming for carbon-free baseload, the window for first-mover domestic enrichment is closing fast.

ASPI stock has been beaten down in recent months, although as its story continues to spread, expect more sellside coverage. As of today, just three banks (Canaccord, Cantor, and Lucid) cover the stock with a $13 average price target.

Weeks after New Mexico officials launched an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico – which has since been purchased to turn into a Christian retreat, the FBI and local law enforcement descended on the 7,500 acre property in search of dark secrets, including the possible graves of trafficked girls who may have been strangled to death during violent sex sessions on the property. 

For years the rumors have swirled around the isolated estate near the tiny town of Stanley (about 30 miles south of Santa Fe), however the identities of the alleged victims – and whether their bodies are on the property – has remained a mystery. 

The search – conducted on Monday and into Tuesday, is part of a planned state “truth commission” established by New Mexico lawmakers last month to investigate allegations surrounding Epstein’s activities at the ranch because the feds have dropped the ball. 

The operation began just a day after hundreds of protesters gathered outside the ranch on International Women’s Day to show support for victims of sexual abuse, the Daily Mail reports.

Danny Wilson, the brother of Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, spoke at the protest held outside Zorro Ranch on Sunday, International Women’s Day

“We have heard years of allegations and rumors about Epstein’s activities in New Mexico, but unfortunately, federal investigations have failed to put together an official record,” said New Mexico state Rep. Andrea Romero, who pushed to create the commission.

“With this truth commission, we can finally fill in the gaps by investigating the failures that led to the horrific allegations of abuse and crime at Zorro Ranch, so we can learn from them and prevent such atrocities from taking place in our state going forward,” Romero said.

Everyone is focusing on Epstein Island. There is so much more dirt at the Zorro Ranch

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 4, 2026

One Epstein Files email references a woman who claimed Epstein offered her money to ‘birth babies for black market use.’

Via @blueapples

In another Epstein file, a former staff member at Zorro allegedly claimed that “somewhere in the hills outside Zorro, two foreign girls were buried on orders of Jeffrey and Madam G” – referring to Ghislaine Maxwell. 

According to the Daily Mail, witnesses have begun claiming that Epstein may have also used the secluded ranch for disturbing medical procedures tied to his reported interest in eugenics.

“We have people coming forward saying they were drugged, had sex organs and sperm harvested from their bodies, and woke up around medical equipment not knowing where they were or what happened to them,” Romero told the Daily Mail.

New Mexico state Representative Andrea Romero is one of several lawmakers now calling for a sweeping investigation into what really happened at Zorro Ranch, following a recent influx of tips 

In addition to the allegedly strangled women, one of the most disturbing threads surrounding Jeffrey Epstein’s New Mexico estate involves allegations that the ranch may have been tied to his unusual fascination with human experimentation – particularly eugenics and genetic engineering, ideas he reportedly discussed with scientists and wealthy associates. According to accounts cited by various outlets, Epstein spoke openly about a plan to use the remote property as a kind of “baby ranch,” where women would be impregnated with his sperm in order to create a genetically “superior” bloodline.

Investigators and journalists say Epstein had a long-standing interest in transhumanism and eugenics – the controversial belief that the human race can be improved through selective breeding – and he surrounded himself with scientists and academics for frequent discussions. 

In another document from the Epstein dump, a victim writes a coded diary where she describes being a ‘human incubator’ who was forced to give birth to a child that was taken from her.

Eft a 02731361 by Zerohedge Janitor

Romero acknowledged that the allegations sound unusual but said investigators must examine the claims.

“It’s so dark and perplexing, and I know that if you mention this to someone, it sounds very conspiratorial,” Romero said. “But we need to get down to the truth of what really happened here in our own backyard.”

The property was bought by Epstein in 1993 from former New Mexico governor Bruce King. It spans roughly 13 square miles of high desert and includes a massive luxury hacienda, guest lodges, staff dwellings, horse stables, a private airstrip, hangar and helipad. Epstein owned the ranch until his death (or escape) in (from) a New York federal jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. After his death (or escape), the ranch was listed for sale for $27.5 million in 2021 before the price was reduced to $18 million. The property was eventually sold in 2023 to a limited liability corporation that renamed it San Rafael Ranch.

New Mexico DOJ spokesman Lauren Rodriguez said the current owners – the family of Texas real-estate developer Don Huffines – granted investigators access to search the property and nearby public land.

Epstein’s ranch has long been alleged to have served as one of several locations where the financier trafficked and abused young women, alongside properties in New York, Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Civil filings have claimed that prominent guests visited the compound, including Britain’s (former) Prince Andrew, who was accused by Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre of being one of the men she was trafficked to. Andrew has denied wrongdoing. There have also been unverified claims by contractors and journalists that former President Bill Clinton and other prominent figures spent time at the ranch, although Clinton denied being there during a deposition before Congress.

Accuser Maria Farmer has said she and her younger sister Annie were brought to Zorro Ranch in 1996 under the pretense of working on an art project. Maria has alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 of child sex trafficking and is currently serving a 20-year federal prison sentence. Annie Farmer has said she was 15 when she was flown to the ranch and directed by Epstein and Maxwell “to take off all her clothes and get on a massage table.”

Since plans for the Truth Commission were announced, Romero said lawmakers have received between 25 and 30 tips from people claiming to have information about activities at the ranch.

“We have this massive international story in New Mexico and all these potential conspiracies, horrible things that have happened there,” she said. “We don’t know what’s fact from fiction, but owe it to the people of our state to sort through these threads of information and get answers.”

Republican state Rep. Andrea Reeb, a former prosecutor who plans to sit on the commission, said the state has not done enough to examine what happened at the ranch.

“Zorro Ranch has given New Mexico a black eye. We as a state haven’t been aggressive enough on figuring out what happened there,” Reeb said.

“My main interest is to see if we can bring justice to some of the victims.”

Building on Deutsche Bank analyst Michael Linenberg’s warning last week that surging jet fuel prices pose an “existential threat” to airlines, analysts at UBS offered their own take on the unfolding energy shock set to unleash turbulence across the industry, noting that U.S. airlines are “nearly 100% unhedged” against jet fuel costs above $4 per gallon.

“US airlines are nearly 100% unhedged, with only DAL’s refinery providing it a partial hedge against jet crack spreads. As such, the earnings degradation at $4+ fuel is likely to be significant and widespread,” analyst Atul Maheswari wrote in a note on Monday.

Maheswari said Delta, United, and Southwest could still deliver a “meager profit” with Jet A fuel prices over $4, but “none of the other airlines will make money if fuel remains at these levels, with some airlines likely to be deep in the red.“

The hit to airlines’ first-quarter results will be noticeable but somewhat muted because the energy shock is coming late in the quarter, and airlines typically carry two weeks of inventory.

Maheswari said the real deterioration will come in the second quarter:

We note the impact on 1Q, while material, is cushioned by the fact the fuel spike happened late in 1Q and that airlines tend to carry 2 weeks of inventory. The impact on 2Q, though, could be significant. We continue to believe that DAL, UAL, and LUV are relatively better positioned to navigate higher fuel. AAL and several smaller airlines are more vulnerable.

Based on our math, fuel sustaining at these levels through 2Q could push DAL’s 2Q EPS to $1.13, down 55% versus our current $2.49 estimate. For LUV, our 2Q EPS would go to $0.57 vs. $1.81 currently. UAL’s 2Q EPS has potential to move lower to $0.96, down 80% vs. our $4.78 estimate. AAL would turn to a 2Q loss of -$0.31 vs. our current forecast of +$1.39. ALK would have a modest 2Q loss, while JBLU, ALGT, and ULCC are likely to generate a significant 2Q loss.

We assumed current fuel price (Gulf Coast $3.82/gallon) and added an incremental spread for distribution and other items based on the average historical spread reported by each for 2025. We also assumed 200 bps higher RASM relative to our published current estimate for 2Q in our analysis.

In an unlikely scenario where jet fuel stays at these levels in 2H’26 as well, it would imply about $3 in FY’26 EPS for DAL (vs. UBSe $7.17). LUV’s EPS could be about $1.60 (vs. UBSe $5.05), and UAL’s $2.35 (vs. UBSe $13.56). This is after assuming 200 bps higher RASM relative to our current estimates. AAL, ALK, and other smaller airlines would witness losses for FY’26 in this scenario. Full details on the impact for each airline by quarter are in figure 1.

The result of the energy shock will be “earnings degradation” that will force airlines to “quickly move to cut capacity,” the analyst said. This warning echoes DB’s Linenberg warning last Friday that the “financially weakest carriers could halt operations.” Read the note here.

UBS Chartbook on airlines:

EPS drag from higher fuel – US Airlines

Gulf Coast Fuel Prices

FY’25 Fuel as a Percentage of Sales – by Airlines

Feb-April of 2022 – Airline stock analysis during the fuel hike of 2022

The S&P 500 Airlines Index has erased much of the November-to-February gains.

This is incredibly bad news for U.S. travelers, as capacity cuts by the weakest airlines will only lead to higher ticket prices.

Professional subscribers can read the UBS note here at our new Marketdesk.ai portal

Boeing shares fell a little more than 3% in late-morning trading in New York after a new report from The Wall Street Journal stated that deliveries of some narrow-body 737 MAX jets would be delayed following the discovery of scratched wiring on newly built aircraft.

Boeing told the WSJ that each affected jet can be fixed within days and that the wiring flaw will not derail its target of delivering about 500 737 MAX jets this year, though March deliveries could be slowed.

The wiring issue is yet another manufacturing setback as Boeing tries to demonstrate to FAA regulators that it has improved quality control following the January 2024 midair door-plug blowout, the two 737 MAX crashes, and other quality-related issues related to the narrow-body jet.

Boeing shares fell 3.3% following the report, leaving the stock roughly flat on the year.” 

Last week, a Bloomberg report cited people familiar with the talks as saying that the planemaker and China could agree to a 500-plane order for 737 MAX jets at the Trump-Xi summit later this month.

Goldman analysts led by Noah Poponak recently shared an aircraft delivery tracker with clients showing Boeing deliveries tracking at around 52 for February, including 43 737 MAX jets and 3 787s.

The WSJ report made no reference to which systems the flawed wiring affected. Hopefully, it was not critical flight systems.

Authored by Andrew Moran via The Epoch Times,

Flying taxi maker Archer Aviation has alleged that its rival Joby Aviation has been misleading regulators and investors for years by hiding its connections to China.

In a March 9 filing in federal court in California, Archer accused Joby of running a manufacturing unit in Shenzhen, China, for more than a decade that received government grants intended to spur technological development and of carrying out fraudulent business practices that gave it an improper competitive edge.

“Joby has falsely presented itself as a domestically rooted, American-made, fully vertically integrated aviation company while covertly relying on its Chinese manufacturing subsidiary,” Archer alleged in the filing.

The lawsuit alleges that the company later hid aerospace components shipped from that facility by falsely labeling thousands of pounds of imported components as mundane consumer goods such as hair clips, napkins, socks, and similar products.

This approach, the suit alleges, allowed Joby to “evade U.S. tariffs, distort competition, improperly secure government contracts and strategic partnerships, and circumvent national-security oversight.”

Archer’s counterclaim, filed in a lawsuit initiated by Joby, further argues that Joby secured at least $131 million in U.S. Air Force contracts while marketing its aircraft as committed to American innovation, raising national security concerns in areas in which Chinese supply chain dependencies were not fully disclosed.

Alex Spiro, an attorney for Joby, said in a statement to The Epoch Times that the company “doesn’t respond to nonsense.”

“Archer’s constant legal issues and flailing business operations have left it no choice but to resort to invented nonsensical theories,” Spiro said in a statement. “We will see them in court.”

The latest legal development is part of a counterclaim to Joby’s November 2025 lawsuit against Archer.

Joby accused its competitor of using stolen information from a former employee to secure a partnership deal with a real estate development company.

The air taxi maker called it “corporate espionage, planned, and premeditated.”

This is not the first time that Archer has been involved in a legal dispute.

A Joby Aviation air taxi outside of the New York Stock Exchange ahead of its listing in the Manhattan borough of New York City, on Aug. 11, 2021. Andrew Kelly/Reuters

In August 2023, Archer settled a case against Boeing-owned Wisk Aero over alleged trade-secret theft.

In February, Archer filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, alleging that rival Vertical Aerospace recently redesigned its air taxi concept in a manner that infringes upon Archer’s patents.

Although the stocks of both Archer (ACHR) and Joby (JOBY) had a terrific 2025, they have struggled this year, with share prices falling by nearly 30 percent.

An Industry Taking Off

Flying taxis—also called electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft—have become a major industry worldwide, including in the United States and China.

The current market is valued at about $6.3 billion and is forecast to reach nearly $76 billion by 2035, according to Precedence Research analysts.

Although they are viewed as modes of transportation for wealthy clients, experts said they believe that they could eventually become a tool for individuals traveling to and from work.

“Flying taxis will be the fastest mode of transportation with lower traffic conjunctions and it gives a hassle-free experience to the consumers,” the analysts said in a Jan. 6 research note.

In summer 2025, President Donald Trump signed executive orders to “create a pilot program testing flying cars,” including air taxis.

Archer said on March 9 that the Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration selected its partners in Florida, New York, and Texas to participate in the White House’s pilot program to bring electric air taxis to market.

Similar to nationwide robotaxi pilot initiatives, this initiative will allow Archer to collaborate with federal and state regulators and communities to “build trust and establish the playbook for safely scaling electric air taxis across the country.”

Joby said in February that it is partnering with Uber to launch a battery-powered aircraft ride-hailing service in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, this year.