Two boring industries are telling the same story: companies prepared for more demand, and the demand never showed up.

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The box story is no longer just about Amazon using smaller packaging. US corrugated box demand has weakened enough that 2025 shipments fell to their lowest per-capita level in decades, while domestic pulpwood prices have collapsed in several major timber regions. Cardboard box demand is one of the cleanest reads on the real goods economy. … Read more

Health insurance cost has quadrupled in 25 years. Health insurance costs are exploding again. Employers are already cutting back

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Employers are already considering dropping expensive benefits, including GLP-1 coverage, while ACA premiums are headed for another large increase. So you’re not just looking at an insurance company problem. The costs are starting to change what employers are willing to cover. And the progression is nasty: 2026: 20% median finalized ACA increase 2027: 15% median … Read more

Indonesia raises Sinabung to second-highest alert level

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The Geological Agency raised Sinabung from Level II to Level III after detecting a significant increase in volcanic activity. The agency says the eruption was still ongoing when its special report was issued and warns that a larger eruption remains possible. https://geologi.esdm.go.id/media-center/kenaikan-tingkat-aktivitas-g-sinabung-sumatera-utara-dari-level-ii-waspada-menjadi-level-iii-siaga-tanggal-31-agustus-2026-pukul-12-00-wib Sinabung eruption sends ash 3,500 meters above summit The eruption started at 10:17 … Read more

The $40 trillion debt number may be the smallest part of America’s fiscal problem

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The $40 trillion headline gets all the attention. The harder problem is that Washington keeps adding debt while the promises sitting outside that number keep growing too. The US National Debt has increased by over $700 billion since July 1st. The Federal Government is borrowing from our future to spend like drunken sailors today. Everything … Read more

Why Are There So Many People Living In Third World Conditions In The United States?

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by Michael There are tens of millions of Americans that are currently living in third world conditions, and poverty, hunger and homelessness are growing all around us. Many of our most important urban areas have become rotting, decaying, drug-infested hellholes. Meanwhile, there are vast stretches of rural America that look like they have been totally … Read more

Affirm is booming while consumers increasingly need four payments

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Great quarter for Affirm. However, that $14.1 billion in BNPL purchases also shows just how hard consumers are stretching their finances. Consumers just financed a record $14.1B of purchases through Affirm in a single quarter. The stock rose 9% on its first GAAP profit. Buy-now-pay-later scales fastest when households are stretching a paycheck across four … Read more

The Grand Canyon just got ripped apart by a flash flood, 62 people have already been airlifted out

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People may be missing after Saturday’s wall of water in Bright Angel Canyon. First number was about 20 unaccounted. Later they walked it toward 15. Working estimate. Not a body count. Flood hit around 2:30 Saturday. Almost every footbridge on Bright Angel Creek is gone. 62 people already flown out. More lifts from Cottonwood and … Read more

AI just started showing up where it matters most

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AI is starting to move from demos to contracts. The interesting part is that the companies already sitting inside corporate software may be the ones collecting the money. AI just drove 25% of Workday's new contract value in a single quarter. Its AI business is closing in on $600M of annual recurring revenue. Enterprise AI … Read more

Victoria’s Secret may have accidentally found the dumbest stock catalyst that actually makes sense

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The GTA VI thesis sounds ridiculous. Lucia appears to be wearing Victoria’s Secret. The game has an enormous audience. The stock could get free exposure every time millions of players see the brand. Fine. But here’s the part I think is more interesting. Victoria’s Secret was already turning around before GTA VI. Q1 sales jumped … Read more

Americans may be spending more on hobbies because they can’t afford much else

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The interesting part isn’t that Americans like hobbies. It’s that small things are still affordable while the big things keep getting further away. The latest BEA data makes that clearer. July consumer spending rose only 0.2%, while real spending was basically flat. Spending on goods actually fell by $49.9 billion, while services increased by $86.2 … Read more

US strikes Iranian rocket launchers on Strait of Hormuz in 1st military action in weeks

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U.S. forces struck two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island on Sunday after the military said Revolutionary Guard forces were preparing rockets carrying sea mines for launch into the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command confirmed to MS NOW. “Earlier today U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces … Read more

The 65 billion barrel Venezuela deal sounds huge. It can’t replace the oil being burned right now.

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Truth … 😆💯🔽 pic.twitter.com/3RFOxVdrZs — John (@market_sleuth) August 30, 2026 It would take 56 years to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve with Venezuelan oil through the Venezuelan deal per mathematical simulation. This is the upper limit. It assumes that infrastructure is already built and fully functional and that the draw is curbed significantly. The “good … Read more

We’re probably asking the wrong question about the next trillion dollar company

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Everyone wants to know: What’s the next Nvidia? But the discussion around this question misses something important. The biggest winners usually weren’t obvious because they belonged to some magical “next big thing.” People didn’t need to predict AI to buy AMD. They didn’t need to predict the Arab Spring to buy Facebook. They didn’t need … Read more