Tuesday, June 23, 2026
The main takeaway from this recent very granular chart of Strait of Hormuz tanker transits is that 14 total transits both ways on the most recent day observed is not 70 as at the beginning of the year
For June 18-20, JMIC Update 061 had 30 total tanker transits whereas this Bloomberg guy has just 24.
Traitor Trump gives aid to the Axis of Evil by unlocking Iranian crude oil, 90% of which is normally purchased by the Chicoms
U.S. issues sweeping Iran oil sanctions waivers, unlocking billions in revenue for Tehran
The U.S. has issued a sweeping rollback of sanctions on Iranian oil, allowing dollar-denominated trade for the first time in more than four decades ...
The U.S. Treasury on Monday issued a wide-ranging 60-day exemption allowing Iran to produce and sell crude oil, petrochemical and petroleum products in U.S. dollars through Aug. 21. ...
The move on Monday marks the most sweeping rollback of American oil sanctions against Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, reversing years of pressure designed to cripple Iran’s economy, and is expected to deliver billions in oil revenue for the Iranian regime. ...
U.S. President Donald Trump defended the lifting of the sanctions, saying on Monday that any oil profits were meant for Iran to purchase American agricultural goods, rather than rebuild its military. ...
“With dollar clearing now authorized, expect China to accelerate purchases aggressively,” said Maleki. Chinese buyers, in the past, have settled transactions through opaque channels to avoid secondary U.S. sanctions exposure. ...
He expects a rapid storage “top-off cycle” under which Chinese buyers could rush to replenish stockpiles before the exemption expires in August.
China currently purchases roughly 90% of Iran’s oil exports, with teapots accounting for the bulk of China’s imports. The country’s crude imports shrank by an unprecedented 4.8 million barrels per day (mbd) between February and May — a steeper drop than the 4 mbd decline seen during the depths of the pandemic in the second half of 2020, according to JPMorgan. ...
Iran will likely use this 60-day window to repair war-damaged oil facilities and lock in longer-term contracts with Chinese buyers, said Michael Feller, chief strategist at Geopolitical Strategy. “This will be a huge boost to Iran, both to its economy and its sense of victory.”
Monday, June 22, 2026
Disgusting Trump is so desperate for oil he's now importing oil from the terrorist enemy to the United States, something we haven't done in quantity since the 1979 Iranian Revolution
The max was 6k bpd in 2021 of petroleum and petroleum liquids, the equivalent of 2.2 million barrels, slightly more than one VLCC can carry.
What's next, imports from Russia?
Treasury Department authorizes Iranian oil sales through August
... The authorization allows the import of Iranian oil and refined products into the U.S.
... The authorization allows the import of Iranian oil and refined products into the U.S. Payment can be made to Tehran in dollars. The license expires Aug. 21, unless it’s renewed. ...
Oil prices fall after U.S. authorizes Iranian crude sales
Trump actually started the ball rolling during the pandemic in 2020.
He bought some petroleum products from Iran in October 2020 after the collapse in oil demand crashed prices of WTI to -$37/barrel in April.
Biden made purchases in March 2021, January 2022, and in 2023 from August to October.
The homeownership rate soared to 68.8% in 2006 after nearly twenty years of Alan Greenspan at the Fed
The rate when he began as Fed chairman was 64% in 1987, and again in 1990 and 1994, before taking off during the Clinton-Gingrich era.
Supporting the high homeownership rate was full time employment on an average annual basis north of 50% of population for twenty-three consecutive years 1986-2008.
We call it The Lost World.
Core pce inflation remained high but falling during Greenspan's first seven years, but stayed below the trend he helped to create for the remaining thirteen
PCEPILFE fell to 2.23% yoy in 1994 and as low as 1.27% by 1998 even as the Fed Funds Effective Rate (DFF) averaged 5.49% for four years 1995-1998.
Greenspan's observed "irrational exuberance" in stocks certainly wasn't caused by low interest rate policy. By today's standards his policy was hawkish even as the market formed a bubble.
His career core pce inflation performance averaged 2.46% yoy.
It is difficult to imagine today's world being at all patient enough to tolerate Alan Greenspan, especially the Alan Greenspan of 1987-1990 when DFF averaged 7.89%.
He would be run out of town like Ben Bernanke and Jerome Powell, neither of whom arguably were in office long enough to really judge fairly by comparison with Alan Greenspan and both of whom were shabbily treated by Obama and Trump.
Trump's tech-bro tyranny is censoring Trump's critics
Musk Suspends X Accounts Criticizing JD Vance...
I can confirm from personal experience this weekend that this is true after being unaccountably disconnected multiple times just out of the blue and forced to log back in, only to have that process throttled as well.
AMAZON, GOODREADS restrict reviews of Vance book after savage critiques...
He's killing the ducklings, he's killing the offspring of the wildlife that lives there
Dead duck found floating in Trump's new Reflecting Pool...
... The sad discovery comes just days after workers were photographed pouring large bottles of hydrogen peroxide into the pool in a bid to tackle the growing algae problem, TMZ reported.
Hydrogen peroxide is generally considered safer than chlorine bleach because it breaks down in water – but high concentrations can pose a risk to ducks and other birds. ...
Middle East tanker transits June 14-20, 2026: Strait of Hormuz 5.4/day, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait 16.7/day
Tanker transits through the Strait of Hormuz would be normal if they were more like 70 per day total, in and out. This would be out of ~138 total transits, which is the normal historical average including also cargo/bulk/etc. vessels as stated in the latest JMIC Update 061.
We are nowhere close to that after Trump's so-called peace deal with Iran.
People who think the world isn't still headed to an oil supply crisis don't know what they're talking about.
SoH E: 2.6/day; 4.3/day June 18-20 (lol get real)
BAM SE: 7.7/day
The Maestro is dead, long live The Maestro
Greenspan had the main ideas right:
Low inflation over full employment, because inflation is the worst tax on the people;
And broad property ownership as the foundation supporting the American economy and securing the consent of the governed.
During his nearly 20-year tenure, the Federal Funds Effective Rate averaged 4.87%.
This is a really good look at Greenspan's career from Marty Steinberg at CNBC. It is one of the best reads I've had at CNBC in a long time.
Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Fed, dies at age 100
... Throughout, he focused on fighting inflation over promoting full employment. His supporters say he presided over the longest economic expansion in U.S. history, but critics said Greenspan’s low interest rate policies set the stage for the housing bubble that burst into the Great Recession a year after his successor, Ben Bernanke, took the Fed helm.
... in his best-selling memoir “The Age of Turbulence,” he defended the low-rate policy, which encouraged people to buy homes: “I believed then, as now, that the benefits of broadened homeownership are worth the risk. Protection of property rights, so critical to a market economy, requires a critical mass of owners to sustain political support.” ...
Two tier Keir calls it quits after the biggest Labour victory in decades in July 2024, had said he wouldn't and would fight
Joe Biden was once king of the heap, too, until his enemies to the left pushed him off.
That's the story in the UK, too, which CNBC doesn't tell you.
Socialist Andy Burnham led the rebellion against Starmer from within the Labour Party.
Burnham is a self-described enemy of British nationalism.
UK PM Starmer resigns as Britain faces its seventh leader in 10 years
... Keir Starmer’s resignation comes almost 10 years to the day since the U.K. voted to leave the European Union. His successor will be the country’s seventh leader in that period, underscoring how political and economic turmoil continue to unsettle British politics long after the Brexit process was concluded.
... Starmer’s government was ultimately weakened by dwindling poll ratings, Labour infighting and growing public frustration over its failure to deliver quickly on growth and the cost of living. ...
Sunday, June 21, 2026
The UK Labour Party is cracking up as socialist Andy Burnham is set to challenge Starmer
UK minister says PM Starmer is considering ‘political realities’ amid leadership pressure
... The threat to Starmer’s position, which has been building for months, increased sharply on Friday when former Greater Manchester Mayor Burnham won a seat in parliament that will allow him to launch a formal leadership challenge.
Starmer’s unpopularity was laid bare by the ruling party’s heavy losses in local elections in May, and polls of Labour party members indicate Burnham would win such a contest.
... Starmer has previously said he would stand in any formal Labour Party leadership contest that sought to replace him.
Leadership contenders need to amass the support of 81 Labour members of parliament - a fifth of those sitting - to launch a formal challenge.
Saturday, June 20, 2026
The Reflecting Pool paint job made it almost two weeks, the Iran peace deal almost one
Iran reportedly closes Strait of Hormuz again, casting shadow over nuclear talks
Which is better? Two Weeks Trump, or One Week Trump?

















