Magnificent resilience

The U.S. Central Command said it carried out a 13th consecutive night of strikes on Iran while President Trump floated the notion of a larger-scale attack, “bigger than anything seen in the war so far.”

Treasury yields momentarily struck a 17-month high above 4.7%. As of Friday morning, however, the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note’s yield was closer to 4.68%. Yesterday's creepy climb reflects a general view among holders of American debt that, all things considered — chiefly, inflation and out-of-control government spending — that it’s not at all unwarranted to insist, in this time of war, on higher interest rates. Keep a close eye on the 10-year possibly, painfully for risk assets, pushing toward a 5% handle, experts caution.

More wartime consequences: Brent crude futures yesterday soared toward $100 per barrel for the first time since May as traders absorbed unsettling twists in the supply shock plot courtesy of Yemen-based Houthi rebels disrupting Saudi Arabian shipping traffic in the Red Sea. 

Keep in mind that Brent ultimately settled at about $97 as of 7 a.m. (EST) this morning. Still, the global oil benchmark is on pace for an 11% gain this week. That would represent the Brent contract’s best week since early 2022 at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The giants of technology got trounced yesterday. Alphabet and Tesla, two of the biggest behemoths riding on the AI infrastructure bandwagon, sent shivers throughout the investment world with reports (put out late Wednesday) of outsized capital expenditure plans that only reinforced concerns that Big Tech is going overboard. 

A check of “Magnificent 7” names reveals this cadre of mega-cap companies — Alphabet (Google’s parent) and Tesla as well as Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Meta — together shed nearly $800B in combined market value on Thursday. TSLA alone fell 14%. It was the worst day for the “Mag 7” since President Trump announced his first round of sweeping tariffs. 

And speaking of Trump and tariffs — whoop, there it is — a newly revealed U.S.-imposed tariff regime impacting dozens of countries, effective today. The 10% to 12.5% duties, linked ostensibly to an effort to crackdown on forced labor practices, effectively replace Trump’s expiring 10% global tariffs, CNBC reports.

Despite the tech sell-off and tariff consternation, plus a war that is rapidly re-escalating and crude oil once again spiking, Bitcoin remained surprisingly sturdy near $65,000. As of 7:30 a.m. (EST), BTC, per CoinGecko, was $64,999, down 1% over the previous 24-hour period.

It was, as CoinDesk noted, “a rare stretch of independence for an asset that has tracked the AI trade all month.”

Meanwhile, big altcoins went their own way, losing slightly more ground relative to BTC. ETH and XRP each declined 2% over the past day. DOGE fell 3%.

Most “Big Ten” coins are shaded slightly green on the week save for HYPE which is down 3% compared to last Friday.

In one of the more lively blockchain — and bovine — use-cases ever recorded, Brazil’s B3 stock exchange facilitated a structured loan backed by ten tokenized dairy cows.

“The transaction introduces a new way for livestock farmers to expand their access to credit by using cattle as collateral,” Cointelegraph said of the deal co-structured by a Brazilian investment fund, Target FIDC.

According to Cointelegraph, the transaction involved a loan of $100,000 BRL ($19,600 USD) secured by ten cows valued at about $120,000 BRL ($23,500 USD). The loan was sought by Fazenda Engenho Velho farm located in the southern region of the country.

Each cow received a unique digital token linked to an encrypted digital identity, Cointelegraph explained. An agricultural tech company, Cowmed, is said to have furnished AI-powered smart collars capable of monitoring each cow’s physical state, minimizing the need for inspections. Cowmed has said it presently monitors some 100,000 dairy cows across 1,000 Brazilian farms.