Aggregator

Another day, another bit of WNBA drama.

Olympic soccer star Trinity Rodman said she was embarrassed to share how she pursued her boyfriend, American tennis player Ben Shelton.

The "American Pie" star said she's remaining "mysterious" on her OnlyFans page — for now.

The "American Pie" star said she's remaining "mysterious" on her OnlyFans page — for now.

Alex Murdaugh is set to return to a South Carolina courtroom Friday as his defense presses to toss the murder case and narrow what evidence jurors can hear in a retrial that one former federal prosecutor says comes with a new strategic reality: the defense has “played all their cards.” The disbarred attorney is scheduled...

More Than Two-Thirds Of The Power Sought For US Data Centers Will Never Materialize

It was almost a year ago, in November 2025, when we first calculated that the AI supercycle was facing a huge problem: namely, a power shortfall of (at least) 44 nuclear power plants, or GW or energy, by 2028.

A Huge Problem For The AI Revolution: A Power Shortfall Of 44 Nuclear Power Plants By 2028 https://t.co/2ciiUudp8T

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 12, 2025

Fast forward to last week when we made another stunning discovery: the reason why Texas Gov Abbott froze the rollout of new data centers in his state is because the number of interconnection requests facing ERCOT had risen to a mindblowing 474 GW (of which 90% were data centers), when the state's highest ever power demand just hit 91GW. Needless to say, this will never happen in (maybe) a hundred years, but it does prompt the question we have been asking for years: where will the energy come from.

How mathematically impossible is the energy math behind the data center rollout? Just Texas alone is facing 474GW of interconnection requests (ERCOT), of which 90% is data centers. Which is why gov Abbott froze rollout of new data centers in Texas.

For context, ERCOT all-time… pic.twitter.com/sdl26FPmwL

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 8, 2026

Well, as it turns out, the answer is nowhere. According to new projections from Wood Mackenzie, zmore than two-thirds of the electricity sought for the artificial intelligence boom in the US isn't likely to materialize due to "phantom" projects and long-shot pitches.

The consultancy, which was inspired by not only our recent use of the term "bragawatts", but the Bernstein report it came from (link here for pro subs) which reached the same conclusion...

Think it's just about tokens? Think again: the next AI crisis is real compute vs "bragawatts"

"We certainly don’t have a crystal ball, but we have spent a lot of time in the data center industry and think we’re pretty good at sniffing out the real builds from the “bragawatts”.…

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) July 21, 2026

... said it sees US grid operators and utilities likely committing to about 28% of the 1,066 gigawatts requested for data center projects (as most know by now, a gigawatt is the equivalent generating capacity of a traditional nuclear reactor: enough energy to power about 750,000 households for a year, or about 10-30 data centers).

While certainly no one expects every proposed project to be built, Bloomberg notes that the data reveals how inflated projections of future power demand complicate planning and budgeting by utilities and grid operators. That can translate into higher utility bills, since capital costs for upgrading infrastructure are typically covered through rate hikes.

"Everyone's trying to figure out the rules of the road in order to make this the most efficient process without increasing grid prices," said Alex Klaessig, co-founder of energy market intelligence firm Halcyon.

Developers have been taking a shotgun approach to pitching projects to utilities, seeking to get ahead in the AI build-out. That's overwhelming US grids and creating even more data center bottlenecks. The explosion of requests is stretching approval timelines, forcing more applications to be vetted than ever before, and threatening to undermine US efforts to compete in the global AI race. It's what prompted Texas to put a pause on all data center construction.

Of course, the counterfactual by the pro-AI lobby immediately emerged, to wit: "If we don't allow these data centers to come online as fast as we can, then we might lose the future benefits of AI," Klaessig said, oblivious that the future benefits of AI are already as good as lost when one considers that at this very moment China is building 37 nuclear reactors while the US is building... zero.

Meanwhile, just like double (and triple, and quadruple) ordering in the semiconductor industry, some developers are pitching the same project to multiple utilities, with plans to push ahead with the application that lands the best deal and speediest approval. That creates what the industry calls "phantom" applications, complicating efforts to accurately forecast true power demand.

"Grid operators don't know which ones are real and which ones aren't," said Glenn Schwartz, who heads energy policy at consulting firm Rapidan Energy Group. He estimates that only 20% to 30% of the power that developers are seeking will go toward projects that get built, due in part to phantom requests.

Flooded grid queues aren't specific to data centers: renewables projects are regularly hampered by long wait times to connect to electrical networks across the world.

While it's impossible to determine how many requests are duplicates, Reid Ramdathsingh of Rystad Energy estimates about half of the applications are credible on the biggest US grid, operated by PJM Interconnection LLC, which serves 67 million Americans from Illinois to Virginia. He sees 14% of applications as legitimate on the main grid in Texas, a state that has seen the fastest data center growth.

PJM said in a statement that it has taken steps to improve the forecasting of large loads.

Of course, the 1,066 gigawatts of applications cited by Wood Mackenzie would require a staggering jump in US electric capacity. The amount represents 83% of the nation's total utility-scale generation capacity at the end of last year, according to the US Energy Information Administration. 

Making matters worse and adding to the chaos, many applications are from firms with no prior experience building facilities with energy needs that can rival mid-sized cities. The projects of those first-time developers are often disproportionately large, though generally less likely to come to fruition than those from well-established big technology firms, said Wood Mackenzie analyst Caitlin Connelly.

To crack down on the barrage of requests, many utilities have introduced steep upfront application costs, demanding big-money collateral and near-perfect credit ratings. Such requirements are squeezing small to mid-sized developers that often pay project costs up front and then sell completed facilities to well-capitalized AI companies.

Getting through a queue used to be straightforward with utilities offering up electricity to developers, according to Brad Richter, senior vice president of energy at Hut 8 Corp., which manages 11 data centers. Now, for the most part, utilities are saying, 'I don't have it anymore,'" Richter said, noting that those power providers are increasingly "closed for business."

As we reported previously, Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered regulators on Aug. 3 to audit every data center seeking access to the state's main grid, effectively pausing those projects' approvals until reviews are complete. His surprise call puts $13 billion in industry revenues at risk and threatens to delay almost a fifth of America's data center pipeline in the medium term, according to BloombergNEF.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas is tracking about 474 gigawatts of connection requests, with around 90% of those from data centers, according to Abbott. That total, Bloomberg notes paraphrasing verbatim what we said earlier this week,  "is more than five times the system's record peak demand."

Ercot uses multiple screening stages to distinguish between speculative and credible projects, a spokesperson said.

Exelon Corp., a utility owner serving customers from Illinois to Delaware, in July slashed its pipeline of energy demands from data centers by nearly 40%, leaving a queue of about 11 gigawatts. Exelon is prioritizing connection requests that are likely to come to fruition.

"Utilities are using what they'll refer to as a 'first-ready, first-served' model, as opposed to a 'first-come, first-served' model, to weed out folks that really don't have the capability to deliver," said Brian Janous of Cloverleaf Infrastructure LLC, which works with utilities to develop ready-to-build sites for data center users and providers. 

And for a more detailed follow up on what this lack of energy means, we urge readers to go through the latest report by Bernstein's Madison Rezaei, titled "Data Center Pipeline Probabilities: Separating the credible developers from dudes with PowerPoints," (available to pro subscribers), in which the bank writes that "of the 492GW of capacity currently in our dataset, we anticipate 33% (135GW) are credible builds. There are a series of haircuts in progress here, the most meaningful of which is the stage - we consider physical construction progress to be a major indicator of credibility, whereas shiny press releases only go so far. The tenant haircut is the next most pronounced - for a high-quality, IG tenant, certainty goes up; whereas for some of the miners or longtail neoclouds, credibility is lower. The sponsor haircut is also meaningful, though less so than the prior two - this is a fast-moving space and we didn’t want to overpenalize new entrants who are showing clear signs of development and tenant signing. And finally, while there is lots of talk of NIMBYism and legislative hurdles, it is not a big loss for DC builds today (in fairness, we are grandfathering in builds that are already in progress)."

Rezaei continues: "We’re infrastructure people, so we tend to skew conservative and not give meaningful credit for announcements before we see progress of builds. That’s how we end up at the ~33% build rate. Importantly, we are not taking a stand (today) on the actual timing of that pipeline. The dataset would suggest target delivery of ~88GW by the end of 2028 (highly unlikely). We would consider the 135GW number to be a 5-10 year build (almost certainly undercounting for the out years)."

Bottom line: very little of the bombastic projections you see and hear every single day about the pace and size of the AI rollout will ever materialize. That also means that so much of the capital already invested in said rollout will be wasted. The question is how big the negative impact on stocks will be when people finally do the math. 

More in the Bernstein report available to pro subs.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/14/2026 - 09:20

Fears about AI disrupting white-collar jobs are pushing more young Californians toward skilled trades and apprenticeships.

The movie that brought Matthew McConaughey back to the big screen is about to arrive in theaters nationwide, and hardly anyone has heard about it.

The race for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year figures to be wide open.

Norman took aim at “GMA” host Michael Strahan’s interview with the parents of a dead Mississippi teen.

Farage Crushes Clacton By-Election With 63% As Comedy Candidates Dominate Longest Ballot In British History

Nigel Farage has romped to victory in the Clacton by-election with 63.3% of the vote, seeing off 33 rivals including Count Binface, who won a quarter of the votes cast, on the longest ballot paper in British electoral history.

The Reform UK leader secured victory with 22,239 votes, which was 63.3% of the total vote and an increase on the 21,225 votes he secured when he was elected to the Essex seat at the 2024 General Election.

Count Binface, a comedian standing as a 5,900-year-old space warrior whose key policy was to freeze the price of ice cream in Clacton at 99p, was second with 9,455 votes, 26.9% of the total vote.

Mr Farage had triggered the poll and cast it as a ‘people vs the Establishment’ contest amid mounting questions over a £5 million donation from cryptocurrency tycoon Christopher Harborne.

However, a parliamentary inquiry into Mr Harborne’s donation has yet to conclude, and Mr Farage could still face another by-election within months if he is found to have broken House of Commons rules. He is expected to be interviewed by a standards watchdog within weeks of MPs returning to Westminster after their summer break.

The Reform leader, 62, declared himself the winner of the Clacton by-election in the early hours of Friday morning while ballot papers were still being counted. He then took the unprecedented step of skipping the formal result declaration, with his party claiming police had advised him to stay away due to a ‘credible threat’.

But, as Mark Angelides reports for LibertyNation.com, none of the big parties fielding a contender, what remains is who wins the narrative war.

Farage Stands Down to Step Up

The election was triggered by Farage resigning his seat last month. He did so voluntarily because of mounting stories over his financial situation, including donations and gifts he had received before running for Parliament. His argument was that it should be the voters of Clacton who decide his political fate rather than a scrutiny committee.

To be abundantly clear, Mr. Farage receiving a gift of £5 million is not illegal. Not declaring it is a breach of protocol because it occurred within 12 months of him running for office. With his return to the House of Commons, the internal investigation will continue. But what is the likely outcome? And what punishment – if any – is likely to befall the veteran campaigner?

If he is found to have broken the rules, the committee could suspend him from the House for a short period. In such a case, there is a possibility of a recall petition that would trigger a fresh by-election – which poses a conundrum. The purpose of such a contest would be to determine whether his Clacton constituency still had faith in him to be its Member of Parliament. This question was put to bed yesterday with Farage increasing his vote count and share compared with the 2024 general election.

And crucially, Nigel will have spent the last six weeks in his constituency gathering data. If he ends up having to fight yet another election, he will have up-to-date major information which other parties do not have access to. When it comes to campaigning, the data advantage cannot be underestimated.

But, as ever, the knives are out for Nigel Farage.

Establishment Closes Ranks

Former Prime Minister Keir Starmer, before his ousting, described Farage’s Reform Party as a threat to the nation. This is echoed across the myriad parties that make up British Parliament. In other recent by-elections, we have seen parties run what can best be described as paper candidates to unite around any party other than Reform.

The dominant narrative from the more established party leaders is that although they refused to stand a candidate in this “stunt” election triggered by Farage, they would certainly stand one in the potential next contest after the results of the scrutiny committee are released. But it is more than reasonable to argue that the other parties did engage in yesterday’s election. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch posted on social media that voters should support “the Bin,” a reference to a parody candidate, “Count Binface,” who wears a trashcan on his head and a shiny “spacesuit.” By tacitly backing any competitor – even a joke contender – the party essentially threw its hat in the ring. Notably, Count Binface came second with almost 27%.

A Political Parallel

The current mantra is that Nigel Farage has triggered an unnecessary election that has cost taxpayers roughly £250,000 and was an affront to voters. And yet the same voices uttered no such displeasure when now-PM Andy Burnham was the beneficiary of a palace coup through a similar mechanism earlier this year.

With around 24,000 votes from one of the Labour Party’s safest seats, Mr. Burnham was drafted into Parliament and installed as leader and PM without a general election or even a vote by the party members. For those who do not support Labour, there is the mild stench of hypocrisy.

Both politicians foisted a by-election on the British public to better secure their positions. One did so to retain his position, the other to gain advancement.

Where is Reform Now?

Mr. Farage’s Reform Party has dominated polling for the last 18 months. While Mr. Burnham’s Labour Party has received a polling bounce of around 6% – quite a typical bump when a leader is changed mid-Parliament – almost every survey has suggested Reform would be the largest party at the next general election.

Farage is a threat to the Westminster establishment that has not been seen in at least 100 years. Assuming he navigates the committee's results and commits no major faux pas in the next three years, he may well be Prime Minister. And more so, he may be the harbinger of doom for the Conservative Party and relegate Labour to a desultory second-place finish.

It seems no wonder that the Westminster establishment wants to end his career as early as possible.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/14/2026 - 08:45

Freddy Peralta’s departure at the trade deadline has left a vacancy the Mets would love to fill with a highly regarded prospect.

"This is serious. That's why we're doing something about the fact that the students can't read at grade level."

World Cup Hangover Triggers Retail Sales Slump In July, K-Shaped Economy Waning

Based on BofA's almost omniscient analysts, traders should expect a big disappointment this morning from US retail sales as the bank's data showed a huge drop in online retail (card not present) in July...

...because Prime Day and related promotions were pulled forward from July to June this year. Many other retail categories also saw m/m declines, including clothing, gas (due to lower prices) and furniture. Other factors driving the weakness in July likely included the heat wave around July 4 weekend and a modest post-World-Cup hangover effect.

And once again, BofA was right... US Retail Sales plunged 0.6% MoM in July (+0.1% MoM exp) - the biggest MoM drop since May 2025. This drop slowed the annual rise in retail sales to +5.0% YoY (still solid)...

Interestingly, unadjusted retail sales rose in July...

Both headline and core sales growth slowed YoY...

Most importantly, the 'Control Group' - which plugs directly into GDP calculation - dropped 0.4% MoM (dramatically worse than the +0.3% MoM rise expected).

Additionally, UBS noted that a key risk to the July data was fading support from larger tax refunds compliments of the OBBBA and that could be part of the disappointment today.

Under the hood, it was very mixed. A drop in gasoline station spending makes sense as gas prices dropped (before re-accelerating in August)...

But, the decline in online (non-store) retailer sales stands out...

This was the second biggest MoM drop Nonstore Retailers sales since COVID (likely due to the calendar shift form Prime Day as mentioned above)...

Real retail sales - admittedly roughly adjusted for CPI - remains positive, but slowed significantly in July...

Finally, the The latest BofA data provides additional evidence that K-shaped dynamics are waning. In each of the four weeks ending Aug 1, y/y total BAC card spending growth was stronger among lower- than higher-income HHs.

And this isn’t just due to higher gas prices. Even in discretionary categories, the “K” has turned into a “C” over the last couple of months: lower-income spending looks solid, while higher-income spending has cooled off modestly.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/14/2026 - 08:38

A deal we're twirling over.

Why you might want to catch Anne Hathaway once more at the multiplex this summer.

Drew Allar is looking like the future of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Poosh creator posed at the "Travis Barker: Louder Than Fear" documentary premiere with her husband and the three children he shares with Moakler.

The Poosh creator posed at the "Travis Barker: Louder Than Fear" documentary premiere with her husband and the three children he shares with Moakler.

The Rangers now have a massive Jacob deGrom concern.