Aggregator

The End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act, also known as Deb’s Law, took effect on Sept. 12.

Prepare for people to ask you: "what are you wearing?"

Bob Odenkirk narrates the audiobook version of superagent Ari Emanuel's upcoming memoir — but friends of the "Better Call Saul" star and longtime Emanuel client are aghast that he's not mentioned in the book.

Marilyn Chinitz dishes about the book she was urged to write by the late Howard Bragman and the high-profile divorce between Lululemon founder Chip Wilson and his soon-to-be ex-wife, Shannon.

Treasury Sanctions Crypto Exchange Behind Iran's Bitcoin Tolls On Hormuz Ships

Via Decrypt.co,

The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned BitBank, naming the Iranian exchange it says carried the Bitcoin that shipping companies paid for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

Since June, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said, the Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority has used BitBank to pass the payments it collects on to the Iranian regime. That authority was the body charging vessels in Bitcoin for transit rights, a scheme Treasury designated in July.

Today, as part of Operation Economic Outcast, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated key components of the Iranian regime's digital assets-based sanctions evasion infrastructure. Targets include BitBank, a priority digital assets...

— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) September 17, 2026

Between June and July, Treasury says, BitBank was used to move "hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of Bitcoin" to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

BitBank is controlled by Babak Zanjani, an Iranian financier OFAC designated in January. Sentenced to death in Iran in 2016 for embezzling from the National Iranian Oil Company, he had his sentence commuted in 2024 and resurfaced last year backing regime-linked ventures. Treasury says he has been advertising BitBank on his social media accounts since at least 2024.

Four more designations

The action also covers Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, which built BitBank's software and is a subsidiary of the already-designated Dot One Value Creation Group, along with three Dot One executives: Hossein Ali Zaker Hossein, Mohammad Mahdi Zaker Hossein and Seyed Adel Heidari.

Treasury describes the first as involved in most of Zanjani's sanctions evasion, including oil exports, and says he has brokered digital asset transactions that ended up with the IRGC.

All five were designated under Executive Order 13902, which the administration extended in August to cover anyone operating in Iran's digital asset sector. It is the authority Treasury has been using since to work through the network, including the crypto exchanges it designated for laundering Iranian funds.

"Efforts to finance the Iranian regime using cryptocurrencies are not beyond OFAC's reach," said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

"If you support the Iranian regime, the Department of the Treasury will sanction you."

The designations fall under Operation Economic Outcast, the campaign Bessent announced on August 24 and dubbed Economic D-Day, which Treasury says is aimed at severing Iran's remaining economic lifelines with help from the EU, the UK and Gulf partners.

U.S. assets belonging to the five are blocked, as are any entities they own half or more of, and non-U.S. firms dealing with them risk secondary sanctions.

Traders do not expect the pressure to lift soon. On Myriad, a prediction market developed by Decrypt's parent company Dastan, the odds of Washington announcing an end to its naval blockade of Iranian shipping by September 30 have fallen to 10%, down 30 points. Even a December 31 deadline is only a 60% shot.

Tyler Durden Fri, 09/18/2026 - 09:40

Despite 'Soft' Survey Strength, US Manufacturing Unexpectedly Tumbled In August

US Industrial Production disappointed in August, unchanged MoM vs expectations of a 0.3% MoM rise.

Capacity Utilization was flat MoM (slight disappointment to expectations...

Worse still, manufacturing production seemingly hit an unexpected wall in August, falling 0.3% MoM versus an expectation of rising 0.3% MoM. That was the biggest monthl;y drop since Oct 2025 and dragged growth down to just 0.9% YoY...

This was 'odd' since ISM Manufacturing survey data has shown a sizable uptick this year...

...or maybe it's just another useless survey signal?

Tyler Durden Fri, 09/18/2026 - 09:30

A waymo had trouble navigating Phoenix streets during a flood in September.

Although the 15-year-old was granted bond last week, his release date from Atlanta’s Metro Regional Youth Detention Center has yet to be announced.

Although the 15-year-old was granted bond last week, his release date from Atlanta’s Metro Regional Youth Detention Center has yet to be announced.

“Saturday Night Live” has added two featured players to the cast, Saidah Belo-Osagie and Grace Reiter. Reiter exclusively sat down with Page Six in Dec. 2025 to chat about her viral YouTube parody “Hunger Games (but better)” — and if she’d ever do “SNL.” Tune in to NBC on Sept. 26 for the Season 52...

“Saturday Night Live” has added two featured players to the cast, Saidah Belo-Osagie and Grace Reiter. Reiter exclusively sat down with Page Six in Dec. 2025 to chat about her viral YouTube parody “Hunger Games (but better)” — and if she’d ever do “SNL.” Tune in to NBC on Sept. 26 for the Season 52...

Caitlin Clark is getting ahead of potential issues she may have with WNBA referees. 

Defense Stocks Fall Out Of Favor. Polymarket Might Have The Answer As To Why

The S&P Aerospace & Defense Select Industry Index is little changed year to date, despite conflicts across Eurasia and expectations that a coming rearmament cycle will substantially boost missile and bomb production. The muted performance highlights a disconnect between investor appetite and the Trump administration's anticipated expansion of defense production.

Allyson Gordon, UBS head of Americas sector specialists, explained in a note to clients on Thursday that US aerospace and defense stocks were being weighed down by elevated bond yields and weakness in individual names.

ATI, Carpenter Technology, RTX and Lockheed Martin were among the names drawing attention, Gordon said. She said her trading desk attributed much of the weakness to broader sentiment and investor fatigue with the aerospace trade, rather than a clear deterioration in operating conditions.

"Some investors have pointed to Wednesday's weakness in Boeing as a possible contributor to today's pressure on original equipment names, although the desk has not heard anything from recent management meetings that would explain the magnitude of the move. In fact, recent feedback has generally been more constructive. On the aftermarket side, GE was said to have delivered a confident message on demand trends, with no signs of weakness emerging in 2026 or 2027," the analyst said. 

She continued: 

Defense shares also struggled, with LMT coming under pressure during management commentary on margins. However, the reaction appeared larger than any incremental change in the company's message versus Q2. More broadly, the sector has fallen back out of favor following the post-Q2 earnings squeeze, and investors remain reluctant to add exposure despite increasingly reasonable valuations. Feedback around Gavin's recent LMT upgrade has largely centered on a wait-and-see approach, with many investors preferring to stay on the sidelines until after the midterms.

The desk continues to field questions about whether defense could serve as a relative refuge amid broader market volatility. While that argument reflects a market increasingly driven by a process of elimination, investor interest has recently gravitated more toward select government IT names, where positive reactions to Q2 results have shown greater staying power.

A chart comparing the inverse 30-year Treasury yield with the UBS Aerospace basket highlights how a wide divergence that emerged earlier this summer has now largely closed, underscoring the extent to which aerospace equities have repriced alongside the rates backdrop.

The broader problem for defense bulls is a lack of willing buyers. Following a rally after second-quarter earnings, the sector has slipped out of favor again. Why is that?

One possible explanation is investor concern that a change in Senate control could complicate negotiations over the timing, size, and composition of defense funding. Congress determines appropriations, making congressional negotiations key to the funding process.

Our chart compares Polymarket pricing on Senate control after the midterms with the S&P Aerospace & Defense Select Industry Index, with one series inverted. The comparison may suggest why investors are exiting the trade. 

Beyond the repricing of defense stocks due to rising bond yields that Gordon described, uncertainty surrounding post-election defense funding negotiations offers another reasonable explanation for investor caution.

Tyler Durden Fri, 09/18/2026 - 09:20

"Like a slap in the face."

Sophie Cunningham said she was inundated with messages asking her to weigh in on the controversial Novig ad featuring Sydney Sweeney, who posed nude for the sports gambling company.

The Sussexes pulled Archie and Lilibet out of their prep school two days into their term due to security issues.

The Sussexes pulled Archie and Lilibet out of their prep school two days into their term due to security issues.

“She’s funny. She’s got such a great sense of humor," the "Mission: Impossible" star gushed of the singer.

“She’s funny. She’s got such a great sense of humor," the "Mission: Impossible" star gushed of the singer.

Adult Film Stars Join Left-Wing Voter Registration Push Ahead Of Midterms

Via American Greatness,

A progressive voter-registration group is turning to adult film performers and a $100,000 advertising campaign in an effort to reach Georgia voters ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Hot2Vote’s Atlanta campaign features about 100 adult performers urging residents to check their voter-registration status, according to reporting Thursday on the effort.

The campaign is expected to use digital advertising, videos, pin-up-style posters and appearances, with some ads geographically targeted around adult entertainment venues.

Adult performers Kimmy Kimm, Cherie DeVille and King Noire are among those participating in videos directing Georgians to verify their registration.

The effort follows significant maintenance of Georgia’s voter rolls. In 2025, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office sent cancellation notices to 477,883 registrations that had remained inactive through the 2022 and 2024 general elections. State officials said the process was required under state and federal law and gave affected voters 40 days to respond before cancellation.

The cancellations have faced a legal challenge from voting-rights groups. Raffensperger’s office said in March that the lawsuit concerns nearly half a million inactive registrations canceled in 2025 and maintains the removals complied with state and federal requirements.

Georgia’s general election is scheduled for Nov. 3.

* * * Order by midnight Sunday

Tyler Durden Fri, 09/18/2026 - 09:00