President Trump said on Friday that the U.S. agreed to continue talks with Iran, but it will not adhere to the ceasefire anymore.

Why it matters: Trump's post on Truth Social follows ongoing de-escalation efforts by regional mediators over the last 48 hours to prevent the total collapse of the U.S.-Iran deal.

- While Trump announced on Wednesday that the ceasefire is "over" and stressed he has very little faith that talks with Iran can produce a credible deal, he is allowing negotiators to engage with the Iranians.

(Continue Reading – Axios)

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, fresh off a landmark US stock offering for the conglomerate’s memory-chip business, said he has an ambitious plan to invest more money in America.

SK Group is already putting more than $35 billion into the US, Chey said Friday in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “My plan is at a much bigger number,” he said, “much, much, much bigger than $35 billion.”

(Continue Reading – Bloomberg)

A major housing bill will go into effect at midnight on Saturday without Donald Trump’s signature, after the president said he would refuse to sign the legislation because Congress has not approved new restrictions on voting nationwide.

The measure, known as the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, is the biggest change to federal policy for buyers, renters and homebuilders in decades, and Congress approved it with large margins last month after lengthy negotiations between Democrats and Republicans.

But Trump has tied the bill to the Save America Act, which would impose a host of new restrictions on voters and state election officials nationwide ahead of November’s midterm elections, in which Republicans will be defending their majorities in the Senate and the House of Representatives. A version of the Save America Act passed the House in February, but it is opposed by Senate Democrats and lacks the votes in that chamber to overcome the filibuster.

(Continue Reading – Guardian)

Last month marked a return of investor favour towards the USD. The ongoing AI boom is keeping US assets attractive, warranting equity inflows. Meanwhile, the Fed’s hawkish outlook in its ‘dot plot’, together with indications that new Fed Chair Warsh will not oppose a tight monetary policy, has widened rate differentials.

At the same time, the structural current account deficit has narrowed due to higher US energy exports and weaker imports in light of softer consumer demand. As a result, fewer inflows are needed to balance USD outflows. We have acknowledged these developments by revising our USD outlook to near-term robustness and less-pronounced long-term weakness. We are refraining from an outright bullish stance, however, as markets may still have to price out the expected Fed rate hike.

(Continue Reading – Julius Baer)

2026 in charts – revisited

It’s that time of year when economists reflect on all the calls they got right over the past six months. And all the calls they would have got right had it not been for the Strait of Hormuz, cold weather, hot weather, dodgy data, Ireland or *checks notes* Harry Styles.

So let me join this humble and not-at-all sincere tradition of self-reflection by revisiting two pieces I wrote back in January: 10 questions for 2026 answered with 10 charts. How have they aged?

(Continue Reading – ING)