Trump promises Philadelphia gas discounts ahead of July 4, claims oil prices are 'plummeting'

 President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that fuel prices will be lowered at select gas stations in the Philadelphia area just ahead of the Fourth of July holiday, as he boasted that oil and gas prices are dropping.

On Friday, Freedom Fuel Network will be lowering gas prices at 25 stations across the Greater Philadelphia Area, according to Trump.

"As we approach America’s 250th Birthday, I am pleased to announce that a VERY smart Retailer, located throughout the Northeast, is stepping up, and wishing the People of Philadelphia a 'Happy Birthday!'" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump said Freedom Fuel Network is "taking the lead" and urged other retailers to follow.

"They are doing this because they love the U.S.A. We are proud to celebrate America’s 250th Birthday in the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Birthplace of our very special, one-of-a-kind Declaration of Independence," he wrote.

"America has never been stronger than it is now, and Gas Prices will soon be back to the Record Low Prices Americans enjoyed at the pump before our very successful 'excursion' in Iran. Happy Birthday America!" the president continued.

He said that fuel prices are dipping, but not at the rate he would like to see.

"Just as I promised, Oil Prices are plummeting FAST, and Gas Prices at the pump are dropping too, but not as fast as they should be," Trump said.

Freedom Fuel Network will be lowering gas prices at 25 stations across the Greater Philadelphia Area on Friday. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

This comes after the president demanded on Monday that gasoline retailers lower their prices "IMMEDIATELY!" Last week, he threatened a federal price-gouging investigation against them.

Trump argued in his Monday post that gas prices are still "too high" despite a dip in crude oil futures to near levels seen before the recent U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, and urged retailers to target an average gas price of around $2.50 per gallon, which would be less than the roughly $3-per-gallon national average seen before the conflict, depending on the date and source.

"Gasoline Retailers must get their Prices down, IMMEDIATELY! They’re too high considering that Oil is now at $68 a Barrel, and heading south. The Retailers must quickly react to this statement, and do what they know is right — DROP YOUR PRICE FOR OUR GREAT AMERICAN PEOPLE! There will be no gauging, which is totally illegal. If Retailers don’t do this, big problems lie ahead!" he said on Monday.

"Start targeting around the $2.50 a Gallon number, and California should stop charging such heavy Taxes on their Gasoline. Soon the Tax will be higher than the Product itself, and the United States will not stand for it, nor will the People of California, who are being abused by these ridiculous Taxes, and by their own Government," he added.

The president has demanded that gasoline retailers lower their prices "IMMEDIATELY!" (Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images / Getty Images)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office responded to Trump's post on Monday by blaming the president for high fuel prices.

"REMINDER of what Trump said on March 12: 'When oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,'" the governor's press office wrote.

In another post, the press office wrote: "The GOP-enabled Iran war has now forced a growing $63 billion in extra fuel costs on Americans nationwide — that $243.14 per California household so far this year."

The current national average for gas is $3.847 per gallon, with some states such as California exceeding $5 per gallon, according to AAA. AAA listed California’s average at $5.414 per gallon and Pennsylvania’s average at $3.986 per gallon on Wednesday.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/trump-promises-philadelphia-gas-discounts-ahead-july-4-claims-oil-prices-plummeting

China’s Private Refiners Snap Up Middle East Oil as Prices Slide

 

China’s independent refiners are taking advantage of cheaper Middle Eastern oil after flows accelerated through the Strait of Hormuz, snapping up barrels from producers including Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Rongsheng Petrochemical Co. has bought Saudi crude on a spot basis for arrival in July, while Shandong Chambroad Petrochemicals Co. purchased Iraq’s Basrah grade for August, according to traders with knowledge of the matter. Another processor, Shenghong Petrochemical Group Co., acquired Upper Zakum from the United Arab Emirates, they said.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-02/china-s-private-refiners-snap-up-middle-east-oil-as-prices-slide

What's Behind The Plunging Won And Sudden Liquidity Collapse In Korean Markets

 South Korea’s won weakened for a fourth day as overseas investors accelerated their relentless sales of local stocks.

In response, USD/KRW rose 0.1% to 1,552.60, extending its four-day gain to 1.2% (i.e. KRW drop).

According to Barclays, pressure from both resident outflows and more recently in the case of Korea, heavy foreign outflows, could pose further headwinds even as exports performance remains robust and domestic equities extend their bubble. 

Let's take a closer look at what's driving the key moves in Korea.

Why was USDKRW higher?

Other than stronger USD, Goldman has been highlighting that rebalancing related equity outflow has been the dominating factor. Equity outflow from Jun 22nd till month-end amounted to US$18bn, bringing total Jun equity outflow to US$30bn. This follows the US$27bn outflow observed in May. As of today, Samsung and Hynix are 32% and 30% of MSCI Korea respectively, which are 7% and 5% above the 25% single stock limit. A combined 12% rebalancing effort would lead to another US$24bn outflow with US$200bn AUM (passive and active) estimated tracking MSCI Korea.

Additionally, other portfolio concentration limits such as UCITS and HF internal concentration limit rule are also likely to be driving the rebalancing related outflows. In terms of timing, some fast money rebalancing is relatively real time, while many real money and passive investors may rebalance at quarter-ends which led to more concentrated outflows.

FX hedging need by foreign investors drove RHS USDKRW demand. Goldman estimates average foreigners’ FX hedging ratio for Korean equities to be 10-15%, and the hedging mainly happens in offshore NDF market. As of March-end, foreigners’ exposure to Korean equities was US$1tn. Due to the 68% expansion in market cap in KOSPI in Q2, the associated FX hedging need rose by an estimate of US$68-US$102bn (US$1000*68%* 10-15%) during the quarter. This has led to sharp increase in RHS NDF hedging demand, some of which concentrated at quarter end as well. 

Other than above-mentioned hedging dynamics, FX hedging demand by USD-denominated total return swaps with leveraged equity underlying provided to offshore clients by local security houses via intermediaries also likely added to FX hedging demand in NDF market, especially as equity marketcap expanded quickly in Q2.  

Why did liquidity tighten?

• Sharp rise in borrowing by securities firm was likely the main driver behind tighter onshore liquidity. Surge in onshore retail margin trading and leveraged single-stock ETFs caused sharp rise in funding needs of local securities firms. In particular, with leveraged ETF, the need to post futures margin for hedging positions for securities firms drove the borrowing demand.

• Local news reported securities firms’ commercial paper and short-term bonds issuances exceeded KRW100tn each month and accounted for 80% of short-term bond issuance in recent months.

• Decline of collateral value for securities firms facing offshore counterparties worsens the liquidity situation. When local securities firms face offshore intermediaries on total return swaps, they not only have rising needs to post margins from underlying stock advance, but also from declining collateral value as KRW FX depreciated and KTB sold off. These dynamics further increased securities firms’ margin requirement in KRW terms, which in turn added to their local borrowing demand. Similar situation happened in late 2022 with KRW and KTB sold off sharply at the same time during BOK hiking cycle. Looking forward, local news reports Samsung securities plans KRW600tn short-term issuance in Jul, indicating such liquidity tightness is unlikely to ease. 
• Forthcoming BOK hike (starting in Jul per GIR base case) likely also added to the expectation of higher funding costs ahead.
• Goldman has observed widening of spread between NDF curve offshore and onshore FX swap. This could be a result of unwinding onshore-offshore arbitrage positions as RHS hedging demand caused sharp surge in NDF points. 

Looking ahead, if Korean equity continues to charge higher in a volatile fashion, combined with likely BOK hikes, Goldman thinks such liquidity environment is likely to stay or tighten further. Thus NDF points are likely to stay elevated and the bank prefers pay on dip. In a strong USD environment, KRW FX pressure is unlikely to ease from external forces, which does not help NDF points to fall either. On the other hand, if Korean equities fall meaningfully, NDF points may retrace, as smaller notional exposure to Korean equities by foreigners (either direct or leveraged) would reduce the associated FX hedging.

On FX spot, it is much harder to see sustained equity inflow in the short term: If Samsung/Hynix continue to lead KOSPI higher, equity rebalancing related outflow would further dominate; if equities fall, broad-based outflow is likely to follow which is likely to offset the positive FX impact from unwind of RHS hedging. Only when equities fall substantially so that Samsung & Hynix’s market cap fall under the concentration limits, a recovery from there may attract inflows.

Thus equity outflow may continue to weigh on KRW in the near future.

As market unwinds debasement trades and USD remains resilient, Goldman expects USDKRW may further rise gradually, with authorities’ various smoothing efforts help to limit the speed of KRW depreciation. Although Korean exporter USD selling is expected to rise as export grows organically and domestic capex expands, given current exporter conversion is already relatively high, Goldman expects large and volatile equity related flows to remain dominant for USDKRW path ahead. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/whats-behind-plunging-won-and-sudden-liquidity-collapse-korean-markets

Simplest Hobby for Boosting Mental Health

 I recently finished reading Michael Kimmelman’s The Intimate City, a freewheeling tome in which the longtime architecture critic meets with urban planners, developers, historians and designers for walks around New York City neighborhoods. It was a pandemic project, and the interviews naturally reflect that, but Kimmelman and guests offer decades of context, timely critique and hopeful prognostications for each area they amble through, from Jackson Heights to Rockefeller Center.

I picked up some different architectural terms in the course of reading (and learned some fascinating bits of city history, too), but ultimately my relationship with the book was more spiritual than technical. The Intimate City reminded me to look up, to savor, to consider what’s there and what isn’t. Buoyed by the read, I recharged the battery pack in my Canon Rebel TS7 and set out on a photo safari.

What Is a Photo Safari?

Simply put, a photo safari is a long walk with a camera. I’ve taken them for years, off and on, sometimes forgetting I ever did them at all, until something like The Intimate City drops into my life and I start them back up again. Sometimes I’ll remember I should take one thanks to a seasonal peg, like when the leaves get golden-red in Greenpoint’s McGolrick Park. Here’s one I took one in my home neighborhood of Williamsburg to shoot the area’s ever-growing collection of hand-painted murals.

There’s no such thing as a proper “photo safari.” At its core, it’s just an animated walkabout, predicated more on the intention of getting outside than going anywhere in particular. The inclusion of the camera is meant to anchor the activity, imbuing it with a sense of adventure and focus. You’re on the hunt for vignettes that mean something to you. There are no wrong answers.

Don’t Worry About the Quality

Now, that doesn’t mean you’re going to take good photos — although, in the process, you will probably get better at taking them. But it doesn’t matter either way. As Vox covered in an interview with Thomas Curran, author of The Perfection Trap, it’s okay to suck at hobbies. Mediocrity shouldn’t dictate the intensity or lifespan of your connection to photography, especially when the stakes are this low. (Consider: everyone with a phone in their pocket these days is a photographer.)

This is more about finding another way to get outside for a walk, which we know is one of the the best natural mood-boosters available to us. It’s also about embracing an offbeat way to engage with the world around you.

As Trent Dalton’s protagonist Eli Bell masters in Boy Swallows Universe, life’s lived in details. Aspirational photography has a tendency to turn on one’s detail-hunting sensors; all of a sudden you’re studying the tops of townhouses, sitting in parks you’ve never stopped by before, spotting license plates from out of town, seeing dogs everywhere, stumbling into new coffee shops or old boxing gyms.

Instead of fretting over your imperfect “fitness” this year, try embracing existence’s endless backdoors to improved “wellness.” Wellness is as simple as the eagerness of your worldly interactions. It’s checking yourself back into the game. Bring your kid along if you like, leave your phone at home (I rate this one as an excellent starter camera, by the way) and go see what’s out there.

Tanner Garrity is a senior editor at InsideHook, where he’s covered wellness, travel, sports and pop culture since 2017

https://www.insidehook.com/mental-health/photography-hobby-mental-health

The Real Lesson Of America’s Rising Uninsured Rate

 by Sally Pipes

The number of uninsured Americans ticked upward to 26.7 million in 2024, according to an analysis published this month by KFF.

The report’s authors attribute that trend to the “high cost of private insurance and limited availability of public coverage.”

Unpack the numbers, though, and the situation becomes more complicated. The number of uninsured is simply not a useful heuristic for evaluating the U.S. healthcare system.

First, consider just how big the United States is. The number of people without insurance is a tiny fraction of the overall population—about 7.8%.

“Just over half (52.9% or 14.1 million) of uninsured individuals in 2024 were estimated to be eligible for financial assistance either through Medicaid or through subsidized [Obamacare] Marketplace coverage,” the analysis notes.

That fact alone complicates the narrative that coverage is out of reach for most of the uninsured. Most of them could obtain heavily subsidized or fully subsidized coverage under programs that already exist. If they did, the share of Americans without insurance would fall to less than 4%.

The remaining 12.6 million uninsured are largely people who live in states that did not expand Medicaid, are ineligible for federal assistance because of their immigration status or have access to an exchange or employer plan that the law considers affordable.

Some would buy insurance if they felt they could afford it. But other research shows that many Americans are uninsured by choice.

A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published earlier this year found that one-third of uninsured adults in 2024 did not cite cost as a reason for lacking coverage. Within that group, 44.1% said they did not need or want insurance. Another 21.3% said the enrollment process was too difficult or confusing. Others said they could not find a plan that met their needs.

Those responses suggest that many Americans are uninsured because they do not view the available coverage as worth the cost or hassle.

Obamacare’s insurance market regulations are a major reason why. The law requires insurers to cover a federally prescribed set of “essential” health benefits, regardless of whether patients want or need them. It also bars insurers from charging people based on their expected health costs and caps premiums for older enrollees at three times those for younger ones.

By restricting insurers’ ability to price coverage according to risk, Obamacare pushed insurers to control costs in other ways—including higher premiums and deductibles and narrow provider networks.

The federal government has also limited the availability of more affordable short-term health plans, which need not follow Obamacare’s cost-inflating regulations. The maximum term for a short-term plan is just three months, with an insurer option for a one-month renewal. Some states have banned these plans altogether.

Medicaid, meanwhile, is hardly the gold standard of access. The program often pays doctors far less than private insurance does, which can make it difficult for beneficiaries to find physicians willing to see them.

That is the hidden lesson of the KFF report. America’s healthcare challenge is not that too few people have insurance. It is that the coverage available to many people is too expensive, too restrictive or too unattractive to justify signing up—even when taxpayers pick up much of the bill.

Policymakers should instead focus on improving access to affordable coverage that is worth having. Rolling back Obamacare’s most burdensome mandates would allow insurers to offer more affordable and tailored coverage options. Expanding access to short-term health plans would provide lower-cost alternatives for Americans who do not want or need comprehensive exchange coverage.

For more than a decade, Washington has measured success by how many people it can enroll in government-approved coverage. But insurance cards are not the same thing as affordable, attractive coverage.

The latest uninsured figures show that expanding subsidies and public programs is not enough. If policymakers want more Americans to obtain coverage, they need to make insurance better and cheaper—not merely more heavily subsidized.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/sallypipes/2026/06/29/the-real-lesson-of-americas-rising-uninsured-rate/

SGE unveils plans for 4.2GW UK Small Modular Reactor fleet

 

• Programme of 14 Small Modular Nuclear Reactors could accelerate UK new nuclear and power almost eight million UK homes

• Project represents Britain's largest privately-led nuclear investment

 SGE, a European Small Modular Reactor (SMR) development and investment platform, yesterday announced its plans to build fourteen GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 Small Modular Reactors on three sites in the UK. The deployment team includes SGE, GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Samsung C&T, Laing O'Rourke, Aecon Group Inc., Google Cloud, Fermi Development, Etara and an experienced nuclear operator.

The company has submitted an application under the UK's Advanced Nuclear Framework (ANF) to develop a combined 4.2GW fleet which could deliver enough clean power for 11% of UK power demand or equivalent to an estimated almost eight million homes for at least sixty years. To support this ambition, SGE has established SGE SMR UK Limited as its dedicated UK-based project vehicle.

SGE's proposal reflects a fleet-based development model, centred on repeatable deployment at scale. The project is targeting three multi-unit sites, the first to host six BWRX-300 units, with two further sites to follow in quick succession. In total, the programme represents a significant addition to the UK's future nuclear capacity and supports the country's long-term energy security, clean power and industrial growth ambitions.

The UK project builds on significant regulatory groundwork already in place for the BWRX-300, a tenth generation, proven technology that draws on the experience of 67 successful reactor deployments. The technology is under licensed construction in Canada and is on schedule to be the first SMR to operate in the OECD. In December 2025, the BWRX-300 successfully completed Step 2 of the UK's Generic Design Assessment.

The partnership brings together proven reactor technology, significant project development experience, industrial capability and supply chain expertise and financing structure experience to support the deployment of the BWRX-300 in the UK. SGE is presenting a privately financed, commercially-led investment, supported by strong delivery partners. SGE plans to deploy under a Contract for Difference framework with National Wealth Fund engagement, meaning there will be no charges to consumers prior to operations.

https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/sge-unveils-plans-4-2gw-230100934.html

Bayer shifts US glyphosate business to Ruveon after seeking tariffs on Chinese imports

Bayer said on Wednesday it is consolidating its U.S. glyphosate business into ‌its Ruveon unit, a day after it asked ‌Washington to impose duties on Chinese imports of the chemical used ​in the company's weedkiller Roundup.

• Bayer, the only U.S. maker of glyphosate, sought duties against Chinese imports of the chemical and said on Tuesday that "the domestic ‌glyphosate business as ⁠it stands today is not sustainable", angering farmers who said such a move would ⁠raise herbicide costs.

• The St. Louis-based unit, which remains a Bayer business, will oversee all aspects of U.S. ​glyphosate sales, ​including pricing, go-to-market strategies, ​production and logistics, the ‌company said on Wednesday.

• Bayer said the consolidation of the business was part of its Crop Science division's five-year restructuring plan.

• "Ruveon is expected to be a more nimble and well-positioned player within its commodity-based ‌market, which requires a specialized approach ​to address competitive dynamics," Bayer ​said.

• Last week, ​the German pharmaceuticals and agriculture group ‌scored a major legal victory ​when the U.S. ​Supreme Court blocked thousands of state-court lawsuits that accuse Bayer of failing to warn users that ​glyphosate causes ‌cancer.

https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/commodities/articles/bayer-shifts-us-glyphosate-business-000833970.html