THE NEWS

Global shipping demand remains strong despite geopolitical turmoil, but port and trucking bottlenecks are increasing congestion and putting upward pressure on freight rates.

The July reading of the producer price index, which gauges what wholesalers pay for raw goods and materials, is set for release Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Wall Street Zeroes In On This “Pure-Play” US Attack Drone Company

Wall Street analysts are finally waking up to Unusual Machines as a pure-play in the effort to anchor America’s sovereign drone supply chain. One-way attack drones and autonomous systems have forever changed modern warfare, forcing the Department of War to quickly fire up a massive procurement supercycle to stockpile these drones. 

We identified UMAC (read report) in mid-July as an NDAA-compliant drone-component manufacturer positioned to reap the rewards as the US government races to stockpile everything from one-way attack drones to interceptor drones.

Piper Sandler analyst Clarke Jeffries is the latest to identify UMAC with an “Overweight” rating and a $38 price target, citing the company’s potential in becoming a top domestic drone supplier for the military. 

“UMAC is a pure-play drone beneficiary focused on creating an NDAA-compliant source of domestic drone components to fill the multi-billion dollar void in the defense (& commercial) market created by DoW & FCC restrictions against drones and components coming from China,” Jeffries said. 

He continued, “While UMAC has made real headway in capturing the potential opportunity with the majority of down-selected Drone Dominance competitors as customers and ~100,000 sq. ft. of domestic manufacturing online by EOY, the company undoubtedly remains very early in their journey (headcount of only 240 today. ) While large scaling risks remain, ultimately the company’s hyper focus on the domestic market and early traction with vendors nets an attractive opportunity in our view. Initiating at OW. 

Jefferies outlined UMAC’s key opportunities:

Opportunity #1 

De facto supplier for the post-NDAA drone market. The acute near-term opportunity for UMAC is capturing the S-curve for domestically built drone components as small UAS products comply with new NDAA & FCC regulations on domestic material requirements. UAS components including motors, batteries, and drone imaging systems are predominantly manufactured in the China even for existing U.S.-based defense contractors. UMAC’s status as a U.S.-based supplier, especially in base components like motors, creates a privileged position for future UAS production contracts including “Drone Dominance” as the Pentagon mandates supply- chain compliance for future drone programs.

Opportunity #2

What about Commercial? Filling the void left behind by DJI. As the U.S. government moves to cultivate a domestic supply chain for the defense sector, the commercial sector has been swept up in similar protectionist policies to ultimately encourage broader commercial dual-use. To that end, in late 2025 the FCC added DJI (& similar Chinese companies) to the FCC’s ‘Covered List’, that being a register of technology that poses national security risk and therefore is banned from receiving new FCC authorization. While previously approved products remain on sale, this will create a multi-billion dollar market vacuum in the commercial market over the coming years. It remains too early to determine who the heir apparent to DJI is, but we know motors will be needed by whoever becomes the next dominant U.S. commercial drone vendor.

Next-generation opportunities: Counter-UAS & BVLOS.

Longer-term but promising opportunities include: a.) drone interceptors (using drones for defensive applications rather than strike or ISR) which will leverage the same components and b.) BVLOS: FAA currently restricts drones operating ‘beyond visual line-of-sight’ but changes to this rule are currently being debated. If successful it would significantly loosen requirements and enable new air traffic networks, opening the market for ‘Drones-as-a-Service’: e- commerce, food delivery, etc

Bull/Bear Scenarios

2030 Growth Thesis for UMAC

UMAC Is in the Early Innings of Becoming a Major Player in the US Drone Market

UMAC’s Focus Is on Producing Group 1 and Group 2 Drones

Product Portfolio

Scaling Timeline

Drone Market Problem: China Controls 70%

Another Problem: Approximately 90% of Finished UAS Components Are Still Manufactured in China

Nine Years of Legislation Systematically Eliminating Chinese Content From the US Drone Supply Chain

Department of War Target: 200,000 Drones

Competition

Bloomberg data show that all analysts covering UMAC rate the stock a “Buy,” with an average price target of $39.57.

Latest coverage on UMAC from mid-July:

This American Drone-Motor Company Is Positioned For “Massive Procurement Tailwind”

Wall Street is finally figuring out how to profit from the reshoring of America’s drone supply chain and identifying the industry’s top players.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 08/13/2026 – 05:45

FIRST ON FOX: Harvard allegedly failed to adequately safeguard research collaborations with Chinese institutions, including universities tied to Beijing’s military and defense-industrial base, according to a report from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.Researchers affiliated with the New England Ivy League co-authored more than 140 publications with other researchers affiliated with a group of Chinese universities, according to the report reviewed by Fox News Digital ahead of its public release.The “Seven Sons of National Defense” are a group of Chinese universities identified by the Pentagon and other U.S. officials as central to China’s defense research and military modernization efforts. The House Committee created to crackdown on China argues Harvard’s approach to research security opened the door for collaborations that could advance technological and military capabilities of the hostile nation.Harvard also reported received more than $600 million from China under the federal Section 117 foreign-gift disclosure system — more than any other American university, according to the Education Department dashboard cited in the report. The committee argues the U.S. university’s financial ties to China heighten the need for strict oversight of its research partnerships and foreign-funding disclosures.HARVARD TOPS NATION IN FOREIGN CASH HAUL AS COTTON DEMANDS PROBE INTO CHINA FUNDINGThe stakes in the latest report extend far beyond Harvard. U.S. officials have warned for years that China uses academic partnerships and access to Western research to advance CCP strategic capabilities in military, surveillance and other areas.The House Select Committee on China argues that universities receiving U.S. taxpayer funding must do more than meet the narrowest legal requirements when collaborating with institutions embedded in China’s military research system, particularly when it comes to technology with potential defense or military uses.The report highlights a 2023 paper on bio-inspired soft robots for deep-sea exploration co-authored by a Harvard-affiliated researcher and a researcher from Beihang University, one of the Seven Sons institutions. Beihang, also known as Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, has appeared on the Commerce Department’s Entity List since 2001.The committee report argues the work examined in the paper has potential military applications, including underwater detection, while Harvard’s research-compliance office characterized the project as nonmilitary research.FOREIGN ROBOT BAN TARGETS CHINA OVER SECURITY FEARSHarvard researchers also co-authored a 2023 paper with a researcher at China’s National University of Defense Technology, another institution on a U.S. restricted list, according to the report. That study involved magnetic materials and acknowledged partial support from the U.S. Army Research Office.The committee said it reviewed publications spanning dozens of disciplines and found that engineering accounted for the largest share of Harvard-affiliated research involving Seven Sons institutions.”From allowing violence against anti-China protestors to collaborating with entities linked to the PLA, Harvard has made serious mistakes and must act now to prevent more. It should use this investigation as a catalyst for significant reforms that end CCP influence on campus and prioritize secure American research,” committee chairman Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., said in a statement.The report also examines Harvard’s executive education program with China’s National Healthcare Security Administration, which trained Chinese health officials on international health-insurance systems.According to the report, attendance and registration records show officials affiliated with the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, or XPCC, were listed in connection with some sessions. The Treasury Department sanctioned XPCC in 2020 over human-rights abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.The report acknowledges it is unclear whether XPCC officials ultimately attended every program in question.It alleges, however, that Harvard had advance participant information for a 2020 online session that included XPCC-affiliated officials and did not take further action.Harvard professor Winnie Yip, who helped organize the executive education program, told committee investigators she did not know XPCC was a sanctioned entity at the time and had not received training on sanctions compliance, according to the report.The report further alleges Harvard’s research-security practices focused too narrowly on technical legal compliance and failed to account for broader national-security risks posed by work with Chinese military-linked institutions.It cites testimony from Harvard research official John H. Shaw, who said the university evaluates research collaborations case by case and does not prohibit all work involving robotics or Chinese institutions. The committee criticized that approach, arguing research with entities embedded in China’s military-civil fusion system can have military applications even when the research is unclassified and intended for publication.The report also raises questions about Harvard Global Research and Support Services, a nonprofit affiliated with the university that can accept awards when Harvard is unable to accept a sponsor’s terms directly. The committee alleges the entity could be used to circumvent federal foreign-gift reporting requirements, an allegation Harvard will likely dispute.Harvard did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment on the House Committee report’s findings.The report recommends that Harvard prohibit research relationships with entities on U.S. government restricted or sanctioned lists and centralize its research-security oversight. It also urges Congress to strengthen foreign-funding disclosure requirements for universities.

The future of artificial intelligence may depend less on coders than on construction workers, electricians and factory technicians.Tech companies are pouring money into new artificial intelligence (AI) data centers at an astounding clip, with Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon expected to spend roughly $700 billion this year alone. And that doesn’t include the costs of grid modernization and semiconductor capacity. But those ambitions keep running into the same problem – there aren’t enough skilled workers to build the infrastructure that will power the AI economy.By one estimate, the United States will need 140,000 additional skilled trades workers like electricians, HVAC technicians, welders and construction workers by 2030 to support AI infrastructure. How will we meet that demand?A SOUTHERN STATE JUST TOOK THE TOP SPOT IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S FASTEST-GROWING INDUSTRIESThe answer may lie across the Atlantic – in Switzerland. That nation’s apprenticeship system has helped build one of the world’s most innovative economies. And it’s achieved this by creating clear pathways into skilled technical careers for generations of young people.At a moment when America’s AI ambitions are colliding with labor shortages, a Swiss-style model may offer exactly the kind of workforce pipeline the United States needs.Switzerland’s Vocational Education and Training system – or apprenticeship model, as it’s commonly known – allows students as young as 15 to apprentice at companies across the country. These young people gain hands-on experience in the workplace while also developing industry-specific skills in the classroom.The system has proven wildly popular, with roughly 70% of each Swiss age cohort participating in apprenticeship programs in industries ranging from manufacturing and pharmaceuticals to construction, banking, and healthcare. Crucially, these pathways are not educational dead ends. In fact, after completing their apprenticeships, students can either remain in their field or continue on to a university degree.For companies, these apprenticeships are often sound investments, earning an average internal rate of return of 7% to 10%. They are also self-sustaining, as many apprentices end up staying with the firms where they trained, helping businesses recruit and develop new talent.And since these programs are largely directed by private companies, they tend to align closely with the needs of the labor market. In this way, employers are able to teach apprentices the most relevant skills, allowing training programs to adapt quickly in fast-changing industries and helping companies fill critical workforce gaps.This kind of model could help address the United States’ current labor shortages.After all, demand for these workers is only going to grow. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently predicted “six-figure salaries for people who are building chip factories or computer factories or AI factories.”At the same time, many young Americans are gravitating toward more vocational work and trade schools – particularly amid rising higher-education costs and an increasingly uncertain white-collar job market.ALL HANDS ON DECK: THE UNLIKELY WORKFORCE THAT CAN REBUILD AMERICA’S FLEETCompanies can build on that momentum – not just by offering higher pay, but by investing in Swiss-style apprenticeship programs. Some states are already doing exactly that.CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINIONColorado’s CareerWise program, which was modeled in part on the Swiss system, allows students to split time between the classroom and paid apprenticeships in industries ranging from advanced manufacturing to information technology. Similar programs are beginning to spread to other states as employers search for new ways to build long-term talent pipelines.The next era of digital technology won’t just depend on software and computing power – but on the workers needed to wire data centers, install electrical systems and construct the physical backbone of the AI economy. Switzerland has spent decades cultivating that workforce. America can learn from that example.

It is not often that I write critically of a Republican United States senator. But that happened in February 2023, when Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville placed a hold on military promotions to protest a Department of Defense policy that covered travel expenses for service members seeking reproductive healthcare across state lines. Tuberville’s hold ultimately delayed the promotions of more than 400 senior military officers, many of whom were colonels or Navy captains awaiting promotion to general or flag rank, for roughly 10 months.The “Tuberville Blockade” upended the lives and careers of hundreds of Army, Air Force and Marine Corps colonels and Navy captains by seriously disrupting carefully planned career paths and assignments. It also disrupted the carefully constructed career paths of the generals and admirals who were sidelined by the ill-considered embargo.Career military officers ought never again to be held hostage for political goals. Sen. Tuberville eventually relented after months of mounting pressure from senators in both parties. He lifted his blanket “hold” after long meetings with his Senate colleagues, who emphasized to him that he was damaging the careers of people who had provided exemplary service over decades. MORNING GLORY: MICHIGAN’S DEMOCRATIC SENATE PRIMARY HAD TWO WINNERS — BUT ONLY ONE WAS ON THE BALLOTSen. Tuberville is almost certainly going to be the next governor of Alabama, and hopefully he will be a better governor for having learned from his mistake. But the precedent he set in 2023 should alert everyone to why a radical leftist like Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed ought never to hold the office of United States senator.El-Sayed is a sworn enemy of the State of Israel, and I fear that it is very unlikely that he will be a supporter of the American military. El-Sayed has also repeatedly appeared with controversial left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, including at campaign rallies. His staunch allegiance to Piker telegraphs exactly what he could do if he beats Republican Mike Rogers in the fall: wreak havoc on our military and Israel’s defenses. El-Sayed has already called for a complete embargo on weapons sales to Israel — even defensive weapons.El-Sayed supports “the immediate and comprehensive enforcement of U.S. laws that condition the provision of military aid and sales.” He argues this means “an immediate arms embargo on Israel,” and El-Sayed specifically rejects the distinction between offensive and defensive weapons, meaning his position includes weapons such as Iron Dome interceptors, not merely offensive bombs and missiles.This stance places him among the most outspoken Senate candidates opposing U.S. military support for Israel. As a true hater of Israel, would El-Sayed dust off the Tuberville playbook to try to bring aid to Israel to an end? There is no reason voters should assume he would hesitate to do so.  There’s a precedent, and it is easy to hear a Sen. El-Sayed arguing that he is just deploying the same tactic that a Republican senator used.ABDUL EL-SAYED SAYS RALLYING WITH HASAN PIKER DOESN’T MEAN HE ENDORSES ‘AMERICA DESERVED 9/11’ REMARKThe question for Michigan voters is not whether one senator could single-handedly shut off every American weapon or dollar flowing to Israel. He could not. But Senator Tuberville’s 2023 blockade demonstrated how much disruption a determined senator can cause by exploiting the Senate’s rules and customary procedures to delay action and force political confrontations.CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINIONIt is difficult to imagine El-Sayed losing sleep over the damage he would impose on the U.S. military. That’s the possibility Michigan voters have to consider when they cast ballots this fall.There are a few pro-defense Democrats left, including Michigan’s own Elissa Slotkin. But just as GOP senators would not publicly criticize their colleague in 2023, the handful of Democrats who are serious about national security would likely adhere to the unwritten code of the Senate that prohibits public attacks on colleagues from their own party conference.So the Michigan Senate race is the most important election in the country this year. The Republican volunteers willing to go to the battleground state and campaign for Rogers will be participating in a cause much bigger than themselves.They will be protecting the country’s national security. El-Sayed isn’t simply an extremist. He’s a dangerous radical who should not be in a position to harm the country’s armed forces.CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM HUGH HEWITTHugh Hewitt is a Fox News contributor and host of “The Hugh Hewitt Show” heard weekday afternoons from 3 PM to 6 PM ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh drives Americans home on the East Coast and to lunch on the West Coast on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel’s news roundtable, hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcasting. This column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/ TV show today.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani rode his promise to make one of America’s most expensive cities more affordable all the way to City Hall. But for New Yorkers hunting for an apartment, rents have never been higher.The citywide median asking rent reached $4,200 in June, up 5% from a year earlier and the highest recorded by StreetEasy since it began tracking the market in 2010. In Manhattan — the most densely populated NYC borough — the median cost of monthly rent climbed 5.1% to $4,965.At the same time, apartments are becoming harder to find. The number of rentals available across the city fell 1.4% from a year ago, while Manhattan saw a 4.4% drop. It was even more dire for larger apartments in Manhattan, where the number of available two-bedroom units fell 9.3% and three-bedroom units dropped 11%.Simply put, there are not enough apartment units to meet demand, and costs are reflecting that squeeze.TRUMP’S HOUSING CHIEF PAINTS A GRIM PICTURE FOR HOMEOWNERSHIP IN ONE MAJOR AMERICAN CITYThe rental unit shortage presents an early test for Mamdani’s affordability agenda in New York.While the socialist mayor has pledged to dramatically expand the city’s housing supply, his push to freeze rents on roughly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments has drawn warnings from economists who say the policy could discourage investment and make an already tight housing market even tighter.Adam Lehodey of the Manhattan Institute told Fox News Digital that rent increases on rent-stabilized apartments have failed to keep pace with inflation for years, even as the costs of maintaining buildings have continued to rise. As a result, he said, “slowly but surely, landlords have less to invest in their properties.”He argued that this growing gap is leaving some building owners increasingly unable to cover basic operating expenses, which can lead to deferred maintenance and reduced investment in the city’s existing housing stock.Lehodey also pointed to a second dynamic in the rent-stabilized market: tenants paying below-market rents have a strong incentive to stay in place, which reduces turnover and makes those apartments harder for prospective renters to find.”People who are looking for apartments can’t find apartments,” Lehodey said. “People aren’t giving them up, even if they have too much room.”MAMDANI’S RENT FREEZE, TAX HIKES A ‘ONE-TWO WEALTH DESTRUCTION PUNCH,’ ECONOMISTS WARNOther economists have sounded similar warnings, arguing that uncertainty surrounding Mamdani’s broader tax and regulatory agenda could also discourage the investment needed to expand the city’s housing supply.”Merely the threat of a more hostile tax and regulatory environment has been enough to chill investment in New York City, and that’s already impacting prices,” E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital. “Builders and financiers aren’t going to start multi-year projects that might become unprofitable on Mamdani’s next whim.”Antoni previously told Fox News Digital that the problem goes beyond new construction, arguing that government limits on rents can reduce the number of apartments available and discourage investment in existing properties.”Economists, whether they are on the right or on the left, essentially are in universal agreement, that when the government implements price controls in the rental market, you end up with housing shortages,” Antoni said.”And not only do you end up with fewer housing units available, but the quality of those units consistently goes down as well,” he added.Mamdani has argued that his rent freeze is only one piece of a broader effort to bring down housing costs. His administration has also laid out plans to dramatically increase the city’s housing supply, including a goal of building 200,000 new affordable homes over the next decade.For Mamdani, the challenge will be delivering enough new housing to ease a shortage that is already pushing rents to records, while pursuing a rent freeze that critics warn could discourage investment in the apartments New York already has.Mamdani’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on surging rent costs.

The decision to close the U.S. Consulate in Medan, Indonesia, risks weakening American influence in an Indo-Pacific strategically important region.

Norway $2.3 Trillion Wealth Fund Posts Record-High Profit in H1

By Michael Kern of OilPrice.com

The world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, Norway’s $2.3-trillion Government Pension Fund Global, posted a record-high profit of $185 billion for the first half of 2026, as Asian technology stocks boosted its returns and profit on the portfolio.

Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), which is commonly referred to as ‘Norway’s oil fund’ because it was created with oil and gas revenues, is a shareholder in many large companies in the world, with more than half of the value of its equity investments in the U.S. market. The Norwegian fund was created in the 1990s, and today it holds, on average, 1.5% of all listed companies in the world.

For the first half of the year, the fund posted a record profit on the portfolio before foreign exchange adjustments at 1.753 billion Norwegian crowns, or $185 billion, the fund’s manager, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), said on Wednesday.

This is more than double compared to the profit for the first half of last year, amid a rally in technology stocks.

“The result is driven by good returns in the equity market, particularly from Asian technology stocks,” said Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management.

The investments in the Government Pension Fund Global returned a record-high 9.4% in Norwegian crowns in the first half of 2026, up by 0.22 percentage points compared to the return on the benchmark index. The fund’s value was 22.683 trillion crowns, or $2.39 trillion, as of June 30, up by 1.416 trillion crowns, or $149 billion, from the same time a year earlier.

Equity investments accounted for 72.1% of the fund’s value at the end of the first half of 2026, and fixed-income investments for 25.8%. Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft are the most valuable investments of the Norwegian wealth fund.

The fund’s equity investments returned 13.0% in the first half of 2026, with telecommunications, technology, and energy delivering the strongest returns, NBIM said.

Earlier this month, NBIM told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it doesn’t support its proposal to scrap outright current requirements for climate-related risks and disclosures.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 08/13/2026 – 05:00

A new Mississippi law added sexual battery of a child under 12 to the list of crimes eligible for the death penalty.Senate Bill 2821, which took effect July 1, creates the crime of “capital sexual battery” and allows prosecutors to seek the death penalty against defendants 18 or older in qualifying cases involving victims younger than 12.If a defendant is convicted, the jury must unanimously find at least two specific aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt before the defendant is eligible for the death penalty. At least 8 of the 12 jurors must then recommend death. But if the death penalty is not recommended by jurors, the mandatory sentence would be life in prison without parole.ACCUSED CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSIN TYLER ROBINSON ASKS JUDGE TO TAKE POTENTIAL DEATH PENALTY OFF TABLEState Sen. Jeremy England, the bill’s author, said the legislation seeks to give the worst punishment for crimes against the state’s most vulnerable population.”That is a crime that, I think, shocks the conscience, certainly. Those are the worst types of crimes against the most innocent of our citizens here in Mississippi,” England said, according to WLBT.But critics question whether capital punishment serves as a deterrent to crimes against young victims or if it could lead to children becoming too afraid to come forward knowing that doing so may end someone’s life.Abraham Bonowitz, executive director of Death Penalty Action, told the outlet he once supported the death penalty but changed his position, arguing that executions are unnecessary when a life sentence keeps an inmate permanently behind bars.”There is no need for executions when we can throw away the key,” Bonowitz said.TWO FLORIDA INMATES DIE IN RARE DOUBLE EXECUTION AFTER SCOTUS DENIES STAYSBonowitz also said extending the death penalty to child sexual assault cases could deter victims from alerting authorities of the abuse they endured.”Most of those kinds of crimes are by people that the child knows and you’re asking a child to then testify against a relative and try to get them executed,” he said.