THE NEWS

Brian Vickers unleashed a rare, cryptic statement via his social media accounts this week, seemingly referring to his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.Not the NASCAR update I was expecting to give today — the second week of ‘The Chase’ — but this is why you always have to have your head on a swivel in this job.Vickers, 42, appeared all over a batch of released ‘Epstein Files’ earlier this year — all of them dating back to a time when he was an up-and-coming NASCAR star.A 2003 Busch Series champion, Vickers divorced Sarah Kellen last year. Kellen used to work for Jeffrey Epstein as an assistant, was given immunity years ago, and was subpoenaed by the DOJ last spring.The first time Vickers’ name is mentioned in the files is in an email presumably sent by Kellen, and talks about “this NASCAR guy I like” being a “major playboy.”There are also several emails to and from Epstein involving Vickers’ race team at the time, Michael Waltrip Racing, about a potential issue with Vickers’ sponsor, and one particularly disturbing email that was forwarded from Vickers to Epstein with the subject line: “Male Fairy Tale.”THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW–UNFILTERED, UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNMISSABLE. DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW!Vickers has remained largely silent throughout the entire saga, until earlier this week, when he fired off the following social media post:”I have stayed quite for too long now,” he wrote Monday afternoon. “My hope that love would prevail in silence were not answered. I will say this only once. I walk in love for all my brothers and sisters. If this is not your path, I will meet you where you are. So that the rest my walk in peace.”I had nothing to do with the mess left by others. If you can not see this you are part of the problem. I wish for peace and yet I am prepared for war against any that threaten my family walking in love. I wish most of all, to say thank you to all who understand and walk the same path.”It is time to build a more gentle world together. But it will not start with tolerance for hate. With unconditional love, not unconditional bounderies.”Not sure what prompted that above post, but it’s cryptic nonetheless.Vickers and Kellen divorced in 2025 after more than a decade together.Kellen is also known as Sarah Kensington. She was Jeffrey Epstein’s assistant back in the day. She’s been accused of, among other things, recruiting young women, arranging their travel, and scheduling “massages” for Epstein.Judge Alison Nathan once listed her as “a criminally responsible participant” and the leader of Ghislaine Maxwell. She was one of four women to be granted immunity for the case in 2008.Sarah and Vickers tied the knot back in 2015, right towards the end of Brian’s NASCAR career. Vickers broke into the Cup Series in 2003, and famously raced the old Red Bull cars during their brief run in the series. He always raced for Michael Waltrip Racing.ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!Vickers won three times over a 14-year Cup career, and three more times on the Xfinity circuit.He last raced in 2016.

San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Alfred Collins was projected to be a starter in his second season in the NFL, but ahead of the team’s first game of the 2026 season, he suffered a season-ending injury.Collins suffered a torn patellar tendon during Tuesday’s practice session in Australia as the team prepared for its Week 1 game against the Los Angeles Rams, according to head coach Kyle Shanahan.THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW–UNFILTERED, UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNMISSABLE. DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW!”Alfred tore his patellar tendon yesterday,” Shanahan said. “That was a big loss. We’ve lost two D-linemen pretty much for the year after (final roster) cuts and before the first game which has been a huge challenge. I’m hurting for Alfred. It was real unfortunate for him.”Collins was set to play a bigger role in the 49ers’ defense this season.San Francisco selected Collins in the second round of the 2025 draft out of Texas. He appeared in 16 games for the 49ers last season, racking up 17 tackles, a sack, two fumble recoveries and two pass breakups.The injury leaves a hole on the right side of the defense. Gracen Halton and James Thompson Jr. are expected to step up.”He just has to know that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” Nick Bosa said of Collins. “I told him I’ve been through it a few times, so he just needs to take it one day at a time.The Collins injury is another one on the list for San Francisco.Bosa, who is expected to play Thursday against the Rams, is coming off a torn ACL. He was listed on the injury report ahead of the Rams game along with Halton, Thompson and Romello Height. The team is already starting the season with defensive linemen Andrew Farmer II, Mikail Kamara and Sam Okuayinonu on the injury/reserve list.SIGN UP TO GET THE LATEST SPORTS NEWSSan Francisco also listed linebackers Luke Gifford and Dre Greenlaw and cornerbacks Renardo Green and Upton Stout on its injury report as well – and that’s just the defense.George Kittle and Kyle Juszczyk are also on the injury list. Wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was lost for the season earlier this summer.Shanahan appeared to be optimistic about Kittle and Bosa’s abilities to play against the Rams. However, he said the team would have to be smart about how they’re used.The 49ers and Rams play Thursday night at 8:35 p.m. ET on Netflix at Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne.The Associated Press contributed to this report.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul
New York Democrats’ scheme to extract a staggering $75 billion from energy producers has been struck down by a federal judge.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brenda K. Sannes, an Obama appointee, ruled that New York’s so-called Climate Change Superfund Act was preempted by federal law and could not be enforced.
The sweeping law, signed by Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul in December 2024, sought to force oil, natural gas, and coal companies to pay $3 billion annually for 25 years into a state-controlled climate fund.
“With nearly every record rainfall, heatwave, and coastal storm, New Yorkers are increasingly burdened with billions of dollars in health, safety, and environmental consequences due to polluters that have historically harmed our environment,” Governor Hochul said.
“Establishing the Climate Superfund is the latest example of my administration taking action to hold polluters responsible for the damage done to our environment and requiring major investments in infrastructure and other projects critical to protecting our communities and economy,” she added.
Under the law, companies determined by New York regulators to be responsible for more than one billion tons of greenhouse-gas emissions between 2000 and 2024 would have faced strict liability, regardless of whether they violated any law.
The scheme was not limited to activity inside New York. It attempted to calculate emissions connected to fossil-fuel extraction and refining around the world and then send massive “cost recovery demands” to the targeted companies.
In her 63-page ruling, Sannes described the Climate Change Superfund Act as an “unusual and sweeping” statute that ventured into an area governed by federal law for more than a century.
The judge concluded that the law conflicted with the Clean Air Act and the federal government’s exclusive authority over interstate pollution.
“The Clean Air Act does not ‘authorize’ the Climate Act,” Sannes wrote, concluding that Hochul’s law was “simply beyond the limits of state law.”
The court also ruled that New York’s attempt to impose financial liability on foreign energy producers intruded upon the federal government’s exclusive control over foreign affairs.
The case, West Virginia v. James, was brought by a 22-state coalition led by West Virginia, along with energy-industry plaintiffs. A separate lawsuit filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Petroleum Institute, the National Mining Association, and the Business Council of New York State was later consolidated with the states’ case.
The Trump Justice Department filed a statement of interest supporting the challengers and presented oral arguments against New York’s law.
“The court held that federal law preempts New York’s attempt to regulate global environmental concerns,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said in a Justice Department statement.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson said Hochul’s law would have “expropriated $75 billion” from domestic and foreign energy companies while the United States was confronting an energy emergency.
President Trump previously directed the Justice Department to challenge state laws that unreasonably burden American energy production through Executive Order 14260.
The ruling represents a massive victory for energy-producing states whose workers and businesses would have been forced to bankroll Albany’s radical climate agenda.
West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey celebrated the decision, calling Hochul’s law a naked cash grab targeting Americans who produce the energy New York consumes every day.
“This is a major victory in the fight against liberal states, trying to balance their budgets on the backs of our hard-working men and women in the coal, oil and gas industries,” McCuskey said in a statement announcing the ruling.
“We were the first to challenge this law because we saw it for what it was – a money grab by the elites in New York, who want to punish West Virginians for doing the jobs that enable them to heat their homes and build their cities. West Virginians can’t afford more liberal policies that jack up electricity and transportation costs. Thankfully, New York politicians can’t put their hands in West Virginia families’ pocketbooks now,” he added.

The post HUGE BLOW TO HOCHUL: Obama-Appointed Federal Judge Strikes Down New York’s $75B “Superfund” Climate Law Fining Fossil Fuel Companies appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

The three major averages posted losses in Tuesday’s regular trading.

The department is expected to announce around 11 a.m. the size of a buyback operation it announced Aug. 19.

Donald Trump retained major oil and gas investments as the Iran war has moved energy markets. CNBC analyzed his holdings, trades and estimated gains.

The average National Football League team is now worth $10.36 billion, up 35% from a year ago.

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Wednesday.

Import bans on motorbikes, alcohol and dairy products are due to come into effect on Sept. 29 as the rift between the countries deepens.

“I Am The House Now”: Bessent Goes Full Judge Dredd On Yen Bears

US Treasury Secretary went full judge, jury, and executioner on speculative yen shorts overnight with probably the most direct explicit jawboning we have seen in years…

“I am the house now, so when we intervene with the Japanese yen, I have pretty good insight into what the Japanese, what the Bank of Japan is going to do, what Japanese policymakers are going to do,” Bessent said at a Southern Methodist University event in Texas on Tuesday.

“And you can bet against me if you want.”

As Bloomberg reports, the comments were among Bessent’s most strident yet in an extraordinary campaign to bend markets to his will, even in the face of investor skepticism.

The former hedge fund executive, who made his name with outsized currency wagers, recently oversaw the first purchases of yen by US authorities in three decades and surprised market participants last month with plans to ramp up buybacks of US Treasuries to restrain a surge in yields.

He argued that Treasury has an informational advantage because of its visibility into Japanese policymakers and the BOJ.

“Whenever people say, ‘Oh, well, Treasury Secretary is taking a risk,’ – well, it’s my dream, I have asymmetric information,” Bessent said.

Bessent’s remarks also underscore his unusual level of engagement on economic policymaking in Japan, which is among the world’s largest holders of US debt.

Bessent has coordinated with Japan Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama on currency interventions and put increasingly public pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates, a move that would support the yen and reduce Japan’s need to sell Treasuries for market intervention.

“Bessent’s remarks carry immense weight. The message is clear: do not defy the Treasury Secretary,” said Tadashi Matsukawa, head of bond investments at PineBridge Investments Japan Co. in Tokyo.

“The old way of thinking — that interest rates would be raised once every few months — no longer applies.”

Interestngly, Takumi Naya, head of the FX trading group at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.’s global markets operations department, suggested that,“Bessent’s remarks suggest that he expects a correction in the yen’s strength even at current levels.”

Bessent’s remarks have certainly flipped the positioning with hedge funds now betting the yen will strengthen beyond 150 per dollar by year-end, with some longer-dated options trades targeting a move to 140.

“Leveraged investors have been active and reacting to a potential regime change in the currency,” said Jerry Minier, global head of linear G-10 FX trading at Citigroup in London.

“Option structures targeting dollar-yen below 150 by year-end have been popular.”

Nomura has seen a similar shift toward bearish dollar-yen sentiment among macro hedge funds that seek to profit from market swings triggered by economic or political events.

There has been “much stronger demand for downside in the option space from the macro community who have shifted to increasing shorts, particularly since we broke 155.00 as most viewed that as a support line in the sand,” said Graham Smallshaw, Singapore-based senior foreign-exchange spot trader at Nomura.

While there was some profit-taking on Sept. 8 when the pair dipped below 153, “the view for now is very much concentrated on the 150/152 target,” he added.

The stance contrasts with that of Japanese retail investors, who boosted their net short-yen positions to an estimated ¥3.61 trillion ($23.5 billion) last week, according to a Bloomberg compilation of data from the Financial Futures Association of Japan and Tokyo Financial Exchange.

“Bessent’s ‘I am the house’ remark reflects the mindset of a former trader who truly understands market dynamics, which is likely why the market shows him a certain level of respect,” said Kazushige Kaida, head of FX sales at State Street Bank & Trust Co.’s Tokyo branch.

“Whether it’s US Treasuries or the yen, his series of verbal warnings are probably aimed at correcting what he sees as moves that have gone too far.”

However, as Goldman’s Delta-One desk-head, Rich Privorotsky noted, “whatever you think of the rhetoric… the yen objectively continues to appreciate as the market leans into BOJ tightening/repatriation.”

But, he adds, the secondary implication matters more for equities… “what happens as yen funded carry trades unwind back into Japanese bonds/equities?”

“The S&P and mega cap complex have felt strangely heavy without a great fundamental reason.

Worth keeping in the back of the mind that some leverage/carry may simply be diffusing out of the system.”

Be careful what you wish for Judge Bessent…

Tyler Durden
Wed, 09/09/2026 – 08:40