Josef Schachter of the Schachter Energy Report shares his updated outlook for oil and natural gas.
He sees a buy window potentially opening for stocks in June, and also believes oil prices are due to rise.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
It was a slow start to the week for gold, but it didn’t take long for the price to pick up.
The yellow metal began the period at the US$3,220 per ounce level, but was gaining steam by Tuesday (May 20), briefly breaking US$3,300. Gold continued higher the next day, and after pulling back briefly on Thursday (May 22) was able to finish the week strong, changing hands at the US$3,360 level.
Bond market turmoil is one factor that’s been influencing gold’s price movements.
A Wednesday (May 21) auction of 20-year bonds was poorly received, with yields surging past 5.1 percent to reach the highest level seen since November 2023. Yields for 10-year and 30-year bonds were also on the rise, with the latter nearing a two-decade high as stocks and the dollar took hits.
The upheaval in bonds came on the back of US President Donald Trump’s efforts to get the One Big Beautiful Bill through the House. Slowing the passage of the wide-ranging domestic policy package were concerns that Trump’s plan to cut taxes would significantly increase US debt.
‘Make no mistake, the bond market will have its own vote on the terms of the budget bill. It doesn’t seem this president or this Congress is actually going to meaningfully reduce the deficit’ — George Catrambone, DWS Americas
Last week’s downgrade of US debt from Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) also didn’t help bonds. The agency bumped its rating down from AAA, its highest ranking, to AA1, which is one step lower. It expects even larger deficits in the US in the coming decade as government revenue stays flat and entitlement spending rises.
The One Big Beautiful Bill ultimately passed on Thursday by a very slim margin, receiving 215 votes in favor and 214 against. It will now proceed to the Senate, where it may face further obstacles.
Contained in the bill are tax cut extensions for both individuals and corporations, as well as provisions for removing taxes on tips and overtime. Among other points, it also allows for tax deductions on American-made vehicles, and offers ‘Trump savings accounts’ for newborns. It cuts funding to initiatives like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP.
Preliminary analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, which is a nonpartisan organization, suggests that the bill will increase the federal deficit by US$3.8 trillion during the 2026 to 2034 period.
The uranium sector got a boost on Friday (May 23) after Trump signed several executive orders geared at overhauling the country’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission and speeding up nuclear reactor deployment.
‘It’s a hot industry. It’s a brilliant industry. You have to do it right,’ Trump told reporters about the nuclear energy sector. The executive orders also focus on power up US uranium mining and enrichment, and will allow nuclear reactors to be built on federal land.
The news sent uranium stocks powering higher, with sector major Cameco (TSX:CCO,NYSE:CCJ) closing the day up 10.04 percent at C$80.55. Denison Mines (TSX:DML,NYSEAMERICAN:DNN) and Uranium Energy (NYSEAMERICAN:UEC) saw even larger gains of 13.49 percent and 25 percent, respectively.
The Sprott Uranium Miners ETF (ARCA:URNM) finished up 12.14 percent.
A note from the European Central Bank (ECB) turned heads this week with the suggestion that certain dynamics could make the gold market a threat to financial stability. Here’s a key excerpt from the report:
While gold prices are driven by many factors, investors showed high demand for gold as a safe haven asset and, at the beginning of 2025, a notable preference for gold futures contracts to be settled physically. These dynamics hint at investors’ expectations that geopolitical risks and policy uncertainty could remain elevated or even intensify in the foreseeable future. Should extreme events materialise, there could be adverse effects on financial stability arising from gold markets.
The full ECB report is definitely worth a read if you have the time.
Gold’s high price hasn’t deterred buyers in China — new customs data from the country shows that April imports clocked in at 127.5 metric tons, an 11 month high.
That’s also a 73 percent increase from the previous month, according to Bloomberg. The news outlet notes that China’s central bank controls the flow of gold in and out of the country, so the strong increase is likely the result of fresh quotas given to some commercial banks.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
The picture of the coveted Oklahoma City Eight of the NCAA softball tournament bracket is starting to become clearer.
Behind star pitcher NiJaree Canady, No. 12 Texas Tech on May 23 became the first team to advance to the Women’s College World Series. The Red Raiders upset No. 5 national seed Florida State in a clean two-game sweep.
There remain seven more tickets around the country to be claimed. The next team that can join that can join Texas Tech in the WCWS could be No. 11 Clemson, who took Game 1 of the Austin Super Regional in an upset against No. 6 Texas on May 22.
All spots in the WCWS can be all locked up by the end of Saturday. No. 2 Oklahoma looks to punch its ticket to the WCWS for the ninth consecutive season, in which Patty Gasso’s Sooners will look to win their fifth straight national championship.
Action in Oklahoma City gets underway on Thursday, May 29 with a quadruple header of first-round games at Devon Park.
Here’s what you need to know about who is advancing to the Women’s College World Series, including a first look at the matchups in Oklahoma City and more:
Watch the Women’s College World Series live with Fubo (free trial)
This section will be updated as teams secure their spot in the WCWS after winning their super regional
The Women’s College World Series will start on Thursday, May 29 at Devon Park in Oklahoma City and run through either Thursday, June 5 or Friday, June 6, depending on whether the WCWS championship series needs the ‘if necessary’ Game 3 to be played or not.
Here’s a breakdown of the Thursday and Friday schedule for the 2025 WCWS, including first pitch times and TV information:
All times Eastern
Thursday, May 29
Friday, May 30
The entirety of the Women’s College World Series will be nationally televised across the ESPN family of networks: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ABC. Streaming options for the WCWS include the ESPN app (with a TV login) and Fubo, which carries the ESPN family of networks and offers a free trial to new subscribers.
Here’s the full 2025 NCAA softball tournament schedule:
CHICAGO — It can take months, even multiple seasons, to determine whether a trade was worth it. Not so for the deal that sent Natasha Cloud to the New York Liberty in the offseason.
Two games in, it’s clear the Liberty are big winners. The rest of the league, not so much.
The addition of Cloud has made the Liberty even better. Which is a scary thought, considering they’re the defending WNBA champions and already had Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones. But Cloud, with her size, versatility and ability to get to the rim, elevates New York’s offense while making the Liberty even more disruptive defensively.
“We’ve never really had someone quite like her,” coach Sandy Brondello said before Thursday night’s game against the Chicago Sky. “When you talk about shot profile and getting to the rim, we have someone now who can really get downhill.
“That certainly adds to what we’re trying to do,” Brondello added.
Cloud leads the Liberty in scoring (20 points) and assists (8.5) through the first two games, and is third in the WNBA in efficiency.
But what really stands out is that New York is shooting 51.5% from the floor and almost 42% from 3-point range while averaging 13 turnovers. The Liberty also lead the league in steals and blocks.
It is, admittedly, a small sample size, and one of New York’s victories was against the Sky, who very much remain a work in progress. But the Liberty opened the season with a thumping of A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces.
Cloud had 22 points in that one, including two consecutive three-point plays to spark an 8-0 run that broke the game open in the fourth quarter.
“Her home opener was great,” Stewart said. “Her energy is kind of contagious and infectious.”
Cloud makes no secret of how thrilled she is to be in New York. Drafted in the second round by the Mystics, she spent her first eight seasons in Washington. (She took the 2020 season off to advocate for social justice reform.) She won a title in 2019 and, in 2022, led the league in assists and was all-defensive first team.
She went to Phoenix as a free agent last year. But with Diana Taurasi retiring and the Mercury retooling, Cloud was shipped to the Connecticut Sun in February of this year.
The Sun are a perennial playoff contender, but the team has struggled to keep pace with the rest of the league in terms of facilities and amenities. Knowing Cloud had considered New York as a free agent previously and sensing an opportunity, Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb spent weeks trying to wrest her away from the Sun.
“There was nowhere else that I wanted to be than New York,” said Cloud, who grew up in Philadelphia and played at Saint Joseph’s. “I called my agent and said, ‘If they’re ready for me, I’m really, really ready.’ So when I tell you I appreciate being here, there was a lot of work that went on behind the scenes.”
Cloud said she was grateful Jen Rizzotti and Morgan Tuck, the Sun’s president and GM, respectively, understood that she preferred to be in New York and didn’t try to stand in her way. Especially since the Sun had lost several key players in the off-season.
On March 16, Cloud was traded again, with the Liberty sending the Sun two first-round picks. Connecticut used the first of those to take Aneesah Morrow at No. 7 in the draft and will have the other for next year.
“I’m so happy to be where my feet are today. I’m with one of the top organizations, from off the court to on the court. With everything that happened in the off-season, to be where I am today, I’m just extremely grateful,” Cloud said.
The Liberty’s core is established — duh, they won a title last year — but Cloud quickly found her place within it. It helped that she was teammates with Sabrina Ionescu at Unrivaled, and Cloud fessed up that she’d tried to recruit Stewart to the Mystics.
But mostly it’s because Cloud knows her strengths and her role.
“The biggest thing for me was to just add something that was already a well-oiled machine. And how I do that is just being myself. I’m the dog of the team. I’m the energy,” said Cloud, who does tend to make the Energizer Bunny look like a sloth.
“I’m a big connecting piece,” she added. “They already had a really close environment and close chemistry, and I feel like I just kind of bear hug everybody in.”
It is, again, early. Really early. But if Cloud and the Liberty can be thriving this quickly, imagine what they’ll look like come September and October.
Or don’t if you’re a fan of another team.
‘I know my first game put high expectations,’ Cloud said. ‘I really am just trying to be better each day for this team.’
And in doing so, make the Liberty better.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media: @nrarmour.
The biggest event in lacrosse continues on Saturday, when it’s the men’s turn to take the field at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, for their NCAA tournament semifinal showdowns.
Like the women’s semis, both contests are rematches of regular season games. This year’s foursome includes a couple of teams with huge fan bases from Central New York hoping to end, by their lofty standards, lengthy title droughts. The other two are Big Ten squads, one of which is a long-time fixture in the sport while the other is hoping its third semifinal appearance will lead to its first-ever championship.
Here’s a look at the matchups, including the TV schedule and key participants.
Time/TV: noon ET, ESPN2
How they got here: Cornell – beat Albany 15-6, Richmond 13-12. Penn State – beat Colgate 13-11, Notre Dame 14-12.
National championships: Cornell three (last 1977), Penn State none.
Players to watch: Cornell – CJ Kirst (76 G, 32 A); Ryan Goldstein (38 G, 50 A); Michael Long (29 G, 38 A). Penn State – Matt Traynor (42 G, 17 A); Hunter Aquino (16 G, 21 A); Ethan Long (18 G, 17 A).
Quick sticks: Since emerging as one of the sport’s powerhouses in the ‘70’s, the Big Red are still trying to add to their three titles. They’ve been agonizingly close on a couple of occasions, most notably in 2009 when they led Syracuse in the final minute but fell in overtime. … Kirst already owns numerous scoring records and will likely add the Tewaaraton to his list of honors next weekend. … The Nittany Lions, however, are responsible for Cornell’s lone loss this season, a 13-12 overtime thriller on March 8. They’re also responsible for ending Notre Dame’s bid for a third consecutive title thanks to last week’s improbable comeback win in the quarterfinals.
Time/TV: 2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2
How they got here: Maryland – beat Air Force 13-5, Georgetown 9-6. Syracuse – beat Harvard 13-12, No. 3 Princeton 19-18.
National championships: Maryland four (last 2022), Syracuse 11 (last 2009).
Players to watch: Maryland – Eric Spanos (30 G, 16 A); Braden Erksa (30 G, 15 A); Daniel Kelly (32 G, 9 A). Syracuse – Joey Spallina (35 G, 53 A); Owen Hiltz (45 G, 27 A); Michael Leo (30 G, 12 A).
Quick sticks: The Terrapins are in their 30th NCAA semifinal, the most in Division I. The Orange haven’t reached championship weekend since 2013, an almost unthinkable absence for a program that was a fixture at the event for nearly two decades starting in the late 1980’s. … This figures to be a battle to control the pace of the game, which Maryland managed to do in an 11-7 victory in their encounter back on Feb. 15. But the Orange can win a single-digit game if needed, as they did in their 9-8 triumph against Duke in the ACC tournament.
NEW YORK — The Indiana Pacers are going home with a commanding 2-0 lead in the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals after again silencing the Madison Square Garden crowd with a 114-109 victory over the New York Knicks on Friday.
Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 39 points as all five Indiana starters scored in double figures. The Knicks will try to come back from an 0-2 deficit to make it to the Finals. These very Pacers pulled off the trick last season against the Knicks in the semifinal round and won Game 7 in New York to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
The Pacers’ power forward came out strong, scoring 23 points in the first half to handle the early scoring load as Indiana took an early 10-point lead. He finished with 39 points (15-of-23 FG, 3-of-5 3-point FG) and carried the team for the majority of the game until the rest of the starters picked it up in the second half. Siakam, who helped lead the Toronto Raptors to the 2019 NBA championship, set a playoff career high. Tyrese Haliburton, who only scored two points in the first half, finished with 14 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.
Just like the world champion Boston Celtics did in the semifinals, this time it was the Knicks’ opportunity to squander the first two games at home and find themselves having to win four of the next five games to advance to their first NBA Finals since 1999. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the reserves couldn’t keep the game close, and Jalen Brunson, who had 36 points and 11 assists, couldn’t bring the Knicks back.
The Pacers’ ability to get to the paint almost at will hurt the Knicks, especially in the fourth quarter. Indiana took advantage of New York’s smaller guards, and when they weren’t scoring with uncontested layups or getting fouled, the Pacers’ outside shooters capitalized.
The do-everything guard for the Knicks was a non-factor, getting into foul trouble early and never finding his groove. He finished with six points on 2-of-3 shooting and six rebounds in 29 minutes of action.
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The number two is extremely important to Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty.
“It just means a lot to me and my family. A lot of my family who played sports wore No. 2,” Jeanty told USA TODAY Sports, during a promotional appearance with Sharpie. “Then I was born on December 2. The legacy, the greatness, and I was born that day. There’s just a lot of meaning behind it. And for the brand, I wasn’t willing to give it up.”
Jeanty wore No. 2 at Lone Star High School in Frisco, Texas, and at Boise State, where he became the school’s all-time leading rusher, achieved the second-highest single-season rushing total in FBS history and was a Heisman Trophy finalist.
When the Raiders selected Jeanty in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, he wanted to wear No. 2 at all costs.
Literally.
Jeanty negotiated with Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson for the number. Carlson had worn No. 2 for the past five seasons. The kicker sported No. 8 when he first joined the Raiders in 2018 but changed to No. 2 to accommodate Marcus Mariota when the QB arrived.
Fast forward to now, Carlson is going back to No. 8 because Jeanty paid a hefty price for the number.
Jeanty told Kay Adams this week on ‘Up and Adams’ that he paid six figures for the number. The running back confirmed the price tag to USA TODAY Sports.
“It’s true,” Jeanty said.
Jeanty wouldn’t specify the exact amount he paid for his beloved number, but the running back did say Carlson could purchase a luxury car.
“He could buy a nice Mercedes,” a smiling Jeanty said.
The Raiders officially signed Jeanty to his rookie contract on May 8. His contract is worth a total value of $35.9 million, so it’s safe to say he could afford the six-figure amount he paid Carlson.
Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.
The Federal Trade Commission voted to dismiss a lawsuit filed in the last days of the Biden administration that accused PepsiCo of offering sweetheart pricing to big retailers.
FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson dissented to the suit when it was filed in January, when he was one of the regulator’s commissioners. Now the agency’s leader, Ferguson on Thursday again criticized the case as “a nakedly political effort to commit this administration to pursuing little more than a hunch that Pepsi had violated the law.”
“The FTC’s outstanding staff will instead get back to work protecting consumers and ensuring a fair and competitive business environment,” he said in a statement.
The FTC voted 3-0 to drop the suit. The panel is supposed to be made up of five commissioners, no more than three of whom can share the same political party. But it is currently led by three Republicans after President Donald Trump fired its two Democratic commissioners in March. The two ousted officials have slammed their removals as illegal and are urging a judge to reinstate them.
Pepsi welcomed the FTC decision Thursday. “PepsiCo has always and will continue to provide all customers with fair, competitive, and non-discriminatory pricing, discounts and promotional value,” a spokesperson said in a statement. Beyond its namesake soda, the company makes an array of snacks and other food products, including Doritos, Rold Gold pretzels and Sabra hummus.
Former FTC Chair Lina Khan, who led the commission when the agency brought its case against Pepsi, criticized the move Thursday as “disturbing behavior” by the agency.
“This lawsuit would’ve protected families from paying higher prices at the grocery store and stopped conduct that squeezes small businesses and communities across America,” she wrote on X Thursday evening. “Dismissing it is a gift to giant retailers as they gear up to hike prices.”
The decision comes little more than a week after top-ranking Democrats on Capitol Hill sent a letter to Pepsi demanding more information about its pricing strategy. They sought to revive a Biden-era focus on price-gouging as a driver of inflation, an argument that has taken a back seat to the Trump administration’s attention on purportedly unfair trade arrangements.
But major corporations continue to draw scrutiny from the White House over pricing in other ways. Last weekend, Trump slammed Walmart for warning that it was likely to raise prices to offset the costs of his import taxes, demanding on social media that it “EAT THE TARIFFS.”
In the days since then, other major consumer brands have appeared to tread cautiously around pricing. Target said Wednesday that charging customers more would be its “very last resort.” Home Depot virtually ruled out price hikes this week, and Lowe’s barely mentioned tariff impacts in its Wednesday earnings call at all.
CORRECTION (May 22, 2025, 8:45 p.m. ET): Due to an editing error, a previous version of this article misstated when congressional Democrats sent their letter to Pepsi. It was on May 11, not last weekend.
United Airlines reached an “industry-leading” tentative labor deal for its 28,000 flight attendants, their union said Friday.
The deal includes “40% of total economic improvements” in the first year and retroactive pay, a signing bonus, and quality of life improvements, like better scheduling and on-call time, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA said.
The union did not provide further details about the deal.
United flight attendants have not had a raise since 2020.
The cabin crew members voted last year to authorize the union to strike if a deal wasn’t reached. They had also sought federal mediation in negotiations.
U.S. flight attendants have pushed for wage increases for years after pilots and other work groups secured new labor deals in the wake of the pandemic. United is the last of the major U.S. carriers to get a deal done with its flight attendants.
The deal must still face a vote by flight attendants, and contract language will be finalized in the coming days, United said.
President Donald Trump on Friday cleared the merger of U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel, after the Japanese steelmaker’s previous bid to acquire its U.S. rival had been blocked on national security grounds.
“This will be a planned partnership between United States Steel and Nippon Steel, which will create at least 70,000 jobs, and add $14 Billion Dollars to the U.S. Economy,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
U.S. Steel’s headquarters will remain in Pittsburgh and the bulk of the investment will take place over the next 14 months, the president said. U.S. Steel shares surged more than 20% to close at $52.01 per share after Trump’s announcement.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro applauded the agreement, saying he worked with local, state and federal leaders ‘to press for the best deal to keep U.S. Steel headquartered in Pittsburgh, protect union jobs, and secure the future of steelmaking in Western Pennsylvania.’
In his own statement, Lieutenant Gov. Austin Davis called the announcement ‘promising,’ but added: ‘I want to make sure everyone involved in the deal holds up their end of the bargain. I look forward to seeing the promised investments become a reality and the workers receive everything they’ve fought for.’
President Joe Biden blocked Nippon Steel from purchasing U.S. Steel for $14.9 billion in January, citing national security concerns. Biden said at the time that the acquisition would create a risk to supply chains that are critical for the U.S.
Trump, however, ordered a new review of the proposed acquisition in April, directing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to determine “whether further action in this matter may be appropriate.”
Trump said he would hold a rally at U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh on May 30.