Sunday night saw the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns lose their respective playoff games. For the Bucks, it put them on the brink of elimination down 3-1 against the Indiana Pacers, while the Phoenix Suns were shockingly swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Both the Bucks and Suns started their seasons with a massive trade with the Portland Trail Blazers, one that sent Damian Lillard to Milwaukee, Jusuf Nurkic to Phoenix and Deandre Ayton to Portland.
While the Blazers would much rather want to be participating in the playoffs instead of sitting on the couch after a 21-win season, they could be in the best position of the three teams one season after the trade.
The Suns could be the worst off out of the three teams. Phoenix pushed all its chips in after trading for Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal and absolutely gutted its future. That would’ve been okay if the team was winning like it was supposed to, but the Suns don’t even have a playoff series win — let alone a game — to show for it.
The Bucks, although they have been struck with injuries to Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo, aren’t in much of a better spot. Sure, they could come back and win three straight games, but they haven’t shown that they can be a true contender with the current roster. After firing Adrian Griffin — who led the team to a 30-13 start — replacement Doc Rivers led the team to a sub-.500 mark after taking over. Now, he’s one loss away from a second consecutive first-round exit.
The Suns and Bucks are on a train to mediocrity. At least the Blazers have the potential to go in a different direction. There may not be a worse spot in sports than being mediocre, because you don’t put yourself in a spot to win a championship, but you aren’t bad enough to acquire the top young talent. At least the Blazers have the chance to do that.
Giannis, Dame, KD, Booker ... all of those guys are future Hall-of-Famers, but the reality is right now that they are on teams who can’t win the championship, and they no longer have enough assets to acquire the pieces they need alongside them to win.
This is where the Blazers were in the final few years of the Lillard era. They were good enough to be competitive, but not enough to truly make an impact, which is why the Blazers had to blow it up, even if they tried everything in their power not to. Eventually, the Suns and Bucks will recognize that to be their fate as well, and the moves made in the Lillard deal will prove to have been a mistake in hindsight.
Does that mean the Blazers “won” the Lillard trade? No. There’s no guarantee that they will get back on top with the current team they are trying to build. However, if you had to choose one of the team’s futures, the Blazers are the one I’d most like to have.
Les Snead typically wheels and deals during the NFL draft, making several trades to either move up or down the board. This year, however, the Rams general manager only made one trade – and it was a big one.
Early in the second round, the Rams traded up from No. 52 to 39 overall, sending the Panthers Pick 155 and a second-rounder in 2025. It was an expensive move for the Rams, one that the trade value chart says they got fleeced on, but that just goes to show how coveted Braden Fiske was by the front office and coaches.
Sean McVay said after the draft that the Rams immediately identified Fiske as a player they were willing to do whatever to trade up for. They even tried moving up for him from the start of the second round when the Bills went on the clock at No. 33.
“Fiske was the guy that we identified. ‘Hey, let’s do whatever we can to get up and go get this guy,’” McVay said. “And we were trying from the very jump. … Fortunately, Tony was able to get that thing done and we were able to do it and we felt like it was something that was part of the plan. The plan unfolded the way that we wanted it to. Sometimes it doesn’t work out that way but a real credit to those guys to be able to execute it and bring it to life.”
Fiske joins his college teammate, Jared Verse, along the Rams’ defensive front as another impact player who could start right away. They both had successful, albeit brief, stints at Florida State, helping the Seminoles go undefeated in the regular season last year.
Pair his relentless play style with his impressive athleticism and the Rams got a talented individual to help replace Aaron Donald.
A team can’t cement a playoff spot in April, but they can certainly play their way out of the mix. Such is the case with the Marlins. Miami blew a 7-0 lead against the Nationals yesterday to fall to an MLB-worst 6-23 start. Whatever slim hope they had of competing for a playoff spot entering the season is gone. They’re going to be deadline sellers. It’s just a matter of when they start moving players and who will go.
New president of baseball operations Peter Bendix figures to be broadly open to dealing anyone beyond Eury Pérez and Sandy Alcantara, both of whom are rehabbing Tommy John surgeries anyhow. Much of the roster was assembled before he was hired last November, so he probably doesn’t have a ton of attachment to this group.
Bendix also joined Miami after a long stint with the Rays, a front office that was never afraid to move established players as they navigated payroll limitations. Tampa Bay occasionally made key deals at atypical times on the schedule, including tradingAustin Meadows just before Opening Day in 2022 and swappingWilly Adames for Drew Rasmussen and J.P. Feyereisen the previous May.
The Fish are more likely to deal some players than others, of course, so let’s run through a few of the top possibilities:
Rogers was an All-Star and the NL Rookie of the Year runner-up in 2021. He was ineffective in 2022 and limited to four starts last season by injury. The 6’5″ southpaw is one of the rare Miami pitchers who hasn’t been impacted by health concerns early this year. Rogers isn’t back to his early-career peak, but he has looked the part of a capable mid-rotation arm through five starts. He owns a 4.10 ERA in 26 1/3 innings.
The former first-rounder’s velocity is sitting around 92 MPH — down from the 94-95 he was pumping as a rookie — and his strikeout rate sits at a personal-low 20.6%. He’s getting ground-balls at a near-52% clip, though, and he’s done a solid job throwing strikes. Even if Rogers might not be the top-end arm he seemed three years ago, he’s an affordable mid-rotation starter who is under arbitration control for two seasons beyond this one. He’s making just $1.53MM this year, as the injuries prevented him from building much of a résumé going into his arb window.
Entering the season, Luzardo was the left-hander more teams were probably monitoring. He could certainly still be a coveted deadline target, but he’ll need to rebound from a rough couple weeks. Luzardo has been rocked for a 6.58 ERA with elevated walk and home run rates through his first 26 innings. He went on the 15-day injured list late last week with elbow tightness. It’s still not clear how serious that is.
If Luzardo returns to health and looks more like his 2023 self, he’d be one of the top upside plays on the market. He was an upper mid-rotation starter last season, turning in 178 2/3 innings of 3.58 ERA ball. Luzardo’s fastball velocity was sitting in its customary 97 MPH range before he went on the IL and he continued to miss plenty of bats. He and the Fish agreed to a $5.5MM salary to avoid arbitration last winter. Like Rogers, he’s under team control for two more years.
Garrett, 26, was a quietly effective rotation piece a year ago. The control artist turned in his second straight sub-4.00 ERA showing over 159 2/3 frames. He fanned an above-average 23.7% of opponents and kept the ball on the ground nearly half the time batters made contact.
The former #7 overall pick hasn’t pitched in the majors in 2024. He opened the year on the IL with a shoulder impingement. He had a brief setback when he experienced dead arm after a throwing session, but it’s not believed to be serious. He threw three innings in a rehab start last Friday. Garrett is making around the league minimum and will be go through arbitration four times after this season. He doesn’t have eye-popping velocity, but he misses bats with his offspeed stuff and has a career 3.86 ERA with peripherals to match. The Fish should get plenty of calls on him in July if he’s healthy.
Cabrera rounds out the quartet of potentially desirable rotation pieces. He may be the hardest of the group to evaluate. The former top prospect has huge stuff. His fastball sits in the high-90s. Cabrera can miss bats and generate plenty of grounders with all three of his secondary pitches (changeup, curveball, slider). At 26, it’s still not out of the question that he blossoms into a top-of-the-rotation starter.
Yet the Dominican-born righty has never thrown 100 innings in a major league season (although he fell one out shy of that arbitrary cutoff last year). That’s partially because he has a few arm-related injured list stints, including a two-week stay to open this season resulting from a shoulder impingement. He’s also nearly as wild a starter as there is in MLB. Cabrera walked 15.2% of batters faced last year and has issued free passes at a near-14% clip in his big league career.
The Marlins won’t feel obligated to move Cabrera for whatever they can get. He’s under control for four years after this, though he’ll qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player next winter. The Fish considered trade possibilities over the offseason, so he’s unlikely to be off the table, but a team will need to meet a lofty asking price.
Of Miami’s hitters, Arraez is the biggest name. A defending two-time batting champ, he’s probably the best pure contact hitter in the sport. His .305 average through his first 129 plate appearances would be the second-lowest of his career. Arraez is going to reach base at a high clip, but he offers minimal power — career-high 10 homers, zero in 2024 — and plays a well below-average second base.
Arraez will still draw interest, but his trade value isn’t as high as one might assume based solely on the batting average. In addition to his defensive limitations, his control window is shrinking. Arraez is playing this season on a $10.6MM salary and will go through the arbitration process once more before getting to free agency. He’d likely earn something in the $13-15MM range next season, which could motivate the Marlins to deal him this summer.
Chisholm hasn’t quite developed into the franchise player that he seemed he might become early in his career. He has been a solid regular with flashes beyond that, though. The switch-hitter connected on 19 homers and stole 22 bases in just 97 games last season, albeit with a modest .304 on-base percentage. He has dramatically increased his walk rate in the early going this year, running a .245/.342/.382 slash through his first 117 plate appearances.
Injuries have been a recurring problem. Chisholm missed a good portion of 2022 to a back issue. He lost chunks of the ’23 campaign with toe and oblique woes. If he stays healthy through this season’s first half, Chisholm could be one of the more intriguing trade candidates of deadline season. He has a tantalizing power/speed combination and can play center field, albeit with differing reviews from public metrics on his glove. Chisholm is making $2.65MM this year and has two more seasons of arbitration control.
Lefty Relief Trio
Each of Tanner Scott, A.J. Puk and Andrew Nardi could be attractive left-handed relief options. They’ve all been hit hard in the early going but have high-octane stuff and performed well last season. The Marlins unsuccessfully auditioned Puk in the rotation but will move him back to relief once he recovers from shoulder fatigue.
Nardi is the least well-known of the group, but he’s controllable for four-plus seasons and won’t be eligible for arbitration until 2026. He has a career strikeout rate north of 30% in 83 2/3 innings. Scott is an impending free agent who has worked the ninth inning for Miami over the last couple seasons. He hasn’t been able to find the strike zone this year, a disappointing start after he issued walks at a career-low 7.8% clip in 2023. Scott is playing this season on a $5.7MM salary. Puk is making $1.8MM and will go through arbitration twice more.
———————
A few others could draw attention, although they’re probably less likely than the players listed above to move. Many teams would love to land Max Meyer, but it’d take a Godfather offer for the Marlins to move him.
Ryan Weathers leads the team in innings thus far. He’s a former top 10 pick who has pushed his average fastball to 96 MPH and is getting plenty of whiffs on his breaking ball. It’s conceivable teams could have interest, but Weathers has a career 5.67 ERA with subpar strikeout and walk numbers. Anthony Bender has returned from Tommy John surgery to post excellent strikeout and walk rates through his first 11 innings. His ERA is atrocious because of an elevated average on balls in play, but that should normalize well before the deadline.
The Marlins aren’t likely to find a taker for any portion of the Avisaíl García contract. That’d also be the case for Josh Bell unless he has a dramatic turnaround at the plate. He’s hitting .176/.270/.287 and playing on a $16.5MM salary. Neither Nick Fortes nor Christian Bethancourt has contributed anything offensively.
The Fish took a $5MM rebound flier on Tim Anderson over the offseason. That was likely with an eye towards a midseason trade, but he’s out to a .223/.270/.255 start after hitting .245/.286/.296 in his final year with the White Sox. He’ll need to perform significantly better to draw any kind of interest. Bryan De La Cruz, Jesús Sánchez and Jake Burger are low-OBP corner bats. They’d each have modest value if the Marlins wanted to deal them.
Central Wisconsin farmers said a trade war with China and potential immigration crackdowns make it harder for them to stay afloat.
A group of farmers came together Thursday for a discussion at Miltrim Farms in Marathon County. The discussion, part of a series of listening sessions by the Council on Foreign Relations, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, included a range of agriculture sectors: dairy farmers, ginseng farmers, a maple syrup producer, the owner of an apple orchard and an organic produce farmer.
It centered on how U.S. foreign policy and policies on immigration are felt by producers and small businesses in the region.
Those deportations, if carried out, would likely hit Wisconsin dairy farms hard. Dairy producers rely on immigrant labor, often from Mexico and South America, to operate. While many workers come here with legal status through temporary work visas, that is not the case for all of the workforce.
“It seems foolish to just pretend that foreign-born workers aren’t here and that we don’t need them,” said Hans Breitenmoser, whose dairy farm outside of Merrill has about 460 cows. “We need a means by which their presence here can be legal and sustainable, and also provide them with the dignity that they deserve.”
Recent public opinion polling has shown a turn in favor of the crackdown advocated by Trump. An April 25 survey by Axios and The Harris Poll found a majority of Americans said they would support mass deportations.
In Wisconsin, the most recent Marquette Law School Poll found 30 percent of Wisconsinites said undocumented immigrants currently working in the U.S. should be deported — a figure that has nearly doubled in the last two years.
Wisconsin farmers are also affected by trade policies, including existing and proposed tariffs in the ongoing trade war with China. Wisconsin exported $3.87 billion in agricultural and food products in 2023, according to state data. When the U.S. imposes tariffs on imported goods, often the affected country retaliates by placing new fees on U.S.-produced products.
This effect is seen clearly in the U.S. ginseng industry.
More than 90 percent of U.S. production of ginseng comes from Wisconsin’s Marathon County, and the great majority of that product is exported to China. The multimillion-dollar industry has been decimated by the trade war with China. The escalated tariffs started under Trump’s administration, and has continued under Democratic President Joe Biden.
The number of ginseng producers in central Wisconsin has fallen, and current producers have struggled with declining revenues.
“We have a 120-year tradition in Marathon County for raising ginseng, which is mostly export-driven. So now we are really between a rock and a hard place,” said Ming Tao Jiang, president of Marathon Ginseng International.
Farming is also an equipment-intensive business, which means farmers are affected by the price of steel or other building materials that may fall under new tariffs. Biden has called for steep new tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum, which could help U.S. manufacturers but would likely drive up costs.
There is nothing like knowing everything, and at long last we know everything about a very certain thing.
It was two years ago when the Cleveland Browns decided that trading for quarterback Deshaun Watson was a good idea. Cleveland has made the playoffs one time in that span and saw its best quarterback play in it come from Joe Flacco. Note... he is not Deshaun Watson.
Incidentally, the Browns lost that playoff game to the team they acquired Watson from: the Houston Texans. Over the last two years, Nick Caserio has taken everything his team got in the Watson trade and turned it into hit after hit, and at long last we can look at the total and complete package of the deal.
Browns received:
Deshaun Watson
Texans’ 2024 fifth-round pick: Traded to Denver in the deal to acquire wide receiver Jerry Jeudy.
Texans received:
Browns’ 2022 first-round pick: Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles... Kenyon Green was ultimately their first-round pick and they also netted a fourth- and two fifth-round selections in the 2022 draft
Browns’ 2023 first-round pick: Traded to the Arizona Cardinals along with other picks for the pick that became Defensive Rookie of the Year Will Anderson
Browns’ 2023 third-round pick: Traded to the Los Angeles Rams to move up and draft Tank Dell
Browns’ 2024 first-round pick: Traded to the Minnesota Vikings along with their own seventh-round pick in exchange for a 2024 second- and sixth- this year and a second-round pick in 2025
SALT LAKE CITY — A delegation representing aerospace, defense and research industries in Utah traveled to Taiwan this month, hoping to make connections with a country under increasing pressure to shore up its borders.
"The threat of war always forces us as a society to hasten the pace of acceleration around technology," said Aaron Starks, president of 47G (formerly the Utah Aerospace and Defense Association), the group organizing the trip. "While it's an unfortunate circumstance, we do realize that in markets like Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, the threat escalation is high and therefore, there's more business to be transacted."
47G has been organizing delegations such as this in places where, as Starks puts it, "There's more opportunity for companies to go and prove their technologies in unique ways."
For four days, from April 8-12, Utah companies met with Taiwan's national defense leadership, research institutions and manufacturers in back-to-back meetings, bus rides and presentations.
"When our delegation hit the ground, our companies already had access and exposure to the right people to quickly get deals done," said Caroline Chapdelaine, CEO of Northstar Photonics.
Global tensions rising
Chapdelaine, who was an Army intelligence officer in Korea and Thailand, said escalating tensions in the Asian Pacific are a result of the U.S. and China becoming "hyperaware of just how pivotal Taiwan is because of the semiconductor industry."
China has had a hard time getting its semiconductor industry going, partially because of the U.S.'s efforts to keep its largest telecommunication company, Huawei, at bay with economic levers and tariffs, according to Chapdelaine. Meanwhile, "The U.S. has become aware just how far behind it is," she said, and so all efforts are being made to prevent Taiwan from falling to one extreme or another.
The global supply chain for semiconductors is a fragile ecosystem and has been disrupted by conflict in the past few years. According to a U.S. International Trade Commission report, Ukraine supplies 25-30% of the world's supply of purified neon gas, crucial for chip manufacturing, while Taiwan accounts for 18% of global chip manufacturing and 92% of advanced chip manufacturing as of 2023.
Still, members of the delegation told KSL.com they were surprised at how at ease Taiwanese officials were. "We've seen a lot more media attention in the U.S. on what's happening in Taiwan," Chapdelaine said, "so my thought would be, the Taiwanese view has probably changed significantly, and they're a lot more scared." But for a generation that's only ever known tension with its larger neighbor, China's "poking at the borders a little bit more lately" is not really a big deal, the Army veteran was told.
"I was very surprised about how relaxed the Taiwanese are," said Dominic Kelly, director of KordUSA. "They're used to living under the threat of a massive nation on their doorstep wanting to gobble them up." Kelly mentioned the companies he met with have to deal with constant cybersecurity pressure.
"Their counter-cyber teams are just continually batting off cyberattacks on a daily basis," he said. "It's incredible how intense it is. So they're fighting a daily war against the Chinese."
A delegation of Utahns met with Taiwanese government officials, researchers and business representatives during the 47G association's trip in April. (Photo: 47G)
Utah abroad
The 47G team — including former Utah Republican Party vice chairman Starks, co-founder and lobbyist Adam Gardiner, chief of staff Robert Carroll, with a board of directors including former U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart, commercial real-estate mogul Brandon Fugal, Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity managing director Kori Ann Edwards, USU President Elizabeth Cantwell, and many more — leverage their connections, which are vast by all accounts, to connect organizations with potential partners, mentors and customers, for a membership fee.
Through the association, participants say they are able to work closely with Utah legislative leadership, government officials and elected representatives.
"The defense and aerospace industry is a very difficult industry to get into," Kelly said. "You've got to have deep pockets, you've got to be very tenacious. And if you're a small company, you need as much assistance as possible. That's where 47G plays a role in helping small companies get into this space."
His company's technology, a controller mounted to a rifle, like a Roku remote for all the other devices on the soldier's kit, was picked up by the Ukrainian military during a 47G trip last year. Kelly is now in serious talks with Taiwan's military for potential orders.
Kelly said Utah's reputation was firmly established before they set foot on Taiwanese soil, with government officials enthusiastic about the state's "broad international focus," and its large population of workers who can speak a second language, are well-educated and well-traveled.
Zhongquan Zheng, an engineering department head at Utah State University, said, "As universities, sometimes we don't have such a broad spectrum of connections." Zheng worked to establish pathways for Utah students to work and study in Taiwan and vice versa.
"When we look at a trade mission opportunity, like Taiwan, we want to send a balanced delegation," Starks said. "Companies need to know who their buyers, partners, investors are. Cities and counties want to be able to take away best practices around defense and security."
According to Starks, "Taiwan's ability to protect itself and maintain its status as an independent society depends entirely on the United States."
"It's very sobering," he said, "but Utah has a very important role to play nationwide."
The AI craze has returned to Wall Street — and investors are buying back in.
Standout quarterly results from Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) plus a well-received IPO debut for Rubrik (RBRK) have put the AI narrative back on track, sparking renewed confidence that big tech’s expensive bets on splashy tools is boosting growth.
Alphabet shares soared to an all-time high on Friday, closing above a $2 trillion market cap for the first time. Microsoft shares ended up 1.8%, sporting a market a shade over $3 trillion.
“The AI investment story is intact,” BMO Wealth Management U.S. chief investment officer Yung-Yu Ma told Yahoo Finance.
Outperformance by Microsoft and Alphabet, along with Elon Musk's automaker turn AI play Tesla (TSLA), pushed the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and Nasdaq (^IXIC) to their best weekly performance this year.
“They're delivering on earnings,” HSBC’s Nicole Inui told Yahoo Finance. “This is a secular growth story, and we think the sector continues to stay strong over the second half of the year.”
Results from Microsoft and Google gave Wall Street an early glimpse at how AI will drive stocks for years to come. Microsoft said AI services accounted for 7 percentage points of the 31% revenue jump in its Azure cloud division.
Meanwhile, increasing contributions from AI helped Google’s cloud revenue surge 28%, compared to a year ago.
“The commentary from both Google and Microsoft tells us that there is real demand for AI,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Rishi Jaluria told Yahoo Finance. “It's not just hype, it's not just people talking about it. There's actual capital being put to work.”
In a note to clients this week, Bank of America’s Michael Hartnett wrote that “narrow mega-cap growth leadership” will remain intact until threats of a recession materialize.
And the AI opportunity goes far beyond Microsoft and Google — the two companies often viewed by Wall Street as leaders in the AI race.
RBC Capital Markets internet analyst Brad Erickson told Yahoo Finance that Meta’s (META) selloff following earnings was an “overreaction,” and believes AI will be a “transformational driver" for the company.
“We’d be buying it,” Erickson said.
The rally in several Mag 7 stocks arrives ahead of key results from Amazon (AMZN) and Apple (AAPL) this coming week — two earnings reports that will be another critical test for the AI tech trade amid sky-high valuations.
Curious on the best Mag 7 name to trade in May amid the acronym's comeback? On the latest episode of the Opening Bid podcast, we discuss just that. Tune in below.
Seana Smithis an anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Smith on Twitter@SeanaNSmith. Tips on deals, mergers, activist situations, or anything else? Email seanasmith@yahooinc.com.
gamagana.blogspot.com How Central Asian Countries Are Courting Western Trade and Investment | OilPrice.com
Eurasianet
Eurasianet is an independent news organization that covers news from and about the South Caucasus and Central Asia, providing on-the-ground reporting and critical perspectives on…
Central Asian states are simplifying customs procedures and strengthening property rights to attract more Western trade and investment.
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan signed agreements to streamline customs procedures and create a free trade zone.
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are implementing measures to facilitate trade, including digitalizing customs operations at border crossings.
Central Asian states are knocking down trade barriers, addressing a prerequisite for the formation of a unified regional market. The recent diplomatic efforts appear to have caught the attention of the Kremlin, which worries that freer trade in Central Asia will facilitate the expansion of commercial networks bypassing Russia.
The creation of a unified Central Asian market enabling the seamless movement of goods and services is a central aim of a regional economic blueprint supported by the United States, known as the B5+1 process. That plan, launched in March, calls for the five Central Asian states – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – to take the lead in fostering regional free trade and the diversification of export routes.
Given the flurry of diplomatic activity in mid-April, Central Asian leaders seem intent on exploring the B5+1’s potential. The rationale underpinning the B5+1 holds that a Central Asia with simplified customs procedures, along with effective mechanisms to protect property rights and resolve commercial disputes, will be able to attract more Western trade and investment. That, in turn, will make the Middle Corridor trade route the most lucrative option for regional governments and business.
On April 18, a meeting between Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rahmon, yielded 28 interstate agreements covering a variety of political, economic and social areas. Two agreements aim to specifically facilitate Uzbek-Tajik trade, one to streamline customs procedures at road, rail and air border checkpoints, and another covering “industrial property” rights.
Prior to Mirziyoyev’s visit, roughly 600 officials and business executives from both states attended an investment forum in Dushanbe, the Tajik capital. According to the Uzbek Trade Ministry, participants were most interested in developing joint projects in the mining and green energy sectors. They also focused on expanding trade.
The Tajik news service, Asia-Plus, reported that the two countries are working together to create a free trade zone at the Oybek-Fotekhobod border crossing, as well as construct a logistics hub at Andarkhan, in the Ferghana Valley. In addition, Tajikistan’s official Khovar news agency reported the two countries were preparing to eliminate the need for filling out time-consuming permit forms at Tajik-Uzbek border points for freight-carrying trucks transiting through the two countries.
According to official Tajik numbers, bilateral trade turnover totaled $505 million in 2023. But officials aim to increase annual turnover to $2 billion “in the coming years,” according to one Uzbek media report.
The same figure – $2 billion – was the bilateral turnover target mentioned by Kazakhstan’s president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, after he signed a series of bilateral agreements with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov on April 19. Two of those agreements concerned measures to ease cross-border movement. At a news conference following the signing ceremony, Tokayev said a major bilateral goal is boosting the exchange of manufactured goods.
“We have come to a common conclusion that there should be no unresolved issues between our countries. Particular attention was paid to strengthening trade and economic ties,” Tokayev said. He added that “specific measures” are being implemented to facilitate trade, including the digitalization of customs operations at numerous Kazakh-Kyrgyz border crossings. The upgrades are expected to be completed by 2028.
Following up on his talks with Japarov, Tokayev held phone discussions with Uzbekistan’s Mirziyoyev on April 23. Though details were scant on the substance of those talks, regional trade was likely a topic. “The dynamic development of bilateral relations and cooperation at the regional level was emphasized,” Tokayev’s presidential press service noted.
Trade statistics indicate that interstate truck-borne freight traffic increased in Central Asia in early 2024. But not all the news is good for free-trade boosters.
Perhaps Central Asia’s most fractious bilateral relationship at the moment is Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan; trade turnover between those two states amounted to just $2.2 million during the first quarter of 2024, one-fifth the level during the same period last year. Border disputes have sparked armed clashes in recent years, and roughly 10 percent of the Tajik-Kyrgyz border still hasn’t been delimited.
All the movement in Central Asia toward facilitating trade seems to be unsettling to Moscow. A report on the recent diplomatic developments in Central Asia, published April 21 by the moderately pro-Kremlin Nezavisimaya Gazeta, sought to downplay the potential of a functional region-wide market.
The article cited an “expert on Central Asia” named Serdar Aitakov, who indicated that Turkmenistan would remain a major obstacle for the foreseeable future to efforts to promote connectivity. Among the country’s problems is a “catastrophically short” supply of “qualified personnel to organize international cooperation within the framework of contractual mechanisms.” While that may be the case, Ashgabat’s interest in expanding regional trade seems relatively high, evidenced by the large delegation that the government sent to the inaugural B5+1 conference in Almaty.
Alexander Knyazev, a researcher at MGIMO University, one of Russia’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning, described talk of regional economic integration as premature, pointing out that no multilateral trade discussions have made progress on forming a common market. An amalgamation of bilateral agreements, “not illusory multilateral formats,” will shape regional trade, Knyazev contended, taking a swipe at the B5+1 vision.
Even so, bilateral agreements make it easier for regional states to find common ground. The communique issued at the end of the B5+1 conference in Almaty noted that “trade and transit costs are 60 percent higher in land-locked Central Asia than in countries with connection to the sea,” going on to note that “participants agreed that [trade] costs can be reduced by addressing non-geographical barriers that impede the flow of goods and people across borders.”
The agreements signed in mid-April show that Central Asian leaders are addressing this key point.
Eurasianet is an independent news organization that covers news from and about the South Caucasus and Central Asia, providing on-the-ground reporting and critical perspectives on…
Back during the 2022 NFL trade deadline, the Detroit Lions sent tight end T.J. Hockenson to the Minnesota Vikings for a swap of several draft picks. As a reminder, here are the trade terms for both teams:
Lions got:
2023 second-round pick (55 overall)
2024 third-round pick (73)
Vikings got:
T.J. Hockenson
2023 fourth-round pick (119)
2024 fourth-round pick (129)
All of the Lions picks involved in this trade have been accounted for. Here’s a look at what the Lions got in that trade:
Lions’ haul
2023 second-round pick (55 overall)
It’s a little hard to track exactly the value the Lions got out of this pick because they traded back from 55, then again from 63 to 68. Here’s the combined haul of those two trade downs:
Got:
QB Hendon Hooker (68th overall)
Pick 122 overall (fourth round) — Part of trade-up package for Brodric Martin
Pick 139 overall (fifth round) — Part of trade-up package for Brodric Martin
Pick 249 overall (seventh round) — traded away in the D’Andre Swift trade
Lost:
Pick 63 overall
183rd overall (sixth round)
194th overall (sixth round)
So, in essence, the trade netted the Lions Hendon Hooker and a portion of Brodric Martin in 2023.
2024 third-round pick (73)
Again, the Lions did end up drafting with the 73rd overall pick. Instead, they used it in a package to trade up and get Terrion Arnold. A reminder of those trade terms:
Got:
CB Terrion Arnold (24th overall)
2025 seventh-round pick
Lost:
Pick 29
Pick 73
So this portion of the trade netted the Lions the trade capital necessary to trade up and get Terrion Arnold.
Putting it all together, the Lions took the assets of this trade, combined it with other draft capital they already had (notably Pick 29 this year, 63 last year), and netted Hendon Hooker, Brodric Martin, and Terrion Arnold.
The biggest benefit of this trade was that the Lions didn’t have to sign Hockenson to a pricey contract extension, while the Vikings (four years, $66 million) did. Meanwhile, the Lions were able to replace Hockenson by drafting Sam LaPorta in the second round last year.
BRICS is advancing to eliminate the US dollar in all of its global trade and transactions in 2024. The bloc aims to put local currencies ahead of the US dollar to strengthen their native economies and businesses. The alliance is also convincing other developing countries to follow suit and settle payments in local currencies for cross-border transactions.
Read here to know how many sectors in the US will be impacted if BRICS ditches the dollar for trade. The de-dollarization initiative is spreading its wings across the world making developing countries end dependency on the dollar.
BRICS: China & Russia Initiate $260 Billion Worth of Trade Without the US Dollar
Source: a2zanimals.com
BRICS members China and Russia recently signed a trade agreement where they will use local currencies up to $260 billion. The trade deal will be initiated to settle payments in exchange for commodities purchased between the two nations. Both China and Russia will settle payments in the Chinese Yuan and the Russian Ruble, and not the US dollar.
95% of the $260 billion worth of trade will be settled in the Chinese Yuan. The rest 5% will be settled in the Russian Ruble and the Euro. The development indicates that the BRICS alliance is serious and will do almost anything to push the de-dollarization agenda ahead.
“$260 billion worth of trade between China and Russia this year. But almost no US dollar will be used! It will be 95% Chinese yuan and Russian rubles. Maybe some euros are involved. This de-dollarization will soon be replicated among all BRICS+ members,” said an analyst.
If many other developing countries begin to follow the BRICS agenda, then the US dollar will be put under pressure. Therefore, the next decade will be completely different from today as local currencies could gain strength in the financial sector.
Now that we’re through the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft, the trade between the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions that saw tight end T.J. Hockenson come to Minnesota is, essentially, complete.
Let’s take a look at how both sides fared in that deal, shall we?
Minnesota Vikings receive
TE T.J. Hockenson
2023 fourth-round pick (Traded to Chiefs)
2023 fourth-round pick (Jay Ward)
2024 fifth-round pick (Traded as part of move up to select Dallas Turner in 2024 first round)
2024 fourth-round pick (Traded as part of move up to select J.J. McCarthy in 2024 first round)
Detroit Lions receive
2023 second-round pick (Traded to Chiefs)
2023 second-round pick (Traded to Broncos)
2023 third-round pick (QB Hendon Hooker)
2023 fourth-round pick (Traded as part of move up to select DT Brodric Martin in 2023 third round)
2023 seventh-round pick (Traded as part of move up to select WR Antoine Green in 2023 seventh round)
2024 third-round pick (Traded as part of move up to select CB Terrion Arnold in 2024 first round)
So, of all of the players that have been a part of the deal to this point, the only one that’s actually done anything of note on the field is. . .Hockenson.
On the Vikings’ side, there’s Jay Ward, who to this point is best known for lining up offside on special teams. For the Lions, Hooker missed all of last season rehabbing an injury, Martin had exactly three tackles in his rookie season and Green had one catch for two yards.
Of course, some of the picks that the Vikings and Lions received after moving around with some of the picks they got out of the trade aided them in acquiring their first-round selections in this year’s NFL Draft, but none of them have taken the field yet so we really don’t know what sort of value they’re getting from them.
Oh, and the Vikings Lions do have a seventh-round pick in 2025 as a result of trading the Vikings’ 2024 third-rounder to the Cowboys on Thursday night. If that actually amounts to anything, we’ll update this whole thing again next year.
All things considered, the Hockenson trade looks like a pretty good one for the Vikings. If he can come back from the injury he suffered last season, it will likely just continue to get more lopsided in Minnesota’s favor.
Kevin Seifert is a staff writer who covers the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL at ESPN. Kevin has covered the NFL for over 20 years, joining ESPN in 2008. He was previously a beat reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Washington Times. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia. You can follow him via Twitter @SeifertESPN.
Six weeks after bidding farewell to veteran Kirk Cousins, the Vikings moved up one spot in the 2024 NFL draft and selected Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy at No. 10 on Thursday night.
McCarthy provided an attractive consolation prize after the team tried and failed to acquire the No. 3 pick, where they hoped to draft North Carolina's Drake Maye, and were rebuffed by the Los Angeles Chargers in a long shot attempt to trade for veteran Justin Herbert.
McCarthy was one of at least five quarterbacks the Vikings conducted private workouts and meetings with over the past month, a list that also included Jayden Daniels, Michael Penix Jr., Bo Nix and Maye. All but Nix were off the board by the eighth selection of the draft, leaving the Vikings to sweat out a few picks before they swapped spots with the New York Jets.
The Vikings gave up the No. 11 pick, a fourth-round pick (No. 129) and a fifth-round pick (No. 157) to get No. 10 and a seventh-round selection (No. 203) from the Jets, who used the 11th pick on Penn State offensive tackle Olu Fashanu.
Speaking Thursday night, Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah did not say that McCarthy was their top choice but instead reiterated the team had created a tiered value and development plan for each of the draft's quarterbacks.
"We're very big here on quarterbacks and how differently they can impact the game," Adofo-Mensah said. "What I can tell you is that he is somebody whose skill set is something we're really excited about. ... From a talent standpoint, he was as talented as anybody in the draft."
McCarthy said Thursday that if the NFL were like a recruiting process, he would have chosen the Vikings as his destination. He cited coach Kevin O'Connell's scheme and the team's personnel, adding that Minnesota is "a perfect destination for a quarterback that's up and coming in this league."
McCarthy was a tougher projection than most of the draft's other quarterbacks, having turned 21 in January and having thrown an average of 22.1 passes per game last season, ranking No. 94 in FBS. Adofo-Mensah said that during a pre-draft discussion, McCarthy asked him a blunt question: "Is there any reason you wouldn't draft me?"
"I said, honestly, from a talent standpoint, no," Adofo-Mensah said. "You are just a little bit of an unknown because you played in an offense that is pretty run-heavy and different things like that, so there's some guesswork, but we think you can do it."
Minnesota wasn't finished making moves on Day 1, pulling off a second draft-day trade to move up six spots with the Jacksonville Jaguars in order to take Alabama edge rusher Dallas Turner with the No. 17 pick. The Vikings sent the No. 23 and No. 167 picks in this year's draft as well as a third- and fourth-round pick in 2025 to the Jaguars.
"He was one of the top defensive players on our board," Adofo-Mensah said. "I can't believe we got both of them in the same draft."
McCarthy will compete with veteran Sam Darnold, whom the Vikings signed in March to a one-year contract as a potential bridge starter until their new quarterback was ready to play. In Minnesota, McCarthy will encounter what might be the best landing spot for any of the quarterbacks selected Thursday night.
The Vikings have an array of offensive weapons, from receivers Justin Jefferson to Jordan Addison. They signed running back Aaron Jones in free agency and will get tight end T.J. Hockenson back from a knee injury at some point early in the 2024 season. O'Connell is a former NFL quarterback and one of the league's top young playcallers, and new quarterback coach Josh McCown will work closely with McCarthy as well.
At 6-foot-2, 219 pounds, McCarthy was 27-1 as a starter at Michigan over the past two seasons, which included the 2023 national championship. The lone loss was in the 2022 College Football Playoff semifinals against TCU, when Michigan scored 45 points and McCarthy totaled three touchdowns.
O'Connell said he was encouraged to find a fiery competitor behind McCarthy's sunny disposition during their pre-draft talks.
"A lot of times you can make a mistake with guys that look like they're smiling and having a good time and are really successful, and misjudge what kind of competitor they are," O'Connell said. "There is a fire inside of them to be the best version of himself. He wants to win. He's won at every level he's played. ... The one thing you hear is that he was a driving force behind a lot of [Michigan's success]."
Thursday's move continues the Vikings' decades-long effort to find a high-end franchise player at the position. Since Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton retired, the Vikings have drafted four quarterbacks in the first round: Tommy Kramer (1977), Daunte Culpepper (1999), Christian Ponder (2011) and Teddy Bridgewater (2014).
Kramer held down the position for 13 years, and Culpepper for parts of six seasons. In between, they signed Hall of Famers nearing the end of their careers, including Warren Moon (1994) and Brett Favre (2009) -- and they tried to sign Dan Marino in 2000. They've put their hopes in veterans they thought could ignite otherwise talented teams, such as Jim McMahon (1993), Randall Cunningham (1998-99), Jeff George (1999) and Gus Frerotte (2008).
Cousins represented a new approach, as the Vikings decided to pay a premium for a level of player -- a long-term starter in his prime -- who is not usually available on the free agent market. They guaranteed all of Cousins' three-year, $84 million contract, one that required two extensions and one restructuring to manage over the next six seasons. They paid him a total of $185 million over that span, compiling a 50-37-1 regular-season record.
But the Vikings won only one NFC North title during that period and went 1-2 in two playoff appearances.
As a result, during negotiations in the spring of 2023, Adofo-Mensah decided against extending the guaranteed portion of Cousins' contract beyond the 2024 season. Instead, the sides agreed to an adjustment that allowed the Vikings to lower his salary cap number and guaranteed Cousins a path to free agency in 2024 without the Vikings being able to use the franchise tag on him.
Cousins capitalized on that approach, even after tearing his right Achilles tendon in Week 8. He signed a four-year contract that fully guaranteed him $90 million over the first two seasons, and another $10 million in the third, after turning down a Vikings offer that only fully guaranteed the first season.
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Speculation surrounding Brandon Aiyuk will likely continue until the end of the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, which kicks off tonight. All eyes are on what the San Francisco 49ers will do at No. 31 overall and what moves they might make before then.
While general manager John Lynch assured the media this week that retaining Aiyuk is the priority, the receiver eagerly awaits the 49ers to back up their words with action, making him one of the NFL's highest-paid receivers.
One Bleacher Report writer, Ryan Fowler, proposes a trade likely to draw criticism from 49ers fans. In his analysis of one draft-day trade "that makes sense" for every team, Fowler's Aiyuk deal is perplexing. He suggests the 49ers trade Aiyuk, who led the team with a career-high 1,342 receiving yards last season, to the New York Jets for a 2024 third-round pick (No. 72) and a 2025 fourth-round pick.
If such a trade were to occur, and if the 49ers were to trade their productive star receiver for such low draft capital, fans might revolt. The trade doesn't make much sense from San Francisco's perspective, but it would indeed be a steal for the Jets.
"From San Francisco's perspective, it makes sense as the team is already paying Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey, and QB Brock Purdy remains eligible for an extension next offseason," Fowler explained. "And at No. 31 overall, Niners GM John Lynch could have his pick of an immensely talented second-tier of wideouts to replace Aiyuk.
"With Aaron Rodgers healthy, it wouldn't shock to see Jets GM Joe Douglas push his chips toward the middle of the table, being aggressive to add impact playmakers in whatever way possible. Adding Aiyuk without giving up Day 1 capital would be a dream scenario for Douglas."
While it might be a "dream scenario" for Douglas and the Jets, it would be a nightmare for the 49ers, who would be parting ways with Aiyuk for a below-market-value return. If the 49ers believe they can eventually sign Aiyuk to a long-term deal, it makes more sense to retain him, especially if this is the type of offer the team might receive.
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