Suddenly Awash.

A "severe seismic doublet sequence.”

“I can’t do my job without News Items.” — Jim Cramer.

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1. Two major earthquakes struck central Venezuela on Wednesday evening, causing buildings to collapse in the capital and people to swarm into the streets. The stronger quake was the largest to hit the country since 1900. Venezuela’s president, Delcy Rodríguez, declared a state of emergency. “For those who have unfortunately suffered the loss of a family member, we extend our immediate condolences,” she said in a televised address. She gave no numbers of deaths or injuries, but with fears of a widespread disaster high, called on doctors and nurses to report to their jobs to care for the injured. The first earthquake hit just after 6 p.m. Eastern time with a magnitude of 7.2, and was followed less than a minute later by a 7.5-magnitude earthquake, according to U.S. monitoring agencies. The epicenter was near San Felipe, a city of about 220,000 in the state of Yaracuy, about 200 miles west of Caracas. As seismologists review available data, they may revise the reported magnitudes of the earthquakes. The U.S. Geological Survey released a preliminary analysis that described a “severe seismic doublet sequence.” A seismologist with the agency, Paul Earle, called the earthquakes “devastating.” The earthquakes are the latest blow to a country that has experienced extraordinary political and economic turmoil in recent years. (Source: nytimes.com)

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2. Key parts of the oil market are suddenly awash in supply, as a stream of cargoes out of the Strait of Hormuz accelerates after the US-Iran agreement to open the waterway. Even before the deal, a combination of strategic inventory releases, a collapse in demand from top buyer China, and a substantial number of tankers sneaking “dark” out of the Persian Gulf had contributed to a small oversupply in some key markets, traders say. Now, markets are weakening across Europe and Asia as buyers find themselves inundated with offers for cargo. In one of the most dramatic examples, Angolan crude — a grade that is typically snapped up by China — has been selling at the biggest discounts in more than a decade, at times changing hands at nearly $10 a barrel below the global Dated Brent benchmark. More broadly, traders say that some Chinese refiners have actually been offering oil cargoes for sale, in a stark reversal of normal flows. (Source: bloomberg.com)

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3. President Trump’s trade wars have waned. The price of gas is finally falling. But inflation has a new catalyst: America’s massive artificial-intelligence build-out is beginning to push up prices on everything from smartphones to electricity. The question now is how widely that build-out might ripple through the economy, and how long it could keep inflation elevated. The answers will have big consequences for the economy. The data centers used for AI require sophisticated computing equipment, cooling systems to keep that equipment from overheating, electric and fiber-optic cables and backup generators to prevent power disruptions. Based on announced and planned developments, Columbia University economist Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh estimates that spending on the AI build-out through 2032 could come to about $8 trillion—nearly five times the market value of the entire New York City property market. With so much demand, prices are rising for many of the things that go into the AI build-out. And because those things are used for more than just AI, those price increases are spilling over into the broader economy. (Source: wsj.com)

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4. The Trump administration asked Congress on Wednesday for $87.6 billion in supplemental funding, most of it to cover costs related to the Iran war. The request is likely to intensify debate over presidential war powers as lawmakers in both parties question whether Congress should have authorized military action against Iran. $67 billion of the request would go to the Defense Department, including $21 billion for munitions, $17.3 billion for operational costs and $12.1 billion for classified programs, according to the letter. $11.1 billion would go to farmers, and $1.4 billion would fund the response to the Ebola outbreak in Central Africa. (Source: axios.com)

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