"Oktoberfest Closed Because of Bomb Threat in Munich"

 From the New York Times, October 1:

The German authorities said the rare decision was taken after an earlier explosion in a residential area of the city. 

The German authorities closed the Oktoberfest grounds in Munich on Wednesday because of a bomb threat that they said was linked to an explosion in a residential area of the city.

The Munich police said in a statement that emergency medical workers were called to a burning building in the north of the city earlier on Wednesday after neighbors reported hearing explosions. One severely wounded man who later died was found at a lake close to the house and “explosive traps” were discovered inside the building itself, the police added. They did not disclose the identity of the man or say how, if at all, he was connected to the blast.

The authorities initially said that they believed the fire had been linked to a domestic conflict and that officers were searching several places associated with the episode — including the Theresienwiese, the site where Oktoberfest takes place.

Thomas Schelshorn, a police spokesman, later said that “a nonspecific bomb threat” had been found at the house, which prompted the searches....

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 Kids, don't let your domestic disagreements escalate to the level of bombs and boobytraps.

Flashpoint: "The Romanian President proposed a plan for the annexation of Transnistria to Moldova"

First up, the headliner lifted in toto from Russia's OreandaNews, September 30: 

Romanian President Nicusor Dan proposed to annex the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) to Moldova on the rights of autonomy. His statement was made during an interview with Euronews.

"In my opinion, this can be done with Transnistria with the status of Gagauzia, with relative autonomy within the Republic of Moldova," Dan said.

According to him, the region's participation in European integration, which is aimed at by the Moldovan leadership, is possible even taking into account its special status.

Parliamentary elections were held in Moldova on September 28. President Maia Sandu's Action and Solidarity (PAS) party was able to retain the majority of seats in parliament following the election results. A government will also be formed based on the results of the vote. 

Here's the interview from from EuroNews Romania, Sept. 30/Oct. 1:

EXCLUSIV. Nicușor Dan, despre doborârea dronelor, aderarea Moldovei la UE și anularea alegerilor: „Bănuim că au fost 20 de milioane. Noi avem dovadă un milion”

And via Google Translate:

EXCLUSIVE. Nicușor Dan, about the downing of drones, Moldova's accession to the EU and the annulment of the elections: "We suspect there were 20 million. We have proof of one million"

"Big Question If OpenAI-Oracle-NVIDIA 'Infinite Money Glitch' Can Sustain, Says Elon Musk"

From India's always interesting OfficeChai, September 24:

OpenAI, NVIDIA and Oracle are currently engaged in a careful dance that’s raised the valuation of all companies concerned, but Elon Musk believes that this situation might not be sustainable for too long.

Elon Musk has said that there’s a big question if the hardware buildout — and associated jumps in valuations — between OpenAI, NVIDIA and Oracle can last until money essentially becomes meaningless because of the advent of super-intelligent AI. “Big question is whether the infinite money glitch lasts until the infinite money AI genie arrives,” he posted on X.

Big question is whether the infinite money glitch lasts until the infinite money AI genie arrives …

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 23, 2025

Musk was reacting to a post by SemiAnalysis founder Dylan Patel, which showed how money was being transferred between NVIDIA, OpenAI and Oracle, which had caused the valuations of all associated companies to zoom. Patel had called it an “infinite money glitch”.

Patel seemed to be referring to how NVIDIA had just announced a $100 billion partnership with OpenAI, through which it would give OpenAI money to buy NVIDIA chips. OpenAI had also announced a cloud agreement with Oracle, through which OpenAI would rent Oracle’s datacenters to run its AI operations. These Oracle datacenters in turn would be powered by NVIDIA’s chips, which would mean that NVIDIA would essentially be able to sell GPUs for the money it had given OpenAI. The deals have been extremely lucrative for all companies, particularly Oracle — after its deal with OpenAI was announced, its stock jumped 40% in a single day, raising its market cap by nearly $300 billion. NVIDIA’s stock hasn’t jumped as much, but $100 billion of sales won’t hurt the company, and OpenAI will likely receive a much higher valuation in its coming rounds because of all the compute it now has access to....

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OfficeChai home 

Previously from OfficeChai:

Some AI Is Showing Signs Of Self-Preservation And Power-Seeking Behaviour 

"Pope Leo XIV Says That AI Influenced The Choice Of His Name"; Sam Altman Says The Cost Of AI Will Converge To The Cost Of Energy 

Agentic AI Will Have A Career Arc
Who knew?

Private Equity: BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners Close To $38 Billion Takeover Of Major Utility AES

As noted in January 2024 when BLK bought GIP: 

I'm telling ya, this is a big deal. Not just for the $12.5 billion purchase price but for the $100+ billion in assets that GIP manages. 

From Reuters, September 30:

BlackRock's GIP nears $38 billion takeover of utility group AES, FT reports 

BlackRock-owned (BLK.N), Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is nearing a $38 billion deal, inclusive of debt, to acquire utility group AES (AES.N), the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing people briefed on the matter.

Utilities benefit from a surge in power demand driven by artificial intelligence and data centres, prompting companies and investors across the board to strike deals with them. 

Talks between GIP and Virginia-based AES were at an advanced stage, although they could still fall through, according to the FT report.

 

Reuters could not immediately confirm the report....

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In premarket action AES is up  $1.83 (+13.91%) at $14.99.

One more self-reverential referential snippet, this time from May 2025's "Infrastructure: Blackstone Is Buying An Electric Utility (BX; TXNM)"
This is something we will see more of, private equity in regulated utilities. It's hard to asset-strip the darn things due to said regulators but boy-oh-boy do they cash flow. Just ask Warren Buffet....

Capital Markets: "Markets Take US Government Shutdown in Stride"

From Marc to Market:

Overview: The US federal government is under partial closure following the inability to approve appropriations to start the new fiscal year. The president has threatened to permanently fire not just furlough many "non-essential" government workers, but note that as of yesterday, some 150k federal workers have accepted the government's buyout. The longest shutdown in this macabre and repeated political drama has been 35 days in President Trump's first term. We fear this one may also be protracted. The dollar is narrowly mixed, steadying in late European morning turnover after initially being sold.  The dollar is also mostly firmer against emerging market currencies. 

The rising yen, the strongest of the G10 currencies in recent days, has weighed on Japanese equities, but other markets in the Asia Pacific region are higher, though China and Hong Kong markets are closed for the national holiday. Australia is the chief exception today. Europe's Stoxx 600 is higher for the fourth consecutive session, matching the longest advance since May. US index futures are off around 0.50%-0.60%, though government shutdowns have not typically been negative for US equities. European benchmark 10-year yields are mostly 1-2 bp higher. The 10-year US Treasury yield is nearly flat, slightly below 4.15%. Gold has soared to a new record, a little above $3895. It finished last week near $3760. November WTI is extended its pullback. It is below $62. Last month's low was near $61. Before last weekend, it briefly traded above $66....

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