Latest news with #Jensen
The Herald Scotland
13 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Family business in Texas indicted in Mexican drug cartel oil scheme
A total of 2,881 of shipments Jensen's company received since May 2022 came from Mexican smugglers tied to the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas. Experts have previously told USA TODAY that the CJNG organized crime group is perhaps the most militant in Mexico, turning regions into essentially warzones. The case against the Jensens comes as authorities under President Donald Trump aim to apply greater pressure to cartels smuggling drugs in the U.S. In February, the U.S. State Department designated CJNG, the Sinaloa Cartel and other crime groups as terrorist organizations. "This case underscores the more aggressive and innovative approach the Southern District of Texas is taking towards combating the scourge of drug cartels," said U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. "This strategy focuses not just on the traffickers and trigger-pullers directly employed by the cartels, but also targeting their confederates and enablers." Most of the charges are against James and Maxwell Jensen, who face up to 20 years in prison for money laundering. They face up to 15 years collectively if convicted of aiding and abetting smuggling goods under false statements. Lawyers for the Jensens did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Oil smuggling is a multi-billion-dollar business for cartels, according to the Treasury Department. A Drug Enforcement Administration official called it "the largest funding source for Mexican drug cartels." American authorities' move to crack down on the Texas company handling smuggled oil comes as Mexican authorities say the practice has been a widespread issue for years with devastating effects south of the border. "The narrative is that everything bad is done in Mexico and the USA only suffers the drugs," Jesus Perez Caballero, a Mexican government researcher, told USA TODAY. "But it's impossible to do this kind of complex business without these links to support it." Mexican smugglers depend on American refiners, small-time oil producers and distributors to make money from the theft. "It's a good start to recognize that the USA is not a passive actor in this business," Caballero said. "It's as active as the Mexican one." What are the charges against the Jensens? The Jensens have operated Arroyo Terminals in Rio Hondo, Texas, since 2020, according to James Jensen's LinkedIn page. Terminals are crucial distribution points in the oil economy, storing oil as it moves between producers and refineries. Prosecutors allege that from May 2022 through April 2025, the Jensens' Texas terminals served as a key waypoint for smuggled oil from Mexico, according to the indictment. The family received a total of 2,881 shipments of stolen oil, court filings claim. The oil was shipped using fraudulent authentication papers and labels, including "waste of lube oils," the indictment alleges. The father faces up to 10 years for money laundering spending. According to the money, he used money from the smuggling operation to buy a 2024 GMC vehicle. Kelly and Zachary Jensen are charged with money laundering conspiracy. Kelly is also charged with money laundering spending conspiracy. Items they were ordered to forfeit, according to the indictment, included barges for ferrying oil, tractor trailers, the GMC vehicle, a Chevy Stingray registered to Kelly Jensen and a property in Utah where the family has roots. Ties between Mexican and American smugglers The family isn't the first in Texas to face charges related to smuggling cartel oil, according to experts. Ramanan Krishnamoorti, a researcher at the University of Houston, said the practice has been going on for years at many small-time oil operations. Smugglers ferry the oil into the U.S. aboard boats or by crossing the border where the traffic is so high that border agents are unlikely to uncover it without significant increases in border crossings. A typical scheme brings the smuggled oil to "mom and pop" operations throughout Texas, according to Krishnamoorti. The oil is then added to their own supply and by the time it makes it to refineries, it can be hard to tell the difference. The total amount of smuggled oil is "literally a drop in the ocean," said Krishnamoorti. But "it's significant for the cartels in terms of being able to steal and sell." Americans involved can make as much as $5 million per barge of smuggled oil, according to the Treasury Department. The oil is then shipped to markets around the world, from Japan and India to Africa and even right back into Mexico. Deep seated problem in Mexico Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, a researcher at George Mason University and author of a book on Los Zetas cartel, said issues of oil smuggling in Mexico are longstanding. Mexico's state oil company Pemex has a legacy of corruption scandals and oil smuggling is just one of charges against operators. The company dates back to the nationalization in 1938 of all private oil companies in the country. Correa-Cabrera said the scrutiny of American involvement is overdue. "Somebody has to refine this crude oil or gas condensate," she said, "and there's refineries in the U.S. that sell this massively back down south." She lauded U.S. authorities for going after Americans involved in order to help fight cartels. But she fears the organized crime groups will be blamed for a more deeply rooted problem. "The cartel participation is not as important as we imagine," Correa-Cabrera said. "It's not like stealing 18-wheelers, it involves knowing about the pipes, the surveillance of the pipes, really specialized knowledge." She said the smuggling operations likely depend on everyone from engineers at the pipelines to military officials responsible for watching the border. "The stories and the coverage has been directed toward cartels," she said. "But you cannot imagine this happening without all these other parts."
The Verge
2 days ago
- Business
- The Verge
Micro Center soft opened its Silicon Valley store with a truckload of GPUs.
The grand opening is tomorrow at 10AM PT, but you can already go shop — I even got a special look inside its GPU-filled stockroom! There's a buttload of cards, including an RTX 5090 signed by Jensen (not for sale), plenty of AMD 9070, and it'll have 'very limited quantities' of Founders Edition (including the 5090 FE) tomorrow. Maybe open the boxes before you leave, though. The highlight for me: a giant motorized revolving 3D filament wall which dispenses your color of choice. 1/19
CNBC
2 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
Nvidia's earnings were not exceptional. How to make money in options if gains slow down
Nvidia's fiscal first-quarter results were strong, but tempered by challenges that kept them from being exceptional. The company reported record revenue of $44 billion, up 69% year over year and surpassing analyst estimates of $43.3 billion. Data center revenue, the core driver, reached $39.2 billion, close to estimates and up 73% year on year, driven by robust demand for AI chips. Nvidia's revenue guidance for Q2 fiscal 2026 was $45 billion, in line with analyst expectations, despite an $8 billion hit from China export restrictions. CEO Jensen Huang emphasized the "booming" demand for AI hardware, particularly for Blackwell GPUs, with shipments increasing to meet the needs of hyperscalers. Gaming revenue grew 42% to $3.8 billion, automotive and robotics surged 72% to $567 million, and professional visualization rose 19% to $509 million. Nvidia shares rose 5% on the report. Investors breathed a sigh of relief that the revenue projections didn't reflect an even larger China-related shortfall. That said, China's restrictions did have an impact. NVDA 5D mountain NVDA rises after earnings The company noted in its release that it was "unable to ship an additional $2.5 billion of H20 revenue in the first quarter" due to export licensing requirements. In the earnings call, it said that "losing access to the China AI accelerator market, which we believe will grow to nearly $50 billion, would have a material adverse impact on our business going forward and benefit our foreign competitors in China and worldwide." That statement highlights that, while restricting sales to China may slow them down temporarily, it will increase demand for chips from Nvidia's competitors and provide them with additional resources to dedicate towards research and development. Put differently, an unintended consequence of restricting access to technology to potentially unfriendly countries might not only hamper one of the U.S.' most successful companies. Time will tell, but Jensen also warned that the gap between US products and Chinese alternatives is decreasing. Options premiums will certainly fall somewhat - the "vol crush" - now that some light has been shed on the effects of the new administration's policies, but the cloud has not been lifted. Consequently, I expect a measured approach to one's Nvidia positions after a near 40% rally in the stock since mid-April makes sense. The trade One way to enhance one's returns if a stock remains only modestly bullish is to sell covered calls. Perhaps 20 delta or so with an expiration of 4-6 weeks. The July 3 weekly 155 calls were 20^ ("^" is option trader shorthand for "delta") as of Wednesday's close, with 35 days until expiration. However, a bit of choppiness is anticipated in the near term as investors digest the results more fully, and it may be necessary to adjust one's strikes to identify the 20 delta calls accordingly. DISCLOSURES: None. All opinions expressed by the CNBC Pro contributors are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBC UNIVERSAL, their parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, internet or another medium. THE ABOVE CONTENT IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY . THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSITUTE FINANCIAL, INVESTMENT, TAX OR LEGAL ADVICE OR A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY ANY SECURITY OR OTHER FINANCIAL ASSET. THE CONTENT IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND DOES NOT REFLECT ANY INDIVIDUAL'S UNIQUE PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES. THE ABOVE CONTENT MIGHT NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES. BEFORE MAKING ANY FINANCIAL DECISIONS, YOU SHOULD STRONGLY CONSIDER SEEKING ADVICE FROM YOUR OWN FINANCIAL OR INVESTMENT ADVISOR. Click here for the full disclaimer.
Bloomberg
3 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Nvidia's Huang Can Navigate US-China Risks: Cleo's Kunst
Live on Bloomberg TV CC-Transcript 00:00Sarah, I recognize that we're giving you these headlines out of context, but I guess my question to you is how much should we still not understand about what the US government intends to do with sales of US technology to China? And by that measure, how much uncertainty is there around the growth potential for some of these companies? I mean, China represents a $15 billion datacentre market. Absolutely. The reality is that there is uncertainty everywhere. We might know as much as the government does. Right, because a lot of these sort of tariffs, a lot of these bans feel like they're happening in real time. They're happening in sort of a reactive manner. And so it is very much kind of anybody's guess. That being said, one thing that I keep coming back to is that Jensen is not new to having to navigate the U.S. and China. This was a problem with the last administration. He's somebody who understands the Asian markets incredibly, incredibly well, obviously. And so I think that he is probably the best suited CEO for this almost impossible task of guessing what two very mercurial superpowers are going to do on a day to day basis about where he can sell his product. Let me just correct myself. I meant $50 billion data center market in China by 2026. Sara, I'm glad you bring up Jensen's ability to navigate both markets. Is there another CEO or is there another company that kind of is in the middle of all this in the same way that Nvidia is? You know, I think obviously Taiwan Semiconductor, which is, you know, long been one of my favorite names on the street. You know, they're in Taiwan, so they certainly understand this well. And we've seen a lot of their supply chain move out of Taiwan over the last, you know, handful of years for for sort of China centric reasons. And now they're that's probably good for them as they navigate, you know, the U.S.. And so, yes, there are other leaders, I think, particularly who have a deep understanding of China, of the Asian market and where this technology is going. The problem with the U.S. side of the equation is you can't really understand deeply what's going to happen because it changes day by day. And there isn't necessarily a huge, coherent strategy there. Absolutely, Sarah. And I mean, I'm just going through the 10-Q now, and we should just point out to our viewers, I mean, they are spending a lot of time in this 10-Q, not only talking about the export controls on the U.S. side, but also, of course, a lot of the regulations on the Chinese side as well as they call it, a very complex situation, almost a way too long and lengthy to read here on air. But it's something I think every investor should check out. And I hope that Jensen is asked about this on the conference call at five. I do want to ask you, though, about just the investor ability right now in this space beyond in video. I mean, you run a VC fund, you've got several investments in AI startups, like for a Thought Lighter, Athena and a few others as well. When we talk about sort of the next phase of the A.I. trade, if you will, there investment trade, where do you think that success will be in terms of the application, in terms of the use cases and of course in terms of the companies? Of course. I mean, I've got to talk my book, right? I have a really interesting range of names. Companies like Brock with a Q, not not the Elan one with a K, you know, And they are a team that that spun out of Google early on to make tensor processing units originally for self-driving cars. And so they're doing some really, really interesting stuff at the chip level. And that's a name that, you know, I see a ton of secondary interest from I am holding. But, you know, I think that that's a name that's going to continue to do really well. I have other names like Kobold Metals, which is a Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos backed, really interesting company that uses A.I. for rare Earth mineral mining. And so, you know, they have been doing some really exciting stuff recently, too. And so I think that the A.I. trade is here to stay. It's just that we've moved, I think, really far away from the sort of chat bots open I of last year. Yeah. And now see more actual use cases. Well that's an I'm curious with some of these companies and not necessarily the ones in your portfolio, I mean I've seen quite a few that are basically just taking, you know, open air or something or a software layer over that and calling it a new product. We're are we getting innovation out of this? I mean, beyond the big boys that we know have actually created something new, is there real innovation? Yeah, I think there is. I think that there is innovation in terms of where the technology is going. I think that a lot of it day to day is going to be baked in and we're not necessarily going to feel it. One of the funny things when people say, you know, when is Apple going to get in the air game is what do you think Siri is? Right. But we're so used to it on a day by day basis or when you Google and even if you're not using Gemini, Google's Google's A.I. solution, the some of those snippets that you're getting at the top, the the order in which they're ranking your questions, your algorithms on social media, that's all I the best day AI is not something that has to sort of announce itself as A.I., It's just whatever you're looking for, whatever you're doing is better, is easier, is simpler. And I think that that's the layer that people sort of take for granted, even though there's a lot of really interesting day to day innovation there.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Lt. Gov. Henderson gets more death threats over Primary signature gathering issues — How will they be handled?
SALT LAKE CITY () — After a meeting of the Utah legislature's Rules Review and General Oversight Committee that discussed the Cox campaign's signature gathering, critics of Lieutenant Governor Deidre M. Henderson have taken to social media to voice their disapproval via comments that included death threats. At the May 22 meeting, the committee discussed changes to Utah's signature verification process. Two supporters of Phil Lyman, including his running mate Natalie Clawson, were each given 10 minutes to present to the committee where they repeated claims that Gov. Spencer Cox's campaign did not gather enough signatures during the 2024 election, and accused Lt. Gov. Henderson's office, which contracts signature verification with the Davis County Clerk's Office, of malfeasance. On May 27, Sophie Anderson, a former plaintiff in a lawsuit seeking access to sensitive election materials that Utah's appellate court ruled are protected, posted a photo of Lt. Gov. Henderson on X/Twitter and mentioned her account, asking, 'What should be the penalty for those who defraud elections?' The post elicited approximately 80 responses in roughly 24 hours, with some users saying Henderson committed treason, others saying she should face time in jail or prison, while others called for harsher punishments, including death. PREVIOUSLY: Illegitimate election claims fly as legislative meeting mulls changes to Utah's signature verification Several users posted GIFs or photos of nooses, another posted a photo of an electric chair, and some responses simply said 'Death' or 'Public executions.' reached out to the lieutenant governor's office, which said the office does not comment on her security. The online threats against the Lt. Governor were posted roughly a week after a man was arrested for allegedly . spoke with the Utah Department of Public Safety about how it responds to online threats. Captain Tanner Jensen, the director of the Statewide Information Analysis Center at the DPS, said each threat posted online is taken 'very seriously.' 'With this situation, it's concerning — very serious — and we don't take these types of threats lightly,' Jensen said of the threats to the Lt. Governor. Utah man arrested for allegedly stalking, harassing Salt Lake mayor over pride-themed city flag designs Jensen said that analysts and agents evaluate online posts to see if what is posted is protected by the First Amendment or if it is a 'true threat.' He also said there is a difference between those 'true threats' and 'political hyperbole.' Each post is evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and then it is determined if continued monitoring is needed for the users who made those posts. Jensen said there are ways to monitor and assess threats, and to analyze the behaviors of people to see if there is a 'pathway to violence.' 'We definitely pay close attention to our elected officials in Utah and understand that they are a target of threats,' Jensen said. He said that DPS is often notified by social media companies when the platforms identify potential threats. Another way that the department learns of concerning posts is when members of the public raise concerns. 'If you see something suspicious and concerning, please let law enforcement know, and we'll evaluate it,' Jensen said. Jensen encouraged the community to 'stand up against this type of threatening language and hate.' Abigail Jones and Nick Butts contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
