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Happy Wednesday!

U.S. NEWS

Testimony

Yesterday was a combative day in court.

Adult film actress Stormy Daniels testified against former President Trump, detailing an alleged affair in 2006 (which Trump denies) and hush money payment. 

Trump’s legal team requested a mistrial halfway through Daniels’ testimony, saying it was “way different than the story she was peddling in 2016.” The judge rejected the request for a mistrial but saved no kind words for Daniels, describing her as a “difficult witness.” He frequently directed her to give shorter responses and repeatedly sided with objections from Trump’s lawyers. 

Yesterday morning, former President Trump deleted a post about not being informed Ms. Daniels would testify, likely for fear prosecutors would say it violated his gag order. The judge found Trump in contempt for the 10th time on Monday and threatened jail time for future infractions.

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ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE
A major way we can reflect the peace and hope of Christ is by dwelling less on certain topics than the rest of the world. This trial is not unimportant, but neither is it all-important, and we should not let it consume our attention or steal our focus from eternity.

“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
Colossians 3:2-4 (CSB) (read full passage)

WORLD NEWS

No Breakthrough

The celebrations were premature.

On Monday, Hamas announced that they had agreed to the latest ceasefire proposal, sparking celebrations in Gaza. The problem? Israel says that the deal Hamas agreed to wasn’t one they’d offered and was “far from” meeting their core demands. Israel promised to continue negotiations, sending a delegation to negotiate with mediators in Eygpt.

Meanwhile, Israel’s War Cabinet unanimously approved moving forward with “targeted strikes” against Hamas in Rafah.

Yesterday, Israel used tanks to take control of the border crossing between Rafah and Egypt. Israel has told U.S. officials the current military operation in Rafah is “limited” and focused on preventing weapons and funds from entering. Hamas says if this latest “military aggression” continues, there will be no ceasefire deal.

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CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
War is a heavy burden that impresses upon us our world’s need for restoration. Jesus came to bear that burden of sin, lighten our load, and restore our world. Pray that the Middle East would experience that restoration and glorify the Messiah Jesus.

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28–30 (CSB) (read full passage)

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WORLD NEWS

Six More

The Kremlin continues to boast low turnover.

Yesterday, Russian President Putin was sworn in for another six-year term. In his fifth presidential inauguration speech, Putin said his landslide reelection “confirmed the correctness of the country’s course” and said that the West could choose either “cooperation” or “aggression.”

It’s not just speeches keeping tensions high. The White House confirmed that an American soldier stationed in South Korea was arrested for theft while traveling through Russia “for personal reasons” last week. Russian officials say he will be detained at least until July, and American officials are warning citizens against any travel to Russia.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, security services said they foiled a Russian plot to assassinate President Zelenskyy and other top officials. According to Zelenskyy, there have been more than ten such attempts on his life.

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ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE
No matter the scope of the problem or how justified fear feels, God’s command is the same: “Don’t worry about tomorrow.”
(Matthew 6:34 CSB) (read full passage)

“Now take these, my present anxieties, O Lord, and unseat them with your better promises… You are the only foundation upon which I might weather these buffetings of anxious thought, overwhelmed as I am… Release me from my cares, O God, as I release my cares to you.” 
Every Moment Holy Volume III, pages 204-205

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) won’t force a vote to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) following two days of “constructive” meetings. Greene is upset Johnson has worked with Democrats on recent legislation; Johnson says the GOP’s slim majority has left him no choice. In a twist, Democrats promised to help Johnson keep the Speaker’s gavel if there is a vote.
 

Columbia University canceled its main graduation ceremony scheduled for May 15th in the wake of pro-Palestine protests. A spokesperson said the University tried to find alternative accommodations for the 50,000-person event, but security concerns proved “insurmountable.” Instead, Columbia has promised to hold smaller, school-specific ceremonies over the next week.
 

Funky fashion was en vogue at the 2024 Met Gala Monday night, where guests took “The Garden of Time" theme seriously. Co-chair Zendaya notably adorned her head with flowers for the first of two looks. Individual tickets to the invite-only fundraiser were $75K — up from $50K last year, prompting TPO to back out due to our strict $50K/ticket budget.
 

The 68th annual Eurovision Song Contest is underway, with 37 countries vying to win enough votes for best original song. The home country of last year's winner, Sweden, is hosting this year. Hoping to prevent Eurovision from confusing Americans as much as cricket, Peacock is airing the live semi-final round tomorrow and the live four-hour finale on Saturday.
 

The 108th annual Pulitzer Prizes were awarded Monday (yes, TPO was snubbed again, but if you’re interested in joining our zero-Pulitzer team, we’re hiring a writer!). Each of the twenty-three prizes honoring achievements in journalism, books, drama, and music came with applause and $15,000. The New York Times and Washington Post took home three Pulitzers each, and ProPublica received the gold medal for Public Service for their work investigating Supreme Court ethics.

WHIPPED CREAM ON TOP

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Where to Consider Investing
Masterworks*

Contemporary art prices have outpaced the S&P 500 by 64% over the last 28 years, an annualized rate of 11.5%. The problem is… you and I can’t afford a $1.5 million Banksy (nor do we have a place to hang it).

Masterworks has solved those problems and is making investing in the art market, an opportunity previously reserved for billionaires, available to all.

With decades in art and financial markets, Masterworks takes a quantitative approach to art investing. They have 400+ paintings, $1+ billion invested, and have successfully completed 22 exits (all with profitable net returns). 

Join tens of thousands of investors aiming to protect and own their wealth with Masterworks.

_{Past performance is not indicative of future returns, and all investing involves risk. See full disclosure note at the bottom of this email.}

What We’re Searching With
Freespoke*

Oh, the internet. It’s a scary place… but less so with Freespoke.

Freespoke is a search engine that does a few important things differently:

• News results show all viewpoints labeled with media biases (left, middle, right)

• No adult content – they’re a partner in protecting our families from bad content

• Shopping results highlight quality veteran-owned and American-made businesses

Perhaps most importantly… when you search “The Pour Over,” we’re the top result (not some silly coffee brewing method), and that search is kept private.

Try a search on Freespoke and see why the world needs an honest search engine.

Masterworks Full Disclosure Statement:

The content is not intended to provide legal, tax, or investment advice. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Investing involves risk.

Art sales price data is comparative only. Each painting is unique and historical data is not a direct proxy for any specific painting or investment.  Data represents whole art not an investment into our offerings which includes fees and expenses.

Art asset class is based on repeat-sales index of historical art market prices computed based on a value weighted-basis and focused on the Post-War & Contemporary Art category.  While Masterworks believes art market comparisons to other asset classes can be useful to help potential investors discern long term trends in these asset classes, there are significant limitations to the utility of such comparative data, particularly over shorter time periods.  Potential investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such data.

“Net Annualized Return” refers to the annualized internal rate of return, or IRR, net of all fees and costs, to holders of Class A shares from the primary offering, calculated from the final closing date of such offering to the date the sale is consummated. A more detailed breakdown of the Net Annualized Return calculation for each issuer can be found in the respective Form 1-U for each exit. The 3 median returns above represent the ones closest in percentage to the median of the 12 exits with holding periods over 1 year.

See important Reg A disclosures at masterworks.com/cd.