NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED TODAY FOR APRIL CONTRACT:3 NOTICE(S) FOR 300 OZ.

TOTAL NOTICES SO FAR 663 FOR 66300 OZ (2.062 tonnes)

THE COMEX IS OUT OF GOLD

For silver:

APRIL

120 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR

600,000 OZ/

Total number of notices filed so far this month: 264 for 1,320,000 oz

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Bitcoin: BID $8026/OFFER $8129: up $180(morning)

Bitcoin: BID/ $7937/offer 8037: up $88 (CLOSING/5 PM)

end

Let us have a look at the data for today

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In silver, the total OPEN INTEREST SURPRISINGLY FELL AGAIN BY A CONSIDERABLE 2350 CONTRACTS FROM 220,167 FALLING TO 217,817 DESPITE FRIDAY’S 17 CENT RISE IN SILVER PRICING. . WE AGAIN HAD CONSIDERABLE COMEX LIQUIDATION. HOWEVER, WE WERE AGAIN NOTIFIED THAT WE HAD A SMALL SIZED NUMBER OF COMEX LONGS TRANSFERRING THEIR CONTRACTS TO LONDON THROUGH THE EFP : 693 EFP’S FOR MAY AND 75 FOR JULY AND ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS AND THEREFORE TOTAL ISSUANCE OF 768 CONTRACTS. WITH THE TRANSFER OF 768 CONTRACTS, WHAT THE CME IS STATING IS THAT THERE IS NO SILVER (OR GOLD) TO BE DELIVERED UPON AT THE COMEX AS THEY MUST EXPORT THEIR OBLIGATION TO LONDON. ALSO KEEP IN MIND THAT THERE CAN BE A DELAY OF 24-48 HRS IN THE ISSUING OF EFP’S. THE 768 EFP CONTRACTS TRANSLATES INTO 3.84 MILLION OZ ACCOMPANYING THE RISE IN SILVER PRICE AT THE COMEX AND THE STRONG AMOUNT OF SILVER OUNCES STANDING FOR APRIL COMEX DELIVERY.

ACCUMULATION FOR EFP’S/SILVER/J.P.MORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES, / STARTING FROM FIRST DAY NOTICE/FOR MONTH OF APRIL:

32,982 CONTRACTS (FOR 11 TRADING DAYS TOTAL 32,982 CONTRACTS) OR 164.910 MILLION OZ: AVERAGE PER DAY: 2,998 CONTRACTS OR 14.991 MILLION OZ/DAY

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE HUGE SUPPLY THIS MONTH IN SILVER: SO FAR THIS MONTH: 164.910 MILLION PAPER OZ HAVE MORPHED OVER TO LONDON. THIS REPRESENTS AROUND 23.55% OF ANNUAL GLOBAL PRODUCTION (EX CHINA EX RUSSIA)

ACCUMULATION IN YEAR 2018 TO DATE SILVER EFP’S: 883.395 MILLION OZ.

ACCUMULATION FOR JAN 2018: 236.879 MILLION OZ

ACCUMULATION FOR FEB 2018: 244.95 MILLION OZ

ACCUMULATION FOR MARCH 2018: 236.67 MILLION OZ

RESULT: WE HAD A CONSIDERABLE SIZED LOSS IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX OF 2350 DESPITE THE 17 CENT GAIN IN SILVER PRICE. WE MUST HAVE HAD SOME SHORTCOVERING BY THE BANKERS AS NOT ALL OF THE LOST COMEX OPEN INTEREST LANDED IN LONDON AS FORWARDS. THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A SMALL SIZED EFP ISSUANCE OF 768 CONTRACTS WHICH EXITED OUT OF THE SILVER COMEX AND TRANSFERRED THEIR OI TO LONDON AS FORWARDS. SPECULATORS CONTINUED THEIR INTEREST IN ATTACKING THE SILVER COMEX FOR PHYSICAL SILVER . FROM THE CME DATA 693 EFP’S FOR THE MONTH OF MAY AND 75 EFP CONTRACTS FOR JULY, WERE ISSUED FOR A DELIVERABLE FORWARD CONTRACT OVER IN LONDON WITH A FIAT BONUS. WE LOST 1582 OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES: i.e. 768 open interest contracts headed for London (EFP’s) TOGETHER WITH AN DECREASE OF 2350 OI COMEX CONTRACTS. AND ALL OF THIS HAPPENED WITH THE RISE IN PRICE OF SILVER OF 17 CENTS AND A CLOSING PRICE OF $16.67 WITH RESPECT TO FRIDAY’S TRADING. YET WE STILL HAVE A GOOD AMOUNT OF SILVER STANDING AT THE COMEX FOR DELIVERY IN THIS NON ACTIVE APRIL DELIVERY MONTH.

In ounces AT THE COMEX, the OI is still represented by WELL OVER 1 BILLION oz i.e. 1.089 BILLION TO BE EXACT or 156% of annual global silver production (ex Russia & ex China).

FOR THE NEW FRONT APRIL MONTH/ THEY FILED: 120 NOTICE(S) FOR 600,000 OZ OF SILVER

IN SILVER, WE HAVE NOW SET THE NEW RECORD OF OPEN INTEREST AT 243,411 AND AGAIN THIS HAS BEEN SET WITH A LOW PRICE OF $16.51 ON APRIL 9.2018.

ON THE DEMAND SIDE WE HAVE THE FOLLOWING:

HUGE AMOUNTS OF SILVER STANDING FOR DELIVERY (MARCH 27 MILLION OZ AND APRIL 1.8 MILLION OZ)
HUGE RECORD OPEN INTEREST IN SILVER 243,411 CONTRACTS (OR 1.217 BILLION OZ/ SET APRIL 9/2018
HUGE ANNUAL EFP’S ISSUANCE EQUAL TO 2.9 BILLION OZ OR 400% OF SILVER ANNUAL PRODUCTION

AND YET WE HAVE A CONTINUAL LOW PRICE OF SILVER DESPITE THE ABOVE HUGE DEMAND. TO ME THE ONLY ANSWER IS THAT WE HAVE SOVEREIGN (CHINA) WHO IS ENDEAVOURING TO GOBBLE UP ALL AVAILABLE PHYSICAL SILVER NO MATTER WHERE, EXACTLY WHAT J.P.MORGAN IS DOING. AND IT IS MY BELIEF THAT J.P.MORGAN IS HOLDING ITS SILVER FOR ITS BENEFICIAL OWNER..THE USA GOVERNMENT WHO IN TURN IS HOLDING THAT SILVER FOR CHINA.(FOR A SILVER LOAN REPAYMENT). IT ALSO LOOKS LIKE BANKER CAPITULATION IN SILVER AS THEY STRUGGLE TO REMOVE SOME OF THEIR HUGE OBLIGATIONS.

In gold, the open interest FELL BY AN HUGE SIZED 7,572 CONTRACTS DOWN TO 506,429 DESPITE THE GOOD SIZED GAIN IN PRICE/FRIDAY’S TRADING ( RISE OF $6.15). WE ARE NOW IN THE ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF APRIL. THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A STRONG SIZED 10,403 CONTRACTS : JUNE SAW THE ISSUANCE OF 10,403 CONTRACTS , MAY SAW THE ISSUANCE OF 0 CONTRACTS AND ALL OTHER MONTHS ZERO. The new OI for the gold complex rests at 506,429. ALSO REMEMBER THAT THERE WILL BE A DELAY IN THE ISSUANCE OF EFP’S. THE BANKERS REMOVE LONG POSITIONS OF COMEX GOLD IMMEDIATELY. THEN THEY ORCHESTRATE THEIR PRIVATE EFP DEAL WITH THE LONGS AND THAT COULD TAKE AN ADDITIONAL 48 HRS SO WE GENERALLY DO NOT GET A MATCH WITH RESPECT TO DEPARTING COMEX LONGS AND NEW EFP LONG TRANSFERS. DEMAND FOR GOLD INTENSIFIES GREATLY AS WE CONTINUE TO WITNESS A HUGE NUMBER OF EFP TRANSFERS TOGETHER WITH THE MASSIVE INCREASE IN GOLD COMEX OI TOGETHER WITH THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF GOLD OUNCES STANDING FOR FEBRUARY COMEX. EVEN THOUGH THE BANKERS ISSUED THESE MONSTROUS EFPS, THE OBLIGATION STILL RESTS WITH THE BANKERS TO SUPPLY METAL BUT IT TRANSFERS THE RISK TO A LONDON BANKER OBLIGATION AND NOT A NEW YORK COMEX OBLIGATION. LONGS RECEIVE A FIAT BONUS TOGETHER WITH A LONG LONDON FORWARD. THUS, BY THESE ACTIONS, THE BANKERS AT THE COMEX HAVE JUST STATED THAT THEY HAVE NO APPRECIABLE METAL!! THIS IS A MASSIVE FRAUD: THEY CANNOT SUPPLY ANY METAL TO OUR COMEX LONGS BUT THEY ARE QUITE WILLING TO SUPPLY MASSIVE NON BACKED GOLD (AND SILVER) PAPER KNOWING THAT THEY HAVE NO METAL TO SATISFY OUR LONGS. LONDON IS NOW SEVERELY BACKWARD IN BOTH GOLD AND SILVER AND WE ARE WITNESSING DELAYS IN ACTUAL DELIVERIES.

IN ESSENCE WE HAVE A GOOD SIZED OI GAIN IN CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 7572 OI CONTRACTS DECREASED AT THE COMEX AND AN STRONG SIZED 10,403 EFP OI CONTRACTS WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON.THUS TOTAL OI GAIN: 2831 CONTRACTS OR 283100 OZ =8.805 TONNES.

FRIDAY, WE HAD 16,673 EFP’S ISSUED.

ACCUMULATION OF EFP’S GOLD AT J.P. MORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES: (EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL) FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL : 121,191 CONTRACTS OR 12,119,100 OZ OR 376.95 TONNES (11 TRADING DAYS AND THUS AVERAGING: 11,017 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY OR 1,107,000 OZ/ TRADING DAY)

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE HUGE SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS : SO FAR THIS MONTH IN 112 TRADING DAYS IN TONNES: 376.95 TONNES

TOTAL ANNUAL GOLD PRODUCTION, 2017, THROUGHOUT THE WORLD EX CHINA EX RUSSIA: 2555 TONNES

THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 376.95/2550 x 100% TONNES = 14.78% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL PRODUCTION SO FAR IN MARCH ALONE.*** THE ACCUMULATION OF EFP CONTRACTS IS RISING PER MONTH.

ACCUMULATION OF GOLD EFP’S YEAR 2018 TO DATE: 2,421.42 TONNES

ACCUMULATION OF GOLD EFP’S FOR JANUARY 2018: 653.22 TONNES

ACCUMULATION OF GOLD EFP’S FOR FEBRUARY 2018: 649.45 TONNES

ACCUMULATION OF GOLD EFP’S FOR MARCH 2018: 741.89 TONNES

WHAT IS ALARMING TO ME, ACCORDING TO OUR LONDON EXPERT ANDREW MAGUIRE IS THAT THESE EFP’S ARE BEING TRANSFERRED TO WHAT ARE CALLED SERIAL FORWARD CONTRACT OBLIGATIONS AND THESE CONTRACTS ARE LESS THAN 14 DAYS. ANYTHING GREATER THAN 14 DAYS, THESE MUST BE RECORDED AND SENT TO THE COMPTROLLER, GREAT BRITAIN TO MONITOR RISK TO THE BANKING SYSTEM. IF THIS IS INDEED TRUE, THEN THIS IS A MASSIVE CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD AS WE NOW WITNESS A MONSTROUS TOTAL EFP’S ISSUANCE AS IT HEADS INTO THE STRATOSPHERE.

Result: A HUGE SIZED DECREASE IN OI AT THE COMEX OF 7,572 DESPITE THE RISE IN PRICE // GOLD TRADING YESTERDAY ($6.15 GAIN). HOWEVER, WE HAD A STRONG SIZED NUMBER OF COMEX LONG TRANSFERRING TO LONDON THROUGH THE EFP ROUTE: 10,403 CONTRACTS AS THESE HAVE ALREADY BEEN NEGOTIATED AND CONFIRMED. THERE OBVIOUSLY DOES NOT SEEM TO BE MUCH PHYSICAL GOLD AT THE COMEX. I GUESS IT EXPLAINS THE HUGE ISSUANCE OF EFP’S…THERE IS HARDLY ANY GOLD PRESENT AT THE GOLD COMEX FOR DELIVERY PURPOSES. IF YOU TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE 10,403 EFP CONTRACTS ISSUED, WE HAD A GOOD SIZED NET GAIN OF 2831 CONTRACTS IN TOTAL OPEN INTEREST ON THE TWO EXCHANGES:

10,403 CONTRACTS MOVE TO LONDON AND 7,572 CONTRACTS DECREASED AT THE COMEX. (in tonnes, the GAIN in total oi equates to 8.805 TONNES).

we had: 3 notice(s) filed upon for 300 oz of gold at the comex.

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With respect to our two criminal funds, the GLD and the SLV:

GLD

WITH GOLD UP $2.80 : WE HAD NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/

Inventory rests tonight: 865.89 tonnes.

SLV/

WITH SILVER UP 7 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES/

/INVENTORY RESTS AT 320.196 MILLION OZ/

end

First, here is an outline of what will be discussed tonight:

1. Today, we had the open interest in SILVER FELL BY A CONSIDERABLE 2350 CONTRACTS from 220,167 DOWN TO 217,817 (AND AWAY FROM THE NEW COMEX RECORD SET YESTERDAY/APRIL 9/2017). THE PREVIOUS RECORD OTHER THAN WAS ESTABLISHED AT: 234,787, SET ON APRIL 21.2017 ALMOST ONE YEAR AGO. THE PRICE OF SILVER ON THAT DAY: $17.89.

THE RATHER LARGE COMEX LOSS OF 2350 CONTRACTS, OCCURRED DESPITE THE CONSIDERABLE RISE IN PRICE OF SILVER (17 CENTS//). THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST HAS FALLEN FOR 5 CONSECUTIVE DAYS. HOWEVER OUR BANKERS ALSO USED THEIR EMERGENCY PROCEDURE TO ISSUE ANOTHER 693 EFP CONTRACTS FOR MAY (WE DO NOT GET A LOOK AT THESE CONTRACTS AS IT IS PRIVATE BUT THE CFTC DOES AUDIT THEM) AND 75 EFP’S FOR JULY AND ALL OTHER MONTHS. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 768 CONTRACTS. EFP’S GIVE OUR COMEX LONGS A FIAT BONUS PLUS A DELIVERABLE PRODUCT OVER IN LONDON. IF WE TAKE THE OI LOSS AT THE COMEX OF 2350 CONTRACTS TO THE 3768 OI TRANSFERRED TO LONDON THROUGH EFP’S, WE OBTAIN A SMALL NET LOSS 1582 OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS. THUS IN OUNCES, THE LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES: 7.910 MILLION OZ!!! AND THIS OCCURRED WITH A RISE IN PRICE OF 17 CENTS???

RESULT: A LARGE SIZED DECREASE IN SILVER OI AT THE COMEX DESPITE THE RISE IN SILVER PRICING / FRIDAY (17 CENTS/) . BUT WE ALSO HAD ANOTHER SMALL SIZED 768 EFP’S ISSUED TRANSFERRING COMEX LONGS OVER TO LONDON. TOGETHER WITH THE STRONG SIZED AMOUNT OF SILVER OUNCES STANDING FOR APRIL, DEMAND FOR PHYSICAL SILVER INTENSIFIES AS WE WITNESS SEVERE BACKWARDATION IN SILVER IN LONDON.

(report Harvey)

2.a) The Shanghai and London gold fix report

(Harvey)

2 b) Gold/silver trading overnight Europe, Goldcore

(Mark O’Byrne/zerohedge

and in NY: Bloomberg

3. ASIAN AFFAIRS

i)FRIDAY MORNING/THURSDAY NIGHT: Shanghai closed DOWN 21.06 POINTS OR 0.66% /Hang Sang CLOSED DOWN 22.90 POINTS OR 0.07% / The Nikkei closed UP 118.46 POINTS OR 0.55%/Australia’s all ordinaires CLOSED UP .22% /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed UP at 6.2805/Oil UP to 66.85 dollars per barrel for WTI and 71.70 for Brent. Stocks in Europe OPENED IN THE GREEN . ONSHORE YUAN CLOSED UP AT 6.2805 AGAINST THE DOLLAR. OFFSHORE YUAN CLOSED UP ON THE DOLLAR AT 6.2760 /ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING STRONGER AGAINST USA DOLLAR/OFFSHORE YUAN TRADING MUCH STRONGER AGAINST THE DOLLAR /CHINA RETALIATES WITH TARIFFS/ TRUMP RESPONDS TO NEW TARIFFS AND IT NOW LOOKS LIKE A FULL TRADE WAR IS BEGINNING/

SOUTH KOREA/NORTH KOREA

i)North Korea/South Korea

b) REPORT ON JAPAN

3 c CHINA

i)No question about it: China is on the side of Russia in this conflict:

( zerohedge)

ii)China/Russia/USA

What on earth is Trump smoking: accusing Russia and China of currency devaluation when both of the currencies has been on a rise especially the Chinese yuan. The only reason that the Russian rouble is weaker is due to sanctions and the war rattling between the USA and Russia due to what is going on in Syria

( zerohedge)

iii)China is not going to like this: The White House has just banned all USA firms from selling parts to China’s Telecom Giant ZTE

( zerohedge)

4. EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

i)Saturday night/Israel/Syria

Israel launches an attack against a military base in Syria/Saturday night following the USA, Br. and French attack Friday night

( zerohedge)

ii)Sunday

USA/RussiaUSA is not withdrawing their troops from Syria until their goals are accomplished…whatever that is. However, to create more ire from the Russians more sanctions are coming on Monday

( zerohedge)

iii)Russia/USA

That did not take long: Trump hits Russia with new sanctions over the Syrian gas attack. More oligarchs are named and this time there are penalties if aid is given by any company or anyone assisting the Nord Stream 2 project. This is getting out of hand:

( zerohedge)

iii b)then Trump for whatever reason halts the plan for more Russian sanctions

( zerohedge)

iv)This is getting scarier by the minute: USA is now launching a huge 4,000 USA troop military drill on the edge of Syria, at the town of Aqaba. Within a tiny distance of Aqaba lies the Israel port of Eilat

( zerohedge)

v)MONDAY/RUSSIA AND USA

Putin warns the west of a global “chaos” if they hit Syria again

( zerohedge)

vi)Russia reveals who staged the Syrian gas attack and provides pictures of the staging. USA hilariously claims that Moscow may have tampered with the site

( zerohedge)

6 .GLOBAL ISSUES

7. OIL ISSUES

8. EMERGING MARKET

9. PHYSICAL MARKETS

i)As we have pointed out to you, the new tax reform law passed by the USA has caused a huge dollar repatriation but that repatriation has caused a massive shortage of dollars in Europe and Asia. We are now witnessing the collapse of the Iranian rial due to that shortage.

(courtesy Radio Farda/GATA)

ii)A good commentary from Jay Taylor: how much longer can the USA hegemony run on fake currency?

( Jay Taylor/GATA)

10. USA stories which will influence the price of gold/silver

i)USA Morning Data

A surprise rebound in retail sales in March with Autos the big winner

( zerohedge)

b)We are continuing to see disappointing soft data reports. Today it was the NY manufacturing Empire report and it fell notably below expectations

(courtesy zerohedge)

ii a)USA Morning trading:

Bonds are just not buying this obvious manipulation

( zerohedge)

iii)Friday night/Trump claims a perfectly executed strike on chemical facilities inside Syria

( zerohedge)

iv)China not to enthralled with the USA airstrikes into Syria, Friday night. Both Germany and Italy refuse to participate

( zerohedge)

v)Syria claims that it’s Russian made defense system intercepted 71 out of the 103 cruise missiles launched. The uSA states that all 103 hit their target.

( zerohedge)

vi)OPCW investigators arrive in Damascus right after the attack and they are stating that it looks like the “White Helmets” or western sympathizers who staged the gas attack

( zerohedge)

vii)David Stockman/part ii and part ii/ on how the Deep State is closing in on the Donald ”

(Part ii/part iii)

viii)An excellent paper by Tom Luongo as he tries to explain to us how the Deep State is controlling Trump and only for the good sense of Mattis, have we avoided war

( Tom Luongo)

ix)SWAMP STORIES

a)Comey just threw Obama and Lynch under the bus with the Clinton email investigation in that in his words: complicated matters

(courtesy zerohedge)

b)Lawyer Michael Cohen refuses to disclose the identity of his “third client” as this soap opera continues

( zerohedge)

Let us head over to the comex:

The total gold comex open interest FELL BY AN LARGE SIZED 7572 CONTRACTS DOWN to an OI level 506,429 DESPITE THE RISE IN THE PRICE OF GOLD ($6.45 GAIN/ FRIDAY’S TRADING). FOR TWO YEARS STRAIGHT WE HAVE NOTICED THAT ONE WEEK PRIOR TO FIRST DAY NOTICE OF AN ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS AND EFP’S NOTICES EXPONENTIALLY INCREASE. THE CME REPORTS THAT THE BANKERS ISSUED A HUGE SIZED COMEX TRANSFER THROUGH THE EFP ROUTE AS THESE LONGS RECEIVED A DELIVERABLE LONDON FORWARD TOGETHER WITH A FIAT BONUS. WE HAD 10,403 FOR JUNE, 0 CONTRACTS ISSUED FOR MAY AND ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS: TOTAL 10,403 CONTRACTS. THE OBLIGATION STILL RESTS WITH THE BANKERS ON THESE TRANSFERS. ALSO REMEMBER THAT THERE IS NO DOUBT A HUGE DELAY IN THE ISSUANCE OF EFP’S AND IT PROBABLY TAKES AT LEAST 48 HRS AFTER LONGS GIVE UP THEIR COMEX CONTRACTS FOR THEM TO RECEIVE THEIR EFP’S AS THEY ARE NEGOTIATING THIS CONTRACT WITH THE BANKS FOR A FIAT BONUS PLUS THEIR TRANSFER TO A LONDON BASED FORWARD.

ON A NET BASIS IN OPEN INTEREST WE GAINED THE FOLLOWING TODAY ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES: 2831 OI CONTRACTS IN THAT 10,403 LONGS WERE TRANSFERRED AS FORWARDS TO LONDON AND WE LOST 7572 COMEX CONTRACTS.

NET GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES: 2831 contracts OR 283,100 OZ OR 8.805 TONNES.

Result: AN LARGE SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OPEN INTEREST DESPITE THE RISE IN PRICE FRIDAY (ENDING UP WITH A GAIN OF $6.15)THE TOTAL OPEN INTEREST GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES: 2831 OI CONTRACTS..

We have now entered the active contract month of APRIL where we LOST 35 contracts LOWERING TO 1304 contracts. We had 0 notices served yesterday, so we lost 35 contracts or an additional 3500 oz will not stand for delivery in this active delivery month of April and these lost contracts JOIN THEIR BROTHERS AS THEY MORPH INTO EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL CONTRACTS (EFP’S) ONCE THEY HAVE BEEN NEGOTIATED, WRITTEN UP AND SEALED. (i.e. London based forwards)

May saw A LOSS of 71 contracts to stand at 1224. The really big June contract month saw a LOSS of 8215 contracts DOWN to 379,704 contracts. The next big delivery month after June is August and here the OI FELL BY 851 contracts DOWN to 48,747.

We had 3 notice(s) filed upon today for 300 oz at the comex

THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT THE COMEX DOES NOT HAVE ANY GOLD TO SATISFY UPON OUR LONGS.

Trading Volumes on the COMEX

PRELIMINARY COMEX VOLUME FOR TODAY:250,404 contracts

CONFIRMED COMEX VOL. FOR YESTERDAY: 281,381 contracts

comex gold volumes are RISING AGAIN

Here is a summary of the latest gold trading volumes at the Comex per year

certainly the introduction of EFP’s has certainly had an effect:

Meanwhile, gold-trading volumes on the COMEX have never been higher:

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And now for the wild silver comex results.

Total silver OI FELL AGAIN BY 2350 CONTRACTS FROM 220,167 DOWN TO 217,817 (AND AWAY FROM THE NEW RECORD OI FOR SILVER SET APRIL 9.2018) DESPITE THE 17 CENT RISE IN SILVER PRICING. HOWEVER, WE ALSO WERE ALSO INFORMED THAT WE HAD A SMALL 693 EMERGENCY EFP’S FOR MAY ISSUED BY OUR BANKERS: 75 EFP CONTRACTS ISSUED FOR JULY AND ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS TO COMEX LONGS WHO RECEIVED A FIAT BONUS PLUS A DELIVERABLE PRODUCT OVER IN LONDON. THE TOTAL EFP’S ISSUED: 768. WE SURPRISINGLY AND SHOCKINGLY AGAIN HAD CONTINUAL LONG COMEX SILVER LIQUIDATION. ON A NET BASIS WE LOST 1582 SILVER OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS AS WE OBTAINED A 2350 CONTRACT LOSS AT THE COMEX COMBINING WITH THE ADDITION OF 768 OI CONTRACTS NAVIGATING OVER TO LONDON.

NET LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES:1582 CONTRACTS

AMOUNT STANDING FOR SILVER AT THE COMEX

We are now in the non active delivery month of April and here the front month LOST 0 contracts STAYING AT 216 contracts. We had 0 notices filed upon so in essence we GAINED 0 contracts or NO additional ounces of silver will stand for delivery in this non active delivery month of April. However I made an error and we gained 600,000 oz on Thursday.

The next big active delivery month for silver will be May and here the OI LOST 3993 contracts DOWN to 104,727. June saw a GAIN of 26 contracts to stand at 99. The next big delivery month for silver is July and here the OI ROSE by 1566 contracts UP to 75,798.

We had 120 notice(s) filed for 600,000 OZ for the APRIL 2018 contract for silver

INITIAL standings for APRIL/GOLD

APRIL 16/2018.

Gold	Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers* Inventory in oz*	nil oz
Withdrawals from Customer* Inventory in oz*	7233.75 oz Scotia 225 kilobars
Deposits to the Dealer* Inventory in oz*	NIL oz
Deposits to the Customer* Inventory, in oz*	nil OZ
No of oz served (contracts) today	3 notice(s) n300 OZ
No of oz to be served (notices)	1304 contracts (130,400 oz)
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month	663 notices 66,300 OZ 2.062 TONNES
Total accumulative withdrawals of gold from the Dealers* inventory this month*	NIL oz
Total accumulative withdrawal of gold from the Customer* inventory this month*	xxx oz

from the last week of March til today, we have had only 3 small entries for gold and they were all of the “kilobars” variety

From my vantage point, the comex is void of gold. This rarely happens in a delivery month as gold is called upon to deliver.

***

we had 1 kilobar transaction/

We had 0 inventory movement at the dealer accounts

total inventory deposit into the dealer accounts: NIL oz

total inventory withdrawals out of dealer accounts; nil oz

we had 1 withdrawals out of the customer account:

i) Out of Scotia: 7233.75 oz (225 kilobars)

total withdrawal: 7233.75 oz

we had 0 customer deposit

total customer deposits: nil oz

we had 0 adjustment(s)

For APRIL:
Today, 0 notice(s) were issued from JPMorgan dealer account and 0 notices were issued from their client or customer account. The total of all issuance by all participants equates to 3 contract(s) of which 2 notices were stopped (received) by j.P. Morgan dealer and 0 notice(s) was (were) stopped/ Received) by j.P.Morgan customer account.

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To calculate the INITIAL total number of gold ounces standing for the APRIL. contract month, we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (663) x 100 oz or 66300 oz, to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of APRIL. (1304 contracts) minus the number of notices served upon today (3 x 100 oz per contract) equals 196,700 oz, the number of ounces standing in this active month of APRIL (6.118 tonnes)

Thus the INITIAL standings for gold for the APRIL contract month:

No of notices served (660 x 100 oz or ounces + {(1304)OI for the front month minus the number of notices served upon today (0 x 100 oz )which equals 196,700 oz standing in this active delivery month of APRIL . THERE IS 12.003 TONNES OF REGISTERED GOLD AVAILABLE FOR DELIVERY SO FAR.

WE LOST 35 COMEX OI CONTRACTS OR 3500 OZ OF GOLD WILL NOT STAND BUT THESE GUYS MORPHED INTO LONDON BASED FORWARDS.

total registered or dealer gold: 385,923.014 oz or 12.003 tonnes

total registered and eligible (customer) gold; 9,051,749.97 oz 281.547 tones

THE COMEX IS AGAIN IN STRESS AS ONLY 12.003 TONNES OF GOLD ARE LEFT TO SERVICE DELIVERIES. THERE IS HARDLY ANY GOLD AT THE COMEX TO SERVE UPON LONGS AND THUS THE REASON FOR THE EFP TRANSFER OVER TO LONDON.

IN THE LAST 18 MONTHS 72 NET TONNES HAS LEFT THE COMEX.

end

And now for silver

AND NOW THE APRIL DELIVERY MONTH

APRIL INITIAL standings/SILVER

APRIL 16/ 2018

Silver	Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers* Inventory*	nil oz
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory	nil oz
Deposits to the Dealer* Inventory*	602,312.800 oz Brinks
Deposits to the Customer Inventory	2353.300 oz brinks Delaware
No of oz served today (contracts)	120 CONTRACT(S 600,000 OZ)
No of oz to be served (notices)	96 contracts (480,000 oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)	264 contracts (1,320,000 oz)
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Dealers* inventory this month*	NIL oz
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Customer* inventory this month*

we had 0 inventory movement at the dealer side of things

total dealer deposits: nil oz

we had 2 deposits into the customer account

i) Into JPMorgan: nil oz

*** JPMorgan for most of 2017 and in 2018 has adding to its inventory almost every single day.

JPMorgan now has 140 million oz of total silver inventory or 53.4% of all official comex silver. (140 million/263 million)

JPMorgan did not deposit into its warehouses (official) today.

ii) Brinks: 1000,000

iii) Into Brinks: 1953.300 oz

total deposits today: 2953,300 oz

we had 0 withdrawals from the customer account;

total withdrawals; nil oz

we had 0 adjustment

total dealer silver: 60.055 million

total dealer + customer silver: 263.796 million oz

The total number of notices filed today for the APRIL. contract month is represented by 120 contract(s) FOR 600,000 oz. To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in APRIL., we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at 264 x 5,000 oz = 1,320,000 oz to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of April. (216) and the number of notices served upon today (120 x 5000 oz) equals the number of ounces standing.

Thus the INITIAL standings for silver for the APRIL contract month: 264(notices served so far)x 5000 oz + OI for front month of April(216) -number of notices served upon today (120)x 5000 oz equals 1,800,000 oz of silver standing for the April contract month

WE LOST 0 SILVER CONTRACT OR 0 ADDITIONAL OUNCES WILL STAND IN THIS NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF APRIL

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ESTIMATED VOLUME FOR TODAY: 85,768 CONTRACTS

CONFIRMED VOLUME FOR YESTERDAY: 74,914 CONTRACTS

YESTERDAY’S CONFIRMED VOLUME OF 74,914 CONTRACTS EQUATES TO 374 MILLION OZ OR 53.5% OF ANNUAL GLOBAL PRODUCTION OF SILVER

COMMODITY LAW SUGGESTS THAT OPEN INTEREST SHOULD NOT BE MORE THAN 3% OF ANNUAL GLOBAL PRODUCTION. THE CROOKS ARE SUPPLYING MASSIVE PAPER TRYING TO KEEP SILVER IN CHECK.

The record level of silver open interest is 234,787 contracts set on April 21./2017 with the price at that day at $18.42
The previous record was 224,540 contracts with the price at that time of $20.44

end

NPV for Sprott

1. Sprott silver fund (PSLV): NAV FALLS TO -2.37% (APRIL 16/2018)
2. Sprott gold fund (PHYS): premium to NAV RISES TO -0.58% to NAV (APRIL 16/2018 )
Note: Sprott silver trust back into NEGATIVE territory at -2.37%-/Sprott physical gold trust is back into NEGATIVE/ territory at -0.58%/Central fund of Canada’s is still in jail but being rescued by Sprott.
Sprott WINS hostile 3.1 billion bid to take over Central Fund of Canada

(courtesy Sprott/GATA)

3.SPROTT CEF.A FUND (FORMERLY CENTRAL FUND OF CANADA): NAV FALLS TO -2.42%: NAV 13.86/TRADING 13.53//DISCOUNT 2.42.

END

And now the Gold inventory at the GLD/

April 16/WITH GOLD UP$2.80/NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 865.89 TONNES/

April 13/WITH GOLD UP $6.15, A HUGE DEPOSIT OF 5.90 TONNES INTO THE GLD INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 865.89 TONNES

April 12/WITH GOLD DOWN $17.40/NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 859.99 TONNES

April 11/WITH GOLD UP $13.85/NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 859,99 TONNES

APRIL 10/WITH GOLD UP $5.25/NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 859.99 TONNES

APRIL 9/WITH GOLD UP$4.50/NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 859.99 TONNES

APRIL 6/WITH GOLD UP $7.50 ,A HUGE CHANGE IN INVENTORY AT THE GLD/ A DEPOSIT OF 5.90 TONNES/INVENTORY RESTS AT 859.99 TONNES

APRIL 5/WITH GOLD DOWN $8.20 WE HAD TWO ENTRIES: 1) TINY WITHDRAWAL OF .28 TONNES TO PAY FOR FEES AND 2) A DEPOSIT OF 2.06 TONNES//INVENTORY RESTS AT 854.09 TONNES

April 4/WITH GOLD UP $2.90 WE HAD NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 852.31 TONNES

APRIL 3./WITH GOLD DOWN $9.30 WE HAD NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 852.31 TONNES

APRIL 2/WITH GOLD UP $19.50, WE HAD A BIG CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A DEPOSIT OF 6.19 TONNES/INVENTORY RESTS AT 852.31 TONNES

MARCH 29/WITH GOLD DOWN $3.20 AND OPTIONS EXPIRY FINISHED, WE HAD NO CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS A 846.12 TONNES

March 28/WITH GOLD DOWN $16.70, ANOTHER RAID ORCHESTRATED, AGAIN NO SURPRISES AS WE WITNESS ANOTHER 1.18 TONNES OF GOLD REMOVED/INVENTORY RESTS AT 846.12 TONNES

MARCH 27/WITH GOLD DOWN $11.70 AND A RAID INITIATED, IT WAS NO SURPRISE TO SEE THAT A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 3.24 TONNES WAS USED IN THE ABOVE RAID/INVENTORY RESTS AT 847.30 TONNES

MARCH 26./WITH GOLD UP $4.60/NO CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 850.54 TONNES

MARCH 23/WITH GOLD UP $23.30/NO CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 850.54 TONNES

MARCH 22.WITH GOLD UP $5.90, NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 850.54 TONNES/

MARCH 21/WITH GOLD UP $9.65 NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 850.54 TONNES

March 20/WITH GOLD DOWN $5.75, A SURPRISING HUMONGOUS DEPOSIT OF 10.32 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 850.64 TONNES/

SO FAR, FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH, THE GLD HAS ADDED 19.61 TONNES WITH A NET LOSS OF $17.45

March 19/WITH GOLD UP $5.25: ANOTHER HUGE DEPOSIT OF GOLD TO THE TUNE OF 2.07 TONNES/GOLD INVENTORY RESTS TONIGHT AT 840.22 TONNES

MARCH 16/WITH GOLD DOWN $5.65/OUR CROOKS DEPOSITED ANOTHER 4.42 TONNES INTO GLD INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 838.15 TONNES

FOR THE WEEK: GOLD LOST $11.80, BUT GOLD INVENTORY ADVANCED:4.42 TONNES

MARCH 15/WITH GOLD DOWN $7.85, NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 833.73 TONNES

MARCH 14/WITH GOLD DOWN $1.55/NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 833.73 TONNES

MARCH 13/WITH GOLD UP $6.25/NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 833.73 TONNES

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

APRIL 16/2018/ Inventory rests tonight at 865.89 tonnes

*IN LAST 362 TRADING DAYS: 75.15 NET TONNES HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE GLD
*LAST 312 TRADING DAYS: A NET 81.15 TONNES HAVE NOW BEEN ADDED INTO GLD INVENTORY.

end

Now the SLV Inventory/

April 16/WITH SILVER UP 7 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 320.196 MILLION OZ/

April 13/WITH SILVER UP 17 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 320.196 MILLION OZ.

April 12/WITH SILVER DOWN 27 CENTS/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 320.196 MILLION OZ/

April 11/2018/WITH SILVER UP 16 CENTS: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 320.196 MILLION OZ/

APRIL 10/WITH GOLD UP 8 CENTS/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 320.196 MILLION OZ/

APRIL 9/WITH SILVER UP 12 CENTS/WE HAD NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 320.196 MILLION OZ/

APRIL 6/WITH SILVER UP 4 CENTS, WE HAD A HUGE DEPOSIT OF 1.319 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 320.196 MILLION OZ

APRIL 5/WITH SILVER UP 6 CENTS/NO CHANGES IN INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 318.877 MILLION OZ/

April 4/WITH SILVER DOWN 11 CENTS/A SMALL CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/ A WITHRAWAL OF 135,000 OZ AND THIS IS PROBABLY TO PAY FOR FEES/INVENTORY RESTS AT 318.877 MILLION OZ/

APRIL 3./WITH SILVER DOWN 16 CENTS/NO CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.012 MILLION OZ/

APRIL 2/WITH SILVER UP 34 CENTS/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.012 MILLION OZ/

MARCH 29/WITH SILVER UP 6 CENTS, THE CROOKS DECIDED THAT THEY HAD BETTER ADD SOME 943,000 PAPER OZ TO THEIR INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.012 MILLION OZ

March 28/WITH SILVER DOWN 27 CENTS/AGAIN NO CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 318.069 MILLION OZ

MARCH 27/WITH SILVER DOWN 14 CENTS/NO CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 318.069 MILLION OZ/

WITH SILVER UP 11 CENTS/NO CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 318.069 MILLION OZ/

MARCH 23/WITH SILVER UP 19 CENTS, A HAD A BIG WITHDRAWAL OF 1.602 MILLION OZ.INVENTORY RESTS AT 318.069 MILLION OZ/

MARCH 22/WITH SILVER DOWN ONE CENT, NO CHANGE IN SLV INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.671 MILLION OZ/

March 21/WITH SILVER UP 21 CENTS/NO CHANGE IN SLV INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.671 MILLION OZ/

March 20/WITH SILVER DOWN 13 CENTS/NO CHANGE IN SLV INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.671 MILLION OZ/

March 19/WITH SILVER UP 5 CENTS, THE SLV ADDS A SMALL 659,000 OZ TO ITS INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.671 MILLION OZ/

MARCH 16/WITH SILVER DOWN 15 CENTS/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.012 MILLION OZ.

FOR THE WEEK; SILVER IS DOWN 42 CENTS YET ADDS 943,000 OZ OF SILVER INTO THE SLV/

MARCH 15/WITH SILVER DOWN 11 CENTS/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.012 MILLION OZ/

MARCH 14/WITH SILVER DOWN 8 CENTS/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.012 MILLION OZ/

MARCH 13/WITH SILVER UP 10 CENTS/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.012 MILLION OZ/

HAD ANOTHER HUGE ADDITION OF 1.315 MILLION OZ/INVENTORY RESTS AT 316.590 MILLION OZ/

APRIL 16/2018: A NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY:

Inventory 320.196 million oz

end

6 Month MM GOFO 1.99/ and libor 6 month duration 2.49

Indicative gold forward offer rate for a 6 month duration/calculation:

G0FO+ 1.99%

libor 2.49 FOR 6 MONTHS/

GOLD LENDING RATE: .50%

XXXXXXXX

12 Month MM GOFO
+ 2.73%

LIBOR FOR 12 MONTH DURATION: 2.46

GOFO = LIBOR – GOLD LENDING RATE

GOLD LENDING RATE = +.27

end

Major gold/silver trading /commentaries for MONDAY

GOLDCORE/BLOG/MARK O’BYRNE.

GOLD/SILVER

Global Debt Bubble Hits New All Time High – One Quadrillion Reasons To Buy Gold

16, April

– Global debt bubble hits new all time high – over $237 trillion
– Global debt increased 10% or $21 tn in 2017 to nearly a quarter quadrillion USD
– Increase in debt equivalent to United States’ ballooning national debt
– Global debt up $50 trillion in decade & over 327% of global GDP
– $750 trillion of bank derivatives means global debt over $1 quadrillion
– Gold will be ‘store of value’ in coming economic contraction
– Global debt is the mother of all bubbles

Source: Bloomberg

Global debt has now reached over 327% of global GDP, $237 trillion. Prior to the financial crisis it was less that $150 trillion. The amount by which it has surged in just one year is the same amount as the ballooning national debt of the United States.

The response of our leaders, central bankers and financial thinkers to this latest data?

It was good news as it showed that thanks to global growth the ratio of debt-to-gross domestic product fell for the fifth consecutive quarter. No irony in the fact that the economic growth is entirely funded by debt itself – adding another shaky layer to the house of cards.

Christine Lagarde said earlier this week:

The bottom line is that high debt burdens have left governments, companies, and households more vulnerable to a sudden tightening of financial conditions. This potential shift could prompt market corrections, debt sustainability concerns, and capital flow reversals in emerging markets.

A sudden tightening of financial conditions is inevitable. The latest FOMC minutes released yesterday showed that members plan to increase interest rates at a faster rate than previously expected. This was inevitable given the loose monetary policy that central banks have been enjoying for the last decade.

As Jim Rickards summarises:

We hear that the U.S. is facing a debt crisis because budget deficits are out of control. We hear that China is facing a debt crisis because of wasted infrastructure investment, bank Ponzi schemes and bad loans to money-losing state-sponsored enterprises.

Next we hear that emerging markets are facing a separate debt crisis because of dollar-denominated debt that cannot be repaid if higher U.S. interest rates lead to a stronger dollar.

In short, the whole world seems to be facing a debt crisis in various forms.

Global debt is primarily made up of three groups: non financial corporates, governments and households. Each as indebted as the next, each as addicted as the next with no detox programme on offer.

Rickards reminds us that $237tn is only part of the story:

This debt is in addition to approximately $750 trillion of bank derivatives as reported by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

Adding the debt and derivatives together produces over $1 quadrillion of financial obligations of various kinds. This is far more that the amount of debt and derivatives outstanding before the last financial crisis in 2008.

So bad is the debt crisis that five leading economists recently felt compelled to write an op-ed in the Washington Post warning Americans of the impending debt crisis.

From this point forward, even if economic growth continues uninterrupted, current tax and spending patterns imply that annual deficits will steadily increase, approaching the $1 trillion mark in two years and steadily rising thereafter as far as the eye can see.

Unless Congress acts to reduce federal budget deficits, the outstanding public debt will reach $20 trillion a scant five years from now, up from its current level of $15 trillion. That amounts to almost a quarter of million dollars for a family of four, more than twice the median household wealth.

This string of perpetually rising trillion-dollar-plus deficits is unprecedented in U.S. history.

In recent months, we have seen an inevitable rise in interest rates from their low levels of recent years. Rising interest rates and increasing deficits threaten to build upon each other to send public debt spiraling upward even faster. When treasury debt holders start to doubt our government’s ability to repay, or to attract future lenders, they will demand higher interest rates to compensate for the risk. If current spending and tax policy continue unaltered, higher interest costs will have to be financed by even more debt. More borrowing puts more upward pressure on interest rates, and the spiral continues.

Household debt is not just a major problem in the US. In the latest release of figures Belgium, Canada, France, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland each saw household debt as a percentage of GDP hit all-time highs. Only Italy and Ireland remain as the two mature market countries where household debt as a percentage of GDP is below 50%.

Things are even worse in emerging market South Korea where household debt to GDP is approaching parity, currently at 94.6%.

Listen on SoundCloud , Blubrry & iTunes. Watch on YouTube below

Imagine how much worse things will get as interest rates across the board begin to rise. Or, more likely, as central banks change their minds about interest rate rises and allow the period of easy money to carry on. Cue major inflation around the globe and ever-higher levels of debt.

Conclusion

The IIF, the group responsible for the data release, point to central banks as the culprits for these devastating figures.

“Still-low global rates continue to support unprecedented levels of debt accumulation.”

This is no surprise as they (as the puppets of governments and bankers) are the reason so many savers, households and investors have had to work hard to protect their assets in the last decade. Such little regard has been shown for the long term health of the economy or value of our hard won savings.

The global debt figures serve once again as a reminder that individuals and businesses must take responsibility for their own wealth and protect it from the ongoing currency debasement and gigantic monetary experiment of central banks.

Gold that is held in a segregated, allocated portfolio is a key way to protect your savings from counter-party risk in the financial system. Gold’s performance in 2017 into this year, along with low gold liquidations, increased demand for gold coins and bars and central bank purchases shows the prudent money is again diversifying into gold in anticipation of the next financial crisis.

Listen on SoundCloud , Blubrry & iTunes. Watch on YouTube below

Related reading

Global Debt Crisis II Cometh

Global Debt Bubble Understated By $13 Trillion Warn BIS

Gold A Store Of Value – Protect From $217 Trillion Global Debt Bubble

News and Commentary

Gold, Crude Speculators Betting “Mission Not Accomplished” (Nasdaq.com )

Gold edges up after Syria strikes (Reuters.com)

Asian Stocks Trade Mixed as Treasury Yields Gain (Bloomberg.com)

Syria brushes off U.S.-led airstrikes, launches new attacks against rebels (MarketWatch.com)

Oil, gold to gain on Syrian strikes, Russian retaliation in focus (Reuters.com)

Source: Morgan Stanley via ZeroHedge

Bond King Jeff Gundlach Says Gold Could Rally $1000 (CNBC.com)

Gundlach: Gold On The Verge Of “Thousand Dollar” Breakout (ZeroHedge.com)

Morgan Stanley Uses Gold As Proxy For The “True Value Of A Dollar” (ZeroHedge.com)

Citi: “There Is A Massive Problem” With The Bond Market (ZeroHedge.com)

Solid earnings season won’t be enough to avert another correction – Economist Shiller (CNBC.com)

Gold Prices (LBMA AM)

13 Apr: USD 1,340.75, GBP 938.93 & EUR 1,087.35 per ounce
12 Apr: USD 1,345.90, GBP 951.01 & EUR 1,090.99 per ounce
11 Apr: USD 1,345.20, GBP 947.96 & EUR 1,087.86 per ounce
10 Apr: USD 1,335.95, GBP 942.25 & EUR 1,083.46 per ounce
09 Apr: USD 1,328.50, GBP 941.91 & EUR 1,082.33 per ounce
06 Apr: USD 1,325.60, GBP 946.08 & EUR 1,082.75 per ounce
05 Apr: USD 1,327.05, GBP 943.67 & EUR 1,080.75 per ounce

Silver Prices (LBMA)

13 Apr: USD 16.51, GBP 11.57 & EUR 13.40 per ounce
12 Apr: USD 16.66, GBP 11.74 & EUR 13.50 per ounce
11 Apr: USD 16.57, GBP 11.67 & EUR 13.39 per ounce
10 Apr: USD 16.49, GBP 11.65 & EUR 13.38 per ounce
09 Apr: USD 16.34, GBP 11.59 & EUR 13.32 per ounce
06 Apr: USD 16.28, GBP 11.61 & EUR 13.30 per ounce
05 Apr: USD 16.31, GBP 11.59 & EUR 13.28 per ounce

Recent Market Updates

– Oil Surges Over 8%, Gold and Silver Marginally Higher, Stocks Gain In Volatile Week
– EU and Euro Exposed To Risks Including Trade Wars and War With Russia In Middle East
– Trump Tweets Russia “Get Ready” For Missiles In Syria – Gold, Oil Rise and Stocks Fall
– Private: EU and Euro Exposed To Trade Wars, Energy Dependence, Anti-EU and Anti-Euro Movements
– Trump Making ‘Major Decisions’ on Syria, Iran and Russia Response ‘Very Quickly’
– Gold Out Performs Stocks In 2018 and This Century By Ratio Of Two To One
– Jamie Dimon Warns Of Potential ‘Market Panic’
– Silver Bullion: Should We Be Worried About Silver?
– Martin Luther King Jr. Anniversary: Reminds Us Of Costs Of War To Society and Financial System
– Gold Outperforms Stocks In Q1, 2018
– Brexit, Stagflation Pressures UK High Street
– Gold Is Money While Currencies Today Are “IOU Nothings”
– “Stars Are Slowly Aligning For Gold” – Frisby

Mark O’Byrne

Executive Director

Andrew Maguire’s Kinesis money which is a “bitcoin” but backed 100% by allocated gold and silver is set to go.

it think it would be a great idea to look at this!

please read at: https://kinesis.money/#/

(Andrew Maguire)

Andrew Maguire

2:57 PM (1 hour ago)

to me

Harvey

Here It is my friend! https://kinesis.money/#/ Please let everyone know.

Let catch up on Monday if you have time. We have billions in the hopper ready to be allocated on the 1^st day of trading. The paper market days are over.

Warm regards

Andy

END

As we have pointed out to you, the new tax reform law passed by the USA has caused a huge dollar repatriation but that repatriation has caused a massive shortage of dollars in Europe and Asia. We are now witnessing the collapse of the Iranian rial due to that shortage.

(courtesy Radio Farda/GATA)

Iran’s currency collapses as central bank freezes foreign exchange

Submitted by cpowell on Sun, 2018-04-15 11:55. Section: Daily Dispatches

Iran Bans Sale Of Foreign Currencies at Exchange Bureaus

From Radio Farda
(Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Washington)
Sunday, April 15, 2018

Iran’s central bank has announced a ban on the sale of foreign currencies at exchange bureaus. Under new government guidelines, exchange bureaus no longer have the right to buy, sell, or transfer foreign currencies, and the central bank will no longer provide cash to the bureaus.

Mohammad Ali Karimi, head of public relations for the central bank, announced on state-run television on Friday that the guidelines aim to “redefine the job description of exchange bureaus,” adding, “They might be given the role of a mediator for cases when Iranian banks are not interacting with some foreign banks.”

The exchange rate of Iran’s rial to the U.S. dollar is now officially set at 42,000. Karimi said exchange bureaus can sell dollars to banks at the new price. However, there are no dollars available at that rate and no one is willing to sell dollars at the arbitrarily set rate.

It would be a different matter if the central bank would make dollars widely available at the new official rate, but that would drain the state’s dollar reserves, as companies and people would scoop up as much as possible because of their lack of trust for the local currency.

Previously, Iran’s central bank would provide select exchange bureaus with between $50,000 and $100,000, which they were then allowed to sell at a profit of up to 15 percent.

According to the daily Qanoon, however, exchange bureaus are only allowed to buy or sell gold coins “until further notice.”

Amid growing economic and political uncertainty, the rial has plummeted to a record low, dropping to an unprecedented level of 60,000 against the dollar on an emerging black market. …

… For the remainder of the report:

https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran-ban-sale-foreign-currency-exchange-bure…

END

A good commentary from Jay Taylor: how much longer can the USA hegemony run on fake currency?

(courtesy Jay Taylor/GATA)

Jay Taylor: How much longer can the American empire run on fake money?

Submitted by cpowell on Mon, 2018-04-16 10:42. Section: Daily Dispatches

6:44a ET Monday, April 16, 2018

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

Financial letter writer Jay Taylor’s new commentary, “How Much Longer Can the American Empire Run on Fake Money?,” cites GATA’s work and adds:

“The one currency that would put all nations on an even playing field would be gold. A gold standard would mean the United States would have to earn its way to wealth rather than print money to pay for endless wars, death, and destruction.

“Nixon took us off the international gold standard in 1971 for that very reason, which enabled banks and financial institutions to get rich by impoverishing Americans with debt and job losses funded by bankers who have access to printing-press money. It also made it possible for America to fund endless wars with debt.

“But to keep the dollar viable, its leading competitor had to be held at bay. Hence smackdowns like the one this past Wednesday.”

Taylor’s commentary has been posted in the clear at Zero Hedge here:

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-15/how-much-longer-can-american-e…

CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
CPowell@GATA.org

END

_________________

___________________________________________________________________

Your early MONDAY morning currency, Asian stock market results, important USA/Asian currency crosses, gold/silver pricing overnight along with the price of oil Major stories overnight/9 AM EST

i) Chinese yuan vs USA dollar/CLOSED DOWN 6.2849 /shanghai bourse CLOSED DOWN 48.40 POINTS OR 1.53% / HANG SANG CLOSED DOWN 492.79 POINTS OR 1.60%
2. Nikkei closed UP 156.79 POINTS OR 0.26%/ /USA: YEN FALLS TO 107.23/

3. Europe stocks OPENED IN THE RED /USA dollar index FALLS TO 89.56/Euro RISES TO 1.2365

3b Japan 10 year bond yield: RISES TO . +.047/ !!!!(Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese yen vs usa cross now at 107.23/ THIS IS TROUBLESOME AS BANK OF JAPAN IS RUNNING OUT OF BONDS TO BUY./JAPAN 10 YR YIELD FINALLY IN THE POSITIVE/BANK OF JAPAN LOSING CONTROL OF THEIR YIELD CURVE AS THEY PURCHASE ALL BONDS TO GET TO ZERO RATE!!

3c Nikkei now JUST BELOW 17,000

3d USA/Yen rate now well below the important 120 barrier this morning

3e WTI:: 66.69 and Brent: 71.81

3f Gold DOWN/Yen UP

3g Japan is to buy the equivalent of 108 billion uSA dollars worth of bond per month or $1.3 trillion. Japan’s GDP equals 5 trillion usa./“HELICOPTER MONEY” OFF THE TABLE FOR NOW /REVERSE OPERATION TWIST ON THE BONDS: PURCHASE OF LONG BONDS AND SELLING THE SHORT END

Japan to buy 100% of all new Japanese debt and by 2018 they will have 25% of all Japanese debt. Fifty percent of Japanese budget financed with debt.

3h Oil DOWN for WTI and UP FOR Brent this morning

3i European bond buying continues to push yields lower on all fronts in the EMU. German 10yr bund RISES TO +.541%/Italian 10 yr bond yield UP to 1.812% /SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD UP TO 1.257%

3j Greek 10 year bond yield RISES TO : 4.06?????????????????

3k Gold at $1343.00 silver at:16.60 7 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $18.50

3l USA vs Russian rouble; (Russian rouble UP 139/100 in roubles/dollar) 62.09

3m oil into the 66 dollar handle for WTI and 71 handle for Brent/

3n Higher foreign deposits out of China sees huge risk of outflows and a currency depreciation. This can spell financial disaster for the rest of the world/

JAPAN ON JAN 29.2016 INITIATES NIRP. THIS MORNING THEY SIGNAL THEY MAY END NIRP. TODAY THE USA/YEN TRADES TO 107.23 DESTROYING JAPANESE CITIZENS WITH HIGHER FOOD INFLATION

30 SNB (Swiss National Bank) still intervening again in the markets driving down the SF. It is not working: USA/SF this morning 0.9602 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF is 1.1877 well above the floor set by the Swiss Finance Minister. Thomas Jordan, chief of the Swiss National Bank continues to purchase euros trying to lower value of the Swiss Franc.

3p BRITAIN VOTES AFFIRMATIVE BREXIT/LOWER PARLIAMENT APPROVES BREXIT COMMENCEMENT/ARTICLE 50 COMMENCES MARCH 29/2017

3r the 10 Year German bund now POSITIVE territory with the 10 year RISING to +0.541%

The bank withdrawals were causing massive hardship to the Greek bank. the Greek referendum voted overwhelming “NO”. Next step for Greece will be the recapitalization of the banks and that will be difficult.

4. USA 10 year treasury bond at 2.8580% early this morning (THIS IS DEADLY TO ALL MARKETS). Thirty year rate at 3.0641% /

5. Details Ransquawk, Bloomberg, Deutsche bank/Jim Reid.

(courtesy Jim Reid/Bloomberg/Deutsche bank/zero hedge)

US Futures Rally As Syria Fear Turns To Relief

Global markets breathed a sigh of relief on Monday after this weekend’s Syrian airstrikes, with bond yields rising, the dollar lower, Asian and European stocks mixed, and US futures spiking, as investors assessed the prospect of escalating geopolitical tensions after a U.S.-led airstrike on Syria hit only 3 targets – instead of the rumored 8 – and with Russia failing to respond, fears of an imminent military conflict have been sharply ratcheted down, resulting in a generally bullish market reaction.

“There was a significant fear of potential escalation; that hasn’t happened so far,” said Callum Henderson, a managing director at Eurasia Group. Even so, “it remains to be seen how long this market rally lasts on the back of this specific factor, whether or not, or when, Russia retaliates,” he said on Bloomberg Television.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump declared “mission accomplished” on Twitter after 105 Tomahawk cruise missiles struck targets in Syria, further suggesting there would be no immediate escalation, and sending S&P500 futures higher by 0.7%, albeit amid muted volumes.

“There is some relief that a direct confrontation between the U.S. and Russia over Syria has been avoided,” said DZ Bank rate strategist Daniel Lenz after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Sunday that further Western attacks in Syria would bring chaos to world affairs.

Yet while US index futures enjoyed a relief rally, global markets were mostly mixed on Monday, with Hong Kong and Chinese markets sliding led by property taxes amid worries Chinese tightening measures including property tax could hurt home prices. Shares in Sunac China Holdings Ltd. slumped as much as 6.8 percent, China Evergrande lost 5.3 percent, while Shimao Property Holdings Ltd. fell 4.1 percent.

The MSCI’s broadest gauge for stocks listed in Asia Pacific fell as much as 0.3%, erasing an early advance, as uncertainty remained over the level of geopolitical risk in the Middle East following the U.S.-led missile strike in Syria over the weekend. In Japan, stocks pared earlier gains with the benchmark Topix index briefly dipping into the negative territory as the yen stages a rebound against the dollar in midday trading in Tokyo.

The yen rose 0.1% vs. the dollar to 107.1, after falling by as much as 0.2%, amid rising political risks surrounding Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Traders are growing concerned the series of scandals plaguing Abe could lead to his early resignation, putting the future of Abenomics, and the BOJ’s QE in jeopardy. The approval rating for Abe fell to a record low of 26.7% in a survey by Nippon TV published Sunday. He’s been forced to repeat denials of involvement in scandals as thousands called for his resignation in a protest.

“There is the possibility that Japan’s politics will become a catalyst for speculators to build fresh yen longs,” Makoto Noji and Ataru Okumura, strategists at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., wrote in a note dated Monday, citing the falling approval.

“For markets, the question is whether this matters for economic policy,” said Paul Donovan, global chief economist at UBS Wealth Management. “A change in leadership may matter if the next prime minister has a radically different agenda.”

European bourses opened the week mixed as investors remain wary of potential escalating tensions regarding Syria. The anticipated US-led response on Syria finally took place on Saturday, which was seen as somewhat of a slap on the wrist as they decided to hit only 3 targets and with the wave of strike action already declared to be over. In terms of sectors, energy is taking a hit from the falling oil prices whilst healthcare names are outperforming with Shire (+0.9%) higher on the day amid reports Takeda Pharmaceutical heads are to meet with US investors ahead of the GBP 35bln bid for the UK-listed pharma name. Furthermore, Shire is to sell their oncology business to unlisted French drugmaker Servier for USD 2.4bln. Whitbread jumped 6.7% after hedge fund Elliot Advisors disclosed its stake in the company, while Shire Plc also rose as it agreed to sell its oncology business to France’s Servier SAS. Elsewhere, the world’s biggest ad company, WPP, tumbled -4.4% following the departure of CEO Martin Sorrell after an allegation of personal misconduct, with concerns arising over the future course of action for the company.

Meanwhile, amid relief that US-led strikes on Syria looked unlikely to escalate, there were renewed concerns at Russia’s potential reaction to new sanctions from Washington. On Sunday, UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, speaking on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” confirmed that US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin would announce new sanctions against Russia today that “go directly to any sort of companies that were dealing with equipment related to Assad and chemical weapons use”. However, so far Russian assets have taken the news in stride, with RUB markets appearing to be more comfortable with the Syria situation – as a result, any further military events should not cause a new wave of risk-off unless we see a direct clash between Russian and US troops, according to various geopolitical pundits. Still, as Citi’s FX desk correctly points out, the multi-year trend of worsening US-Russia relations seems to be evolving in a faster pace now.

In other weekend news, Trump Economic Adviser Kudlow said he is optimistic US and China can avoid a broader trade spat, while he also confirmed US President Trump wants to look into entering the TPP-11 but that it was too soon to determine how long the process would take. This also comes in the context of a WSJ piece stating that the earliest the U.S. could formally start negotiations to join the TPP is sometime next year, and each of the 11 nations still in the deal have a veto.

US Special Counsel Mueller is said to have evidence Trump’s lawyer Cohen was in Prague during 2016 Presidential election, which reports state could lend credence to allegations by a former British spy that Cohen met a powerful Kremlin official. Elsewhere, it was also reported that US President Trump is said to have deep concerns on the direction Special Counsel Mueller is taking.

Late on Sunday, former FBI Director Comey described the Oval office meeting in which he said President Trump asked him to back off of Michael Flynn which he thinks is certainly some evidence of obstruction of justice. However, he added that he doesn’t think President Trump should be impeached, but instead thinks Trump should be voted out.

Moody’s raised Spain’s sovereign rating by one notch to Baa1; outlook stable. Fitch affirmed Luxembourg at ‘AAA’; outlook stable. S&P affirmed Poland at BBB+; outlook revised to positive from stable.

European and U.S. government bond yields rose across the board. That was partly as attention turned to what is expected to be a robust first-quarter U.S. corporate earnings season, which begins in earnest this week. The yield on both German and U.S. 10-year government bonds, seen as among the most liquid and safe assets in the world, were at their highest levels in three weeks.

In FX, the dollar weakened after futures data showed hedge funds are the most bearish on the greenback in five years. The ruble reversed earlier losses.

WTI oil futures dropped sharply, falling toward $66 a barrel amid concern that shale production will rise further, and after there was no immediate reprisal to the missile attack. In terms of energy specific newsflow, OPEC members continue to advocate further cooperation and reiterate that the current supply cuts are to continue to the end of the year. In the metals scope, news arising gold trades slightly softer on an improved risk appetite, and copper is uneventful following Chinese underperformance. Kuwait Oil Minister says June meeting will be a chance to review agreement, but the deal will continue until the end of 2018.

Aluminum resumed its rally, adding to its biggest weekly increase on record Friday on concerns about Rusal’s future solvency.

Economic data include retail sales and Empire manufacturing data, while Bank of America and Netflix are set to report earnings. A slew of Federal Reserve officials who are due to speak, including the incoming head of the New York Fed, John Williams.

Bulletin Headline Summary from RanSquaw

European bourses trade mixed (Eurostoxx 50 flat) following suit from the Asia-Pac session as investors remain wary of potential escalating tensions regarding Syria
The greenback is now softer for choice vs all G10 counterparts, albeit modestly
Looking ahead, highlights include, US retail sales and Fed’s Bostic, Kaplan and Kashkari

Market Snapshot

S&P 500 futures up 0.4% to 2,666.75
STOXX Europe 600 down 0.1% to 378.69
MSCI Asia Pacific down 0.1% to 173.61
MSCI Asia Pacific ex Japan down 0.6% to 567.24
Nikkei up 0.3% to 21,835.53
Topix up 0.4% to 1,736.22
Hang Seng Index down 1.6% to 30,315.59
Shanghai Composite down 1.5% to 3,110.65
Sensex up 0.2% to 34,248.01
Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 0.2% to 5,841.34
Kospi up 0.1% to 2,457.49
German 10Y yield rose 2.9 bps to 0.54%
Euro up 0.2% to $1.2359
Brent Futures down 1.6% to $71.45/bbl
Italian 10Y yield fell 1.7 bps to 1.542%
Spanish 10Y yield rose 1.4 bps to 1.252%
Brent Futures down 1.6% to $71.44/bbl
Gold spot down 0.06% to $1,345.37
U.S. Dollar Index down 0.2% to 89.62

Top Overnight News

Fresh sanctions will be imposed on Russia related to Syria’s reported use of chemical weapons, as the U.S. and U.K. assess the fallout and next steps after Friday night’s strike on the Middle Eastern country, the top U.S. diplomat to the United Nations said
The U.S. Treasury didn’t name China or any other nation a currency manipulator in its semi-annual foreign- exchange policy report, though it added India to its monitoring list
Approval rating for Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet fell to 31%, an all-time low since the start of his second administration as prime minister, according to an Asahi poll conducted April 14-15 via phone
Japan and China hold their first high-level economic dialogue in almost eight years on Monday against a backdrop of trade threats from the U.S. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meets with President Trump later this week in Florida
Oil halted gains near $67 as the U.S. rig count rose to a three-year high, a sign of potentially higher production that may outweigh fears conflict in the Middle East threatens supply
Donald Trump is “morally unfit” to be president, former FBI Director James Comey said in an interview on ABC News, adding that he couldn’t rule out the possibility that the Russian government has incriminating information about the president.

European bourses opened mixed this morning, following suit from the Asia-Pac session as investors remain wary of potential escalating tensions regarding Syria. The anticipated US-led response on Syria finally took place on Saturday, which was seen as somewhat of a slap on the wrist as they decided to hit only 3 targets and with the wave of strike action already declared to be over. In terms of sectors, energy is taking a hit from the falling oil prices whilst healthcare names are outperforming with Shire (+0.9%) higher on the day amid reports Takeda Pharmaceutical heads are to meet with US investors ahead of the GBP 35bln bid for the UK-listed pharma name. Furthermore, Shire is to sell their oncology business to unlisted French drugmaker Servier for USD 2.4bln. Whitbread (+6.7%) is dominating the FTSE 100 after reports Elliott Advisors is pressuring the company to spin-off Costa in an effort to generate as much as GBP 3bln of additional value. Elsewhere, WPP (-4.4%) following the departure of CEO Martin Sorrell after an allegation of personal misconduct, with concerns arising over the future course of action for the company.

Top European News

London House Prices Fall in Stark Division With Rest of U.K.
Citi Says Easy Access Makes Nordic Firms Ripe for Takeovers
Wall Street’s $6 Trillion Man Fink Is Finally Worth $1 Billion
H&M Chairman Has Bought About 6.7m Additional H&M Shares

Asian stocks traded with a mixed tone as focus centred on air strikes on Syria over the weekend and Chinese data. The anticipated US-led response on Syria finally took place on Saturday, which was seen as somewhat of a slap on the wrist as they decided to hit only 3 targets and with the wave of strike action already declared to be over. As such, US equity futures gapped higher at the open, while ASX 200 (+0.2%) and Nikkei 225 (+0.3%) were also in the green as fears of an escalation subsided. Conversely, Shanghai Comp. (-1.5%) and Hang Seng (-1.6%) were negative following the miss on Chinese lending data last week and with tomorrow’s Chinese GDP adding to the risk factors, while the PBoC also announced to raise the 14-day reverse repo rate by 5bps which was in-line with the hikes seen in money market rates in reaction to the March Fed hike. This saw an increase in money market rates in Hong Kong, while underperformance was led by Rusal shares which tumbled over 20% after US announced to impose further Russian sanctions. Finally, 10yr JGBs are uneventful amid a subdued tone in USTs and indecisive risk sentiment in the region, while the absence of a BoJ Rinban announcement also ensured quiet trade. Finally, 10yr JGBs were uneventful and traded little changed amid the mixed risk tone and as a lack of BoJ Rinban announcement also ensured quiet trade.

Top Asian News

Japan Scandals Drag Abe’s Support Down Toward Danger Zone
Why Chances of India Being Named a Currency Manipulator Are Slim
China’s Xi Is Said to Be Opposed to Life-Long Rule, FT Reports
Hong Kong’s Currency Defense Tops $1.7 Billion to Little Effect

In currencies, the Dollar index has faded after brief attempt higher within a 89.850-600 range, and the Greenback is now softer for choice vs all G10 counterparts, albeit modestly. Moreover, the ‘reaction’ to Saturday’s US-led strikes against Syria has been relatively tame overall, with the targeted military action appeasing fears over more aggression and potential retaliation. EUR/GBP: Outperformers, as Eur/Usd firms above the 1.2300 handle, 10 DMA at 1.2310 and 55 DMA at 1.2327, but falls just short of a key Fib at 1.2377 having failed to seriously test 1.2400 on several occasions of late. Cable remains underpinned and just posted a session high above 1.4300 (best since the YTD high of 1.4345), and perhaps buoyed by a Eur/Gbp sell recommendation from a big US bank eying 0.8475 vs a circa 0.8645 low/0.8670 high. JPY/CHF/NZD/CAD/AUD: All essentially flat vs the Usd, around 107.20, 0.9600, 0.7355 and 1.2600 respectively and awaiting further impetus. Dovish BoJ commentary has weighed on the Jpy, and similarly soft Swiss producer prices for the Franc, while the Loonie is looking for independent direction from the BoC on Wednesday and Canadian CPI on Friday. Aud/Usd is holding towards the upper end of a 0.7785-50 band, but also capped ahead of the nearest big figure after topping out just above last week. USD/RUB: The Rouble is under pressure again amidst 62.0000-63.1500 parameters vs the Dollar ahead of latest reciprocal sanctions from the US and Russia, as the latter pledges to respond forcefully, and also warning that further strikes vs Syria will not be tolerated.

In commodities, WTI and Brent futures trade lower amid an unwind of the geopolitical premium and another uptick in the Baker Hughes rig count on Friday. The unwind in risk comes following the Syrian strikes on Saturday which were not as wide-reaching as some had feared. This risk-on attitude is tempered, however, as markets await further action surrounding Russian sanctions and retaliatory effects. In terms of energy specific newsflow, OPEC members continue to advocate further cooperation and reiterate that the current supply cuts are to continue to the end of the year. In the metals scope, news arising gold trades slightly softer on an improved risk appetite, and copper is uneventful following Chinese underperformance. Kuwait Oil Minister says June meeting will be a chance to review agreement, but the deal will continue until the end of 2018.

US Event Calendar

8:30am: Empire Manufacturing, est. 18.6, prior 22.5
8:30am: Retail Sales Advance MoM, est. 0.4%, prior -0.1%; Retail Sales Ex Auto MoM, est. 0.2%, prior 0.2%
- Retail Sales Ex Auto and Gas, est. 0.4%, prior 0.3%; Retail Sales Control Group, est. 0.3%, prior 0.1%
10am: Business Inventories, est. 0.6%, prior 0.6%
10am: NAHB Housing Market Index, est. 70, prior 70
4pm: Total Net TIC Flows, prior $119.7b; Net Long-term TIC Flows, prior $62.1b

DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

The temperature has certainly been raised on the geo-political front this weekend with Friday night’s 105 ‘targeted’ missile strikes on Syrian chemical weapons facilities, which had set their program “back for years”. President Trump tweeted “mission accomplished” while the UK Foreign Secretary Johnson noted there was “no proposal on the table” for further strikes, which is consistent with comments from US defence secretary Mattis. Elsewhere, Russia’s President Putin noted that further Western attacks on Syria would “inevitably lead to chaos in international relations”. On Sunday, the UN ambassador Haley said that the US will announce new sanctions today on Russian firms that “go directly to….dealing with equipment” related to the Syrian leader and his chemical weapons.

This morning in Asia, markets are trading mixed with the Nikkei (+0.26%) and ASX 200 (+0.24%) modestly up while the Kospi (-0.03%), Hang Seng (-1.55%) and Shanghai Comp. (-1.32%) are down as we type. Elsewhere, futures on the S&P are up c0.4% while the Yen is c0.1% stronger. In Japan, the latest poll from Nippon TV showed PM Abe’s approval rating has fallen to the lowest level since late 2012 (26.7%). In the US, the latest poll by ABC news showed President Trump’s approval rating has risen to the highest in 2018 to 40% (vs. 36% in Jan.).

As for this week it’s hard to look beyond geopolitics and trade war developments. On the former the market hope is that the fact that the Syrian air strikes were targeted and that Russia haven’t further inflamed the rhetoric so far, means that we can slowly move on. The latter is still bubbling around the surface and it was interesting that Friday saw a WSJ article suggesting a possible White House announcement about which products are on the list of $100bn of Chinese goods subject to tariffs comes to fruition this week. Elsewhere there are still some notable data to highlight including China Q1 GDP (tomorrow) and US retail sales (today). The Fedspeak diary is also packed full all week while President Trump is due to meet Japan’s Abe, the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings kick off, and Germany’s Merkel and France’s Macron meet to discuss EU reform and trade. In addition to all that, US earnings season steps up with 61 S&P 500 companies due to report. The full week ahead is included at the end.

As a prelude to this week’s Fed speak, the Fed’s Rosengren noted “we have to be vigilant to make sure we’re not over stimulating the economy and generating either wage and price increases that are faster than what we’re going to want in the long run”. He expects the unemployment rate will decline to 3.7% this year and “it’s possible that (it) will fall even more rapidly in the short term”. On rates, he “expects somewhat more tightening may end up being needed” than the current Fed dot plot projections of three rate hikes for 2018 (ie: 2 more) while “inflation is likely to increase a bit more than the current median forecasts” by the Fed.

Following on, our Chief international economist Torsten Slok noted that in the history of economics, it has never happened in any country anywhere in the world that inflation has hit the target and stayed at exactly that level for 12 months. Hence, the risk of an inflation overshoot is rising, and as a result, the belly and the long end of the curve will move higher, finally recognizing that the Fed is right and that higher rates are needed across the curve to cool down inflation and the economy.

Now recapping market performance from Friday. In equities, the Stoxx 600 rose +0.10% while the S&P 500 fell -0.29% with losses led by the financials sector. While US banks’ 1Q results were broadly above market expectations, the share price for JPM and Wells Fargo both fell -2.7% and -3.4% respectively, in part as JP Morgan’s CEO Dimon noted competition is intense and lending was flat for the quarter while WFC noted a potential $1bln charge to settle with the US consumer regulator. The VIX fell for the fourth consecutive day to 17.41 (-5.84%).

Government bonds have firmed slightly with core 10y bond yields down 0.5-2bp (UST -0.9bp; Bunds -0.4bp; Gilts -2.1bp). Key currencies were marginally higher, with the US dollar index up 0.04% while the Euro and Sterling also advanced 0.03% and 0.07% respectively. In commodities, WTI oil rose for the fifth straight day to be up 8.59% last week to $67.39/bbl. Precious metals gained c1% (Gold +0.84%; Silver +1.14%) while other base metals were little changed (Copper -0.06%; Zinc +0.15%; Aluminium +0.21%).

Away from the markets and onto some weekend headlines. In France, President Macron spoke with BFM TV to highlight his desire for “deep reform” of the local tax system to divide it up between cities, departments and regions. However, he added no new taxes are planned, including local taxes during his mandate. In the UK, the Telegraph reported that the BOE has privately warned banks that the end of its £127bn cheaper term funding scheme posed a “systemic risk” to the British financial system.

Over at the Americas Summit in Lima, the US VP Pence noted he is “…hopeful that we are very close to a renegotiated NAFTA and there is a real possibility that we could arrive at an agreement within the next several weeks”. Elsewhere, the Canadian PM Trudeau spoke of “positive momentum” and would like to “see a renegotiated deal sooner rather than later”.

Before we take a look at today’s calendar, we wrap up with other data releases from Friday. In the US, the April University of Michigan consumer sentiment index fell 3.6pts from last month’s cycle high to 97.8 (vs. 100.3 expected). The survey indicated inflation expectations for 1 yr and 5-10yr both eased 10bp mom to 2.7% and 2.4% respectively. The February JOLTS job openings was slightly above market at 6,052 (vs. 6,024 expected) with the quits rate steady at 2.2%. Elsewhere, the NY Fed’s estimate of 1Q GDP growth was unchanged at 2.8%. In Europe, the final reading for Germany and Spain’s March CPI was unrevised at 1.5% yoy and 1.3% yoy respectively. The Euro area’s February trade surplus was slightly above expectations at €21bln (vs. €20.2bln).

The big release to kick the week off comes in the US with the March retail sales report. Other data due in the US includes the April empire manufacturing print, February business inventories and April NAHB housing market index reading. There is no data due out in Europe or Asia. Away from the data the Fed’s Bostic is due to speak in the evening. EU foreign ministers are also due to meet to discuss the situation in Syria. Bank of America and Netflix are the earnings highlights.

3. ASIAN AFFAIRS

i)MONDAY MORNING/SUNDAY NIGHT: Shanghai closed DOWN 48.40 POINTS OR 1.53% /Hang Sang CLOSED DOWN 492.79 POINTS OR 1.60% / The Nikkei closed UP 56.79 POINTS OR 0.26%/Australia’s all ordinaires CLOSED UP .14% /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN at 6.2849/Oil DOWN to 66.69 dollars per barrel for WTI and 71.81 for Brent. Stocks in Europe OPENED IN THE RED . ONSHORE YUAN CLOSED DOWN AT 6.2849 AGAINST THE DOLLAR. OFFSHORE YUAN CLOSED UP ON THE DOLLAR AT 6.2773 /ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST USA DOLLAR/OFFSHORE YUAN TRADING A LITTLE WEAKER AGAINST THE DOLLAR /CHINA RETALIATES WITH TARIFFS/ TRUMP RESPONDS TO NEW TARIFFS AND IT NOW LOOKS LIKE A FULL TRADE WAR IS BEGINNING/

3 a NORTH KOREA/USA

North Korea/South Korea

3 b JAPAN AFFAIRS

end

c) REPORT ON CHINA/HONG KONG

No question about it: China is on the side of Russia in this conflict:

(courtesy zerohedge)

China: “The Arrogant US Has A Record Of Launching Wars On Deceptive Grounds”

While the lack of retaliation by Russia to Trump’s Friday night Syrian airstrikes surprised some, Russia defended its stance of shrugging in response (and not escalating to full blown world war), by asserting that Soviet-made missiles intercepted more than half of the 105 cruise missiles fired at three Syrian facilities (the Pentagon denied any missiles were hit), and that the US, UK and French blitz was generally less aggressive than most had feared, perhaps thanks to extensive advance warnings by Trump that an attack was imminent.

Yet if Russia’s managed response is understandable, one country whose vocal outcry to US strikes has been a surprise, is China.

As we reported yesterday, China was the first superpower outside those directly involved to slam the US airstrikes: “Any unilateral military action violates the United Nations charter and its principles and international law and its principles. [The strikes] are also going to add more factors to complicate the resolution of the Syrian crisis,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement on Saturday afternoon.

Beijing also called for an investigation into claims of a Syrian poison gas attack on the rebel-held town of Douma that rescuers and monitors say killed more than 40 people, and prompted the Western action: “The Chinese side believes a comprehensive, impartial and objective investigation should be conducted into the suspected chemical attacks and it should come up with reliable conclusions … Before this, no conclusion by any side should be made,” Hua said.

* * *

Then, on Saturday during the emergency session of the Security Council on Saturday, Russia proposed a resolution urging the US and its allies to “immediately and without delay cease the aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic and refrain from further aggressive acts in violation of the international law and the UN Charter.” Not surprisingly, the proposal was voted down – and would have been vetoed by the US – but the roll call was surprising: Russia and Bolivia voted in favor of the resolution… alongside with China.

If there was any confusion on whose side of the Syrian conflict China finds itself, that confusion is now officially gone.

* * *

Finally, overnight China also reminded its population that while the US is engaging in a contained “hot war” with Syria, Beijing is currently fighting a trade war with Washington D.C. when in a front-page OpEd on the state-owned nationalist tabloid Global Times, the politburo authorized a scathing article in which it once again slammed Trump’s involvement in Syria, claiming that “the facts cannot be distorted. This military strike was not authorized by the UN, and the strikes targeted a legal government of a UN member state… it has not been confirmed if the chemical weapons attack happened or if it did, whether government forces or opposition forces launched it. International organizations have not carried out any authoritative investigation.”

And the most inflammatory accusation: the entire US attack was a false flag:

The Syrian government has repeatedly stressed that there is no need for it to use chemical weapons to capture the opposition-controlled Duma city and the use of chemical weapons has provided an excuse for Western intervention. The Syrian government’s argument or Trump’s accusations against the “evil” Assad regime, which one is in line with basic logic? The answer is quite obvious.

The US has a record of launching wars on deceptive grounds. The Bush government asserted the Saddam regime held chemical weapons before the US-British coalition troops invaded Iraq in 2003. However, the coalition forces didn’t find what they called weapons of mass destruction after overthrowing the Saddam regime. Both Washington and London admitted later that their intelligence was false.

Finally, the Global Times pivots to what happens next, and how the US provocation could lead to further escalation in hostilities with Russia:

Washington’s attack on Syria where Russian troops are stationed constitute serious contempt for Russia’s military capabilities and political dignity. Trump, like scolding a pupil, called on Moscow, one of the world’s leading nuclear powers, to abandon its “dark path.” Disturbingly, Washington seems to have become addicted to mocking Russia in this way. Russia is capable of launching a destructive retaliatory attack on the West. Russia’s weak economy is plagued by Western sanctions and squeezing of its strategic space. That the West provokes Russia in such a manner is irresponsible for world peace.

Finally, without stating it expressly, China makes it quite clear on whose side it would be should war break out between Russia and the US:

The situation is still fomenting. The Trump administration said it will sustain the strikes. But how long will the military action continue and whether Russia will fight back as it claimed previously remain uncertain. Western countries continue bullying Russia but are seemingly not afraid of its possible counterattack. Their arrogance breeds risk and danger.

Read the full Global Times op-ed here.

end

China/Russia/USA

(courtesy zerohedge)

Trump Accuses Russia, China Of Currency Devaluation: “Not Acceptable”

There is just too much economic confusion in the latest tweet from Trump to even begin to explain it, so we will just point out that moments ago Trump, in this case definitely not under the advice of Larry Kudlow, accused China and Russia of “playing the currency devaluation game”, at a time of rising interest rates, which Trump slammed as “not acceptable.”

Without going too deep – as we would never get out – it is worth noting three things.

First: in the Treasury’s just released report on FX manipulation, neither China nor Russia were accused of devaluing their currencies. If Trump has a problem with Beijing’s or Moscow’s FX policies, he should probably first instruct his treasury.

Second, both currencies have been strengthening for over two years, and only saw a modest loss in value just very recently.

Third, the only reason Russia is “playing the devaluation game” is because of the sanctions Trump unleashed on Russia last week which sent both the ruble, and Russian assets crashing. If anything, Moscow wants a stronger Ruble to avoid having to raise rates even higher. As for China, while it may want a weaker yuan to boost exports, it will surely come as news to Beijing that it is devaluing the currency, which is trading at the strongest level against the dollar since the August 2015 devaluation, as a result of – drumroll – the weaker dollar. In fact, the weaker the dollar, the stronger the Yuan.

Meanwhile, the biggest irony is what Trump himself told the WSJ exactly one year ago: “I think our dollar is getting too strong, and partially that’s my fault because people have confidence in me.”

Maybe if Trump wants stronger foreign currencies – i.e. a weaker dollar – he should just make sure people have “less confidence” in him? That, or more likely, he will start attacking Jay Powell in his morning tweets, demanding the Fed stop hiking rates.

While there was initially no response in the FX complex, the Bloomberg Dollar Index has slid to session lows shortly after the tweet.

As a result, the BBDXY is back to 3 month lows.

end

China is not going to like this: The White House has just banned all USA firms from selling parts to China’s Telecom Giant ZTE

(courtesy zerohedge)

White House Bans US Firms From Selling Parts To China Telecom Giant ZTE

While it’s becoming increasingly clear that the US and China aren’t trying to work out a “deal” on trade like Larry Kudlow and other members of the Trump administration have suggested – only to meet with denials from the Chinese – the White House isn’t letting up on the pressure, Reuters reported.

To wit, the Trump administration has banned American companies from selling components to Chinese telecom-equipment manufacturer Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment (ZTE) Corp. after accusing the company of lying during a settlement negotiation, according to Bloomberg.

Specifically, the Department of Commerce determined that ZTE had made false statements to the Bureau of Industry and Security during 2016 settlement negotiations and during its 2017 probationary period.

The company pleaded guilty last year in federal court in Texas for conspiring to violate US sanctions by illegally shipping US goods and technology to Iran.

ZTE paid nearly $900 million in fines and penalties, and an additional $300 million that could be imposed in the future.

The company had promised, as part of the settlement, to fire four senior employees and punish 35 others by either reducing bonuses or reprimanding them, Commerce Department officials told Reuters.

But the company admitted that, as of March, it had fired the four senior employees, but had not disciplined the 35 more-junior employees.

The punishment comes shortly after Trump blocked Broadcom’s takeover of Qualcomm on national security grounds. The US is fighting to safeguard its technology as companies build the country’s 5G data network. Treasury Department officials had expressed concerns about Qualcomm’s technology falling into Chinese hands.

Shares of several ZTE customers, including Acadia and Oclaro, saw their shares plunge 15% and 25%, respectively, in early trade after the open.

4. EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

Saturday night/Israel/Syria

Israel launches an attack against a military base in Syria/Saturday night following the USA, Br. and French attack Friday night

(courtesy zerohedge)

20 Dead After Israeli Warplanes Reportedly Attack Iranian Military Base In Syria

Summary:

Pro-syrian govt media: no attack on Jabal Azzan in the Aleppo Province
All other media: attack on Jabal Azzan in the Aleppo Province
Explosion happened near location where pro-Iranian Afghani Fatemiyoun located.
Unclear if explosion result of airstrike or explosives detonating within the warehouse.
At least 20 dead including Iranian officers.

Update 1725ET: There is at least one purported video of the attack on Aleppo that suggests it was an airstrike…

Other sources claiming ISIS launched an attack on Assad forces and allied Shiite militias in outskirts of Al-Mayadeen city, east of Deir Ezzor

Update 1615ET: Hezbollah-tied news media is denying any airstrikes took place.

“These rumors being circulated to raise morale of terrorists, which was brought low after failure of tripartite aggression on Syria.”

Al-Mayadeen denies reports of an Israeli strike in Jabal Azzan…

“Trusted sources on the ground tell Al-Mayadeen: there is no truth to Israeli enemy media’s reports of Israeli strike on southern Aleppo countryside.”

With al-Ahed reporting that the source of explosions in Aleppo was from detonating explosives, not airstrikes.

David Daoud✔@DavidADaoud

1h

Replying to @DavidADaoud

4-Hezbollah’s @Alahednews says news of airstrike in Jabal Azzan is inaccurate. Sound of explosions came from detonating explosives. pic.twitter.com/tyAgsNHFZd

David Daoud✔@DavidADaoud

5-Hezbollah’s @C_Military1: news of Israeli strike in southern Aleppo countryside and in southern Syria inaccurate. “These rumors being circulated to raise morale of terrorists, which was brought low after failure of tripartite aggression on Syria.” https://t.me/C_Military1/15706 …

4:07 PM – Apr 14, 2018

الإعلام الحربي المركزي

#هام لا صحة لما يتم تداوله عبر بعض المواقع الإلكترونية ومواقع التواصل الإجتماعي نقلاً عن إعلام العدو الصهيوني وتنسيقيات المسلحين، عن غارة للعدو “الإسرائيلي” في ريف حلب الجنوبي وكذلك في الجنوب السوري،…

t.me

* * *

Update 1555ET: as expected, Israel has been named as the perpetrator:

FOUR ISRAELI AIRSTRIKES ON IRANIAN BASE IN ALEPPO #SYRIA – REPORTS: i24

According to unconfirmed reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, there have been a number of casualties following the strike. It remains unclear if those killed were Syrians or Iranians. If the latter, Iran may soon be in a state of war with Israel.

Maariv reports that at least 20 Iranian Officers were killed in Aleppo due to the airstrikes.

* * *

Trump’s mission in Syria may be “accomplished”, but Israel’s is just getting be getting started (as we speculated).

According to a reports by SkyNews Arabia and Al Arabiya, a huge explosion was heard at the Iranian base Jabal Azzan located in Syria’s Aleppo after it was struck by “unidentified warplanes.”

Other sources, including Israel’s Jerusalem Post, confirm the strike:

POSSIBLE STRIKE AGAINST IRAN BASE, WEAPONS WAREHOUSE IN SOUTHERN ALEPPO SYRIA FOLLOWING REPORTS OF EXPLOSIONS: JPOST
MILITANTS SAY EXPLOSIONS AT LARGE IRANIAN MILITIA BASE IN ALEPPO: AL HADATH

An unconfirmed photo of the strike:

The alleged Iranian airbase was first disclosed in late February, when Fox News published images showing a military base northeast of Syria’s capital. According to the report, Iran’s Al Quds force is operating the post.

For more information, please see “Israeli Satellite Images Reveal: Iran Builds Military Base Near Damascus.”

While it is too early to determine who launched the attack, since none of the western forces have claimed responsibility, the most likely party is Israel which as a reminder, was also the first to strike Syria last Monday, almost a week before the US-coalition forces also unloaded on Syria.

Developing.

end

Sunday

USA/Russia

USA is not withdrawing their troops from Syria until their goals are accomplished…whatever that is. However, to create more ire from the Russians more sanctions are coming on Monday

(courtesy zerohedge)

Haley: US Not Withdrawing Troops From Syria “Until Goals Accomplished”, Will Hit Russia With More Sanctions Monday

So much can change in just 2 weeks.

Recall that just on March 29, Trump said that based on allied victories against Islamic State militants, “We’ll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now. Very soon, very soon, we’re coming out. We’re going to get back to our country, where we belong, where we want to be.”

Well, maybe not, because one oddly well-timed “chemical attack” by the Assad regime just days after Trump’s statement, the US not only launched its second massive airstrike against Syria, lobbing 105 Tomahawk cruise missiles at three empty military facilities, but no longer has any intentions of “coming out.”

Speaking on Fox News on Sunday morning, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said that the United States “would not pull its troops out of Syria until its goals were accomplished.” The US currently has over 2,000 troops in Syria, as well as a number of contractors.

It is our goal “to see American troops come home, but we are not going to leave until we know we have accomplished those things,” Haley said and listed three aims for the United States: ensuring that chemical weapons are not used in any way that pose a risk to U.S. interests, that Islamic State is defeated and that there is a good vantage point to watch what Iran is doing.

“Be very clear, if we leave, when we leave, it will be because we know that everything is moving forward,” Haley added. Asked about US-Russia relations, she said they are “very strained,” but the US still hopes to mend ties.

On Saturday, Haley said that the US’ guns are “locked and loaded,” and that Washington will not hesitate to strike if a chemical attack in Syria takes place again.

Over the weekend, Trump himself contradicted his own March 29 statement, when he made it clear he wants to withdraw the roughly 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria involved in the anti-Islamic State campaign. But he appeared to refute that message when he said on Saturday that Western allies were prepared to “sustain” the military response if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad does not stop using prohibited chemical weapons.

Meanwhile, assuring that relations with Russia deteriorate even more – coincidentally, just as the Mueller probe of Russian collusion peaks – Haley also said that on Monday US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will announce more Russian sanctions on Monday, which are supposedly set to address chemical equipment used by Assad.

Moscow has yet to retaliate to the US sanctions against several Russian billionaire oligarchs who are generally close to Vlarimir Putin, including aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska, whose aluminum production giant Rusal, has suddenly found itself without access to western sources of funding, and the resulting solvency concerns have sent aluminum prices soaring.

end

Russia/USA

That did not take long: Trump supposedly hits Russia with new sanctions over the Syrian gas attack. More oligarchs are to be named and this time there will be penalties if aid is given by any company or anyone assisting the Nord Stream 2 project. This is getting out of hand:

(courtesy zerohedge)

Trump Hits Russia With New Sanctions Over Syria Gas Attack

The Trump administration will impose new sanctions against Russia on Monday for “enabling the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons in civil war”, Nikki Haley revealed earlier on Sunday, and the New York Times confirmed later in the day.

The sanctions, coming shortly after American-led airstrikes against facilities linked to Syria’s chemical weapons, are meant to signal that the United States holds responsible not just the Damascus government of President Bashar al-Assad but also his patrons in Russia and Iran. President Trump has vowed that Syria’s allies will pay a “big price” for permitting his use of poison gas.

The Sanctions, first announced by UN ambassador Nikki Haley, “will go directly to any sort of companies that were dealing with equipment related to Assad and chemical weapons use,” said Haley on CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday morning.

“I think everyone is going to feel it at this point. I think everyone knows that we sent a strong message and our hope is that they listen to it,” said Haley.

The Monday sanctions will be the third round enacted by the Trump administration against Russia in the past month. In March, the administration imposed sanctions on a series of Russian organizations and individuals over 2016 election meddling and other “malicious cyberattacks.”

In late March, the U.S. State Department warned European corporations that they will likely face penalties if they participate in the construction of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, on the grounds that “the project undermines energy security in Europe”, when in reality Russia has for decades been a quasi-monopolist on European energy supplies and thus has unprecedented leverage over European politics, at least behind the scenes.

“As many people know, we oppose the Nord Stream 2 project, the US government does,” said State Department spokeswoman, Heather Nauert at a Tuesday press briefing. “We believe that the Nord Stream 2 project would undermine Europe’s overall energy security and stability. It would provide Russia [with] another tool to pressure European countries, especially countries such as Ukraine.”

Last week, the Trump administration slapped sanctions on seven of Russia’s richest men and 17 top Kremlin officials over election interference and other Russian aggressions.

Effectively, the action prevents the oligarchs from traveling to the United States or doing business or even opening a bank account with any major company or bank in the West. It also restricts foreign individuals from facilitating transactions on their behalf. –NYT

Former Obama Admin sanctions official Elizabeth Rosenberg called the penalties as “fairly muscular,” and predicted more to come.

The list is an assault on one of the oligarchs’ favored tools for avoiding sanctions, which is to pass assets to their children.

It targeted the oil executive Igor Rotenberg, the son of Arkady Rotenberg, who is a former judo partner of Mr. Putin and whose companies have won a host of state contracts, including one for the construction of a bridge from the Russian mainland to Crimea, the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula seized by Moscow in 2014.

Also on the list is Oleg V. Deripaska, who once had close ties to Mr. Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort. Altogether, the Trump administration targeted seven oligarchs, 12 companies they own or control, 17 Russian government officials and a state-owned arms export company. –NYT

The Trump administration also expelled 60 Russian diplomats and intelligence officers, closing the Russian consulate in Seattle after the poisoning of former Russian double-agent Sergei Skripal, in Salisbury UK (except, oh my, a Swiss lab says the “BZ toxin” used in the poisoning came from the US or the UK).

Meanwhile, U.S. strikes against Syria in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack in the city of Douma were said to have been designed specifically to avoid striking Russian targets and provoking a response.

By hitting just three targets and limiting the attack to a single night, the Trump administration seemed to keep it limited enough not to compel Moscow to lash back.

But Ms. Haley said the administration was determined to make Moscow pay a price for supporting Mr. Assad, noting that it had vetoed six United Nations resolutions related to Syria and chemical weapons. –NYT

“Assad knew that Russia had its back,” she said on “Fox News Sunday.”“Assad knew that Russia would cover for him at the United Nations and Assad got reckless and he used it in a way that was far more aggressive.

end

then Trump for whatever reason halts the plan for more Russian sanctions

(courtesy zerohedge)

Trump Halts Plan For More Russia Sanctions; Russian Stocks, Ruble Jump

What would’ve been the second round of economic sanctions levied at Moscow since the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal has been walked back by the White House, which apparently has put its latest round of sanction plans “in a holding pattern” following a coordinated missile strike in Syria late Friday.

The sanctions were developed in recent weeks as part of a ready menu of potential retaliatory measures in the event of another chemical weapons attack in Syria or some other provocative behavior by the Russians. Trump had complained in March that he didn’t have a set of options ready to retaliate after a small scale chemical weapons attack in Syria.

It was unclear to the Washington Post whether UN Ambassador Nikki Haley had misspoke or overstepped her authority when she teased that more sanctions would be forthcoming late Sunday – or whether “internal confusion” at the White House was to blame for the miscommunication.

President Trump on Monday put the brakes on a preliminary plan to impose additional economic sanctions on Russia, walking back a Sunday announcement by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley that the Kremlin had swiftly denounced as “international economic raiding.”

Preparations to punish Russia anew for its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government over the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria caused consternation at the White House. Haley said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that sanctions on Russian companies behind the equipment related to Assad’s alleged chemical weapons attack would be announced Monday by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

But as officials in Moscow condemned the planned sanctions as overly punitive, Trump conferred with his national security advisers later Sunday and told them he was upset the sanctions were being officially rolled out because he was not yet comfortable executing them, according to several people familiar with the plan.

Administration officials said the economic sanctions were under serious consideration, along with other measures that could be taken against Russia, but said Trump had not given final authorization to implement them. Administration officials said Monday it was unlikely Trump would approve any additional sanctions without another triggering event by Russia, describing the strategy as being in a holding pattern.

Sometime after Haley’s comments on CBS, the Trump administration notified the Russian Embassy in Washington that the sanctions were not in fact coming, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said Monday.

The Trump team decided to publicly characterize Haley’s announcement as a misstatement. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement Monday: “We are considering additional sanctions on Russia and a decision will be made in the near future.”

At any rate, the US informed Moscow that no new sanctions would be forthcoming shortly after Haley’s announcement.

Administration officials said Monday that it was unlikely Trump would approve more punitive measures against Russia without another triggering event.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement that “We are considering additional sanctions on Russia and a decision will be made in the near future.”

The news reversed some of the recent declines in the ruble and Russian stocks.

…And now Trump will need to nuke Siberia to prove that he isn’t a Russian agent.

This is getting scarier by the minute: USA is now launching a huge 4,000 USA troop military drill on the edge of Syria, at the town of Aqaba. Within a tiny distance of Aqaba lies the Israel port of Eilat

(courtesy zerohedge)

4000 US Troops Launch Massive Military Drill On Edge Of Syria

A little over three weeks ago, we published a report on leaked images of U.S. military equipment arriving in Jordan’s Aqaba Industrial Port via the vehicle carrier vessel “Liberty pride” for the upcoming participation in the annual war drill “Eager Lion.”

To conclude, we asked a straightforward question: with the return of John Bolton, is war imminent in Syria?

“Jordan is a major player bordering southwestern Syria but has been silent as the Russian-backed Syrian regime expanded territorial gains from terrorist groups in the eastern Ghouta region. Now, Jordan seems like it is preparing for a conflict with Syria, as the United States Armed Forces have recently unloaded large amounts of tanks and personnel carriers. Nevertheless, with the return of John Bolton, is war imminent on the Jordan–Syria border?”

Fast forward to today when two days after the United States, Britain, and France lobbed more than 100 missiles into Syria, the Jordan Armed Forces- Arab Army (JAF) kicked off the twelve-day Eager Lion 2018 military exercisewith the United States at its side.

In a joint press conference on Sunday, Maj. Gen. Jon K. Mott, Director of Exercises and Training U.S. Central Command and Brigadier General Mohammed Al-Thalji of the Jordan Armed Forces, told reporters “the exercise is carried out for the eighth consecutive time with the participation of land, sea and air forces of about 7,000 troops, representing the Jordanian and American forces,” as quoted by the Jordan News Agency.

In total, nearly 4,000 US servicemen will participate in the drill.

“Today marked the official opening of Eager Lion 2018, the premier US-Jordanian joint military training exercise,” stated U.S. Embassy Jordan.

Brigadier General Mohammed Al-Thalji of the Jordan Armed Forces and Major General Jon Mott of the U.S. Air Force, the co-directors of Eager Lion, met with journalists today to talk about the exercise.

Al-Thlaji said, “this year’s exercise aims at improving operational alignment between the Jordanian armed forces and the US military, training in counterterrorism, border security and humanitarian operations, crisis management, strategic communications and future planning.”

Al-Thlaji further told reporters that the exercise deeply focuses on “search, rescue, and joint logistics operations and other goals that are in line with the armed forces’ strategy to develop their operational, training and humanitarian capabilities.’”

Gen. Mott said, “around 3,500 American troops are taking part in the drill, which is a part of the US-Jordanian strategic partnership, and will help boost preparedness of the two countries’ armies.”

“This is a golden opportunity to tackle specific threats to regional security at the operational level,” he underlined, spurring participants to develop new ideas and scenarios “that improve our ability to think and act faster than our strongest opponents”.

*Eager Lion: Jordan and US forces train in massive CENTCOM exercise*

The exercises are being conducted around Jordan’s capital Amman, which is about 100km (62 miles) from the Syrian border. During the drill, there will be a variety of war scenarios playing out, which we think the most fascinating will be the simulated attack of chemical weapons. The exercise is extremely convenient and comes about a week after the West has blamed President Bashar Assad for an apparent chemical weapons attack against his civilians. While Russia tells the world, the Syrian gas attack was staged, U.S. officials are making the case that the Assad regime is the responsible actor behind the attack.

Gen. Mott, detailed to reporters that a mobile scientific team will respond to a simulated chemical event during the exercise. He said that it is a “threat all too real, as we have seen recently in Syria.”

While it is still not clear who the responsible actor was during the gas attack in Syria, what is quite evident and disturbing, is that the United States and Jordan have been planning this military drill next to Syria’s border for quite some time.

With more than 7,000 troops in total, including 3,500 U.S. troops, and dozens of tanks, this is currently the most massive U.S. military drill in the region.

What is social media’s response? “Apr 15th Eager lion begins “coincidentally” scheduled for April this year and not may like the last 3,” said one Twitter user.

“It’s just Eager Lion. We’ve been doing that one for many years,” a combat veteran said.

The good news is that president Trump already declared that the US adventure in Syria is over and that “Mission Accomplished!”, which means there is no risk of those 4,000 US troops in Jordan deciding to launch an invasion on the proxy and civil war torn country…

end

MONDAY/RUSSIA AND USA

Putin warns the west of a global “chaos” if they hit Syria again

(courtesy zerohedge)

Putin Warns Of Global “Chaos” If West Hits Syria Again

Shortly after US Ambassador Nikki Haley revealed that Russia would be slapped with a third round of sanctionson Monday for “enabling the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons in civil war,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said that further attacks on Syria by Western forces, “in violation of the U.N. Charter,” would send international relations into “chaos.”

In a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, Putin and Rouhani agreed that the Western strikes had damaged the chances of achieving a political resolution in the seven-year Syria conflict, according to a Kremlin statement. –Reuters

The US-led strike was denounced by Putin as an “act of aggression,” and a “war crime” by Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

“Vladimir Putin, in particular, stressed that if such actions committed in violation of the U.N. Charter continue, then it will inevitably lead to chaos in international relations,” the Kremlin statement said.

The United States, France and Britain launched over 103 missiles on Saturday night at three Syrian facilities in retaliation for a suspected poison gas attack in the city of Douma seven days prior. While the West has conclusively blamed the Assad government for the attack, serious questions have arisen over everything from Assad’s motive, the type of nerve agent used, to the credibility of the first responders – an NGO known as the White Helmets who have a reputation for staging evidence.

France cited social media posts and YouTube evidence as justification for their participation in the strikes.

The French services analysed the testimonies, photos and videos that spontaneously appeared on specialized websites, in the press and on social media in the hours and days following the attack.

Testimonies obtained by the French services were also analysed. After examining the videos and images of victims published online, they were able to conclude with a high degree of confidence that the vast majority are recent and not fabricated. The spontaneous circulation of these images across all social networks confirms that they were not video montages or recycled images. Lastly, some of the entities that published this information are generally considered reliable. –Daily Star

So “it looked real and went viral” is apparently all France needs before launching a military strike on a sovereign nation.

When the former head of British Armed Forces in Iraq, General Jonathan Shaw, voiced his disbelief that Assad would gas his own people, Sky News cut him off…

Within 48 hours of the suspected April 7 nerve attack, and prior to an agreed-upon inspection of Douma by the global chemical weapons watchdog OPCW, Syria’s T4 airbase was hit with a missile airstrike blamed by Moscow on two Israeli F-15 warplanes. Five days later, the United States, UK and France (but not Germany or Italy) struck three Syrian targets;

The Barzeh Research and Development Center – hit with 57 U.S. Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs) and 19 joint air-to-surface missiles, which the Pentagon’s Marine Lt. Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. says will “set the Syrian chemical weapons program back for years.”

The Him Shinshar chemical weapons depot, – was struck by nine U.S. Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs), eight Storm Shadow missiles, three naval cruise missiles and two Scout land attack cruise missiles, according to NPR. The Him Shinshar chemical weapons bunker facility – located over 4 miles from the chemical weapons depot, was hit with seven Scout missiles.

The third strike was on a command center.

Of the more than 103 cruise missiles fired, Syria claims it intercepted 71 using soviet-made missile defense systems.

Many in the international community have raised concerns that there simply is not enough evidence to conclude who conducted the April 7 chemical attacks – with China even stating “The arrogant US has a record of launching wars on deceptive grounds.”

And as we first reported last week, Germany (along with Italy) refused to be an active member of the strikes.

“This is not the role that we – in coordination with our partners – want to play in this conflict,” said Germany’s Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas – followed a statement by Angela Merkel reading “We support that our American, British and French allies, as permanent members of the UN Security Council, have taken responsibility in this way” … just not enough to take part in the strikes.

Following the strike, President Trump proudly tweeted “mission accomplished,” despite U.S. Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie of the Pentagon acknowledging that elements of the chemical weapons program remain, and he could not guarantee a future attack by Assad.

As Reuters notes, Israel backed Saturday’s air strikes by Western powers (five days after their own strike on Syria’s T4 airbase).

“Israel fully supports President Trump’s decision to act against the use of chemical weapons in Syria,” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet in broadcast remarks on Sunday, adding that he had commended his British counterpart, Theresa May, in a phone call.

In February, Israel intercepted and downed an Iranian drone approaching its northern border over Golan Heights, which the IDF said on Saturday was loaded with explosives and “tasked to attack.” In response to the drone, Israel attacked Syria’s T4 airbase for the first time this year, losing an F-16 pilot in the process.

Risk of Wider Confrontation

Russia and Syria called the Western missile strikes an act of aggression, though many have noted the attacks weren’t really that devastating. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad even trolled the West – releasing a video titled “The Morning of Steadfastness” featuring him nonchalantly walking through a cavernous marbled hall with a briefcase, as if nothing happened.

Hezbollah’s leader in Lebanon, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said on Sunday that the West’s Saturday strikes on Syria had failed to achieve anything – “including terrorizing the army, helping insurgents or serving the interests of Israel.” Nasrallah said the U.S. military had kept its strikes limited because it knew a wider attack would spark retaliation from Damascus and its allies and inflame the region, according to Reuters.

“The American (military) knows well that going towards a wide confrontation and a big operation against the regime and the army and the allied forces in Syria could not end, and any such confrontation would inflame the entire region,” Nasrallah said. The heavily armed, Iranian-backed Shi’ite Hezbollah movement, allied with the Syrian army and represented in the Beirut government, has been a vital ally of Damascus in Syria’s war.

Meanwhile, a UN draft resolution circulated by France, the United States and Britain late on Saturday aims to establish an independent inquiry into who is responsible for chemical weapons attacks in Syria – which might have been advisable before Donald Trump broke virtually every campaign promise and tweet over the last five years regarding Syria, for the second time.

END

Skripal Poisoning

An independent Swiss Lab now states that the poison administered to Skripal and daughter was BZ Tozin and it is USA and UKI produced and not Russian in origin

(courtesy zerohedge)

Independent Swiss Lab Says ‘BZ Toxin’ Used In Skripal Poisoning; US/UK-Produced, Not Russian

Somebody has some explaining to do… or did the Syrian airstrikes just ‘distract’ the citizenry from the reality surrounding the Skripal poisoning.

Remember how we were told my the politicians (not the scientists) that a deadly Novichok nerve agent – produced by Russia – was used in the attempted assassination of the Skripals? Remember the 50 questions (here and here) we had surrounding the ‘facts’ as Theresa May had laid them out? Ever wonder why, given how utterly deadly we were told this chemical was, the Skripals wondered around for a few hours after being ‘infected’ and then days later, survived with no chronic damage?

Well those doubts may well have just been answered as according to the independent Swiss state Spiez lab, the substance used on Sergei Skripal was an agent called BZ, which was never produced in Russia, but was in service in the US, UK, and other NATO states.

RT reports that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, citing the results of the examination conducted by a Swiss chemical lab that worked with the samples that London handed over to the Organisation for the Prohibition of the Chemical Weapons (OPCW), that Sergei Skripal, a former Russian double agent, and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with an incapacitating toxin known as 3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate or BZ.

The Swiss center sent the results to the OPCW.

However, the UN chemical watchdog limited itself only to confirming the formula of the substance used to poison the Skripals in its final report without mentioning anything about the other facts presented in the Swiss document, the Russian foreign minister added.

He went on to say that Moscow would ask the OPCW about its decision to not include any other information provided by the Swiss in its report.

On a side note, the Swiss lab is also an internationally recognized center of excellence in the field of the nuclear, biological, and chemical protection and is one of the five centers permanently authorized by the OPCW.

The Russian foreign minister said that London refused to answer dozens of “very specific” questions asked by Moscow about the Salisbury case, as well as to provide any substantial evidence that could shed light on the incident.

Instead, the UK accused Russia of failing to answer its own questions, he said, adding that, in fact, London did not ask any questions but wanted Moscow to admit that it was responsible for the delivery of the chemical agent to the UK.

But hey, who cares about any of that? Diplomats have been sent home, Putin has been annointed hitler, and besides, what about those missiles in Syria?

end

Russia reveals who staged the Syrian gas attack and provides pictures of the staging. USA hilariously claims that Moscow may have tampered with the site

( zerohedge)

Russia Reveals Who “Staged” Syria Gas Attack, As US Claims Moscow “May Have Tampered” With Site

The Russian envoy to the chemical weapons watchdog group, OPCW, said that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) funded by the UK and US carried out the April 7 chemical attack in the Damascus, Syria suburb of Douma.

Russia’s permanent representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Alexander Shulgin, said Russia has irrefutable evidence that there was no chemical weapons incident in Douma.

“Therefore, we have not just a “high degree of confidence,” as our Western partners claim, but we have incontrovertible evidence that there was no incident on April 7 in Douma and that all this was a planned provocation by the British intelligence services, probably, with the participation of their senior allies from Washington with the aim of misleading the international community and justifying aggression against Syria,” he stated. –Sputnik

Shulgin added that the US, UK and France are not interested in conducting an objective investigation of the attack site. “They put the blame on the Syrian authorities in advance, without even waiting for the OPCW mission to begin to establish the possible facts of the use of chemical weapons in Syria,” he said.

The nine-member OPCW mission people has yet to deploy to the city of Douma according to the organization’s Chief, citing pending security issues.

“The Team has not yet deployed to Douma. The Syrian and the Russian officials who participated in the preparatory meetings in Damascus have informed the FFM Team that there were still pending security issues to be worked out before any deployment could take place. In the meantime the Team was offered by the Syrian authorities that they could interview 22 witnesses who could be brought to Damascus,” OPCW Director-General Ahmet Uzumcu said as quoted by the organization.

The Russian Envoy says that the controversial “White Helmets” were one of the anti-Assad “pseudo-humanitarian NGOs” which staged the event. As Disobedient Media and others have reported, the White Helmets are funded in large part by the United States.

“The Syrian Civil Defense Force (aka the White Helmets) is funded in part by United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Included here are two links showing contracts awarded by USAID to Chemonics International Inc. (DBA Chemonics). The first award was in the sum of $111.2 million and has a Period of Performance (POP) from January 2013 to June 2017. It states that the purpose of the award will be to use the funds for managing a “quick-response mechanism supporting activities that pursue a peaceful transition to a democratic and stable Syria.” The second was in the sum of $57.4 million and has a POP from August 2015 to August 2020. This award was designated to be used in the “Syria Regional Program II” which is a part of the Support Which Implements Fast Transitions IV (SWIFT IV) program.” Via Disobedient Media

Moscow says they have confirmed that “these structures [NGOs] on a fee-based basis cooperate with the governments of the United States, the UK and some other countries.”

Russian experts who conducted the verification of reports on the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian city of the Douma, found participants of video filming, presented as evidence of the supposedly occurring chemotherapy, according to the Russian Envoy to OPCW. –Sputnik

“Everything has been developing according to the script that was prepared in Washington. There is no doubt that Americans are playing the ‘first violin’ in all of this. The United States, the United Kingdom, France and some other countries after the “fake” addition from the White Helmets and their ilk in Douma, immediately pounced upon the Syrian authorities with accusations,” Shulgin said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has alerted the OPCW that Russia “may have tampered” with the chemical attack site in Douma…

“It is our understanding the Russians may have visited the attack site,” U.S. Ambassador Kenneth Ward said at a meeting of the OPCW in The Hague on Monday.

“It is our concern that they may have tampered with it with the intent of thwarting the efforts of the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission to conduct an effective investigation,” he said. His comments at the closed-door meeting were obtained by Reuters.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shot back in a BBC interview, saying “I can guarantee that Russia has not tampered with the site.”

Earlier, Britain’s delegation to the OPCW accused Russia and the Syrian government of preventing the international watchdog’s inspectors from reaching Douma.

The inspectors aim to collect samples, interview witnesses and document evidence to determine whether banned toxic munitions were used, although they are not permitted to assign blame for the attack. –Reuters

“Unfettered access is essential,” the British delegation said in a statement. “Russia and Syria must cooperate.”

Moscow says the OPCW delay is due to the Western air strikes. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the British accusation that Russia was to blame for holding up the inspections was “groundless”.

“We called for an objective investigation. This was at the very beginning after this information [of the attack] appeared. Therefore allegations of this towards Russia are groundless,” Peskov said.

***

On Friday we reported that Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow has “irrefutable evidence” that the attack – which allegedly killed over 40 people, was staged with the help of a foreign secret service.

“We have irrefutable evidence that this was another staged event, and that the secret services of a certain state that is now at the forefront of a Russophobic campaign was involved in this staged event,” he said during a press conference according to AFP.

According to defense ministry spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov, the Kremlin has evidence that Britain was behind the attack.

Quoted by Reuters, he said: “We have… evidence that proves Britain was directly involved in organising this provocation.”

As RT further adds, the Russian Defense Ministry presented what it says is “proof that the reported chemical weapons attack in Syria was staged.” It also accused the British government of pressuring the perpetrators to speed up the “provocation.” During a briefing on Friday, the ministry showed interviews with two people, who, it said, are medical professionals working in the only hospital operating in Douma, a town near the Syrian capital, Damascus.

During a briefing on Friday, the ministry showed interviews with two people, who, it said, are medical professionals working in the only hospital operating in Douma, a town near the Syrian capital, Damascus.

In the interviews released to the media, the two men reported how footage was shot of people dousing each other with water and treating children, which was claimed to show the aftermath of the April 7 chemical weapons attack. The patients shown in the video suffered from smoke poisoning and the water was poured on them by their relatives after a false claim that chemical weapons were used, the ministry said.

“Please, notice. These people do not hide their names. These are not some faceless claims on the social media by anonymous activists. They took part in taking that footage,” said Konashenkov.

“The Russian Defense Ministry also has evidence that Britain had a direct involvement in arranging this provocation in Eastern Ghouta,” the general added, referring to the neighborhood of which Douma is part. “We know for certain that between April 3 and April 6 the so-called White Helmets were seriously pressured from London to speed up the provocation that they were preparing.”

According to Konashenkov, the group, which was a primary source of photos and footage of the purported chemical attack, was informed of a large-scale artillery attack on Damascus planned by the Islamist group Army of Islam, which controlled Douma at the time. The White Helmets were ordered to arrange the provocation after retaliatory strikes by the Syrian government forces, which the shelling was certain to lead to, he said.

The UK rejected the accusations, with British UN Ambassador Karen Pierce calling them “grotesque,” “a blatant lie” and “the worst piece of fake news we’ve yet seen from the Russian propaganda machine.”

So when will Moscow release their evidence for the whole world to see? Or is it maybe waiting for the US to first release its own proof that Assad launched the attack?

If so, we’ll be waiting for a long time.

6 .GLOBAL ISSUES

7. OIL ISSUES

8. EMERGING MARKET

end

Your early morning currency/gold and silver pricing/Asian and European bourse movements/ and interest rate settings MONDAY morning 7:00 am

Euro/USA 1.2365 UP .0039/ REACTING TO MERKEL’S FAILED COALITION/ SPAIN VS CATALONIA/REACTING TO +GERMAN ELECTION WHERE ALT RIGHT PARTY ENTERS THE BUNDESTAG/ huge Deutsche bank problems + USA election:/TRUMP HEALTH CARE DEFEAT//ITALIAN REFERENDUM DEFEAT/AND NOW ECB TAPERING BOND PURCHASES/JAPAN TAPERING BOND PURCHASES /USA FALLING INTEREST RATES AGAIN/HOUSTON FLOODING/EUROPE BOURSES ALL IN THE RED

USA/JAPAN YEN 107.23 DOWN 0.020 (Abe’s new negative interest rate (NIRP), a total DISASTER/SIGNALS U TURN WITH INCREASED NEGATIVITY IN NIRP/JAPAN OUT OF WEAPONS TO FIGHT ECONOMIC DISASTER/DEADLY UNWINDING OF YEN CARRY TRADE

GBP/USA 1.4299 UP .0071 (Brexit March 29/ 2017/ARTICLE 50 SIGNED/BREXIT FEES WILL BE CAPPED

USA/CAN 1.2607 UP .0013 (CANADA WORRIED ABOUT TRADE WITH THE USA WITH TRUMP ELECTION/ITALIAN EXIT AND GREXIT FROM EU/(TRUMP INITIATES LUMBER TARIFFS ON CANADA/CANADA HAS A HUGE HOUSEHOLD DEBT/GDP PROBLEM)

Early THIS MONDAY morning in Europe, the Euro ROSE by 39 basis points, trading now ABOVE the important 1.08 level RISING to 1.2365; / Last night Shanghai composite CLOSED DOWN 48.40 POINTS OR 1.53% / Hang Sang CLOSED DOWN 492.79 POINTS OR 0.26% /AUSTRALIA CLOSED UP .214% / EUROPEAN BOURSES OPENED IN THE RED

The NIKKEI: this MONDAY morning CLOSED UP 56.79 POINTS OR 0.26%

Trading from Europe and Asia

1/EUROPE OPENED IN THE RED

2/ CHINESE BOURSES / : Hang Sang CLOSED DOWN 492.79 POINTS OR 1.60% / SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 48.40 POINTS OR 1.53% /

Australia BOURSE CLOSED UP .14%

Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED UP 56.79 POINTS OR 0.26%

INDIA’S SENSEX IN THE GREEN

Gold very early morning trading: 1343.60

silver:$16.60

Early MONDAY morning USA 10 year bond yield: 2.8580% !!! UP 3 IN POINTS from FRIDAY night in basis points and it is trading WELL ABOVE resistance at 2.27-2.32%. (POLICY FED ERROR)/

The 30 yr bond yield 3.0641 UP 4 IN BASIS POINTS from FRIDAY night. (POLICY FED ERROR)/

USA dollar index early MONDAY morning: 89.56 DOWN 24 CENT(S) from FRIDAY’s close.

This ends early morning numbers MONDAY MORNING

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And now your closing MONDAY NUMBERS \1: 00 PM

Portuguese 10 year bond yield: 1.648% DOWN 1 in basis point(s) yield from FRIDAY/

JAPANESE BOND YIELD: +.0.047% UP 1 in basis points yield from FRIDAY/JAPAN losing control of its yield curve/

SPANISH 10 YR BOND YIELD: 1.244% UP 1 IN basis point yield from FRIDAY/

ITALIAN 10 YR BOND YIELD: 1.802 UP 1 POINTS in basis point yield from FRIDAY/

the Italian 10 yr bond yield is trading 56 points HIGHER than Spain.

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD:RISES TO +.525% IN BASIS POINTS ON THE DAY

END

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IMPORTANT CURRENCY CLOSES FOR MONDAY

Closing currency crosses for MONDAY night/USA DOLLAR INDEX/USA 10 YR BOND YIELD/1:00 PM

Euro/USA 1.2374 UP .0047 (Euro UP 47 Basis points/ represents to DRAGHI A COMPLETE POLICY FAILURE/

USA/Japan: 107.26 UP 0.008 Yen DOWN 1 basis points/

Great Britain/USA 1.4330 UP .0015( POUND UP 101 BASIS POINTS)

USA/Canada 1.2578 DOWN .0016 Canadian dollar UP 16 Basis points AS OIL FELL TO $66.48

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This afternoon, the Euro was UP 47 to trade at 1.2374

The Yen FELL to 107.26 for a LOSS of 1 Basis points as NIRP is STILL a big failure for the Japanese central bank/HELICOPTER MONEY IS NOW DELAYED/BANK OF JAPAN NOW WORRIED AS AS THEY ARE RUNNING OUT OF BONDS TO BUY AS BOND YIELDS RISE

The POUND ROSE BY 101 basis points, trading at 1.4330/

The Canadian dollar FELL by 16 basis points to 1.578/ WITH WTI OIL FALLING TO : $66.48

The USA/Yuan closed AT 6.2765
the 10 yr Japanese bond yield closed at +.047% UP 1 IN BASIS POINTS / yield/
Your closing 10 yr USA bond yield UP 1 IN basis points from FRIDAY at 2.8377% //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%) very problematic USA 30 yr bond yield: 3.0327 UP 1 in basis points on the day /

THE RISE IN BOTH THE 10 YR AND THE 30 YR ARE VERY PROBLEMATIC FOR VALUATIONS

Your closing USA dollar index,89.49 DOWN 31 CENT(S) ON THE DAY/1.00 PM/

Your closing bourses for Europe and the Dow along with the USA dollar index closing and interest rates for MONDAY: 1:00 PM EST

London: CLOSED DOWN 66.36 POINTS OR 0.91%
German Dax :CLOSED DOWN 50.99 POINTS OR 0.41%
Paris Cac CLOSED DOWN 2.06 POINTS OR 0.04%
Spain IBEX CLOSED DOWN 1.20 POINTS OR 0.01%

Italian MIB: CLOSED DOWN 1.01 POINTS OR 0.00%

The Dow closed UP 212.90 POINTS OR 0.87%

NASDAQ UP 49.64 Points OR 0.70% 4.00 PM EST

WTI Oil price; 66.48 1:00 pm;

Brent Oil: 71.67 1:00 EST

USA /RUSSIAN ROUBLE CROSS: 62.08 DOWN 141/100 ROUBLES/DOLLAR (ROUBLE HIGHER BY 141 BASIS PTS)

TODAY THE GERMAN YIELD RISES TO +.525% FOR THE 10 YR BOND 1.00 PM EST EST

END

This ends the stock indices, oil price, currency crosses and interest rate closes for today 4:30 PM

Closing Price for Oil, 4:30 pm/and 10 year USA interest rate:

WTI CRUDE OIL PRICE 4:30 PM:$66.33

BRENT: $71.45

USA 10 YR BOND YIELD: 2.8267% THIS RAPID DECENT IN YIELD IS ALSO VERY DANGEROUS/RECESSION COMING

USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 3.0254%/

EURO/USA DOLLAR CROSS: 1.2381 UP .0054 (UP 54 BASIS POINTS)

USA/JAPANESE YEN:107.10 DOWN 0.145/ YEN UP 15 BASIS POINTS/ very dangerous as yen carry traders are getting killed/yen continues to rise despite the NYSE rising. however gold is now breaking away from yen influence.

USA DOLLAR INDEX: 89.42 DOWN 38 cent(s)/dangerous as the lower the dollar the higher the inflation.

The British pound at 5 pm: Great Britain Pound/USA: 1.4338: UP 0.01093 (FROM LAST NIGHT UP 109 POINTS)

Canadian dollar: 1.2565 UP 23 BASIS pts

German 10 yr bond yield at 5 pm: +0.511%

VOLATILITY INDEX: 16.56 CLOSED DOWN 0.85

LIBOR 3 MONTH DURATION: 2.353% ..LIBOR HAS INCREASED FOR 47 CONSECUTIVE DAYS.

And now your more important USA stories which will influence the price of gold/silver

TRADING IN GRAPH FORM FOR THE DAY

SWAMP STORIES

Comey just threw Obama and Lynch under the bus with the Clinton email investigation in that in his words: complicated matters

(courtesy zerohedge)

Obama And Lynch “Jeopardized” Clinton Email Investigation: Comey

With the country’s attention focused on James Comey’s ~~book publicity gala~~ interview with ABC at 10pm ET, the former FBI Director has thrown former President Obama and his Attorney General Loretta Lynch under the bus, claiming they “jeopardized” the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

Comey called out Obama and Lynch in his new book, A Higher Loyalty, set to come out on Tuesday. In it, he defends the FBI’s top brass and counterintelligence investigators charged with probing Clinton’s use of a private email server and mishandling of classified information, reports the Washington Examiner, which received an advanced copy.

“I never heard anyone on our team — not one — take a position that seemed driven by their personal political motivations. And more than that: I never heard an argument or observation I thought came from a political bias. Never … Instead we debated, argued, listened, reflected, agonized, played devil’s advocate, and even found opportunities to laugh as we hashed out major decisions.

(“Guys, LMAO, we totally just exonerated Hillary! My sides! Hey Andy, how’s Jill’s Senate race going?”)

Comey says that multiple public statements made by Obama about the investigation “jeopardized” the credibility of the FBI investigation – seemingly absolving Clinton of any crime before FBI investigators were able to complete their work.

“Contributing to this problem, regrettably, was President Obama. He had jeopardized the Department of Justice’s credibility in the investigation by saying in a 60 Minutes interview on Oct. 11, 2015, that Clinton’s email use was “a mistake” that had not endangered national security,” Comey writes. “Then on Fox News on April 10, 2016, he said that Clinton may have been careless but did not do anything to intentionally harm national security, suggesting that the case involved overclassification of material in the government.”

“President Obama is a very smart man who understands the law very well. To this day, I don’t know why he spoke about the case publicly and seemed to absolve her before a final determination was made. If the president had already decided the matter, an outside observer could reasonably wonder, how on earth could his Department of Justice do anything other than follow his lead.” –Washington Examiner

Of course, Comey had already begun drafting Clinton’s exoneration before even interviewing her, something which appears to have been “forgotten” in his book.

“The truth was that the president — as far as I knew, anyway — he had only as much information as anyone following it in the media. He had not been briefed on our work at all. And if he was following the media, he knew nothing, because there had been no leaks at all up until that point. But, his comments still set all of us up for corrosive attacks if the case were completed with no charges brought.”

“Matter” not “Investigation”

Comey also describes a September 2015 meeting with AG Lynch in which she asked him to describe the Clinton email investigation as a “matter” instead of an investigation.

“It occurred to me in the moment that this issue of semantics was strikingly similar to the fight the Clinton campaign had waged against The New York Times in July. Ever since then, the Clinton team had been employing a variety of euphemisms to avoid using the word ‘investigation,’” Comey writes.

“The attorney general seemed to be directing me to align with the Clinton campaign strategy. Her “just do it” response to my question indicated that she had no legal or procedural justification for her request, at least not one grounded in our practices or traditions. Otherwise, I assume, she would have said so.

Comey said others present in the meeting with Lynch thought her request was odd and political as well – including one of the DOJ’s senior leaders.

“I know the FBI attendees at our meeting saw her request as overtly political when we talked about it afterward. So did at least one of Lynch’s senior leaders. George Toscas, then the number-three person in the department’s National Security Division and someone I liked, smiled at the FBI team as we filed out, saying sarcastically, ‘Well you are the Federal Bureau of Matters,’” Comey recalled.

That said, Comey “didn’t see any instance when Attorney General Lynch interfered with the conduct of the investigation,” writing “Though I had been concerned about her direction to me at that point, I saw no indication afterward that she had any contact with the investigators or prosecutors on the case.”

In response, Loretta Lynch promptly issued a statement in which she said that if James Comey “had any concerns regarding the email investigation, classified or not, he had ample opportunities to raise them with me both privately and in meetings. He never did.”

As we reported earlier, President Trump slammed Comey in several Saturday morning tweets – calling him a “slime ball” and a liar, and the “worst FBI director in history”, intent on exacting his revenge for being unceremoniously fired.

To start off his morning tirade, Trump lashed out at Comey for his stunning admission that the he might have behaved differently toward Clinton if her polling numbers weren’t as strong, and that Comey may not have reopened the Hillary probe if he thought she could lose.

Trump notes – correctly according to Comey’s own statement – that the FBI director’s admission shows that he was making decisions during the investigation based on whether he believed Clinton would win.

According to excerpts of his memo leaked to the mainstream media, Comey admitted that he publicly revealed the reopening of the FBI’s probe into Clinton’s mishandling of classified information partly because he feared that, once she won, her critics would have grounds to question the legitimacy of her presidency, as we pointed out on Friday.

Trump then points out that Comey offered no explanations for the bureau’s most questionable behavior, including the DNC’s refusal to let the FBI examine its email server after Wikileaks released a trove of hacked emails, as well as the $700,000 campaign contribution received by Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe’s wife from an ally of the Clintons.

But hey, according to Comey – it was Obama and Lynch who complicated “matters” with the investigation. The “boyscoutish” former FBI Director could do no wrong. Just make sure to buy Comey’s book to know for “sure.”

end

Lawyer Michael Cohen refuses to disclose the identity of his “third client” as this soap opera continues

(courtesy zerohedge)

Michael Cohen Refuses To Disclose Identity Of His “Third Client”

President Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen will appear in Manhattan federal court Monday at 2 pm ET in the courtroom of judge Kima Wood for a hearing about how the government should handle materials seized from his office and home during an FBI raid last week.

Cohen’s lawyers have filed an injunction seeking to stop the government from reviewing the materials, which they argue could include communications between Cohen and President Trump that should be shielded by attorney-client privilege. Instead, his lawyers have argued that they should be allowed to review the documents before the government can appoint a “taint team” consisting of third-party investigators who will make that determination.

Information leaked late last week and over the weekend would paint Cohen as a type of fixer who typically handled payoffs to cover up his clients affairs. In addition to allegedly making payments to two separate women on behalf of President Trump, it was reported over the weekend that Cohen paid $1.6 million to a woman who had an abortion after being impregnated by former Republican National Committee Deputy Finance Chairman Elliott Broidy. Broidy resigned on Friday after admitting to the affair.

And a filing that Cohen’s legal team submitted just hours before Cohen is set to appear in Manhattan court only further entrenches this reputation, as it confirms that Cohen gave legal advice to three people in the past year: President Trump, Broidy and a third person whom Cohen declined to name, Bloomberg reported.

“The third legal client directed Mr. Cohen to not to reveal the identity publicly,” Cohen’s lawyers wrote.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press, pointing out more details from the filing, cited Cohen’s lawyers as saying the FBI investigators “took everything” during last week’s raids, which they have described as “completely unprecedented.”

Cohen’s attorneys said the FBI seized dozens of electronic devices and other items including documents and data unrelated to the probable cause used to justify the warrants.

Cohen is reportedly under criminal investigation for personal business dealings unrelated to the Russia probe and has been ordered to appear in court Monday after his lawyers successfully secured a delay.

The raid purportedly sought information on payments Cohen made to former adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy Playmate Karen MacDougal, who was reportedly paid off by Trump ally David Pecker.

Expect the question of the third individual’s identity to become a major issue in today’s hearing, which will be closely watched by investors and political observers alike. Investors will be hoping details coming out of the hearing won’t spoil today’s rally.

END

HARVEY

NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED TODAY FOR APRIL CONTRACT:3 NOTICE(S) FOR 300 OZ.

120 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR

600,000 OZ/

Bitcoin: BID $8026/OFFER $8129: up $180(morning)

Bitcoin: BID/ $7937/offer 8037: up $88 (CLOSING/5 PM)

3. ASIAN AFFAIRS

SOUTH KOREA/NORTH KOREA

b) REPORT ON JAPAN

3 c CHINA

4. EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

6 .GLOBAL ISSUES

7. OIL ISSUES

8. EMERGING MARKET

9. PHYSICAL MARKETS

10. USA stories which will influence the price of gold/silver

Let us head over to the comex:

Trading Volumes on the COMEX

PRELIMINARY COMEX VOLUME FOR TODAY:250,404 contracts

CONFIRMED COMEX VOL. FOR YESTERDAY: 281,381 contracts

INITIAL standings for APRIL/GOLD

And now for silver

AND NOW THE APRIL DELIVERY MONTH

APRIL INITIAL standings/SILVER

Inventory 320.196 million oz

Major gold/silver trading /commentaries for MONDAY

Andrew Maguire

Iran’s currency collapses as central bank freezes foreign exchange

Jay Taylor: How much longer can the American empire run on fake money?

Your early MONDAY morning currency, Asian stock market results, important USA/Asian currency crosses, gold/silver pricing overnight along with the price of oil Major stories overnight/9 AM EST

US Futures Rally As Syria Fear Turns To Relief

3. ASIAN AFFAIRS

3 a NORTH KOREA/USA

3 b JAPAN AFFAIRS

c) REPORT ON CHINA/HONG KONG

China: “The Arrogant US Has A Record Of Launching Wars On Deceptive Grounds”

Trump Accuses Russia, China Of Currency Devaluation: “Not Acceptable”

White House Bans US Firms From Selling Parts To China Telecom Giant ZTE

4. EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

20 Dead After Israeli Warplanes Reportedly Attack Iranian Military Base In Syria

الإعلام الحربي المركزي

Haley: US Not Withdrawing Troops From Syria “Until Goals Accomplished”, Will Hit Russia With More Sanctions Monday

Trump Hits Russia With New Sanctions Over Syria Gas Attack

Trump Halts Plan For More Russia Sanctions; Russian Stocks, Ruble Jump

4000 US Troops Launch Massive Military Drill On Edge Of Syria

Putin Warns Of Global “Chaos” If West Hits Syria Again

Independent Swiss Lab Says ‘BZ Toxin’ Used In Skripal Poisoning; US/UK-Produced, Not Russian

Russia Reveals Who “Staged” Syria Gas Attack, As US Claims Moscow “May Have Tampered” With Site

6 .GLOBAL ISSUES

7. OIL ISSUES

8. EMERGING MARKET

Your early morning currency/gold and silver pricing/Asian and European bourse movements/ and interest rate settings MONDAY morning 7:00 am

Your closing bourses for Europe and the Dow along with the USA dollar index closing and interest rates for MONDAY: 1:00 PM EST

Closing Price for Oil, 4:30 pm/and 10 year USA interest rate:

And now your more important USA stories which will influence the price of gold/silver

TRADING IN GRAPH FORM FOR THE DAY

Missile-Mania Sparks Stock-Buying Bonanza As Yield Curve Tumbles

China Slams Syrian Airstrikes As Germany And Italy Refuse To Participate

Syria Claims It Intercepted 71 Out Of 103 Cruise Missiles; Pentagon Denies

OPCW Investigators Arrive In Damascus As Moscow Insists “White Helmets” Staged Gas Attack

The Deep State Closes In On The Donald, Part 2: Mueller’s War

The Deep State Closes In On The Donald, Part 3: The Capture Is Complete

Luongo: Trump Is Done, Mattis Won

Mattis of Grave Import

The Big Show

Only Winning Matters

Trumped Himself

“You Can’t Be Safe In The Stock Market” Stockman Slams America’s “Bad Money System”

Obama And Lynch “Jeopardized” Clinton Email Investigation: Comey

Michael Cohen Refuses To Disclose Identity Of His “Third Client”

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