GOLD: $1314.10  UP $ 2.05  (COMEX TO COMEX CLOSINGS)

Silver: $16.48 UP 5 CENTS (COMEX TO COMEX CLOSINGS)

Closing access prices:

Gold $1315.10

silver: $16.52

For comex gold:

MAY/

NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED TODAY FOR MAY CONTRACT:0 NOTICE(S) FOR nil OZ.

TOTAL NOTICES SO FAR 14 FOR 1400 OZ (0.0435 tonnes)

For silver:

MAY

287 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR

1,435,000 OZ/

Total number of notices filed so far this month: 5034 for 25,170,000 oz

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Bitcoin: BID $9588/OFFER $9686: DOWN $91(morning)

Bitcoin: BID/ $9598/offer $9698: DOWN $78  (CLOSING/5 PM)

end

First Shanghai gold fix comes at 10 pm est

The second Shanghai gold fix:  2:15 pm

First Shanghai gold fix gold: 10 pm est:  1319.50

NY price  at the same time: 1312.80

PREMIUM TO NY SPOT: $6.70

ss

Second gold fix early this morning:  1319.50

USA gold at the exact same time:  1311.50

PREMIUM TO NY SPOT:  $8.00

AGAIN, SHANGHAI REJECTS NEW YORK PRICING.

WE WILL NOT PROVIDE LONDON FIXES AS THEY ARE NOT ACCURATE AS TO WHAT IS GOING ON AT THE SAME TIME FRAME.

Let us have a look at the data for today

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In silver, the total OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY A SMALL  290 CONTRACTS FROM  193,395  RISING TO 193,878  WITH YESTERDAY’S 7 CENT GAIN IN SILVER PRICING.    WE ARE NOW WITNESSING OUR USUAL AND CUSTOMARY COMEX LONG LIQUIDATION AS WE ENTERED INTO THE ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF MAY AS LONGS PACK THEIR BAGS AND MIGRATE OVER TO LONDON.  WE WERE  NOTIFIED THAT WE HAD A SMALL SIZED NUMBER OF COMEX LONGS TRANSFERRING THEIR CONTRACTS TO LONDON THROUGH THE EFP :  , 995 EFP’S FOR JULY AND ZERO FOR ALL  OTHER MONTHS  AND THEREFORE TOTAL ISSUANCE OF 995 CONTRACTS. WITH THE TRANSFER OF 995 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 995 EFP CONTRACTS TRANSLATES INTO 4.975MILLION OZ  ACCOMPANYING:

1.THE RISE IN  SILVER PRICE (7 CENTS) AT THE COMEX AND

2. THE STRONG AMOUNT OF SILVER OUNCES STANDING FOR MAY COMEX DELIVERY. (28.165 MILLION OZ)

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

9877 CONTRACTS (FOR 4 TRADING DAYS TOTAL 9877 CONTRACTS) OR 49.39 MILLION OZ: AVERAGE PER DAY: 2469 CONTRACTS OR 12.346 MILLION OZ/DAY

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE HUGE SUPPLY THIS MONTH IN SILVER:  SO FAR THIS MONTH:  49.39 MILLION PAPER OZ HAVE MORPHED OVER TO LONDON. THIS REPRESENTS AROUND 7.055% OF ANNUAL GLOBAL PRODUCTION (EX CHINA EX RUSSIA)

ACCUMULATION IN YEAR 2018 TO DATE SILVER EFP’S:  1,194.8      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

ACCUMULATION FOR APRIL 2018:                                          385.75         MILLION OZ

RESULT: WE HAD A SMALL SIZED RISE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX OF 290 WITH THE  7 CENT GAIN IN SILVER PRICE. WE HAVE NOW ENTERED THE NEW ACTIVE MONTH OF MAY.   THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT IN FACT WE HAD AN SMALL  SIZED EFP ISSUANCE OF 995 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 (SEE COMEX DATA) . FROM THE CME DATA:  995 EFP CONTRACTS FOR JULY, AND ZERO FOR ALL OVER MONTHS   FOR  A DELIVERABLE FORWARD CONTRACT OVER IN LONDON WITH A FIAT BONUS (TOTAL: 995). TODAY WE GAINED 1285  TOTAL OI CONTRACTS  ON THE TWO EXCHANGES: i.e. 290 OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS HEADED FOR LONDON  (EFP’s) TOGETHER WITH AN INCREASE OF 995  OI COMEX CONTRACTS. AND ALL OF THIS HAPPENED WITH THE RISE IN PRICE OF SILVER OF 7 CENTS AND A CLOSING PRICE OF $16.42 WITH RESPECT TO YESTERDAY’S TRADING. YET WE STILL HAVE A STRONG AMOUNT OF SILVER STANDING AT THE COMEX FOR DELIVERY IN THIS  ACTIVE MAY DELIVERY MONTH. IT SURE SEEMS THAT WE MUST HAVE HAD SOME BANKER SHORT COVERING ON BOTH EXCHANGES.

In ounces AT THE COMEX, the OI is still represented by UNDER 1 BILLION oz i.e. .968 MILLION OZ TO BE EXACT or 138% of annual global silver production (ex Russia & ex China).

FOR THE NEW FRONT MAY MONTH/ THEY FILED AT THE COMEX: 287 NOTICE(S) FOR 1,435,000 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:

1. HUGE AMOUNTS OF SILVER STANDING FOR DELIVERY  (MARCH: 27 MILLION OZ , APRIL: 2.485 MILLION OZ  AND MAY: 28.165 MILLION OZ )
2. HUGE RECORD OPEN INTEREST IN SILVER  243,411 CONTRACTS (OR 1.217 BILLION OZ/ SET APRIL 9/2018
3. HUGE ANNUAL EFP’S ISSUANCE EQUAL TO 2.9 BILLION OZ OR 400% OF SILVER ANNUAL PRODUCTION/2017
4. RECORD SETTING EFP ISSUANCE FOR ANY MONTH IN SILVER; APRIL/2018/ 385.75 MILLION OZ/ (FINAL)

AND YET, WITH THE EXTREMELY HIGH EFP ISSUANCE, 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 A CONSIDERABLE 3940 CONTRACTS DOWN TO 497,125 DESPITE THE RISE IN THE GOLD PRICE/YESTERDAY’S TRADING (GAIN OF $7.05).  WE ARE NOW IN THE NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF MAY.  THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A FAIR SIZED 6729 CONTRACTS :   JUNE SAW THE ISSUANCE OF 6729 CONTRACTS , MAY SAW THE ISSUANCE OF 0 CONTRACTS  AND AUGUST SAW THE ISSUANCE OF: 0 CONTRACTS WITH ALL OTHER MONTHS ZERO.  The new OI for the gold complex rests at 497,125. 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. . 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 FAIR SIZED  OI GAIN IN CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES: 3940  OI CONTRACTS DECREASED AT THE COMEX AND AN FAIR SIZED 6729 EFP OI CONTRACTS WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON.THUS  TOTAL OI GAIN: 2789 CONTRACTS OR 278,900 OZ = 9.67 TONNES. AND ALL OF THIS OCCURRED WITH A GAIN OF $7.05

YESTERDAY, WE HAD 17,429  EFP’S ISSUED.

ACCUMULATION OF EFP’S GOLD AT J.P. MORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES: (EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL) FOR THE MONTH OF MAY : 43,162 CONTRACTS OR 4,316,200  OZ OR 134.25 TONNES (4 TRADING DAYS AND THUS AVERAGING: 10,791EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY OR 1,079,100 OZ/ TRADING DAY),

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE HUGE SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS :    THIS MONTH IN 4 TRADING DAYS IN  TONNES: 134.25 TONNES

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

THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 134.25/2550 x 100% TONNES =  5.26% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL PRODUCTION SO FAR IN APRIL ALONE.*** THE ACCUMULATION OF EFP CONTRACTS IS RISING PER MONTH.

ACCUMULATION OF GOLD EFP’S YEAR 2018 TO DATE:  2,892.20*  TONNES   *SURPASSED ANNUAL PROD’N

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  (22 TRADING DAYS)

ACCUMULATION OF GOLD EFP’S FOR APRIL 2018:                   713.84 TONNES  (21 TRADING DAYS)

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 LARGE DECREASE IN OI AT THE COMEX OF 3940  DESPITE THE GAIN  IN PRICE // GOLD TRADING YESTERDAY ($7.05 GAIN). HOWEVER WE ALSO HAD A FAIR SIZED NUMBER OF COMEX LONG TRANSFERRING TO LONDON THROUGH THE EFP ROUTE: 6729 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 6729 EFP CONTRACTS ISSUED, WE HAD A FAIR SIZED NET GAIN OF 2789 CONTRACTS IN TOTAL OPEN INTEREST  ON THE TWO EXCHANGES: 

3940 CONTRACTS MOVE TO LONDON AND 6729 CONTRACTS INCREASED AT THE COMEX. (in tonnes, the GAIN in total oi equates to 8.67 TONNES).

we had: 0 notice(s) filed upon for NIL 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  $7205 /A CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.13 TONNES FROM THE GLD

Inventory rests tonight: 865.60 tonnes.

SLV/

WITH SILVER UP 5 CENTS  TODAY: A BIG CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/ A DEPOSIT OF 1.224 MILLION OZ OF SILVER/ 

/INVENTORY RESTS AT 324.205 MILLION OZ/

end

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

1. Today, we had the open interest in SILVER ROSE BY A SMALL 290 CONTRACTS from 193,395 UP TO 193,685 (AND, CLOSER TO THE  NEW COMEX RECORD SET /APRIL 9/2017 AT 243,411/SILVER PRICE AT THAT DAY: $16.53). THE PREVIOUS RECORD OTHER THAN WAS ESTABLISHED AT: 234,787, SET ON APRIL 21.2017 OVER ONE YEAR AGO.  THE PRICE OF SILVER ON THAT DAY: $17.89.   OUR CUSTOMARY MIGRATION OF COMEX LONGS MORPH INTO LONDON FORWARDS CONTINUES AS OUR BANKERS USED THEIR EMERGENCY PROCEDURE TO ISSUE: 0 EFP CONTRACTS FOR APRIL, 0 EFP CONTRACTS FOR MAY  (WE DO NOT GET A LOOK AT THESE CONTRACTS AS IT IS PRIVATE BUT THE CFTC DOES AUDIT THEM), AND 995 EFP’S FOR JULY AND ALL OTHER MONTHS ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE:  995 CONTRACTS. EFP’S GIVE OUR COMEX LONGS A FIAT BONUS PLUS A DELIVERABLE PRODUCT OVER IN LONDON.  IF WE TAKE THE  OI GAIN AT THE COMEX OF 290 CONTRACTS TO THE 995 OI TRANSFERRED TO LONDON THROUGH EFP’S,  WE OBTAIN A  GAIN OF 1285 OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS.  THUS IN OUNCES, THE GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES:  6.475 MILLION OZ!!! AND THIS OCCURRED WITH THE  RISE IN PRICE OF 7 CENTS.  THE BANKERS ORCHESTRATED THEIR RAID THROUGHOUT LAST WEEK  DESPERATELY TRYING TO PARE THEIR GIGANTIC OPEN INTEREST SHORT ON BOTH EXCHANGES BUT TO NO AVAIL. JUDGING BY THE RECORD NUMBER OF EFP ISSUANCE DURING LAST MONTH OF APRIL AT 385.75 MILLION OZ AND THE TOTAL OI GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES, I DO NOT THINK THAT OUR BANKERS HAVE BEEN TOO SUCCESSFUL. THE CONSTANT RAIDS ARE NOW BEING CALLED UPON BY OUR BANKER FRIENDS ARE DONE IN AN ATTEMPT TO SHAKE AS MANY SILVER LEAVES FROM THE SILVER TREE AS POSSIBLE.

RESULT: A SMALL SIZED INCREASE IN SILVER OI AT THE COMEX WITH THE RISE  IN SILVER PRICING / YESTERDAY (7 CENTS/) . BUT WE ALSO HAD ANOTHER GOOD SIZED 995 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 CONTINUES TO INTENSIFY 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 9.83 points or .32%   /Hang Sang CLOSED down 386.87 points or 1.27%    / The Nikkei closed DOWN 35.25 POINTS OR .16% /Australia’s all ordinaires CLOSED DOWN .51%  /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN at 6.3605/Oil UP to 68.77 dollars per barrel for WTI and 73.91for Brent. Stocks in Europe OPENED DEEPLY IN THE GREEN.   ONSHORE YUAN CLOSED DOWN AT 6.3605 AGAINST THE DOLLAR. OFFSHORE YUAN CLOSED DOWN ON THE DOLLAR AT 6.3598/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST USA DOLLAR/OFFSHORE YUAN TRADING  WEAKER AGAINST THE DOLLAR /CHINA RETALIATES WITH TARIFFS/ TRUMP RESPONDS TO NEW TARIFFS AND IT NOW LOOKS LIKE A FULL TRADE WAR IS BEGINNING/

/NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA

i)North Korea/South Korea/USA

b) REPORT ON JAPAN

3 c CHINA

iii)And here is the official response that nothing was accomplished and now the next month will be trump’s

4. EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

6 .GLOBAL ISSUES

( zerohedge)

7. OIL ISSUES

8. EMERGING MARKET

9. PHYSICAL MARKETS

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

Trading Volumes on the COMEX

PRELIMINARY COMEX VOLUME FOR TODAY: 303,246  contracts

CONFIRMED COMEX VOL. FOR YESTERDAY: 324,577 contracts

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And now for the wild silver comex results.

Total silver OI ROSE BY A SMALL 290 CONTRACTS FROM 193,395 DOWN TO 193,685 (AND CLOSER TO THE NEW RECORD OI FOR SILVER SET APRIL 9.2018/ 243,411 CONTRACTS)  WITH THE  7  CENT GAIN IN SILVER PRICING. SINCE WE ARE NOW INTO THE  ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF MAY. WE  WERE  INFORMED THAT WE HAD A SMALL SIZED  995 EFP CONTRACT ISSUANCE FOR JULY AND ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS.  THESE EFPS WERE ISSUED TO COMEX LONGS WHO RECEIVED A FIAT BONUS PLUS A DELIVERABLE PRODUCT OVER IN LONDON.  THE TOTAL EFP’S ISSUED: 995.   ON A NET BASIS WE GAINED 1285  SILVER OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS AS WE OBTAINED A 290 CONTRACT GAIN AT THE COMEX COMBINING WITH THE ADDITION OF 995 OI CONTRACTS NAVIGATING OVER TO LONDON. DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE BOYS WERE VERY BUSY NEGOTIATING LONG COMEX CONTRACTS EMIGRATING TO LONDON,(AND WAITING FOR THEIR PASSPORTS)

NET GAIN  ON THE TWO EXCHANGES:   1285  CONTRACTS 

AMOUNT STANDING FOR SILVER AT THE COMEX

We are now in the  active delivery month of MAY and here the front month LOST 249 contracts FALLING TO 879 contracts. We had 482 notices filed upon yesterday so we SURPRISINGLY AGAIN GAINED 233 contracts or 1,165000 additional ounces will  stand for delivery in this  active delivery month of May AS SOMEBODY AGAIN WAS DESPERATE FOR PHYSICAL SILVER..

June saw a LOSS of 12 contracts to stand at 778.  The next big delivery month for silver is July and here the OI ROSE by 237 contracts UP to 141,722. The next active delivery month after July for silver is September and here the OI ROSE by 178 contracts UP to 20,338

We had 287 notice(s) filed for 1,435,000 OZ for the MAY 2018 contract for silver

end

And now for silver

AND NOW THE APRIL DELIVERY MONTH

MAY INITIAL standings/SILVER

we had 0 inventory movement at the dealer side of things

total dealer deposits: nil oz

we had 0 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) EVERYBODY ELSE:  ZERO OZ

total deposits today: nil oz

we had 2 withdrawals from the customer account;

i) out of Delaware: 987.800 oz

ii() Out of Scotia: 200,946.730 oz

total withdrawals;  201,934.53  oz

we had 0 adjustment

.

total dealer silver:  67,568 million

total dealer + customer silver:  266.5979 million oz

The total number of notices filed today for the MAY. contract month is represented by 287 contract(s) FOR 1,435,000 oz. To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in MAY., we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at 5034 x 5,000 oz = 25,170000 oz to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of MAY. (879) and the number of notices served upon today (287 x 5000 oz) equals the number of ounces standing.

.

Thus the INITIAL standings for silver for the MAY contract month: 5034(notices served so far)x 5000 oz + OI for front month of MAY(879) -number of notices served upon today (287)x 5000 oz equals 28,165,000 oz of silver standing for the MAY contract month 

WE GAINED 233 CONTRACTS OR AN ADDITIONAL 1,165000 OZ WILL  STAND AT THE COMEX AND THESE GUYS DID NOT MORPH INTO LONDON BASED FORWARDS BUT ARE STANDING FOR PHYSICAL METAL AT THE COMEX.

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ESTIMATED VOLUME FOR TODAY: 45,625 CONTRACTS

CONFIRMED VOLUME FOR YESTERDAY: 71,921 CONTRACTS

YESTERDAY’S CONFIRMED VOLUME OF  71921 CONTRACTS EQUATES TO 359 MILLION OZ  OR 51.3% 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 -1.70% (MAY4/2018)
2. Sprott gold fund (PHYS): premium to NAV RISES TO -0.34% to NAV (MAY 4/2018 )
Note: Sprott silver trust back into NEGATIVE territory at -1.70%-/Sprott physical gold trust is back into NEGATIVE/ territory at -0.34%/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 -2.50`%: NAV 13.62/TRADING 13.27//DISCOUNT 2.50.

END

And now the Gold inventory at the GLD/

MAY 4/WITH GOLD UP $2.05/A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.13 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 865.60 TONNES

MAY 3/WITH GOLD UP $7.05/NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 866.77 TONNES

MAY 2/WITH GOLD DOWN $1.15/ A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 4.43 TONNES FROM THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 866.77 TONNES

MAY 1/WITH GOLD DOWN $12.15/NO CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 871.20 TONNES

APRIL 30/WITH GOLD DOWN $4.05/NO CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 871.20 TONNES.

APRIL 27./WITH GOLD UP $5.90/NO CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 871.20 TONNES/

APRIL 26/WITH GOLD DOWN $4.90/NO CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 871.20 TONNES

APRIL 25/AFTER 9 CONSECUTIVE DAYS OF NO MOVEMENT OF GOLD INTO OUT OF THE GLD, WE HAD A HUGE DEPOSIT OF 5.31 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 871.20 TONNES.

APRIL 24./WITH GOLD UP $9.90, WE HAD NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 865.89 TONNES/

APRIL 23.2018/WITH GOLD DOWN $14.00/NO CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 865.89 TONNES.

APRIL 20/WITH GOLD DOWN $10.20: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 865.89 TONNES

APRIL 19/WITH GOLD DOWN $4.25: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 865.89 TONNES/

APRIL 18/WITH GOLD UP $3.65: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 865.89 TONNES

APRIL 17/WITH GOLD DOWN $1.00 NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 865.89 TONNES/

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

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

MAY 4/2018/ Inventory rests tonight at 866.77 tonnes

*IN LAST 376 TRADING DAYS: 75.40 NET TONNES HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE GLD
*LAST 326 TRADING DAYS: A NET 80.90 TONNES HAVE NOW BEEN ADDED INTO GLD INVENTORY.

end

Now the SLV Inventory/

MAY4/WITH SILVER UP 5 CENTS/A BIG CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/ A DEPOSIT OF 1.224 MILLION OZ/INVENTORY RESTS AT 324.205 MILLION OZ/

MAY 2/WITH SILVER UP 24 CENTS/A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV// A DEPOSIT OF 6.082 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 322.981 MILLION OZ/

MAY 1/WITH SILVER DOWN 24 CENTS/NO CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 316.899 MILLION OZ/

APRIL 30/WITH SILVER DOWN 11 CENTS/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 316.899 MILLION OZ/

APRIL 27/WITH SILVER DOWN 5 CENTS/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 316.899 MILLION OZ/

APRIL 26/WITH SILVER DOWN 2 CENT/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 316,899 MILLION OZ/

APRIL 25./WITH SILVER DOWN 18 CENTS/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 316.899 MILLION OZ/

APRIL 24./WITH SILVER UP 8 CENTS/SOMETHING SPOOKED OUR CROOKS TO ADD SOME PAPER SILVER: A DEPOSIT OF 1.601 MILLION OZ/INVENTORY RESTS AT 316.899 MILLION OZ/

APRIL 23.2018/WITH SILVER DOWN 50 CENTS, ANOTHER HUGE WITHDRAWAL FROM THE SLV INVENTORY: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.413 MILLION OZ/INVENTORY RESTS AT 315.298 MILLION OZ.

APRIL 20/WITH SILVER DOWN 11 CENTS: ANOTHER HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.13 MILLION OZ//SLV RESTS TONIGHT AT 316.711 MILLION OZ/

APRIL 19/WITH SILVER UP 3 CENTS TODAY: WE HAD A BIG CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.355 MILLION OZ/ MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE!!/INVENTORY RESTS AT 317.841 MILLION OZ

APRIL 18/WITH SILVER UP 44 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 320.196 MILLION OZ

APRIL 17/WITH SILVER UP 10 CENTS TODAY/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS  AT 320.196 MILLION OZ

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

MAY 4/2018:  A BIG  CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY: A DEPOSIT OF 1.224 MILLION OZ/

Inventory 324.205 million oz

end

6 Month MM GOFO 2.02/ and libor 6 month duration 2.51

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

G0FO+ 2.02%

libor 2.51 FOR 6 MONTHS/

GOLD LENDING RATE: .49%

XXXXXXXX

12 Month MM GOFO
+ 2.77%

LIBOR FOR 12 MONTH DURATION: 2.50

GOFO = LIBOR – GOLD LENDING RATE

GOLD LENDING RATE  = +.27

end

And now for your totally useless COT report which offers no value to anybody:

First: the Gold COT

Our large speculators

those large specs that have been long in gold pitched (transferred) 16,227 contracts from their long side  (through efp)

those large specs that have been short in gold added 13,640 contracts to their short side

Our Commercials

those commercials who have been long in gold added 4020 contracts to their short side

those commercials who have been short in gold covered (transferred) 25,908 contracts from their short side (efp)

Our Small Speculators

those small specs who have been long in gold added 1751 contracts to their long side

those small specs who have been short in gold added 1812 contracts to their short side.

end

Now for our silver COT

Our large speculators

those large specs that are long in silver added 726 contracts to their long side

those large specs that have been short in silver added a whopping 19,889 contracts to their short side

Our Commercials

those large specs that have been long in silver added 2625 contracts to their long side

those large specs that have been short in silver covered (transferred) 16,962 contracts from their short side

Our Small Speculators

those small specs that have been long in silver added 1432 contracts to their long side

those small specs that have been short in silver added 1520 contracts to their short side.

Conclusions:

a complete waste of time in looking at this worthless trash.

Major gold/silver trading /commentaries for WEDNESDAY

GOLDCORE/BLOG/MARK O’BYRNE.

GOLD/SILVER

3. ASIAN AFFAIRS

i)FRIDAY MORNING/THURSDAY NIGHT: Shanghai closed DOWN 9.83 points or .32%   /Hang Sang CLOSED down 386.87 points or 1.27%    / The Nikkei closed DOWN 35.25 POINTS OR .16% /Australia’s all ordinaires CLOSED DOWN .51%  /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN at 6.3605/Oil UP to 68.77 dollars per barrel for WTI and 73.91for Brent. Stocks in Europe OPENED DEEPLY IN THE GREEN.   ONSHORE YUAN CLOSED DOWN AT 6.3605 AGAINST THE DOLLAR. OFFSHORE YUAN CLOSED DOWN ON THE DOLLAR AT 6.3598/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST USA DOLLAR/OFFSHORE YUAN TRADING  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/usa

3 b JAPAN AFFAIRS

c) REPORT ON CHINA/HONG KONG

Trump is not going to like this;  China secretly installs cruise missiles on the hotly contested Spratly Islands

(courtesy zerohedge)

Taiwan Livid After China Secretly Installs Cruise Missiles On Contested Spratly Islands

Tensions continue to flare up in the South China Sea, as Beijing has reportedly installed anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missile systems on three outposts in the region, as reported by CNBC on Wednesday, which cited sources with direct knowledge of U.S. intelligence reports. The missiles have reportedly been installed on Fiery Cross Reef, Subi Reef and Mischief Reef.

The land-based anti-ship cruise missiles, designated as YJ-12B, allow China to strike surface vessels within 295 nautical miles of the reefs. Meanwhile, the long-range surface-to-air missiles designated as HQ-9B, have an expected range of targeting aircraft, drones and cruise missiles within 160 nautical miles. –CNBC

As we’ve documented again and again (and again and again), China’s military buildup in the Pacific, particularly surrounding the Spratly Islands, a collection of small islands, cays and atolls in the South China Sea, is one of the greatest long-term risks to peace and stability in the US and many of China’s neighbors, who have territorial claims in the region that may conflict with China’s.

If confirmed, the installations would mark the first Chinese missile deployments in the Spratly Islands – a territory with claims by several Asian countries, including Taiwan and Vietnam. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hya Chunying says that the missiles are required to protect China’s sovereignty.

China’s missile placement comes on the heels of an april deployment of radar jammers on the Spratly islands, capable of scrambling military communications and radar systems used by US ships – a clear rebuke to the US and China’s neighbors.

A US official confirmed to WSJ in April that “China has deployed military jamming equipment to its Spratly Island outposts.” Furthermore, the equipment was likely installed during the last 90 days.

The U.S. assessment is supported by a photo taken last month by the commercial satellite company DigitalGlobe and provided to The Wall Street Journal. It shows a suspected jammer system with its antenna extended on Mischief Reef, one of seven Spratly outcrops where China has built fortified artificial islands since 2014, moving sand onto rocks and reefs and paving them over with concrete.

China’s Defense Ministry didn’t respond to a request for comment. –WSJ

The move allows China to further project its rapidly growing military influence in the region – most recently approaching the government of Vanuatu to build a permanent military base on the South Pacific Island nation.

“Those who do not intend to be aggressive have no need to be worried or scared,” ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing.

China’s Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest report.

The foreign ministry said China has irrefutable sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and that its necessary defensive deployments were for national security needs and not aimed at any country. –Reuters

Mawanwhile, Taiwan called the new missile installations “irresponsible,” presidential office spokesman Alex Huang said on Thursday. Taiwan “will not bow down to pressure from Beijing” Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said, but “will work with friendly nations to uphold regional peace and stability and ensure our rightful place in the international community.”

In response to China’s increased provocations in the region, Tsai Shih-Ying of Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, asking the National Defence Minister Yen Teh-fa for details surrounding Taiwan’s military program to procure a new modern main battle tank.

Yen told Tsai that Taiwan’s military would soon make a bid to purchase M1A2 tanks, an American third-generation main battle tank — the most modern armored tank in the world, from the Pentagon in the second half of 2018.

Yen also stated that the American tanks could help transfer technology to the island’s defense industry, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported, as quoted by South China Morning Post.

“The Taiwan Strait is very likely to replace the Korean peninsula as the hottest flashpoint in the region,” he warned.

“In response to the changing situation, Taiwan’s military has also increased its combat readiness.”

“In one or two months, China will hold more long-range military training and increase combined forces operations when engaged in such activities in waters near Taiwan,” Yen said when responding to another lawmaker Chiang Chi-chen about Beijing’s increased military exercises in the Taiwan Strait and the East China Sea.

Greg Poling, a South China Sea expert at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank, said deploying missiles on the outposts would be important.

“These would be the first missiles in the Spratlys, either surface to air, or anti-ship,” he said.

He added that such deployments were expected as China built missile shelters on the reefs last year and already deployed such missile systems on Woody Island further to the north.

Poling said it would be a major step on China’s road to dominating the South China Sea, a key global trade route. –Reuters

“Before this, if you were one of the other claimants … you knew that China was monitoring your every move. Now you will know that you’re operating inside Chinese missile range. That’s a pretty strong, if implicit, threat,” said Poling.

China’s increased presence in the South China Sea is “a substantial challenge to US military operations in the region,” says US Navy Adm. Philip Davidson, the expected nominee to replace US Pacific Command Chief Adm. Harry Harris.

In written testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, he writes that the development of China’s various forward operating bases in controversial waters appear to be complete.

“The only thing lacking are the deployed forces. Once occupied, China will be able to extend its influence thousands of miles to the south and project power deep into Oceania,” Davidson wrote. “In short, China is now capable of controlling the South China Sea in all scenarios short of war with the United States.”

END

You will recall that the Dow reversed and jumped 500 points on “good” talks with the Chinese.  That just ended as there is no deal in sight.  The USA is demanding that China cut its bilateral trade with the USA by 200 billion dollars.

This is not going to  happen…

(courtesy zerohedge)

US-China Trade Talks End Without A Deal After Trump Hikes Deficit Cut Demand

Moments ago, the US trade delegation led by Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin, and which included Commerce Sec. Wilbur Ross, US Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer, and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, left China after two days of U.S.-China trade discussions ended on Friday without a concrete deal, only an agreement to keep on talking.

On Friday afternoon, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported that both sides reached a consensus on some trade issues, without providing details. More importantly, they acknowledged major disagreements on some matters and will continue communicating to work toward making more progress.

The biggest surprise, according to the FT, is that heading into the talks the US delegation asked China to cut the bilateral trade deficit by $200BN by 2020, reduce tariffs and cut subsidies for emerging industries, according to a document seen by the Financial Times.

The surprise is that the revised $200BN target is already double the $100BN amount that President Trump demanded just two months ago be wiped from last year’s $337BN US deficit in goods and services. According to the document, the US aimed to cut the deficit by $100bn in the year beginning June 1, and by a further $100bn between June 2019 and May 2020.

Some more details on the list of US demands from the WSJ:

• The first U.S. request was for China to reduce the bilateral trade deficit by at least $200 billion by the end of 2020. The U.S.-China bilateral deficit in goods was $375 billion last year. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants China to slash the figure by $100 billion a year.
• The U.S. also demanded that China immediately stop providing subsidies and other assistance for advanced technologies outlined in the government’s Made in China 2025 plan. The initiative aims for China to dominate future frontiers of manufacturing and industry, from robotics and aviation to new-energy vehicles.
• The U.S. also asked China to cut tariffs on “all products in non-critical sectors” to levels that are no higher than the levels that the U.S. applies to imports, according to the document.
• In addition, the U.S. also asked China to guarantee that it won’t hit back at the U.S. for any actions taken in the disputes over intellectual property. It also asked that China withdraw its challenges in this area at the World Trade Organization.
• Chinese officials believed the proposal was “unfair”

By early afternoon Friday neither side had flagged plans to give a briefing on the discussions, and the American team departed shortly after.

According to Bloomberg, earlier in the day Mnuchin said that the U.S. and China had been having a “very good conversation,” without elaborating. While China hasn’t indicated any detail on what it may be prepared to agree to, a senior official sounded a defiant tone ahead of the meeting, and the state news agency warned against “unreasonable demands”, a stark difference to the CNN rumor released on Thursday that the deals would be successful, and which sent the market soaring.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a Friday afternoon briefing there’s no specific information on the talks.

To be sure, the U.S. tempered expectations of a major breakthrough from the discussions, which were expected to focus on concerns over China’s state-driven economy, forced technology transfers and America’s widening trade deficit with China. Underscoring the friction, the US trade report released Thursday showed the trade gap with China surged by 16 percent to more than $91 billion in the first quarter of this year.

Quoted by Bloomberg, an unnamed senior Chinese government official said before the talks the government won’t accept U.S. preconditions for negotiations such as abandoning its long-term advanced manufacturing ambitions or narrowing the trade gap by $100 billion. We can only imagine what they said when they learned the latest demand was a $200 billion deficit cut.

During the second day of discussions, across town at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, President Xi Jinping indicated China will continue to embrace globalism, saying it wants to actively take part in world governance. Those who reject the world will be rejected by the world, he said in a speech commemorating the 200th anniversary of Karl Marx’s birth.

The disappointing outcome will probably not come as a big surprise as analysts weren’t very optimistic about the potential outcomes beyond the two countries possibly delaying on the threat of tit-for-tat tariffs.

“Our expectations are low. The U.S. negotiating position is unclear — indeed it’s not even clear if the U.S. representatives have a unified view on what they want to achieve,” Tom Orlik, chief economist at Bloomberg Economics in Beijing, wrote in a report. “The Chinese side has already made concessions and won’t rush to make more. The past few weeks have shown that markets can be roiled by tariff chatter, so that’s certainly a possibility in the next couple of days.”

If anything, the meetings were an opportunity for the two sides to exchange their views face to face after the official channel for U.S.-China high-level economic talks were suspended last year.

In response to the news, the yuan declined in the late afternoon, reversing earlier gains, and the USDCNH jumped from 6.3450 to 6.365 as news of the failure to reach an agreement spread. “The market has been disappointed as the China-U.S. trade talks failed to make a breakthrough” said Ken Cheung, Asian FX strategist at Mizuho Bank, adding that “this outcome increases the possibility for China to curb further yuan appreciation, given concerns over the negative impact from a trade conflict on the nation’s economic growth.”

Having surged on the rumor of a favorable trade talk outcome yesterday, US stocks are unchanged today after the talks ended without any tangible success.

 end

And here is the official response that nothing was accomplished and now the next month will be trump’s

(courtesy zerohedge)

US Trade Delegation Issues Statement On China Talks After Leaking “Aggressive” Position Memo

While the US trade delegation led by Steven Mnuchin that just spent two days in Beijing to achieve nothing, is currently somewhere over the Pacific on its way back to the States, that did not prevent it from issuing an official statement on the event that, until earlier this morning, was the biggest potential upside catalyst for today’s market: the status of US-China trade talks.

In the statement, the Mnuchin-led group said “U.S. trade officials had candid trade discussions with their Chinese counterparts” and added that President Donald Trump will decide the next steps.

This is what it said.

Statement on the United States Trade Delegation’s Visit to Beijing

At the invitation of Vice Premier Liu He and at the direction of President Donald J. Trump, the United States trade delegation, led by Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin and including Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy Larry Kudlow, and Assistant to the President for Trade and Manufacturing Policy Peter Navarro, traveled to Beijing, and was joined there by Ambassador Terry Branstad.

The delegation held frank discussions with Chinese officials on rebalancing the United States-China bilateral economic relationship, improving China’s protection of intellectual property, and identifying policies that unfairly enforce technology transfers. The United States delegation affirmed that fair trade will lead to faster growth for the Chinese, United States, and world economies.

The size and high level of this delegation illustrates the importance that the Trump Administration places on securing fair trade and investment terms for American businesses and workers. There is consensus within the Administration that immediate attention is needed to bring changes to United States-China trade and investment relationship.

The delegation now returns to Washington, D.C., to brief the President and seek his decision on next steps.

The above is a wordy way of stating that the talks achieved nothing, and merely agreed to hold more negotiations in the future. Meanwhile, the Treasury faces a May 21 deadline to report on restrictions on Chinese investment in the US, as part of the response to the recent Section 301 intellectual property investigation

In other words, the clock is ticking. And just to add some more heat, earlier this morning, the US appears to have purposefully leaked the US demands that the US sent to China ahead of their trade talks (this version was leaked on Weibo), and which as the Economist’s Simon Rabinovitch described, revealed “a very aggressive opening position from the US”

Simon Rabinovitch

✔@S_Rabinovitch

Here are the demands that US sent to China ahead of their trade talks (reported by WSJ and Bloomberg; this version leaked on Weibo, now deleted–person involved in talks says it’s authentic). Very aggressive opening position from the US.

For those who missed it, the WSJ summary of the above is as follows:

• The US delegation asked China to cut the bilateral trade deficit by $200BN by 2020, double what Trump demanded back in March.
• The first U.S. request was for China to reduce the bilateral trade deficit by at least $200 billion by the end of 2020. The U.S.-China bilateral deficit in goods was $375 billion last year. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants China to slash the figure by $100 billion a year.
• The U.S. also demanded that China immediately stop providing subsidies and other assistance for advanced technologies outlined in the government’s Made in China 2025 plan. The initiative aims for China to dominate future frontiers of manufacturing and industry, from robotics and aviation to new-energy vehicles.
• The U.S. also asked China to cut tariffs on “all products in non-critical sectors” to levels that are no higher than the levels that the U.S. applies to imports, according to the document.
• In addition, the U.S. also asked China to guarantee that it won’t hit back at the U.S. for any actions taken in the disputes over intellectual property. It also asked that China withdraw its challenges in this area at the World Trade Organization.

In response, and confirming that the upcoming negotiations will be very long, Chinese officials responded that the US proposal was “unfair.”

4. EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

Our biggest derivative banker: Deutsche bank has now shuttered its Houston office as the company sheds USA bankers as part of it’s plan to pare its balance sheet.

(courtesy zerohedge)

8. EMERGING MARKET

Venezuela

end

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

TRADING IN GRAPH FORM FOR THE DAY

 END

Official report on the job report:  Economy only added 164,000 jobs in April/unemployment lowest since 2000.

(courtesy the Hill/Vick Neeham/)

Economy adds 164K jobs in April, unemployment lowest since 2000

BY VICKI NEEDHAM – 05/04/18 08:36 AM EDT 

 

The U.S. economy added 164,000 jobs in April, a modest number which was less than expected as the nation’s labor market maintains a steady pace of growth.

The unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent, the lowest level since December 2000, the Labor Department reported on Friday.

Expectations were for an April gain of about 190,000 jobs.

Jobs growth is expected to slow down somewhat as the labor market tightens and the unemployment rate drops into rarely seen 3-percent range.

In April, average hourly earnings were up 2.6 percent for the year.

Jobs in the previous two months were 30,000 more than previously reported.

Job gains averaged 208,000 over the past three months, down from a 242,000 average in the previous estimates, which is enough to get workers off the sidelines and into the labor market.

February’s employment was lower than reported falling to 324,000 from 326,000 while March’s figure, which came in well below expectations at 103,000 was better than initially reported at 135,000.

Employers have added jobs for 91 straight months, and the economic expansion, which began in June 2009, is now in its 107th month, which is the second-longest expansion in U.S. economic history.

Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, said this week he expects the nation to break the record for the longest period of growth in June 2019.

The nation’s longest span of growth lasted 120 months, from 1991 to 2001.

This developing report will be updated.

TAGS JOBS REPORTBUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICSECONOMYTRUMP ADMINISTRATION

end

Zero hedge discusses the payroll report:

1. hourly earnings miss and thus the Fed does not obtain its badly needed wage gains

2. payroll gains of 164,000 but they need 220,000 just to stay even

3. the unemployment drops to 3.9% due to the fact that many dropped out of the labour pool

thus this is a poor report..

(courtesy zerohedge)

164,000 Jobs: Payrolls, Hourly Earnings Miss As Unemployment Rate Hits 18 Year Low 3.9%

Is the Fed’s rate-hike cycle over?

Coming into today’s payrolls number, the sellside community was hoping that last month’s unexpectedly poor payrolls number would prove to be a one off. It was not, and moments ago the BLS surprised with yet another poor jobs number, when it reported that in April, the US generated only 164K jobs, missing expectations of a 190K print, if modestly better than last month’s upward revised 135K number (from 102K).

Total 164,000 April payrolls, compared with an average monthly gain of 191,000 over the prior 12 months, with most job gains occurring in professional and business services, manufacturing, health care, and mining.

February payrolls were revised down from +326,000 to +324,000, while March was revised up from +103,000 to
+135,000, netting a +30,000 job gains for the past two months. After revisions, job gains have averaged 208,000 over the last 3 months.

There was a silver lining: some of the miss could potentially be explained by harsher April weather, as workers who said they are unable to work due to bad weather was at 133K, nearly double the April historical average of 76k employees.

However, it wasn’t just the headline payrolls number that was a disappointment: the much more closely watched average hourly earnings print also missed, rising just 0.1% M/M, below the 0.2% expected, and 2.6% Y/Y, also missing the 2.7% expected.

Specifically, the average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 4 cents to $26.84. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 67 cents, or 2.6%.  Average weekly earnings rose a solid 2.9%, but below the 3.2% last month.

Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased by 5 cents to $22.51 in April.

The average workweek for all employees was unchanged at 34.5 hours in April. In  manufacturing, the workweek increased by 0.2 hour to 41.1 hours, while overtime edged up by 0.1 hour to 3.7 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees increased by 0.1 hour to 33.8 hours.

The one piece of solidly good news in today’s report is that the unemployment rate dropped to a new 18 year low of 3.9%, below the 4.0% expected, and down sharply from the 4.1% in March, which however was the result of a 240K drop in the labor force as the number of employed Americans (per the Household Survey) remained virtually unchanged at 155.181K

Offsetting this, the participation rate declined modestly from 62.9% to 62.8%.

Some more details from the report:

Employment in manufacturing increased by 24,000 in April. Most of the gain was in the durable goods component, with machinery adding 8,000 jobs and employment in fabricated metal products continuing to trend up (+4,000). Manufacturing employment has risen by 245,000 over the year, with about three-fourths of the growth in durable goods industries.

Health care added 24,000 jobs in April and 305,000 jobs over the year. In April, employment rose in ambulatory health care services (+17,000) and hospitals (+8,000).

In April, employment in mining increased by 8,000, with most of the gain occurring in support activities for mining (+7,000). Since a recent low in October 2016, employment in mining has risen by 86,000.

Employment changed little over the month in other major industries, including construction, wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities, leisure and hospitality, and government.

end

We actually did receive some wage inflation through the number of overtime hours worked. Generally when you see overtime hrs increase it means that companies cannot get capable workers..thus it seems that we are in a tight labour market

(courtesy zerohedge)

No Wage Inflation? Not So Fast: Overtime Hours Soar

“And just like that, wage inflation went away.”

Despite unemployment falling to 3.9% and tight labor markets, the BLS is reporting the lowest levels of annualized wage inflation in a year.

However, as Southbay Research points out, what is going on is a mirror image of the February wage inflation scare, when a drop in hours worked prompted the BLS to calculate that average hourly earnings jumped even as weekly earnings remained flat.

First, here is what the wage data revealed:

• Accelerating inflation: Construction (0.6% m/m), Retail (0.5%), Information (0.3%), Pro Services (0.3%)
• Decelerating inflation: Wholesale Trade (-0.1%), Transportation (-0.2%), Financial Services (-0.4%), Education & Health (-0.1%), Leisure (0.2%)

What is going on is that at the aggregate level, hourly earnings – which as the name implies are an “average” – declined. The driver was simple: a sharp jump in hours worked, specifically at the “overtime hours” level, which hit a new post crisis high.

As Southbay points out, as a sign of pressure, overtime jumped again and remain at a cyclical high.  Overtime is both costly and (in a tight labor market) a sign that employers can’t find more workers.

Combining this regular hours, and we get the answer for today’s surprising miss in wage growth, even as the unemployment rate printed a new cycle low of 3.95: the real culprit in the low AHE is the sudden jump in hours worked, which of course, is the denominator in the AHE calculation.

And judging by the sharp post-kneejerk spike in the dollar after the disappointing, post-payrolls slump, the market may have figured this out.

end

Where The Jobs Were In April: Who’s Hiring And Who Isn’t

After years of monthly payroll reports padded with excessive minimum wage waiter, bartender, educator or retail worker jobs, the just released April jobs report, disappointing as it may have been on the top-line, showed surprising strength in most components even if some negative surprises were also present.

Of note: the biggest jobs growth in April was in the higher paying job categories, such as professional services and manufacturing. The notable sector trends are as follows, via Southbay Research:

• Continued strength in Goods Production: Oil services (+7K), Construction (+17K) & Manufacturing (+24K).
• Trade & Transportation Slowed: Wholesale (-10K), Retail (+2K), and Transportation (+0K).

And while the retail sluggishness was expected, the weakness in Wholesale and Transportation was not, especially since it was contradicted by micro level data sourced directly from major trucking employers, all of whom have been complaining they can’t find enough people to hire, which suggests there may be an upward revision next month.

Some other highlights:

• Professional Services were especially strong, with a balanced mix of White collar demand (Technical services +26K) and Admin & Suppport (+28K). The offset: Temp workers came in soft at just +10.3K.
• Manufacturing also very strong at +24K: machinery added +8K jobs and fabricated metal products was up +4,000.
• Education weak with just +1.1K: Unexplained significant weakness in this sector.
• Healthcare was steady: +29.3K: Employment rose in ambulatory health care services (+17,000) and hospitals (+8,000).
• Leisure & Hospitality mild: +18K
• Mining +8K solid, most of the gain came from support activities for mining (+7,000).

Visually:

Looking over the past year, the following charts from Bloomberg show the industries with the highest and lowest rates of employment growth for the prior year. The latest month’s figures are highlighted. Wage data are shown when available.

Initial morning trading just after release of the payroll report:(courtesy zerohedge)

Dollar Spikes, VIX Flash-Crashes After Payrolls Disappointment

Following this morning’s disappointing payrolls data – if you ignore the ridiculous 3.9% unemployment rate that The Fed focuses on – the dollar index is spiking back above pre-FOMC levels.

However, it is the massive VIX flash-crash to a 10 handle is the most notable…

Stocks are sinking post-payrolls…

Not a fat finger!

end

SWAMP STORIES

The real truth about Robert Mueller as researched by House Representative Louis Gohmert.  Louie is a Republican tea party Rep. from Texas and he is judge.  He is known for his articulate reports. This expose on Mueller is extremely long but I assure you it is worth reading especially if you have some spare time tomorrow.

(courtesy Louis Gohmert)

Exposed: The Naked Truth About Robert Mueller

Authored by Rep Louis Gohmert via Director Blue blog,

Robert Mueller has a long and sordid history of illicitly targeting innocent people. His many actions are a stain upon the legacy of American jurisprudence. He lacks the judgment and credibility to lead the prosecution of anyone.

I do not make these statements lightly. Each time I prepared to question Mueller during Congressional hearings, the more concerned I became about his ethics and behavior. As I went back to begin compiling all of that information in order to recount personal interactions with Mueller, the more clearly the big picture began to come into focus.

At one point I had to make the decision to stop adding to this compilation or it would turn into a far too lengthy project. My goal was to share some firsthand experiences with Mueller — as other Republican Members of Congress had requested — adding, “You seem to know so much about him.”

This article is prepared from my viewpoint to help better inform the reader about the Special Prosecutor leading the effort to railroad President Donald J. Trump through whatever manufactured charge he can allege.

Judging by Mueller’s history, it doesn’t matter who he has to threaten, harass, prosecute or bankrupt to get to allege something or, for that matter, anything. It certainly appears Mueller will do whatever it takes to bring down his target — ethically or unethically — based on my findings.

What does former Attorney General Eric Holder say? Sounds like much the same thing I just said. Holder has stated, “I’ve known Bob Mueller for 20, 30 years; my guess is he’s just trying to make the case as good as he possibly can.”

Holder does know him. He has seen Mueller at work when Holder was obstructing justice and was therefore held in Contempt of Congress. He knows Mueller’s FBI framed innocent people and had no remorse in doing so.

Let’s look at what we know. What I have accumulated here is absolutely shocking upon the realization that Mueller’s disreputable, twisted history speaks to the character of the man placed in a position to attempt to legalize a coup against a lawfully-elected President. Any Republican who says anything resembling, “Bob Mueller will do a good job as Special Counsel,” “Bob Mueller has a great reputation for being fair,” or anything similar; either (a) wants President Trump indicted for something and removed from office regardless of his innocence; (b) is intentionally ignorant of the myriad of outrageous problems permeating Mueller’s professional history; or (c) is cultivating future Democrat votes when he or she comes before the Senate someday for a confirmation hearing.

There is simply too much clear and convincing evicdence to the contrary. Where other writers have set out information succinctly, I have quoted them, with proper attribution. My goal is to help you understand what I have found.

ROBERT MUELLER – BACKGROUND

In his early years as FBI Director, most Republican members of Congress gave Mueller a pass in oversight hearings, allowing him to avoid tough questions. After all, we were continually told, “Bush appointed him.” I gave him easy questions the first time I questioned him in 2005 out of deference to his Vietnam service. Yet, the longer I was in Congress, the more conspicuous the problems became. As I have said before of another Vietnam veteran, just because someone deserves our respect for service or our sympathy for things that happened to them in the military, that does not give them the right to harm our country later. As glaring problems came to light, I toughened up my questions in the oversight hearings. But first, let’s cover a little of Mueller’s history.

MUELLER: THE WHITEY BULGER AFFAIR

The Boston Globe noted Robert Mueller’s connection with the Whitey Bulger case in an article entitled, “One Lingering Question for FBI Director Robert Mueller.” The Globe said this: “[Mike] Albano [former Parole Board Member who was threatened by two FBI agents for considering parole for the men imprisoned for a crime they did not commit] was appalled that, later that same year, Mueller was appointed FBI director, because it was Mueller, first as an assistant US attorney then as the acting U.S. attorney in Boston, who wrote letters to the parole and pardons board throughout the 1980s opposing clemency for the four men framed by FBI lies. Of course, Mueller was also in that position while Whitey Bulger was helping the FBI cart off his criminal competitors even as he buried bodies in shallow graves along the Neponset…”

Mueller was the head of the Criminal Division as Assistant U.S. Attorney, then as Acting U.S. Attorney. I could not find any explanation online by Mueller as to why he insisted on keeping the defendants in prison that FBI agents—in the pocket of Whitey Bulger— had framed for a murder they did not commit. Make no mistake: these were not honorable people he had incarcerated. But it was part of a pattern that eventually became quite clear that Mueller was more concerned with convicting and putting people in jail he disliked, even if they were innocent of the charges, than he was with ferreting out the truth. I found no explanation as to why he did not bear any responsibility for the $100 million paid to the defendants who were framed by FBI agents under his control. The Boston Globe said, “Thanks to the FBI’s corruption, taxpayers got stuck with the $100 million bill for compensating the framed men, two of whom, Greco and Tameleo, died in prison.”

The New York Times explained the relationship this way: “In the 1980’s, while [FBI Agent] Mr. Connolly was working with Whitey Bulger, Mr. Mueller was assistant United States attorney in Boston in charge of the criminal division and for a period was the acting United States attorney here, presiding over Mr. Connolly and Mr. Bulger as a ’top echelon informant.’

Officials of the Massachusetts State Police and the Boston Police Department had long wondered why their investigations of Mr. Bulger were always compromised before they could gather evidence against him, and they suspected that the FBI was protecting him.”

If Mr. Mueller had no knowledge that the FBI agents he used were engaged in criminal activity, then he certainly was so incredibly blind that he should never be allowed back into any type of criminal case supervision. He certainly helped continue contributing to the damages of the framed individuals by working relentlessly to prevent them from being paroled out of prison even as their charges were in the process of being completely thrown out.

Notice also the evidence of a pattern throughout Mueller’s career: the leaking of information to disparage Mueller’s targets. In the Whitey Bulger case, the leaks were to organized crime — the Mafia.

One of the basic, most bedrock tenets of our Republic is that we never imprison people for being “bad” people. Anyone imprisoned has to have committed a specific crime for which they are found guilty. Not in Mueller’s world. He has the anti-Santa Claus list; and, if you are on his list, you get punished even if you are framed.

He never apologizes when the truth is learned, no matter how wrong or potentially criminal or malicious the prosecution was. In his book, you deserve what you get even if you did not commit the crime for which he helped put you away. This is but one example, though — as Al Pacino once famously said — “I’m just getting warmed up!”

REP. CURT WELDON ATTACKED AND CRUSHED BY ROBERT MUELLER

During my first term in Congress, 2005 to 2006, Congressman Curt Weldon delivered some powerful and relentless allegations about the FBI having prior knowledge that 9/11 was coming. He repeatedly alleged that there was documentary evidence to show that 9/11 could have been prevented and thousands of lives saved if the FBI had done its job. He held up documents at times while making these claims in speeches on the floor of the House of Representatives.

I was surprised that FBI Director Mueller seemed to largely ignore these allegations. It seemed to me that he should either admit the FBI made significant mistakes or refute the allegations. Little did I know Mueller’s FBI was preparing a response, but it certainly was not the kind of response that I would have expected if an honorable man had been running that once hallowed institution.

You can read two of Congressman Weldon’s speeches on the House floor that are linked below. After reading the excerpts I have provided, you may get a window into the mind of the FBI Director or someone under Mueller’s control at the FBI. The FBI literally destroyed Congressman Weldon’s public service life, which then foreclosed his ability to use a national platform to expose what he believed were major problems in the FBI fostered under the Clinton administration. Here is but one such excerpt of a speech wherein he spoke of the failure of FBI leadership, then under the direction of the Clinton administration and as came within Mueller’s control just before 9/11. Shockingly, the Mueller FBI failed to even accept from the military any information on the very terrorists who would later go on to commit the atrocities of

9/11, much less act upon it.

The U.S. gleaned this information through development of a surveillance technology called Able Danger. On October 19, 2005, Rep. Curt Weldon delivered the following statement on the House floor.

Mr. Speaker, back in 1999 when I was Chair of the Defense Research Subcommittee, the Army was doing cutting-edge work on a new type of technology to allow us to understand and predict emerging transnational terrorist threats. That technology was being done at several locations but was being led by our Special Forces Command. The work that they were doing was unprecedented. And because of what I saw there, I supported the development of a national capability of a collaborative center that the CIA would just not accept.

In fact, in November 4 of 1999, two years before 9-11, in a meeting in my office with the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Deputy Director of the CIA, Deputy Director of the FBI, we presented a nine-page proposal to create a national collaborative center.

When we finished the brief, the CIA said we did not need that capability, and so before 9/11 we did not have it. When President Bush came in after a year of research, he announced the formation of the Terrorism Threat Integration Center, exactly what I had proposed in 1999. Today it is known as the NCTC, the National Counterterrorism Center.

But, Mr. Speaker, what troubles me is not the fact that we did not take those steps. What troubles me is that I now have learned in the last four months that one of the tasks that was being done in 1999 and 2000 was a Top Secret program organized at the request of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, carried out by the General in charge of our Special Forces Command, a very elite unit focusing on information regarding al Qaeda. It was a military language effort to allow us to identify the key cells of al Qaeda around the world and to give the military the capability to plan actions against those cells, so they could not attack us as they did in 1993 at the Trade Center, at the Khobar Towers, the USS Cole attack, and the African embassy bombings.

What I did not know, Mr. Speaker, up until June of this year, was that this secret program called Able Danger actually identified the Brooklyn cell of al Qaeda in January and February of 2000, over one year before 9/11 ever happened.

In addition, I learned that not only did we identify the Brooklyn cell of al Qaeda, but we identified Mohamed Atta as one of the members of that Brooklyn cell along with three other terrorists who were the leadership of the 9-11 attack.

I have also learned, Mr. Speaker, that in September of 2000, again, over one year before 9-11, that [the] Able Danger team attempted on three separate occasions to provide information to the FBI about the Brooklyn cell of al Qaeda, and on three separate occasions they were denied by lawyers in the previous administration to transfer that information.

Mr. Speaker, this past Sunday on “Meet the Press,” Louis Freeh, FBI Director at the time, was interviewed by Tim Russert. The first question to Louis Freeh was in regard to the FBI’s ability to ferret out the terrorists. Louis Freeh’s response, which can be obtained by anyone in this country as a part of the official record, was, ‘Well, Tim, we are now finding out that a top-secret program of the military called Able Danger actually identified the Brooklyn cell of al Qaeda and Mohammed Atta over a year before 9/11.’

And what Louis Freeh said, Mr. Speaker, is that that kind of actionable data could have allowed us to prevent the hijackings that occurred on September 11.

So now we know, Mr. Speaker, that military intelligence officers working in a program authorized by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the General in charge of Special Forces Command, identified Mohammed Atta and three terrorists a year before 9/11, tried to transfer that information to the FBI [and] were denied; and [that] the FBI Director has now said publicly if he would have had that information, the FBI could have used it to perhaps prevent the hijackings that struck the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the plane that landed in Pennsylvania and perhaps saved 3,000 lives and changed the course of world history.

Curt Weldon gave a series of speeches, recounting what he saw and what he knew, regarding the failures of the FBI and the Clinton administration to share information that could have prevented 9/11.

Congressman Weldon tried to hold those accountable in the FBI and CIA that he felt had mishandled actionable intelligence which he said could have thwarted the 9/11 attacks. He recounted many examples of similar intelligence failures.

In 2006, the Robert Mueller-led FBI took horrendously unjust actions to derail Curt Weldon’s reelection bid just weeks before the vote—actions that were later described as a “hit job”: “Each of Weldon’s 10 previous re-elections had been by sizable margins. Polls showed he was up by 5-7 points [in the fall of 2006]. Three weeks prior to the election, however, a national story ran about Weldon based upon anonymous sources that an investigation was underway against him and his daughter, alleging illegal activities involving his congressional work. Weldon had received no prior notification of any such investigation and was dumbfounded that such a story would run especially since he regularly briefed the FBI and intelligence agencies on his work.

A week after the news story broke, alleging a need to act quickly because of the leak, FBI agents from Washington raided the home of Weldon’s daughter at 7:00AM on a Monday morning… Local TV and print media had all been alerted to the raid in advance and were already in position to cover the story. Editor’s note: Sound familiar?

Within hours, Democratic protesters were waving “Caught Red-Handed” signs outside Weldon’s district office in Upper Darby. In the ensuing two weeks, local and national media ran multiple stories implying that Weldon must also have been under investigation. Given the coverage, Weldon lost the election… To this day, incredibly, no one in authority has asked Weldon or his daughter about the raid or the investigation. There was no follow up, no questions, no grand jury interrogation, nothing.

One year after the raid the local FBI office called Weldon’s daughter to have her come get the property that had been removed from her home. That was it…The raid ruined the career of Weldon and his daughter.”

Though some blamed the Clintons and Sandy Berger for orchestrating the FBI “hit job,” we can’t lose sight of the fact that the head of the FBI at the time was Robert Mueller. Please understand what former FBI officials have told me: the FBI would never go after a member of Congress, House or Senate, without the full disclosure to and the blessing of the FBI Director. Even if the idea on how to silence Curt Weldon did not come from Director Mueller himself, it surely had his approval and encouragement.

The early morning raid by Mueller’s FBI — with all the media outside — who had obviously been alerted by the FBI, achieved its goal of abusing the U.S. Justice system to silence Curt Weldon by ending his political career. Mueller’s tactics worked. If the Clintons and Berger manipulated Weldon’s reelection to assure his defeat, they did it with the artful aid of Mueller, all while George W. Bush was President. Does any of this sound familiar?

People say those kinds of things just don’t happen in America. They certainly seemed to when Mueller was in charge of the FBI and they certainly seem to happen now during his tenure as Special Counsel. It appears clear that President Obama and his adjutants knew of Mueller’s reputation and that he could be used to take out their political opponents should such extra-legal actions become politically necessary.

To the great dismay of the many good, decent and patriotic FBI agents, Obama begged Mueller to stay on for two years past the 10 years the law allowed. Obama then asked Congress to approve Mueller’s waiver allowing him to stay on for two extra years. Perhaps the leaders in Congress did not realize what they were doing in approving it. I did. It was a major mistake, and I said so at the time. This is also why I objected strenuously the moment I heard Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed his old friend Bob Mueller to be Special Counsel to go after President Trump.

ROD ROSENSTEIN

I was one of the few who were NOT surprised when Mueller started selecting his assistants in the Special Counsel’s office. Many had reputations for being bullies, for indicting people who were not guilty of the charges, for forcing people toward bankruptcy by running up their legal fees (while the bullies in the Special Counsel’s office enjoy an apparently endless government budget), or by threatening innocent family members with prosecution so the Special Counsel’s victim would agree to pleading guilty to anything to prevent the Kafka-esque prosecutors from doing more harm to their families.

AN ILLEGAL RAID ON CONGRESS BY MUELLER

There is a doctrine in our governmental system that mandates each part of government must have oversight to prevent power from corrupting — and absolute power from corrupting absolutely. The Congress and Senate are accountable to the voters as is the President. Our massive and bloated bureaucracy is supposed to be accountable to the Congress.

A good example would be complaints against the Department of Justice or, specifically, the FBI.

If constituents or whistleblowers within those entities have complaints, a Congressman’s office is a good place to contact. Our conversations or information from constituents or whistleblowers are normally privileged from review by anyone within the Executive Branch. It must be so.

If the FBI could raid our offices anytime an FBI agent were to complain to us, no FBI agent could ever afford to come forward, no matter how egregious the conduct they sought to disclose.

Whistleblowers in the FBI must know they are protected. They always have known that in the past. As I learned from talking with attorneys who had helped the House previously with this issue, if the FBI or another law enforcement entity needed to search something on the House side of the Capitol or House office buildings, they contacted the House Counsel, whether with a warrant or request. The House Counsel with approval of the Speaker, would go through the Congress Members’ documents, computers, flash drives, or anything that might have any bearing on what was being sought as part of the investigation.

They would honestly determine what was relevant and what was not, and what was both irrelevant and privileged from Executive Branch review. Normally, if there were a dispute or question, it could be presented to a federal judge for a private in-chamber review to determine if it were privileged or relevant. If the DOJ or FBI were to get a warrant and gather all of the computers and documents in a Congressman’s office without the recovered items being screened to insure they are not privileged from DOJ seizure, the DOJ would be risking that an entire case might be thrown out because of things improperly recovered and “fruit of the poisonous tree,” preventing the use of even things that were not privileged.

FBI Director Mueller, however,, seemed determined to throw over 200 years of Constitutional restraints to the wind so he could let Congress know he was the unstoppable government bully who could potentially waltz into our offices whenever he wished.

In the case of Congressman William Jefferson, Democrat of Louisiana, Mueller was willing to risk a reversal of a slam dunk criminal case just to send a message to the rest of Congress: you don’t mess with Mueller. That Congressman Jefferson was guilty of something did not surprise most observers when, amidst swirling allegations, $90,000 in cold hard cash was found in his freezer. As we understood it, the FBI had a witness who was wired and basically got Jefferson on tape taking money. They had mountains of indisputable evidence to prove their case. They had gotten an entirely appropriate warrant to search his home and had even more mountains of evidence to nail the lid on his coffin, figuratively speaking.

The FBI certainly did not need to conduct an unsupervised search of a Congressman’s office to put their unbeatable case at risk. Apparently, the risk was worth it to Mueller — he could now show the members of Congress who was in charge. Apparently, the FBI knew just the right federal judge who would disregard the Constitution and allow Mueller’s minions to do their dirty work.

I read the Application for Warrant and the accompanying Affidavit for Warrant to raid Jefferson’s office, as I did so many times as a judge.

I simply could not believe they would risk such a high-profile case just to try to intimidate Members of Congress.

In the opinion of this former prosecutor, felony judge and Appellate Court Chief Justice, they could have gotten a conviction based on what they had already spelled out in the very lengthy affidavit. The official attorneys representing the House, knowing my background, allowed me to sit in on the extremely heated discussions between attorneys for the House, DOJ attorneys, and, to my recollection, an attorney from the Bush White House, after Jefferson’s office was raided.

The FBI had gathered up virtually every kind of record, computerized or otherwise, and carted them off. I was not aware of the times that the DOJ and House attorneys, with the Speaker’s permission, had cooperated over the years. No Congressman is above the law nor is any above having search warrants issued against them which is why Jefferson’s home was searched without protest.

However, when the material is in a Congressional office, there is a critical and centuries’ old balance of power that must be preserved.

The Mueller FBI, along with the DOJ, assured everyone that all was copacetic. They would ask some of the DOJ’s attorneys review all of the material and give back anything that was privileged and unlawful for the DOJ to see. Then they would make sure none of the DOJ attorneys who participated in the review of materials (that were privileged from the DOJ’s viewing) would be allowed to be prosecutors in Jefferson’s case.

If you find that kind of thinking terribly flawed and constitutionally appalling, you would be in agreement with the former Speakers of the House, the Vice President at the time, and ultimately, the final decisions of our federal appellate court system. They found the search to be illegal and inappropriate. Fortunately for the DOJ, they did not throw the entire case out. In retrospect, we did not know at the time what a farce a DOJ “firewall” would have been. Now we do!

FOR THE REST OF THE COMMENTARY:  www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-05-03/exposed-naked-truth-about-robert-mueller?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero%29&utm_content=Netvibes

end

Judge Amy Berman gets it: she will now mull her decision on whether to dismiss all charges against Manafort as she quantified Mueller’s tactics as overreaching.  Mueller has two weeks to supply evidence that Manafort was engaged in Russian collusion with respect to the 2016 election.  No doubt nothing will come forward and Manafort will finally be set free.  This will be a huge setback to Mueller and it certainly will influence the other cases such as Flynn and Papadopoulous and others.

(courtesy zerohedge)

Judge Mulls Dismissal Of Manafort Charges, Sharply Questioned Mueller Overreach

Like most motions to dismiss, Paul Manafort’s was initially viewed as a long-shot bid to win the political operative his freedom and get out from under the thumb of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

But after today’s hearing on a motion to dismiss filed by Manafort’s lawyers, it’s looking increasingly likely that Manafort could escape his charges – and finally be free of his ankle bracelets – as judge Amy Berman Jackson said Mueller shouldn’t have “unfettered power” to prosecute over charges that have nothing to do with collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians.

Berman said she’s concerned Mueller is only pursuing charges against Manafort (and presumably other individuals) to pressure them into turning on Trump. Berman added that the charges brought against Manafort didn’t appear to stem from Mueller’s collusion probe. Instead, they appeared to be the work of an older investigation into Manafort that was eventually dropped.

“I don’t see how this indictment has anything to do with anything the special prosecutor is authorized to investigate,” Berman said.

Berman has given prosecutors two weeks to show what evidence they have that Manafort was complicit in colluding with the Russians. If they can’t come up with any, she will presumably dismiss the case. She said she would also like to see the letter signed by Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein outlining the scope of the Mueller probe.

Of course, such a dismissal would be nothing short of groundbreaking. It would potentially make it much harder for Mueller to turn witnesses against the president.

zerohedge@zerohedge

43m

JUDGE QUESTIONS WHY MANAFORT CASE IN VIRGINIA SHOULD NOT BE HANDLED BY U.S. ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, RATHER THAN SPECIAL COUNSEL BECAUSE IT IS NOT RUSSIA-RELATED

Rob Lee@WRRob

Uh-oh precedence if this gets dismissed…. The Judge may single handedly end the cat and mouse games by the special council and would make it much harder for Muller to turn any other parties to his side (because all charges are unrelated to Russia so far)….

We imagine President Trump will gleefully weigh in on Twitter, touting Berman’s skepticism as validation of his view.

END

Trump is about to change his official story on the Cohen hush money payment.  He continues to slam Mueller

(courtesy zerohedge)

Trump Slams Mueller/Dems “Witch Hunt”, Says “Great Guy” Giuliani Will “Get His Facts Straight”

President Trump answered some shouted questions from reporters as he headed for the helicopter this morning.

While his main focus was on how great the jobs number was and the “Witch Hunt” that is Mueller’s investigation (and the Democrat-led investigations)…

Trump said “if it was fair, he would override the advice of his lawyers not to speak to Mueller.”

“I would love to talk to Mueller or the investigations, because there was no collusion with Russia, but there are 13 democrats, 13 angry democrats, and I wouldn’t be treated fairly.”

We suspect the main headlines will be about his comments on Rudy Giuliani, after Giuliani appeared for a series of bombshell interviews on Fox News and declared that Cohen was repaid by the president for his $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump.

“…we love Rudy, he’s a special guy but he doesn’t understand all the facts… he’s only been here a few days… he understands this is a witch hunt… he’ll get his facts straight.“

NBC News

✔@NBCNews

President Trump on Rudy Giuliani: “He started yesterday. He’ll get his facts straight. He’s a great guy.”

Which clearly implies the White House is shifting the narrative once again. As The Hill notes, Giuliani said Trump only learned about what the payment was for recently; Trump then backed up Giuliani’s account in a series of tweets Thursday morning…  But now, Trump appears to be walking that account back, adding even more confusion about the payment that has dogged his presidency.

Finally, Trump said that the former New York City mayor is:

“working hard, he’s learning the subject matter and he’s going to be issuing a statement too.”

Trump insisted “we’re not changing any stories” and urged reporters to go back to his statements early last month, when he flatly denied knowing about the payment and claimed he had no knowledge of the source of the money.

“Rudy understands this better than everybody but when he made certain statements, he just started yesterday, so that’s it,” Trump said. “He wasn’t totally familiar with everything.”

Of course, judging by President Trump’s historical playbook of praising before firing his staff, his “special guy… great guy”comments could be ominous for Giuliani.

Additionally, Mediate is reporting that MSNBC’s Donny Deutsch dropped a bombshell on Morning Joe Friday, stating that said President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen told him Rudy Giuliani “doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

Giuliani’s comments were an effort to defend Cohen against charges his payment to Daniels violated campaign finance laws, though it’s not clear he cleaned anything up for the president’s fixer.

“The Giuliani thing is interesting,” Deutsch said. “We forget how during the campaign, Giuliani was unhinged. I mean if you showed clips of him during the campaign, there was a reason he didn’t get hired for all the jobs that he wanted to.”

“I spoke with Michael Cohen yesterday, and his remark about Giuliani, was that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Deutsch said. “He also said look, there are two people that know exactly what happened. And that’s myself and the president. And you’ll be hearing my side of the story.”

“And he was obviously very frustrated with what had come out yesterday,” Deutsch added.

Finally, we note that Trump said that they have a date and location ready for the Summit with North Korean leader Kim (but would not reveal it).

END

Guiliani clarifies his previous comments

(courtesy zerohedge)

Giuliani “Clarifies” His Recent Comments

Just as President Trump earlier indicated would happen, newly minuted Trump-lawyer Rudy Giuliani has issued a brief statement ” intended to clarify the views I expressed over the past few days.”

These are his “adjusted” views:

First:

There is no campaign violation. The payment was made to resolve a personal and false allegation in order to protect the President’s family. It would have been done in any event, whether he was a candidate or not.

Second:

My references to timing were not describing my understanding of the President’s knowledge, but instead, my understanding of these matters.

Third:

It is undisputed that the President’s dismissal of former Director Comey — an inferior executive officer — was clearly within his  Article II power. Recent revelations about former Director Comey further confirm the wisdom of the President’s decision, Article II power. Recent revelations about former Director Comey further confirm the wisdom of the President’s decision, which was plainly in the best interests of our nation.

It would seem that Giuliani’s “facts” are now “straight” with President Trump’s.

end

As is our custom, let us wrap up the week with this offering courtesy of Greg hunter of USAWatchdog

(courtesy Greg Hunter)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com (WNW 333 5.4.18)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is out with massive amounts of new evidence that Iran does have a nuclear weapons program. In a press conference this week, Netanyahu said Iran has been lying about the military application of its nuclear program for years. He also says the so-called Iran nuke deal to curtail Iran’s nuclear ambition is “based on lies.” Is this going to lead to war? Is Trump going to pull out of the deal which Iran did not sign?

Former New York City Mayor and federal prosecutor Rudy Giuliani has signed onto the Trump legal team to protect the President from the witch hunt of the debunked Russian collusion story. Democrats and so-called “Deep State” forces are trying anything and everything to remove Trump from office. Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller is supposed be looking into Russian interference in the 2016 election. He’s been trying to frame Trump for crimes he did not commit, while ignoring real crime of the FBI, DOJ and the Clinton-run DNC. Looks like a constitutional crisis is brewing between team Trump and the criminals trying to overthrow a duly elected President.

Did you know Democrats are socialists? Well, Hillary Clinton finally made it official by saying, “41% of Democrats are socialists.” Clinton considers herself to be a capitalist, and she says this is one of the many reasons why she lost in 2016. The list of excuses grows every week.

Join Greg Hunter as he give his take on the week’s top stories in the Weekly News Wrap-Up.

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HARVEY