GOLD:$1723.50 UP $4.70 The quote is London spot price

Silver:$26.10. DOWN $0.03 London spot price ( cash market)

PLATINIUM $1175.40 UP $23.10

PALLADIUM: 2292.00 DOWN 220 PER OZ

Closing access prices: London spot//GOLD AND SILVER

i)Gold : $1726.20 LONDON SPOT 4:30 pm

ii)SILVER: $26.21//LONDON SPOT 4:30 pm

Editorial of The New York Sun | February 1, 2021

end

Editorial of The New York Sun | February 1, 2021

COMEX DATA

JPMorgan has been receiving gold with reckless abandon and sometimes supplying (stopping)

receiving today 135/289

EXCHANGE: COMEX
CONTRACT: MARCH 2021 COMEX 100 GOLD FUTURES
SETTLEMENT: 1,716.600000000 USD
INTENT DATE: 03/09/2021 DELIVERY DATE: 03/11/2021
FIRM ORG FIRM NAME ISSUED STOPPED
____________________________________________________________________________________________
167 C MAREX 1
332 H STANDARD CHARTE 151
657 C MORGAN STANLEY 14
661 C JP MORGAN 271 135
737 C ADVANTAGE 4 2
____________________________________________________________________________________________

TOTAL: 289 289
MONTH TO DATE: 6,197

issued: 271

Goldman Sachs: stopped: 0

NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED TODAY FOR MAR. CONTRACT: 289 NOTICE(S) FOR 28900 OZ (0.8989 tonnes)

TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED SO FAR: 6197 NOTICES FOR 619700 OZ (19.275 tonnes)

SILVER//MAR CONTRACT

283 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 1415,000 OZ/

total number of notices filed so far this month: 9652 for 48,260,000 oz

BITCOIN MORNING QUOTE $55,346, UP 1103 dollars

BITCOIN AFTERNOON QUOTE.:$56,230 UP 1987 DOLLARS .

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

GLD AND SLV INVENTORIES:

Gold

WITH GOLD UP $4.70 AND NO PHYSICAL TO BE FOUND ANYWHERE:

WITH ALL REFINER CLOSED//MEXICO ORDERING ALL MINES SHUT: WHERE ARE THEY GETTING THE “PHYSICAL?

WE HAVE BEEN WITNESSING HUGE WITHDRAWALS WHETHER GOLD IS UP OR DOWN.

IT SEEMS TO BE THAT IN GOLD, THE BANK OF ENGLAND WANTS ITS GOLD LEASE BACK EVEN THOUGH THE GOLD IS IN THE B OF E VAULTS. THE RISK OF DEFAULT BY THE GLD IS TOO GREAT FOR THEM SO THEY NO DOUBT THEY ARE CANCELLING THEIR LEASES WITH GLD

(THE SAME CAN BE SAID FOR SILVER AS JPMORGAN CALLS IN ITS LEASES TO SLV)

A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//:A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF: 1.46 PAPER TONNES FROM THE GLD.

GLD: 1,061.98 TONNES OF GOLD//

Silver

WITH SILVER DOWN 3 CENTS TODAY: AND WITH NO SILVER AROUND

ANOTHER HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//A WITHDRAWAL OF 928,000 OZ FROM THE SLV..

SLV: 592.438 MILLION OZ./

xxxxx

GLD closing price//NYSE 161.68 UP $0.84 OR 0.52%

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

SLV closing price NYSE 24.33 UP $0.28 OR 1.16%

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Let us have a look at the data for today

THE COMEX OI IN SILVER ROSE BY A STRONG SIZED 2056 CONTRACTS FROM 153,369 UP TO 155,425, AND CLOSER TO A NEW RECORD OF 244,710, (FEB 25/2020. THE GAIN IN OI OCCURRED WITH OUR STRONG $0.91 GAIN IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX. IT SEEMS THAT THE GAIN IN COMEX OI IS DUE TO A MASSIVE BANKER AND ALGO SHORT COVERING AS THEY FIGURED SOMETHING WAS UP!!//HUGE REDDIT RAPTOR BUYING//.. COUPLED AGAINST A VERY STRONG SIZED EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE. WE ALSO HAD ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION AND A STRONG INCREASE STANDING AT THE COMEX FOR MAR. WE HAD A STRONG NET GAIN IN OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 4094 CONTRACTS (SEE CALCULATIONS BELOW).

WE WERE NOTIFIED THAT WE HAD A STRONG NUMBER OF COMEX LONGS TRANSFERRING THEIR CONTRACTS TO LONDON THROUGH THE EFP ROUTE: 1950,, AS WE HAD THE FOLLOWING ISSUANCE: MARCH 0 MAY:1950 AND ZERO ALL OTHER MONTHS AND THEREFORE TOTAL ISSUANCE 1950 CONTRACTS. THE BANKERS ARE NOW BEING BITTEN BY THOSE SERIAL FORWARDS (EFP’S CIRCULATING IN LONDON)AS THEY ARE NOW BEING EXERCISED AND COMING BACK TO NEW YORK FOR REDEMPTION OF METAL. THE COST TO SERVICE THESE SERIAL FORWARDS IS HIGH TO OUR BANKERS BUT THEY HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO ISSUE A FEW OF THEM!

HISTORY OF SILVER OZ STANDING AT THE COMEX FOR THE PAST 26 MONTHS.

JUNE/2018. (5.420 MILLION OZ);

FOR JULY: 30.370 MILLION OZ

FOR AUG., 6.065 MILLION OZ

FOR SEPT. 39.505 MILLION OZ S

FOR OCT.2.525 MILLION OZ.

FOR NOV: A HUGE 7.440 MILLION OZ STANDING AND

21.925 MILLION OZ FINALLY STAND FOR DECEMBER.

5.845 MILLION OZ STAND IN JANUARY.

2.955 MILLION OZ STANDING FOR FEBRUARY.:

27.120 MILLION OZ STANDING IN MARCH.

3.875 MILLION OZ STANDING FOR SILVER IN APRIL.

18.845 MILLION OZ STANDING FOR SILVER IN MAY.

2.660 MILLION OZ STANDING FOR SILVER IN JUNE//

22.605 MILLION OZ STANDING FOR JULY

10.025 MILLION OZ INITIAL STANDING IN AUGUST.

43.030 MILLION OZ INITIALLY STANDING IN SEPT. (HUGE)

7.32 MILLION OZ INITIALLY STANDING IN OCT

2.630 MILLION OZ STANDING FOR NOV.

20.970 MILLION OZ FINAL STANDING IN DEC

5.075 MILLION OZ FINAL STANDING IN JAN

1.480 MILLION OZ FINAL STANDING IN FEB

23.005 MILLION OZ FINAL STANDING FOR MAR

4.660 MILLION OZ FINAL STANDING FOR APRIL

45.220 MILLION OZ FINAL STANDING FOR MAY

2.205 MILLION OF FINAL STANDING FOR JUNE

86.470 MILLION OZ FINAL STANDING IN JULY.

6.475 MILLION OZ FINAL STANDING IN AUGUST

55.400 MILLION OZ FINAL STANDING IN SEPT

8.900 MILLION OZ INITIALLY STANDING IN OCT.

3.950 MILLION OZ FINAL STANDING IN NOV.

46.685 MILLION OZ FINAL STANDING FOR DEC.

6.890 MILLION FINAL STANDING FOR JAN 2021

12.020 MILLION OZ FINAL STANDING FOR FEB 2021

53.855 MILLION OZ INITIAL STANDING FOR MARCH 2021

TUESDAY, AGAIN OUR CROOKS USED COPIOUS PAPER IN ORDER TO LIQUIDATE SILVER’S PRICE …AND THEY WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING THE PRICE OF SILVER DOWN (IT ROSE BY $0.91) ).. AND, OUR OFFICIAL SECTOR/BANKERS WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN THEIR ATTEMPT TO FLEECE ANY SILVER LONGS. WE HAD A STRONG NET GAIN OUR TWO EXCHANGES (4006 CONTRACTS). NO DOUBT THE TOTAL GAIN IN OI IN OUR TWO EXCHANGES WERE DUE TO i) MONSTROUS BANKER/ALGO SHORT COVERING// STRONG REDDIT RAPTOR BUYING//. WE ALSO HAD ii) A STRONG ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS 2) A STRONG INCREASE IN STANDING FOR SILVER FOR MAR, iii) STRONG COMEX OI GAIN AND iv) ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION //.YOU CAN BET THE FARM THAT OUR BANKERS ARE DESPERATE TO LIQUIDATE THEIR HUGE SHORT POSITIONS IN SILVER..

WE ARE BEGINNING TO WITNESS A LACK OF EXCHANGE FOR GOLD PHYSICALS UNDERWRITTEN DUE TO PREMIUMS STARTING TO REAPPEAR IN THE FUTURE PRICE OF GOLD VS LONDON SPOT. THE COST TO THE BANKERS IS JUST TOO GREAT TO ENGAGE IN THESE VEHICLES ONCE THIS OCCURS.

HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS

MAR

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

10,524 CONTRACTS (FOR 8 TRADING DAY(S) TOTAL 10,524 CONTRACTS) OR 52.620 MILLION OZ: (AVERAGE PER DAY: 1315 CONTRACTS OR 6.57 MILLION OZ/DAY)

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE HUGE SUPPLY THIS MONTH IN SILVER: SO FAR THIS MONTH OF MAR: 52.620 MILLION PAPER OZ HAVE MORPHED OVER TO LONDON.

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE HUGE SUPPLY THIS MONTH IN SILVER: SO FAR THIS MONTH OF MAR: 52.620. MILLION PAPER OZ HAVE MORPHED OVER TO LONDON.

JAN EFP ACCUMULATION FINAL: 113.735 MILLION OZ

FEB EFP ACCUMULATION FINAL: 208.18 MILLION OZ (RAPIDLY INCREASING AGAIN)

MAR EFP ACCUMULATION SO FAR: A STRONG: 52.620 MILLION OZ (DRAMATICALLYSLOWING DOWN AGAIN)

RESULT: WE HAD A STRONG SIZED INCREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF 2056, WITH OUR STRONG $0.91 GAIN IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX ///TUESDAY .…THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A STRONG SIZED EFP ISSUANCE OF 1950 CONTRACTS WHICH EXITED OUT OF THE SILVER COMEX TO LONDON AS FORWARDS.

TODAY WE GAINED A STRONG SIZED 4006 OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES (WITH OUR $0.91 GAIN IN PRICE)//

THE TALLY//EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS

i.e 1950 OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS HEADED FOR LONDON (EFP’s)TOGETHER WITH A STRONG SIZED INCREASE OF 2056 OI COMEX CONTRACTS. AND ALL OF THIS DEMAND HAPPENED WITH OUR $0.91 GAIN IN PRICE OF SILVER/AND A CLOSING PRICE OF $26.15 //TUESDAY’S TRADING. YET WE STILL HAVE A STRONG AMOUNT OF SILVER STANDING AT THE COMEX FOR DELIVERY.

FOR THE NEW MAR. DELIVERY MONTH/ THEY FILED AT THE COMEX: 283 NOTICE(S) FOR 1,415,000, OZ OF SILVER.

IN SILVER,PRIOR TO TODAY, WE SET THE NEW COMEX RECORD OF OPEN INTEREST AT 244,196 CONTRACTS ON AUG 22.2018. AND AGAIN THIS HAS BEEN SET WITH A LOW PRICE OF $14.70//TODAY’S RECORD OF 244,705 WAS SET WITH A PRICE OF: 18.91 (FEB 25/2020)

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)

GOLD

IN GOLD, THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST FELL BY AN INCREDIBLE SIZED 7755 CONTRACTS TO 475,067 AND FURTHER FROM OUR NEW RECORD (SET JAN 24/2020) AT 799,541 AND PREVIOUS TO THAT: (SET JAN 6/2020) AT 797,110.

THE STRONG SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI OCCURRED DESPITE OUR HUGE GAIN IN PRICE OF $37.40///COMEX GOLD TRADING/TUESDAY.WE MUST HAVE HAD MONSTROUS BANKER/ALGO SHORT COVERING (OR A HUGE ERROR BY THE CME) ACCOMPANYING OUR SMALL SIZED EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE. WE HAD ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION. WE ALSO HAD A HUGE ADVANCE IN GOLD STANDING AT THE COMEX TO 24.441 TONNES FOR MARCH..

YET ALL OF..THIS HAPPENED WITH OUR HUGE GAIN IN PRICE OF $37.40!!!.????????????????

WE HAD A VOLUME OF 0 4 -GC CONTRACTS//OPEN INTEREST 0//

WE HAD A FAIR SIZED LOSS OF 5389 CONTRACTS 16.76 TONNES) ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES..

E.F.P. ISSUANCE

THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A SMALL SIZED 2366 CONTRACTS:

CONTRACT . FEB:0, APRIL: 2366 AND JUNE: 0 ALL OTHER MONTHS ZERO//TOTAL: 2366. The NEW COMEX OI for the gold complex rests at 473,871. 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 EXCHANGE 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 DECREASE IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 45389 CONTRACTS: 7755 CONTRACTS DECREASED AT THE COMEX AND 2366 EFP OI CONTRACTS WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS TOTAL OI LOSS OF 5389 CONTRACTS OR 16.76 TONNES.

CALCULATIONS ON GAIN/LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES:

WE HAD A SMALL SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (2366) ACCOMPANYING THE INCREDIBLE SIZED LOSS IN COMEX OI (7755 OI): TOTAL LOSS IN THE TWO EXCHANGES: 5389 CONTRACTS. WE NO DOUBT HAD 1 ) MONSTROUS BANKER SHORT COVERING AS OUR BANKERS ARE RUNNING FROM DODGE AND CONSIDERABLE ALGO SHORT COVERING ,2.) STRONG ADVANCE STANDING AT THE GOLD COMEX FOR THE FRONT MAR. MONTH T0 24.441 TONNES) 3) ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION /// ;4) FAIR COMEX OI LOSS AND 5) SMALL ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ...ALL OF THIS HAPPENED WITH OUR STRONG GAIN IN GOLD PRICE TRADING/TUESDAY//$37.40!!.

We have now switched to GOLD for our spreaders!!

FOR DETAILS ON THE SPREADING EXERCISE HERE IS A BRIEF OUTLINE:

SPREADING OPERATIONS/NOW SWITCHING TO SILVER (WE SWITCH OVER TO GOLD ON NOV 1)

SPREADING OPERATION FOR OUR NEWCOMERS:

FOR NEWCOMERS, HERE ARE THE DETAILS:

SPREADING LIQUIDATION HAS NOW COMMENCED IN GOLD AS WE HEAD TOWARDS THE NEW ACTIVE FRONT MONTH OF APRIL.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE NEW, HERE IS THE MODUS OPERANDI OF THE SPREADERS AND THE CRIMINAL ELEMENT BEHIND IT:

HERE IS A BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF HOW THE CROOKS FLEECE UNSUSPECTING LONGS IN THE SPREADING ENDEAVOUR;

THE SPREADING LIQUIDATION OPERATION IS NOW OVER FOR GOLD..AND WE WILL NOW MORPH INTO AN ACCUMULATION PHASE OF SPREADING CONTRACTS FOR GOLD. THEY WILL ACCUMULATE CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF THE CONTRACTS AND THEN LIQUIDATE ONE WEEK PRIOR TO FIRST DAY NOTICE

MODUS OPERANDI OF THE CORRUPT BANKERS AS TO HOW THEY HANDLE THEIR SPREAD OPEN INTERESTS:

AS I HAVE MENTIONED IN PREVIOUS COMMENTARIES:

“AS YOU WILL SEE, THE CROOKS WILL NOW SWITCH TO GOLD AS THEY INCREASE THE OPEN INTEREST FOR THE SPREADERS. THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST WILL RISE FROM NOW ON UNTIL ONE WEEK PRIOR TO FIRST DAY NOTICE AND THAT IS WHEN THEY START THEIR CRIMINAL LIQUIDATION.

HERE IS HOW THE CROOKS USED SPREADING AS WE ARE NOW INTO THE NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF MAR. HEADING TOWARDS THE ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF APRIL FOR SILVER:

YOU WILL ALSO NOTICE THAT THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST STARTS TO RISE IN THIS NON ACTIVE MONTH OF MAR. BUT SO IS THE OPEN INTEREST OF SPREADERS. THE OPEN INTEREST IN GOLD WILL CONTINUE TO RISE UNTIL ONE WEEK BEFORE FIRST DAY NOTICE OF AN UPCOMING ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH (APRIL), AND THAT IS WHEN THE CROOKS SELL THEIR SPREAD POSITIONS BUT NOT AT THE SAME TIME OF THE DAY. THEY WILL USE THE SELL SIDE OF THE EQUATION TO CREATE THE CASCADE (ALONG WITH THEIR COLLUSIVE FRIENDS) AND THEN COVER ON THE BUY SIDE OF THE SPREAD SITUATION AT THE END OF THE DAY. THEY DO THIS TO AVOID POSITION LIMIT DETECTION. THE LIQUIDATION OF THE SPREADING FORMATION CONTINUES FOR EXACTLY ONE WEEK AND ENDS ON FIRST DAY NOTICE.”

HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS IN 2020 INCLUDING TODAY

MAR

ACCUMULATION OF EFP’S GOLD AT J.P. MORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES: (EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL) FOR THE MONTH OF MAR : 29,211, CONTRACTS OR 2,921,100 oz OR 90.85 TONNES (8 TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 3651 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS : THIS MONTH IN 8 TRADING DAY(S) IN TONNES: 90.85 TONNES

TOTAL ANNUAL GOLD PRODUCTION, 2020, THROUGHOUT THE WORLD EX CHINA EX RUSSIA: 3555 TONNES

THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 90.85/3550 x 100% TONNES =2.55% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL PRODUCTION

ACCUMULATION OF GOLD EFP’S YEAR 2021 TO DATE:

JANUARY: 265.26 TONNES (RAPIDLY INCREASING AGAIN)

FEB : 171.24 TONNES ( DEFINITELY SLOWING DOWN AGAIN)..THUS EFP’S IN SILVER INCREASING AND GOLD EFP’S DECREASING

MARCH:.90.85 TONNES (STRONG AGAIN//EQUAL TO JANUARY)

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.

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

1.Today, we had the open interest at the comex, in SILVER, FELL BY A STRONG SIZED 2056 CONTRACTS FROM 153,369 UP TO 155,425 AND FURTHER FROM OUR COMEX RECORD //244,710(SET FEB 25/2020). THE LAST RECORDS WERE SET IN AUG.2018 AT 244,196 WITH A SILVER PRICE OF $14.78/(AUGUST 22/2018)..THE PREVIOUS RECORD TO THAT WAS SET ON APRIL 9/2018 AT 243,411 OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS WITH THE SILVER PRICE AT THAT DAY: $16.53). AND PREVIOUS TO THAT, THE RECORD WAS ESTABLISHED AT: 234,787 CONTRACTS, SET ON APRIL 21.2017 OVER 2 3/4 YEARS AGO. THE PRICE OF SILVER ON THAT DAY: $17.89.

THE STRONG SIZED GAIN IN OI SILVER COMEX WAS PRIMARILY DUE TO; 1) HUGE BANKER SHORT COVERING//ALGO SHORT COVERING//REDDIT RAPTOR BUYING , 2) A STRONG ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (SEE BELOW), 3) A STRONG INCREASE IN STANDING FOR SILVER AT THE COMEX FOR MARCH., AND 4) ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION,

EFP ISSUANCE 1950 CONTRACTS

OUR CUSTOMARY MIGRATION OF COMEX LONGS CONTINUE TO MORPH INTO LONDON FORWARDS AS OUR BANKERS USED THEIR EMERGENCY PROCEDURE TO ISSUE:

MARCH: 0 ; MAY: 1950 AND ALL OTHER MONTHS: ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 1950 CONTRACTS. EFP’S GIVE OUR COMEX LONGS A FIAT BONUS PLUS A DELIVERABLE PRODUCT OVER IN LONDON. IF WE TAKE THE COMEX OI GAIN OF 2056 CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 1950 OI TRANSFERRED TO LONDON THROUGH EFP’S, WE OBTAIN A STRONG SIZED GAIN OF 4006 OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES. THUS IN OUNCES, THE GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 20.03 MILLION OZ, OCCURRED WITH OUR HUGE $0.91 GAIN IN PRICE///

BOTH THE SILVER COMEX AND THE GOLD COMEX ARE IN STRESS AS THE BANKERS SCOUR THE BOWELS OF THE EXCHANGE FOR METAL..THE EVIDENCE IS CLEAR: HUGE AMOUNTS OF PHYSICAL STANDING FOR BOTH SILVER AND GOLD .

(report Harvey)

2 ) Gold/silver trading overnight Europe, Goldcore

(Mark O’Byrne/zerohedge

and in NY: Bloomberg

3. ASIAN AFFAIRS

i)WEDNESDAY MORNING/ TUESDAY NIGHT:

SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 1.55 PTS OR .05% //Hang Sang CLOSED UP 134.28 PTS OR 47% /The Nikkei closed UP 8.62 POINTS OR 0.03%//Australia’s all ordinaires CLOSED DOWN 0.76%

/Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN AT 6.5115 /Oil DOWN TO 64.30 dollars per barrel for WTI and 67.85 for Brent. Stocks in Europe OPENED ALL GREEN EXCEPT LONDON// ONSHORE YUAN CLOSED DOWN AGAINST THE DOLLAR AT 6.5115. OFFSHORE YUAN CLOSED DOWN ON THE DOLLAR AT 6.5170 TRADE TALKS STALL//YUAN LEVELS //TRUMP INITIATES A NEW 25% TARIFFS FRIDAY/MAY 10/MAJOR PROBLEMS AT HUAWEI /CFO ARRESTED//CORONAVIRUS/PANDEMIC/TRUMP TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID 19 : /ONSHORE YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST USA DOLLAR/OFFSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST THE DOLLAR /TRADE DEAL NOW DEAD..TRUMP RAISED RATES TO 25%

COMEX DATA//AMOUNTS STANDING//VOLUME OF TRADING/INVENTORY MOVEMENTS

GOLD

LET US BEGIN:

THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY AN INCREDIBLE SIZED 7755 CONTRACTS TO 473,871 MOVING FURTHER FROM THE RECORD THAT WAS SET IN JANUARY/2020: {799,541 OI(SET JAN 16/2020)} AND PREVIOUS TO THAT: 797,110 (SET JAN 7/2020). AND THIS HUGE COMEX DECREASE OCCURRED DESPITE OUR STRONG GAIN OF $37.40 IN GOLD PRICING /TUESDAY’S COMEX TRADING/)… WE ALSO HAD A SMALL EFP ISSUANCE (2366 CONTRACTS). WE PROBABLY HAD AGAIN 1) HUGE BANKER SHORT COVERING//ALGO SHORT COVERING, 2) ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION AND 3)ANOTHER HUGE ADVANCE IN STANDING AT THE GOLD COMEX//MAR. DELIVERY MONTH(24.426. TONNES) (SEE BELOW) … AS WE ENGINEERED A FAIR SIZED LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 5389 CONTRACTS. WE HAVE LATELY WITNESSED THE EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS ISSUED BEING SMALL….. AS IT JUST TOO COSTLY FOR THEM TO CONTINUE SERVICING THE COSTS OF SERIAL FORWARDS CIRCULATING IN LONDON. HOWEVER, MUCH TO THE ANNOYANCE OF OUR BANKERS, THE COMEX IS THE SCENE OF AN ASSAULT ON GOLD AS LONDONERS, NOT BEING ABLE TO FIND ANY PHYSICAL ON THAT SIDE OF THE POND, EXERCISE THESE CIRCULATING EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS IN LONDON AND FORCING DELIVERY OF REAL METAL OVER HERE AS THE OBLIGATION STILL RESTS WITH NEW YORK BANKERS.

(SEE BELOW)

WE HAD 0 4 -GC VOLUME//open interest REMAINS AT 0

EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE

WE ARE NOW IN THE NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF MAR.. THE CME REPORTS THAT THE BANKERS ISSUED A SMALL SIZED TRANSFER THROUGH THE EFP ROUTE AS THESE LONGS RECEIVED A DELIVERABLE LONDON FORWARD TOGETHER WITH A FIAT BONUS., THAT IS 2366 EFP CONTRACTS WERE ISSUED: ; FEB// ’21 0 AND APRIL: 2366, JUNE: 0 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:

TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 2366 CONTRACTS.

YOU WILL FIND THAT WHEN WE HAVE A GOOD PREMIUM IN THE FUTURES/SPOT, THEN THE NUMBER OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS DECLINE IN NUMBERS. THE COST IS JUST TOO MUCH FOR THEM TO ISSUE. TODAY THAT PREMIUM WAS SMALL AND THUS A LITTLE MORE THAN USUAL OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS WERE ISSUED.

ON A NET BASIS IN OPEN INTEREST WE LOST THE FOLLOWING TODAY ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES: A FAIR SIZED 5389 TOTAL CONTRACTS IN THAT 2366 LONGS WERE TRANSFERRED AS FORWARDS TO LONDON AND WE LOST AN INCREDIBLE SIZED COMEX OI OF 7755 CONTRACTS.WE HAVE A STRONG AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR MARCH (24.426 TONNES) WHICH FOLLOWED FEB (113.424 TONNES) WHICH FOLLOWED OUR STRONG LEVEL OF JAN 2021 GOLD . ((6.500 TONNES).

THE BANKERS WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE //// (IT ROSE $37.40)., AND WERE PROBABLY UNSUCCESSFUL IN FLEECING ANY LONGS AS THE TOTAL LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES REGISTERED A FAIR 13.135 TONNES (ALL OF THE LOSS DUE TO BANKER SHORT COVERING), ACCOMPANYING OUR STRONG GOLD TONNAGE STANDING FOR MAR (24.426 TONNES)..I STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT OUR BANKER FRIENDS ARE GETTING QUITE NERVOUS. THE SMALL GAIN IN COMEX OI IS DUE TO BANKER SHORT COVERING IN A BIG WAY. THEY ARE LOOKING OVER THEIR SHOULDERS AND WITNESSING MASSIVE SILVER SHORTAGES THAT CANNOT BE COVERED. THEY ARE TRYING TO FLEE IN HASTE “FROM DODGE”.

NET LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES :: 5389 CONTRACTS OR 538900 OZ OR 16.76 TONNES

COMMODITY LAW SUGGESTS THAT COMMODITY FUTURES OPEN INTEREST SHOULD APPROXIMATE 3% OF TOTAL PRODUCTION. IN GOLD THE WORLD PRODUCES AROUND 3500 TONNES PER YEAR BUT ONLY 2200 TONNES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THE WEST (THUS EXCLUDING RUSSIA, CHINA ETC..WHO KEEP 100% OF THEIR PRODUCT.THUS IN GOLD WE HAVE THE FOLLOWING: 473,871 TOTAL OI CONTRACTS X 100 OZ PER CONTRACT = 47.38 MILLION OZ/32,150 OZ PER TONNE = 1474 TONNES

THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST REPRESENTS 1474/2200 OR 66.98% OF ANNUAL GLOBAL PRODUCTION OF GOLD.

INITIAL STANDINGS FOR MAR COMEX GOLD

Gold	Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers* Inventory in oz*	nil oz
Withdrawals from Customer* Inventory in oz*	7322.20 oz hsbc
Deposits to the Dealer* Inventory in oz*	nil OZ
Deposits to the Customer* Inventory, in oz*	27,585.588 oz JPMORGAN 858 kilobars
No of oz served (contracts) today	289 notice(s) 28,900 OZ (0.8989 TONNES
No of oz to be served (notices)	1656 contracts 165600oz) 5.150 TONNES
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month	6197 notices 619,700 OZ 19.275 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

ii) Out of HSBC: 7322.20

total withdrawals: 7322.20 oz

We had 1 kilobar transactions

ADJUSTMENTS 1: dealer to customer

Brinks: 99.99 oz

The front month of MAR registered a total of 1936 CONTRACTS FOR A LOSS OF 203 CONTRACTS. WE HAD 506 NOTICES FILED ON TUESDAY SO WE GAINED ANOTHER MONSTROUS 304 CONTRACTS OR AN ADDITIONAL 30,400 OZ OR 0.96121 TONNES WILL STAND FOR DELIVERY ON THIS SIDE OF THE POND IN THIS VERY ACTIVE MARCH DELIVERY MONTH. THIS IS A RECORD FOR A QUEUE JUMP AS OUR BANKERS ARE SHORT OF GOLD AND WILL DO ANYTHING TO JUMP AHEAD OF UNSUSPECTING LONGS TO OBTAIN METAL. MARCH IS GENERALLY A NON ACTIVE MONTH BUT THIS IS SURELY NOT THIS CASE THIS MONTH. SOMEBODY NEEDS AN URGENT SUPPLY OF PHYSICAL GOLD!!!!!!!

APRIL LOST 23,579 contracts to stand at 266,619

MAY GAINED ANOTHER 21 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 164

JUNE GAINED 14,736 CONTRACTS UP TO 151,532

We had 289 notice(s) filed today for 50600 oz

To calculate the INITIAL total number of gold ounces standing for the MAR /2021. contract month, we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (6197) x 100 oz , to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of (MAR // 1936 CONTRACTS ) minus the number of notices served upon today 289 x 100 oz per contract) equals 785,300 OZ OR 24.426 TONNES) the number of ounces standing in this active month of MAR

thus the INITIAL standings for gold for the MARCH contract month:

No of notices filed so far 6197 x 100 oz + ( 1936 OI for the front month minus the number of notices served upon today (289} x 100 oz which equals 785,300 oz standing OR 24.426 TONNES in this NON active delivery month of MARCH. This is a HUGE amount standing for GOLD IN MARCH, A GENERALLY POOR NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH.

WE GAINED A HUGE 304 CONTRACTS OR AN ADDITIONAL 30,400 OZ WILL STAND ON THIS SIDE OF THE POND.

NEW PLEDGED GOLD: scotia gone//PAID ITS PLEDGED GOLD OFF

464,420.335, oz NOW PLEDGED march 5/2021/HSBC 13.626 TONNES

339,772.427 PLEDGED MANFRA 10.5687 TONNES

312,798.505 oz JPM 9.72 TONNES

1,083,680.877 oz pledged June 12/2020 Brinks/33.706 TONNES

94,500.934 oz Pledged August 21/regular account 2.93 tonnes JPMORGAN

6,308.08 oz International Delaware: .196 tonnes

192.906 oz Malca

total pledged gold: 2,301,674.057 oz 71.59 tonnes

registered gold that can be used to settle upon: 16,463,804.0 (512,09 tonnes)

true registered gold (total registered – pledged tonnes 16,463,084..0 (512.09 tonnes)

total registered, pledged and eligible (customer) gold 38,562,679.923 oz or 1,199.46 tonnes (INCLUDES 4 GC GOLD)

total 4 GC gold: 126.34 tonnes

total gold net of 4 GC: 1073.12 tonnes

end

I have compiled data with respect to registered (or dealer) gold taken on first day notice for each of the past 24 months

The data begins on first day notice for the May month taken on the last day of July 2018. and it continues to present day.

I then took, how many deliveries were recorded by the CME for each and every month. I also included for reference the price of gold on first day notice.

The first graph is a logarithmic graph and the second graph, linear.

You can see the huge explosion of registered gold at the comex along with deliveries.

THE DATA AND GRAPHS:

END

MARCH 10/2021

And now for the wild silver comex results

INITIAL STANDING FOR SILVER/MAR

Silver	Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers* Inventory*	NIL oz
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory	2,416,897.173 oz CNT Delaware HSBC jpmorgan
Deposits to the Dealer* Inventory*	nil oz
Deposits to the Customer Inventory	nil oz
No of oz served today (contracts)	283 CONTRACT(S) (1,415,000 OZ)
No of oz to be served (notices)	1119 contracts 5,595,000 oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)	9652 contracts 48,260,000 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 deposit into the dealer:

total dealer deposits: nil oz

i) We had 0 dealer withdrawal

total dealer withdrawals: nil oz

we had 0 deposits into the customer account (ELIGIBLE ACCOUNT)

JPMorgan now has 194.586 million oz of total silver inventory or 50.62% of all official comex silver. (194.586 million/384.410 million

total customer deposits today: 0 oz

we had 4 withdrawals:

i) out of CNT 1,2,07,435.398 oz

ii) Out of Delaware: 16,106.165 oz

iii) Out of HSBC: 604,620.300 oz

iv) JPMorgan: 588,735.310

total withdrawals 2,416,897.173 oz

2nd day in a row more than 2.4 million oz of silver leaves the comex

We had 2 adjustments: dealer to customer

Brinks: 34,370.396 oz

Manfra: 40,167.091

Total dealer(registered) silver: 127.690million oz

total registered and eligible silver: 384.410 million oz

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

MARCH saw a GAIN of 39 contracts to stand at 1402. We had 25 contracts served on TUESDAY, so we FINALLY GAINED A STRONG 64 contracts or an additional 320,000 oz will stand for delivery in this active delivery month of March. These guys refused to morph into London based forwards as there is no silver metal on their side of the pond so they will try their luck over here.

April GAINED 79 contracts to stand at 2377

May GAINED 1908 contracts to stand at 125,217 contracts.

The total number of notices filed today for MARCH 2021. contract month is represented by 283 contract(s) FOR 1,415,000 oz

To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in FEB we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at 9652 x 5,000 oz = 48,260,000 oz to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of MAR (1402) and the number of notices served upon today 283 x (5000 oz) equals the number of ounces standing.

Thus the MAR standings for silver for the MAR/2021 contract month: 9652 (notices served so far) x 5000 oz + OI for front month of MARCH(1402- number of notices served upon today (283) x 5000 oz of silver standing for the Jan contract month .equals 53,855,000 oz. ..VERY STRONG FOR AN ACTIVE MAR MONTH.

We GAINED 64 contracts or an additional 320,000 oz will stand for delivery as the refused to morph into London based forwards.

TODAY’S ESTIMATED SILVER VOLUME 52,179 CONTRACTS // volume// volumes falling off a cliff

FOR YESTERDAY 75,951 ,CONFIRMED VOLUME//fair

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 RISES TO -0.15% ((MAR 10/2021)

2. Sprott gold fund (PHYS): premium to NAV RISES TO –1.79% to NAV: (MAR 10/2021 )

Note: /Sprott physical gold trust is back into NEGATIVE/0.15%(MAR 10/2021)

(courtesy Sprott/GATA

3. SPROTT CEF .A FUND (FORMERLY CENTRAL FUND OF CANADA):

NAV 18.73 TRADING 18.00//NEGATIVE 3.89

END

And now the Gold inventory at the GLD/(this vehicle is a fraud as there is no gold behind them!)

MARCH 10/WITH GOLD UP $4.70 TODAY: ANOTHER HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.46 TONNES FROM THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 1061.98 TONNES

MARCH 9/WITH GOLD UP $37.40 TODAY: ANOTHER HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: ANOTHER WITHDRAWAL OF 5.82 TONNES FORM THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 1063.44 TONNES

MARCH 8/WITH GOLD DOWN $21.00 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/: A WITHDRAWAL OF 9.04 TONNES FROM THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 1069.26 TONNES

MARCH 5/WITH GOLD DOWN $15.00 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 4.08 TONNES FROM THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 1078.30 TONNES

MARCH 4/WITH GOLD DOWN $7.60 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.74 TONNES FROM THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1082.38 TONNES

MARCH 3/WITH GOLD DOWN $17.70 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/: A PAPER DEPOSIT OF 2.62 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1087.12 TONNES

MARCH 2/WITH GOLD UP $9.40 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WHOPPING WITHDRAWAL OF 9.04 TONNES FROM THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 1084.50 TONNES

MARCH 1/WITH GOLD DOWN $5.65 DOLLARS; A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 6.7 TONNES FROM THE GLD//.INVENTORY RESTS AT 1093.54 TONNES.

FEB 26/WITH GOLD DOWN $46.00 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/: A WITHDRAWAL OF 6.08 TONNES FROM THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1100.24 TONNES//

FEB 25/ WITH GOLD DOWN $20.65 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.08 TONNES FROM THE GLD///INVENTORY REST AT 1106.36 TONNES

FEB 24/WITH GOLD DOWN $7.30 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY: A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.96 TONNES FROM THE GLD// RESTS AT 1110.44 TONNES

FEB 23/WITH GOLD DOWN $2.45 TODAY: A MONSTROUS CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 12.54 TONNES FROM THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 1115.40 TONNES

FEB 22/WITH GOLD UP $30.00 TODAY: STRANGE!! A HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 5.25 TONNES FROM THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1127.64 TONNES

FEB 19/WITH GOLD UP $2.00 TODAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1132.89 TONNES

FEB 18//WITH GOLD UP $2.60 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.79 TONNES FROM THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1132.89 TONNES

FEB 17/WITH GOLD DOWN $27.35 TODAY; A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 5.54 TONNES FROM THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1136.68 TONNES

FEB 16/WITH GOLD DOWN $23.40 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORYRESTS AT 1142.20 TONNES

FEB 12/WITH GOLD DOWN $3.40 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//: A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.38 TONNES FROM THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1142.20 TONNES

FEB 11/WITH GOLD DOWN $15.35 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/I: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.74 TONNES FROM THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1146.60 TONNES

FEB 10/WITH GOLD UP $5.30 TODAY: ANOTHER HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.09 TONNES FROM THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1148.34 TONNES

FEB 9/WITH GOLD UP $4.00 TODAY; A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//: A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.08 TONNES FROM THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1152.43 TONNES.

FEB 8/WITH GOLD UP $20.80 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//: A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.33 TONNES FROM THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1156.51 TONNES

FEB 5/WITH GOLD UP $20.10 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1159.84 TONNES

FEB 4/WITH GOLD DOWN $42.05 TODAY: STRANGE: HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 2.34 TONNES ADDED INTO THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1159.84 TONNES

FEB 3/WITH GOLD DOWN 20 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1157.50 TONNES

FEB 2/WITH GOLD DOWN $27.60 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD// A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.63 TONNES FROM THE GLD//.INVENTORY RESTS AT 1157.50 TONNES

FEB 1/WITH GOLD UP $12.45 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.5 TONNES FROM THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1160.13 TONNES

JAN 29/WITH GOLD UP $9.65 TODAY; A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/: A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.37 TONNES FROM THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1164.80 TONNES

JAN 28/WITH GOLD DOWN $6.90 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.71 TONNES LEAVES THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 1169.17 TONNES

JANUARY 27/WITH GOLD DOWN $9.85 TODAY; A SMALL CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF .87 TONNES FROM THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS 1172.38 TONNES

JAN 26/WITH GOLD DOWN $4.15 TODAY:NO CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 1173.25 TONNES

JAN 25.WITH GOLD DOWN 20 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1173.25 TONNES

JAN 22/WITH GOLD DOWN (9.50 TODAY:A SMALL CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/: A WITHDRAWAL OF .88 TONNES FROM THE GLD//NVENTORY RESTS AT 1173.25 TONNES

JAN 21/WITH GOLD DOWN $0.40 TODAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: ////INVENTORY RESTS AT 1174.13 TONNES

JAN 20/WITH GOLD UP $25.20 TODAY; A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.5 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 1174.13 TONNES

JAN 19/WITH GOLD UP $10.90 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A MASSIVE DEPOSIT OF 16.63 TONNES INTO GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 1177.63 TONNES

JAN 15/WITH GOLD DOWN $22.40 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//: A WITHDRAWAL OF 10.21 TONNES FROM THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1161.00 TONNES

JAN 14.WITH GOLD DOWN $2.75 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 10.50 TONNES FROM THE GLD.//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1171.21 TONNES

JAN 13/WITH GOLD UP $11.65 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1181.71 TONNES

JAN 12/WITH GOLD DOWN $6.70 TODAY;A HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD// A WITHDRAWAL OF .400 TONNES FROM THE GLD..//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1181.71 TONNES

JAN 11/WITH GOLD UP $14.30 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1182.11 TONNES

JAN 8//WITH GOLD DOWN $75.70 : A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.57 TONNES FROM THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1182.11 TONNES

JAN 7/WITH GOLD UP $5.70 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1186.78 TONNES

JAN 6/WITH GOLD DOWN $44.25 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.17 TONNES//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1186.78 TONNES

JAN 5/WITH GOLD UP $10.05 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:A DEPOSIT OF 17.21 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 1187.95 TONNES

JAN 4/WITH GOLD UP $49.70 TODAY: A SMALL CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD; A DEPOSIT OF 0.88 TONNES INTO THE GLD/////INVENTORY RESTS AT 1170.74 TONNES

DEC 31/WITH GOLD UP $1.45 TODAY: NO CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 1169.86 TONNES

DEC//30//WITH GOLD UP $13.30 TODAY: NO CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1169.86 TONNES

DEC.29//WITH GOLD UP $1.65 TODAY: A DEPOSIT OF 2.53 TONNES CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1169.86 TONNES.

DEC 28WITH GOLD DOWN $3.00 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1167.53 TONNES

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Inventory rests tonight at:

MARCH 10 / GLD INVENTORY 1061.98 tonnes

LAST; 1015 TRADING DAYS: +128.17 TONNES HAVE BEEN ADDED THE GLD

LAST 945 TRADING DAYS// + 314.41TONNES HAVE NOW BEEN ADDED INTO THE GLD INVENTORY

end

Now the SLV Inventory/(this vehicle is a fraud as there is no physical metal behind them!)

MARCH 10/WITH SILVER DOWN 3 CENTS TODAY; ANOTHER HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 928,000 OZ FROM THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 592.438 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 9/WITH SILVER UP 91 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 593.366 MILLION OZ///

MARCH 8/WITH SILVER DOWN ONE CENT TODAY; A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.25 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 593.366 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 5/WITH SILVER DOWN 31 CENTS TODAY: TWO HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 6.501 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV AT 3 PM AND ANOTHER 3.90 MILION OZ AT 5.20..: TOTAL LOSSS 10.4 MILLLLION OZ////INVENTORY RESTS AT 596.616 MILLION OZ

MARCH 4/WITH SILVER DOWN 76 CENTS TODAY: A HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 1.486 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 609.017 MILLION OZ

MARCH 3/WITH SILVER DOWN 58 CENTS TODAY; A HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.774 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 605.531 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 2//WITH SILVER UP 19 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 609.305 MILLION OZ

MARCH 1.WITH SILVER UP 26 CENTS TODAY:A HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 6.593 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV..//INVENTORY RESTS AT 609.305 MILLION OZ.

FEB 26/WITH SILVER DOWN $1.17 TODAY: TWO HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.857 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV AT 3 PM//AND ANOTHER 1.858 MILLION OZ AT 5.20 EST//INVENTORY RESTS AT 615.898 MILLION OZ//

FEB 25/WITH SILVER DOWN 21 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 619.613 MILLION OZ//

FEB 24/WITH SILVER UP 19 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORIES AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 619.613 MILLION OZ

FEB 23/WITH SILVER DOWN 34 CENTS TODAY: TWO ENTRIES I) HUGE CHANGE ISN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 127,000 OZ INTO THE SLV AND THEN A HUGE DEPOSIT OF 7.801 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV//////INVENTORY RESTS AT 619.613 MILLION OZ

FEB 22/WITH SILVER UP 74 CENTS TODAY: 2 HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.322 MILLION OZ AT 3 PM AND 6.873 MILLION OF AT 5 20 PM EST/INVENTORY RESTS AT 611.685 MILLION OZ/

FEB 19//WITH SILVER UP 15 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 621.007 MILLION OZ//

FEB 18/WITH SILVER DOWN 22 CENTS TODAY : TWO HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV ANOTHER WITHDRAWAL OF 1.858 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV AN ANOTHER WITHDRAWAL 5.758 MILLION OZ// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 621.007 MILLION OZ//

FEB 17/WITH SILVER UP 1 CENT TODAY: A SMALL CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV// A DEPOSIT OF 83,000 OZ INTO THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 628.623 MILLION OZ//

FEB 16/WITH SILVER DOWN 3 CENTS TODAY: A BIG CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:ANOTHER WITHDRAWAL OF 2.044 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 628.530 MILLION OZ//

FEB 12/WITH SILVER UP 31 CENTS//A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.312 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 630.574 MILLION OZ.

FEB 11/WITH SILVER DOWN 4 CENTS TODAY; A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.858 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 634.986 MILLION OZ//

FEB 10/WITH SILVER DOWN 44 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 636.844 MILLION OZ//

FEB 9/WITH SILVER DOWN $0.19 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/: MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 17.882 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 636.844 MILLION OZ//

FEB 8/WITH SILVER UP $0.53 TODAY: A HUGE PAPER WITHDRAWAL OF 4.451 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 654.726 MILLION OZ//

FEB 5/WITH SILVER UP 70 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 659.278 MILLION OZ

FEB 4/WITH SILVER DOWN 0.54 CENTS TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A PAPER WITHDRAWAL OF 10.079 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV..//INVENTORY RESTS AT 659.278 MILLION OZ//

FEB 3/WITH SILVER UP 38 CENTS TODAY: A MIND NUMBING: 56.784 MILION OZ “DEPOSIT” INTO THE SLV at 3 pm AND A WITHDRAWAL OF 7.99 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV AT 5 PM//WITH THESE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 669.357 MILLION OZ//

FEB2//WITH SILVER DOWN $2.81 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: AN UNBELEIVABLE DEPOSIT OF 18.627 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 620.563 MILLION OZ//

FEB 1/WITH SILVER UP $2.56 TODAY: A FAIRY TALE DEPOSIT OF 34.419 MILLION OZ INTO SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 601.936 MILLION OZ//

JAN 29/WITH SILVER UP 58 CENTS TODAY: A HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.366 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 567.517 MILLION OZ//

JAN 28/WITH SILVER UP 44 CENTS TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.393 MILLION OZ//INVENTORY RESTS AT 571.883 MILLION OZ/

JAN 27/ WITH SILVER DOWN 10CENTS TODAY; A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV.: A XXXWITHDRAWAL OF 3.022 MILLION OZ OF IMAGINARY SILVER// INVENTORY RESTS AT 573.277 MILLION OZ/

JAN 26/WITH SILVER UP 6 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 576.299 MILLION OZ///

JAN 25/WITH SILVER DOWN 5 CENTS A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY: A DEPOSIT OF 2.044 MILLION XXXXOZ INTO THE SLV// INVENTORY RESTS AT 576.299 MILLION OZ./.

PHYSICAL GOLD/SILVER STORIES
i) GOLD COMMENTARY/PETER SCHIFF

Peter Schiff: You Can’t Consume What You Don’t Produce

Via SchiffGold.com,

There’s an economic myth out there. As the story goes, governments can print their way to prosperity. Just run the money printing press, hand out cash for consumers to spend and the economy will hum. In this clip from a podcast episode, Peter Schiff calls it “The Kelton Myth” named for economist Stephanie Kelton. At the root of this tale is the notion that people can consume what they don’t produce. As Peter explains, this simply isn’t possible.

Kelton was Bernie Sanders’ economic advisor and is a big proponent of Modern Monetary theory. Of course, she’s not a bit concerned about all of the Federal Reserve money printing. In fact, she says it’s necessary. According to Kelton, without all of this new money, there wouldn’t be enough spending to grow the economy.

In a nutshell, we have millions of unemployed people who don’t have enough money, but if we run the printing press and hand out stimulus, then they can spend. After all, what is capitalism all about? Spending money! If people don’t have money, we don’t have economic growth. So, if people don’t have jobs and they’re not earning money, it’s up to the government to replace that income with freshly printed money. It doesn’t make any difference whether you earn the money or it’s given to you. As long as we have spending, we’ll have economic growth.

Peter said she could not be more wrong.

She has completely got the cart before the horse and not understanding that it’s economic growth that creates spending not the other way around.”

Simply put, you cannot consume what has not been produced.

If all you had to do was print money to create economic growth, then every country could have a booming economy. I mean, they’ve had a printing press for a long time.”

There is a big difference between earning money and just receiving money that’s been printed. When you have a job you earn money because you have contributed some value to society. You have helped produce a product or provide a service. As compensation, you earn some money that you can use to buy some of the goods and services in the economy that you helped create.

But if you don’t create anything, if you don’t have a job and the government just prints money and gives it to you, now you go out to spend it — you contributed nothing. Yet, you’re drawing from the supply of goods and services that you didn’t help to expand. So, it’s pure inflation. Prices just go up. That’s the only thing that can happen.”

But a lot of people have bought into the myth that you can consume without producing. In fact, Joe Biden and a lot of the Democrats on Capitol Hill listen to people like Kelton. Just a couple of months into Biden’s term and Congress is already set to pass a $1.9 trillion stimulus package. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. They are going to run the printing press in overdrive.

Peter said the spike in commodity prices due to inflation that we’re seeing now is just the beginning.

This is just the very, very beginning of this massive and unprecedented boom that we’re about to see. It is going to dwarf anything that we saw or experienced in the 1970s.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/peter-schiff-you-cant-consume-what-you-dont-produce?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+t

ii) Important gold commentaries courtesy of GATA/Chris Powell

We are trying to ascertain whether the gold leased by the Bank of England has been terminated and the Bank asked for that gold to be returned. It never left the B. of E but in case of bankruptcy they do not want to leave any stone unturned.

(GATA/Chris Powell)

GATA presses Bank of England, UK Treasury for answers on gold leasing

Submitted by admin on Tue, 2021-03-09 12:58 Section: Daily Dispatches

12:55p ET Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

A week ago your secretary/treasurer wrote to the press offices of the Bank of England and the United Kingdom Treasury Department, asking two questions:

— Have the Bank of England and the Treasury’s Exchange Equalisation Account (or any agency answering to the bank or the Treasury) leased gold in the last 12 months?

— Has any leased gold been returned to the bank, the Treasury, or any agency answering to them in the last 12 months?

While the bank and the Treasury have replied to GATA’s inquiries before, sometimes as quickly as a day or two, sometimes a month later, no reply to these question has been received so far.

We will continue to press for answers.

Of course sometimes the failure to answer is almost as good as an answer itself, as with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which repeatedly has refused to answer questions posed by GATA and U.S. Rep. Alex X. Mooney, R-West Virginia, as to whether the commission has jurisdiction over manipulative futures market trading conducted by or at the behest of the U.S. government, or whether such manipulative trading is authorized by the Gold Reserve Act of 1934 as amended.

The gold leasing question may have special pertinence lately in light of the turmoil in the gold market over the last year. If the British government or another major government has increased its meddling in the gold market lately, of course that market would be much less of a market than investors think it is.

Unfortunately few market analysts will pose or even acknowledge questions of government intervention, even though, especially with the gold market, government intervention increasingly is a primary determinant of prices. That’s why no analysis that fails to acknowledge or question this intervention is worth much.

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

end

Then this from Robert Lambourne;

From: Robert Lambourne <robert.lambourne@icloud.com>
Date: 10 March 2021 at 11:24:16 GMT
To: foirequests@hmtreasury.gov.uk
Subject: Freedom of information request concerning certain activities of the Exchange Equalisation Account

Dear Sirs,

I am a U.K. citizen and my home address is:

Merry Gardens
Church Lane
Burley
Hants
BH24 4AP.

I understand that the vast majority of the gold reserves held on behalf of the government are within the Exchange Equalisation Account. The most recent annual report of this account confirms that this account is managed under instruction from HM Treasury.

I have set out below some requests for information on the gold held in the account.

Is there a target for the proportion of the reserves to be held in gold? If there is such a target then can you please confirm what it is?

Can you please confirm whether any of the gold held in this account is loaned or leased to any other party? If any such arrangements are in place then can you please confirm the volumes of gold subject to these arrangements?

Can you please confirm if any gold swaps are in effect with third parties? If any such arrangements are in place then can you please confirm the volumes of gold subject to these arrangements?

Can you please confirm that all of the gold is held in government or Bank of England vaults located in the U.K.? If any gold is held elsewhere then can you please confirm the volumes concerned and whether this gold is held outside of the U.K.?

If you could reply to this email address then I would be very grateful.

Yours faithfully,

Robert Lambourne

end

Technical analyst James Turk describes the real strength in silver and it will shortly break through $28.00

(James Turk/Kingworldnews/GATA)

Today’s bounce in monetary metals is significant, Turk tells KWN

Submitted by admin on Tue, 2021-03-09 16:19 Section: Daily Dispatches

4:15p ET Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

GoldMoney founder and GATA consultant James Turk, commenting to King World News, finds significant today’s bounce in gold and silver prices. Turk says silver is especially undervalued. His comments are posted at KWN here:

https://kingworldnews.com/great-trading-action-in-gold-silver-today-but-…

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

END

Dr Judy Shelton, former nominee to the Fed and a gold bug states that banks find it more profitable to service the Fed/Govt than to lend cash to the real economy

(Judy Shelton/Wall Street Journal)

Banks find it more profitable to service the Fed than to lend to the real economy

Submitted by admin on Wed, 2021-03-10 01:01 Section: Daily Dispatches

Federal Reserve Policy Is Smothering Private Lending

By Judy Shelton
The Wall Street Journal
Monday, March 8, 2021

The Federal Reserve’s seeming willingness to provide inexhaustible financing of U.S. government debt is raising concerns about future inflation. Record-breaking growth in the money supply from the Fed’s quantitative-easing bond purchases threatens price stability. But an even greater risk — one that goes to the heart of economic opportunity under democratic capitalism — is the effect of Fed decisions on private bank lending.

Banking institutions have traditionally provided the pipeline that routes loanable capital to businesses and households. Yet commercial banks are increasingly opting to reduce the share of total assets devoted to loans while expanding their holdings of Treasury debt and government-backed mortgage securities

The 25 largest U.S. banks currently hold 45.7% of their assets in loans and leases, according to Fed data released Friday, down from 54.1% this time last year. Meantime, their year-over-year holdings of Treasury and agency securities increased 33.5%. This reflects more-stringent borrowing standards and diminished loan demand. But it also reveals a subtle yet persistent change in how banks operate.

Banks have pulled back from making risky loans in favor of engaging more directly with the Fed — avoiding the type of lending that spawned stricter regulatory standards after 2008 while readily accommodating the Fed’s expressed satisfaction with an “ample reserves” regime. Bank lending to small businesses has remained low throughout the postcrisis years, with the largest declines in small-business lending at large banks, as shown in a 2018 report commissioned by the Small Business Administration. …

… For the remainder of the commentary:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/fed-policy-is-smothering-private-lending-11…

end

iii) Other physical stories:

Scotia sells its Comex NY vault to Manfra but have they really departed? NO

Ronan Manly

Scotia Sells COMEX NY Vault In Slow Motion Exit From Gold, Silver Markets

Submitted by Ronan Manly, BullionStar.com

On Monday 1 March, CME Group, which runs COMEX, made a short announcement saying that long time COMEX approved gold and silver vault operator, Bank of Nova Scotia was withdrawing its New York vault from being COMEX approved and that the withdrawal was ‘effective immediately’.

The full text of the release, titled “Withdrawal of Regularity for Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Palladium” is as follows, and can also be seen at this link here:

“Notice herby is given that the New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. (“NYMEX”) and Commodity Exchange, Inc. (“COMEX”) (collectively, the “Exchanges”) received a request from The Bank of Nova Scotia to voluntarily withdraw their approved gold, silver, platinum, and palladium regularity at their Jamaica, NY facility. Manfra, Tordella & Brookes, Inc. will assume responsibility for the registered and eligible material at this facility effective immediately.

This withdrawal is effective immediately.”

Beside JFK Airport

For those who don’t know, the Scotia vault, owned by Scotia Mocatta Depository (SMD), is located right beside JFK Airport, at “International Airport Center, 230-59 International Airport Center Boulevard, Building C, Rockaway Blvd, Jamaica, New York 11413”, the same location as the Agility Logistics center, and can be seen here and here.

Scotia moved to this facility beside JFK Airport in 2006 from a vault facility that it had been using since late 2001 under 26 Broadway in Manhattan, an old Rockefeller building. That vault facility under 26 Broadway was the former Iron Mountain Depository Corporation (IMD) vault which Scotia had acquired when The Bank of Nova Scotia took over IMD in 1997.

However, prior to September 2001, Scotia’s COMEX approved precious metals vault had been in a sub-basement under 4 World Trade Centre, which it had taken over from Swiss Bank Corporation in the 1990s. Prior to the WTC implosions, WTC 4 was the home of the COMEX and NYMEX trading floors, as well as the trading floors of the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT), the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange (CSCE) and the New York Cotton Exchange (NYCE)

After 4 World Trade Centre collapsed on September 11 2001 following the WTC 1 and WTC 2 (and WTC 7) buildings’ explosions and implosions (during which notably COMEX gold was unbelievably being trucked out of tunnels at the same time), Scotia moved its COMEX approved vault back to the 26 Broadway vault in late 2001, and remained there until 2006.

Manfra, Tordella, and Brookes, also known as MTB, is a New York based bullion dealer which also runs a COMEX approved precious metals vault in Manhattan, in the International Gem Tower building at 50 West 47th Street, in midtown Manhattan. Since 2000, MTB has been part of the Swiss MKS PAMP group.

On the same day, 1 March 2021, that Scotia Mocatta withdrew its vault from being COMEX approved, MTB, and it parent company, the Swiss based MKS PAMP group, both made announcements on their websites that MTB had:

“completed the strategic acquisition of a leading North American financial institution’s COMEX (CME) approved depository and logistics center” including a “world class 15,000 square foot secure facility” that will give them “proximity to major international and domestic logistics hubs [beside JFK airport], additional vaulting capacity [Scotia’s vaults], and experienced staff”.

The acquisition, said MTB / MKS PAMP, helps offer “enhanced depository and fulfillment services to COMEX warrant holders, financial institutions, industrial, and bullion clients”.

See the MKS PAMP announcement here, and the identical MTB announcement here.

In effect, without stating the name of Scotia, MTB / MKS PAMP confirmed that MTB has taken over the Scotia Mocatta COMEX approved vault located in International Airport Center, 230-59, Building C, beside JFK airport.

Scotia Metal Transfers to MTB

Anyone who regularly looks at the COMEX daily “Warehouse and Depository Stocks” reports for gold, silver, platinum and palladium on the CME Group (COMEX) website will have also noticed that not only did MTB take over Scotia Mocatta’s New York COMEX approved vault in the first week of March, but, MTB also took over the custody of all the COMEX registered and COMEX eligible gold, silver, platinum and palladium stock and inventory that were being stored in Scotia’s COMEX vault beside JFK.

This was evident from the COMEX gold, silver and platinum / palladium stock reports for Report Date Wednesday 3 March (Activity Date Tuesday 2 March), where the listing and metal holdings under the “THE BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA” suddenly disappeared, and the listing and metal holdings under “MANFRA, TORDELLA & BROOKES, INC” increased by the amount of metal that had been reported previously under Scotia.

As a reminder, in COMEX parlance, ‘Registered’ precious metal bars have vault warrants attached and can be used to settle COMEX futures contracts. ‘Eligible’ metal is just any metal that happens to be in a COMEX approved vault which is in the form of a precious metals bar which is acceptable for COMEX delivery. Eligible metal does not have to have anything to do with COMEX trading, and a lot of the time doesn’t have anything to do with COMEX trading.

The transfers from Scotia to MTB were most pronounced in silver, where a huge 32,301.490.91 ozs (or 1004 tonnes) of silver which had been in the registered category under Scotia came into the registered category of MTB. Prior to the transfer, MTB was reporting only 1,233,649.98 ozs in registered, so the transfer from Scotia gave MTB a new Registered total of 33,535,140.89 ozs, or 27 times more silver than it previously held. This was the highest Registered silver holding of any COMEX approved vault operator, even ahead of JP Morgan’s claimed 32.5 million ozs holding.

By 3 March, MTB had 668,437 ozs of silver in eligible and 32.26 million ozs of silver in registered for a total of 33.93 millon ozs.

**Scotia Mocatta’s registered silver inventories of 32 million, just before they were transferred to MTB, March 2021. Source: www.GoldChartsRUs.com**

By 4 March MTB received in another 579,290 ozs into eligible, saw a massive 4.48 million move from registered to eligible (someone doesn’t want their silver under warrant), and had a total of 28,782,469 ozs in Registered, and 5,730,255 ozs in eligible, for a total of 34.51 million ozs overall. The Scotia transfers now put the MTB vaults in 2nd position of Registered COMEX silver holdings (just behind JP Morgan) and in 4th position of total COMEX silver holdings behind JP Morgan, Brinks and CNT.

In gold, prior to the transfers, MTB had about 1.265 million ozs of gold in the registered category, with 20,000 in eligible, while Scotia had about 1.15 million ozs in registered and a small amount in eligible. Following the transfers, MTB now has about 2.4 million ozs in registered and about 60,000 ozs in eligible. So the MTB gold listing on the COMEX gold inventory report has increased by about 87%.

**MTB registered gold inventories jump in early March 2021 after transfers from Scotia Mocatta. Source: www.GoldChartsRUs.com**

Platinum and palladium in the Scotia vault has also been added to the MTB totals and the latest figures for MTB now have a total of 112,378 ozs of platinum, nearly all of which is in registered, and 9,676 ozs of palladium (all in registered).

You can see the most recent COMEX inventory gold, silver and platinum / palladium holdings in Excel links on a COMEX webpage here.

An important point to note here is that the gold, silver, platinum and palladium that were in Scotia’s Queen’s vault beside JFK airport are probably still in the Scotia vault (with the vault now owned by MTB). It would have been logistically illogical to move all the metal in the Scotia vault, to the MTB vault in midtown Manhattan.

So basically, it looks to be a case of the COMEX reports having just reclassified all metal that was held in the Scotia vault and now reporting it under “Manfra, Tordella, and Brookes” (MTB) along with the metal in MTB’s original vault in Manhattan. This means that it will not be possible to know how much of the reported metal listed under MTB is in Manhattan, and how much is in the vault beside JFK airport.

Scotia Mocatta – A Slow Motion Car Crash

For those who may be having déjà vu about Scotia Mocatta previously withdrawing from the precious metals markets, you would be forgiven, as admittedly, Scotia’s withdrawal has been going on for what seems like years now, and can only be described as a slow motion car crash. For financial reporters in Reuters and Bloomberg, Scotia exiting the gold and silver markets is the “gift that keeps on giving”, year after year, because it never seem to end. This is because, like an octopus, Scotia has been intertwined into precious metals markets all around the world for decades and decades, from the London gold and silver markets to New York (COMEX) to Toronto (its Headquarters) and to as far afield as India and Dubai and China.

As you can see from its vaulting operation, Scotia was one of the key players in COMEX precious metals for a long long time. But even following the New York vault sale, Scotia is still involved with COMEX, with Scotia Capital (USA) Inc still being a clearing firm on COMEX as can be seen on the clearing member firm list here, and also on the COMEX delivery report (Issues and Stops) here.

But that’s only part of the larger Scotia picture. Because Scotia continues also to be one of the lynchpins in the London gold and silver markets along with the likes of HSBC and JP Morgan, and has a long history of running the LBMA along with HSBC and JP Morgan.

In London Scotia, was one of the 3 banks that ran the cartel like London Silver Fixing (along with HSBC and Deutsche Bank), and the London Gold Fixing (along with Barclays, HSBC, SocGen and Deutsche Bank). This bullion bank cartel used the private companies London Gold Market Fixing Limited and London Silver Market Fixing Limited to run those daily benchmark auctions. When in 2014 and 2015 the old London Gold and Silver fixes were buried by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) and resurrected in the smoke and mirrors replacements of the LBMA Gold Price and the LBMA Silver Price, Scotia was one of the first direct participants in of each of the new fixes.

The trigger for Scotia’s withdraw from the precious metals markets goes back all the way to early 2015 (or even earlier) when the US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced that it was investigating whether the Bank of Nova Scotia and other investment banks were manipulating gold and silver prices. Spoiler: They were.

While this isn’t an article about Scotia’s criminal activities in manipulating gold and silver prices, a quick recap is in order so as to give some flavor as to who we are dealing with when we refer to the Scotia on the COMEX and in the LBMA.

According to Bloomberg in February 2015:

“At least 10 banks, including Bank of Nova Scotia, Barclays Plc, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Deutsche Bank AG are being probed by the Justice Department’s antitrust division, said one the people, who asked not to be named because the matter is confidential.”

Soon after that, investors filed class action suits in New York courts against London Gold Market Fixing Limited and London Silver Market Fixing Limited, of which Scotia was one of the defendants. See a 2016 article by Allan Flynn for some background – “How to Trigger a Silver Avalanche by a Pebble: “Smash(ed) it Good”.

By June 2018, Reuters was reporting that Scotia was to “scrap half its metals business”.

“Scotia pulling back from metals financing

Bank is largest lender to precious metals industry

Cuts heaviest in Europe, no decision yet on Asian business

Scotia still trying to sell parts of metals business”

“Scotia’s pullback comes after a strategic review of Mocatta began in 2016 following a string of lawsuits related to the manipulation of gold and silver benchmarks and dissatisfaction with performance.

It also follows a failed attempt to sell the business.”

By April 2020, that ‘half’ of the Scotia precious metals business had turned into a full 100% sale, with Reuters reporting that “Scotiabank to close its metals business”,

“’Scotia had a global call with all its metals staff and said it was shutting down its metals business,’ said one of the sources.

‘The plan is to unwind the metals business,’ said another.”

But even then in April 2020, Scotia was still a market making member of the LBMA, and a direct participant in the LBMA Gold Price and LBMA Silver Price auctions, and a member of the London bullion bank cartel unallocated gold and silver clearing company, the London Precious Metals Clearing Limited (LPMCL).

Scotia’s Gold and Silver Price Manipulation

Fast forward to August 2020, and the US Department of Justice announced that Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) had entered into a resolution with the DoJ: “to resolve criminal charges related to a price manipulation scheme involving thousands of episodes of unlawful trading activity by four traders in the precious metals futures contracts markets”, and to pay more than more than US$ 60 million in criminal fines. A flavor of the illegal activities of Scotia in that case is as follows:

“’For over eight years, Scotiabank traders placed thousands of orders for precious metals futures contracts in an attempt to manipulate prices for their own and the bank’s benefit and to deceive other market participants,’ said Chief Robert A. Zink of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Fraud Section.”

“’Today, Scotiabank has admitted to their role in a massive price manipulation scheme aimed at falsely manufacturing the prices of precious metals futures contracts to serve the bank’s best interests,’ said Assistant Director in Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. of the FBI’s New York Field Office. ‘The bank’s actions were designed to lead others to trade in ways they never would have without what was believed to be legitimate market activity.’”

Now fast forward to 1 March 2021, the same day as the COMEX and MTB / MKS PAMP vault announcements, and Wells Fargo announces that “it has expanded its precious metals trading business, filling gaps in the market left by the withdrawal of Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank)”.

But not so fast. Did anyone tell Wells Fargo that as of 08 March 2021, Scotia is still a market making member of the LBMA in gold and silver, still a member of the fractionally backed paper gold and silver trading engine, the London Precious Metals Clearing Limited (LPMCL), and still involved in LBMA precious metals vaulting in London even though it doesn’t have its own vault:

“those clearing members without their own vault operations – Scotiabank and UBS – utilise their accounts with one of the LBMA custodians or the Bank of England (BoE)”

And that’s only gold and silver, In addition, Scotia is still a marketing making member of the London Platinum and Palladium Market (LPPM).

How’s that for exiting the precious metals markets?

This will gives the likes of Reuters’ Peter Hobson and Bloomberg’s Eddie van der Walt plenty of future material to write articles such as “Scotia Mocatta still withdrawing from the precious metals markets (Part 6)“.

It’s as if Scotia hasn’t really exited the precious metals markets at all. Just discreetly sold its precious metals vault in New York to another party and quietly slipped out the COMEX door, while transferring over 30 million ozs of silver to MTB / MKS PAMP, as the #SilverSqueeze intensifies.

This article was originally published on the BullionStar.com website under the same title “Scotia Sells its COMEX NY Vault, in Slow Motion Exit from Gold and Silver Markets”

Your early WEDNESDAY morning currency, Asian stock market results, important USA/Asian currency crosses, gold/silver pricing overnight along with the price of oil Major stories overnight/7 AM EST

i) Chinese yuan vs USA dollar/CLOSED DOWN AT 6.5115 / /

//OFFSHORE YUAN: 6.5170 /shanghai bourse CLOSED DOWN 1.55 PTS OR .05%

HANG SANG CLOSED UP 134.28 PTS OR .47%

2. Nikkei closed UP 8.62 POINTS OR 0.03%

3. Europe stocks OPENED ALL GREEN EXCEPT LONDON/

USA dollar index DOWN TO 92.08/Euro FALLS TO 1.1891

3b Japan 10 year bond yield: RISES TO. +.13/ !!!!(Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese yen vs usa cross now at 108.79/ THIS IS TROUBLESOME AS BANK OF JAPAN IS RUNNING OUT OF BONDS TO BUY./JAPAN 10 YR YIELD IS NOW TARGETED AT .11%/JAPAN LOSING CONTROL OF THEIR BOND MARKET//CARRY TRADERS GETTING KILLED

3c Nikkei now JUST BELOW 17,000

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

3e WTI:: 64.50 and Brent: 67.85

3f Gold DOWN/JAPANESE Yen DOWN CHINESE YUAN: ON -SHORE CLOSED DOWN/OFF- SHORE: DOWN

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 DOWN FOR Brent this morning

3i European bond buying continues to push yields lower on all fronts in the EMU. German 10yr bund FALLS TO -.30%/Italian 10 yr bond yield DOWN to 0.70% /SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD DOWN TO 0.36%…ITALIAN 10 YR BOND YIELD/GERMAN BUND: 1.00: DANGEROUS FOR THE ITALIAN BANKING SYSTEM

3j Greek 10 year bond yield FALLS TO : 0.86

3k Gold at $1713.70 silver at: 25.78 7 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $30.00

3l USA vs Russian rouble; (Russian rouble UP 5/100 in roubles/dollar) 73.94

3m oil into the 64 dollar handle for WTI and 67 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 108.79 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 .9312 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF is 1.1073 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 NEGATIVE territory with the 10 year FALLING to –0.30%

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 1.569% early this morning. Thirty year rate at 2.278%

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

6. TURKISH LIRA: UP TO 7.58..

Futures Flat, Traders On Edge Ahead Of Critical CPI Print, 10Y Treasury Auction (1 pm)

U.S. equity futures and global markets drifted without direction on Wednesday as the rally in tech shares stalled and U.S. bond yields ticked higher ahead of a critical 10Y bond auction while investors nervously awaited a reading on inflation later in the day amid fears that the economy could potentially overheat. As Reuters puts it, “it all seemed a bit subdued” after Tuesday’s roaring 20% surge in electric car doyen Tesla, 4% jump in the Nasdaq and biggest one-day gain for global heavyweights Amazon and Microsoft in well over a month.

At 6:31 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 110 points, or 0.34%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 3.50 points, or 0.09% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 15 points, or 0.12% as Tesla dropped about 1.5%, while Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Facebook Inc and Microsoft Corp fell between 0.2% and 0.7% in early trading. General Electric rose as much as 3.7% in pre-market trading after agreeing to combine its jet-leasing business with rival AerCap Holdings NV. The Nasdaq dipped after logging its best one-day percentage jump in four months on Tuesday, helped by a near 20% jump in Tesla shares as investors picked up momentum stocks that had recently taken a beating due to higher yields.

Mikhail Zverev, head of global equities at Aviva Investors, said Tuesday’s wild moves in big U.S. tech underscored how volatile markets, which are increasingly dominated by super-sized passive funds, are likely to be this year as the world tries to reset after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The winds are blowing harder now. The world isn’t a more dangerous place, a mild increase in interest rates is not a cataclysmic event… but there is now the big-herd mentality with a greater propensity for rotations,” he said. “They are moving more frequently, they are moving faster and they are leaving a trail of inefficiency,” making markets vulnerable to big swings.

Shares of memo stock GameStop jumped another 13%, setting the videogame retailer on track for its longest streak of daily gains in six months and extending a rally that has already doubled the company’s market value. Among other “meme” stocks, Koss Corp and AMC Entertainment climbed 5.6% and 6.7%. A chunk of the $1.9 trillion relief aid, which is on track to be signed into law later this week, is poised to end up in the stock market and could provide a boost for GameStop and other stocks popular among retail investors active in online social media forums.

While Tuesday’s pullback in Treasury yields spurred a rush into stay-at-home winners, the rotation from growth to value shares looked set to resume on Wednesday according to Bloomberg. Congress is poised to send the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan to President Joe Biden for his signature, while vaccinations are picking up amid further signs of economic recovery. Upcoming consumer prices data in the U.S. are also expected to show a faster annual increase.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index traded up 0.2% after being little changed for much of the session amid gains in energy and real estate shares. Adidas AG shares surged after the sportswear maker said it’s doubling down on e-commerce and sustainable materials, while Just Eat Takeaway.com NV climbed after announcing it expects a further acceleration of order growth in 2021.

Earlier in the session, Asian stocks rose for a second day, with equity benchmarks in China, Thailand and Indonesia leading the advance. Following the Nasdaq’s surge, the Chinext index of Chinese small caps rose, with Tesla battery-supplier CATL contributing the most to the gains after the 20% rally in Elon Musk’s automaker overnight. After recent successive declines, Wednesday marked a rebound for Chinese stocks, with the benchmark CSI 300 Index also climbing as much as 1.7% before paring gains. While a rout that erased $1.3 trillion from equity values in just 14 sessions was halted, traders warned the worst was not yet over. Markets in Singapore and South Korea lagged. Australia’s benchmark index also fell, erasing an earlier advance of 0.5%, as iron ore miners dropped

Japanese stocks closed higher, booking their first back-to-back gain in three weeks, as technology-related shares rebounded while value and cyclical names declined. Indexes see-sawed between gains and losses throughout the day. Electronics and telecommunications were the biggest boosts to Topix after the Nasdaq 100 saw its biggest rally since November and Treasury yields pulled back from recent highs. Retailers, service providers and automakers declined as the rotation trade that boosted Japanese stocks on Tuesday reversed. “Investors remain wary of the rising U.S. rates,” said Masashi Samizo, a senior market analyst at SMBC Trust Bank Ltd. “With the ECB upcoming and the BOJ and FOMC holding their monetary policy meetings next week, investors are in a wait-and-see mode to check how these central banks will deal with the current rate levels.” Fanuc was the largest contributor to gains in the Nikkei 225 following data that showed machine-tool orders for February rose by the most in two years.

In rates, Treasury yields edged higher though remained below recent peaks as the first in a string of U.S. auctions went off without disrupting markets. Treasuries dipped after bear-steepening during London session, helped by a pair of block trades in 5-and 30-year futures at 6:20am ET. Yields were cheaper by 3bp-4bp at long-end of the curve, steepening 5s30s by more than 2.3bp, 2s10s by ~3bp; 10-year is cheaper by nearly 3bp at 1.554%, vs little-changed bunds and gilts. The selloff created a concession for Wednesday’s closely watched 10-year note auction at 1pm ET, with February CPI at 8:30am an interim risk. Treasury volumes were robust during Asian session. Ahead of $38b reopening, WI 10-year yield ~1.588% is higher than 10-year auction stops since February last year and ~43bp higher than last month’s.

“Although the bond market has steadied a bit, pressures will remain,” said Naokazu Koshimizu, senior rates strategist at Nomura Securities. “It has priced in future normalisation of the Fed’s monetary policy, the Fed’s policy becoming eventually neutral. But it has not yet priced in the chance of its policy becoming tighter.”

In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed after erasing an Asia session advance, and the greenback advanced versus most of its Group-of-10 peers with the euro steady around $1.19. Haven currencies were among the worst G-10 performers while the Norwegian krone and the pound were among the best. The Canadian dollar was little changed before a Bank of Canada policy announcement, where it may provide clues around plans for pulling back stimulus from the nation’s surprisingly robust economy. Australia’s dollar fell to a day low in Asian trading as RBA Governor Philip Lowe said the central bank doesn’t share the market’s expectation for possible rate increases as early as late next year; the Aussie subsequently pared most of its losses in the European session. Gold steadied after posting the biggest jump in two months as the dollar ticked higher and bond yields held a decline.

Elsewhere, oil was steady as the dollar strengthened. Oil prices, which have surged 30% since the start of the year, steadied meanwhile as concerns over a supply disruption in Saudi Arabia eased. Brent crude futures recovered from an overnight wobble to sit at $67.45 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures hovered at $64.18 a barrel after a near 2 1/2-year high of $67.98 on Monday. Precious metal gold, which has suffered as bond yields have risen this year, eased 0.2% to $1,712 per ounce after rising more than 2% during Tuesday’s frantic session.

“There’s an element of corrective price action after a very spirited gold rebound,” DailyFX currency strategist Ilya Spivak said.

To the day ahead now, the calendar will be dominated by inflation released, with CPI data coming out of Denmark, Norway, Portugal and the US, with the latter also posting data on hourly earnings and the latest release of the treasury budget. France is due to report industrial production numbers. And the Bank of Canada will release its overnight rate target.

Markets Snapshot

S&P 500 futures up 0.2% to 3,880.25
SXXP Index up 0.2% to 421.12
German 10Y yield little changed at -0.30%
Euro little changed at $1.1896
MXAP up 0.4% to 205.20
MXAPJ up 0.4% to 685.55
Nikkei little changed at 29,036.56
Topix up 0.1% to 1,919.74
Hang Seng Index up 0.5% to 28,907.52
Shanghai Composite little changed at 3,357.74
Sensex up 0.4% to 51,239.18
Australia S&P/ASX 200 down 0.8% to 6,714.11
Kospi down 0.6% to 2,958.12
Brent futures up 0.1% to $67.56/bbl
Gold spot down 0.1% to $1,714.31
U.S. Dollar Index little changed at 92.03

Top Overnight News from Bloomberg

European Central Bank officials are taking a leaf from former President Mario Draghi’s playbook as they ask if recent market moves amount to “unwarranted tightening” that requires action. That test, deployed by Christine Lagarde’s predecessor in 2014 in the run-up tonegative interest rates and quantitative easing, is relevant now as theeuro-zone economy lags behind the global recovery from the pandemic
The rate that the Federal Reserve targets to control monetary policy is defying the skeptics by holding firmly above zero, prompting a rethink from those who thought the central bank might need to step in and tinker with the front end
China’s producer prices rose at the fastest pace in more than two years in February, joining more expensive oil, computer chip shortages and soaring shipping costs as tailwinds for global inflation pressures
The global economic recovery is fueling speculation that central banks will soon be shifting into tightening mode — nowhere more so than India

Here is a quick recap of global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

Asia-Pac markets traded with a slight positive bias following on from the gains on Wall Street where stocks were led higher by an aggressive resurgence in tech which lifted the Nasdaq 100 higher by over 4% for its largest gain since November and with the advances also facilitated by an easing of yields which led to a pause in the reflation trade. ASX 200 (-0.8%) and Nikkei 225 (+0.1%) both opened higher but then reversed most of the gains with the initial momentum in Australia offset by weakness in the commodity-related sectors and with financials mired as yields softened, while sentiment in Tokyo was tentative amid detrimental currency effects from the recent pullback in USD/JPY and with reports noting that Japan is to host the Olympics without overseas spectators although a decision has not yet been made and is anticipated later in the month. Hang Seng (+0.5%) and Shanghai Comp. (U/C) were kept afloat for the most part by strength in tech and with China Telecom shares surging at the open amid plans to list in Shanghai. However, the gains were briefly wiped out as participants digested inflation data which was firmer than expected but still showed CPI Y/Y in negative territory at -0.2% vs. exp. -0.4% and amid mixed US-China related headlines with US and Japan said to be considering condemning China for its ship intrusions, while other sources stated that China and the US are in talks for their top diplomats to meet in Alaska in a bid to reset their relationship. Finally, 10yr JGBs were rangebound amid the indecisive mood in Japanese stocks and lack of BoJ bond purchases in the market today, although eventually eked mild gains after support at the 151.00 level held overnight.

Top Asian News

China’s Credit Better Than Forecast Despite February Holiday
Japan Day Trader Arrested on Market Manipulation Charges: Report
Taiwan Probe Spurs Fears of China Poaching Top Chip Talent
Ant-Backed Bike-Sharing Firm Files Confidentially for U.S. IPO

Stocks in Europe are trading mostly positive (Euro Stoxx 50 +0.2%) after experiencing somewhat of a lacklustre open after the region took the wheel from a choppy/mixed APAC session. US equity futures meanwhile traded in the green before trimming the mild gains, with some outperformance in the more value-driven RTY and YM vs the tech-laden NQ, albeit the divergence is modest ahead of key risk events including US CPI and arguably the more-important US 10yr auction ahead of tomorrow’s ECB confab. Elsewhere on the fiscal front, the Senate’s USD 1.9tln COVID bill is expected to pass through the House today before landing on President Biden’s desk to be signed into law. Thus, some suggest this could translated to another bout of flows for some of the Reddit stocks in upcoming sessions. Back to Europe, UK’s FTSE 100 (Unch) resides as the laggard, albeit the index has narrowed the gap vs some of its EZ counterparts, albeit gains remain capped by Sterling dynamics. The index experienced a bout of weakness at the start amid losses across mining and oil names, albeit this has since been trimmed. Sectors in Europe are relatively mixed with no real biases, with consumer discretionary driving the gains amid earnings from Adidas (+5.8%) who resides as one of the top performers after stellar metrics and amid anticipation for revenue to increase in all market segments, with competitor Nike (+0.8%) modestly firmer pre-market. On the flip side, Tech and Materials are the laggards with the latter pressured by the slide in iron ore prices and the former taking a breather from yesterday’s firm performance, although source reports overnight also suggested that Apple (-0.2%) is planning to reduce its planned iPhone 12 mini amid weaker-than-expected demand. In terms of other moves, Spanish heavy-weight Inditex (-0.7%) is softer post earnings after missing analyst forecasts. Meanwhile, ABN AMRO (-3.0%) slid lower as it is poised to get relegated from the AEX (+0.1%) alongside Galapagos (-1.5%), and replaced with BE Semiconductor (+0.4%) and Signify (+0.5%) – with the changes effective from 22nd March.

Top European News

U.K. Accuses EU of Harming Britons’ Health as Vaccine Row Grows
Credit Suisse Temporarily Replaces Managers Tied to Frozen Funds
Britain Set for Deals Boom With Firms ‘Very Cheap,’ Says L&G CEO
Rothschild Financing Advisory Fees Rise to Mitigate M&A Dip

In FX, after Tuesday’s fall from grace, the Dollar seems to have settled down and looks content to bide time before US CPI and external events that could have an indirect impact, like the BoC policy meeting and ECB later today and Thursday respectively. Indeed, the index found underlying bids just shy of 92.000, at 91.967 vs yesterday’s 91.906 low and is now meandering either side of the new pivot level, with some external support from renewed weakness in certain major rivals that helped push the DXY up to 92.243 at one stage.

AUD/CAD – The Aussie has pared some overnight losses, but is looking less assured above 0.7700 and 1.0750 vs its US and NZ counterparts amidst a sharp decline in iron ore prices and dovish commentary from RBA Governor Lowe who reaffirmed rate guidance and said that that the Board will decide whether to extend QE further later this year. Moreover, he categorically stated that market expectations for hikes next year and in 2023 are not in line with the Bank’s view of no tightening until at least 2024. Meanwhile, a different kind of double whammy for the Loonie as oil prices retreat further from recent heady heights (WTI not far from Usd 63/brl vs just 2 cents shy of Usd 68, and Brent Usd 66.50 compared to Usd 71.38 on Monday) and Usd/Cad pivots 1.2650 in cautious trade ahead of the aforementioned BoE confab – full preview in the Research Suite.
CHF/JPY – No surprise to hear that SNB’s VC Zurbruegg is pleased with recent Franc depreciation, especially as the cost of curbing its strength over the last 12 months is estimated at Chf 100 bn. However, Usd/Chf reversed from circa 0.9375 through 0.9300 before basing again and Eur/Chf is straddling 1.1050 having topped 1.1100. Similarly, the Yen is maintaining recovery momentum around 108.70 falling through 109.00, but not to the extent to sustain gains beyond 108.50.
GBP/EUR/NZD – Sterling is a marginal G10 performer, albeit unable to extend beyond 1.3900 vs Greenback far enough to test Tuesday’s best (1.3925) or the 21 DMA just above (1.3931 today), while also waning on approaches to 0.8550 against the Euro even though the single currency is finding 1.1900 tough to retrieve relative to the Buck in the run up to the ECB. Elsewhere, the Kiwi is hovering above 0.7150 vs its US peer pre-NZ FPI and post-RBNZ Governor Orr announcing that some coronavirus liquidity provisions will be withdrawn.
SCANDI/EM – The Nok has weathered the latest pull-back in crude pretty well to keep its head above par vs the Sek and on an even keel with the Eur around 10.0800 on the back of firmer than forecast Norwegian headline inflation that offset a slightly softer than expected core. The Cnh and Cny are also gleaning some support from Chinese CPI, albeit y/y rate still sub-zero, while the Try has shrugged off a jump in Turkish unemployment amidst relief that imported oil costs have fallen quite sharply.

In commodities, WTI and Brent front month futures have nursed the pressure seen during APAC hours, which emanated from the significantly larger-than-expected and Texas-distorted build in Private Inventories (+12.8mln vs exp. +0.8mln), coupled with some questions as to whether the OPEC+ discipline will continue beyond April. Furthermore, the EIA STEO provided the complex with some downbeat omens after it cut 2021 world oil demand growth by 60k BPD but raised 2022 world oil demand growth by 330k BPD. However, prices since the European open have been climbing despite a distinct lack of news-flow, but more-so in tandem with the broader gains across stocks and the easing Buck. WTI now trades on either side of USD 64/bbl (vs low 63.13/bbl) whilst its Brent counterpart sees itself on either side of USD 67.50/bbl (vs low USD 66.50/bbl). Looking ahead, desks will be on the lookout for the US CPI metrics for some inflation/sentiment driven action, followed by the weekly EIA Inventories (Crude exp +0.816mln bbls), with further risk surrounding the US 10yr auction which could tap into traders’ future inflation expectations. Elsewhere, spot gold and silver are relatively uneventful within tight ranges around USD 1,715/oz and on either side of USD 26/oz awaiting direction from the aforementioned risk events. Over to base metals, LME copper advanced amid the more constructive risk tone coupled with a softer Buck. That being said, a Shanghai copper brokerage that accumulated bullish bets valued at over USD 1bln has reportedly cut its position by almost 25%. Finally, Dalian iron ore futures overnight sunk in a continuation of the downside seen after pollution-controlling measures were imposed on China’s largest steel-making city Tanghsan.

US Event Calendar

8:30am: Feb. CPI YoY, est. 1.7%, prior 1.4%; CPI Ex Food and Energy YoY, est. 1.4%, prior 1.4%;
8:30am: Feb. CPI MoM, est. 0.4%, prior 0.3%; CPI Ex Food and Energy MoM, est. 0.2%, prior 0%
8:30am: Feb. Real Avg Weekly Earnings YoY, prior 6.1%, revised 5.7%; Real Avg Hourly Earning YoY, prior 4.0%, revised 3.9%
2pm: Feb. Monthly Budget Statement, est. -$305b, prior – $235.3b

DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

You will be thinking I’m making this up but sadly I’m not. On Monday afternoon I popped downstairs to greet a very happy 5yr old after her first day back at school in 3 months. 3 hours later at dinner one of the twins (Jamie) had a temperature. By midnight my wife was on the phone to the hospital as his temperature was 40.5C and he had been sluggish all evening. They nearly came round as they were worried but after he rallied with Ibuprofen everyone agreed that he’d have a covid test yesterday which he duly took. Meanwhile the household has had to self isolate again and poor Maisie got only one day back at school. This is our sixth or seventh period of isolation or quarantine. I appreciate there are worse off people but this has been a bit of a dagger blow. Anyway, why didn’t I bring this news to you yesterday? Well I’m embarrassed to say I slept through it all and my wife had to deal with it and very kindly didn’t wake me up in the early hours of Tuesday morning. She was a zombie for most of yesterday. Fingers crossed we get a negative test result very soon and we can resume the slow crawl towards normality and Maisie can go back to see her friends. I believe the third Harry Potter film was devoured yesterday afternoon.

Even Dumbledore wouldn’t have been powerful enough to prevent the stunning tech comeback yesterday in yet another wild swing of a day. The Nasdaq (+3.69%) led the way after moving into correction territory the day before (was -10.5% from the peak by Monday close). Indeed, the NYSE FANG+ index of mega-cap tech companies rose even further (+6.42%) with Tesla (+19.64%) seeing its best day since February 3rd 2020. These two tech heavy indices saw their best days since November 4th (the day after the US elections) and April 6th 2020 respectively. It was a particularly great day for the stay-at-home trade that had been recently tossed aside with Zoom (+10.0%), DocuSign (+10.6%) and Peloton (+14.5%) all surging. The S&P 500 added +1.42% even if small-cap stocks outperformed, with the Russell 2000 up +1.91%. So a good day for both big and small and not such a good day for quite big. Indeed there was clearly a break from the recent rotation trade as Energy (-1.91%) and Bank (-1.70) stocks fell back in favour of tech industries such as Semiconductors (+6.14%) and Tech Hardware (+3.32%).

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 jumped (+0.76%) to its highest levels since mid-February last year, and now nearly erasing all of the pandemic-related slump. The European index saw nearly two-thirds of its constituents rise yesterday with similar sector leaders as seen in the US. Technology (+2.52%) and Retail (+2.34%) were the main drivers of the rally, while Travel and Leisure rose (+1.96%) on the back of news that the EU will propose “passports” for those who have taken EU-approved vaccines in order to instill more confidence in regional travel.

Even as risk assets surged many market observers kept their eyes firmly on global bond yields, which fell back as the first tranche of this week’s $120 billion of US supply was sold yesterday. A $58 billion auction of 3y notes went fairly smoothly. There more attention on the auction of $38bn of 10yr bonds taking place today, and the $24bn of 30y bonds coming tomorrow. US Treasuries led the global bond rally yesterday with 10yr yields finishing -6.4bps lower at 1.526%. This was the first drop in yields in 5 sessions and the second biggest one day drop in 10yr yields since late-January. The move was driven by a pullback in real rates (-7.2bps) rather than a change of inflation expectations (+0.8bps). Across the Atlantic, European core rates mirrored their US counterparts with UK gilts (-2.7bps) and German bunds (-2.4bps) both seeing moderately lower yields.

Inflation expectations in general have a been a partial driver of the 10yr recently and later we will get the February CPI data showing how consumer prices have evolved of late. Our US economists expect a repeat of the January release with energy prices propping up the headline figure but with a relatively soft core print. One risk to the release could be the inclement weather last month, which has the potential to induce some volatility into the print, particularly with respect to energy. The market continues to expect a +0.4% (+0.3% last month) rise in month-over-month prices.

To be honest the more important inflation prints are still some months away, once fuller reopening activity and stimulus cheques have passed through the system. On the government support, President Biden’s coronavirus relief package is expected to be approved today following a final vote by the House of Representatives, and then the bill known as the American Rescue Plan will make its way to Biden’s desk to be signed into law as early as tonight. Some Congressional Democrats are already looking past the bill to the upcoming infrastructure negotiations, though a White House advisor has said he expects it to be more bipartisan.

Overnight in Asia, markets are mostly trading lower outside of China and Hong Kong where the CSI (+0.95%), Shanghai Comp (+0.26%), Shenzhen Comp (+0.67%) and Hang Seng (+0.12%) are all up after yesterday’s intervention by state funds. Meanwhile, the Nikkei (-0.09%), Kospi (-0.69%) and Asx (-0.84%) are all down. Futures on the S&P 500 (-0.34%) are also down. Sentiment is being weighed down this morning by the higher than expected Chinese February PPI, which came in at +1.7% yoy (vs. 1.5% yoy expected), the highest gain in over two years while CPI came in at -0.2% yoy (vs. -0.3% yoy expected). The resurgence in Chinese PPI is leading to some concerns that it will likely add to inflationary pressures this year as Chinese factories start passing the increases to global customers. Meanwhile, yields on 10yr USTs are trading up +1bps and those on Australia (-7.0bps ) and New Zealand (-7.1bps) 10 years are down following yesterday’s decline in global yields. In Fx, the Australian dollar is down -0.44%% after we saw a pushback from the RBA governor over the market pricing of rate hikes. He said that markets may be getting ahead of themselves by pricing in an interest-rate increase within the next couple of years. The US dollar index is up +0.25%. Elsewhere, Brent crude oil prices are down -0.99%.

For those interested in the topic of ‘greenwashing’, under a suite of new EU finance rules due to be rolled out in stages and beginning on March 10, firms including fund houses, insurers and pension funds that provide financial products or services in the European Union will have to begin disclosing how sustainable they really are. The new EU legislation is called the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and it aims to iron out the patchy climate-related information currently provided by financial market participants, as well as give firms with genuinely sustainable products an edge. Set to roll out in stages over the next two years, SFDR contains reporting obligations at both the company and product level. But from this week, all funds must disclose in their pre-contractual information how they factor sustainability risks into their investment decisions. Additionally, those funds promoting environmental or social characteristics, or sustainability objectives, must explain both in their marketing and on their websites the objectives and how they plan to meet them.

Just on this a paper published overnight by Greenpeace and the New Economics Foundation has urged the ECB to stop lending against brown bonds, arguing that marginal changes taking into account climate risks won’t sufficiently lower the institution’s carbon footprint.

Staying on the sustainability subject, e-commerce firm Shopify said yesterday it will become the first customer to buy contract carbon removal units from Canada-based direct air capture company Carbon Engineering to slash its greenhouse gas emissions. Shopify bought 10,000 units, or one metric tonne of carbon dioxide captured and permanently removed from the atmosphere, from the firm’s future direct air capture (DAC) projects. Carbon Engineering has been running a pilot facility at the foot of British Columbia’ Coast Mountains to suck a ton of carbon dioxide a day out of the sky and convert it to fuels, in a bid to show that the planet can put emissions into reverse. It’ll be fascinating to see whether this is ever scaleable.

In terms of the latest on the pandemic, Johnson & Johnson told the European Union it is facing supply issues that may complicate plans to deliver 55m doses of its covid vaccine to the bloc in the second quarter of the year, reports indicated. J&J’s vaccine, which requires only one dose for protection, is expected to be approved on March 11 for use in the EU by the bloc’s regulator. EU officials have said deliveries could start in April. Meanwhile, China has launched a digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate for its citizens planning cross-border travels, as the pace of coronavirus global vaccinations has accelerated. There was somewhat positive news on the variant front, as the Pfizer vaccine was shown to neutralize the UK, Brazil and South African strains in lab experiments.

The OECD released their new outlook yesterday. The report forecast a better outlook for global growth on the back of President Biden’s $1.9tn US stimulus programme. The global economy will expand by 5.6% this year, an upgrade of 1.4 percentage points from November. The OECD substantially revised up its expectations for US growth this year, to 6.5% from 3.2%. It also revised upwards its forecast for the UK for both 2021 and 2022 by 0.9 and 0.6 percentage points respectively as a result of its successful vaccination programme. In Europe, however, the recovery is expected to be slower, as the positive effects of the stimulus will be partly offset by the lag in vaccination programmes, which will delay the loosening of coronavirus restrictions and generate a longer hangover from the crisis, the OECD said.

Looking at yesterday’s data, Germany’s exports rose 1.4% mom in January, higher than the prior 0.4% increase, while country’s trade balance rose to €22.2b. Italian industrial production increased 1% mom in January. Meanwhile, eurozone final 4Q GDP was revised down to -0.70% from -0.60% on a quarterly basis, but yoy the 4Q GDP number was revised upwards at -4.9% compared with the previous -5.0% mark. Eurozone exports rose 3.5% qoq in 4Q.

3A/ASIAN AFFAIRS

i)WEDNESDAY MORNING/ TUESDAY NIGHT:

SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 1.55 PTS OR .05% //Hang Sang CLOSED UP 134.28 PTS OR 47% /The Nikkei closed UP 8.62 POINTS OR 0.03%//Australia’s all ordinaires CLOSED DOWN 0.76%

3 a./NORTH KOREA/ SOUTH KOREA

South Korea

b) REPORT ON JAPAN

Stocks unhappy with Japan’s announcement on their Yield Curve Control. That sent the USA/Yen down (Yen up)

Stocks, USDJPY Dip On BoJ Yield Curve Control Comments

Having blown out the yield curve control barrier two weeks ago, Bloomberg reports that Bank of Japan officials are looking at ways to enable yields to fluctuate more freely in their policy review.

This comes after Governor Haruhiko Kuroda appeared to rule out a widening of the range during comments in parliament on Friday that caused yields to tumble.

But, his deputy, Masayoshi Amamiya, seemed to walk back those comments on Monday by saying yields could fluctuate more as long as that didn’t impair the effect of monetary easing, sending yields up again.

According to people familiar with the matter, some of the officials want to find ways to generate more fluctuations while sticking with the current movement range of around 20 basis points either side of the BOJ’s zero target on 10-year government debt.

Thisimplies less ‘easing’as policymakers are willing to allow more volatility before rescuing the world.

The reaction is a bid for JPY…

and US futs are unhappy

Finally, we note that Bloomberg does point out that, according to the same people, while officials think more yield movements could help improve the functioning of the bond market, no conclusions have been reached on how to achieve this before the review next week.

end

3 C CHINA

CHINA/USA

4/

EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

UK/EU

This should be fun: Credit Suisse who is also locked up in this sordid affair is launching its own probe into the collapsed Greensill trade finance funds

(zerohedge)

Credit Suisse Launches Probe Into Collapsed Greensill Trade-Finance Funds

Roughly a weekand a-half has passed since Credit Suisse gated funds containing $10BN in assets packaged by Greensill, the troubled financial innovator that suckered in former British PM David Cameron, SoftBank and legions of clients and investors with its stated mission to “democratize” supply-chain finance. Now that the trade finance emperor has fallen (having filed for administration earlier this week), Credit Suisse is starting the arduous process of convincing regulators and its clients that the bank is taking steps to ensure that something like this never happens again.

In keeping with its scandal-response playbook, the Swiss megabank is launching an internal investigation (kind of like it did after the corporate espionage scandal which felled its former CEO, Tidjane Thiam) to determine exactly what led to the bank getting involved with Greensill, and turning a blind eye to the trade-finance assets’ concentrated exposure to Greensill clients like Sanjay Gupta’s GFG Alliance.

Additionally, Finance News reports that the bank has suspended or fired three top executives from its asset-management arm. They include Michel Degen, head of asset management in Switzerland and EMEA, who is being replaced in the interim by Filippo Rima. Luc Mathys, head of fixed income in the unit, and another manager who ran the funds, were also suspended.

Credit Suisse gated the Greensill-linked funds earlier this month after Greensill’s main insurance supplier refused to cover new notes issued by the firm, deeming them too risky. It soon emerged that these assets were heavily exposed to the struggling industrial empire controlled by Gupta. CS gated the funds because the bank said that without the insurance coverage the Greensill assets had become “impossible to value” – which is just a fancy way of saying that they just might be worthless.

The bank is now liquidating the strategy, a group of short-term debt funds for which Greensill had provided the assets and which had been held up as a success story as recently as December. The money pools are returning most of their cash and equivalents, though about two-thirds of investor money remains tied up. Many of the assets in the funds have insurance protection to make them more appealing for investors seeking alternatives to money markets. But the second-biggest of them, the High Income Fund, doesn’t use insurance. It’s also the fund with the least liquidity, with less than 20% of the net assets in cash.

Of course, Credit Suisse isn’t the only international financial institution to get caught up in the Greensill scandal: SoftBank was exposed last year for purportedly using the trade finance funds to shore up some of its portfolio companies by concealing some of their debt obligations. The Japanese telco/VC also poured more than a billion dollars into Greensill, touting the firm’s technological prowess. But as it turns out, the FT reported Wednesday that Greensill’s fabled technology platform was more myth than reality.

But SoftBank wasn’t the only investor to get suckered: As the FT reports, General Atlantic, known for its early backing of financial technology success stories, invested $250MM into Greensill in 2018, citing the firm’s technological prowess. GA’s co-president Gabriel Caillaux once praised the firm’s “fully integrated technology and funding solutions,” as well the company’s “competitive advantage” in the supply chain finance market. But as Apollo discovered, Greensill’s technology platform actually relies on technology provided by a third-party firm.

It almost makes one wonder how Greensill ever managed to develop its reputation as a leading fintech champion?

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

Russia/USA

USA is preparing a cyberattack against Russia’s supposed Solar Winds hack. This will not end well if they did this

(Dave DeCamp/AntiWar.com)

US Preparing Cyberattack Against Russia Over SolarWinds Hack: Report

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

According to a report from The New York Times, the Biden administration isplanning cyberattacks against Russia in the coming weeks. The cyber offensive could come with new sanctions and would mark a serious escalation towards Moscow from the new administration.

Anonymous US officials told the Times that the first “major move” is expected to happen over the next three weeks. It will consist of a “series of clandestine actions across Russian networks that are intended to be evident to President Vladimir Putin and his intelligence services and military but not to the wider world.”

The officials said the cyberattack will come along with new economic sanctions on Russia. Last week, the Biden administration slapped sanctions on Russian officials over the jailing and alleged poisoning of opposition figure Alexei Navalny.

The planned cyberattack is being framed as retaliation for the hack of the software firm SolarWinds that affected several US government agencies. The SolarWinds hack was discovered late last year. It was immediately blamed on Russia by members of Congress and Western media outlets despite a lack of evidence that showed Moscow was responsible.

The US formally attributed blame to Russia for the SolarWinds hack in January. The FBI, NSA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Office of the DNI released a statement that said the hack was “likely Russian in origin.” Missing from the statement was any evidence for the accusation.

The reality is, attributing cyberactivity is difficult as hackers have methods to conceal their identity. One reason US officials and media outlets say it could have been Russia is the sophistication of the hack. But testimony from SolarWinds’ former CEO and a cybersecurity expert made it clear that anybody could have accessed SolarWinds’ servers due to a major security lapse.

After the hack was first discovered, Vinoth Kumar, a cybersecurity expert who advised SolarWinds, said the password for the firm’s update server was “solarwinds123.“ Kumar said he warned SolarWinds that anyone could access the server because of this password. “This could have been done by any attacker, easily,” he told Reuters last December.

Kumar’s claim about the password turned out to be true. It was confirmed during congressional hearings in February that not only was “solarwinds123” the password, but it was also leaked and available to the public on the internet for years. Former SolarWinds CEO Kevin Thompson blamed an intern for posting the password on GitHub, a platform programmers use to share software information.

“They violated our password policies and they posted that password on an internal, on their own private Github account,” Thompson said during a joint hearing by the House Oversight and Homeland Security committees.

Sudhakar Ramakrishna, the current SolarWinds CEO, said the password was publicly available as early as 2017. “I believe that was a password that an intern used on one of his Github servers back in 2017,” he said. SolarWinds did not correct the issue until November 2019. According to the timeline from SolarWinds, suspicious activity on their server began in September 2019.

Despite the fact that it is well established that anyone could have accessed SolarWinds’ servers and the best the US intelligence agencies could come up with is that Moscow is “likely responsible,” the US is poised to launch a cyberattack on Russia anyway.

The Times story that reported the Biden administration’s plans also mentions another recently discovered hack of Microsoft email servers that is being blamed on another US adversary, China. The hack apparently affected servers used by small businesses, local governments, and military contractors.

So far, it’s just Microsoft making the claim that China was responsible for this cyberattack, and the US has yet to attribute blame. But according to the Times, the Biden administration is already mulling options to go after China for the Microsoft intrusion.

According to the Times, in August 2018, President Trump signed a secret document giving US Cyber Command more authorities to go on the offensive in the cyber realm. These authorities are reportedly under review by the Biden administration, and any major cyberattacks must be brought to the White House and the National Security Council before being carried out.

end

Important: Email to me on Middle eastern vs Russia vs uSA

ВСУ стягивают военную технику на Донбасс. (Днепропетровск 08.03.2021) – YouTube

Recently, Russia attacked the oil smuggling operation in Syria, within 48 Hours Ukraine military moves began on cue. Remember that very real and serious money has gone into arming the Ukrainians. I imagine the deep state crowd is pissed at their $100MM a month oil removal program in Syria being demolished.

Now, as we see heavy arms: Tanks, self-propelled artillery, armored personnel carriers, and large numbers of Ukrainian troops, moving east toward the Russia-favorable break-away provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk inside Ukraine, a potential hot conflict is brewing. Timing will be sooner than later to avoid the mud of April as spring rains come.

Clearly, the US and EU are preparing to wage a hot war against those breakaway provinces, which will force Russia to engage directly so as to defend the breakaway provinces. The Ukies will be sacrificed to the last man. Couple of years ago now, a Ukrainian army priest explained this in detail to me.

This is what the Biden administration is fomenting; war with Russia in both Syria and in Europe. Americans should be aware what their president is doing, as this will not be contained easily once started. And the economic impact will be widely felt. Especially if Israel and Iran have a go at it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlDogKWEDH0

Cheers

Robert

Attachments area

Preview YouTube video ВСУ стягивают военную технику на Донбасс. (Днепропетровск 08.03.2021)

end

6.Global Issues

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE/

British Columbia nursing home gets a huge outbreak of COVID despite being vaccinated by the Pfizer vaccine

(many had already received their second shot)

COVID Outbreak Confirmed At Nursing Home Despite Staff, Patients Being Vaccinated

As new COVID cases tumble across North America, sleepy British Columbia has just reported a new outbreak of the virus at a nursing home in the province where both staff members and patients had already been vaccinated.

According to the CBC, a new outbreak of COVID-19 has been declared at the Cottonwoods Care Center, located in the Interior Health region. BC’s provincial health officer first acknowledged the outbreak yesterday.

During a live news conference about the outbreak, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry emphasized being vaccinated doesn’t mean transmission will be stopped and that precautions must remain in place for seniors and care homes. Dr. Henry said two staff members and 10 residents have tested positive at the Cottonwoods facility, which is a long-term care home with 221 publicly-funded beds. Henry said that all staff and residents at the home were offered immunizations and that there was very high uptake of the vaccine. She said some of the cases were among people who had received two doses of the vaccine.

“You can have transmission even when people are fully vaccinated,” she said. “The illness seems to be milder and doesn’t transmit as much [and we] won’t see rapid explosive outbreaks.”

Despite the outbreak, Dr. Henry said the province will offer new guidance by the end of month that will allow for increased visitation at long-term care homes like this.

Source: CBC

Increasingly, people around the world are questioning how and why outbreaks can still occur among populations with high vaccination rates. In Israel, where a spate of post-vaccination reactions and deaths were documented and reported as the tiny Mediterranean Country scrambled to be the world leader, the Jerusalem Post has just published an explainer piece entitled “Why would someone fully vaccinated still catch corona?”

In the article, the writer identifies four reasons why an individual might test positive and/or be severely sickened.

Here’s more from the JPost.

There are several reasons why one might develop COVID-19 after vaccination, according to Prof. Jonathan Gershoni of the Shmunis School of Biomedicine and Cancer Research at Tel Aviv University.

The first reason is that the clinical trials for Moderna and Pfizer indicate that the vaccine is 95% efficient in protecting against the disease meaning, according to Johns Hopkins University, that about one out of 20 vaccinated people may not be protected and could still get sick.

The efficacy of protection is calculated based on the number of people who were actually infected in the clinical trials, not on the total number of those that were vaccinated.

It should also be noted that 95% efficacy does not mean that 5% of the people in the Pfizer clinical trial caught coronavirus. According to an article published by Live Science, the percentage was much less – around 0.04%.

The second reason is variants.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were developed based on the original coronavirus strain as discovered and genetically sequenced in Wuhan, China. Since then, the virus has replicated and mutated into thousands of different variants, some of which might render the vaccine less effective.

“We know in Israel that now, the majority of infections are from the UK variant,” Gershoni said.

While these vaccines have already proven to be highly effective against the UK variant, they are not as effective against the South African strain, Gershoni said. Furthermore, he added, there could be other variants that are even more vaccine resistant.

The third reason is that immunity is “a numbers game,” the scientist explained.

The disease – or the vaccine – causes our bodies to develop antibodies against the virus. But if someone has an extremely high viral load and sheds that potent load, it is possible that this large amount of virus could break through the existing protection and infect the person. In this case though, it would likely only cause a mild disease.

The fourth and final reason, each person is unique and has her or his own molecular immunological makeup.

“We know some people have a tendency to be very robust and stand up to infections, and other people can be a bit more sensitive,” Gershoni said. “When talking in terms of vaccinating five million people in Israel, you are seeing the full spectrum of people with various levels of immune competence.”

But he cautioned that when we talk about “breakthrough infections,” sometimes people were infected before they got their second dose or even their first.

As more older Americans receive the vaccine (the US is now doling out more than 2MM doses per day of the three approved jabs from Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and JNJ), it appears many are already booking trips to see family and friends, or take a brief vacation, after being essentially stuck in their own homes for a year. A recent BofA survey found that older Americans’ spending on airline tickets has surged 4x since June.

Although the CDC yesterday eased restrictions on certain domestic activities for people who have been “fully vaccinated”, any form of travel is still against the federal guidelines, especially if patients are deemed high risk. Still, as worries about the mutations intensify, what might this new trend portend?

end

Russia/italy//CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

The Russian vaccine “Sputnik V” seems safe. Italy seems to be by-passing the Astra Zeneca model for Russia’s vaccine.

(zerohedge)

Russia Strikes Deal To Produce “Sputnik V” COVID Jab In Italy

Russia’s Sputnik V COVID vaccine has already been embraced by Hungary (along with dozens of other nations around the world), which opted to approve the jab due to concerns about relying on Brussels – concerns that proved to be prescient, as Europe continues to struggle with its vaccine rollout.

In fact, Russia’s “Sputnik V” has been such a big hit internationally, that WSJ reported earlier this week that the vaccine has actually been more successful in international markets than in its home market, reportedly due to a high degree of “vaccine hesitancy” that has left Russia vulnerable to a new surge. Unlike his American counterpart, Russian President Vladimir Putin hasn’t yet received the vaccine.

According to the details of the report, the Swiss pharmaceutical firm Adienne Pharma & Biotech will manufacture the Russian vaccine in Italy’s Milan region, per a statement from the firm’s president, Antonio Francesco Di Naro.

And in the latest victory for the Russian vaccine, Bloomberg reports that Italy has struck a landmark vaccine-production deal with Moscow and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (which financed the vaccine’s development via the world-reknowned Gameleya Institute) which will ratchet up the pressure on Brussels to approve the Russian jab for use in the EU.

Approval by the EU would be seen as a major vote of confidence in the Russian jab, which has been almost universally maligned in the western press despite a glowing report from the Lancet, a popular medical journal. Already, medical regulators in the bloc last week began a rolling review of Sputnik V, following the publication of the results in the Lancet (which suggested the vaccine had an efficacy rate of 91.6%).

Still, resistance to approval remains strong. For example, EMA chairwoman Christa Wirthumer-Hoche said late Sunday that she would advise European governments against emergency authorization of the vaccine.

“It’s somewhat comparable to Russian roulette. I would strongly advise against a national emergency authorization,” she said, speaking on Austrian television. She claimed there were not sufficient data about the vaccine’s safety, claiming that the vaccine must meet EU standards on quality control and efficacy.

According to the RDIF, Sputnik V has already been registered in 46 countries.

Whatever happens, Russia says it will be ready to provide 50MM vaccine doses to Europe, beginning in June. As European countries continue to lag behind the US and the UK, political pressure on Brussels might become too great.

end

Dr Scott Atlas…Covid lockdowns worst publich health mistkae in the last 100 years.

(Scott Atlas/zerohedge)

Stanford Medical Professor Insists COVID Lockdowns “Worst Public Health Mistake In Last 100 Years”

Dr. Scott Atlas isn’t the only Stanfordite to embrace the principles of the Great Barrington Declaration. The former advisor to President Trump delivered a final address yesterday that summed up his criticisms of the US COVID-19 response, particularly the draconian lockdowns that destroyed millions of jobs and hundreds of thousands of small businesses.

In his speech, Dr. Atlas warned that the response to COVID-19 in the US has underscored a lack of diverse viewpoints on American college campuses and in the American mainstream press.

First, I have been shocked at the enormous power of the government, to unilaterally decree, to simply close businesses and schools by edict, restrict personal movement, mandate behavior, and eliminate our most basic freedoms, without any end and little accountability.

Second, I remain surprised at the acceptance by the American people of draconian rules, restrictions, and unprecedented mandates, even those that are arbitrary, destructive, and wholly unscientific.

This crisis has also exposed what we all have known existed, but we have tolerated for years: the overt bias of the media, the lack of diverse viewpoints on campuses, the absence of neutrality in big tech controlling social media, and now more visibly than ever, the intrusion of politics into science. Ultimately, the freedom to seek and state the truth is at risk here in the United States.

Well, as it turns out, Dr. Atlas isn’t alone. In a recent email interview with Newsweek, Stanford’s Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a professor at the medical school, warned that the lockdowns would be remembered as the “biggest public health mistake we’ve ever made…the harm to people is catastrophic.” Bhattacharya was one of the co-authors, along with Dr. Atlas, of the Great Barrington Declaration.

I stand behind my comment that the lockdowns are the single worst public health mistake in the last 100 years. We will be counting the catastrophic health and psychological harms, imposed on nearly every poor person on the face of the earth, for a generation.

At the same time, they have not served to control the epidemic in the places where they have been most vigorously imposed. In the US, they have – at best – protected the “non-essential” class from COVID, while exposing the essential working class to the disease. The lockdowns are trickle down epidemiology.

Bhattacharya explained that his support of the declaration stems from “two basic facts”.

“One is that people who are older have a much higher risk from dying from COVID than people who are younger…and that’s a really important fact because we know who his most vulnerable, it’s people that are older. So the first plank of the Great Barrington Declaration: let’s protect the vulnerable,” Bhattacharya said.

“The other idea is that the lockdowns themselves impose great harm on people. Lockdowns are not a natural normal way to live.”

He also cautioned that lockdowns have aggravated economic inequality by creating an undue burden for the poor. “it’s also not very equal,” Bhattacharya explained. “People who are poor face much more hardship from the lockdowns than people who are rich.”

As of Monday, the Great Barrington Declaration has received signatures from over 13,000 medical and public health scientists, and more than 41,000 medical practitioners, along with at least 754,399 “concerned citizens”.

US states are already moving to roll back restrictions, with Texas and Mississippi leading the charge to lift all remaining vestiges of the lockdown, while blue states like Connecticut and Maryland have also laid out plans to ease their COVID measures, as the closures increasingly chafe voters. Meanwhile, federal authorities like Dr. Anthony Fauci have continued to urge states to wait, warning that mutated strains of the virus could cause a resurgence if the US gives them an opening.

Michael Every on today’s major stories

(Michael Every)

Rabo: Up Until Now It’s Been All China: Now It’s Going To Be All The US

By Michael Every of Rabobank

Shut Up ‘n Play Yer Guitar

Last week I was sent a video clip of hard rock legend and former Deep Purple and Rainbow guitarist Ritchie Blackmore giving an interview with the ‘cool cats’ of Russia Today. Resplendently syrup-ed, his monologue to a politely nodding interviewer flowed thus:

“We all have to look within. I think a lot about death. More than life. Because we are going towards death. And I think death is very important. I think it’s going to happen to all of us. Most of us. Not all. Some of us might get away with it. It’s what Bob Dylan said. Bob Dylan came up to me once and he said: ‘Hey – who the hell are you?’. And I kind of admired him for that.”

Pure Spinal Tap! My point today is yet again that much of what we read and see in terms of geopolitical and market analysis can sound deep – but it’s nonsense wrapped around elements of the painfully obvious.

Chinese stocks slumped again because the PBOC introduced a policy that *must*, if followed, induce a huge slowdown in future economic activity – or “pulling back stimulus gradually”, as Bloomberg describes shifting liquidity growth of 35% y/y to 8-9%. Then the same stocks went up because ‘the National Team bought them’. So what the economy and asset prices do are to remain two unrelated factors entirely: because it’s one thing not to have enough fiscal stimulus, and hence low rates, and hence high equity multiples; but China is going to *delever* its bubbles and ensure they don’t burst. Good luck with that.

Another narrative not being discussed: the underlying signal that the US and China seem incapable of *both* managing to put their foot on the fiscal accelerator at the same time. Up until now it’s been all China: now it’s going to be all the US. (Chinese CPI and PPI today saw the former rise from -0.3% to -0.2% y/y and the latter jump from 0.3% to 1.7%: so input prices are rising and sales prices are falling – time to scale back borrowing? US CPI is out later today.)

That lack of willingness to coordinate, or perhaps ability given the problems if 50% of world GDP stimulates in tandem(?), has serious implications for markets and geopolitics. Instead, we get the press ‘scoop’ that China wants to meet with the US in Alaska to “reset relations”: perhaps because someone from the White House can see China from there?

Take off the syrup, and ask from which of the two possible sides this story came; and who would want the narrative out there; and to what end. Journalists, like the Russian who sat listening to Ritchie Blackmore pontificate about evading death, seem to have lost that art: but the RT/RB example was no more ridiculous than the New York Times salivating about ‘secret’ US plans to attack Russian cyber facilities. So secret it’s a good job no Russians can read the US press and find out about them there: Эти жалкие одноязычные русские шпионы!

But back to Anchorage and its handy view of China: is a relations reset compatible with the same Bloomberg coverage today(!) talking about China firing an anti-aircraft carrier missile in the South China Sea to send “an unmistakable message”, according to a top US admiral testifying in Congress? With the 6.8% y/y increase in Chinese defence spending? With Xi Jinping telling the PLA to “be prepared to respond in uncertain times”? With recent hawkish statements made by Secretary of State Blinken? With plans from both the US and China for tech supremacy? Or with building up a foreign policy “Quad”, which continues apace?

Perhaps, yes: as a necessary de-escalation, some might say; and look at what is happening with the US and Iran despite what Iranian-backed actors are doing in the region, others would add. However, good luck getting anything past Congress.

Now back to the fiscal: the US is going one way and China the other – what does that tell us about how well the globe can handle any real Building Back Better? Is US fiscal stimulus going to buy Chinese green goods, which they will have too many of for local demand if their own economy is slowing down? How do we manage the relationship between these two as at least partial decoupling becomes a domestic political priority? We need Bob Dylan-style questioning here. But expect lots of Russia Today style nodding, or Spinal Tap analysis instead.

Meanwhile, from the big picture to the small, and despite the USD having a down day for the most part vs. G10 FX Tuesday, the meme is still rapidly shifting to “America is back” in terms of higher long-end rates, and hence a bid for the buck against emerging markets in particular. Moreover, the OECD has just released their updated global GDP forecast in which they see world growth 1% higher than previously seen, and the US bouncing to 6.5% in 2021 – though Europe will lag behind yet again: who can VDL blame for that one? Well, we had a few months of Spinal Tap dollar bearishness at least – even if higher yields pushing the USD up are themselves Tap-py.

Recall the great line from Tap bassist Derek Smalls (who looks the spitting image of Blackmore today): “We’re very lucky in the band in that we have two visionaries, David and Nigel, they’re like poets, like Shelley and Byron. They’re two distinct types of visionaries, it’s like fire and ice, basically. I feel my role in the band is to be somewhere in the middle of that, kind of like lukewarm water.” There is no such middle role in a K-shaped US economy, where fiscal stimulus is too much for some and not enough for others: so yields will shoot up and ultimately crash down again, and the USD will likely do the same – unless and until we get Fed yield curve control that is. Watch those stage pyrotechnics play out in awe.

The very small(s) picture is of the RBA belatedly reminding markets it might be able to set up a committee to include ‘whatever it takes’ on the agenda, but it will require a qualified majority vote that then goes to a special commission for review in a plenary session. In short, Governor Lowe verbally defended the yield curve control policy and reminded us he isn’t about to raise rates. This worked in regards to the 3-year: but on an underlying level arguably because parts of the global market can still react to what the PBOC said it is going to do. At least Lowe can be happy about what AUD has been doing, yesterday aside: but again that’s about what the US government says it’s going to do, not the RBA.

As Frank Zappa would have put it: Shut Up ‘n Play Yer Guitar. (An album whose tracks include “Five-five-FIVE”; “Hog Heaven”, “Treacherous Cretins”, and “Soup ‘n old clothes”, all of which sound like potential Bloomberg, Russia Today, or New York Times headlines.)

7. OIL ISSUES

end

8 EMERGING MARKET ISSUES

Your early morning currency/gold and silver pricing/Asian and European bourse movements/ and interest rate settings WEDNESDAY morning 7:00 AM….

Euro/USA 1.1891 DOWN .0006 REACTING TO MERKEL’S FAILED COALITION/ REACTING TO +GERMAN ELECTION WHERE ALT RIGHT PARTY ENTERS THE BUNDESTAG/ huge Deutsche bank problems ///ITALIAN CHAOS//CORONAVIRUS/PANDEMIC/TRUMP POSITIVE WITH VIRUS /AND NOW ECB TAPERING BOND PURCHASES/JAPAN TAPERING BOND PURCHASES /USA RISING INTEREST RATES /FLOODING/EUROPE BOURSES /MOSTLY GREEN EXCEPT LONDON

USA/JAPAN YEN 108.79 UP 0.219 (Abe’s new negative interest rate (NIRP), a total DISASTER/NOW TARGETS INTEREST RATE AT .11% AS IT WILL BUY UNLIMITED BONDS TO GETS TO THAT LEVEL…

GBP/USA 1.3864 DOWN 0.0023 (Brexit March 29/ 2019/ARTICLE 50 SIGNED/BREXIT FEES WILL BE CAPPED/

USA/CAN 1.2648 UP .0002 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 WEDNESDAY morning in Europe, the Euro FELL BY 6 basis points, trading now ABOVE the important 1.08 level FALLING to 1.1891 Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE DOWN 1.55 PTS OR .05%

//Hang Sang CLOSED UP 134.29PTS OR .47%

/AUSTRALIA CLOSED DOWN 0,76%// EUROPEAN BOURSES ALL GREEN EXCEPT LONDON

Trading from Europe and Asia

EUROPEAN BOURSES ALL GREEN EXCEPT LONDON

2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang Sang CLOSED UP 134.29 PTS OR .47%

/SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 1.55 PTS OR .05%

Australia BOURSE CLOSED DOWN 1.42%

Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED UP 8.62 POINTS OR 0.03%

INDIA’S SENSEX IN THE GREEN

Gold very early morning trading: 1712.00

silver:$25.74-

Early WEDNESDAY morning USA 10 year bond yield: 1.569% !!! UP 2 IN POINTS from TUESDAY’S night in basis points and it is trading WELL BELOW resistance at 2.27-2.32%.

The 30 yr bond yield 2.278 UP 2 IN BASIS POINTS from TUESDAY night.

USA dollar index early WEDNESDAY morning: 92.09 UP 12 CENT(S) from TUESDAY’s close.

This ends early morning numbers WEDNESDAY MORNING

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And now your closing WEDNESDAY NUMBERS \1: 00 PM

Portuguese 10 year bond yield: 0.24% DOWN 2 in basis point(s) yield from YESTERDAY/

JAPANESE BOND YIELD: +.13.% DOWN 0 BASIS POINTS from YESTERDAY/JAPAN losing control of its yield curve/56

SPANISH 10 YR BOND YIELD: 0.36%//DOWN 0 in basis point yield from yesterday.

ITALIAN 10 YR BOND YIELD:0.69 DOWN 1 points in basis points yield from yesterday./

the Italian 10 yr bond yield is trading 33 points higher than Spain.

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD: FALLS TO –.31% IN BASIS POINTS ON THE DAY//

THE IMPORTANT SPREAD BETWEEN ITALIAN 10 YR BOND AND GERMAN 10 YEAR BOND IS 1.00% AND NOW ABOVE THE THE 3.00% LEVEL WHICH WILL IMPLODE THE ENTIRE ITALIAN BANKING SYSTEM. AT 4% SPREAD THERE WILL BE A HUGE BANK RUN…

END

IMPORTANT CURRENCY CLOSES FOR WEDNESDAY

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

Euro/USA 1.1895 DOWN .0002 or 2 basis points

USA/Japan: 108.64 UP .062 OR YEN DOWN 6 basis points/

Great Britain/USA 1.3898 DOWN .0004 // DOWN 4 BASIS POINTS)

Canadian dollar DOWN 4 basis points to 1.2646

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The USA/Yuan, CNY: closed UP AT 6.5059 ON SHORE (UP)..

THE USA/YUAN OFFSHORE: 6.51000 (YUAN up)..

TURKISH LIRA: 7.53 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LEVEL/DEATH WISH.

the 10 yr Japanese bond yield at +0.13%

Your closing 10 yr US bond yield DOWN 3 IN basis points from TUESDAY at 1.535 % //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%) very problematic USA 30 yr bond yield: 2.266 DOWN 3 in basis points on the day

Your closing USA dollar index, 92.03 UP 7 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 WEDNESDAY: 12:00 PM

London: CLOSED DOWN 4.74… 0.07%

German Dax : CLOSED UP 102.31 POINTS OR .71%

Paris Cac CLOSED UP 65.58 POINTS 1.11%

Spain IBEX CLOSED UP 14.90 POINTS or 0.18%

Italian MIB: CLOSED UP 109.46 POINTS OR 0.46%

WTI Oil price; 63.70 12:00 PM EST

Brent Oil: 67.13 12:00 EST

USA /RUSSIAN / RUBLE RISES: 73.74 THE CROSS LOWER BY 0.25 RUBLES/DOLLAR (RUBLE HIGHER BY 25 BASIS PTS)

TODAY THE GERMAN YIELD FALLS TO –.31 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 f0r Oil, 4:00 pm/and 10 year USA interest rate:

WTI CRUDE OILPRICE 4:30 PM : 64.76//

BRENT : 68.24

USA 10 YR BOND YIELD: … 1.521..down 8 basis points…

USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 2.246 down 5 basis points..

EURO/USA 1.1927 ( UP 30 BASIS POINTS)

USA/JAPANESE YEN:108.38 DOWN .198 (YEN UP 20 BASIS POINTS/..

USA DOLLAR INDEX: 91.82 DOWN 14 cent(s)/

The British pound at 4 pm Britain Pound/USA:1.3982 UP 45 POINTS

the Turkish lira close: 7.51

the Russian rouble 73.59 UP 0.40 Roubles against the uSA dollar. (UP 40 BASIS POINTS)

Canadian dollar: 1.2620 UP 26 BASIS pts

German 10 yr bond yield at 5 pm: ,-0.31%

The Dow closed UP 462.97 POINTS OR 1.46%

NASDAQ closed DOWN 42.42 POINTS OR 0.33%

VOLATILITY INDEX: 22.61 CLOSED DOWN 1.42

LIBOR 3 MONTH DURATION: 0.185%//libor dropping like a stone

USA trading today in Graph Form

Stimmy Vote Sinks Dollar, Bids Bitcoin & Big-Caps To Record Highs

“The Great Experiment begins” as the $1.9 trillion bucket of lard was passed entirely along partisan lines…

Today’s gains were also based on the ‘calm’ CPI print (which we noted here was – as BLS admitted – fabricated).

The dollar dumped…

Source: Bloomberg

And alternative currencies rallied with Bitcoin back at record highs…

Source: Bloomberg

Gold gained…

And Big-Caps (The Dow) surged to a record high…

Source: Bloomberg

Dow and small caps outperformed as big-tech was battered after the US cash open (after ridiculously melting up on the CPI print)…

The last few days have been quite a chaotic time in the Dow/Nasdaq relationship…

Source: Bloomberg

Tech valuations are starting to “normalize” relative to the excessive itself market…

Source: Bloomberg

The market opened with yet another short-squeeze but the middayish-ET collapse in WSB trades unwound that craziness…

Source: Bloomberg

GME soared to become Russell 2000’s biggest company before crashing back to earth and worse and then screaming back to unchish…

That – ladies and gentlemen (and others) – is the ‘market’.

And it wasn’t just GME that went insane – the entire WSB ‘Heavily-Shorted’ Basket surged almost 20%, then crashed 30% before stabilizing…

Source: Bloomberg

Credit markets caught back down (rallied) to equity risk markets…

Source: Bloomberg

Bonds were aggressively bid today during the US session

Source: Bloomberg

USTs are the most attractive for overseas buyers in six years…

Source: Bloomberg

5Y Breakevens topped 2.50% – the highest since July 2008

Source: Bloomberg

Real yields slipped today, supporting gold…

Source: Bloomberg

Choppy day for oil today amid inventories, stimmies, and Russian production headlines…

Finally, there is one little problem with all this exuberant money-printing/spending inflationary malarkey – as Treasury yields push higher, mortgage rates rise (to six month highs) stifling the housing market as mortgage apps (refis) crash…

Source: Bloomberg

And don’t expect that to improve anytime soon given the massive surge in interest rate risk….

Source: Bloomberg

END

a)Market trading/this morning/USA

“This Is Nuts!” – Stocks Explode Higher After Fabricated CPI Print

It would appear the algos missed the fact that BLS made it all up. For example…

A cooler than expected core CPI print (thanks to fabricated data) appears to have sparked a panic-bid in stocks…

With Nasdaq leading the mega-squeeze…

The dollar is getting dumped too…

The only response we got from multiple desks this morning was “This is nuts!” along with a few expletives.

What happens at the cash open?

b)MARKET TRADING/USA//Non farm payrolls

ii)Market data/USA

This is a big report: USA consumer prices jump at the fastest pace in 7 months. Inflation is becoming rampant. Actually the numbers were much higher: the BLS admits that they made up the numbers.

(zerohedge)

US Consumer Prices Jump At Fastest Pace In 7 Months In February

All eyes this morning are on consumer prices as we near the precipice of last year’s collapse and the (artificial) explosion in year over year comps that the short-term collapse will create (temporarily, if The Fed is to be believed). February consumer prices rose at 0.4% MoM – the fastest pace since July, lifting the year-over-year price rise to 1.7% – the highest since Feb 2020…

Source: Bloomberg

This is the ninth straight monthly advance in consumer prices.

However, core CPI disappointed, rising 1.3% YoY vs 1.4% expected as Used Car prices remain a big driver of YoY changes while Apparel and transportation services costs slide…

A silver lining – for some – is that Shelter Inflation dropped to 1.47%, from 1.62% in Jan, the lowest since June 2011 and Rent inflation dropped to 1.96% from 2.05% in Jan, the lowest since Aug 2011

So, to summarize:

Case Shiller says home prices as 10 year high

but…

CPI says home price inflation at 10 year low

The big question is – what happens in March, April, and May?

Source: Bloomberg

Which will all be transitory if The Fed is to be believed.

END

Then the BLS did an update and admits that they are making up most of the CPI

CPI Jumps In Feb, BLS Admits It’s Making Most Of It Up

WEDNESDAY, MAR 10, 2021 – 8:37

Update: The BLS is basically just admitted it is all BS…“data collection in February was affected by the temporary closing or limited operations of certain types of establishments. These factors resulted in an increase in the number of prices considered temporarily available and imputed”

So take the following data with a pinch of salt (and no there’s no conspiracy cover-up here at all to hide the pernicious effects of massive money-printing… that would be crazy talk).

And while you’re ignoring the fact the BLS made all this data up, ignore this chart too…

* * *

Source: Bloomberg

This is the ninth straight monthly advance in consumer prices.

However, core CPI disappointed,rising 1.3% YoY vs 1.4% expected as Used Car prices remain a big driver of YoY changes while Apparel and transportation services costs slide…

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.1 percent in February.The shelter index rose 0.2 percent in February, with the index for owners’ equivalent rent increasing 0.3 percent and the index for rent increasing 0.2 percent. The recreation index increased 0.6 percent in February after decreasing 0.6 percent in January. The motor vehicle insurance index also increased, rising 0.7 percent in February.

The index for airline fares continued to decline in February, falling 5.1 percent following a 3.2-percent decrease in January.The used cars and trucks index fell 0.9 percent over the month, as it did in the 2 previous months. The index for apparel declined 0.7 percent in February after increasing 2.2 percent in January.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.3 percent over the past 12 months. Among the indexes rising more quickly were those for used cars and trucks (+9.3 percent), medical care (+2.0 percent), and shelter (+1.5 percent). Indexes that declined over the last 12 months include airline fares (-25.6 percent), apparel (-3.6 percent), and motor vehicle insurance (-2.8 percent).

So, to summarize:

Case Shiller says home prices as 10 year high

but…

CPI says home price inflation at 10 year low

The big question is – what happens in March, April, and May?

Source: Bloomberg

Which will all be transitory if The Fed is to be believed.

end

US Budget Deficit

Widens in Feb as pandemic spending escalates

(Market Watch)

U.S. budget deficit widens in February as spending to battle pandemic continues

March 10, 2021 at 2:03 p.m. ET

MarketWatch

Government looks set to borrow more than $3 trillion for second year in a row

The numbers: The federal government’s budget deficit widened to $311 in February from $235 billion in the same month last year, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday.

Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal had expected the deficit to widen to $255 billion in February. The deficit is a record for the month.

What happened: Total spending was $559 billion in February, up 32% from the prior year. Spending went up on unemployment benefits from the Labor Department and spending by the Health and Human Services. The government is not keeping track of all the money spent to fight COVID-19 pandemic.

Total receipts also rose 32% in February to $248 billion.

For the fiscal year to date, the budget deficit swelled to $1 trillion compared with $624 billion over the same period a year ago.

The big picture: Experts said the U.S. is set to run $3 trillion deficits for two years in a row. The government continues a spending spree, with Congress set to pass a $1.9 trillion Covid relief package later Wednesday. After that, the Biden Administration is expected to soon announce a “Build Back Better” infrastructure and green- energy measure that could cost between $1 to $3 trillion.

Tom Simons, economist at Jefferies, said Treasury doesn’t need to further increase borrowing as a result of the $1.9 trillion package. He said the coupon calendar still raises an enormous amount of cash due to the cumulative increases in auction sizes since last April.

“It used to take us years to borrow $1 trillion. Now we’re borrowing that much in just five months,” noted Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

The Congressional Budget Office warned last week that rising government debt raised long-run concerns about a financial crisis.

During her confirmation hearing. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that it will be “essential” to put the federal budget on a path to sustainability, but she said the government should first defeat the pandemic and make long- term infrastructure investments to help the economy grow. Low interest rates have kept the interest burden on the debt low. The government has spent $192 billion on interest on the federal debt so far this fiscal year, which begins in October. That’s down from $229 billion over the same period last year as the government’s cost of borrowing has dropped, a senior Treasury official said.

iii) Important USA Economic Stories

Demand for the 10 yr treasury robust due to the repo mess:

10 yr repo yield: -.20%

Anything negative is unheard: you pay to lend money so somebody can short treasuries.

(zerohedge0

Brace For A Blockbuster 10Y Auction

One down, one to go.

While this morning’s muted CPI print calmed traders who were on edge that we would see another multi-sigma beat to expectations, and sparked a violent if brief marketwide short squeeze, the main event on today’s calendar is today’s $38BN 10Y auction at 1pm, where memories are still fresh of the catastrophic 7Y auction from Feb 25 which launched a frenzied stop loss liquidation across the yield curve and pushed the 10Y sharply higher by 10bps in seconds, above the 1.50% key level and as high as 1.61%.

Yet unlike two weeks ago when in addition to mounting reflation fears and key threshold levels just begging to be “stopped out”, not to mention atrocious liquidity…

… the situation now is vastly different.

In addition to yesterday’s smooth 3Y auction which will serve as a psychological tailwind, JPMorgan writes that “outright and relative valuations near their cheapest levels in years and largely normalized liquidity conditions will help.” Then there is the modest concession, with the 10Y trading slightly cheaper on the day (was trading much cheaper until yields tumbled on the subpar copre CPI print). Then there is the cash yield which at 1.54% is near the cheapest levels of the year on the 7s10s30s fly, which BBG notes is a “possible source of relative-value demand.”

Another reason why we expect impressive buyside demand: on an FX-hedged basis, the 10Y is now far more attractive than either bunds or JGBs so pension funds looking for FX-hedged yields will sooner or later make their way to the 10Y TSY.

But the biggest reason why we are quite confident that today’s 10Y auction will be described as “stellar” and “blockbuster” is also why we have been warning for the past week that the repo market is very much broken:

As we reported most recently on Monday evening, the “Repo Chaos Continues” the 10Y had continued to trade ominously “broken” in repo, at or near the fails charge of -3.00% every day of the past week, which as we explained meant that there were so many shorts that they could not find deliverable on-the-runs which to use to cover their shorts.

In other words, just as the collapse of the 3Y repo rate ahead of yesterday’s auction served to boost demand and force covering into the primary market…

… so the continued unprecedented repo squeeze in the 10Y means, that there is a massive short base which we are virtually certain will use today’s auction to cover.

And while the pressure eased modestly on Tuesday when repo closed at -0.20%...

… the daily repo rate for 10-year Treasuries was offered at -2.85% at the open according to Oxford Economics and was last seen trading -2.15%/-2.35% with an average of -2.72% on $14.2BN in volume, according to Brean Capital.

Which means that as we noted earlier, all signs point to a mirror-image of the recent dismal 7Y auction…

… with the collapse in repo virtually assuring blockbuster demand and a stop through of as much as 1 basis point if not more when all is said and done. Finally, it goes without saying that a blockbuster auction would have very soothing effect on all risk assets which continued to trade nervous ahead of today’s 1PM main event.

USA VS CUBA

White house admits that Trump’s Cuba policies will stay for now

(zerohedge)

White House Admits Trump’s Cuba Policies Will Stay For Now

“A Cuba policy shift is currently not among President Biden’s priorities,” White House spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters at the daily briefing on Tuesday.

While the Biden administration now says it’s “reviewing” Trump policies on Cuba, particularly the ‘last-minute’ terror designation by Trump on January 11 – a mere nine days before Biden was sworn in – nothing looks to change anytime soon.

Psaki emphasized that for the time being Trump’s policies regarding the socialist-run Caribbean island will by default stay Biden’s policies: “A Cuba policy shift is currently not among President Biden’s priorities but we are committed to making human rights a core pillar of our US policy and we are carefully reviewing policy decisions made in the prior administration including the decision to designate Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism,” she said according to Reuters.

And of course Trump was blasted by sectors on the Left for his aggressive Cuba stance, which in large part has actually reflected Washington’s decades-long posture on Cuba going back to the Cold War (with exception of Obama’s attempts to open up relations). As Reuters reminds us, “Critics said Trump’s decision was highly politicized and not supported by evidence. Trump’s hardline policy was popular among the large Cuban-American population in south Florida, helping him win the state in November though he lost the election.”

And now Psaki echoes this strategy and perspective in her Tuesday remarks: “Americans, especially Cuban Americans, are the best ambassadors for freedom and prosperity in Cuba.”

Apparently, the answer to the below question is “no”…

It appears the White House isn’t even so much as ready to loosen up remittances from Cuban Americans to their families back home, or ease family-related travel back to the island.

It’s yet a further demonstration and confirmation of a point we’ve featured before – that Biden appears to be siding with Trump on major foreign policy issues in more ways than he or the media would like to admit.

end

This should be an interesting case: Twitter who violated every law in the book now sues Texas AG claiming that Paxton retaliated against Twitter for banning Trump.

Discoveries should be fascinating

(zerohedge)

Twitter Sues Texas AG; Claims He Retaliated Against Company For Banning Trump

Twitter has filed a lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, claiming that he used his office to retaliate against the social media giant for banning former President Donald Trump following the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol, according to the Associated Press.

Following Trump’s banishment by several left-leaning companies, Paxton announced that his office was investigating Twitter, Apple, Google and Amazon for what he called “the seemingly coordinated de-platforming of the President.” He made several document requests related to their content moderation policies, as well as internal communications.

Twitter demands that the court effectively halt Paxton’s investigation.

“Paxton made clear that he will use the full weight of his office, including his expansive investigatory powers, to retaliate against Twitter for having made editorial decisions with which he disagrees,” wrote Twitter’s lawyers in the suit filed in a Northern California court.

Twitter’s counterpunch comes as states, in addition to federal lawmakers and governments outside the U.S., are cracking down on tech companies they see as having amassed too much power in the past decade. This includes antitrust and anti-monopoly regulation, internet privacy laws as well as attempts to regulate how platforms like Twitter, Facebook and others moderate their sites.

In December, Paxton led 10 Republican attorneys general in suing Google for allegedly running an illegal digital-advertising monopoly in cahoots with Facebook.

GOP politicians in roughly two dozen states have also introduced bills that would allow for civil lawsuits against platforms for what they call the “censorship” of posts. Almost always, this means what they view as the censorship of conservative or Christian religious viewpoints. –Associated Press

Paxton cited the First Amendment while launching his investigation, claiming that tech companies’ deplatforming of Trump “chills free speech” and “wholly silences” his detractors.

Twitter, however, does not have to abide by the First Amendment as they are a private firm with the right to silence users it disagrees with. Trump and other world leaders have been given broad exemptions, however the company said Trump’s tweets leading up to Jan. 6 constituted glorification of violence.

end

My goodness: how are the shorts going to get out of this one?

(zerohedge)

GameStop Soars Above Record Close, Now Biggest Stock In Russell 2000

WallStreetBets sentiment is soaring in GME again…

Source

And thanks to that, GME is up 40% today, up six days in a row (the longest streak in six months) and just topped $347.51 – its record closing price!

If GME again doesn’t sell stock here now that it is back at 350, it should become the 8th deadly sin

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 10, 2021

It appears the meme-stock meltup is back…

“It looks like the second wave of bullish speculation has clearly kicked off,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, said by email.

He warned, however, that the recent corporate updates may not be enough to justify the stock’s surge.

“Given the massive volatility in this stock, the risk is huge as the rally in the GME stock price is boosted by expectations of future growth, and is not based on concrete results for now.”

The original basket of heavily-shorted WSB stocks is soaring along with GME…

Meanwhile, GameStop, at near $24 billion market cap, is now the biggest company in the Russell 2000, overtaking PLUG.

As @John13468388 noted so poignantly: “Smooth functioning market when a brick and mortar with a dead business model is the largest company in the russell.”

We wonder how Melvin Capital’s month is going?

end

House Passes $1.9 Trillion Stimulus; Next Stop, Biden’s Desk

The House on Wednesday passed the $1.9 trillion stimulus package following modifications made by the Senate to their original bill. It now heads to President Biden’s desk, where he is expected to sign it on Friday according to White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

No Republicans voted for the stimulus.

In a Wednesday afternoon statement, President Biden – or whoever wrote it – said: “Now we move forward” with the legislation, which includes $1,400 for eligible residents in lieu of the long-promised $2,000 payments. The statement confirms a Friday signature.

The stimulus is expected to be signed into law before various federal benefits expire on March 14, after which $1,400 checks can begin flowing within one to two weeks based on the timeline for the previous round of checks, and Tuesday comments by Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who said at a Buffalo, New York press conference that families could expect to receive checks in about two weeks.

“By next weekend, a couple making less than $160,000 could well have $2,800 deposited into their checking account,” said Chris Krueger of Cowen & Co. before the Senate approved the bill, according to CBS News. That said, fewer Americans are likely to receive checks in this third round of stimulus due to changes made by the Senate, after a deal was struck with the Biden administration to narrow the qualifications for $1,400 payments.

Individuals earning up to $75,000 will be eligible for the full $1,400, while those earning $80,000 or more won’t qualify. For couples filing jointly, the phase-out begins at $150,000 and ends at $160,000. Heads of household must earn $112,500 or less to qualify, and are disqualified after $120,000 of income.

CBS News suggests using this Omni online calculator to determine whether you qualify based on your most recent tax return.

The spending bill will also include an extension of weekly unemployment benefits, though reduced from $400 per week to $300. The Child Tax Credit for low-income households will also be expanded.

“Working families will get $1,400 per individual from a third stimulus check, plus they will benefit from a muscled-up child tax credit of $3,000 per child,” according to unemployment expert Andrew Stettner of the Century Foundation.

Also included in the bill is funding for states and cities, as well as small businesses and schools. Government spending on COVID-19 testing and contact tracing will also receive a boost.

As for the anticipated effects on equities, according to DB’s Jim Reid which we noted last week;

“It’s worth highlighting that a large amount of the upcoming US stimulus checks will probably find their way into equities,” said Reid, who then noted that a late-February survey by DB’s chief equity strategist Binky Chadha suggested that online account brokerage users would invest approximately 37% of future stimulus checks in the stock market.

So here is Reid’s math: “Given stimulus checks are currently penciled in at c.$405bn in Biden’s plan, that gives us a maximum of around $150bn that could go into US equities based on our survey. Obviously only a proportion of recipients have trading accounts, though. If we estimate this at around 20% (based on some historical assumptions), that would still provide around c.$30bn of firepower – and that’s before we talk about any possible boosts to 401k plans outside of trading accounts.”

iv) Swamp commentaries

Who Is The President? Kamala Harris Takes Yet Another Call With A Foreign Leader

Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,

As half the country expressed concerns over the mental fitness of Joe Biden, it has emerged that Vice President Kamala Harris has yet again taken on duties that the President should be fulfilling, after speaking to another foreign leader this week.

Reports detail how Harris spoke with the prime minister of Norway, Erna Solberg, while Biden wandered aimlessly around a hardware store barely registering where he was.

“The Vice President thanked the Prime Minister for Norway’s close security partnership with the United States and generous contributions to development and health security efforts around the world,” a White House statement notes.

Harris also tweeted about the call:

This follows Harris speaking to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel last week, while Biden was on a call with NASA.

As we have previously reported, Harris has also already taken important calls with French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau.

Is this normal? The President isn’t speaking to any foreign leaders, but the VP is.

The short answer is no, it isn’t normal.

The NY Post notes that former Vice President Mike Pence “occasionally spoke directly by phone with foreign leaders, but that role generally was performed by former President Donald Trump, especially last year.”

“A review of press notices from Pence’s final year in office reveals no readouts of direct calls with the leaders of foreign nations,” the Post added.

v) King report/Courtesy of Chris Powell of GATA which includes the major swamp stories.

China State Funds Buy Stocks to Stem Worsening Rout
Chinese state-backed funds were said to intervene on Tuesday to alleviate declines in the stock market, a sign that the rout had gone too far for policy makers… The CSI 300 Index of stocks erased a loss of as much as 3.2% to trade 0.2% higher as of 11:18 a.m. local time…
https://www.bloombergquint.com/china/china-state-funds-said-to-buy-stocks-to-stem-worsening-rout

ECB increases bond buying after warnings about higher yields
The European Central Bank stepped up the pace of its emergency bond-buying last week after policy makers issued repeated warnings that a recent rise in yields threatens to derail the region’s economic recovery. Gross purchases settled under its pandemic emergency program totaled 18.2 billion euros ($21.6 billion) in the week ended March 5, compared with 16.9 billion euros a week earlier. The ECB also said 6.3 billion euros of debt was redeemed, contributing to the relatively muted pace of net buying reported a day earlier…https://t.co/qY0PvTBXgb

Coronavirus curbs hit euro zone fourth-quarter GDP more than estimated quarter-on-quarter
Gross domestic product in the 19 countries sharing the euro fell by 0.7% quarter-on-quarter, more than the initial 0.6% estimate, for a 4.9% year-on-year drop, less the previous estimate of 5.0%…
https://t.co/HPIkh92E5e

Are markets really rigged?
The fairness of the US financial system has gone on trial in the wake of the GameStop saga
“Anyone who says this system isn’t rigged isn’t being honest,” he argues. “We have an incredibly fragmented market system with layers of created complexity that serves no purpose other than to conceal the wealth extraction that the system now serves.”… https://amp.ft.com/content/a69cfdc1-37a0-4058-bad4-353211c8d715

China’s equity market intervention unleashed manic buying around the globe, particularly in heavily shorted items. Nasdaq soared as much as 4.2%; the NY Fang+ Index jumped as much as 7.1%; the Sox Index rallied as much as 6.8% and US bonds rallied as much as 1.5 points. Precious metals and Bitcoin soared; the dollar decline smartly. Tesla rallied as much as 20%. Anyone seen ‘freely traded markets’?

WSJ op-ed: Fed Policy Is Smothering Private Lending – Banks, leery of making risky loans in the real economy, do business with the central bank instead
Commercial banks are increasingly opting to reduce the share of total assets devoted to loans while expanding their holdings of Treasury debt and government-backed mortgage securities. The 25 largest U.S. banks currently hold 45.7% of their assets in loans and leases, according to Fed data released Friday, down from 54.1% this time last year. Meantime, their year-over-year holdings of Treasury and agency securities increased 33.5%. This reflects more-stringent borrowing standards and diminished loan demand. But it also reveals a subtle yet persistent change in how banks operate.
Banks have pulled back from making risky loans in favor of engaging more directly with the Fed—avoiding the type of lending that spawned stricter regulatory standards after 2008 while readily accommodating the Fed’s expressed satisfaction with an “ample reserves” regime… The cost of regulatory compliance is a huge disincentive for banks, and selling government-backed securities to the Fed and piling up reserves can turn out to be a profitable business model… https://t.co/wqT8GbBwRx

Perhaps a big reason for bank stocks’ recent strength is the risk-free arb that banks are doing with the Fed.

Biden’s $1.9T stimulus bill expands social safety net at unprecedented level [QED socialism]
The bill contains billions of taxpayer dollars for the expansion of government programs related to rent, utilities, food, and taxes. https://justthenews.com/government/congress/bidens-19t-stimulus-bill-expands-social-safety-net-unprecedented-level

@tomselliott: Pelosi: “This is the Biden American Rescue Plan. It will be followed by the Recovery Plan.” Pelosi on whether the 4th trillion dollar “Covid” bill will be Congress’ last: “You’re just going to have to ask the virus … We will see where we are [in the Fall]. It is not anything anybody can predict; it is just a question of the science.” https://twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1369375902556184577

Entire Nevada Democratic Party staff quits after Democratic socialists take leadership positions
“We weren’t really surprised, in that we were prepared for it,” said the group’s new chairperson.
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/states-entire-democratic-party-staff-quits-after-democratic-socialists-take

Central banks and governments have destroyed price discovery, capital markets and capitalist-based economies. Everything is now rigged, manipulated, and centrally commanded. Capitalism started to die under FDR, some say under Teddy Roosevelt, and is a vestige of US history. The solution to the self-inflicted Covid Depression is virulent socialism. The inconvenient truth: The US is a socialist state.

As gas prices soar, Americans can blame Joe Biden
Biden’s attack on U.S. energy producers, starting with his freeze on federal oil and gas leases, will assuredly take a toll on output down the road and cause prices at the pump to rise.
But today, Biden has pushed those prices, which were already rising because of severe weather, even higher by gratuitously alienating Saudi Arabia. The Gulf kingdom just surprised energy markets by announcing it would not raise oil output, despite developing supply constraints and rising prices…
https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/541833-as-gas-prices-soar-americans-can-blame-joe-biden

Biden Team Overruled Career Intel Officials on the Khashoggi Murder in an Effort to Appease Iran https://aclj.org/foreign-policy/the-biden-team-overruled-career-intelligence-officials-on-the-khashoggi-murder-in-an-effort-to-appease-iran

Gas prices have more impact on consumer sentiment and presidential approval ratings than stock prices.

Presidential Approval and Gas Prices
Gas prices had a significant and negative effect on change in approval… the impact of gas prices on presidential approval does not depend on volume of media coverage of the topic. Moreover, the impact of gas prices on changes in approval does not substantially decline in magnitude when these interaction terms are added to the equation… https://pprg.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/Presidential-Approval-and-Gas-Prices.pdf

@zerohedge: Gundlach: “People may be starting to believe stimulus is permanent… The biggest problem is we’ve become totally addicted to these stimulus programs.” Welcome to socialism.
RNC Pushes Back on Trump, Claims It ‘Has Every Right’ to Use His Name for Fundraising
https://dailycaller.com/2021/03/08/rnc-trump-claims-name-for-fundraising/

DJT responded to the RNC by issuing this statement: “No more money for RINOs. They do nothing but hurt the Republican Party and our great voting base – they will never lead us to Greatness… https://twitter.com/henryrodgersdc/status/1369112101164351499

Republican donations surge despite corporate boycott after Capitol riots https://t.co/6bdtabvo4h

TMZ: The Bidens’ 2 German Shepherds… were shipped back to the family home in Delaware last week following some un-doglike (or maybe doglike) behavior at the White House, including a biting incident… https://www.tmz.com/2021/03/08/president-biden-dogs-booted-white-house-aggressive-biting-german-shepherd-champ-major/

Biden White House: Putting ‘kids in cages’ is now the ‘humane and moral’ thing to do
https://www.theblaze.com/news/kids-in-cages-now-humane-moral

Capitol Hill Police Call for ‘Permanent Fencing’ around US Capitol https://t.co/I8sta4Mgw9

Democrat Panel Recommends PERMANENT Military “Quick Reaction Force” For Capitol
https://summit.news/2021/03/09/democrat-panel-recommends-permanent-military-quick-reaction-force-for-capitol/

GOP @RepMattGaetz: A capitol wrapped in barbed wire looks like the capitol of a socialist country. Not America. [Matt, America IS a socialist country.]

GOP Rep. @Jim_Jordan: Isn’t it strange how Democrats want to defund the police in your neighborhood, but are totally fine with hiring more police at the U.S. Capitol to protect politicians?

Xi Jinping tells China’s military ‘be prepared to respond’ in unstable times

President also stresses need for ‘high-level strategic deterrence’ and more tech innovation
It follows defense minister’s call for PLA to be battle ready amid ‘high-risk phase’

Its deep rift with the US is top of the list of geopolitical risks, particularly tensions over Taiwan and the South China Sea that some fear could lead to military conflict as both powers step up air and naval operations in the region. Beijing recently released footage of its military conducting landing drills in the disputed South China Sea, days after US reconnaissance operations and a Taiwanese exercise simulating a mainland Chinese attack on its reefs… [Sleep tight tonight, The Big Guy is in charge!]
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3124733/xi-jinping-tells-chinas-military-be-prepared-respond-unstable

U.S. Cites Threat to Carriers from Chinese Anti-Ship Missile
China’s military executed a coordinated test launch of its top anti-ship ballistic missile into the South China Sea last August to send an “unmistakable message,” the head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Phil Davidson told a Senate panel on Tuesday…“Their employment during a large-scale PLA exercise demonstrates the PLA’s focus on countering any potential third-party intervention during a regional crisis… These actions, which are inconsistent with President Xi Jinping’s and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe’s assurances that the PRC would not militarize the SCS, threaten our allies and partners’ autonomy, jeopardize freedoms of navigation, overflight and other lawful uses of the sea, and compromise regional peace and stability,”… [It would be nice to know what The Big Guy thinks.]
https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/china-tested-top-anti-ship-missile-in-drill-u-s-admiral-says

50% of Americans Say Biden Not ‘Physically, Mentally’ Fit for Presidency. [What does Xi know?]
https://thenationalpulse.com/breaking/biden-fit-for-presidency-poll/

Biden Staff Quickly Shoo Away Reporters after Bizarre Moment at Visit to Small Business in D.C.
https://beckernews.com/2-biden-staff-quickly-shoo-away-reporters-after-bizarre-moment-at-visit-to-small-business-in-d-c-37606/

@johnrobertsFox: @POTUS ignores shouted question from the pool just now on whether he believes there is a crisis on the border. Day 48 now with no formal Joe Biden news conference. Longest period in a hundred years for a new President. [China, Russia et al will take advantage of addled Joe.]

The Babylon Bee: Heroic Secret Service Agent Dives in Front of Biden as Reporter Tries to Ask a Question

Hong Kong Minister Warns Against ‘Oblivious’ Criticism of China – Hong Kong’s top legal official warned residents to steer clear of criticisms of the government that stray too far from the facts, as officials defend Beijing’s plan to overhaul the city’s elections… [Ala the US!] https://t.co/mH9EowWTKy

@EpochTimes: New York Attorney General @TishJames appointed attorney Joon H. Kim and Anne L. Clark to lead an independent investigation into sexual harassment allegations against @NYGovCuomo.

SIXTH woman accuses Gov. Cuomo of sexual harassment https://trib.al/CZhVdhu

@ericlach: Who leaked @LindseyBoylan ‘s “personnel files” in December? Boylan’s lawyer points the finger at Andrew Cuomo. His office doesn’t deny it. A source says the leak may well be part of the AG’s probe. My column on a whole new set of questions for Cuomo:

Who Ordered a Smear Campaign Against Andrew Cuomo’s First Accuser? – The New Yorker
https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/who-ordered-a-smear-campaign-against-andrew-cuomos-first-accuser

It gets worse: Cuomo ordered homes for developmentally disabled to admit COVID-positive patients, too https://hotair.com/archives/ed-morrissey/2021/03/09/gets-worse-cuomo-ordered-homes-developmentally-disabled-admit-covid-positive-patients/

GOPe silence on Cuomo and his Dem supporters is very telling and disgraceful.

@julie_kelly2: Soaring gas prices, massive crisis at the border, hundreds of billions in blue state bailouts, schools closed, a fortified capital, Obama DOJ partisans back in charge, an absentee president—but NO MEAN TWEETS.

@BillFOXLA: In a leaked post from a private Facebook group for UTLA union members only, teachers are warned not to post on social media if they go on spring break vacations because the optics would be bad for them while UTLA is refusing to return to “unsafe” in-person schooling.
GOP @RepAndyBiggsAZ: Teacher unions have done more harm to American children over the past year than anyone could have ever dreamed. Teacher unions do not have our children’s best interests at heart. They protect only their own interests, and families are hung out to dry when interests collide.

San Francisco TV Reporter Robbed at Gunpoint While Covering Auto Thefts https://t.co/0ifgwDYSNj

Parents shocked as Disney+ blocks kids younger than 7 from watching ‘racist’ ‘Peter Pan,’ ‘Dumbo’
https://justthenews.com/nation/culture/parents-stunned-disney-blocks-kids-younger-7-watching-racist-peter-pan-dumbo

Illinois’ pension debt, already the nation’s biggest, grew to $317 billion in 2020…
https://wirepoints.org/illinois-record-setting-pension-debt-jumps-to-over-300-billion-wirepoints/

The Miseducation of America’s Elites – Affluent parents, terrified of running afoul of the new orthodoxy in their children’s private schools, organize in secret.
Harvard-Westlake [LA]…, a school with Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s right hand, and Sarah Murdoch… on its board—is teaching students that capitalism is evil…
    “They are making my son feel like a racist because of the pigmentation of his skin,” one mother says…
    One private school parent, born in a Communist nation, tells me: “I came to this country escaping the very same fear of retaliation that now my own child feels.”…
    The atmosphere is making their children anxious, paranoid, and insecure—and closed off from even their close friends… “This is the United States of America. Are you freaking kidding me?”… Power in America now comes from speaking woke, a highly complex and ever-evolving language…
    “We don’t call them Newton’s laws anymore,” an upperclassman at the school informs me. “We call them the three fundamental laws of physics. They say we need to ‘decenter whiteness,’…
The idea of lying in order to please a teacher seems like a phenomenon from the Soviet Union. But the high schoolers I spoke with said that they do versions of this, including parroting views they don’t believe in assignments so that their grades don’t suffer… I have a friend in New York… she was drawing with her daughter [4 years old], who said offhandedly: “I need to draw in my own skin color.” Skin color, she told her mother, is “really important.” She said that’s what she learned in school.
https://www.city-journal.org/the-miseducation-of-americas-elites

Well that is all for today

Let us close out Wednesday with Greg Hunter interviewing Michael Pento..a very bright guy

As Rates Spike Bubbles Pop – Michael Pento

By Greg Hunter On March 9, 2021

Money manager and economist Michael Pento warns the era of super low Fed manipulated interest rates is coming to an end. This is big trouble to the bond market and the overall economy. Pento explains, “I think what’s happening now is about 35 years of government manipulation of markets is about to end. The faith that we have in our government and the faith that we have in our central banks is coming to an end. As evidence of that, the 7-year note auction was the worst auction in U.S. history. . . . It just goes to show you the faith in our bond market is eroding.”

Now, we are facing multiple bubbles as opposed to just the sub-prime crisis in 2007- 2008. Pento points out, “So, we have another bubble in real estate, but back in 2007, all we had was a bubble in real estate. We really didn’t have a massive bubble in the stock market. The total market cap to GDP was only 100% back in 2007. Now, it’s 191% of GDP, and, of course, you have a massive bubble in the bond market. You have $15 trillion in negative yielding sovereign debt and a U.S. Treasury at .3% in March of 2020. So, we have a triumvirate of bubbles that are all held together by this artificially low interest rate. Here’s the catch 22. . . . We are sending more checks to people, $1,400 checks in Biden’s Covid relief package. So, we are monetizing debt. We are creating inflation. If you continue to print money, borrow money and monetize that debt, inflation is going to wax higher and higher. You are going to blow up the bond market. If you blow up the bond market, you will blow up high yield, you will blow up credit, you will blow up the real estate market and then the stock market. If they stop, the only buyer of U.S. Treasury bonds . . . is the Federal Reserve. If they lose the bid of the Fed and it stops printing money and buying . . . rates spike . . . and then you see a massive deflationary bubble from a massive fiscal and monetary cliff. It’s game over either way, and that’s where we are now. If you keep printing and keep manipulating markets, you have a bond market crisis. Stop printing, you have a deflationary crash of asset prices. That’s it, that’s where we are headed.”

When is this going to come undone? Pento predicts later this year and points to the third or fourth quarter of 2021.

Pento says, “This is a very fragile economy. . . .When you see the credit market freeze and these zombie companies can’t issue new debt, and borrowing costs go into double digits and companies start closing the doors and laying off people and you get a massive depression that follows . . . what is going to be the solution from the central banks? . . . . The Fed can’t lower interest rates. They can only increase QE (money printing). How do you bail out an inflationary crisis in the bond market by creating more inflation? That’s the problem.”

Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog.com as he goes One-on-One with economist and money manager Michael Pento.

-END-

GOLD/SILVER

I will see you THURSDAY night.

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NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED TODAY FOR MAR. CONTRACT: 289 NOTICE(S) FOR 28900 OZ (0.8989 tonnes)

283 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 1415,000 OZ/

Let us have a look at the data for today

3. ASIAN AFFAIRS

Trading Volumes on the COMEX TODAY: 244,388 contracts// volume poor//

CONFIRMED COMEX VOL. FOR YESTERDAY: 326,830 contracts// volume: FAIR–good/ //most of our traders have left for London

ii) Important gold commentaries courtesy of GATA/Chris Powell

GATA presses Bank of England, UK Treasury for answers on gold leasing

Today’s bounce in monetary metals is significant, Turk tells KWN

Banks find it more profitable to service the Fed than to lend to the real economy

iii) Other physical stories:

Your early WEDNESDAY morning currency, Asian stock market results, important USA/Asian currency crosses, gold/silver pricing overnight along with the price of oil Major stories overnight/7 AM EST

3A/ASIAN AFFAIRS

3 a./NORTH KOREA/ SOUTH KOREA

b) REPORT ON JAPAN

3 C CHINA

4/

EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

ВСУ стягивают военную технику на Донбасс. (Днепропетровск 08.03.2021) – YouTube

6.Global Issues

Shut Up ‘n Play Yer Guitar

7. OIL ISSUES

8 EMERGING MARKET ISSUES

Your early morning currency/gold and silver pricing/Asian and European bourse movements/ and interest rate settings WEDNESDAY morning 7:00 AM….

Your closing bourses for Europe and the Dow along with the USA dollar index closing and interest rates for WEDNESDAY: 12:00 PM

Closing Price f0r Oil, 4:00 pm/and 10 year USA interest rate:

USA trading today in Graph Form

CPI Jumps In Feb, BLS Admits It’s Making Most Of It Up

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