CLOSING GOLD AND SILVER

GOLD CLOSED UP $7.05

SILVER

SILVER CLOSED UP 9 CENTS

ACCESS PRICE CLOSING PRICES FOR GOLD AND SILVER

GOLD: 1798.25

SILVER: 22.38

PLATINUM AND PALLADIUM PRICES BY GOLD-EAGLE (MORE ACCURATE)

PLATINUM $935.25 UP $5.05

PALLADIUM: $1779.60 UP $47.55/OZ

END

Editorial of The New York Sun | February 1, 2021

end

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COMEX DETAILS//NOTICES FILED

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

receiving today 0/4

EXCHANGE: COMEX
CONTRACT: DECEMBER 2021 COMEX 100 GOLD FUTURES
SETTLEMENT: 1,796.600000000 USD
INTENT DATE: 12/16/2021 DELIVERY DATE: 12/20/2021
FIRM ORG FIRM NAME ISSUED STOPPED

737 C ADVANTAGE 4
991 H CME 4

TOTAL: 4 4
MONTH TO DATE: 33,833

Goldman Sachs stopped: 0

NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED TODAY FOR DEC. CONTRACT: 4 NOTICE(S) FOR 400 OZ (0.01244 tonnes)

TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED SO FAR THIS MONTH: 33,833 FOR 3,383,300 OZ (105.23 TONNES)

SILVER//DEC CONTRACT

13 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 65,000 OZ/

total number of notices filed so far this month 8523 : for 42,615,000 oz

BITCOIN MORNING QUOTE $47,230 DOWN 870

BITCOIN AFTERNOON QUOTE.:46,253 DOWN 1847

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

GLD AND SLV INVENTORIES:

GLD

WITH GOLD UP $7.05 AND NO PHYSICAL TO BE FOUND ANYWHERE:

NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.04 TONNES

WITH RESPECT TO GLD WITHDRAWALS: (OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS)

GOLD IS “RETURNED” TO THE BANK OF ENGLAND WHEN CALLING IN THEIR LEASES: THE GOLD NEVER LEAVES THE BANK OF ENGLAND IN THE FIRST PLACE. THE BANK IS PROTECTING ITSELF IN CASE OF COMMERCIAL FAILURE

ALSO INVESTORS SWITCHING TO SPROTT PHYSICAL (phys) INSTEAD OF THE FRAUDULENT GLD//

THIS IS A MASSIVE FRAUD!!

GLD 977,20 TONNES OF GOLD//

GLD CLOSING PRICE: $168.16. UP $2.01 OR 1.21%

Silver//SLV

AND WITH NO SILVER AROUND TODAY: WITH SILVER UP 9 CENTS

NO CHANGES TO SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//

INVESTORS ARE SWITCHING SLV TO SPROTT’S PSLV

CLOSING INVENTORY SLV/ TONIGHT: 538.282 MILLION OZ

SLV closing price NYSE 20.79 up .38 OR 1.86%

Let us have a look at the data for today

SILVER//OUTLINE

SILVER COMEX OI FELL BY A VERY STRONG 2783 CONTRACTS TO 142,4355 AND FURTHER FROM THE NEW RECORD OF 244,710, SET FEB 25/2020.. DESPITE THE $0.91 GAIN IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX ON THURSDAY. OUR BANKERS WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING THE PRICE OF SILVER DOWN (IT ROSE BY $0.91) BUT WERE QUITE SUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING OUT SOME SILVER LONGS AS WE HAD A STRONG LOSS OF 2211 CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES .

WE MUST HAVE HAD:
I) HUGE BANKER SHORT COVERING AS THEY ARE VERY ANXIOUS TO GET OUT OF DODGE!!/. II)WE ALSO HAD SOME REDDIT RAPTOR BUYING//. iii) A FAIR ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS iiii) A HUGE INITIAL SILVER STANDING FOR COMEX SILVER MEASURING AT 47.535 MILLION OZ FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 170,000 OZ E.F.P. JUMP TO LONDON V) STRONG SIZED COMEX OI LOSS.

I AM NOW RECORDING THE DIFFERENTIAL IN OI FROM PRELIMINARY TO FINAL:

THE DIFFERENTIAL FROM PRELIMINARY OI TO FINAL OI SILVER TODAY: CONTRACTS -27

HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS DEC 16 ACCUMULATION FOR EFP’S SILVER/JPMORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES/STARTING FROM FIRST DAY/MONTH OF DEC:

TOTAL CONTACTS for 13 days, total contracts: 14,396 or …average per day: 1028 contracts or 5.141 million oz per day.

TOTAL NO OF OZ UNDERGOING EFP TO LONDON 14,396 CONTRACTS X 5,000 PER CONTRACT:

71.980 MILLION OZ.

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE HUGE SUPPLY THIS MONTH IN SILVER: SO FAR THIS MONTH OF

DEC: # OF MILLION PAPER OZ HAVE MORPHED OVER TO LONDON: 71.98 MILLION OZ

LAST 7 MONTHS TOTAL EFP CONTRACTS ISSUED IN MILLIONS OF OZ:

MAY 137.83 MILLION

JUNE 149.91 MILLION OZ

JULY 129.445 MILLION OZ

AUGUST: MILLION OZ 140.120

SEPT. 28.230 MILLION OZ//

OCT: 94.595 MILLION OZ

NOV: 131.925 MILLION OZ

RESULT: WE HAD A STRONG SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF 2783 DESPITE OUR 91 CENT GAIN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX// THURSDAY THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A FAIR SIZED EFP ISSUANCE OF 512 CONTRACTS( 512 CONTRACTS ISSUED FOR MAR AND 0 CONTRACTS ISSUED FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS) WHICH EXITED OUT OF THE SILVER COMEX TO LONDON AS FORWARDS THE DOMINANT FEATURE TODAY:/ AS WELL AS TODAY /HUGE BANKER SHORT COVERING AS THEY GET OUT OF DODGE//// WE HAVE A GOOD INITIAL SILVER OZ STANDING FOR DEC OF 47.535 MILLION OZ FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 170,000 OZ E.F.P. JUMP TO LONDON .. WE HAD STRONG SIZED LOSS OF2198 OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES

WE HAD 13 NOTICES FILED TODAY FOR 65,000 OZ

GOLD//OUTLINE

IN GOLD, THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY A FAIR SIZED 3369 CONTRACTS TO 507,338, AND CLOSER TO OUR NEW RECORD (SET JAN 24/2020) AT 799,541 AND PREVIOUS TO THAT: (SET JAN 6/2020) AT 797,110.

THE DIFFERENTIAL FROM PRELIMINARY OI TO FINAL OI IN GOLD TODAY. 1730 CONTRACTS.

THE FAIR SIZED INCREASE IN COMEX OI CAME WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF $33.05//COMEX GOLD TRING/THURSDAY/.AS IN SILVER WE MUST HAVE HAD HUGE BANKER/ALGO SHORT COVERING ACCOMPANYING OUR FAIR SIZED EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE. WE HAD ZERO LIQUIDATION AS THE TOTAL GAIN ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES TOTALLED A STRONG SIZED 6530 CONTRACTS… WE ALSO HAD A HUGE INITIAL STANDING IN GOLD TONNAGE FOR DEC AT 98.000 TONNES, FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S STRONG E.F.P. JUMPTO LONDON OF 900 OZ//, NEW STANDING 105.698 TONNES

YET ALL OF..THIS HAPPENED WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF $33.05 WITH RESPECT TO THURSDAY’S TRADING

WE HAD A FAIR SIZED GAIN OF 4800 OI CONTRACTS (14.93 PAPER TONNES) ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES

E.F.P. ISSUANCE

THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALLED A SMALL SIZED 1431 CONTRACTS:

FOR FEB 1431 ALL OTHER MONTHS ZERO//TOTAL: 1431

The NEW COMEX OI FOR THE GOLD COMPLEX RESTS AT 507,338. 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 STRONG SIZED INCREASE IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 4800 CONTRACTS 3369 CONTRACTS INCREASED AT THE COMEX AND 1431 EFP OI CONTRACTS WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS TOTAL OI GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 4800 CONTRACTS OR 20.31 TONNES.

CALCULATIONS ON GAIN/LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES

WE HAD A SMALL SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (1431) ACCOMPANYING THE FAIR SIZED GAIN IN COMEX OI (3369 OI): TOTAL GAIN IN THE TWO EXCHANGE 4800 CONTRACTS. WE NO DOUBT HAD 1) HUGE BANKER SHORT COVERING ,2.) HUGE INITIAL STANDING AT THE GOLD COMEX FOR DEC. AT 98.000 TONNES/FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S E.F.P. JUMP TO LONDON OF 900 OZ TO LONDON////NEW STANDING OF 105.698 TONNES//. 3)ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION,4) GOOD SIZED COMEX OI GAIN 5) SMALL ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL

SPREADING OPERATIONS(/NOW SWITCHING TO GOLD) FOR NEWCOMERS, HERE ARE THE DETAILS:

SPREADING LIQUIDATION HAS NOW COMMENCED AS WE HEAD TOWARDS THE NEW ACTIVE FRONT MONTH OF NOV.WE ARE NOW INTO THE SPREADING OPERATION OF GOLD

HERE IS A BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF HOW THE CROOKS FLEECE UNSUSPECTING LONGS IN THE SPREADING ENDEAVOUR;MODUS OPERANDI OF THE CORRUPT BANKERS AS TO HOW THEY HANDLE THEIR SPREAD OPEN INTERESTS:HERE IS HOW THE CROOKS USED SPREADING AS WE ARE NOW INTO THE NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF OCT HEADING TOWARDS THE ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF NOV, FOR GOLD:

YOU WILL ALSO NOTICE THAT THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST STARTS TO RISE BUT SO IS THE OPEN INTEREST OF SPREADERS. THE OPEN INTEREST IN WILL CONTINUE TO RISE UNTIL ONE WEEK BEFORE FIRST DAY NOTICE OF AN UPCOMING ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH (DEC), 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 2021 INCLUDING TODAY

DEC

ACCUMULATION OF EFP’S GOLD AT J.P. MORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES: (EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL) FOR THE MONTH OF DEC : 34,821, CONTRACTS OR 3,482,100 oz OR 108.31 TONNES (14 TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 2487 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS : THIS MONTH IN 14 TRADING DAY(S) IN TONNES: 108.31 TONNES

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

THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 108.31/3550 x 100% TONNES 3.05% 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).. MARCH:. 276.50 TONNES (STRONG AGAIN///IT SURPASSED JANUARY!!)

APRIL: 189..44 TONNES ( DRAMATICALLY SLOWING DOWN AGAIN//GOLD IN BACKWARDATION)

MAY: 250.15 TONNES (NOW DRAMATICALLY INCREASING AGAIN)

JUNE: 247.54 TONNES (FINAL)

JULY: 188.73 TONNES FINAL

AUGUST: 217.89 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE.

SEPT 142.12 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE ( LOW ISSUANCE)_

OCT: 141.13 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE (LOW ISSUANCE)

NOV: 312.46 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE//NEW RECORD!! (INCREASING DRAMATICALLY)//SIGN OF REAL STRESS//SURPASSING THE MARCH 2021 RECORD OF 276.50 TONNES OF EFP

DEC. 108,31 TONNES//INITIAL ISSUANCE

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 2783CONTRACTS TO 142,355 AND FURTHER FORM 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 4 1/2 YEARS AGO.

EFP ISSUANCE 512 CONTRACTS

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

MAR 512 ALL OTHER MONTHS: ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 512 CONTRACTS. EFP’S GIVE OUR COMEX LONGS A FIAT BONUS PLUS A DELIVERABLE PRODUCT OVER IN LONDON. IF WE TAKE THE COMEX OI LOSS OF 2783CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 512 OI TRANSFERRED TO LONDON THROUGH EFP’S, WE OBTAIN A VERY STRONG SIZED LOSS OF 2211 OPEN INTEREST CONTRACT FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES.

THUS IN OUNCES, THE LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 11.35MILLION OZ, OCCURRED WITH OUR $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 .

1/COMEX GOLD AND SILVER REPORT

(report Harvey)

2 ) Gold/silver trading overnight Europe, Gold

(Peter Schiff, Egon von Greyerz///Matthew Piepenburg via GoldSwitzerland.com,

3. ASIAN AFFAIRS

i)FRIDAY MORNING/THURSDAY NIGHT:

SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 42.65 PTS OR 1.16% //Hang Sang CLOSED DOWN 520.64 PTS OR 1.79% /The Nikkei closed DOWN 520.64 PTS OR 1.79% //Australia’s all ordinaires CLOSED UP 0.10%/Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN 6.3759 /Oil UP TO 71.19 dollars per barrel for WTI and UP TO 73.51 for Brent. Stocks in Europe OPENED MOSTLY RED // ONSHORE YUAN CLOSED DOWN AT 6.3759 AGAINST THE DOLLAR. OFFSHORE YUAN CLOSED DOWN ON THE DOLLAR AT 6.3848: /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%

A)NORTH KOREA//USA/OUTLINE

b) REPORT ON JAPAN

OUTLINE

3 C CHINA

OUTLINE

4/EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

OUTLINE

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

OUTLINE

6.Global Issues

OUTLINE

7. OIL ISSUES

OUTLINE

8 EMERGING MARKET ISSUES

OUTLINE

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

GOLD

LET US BEGIN:

THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY A FAIR SIZED 3369 CONTRACTS AND CLOSER TO TO 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 COMEX INCREASE OCCURRED WITH OUR GAIN OF $33.05 IN GOLD PRICING THURSDAY’S COMEX TRADING. WE ALSO HAD A FAIR EFP ISSUANCE (1431 CONTRACTS). . THEY WERE PAID HANDSOMELY NOT TO TAKE DELIVERY AT THE COMEX AND SETTLE FOR CASH. LOOKS LIKE OUR BANKERS ARE FINALLY BAILING OUT

WE NORMALLY HAVE WITNESSED 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. IT SEEMS THAT ARE BANKERS FRIENDS ARE EXERCISING EFP’S FROM LONDON AND NOW THEY ARE LOATHE TO ISSUE NEW ONES.

EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE

WE ARE NOW MOVING TO THE ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF DEC.. 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 1431 EFP CONTRACTS WERE ISSUED: ;: , DEC : 0 & FEB. 1431 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:

TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 1431 CONTRACTS

WHEN WE HAVE BACKWARDATION, EFP ISSUANCE IS VERY COSTLY BUT THE REAL PROBLEM IS THE SCARCITY OF METAL AND IT IS FAR BETTER FOR OUR BANKERS TO PAY OFF INDIVIDUALS THAN RISK INVESTORS ESPECIALLY FROM LONDON STANDING FOR DELIVERY. THE LOWER PRICES IN THE FUTURES MARKET IS A MAGNET FOR OUR LONDONERS SEEKING PHYSICAL METAL. BACKWARDATION ALWAYS EQUAL SCARCITY OF METAL!

ON A NET BASIS IN OPEN INTEREST WE GAINED THE FOLLOWING TODAY ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES: A FAIR SIZED 4800 TOTAL CONTRACTS IN THAT 1431 LONGS WERE TRANSFERRED AS FORWARDS TO LONDON AND WE HAD A FAIR GAIN COMEX OI OF 3369 CONTRACTS..

// WE HAD A STRONG AMOUNT OF GOLD TONNAGE STANDING FOR DEC (105.726),

HERE ARE THE AMOUNTS THAT STOOD FOR DELIVERY IN THE PRECEDING 9 MONTHS OF 2021:

NOV. 8.074 TONNES

OCT. 57.707 TONNES

SEPT: 11.9160 TONNES

AUGUST: 80.489 TONNES

JULY: 7.2814 TONNES

JUNE: 72.289 TONNES

MAY 5.77 TONNES

APRIL 95.331 TONNES

MARCH 30.205 TONNES

FEB. 113.424 TONNES

JAN: 6.500 TONNES.

TOTAL SO FAR THIS YEAR (JAN- NOV): 488.996 TONNES

THE BANKERS WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE //// (IT ROSE $33.05)

AND THEY WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN FLEECING ANY LONGS AS THE TOTAL GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES REGISTERED 14.93 TONNES,ACCOMPANYING OUR HUGE GOLD TONNAGE STANDING FOR DEC (105.726 TONNES)…

I STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT OUR BANKER FRIENDS ARE GETTING QUITE NERVOUS. THEY ARE LOOKING OVER THEIR SHOULDERS AND WITNESSING MASSIVE SILVER/GOLD SHORTAGES THAT CANNOT BE COVERED. THEY ARE TRYING TO FLEE IN HASTE “FROM DODGE”AS BASE III BEGINS JAN 1/2022 FOR EUROPEAN BANKS

WE HAD – 1730 CONTRACTS REMOVED FROM COMEX TRADES. THESE WERE REMOVED AFTER TRADING ENDED LAST NIGHT

NET GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 6530 CONTRACTS OR 653,000 OZ OR 20.31 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: 507,338 TOTAL OI CONTRACTS X 100 OZ PER CONTRACT = 50.73MILLION OZ/32,150 OZ PER TONNE = 15.878TONNES

Comex volumes for gold estimated today: 152,378 poor

Comex volume for gold yesterday confirmed: 178,451 contracts

DEC 16 COMEX INVENTORY MOVEMENTS//AMOUNTS STANDING

For today:

No dealer deposit

No customer account deposit:

We had 1customer withdrawals:

i)Brinks: 9902.510 oz (308 kilobars)

total withdrawals: 9902.510oz

We had no deposits.

We had 1 kilobar transactions 1out of 31transactions)

ADJUSTMENTS 1 DEALER TO CUSTOMER: BRINKS//

898,821.730 oz

CALCULATIONS FOR THE AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR DECEMBER.

For the front month of DECEMBER we have an oi 153 stand for December. for a LOSS of 539 contracts. We had 530 notice filed on THURSDAY so we LOST 9 contracts or an additional 900 oz will NOT stand for delivery in this very active delivery month of December.

JANUARY GAINED 21 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 2753

FEBRUARY GAINED 866 CONTRACTS TO 388,851

We had 4 notice(s) filed today for 400 oz FOR THE DEC 2021 CONTRACT MONTH

Today, 0 notice(s) were issued from J.P.Morgan dealer account and 0 notices were issued from their client or customer account. The total of all issuance by all participants equates to 4 contract(s) of which 0 notices were stopped (received) by j.P. Morgan dealer and 0 notice(s) was (were) stopped/ Received) by J.P.Morgan//customer account and 0 notice(s) received (stopped) by the squid (Goldman Sachs)

To calculate the INITIAL total number of gold ounces standing for the DEC /2021. contract month,

we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (33,833) x 100 oz , to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of (DEC: 153 CONTRACTS ) minus the number of notices served upon today 4 x 100 oz per contract equals 3,398,200, OZ OR 105.698 TONNES) the number of ounces standing in this active month of DEC.

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

No of notices filed so far (33,833) x 100 oz+ (xxx) OI for the front month minus the number of notices served upon today (4} x 100 oz} which equals 3,398,200 oz standing OR 105.698 TONNES in this active delivery month of DEC.

This is a huge delivery for December.

We LOST 9 contracts or an additional 900 oz WILL NOT STAND FOR GOLD OVER HERE

TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING: 105.726 TONNES

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

COMEX GOLD INVENTORIES/CLASSIFICATION

NEW PLEDGED GOLD:

206,468.649, oz NOW PLEDGED /HSBC 6.42 TONNES

174,041.813 PLEDGED MANFRA 5.41 TONNES

54,339.114oz PLEDGED JPMorgan no 1 1.690

288,481,604, oz JPM No 2 8.97 TONNES

698,821.330 oz pledged June 12/2020 Brinks/27,96 TONNES

12,244.444 oz International Delaware: 0..3808 tonne

Loomis: 18,615.429 oz

total pledged gold: 1,653,017.372oz 51.42 tonnes

CALCULATION OF GOLD THAT CAN SETTLE UPON LONGS:

SURPRISINGLY WE HAVE BEEN WITNESSING NO REAL PHYSICAL GOLD ENTERING THE COMEX VAULTS FOR THE PAST YEAR!! ..ONLY PHONY KILOBAR ENTRIES…. WE HAVE 456.43 TONNES OF REGISTERED GOLD WHICH CAN SETTLE UPON LONGS 105.698 tonnes

TOTAL GOLD COMEX REGISTERED: 17,804.844.982 OZ (553.80 TONNES)

CALCULATION OF TOTAL REGISTERED GOLD THAT CAN BE SERVED UPON

ELIGIBLE GOLD: 16,263,656.183. (505.86 TONNES)

PLEDGED GOLD: 1,653,017.372OZ. (51.42 TONNES

NET PHYSICAL GOLD THAT CAN SERVED UPON FOR DELIVERY.

(REG.GOLD – PLEDGED GOLD). 16,151.827 (502.37 TONNES)

TOTAL ELIGIBLE GOLD+ REGISTERED GOLD 34,068,301.65 OZ (10560.28 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

SILVER COMEX DEC 16/2021

And now for the wild silver comex results

we had 0 deposits into the dealer

total dealer deposits: nil oz

i) We had 0 dealer withdrawal

total dealer withdrawals: nil oz

we had 2 deposits into customer account (ELIGIBLE ACCOUNT)i).

Into CNT: 594,581.710oz

Into JPMorgan: 560,602.000oz

JPMorgan now has 183.444 million oz silver inventory or 51.65% of all official comex silver. (183.444 million/355.2062 million

total customer deposits today 1,155,183.710 oz

we had 1 withdrawals

i)Out of CNT 14,798.600

total withdrawal 14,798.600oz

adjustments: 1 //dealer to customer

JPMorgan607,388.780

Total dealer(registered) silver: 93.400 million oz

Total all silver (reg and elig) 355.262 million oz

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

silver open interest data:

Total oi for the silver complex: 142,428 contracts losing 2710 contracts on the day

FRONT MONTH OF DEC OI: 521 CONTRACTS losing 94 contracts on the day.

TOTAL NO OF CONTRACTS SERVED UPON THIS MONTH: 8523 CONTRACTS FOR 42,615,000 OZ

CALCULATION OF SILVER OZ STANDING FOR DECEMBER

For the front month of DECEMBER we have an amount of silver standing AT 521 CONTRACTS for a LOSS of 94 contracts. We had 60 notices filed on THURSDAY, so we LOST 34 contracts or an additional 170,000 oz will NOT stand for delivery in this very active delivery month of December. There is surely no silver on this side of the pond.

JANUARY LOST 167 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 2044

FEBRUARY GAINED 5 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 47

NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED TODAY: 13 NOTICES OR 65,000 OZ

comex volumes for silver: est. today: 37,384 oz very poor

comex volumes confirmed yesterday 58,637

To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in DEC. we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at 8523 x 5,000 oz =42,615,000 oz

to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of DEC (521) and the number of notices served upon today 13 x (5000 oz) equals the number of ounces standing.

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

GLD AND SILVER INVENTORY

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

DEC 17/WITH GOLD UP $7.05 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 977.20 TONNES

DEC 16/WITH GOLD UP $33.05TODAY; A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.4 TONNES FROM THE GLD////INVENTORY REST AT: 977.20 TONNES

DEC15/WITH GOLD DOWN $7.80 TODAY/ A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.04 TONNES FROM THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 980.60 TONNES.

DEC 14/WITH GOLD DOWN $18.00 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 982.64 TONNES

DEC 13/WITH GOLD UP $3.20 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 982.64 TONNES

DEC 10.WITH GOLD UP $7.30 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 982.64 TONNES

DEC 9/WITH GOLD DOWN $9.10 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 982.64.

DEC 8/WITH GOLD UP $5.50 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 984.38 TONNES

DEC 7/WITH GOLD UP $5.15 TODAY; A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.74 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 984.38 TONNES

DEC 6/WITH GOLD DOWN $3.90 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 986.17 TONNES//

DEC 3/WITH GOLD UP $20.35 TODAY; A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.85 TONNES FROM THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 986.17 TONNES

DEC 2/WITH GOLD DOWN $19.80 TODAY; A HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.83 TONNES FROM THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 990.82 TONNES

DEC 1/WITH GOLD UP $7.05 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 992.85 TONNES

NOV 30/WITH GOLD DOWN $8.70 TODAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESS AT 992.85 TONNES.

NOV 29/WITH GOLD DOWN $3.40 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 992.85 TONNES/

NOV 26/WITH GOLD UP $2.70 TODAY/A HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 1.76 TONES INTO THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 992.85 TONNES

NOV 24/WITH GOLD UP $.40 TODAY//NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD..INVENTORY RESTS AT 991.11 TONNES

NOV 23/WITH GOLD DOWN $21.85 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 6.11 TONNES INTO THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 991.11 TONNES.

NOV 22/WITH GOLD DOWN 54.10 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 985.00 TONNES

NOV 19/WITH GOLD DOWN $9.40 TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 8.13 TONNES INTO THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 985.00 TONNES.

NOV 18/WITH GOLD DOWN $8.40 TODAY:A SMALL CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF .88 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 976.87 TONNES

NOV 17/WITH GOLD UP $14.10 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 975.99 TONNES

NOV 16/WITH GOLD DOWN $10.30 TODAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 975.99 TONNES

NOV 15/WITH GOLD DOWN $1.55 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY AT 975.99 TONNES//

NOV 12/WITH GOLD UP $4.65 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY AT 975.99 TONNES

NOV 11/WITH GOLD UP $14.45 TODAY: A SMALL CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF .58 TONES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 975.99 TONNES

NOV 10/WITH GOLD UP $18.00 TODAY NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 975.41 TONNES

NOV 9/WITH GOLD UP $1.85 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 975.41 TONNES

NOV 8/WITH GOLD UP $11.75 TODAY;NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 975.41 TONNES

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Inventory rests tonight at:

DEC 17 / GLD INVENTORY 977.20 tonnes

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

DEC 17/WITH SILVER UP 9 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 538.282 MILLION OZ//

DEC 16/WITH SILVER UP 91 CENTS TODAY; A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV// A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.33 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV//INVENTORY REST AT 538.282 MILLION OZ

DEC 15WITH SILVER DOWN 38 CENTS TODAY; A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.48 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 541.612 MILLION OZ

DEC 14/WITH SILVER DOWN 38 CENTS TODAY; NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 543.092 MILLION OZ

DEC 13/WITH SILVER UP 11 CENTS TODAY; A HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.561 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 543.092 MILLION OZ//

DEC 10.WITH SILVER UP 19 CENTS TODAY; NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 546.653 MILLION OZ..

DEC 9/WITH SILVER DOWN 43 CENTS TODAY; A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV// A DEPOSIT OF 2.96 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 546.653 MILLION OZ/

DEC 8/WITH SILVER DOWN 7 CENTS TODAY; NO CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 543.693 MILLION OZ///

DEC 7/WITH SILVER UP 24 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 543.693 MILLION OZ..

DEC 6/WITH SILVER DOWN 25 CENTS TODAY; A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.110 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 543.693 MILLION OZ//

DEC 3/WITH SILVER UP 21 CENTS TODAY; A BIG CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.199 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 544.803 MILLION OZ//

DEC 2/WITH SILVER DOWN 6 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 548.002 MILLION OZ.

DECM 1/WITH SILVER DOWN 44 CENTS TODAY: A SMALL CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 740,000 OZ FROM THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 548.002 MILLION OZ//

NOV 30/WITH SILVER DOWN 3 CENTS TODAY; A SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV// A WITHDRAWAL OF .555 MILLION OZ FORM THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 548.742 MILLION OZ///

NOV 29/WITH SILVER DOWN 25 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 549.297 MILLION OZ//

NOV 26/WITH SILVER DOWN 36 CENTS TODAY; A HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 2.038 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV.//INVENTORY RESTS AT 549.297 MILLION OZ///

NOV 24/WITH SILVER UP 5 CENTS //NO CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV..INVENTORY RESTS AT 547.261 MILLION OZ

NOV 23.WITH SILVER DOWN 81 CENTS TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.128 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 547.261 MILLION OZ//

NOV 22/ WITH SILVER DOWN 47 CENTS TODAY; A BIG CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A SURPRISE DEPOSIT OF 1.156 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 549.389 MILLION OZ/

NOV 19/WITH SILVER DOWN 14 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 548.233 MILLION OZ..

NOV 18/WITH SILVER DOWN 27 CENTS TODAY/ NO CHANGES IN SILVER STANDING AT THE SLV.//INVENTORY REST AT 548.233 MILLION OZ//

NOV 17/WITH SILVER UP 24 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER STANDING AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 548.233 MILLION OZ//

NOV 16/WITH SILVER DOWN 17 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER STANDING AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 548.233 MILLION OZ//

NOV 15/WITH SILVER DOWN 25 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV/ INVENTORY RESTS AT 548.233 MILLION OZ

NOV 12/WITH SILVER UP 8 CENTS TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A DEPOSIT OF 3.933 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 548.233 MILLION OZ//

NOV 11/WITH SILVER UP 51 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 544.300 MILLION OZ//

NOV 10 WITH SILVER UP 45 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 544.300 MILLION OZ//

NOV 9/WITH SILVER DOWN 21 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 544.300 MILLION OZ.

NOV 8/WITH SILVER UP 38 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 544.300 MILLION OZ//

DEC 14/2021 SLV INVENTORY RESTS TONIGHT AT 541.612 MILLION OZ

PHYSICAL GOLD/SILVER STORIES

PETER SCHIFF

LAWRIE WILLIAM//,//Egon von Greyerz///Matthew Piepenburg via GoldSwitzerland.com,James RICKARDS

ii) Important gold commentaries courtesy of GATA/Chris Powell

Henrich: the Fed was not hawkish and still dovish. He believes that the elephant in the room is their huge debt balloon owned by the Fed and Government together

(Sven Henrich/Northern Trader)

Sven Henrich: The Fed was not hawkish yesterday and the unraveling has begun

Submitted by admin on Thu, 2021-12-16 13:46 Section: Daily Dispatches

By Sven Henrich
Northman Trader
Fareham, Hampshire, United Kingdom

Investors are ignoring two big elephants in the room. While we see yet again a positive reaction to the latest Fed meeting with new all-time highs in the S&P futures contract, things are far from well.

Indeed, things have already been unraveling beneath the surface for a while: A potential Santa rally notwithstanding that storm clouds are not only gathering but are already all around us.

I suggest paying close attention, despite the expected upcoming holiday lull.

First off and most importantly: The Fed was not hawkish yesterday despite what you hear in the media. …

… For the remainder of the analysis:

The Unraveling

end

Your weekend reading material

(courtesy Alasdair Macleod/GATA)

Alasdair Macleod: The credit cycle and the zombies’ downfall

Submitted by admin on Thu, 2021-12-16 13:18 Section: Daily Dispatches

By Alasdair Macleod
GoldMoney, Toronto
Thursday, December 16, 2021

Leading central banks like to think that through careful interest rate management, they have tamed the economic cycles which lead to regular economic downturns. Instead, they have only managed to bury the evidence.

To appreciate the extent of their delusion one must understand the source of economic instability. In modern times it has always been driven by a cycle of bank credit. In this article the role of commercial banking in this regard is explained. The effect on non-financial economic sectors in the context of Hayek’s triangle under today’s currency regime is re-examined.

With cyclical variations in the economy buried under a tsunami of currency, market participants are oblivious to the dangers of a cyclical downturn in bank lending and the consequences that flow therefrom.

This article gives the problem its economic and monetary context. It concludes that the global banking system is horribly over-leveraged and, with empirical evidence as our guide, on the edge of a bank credit contraction of historic proportions, likely to undermine the entire fiat currency system. …

… For the remainder of the analysis:

https://www.goldmoney.com/research/goldmoney-insights/the-credit-cycle-and-zombies-downfall?gmrefcode=gata

end

Russia ready to outlaw cryptocurrencies

(Reuters and GATA)

Russia’s central bank would stop investment in cryptocurrencies

Submitted by admin on Thu, 2021-12-16 12:39 Section: Daily Dispatches

By Elena Fabrichnaya and Andrey Ostroukh
Reuters
Thursday, December 16, 2021

MOSCOW — The Russian central bank wants to ban investments in cryptocurrencies in Russia, seeing risks to financial stability in the rising number of crypto transactions, two financial market sources close to the bank said.

Leading cryptocurrency bitcoin fell after the report to $48,656 from levels around $49,144 seen shortly before.

Russia has argued for years against cryptocurrencies, saying they could be used in money laundering or to finance terrorism. It eventually gave them legal status in 2020 but banned their use as a means of payment.

The central bank is now in talks with market players and experts about a possible ban. If approved by lawmakers, it could apply to new purchases of crypto assets but not to those bought in the past, said one of the financial market sources, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. …

… For the remainder of the report:

https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/russian-cenbank-seek-ban-investment-cryptocurrencies-sources-say-2021-12-16/

end

OTHER COMMODITIES/LUMBER

END CRYPTOCURRENCIES/

END

Your early currency/gold and silver pricing/Asian and European bourse movements/ and interest rate settings FRIDAY morning 7:30 AM….

1.Chinese yuan vs usa dollar/CLOSED DOWN 6.3759

//OFFSHORE YUAN 6.3848 /shanghai bourse CLOSED DOWN 42.65 PTS OR 1.16%

HANG SANG CLOSED DOWN 282.87 PTS OR 1.21%

2. Nikkei closed DOWN 520.64 PTS OR 1.79%

3. Europe stocks MOSTLY RED

USA dollar INDEX DOWN TO 96;08/Euro FALLS TO 1.1322-

3b Japan 10 YR bond yield: RISES TO. +.050/ !!!!(Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese yen vs usa cross now at 114.17/ 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//

3c Nikkei now JUST ABOVE 17,000

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

3e WTI:: 71.19 and Brent: 73.51-

3f Gold UP/JAPANESE Yen UP 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 RISES TO -.0.382%/Italian 10 Yr bond yield FALLS to 0.92% /SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD RISES TO 0.34%…ITALIAN 10 YR BOND YIELD/GERMAN BUND: 1.35: DANGEROUS FOR THE ITALIAN BANKING SYSTEM

3j Greek 10 year bond yield FALLS TO : 1.18

3k Gold at $1812.25 silver at: 22.62 7 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $30.00

3l USA vs Russian rouble; (Russian rouble DOWN 6/100 in roubles/dollar) 73.89

3m oil into the 71 dollar handle for WTI and 73 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 113.32 DESTROYING JAPANESE CITIZENS WITH HIGHER FOOD INFLATION

30 SNB (Swiss National Bank) still intervening again in the markets driving down the FRANC. It is not working: USA/SF this morning .9192 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF 1.0407 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 RISING to –0.382%

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 1.401% early this morning. Thirty year rate at 1.828%

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

6. TURKISH LIRA: UP TO 16.85.. EXTREMELY DEADLY

Stocks, Yields Tumble As Quad-Witching Fears Add To Broader Market Slide

BY TYLER DURDENFRIDAY, DEC 17, 2021 – 08:07 AM

US futures tumbled after hitting an all time high less than 24 hour ago, as the favorable if paradoxical bounce in risk from the hawkish FOMC pivot faded from memory and as investors questioned whether global stocks are due for a rough ride on the backdrop of growing risks from inflation and the omicron virus variant. S&P 500 futures slumped about 0.5% Friday morning, while the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield fell for a second straight day to 1.394%, the lowest since Dec. 6.

Futures were dragged down by tech stocks as volatility surged amid mounting concerns about monetary tightening and the omicron coronavirus variant.

“Rates hikes do not end bull markets, but reversal of central banks’ liquidity means less speculative froth and more volatility,” said Barclays strategist Emmanuel Cau. “Policy angst may be here to stay, but following months of unclear guidances and conflicting signals, the direction of travel is clear now.”

Investors are also bracing for the quarterly rebalancing of the S&P 500 Index after the market close and the triple witching expiration of equity derivatives that could magnify market moves.

General Motors dropped in premarket trading after the company said Cruise unit Chief Executive Officer Dan Ammann is leaving the company. Here are some of the other notable premarket movers today:

Tesla (TSLA US) shares fall as much as 2.4% in U.S. premarket trading as CEO Elon Musk sells another chunk of shares in the electric vehicle maker.
FedEx (FDX US) boosted its adjusted earnings-per-share forecast for the full year, with the guidance beating the average analyst estimate. Shares rose about 4.8% in premarket trading.
Spruce Biosciences (SPRB US) shares soar as much as 30% in U.S. premarket trading after Oppenheimer initiated coverage with an outperform rating and a $15 price target that implies 500% upside in the stock from Thursday’s closing price.
Cerner (CERN US) shares rise 17% in U.S. pre- trading hours amid a report that Oracle is in talks to buy the medical-records company for about $30b.
Rivian Automotive (RIVN US) shares slump 9% in U.S. premarket trading after the electric pickup maker reported results. Piper Sandler says that after- hours share-price loss is “noise,” and remains positive following earnings call.
General Motors (GM US) dropped postmarket after it said Cruise Chief Executive Officer Dan Ammann is leaving the company.
Steelcase (SCS US) declined in the after hours session after the furniture company reported 3Q revenue that missed the average analyst estimate due to supply chain disruptions.
U.S. Steel Corp. (X US) shares declined premarket after it warned fourth-quarter results will be lower than Wall Street had been expecting.

In Europe, technology companies and carmakers were among the worst-performing industries, dragging the Stoxx Europe 600 Index down 1%. Tech, autos and utilities are the weakest sectors. Miners and travel are the only Stoxx 600 sectors in small positive territory. Cellnex slumped 4.1% to a six-month low after a British regulator said the Spanish company’s purchase of CK Hutchison Holdings’s European telecommunication towers raised “significant” competition concerns.

Asian stocks slid, as a risk-off mode resumed amid concerns over tighter monetary policies and ongoing tensions between the U.S. and China. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped as much as 1%, set for the fifth decline over the past six days. Technology shares around the region took a hit, led by Chinese giants including Tencent and Alibaba Group, as a global sector selloff continued on higher rate fears. China was among the region’s worst performers after the Biden administration added 34 Chinese targets to its banned-entity list, weighing on sentiment. Japanese stocks held their losses after the Bank of Japan lengthened its cautious withdrawal from emergency pandemic aid. Asia’s benchmark was set to cap a more than 1% slide this week as central banks around the world attempt to curb inflation, dampening prospects for the usual year-end rally. The Federal Reserve plans to double the pace of its asset-tapering program and the Bank of England hiked interest rates, prompting investors to edge away from riskier assets. “I expect the choppy price action to continue to spoof fast-money players into the year-end, both in the U.S. and elsewhere,” said Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst at Oanda.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.1% to close at 7,304.00, snapping a three-day losing streak. Material and energy shares led the advance on the back of strong commodity prices. Gold miner Norther Star was the best performer on the benchmark. Domain Holdings was the worst performer, followed by Afterpay, after the U.S. government said it launched a regulatory probe into buy now, pay later companies. In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.5% to 12,717.94

In rates, treasuries were mixed with the yield curve flatter as U.S. trading begins, retracing a portion of Thursday’s bull-steepening move that unfolded as futures further marked down likelihood of Fed rate increases beyond mid-2022. Yields out to the 10-year are within 1bp of Thursday’s closing levels, with longer maturities lower by 1bp-2bp; 5s30s is flatter by ~2bp after steepening 7.2bp Thursday, remains ~4bp steeper on week. Yields remain lower on week led by the 5Y, which declined 8.1bp Thursday. Bunds bull flatten a touch, long-end richer by ~2bps, brushing off some hawkish comments from ECB’s Muller. Peripheral spreads tighten slightly. Gilts are bear steeper, cheaper by 2.5bps at the back end.

In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was steady and the greenback was mixed versus its Group-of-10 peers, with most currencies confined to narrow ranges. Treasury yields rose by up to 2bps, led by the belly. The euro was flat at $1.1330 and bund yields were little changed. The pound steadied amid seasonal flows into the dollar and as the boost from Thursday’s surprise Bank of England rate hike wore off. U.K. retail sales last month rose 1.4% from October, when they grew a revised 1.1%, the Office for National Statistics said. Economists had expected an increase of 0.8%. Sales excluding auto fuel grew 1.1%. The yen edged higher on concerns about the risk that eventual draw-down in central bank liquidity could trigger a reversal in the rally. Japanese government bonds were in ranges as they shrugged off the Bank of Japan’s status quo outcome. Australian and New Zealand dollar led G-10 declines as falling stocks and mounting virus numbers sapped demand for risk currencies. Turkish lira once again goes sharply offered, briefly weakening over 9% to print through 17/USD before further central bank intervention.

In commodities, WTI dropped 1.5%, holding above $71 so far; Brent trades slips below $74. Spot gold holds Asia’s gains, near $1,804/oz. Base metals are in the green with LME tin outperforming. Bloomberg’s Markets Live team is running an anonymous survey on asset views for 2022. It takes about two minutes and the results will be shared in the latter part of December.

Looking at the day ahead, data releases include Germany’s Ifo business climate indicator for December, as well as November data on German PPI and UK retail sales. From central banks, we’ll also hear from the Fed’s Waller and the ECB’s Rehn.

Market Snapshot

S&P 500 futures down 0.8% to 4,635.00
MXAP down 0.9% to 191.41
MXAPJ down 0.8% to 618.58
Nikkei down 1.8% to 28,545.68
Topix down 1.4% to 1,984.47
Hang Seng Index down 1.2% to 23,192.63
Shanghai Composite down 1.2% to 3,632.36
Sensex down 1.5% to 57,011.01
Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 0.1% to 7,303.97
Kospi up 0.4% to 3,017.73
STOXX Europe 600 down 0.6% to 473.64
German 10Y yield little changed at -0.36%
Euro little changed at $1.1330
Brent Futures down 1.4% to $73.99/bbl
Gold spot up 0.5% to $1,808.56
U.S. Dollar Index little changed at 95.98

Top Overnight News from Bloomberg

Boris Johnson suffered a seismic political upset as his ruling Conservatives lost a key parliamentary election, a result that will heap intense pressure on the U.K. prime minister and may even call his position into question
Leading central banks made a big call this week, deciding that the coronavirus is no longer calling the shots in their economies, and inflation is now the bigger threat
Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said the difference between the new forecast for 1.8% inflation in 2023 and 2024 and the ECB’s 2% target is within the “margin of uncertainty.” In a Bundesbank report showing German inflation will run above 2% through 2024, Jens Weidmann urged vigilance as he sees “risks to the upside” throughout the currency bloc
ECB Governing Council member Olli Rehn said “there’s considerable uncertainty about the path which inflation will take”
Germany’s main gauge of business expectations slipped to 92.6 in December, falling for a sixth month, according to the Ifo institute. That’s a bigger decline than predicted by economists in a Bloomberg survey. Current conditions were also assessed as weaker than in November
EU leaders failed to reach a deal on how to react to the unprecedented gas crisis that sent energy prices to record levels after Poland and the Czech Republic demanded stronger action to cap the costs of pollution

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

Asian equity markets were mostly lower with sentiment in the region downbeat after the tech-led declines in the US and yesterday’s central bank frenzy. Overnight US equity futures held a downside bias. The ASX 200 (+0.1%) traded positively amid notable outperformance in the commodity-related sectors which was spearheaded by gold miners as the precious metal reclaimed with the USD 1800/oz level and with sentiment also helped by the announcement of a UK-Australia trade deal. The Nikkei 225 (-1.8%) was the biggest laggard as exporters suffered from detrimental currency inflows and following the BoJ announcement to scale back its pandemic relief measures in March. The Hang Seng (-1.2%) and Shanghai Comp. (-1.2%) were lacklustre after further restrictive measures by the US on Chinese companies including the passage of the Uyghur bill aimed at China which bans imports from Xinjiang unless the US government determines they were not produced with forced labour, while tech suffered after the US included several Chinese companies to its investment and trade restrictions lists. Finally, 10yr JGBs were flat despite the steepening seen in the US and underperformance of Japanese stocks, with demand subdued amid the BoJ decision to scale back pandemic relief measures.

Top Asian News

Japan Expedites Virus Boosters for Some as Omicron Looms
Hong Kong Stock Exchange to Allow SPAC Listings Next Month
Thailand May Impose Stock-Trading Tax to Lift Government Revenue
Asian Stocks Drop as Worries on Global Policy Tightening Linger

European equities have succumbed to the weakness seen on Wall Street and across most APAC markets (Euro Stoxx 50 -1.1%; Stoxx 600 -0.6%) as global central banks turn hawkish and Quad Witching gets underway in holiday-thinned liquidity. US equity futures have also drifted lower, with the March 2022 contracts softer to the tune of 0.1-0.3% across the ES, NQ, YM and RTY. On the recent central bank pivots, analysts at Barclays suggest that rate hikes do not end bull markets, but reduced liquidity means “less speculative froth”. Barclays sees persisting inflation as a risk to markets and Omicron as an increasing downside risk to European growth, albeit the impact is contained thus far. Back to trade, Eurozone bourses see broad-based weakness whilst the UK’s FTSE 100 (+0.2%) holds its head above water – aided by outperformance in the basic materials sector and a softer Sterling. Overall sectors kicked off the day with a defensive bias, albeit that theme has since faded, with some cyclicals making their way up the ranks. Sectors are mostly in the red, however. Auto names are the laggards, with European car registrations -17.5% in November (prev. -30% MM). Tech also resides towards the bottom amid outflows from growth, and with the hefty valuations state-side also stoking some concerns. Chip names are also hit amid news Apple (-0.8% pre-market) is reportedly planning to build a new office to bring wireless chips in-house which may replace parts from Broadcom and Skyworks. STMicroelectronics (-3%), ASM (-2.4%), BE Semiconductor (-2.6%) are among the biggest losers in the Stoxx 600.

Top European News

European Gas Plunges After Russia Books Pipeline at Last Minute
Stellantis Revamps Auto-Finance Business With BNP, Santander
Cellnex Drops Most in 11 Months on CK Hutchison Deal Woes
Johnson Suffers Humiliating Defeat in U.K. Special Election

In FX, it feels like Friday fatigue has set in and markets are already in weekend mode as the Greenback sticks to relatively tight lines against most G10 peers and the index holds close to the 96.000 level within a narrow 96.118-95.875 band. Consolidation and sideways price action is hardly a surprise given this week’s extremely volatile trade on a combination of thin seasonal volumes and the abundance of final global Central Bank policy meetings for the year all scheduled within a few days. However, the Dollar and a few of its key counterparts may also be tied up in option expiry interest that ranges from large to huge in certain cases, awaiting comments from Fed’s Waller as the first official post-FOMC speaker.

CHF/EUR/GBP/JPY – The Franc remains above 0.9200 vs the Buck and is testing 1.0400 against the Euro again in wake of an unchanged SNB yesterday, while the single currency is holding above 1.1300 vs the Greenback even though Germany’s latest Ifo survey was downbeat and perhaps underpinned by hawkish remarks from ECB’s Simkus and Muller over the comparatively neutral/dovish Rehn. Elsewhere, Sterling retains an element of its post-BoE hike momentum, but not enough for Cable to breach the 30 DMA that comes in at 1.3344 today or stay above a Fib retracement at 1.3321 irrespective of Chief Economist Pill expressing the view that further tightening is likely. Conversely, the BoJ stuck to its dovish stance and balanced the termination of corporate and commercial QE by extending the COVID-19 funding facility for SMEs another 6 months, to leave the Yen meandering between 113.86-44, though nearer 113.50 amidst the latest bout of risk aversion. Note also, Usd/Jpy will likely be contained by a swathe of option expiries stretching from 113.00 up to 114.50 and the same can be said for Eur/Usd and the Pound given the sheer size of interest at various strikes rolling off today – see 7.24GMT post on the Headline Feed for details.
NZD/AUD/CAD – A further deterioration in NBNZ business outlook and decline in own activity have compounded the aforementioned downturn in overall sentiment to the detriment of the Kiwi more than Aussie or Loonie that is feeling the heat from renewed weakness in WTI crude. Hence, Nzd/Usd is nearer 0.6750 than 0.6800, while Aud/Usd is hovering within a 0.7185-53 range and Usd/Cad sits just above 1.2800.

In commodities, WTI and Brent futures have been trundling lower in tandem with risk appetite – with WTI Jan closer to USD 71/bbl (vs high USD 72.26/bbl) whilst Brent Feb resides under USD 73/bbl (vs high USD 74.98/bbl). The morning did see updates on the Iranian nuclear front whereby sources suggested the parties in the Vienna talks have been able to reach a new draft by incorporating Iran’s views, which, if finalised, will be the basis for upcoming talks. Although nothing is yet set in stone, this is much more constructive than had been the case this time last week. Further, the oil complex juggles the fluid COVID situation as the steeper rise in global cases backs the notion of stricter measures. That being said, reports thus far continue to suggest the lower severity of the Omicron variant. Analysts at Goldman Sachs said Omicron hasn’t had much of an impact on mobility and oil demand, while it sees strong oil demand in 2022 from rising CAPEX and infrastructure construction. Furthermore, it stated that average oil demand is to hit record highs in 2022 and 2023. Elsewhere, spot gold remains firm after topping the group of DMAs yesterday (21 at 1787, 100 at 1788, 200 at 1794 and 50 at 1798) alongside the USD 1,800/oz mark. LME copper hovers around the USD 9,500/t mark awaiting the next catalyst, whilst Dalian iron ore continued to gain overnight with traders citing a recovery in steel demand.

US Event Calendar

No economic events
1pm: Fed’s Waller Discusses the Economic Outlook

DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

Well this is my last EMR of 2021. Henry will be in charge on Monday and Tuesday of next week but by then I’ll be catching up on sleep to prepare myself for the onslaught of Xmas with three hyper excitable kids. Thanks for all your support and interactions over the past year. Hopefully you’ll continue to read in 2022. Try to have as exciting a holiday season as the virus permits and see you on the other side. As I have done most years, at the end today I’m listing my favourite TV series and films of the year. I used to do favourite albums of the year but I’m ashamed to say that the person who used to buy a few hundred albums a year and try out all sorts of new music has turned into someone who listens to playlists and old albums. All a bit dull. The odd film and lots of TV continues to keep me sane after a day working in financial markets. So I hope you enjoy the countdown.

Talking of countdowns, yesterday was probably the last active market day of the year with a slew of Central Bank activity over the last 36 hours. However the FOMC-inspired risk rally peaked out by lunchtime in Europe and the S&P 500 eventually shed -0.87% amidst significant declines in technology stocks (Nasdaq -2.47%). Meanwhile there was continued caution about the Omicron variant among investors, as many of the key economies await a fresh wave of cases over the coming weeks.

We’ll start with the ECB, who yesterday said that they would be ending net asset purchases under their Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) at the end of March 2022, and that purchases over Q1 would be “at a lower pace than in the previous quarter”. Nevertheless, they also moved to soften the blow by confirming a step up in purchases by the Asset Purchase Programme (APP) to €40bn a month in Q2 2022, followed by a reduction to €30bn in Q3, and then €20bn a month from October “for as long as necessary to reinforce the accommodative impact of its policy rates.” They also said that they expected net purchases would conclude “shortly before it starts raising the key ECB interest rates.”

Overall this was a somewhat hawkish decision (see European economists’ recap here), since although APP purchases will be increasing, those volumes are fixed and will taper out, whilst expectations were that the ECB may retain more flexibility with the APP. That flexibility seems confined to PEPP reinvestments, which will grant policy optionality as the inflation outlook remains uncertain. That said, it seems like the ECB communicated a set path for policy during 2022, with rate hikes not coming until 2023, according to our economists.

Sovereign bond yields ended the day higher across most of the continent, although they gave up some of that increase towards the close, with those on 10yr bunds (+1.1bps), OATs (+2.2bps) and BTPs (+5.5bps) all rising. However, some shorter-dated yields did move lower, with those on 2yr bunds (-1.3bps) and OATs (-0.2bps) declining. When it comes to the ECB’s inflation forecasts, these were upgraded yet again, with the central bank now expecting 2022 inflation at +3.2% (vs. +1.7% in September), whilst their 2023 and 2024 projections now stand at +1.8%. However, the 2023 and 2024 projections are still beneath the ECB’s 2% target, and in their forward guidance they’ve said that they wouldn’t raise raises until inflation was seen reaching the target “durably for the rest of the projection horizon”, so even with the upgrade to 2023 they’re still forecasting inflation beneath target then.

The other central bank decision came from the BoE yesterday, who hiked rates by 15bps to 0.25%. The consensus had been expecting them to keep rates on hold given the Omicron variant, hence the decision came as something of a surprise to markets, although we should say that DB’s own UK economist made an out-of-consensus but accurate call for a 15bps hike. In the minutes, the decision was described as “finely balanced” due to the uncertainty around Covid, but an 8-1 majority on the MPC voted in favour, and Governor Bailey said afterwards in a BBC interview that “We’ve seen evidence of a very tight labour market and we’re seeing more persistent inflation pressures, and that’s what we have to act on”. It comes as inflation has continued to surpass the BoE’s own forecasts, and the summary of the latest meeting said that Bank staff were now expecting inflation to peak “around 6% in April 2022”, up from its current level of 5.1%.

Given the decision came as a surprise to many, there was a sharp rise in gilt yields in response, with those on 10yr gilts initially up +10bps before following the global bond rally which meant we only closed up +2.2bps to 0.75%. That move was entirely driven by higher real rates, and the 10yr inflation breakeven fell -5.5bps as investors moved to price in a lower trajectory for inflation, with the 5yr breakeven down by an even larger -12.3bps. Meanwhile investors also moved to price in a faster pace of hikes over the coming months, with the next 25bps hike fully priced in by the time of the March 2022 meeting, and a +73% chance of one priced in at the next meeting in February. In terms of DB’s own expectations, our UK economist writes in his reaction note (link here) that he now expects the next 25bps hike as soon as February 2022, followed by two further hikes in November 2022 and May 2023.

Against this backdrop there was a fairly mixed equity reaction on either side of the Atlantic. The S&P 500 fell -0.88% as mentioned, with the NASDAQ seeing a major -2.47% decline, erasing their post-FOMC gains. In Europe however there was a much stronger performance as they caught up with the US rally following the Fed’s policy decision, and the STOXX 600 advanced +1.23%. Separately, US Treasuries also diverged from their European counterparts, with the 10yr yield down -4.6bps at 1.41%.

In terms of the latest on the pandemic, there was a further record number of cases in the UK yesterday, with 88,376 reported, which beats the previous record set only the day before. Against that backdrop, France moved to restrict travel from the UK, with tourist and non-essential business travel prohibited. Separately in South Africa, hospitalisations now stand at 7,614, which is currently up +59% on the previous week.

When it comes to the economic impact, yesterday’s release of the December flash PMIs from around the world pointed to weakening growth momentum across the major economies. Indeed, the composite PMI declined on the previous month in the US, Euro Area, Germany, France, UK, Japan and Australia. The headline numbers were the Euro Area composite PMI, which fell to a 9-month low of 53.4 (vs. 54.4 expected), whilst the US composite PMI fell to 56.9. So both still above the 50-mark that separates expansion from contraction, but some way down from their peaks in the middle of the year.

Over in the US, it appears the gap between Democratic senators on President Biden’s Build Back Better bill is just too big, as Democratic leaders acknowledged that negotiations and votes could well drag over into next year. In a statement, President Biden said that “It takes time to finalize these agreements, prepare the legislative changes, and finish all the parliamentary and procedural steps needed to enable a Senate vote. We will advance this work together over the days and weeks ahead”. Obviously longer-term outlooks will hinge on whether or not the bill passes, but there’s implications for 2022 growth, too, as the bill was set to extend child tax credits that comprise a not-insubstantial portion of consumer income.

Overnight in Asia the main equity indices are trading lower, with the KOSPI (-0.33%), Shanghai Composite (-0.90%), Hang Seng (-1.28%), CSI (-1.31%) and the Nikkei (-1.75%) all declining amidst losses in technology stocks. Some of the main headlines came from the Bank of Japan however, which kept its main policy rates unchanged, announced that it would slowly reduce its corporate debt holdings, but also extended a special covid loans program by six months to end in September 2022, which aims to support small and medium-sized firms. Futures markets in US & Europe are also indicating a slow start, with those on the S&P 500 (-0.14%) and the DAX (-0.67%) both trading in the red.

In terms of yesterday’s other data, the weekly initial jobless claims in the US moved up from their half-century low the previous week to 206k (vs. 200k expected). In spite of the uptick however, it was still enough to push the 4-week moving average down to 203.75k. Otherwise, US industrial production grew by +0.5% in November (vs. +0.6% expected), housing starts accelerated to an annualised rate of 1.679m (vs. 1.567m expected), their highest level in 8 months, and building permits rose to an annualised 1.712m (vs. 1.661m expected).

To the day ahead now, and data releases include Germany’s Ifo business climate indicator for December, as well as November data on German PPI and UK retail sales. From central banks, we’ll also hear from the Fed’s Waller and the ECB’s Rehn.

3A/ASIAN AFFAIRS

i)FRIDAY MORNING/THURSDAY NIGHT:

3 a./NORTH KOREA/ SOUTH KOREA

///SOUTH KOREA/COVID

HONG KONG/COVID/VACCINE MANDATE

3B CHINA

Biden continues his assault on Chinese Biotech companies as he blacklists China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences along with 11 other institutes involves in biotechnology on an export blacklist

(zerohedge)

US Blacklists Chinese Biotech Groups For DNA Collection Technology & Mass Surveillance

THURSDAY, DEC 16, 2021 – 08:00 PM

The Biden administration on Thursday announced it has placed China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences along with 11 other institutes involved in biotechnology on an export blacklist for their involvement in assisting the Communist government’s oppression and surveillance of its Muslim Uighur population.

Among other things the companies’ advanced technology is used for DNA collection as a key social control measure in the Xinjiang region, as part of efforts to use genetic technology to further mass surveillance capabilities. “These actions come in the broader context of the administration’s efforts to address the misuse of technology to surveil and in many cases…to exercise large scale repressive social control,” a senior Biden administration official told The Wall Street Journal.Image: Associated Press

Further the Treasury Department was cited as saying the “action highlights how private firms in China’s defense and surveillance technology sectors are actively cooperating with the government’s efforts to persecute ethnic minorities.”

Included in the blacklist of entities that US firms can no longer invest in are commercial drone-making giant DJI Technology Co. and government linked facial-recognition technology development companies. It follows on the heels of prior sanctions days ago, most notably against the large facial recognition company SenseTime.

Additionally making the list are the facial recognition software start-up company Megvii, as well as Dawning Information Industry, which provides supercomputer-based cloud-computing services in Xinjiang. Commerce and Treasury’s growing list of banned Chinese military-industrial complex companies will by the end of this week reach almost 70.

In some notable instances the sanctions saw immediate effect: “SenseTime said this week it would postpone its $767 million initial public offering in Hong Kong, after reports the Chinese artificial intelligence company was being put on the US investment blacklist,” according to reports.

Years ago, The Wall Street Journal and others began investigating Beijing’s attempts to build the world’s largest ever DNA security database, which could ensnare the “innocent and guilty alike”…

https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-

“The police collected a lot more names they could add to the world’s biggest DNA database, an essential part of China’s high-tech security blanket being unfurled across the country as Beijing seeks to better monitor its 1.4 billion citizens,” one prior report said. “Nationwide, police have a goal of almost doubling China’s current DNA trove to 100 million records by 2020, according to a Wall Street Journal examination of documents from police departments across China. To get there, they need to gather almost as many records each year as are in the entire national database the U.S. has built over two decades.”

end

4/EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

END

ECB

The great reset analyzed

Special thanks to Robert H for sending this to us:

The ECB has every Euro of debt on its’ books since inception as it has not allowed debt to mature. Instead they rolled it over and added to it, as if it was perpetual piggy bank. Imagining that they can do this forever. And in the process they lowered interest rates to make it look better from a cost standpoint. This at the same time destroyed pension plans dependent on bond yields and the like adding to cost burden of promises made to pensioners which will have to be broken. Imagine that, another lie to find a judgement date. But will pensioners do? The theory is universal income and no ownership of anything so the state becomes owner of all. Great in theory and garbage in implementation. This is why astute money is leaving Europe and relocating to cheaper locals forgoing expensive properties which in the future will have fewer takers.
The real crisis here is that the ECB is trapped and if it raises rates they will cause further inflation, and they will not just destroy their own portfolio putting at risk their own solvency, but they will blow up the government budgets throughout Europe. This is the simple but deadly trap they are in with no way out. This is what the Great Reset is all about. Klaus pitched his communist agenda as means to keep politicians in power and not having to face an angered mob. Believe me, government has nothing to give as they are almost bust. When they had a chance years ago they could have kicked the can down the road, rather they listened to the pipe of Klaus and communist manifesto preached and now even that is catching flak as realities beckon the light of day. No question the lockdowns and restrictions are more about conditioning the public to obey when actual defaults occur. Whether the public buys in when they see, is debatable.

Europe is going insane with COVID to crush its economy and prevent civil uprisings for they are fully on board with Schwab. Secret deals were cut with the vaccines companies who understand that they are being used for political purposes. The deals struck are being hidden by the government for the entire purpose is to suppress the people to make the transition to the Great Reset. However, slowly information is trickling out and the public is awakening to what is going on and the program. A day may well come when both parties are forced to account and that will be ugly when it does. I imagine this is why a Russian conflict is so appealing to mask the truth of physical economic reality and to muddy the true extent of what has happened financially.

Inflation due to lockdowns and ongoing supply chain disruptions has led to failing labor markets and the link between the virus and economic outlook varies in Europe, by country. The ongoing meetings of central bankers around the world and across the major economies is anything but unified. There is a sharp divide between central banks because of their political agendas differ. This goes beyond what the press is reporting or is likely to report.

The Bank of England has been more inclined to raise interest rates because of inflation, but the ECB has been calling it not to. The ECB are now claiming Omicron’s fast spread will require more lockdowns and restrictions so raising rates should not be considered. The ECB has no intention of raising rates and cannot stop buying sovereign debt for they have destroyed the European bonds market and economy. Whether the BOE cooperates remains to be seen. My guess is they chart their own course.

The Bank of Japan was to reduce its bond purchases at least on margin and they too are not likely to raise rates. Japan debt levels are crazy. And they face the problem of paying increased interest with money they do not have. And they have the pain of lagging exports to North America because of western port bottlenecks which directly affects their liquidity. As Japanese car companies are very dependent on North America for car sales and the exchange of USD in Japan to Yen.

The Fed in America is not trapped and it can reduce its QE without imploding the economy because it never went to negative interest rates. Consequently, the Fed is the odd-man-out and is the strongest of the bunch. Even though in reality interest rates relative to real inflation are negative. The Fed is not inclined to sell the country out for Schwab or any of his cohorts and there is questionable support even for the Biden camp who seems to dance to the tune of Klaus on every turn. You might say there are many cooks in that kitchen and many are foreign in nature. When the Fed continues to pull back on liquidity and rates rise will be the true test for the EU experiment. And that should come early in 2022. And why you will continue to see capital come to America.

Crazy times we live in.
CheersRobert

UK health chief: it will be a number of years before COVID restrictions are lifted

(Watson/GATA)

UK Health Chief: “A Number Of Years” Before COVID Restrictions Can Be Fully Lifted

FRIDAY, DEC 17, 2021 – 06:30 AM

Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,

The UK’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty said today that it could be “a number of years” before a ‘variant-busting’ vaccine is developed that would enable COVID restrictions to be lifted for good.

“If I project forward, I would anticipate in a number of years, possibly 18 months, possibly slightly less… we will have polyvalent vaccines which will cover a much wider range [of variants],” Whitty told MPs.

Nervtag, a subcommittee that is connected to SAGE, which advises the government, is even more pessimistic, saying that COVID-19 could “pose a threat to the NHS” (necessitating restrictions) for another five years.

Whitty made the comments amidst a wave of hysteria surrounding the Omicron variant, which has supposedly infected hundreds of thousands of people in the UK yet hospitalised just 15 of them.

The government has completely failed to re-assure people that experts in South Africa say the Omnicron variant causes “mild” symptoms, instead choosing to amplify hysteria that threatens to decimate a hospitality industry already on its knees.

They’ve also ignored South Africa’s Health Minister, who today said hospitalisations and deaths in the country remain “relatively low” and that there is no need for new restrictions.

This has led to the sight of empty streets and public transport in the UK as millions of terrified people cancel their Christmas plans and put themselves under lockdown without the need for a government mandate.

The suggestion that restrictions could continue for years makes a mockery of assurances way back in March 2020 when the British public were told to obey lockdown for ‘just a few weeks’ to “flatten the curve.”

They were also told the country would “vaccinate its way to freedom” in the early months of 2021.

Once a ‘variant-busting’ vaccine becomes available, if ever, get ready for a new virus to suddenly appear necessitating all the restrictions remain in place anyway.

end

FRANCE

This is the last thing France needed:

France’s EDF Shutters Two Nuclear Power Plants After Cracks Found

BY TYLER DURDENFRIDAY, DEC 17, 2021 – 05:45 AM

Électricité de France S.A., commonly known as EDF, a French electric utility company primarily owned by the state, shuttered two nuclear power plants after routine safety inspections found cracks at one power plant.

EDF wrote in a press release, “preventive maintenance checks on the primary circuit of reactor number 1 of the Civaux Nuclear Power Plant” found cracks due to corrosion on the pipes.

“Checks initiated on the same equipment of reactor number 2 of the Civaux Nuclear Power Plant revealed similar defects,” the French power giant said.

France’s Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) was informed about cracks detected close to the welds on the reactor’s pipes.

EDF temporarily closed Civaux to “replace the affected parts on the two Civaux reactors, the work being governed by a technical instruction prepared in cooperation with the ASN, which leads to extend the shutdown of the two reactors,” it said.

EDF has also chosen to close two reactors at another nuclear plant at Chooz in the northeastern Ardennes department for inspections. Both power plants use the same reactor technology.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html

The temporarily closing of Civaux’s reactors and Chooz’s reactors will reduce one terawatt-hour of output and couldn’t come at the worst time as cooler weather sent French power contracts to a record high earlier this week.

A power reduction could suggest strain on the power grid amid cooler weather and higher power prices.

end

France’s EDF Shutters Two Nuclear Power Plants After Cracks Found

DEC 17, 2021 – 05:45 AM

EDF wrote in a press release, “preventive maintenance checks on the primary circuit of reactor number 1 of the Civaux Nuclear Power Plant” found cracks due to corrosion on the pipes.

“Checks initiated on the same equipment of reactor number 2 of the Civaux Nuclear Power Plant revealed similar defects,” the French power giant said.

France’s Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) was informed about cracks detected close to the welds on the reactor’s pipes.

A power reduction could suggest strain on the power grid amid cooler weather and higher power price

end

GERMANY

Cost wise, Germans are going to have a terrible winter

(zerohedge)

German Cold Blast To Extend Into January Amid Energy Crisis

FRIDAY, DEC 17, 2021 – 10:50 AM

A combination of factors creates a perfect storm of turbulence for many Europeans paying some of the highest energy prices ever.

Natural gas stockpiles remain at low levels as gas flows from Europe are depressed. The continuation of cold weather and an energy crunch is expected to further the crisis.

Deutscher Wetterdienst or DWD for short, is the German Meteorological Service. They released new data Friday forecasting month-ahead temperatures will remain below seasonal levels through the third week of January.

Europeans have no relief in sight as natgas stockpiles dwindle and prices hit new record-highs, forcing utility companies who use fossil fuel generators to charge some of the highest power prices ever. https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-

Making matters worse is Germany’s federal network agency, Bundesnetzagentur, announced Thursday that Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline will come online in July. Say goodbye to new supplies as the Dutch month-ahead gas, the European benchmark, continues to soar to new record highs, printing around 139 euros.

We must point out the situation in the US is the complete opposite. Warm weather and ample supplies have depressed natgas prices. However, that could change next month (read: here).

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

END

TURKEY

Hyperinflation has arrived. Turkey halts all trading as stocks plummet. The Lira broke 17 lira to the dollar

(zerohedge)

Turkey Halts All Stock Trading As Currency Disintegrates, Central Bank Powerless To Halt Collapse

FRIDAY, DEC 17, 2021 – 09:06 AM

Another day, another collapse in the Turkish lira, only this time there was a twist: as the hyperinflating currency implodes, Erdogan has finally had enough of the relentless pummeling, and is starting to shut down Turkey’s markets.

But first, let’s back up: heading into Friday, the lira accelerated its historic descent, weakening past the 16 per-dollar mark for the first time ever, as the central bank’s pledge to end a four-month cycle of interest rate cuts on Thursday failed to convince investors that inflation can be brought to heel. That was just the start however, and the currency plunge only accelerated crashing as low as 17.14 just hours later, bringing declines this week to 17%. YTD the currency has lost more than half of its value!

As a reminder, the central bank yesterday cut its benchmark one-week repo rate by a further 100 basis points to 14%, its fourth reduction since September spurred by demands from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to lower borrowing costs in the face of surging consumer prices as part of his batshit insane monetary policy Erdoganomics whose only possible outcome is the collapse of Turkey’s economy and hyperinflation. The resulting sell-off accelerated a 54% plunge in the currency so far this year as real rates fall further below zero with inflation now standing at an annual 21.3%.

Erdogan then responded to the economic pain caused by rising prices by ordering a 50% increase in the minimum wage next year, guaranteeing even more inflation as it will increase production costs that will see inflation accelerate by a further 2% to 8% next year, Erkin Isik, chief economist at QNB Finansbank, wrote in a note to clients.

In any case, once the lira plunged to 17, the central bank spent another billion or so intervening, its 5th intervention just in December. Needless to say, this intervention like all those preceding it, had a half-life of just a few minutes, and shortly after the USDTRY was trading back at just shy of all time highs.

And then, a stunning new development: as Bloomberg reports, all trades on Turkey’s benchmark stock index Borsa Istanbul 100 were halted after a sudden plunge in stocks – which until now were trading gingerly higher as one would expect in a time of runaway inflation – triggering a market-wide circuit breaker.

Trading of equities, equity derivatives and debt repo transactions were “halted temporarily” at 4:24 p.m. in Istanbul after the index reversed gains and fell as much as 5%, according to a public filing. Trading was scheduled to restart at 4:54 p.m, however we are confident it will only lead to more selling.

And this is what the realization that hyperinflation has arrived and may not be good for stocks looks like:

The bottom line, as Delphine Arrighi from Guardcap Asset Management, said “Turkey has entered some uncharted territories here by responding to rampant inflation with rate cuts. As long as real rates remain negative, dollarization will continue to add pressure on the currency.”

For what it’s worth, our view is clear and what is happening is very much charted: it is our view that Erdogan is purposefully hoping to spark economic collapse and hyperinflation…https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html

… to deflect from the historic pillaging he and his cronies have done over the years. And the only way to do that is with a broad economic collapse that he can pin on “foreign intervention” and in the ensuing chaos, quietly sneak out of the country. A few coup or two should help.

end

IRAN/SYRIA//UK

The USA continues to have bases in Syria and Iran and Syria itself will do anything to remove the USA. Today a UK jet shot down an Iranian drone threatening the Al Tanf base in Syria.

(zerohedge)

UK Jet Shoots Down ‘Iranian’ Drone Threatening US Base In Syria

THURSDAY, DEC 16, 2021 – 03:40 PM

A new attack on a remote US military base in Syria is being reported Thursday. According to NBC, US and allied forces shot down a small drone amid the fresh attack. This follows a similar and larger scale attack weeks ago that involved drones and rocket fire from an unknown attacker.

US Central Command spokesman Capt. Bill Urban told reporters on Thursday: “Two unmanned aerial systems (UAS) were tracked entering the Al-Tanf Garrison Deconfliction Zone on the evening of December 14th. As one of the UAS continued its course deeper into the Al-Tanf Deconfliction Zone, it was assessed as demonstrating hostile intent and was shot down.”US military image, via The National Interest

There was another drone in the area hovering near the Tanf garrison which reportedly departed after the first was shot down. US officials and Western allies have suspected “Iran-backed forces” in prior attacks near the Iraq-Syria border. In particular Iraq’s Shia popular mobilization units have been blamed, but on the Syrian side of the border attacks could be directed by pro-Assad militias.

Interestingly in this latest instance, a UK warplane tracked and downed the hostile drone, as NBC details:

A British Typhoon jet shot down the incoming drone, according to a US defense official, using an advanced short-range air to air missile (ASRAAM), becoming one of the first times a heat-seeking air-to-air missile was used in a combat situation to take out a threatening drone.

It marked a rare air-to-air shootdown over this part of Syria. Defense officials meanwhile told Fox News it was likely an Iran-backed operation:

There were no casualties or damage to the facilities, Urban said. Another military official told Fox that the drone was downed in an air-to-air strike and was never close enough to the base to jeopardize troops. They were believed to have been launched by Iranian-backed Shia militias in the region, a military official said.

Both Damascus and Moscow have repeatedly denounced the US presence at Tanf, calling it an illegal US military base on sovereign Syrian soil. It’s also significantly south of America’s other bases focused in the oil-rich northeast part of the country.

Currently the remote border base houses about 200 troops, who are ostensibly there as part of the “counter ISIS” campaign, which includes training local anti-Assad, Arab and Kurdish militias. However, ISIS has long been driven underground, and terror cells are mostly likely primarily being uprooted by Syrian and Russian forces elsewhere in the country.

end

EUROPE/IRAN/USA

end

RUSSIA/USA/NATO

special thanks to Robert H for sending this to us:

As this year comes to close, one ponders what a New Year will bring to humanity amidst travels to places far and near. One prays that we as humans have learnt something about ourselves and our fellow man to be brother’s and not keepers of faith. As visible signs of war come into view one wonders how one prepares to witness the carnage that war brings to people as old memories told by departed elders haunt the consciousness as eyes see.

One of Europe’s heaviest burdens of loss of life goes to Russia and the Slavic lands that surround the country for sight of what may come. Russians understand mass casualties and have prepared extensive shelters for their population in event of attack. The same is true in Belarus where even in small villages, shelters have been built. But as we all know, if you see the flash, you can kiss you ass goodbye, because you are dead. And we all know our governments have done nothing to prepare for such a tragedy. Do they forget that we all breathe and bleed the same?

One does wonder if Russia is not fully preparing for the reality of a nuclear war, knowing that casualties will be in the millions and not thousands even with their preparations. As i often have said the first missile launched at Russia will be taken to be a nuclear one without waiting for the explosion and a response will forth coming unlike anything ever seen before. If you saw the “shock and Awe” of Baghdad, Europe could well experience the same as every single NATO base will be destroyed within seconds or minutes of each other in an frightening barrage of missiles. As for the poor Ukrainians they will fold like a wet noodle at the first sign of Russian troops assuming they last, as most will disappear within a hour to meet their maker.

Meddlers and fools and con men play dangerous games but in a exchange they too will perish into the dust of time. The true dread of such people is that Russia never invades but destroys the threat it faces with missiles, leaving them to account. Why do you think the Russians have completed arming the Kuril Islands to protect themselves in the Pacific? This also sends a clear message to other potential wannabe foes, that Russia relies on no one but itself to protect the people and the resources they have.

I have said before on several occasions war can come from January 6th onwards. However, fast moving events cause me to think that hostilities will occur hours if not days after the NATO deadline as a practical matter Russia will not wait but will act, knowing that NATO and America are not “agreement capable” so why wait as the decision of what must happen is clear. As it is serial production of certain missiles has been ongoing for some time now and they have what is needed. The last nationwide nuclear drill was a clear message to anyone caring to see that they are 95% ready and able.

Pray for those who are already lost but do not know and pray that we as a species do not face a near death moment governed by fools and charlatans.

Machine translated from Russian.

From February 1, 2022, for the first time in Russia, the national standard “Urgent burial of corpses in peacetime and wartime” is being introduced. It describes that the authorities must be prepared to bury thousands of people in mass graves. The standards for graves, labor costs, the amount of equipment and the way of storing corpses have been established.

As “NI” found out, on September 13, 2021, the Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology issues an order, which approves the rules for the urgent burial of corpses in peacetime and wartime. As expected, this strictly technical document outlines all the disposal work point by point. Here is a quote from this noteworthy document:

“The main types of work in this case will be:

development of a pit for the construction of a mass grave;
preparation of a pit for the burial of bodies (remains):
preparation of bodies (remains) of the victims for burial;
layout of the first row of bodies (remains) of those killed in mass graves:
sending of the first row of bodies (remains) of the deceased;
the layout of the second row of bodies (remains) of those killed in mass graves;
backfilling of the second row of bodies (remains) of the deceased;
backfilling of mass graves. “

To calculate the possible irrecoverable losses among the population, the document introduces the concept of “the degree of destruction of the city.” The authors of the document proceed from the assumption that the population will die from conventional weapons, therefore, the maximum losses among the unprotected population, in which the degree of defeat is taken as one, will amount to 30%. In shelters, 5% of the city’s inhabitants will die , in the simplest shelters – up to 10%.

At enterprises, in the event of their defeat by conventional weapons and the death of 55% of workers, the losses will be considered “complete irrecoverable”.

The new national standard deals with the loss of many thousands of civilians – not about dozens, not hundreds, but about THOUSANDS. And it is written in Appendix A to the standard: here is an example of how much manpower and resources will be required to bury “1000 dead within 3 days”.

Officials have established the size of the mass graves. If, dear fellow citizens, we all lie down for no reason, they will bury us in mass graves 20 meters long, 3 meters wide and 2.3 meters high. They will be dug by bulldozers with an average productivity of 80 cubic meters per hour. The bottom of the grave will be covered with a mineral binder modifier and then compacted with a roller.

Then they will lay us in four layers, either in bags, or in wooden coffins or zinc coffins,prepared in advance in the amount of 300 pieces per 1000 population, and cover us with earth. Then they will again tamp them down, fill them with “mineral binder” and install “devices for the absorption and neutralization of radioactive, hazardous chemicals and biological agents formed during the decomposition of corpses.”

Here’s a plan.

Defenders of such state actions say that the appearance of this strange and even frightening document is connected, first of all, with the covid.

“The law was being prepared for six months so that you know. We have not yet had forecasts of how the Russian people will die, whether they will be a thousand a day, or 20 thousand a day. All this requires the state to respond appropriately, so that they do not whine, whine and say: here, Mishustin, how many are dying, and people are lying on the roads. The state decided to play ahead of the curve and insure itself in case things go down a critical path,” says Viktor Baranets, a military expert and Vladimir Putin’s electoral confidant .

If we consider that the document was adopted at the end of September, but its authors, after a year of the pandemic, it was clear that although 1000 people die from the coronavirus a day, mass graves are not needed for their burial. What new epidemic the Russian authorities are preparing for remains a big mystery. It is also unclear with which of the scientists the authors consulted, and who told them that humanity is about to face such a disease that it is necessary to procure bulldozers for digging graves for mass graves. On condition of anonymity, Novye Izvestia spoke with several generals of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Even for them, this document came as a surprise, to put it mildly. One of them could not contain his emotions: “They are there oh … and!”

Military expert Alexander Golts is sure that when regulatory documents are needed that determine how much labor is needed to collect corpses, their burial and other elaborated details, this means one thing: such losses can only occur when weapons of mass destruction are used. No natural disaster can cause such a number of losses, neither an earthquake, nor a volcanic eruption:

“Those who prepared these standards thought in terms of either a global epidemic or a global war, in which not only the military, but also the civilian population would die. This is only possible with the use of nuclear weapons. As in an anecdote from the times of the USSR: what to do in case of a nuclear strike? Wrap yourself in a sheet and slowly crawl towards the cemetery to make their work easier…”

Apparently, the authors of the document proceeded from the fact that as a result of a global war, not only the military, but also the civilian population would die. Viktor Baranets agrees with this . They also decided to tackle wartime, the expert says. According to the hawks, Russia has too many military threats in the west, south and north:

“We do not know if Ukraine will attack the Donetsk and Lugansk republics. We do not know if we will interfere. For now, we are saying that we will not interfere. But out of these 100%, in 99 cases we say that we will not attack, but it may turn out that we will have to send troops not only to the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, but also to the greater Ukraine. We also have a smoke-fused fuse in the Black Sea region. There are also dangers in the region of the Russia-Belarus Union State. It is alarming in the Kaliningrad region. There are grandiose plans for the immediate capture of the Kaliningrad region, even with the use of nuclear weapons. And how, then, will we bury? One by one, or what?”

Even Colonel General Ivashov , the former head of the Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, who can hardly be called a political dove, calls for a more cautious attitude towards both military rhetoric and the plans of the military in the Ukrainian direction. This, according to the general, only plays into the hands of the Americans:

“If we are talking about mass graves, the Russian side is actively involved in this, a war with Ukraine is being prepared. Neither the Ukrainian people, nor the Russian people certainly need this war. I do not exclude that it is Russia that initiates this war. We see the escalation. They have been preparing for this war for a long time. All talk shows in recent years have turned our population against the Ukrainians. On the Ukrainian side, the opposite is true. Who is the beneficiary here? Naturally, the beneficiaries will be the Americans.”

However, the new standards speak not of a local conflict, but of military operations of a huge scale, comparable to the Second World War, says Alexander Golts. Today in Europe there are simply not enough troops to arrange such a massacre:

“It will take another ten years, according to my estimates, for such a number of troops to be built up in Europe. There are not so many people in Russia to arrange a battle comparable to the battles of World War II. The women let them down, they did not give birth, as Kvashnin said.”
(A.V. Kvashnin, General of the Army, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation – First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation 1997-2004)

Defenders of the new standard remind that we have forgotten about the time when Russia was dying in millions. Then the authorities showed a long reaction, but now they decided to play ahead of the curve. If there is such a development of events when it will be necessary to bury in hundreds and thousands, we will already have the rules of the game. For this, it is necessary to allocate certain personnel, certain equipment, money, up to firewood in the crematorium, until we receive plots where we will bury these people. Everything should be thought out – from A to Z. We are preparing for major crises, says Viktor Baranets.

Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor Yuliy Nisnevich states that there is an injection, but it is difficult to understand what injection of which, and most importantly, why, is difficult:

“It is clear that no one needs any real war. More like muscle flexing. I’m not sure about the alarmist ideas that someone is preparing for something. If something serious was being prepared, it would be constructed a little differently.”

Most likely, the initiators and authors of the new document are preparing for the war, but not for the future, but for the past. An optimistic answer to the question of why this terrifying document was adopted at all is to close some legislative holes, says Professor Nisnevich:

“It is unlikely that this GOST is connected with the current situation. And they were buried in mass graves when they could not identify the dead. It is impossible to imagine such a thing in modern Europe and Russia.”

END

RUSSIA USA NATO

(courtesy RT/PaulRobinson)

special thanks to Robert H for send this to us

A misunderstanding between NATO & Russia could cause a catastrophe

15 Dec, 2021 15:40

5 Dec, 2021 15:40Get short URL

A misunderstanding between NATO & Russia could cause a catastrophe

By Paul Robinson, a professor at the University of Ottawa.

Robert to us:

“He writes about Russian and Soviet history, military history and military ethics, and is author of the Irrussianality blog. He tweets at @Irrussianality.I f you can read only one article about international relations theory, it should be Columbia Professor Robert Jervis’ “Hypotheses on Misperception.” Jervis died last week, but his work explains recent Russia and NATO tensions.”

the article:

In the past month, an alleged “build-up” of Russian military forces close to Ukraine has led to numerous claims that Moscow is planning to invade its neighbor. To head off this supposed danger, Western states have this past week threatened President Vladimir Putin’s government with “massive consequences” if it orders an offensive.

The Kremlin has consistently denied it is preparing an attack, and instead has demanded NATO pledge that it will not expand any further to the east. Ukraine’s long-held ambitions to join the bloc, it says, would cross a “red line” and would provoke a stern response.READ MORENATO dismisses Russia’s call for moratorium on missile deployment

In the West, Russian complaints about NATO expansion evoke little sympathy. The bloc is a purely defensive organization, goes the argument. Besides which, it is said, the alliance’s only borders with Russia consist of two short strips of land, along the Estonian/Latvian and Norwegian frontiers. Given Russia’s size, this hardly poses a severe threat, it is claimed.

Against this, others note that NATO’s aircraft are just a few minutes from the country’s second city, St. Petersburg. When the Soviet Union placed rockets in Cuba in the early 1960s, it was enough to make the US threaten war. One can hardly expect the Russians to react with complete equanimity.

In his celebrated “Hypotheses on Misperception,” Jervis noted that we all need to “develop an image of others and of their intentions,” but that this image is often faulty. Jervis drew up 13 hypotheses to explain why. A number of them are very relevant to the current crisis of Russian-Western relations.

The first problem, says Jervis, is that “decision makers tend to fit incoming information into their existing theories and images.” Furthermore, “there is an overall tendency for decision-makers to see other states as more hostile than they are.” Put these together and you have a toxic cocktail: if your existing theory is that another state is hostile, you will interpret any information you receive about that state in such a way as to confirm its hostility.

It’s easy to see how this fits the current state of Russian-Western relations. Each side has a negative image of the other, and each therefore interprets the other’s behavior in the worst possible way. For Russia, NATO expansion is a threat; the Maidan revolution in Ukraine was a plot engineered by the West; and so on. For NATO, the “annexation” of Crimea was the first step in a Russian plan of aggression against Europe, and Russian military exercises are not really exercises but a preliminary to a massive invasion of Ukraine.

Of course, there are other perfectly innocent explanations for all these things, but as Jervis comments, “actors tend to overlook the fact that evidence consistent with their theories may also be consistent with other views.” The Russian “build-up” of troops near Ukraine is much more likely to be a warning to Ukraine not to launch an assault on rebel Donbass than to be a preparation for an invasion. But the fact that it is consistent with Western perceptions of Russia as aggressive is enough to mean that this more realistic theory is never even considered.READ MORERussia warns of ‘dire consequences’ for NATO

This in turn reveals another problem. A lot of international politics is about signaling, but as Jervis points out, “when messages are sent from a different background of concerns and information than is possessed by the receiver, misunderstanding is likely.”

Take, for instance, NATO’s plans for missile defense systems in Europe. These are notionally a response to the threat of Iranian ballistic missiles. Russia, though, is worried that these systems might weaken its own deterrent capability, making it less able to retaliate in the event of a strike and tipping the scales of mutually assured destruction. To Russia, NATO’s concerns about Iran are ridiculous. But to NATO, Russia’s concerns are equally silly. The two sides thus end up talking past each other.

Or take another example. By deploying its forces near Ukraine, Moscow is signaling Kiev not to assault Donbass. But the message the West is getting is a different one: Russia is poised to attack. Likewise, the West thinks that by sending troops to the Baltic States, and threatening Russia with “massive consequences,” it is deterring Russian “aggression.” But the message that Moscow is getting is that the West is hell-bent on a confrontation. The signals sent are not the signals received.

What makes matters worse is that, as Jervis says, “when people spend a great deal of time drawing up a plan or making a decision, they tend to think that the message about it they wish to convey will be clear to the receiver.” Similarly, “when actors have intentions that they do not try to conceal from others, they tend to assume that others accurately perceive those intentions.”

In line with this, NATO and Russia assume that because they think that their message is clear, the other must understand it. If the other is acting otherwise, the only logical conclusion is that it is pretending not to understand, in order to justify its own hostile actions.READ MORENATO hopes that tensions on Russia-Ukraine border have been reduced – Stoltenberg

Since NATO thinks that it should be clear to everyone that it is a defensive organization, if Moscow insists on viewing it otherwise, that is further proof of Russia’s aggressive intentions. And likewise, since Russia thinks it is obvious that it has no intention of invading Ukraine, if NATO is saying the opposite, it must be because it is looking for an excuse to take action against Moscow.

To counter this, Jervis suggests that decision-makers should be aware of their own biases, avoid tying their policies to specific theories, and be more willing to examine situations from a variety of angles. None of this is exactly rocket science, but it does point us towards what’s wrong. Rather than being open to different views, we have become locked in a theory of ourselves as innately good and those with whom we disagree as innately evil.

As a result, we exaggerate threats, misinterpret signals, and fail to recognize that the signals we send are likely to be misunderstood. When others respond differently to how we desire, it reinforces our vision of them as hostile, causing more exaggeration, more misinterpretation, and so on ad infinitum. Jervis showed us how we got on this vicious cycle. It’s now up to us to find a way off.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

6.Global Issues

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE//

The murderers are backing Pfizer and Moderna over J and J

They are all bad and cause massive harm

(zerohedge)

CDC Advisers Back Use Of Pfizer, Moderna Vaccines Over Johnson & Johnson

THURSDAY, DEC 16, 2021 – 04:31 PM

Update (1631ET): A panel of health advisors to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted Thursday unanimously that adults seeking boosters should go with Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine rather than Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 15-0 that the mRNA vaccines are “preferred” to the J&J vaccine because they’re the safest and most effective vaccines.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is expected to decide whether to adopt the panel’s advice as agency policy later today.

Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine has been linked to rare forms of blood clotting.

* * *

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

A panel of experts who advise the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on vaccines is meeting Thursday to discuss updates to a severe condition linked to Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine.

The panel will listen to presentations by CDC officials on thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), which U.S. drug regulators say has a “causal relationship” with the jab, according to a draft agenda for the meeting.

The syndrome is a combination of blood clots and low blood platelet levels.

Concern over patients getting the syndrome after getting the vaccine led to a near-nationwide pause in administering the shot in the spring, but the pause was lifted after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined the benefits of the vaccine outweighed its risks.

Since then, more evidence has emerged linking the syndrome to the vaccine.

Researchers with the CDC last month found people who got the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) shot were far more likely to experience the syndrome when compared to people who got a Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

The reporting rate to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a system run by the CDC and the FDA, was 3.55 per million doses administered for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, compared to 0.0057 per million doses administered after one of the other vaccines.

The rate was the highest among women aged 30 to 39.

As of Dec. 16, 1,700 cases of TTS following administration of J&J’s vaccine were reported to VAERS, according to an Epoch Times review of the database. There were also 1,429 reports of thrombosis and 265 reports of thrombocytopenia. Altogether, the conditions were said to have resulted in 89 deaths.

VAERS is a passive system that anyone can report to but studies have indicated the number of reports submitted to the system is an undercount of issues following vaccination.

The FDA updated fact sheets for the vaccine this week, warning people with a history of TTS following vaccination not to get the J&J jab. TTS is now listed as a contraindication. That means people can potentially obtain medical exemptions to vaccine mandates if they have had adverse reactions to adenovirus-vectored vaccines like the J&J shot.

“The FDA continues to find that the known and potential benefits of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine outweigh its known and potential risks in individuals 18 years of age and older. Individuals should speak to their health care provider to determine which COVID-19 vaccine is most appropriate for their own situation,” the agency said in a statement.

J&J told news outlets in a statement that company officials have been working on understanding and communicating all known risks, including TTS, and “strongly support raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of this rare event.”

The CDC panel meeting starts at 12 p.m. Eastern. Members are scheduled to vote on “updated recommendations for use” of J&J’s vaccine at 2:30 p.m. Eastern, according to the draft agenda. The Epoch Times will stream the meeting on its website.

The panel is meeting “to hear the latest information on vaccines and disease epidemiology,” Jasmine Reed, a CDC spokeswoman, told The Epoch Times in an email when asked about the particulars of the vote and more details on the meeting.

Panel members weighed recommending officials list specific warnings to women under 50 who were considering or about to get the vaccine, but ultimately decided against that path.

The CDC tells clinicians that women younger than 50 “should be made aware of a rare risk of blood clots with low platelets following vaccination and the availability of other COVID-19 vaccines where this risk has not been observed.”

END

A WestJet Christmas Story

Free to Fly Canada Published December 16, 2

Rumble — On December 13, 2021, some of the several hundred WestJet Airlines employees who had been terminated, suspended, or forced to retire early, returned their uniforms and company property, as demanded by the airline. For many, this will likely be the sad end of what were otherwise great careers. These people put their hearts and souls into WestJet, but now they are not even permitted inside company buildings

Below is a short video outlining what some of our Free to Fly brothers and sisters endured over the past week. This is the reality behind the facade of public feel-good campaigns. Please share widely, and if on social media, add the #westjetchristmas hashtag.
We honour the courage of these employees at WestJet and the many at other companies continuing to stand firm for the future freedoms of every Canadian.

Video

END

My goodness!! what on earth are the drugmakers afraid of? Vaccine injuries?

(zerohedge)

Millions Of Refugees Aren’t Getting Vaccines Because Drugmakers, NGOs Fear Lawsuits

FRIDAY, DEC 17, 2021 – 01:26 PM

A global program designed to offer vaccines to tens of millions of migrants has been holding back on jabs because major manufacturers and the NGOs fear lawsuits over harmful side effects, according to Reuters, citing internal documents from Gavi – the charity operating the program.

The legal concerns are an additional hurdle for public health officials tackling the coronavirus – even as officials say unvaccinated people offer an ideal environment for it to mutate into new variants that threaten hard-won immunity around the world. Many COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers have required that countries indemnify them for any adverse events suffered by individuals as a result of the vaccines, the United Nations says.
Where governments are not in control, that is not possible. -Reuters

As a result, less than two million doses have been provided from a ‘Humanitarian Buffer’ created by a global rogram known as COVAX, as the buffer has no mechanism to offer compensation.

According to Gavi, which operates COVAX in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), organizations actually administering the doses – primarily NGOs – can’t bear legal risks, and say that deliveries from the buffer can only be made if vaccine manufacturers accept liability.

According to the report, this leaves around 167 million people at risk of not receiving the jab.

Is it any wonder why nobody wants to accept legal responsibility for harm caused by the vaccines?

According to a Gavi spokesperson, vaccine makers’ refusal to take on legal risks is a “major hurdle” to delivering vaccines to the buffer program.

In September, Gavi CEO Seth Berkley implored manufacturers to ‘commit to greater transparency’ and to ‘waive requirements for indemnification for the humanitarian buffer.’

So far, three Chinese drugmakers have done so – SinoVac Biotech, Sinopharm Group, and Clover Biopharmaceuticals. Johnson & Johnson has also agreed to waive a requirement for indemnity for deliveries from the buffer.

“We are proud to be part of this effort to protect the world’s most vulnerable people,” said Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientific Officer, Paul Stoffels.

That said, these four companies constitute less than 1/3 of COVAX supplies, while Clover’s treatment has yet to gain approval and is not yet in use.

Defending big pharma is the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), which claims that “no company has refused to consider” accepting the legal risk, however they want to know where and how vaccines from the buffer would be used.

Meanwhile, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) says it would be difficult to provide continuous monitoring of vaccines for safety in refugee camps, while the logistics of delivering the doses is also very challenging.

“This could then lead to an increased number of litigation cases … during which the safety and efficacy of the vaccine would be publicly questioned,” the group told Reuters.

Read the rest of the report here.

VACCINE IMPACT

CDC Admits COVID-19 Shots Causing Heart Disease but Won’t Stop the Injections – Does Pfizer Now Control the CDC and FDA?

December 16, 2021 5:34 pm

The United States CDC updated their “Adverse Events” page on COVID-19 shots today where they admit that there are now 1,908 reported cases of myocarditis and pericarditis following COVID-19 shots among young people below the age of 30. This compares to, on the same page, 57 cases of “Thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS)” and 278 cases of “Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS)” for all age groups, not just those under the age of 30. As we have reported in the past, the CDC typically uses “selective bias” when reporting these “adverse events” to make the numbers look much lower than they actually are. But with the cases of heart disease now skyrocketing, even with their selective bias it can be clearly seen that we are dealing with a very high number of these injuries showing that their assertion that these side effects of heart disease are “rare” is completely absurd. When we include all the other cases of myocarditis and pericarditis in their own data within VAERS for young people under the age of 30, the number is actually 3,262 cases. When we remove the age limit of 30 years old, the cases of carditis skyrocket up to 12,855 cases. For another comparison, and again using THEIR DATA from VAERS, if we look at cases of heart disease following all non-COVID vaccines, which include the flu shots, all the childhood vaccines in the CDC schedule, and every other non-COVID vaccine currently being distributed in the U.S. for the same time period (since last December when the COVID-19 shots were given emergency use authorization), we find 125 cases. 12,855 cases of heart disease following COVID-19 experimental shots for the past year, compared to 125 cases of heart disease following all FDA-approved vaccines for the past year. And the CDC calls this “rare”? This is the government data from the CDC and FDA, and it is under-reported, according to experts, by a factor of between 20X to 41X or more. Why are these shots still on the market killing and crippling people with heart disease? There can only be one explanation. Pfizer now controls the FDA and CDC, and I would go so far as to say they control the United States, including deciding who gets elected to approve their products.Read M

7. OIL ISSUES

end

8 EMERGING MARKET& AUSTRALIA ISSUES

Australia//// NEW ZEALAND/ SOUTH AFRICA/BRAZIL//COVID/VACCINES/LOCKDOWNS

SOUTH AFRICA

As promised: South Africa hospitalizations plunge despite the Omicron onslaught.

The variants are all morphing into this more invasive but far less deadly virus. Actually the Omicron is like a vaccine and we will get herd immunity quite quickly

(zerohedge)

South African Hospitalization Rates Plunge Despite Omicron Onslaught

FRIDAY, DEC 17, 2021 – 10:00 AM

Over the past few weeks, the omicron variant has exploded out of southern Africa (the first case was identified in Botswana) and spread across most of the globe. And yet, despite all the kvetching about the variant being on track to succeed the delta variant as the world’s dominant strain…

Source: NYT

…South Africa delivered some positive news Friday when it reported a much lower rate of hospital admissions amid signs that the wave of infections may be peaking, according to Bloomberg.

Only 1.7% of identified COVID cases were admitted to the hospital in the second week of infections in the fourth wave, according to local data.

That’s compared with 19% in the same week of the third delta-driven wave, South African Health Minister Joe Phaahla said at a press conference.

This is all evidence that the strain may be milder, and that infections may already be peaking in the country’s most populous province, Gauteng.

Still, new cases in that week of the current wave were more than 20K a day, compared with 4.4K in the same week of the third wave. That’s further evidence of omicron’s rapid transmissibility, which a number of other countries, such as the UK are also now experiencing.

As for where that evidence might come from, South Africa, which announced the discovery of the variant on Nov. 25, is being watched as a canary in the coal mine.

There are a few key differentiators that make South Africa different from other countries: The country’s population is young compared with developed nations. What’s more, between 70% and 80% of citizens may also have had a prior COVID infection, according to antibody surveys, meaning they could have some level of protection. ;

Currently there are about 7.6K people infected with COVID in South African hospitals, about 40% of the peak in the second and third waves. Excess deaths, a measure of the number of deaths against a historical average, are just below 2K a week, an eighth of their previous peak.

“We are really seeing very small increases in the number of deaths,” said Michelle Groome, head of health surveillance for the country’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases.

The number of COVID hospitalizations in this wave is also being inflated by the fact that milder patients are being admitted because there is room to accommodate them. Many are there for other complaints but are routinely tested for the pathogen, according to health officials.

“We have seen a decrease in a proportion of people who need to be on oxygen. They are at very low levels,” said Waasila Jassat, a researcher with the NICD.

The final takeaway: “For the first time there are more non-severe than severe patients in hospital.”

end

Your early currency/gold and silver pricing/Asian and European bourse movements/ and interest rate settings FRIDAY morning 7:30 AM….

Euro/USA 1.1322 DOWN .0011 /EUROPE BOURSES //MOSTLY RED

USA/ YEN 113.32 DOWN 0.348 /NOW TARGETS INTEREST RATE AT .11% AS IT WILL BUY UNLIMITED BONDS TO GETS TO THAT LEVEL…

GBP/USA 1.3285 DOWN 0.0037

Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE CLOSED DOWN 42.65 PTS OR 1.16%

//Hang Sang CLOSED DOWN 282.87 PTS OR 1.21%

/AUSTRALIA CLOSED UP 0.10% // EUROPEAN BOURSES OPENED MOSTLY RED

Trading from Europe and ASIA

EUROPEAN BOURSES MOSTLY RED

2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang SANG CLOSED DOWN 282.87 PTS OR 1.21%

/SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 42.65 PTS OR 1.16%

Australia BOURSE CLOSED UP 0.10%

Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED DOWN 520.64 PTS OR 1.79 %

INDIA’S SENSEX IN THE RED

Gold very early morning trading: 1811.35

silver:$22.70-

USA dollar index early FRIDAY morning: 96.08 UP 4 CENT(S) from THURSDAY’s close.

This ends early morning numbers FRIDAY MORNING

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And now your closing FRIDAY NUMBERS 1: 00 PM

Portuguese 10 year bond yield: 0.26% DOWN 4 in basis point(s) yield from YESTERDAY/

JAPANESE BOND YIELD: +0.050% UP 4/10 BASIS POINTS from YESTERDAY/JAPAN losing control of its yield curve/

SPANISH 10 YR BOND YIELD: 0.35%// DOWN 4 in basis points yield from yesterday.

ITALIAN 10 YR BOND YIELD 0.91 DOWN 6 points in basis points yield from yesterday./

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

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD: FALLS TO -..375% IN BASIS POINTS ON THE DAY//

THE IMPORTANT SPREAD BETWEEN ITALIAN 10 YR BOND AND GERMAN 10 YEAR BOND IS 1.29% AND NOW ABOVE 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 FRIDAY

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

Euro/USA 1.1277 DOWN .0056 or 156basis points

USA/Japan: 113.654 DOWN 0.127 OR YEN UP 13 basis points/

Great Britain/USA 1.3270 DOWN 53 BASIS POINTS)

Canadian dollar DOWN 646pts to 1.2826

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The USA/Yuan, CNY: closed ON SHORE (CLOSED DOWN)..6.3757

THE USA/YUAN OFFSHORE: (YUAN CLOSED (DOWN)..6.3856

TURKISH LIRA: 16.37 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LEVEL/DEATH WISH/HYPERINFLATION TO BEGIN.

the 10 yr Japanese bond yield at +0.0050

Your closing 10 yr US bond yield DOWN 3 IN basis points from THURSDAY at 1.389% //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%) very problematic USA 30 yr bond yield: 1.826 DOWN 23in basis points

Your closing USA dollar index, 96.34 UP 30 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 FRIDAY: 12:00 PM

London: CLOSED DOWN 11.03PTS OR 0.15%

German Dax : CLOSED DOWN 91.86 PTS OR 0.59%

Paris CAC CLOSED DOWN 73,69PTS OR 1.12%

Spain IBEX CLOSED DOWN 68.60 PTS OR 0.82%

Italian MIB: CLOSED DOWN 183.74 PTS OR 0.69%

WTI Oil price 71.20 12: EST

Brent Oil: 73.51 12:00 EST

USA /RUSSIAN / RUBLE FALLS: 74.23 THE CROSS HIGHER BY .40 RUBLES/DOLLAR (RUBLE LOWER BY 40 BASIS PTS)

CLOSING NUMBERS 4 PM

EURO VS DOLLAR: 1.1245 DOWN 88 BASIS PTS

BRITISH POUND: 1.3342 DOWN 00680OR 80BASIS PTS

JAPANESE YEN: 113.671 UP .050 OR 5 BASIS POINTS

CANADIAN DOLLAR 1.2885 UP 104 BASIS PTS

USA 10 YR BOND YIELD: 1.406 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS

USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 1.817 DOWN 4 BASIS PTS.

TURKISH LIRA: 16.50 LIRA TO THE DOLLAR

USA DOLLAR VS RUSSIAN ROUBLE. 74.14 UP 31 BASIS PTS

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: DOWN 532.20 TS OR 1.48%

NASDAQ 100 DOWN 10.75 OR 0.07%

VOLATILITY INDEX: 22.80 UP 1.53PTS.

USA trading day in Graph Form

Turbo-Taper Sends Stocks & Bond Yields Lower On The Week

FRIDAY, DEC 17, 2021 – 04:00 PM

The Fed’s hawkish statement and Powell’s modest ‘good cop’ effort left rate-hike odds all higher on the week with May 2022 now the most likely ‘liftoff’ for rates…

Source: Bloomberg

While stonks kneejerked higher on Wednesday, this hawkish shift ended up dragging markets lower on the week. Nasdaq was the week’s biggest loser; The Dow was the least ugly horse in the glue factory…

Defensive sectors dominated the week with Energy, Tech, and Discretionary the most hated…

Source: Bloomberg

AAPL was down 4.6% on the week – its biggest weekly loss since Feb…

But everything is fine, right?

Shorts were double-squeezed this week – on FOMC and into OpEx…

Source: Bloomberg

Bond yields were lower across the curve on the week with the short-end underpeforming and belly bid… (7Y -8bps, 2Y -1bp)…

Source: Bloomberg

The yield curve flattened on the week…

Source: Bloomberg

The Dollar rallied back from post-Powell pummelling to end higher on the week…

Source: Bloomberg

Cryptos were all lower on the week…

Source: Bloomberg

Commodities were mixed on the week with oil lower and PMs eking out very modest gains…

Source: Bloomberg

Finally, a Bloomberg study of past instances when the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 2.4% over one session before sliding 2.6% the next day — as happened Wednesday and Thursday — provides succor for short-term bears.

The pattern occurred seven times in the past decade, mostly in the pandemic crash last year. On average, the technology heavy-index fell by 3.7% over the next five days.

II)USA DATA

end

b) USA COVID/VACCINE UPDATES//VACCINE MANDATES

Fauci is lying: Omicron is mild and may be beneficial as it crowds out the more deadly Delta variant

(zerohedge)

Fauci Sets Stage For Omicron Panic, Warns Hospitals Could Be ‘Overwhelmed’ Within Weeks

THURSDAY, DEC 16, 2021 – 08:40 PM

Dr. Anthony Fauci on Thursday predicted that the omicron variant will likely be the dominant strain in the US within “a few weeks,” and that hospitals may become overwhelmed this winter.

Fauci’s caveat was that the number of vaccinated individuals – ‘especially those with booster shots,’ will leave them “relatively well protected, at least against severe disease,” and that he’s most worried about the unvaccinated.

“With omicron breathing down our back, things could get really bad, particularly for the unvaccinated,” he said during an event hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation. “The vaccinated and those who are boosted I believe will be relatively well protected, at least against severe disease.”

About that…

South Africa doesn’t appear to be having problem despite just 23% of the population having been vaccinated.

“Besides the toll of suffering and death which will inevitably go up if in fact we have that convergence in the winter months of flu and omicron and delta, we could get our hospital systems overwhelmed,” Fauci said.

The Biden administration has emphasized that boosters are the best response to the new variant, and has dismissed the idea of further business closures.
Asked about business closures, Fauci said “it’s going to really depend on how well we do the interventions,” like wearing masks in indoor public settings and getting booster shots.
“If we do that, I don’t believe we’ll have to be doing any kind of shutdown with regard to businesses in your community,” he said. –The Hill

For anyone paying attention, the new omicron variant has been described by officials around the world as ‘far more transmissible, yet mild’ in comparison to other Covid-19 strains.

This means that while fewer people are likely to die of omicron as a percentage of those infected, its hyper-transmissibility means a lot more people will contract the new strain – and despite a smaller percentage of severe cases, the actual number of hospitalizations may rise sharply.

In other words, the nuance here is in the denominator – and by leaving that out, Fauci is intentionally scaremongering

Thread

Conversation

Michael Tracey@mtracey

Can anyone give a coherent explanation for why “boosters” are being mandated to curb “Omicron,” which is purportedly spreading at exponential rates because existing vaccines do not prevent infection/transmission? Hence the spread on >99% vaccinated college campuses? …Anyone?Quote Tweet

The Harvard Crimson@thecrimson · 5hBreaking: Harvard will require affiliates to get Covid-19 booster shots with the Omicron variant ‘likely’ spreading on campus https://thecrimson.com/article/2021/12/17/covid-booster-requirement/…Show this thread

end

Special thanks to Robert H for sending this to us

Brazilian City Cuts Hospitalizations and Mortality Rates in Half After Implementing Ivermectin as Prophylaxis for COVID

Now you know why they do not want you to know.
If the doorknobs called politicians were honest and able to critically think they would mandate ivermectin across the board, amongst other things instead of dumb lockdowns and capacity restrictions which are meaningless.

Brazilian City Cuts Hospitalizations and Mortality Rates in Half After Implementing Ivermectin as Prophylaxis for COVID

end

NFL To Postpone Several Games Over COVID Spread

BY TYLER DURDEN

FRIDAY, DEC 17, 2021 – 02:46 PM

The National Football League is set to postpone several games this weekend due to a surge in COVID-19 infections, according to CNBC.

The move comes as COVID infections and hospitalizations are rising once again. “The cases are going up,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday.

“We have an average of about 117,000 cases. We have an increase the percentage of hospitalizations. Deaths are still over a thousand. Then you have, looking over your shoulder, the Omicron variant, which we know, from what’s going on in South Africa and in the UK, is a highly transmissible virus,” Fauci said.

As of Dec. 15, the NFL’s COVID-19 vaccination rate was 94.6% of NFL players are vaccinated; nearly 100% of NFL personnel are vaccinated.

CNBC’s report didn’t mention which games would be postponed. However, on Twitter, handle, “Fox Sports: NFL” noted there is “talk about postponing multiple Week 15 games, including Raiders-Browns, Washington-Eagles and Seahawks-Rams, due to COVID-19 concerns.”

Here’s more on the timing of the rescheduled games. https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-

Also, the National Hockey League has announced it will postpone several games due to fears of the re-emergence of the virus.

END

Just awful!!

These criminals should be shot

Special thanks to Robert H for sending this to us

Baby of ‘fully vaccinated’ mom dies after born bleeding from mouth, nose: VAERS report – LifeSite

This is just awful.
Reality is that NO pregnant women should take any of these vaccines. Nor should they take a shot while breast feeding. What they do after is up to them, but a mother’s 1st obligation is to her child’s welfare. Even if it puts her at risk or why bother? It has been this way for centuries and why humanity survives.
These numbers are always vastly unreported and the angst families must have is terrible.
Do not expect a politician to shed a tear for loss. It is burden the mother will always carry.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/baby-of-fully-vaccinated-mom-dies-after-being-born-bleeding-from-mouth-nose-vaers-report/

iii) important USA economic stories for you tonight

This is very unusual: another tornado ready to rip through the midwest. And this is December?

(zerohedge)

“Holy Cow!!” – Another Tornado Outbreak Rips Through Midwest

THURSDAY, DEC 16, 2021 – 03:00 PM

Hundreds of thousands of customers across the Central US are without power Thursday morning after a powerful storm rolled across the Great Plains, spawning nearly two dozen tornados. This comes less than a week after a twister outbreak devastated towns across the South.

The storm generated about 21 tornados across Nebraska and Iowa on Wednesday evening, according to NYTimes.

The National Weather Service (NWS) highlighted areas with the strongest wind gusts; some areas clocked in around 100 mph.

Widespread power outages have been reported for Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Kansas. Around 450k customers between the four states are without power on Thursday morning.

NWS meteorologist Andrew Ansorge in Des Moines called the storm system “unprecedented.”

“We don’t have anything to compare it to,” Ansorge said.

We noted ahead of the severe weather in a note titled ““Historic” Wind Storm Could Produce Rare Tornado Threat In Central US” that NWS said “another historical weather day” is imminent for the Midwest.

END

Millions of Americans face a $3,500 additional expenses this year as inflation soars

(Roberts/EpochTimes)

Millions Of American Households Face $3,500 Additional Expenses This Year As Inflation Soars

BY TYLER DURDEN

FRIDAY, DEC 17, 2021 – 08:50 AM

Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Surging inflation will cost millions of Americans more than $3,000 in additional expenses this year, according to a Penn Wharton University of Pennsylvania Budget Model (PWBM) analysis published on Wednesday.People walk through Times Square in New York City on July 13, 2021. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

PWBM, a nonpartisan research-based initiative, estimates that the historic levels of inflation will require the average U.S. household to spend around $3,500 more in 2021 to achieve the same level of consumption of goods and services as in 2019 or 2020.

Moreover, PWBM estimates that lower-income households spend more of their budget on goods and services that have been more impacted by inflation, and will have to spend roughly 7 percent more on such goods and services, while higher-income households will have to spend about 6 percent more.

PWBM came to the estimates by using the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE), a nationwide household survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the November 2021 Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index (CPI) to investigate how much price changes increase the expenditure for households at different income levels.

They analyzed the increased costs under the assumption that consumption patterns among households would remain the same this year as in 2020 and 2019.

For example, between November 2020 and November 2021, the bottom 20 percent spent $309 more on food, $761 more on energy, $476 more on shelter, $390 on other commodities, and $224 on other services.

Meanwhile, the higher-income households spent an additional $961 on food, $1,824 on energy, $1,607 on shelter, $2,144 on other commodities, and $1,100 on other services.

That could mean, based on 2020 total consumption expenditure data, that the bottom 20 percent of income-earners saw their consumption expenditure increase by 6.8 percent to $2,160 per household, while the top 5 percent saw an increase of 6.1 percent or roughly $7,636 per household. Middle-income earners also saw an increase of 6.8 percent, or roughly $4,351, as per the data.Shoppers browse in a supermarket in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 2020. (Lawrence Bryant/Reuters)

“Since higher-income groups had a bigger increase in expenditures in all categories, they also saw a bigger increase in total expenditure,” the analysis said. “However, because of variation in the composition of consumption bundles, we find that higher-income households had smaller percentage increases in their total expenditure. Higher-income households spent relatively more on services, which experienced the smallest price increases.”

“On the other hand, lower-income households spent relatively more on energy whose prices had large increases,” the analysis added.

The report comes after the Federal Reserve announced on Dec. 15 that it will end its pandemic-era stimulus sooner than expected amid persistent inflation levels.

The central bank said it will speed up its tapering of bond purchases, bringing the monthly drawdown to $30 billion versus $15 billion announced last month, and suggesting the stimulus will end by March, opening the door for interest rate increases in the first half of 2022.

In a significant shift from the September meeting, officials said they now expect three quarter-point rate boosts in 2022 and a further three rate increases in 2023.

“In light of inflation developments and the further improvement in the labor market, the Committee decided to reduce the monthly pace of its net asset purchases by $20 billion for Treasury securities and $10 billion for agency mortgage-backed securities,” the FOMC statement reads (pdf).

“Beginning in January, the Committee will increase its holdings of Treasury securities by at least $40 billion per month and of agency mortgage‑backed securities by at least $20 billion per month,” Fed officials stated.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell told a press conference that the move to phase out bond purchases more rapidly than was previously expected was due to “elevated inflation pressures” and strong labor recovery.

“Supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic and the reopening of the economy have continued to contribute to elevated levels of inflation. Overall financial conditions remain accommodative, in part reflecting policy measures to support the economy and the flow of credit to U.S. households and businesses,” Powell said.

Meanwhile, the House voted early on Dec. 15 to raise the debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion to close to $31 trillion until 2023, just in time for the deadline set by the Treasury Department and narrowly avoiding what could have been an economic crisis.

Currently, federal debt is $28.9 trillion, and the latest increase to the debt ceiling is the largest in recent history.

end

So ends Biden’s big spending bill

(zerohedge)

Senate Parliamentarian Nixes Immigration Plans From $2T Biden Bill

BY TYLER DURDEN

FRIDAY, DEC 17, 2021 – 09:20 AM

On Thursday, Congressional Democrats admitted defeat as far as passing their $2T social spending and climate plan before the end of the year, after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) made clear that he wasn’t on board.

In addition to rejecting a one-year extension of the Child Tax Credit, Manchin pointed to the Senate parliamentarian’s ongoing cuts to the bill to ensure it complies with the reconciliation process – which Democrats will use to pass the package while avoiding a Republican filibuster.

“When the parliamentarian gets their work done we’ll see what they have,” said Manchin.

On Thursday night, Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough handed Democrats their latest blow – cutting legislation which would temporarily shield illegal immigrants from deportation on the grounds that it doesn’t comply with the budget reconciliation requirements.Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough

According to the Byrd Rule, “the Senate is prohibited from considering extraneous matter as part of a reconciliation bill,” which meant Democrats had to prove that the immigration matter was more than “merely incidental to the non-budgetary components of the provision.”

MacDonough met with staffers from both parties earlier this month, and has thus far rejected three Democrat measures including the immigration language.

Not ones to play the hand they’re dealt, more than two-dozen Democrats from the lower chamber sent an October letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) arguing that the Senate’s presiding officer has the authority to overrule the parliamentarian, according to the NY Post.

“This is a critical moment for our nation’s history, and we strongly urge the Presiding Officer to use their authority to disregard the Senate Parliamentarian’s ruling,” they wrote.

iii)b USA inflation commentaries//LOG JAMS//

Los Angeles Import Volume Sinks As Shipping Traffic Jam Worsens

FRIDAY, DEC 17, 2021 – 02:25 PM

By Greg Miller of FreightWaves

Despite America’s epic consumer boom, containerized imports to the Port of Los Angeles dropped to 403,569 twenty-foot equivalent units in November, down 14% from October and down 13.2% year on year. For the second month in a row, Los Angeles’ containerized imports have fallen below levels in the same months in 2018.

On one hand, the Port of Los Angeles will boast record full-year throughput in 2021, including loaded imports, loaded exports and empty containers. Business is booming. Executive Director Gene Seroka said during a press conference Wednesday that the port was on track for 5.5 million TEUs of total throughput this year, 13% above the 2018 peak.

On the other hand, import volumes in Los Angeles were front-loaded in the first half when congestion, while significant, was less severe than it is now. The last time monthly imports to Los Angeles were as low as in November was in June 2020, at a time when ocean carriers were canceling sailings to America due to lockdown-depressed demand.

November’s slide was not due to lower import demand, but due to port congestion coinciding with high demand. The evidence: The amount of cargo stuck waiting offshore of Los Angeles/Long Beach continued to rise as imports handled by the ports fell. In fact, the capacity stuck offshore increased even more than imports declined.

Looking at the San Pedro Bay port complex overall, combined imports to Los Angeles and Long Beach totaled 765,963 TEUs in November, down 10% from both October 2021 and November 2020, and flirting with November 2018 levels.

At the beginning of November, according to data from the Marine Exchange of Southern California, there were waiting vessels with boxes aboard (including container ships and noncontainer ships) with aggregate capacity of 637,329 TEUs. At the end of November, ships with aggregate capacity of 745,305 TEUs were waiting for berths in Los Angeles/Long Beach, up 17% from the beginning of the month.

The capacity of ships stuck off Southern California ports rose 107,976 TEUs over the course of last month, whereas the combined import throughput at the two ports fell 86,324 TEUs in November versus October.

The offshore ship queue has gotten even bigger in December.

According to the Marine Exchange of Southern California, 102 container vessels were waiting for berths in Los Angeles and Long Beach on Wednesday. The combined number of container ships waiting offshore and at the berths is at or near an all-time high.

The aggregate capacity of container ships waiting offshore, as well as noncontainer ships carrying boxes, was 794,962 TEUs on Wednesday, up another 7% from the end of November, according to data from the Marine Exchange. The capacity of ships in the Pacific Ocean queue now exceeds the combined monthly imports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The official calculation of the number of ships waiting for berths in Los Angeles/Long Beach recently changed due to a new queuing system to promote vessel safety and clean air. Under the new protocol, ships wait farther offshore and the number of vessels within 40 miles of the port has dramatically decreased.

During Wednesday’s press conference, Seroka addressed what the port spokesperson called “reports suggesting this [new queuing] system is being used as a way to hide or disguise the number of vessels waiting to enter San Pedro Bay.” Seroka maintained: “There has never been and there never will be any intent to hide data or vessels headed our way. Our goal is to present a transparent and accurate picture of the container vessel count.”

Empty container situation worsening

The executive director discussed a number of key performance indicators — some improving, some worsening.

Dwell time for containers moving by rail has dropped from a high of 13.5 days this summer to just two days, the lowest it has been since pre-COVID. Dwell time of containers moving by truck at Los Angeles terminals is down to six days from a peak of 11 days, Seroka added.

The number of loaded import containers dwelling at terminals for nine or more days is down 56% from Oct. 24, when a new fee for long-dwelling containers was announced by the ports.

Due to continued progress, implementation of the fee has been pushed back each week. “If we go backwards, you bet it will be implemented,” affirmed Seroka. (Port statistics show that reductions in long-dwelling containers have slowed over the past three weeks.)

Two metrics are going in the wrong direction. Street dwell time — the time containers are outside the terminals — “is now at a high of 10 days,” said Seroka. “That needs immediate attention, to bring that number below four days as it was pre-surge.”

The empty container situation is also worsening. There are now 71,000 on Los Angeles terminals or near-dock depots, up from 65,000 a month ago, with 60% dwelling nine days or more.

In November, 325,838 TEUs of empty containers were loaded on ships. That’s up 11% year on year, but it marks yet another decline from the preceding month. In August, 364,212 TEUs of empties were loaded. The volume has declined every month since then.

Seroka warned, “If necessary, we will look at additional measures, including levying fees against liner companies for empty containers that dwell excessively at our marine terminals.”

iv) Swamp commentaries/

San Francisco Mayor Finally Blasts “All The Bulls**t That’s Destroyed” The City, Demands More Money For Cops

THURSDAY, DEC 16, 2021 – 09:40 PM

Authored by Michael Shellenberger via Substack,

After Black Lives Matter protesters last year demanded that cities “Defund the Police,” San Francisco Mayor London Breed held a press conference to announce that her city would be one of the first to do exactly that. Breed announced $120 million in cuts to the budgets of both San Francisco’s police and sheriff’s departments. A spokesperson for the police officers’ union warned the cuts “could impact our ability to respond to emergencies,” but the police chief assured the public that the cuts “will not diminish our ability to provide essential services.”

Yesterday, Breed reversed herself in dramatic fashion, announcing that she was making an emergency request to the city’s Board of Supervisors for more money for the police to support a crackdown on crime, including open air drug dealing, car break-ins, and retail theft. The plan contains much of what the California Peace Coalition, which Environmental Progress and I cofounded last spring, has been demanding, including in a series of protests by parents of homeless addicts, parents of children killed by fentanyl, and recovering addicts.

San Francisco Mayor Breed and other San Francisco politicians have for years promised to crack down on drug dealing and crime, and things have only grown worse over, so skepticism is merited. Already, progressives in San Francisco have denounced Mayor Breed’s plan, which she announced with the support of just two members of the city’s 11 Board of Supervisors, and without the apparent support of the city’s District Attorney.

But there’s good reason for hope. Breed’s plan lays out big goals and makes very specific promises, including more funding for police. There will be a recall election next June of San Francisco’s District Attorney Chesa Boudin which many political experts believe will succeed. And the progressive Supervisor who represents the Tenderloin, the neighborhood with most of city’s open drug scene, is running for state assembly, creating a leadership vacuum and opportunity for Breed.

More importantly, Breed’s speech has the potential to change the conversation about crime. Breed explicitly embraced “tough love,” which is a very different philosophy from Woke victimology, which divides the world into victims and oppressors and demands that victims, a category that includes street addicts and criminals, only be given things, from cash and clean needles to their own apartment with butler service, and not be held accountable for their actions.

“I’m proud this city believes in giving people second chances,” said Breed.
“Nevertheless, we also need there to be accountability when someone does break the law…Our compassion cannot be mistaken for weakness or indifference…. I was raised by my grandmother to believe in ‘tough love,’ in keeping your house in order, and we need that, now more than ever.”

Breed punctuated her emotional speech with an explitive.

“It is time for the reign of criminals to end,” she said.
“And it comes to an end when are more aggressive with law enforcement and less tolerant of all the bulls**t that has destroyed our city.”

Why is that? What explains Breed’s 180 degree reversal in less than 18 months? And what will determine whether she keeps her promise?

https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-

Murder, Looting, and Drug Deaths

The main reason for Breed’s turnabout is skyrocketing crime. A report released yesterday by San Francisco’s Public Policy Institute of California concluded that homicides increased in Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, and San Francisco by 17% in 2021. Property crimes in those four cities rose 7% between 2020 and 2021, reaching 25,000 total in October. Two-thirds of increase is due to larcenies, mainly car break-ins (by 21%) and vehicle thefts (by 10%).

PPIC stresses that property and violent crimes are lower than historic levels, but business leaders and residents have told me for two years that they often do not report many crimes. And the rate of arrest has declined significantly for many crimes. In 2019, 40% of all shoplifting reports resulted in arrest; in 2021, only 19% did. San Francisco’s progressive D.A. charged just 46% of theft arrests, a 16 point decline since he took office in 2020, and charged just 35% of petty theft arrests, a 23 point decline from two years ago.

In November, San Francisco was the first of several progressive cities hit by smash-and-grab mobs of thieves, sometimes as many as 80 in a group. Video from the San Francisco looting of Louis Vuitton shows criminals walking casually out of the store, goods in hand. In response, many of San Francisco’s luxury stores in its Union Square shopping district boarded up their windows, making the area resemble a blighted neighborhood in Detroit, and embarrassing city leaders.

Meanwhile, San Francisco’s open drug scene contributed to three times more deaths from illicit drugs than covid last year, and has degraded the low-income historically black Tenderloin neighborhood. San Francisco could shut the open drug scene down like European cities did but has instead refused to mandate proven medical treatment to drug addicts. San Francisco’s progressive leaders have effectively been overseeing a radical social experiment, one that killed more African Americans last year alone than the entire Tuskegee syphilis experiment killed over 40 years.

Breed has been personally impacted by addiction and crime. Both Breed’s sister and brother struggled with addiction while growing up in public housing in San Francisco. Her sister died of a drug overdose and her brother is in prison for armed robbery. “I am not for playing games with my life when it comes to politics,” she told an interviewer. “I’ve been in that community, working in the trenches, dealing with the public safety issues, dealing with those things because my people are the ones getting left behind at the end of the day.”

But Breed also had to be pushed. In May, I helped Jacqui Berlinn, a mother of a homeless fentanyl addict, organize the first-ever protest of open drug dealing in the Tenderloin, which generated national and local headlines and local TV coverage.

A few months later, Berlinn and I co-founded, with parents of children killed by fentanyl, recovering addicts, and community leaders, a new state-wide group, the California Peace Coalition, to demand the enforcement of laws against open drug dealing, mandatory treatment for addicts who break the law, and a state takeover of psychiatric and addiction care.

Then, in early November, over 200 mostly poor and working class people in the Tenderloin protested a 161% increase in violence in the neighborhood between 2020 and 2021, and open drug dealing, in a march on City Hall. Part of their motivation was a brutal attack on an 11-year-old girl while she was walking to school. The day before, a 61-year-old man was shot while sitting in a donut shop. Two weeks later, a half a dozen gunmen fired 30 and 40 rounds at each other, sending bystanders running in chaos.

Breed put their voices at the heart of her announcement. “Last week, I met with a group of families from the TL [Tenderloin],” she wrote. “I was told about drug dealers threatening grandmothers. About mid-day shootings near a park where a single mother brings her toddler after school. About assaults on the street…. We need to take back our Tenderloin.”

The response to Breed’s remarks from parents and residents was overwhelmingly positive. “I can’t express how happy this makes me,” tweeted Berlinn. Tom Wolff, a formerly homeless drug addict who is on the city’s Drug Dealing Task Force, said, “I’m really happy to hear the mayor take a tougher approach on this. We can’t arrest our way out of everything, but there needs to be some target specific enforcement.”

Michelle Tandler, a San Francisco native whose photos of boarded up Union Square stores went viral, said, “I’ve been observing Mayor Breed for many years now and have to say, I think this was her greatest speech to-date. Mayor Breed took a stand for what is right. I haven’t seen her this impassioned since her inauguration a few years back.”

Seizing the Momentum

Breed’s speech puts pressure on progressive San Francisco supervisors and the District Attorney to shut down the open drug scene in the Tenderloin.

When he ran for office in 2018, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin called “open-air drug use and drug sales… technically victimless crimes.” When Boudin announced that he was not going to prosecute street-level drug dealers he said it was because they are “themselves [are] victims of human trafficking.”

But, after the looting of Louis Vuitton, Boudin struck a more tough-on-crime tone. “I’m outraged by the looting in Union Square last night” Boudin tweeted. “We are seeing similar crimes across the country. I have a simple message: don’t bring that noise to our City.”

https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1

But standing up for luxury stores is different from shutting down open drug scenes. “Boudin made a very strong statement after the [flash mob] theft of Louis Vuitton,” said Stanford addiction specialist Keith Humphreys. “But I want a DA who is the most worried about the poorest residents and less about Louis Vuitton.”

Other politicians are responding to the crime wave. California Attorney General Rob Bonta promised “more resources” for investigating retail theft. And the Mayor of Oakland, which will have its highest homicides in nine years, has demanded more funding for the police, and asked Gov. Gavin Newsom to finally implement technology that would allow police to read license plates on state highways to catch criminals.

Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer said he viewed Breed’s announcement as vindication for what he has been advocating. “Californians are tolerant, but we don’t tolerate brazen crime and dangerous streets,” he said. ”It should not even be a question as to whether or not the open drug markets should be shut down — I’ve been saying for years: if you let people live and do drugs on the streets, you’re condemning them to die on the streets. I enforced this as Mayor of San Diego and it must be enforced throughout California.”

Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, a former Republican running for California Attorney General as an independent, praised Breed and used her announcement to attack Attorney General Bonta as soft-on-crime. “Bravo to London Breed,” Schubert tweeted, “and her commitment to cracking down on crime and open air drug usage. Breed has laid out common sense strategies that Rob Bonta clearly disagrees with. San Franciscans deserve better than an Attorney General who won’t listen to local officials about common sense public safety measures.”

Breed’s announcement come days after former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter attacked progressive District Attorney Larry Krasner for dismissing the city’s record high homicides, and several weeks after Seattle voters, of whom less than 10 percent voted for Donald Trump in 2020, elected a Republican as the city’s State Attorney in response to rising crime. “I don’t think we can overestimate the influence of the city of Seattle voting 8% for Donald Trump one year ago and voting 55% for a Republican city attorney who had a law and order platform in this year’s election,” said Humphreys.

https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-

In the end, shutting down the city’s open drug scenes is crucial to ending drug deaths and the chaos that plagues the city. “It is an entirely fixable problem,” said Humphreys, “as many cities have shown. There will still be drug use and addiction in San Francisco. But harm reduction requires closing down open air drug scenes. Every city in America has drug problems. They do not all have a drug scene like San Francisco.”

Humphreys emphasized, as did the authors of a study of how five European cities closed open drug scenes, that coordination between homeless service providers and police officers is crucial. The head of one of them, Urban Alchemy, Lena Miller, said, in response to Breed’s announcement, “We are relieved. The problem wasn’t created overnight and solving it will take time. But we very happy and looking forward to everyone coming off the sidelines to solve this.”

For Humphreys, citing the European model, “Harm reduction is not a fantasy about a drug-free society, which we’re never going to have. It’s trying to minimize the damage that drugs do. Closing down open drug markets is going to have huge gains for people, particularly in the Tenderloin, but more broadly in the city.”

Breed announcement may help change how Americans think about drugs. While it may not be possible to halt drugs from coming into the U.S., it is possible to shut down open drug scenes, and mandate treatment for those who need it.

“The public is wanting some action here and she’s going to try to deliver it,” said Humphreys. “I think her announcement will resonate in some of these other cities, too, and give courage. I admire the mayor for taking a political risk on behalf of the least powerful people in the city.”

END

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

U.S. to Blacklist DJI and Seven Other China Firms, FT ReportsCommerce, Treasury to add sanctions for DJI (drone maker), biotech firms: FT
Shares in health-care firms including Wuxi Biologics plummet
The Financial Times also reported that the Biden administration will place more companies on a blacklist, some of which are alleged to be involved in the surveillance of China’s Uyghur minorities…
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-15/u-s-to-add-dji-seven-other-china-firms-to-blacklist-ft-says

Biden Team Mulls New Clampdown on China’s Largest ChipmakerAgencies are meeting Thursday to discuss further restrictions
U.S. equipment makers face new restrictions in selling to SMIC
https://www.bloombergquint.com/china/biden-team-considers-new-clampdown-on-china-s-biggest-chipmaker

US November Retail Sales increased only 0.3% m/m; 0.8% was consensus. Retail Sales ex-Autos increased 0.3%; 0.9% was expected. Sales ex-Autos & Gas rose only 0.2%; 0.8% was expected.
The Retail Sales Control Group, which is used in GDP, declined 0.1% m/m: +0.7% was expected.

Remember, Retail Sales are NOT adjusted for inflation. If they were, November sales would be negative.

Remember, Retail Sales are NOT adjusted for inflation. If they were, November sales would be negative
Powell Press Conference HighlightsEconomy no longer needs rising amounts of support
Employers have difficulty filling job openings
Cited elevated inflation risk for accelerating the taper
Fed did NOT anticipate the kind of inflation that is occurring (No Schiff, Sherlock!)
Fed could hike rates before maximum employment occurs (Fed cannot define max employment!)
Best to be careful and methodical with the taper
Fed rate projections are not a forecast, economy will drive policy actions
Asset valuations are “somewhat elevated” (can’t admit more than that)
Does NOT believe the Fed is behind the curve on inflation (lying or totally inept)
The Fed will be positioned to hike rates if needed
No decision on when the Fed might start to shrink its balance sheet
Quits rate is one of the best employment indicators
Timing of rate hikes will be discussed in coming FOMC Meetings
Getting renominated as Fed Chair had nothing to do with taper acceleration (Jerome did not started talking hawkish about inflation until he was renominated! “You can look it up!”)
Stable coins can be useful if properly regulated (Cryptos soared on this.)

ESZs soared 2.1% from the release of the FOMC Minutes to 15:40 ET. QQQ (Nasdaq 100) rallied 3.53% from its low. How much of the rally was the equity rescue team or an expiry manipulation for a Weird Wednesday is not ascertainable. However, free and fair markets do not behave this way. PS – Gold soared, the dollar declined, and bonds sank on Powell’s dovishness.

US Treasury breakeven rates (inflation expectations) soared on Powell’s dovish comments. The market expects more inflation.

The market remains leery of inflation risks. The so-called five-year breakeven rate on Treasury inflation protected securities — a gauge of market expectations for consumer-price gains — jumped as high 2.78% in the wake of Powell’s comments after dipping to 2.64% earlier…
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-15/breakevens-jump-as-powell-threads-needle-on-fed-policy-path

WSJ Editorial Board: The Price of the Fed’s Delay
Powell said he’d wait to see inflation before acting to stop it. He got that, and more.
The Fed’s blunder was to maintain emergency monetary policies long after the Covid economic crisis had passed … The Fed abandoned its previous 2% inflation target and instead shifted to a “flexible average inflation target.”… In practical terms, this meant that the Fed wouldn’t move to pre-empt inflation but would wait until it appeared and was sustained before tightening money. Well, it has got that inflation, and more… the Fed has lost credibility…
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-price-of-the-feds-delay-jerome-powell-federal-reserve-inflation-producer-price-index-11639515049

CNN Poll: Asked to rate the severity of seven issues affecting the economy recently, about 8 in 10 say the rising cost of food and other everyday items (80%)…
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/15/politics/cnn-poll-economy/index.html

Nearly two-thirds of Americans doubt they can trust Biden, (CNN) poll shows
https://nypost.com/2021/12/15/nearly-two-thirds-of-americans-dont-trust-biden-poll-shows/

The Fed’s Reverse Repo absorbed a record $1.62 trillion. That’s enormous excess liquidity!
Expected Economic Data: Initial Jobless Claims 200k, Continuing Claims 1.943m; Nov Housing Starts 1.567m, Permits 1.663m; Dec Phil Fed Business Optimism 58.5; Nov Industrial Production 0.6% m/m, Mfg Production 0.7%, Capacity Utilization 76.8%; KC Fed Mfg Activity 25

S&P 500 Index 50-day MA: 4594; 100-day MA: 4517; 150-day MA: 4432; 200-day MA: 4238
DJIA 50-day MA: 35,503; 100-day MA: 35,216; 150-day MA: 34,958; 200-day MA: 34,562

S&P 500 Index – Trender trading model and MACD for key time frames
Monthly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 4134.79 triggers a sell signal
Weekly: Trender is positive; MACD is negative – a close below 4469.12 triggers a sell signal
Daily: Trender is negative; MACD is positive – a close above 4762.42 triggers a buy signal
Hourly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 4610.89 triggers a sell signal

Twitter to Penalize Users Who Claim Vaccinated People Can Spread Covid-19
The policy contradicts the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, which notes the “risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection in fully vaccinated people cannot be completely eliminated as long as there is continued community transmission of the virus.”…
https://www.mediaite.com/news/twitter-to-penalize-users-who-claim-vaccinated-people-can-spread-covid-19/

During January 6 Hearing, Schiff Doctored Text Messages Between Mark Meadows and Rep. Jim Jordan – Democrat Adam Schiff doctored text messages between Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan during Monday’s Jan. 6 hearings, an investigation by The Federalist shows.
https://thefederalist.com/2021/12/15/during-january-6-hearing-schiff-doctored-text-messages-between-mark-meadows-and-rep-jim-jordan/#.YboOneAJxkA.twitter

January 6 Committee Admits It Doctored Text Message Between Meadows and Jordan
The House January 6 committee admitted on Wednesday that it doctored a text message from Jim Jordan to Mark Meadows, as was first reported by The Federalist.
    The Jan. 6 committee spokesman did not explain how one could “inadvertently” cut a sentence in half and eliminate the final two paragraphs of a detailed legal summary, nor did he explain why Schiff attributed the content of the text to Jordan, “a lawmaker,” rather than to Schmitz, the attorney who wrote it… https://thefederalist.com/2021/12/15/breaking-january-6-committee-admits-it-doctored-text-message-between-meadows-and-jordan/#.YbohFivyi7s.twitter

Can an Ex-President Claim Privilege for Communications While He Was President? – Dershowitz
The relevant issue is whether the communication was privileged at the time it was made. If so, it should be an enduring privilege that encourages confidential communications during their incumbency…
   The issue is an open one that will likely be decided by the Supreme Court. I doubt that justices who are now retired or intend someday to retire — and join the “unwashed” — would be thrilled if Congress were to subpoena their former law clerks to disclose their confidential discussions about decisions they wrote while they were still among the washed… https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18033/president-privilege

Dershowitz Rips Democrats for Holding Mark Meadows in Contempt Before Courts Rule on Executive Privilege    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/12/15/dershowitz-rips-democrats-for-holding-mark-meadows-in-contempt-before-courts-rule-on-executive-privilege/

Pelosi slams ‘outrageous’ crime surge, won’t admit to liberal cause https://trib.al/SUyEnaX

Chicago teen who murdered 15-year-old Elias Valdez in drug deal given probation
https://nypost.com/2021/12/15/chicago-teen-who-murdered-15-year-old-elias-valdez-given-probation/

California governor Gavin Newsom does it again – with a Thanksgiving vacation at $29,000-a-night villa owned by Russian oligarch who admitted dodging $248M in taxes – days after extending state’s state of emergency      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10267549/Gavin-Newsoms-Cabo-villa-rental-owned-Russian-oligarch-tax-fraudster-Oleg-Tinkov.html

Sen. Blumenthal speaks at Communist award show, touts ‘Build Back Better’
Democratic senator pitches ‘Build Back Better’ to Connecticut communists
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/blumenthal-speaks-communist-award-show-touts-build-back-better

Whistleblower letter alleges thousands of fraudulent votes in Pima County, Arizona
The letter addressed to DOJ was read into the record at a recent election integrity hearing
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/whistleblower-letter-alleges-thousands-fraudulent-votes-pima-county

friday

BoE becomes first major central bank to raise rates since pandemic
BoE votes 8-1 to raise UK interest rates to 0.25% from 0.1%
     “We’re concerned about inflation in the medium term. And we’re seeing things now that can threaten that. So that’s why we have to act,” Bailey said…
https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/inflation-risk-omicron-slowdown-boe-rate-move-balance-2021-12-16/?s=02

The BOE’s surprise rate hike is driving traders and economists to expect more in 2022 https://t.co/zXRtOtt2Bi

Europe’s Top Central Banks Take Divergent Tracks as They Confront Inflation
After Fed signal of future rate rises, Bank of England raises benchmark rate and ECB says increase in 2022 is very unlikely – The ECB said it would end its €1.85 trillion emergency bond-buying program, equivalent to $2.1 trillion, as planned in March, but expand a separate bond-buying program next year. Taken together, ECB bond purchases will slow to €40 billion a month in April from about €80 billion a month at present, and will continue at least through October. The bank said it wouldn’t increase its key interest rate, currently set at minus 0.5%, until it ends its net bond purchases…
https://www.wsj.com/articles/ecb-boosts-bond-purchases-as-it-phases-out-pandemic-stimulus-11639659416

Manchin now balking at Build Back Better provision to restrict, ban US oil and gas drilling, report
https://justthenews.com/government/congress/manchin-now-balking-build-back-better-provision-restrict-ban-us-oil-and-gas

Biden Build Back Better Agenda Dropped by Senate Until After 2021
Senate Democrats are abandoning efforts to pass President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion economic agenda this year, delivering a political blow to the White House, which has failed to rally the fractious party around its signature legislation. The delay… risks solidifying the intra-party divide on the legislation, which many Democrats consider key heading into the 2022 mid-term elections…
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-16/biden-economic-bill-gets-pushed-to-2022-amid-democrats-discord

Markit: Flash US Services Business Activity Index at 57.5 [58.5 exp.] (58.0 in November). 3-month low.
Flash US Manufacturing PMI at 57.8 [58.5 exp.] (58.3 in November). 12-month low
https://www.markiteconomics.com/Public/Home/PressRelease/f63974aa5288481688b386caf47905e1?hsid=dced2a77-3f09-4fbe-83e5-a54c7626c9f1

Philly Fed manufacturing index slides in December amid elevated inflation https://t.co/BCbNPipeV0
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said Thursday that is gauge of regional business activity fell to 15.4 in December from 39.0 in the previous month…Economists expected a 30.0 reading…

WSJ’s @NickTimiraos: The Fed isn’t calling higher inflation transitory but their rate outlook suggests that—while they’ll need to raise interest rates soon, possibly in March—they still think they won’t have to really slam on the brakes because higher prices will mostly abate https://t.co/YH0u0gEPQF
The Fed balance sheet bubbled up $92.142B on +57.12B of MBS and +$34.12B of Treasuries to a record $8.757 trillion. https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h41/20211216/

The commodities to S&P 500 ratio implies that equities must tank, or commodities must soar. Chart:
https://twitter.com/TaviCosta/status/1471628673409175553
@BLS_gov: State and local government compensation costs average $54.46 per hour worked in Sept 2021 https://t.co/DzbIWaXk3t

Blood clot rates after J&J vaccine higher than previous estimates: CDC advisers https://t.co/UeYGL5mbW2

CDC recommends Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 vaccines instead of Johnson & Johnson if possible
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/health/cdc-recommends-pfizer-moderna-covid-19-vaccines-instead-johnson-johnson-if

Two major airline CEOs question the need for masks on planes
The comments from American Airlines (AAL) CEO Doug Parker — the nation’s largest carrier — and Southwest (LUV) CEO Gary Kelly came during a hearing about the financial support that airlines received from the federal government in 2020 and 2021…
    “I think the case is very strong that masks don’t add much, if anything, in the air cabin environment. It is very safe and very high quality compared to any other indoor setting,” said Kelly.
    Both Kelly and Parker, who each have announced plans to retire as CEOs in the coming months, mentioned that high-grade HEPA air filters on planes capture virtually all airborne contamination and air quality is helped by how frequently cabin air is exchanged with fresh air from outside the cabin…
    After the hearing, American Airlines tried to walk back Parker’s remarks…
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/15/business/airline-ceos-question-masks-on-plane-rule/index.html

More polio cases now caused by vaccine than by wild virus (Now do Covid and its vaxxes)
More polio cases now caused by vaccine than by wild virus as 4 African countries report them
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/polio-cases-now-caused-vaccine-wild-virus-67287290

EU leaders weigh new sanctions on Russia amid ‘series of attacks’ https://t.co/CUc2FS1KeU
Russia’s Baltic neighbours attacked what they see as Moscow’s attempts to blur the line between peace and war. “We are probably facing the most dangerous situation in the last 30 years. I am talking about not only Ukraine but the eastern flank of NATO,” said Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, a day after EU leaders held a summit with Ukraine and four other ex-Soviet republics in Brussels…

@Hagstrom_Anders: Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden blocks passage of bipartisan bill banning products made with slave labor in Xinjiang, China, where the CCP is carrying out a genocide against Uyghurs.

@ConsumersFirst: Several top @Nike execs funneled over $60,000 to Sen. @RonWyden’s campaign, over the course of 16 days in September.  3 months later, he blocked a bill aimed at preventing US companies from profiting off of Uyghur forced labor in Communist China.

Due to bipartisan outrage, Wyden capitulated, and the Uyghurs bill passed the Senate.

@silverguru22: A closer look at the stocks Jim Cramer told his audience to buy at the start of the year and what they’re worth now    https://twitter.com/silverguru22/status/1471241268596514819
Biden: Unvaxxed will ‘overwhelm’ hospitals in ‘winter of illness and death’ https://trib.al/4dPMbtL

@RNCResearch: After a “COVID briefing” in which he read from a piece of paper for two minutes and took no questions, Biden watches idly (bewilderedly) as the press is herded out of the room. It has been 44 days since Biden last held a press conference. https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1471609475408744460

@disclosetv: Biden: “57, excuse me. 570, excuse me. I don’t wanna read it, I’m not sure I got the right number…” Dr. Fauci: “57 million.” (81m votes?) https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1471611801548857346

Sinema pops Democrats’ filibuster trial balloon on voting rights
The Arizona Democrat is not willing to entertain changes to the 60-vote threshold…
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/12/15/sinema-democrats-filibuster-changes-524809

Leftist Dems and Team Biden took four hits on Thursday: Manchin shelved Build Back Better, Dem Sen. Sinema killed the bill to liberalize US voting, The Big Guy’s Supreme Court reform panel reported that expanding the court would be bad for democracy, and this:

U.S. ends talks over compensation for families separated under Trump, lawyers say
Comes after Republican lawmakers expressed outrage over reports that some families could have received hundreds of thousands of dollars as part of a potential settlement…
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/immigration-family-separations-compensation-us-ends-talks/

J6 Committee Fabricates More Evidence, Says Trump Waited 187 Minutes to Call for Peace. It Was Actually 25  https://thefederalist.com/2021/12/16/j6-committee-fabricates-more-evidence-says-trump-waited-187-minutes-to-call-for-peace-it-was-actually-25/

New York City is banning natural gas hookups for new buildings to fight climate change
“If the largest city in America can take this critical step to ban gas use, any city can do the same,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. “This is how to fight back against climate change on the local level and guarantee a green city for generations to come.”…
    Real estate groups, the oil and gas sector and the National Grid — the utility that provides the city with natural gas — have strongly opposed the bill, arguing that it will cause a spike in demand for electricity that could prompt winter blackouts.  Opponents also argue that the legislation will prompt higher costs for buildings that use electricity for heat compared to those that use natural gas…
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/15/new-york-city-is-banning-natural-gas-hookups-for-new-buildings.html

@TrumpJew2: Multiple people arrested in NYC for trying to eat in Applebee’s without a vaccine pass
https://twitter.com/TrumpJew2/status/1471331510246686720

DC Bar Restores Convicted FBI Russiagate Forger to ‘Good Standing’ Amid Irregularities and Leniency – The move is the latest in a series of exceptions the bar has made for Kevin Clinesmith… https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2021/12/16/dc_bar_lets_convicted_fbi_russiagate_lawyer_back_in_good_standing_as_court_cuts_him_more_slack_807964.html

Longtime CNN producer John Griffin’s devices seized 17 months before child sex trafficking arrest
Yet the FBI didn’t arrest him until Friday in Connecticut for allegedly soliciting three mothers and their underage daughters for “training” on fetish sex…
https://www.foxnews.com/us/cnn-john-griffin-child-trafficking-devices-seized-september-2020

Jon Turley: Destroying the Court to Save it: Warren Calls For Packing the Supreme Court With a Liberal Majority – Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) finally buried her former persona as a law professor… Warren’s final measure of devotion to politics came in her Boston Globe op-ed where she called for the Supreme Court to be packed with a liberal majority…
    As an academic, Warren was described as a “die-hard conservative” who was a leading advocate for corporations. All of that had to go when she decided to seek the Democratic nomination for the Senate…
    In the age of rage, one has to show that you are willing to do what others are not willing to do . . . like tear down the leading judicial institution in our constitutional system. If you are going to run in the Democratic primary, you need to be a “made” politician who has demonstrated that you can dispense with the niceties of the Constitution and do what makes others cringe…
https://jonathanturley.org/2021/12/16/destroying-the-court-to-save-it-warren-calls-for-packing-the-supreme-court-with-a-libera

end

Let us wrap up the week as always with this offering courtesy of Greg Hunter

Evil Globalist Narratives Failing Everywhere | Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog

Evil Globalist Narratives Failing Everywhere

By Greg Hunter On December 17, 2021 In Weekly News Wrap-Ups 20 Comments

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com (WNW 508 12/17/21)

Everywhere you look you see failing narratives. On the Covid front, they are telling people to get the boosters. They have gotten two shots already and they are getting Covid. Another study out of Israel this week says natural immunity is better than injections. Another study out of Harvard a few weeks ago says the same thing. Now, the CDC is admitting that 80% of the Omicron cases are with the “Fully Vaxed.” 33% of those cases are with people vaxed and boostered. YouTube just censored a video from Joe Rogan with cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough warning about how the Deep State is stopping treatments like Ivermectin that work. The censorship from YouTube has now become part of the failing narrative and is a big story in and of itself.

The entire narrative is falling apart, and Joe Biden keeps losing in court for his precious mandates for experimental vaccines for everyone. In pro sports, the NFL is fighting new Covid cases by the dozens, and the organization is at least 95% vaxed. Their answer to the Covid problem they cannot hide? More shots are required, and that means getting a booster and more of what does not work. There are also many new videos of soccer players falling to the ground and grabbing their chests. They are all vaxed up and having public heart problems while playing a game. There is nothing to see here. It’s all just a coincidence as some of the mainstream media tries to explain away why young people in the prime of physical condition are having heart problems after being vaxed.

On the financial front, the temporary or “transitory” inflation has changed to “persistent,” according to Fed Head Jay Powell. He says he’s going to fight inflation and, yet, passes on raising rates off the near 0% mark this week. His anti-inflation narrative is failing too, and that means much more inflation is on the way. Either way, many are going to end up poor.

Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchddog.com as he talks about these stories and more in the Weekly News Wrap-Up 12.17.21.

Evil Globalist Narratives Failing Everywhere

After the Wrap-Up:

Biblical cycle analyst Bo Polny will be the guest for the Saturday Night Post. He is predicting a coming upheaval, and the wicked are going to take a beating. He will explain.

Well that is all for today

I will see you MONDAY

DEC 17

PLATINUM AND PALLADIUM PRICES BY GOLD-EAGLE (MORE ACCURATE)

PLATINUM $935.25 UP $5.05

PALLADIUM: $1779.60 UP $47.55/OZ

DONATE

NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED TODAY FOR DEC. CONTRACT: 4 NOTICE(S) FOR 400 OZ (0.01244 tonnes)

13 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 65,000 OZ/

1/COMEX GOLD AND SILVER REPORT

3. ASIAN AFFAIRS

b) REPORT ON JAPAN

3 C CHINA

4/EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

6.Global Issues

7. OIL ISSUES

8 EMERGING MARKET ISSUES

ii) Important gold commentaries courtesy of GATA/Chris Powell

Sven Henrich: The Fed was not hawkish yesterday and the unraveling has begun

Alasdair Macleod: The credit cycle and the zombies’ downfall

Russia’s central bank would stop investment in cryptocurrencies

Your early currency/gold and silver pricing/Asian and European bourse movements/ and interest rate settings FRIDAY morning 7:30 AM….

Stocks, Yields Tumble As Quad-Witching Fears Add To Broader Market Slide

3A/ASIAN AFFAIRS

3 a./NORTH KOREA/ SOUTH KOREA

3B CHINA

US Blacklists Chinese Biotech Groups For DNA Collection Technology & Mass Surveillance

4/EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

UK Health Chief: “A Number Of Years” Before COVID Restrictions Can Be Fully Lifted

France’s EDF Shutters Two Nuclear Power Plants After Cracks Found

France’s EDF Shutters Two Nuclear Power Plants After Cracks Found

German Cold Blast To Extend Into January Amid Energy Crisis

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

Turkey Halts All Stock Trading As Currency Disintegrates, Central Bank Powerless To Halt Collapse

UK Jet Shoots Down ‘Iranian’ Drone Threatening US Base In Syria

A misunderstanding between NATO & Russia could cause a catastrophe

6.Global Issues

CDC Advisers Back Use Of Pfizer, Moderna Vaccines Over Johnson & Johnson

A WestJet Christmas Story

Millions Of Refugees Aren’t Getting Vaccines Because Drugmakers, NGOs Fear Lawsuits

CDC Admits COVID-19 Shots Causing Heart Disease but Won’t Stop the Injections – Does Pfizer Now Control the CDC and FDA?

December 16, 2021 5:34 pm

7. OIL ISSUES

8 EMERGING MARKET& AUSTRALIA ISSUES

South African Hospitalization Rates Plunge Despite Omicron Onslaught

Your early currency/gold and silver pricing/Asian and European bourse movements/ and interest rate settings FRIDAY morning 7:30 AM….

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

USA trading day in Graph Form

Turbo-Taper Sends Stocks & Bond Yields Lower On The Week

Fauci Sets Stage For Omicron Panic, Warns Hospitals Could Be ‘Overwhelmed’ Within Weeks

Thread

Conversation

Brazilian City Cuts Hospitalizations and Mortality Rates in Half After Implementing Ivermectin as Prophylaxis for COVID

NFL To Postpone Several Games Over COVID Spread

Baby of ‘fully vaccinated’ mom dies after born bleeding from mouth, nose: VAERS report – LifeSite

“Holy Cow!!” – Another Tornado Outbreak Rips Through Midwest

Millions Of American Households Face $3,500 Additional Expenses This Year As Inflation Soars

Senate Parliamentarian Nixes Immigration Plans From $2T Biden Bill

Los Angeles Import Volume Sinks As Shipping Traffic Jam Worsens

Empty container situation worsening

San Francisco Mayor Finally Blasts “All The Bulls**t That’s Destroyed” The City, Demands More Money For Cops

Murder, Looting, and Drug Deaths

Seizing the Momentum

Evil Globalist Narratives Failing Everywhere

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