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EXCHANGE: COMEX 0/72

NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED TODAY FOR DEC. CONTRACT: 72 NOTICE(S) FOR 72000 OZ (0.2239 TONNES)

total notices so far: 35,818 contracts for 3,581,800 oz (111.409 tonnes)

SILVER//DEC CONTRACT

1 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 5,000 OZ/

total number of notices filed so far this month 8919 : for 45,095,000 oz

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GLD

WITH GOLD UP $2.00 TO $1810.50

NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:

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 973,63 TONNES OF GOLD//

Silver//SLV

WITH NO SILVER AROUND AND SILVER UP 6 CENTS:

With silver up 9 cents today:

A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.682 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV//

INVESTORS ARE SWITCHING SLV TO SPROTT’S PSLV

CLOSING INVENTORY SLV/ TONIGHT: 534.999 MILLION OZ

Let us have a look at the data for today

SILVER//OUTLINE

SILVER COMEX OI FELL BY A TINY 193 CONTRACTS TO 141,422 AND RESTS FURTHER FROM THE NEW RECORD OF 244,710, SET FEB 25/2020.. DESPITE THE $0.06 GAIN IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX ON MONDAY. OUR BANKERS WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING THE PRICE OF SILVER DOWN (IT ROSE BY $0.06) AND WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING OUT ANY SILVER LONGS AS WE HAD A SMALL GAIN OF 282 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 315,000 OZ QUEUE. JUMP V) FAIR SIZED COMEX OI GAIN.

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

THE DIFFERENTIAL FROM PRELIMINARY OI TO FINAL OI SILVER TODAY: CONTRACTS -17

HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS DEC 27 ACCUMULATION FOR EFP’S SILVER/JPMORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES/STARTING FROM FIRST DAY/MONTH OF DEC:

TOTAL CONTACTS for 20 days, total contracts: 18,415 or …average per day: 920 contracts or 4.603 million oz per day.

TOTAL NO OF OZ UNDERGOING EFP TO LONDON 18,415 CONTRACTS X 5,000 PER CONTRACT:

EQUATES TO: 92.075 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 TINY SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF 193 DESPITE OUR 6 CENT GAIN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX// MONDAY THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A SMALL SIZED EFP ISSUANCE OF 475 CONTRACTS( 475 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 110,000 EFP JUMP TO LONDON .. WE HAD SMALL SIZED GAIN OF 282 OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES FOR 1.410 MILLION OZ//

WE HAD 1 NOTICE FILED TODAY FOR 5.000 OZ

GOLD//OUTLINE

IN GOLD, THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY A SMALL SIZED 1209 CONTRACTS TO 509,465, 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: 977 CONTRACTS

THE SMALL SIZED INCREASE IN COMEX OI CAME DESPITE OUR LOSS IN PRICE OF $2.05//COMEX GOLD TRADING/MONDAY/.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 SMALL SIZED 1729 CONTRACTS…

WE ALSO HAD A HUGE INITIAL STANDING IN GOLD TONNAGE FOR DEC AT 98.000 TONNES, FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S STRONG QUEUE JUMP OF 13,500 OZ//, NEW STANDING 111.576 TONNES

YET ALL OF..THIS HAPPENED WITH OUR LOSS IN PRICE OF $2.05 WITH RESPECT TO THURSDAY’S TRADING

WE HAD A SMALL SIZED GAIN OF 1729 OI CONTRACTS (5.371 PAPER TONNES) ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES

E.F.P. ISSUANCE

THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALLED A SMALL SIZED 520 CONTRACTS:

FOR FEB 520 ALL OTHER MONTHS ZERO//TOTAL: 520

The NEW COMEX OI FOR THE GOLD COMPLEX RESTS AT 509,465.

IN ESSENCE WE HAVE A SMALL SIZED INCREASE IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO CONTRACTS OF 1729, WITH 1207 CONTRACTS INCREASED AT THE COMEX AND 520 EFP OI CONTRACTS WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS TOTAL OI GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 1727 CONTRACTS OR 5.371 TONNES.

CALCULATIONS ON GAIN/LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES

WE HAD A SMALL SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (520) ACCOMPANYING THE SMALL SIZED GAIN IN COMEX OI (1207): TOTAL GAIN IN THE TWO EXCHANGES 1727 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 QUEUE JUMP OF 13,500 OZ TO LONDON////NEW STANDING OF 111.486TONNES//. 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 : 42,870 CONTRACTS OR 4,287,000 oz OR 133.34 TONNES (20 TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 2144 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS : THIS MONTH IN 20 TRADING DAY(S) IN TONNES: 133.34 TONNES

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

THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 133.34/3550 x 100% TONNES 3.74% 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/

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. 133.34 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 TINY SIZED 193 CONTRACTS TO 140,834 AND FURTHER FROM OUR COMEX RECORD //244,710(SET FEB 25/2020). THE LAST RECORDS WERE SET IN AUG.2018 AT 244,196 WITH A SILVER PRICE OF $14.78/(AUGUST 22/2018)..THE PREVIOUS RECORD TO THAT WAS SET ON APRIL 9/2018 AT 243,411 OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS WITH THE SILVER PRICE AT THAT DAY: $16.53). AND PREVIOUS TO THAT, THE RECORD WAS ESTABLISHED AT: 234,787 CONTRACTS, SET ON APRIL 21.2017 OVER 4 1/2 YEARS AGO.

EFP ISSUANCE 475 CONTRACTS

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

MAR 475 ALL OTHER MONTHS: ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 475 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 193 CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 475 OI TRANSFERRED TO LONDON THROUGH EFP’S,

WE OBTAIN A SMALL SIZED GAIN OF 282 OPEN INTEREST CONTRACT FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES.

THUS IN OUNCES, THE GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 1.410 MILLION OZ,

OCCURRED WITH OUR $0.06 GAIN IN PRICE.

1/COMEX GOLD AND SILVER REPORT

(report Harvey)

2 ) Gold/silver trading overnight Europe,

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

3. ASIAN AFFAIRS

i)TUESDAY MORNING MONDAY NIGHT

SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 14.14 PTS OR 0.39% //Hang Sang CLOSED UP 56.80 PTS OR 0.24% /The Nikkei closed UP 392,70 PTS OR 1.37% //Australia’s all ordinaires CLOSED /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed UP 6.3687 /Oil UP 76.74 dollars per barrel for WTI and UP TO 79.52 for Brent. Stocks in Europe OPENED ALL GREEN // ONSHORE YUAN CLOSED UP AT 6.3687 AGAINST THE DOLLAR. OFFSHORE YUAN CLOSED UP ON THE DOLLAR AT 6.3724: /ONSHORE YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING STRONGER AGAINST USA DOLLAR/OFFSHORE YUAN TRADING STRONGER 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 SMALL SIZED 1209 CONTRACTS AND CLOSER 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 DESPITE OUR LOSS OF $2.05 IN GOLD PRICING MONDAY’S COMEX TRADING. WE ALSO HAD A SMALL EFP ISSUANCE (520 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 520 EFP CONTRACTS WERE ISSUED: ;: , DEC : 0 & FEB. 520 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:

TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 520 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 GOOD SIZED 5980 TOTAL CONTRACTS IN THAT 2326 LONGS WERE TRANSFERRED AS FORWARDS TO LONDON AND WE HAD A GOOD GAIN COMEX OI OF 3654 CONTRACTS..

// WE HAVE A STRONG AMOUNT OF GOLD TONNAGE STANDING FOR DEC (111.576),

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 SUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE //// (IT FELL $2.05)

BUT THEY WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN FLEECING ANY LONGS AS THE TOTAL GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES REGISTERED 5.371 TONNES,ACCOMPANYING OUR HUGE GOLD TONNAGE STANDING FOR DEC (111.576 TONNES)…

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

NET GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 1729 CONTRACTS OR 172900 OZ OR 5.371 TONNES

Estimated gold volume today: 54,986 extremely poor

Confirmed volume on Friday: 88,822 contracts extremely poor

INITIAL STANDINGS FOR DEC COMEX GOLD DEC 28

2021 INITIAL STANDINGS FOR DEC COMEX GOLD

Gold

Gold	Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers* Inventory in oz*	nil oz
Withdrawals from Customer* Inventory in oz*	nil oz
Deposit to the Dealer* Inventory in oz*	nilOZ
Deposits to the Customer* Inventory, in oz*	nil
No of oz served (contracts) today	72 notice(s)7200 OZ0.2239 TONNES
No of oz to be served (notices)	54 contracts 5400 oz 0.1679 TONNES
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month	35,818 notices 3,581,800 OZ111.409 TONNES
Total accumulative withdrawals of gold from the Dealers* inventory this month*	NIL oz
Total accumulative withdrawal of gold from the Customer* inventory this month*	xxx oz

DEC 28 COMEX INVENTORY MOVEMENTS//AMOUNTS STANDING

For today:

No dealer deposit 0

No dealer withdrawal 0

No customer deposit 0

zero customer withdrawal

ADJUSTMENTS 0

CALCULATIONS FOR THE AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR DECEMBER.

For the front month of DECEMBER we have an oi of 126 stand for December. for a LOSS of 128 contracts. We had 157 notices filed on MONDAY so we GAINED A STRONG 29 contracts or an additional 2,900 oz will stand for delivery in this very active delivery month of December as our bankers search out for badly needed physical gold over on this side of the pond.

JANUARY LOST 364 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 1385

FEBRUARY GAINED 689 CONTRACTS TO 382,259

We had 72 notice(s) filed today for 7200 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 72 contract(s) of which 0 notices were stopped (received) by j.P. Morgan dealer and 83 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 (35,818) x 100 oz , to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of (DEC: 126 CONTRACTS ) minus the number of notices served upon today 72 x 100 oz per contract equals 3,587,200 OZ OR 111.576 TONNES the number of TONNES standing in this active month of DEC.

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

No of notices filed so far (35,818) x 100 oz+ (xx) OI for the front month minus the number of notices served upon today (72} x 100 oz} which equals 3,587,200 oz standing OR 111.576 TONNES in this active delivery month of DEC.

This is a huge delivery for December.

We GAINED 29 contracts or an additional 2900 oz WILL STAND FOR GOLD OVER HERE

TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING: 111.576 TONNES

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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

TOTAL REGISTERED AND ELIZ GOLD AT THE COMEX: 33,644.673.974 OZ (1046.458 TONNES)

TOTAL ELIGIBLE GOLD: 16,045,346.758 OZ

TOTAL OF ALL REGISTERED GOLD: 17,744,327.216 OZ

REGISTERED GOLD THAT CAN BE SERVED UPON: 16,091,319 OZ (REG GOLD- PLEDGED GOLD)

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 28/2021

And now for the wild silver comex results

INITIAL STANDING FOR SILVER//DEC

Silver	Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers* Inventory*	NIL oz
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory	813,330.230 oz BrinksCNTManfra
Deposits to the Dealer* Inventory*	nilOZ
Deposits to the Customer Inventory	nil oz
No of oz served today (contracts)	1 CONTRACT(S)5,000 OZ)
No of oz to be served (notices)	158 contracts (790,000 oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)	9019 contracts 45,095,000 oz)
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Dealers* inventory this month*	NIL oz
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Customer* inventory this month*

INITIAL STANDING FOR SILVER//DEC

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 0 deposit to the customer account:

JPMorgan has a total silver weight: 184.663 million oz/356.201 million =51.75% of comex

ii) Comex withdrawals:

a) Brinks 173,615.900 oz

b) CNT: 41,820.000 oz

c) Manfra: 597,894.270 oz

total withdrawal 813,330.230 oz

we had one adjustment: customer to dealer HSBC: 4810.35 oz

TOTAL REGISTERED SILVER: 92.981 MILLION OZ

TOTAL REG + ELIG. 356.302 MILLION OZ

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silver open interest data:

Total oi for the silver complex: 141,422 contracts LOSING 193 contracts on the day

FRONT MONTH OF DEC OI: 159 CONTRACTS LOSING 193 contracts on the day.

TOTAL NO OF CONTRACTS SERVED UPON THIS MONTH: 9019 CONTRACTS FOR 45,095,000 OZ

CALCULATION OF SILVER OZ STANDING FOR DECEMBER

For the front month of DECEMBER we have an amount of silver standing AT 159 CONTRACTS for a LOSS of 193 contracts. We had 171 notices filed on MONDAY, so we LOST 22 contracts or an additional 110,000 oz will NOT stand for delivery in this very active delivery month of December. There is surely no silver on either side of the pond.

JANUARY LOST 171 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 2429

FEBRUARY GAINED 91 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 176

NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED TODAY: 1 NOTICES OR 5,000 OZ

Comex volumes: 25,799 poor (est. today)

Comex volume: confirmed Monday: 40,454 contracts (poor)

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 9019 x 5,000 oz =. 45,095,000 oz

to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of DEC (159) and the number of notices served upon today 1 x (5000 oz) equals the number of ounces standing.

Thus the standings for silver for the DEC./2021 contract month: 9019 (notices served so far) x 5000 oz + OI for front month of DEC (159) – number of notices served upon today (1) x 5000 oz of silver standing for the DEC contract month equates 45,885,000 oz. .

WE LOST 22 CONTRACTS OR AN ADDITIONAL 110,000 OZ WILL NOT STAND FOR DELIVERY

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 SLV INVENTORY LEVELS:

GLD

DEC 28/WITH GOLD UP $2.00 TODAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 973.63 TONNES

DEC 27/WITH GOLD DOWN $2.05: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 973.63 TONNES.

DEC 23/WITH GOLD UP $9.85 TODAY//A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.94 TONNES FROM THE GLD/// INVENTORY RESTS AT 973.63 TONNES

DEC 22/WITH GOLD UP $12.85 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 978.57 TONNES

DEC 21/WITH GOLD DOWN $7.05 TODAY, NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 978.57 TONNES

DEC 20/WITH GOLD DOWN $9.65 TODAY; A BIG CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 1.37 TONNES INTO THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 977.20 TONNES

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//

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Inventory rests tonight at:

DEC 28/ GLD INVENTORY 973.63 tonnes

SLV

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

DEC 28/WITH SILVER UP 9 CENTS TODAY; A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.682 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 537.681 MILLION OZ//

DEC 27/WITH SILVER UP 6 CENTS TODAY NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 537.681

DEC 23/WITH SILVER UP 19 CENTS TODAY:A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.202 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 537.681 MILLION OZ//

DEC 22/WITH SILVER UP 29 CENTS TODAY; A HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.202 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 538.883 MILLION OZ/

DEC 21/WITH SILVER UP 19 CENTS: A BIG CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 2.728 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 540.085 MILLION OZ

DEC 20/WITH SILVER DOWN 22 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 538.282 MILLION OZ

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

CLOSING SILVER INVENTORY //SLV//537.681 MILLION OZ//

PHYSICAL GOLD/SILVER STORIES

PETER SCHIFF

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

LAWRIE WILLIAMS: Gold, silver, platinum up a little in early post-Xmas trade

Precious metals were mostly trading a little higher in Asia and Europe in immediate post-Christmas spot trade which may give direction to U.S. pricing when North American markets re-open fully. However the amounts of the increases are not significant so far and given the North American markets have tended to follow their own unique course in recent weeks, and not necessarily follow others around the globe, nothing should be taken for granted.

Gold was, at the time of writing, trading at around $1,818, silver had regained the $23 level, while platinum was up around $6 and palladium $18, after starting the day in negative territory despite some strong gains in the runup to the holiday season. The oil price was also trending higher, All the price increases could well be due, though, to a small fall in the dollar index whichn was threatening to fall back below 96.

Research from specialist precious metals consultancy, Metals Focus. shows that gold and silver demand in particular, in the world’s second largest precious metals consuming nation, India, was comparatively strong at the tail end of 2021through the Diwali Festival in November and the parallel wedding season. However comparisons with 2020 may be less relevant as the previous year, and early 2021 were particularly affected by Covid-related restrictions.

In India there has always been a predilection towards gold and silver as jewellery and an investment. Indeed the Metals Focus researchers noted that the Covid pandemic has reinforced the Indian public’s faith in gold as the earlier price rally helped many to get through the crisis and that gold offered a degree of safety, given it could easily be used as collateral to secure loans.

Looking ahead they feel that Indian demand for gold, silver and platinum to continue improving, primarily driven by strong economic growth, relatively stable precious metals prices and pent-up demand. Also weak demand due to virus-related restrictions this year during the Akshaya Tritya Festival, traditionally considered a particularly auspicious time to buy gold, should see a good pick up in 2022 when the Festival falls in early May.

Our own research and analysis had already noted a substantial improvement in Chinese demand this year, which we assessed as being up by over 50% over Covid-affected 2020 by November, and rising as the year of the Tiger approaches. The Chinese New Year holiday commences on February 1st- traditionally a strong period for gold demand. Once again, as in India, we would anticipate gold and silver demand to continue rising in 2022. With both China and India, by far the world’s two biggest precious metals consumers, likely to see positive growth in consumption next year, the effects on metal demand fundamentals are definitely looking positive.

As we would also anticipate a generally steadier precious metals performance in the year ahead, there is a strong likelihood that any tendency for precious metals ETF outflows may diminish or end, further improving their prospects during the year. We thus anticipate demand growth of 10% plus for gold, silver and platinum during the year, which may provide some consolation for their disappointing performance in the current year to date, even though 2021’s average gold price was actually a new record over the year as a whole.

28 Dec 2021

END

Important gold commentaries courtesy of GATA/Chris Powell

OTHER GOLD COMMENTARIES:

OTHER COMMODITIES/LUMBER

END

CRYPTOCURRENCIES/

END

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

ONSHORE YUAN: 6.3687

OFFSHORE YUAN: 6.3723

HANG SANG CLOSED UP 56.80 PTS OR 0.24%

2. Nikkei closed UP 392.70 PTS OR 1.37%

3. Europe stocks ALL GREEN

USA dollar INDEX DOWN TO 96;02/Euro RISES TO 1.1333-

3b Japan 10 YR bond yield: RISES TO. +.067/ !!!!(Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese yen vs usa cross now at 114.23/ 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 ABOVE 17,000

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

3e WTI:: 76.74 and Brent: 79.52-

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

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

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

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

3i European bond buying continues to push yields lower on all fronts in the EMU. German 10yr bund RISES TO -.0.247%/Italian 10 Yr bond yield FALLS to 1.10% /SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD RISES TO 0.52%…ITALIAN 10 YR BOND YIELD/GERMAN BUND: 1.35: DANGEROUS FOR THE ITALIAN BANKING SYSTEM

3j Greek 10 year bond yield FALLS TO : 1.33

3k Gold at $1816.90 silver at: 23.20 7 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $30.00

3l USA vs Russian rouble; (Russian rouble DOWN 16/100 in roubles/dollar) 73.60

3m oil into the 76 dollar handle for WTI and 78 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 114.86 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 .9164 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF 1.0384 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.

USA 10 YR BOND YIELD: 1.489 UP 1 BASIS PTS

USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 1.891 UP 1 BASIS PTS

USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 11.67

Futures Hit New All Time High As Santa Rally Drags Everything Higher

TUESDAY, DEC 28, 2021 – 08:12 AM

The Santa rally, which made an expected appearance during yesterday thinly-traded session now that most desks have closed their books for the year pushing stocks to their 69th all-time high for 2021, is back (as discussed in “Goldman: There Has Been No FOMO In Late 2021, This Changes In 5 Trading Sessions“) amid a combination of low volume, delta-chasing, dealer gamma and a plain old short squeeze (as predicted correctly by Marko Kolanovic), and has pushed e-minis just shy of 4,800 this morning, and a little over 200 points away from the 2022 year-end targets by both JPM and Goldman. Stocks in Europe advanced along with US equity futures as traders evaluated the resilience of the global recovery to a record spike in coronavirus cases. 10-year Treasury yields and the dollar were little changed. Oil surged to a five-week peak, while iron ore futures extended a decline after data showed softening Chinese steel output. Bitcoin tumbled following fresh selling out of Asia, where the PBOC seems to have a death wish against the cryptocurrency.

As Bloomberg notes, global stocks are on course for a third year of double-digit returns, powered by trillions in liquidity from the Fed and other central banks. The climb has overcome coronavirus waves and a late-year shift by some key central banks toward tighter monetary policy to fight high inflation (it also explains why most of the gains were achieved early in the year). Concerns remain that those variables could spur heightened volatility.

“The remedies that we put in place to counter the Covid recessions, they were so substantial, we had massive stimulus,” Sandip Bhagat, chief investment officer of Whittier Trust, said on Bloomberg Television. “We’ll be left with a legacy of those policy responses well into the future” and stocks can continue advancing, he said.

Here are some of the biggest U.S. movers today:

Apple (AAPL US) shares are up 0.3%, with the stock now just about 1% shy of hitting a historic $3 trillion market valuation for the iPhone maker. The shares are on track for a fifth straight gain.
ADDvantage Technologies Group (AEY) shares jump 9% after the communications infrastructure company reported a 61% increase in revenue during the fourth quarter.
Arrival SA (ARVL) gains 2.4% after the electric-vehicle company announced that it has started trials of the Arrival Bus at a testing facility in the U.K.
Bit Digital (BTBT) falls 3%, down with other crypto stocks as Bitcoin tumbles back below the $50,000 level.
Clear Secure (YOU) rises 3% after Grasso Global CEO Steve Grasso said last night on CNBC’s “Fast Money” that shares “should be up another 30% from current levels.”
Flotek Industries (FTK) rallies 46% after the company said it received an unsolicited indication of interest for all or part of the environmental solutions company.
JinkoSolar Holding Co. (JKS), controlling shareholder of Jinko Solar, shares are up 3% after the China Securities Regulatory Commission allows Jinko Solar to list on the Star board in Shanghai.
Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals (KNSA) shares plunge 16% after the company said its phase 3 trial of mavrilimumab in COVID-19-related acute respiratory syndrome did not meet the primary efficacy endpoint.
LiveOne (LVO) shares rises 21% after the company entered into a binding letter of intent for an exclusive option to purchase Trader2b’s business or its assets and operations.
Tesla (TSLA) shares rise 1.6% as Wedbush says the company is in a strong position heading into 2022. China demand is key for bull thesis on Tesla, analyst Daniel Ives writes.

Elsewhere, cryptocurrency-linked stocks fell in premarket trading as Bitcoin tumbled back below the $50,000 level as the now traditional selling pressure out of Asia emerged right on schedule (see “The Crypto Trading Cycle: Asian Weak Hands Selling To US Whales“). Bitcoin fell as much as 4.5% and trades at $49,167 as of 6:35 a.m. in New York. o Other digital currencies are also lower this morning, with Ether falling 3.5%, while Litecoin slips 4% and Monero drops 3.8%.

Overnight, a flood of omicron infections took global Covid-19 cases to a daily all-time high on Monday. The surge has disrupted global reopening and could squeeze hospitals. At the same time, investors are taking comfort that while highly contagious, Omicron is a far less severe illness. Meanwhile, France announced it would force its citizens to work from home for most of next month to contain the spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant. Meanwhile, an outbreak in the western Chinese city of Xi’an continued to fester, with new cases hitting a record high days after its 13 million residents were locked down. The U.K. government won’t introduce stricter restrictions in England before the end of the year, despite the rapid spread of the omicron variant.

In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 index nudged closer to last month’s record high, with utilities leading the advance as all industry sectors gained while French travel and catering stocks dropped on the country’s new work-from-home order. Pierre & Vacances, an operator of holiday villages and residences, drops 1.8% in Paris trading, while tour operator Voyageurs du Monde falls 1% after the French government announced new measures amid efforts to contain the spread of the omicron variant.

Earlier in the session, Asian stocks climbed, following a rise in U.S. peers to fresh record highs, as investors’ risk appetite improved. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose as much as 0.8%, driven by an advance in hardware technology firms. Japan led gains around the region, while Hong Kong underperformed. Australia and New Zealand remained shut for holidays. The key Asian stock gauge is on course for a monthly advance of about 1.9%, which would be its best since August. Positive economic data and easing worries over the omicron coronavirus variant have helped of late, although the measure is still down 3.3% on the year amid the selloff in Chinese tech giants. “U.S. equities are so strong that investors here can’t help but pick up stocks and chase the rally amid fear of being left behind,” said Ayako Sera, a market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank in Tokyo. “But it’s not as if there are loads of new reasons to buy stocks now, so some caution is needed.” The S&P 500 Index posted its 69th record close for 2021 on optimism stocks can withstand risks from the coronavirus and tighter policy. TSMC and Tokyo Electron were among the top contributors to the Asian benchmark’s rise Tuesday after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rallied 2.7% to an all-time high. “U.S. yields are strangely stable,” Sera added. “It may be that some are looking way ahead and thinking that not too many hikes will be required down the road” thanks to the swift rate increases expected from the New Year, she said.

The latest escalation in Beijing’s wider regulatory clampdown on private industry casts more doubt over the prospects for overseas initial public offerings, which had proceeded virtually unchecked for two decades.

Meanwhile, the People’s Bank of China — which on the weekend vowed more economic support — boosted a short-term liquidity injection.

India’s benchmark stock gauge advanced for a second day, tracking regional peers after the S&P 500 climbed to a record high. The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.8% to 57,897.48 in Mumbai, while the NSE Nifty 50 Index increased 0.9%. All 19 sectoral sub-gauges compiled by BSE Ltd. gained, led by a measure of capital goods companies. Asian Paints Ltd. contributed the most to the Sensex’s gain, increasing as much as 2.9%. Out of 30 shares in the Sensex index, 28 rose and two fell. Most regional markets advanced as investors’ risk appetite improved. India’s economy expanded at a steady pace in November, a month that also saw the omicron virus variant raising fresh concerns about risks to the recovery, according to data tracked by Bloomberg News.

In FX, the yen steadied close to the 115 level against the dollar while Japanese stocks climbed. Turkey’s lira declined after the central bank introduced new measures to discourage lenders from holding foreign-exchange savings accounts, while two former governors of the monetary authority were subjected to criminal complaints over comments.

Bitcoin slid below $50,000, a level some analysts view as a key pivot for assessing the largest cryptocurrency’s outlook heading into 2022

In rates, bonds were little changed after low liquidity resulted in no trading of the benchmark 10-year issue yesterday. Treasury yields were slightly higher on the day amid gains for European stocks and U.S. futures, and $57BN 5-year note auction ahead at 1pm ET. Yields are higher by as much as 1bp across the curve after declining slightly during Asia session; U.K. bond market is closed. Monday’s 2-year sale tailed slightly, and last month’s 5-year drew weak demand following a spate of extreme volatility in the sector that continued through mid-December as Fed policy evolved.

The yield on China’s 10-year sovereign bonds declined to the lowest level since June 2020, as interbank borrowing costs fell after the central bank boosted short-term liquidity. China is seen adding stimulus to stabilize growth next year, with various ministries vowing more proactive measures to reverse the slowdown caused by a worsening property slump, weak consumption and the coronavirus.

On today’s calendar, expected data includes October FHFA house price index and S&P CoreLogic CS home prices at 9am, and December Richmond Fed manufacturing index at 10am; no Fed speakers slated this week. Poultry producer Cal-Maine Foods is scheduled to report earnings.

Market Snapshot

S&P 500 futures up 0.3% to 4,796.75
STOXX Europe 600 up 0.5%
MXAP up 0.8% to 193.35
MXAPJ up 0.5% to 627.48
Nikkei up 1.4% to 29,069.16
Topix up 1.4% to 2,005.02
Hang Seng Index up 0.2% to 23,280.56
Shanghai Composite up 0.4% to 3,630.11
Sensex up 0.8% to 57,904.60
Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 0.4% to 7,420.30
Kospi up 0.7% to 3,020.24
Brent futures up 0.8% to $79.19/bbl
Gold spot up 0.1% to $1,814.36
U.S. Dollar Index little changed at 96.05
German 10Y yield up 1bp to -0.23%
Euro little changed at $1.133

Top Overnight News from Bloomberg

Global Covid-19 cases hit a daily record on Monday, disrupting the holiday season a year after vaccines first started rolling out and two years after the emergence of the virus
Russia will start talks first with the U.S. on its demands for guarantees of an end to NATO’s eastward expansion before a proposed Jan. 12 meeting between the military alliance and Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said
The vast majority of Libor benchmarks are about to be consigned to the history books, with final settings taking place at the end of this week

US Event Calendar

9am: Oct. FHFA House Price Index MoM, est. 0.9%, prior 0.9%
10am: Dec. Richmond Fed Index, est. 11, prior 11

3. ASIAN AFFAIRS

i)TUESDAY MORNING MONDAY NIGHT

3 a./NORTH KOREA/ SOUTH KOREA

///SOUTH KOREA

South Korea protests erupt as citizens are angry over vaccination deaths. There have been 10,000 unexplained deaths after the administration of Pfizer and Moderna vacines

(zerohedge)

Protests Erupt In South Korea Over Vaccination Deaths

MONDAY, DEC 27, 2021 – 06:40 PM

Americans and Europeans aren’t the only people to express skepticism of the COVID jabs produced by a handful of pharmaceutical giants, most notably Pfizer and Moderna. As reports of deaths and other ‘adverse health events’ suspected of being triggered by vaccines mount, South Koreans are reportedly taking to the streets to protest their governments’ refusal to acknowledge thousands of deaths that many believe were caused by vaccines.

As we said above, more than 10K people have died under murky circumstances shortly after being vaccinated in South Korea. The government has only reported a connection in a handful of serious cases. But it has also moved to recognize and compensate victims: for example, a nursing assistant was recognized in August as a victim of an industrial accident and awarded government benefits after suffering paralysis in the wake of receiving AstraZeneca’s COVID shot.

Back in August, the government investigated after a teenager with no underlying health conditions died following inoculation with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID jab.

But in the absence of more concrete answers, thousands of South Koreans are taking to the streets to protest the vaccine mandate in one of the world’s most heavily vaccinated countries.

According to RT, an association called the COVID Vaccine Victims and Families Council has held rallies in several South Korean cities. Demonstrators on Sunday marched from Busan City Hall to Busan National University of Education in a large demonstration held in the country’s second city.

There’s even a chance that vaccine skepticism might become an issue in SK’s upcoming presidential election. Last week, the opposition People’s Power Party held a public hearing on vaccine sideeffects, inviting purported victims and their families to suggest support new strategies for confronting the epidemic that may be adopted by presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol.

Kim Jong-in, the party’s campaign chairman, has accused sitting SK President Moon Jae-in and his administration of being indifferent to damages caused by vaccines.

“I think the people have reached a point where they can’t trust the government,” Kim said.

The government promised to compensate victims of vaccine side effects before the first jabs arrived. But it’s also responsible for determining which cases merit compensation, a fact that has rankled some purported victims, who feel they have been shafted.

Roughly 83% of South Koreans have been vaccinated against Covid-19, easily the highest rate among G20 nations.

END

3B JAPAN

end

3c CHINA

China will now sent inflation throughout the globe. Normally China sends deflation but now their economy is suffering so they will need massive liquidity injections.(zerohedge)

China 10-Year Yields Plunge To 18 Month Low On Surging Easing Expectations, Liquidity Injections

TUESDAY, DEC 28, 2021 – 12:21 PM

The PBOC held its Q4 monetary policy committee meeting last Friday, December 24th, with the meeting statement released on the evening of 25th December. The PBOC’s Q4 MPC meeting echoed Beijing’s new stance at the recent Central Economic Working Conference (CEWC) – it emphasized policymakers would step up support to the real economy, a reversal from the austere approach that marked much of the post-covid era.

Compared with the Q3 PBOC monetary policy committee meeting statement, the Q4 statement turned more cautious on its growth outlook, indicated an intention to use broad and targeted policy tools to support the real economy in a more pro-active manner (i.e., was more pro growth), and on the margin eased its tone on the property sector. However, these new changes were in line with key messages from the recent CEWC, signaling more policy easing measures underway. It also stated an intention to increase the use of structural monetary policies, especially favoring SMEs, high-tech sectors and green industries. Coming just as China’s credit impulse has bottomed…

… we are confident that Beijing’s new stimulative approach, will mean much more reflationary tailwinds in 2022.

Meanwhile, as Goldman notes, the PBOC continued to call for a boost in domestic demand, a lowering of the average financing costs for firms, increasing policy coordination among ministries, and keeping the economy growing in a reasonable range.

Below are several key points from the Chinese central bank statement:

On growth outlook, in the Q4 statement, the PBOC dropped its judgement that “the overall economy continues to recover” from Q3, and echoed the CEWC stance to emphasize the “three types of downward pressure” the economy is facing: i.e., contracting demand, supply-side shocks and weakening market expectations. Besides, PBOC continue to believe the external environment has become more complex and uncertain.
On policy stance, the PBOC reiterated the need to “keep liquidity conditions reasonably adequate, increase the stability of credit growth, keep M2 and aggregate financing growth largely in line with nominal GDP growth, maintain a broadly stable macro leverage and lower the financing costs for the corporate sector”, the same wordings as the Q3 meeting. PBOC further added its intention “to strengthen cross-cycle policy adjustments, combined with counter-cyclical adjustments” and required monetary policy to be more pro-active (a new phrase in the statement), forward-looking, precise, and independent, in an effort to better support the real economy. PBOC also stated it would proactively increase the use of structural monetary policy tools, and guide financial institutions to better support SMEs, high-tech sectors and green industries.
On the RMB, the PBOC’s tone remained unchanged from its Q3 statement, as it continued to require increasing flexibility of the RMB exchange rate, striking a good balance between internal and external equilibrium, and keeping the RMB exchange rate basically stable at a reasonable equilibrium level.
On the property sector, in the Q4 statement, the PBOC said it would safeguard the lawful rights of housing consumers, better meet the reasonable housing demand from homebuyers, and promote the healthy development and a virtuous circle in the property markets. By comparison, in Q3, it only stated to safeguard the healthy development of the property markets and lawful rights of housing consumers.
In line with the CEWC, the PBOC reiterated the importance to ensure “Six Stabilities” and “Six Guarantees” (i.e., stability in employment, financial operations, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment, and expectations; guaranteeing job security, basic living needs, operations of market entities, food and energy security, stable industrial and supply chains, and the normal functioning of primary-level governments). Meanwhile, unchanged from its Q3 statement, the PBOC called for strengthening the coordination with fiscal, industrial and regulatory policies, better planning and implementing financial policies to support growth and contain risk, and keeping the economy growing in a reasonable range, “in preparation for the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (NCCCP)”.

The Q4 monetary policy meeting statement is consistent with our repeated prediction of much more monetary policy easing, which has been validated in recent weeks with the recent RRR cut and modest trim in Loan Prime Rate (i.e., China’s “Libor”). That, however, is not enough and we expect the central bank to inject even more long-term liquidity via RRR cuts (at least one more cut in Q1 2022) and various lending facilities, on-budget fiscal expenditures to be more supportive to growth compared with 2021, and local governments to ease property policies at local levels.

That said, headwinds to growth will remain, as the property market continues to cool, the zero-Covid strategy drags on consumption amid recurring Covid waves (especially the latest breakout in Xian), and Beijing’s anti-pollution measures prior to the Winter Olympic Games early next year could also weigh on industrial production.

And perhaps just to signal how much more easing is coming, on Tuesday morning the People’s Bank of China boosted its injection of short-term liquidity into the financial system to 190 billion yuan ($29.8 billion), the most in two months.

The short-term liquidity boosting operation pushed an indicator for interbank rates lower, after it soared the most in a year in the previous session. The drop in interbank borrowing costs also pushed yields on China’s 10-year sovereign bonds to the lowest level since June 2020. The government yields have been trending down since mid-December in the wake of a reserve-requirement ratio cut by the PBOC and a marginal reduction in the loan prime rate earlier this month.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Mitul Kotecha, chief emerging markets Asia & Europe strategist at TD Securities, said that there is “more room for bond yields to decline in the weeks ahead,” adding that “markets are expecting this to be followed up into next year with more liquidity provision, and lower interbank rates feeding into positive sentiment for bonds.”

In any case, many more easing measures are expected in the near term – just as Western central banks overtighten into a global slowdown – with the Chinese economy showing strain from a property slump, weak private consumption and sporadic virus outbreaks.

END

4/EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

FRANCE/ CHINA/USACOVID/

France forces millions to work at home while in Xi’an they are not allowed out of their homes not even for food so they starve

(zerohedge)

France Forces Millions To Work From Home, Xi’an Starves As Omicron Lockdown Bites

TUESDAY, DEC 28, 2021 – 11:30 AM

The world counted a record number of new COVID cases over the 24 hours to Monday, smashing a record for new cases reported while hospitalizations and deaths have remained surprisingly subdued.

Despite that, the omicron-driven winter wave is prompting some governments to impose new restrictions on the economy, most notably France, which will now require local businesses to require all white-collar workers who are able to work from home for most of next month, if not longer.

The new measures are intended to combat what French authorities have described as an omicron-induced “megawave”. Starting from next week, working from home will become mandatory for those who are able. Additionally, public gatherings will be limited to 2K people for indoor events. This comes as France reports more than 100K cases over the weekend.

Elsewhere, in NYC, residents are suffering through the second day of vaccine mandates for private businesses. Footage of police arresting the unvaccinated inside a Burger King in the city is already going viral on social media.

Moving on, the outbreak in the northwestern Chinese city of Xi’an has continued to worsen. Already, some among the 13M residents who have been locked down for a week already are running out of food, according to the Daily Mail.

These people – some of whom say they are “starving” – aren’t allowed to venture outdoors for any reason, including for buying food and other supplies. Previously, one member of each household was allowed out once every two days to buy food. City officials said people in “low risk” areas will be allowed to buy essentials once testing is complete and if their results are negative.

Xi’an reported 175 new cases on Tuesday, a paltry figure compared to other large cities around the world, but a substantial number in China, which still favors its “Zero COVID” approach even in the face of a less deadly, more infectious, variant. Nearby cities have also logged cases linked to the flare-up, including Yan’an, which is situated about 185M from Xi’an. Authorities asked people to stay home and businesses not to open in that city Tuesday.

People in Xi’an may face up to 10 days in police detention and fines of up to $75 if they are caught leaving their home for any reason other than to get tested or for a medical emergency.

Finally, India may see a spurt in Covid-19 growth rate within days and head into an intense but short-lived wave as the omicron variant moves through the crowded nation of almost 1.4 billion, according to a team of researchers at the University of Cambridge who developed a Covid-19 India tracker.

Perfectly correct!

Zhang/EpochTimes

UK Expert Warns Against Overinterpreting COVID-19 Data

TUESDAY, DEC 28, 2021 – 11:50 AM

Authored by Alexander Zhang via The Epoch Times,

A British medical expert has said that official data are prone to be overinterpreted as it does not distinguish between people who are hospitalised for COVID-19-related illnesses and those who receive medical care for other reasons but then test positive.

Chris Hopson, CEO at NHS Providers, a membership organisation for NHS (National Health Service) trusts in England, said there has been an increase in the number of patients in hospital with COVID-19, but warned against misinterpreting the data.

He said:

“In the previous peaks, we’ve had some very seriously ill older people who’ve got really significant respiratory problems and … they had to go into critical care.
“The difference this time is we’ve got quite a few patients who are coming in—they might have fallen off their bike and knocked their head or broken their leg—and what’s happening is they’ve got no symptoms but when they arrive, they’re actually testing positive for COVID.
“Interestingly, the statistics that we use don’t actually distinguish between those two. So we just need to be careful about overinterpreting the data.”

Despite the rising number of people in hospital who have tested positive for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, Hopson said that UK hospitals “are still waiting to see—are we going to see a significant number of increases in terms of the number of patients coming into hospital with serious Omicron-related disease.”

He also said that staff absences could pose a bigger challenge to the health service than patients needing treatment for COVID-19.

Other British experts have also cast doubt on the reliability of official COVID-19 data.

Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said in October that raw data on COVID-19 cases and deaths are “quite misleading.”

He told the House of Commons that it is not appropriate to compare positive case numbers between the UK and other countries because the country’s high case rate is “partly related to very high testing.”

Compared with case numbers, Pollard said it is more important to look at hospital admissions and deaths.

Even with deaths, Pollard said the raw data are “quite misleading,” because it is recorded as being within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test. When transmission is high, lots of people who test positive for COVID-19 will have actually died from other causes, he said.

He said hospital admissions now are “quite a different story from last year,” with the vast majority of people now going in having shorter hospital stays and much milder disease.

END

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

end

RUSSIA VS NATO VS THE WEST/

How Putin is turning away from supplying natural gas to Europeans and now focusing on supplying China through

the Power of Siberia no 2 pipeline

(Pepe Escobar/Strategic Culture Foundation)

Escobar: Exit Nord Stream 2, Enter Power Of Siberia 2

TUESDAY, DEC 28, 2021 – 02:00 AM

Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

Military superpower Russia, having had enough of U.S./NATO bullying, is now dictating the terms of a new arrangement.

Coming straight from President Putin, it did sound like a bolt from the sky:

“We need long-term legally binding guarantees even if we know they cannot be trusted, as the U.S. frequently withdraws from treaties that become uninteresting to them. But it’s something, not just verbal assurances.”

And that’s how Russia-U.S. relations come to the definitive crunch – after an interminable series of polite red alerts coming from Moscow.

Putin once again had to specify that Russia is looking for “indivisible, equitable security” – a principle established since Helsinki in 1975 – even though he no longer sees the U.S. as a dependable “partner”, that diplomatically nicety so debased by the Empire since the end of the USSR.

The “frequently withdrawing from treaties” passage can easily be referred to as Washington in 2002 under Bush Jr. pulling out of the ABM treaty signed between the U.S. and the USSR in 1972. Or it could be referred to as the U.S. under Trump destroying the JCPOA signed with Iran and guaranteed by the UN. Precedents abound.

Putin was once again exercising the Taoist patience so characteristic of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov: explaining the obvious not only to a Russian but also a global audience. The Global South may easily understand this reference; “When international law and the UN Charter interfere, they [the U.S.] declare it all obsolete and unnecessary.”

Earlier, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko had been uncommonly assertive – leaving nothing for the imagination:

“We just make it clear that we are ready to talk about switching over from a military or a military-technical scenario to a political process that will strengthen the security of all countries in the area of the OCSE, Euro-Atlantic and Eurasia. If that doesn’t work out, we signaled to them [NATO] that we will also move over to creating counter threats, but it will then be too late to ask us why we made these decisions and why we deployed these systems.”

So in the end it comes down to Europeans facing “the prospect of turning the continent into a field of military confrontation.” That will be the inevitable consequence of a NATO “decision” actually decided in Washington.

Incidentally: any possible, future “counter threats” will be coordinated between Russia and China.

Mr. Zircon is on the line, Sir

Every sentient being from Atlanticist shores to Eurasian steppes by now knows the content of the Russian draft agreements on security guarantees presented to the Americans, as detailed by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.

Key provisions include no further NATO expansion; no Ukraine admission; no NATO shenanigans in Ukraine, Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia and Central Asia; Russia and NATO agreeing not to deploy intermediate and short-range missiles in areas from where they can hit each other’s territory; establishment of hotlines; and the NATO-Russia Council actively involved in resolving disputes.

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs extensively reiterated that the Americans received “detailed explanations of the logic of the Russian approach”, so the ball is in Washington’s court.

Well, National Security advisor Jake Sullivan at first seemed to kick it, when he admitted, on the record, that Putin may not want to “invade” Ukraine.

Then there were rumblings that the Americans would get back to Moscow this week with their own “concrete security proposals”, after de facto writing the script for their NATO minions, invariably conveyed in spectacularly mediocre fashion by secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg.

The Ukraine narrative didn’t change an inch: “severe measures” – of an economic and financial nature – remain in the pipeline if Russia engages in “further aggression” in Ukraine.

Moscow was not fooled. Ryabkow had to specify, once again, that the Russian proposals were on a bilateral basis. Translation: we talk only to those with deciding power, not to minions. The involvement of other countries, Ryabkov said, “will deprive them of their meaning.”

From the start, NATO’s response had been predictably obvious: Russia is conducting a “substantial, unprovoked, and unjustified” military buildup along its border with Ukraine and is making “false … claims of Ukrainian and NATO provocations”.

That once again proved the point it’s a monumental waste of time to discuss with yapping chihuahuas of the Stoltenberg variety, for whom “NATO expansion will continue, whether Russia likes it or not.”

In fact, whether U.S. and NATO functionaries like it or not, what’s really happening in the realpolitk realm is Russia dictating new terms from a position of power. In a nutshell: you may learn the new game in town in a peaceful manner, civilized dialogue included, or you will learn the hard way via a dialogue with Mr. Iskandr, Mr. Kalibr, Mr. Khinzal and Mr. Zircon.

The inestimable Andrei Martyanov has extensively analysed for years now all the details of Russia’s overwhelming military dominance, hypersonic and otherwise, across the European space – as well as the dire consequences if the U.S. and NATO minions “decide that they want to continue to play dumb.”

Martyanov has also noted that Russia “understands the split with the West and is ready to take any consequences, including, already declining, shrinkage of trade and reduction of the supply of hydrocarbons to the EU.”

That’s where the whole ballet around the security guarantees intersects with the crucial Pipelineistan angle. To sum it all up: exit Nord Stream 2, enter Power of Siberia 2.

So let’s revisit why the looming energy catastrophe in the EU is not forcing anyone in Russia to lose his/her sleep.

Dancing in the Siberian night

One the top takeaways of the strategic Putin-Xi video conference last week was the immediate future of Power of Siberia 2 – which will snake in across Mongolia to deliver up to 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually to China.

So it was hardly an accident that Putin received Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh in the Kremlin, the day after he talked to Xi, to discuss Power of Siberia 2. The key parameters of the pipeline have already been set, a feasibility study will be completed in early 2022, and the deal – minus last-minute pricing tune-ups – is practically clinched.

Power of Siberia 2 follows the 2,200 km long Power of Siberia 1, launched in 2019 from Eastern Siberia to northern China and the focus of a $400 billion deal struck between Gazprom and China’s CNPC. Power of Siberia 1’s full capacity will be reached in 2025, when it will be supplying 38 billion cubic meters of gas annually.

Power of Siberia 2, a much bigger operation, was planned years ago, but it was hard to find consensus on the final route. Gazprom wanted Western Siberia to Xinjiang across the Altai mountains. The Chinese wanted transit via Mongolia straight into central China. The Chinese eventually prevailed. The final route across Mongolia was decided only two months ago. Construction should begin in 2024.

This is a massive geoeconomic game-changer, totally in line with the increasingly sophisticated Russia-China strategic partnership. But it’s also supremely important geopolitically (Remember Xi: China supports Russia’s “core interests”).

The gas for Power of Siberia 2 will come from the same fields currently supplying the EU market. Whatever demented concoctions the European Commission – and the new German government – may apply on stalling the operation of Nord Stream 2, Gazprom’s main focus will be China.

It doesn’t matter for Gazprom that China as a customer in the near future will not fully replace the whole EU market. What matters is the steady business flow and the absence of infantile politicking. For China what matters is an extra, guaranteed overland supply rote boosting its strategy of “escaping from Malacca”: the possibility, in case Cold War 2.0 turns hot, that the U.S. Navy would eventually block maritime shipping of energy sources via Southeast Asia to China.

Beijing of course is all over the place when it comes to buying Russian natural gas. The Chinese have a 30% stake in Novatek’s $27 billion Yamal project and a 20% stake in the $21 billion Arctic project.

So welcome to 2022 and the new, high stakes realpolitik Great Game.

U.S. elites had been terrified of playing Russia against China because they fear this would lead Germany to ally with Russia and China – leaving the Empire of Chaos out in the cold.

And that leads to the “mystery” inside the enigma of the whole Ukrainian face: use it to force the EU away from Russian natural resources.

Russia is turning the whole show upside down. As an energy superpower, instead of an internally corroded EU dictated by NATO, Russia will be mostly focused on its Asian customers.

In parallel, military superpower Russia, having had enough of U.S./NATO bullying, is now dictating the terms of a new arrangement. Lavrov confirmed the first round of Russia-U.S. talks on security guarantees will be held in early 2022.

Are these ultimatums? Not really. Seems like Ryabkov, with notable didacticism, will have to keep explaining it over and over again: “We do not speak in the language of ultimatums with anyone. We have a responsible attitude towards our own security and the security of others. The point is not that we have issued an ultimatum, not at all, but that the seriousness of our warning must not be underestimated.”

IRAN

END

ISRAEL/VACCINE

Israel starts its 4th COVID dose trial which will be deadly. They are also pushing for boosters for children 12 and up and that is also deadly.

(zerohedge)

Israel Starts 4th Covid Dose Trial While Pushing Booster On Children 12 & Up

MONDAY, DEC 27, 2021 – 08:00 PM

Israel has been at the forefront of countries speedily rolling out Covid-19 vaccines for its population of just over 9 million, earlier in the fall becoming the first nation to initiate a widespread booster program. Recently a government advisory panel went so far as to recommend a booster shot for children ages 12 to 15.

On Monday Israel has initiated trials of a fourth Covid-19 vaccine dose, or its second round of a booster, which is being conducted on 150 medical workers who took their third booster shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in August, according to The Associated Press. Israel is believed to be the first country in the world to initiate such a program as a second booster.AFP via Getty Images: Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett receiving a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot

The country is already considered the world’s leader in administering a booster dose to the population, with 4.2 million of the total population having received one. This as it is continually updating the requirements of what it means to be “fully vaccinated” – which impacts citizens’ ability to use the so-called Green Pass for access to restaurants, bars, gyms, and other public venues.

The trial is expected to take six months, so it’s unlikely that all Israelis will be forced to roll up their sleeves for yet a fourth shot until after this period:

Gili Regev-Yochay, the director of Infectious Disease Epidemiology Unit at Sheba, explained that the study will assess the antibody boost from a fourth shot and monitor any potential adverse reactions, and if the second boost reduces the risk of infection from omicron, according to CBS News.
The participants will be monitored for six months after receiving their fourth dose.

However, a fourth shot is already set to be offered to people over the age of 60 or anyone with a compromised immune system, including also frontline health care workers. People will be advised to wait four months after they receive their third shot to get the fourth one.

CNBC reports, “A Health Ministry expert panel last week recommended that Israel become the first country to offer a fourth vaccine dose – also known as a second booster – to those aged over 60, those suffering from compromised immune systems, and medical workers.”

All of this begs the question: does the third shot work? if not, then will a fourth? After all, Israelis like much of the rest of the world are wondering ‘when will it all end?’… An important weekend development widely reported in Israeli media is illustrative:

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s daughter tested positive for the coronavirus, and will enter quarantine, a spokesman for the prime minister said Sunday afternoon.
The prime minister left Sunday’s cabinet meeting on the Golan Heights after receiving news of his daughter’s positive test and was also self-isolating, according to the spokesperson. Bennett took a rapid antigen test before attending the meeting and tested negative.
The daughter, who is 14 years old, was vaccinated against COVID-19 in June.

Via The Times of Israel: Prime Minister Naftali Bennett with his family, in the Knesset in Jerusalem

So the leader of one of the most highly vaccinated countries on the earth had to run out of an important cabinet meeting due to exposure to Covid-19. Bennett reportedly later tested negative.

One would think that after himself being triple-vaxxed, he would have had a little more confidence in the vaccine and stayed in the cabinet meeting. But it seems the PM’s “faith” in the “trust the science” mantra is waning.

end

iSRAEL/SYRIA/IRAN

This is the second time this month that Israel has launched a massive attack on the Syrian port of Latakia. It is lucky that the Russians are 10 km from the site of the attack.

(zerohedge)

Israel Launches Massive Attack On Syrian Port, Fires Burn 14 Hours

TUESDAY, DEC 28, 2021 – 01:10 PM

In the second such major attack this month on Syria’s key northern city, the port of Latakia was struck overnight by multiple Israeli missiles, erupting in huge fireballs and massive damage, with the blaze appearing to burn into the morning and even afternoon hours of Tuesday.Image of early morning blaze circulating in Syrian state sources.

Syrian state SANA described that “At around 3:21am (05:21 GMT), the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression with several missiles from the direction of the Mediterranean… targeting the container yard in Latakia port.” SANA also said there was damage to a nearby hospital.

By many accounts this marked a much larger strike compared to a similar attack on the port weeks ago. Likely Israeli warplanes flying over the Mediterranean launched the attack, while some reports suggested cruise missiles.

“Live footage aired by state television showed flames and smoke in the container terminal,” according to further details in Al Jazeera.

“Later on Tuesday, the Syrian government’s media office said emergency services brought under control fires that had broken out in the port’s container storage area.” the report added.

Fires raged through the day Tuesday, with some eyewitnesses saying they burned out of control for at least fourteen hours.

There were no immediate reports of casualties, and any possible injuries remains unclear. Israel has not commented on the strikes, which is typical in the aftermath of its semi-regular attacks on Syria.

Importantly, attacks on Latakia – which were a rarity during prior years of Israeli operations inside Syria – are very risky given there’s a major Russian airbase a mere dozen miles to the south of the port.

Likely Russia’s defense forces see such aggression as coming dangerously close to its assets and personnel; however, in the recent past Moscow has appeared to greenlight Israel’s ability to target “Iranian weapons shipments” and fighters.

In this case, it’s unclear if Tel Aviv is alleging that Iranian or Hezbollah weapons shipments are being transferred through the port, which has been the suggestion of some Israeli media reports, but there’s also the dual purpose of perpetuating a campaign of economic warfare on Damascus, by choking its vital resources and going after key national infrastructure.

6.Global Issues

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE//

We explained to you earlier than Merck’s Molnupiravir had some serious problems especially when people were taking the drug with other medications. We now have Pfizer’s Paxlovid

(Pfizermectin) and this drug also have some very serious side effects if taken with blood thinners and/or antidepressants. Isn’t it strange that ivermectin does not have any problems blood thinners and antidepressants.

Actually they work quite well together.

(zerohedge)

COVID Antiviral Pills Cause Life-Threatening Reactions With Many Common Meds

TUESDAY, DEC 28, 2021 – 07:11 AM

Last week, the FDA authorized two much-hyped antiviral treatments for COVID (just in time for Christmas): Merck’s Molnupiravir and Pfizer’s Paxlovid.

Almost immediately after the first data were released, critics were questioning the drugs’ safety profile. But now that the first courses of these “miracle” drugs are finding their way into patients’ bloodstreams, the mainstream media apparently now feels it’s safe to share some of these criticisms with the public.

To wit, NBC News reports that these medications will require “careful monitoring” by prescribing doctors. This could create problems and make doctors more reluctant to prescribe the meds as the omicron-driven winter wave “pummels” America’s supposedly creaking health-care system.

As the omicron surge pummels a pandemic-weary nation, the first antiviral pills for Covid-19 promise desperately needed protection for people at risk of severe disease. However, many people prescribed Pfizer’s or Merck’s new medications will require careful monitoring by doctors and pharmacists, and the antivirals may not be safe for everyone, experts caution.

As a reminder, the FDA only authorized Paxlovid – the Pfizer drug – to treat “mild to moderate” COVID in people as young as 12 who have underlying conditions that raise the risk of hospitalization and death.

Unfortunately, both Pfizer’s and Merck’s drugs come with some serious drawbacks, the biggest being that they can cause life-threatening reactions with widely used medications like statins – taken by people with high blood pressure – blood thinners, and even some antidepressants.

What’s more, the FDA doesn’t recommend Paxlovid for people who have severe liver and kidney disease.

The Merck drug hasn’t even been approved because the experts are worried about potential side effects. Because of this, the FDA has restricted its use to adults, and only in scenarios in which other authorized treatments, including monoclonal antibodies produced by Regeneron and others, are inaccessible or are not “clinically appropriate.”

Here’s a more detailed explanation of how the Pfizer drug works, and why it might be hazardous for some (courtesy of NBC News):

The Paxlovid cocktail consists of two tablets of the antiviral nirmatrelvir and one tablet of ritonavir, a drug that has long been used as what is known as a boosting agent in HIV regimens. Ritonavir suppresses a key liver enzyme called CYP3A, which metabolizes many medications, including nirmatrelvir. In the case of Paxlovid treatment, ritonavir slows the body’s breakdown of the active antiviral and helps it remain at a therapeutic level for longer.
The boosting effect was likely to have been crucial in driving Paxlovid’s high effectiveness in clinical trials.
When Paxlovid is paired with other medications that are also metabolized by the CYP3A enzyme, the chief worry is that the ritonavir component may boost the co-administered drugs to toxic levels.

One expert chimed in to warn that these interactions involving Paxlovid are “not trivial”.

“Some of these potential interactions are not trivial, and some pairings have to be avoided altogether,” said Peter Anderson, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. “Some are probably easily managed. But some we’re going to have to be very careful about.”

Supplies of Paxlovid and Molnupiravir are scarce – for now, at least. But the production line is roaring and the two competitors say they hope to produce millions of courses of each medication during the coming year.

We have a question: if a patient dies from an interaction involving a COVID antiviral and their blood pressure medication, would that still be counted as a COVID death?

end

The booster protection against the Omicron drops 25% just after 10 weeks. In all probability after 6 months it will offer no protection against it

(zerohedge)

Latest Study Shows Booster Protection Against Omicron Drops 25% After Just 10 Weeks

TUESDAY, DEC 28, 2021 – 05:45 AM

On Thursday, Britain’s Health Security Agency released the third in a string of studies published this week by researchers from South Africa, Scotland and elsewhere, which attempt to quantify how the omicron variant is less threatening to the international public, especially in societies with high-vaccination (or high previous infection) rates.

The previous two studies, which we covered earlier this week, purported to show that the new variant is up to 2/3rds less likely to send a patient to the hospital, arguing that the variant is inherently less harmful than earlier strains, setting aside the issue of increased levels of immunity in the population.

Additionally, the latest study (courtesy, as we said, of the UKHSA) also offered insights on the limits of vaccines and boosters when it comes to omicron, and, as one might expect given all the strain’s mutations, it found that the efficacy of booster shots vs. the new variant begins to wane even more quickly than against earlier variants like delta.

To wit, after just 10 weeks after a patients’ last booster, immunity has already fallen 15-25%.

We wouldn’t be surprised to see this data, which support the notion of rapidly waning immunity, eventually be repurposed by the British government, as well as governments in the US, Israel and elsewhere, to justify rolling out the second (then the third, and then the fourth) booster doses to the public – which will then be coerced in getting then via vaccine mandates and “passports” like the green passes that have become popular in Europe.

That, of course, would directly contradict the WHO’s exhortations for developed countries to spread the vaccine wealth by foregoing boosters and allowing more vaccines to filter through to the developing world, and the 100+ countries where vaccination rates remain low. It’s these countries (which include some of the eight southern African countries) that should be prioritized with vaccines before the developed world helps itself to another round of boosters, Dr. Tedros, the head of the WHO, warned following the release of a report by the WHO’s advisory committee.

The UKHSA also found that patients are between 31% and 45% less likely to attend emergency departments compared to those with delta, and 50-70% less likely to require admission to hospital.

These findings were based on data collected from 132 people who were admitted to, or transferred from, emergency departments in English hospitals. Of those, 17 people had received their boosters, 74 people were double vaccinated and 27 were unvaccinated. Eight people had received a single shot, and the vaccination status was unknown for 6 people. Nearly half of those hospitalized were in London alone.

The study also found that 14 people have died within 28 days of a diagnosis of omicron, ranging in age from 52 to 96 years old.

Comments on the study from top government officials were published by the UKHSA alongside a media digest of the study data.

Dr Jenny Harries, UKHSA Chief Executive, said:

“Our latest analysis shows an encouraging early signal that people who contract the Omicron variant may be at a relatively lower risk of hospitalisation than those who contract other variants. However, it should be noted both that this is early data and more research is required to confirm these findings.”
“Cases are currently very high in the UK, and even a relatively low proportion requiring hospitalisation could result in a significant number of people becoming seriously ill. The best way that you can protect yourself is to come forward for your first 2 doses of vaccine, or your booster jab and do everything you can to stop onward transmission of the infection.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said:

“This new UKHSA data on Omicron is promising – while 2 doses of the vaccine aren’t enough, we know boosters offer significant protection against the variant and early evidence suggests this strain may be less severe than Delta.”
“However, cases of the variant continue to rise at an extraordinary rate – already surpassing the record daily number in the pandemic. Hospital admissions are increasing, and we cannot risk the NHS being overwhelmed.”
“This is early-stage analysis and we continue to monitor the data hour by hour. It is still too early to determine next steps, so please stay cautious this Christmas and get your booster as soon as possible to protect yourself and your loved ones.”

To sum up: while omicron is less likely to cause serious harm, it’s also more likely to infect a greater number of people. “Even if a smaller proportion of these individuals require hospitalisation, these are still large numbers of people requiring hospital care and pressures on the NHS will increase. It is therefore vital that people continue to exercise caution in order to limit the transmission of the virus.”

Unfortunately, doling out a new booster dose every 10 weeks simply isn’t feasible. So, does this data make individuals more likely to pursue boosters? Or more likely to simply go without since the shots could be put to better use elsewhere, and because of the limitations of their protection?

end

CDC moves the goalposts again as the treat now, unboosted as unvaxxed for purposes of quarantines

(zerohedge)

CDC Makes Major Changes To Covid Isolation Recos, Treats Unboosted As Unvaxxed For Quarantines

MONDAY, DEC 27, 2021 – 06:01 PM

And so, the “scientific” goal posts move again.

With even Biden this close to admitting defeat over covid, admitting today that “there is no Federal solution” before quietly getting out of Dodge, the CDC announced late on Monday that is slashing its previous self-isolation recommended period in half, and telling people who have Covid-19 to isolate themselves from others for 5 days if they aren’t experiencing symptoms, down from 10 days previously.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also said in a statement Monday that following the 5-day isolation period, people with Covid-19 should wear a mask for 5 days when they are around other people. The new guidance supplants previous recommendations that said people who have tested positive for the virus should isolate for 10 days.

While Omicron has been documented to be far more mild than prior versions of covid, cases are still expected to surge in the U.S. following the holidays, threatening confusion and chaos among who are infected or exposed to the virus. The shorter isolation and quarantine periods will allow people to return to work or school sooner than previously permitted.

The CDC said in its statement that the shift in guidance was motivated by science^TM showing the majority of coronavirus transmission occurs early in the course of the illness, in the first day or two before the onset of symptoms and the two to three days that follow.

The CDC also updated its recommended quarantine period for people who have been exposed to Covid-19. For those who are unvaccinated or who are eligible for a booster shot but haven’t yet received one, the agency recommends a five-day quarantine, followed by strict use of a mask for five more days despite copious research demonstrating that masks have little impact on virus spread, and despite the fact that the cities with the most aggressive mask requirements have emerged as the biggest covid epicenters.

If a five-day quarantine isn’t feasible, an exposed person should wear a well-fitting mask, such as an N95, at all times when around others for 10 days after exposure, the CDC recommended.

Meanwhile, individuals who have received a booster shot don’t need to quarantine following an exposure, but should wear a mask for 10 days, the CDC said. If symptoms occur, individuals should quarantine until a negative test confirms that they don’t have Covid-19. Then again, if symptoms occur after taking a booster shot, perhaps it is time to realize that something is very wrong with the “expert” recommendations…

In other words, in a remarkable departure meant to stigmatize not just the unvaxxed but those without a booster shot, vaccinated but unboosted people are will now treated as “unvaccinated” when it comes to close contact quarantines. This, as a social worker noted on Twitter….

“would wreak havoc on school attendance for unboosted kids and teachers! I can’t emphasize enough how this would totally derail the school year. All unboosted teachers would miss 5 days of school EVERY TIME one of their students test positive. And 12-15 year olds who are >6mo out from their 2nd dose aren’t even booster eligible!”

According to Bloomberg, the new guidance “could entice more Americans to seek another dose of a vaccine”, although with millions of “breakthrough” cases amid residual concerns about vaccine side-effects, it’s unclear just how the billionaire’s media empire came to this profound conclusion. Just under one-third of fully vaccinated people in the U.S. have received a booster, according to the CDC. We don’t expect this number to rise substantially.

END

The following is very important. Scientists now expect the Omicron wave to peak in January and then quickly dissipate. It is highly transmissible but less deadly. This is very good for us especially if we do not vaccinate against the new Omicron and do not vaccinate children. As we have learned from VanDen Boscche, there would be less pressure on the virus to mutate again and we could get much closer to herd immunity. Antibodies formed from the Omicron will be robust and thus we could get much closer to that coveted herd immunity.

(zerohedge)

Scientists Expect Omicron Wave Will Peak In January

MONDAY, DEC 27, 2021 – 07:20 PM

African countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo are struggling with an influx of hospitalizations as the omicron-driven 4th wave of the global pandemic environment hammers the country, which boasts one of the world’s lowest vaccination rates. But Congo isn’t alone; over the weekend, American media reported that, after nearly two years of seeing surprisingly low COVID levels, sub-Saharan Africa is finally seeing a big enough wave of infections to pose a serious threat to its health-care system.

Experts in the US are projecting that the latest COVID wave will worsen before it gets better, according to the following chart from Fundstrat, which features projections and data from the CDC as well as various state-level public health departments.

As it shows, the peak should arrive around Jan. 9, with the number of new daily cases declining swiftly after that, tumbling to just under 40K new cases/day by Feb. 9.

Researchers at a university in Texas estimated that the peak of the omicron wave would likely land somewhere between Jan. 13 and Feb. 3, according to CNBC.

Last year’s peak arrived on Jan. 11, according to data from Johns Hopkins.

And the number of deaths peaked on Jan. 13.

Even as hospitals across the US see the number of available beds fill up, deaths remain far lower than last year, a clear sign that Americans’ levels of ‘herd immunity’ (a concept we haven’t heard much about lately ever since scientists declared that COVID is likely now an endemic disease) have continued to improve, despite the virus’s shifting nature.

END

World wide cases rise significantly but deaths remain constant. As explained above this is good news and we can now hope (if they stop vaccinations) that we could reach herd immunity.

(zerohedge)

World Sees Record Daily COVID Cases As Less-Lethal Omicron Displaces Delta

TUESDAY, DEC 28, 2021 – 08:25 AM

The world has just reported a record daily number of new COVID cases as the omicron wave has reached yet another milestone.

After a team of distinguished South African epidemiologists alerted the WHO to the advent of omicron while millions of Americans were settling down for their Thanksgiving dinner, experts immediately got to work gathering and analyzing what little data had been collected.

One of them included the following hopeful notion: that because omicron appeared less virulent than delta, it might crowd out the more harmful strain and cause an explosion of new cases without the attendant surge in hospitalizations and deaths. The scientists described this theory as a potential silver lining in the virus’s nature: as humans’ immunity improves dramatically, the virus might be evolving to become more of a nuisance and less of a threat, instead of the other way around.

Bloomberg just reported that the number of new omicron cases reported on Monday around the world had surged to a new record. Monday’s case tally was 1.44M. That far outpaced the prior record (data excludes one day last December when Turkey backdated a significant number of cases).

The more-conservative 7-day moving average, which is intended to smooth over any spikes in the data, is also at a record high thanks to the tidal wave of omicron cases.

Millions inside and outside the US are learning first-hand that omicron is the most infectious variant yet, as it cuts through vaccine-induced immunity like butter. It’s quickly becoming the dominant strain globally, with the 7-day rolling average standing at 841K, an increase of 49% from a month ago, when omicron was first identified.

The latest viral wave caught millions by surprise and forced Americans to cancel Christmas gatherings, much to President Biden’s chagrin. The president has since abandoned his promise to “shut down” the virus, conceding instead that it’s a problem for the states.

Studies suggest that while omicron infects 70x faster than previous strains, the sickness it causes may not be as severe, especially for people who have been vaccinated and received a booster shot (or who have been previously infected). Many fear the ease of transmission and soaring number of cases could still squeeze hospital capacity worldwide, leaving the unvaccinated and anyone who needs medical care for other conditions in the lurch.

The good news here, according to Bloomberg, is that daily COVID deaths haven’t increased significantly at all: The seven-day rolling average of deaths has hovered at about 7K since mid-October after falling from a delta-driven peak. This hasn’t changed at all since the emergence of omicron, even as the total number of infections has increased.

Early signs out of southern Africa have shown some “decoupling” between cases and deaths, suggesting that this trend will be more durable than certain doomsayers (Dr. Fauci) have anticipated.

As far as when this might end, projections are presently centered around any time between early January and early February.

end

My goodness: how could this be possible: COVID outbreak spreads to 89 cruise ships according to the CDC

(zerohedge)

COVID Outbreak Spreads To 89 Cruise Ships, Says CDC

TUESDAY, DEC 28, 2021 – 02:10 PM

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has flagged 89 cruise ships with COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg.

Since this summer, the cruise ship industry has staged a comeback, but COVID outbreaks on cruise ships in recent weeks (read: here & here) have led some US lawmakers to urge cruise ship operators to halt all sailings.

Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said cruise ship operators are “repeating recent history as petri dishes of Covid-19 infection.”

“Time for CDC & cruise lines to protect consumers & again pause—docking their ships,” Blumenthal tweeted.

The CDC is investigating 86 cruise ships for COVID outbreaks. Of that, 32 are Carnival, 25 Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, and 15 Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. The CDC’s website said four Walt Disney Co.’s Disney Cruise Line are now under watch.

Cruise ships were once lauded as one of the safest vacations due to their strict health policies of only allowing vaxxed adults and their ability to isolate from the rest of the “dangerous” world. However, since we now know that vaccines don’t prevent the transmission of the virus – thus questioning their entire purpose – just the opposite is taking place, and cruise companies are getting hammered, just like they did in 2020, confirming there has been virtually no progress in containing covid during the first year of Biden’s admin.

(GREAT GAME INDIA)

The spike proteins in the mRNA vaccines self replicate themselves and thus can alter children’s DNA

Special thanks to Robert H for sending this to us:

mRNA Vaccines Can Keep Creating Spike Proteins Forver By Permanently Altering Kids DNA Warns Doctor

mRNA Vaccines Can Keep Creating Spike Proteins Forever By Permanently Altering Kids DNA Warns Doctor

December 26, 2021

A Canadian doctor who was expelled for administering ivermectin to patients suffering from COVID-19 warned that mRNA COVID vaccines can keep creating spike proteins forever by permanently altering kids DNA. Children are particularly prone to DNA alteration because they have higher levels of reverse transcriptase than adults, said Dr. Daniel Nagase.

Dr. Daniel Nagase discusses the mechanisms behind the risks of mRNA shots when discussing the vaccine test data published by Pfizer, which indicates a 30% or more negative response rate towards the jabs “with no recovery,” including mortality which accounts for 3% of the vaccinated trial participants. However, in the process they “were directly attributable to Pfizer’s COVID-19 injections.”

On Will Dove’s show, Iron Will, Nagase said that the health officials should have been aware of the dangers of mRNA penetration into cells, which he believes have existed “since the 90s”, even before they become aware of the “unheard of” rate of 30 percent side effects.

Perhaps most worryingly, the mRNA inserted from the jabs can be converted to DNA through means of reverse transcriptase, and Nagase said this was especially dangerous for children.

“Cells that are undergoing change,” said Nagase, like children’s cells, “have higher levels of reverse transcriptase activity than adult cells that are basically static. This reverse transcriptase takes anything that’s mRNA, and it reverse transcribes it to DNA.”

“Once something has been transcribed to DNA, it can get integrated into the nucleus of the cell … so it can permanently change that cell’s DNA,” Nagase went on to explain.

“So this greater preponderance of reverse transcriptase within children would be the explanation for why we’re seeing a higher percentage of adverse reactions in them, is that correct?” Dove questioned.

“Absolutely,” Nagase affirmed

Previously, Nagase had highlighted data from the Pfizer study showing that of the 34 side effects reported in children (this was prior to the vaccine actually being approved for use on children), 24 had “serious” side effects and 10 had side effects that were branded to be “non-serious.”

Nagase also stated that it doesn’t matter what dose of the vaccine is given to children, as DNA can be modified by reverse transcriptase, and the DNA then programs cells to make spike protein.

“Once something is in the DNA, the only thing that will get rid of it is the death of that cell,” Nagase said.

As a response to Dove’s inquiry on if there was “any way that we could term this as anything other than a bioweapon,” Nagase replied, “It’s designed to cause permanent changes to the cell. To trick the cell into producing a non-human protein that has no benefit to that cell’s health. The spike protein itself is toxic. … and causes mutation by inhibiting DNA repair.”

“So if you are injecting something into people that causes their body to produce a mutagen, a toxin that prevents DNA repair, that is by definition causing harm to people. And injecting people with something that causes harm to them through a biologic mechanism: Well, that’s pretty much the definition of a bioweapon, right?”

Taking into account that nearly 300 young athletes “have dropped from the playing field,” among “70 percent” of whom passed away, Dove asked, “What’s going to happen now that they’re injecting this into five-year-olds?”

“I can describe it in no other way than child sacrifice. Dr. Hodgkinson over in Edmonton, he was the first to come out in public and say, this is actually child sacrifice. I have to agree with him 100 percent,” Nagase said.

“This never should have been considered for injection into children because the results from the adults has been so damning, so disastrous,” Nagase continued.

‘Cutting them up from the inside’

To elucidate on the constant occurrence of athletes “dropping” on the field addressed by Dove, Nagase theorized that when compared to non-athletes, the athletes might face more severe side effects.

He went on to state that this might be due to the spike protein created as a result of the vaccine jab acting as an “abrasive” in the body. The hearts of athletes are known to pump at a harder rate as a result of them exerting themselves more, which in turn exacerbates the effect of the spike protein that is abrasive in nature, which “can cause mechanical damage inside of blood vessels.”

Dangers to pregnant women

Nagase mentioned that Pfizer’s data showed an alarming increase in risk of adverse effects in pregnant women: 75 out of 274 women, or 27%.

“Any pregnant woman who received this injection after April 30th, 2021 should be suing their obstetrician for malpractice,” Nagase said.

When Dove found that the said data had an absence of anything about the effects on children, Nagase himself noted, “This is just the damage that they discovered in the first three months between December the 1st and February the 28th.

A pregnancy is nine full months. We don’t know how many of the other cases that were non-serious in the first two months might turn into serious events, miscarriages, stillbirths, birth defects, deformities.”

Cancer risks of mRNA vaccines

Nagase also found that the protein produced by mRNA injection disrupts the body’s natural anti-cancer mechanism of “detecting abnormal proteins in the circulation.”

If “your body is continuously producing an abnormal protein, it’s not going to be able to detect the abnormal proteins coming from a cancerous cell with the same accuracy and sensitivity that it would have if there weren’t abnormal spike proteins circulating all the time,” said Nagase.

There are two other ways that spike protein can play a role in cancer: one of which is that it is able to divert ribosomes which are required to produce the proteins so as to protect the cells from stress or toxins and then in turn uses these to create spike proteins, the other is that these “lead to mutations by preventing the normal processes a cell uses to repair any damage to the DNA,” stated Nagase while noting this was effectively demonstrated in October 13 study.

Nagase concludes that the risk of mRNA shots was “certainly premeditated.” In a previous mRNA test on animals who were infected with SARS-CoV-1, he said, “They made an mRNA vaccine. And guess what? All the animals that got the vaccine when they were exposed to SARS COVID one, they died! And the animals that didn’t get the vaccine, they survived.”

Dr. Mark Trozzi concurred while commenting on Nagase’s interview with Dove. “Pfizer knew what they were doing,” he said. “They skipped the animal trials and went straight to the entire human race. Politicians, bureaucrats, medical licensing bodies, all institutions and all individuals supporting this are guilty of genocide crimes.”We need your support to carry on our independent and investigative research based journalism on the Deep State threats facing humanity. Your contribution however small helps us keep afloat. Kindly consider supporting GreatGameIndia.END

Vaccine Impact

California Nurses Blow Whistle on “Overwhelming” Numbers of Heart Attacks, Clotting, Strokes as Doctors Refuse to Blame Vaccines for Fear of Losing Their Medical License

December 27, 2021 3:27 pm

In October this year we re-published an article from The Conejo Guardian, a nonprofit independent news publication in Ventura County, California. In that article they reported that the remaining unvaccinated staff in the hospitals were the only ones telling the truth about the volume of people coming into the hospital suffering from side effects of the COVID-19 experimental shots. “They don’t want to report that they’re seeing 80 percent of the people in the ER are vaccinated, but only 40 percent of the county is vaccinated,” one nurse stated. The Conejo Guardian has now published a follow-up article with a couple of nurses, including one vaccinated nurse who has received two doses of the experimental shots but says he will NOT get any of the boosters, and that he and his wife have decided to leave the State of California once their child reaches school age, as they do not believe children should be injected with these shots. These nurses have come forward to report the rise in unexplained heart problems, strokes and blood clotting in local vaccinated patient populations. They also say doctors refuse to consider that these could be adverse reactions to COVID shots. These nurses also report that conditions in the hospitals right now are so bad that they are in “survival mode,” as there are not enough staff to handle the influx of these vaccine-injured patients, and they are thrusting new nurses into these situations with very little training, making the situation even worse. So while many of the ethical nurses and hospital staff who refused to get injected with the bioweapon shots have now been fired or have quit, it appears that vaccinated nurses and staff that remain are starting to wake up also, and many of them may soon be leaving the medical system as well as they do not want to get never-ending booster injections and work in these over-crowded workplaces where they can clearly see that the majority of the patients are suffering from the side effects of the shots.Read More…

Michael Every with today’s most important topics

Michael Every.//Jane Foley

6.GLOBAL ISSUES

end

7. OIL ISSUES

LNG Tanker Bound For Asia Turns Around, Heads To Europe For Massive Arbitrage Opportunity

TUESDAY, DEC 28, 2021 – 10:52 AM

Fuel-starved Europe is attracting liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers from around the world. We reported Monday that a flotilla of US LNG is headed to the continent. There are reports that tankers in the Pacific are turning around and ditching Chinese markets for Europe.

Bloomberg reports LNG tanker Hellas Diana (IMO: 9872987) left Corpus Christi, Texas, on Nov. 27 has since made a U-turn near Hawaii and is traveling back to the Panama Canal and is likely headed to Europe.

So far, seven tankers bound for Asia have diverted to Europe as there are massive arbitrage opportunities for US LNG amid an energy crunch on the continent.

Even though Dutch TTF natural gas prices soared to record highs last week and have since been halved on the news, a US LNG flotilla is in the Atlantic headed for the continent. There is still a lot of money to be made as Europeans are willing to pay a heft premium.

The massive blowout spread between US and EU natural gas prices has more than halved but is considerably higher than the beginning of the year — implying there’s money to be made in sending US LNG to Europe rather than Asia.

As long as European natural gas prices remain elevated, more tankers will be diverted to the fuel-starved continent as Russian gas flows remain depressed.

8 EMERGING MARKET& AUSTRALIA ISSUES

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

SOUTH AFRICA

end

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

Euro/USA 1.1333 UP .0004 /EUROPE BOURSES //ALL GREEN

USA/ YEN 114.86 UP 0.072 /NOW TARGETS INTEREST RATE AT .11% AS IT WILL BUY UNLIMITED BONDS TO GETS TO THAT LEVEL…

GBP/USA 1.3453 UP 0.0012

Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE CLOSED UP 14.14 PTS OR 0.39%

//Hang Sang CLOSED UP 56.80 PTS OR 0.24%

/AUSTRALIA CLOSED // EUROPEAN BOURSES OPENED ALL GREEN

Trading from Europe and ASIA

I)EUROPEAN BOURSES ALL GREEN

2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang SANG CLOSED UP 56.80 PTS OR 0.24%

/SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 3.92 PTS OR 0.37%

Australia BOURSE CLOSED

3(Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED UP 392.70 PTS OR 1.37 %

INDIA’S SENSEX IN THE GREEN

Gold very early morning trading: 1817,60

silver:$23.23-

USA dollar index early TUESDAY morning: 96.02 DOWN 8 CENT(S) from MONDAY’s close.

This ends early morning numbers TUESDAY MORNING

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And now your closing TUESDAY NUMBERS 1: 00 PM

Portuguese 10 year bond yield: 0.41% UP 0 in basis point(s) yield from YESTERDAY/

JAPANESE BOND YIELD: +0.064% DOWN 0 AND 0/10 BASIS POINTS from YESTERDAY/JAPAN losing control of its yield curve/

SPANISH 10 YR BOND YIELD: 0.52%// UP 1 in basis points yield from yesterday.

ITALIAN 10 YR BOND YIELD 1.10 UP 0 points in basis points yield from yesterday./

the Italian 10 yr bond yield is trading 58 points higher than Spain.

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD: RISES TO -0.247% IN BASIS POINTS ON THE DAY//

THE IMPORTANT SPREAD BETWEEN ITALIAN 10 YR BOND AND GERMAN 10 YEAR BOND IS 1.35% 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 TUESDAY

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

Euro/USA 1.1314 DOWN .0014 or 14 basis points

USA/Japan: 114.74 DOWN 0.055 OR YEN UP 6 basis points/

Great Britain/USA 1.3433 DOWN 8 BASIS POINTS)

Canadian dollar DOWN 24 pts to 1.2812

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The USA/Yuan, CNY: closed ON SHORE (CLOSED UP)..6.3687

THE USA/YUAN OFFSHORE: (YUAN CLOSED (UP)..6.3727

TURKISH LIRA: 11.83 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LEVEL/DEATH WISH/HYPERINFLATION TO BEGIN.

the 10 yr Japanese bond yield at +0.064

Your closing 10 yr US bond yield DOWN 2 IN basis points from MONDAY at 1.465% //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%) very problematic

USA 30 yr bond yield: 1.872 DOWN 2 in basis points

Your closing USA dollar index, 96.15 UP 6 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 TUESDAY: 12:00 PM

London: CLOSED

German Dax : CLOSED UP 128.45 PTS OR 0.81%

Paris CAC CLOSED UP 40,72 PTS OR 0.57%

Spain IBEX CLOSED UP 66.80 PTS OR 0.77%

Italian MIB: CLOSED UP 213.73 PTS OR 0.78%

WTI Oil price 75.29 12: EST

Brent Oil: 79.22 12:00 EST

USA /RUSSIAN / RUBLE FALLS: 73.75 THE CROSS HIGHER BY .33 RUBLES/DOLLAR (RUBLE LOWER BY 33 BASIS PTS)

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD; -.247

CLOSING NUMBERS: 4 PM

Euro vs USA: 1.1309 DOWN .0020

British Pound: 1.3431 DOWN .0010

USA dollar vs Japanese Yen: 114.82 up .023

USA dollar vs Canadian dollar: 1.2816 up .0027 (cdn dollar down 27 basis pts)

West Texas intermediate oil: 76.07

Brent: 78.95

USA 10 yr bond yield: 1.483 down 0 points

USA 30 yr bond yield: 1.902 up 2 pts.

USA dollar vs Turkish lira: 11.82

usa dollar vs Russian rouble: 73.76 up 34 basis pts.

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: UP 95.83 PTS OR 0.26%

NASDAQ 100 DOWN 78.84 OR 0.48%

VOLATILITY INDEX: 17.96 UP 0.28PTS

GLD/NYSE CLOSING PRICE $168.64 DOWN $0.73 OR .43

SLV/NYSE CLOSING PRICE: $21.27// DOWN $.06 OR .28%

USA trading day in Graph Form

Bitcoin & Bonds Battered, Tech Tumbles, As COVID Cases Hit Record

BY TYLER DURDENTUESDAY, DEC 28, 2021 – 04:01 PM

Bitcoin & bonds stole the market headlines today along with COVID (Omicold) cases soaring and deaths tumbling as Europe came back to work from the Xmas break…

Cryptos started their decline in Asia (again) and the US session dragged it down further…

Source: Bloomberg

Bitcoin tumbled back below $50k…

Source: Bloomberg

But the drop stopped at the 200DMA, where it bounced back up to $48k…

Source: Bloomberg

Bond were chaotic too with early strength suddenly reversed leaving the long-end underperforming and short-end unch. The lack of liquidity is very evident in the 30Y yield’s moves which perfectly tagged high and low stops…

Source: Bloomberg

At the other end of the curve, STIRs shifted even more hawkishly, with a full rate-hike now priced in for May 2022…

Source: Bloomberg

Stocks were supported early by the headlines that the CDC relaxed the quarantine guidelines for people with COVID-19 yesterday, reducing the number of days in isolation from 10 to 5 – another potential sign we may be transitioning to ‘living with virus’ normalization, but as the cash market opened Small Caps and Big Tech were dumped while The Dow pumped. By the cash close, after a determined selling effort in the last 5 mins (biggest negative TICK in a week) as a slew of headline shit from Bowl game cancellations, AMD avoiding CES, Pentagon covid restrictions tightened, and US warships staying in the med, the S&P ended red, Dow small green, and Nasdaq and Russell 2000 lower…

Small Caps are glued around their 100- and 200-DMA once again…

Interestingly, ‘recovery’ stocks underperformed the ‘stay at home’ stocks today, perhaps as the number of cruise ships with covid outbreaks spooked some…

Source: Bloomberg

The dollar trod water for the second day…

Source: Bloomberg

Commodities were mixed today with crude and copper up and PMs down/flat…

Source: Bloomberg

Finally, all of these market moves come against a background of global COVID cases hitting a daily record on Monday, disrupting the holiday season a year after vaccines first started rolling out and two years after the emergence of the virus that many hoped would be fleeting. The seven-day rolling average of cases on Monday stood at about 841,000, a jump of 49% from a month ago when omicron was first identified in southern Africa.

Source: Bloomberg

The silver lining is that daily COVID deaths haven’t significantly increased as ‘Omicold’ spreads and the pandemic is over.

i) Early morning//afternoon trading

II)USA DATA

Buyers will get creative’: The pace of house-price growth is slowing, but buyers can’t catch a break

Dec. 28, 2021 at 9:11 a.m. ET

MarketWatch

One measure of home prices nationwide notched the fourth-largest gain on record in October, even though it had fallen from previous months

The numbers: Home-price growth continues to decelerate

For the second consecutive month, home-price appreciation occurred at a slower pace, according to a major price barometer released Tuesday, reinforcing the notion that the housing market is cooling after over a year of frenzied sales.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city price index posted a 18.4% year-over-year gain in October, down from 19.1% the previous month. On a monthly basis, the index increased 0.8% between September and October.

What happened

The separate national index from the Case-Shiller report showed a 19.1% annual gain, down from a 19.7% increase in September. While lower on the monthly basis, this still represented the fourth-largest annual increase in home prices over the 34-year history of the data.

Phoenix once again led the country in terms of home- price growth, with a 32.3% increase, reinforcing research that showed it to be the housing market where housing affordability suffered the most over the past year. It was followed by two Florida cities, Tampa and Miami. Only six of the 20 major cities that the report tracks notched larger price increases in October than in September, though prices did continue to increase in all 20 cities.

“U.S. home prices moved substantially higher, but at a decelerating rate,” Craig J. Lazzara, managing director at S&P DJI, said in the report. “October’s gains were below September’s, and September’s gains were below August’s.”

The big picture: Prices won’t start falling anytime soon

A separate home-price index from the Federal Housing Finance Agency recorded a 17.4% increase between October 2020 and October 2021 nationally. That report indicated that the Mountain region — Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico — saw the largest price gains.

“House price levels continue to rise, but the rapid pace is curtailing through October,” Will Doerner, supervisory economist in FHFA’s Division of Research and Statistics, said in the report. “The large market appreciations seen this spring peaked in July, and have been cooling this fall with annual trends slowing over the last four consecutive months.”

Still, slowing price-growth isn’t the same as falling prices. Home buyers can expect to pay more and more to buy a home throughout 2022. It’s a reflection of the tight inventory of properties for sale: With so few homes to go around, competition for what properties are on the market will ensure that prices will increase given the high demand for housing.

What they’re saying

“Unfortunately, the rate of home-price growth will be limiting for many young buyers who have yet to accumulate sufficient equity gains, and an expected increase in mortgage rates next year will present further challenges. Together, these two factors will keep a lid on continued home-price acceleration,” said CoreLogic deputy chief economist Selma Hepp.

“As housing costs eat up a larger share of home purchaser’s paychecks, buyers will get creative. Many will take advantage of ongoing workplace flexibility to move to the suburbs where, despite home price gains, many can still find a lower price per square foot than nearby cities,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com.

END

IIb) USA COVID/VACCINE MANDATE STORIES

CDC revises the number of Omicron cases down from 73% to 59%

(zerohedge)

CDC “Substantially Revises” Omicron Cases To 59% From 73%

TUESDAY, DEC 28, 2021 – 01:30 PM

Just one day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lowered its Covid quarantine guidance from 10 days to 5 days + 5 days of masking while equating the unboosted with the great dirty unvaxxed masses, the agency made a ‘substantial revision’ to how prevalent the mild Omicron Covid-19 strain is.

Instead of being responsible for 73% of sequenced infections for the week ending Dec. 20, Omicron has been revised downward to just 22.5% that same week – making its unbelievable spread from 3% the week before that… more believable.

For the next week, ending Dec. 25, Omicron accounted for an estimated 58.6% of sequenced US virus cases.

So, Omicron has grown from 3%, 22.5% and now 58.6% of all US cases during December as of the latest statistics, according to Bloomberg.

A CDC spokesperson said that additional data that came in caused the agency to reduce the earlier proportion of omicron. The agency is still seeing a steady increase in the incidence of the variant, the spokesperson said.
Omicron has swept through the U.S. since being detected in California on Dec. 1. In the region encompassing New York and New Jersey, for example, omicron accounts for an estimated 88% of cases, according to the CDC. But there are still some areas of the country where delta remains dominant, including some Midwestern states and New England, the model suggests. -Bloomberg

According to the CDC, an average of 206,577 Omicron cases are being recorded each day – levels not seen since last winter’s surge.

That said, the effects of Covid have gone from debilitating Delta, to ‘feeling crappy for a few days,’ over the span of roughly three weeks.

Yet, because Omicron spreads incredibly fast – despite the fact that it’s far more mild – it risks overwhelming medical systems as those who are vulnerable to any bad cold – weather Omicron or RSV, if a large enough percentage of the ‘at-risk’ population is infected at once.

end

iii) important USA economic stories for you tonight

‘Bidenflation’ Is Systematically Destroying The Middle Class

BY TYLER DURDEN

TUESDAY, DEC 28, 2021 – 03:10 PM

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

Americans have more money in their pockets than they ever have before. That sounds like really great news, but it isn’t, because the cost of living is rising much faster than our incomes are. In addition, much of the “new wealth” that has been created over the past couple of years has ended up in the hands of the very wealthy, and this has caused the gap between the rich and the poor to grow even wider. As for the middle class, it is being systematically hollowed out by “Bidenflation”, and that process is only going to accelerate during the early stages of 2022.

Personally, I don’t like to use the term “Bidenflation” too much, because it is not entirely accurate. Without a doubt, the Biden administration has taken actions over and over again that have made the inflation crisis even worse. But it isn’t as if Joe Biden and his minions are the only ones responsible for this mess.

The creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913 started us down the road that we are on today. Of course we could have exited this path at any time if U.S. voters had sent politicians to Washington that were committed to abolishing the Federal Reserve, but they didn’t do that.

In 1971, we reached “the beginning of the end” when President Nixon took the U.S. off the gold standard. Today, the value of the U.S. dollar is only a very small fraction of what it was back then.

The U.S. national debt hit a trillion dollars in the early 1980s, and it will hit the 30 trillion dollar mark in 2022. Our politicians have literally been committing national financial suicide, and both major parties are to blame.

In 2009, the Federal Reserve took the destruction of our currency to an entirely new level when they introduced “quantitative easing”. It was supposed to just be a “temporary measure”, but of course the Fed just kept doing it.

Over the past couple of years the Federal Reserve has pumped more fresh money into our financial system than ever before, and this has greatly pleased investors.

But it is also turning our currency into a joke.

Earlier today, I read an email from a reader that was quite alarmed that many new car dealers are now charging $5,000 to $10,000 above the sticker price for many of their vehicles.

Of course the reason why they are able to get such prices is because we are now in a hyperinflationary environment.

Used vehicle prices have been rising very aggressively as well. In fact, Jim Bianco says that they have been going up even faster than Bitcoin…

Used auto prices are rising faster than bitcoin and other assets, according to market researcher Jim Bianco.
“If you want to know what the best investment you probably had in 2021, it’s that car sitting in your driveway or in that garage,” the Bianco Research President told CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Thursday. “It is appreciating faster than the stock market and lately faster than some cryptocurrencies.”

Isn’t that nuts?

Over the past four months alone, the price of used vehicles has increased more than 20 percent…

“In the last four months, they’ve gone up in price more than 20%. Not only is that more than the S&P, but over the last four months that’s more than bitcoin itself,” he said. “As of December 15, the latest set of data we’ve got, they’re just accelerating higher and higher right now. There’s no peak at least as of now.”

Home prices are going absolutely haywire as well.

In fact, CNN is reporting that at the end of the third quarter U.S. home prices were up almost 20 percent compared to the same time in 2020…

Homeowners saw average home prices skyrocket nearly 20% through the third quarter compared to a year ago, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. It was the largest annual home price increase in the history of the agency’s House Price Index. And, in some hot markets, the price increase was double that.

If your income hasn’t also gone up 20 percent over the past year, that means that you are falling behind.

Once upon a time, you could get a huge mansion for $500,000.

Today, half a million dollars will get you a 700 square foot shack.

And Zillow is projecting that home prices will soar even higher in 2022…

Over the next 12 months, Zillow foresees U.S. home prices rising 11% overall. While that would mark a slowdown from the 19.5% jump over the most recently measured 12-month window (between September 2020 and September 2021), the predicted price increase would still be a housing market that strongly favors sellers. For perspective, Fortune calculates the average rate of home price growth per year has been 4.6% since 1980.

The amount of money in our pockets is not what matters.

Just look at Venezuela. Almost everyone in Venezuela is a “millionaire”, but almost everyone in the entire country is living in poverty because the money is virtually worthless.

And we are headed down the exact same path.

The standard of living for the vast majority of Americans is eroding a little bit more with each passing day, but for the moment those at the very top of the economic food chain are doing great. In fact, they are buying more champagne than ever before…

Champagne sales are surging to record highs as 2021 comes to an end (back above what they were before the COVID pandemic hampered sales and kept people away from celebrations).
Sales in 2021 are expected to top 5.5 billion euros ($6.2 billion), above a previous peak of 5 billion euros two years agobefore the coronavirus pandemic, Jean-Marie Barillere, president of champagne industry group UMC, said.

I hope that they are enjoying these moments, because their laughter will turn to mourning soon enough.

For years and years, people like me have been warning what would happen if we kept systematically destroying our currency.

But our leaders in Washington just kept doing it anyway.

Now a time of reckoning is upon us, and it is going to be so incredibly painful.

* *

end

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

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

Goldman Sachs guidance on Build Back Better a bad economic call
There’s a pretty solid list of their economic misses, which I don’t have room to fully detail… The firm’s recent guidance that the demise of President Biden’s tax-and-spend fiasco — known as Build Back Better — will somehow slow the US economy…it was built on a foundation of lies: Biden said it would cost nothing despite its $1.8 trillion price tag… BBB, as it’s referred to in DC, is so structurally unsound that it contained very little building of real stuff (like real infrastructure) and lots of spending on weird stuff with Orwellian labels (like “climate infrastructure”) and other progressive policy goals…
Not raising taxes on businesses and wealth creators — Goldman clients, mind you — has “negative growth implications”? That’s a new one. We’re also supposed to believe that recklessly spending money on weird environmental gimmicks, and the broader expansion of the federal welfare state, will put the country on the path to non-inflationary economic growth?…
More recently, the Keynesians at Goldman scoffed at the Trump-era supply-side economic reforms, predicting over and over that his tax cuts would run out of steam and the economy would sputter. Neither happened, of course… https://nypost.com/2021/12/25/goldman-sachs-advice-on-build-back-better-a-bad-economic-call/

@YossiGestetner: “You are not gonna get COVID if you have these vaccinations.” – Biden in July.
https://twitter.com/YossiGestetner/status/1475603363454672898

Yesterday, The Big Guy tried to extricate himself from Covid woes, because his plans are not working.

Biden says Covid surge needs to be solved at state level, vows full federal support
Speaking just before a meeting Monday with some of the nation’s governors, Biden said: “There is no federal solution. This gets solved at a state level.”… positive cases among those who have received a vaccine, has made the administration’s promise to slow the disease more difficult. The virus and vaccine have both blossomed into a political football…The president’s remarks came as Covid-19 cases surged over the Christmas holiday weekend… (Then, why all the mandates, Joe? How does the SCOTUS feel now about Biden’s mandate case that it will hear in 2 weeks?)
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/27/biden-says-covid-surge-needs-to-be-solved-at-state-level-vows-full-federal-support.html

Biden reverses course, declares COVID must be solved by states and not feds
President Joe Biden campaigned for months that a robust federal response could vanquish the COVID-19 pandemic but then Delta and omicron variants proved him wrong.
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/coronavirus/biden-reverses-course-declares-covid-must-be-solved-states-and-not-feds

No ‘panic,’ but Covid to ‘overrun’ some US hospitals: Biden
President Joe Biden on Monday said some US hospitals could be “overrun” by Covid cases, but the country is generally well prepared to meet the latest surge and Americans need not panic…
https://insiderpaper.com/no-panic-but-covid-to-overrun-some-us-hospitals-biden/

@YALiberty: Joe Biden in 2020: “I am going to shut down the virus.” Joe Biden today: “Look, there is no federal solution” to COVID-19.

@MichaelPSenger: Biden, August 4, 2021: “I say to these governors: Please help, but if you aren’t going to help, at least get out of the way.”https://twitter.com/MichaelPSenger/status/1475627400624963585

@BaldingsWorld: On one hand this is reality. I’ve long said, behavioral policies for Corona at best have minimal impact. On the other hand, this wrecks them politically. Their schtick was competence and having a plan. In reality, there is no competence and no plan. People stumble over that disconnect.

Disclosetv: Biden departs to Delaware beach house after telling governors there is “no federal solution” on COVID and it should be “solved at the state level.”https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1475539059032395780

@BuzzPatterson: I’m not the White House Chief of Staff but I’ve known a few. This is a HORRIBLE visual for the Biden team. Punt to the governors on COVID and fly off on a vacation…

‘The science’ has changed again! The CDC has shortened its quarantine directive to 5 days from 10 days

.SWAMP STORIES //

Well that is all for today

I will see you tomorrow

DONATE

NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED TODAY FOR DEC. CONTRACT: 72 NOTICE(S) FOR 72000 OZ (0.2239 TONNES)

total notices so far: 35,818 contracts for 3,581,800 oz (111.409 tonnes)

1 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 5,000 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

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

Futures Hit New All Time High As Santa Rally Drags Everything Higher

3 a./NORTH KOREA/ SOUTH KOREA

Protests Erupt In South Korea Over Vaccination Deaths

3c CHINA

China 10-Year Yields Plunge To 18 Month Low On Surging Easing Expectations, Liquidity Injections

4/EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

France Forces Millions To Work From Home, Xi’an Starves As Omicron Lockdown Bites

UK Expert Warns Against Overinterpreting COVID-19 Data

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

Escobar: Exit Nord Stream 2, Enter Power Of Siberia 2

Mr. Zircon is on the line, Sir

Dancing in the Siberian night

Israel Starts 4th Covid Dose Trial While Pushing Booster On Children 12 & Up

Israel Launches Massive Attack On Syrian Port, Fires Burn 14 Hours

6.Global Issues

COVID Antiviral Pills Cause Life-Threatening Reactions With Many Common Meds

Latest Study Shows Booster Protection Against Omicron Drops 25% After Just 10 Weeks

CDC Makes Major Changes To Covid Isolation Recos, Treats Unboosted As Unvaxxed For Quarantines

Scientists Expect Omicron Wave Will Peak In January

World Sees Record Daily COVID Cases As Less-Lethal Omicron Displaces Delta

COVID Outbreak Spreads To 89 Cruise Ships, Says CDC

mRNA Vaccines Can Keep Creating Spike Proteins Forever By Permanently Altering Kids DNA Warns Doctor

‘Cutting them up from the inside’

Dangers to pregnant women

Cancer risks of mRNA vaccines

Vaccine Impact

California Nurses Blow Whistle on “Overwhelming” Numbers of Heart Attacks, Clotting, Strokes as Doctors Refuse to Blame Vaccines for Fear of Losing Their Medical License

December 27, 2021 3:27 pm

7. OIL ISSUES

LNG Tanker Bound For Asia Turns Around, Heads To Europe For Massive Arbitrage Opportunity

8 EMERGING MARKET& AUSTRALIA ISSUES

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

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

USA trading day in Graph Form

Bitcoin & Bonds Battered, Tech Tumbles, As COVID Cases Hit Record

CDC “Substantially Revises” Omicron Cases To 59% From 73%

‘Bidenflation’ Is Systematically Destroying The Middle Class

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