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comex notices/

March: JPMorgan stopped/total issued 1/58

EXCHANGE: COMEX
CONTRACT: MARCH 2022 COMEX 100 GOLD FUTURES
SETTLEMENT: 1,953.800000000 USD
INTENT DATE: 03/25/2022 DELIVERY DATE: 03/29/2022
FIRM ORG FIRM NAME ISSUED STOPPED

435 H SCOTIA CAPITAL 48
657 H MORGAN STANLEY 58
661 C JP MORGAN 1
737 C ADVANTAGE 8
905 C ADM 1

TOTAL: 58 58
MONTH TO DATE: 11,784

NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED TODAY FOR Mar. CONTRACT 58 NOTICE(S) FOR 5800 OZ (0.1806 TONNES)

total notices so far: 11,784 contracts for 1,178,400 oz (36.653 tonnes)

SILVER NOTICES:

27 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 135,000 OZ/

total number of notices filed so far this month 10,559 : for 52,795,000 oz

END

Russia is a major supplier of silver to London while Mexico supplies the COMEX

With the sanctions, London has no way to obtain silver other than compete with NY.

END

GLD

WITH GOLD DOWN $14.65

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//

NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//

INVENTORY RESTS AT 1093..18 TONNES

Silver//SLV

WITH NO SILVER AROUND AND SILVER DOWN 30 CENTS

AT THE SLV// A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/ THE SLV//A DEPOSIT OF 1.847 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV

INVESTORS ARE SWITCHING SLV TO SPROTT’S PSLV

CLOSING INVENTORY: 554.167 MILLION OZ

Let us have a look at the data for today

SILVER//OUTLINE

SILVER COMEX OI FELL BY A STRONG SIZED 1629 CONTRACTS TO 156,360 AND FURTHER FROM THE NEW RECORD OF 244,710, SET FEB 25/2020 AND THE STRONG LOSS IN OI WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR STRONG $0.20 LOSS IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX ON FRIDAY. OUR BANKERS WERE SUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING THE PRICE OF SILVER DOWN (IT FELL BY $0.20) AND WERE SUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING OUT SOME SILVER LONGS AS WE HAD A SMALL LOSS OF 362 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 STRONG ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS iiii) A HUGE INITIAL SILVER STANDING FOR COMEX SILVER MEASURING AT 42.860 MILLION OZ FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S QUEUE JUMP OF 55,000 OZ //NEW STANDING 52.915 MILLION OZ // V) STRONG SIZED COMEX OI LOSS/

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

THE DIFFERENTIAL FROM PRELIMINARY OI TO FINAL OI SILVER TODAY: CONTRACTS : —-602

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

TOTAL CONTACTS for 20 days, total contracts: : 35,436 contracts or 177.180 million oz OR 8.86 MILLION OZ PER DAY. (1772 CONTRACTS PER DAY)

TOTAL NO OF OZ UNDERGOING EFP TO LONDON 35,536 CONTRACTS X 5,000 PER CONTRACT:

EQUATES TO: 177.180 MILLION OZ

LAST 11 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

DEC: 100.615 MILLION OZ

JAN 2022// 90.460 MILLION OZ

FEB 2022: 72.39 MILLION OZ//

MARCH: 177. 180 MILLION OZ//A NEW RECORD FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND WE ARE STILL GOING STRONG THIS MONTH.

RESULT: WE HAD A STRONG SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF 1629 WITH OUR STRONG $0.20 LOSS IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX// FRIDAY THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A STRONG SIZED EFP ISSUANCE OF 665 CONTRACTS( 665 CONTRACTS ISSUED FOR MAY AND 0 CONTRACTS ISSUED FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS) WHICH EXITED OUT OF THE SILVER COMEX TO LONDON AS FORWARDS THE DOMINANT FEATURE TODAY: /HUGE BANKER SHORT COVERING AS THEY GET OUT OF DODGE//// WE HAVE A HUGE INITIAL SILVER OZ STANDING FOR MAR. OF 42.860 MILLION OZ FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 55,000 OZ QUEUE JUMP//NEW STANDING 52.915 MILLION OZ// /// .. WE HAD AN Strong SIZED LOSS OF 964 OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES FOR 4.820 MILLION OZ WITH THE STRONG LOSS IN PRICE.

WE HAD 27 NOTICES FILED TODAY FOR 135,000 OZ

THE SILVER COMEX IS NOW BEING ATTACKED FOR METAL BY LONDONERS ET AL.

GOLD//OUTLINE

IN GOLD, THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST FELL BY A SMALL SIZED 601 CONTRACTS TO 607,974 AND CLOSER TO 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: —–1021 CONTRACTS.

THE BIS HAS ABANDONED THE GOLD COMEX TRADING!!!

THE SMALL SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI CAME WITH OUR LOSS IN PRICE OF $7.60//COMEX GOLD TRADING/FRIDAY/.AS IN SILVER WE MUST HAD HUGE BANKER/ALGO SHORT COVERING ACCOMPANYING OUR GOOD SIZED EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE. WE HAD ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION

WE ALSO HAD A HUGE INITIAL STANDING IN GOLD TONNAGE FOR MARCH AT 14.818 TONNES FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S QUEUE JUMP OF 5800 OZ//NEW STANDING 36.678 TONNES

YET ALL OF..THIS HAPPENED WITH OUR LOSS IN PRICE OF $7.60 WITH RESPECT TO FRIDAY’S TRADING

WE HAD AN FAIR SIZED GAIN OF 1497 OI CONTRACTS (4.656 PAPER TONNES) ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES

E.F.P. ISSUANCE

THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A FAIR SIZED 2098 CONTRACTS:

The NEW COMEX OI FOR THE GOLD COMPLEX RESTS AT 607,974.

IN ESSENCE WE HAVE AN FAIR SIZED INCREASE IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 1497, WITH 601 CONTRACTS DECREASED AT THE COMEX AND 2098 EFP OI CONTRACTS WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS TOTAL OI GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 1497 CONTRACTS OR 4.656 TONNES.

CALCULATIONS ON GAIN/LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES

WE HAD A FAIR SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (2098) ACCOMPANYING THE SMALL SIZED LOSS IN COMEX OI (601,): TOTAL GAIN IN THE TWO EXCHANGES 1497 CONTRACTS. WE NO DOUBT HAD 1) HUGE BANKER SHORT COVERING ,2.) HUGE INITIAL STANDING AT THE GOLD COMEX FOR MARCH. AT 14.818 TONNES FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S QUEUE JUMP OF 5800 OZ//NEW STANDING 36.678 TONNES /// 3) ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION ///. ,4) SMALL SIZED COMEX OI. GAIN 5) FAIR ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL/

HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS IN 2022 INCLUDING TODAY

MARCH

ACCUMULATION OF EFP’S GOLD AT J.P. MORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES: (EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL) FOR THE MONTH OF MAR :

119,317 CONTRACTS OR 11,931,700 OR 371.12 TONNES 20 TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 5965 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: 371.12TONNES

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

THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 371.12/3550 x 100% TONNES 10.45% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL PRODUCTION

ACCUMULATION OF GOLD EFP’S YEAR 2021 TO 2022

JANUARY/2021: 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. 175.62 TONNES//FINAL ISSUANCE//

JAN:2022 247.25 TONNES //FINAL

FEB: 196.04 TONNES//FINAL

MARCH: 371.12 TONNES INITIAL( THIS IS NOW A RECORD EFP ISSUANCE MONTH.

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 APRIL.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 MARCH HEADING TOWARDS THE ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF APRIL, 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 (MAR), 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.”

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

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

1.Today, we had the open interest at the comex, in SILVER, FELL BY A STRONG SIZED 1629 CONTRACTS TO 156,360 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 665 CONTRACTS

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

MAY 665 ALL OTHER MONTHS: ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 665 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 1027 CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 665 OI TRANSFERRED TO LONDON THROUGH EFP’S,

WE OBTAIN A STRONG SIZED LOSS OF 964 OPEN INTEREST CONTRACT FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES.

THUS IN OUNCES, THE LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 4.820 MILLION OZ,

OCCURRED WITH OUR STRONG $0.20 LOSS IN PRICE.

OUTLINE FOR TODAY’S COMMENTARY

1/COMEX GOLD AND SILVER REPORT

(report Harvey)

2 ) Gold/silver trading overnight Europe,

(Peter Schiff,

3. Egon von Greyerz///Matthew Piepenburg via GoldSwitzerland.com,

4. Chris Powell of GATA provides to us very important physical commentaries

5. Other gold commentaries

6. Commodity commentaries/cryptocurrencies

3. ASIAN AFFAIRS

i)MONDAY MORNING// SUNDAY NIGHT

SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 2.26 PTS OR 0.07% //Hang Sang CLOSED UP 280.09 PTS OR 1.31 % /The Nikkei closed DOWN 205.95 PTS OR 0.73% //Australia’s all ordinaires CLOSED DOWN 0.01% /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN 6.3703 /Oil DOWN TO 107.28 dollars per barrel for WTI and DOWN TO 114.11 for Brent. Stocks in Europe OPENED ALL GREEN // ONSHORE YUAN CLOSED DOWN AGAINST THE DOLLAR AT 6.3703 OFFSHORE YUAN CLOSED DOWN ON THE DOLLAR AT 6.3859: /ONSHORE YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE WEAKER//

A)NORTH KOREA/

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

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

GOLD

LET US BEGIN:

THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST FELL BY A SMALL SIZED 601 CONTRACTS TO 607,974 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 WITH OUR GAIN OF $7.60 IN GOLD PRICING FRIDAY’S COMEX TRADING. WE ALSO HAD A FAIR SIZED EFP (2098 CONTRACTS). . THEY WERE PAID HANDSOMELY NOT TO TAKE DELIVERY AT THE COMEX AND SETTLE FOR CASH.

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 NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF MAR.. THE CME REPORTS THAT THE BANKERS ISSUED A GOOD SIZED TRANSFER THROUGH THE EFP ROUTE AS THESE LONGS RECEIVED A DELIVERABLE LONDON FORWARD TOGETHER WITH A FIAT BONUS.,

THAT IS 2098 EFP CONTRACTS WERE ISSUED: ;: , . 0 APRIL:2098 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:

TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 2098 CONTRACTS

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

ON A NET BASIS IN OPEN INTEREST WE GAINED THE FOLLOWING TODAY ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES: A FAIR SIZED TOTAL OF 1497 CONTRACTS IN THAT 2098 LONGS WERE TRANSFERRED AS FORWARDS TO LONDON AND WE HAD A SMALL SIZED COMEX OI LOSS OF 601 CONTRACTS..AND THIS FAIR SIZED GAIN OCCURRED DESPITE THE LOSS IN PRICE OF $7.60.

// WE HAVE A STRONG AMOUNT OF GOLD TONNAGE STANDING FOR MAR (36.678),

HERE ARE THE AMOUNTS THAT STOOD FOR DELIVERY IN THE PRECEDING 12 MONTHS OF 2021:

DEC 2021: 112.217 TONNES

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 ’21. 113.424 TONNES

JAN ’21: 6.500 TONNES.

TOTAL SO FAR THIS YEAR (JAN- DEC): 601.213 TONNES

YEAR 2022:

JANUARY 2022 17.79 TONNES

FEB 2022: 59.023 TONNES

MARCH: 36.678 TONNES

THE BANKERS WERE SUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE //// (IT FELL $7.60) BUT THEY WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN FLEECING ANY LONGS AS WE HAVE REGISTERED A FAIR SIZED GAIN OF 7.832 TONNES ON TOTAL OI FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES, ACCOMPANYING OUR HUGE GOLD TONNAGE STANDING FOR MAR (36.678 TONNES)…

WE HAD –1021 CONTRACTS SUBTRACTED FROM COMEX TRADES. THESE WERE REMOVED AFTER TRADING ENDED LAST NIGHT

NET GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 1497 CONTRACTS OR 149700 OZ OR 4.656 TONNES

Estimated gold volume today: 255.265 ///fair

Confirmed volume yesterday: 219,900 contracts fair

INITIAL STANDINGS FOR MAR ’22 COMEX GOLD //MARCH 28

Gold	Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers* Inventory in oz*	nil oz
Withdrawals from Customer* Inventory in oz*	3,472.308 oz Int Delaware Delaware includes 8 kilobars (Delaware)
Deposit to the Dealer* Inventory in oz*	nil OZ
Deposits to the Customer* Inventory, in oz*	349,948.040 oz Brinks HSBC includes 4,000 kilobars HSBC
No of oz served (contracts) today	58 notice(s) 5800 OZ 0.1804 TONNES
No of oz to be served (notices)	8 contracts 800 oz 0.0248 TONNES
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month	11,784 notices 1,178,400 OZ36.653 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

For today:

dealer deposits 0

total dealer deposit nil oz

No dealer withdrawal 0

2 customer deposits

i)Into Brinks: 221,344.04 oz

ii) Into HSBC 128,604.000 oz (4,000 kilobars)

total customer deposit: 349,948.040 oz

2 customer withdrawal

i) Out of Int. Delaware: 3215.1000 oz 100 kilobars

ii) out of Delaware 257.208 (8 kilobars)

total withdrawals: 3472.308 oz

ADJUSTMENTS: dealer to customer

i) Manfra: 33,184.442 oZ

CALCULATIONS FOR THE AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR MARCH.

For the front month of MARCH we have an oi of 66 contracts having GAINED 53

We had 5 notices filed yesterday so we gained 58 contracts or 5800 oz will stand at the comex as these guys refused to be EFP’d over to London.

Our banker friends have run out of gold metal everywhere.

April saw a loss of 19,965 contracts down to 108,964. We have 3 days remaining before first day notice. It looks like we will have a strong amount of gold standing for April.

May saw a GAIN of 111 contracts to stand at 4932

June saw a GAIN of 16,640 contracts up to 419,165 contracts

We had 58 notice(s) filed today for 5800 oz FOR THE MAR 2022 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 58 contract(s) of which 0 notices were stopped (received) by j.P. Morgan dealer and 1 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 MAR /2021. contract month,

we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (11,784) x 100 oz , to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of (MAR: 66 CONTRACTS ) minus the number of notices served upon today 58 x 100 oz per contract equals 1,192,000 OZ OR 36.678 TONNES the number of TONNES standing in this active month of mar.

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

No of notices filed so far (11,784) x 100 oz+ (66) OI for the front month minus the number of notices served upon today (58} x 100 oz} which equals 1,192,000 oz standing OR 36.678 TONNES in this NON active delivery month of MAR.

TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING: 36.678 TONNES (A WHOPPER FOR A MAR (NON ACTIVE) DELIVERY MONTH)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

COMEX GOLD INVENTORIES/CLASSIFICATION

NEW PLEDGED GOLD:

191,133,764.7, oz NOW PLEDGED /HSBC 5.94 TONNES

99,258.893 PLEDGED MANFRA 3.08 TONNES

54,339.114oz PLEDGED JPMorgan no 1 1.690 tonnes

243,923.704, oz JPM No 2 7.58 TONNES

898,821.330 oz pledged Brinks/27,96 TONNES

12,249,333 oz International Delaware: 0..3810 tonnes

Loomis: 18,615.429 oz

total pledged gold: 1,506,092.234 oz 46.84 tonnes

TOTAL REGISTERED AND ELIG GOLD AT THE COMEX: 34,786,259.741 OZ (1081.99TONNES)

TOTAL ELIGIBLE GOLD: 17,510,592.523OZ (544.63 tonnes)

TOTAL OF ALL REGISTERED GOLD: 17,275,667.218 OZ (537.34 tonnes)

REGISTERED GOLD THAT CAN BE SERVED UPON: 15,769.575.0 OZ (REG GOLD- PLEDGED GOLD) 490.50 tonnes

END

MAR 2022 CONTRACT MONTH//SILVER//MARCH 28

Silver	Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers* Inventory*	NIL oz
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory	720,374.119 oz CNT Manfra Delaware Int. Delaware JPMorgan
Deposits to the Dealer* Inventory*	nil OZ
Deposits to the Customer Inventory	672,988.040 oz Brinks Delaware
No of oz served today (contracts)	27CONTRACT(S) 135,000 OZ)
No of oz to be served (notices)	24 contracts (120,000 oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)	10,559 contracts 52,795,000 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*

And now for the wild silver comex results

we had 0 deposits into the dealer

total dealer deposits: nil oz

i) We had 0 dealer withdrawal

total dealer withdrawals: nil oz

We have 2 deposits into the customer account

i) Into Delaware: 85,414.060 oz

ii) Into Brinks 587,573.980 oz

total deposit: 672,988.040 oz

JPMorgan has a total silver weight: 179.710 million oz/340.234 million =52.82% of comex

ii) Comex withdrawals: 5

i) Out of CNT: 94,691.557 oz

ii) Out of Delaware 3020.992 oz

iii) Out of Int. Delaware 100,108.350 oz

iv) Out of JPMorgan: 517,658.240 oz

v) Out of Manfra: 4898.780 oz

total withdrawal 720,324.119 oz

5 adjustments: dealer to customer

CNT 589,410.891 oz

Int Delaware: 67,696.980 oz

JPMorgan; 3,176,744.195 oz

Loomis: 750,171.60 oz

Manfra 1,333,122.514 oz

the silver comex is in stress!

TOTAL REGISTERED SILVER: 86,447 MILLION OZ

TOTAL REG + ELIG. 340.234 MILLION OZ

CALCULATION OF SILVER OZ STANDING FOR MARCH

silver open interest data:

FRONT MONTH OF MARCH OI: 51, HAVING LOST 25 CONTRACTS FROM YESTERDAY.

WE HAD 36 NOTICES SERVED UPON YESTERDAY, SO WE GAINED 11 CONTRACTS OR AN ADDITIONAL 55,000 OZ WILL STAND

FOR DELIVERY OVER HERE AS THESE GUYS REFUSED TO BE EFP’D TO LONDON.

APRIL HAD A 330 CONTRACT GAIN// CONTRACTS INCREASE TO 844

MAY HAD A LOSS OF 2596 CONTRACTS UP TO 115,976 contracts

TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR TODAY: 27 for 135,000 oz

Comex volumes: 44,919// est. volume today//poor/

Comex volume: confirmed yesterday: 42,775 contracts ( poor )

To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in MAR. we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at 10,559 x 5,000 oz = 52,795,000 oz

to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of MAR (51) and the number of notices served upon today 27 x (5000 oz) equals the number of ounces standing.

Thus the standings for silver for the MAR./2021 contract month: 10,559 (notices served so far) x 5000 oz + OI for front month of MAR (51) – number of notices served upon today (27) x 5000 oz of silver standing for the MAR contract month equates 52,915,000 oz. .

the record level of silver open interest is 234,787 contracts set on April 21./2017 with the price on 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:

MARCH 28/WITH GOLD DOWN $14.65: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1093.18 TONNES

MARCH 25/WITH GOLD DOWN $7.60 : A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 5.52 TONNES INTO THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1093.18 TONNES

MARCH 24/WITH GOLD UP $24.95: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 4.06 TONNES INTO THE GLD..//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1087.66 TONNES

MARCH 23/WITH GOLD UP $15.75//NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1083.60 TONNES

MARCH 22/WITH GOLD DOWN $7.75: A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 1.16 TONNES OF GOLD DEPOSITED INTO THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1083.60 TONES

MARCH 21//WITH GOLD UP $.25 : A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 9.00 TONNES INTO THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 1082.44 TONES

MARCH 18/WITH GOLD DOWN $13.55 NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1073.44 TONES

MARCH 17/WITH GOLD UP $33.50: A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 11.61 TONNES INTO THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1073.44 TONNES

MARCH 16/WITH GOLD DOWN $18.50//A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.33 TONNES FROM THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1061.83 TONNES

MARCH 15/WITH GOLD DOWN $30.80 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1064.16 TONNES

MARCH 14//WITH GOLD DOWN $22.75, HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//STRANGE: A DEPOSIT OF 2.62 TONNES INTO THE GLD.//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1064.16 TONNES

MARCH 11/WITH GOLD DOWN $14.60: A BIG CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.74 TONNES FROM THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 1061.54 TONNES

MARCH 10//WITH GOLD UP $11.55: A HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.06 TONNES FORM THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1063.28 TONNES

MARCH 9/WITH GOLD DOWN $53.85//A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 4.64 TONNES INTO THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1067.34 TONNES

MARCH 8/WITH GOLD UP $46.10: A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 8.42 TONNES INTO THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1062.70 TONNES

MARCH 7/WITH GOLD UP $28.40 A HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 4.06 TONNES INTO THE GLD..//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1054.28 TONNES

MARCH 4/WITH GOLD UP $28.40//NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1050.22 TONNES

MARCH 3/WITH GOLD UP $13.95: A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 7.84 TONNES//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1050.22 TONNES

MARCH 2/WITH GOLD DOWN $20.80//A MONSTER CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 13.36 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 1042.38 TONNES

MARCH 1/WITH GOLD UP $42.60: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: //INVENTORY RESTS AT 1029.32 TONNES

FEB 28/WITH GOLD UP $12.95: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1029.32 TONNES

FEB 25/WITH GOLD DOWN $38.95: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1029.32 TONNES

FEB 24/WITH GOLD UP $17.35//A HUGE CHANGE AT THE GLD: 5.23 TONNES INTO THE GLD// IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY REST AT 1029.32 TONNES

FEB 23/WITH GOLD UP $2.00 : NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1024.09 TONNES

FEB 22/WITH GOLD UP $6.20: A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 4.65 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 1024.09 TONNES

FEB 18/WITH GOLD DOWN $1.80: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1019.44 TONNES

FEB 17/WITH GOLD UP $29.50: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1019.44 TONNES

FEB 16/WITH GOLD UP 414.60 NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1019.44 TONNES

FEB 15/WITH GOLD DOWN $12.70 NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1019.44 TONNES

FEB 14/WITH GOLD UP $27.20 NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1019.44 TONNES

FEB 11/WITH GOLD UP $4.50 A HUGE CHANGE IN GOLD IVNETORY AT THE GLD// A DEPOSIT OF 3.48 TONNES INTO THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 1019.44 TONES

CLOSING INVENTORY FOR THE GLD//1093.18 TONNES

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

MARCH 28/WITH SILVER DOWN 30 CENTS TODAY: A HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 1.847 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 554.167 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 25/WITH SILVER DOWN 20 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 552.320 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 24/WITH SILVER UP 54 CENTS TODAY; A HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 2.092 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 552.320 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 23/WITH SILVER UP 24 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 550.288 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 22/WITH SILVER DOWN $0.29 TODAY : NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 550.288 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 21/WITH SILVER UP 16 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 550.288 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 18/WITH SILVER DOWN 37 CENTS TODAY: A HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 2.217 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 550.288 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 17/ WITH SILVER UP 72 CENTS TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 3.049 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLVV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 548.071 MILLION OZ

MARCH 16/WITH SILVER DOWN 56 CENTS TODAY: A SMALL CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 462,000 OZ FROM THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 544.560 MLLION O

MARCH 15/WITH SILVER DOWN 18 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 545.022 MILLION OZ

MARCH 14/WITH SILVER DOWN 64 CENTS TODAY; STRANGE A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 2.125 MILLION OZ/INVENTORY RESTS AT 545.022 MILLIONOZ

MARCH 11/WITH SILVER DOWN 13 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 542.897 MILLION OZ

MARCH 10/WITH SILVER UP 39 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 542.897 MILLION OZ/

MARCH 9/WITH SILVER DOWN 88 CENTS TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 5.174 MILLION OZ OF FAKE SILVER.//INVENTORY RESTS AT 542.897 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 8/WITH SILVER UP 88 CENTS TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 2.217 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS A 548.071 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 7/WITH SILVER UP 40 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 545.854 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 4/WITH SILVER UP 50 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 545.854 MILLION OZ/

MARCH 3/WITH SILVER UP 2 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 545.854 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 2/WITH SILVER DOWN $.32 TODAY: A SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 198,000 OZ FROM THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 545.854 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 1/WITH SILVER UP $1.13 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 546.052 MILLION OZ//

FEB 28/WITH SILVER UP 31 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY REST AT 546.052 MILLION OZ//

FEB 25/WITH SILVER DOWN 64 CENTS TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 5.510 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 546.052 MILLION OZ/

FEB 24/WITH SILVER UP 15 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 551.597 MILLION OZ

FEB 23/WITH SILVER UP 22 CENTS TODAY; NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 551.597 MILLION OZ//

FEB 22/WITH SILVER UP 30 CENTS TODAY: A SMALL CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 350,000 OZ INTO THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 551.597 MILLION OZ//

FEB 18/WITH SILVER UP 7 CENTS TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 1.017 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 551.227 MILLION OZ

FEB 17/WITH SILVER UP 31 CENTS TODAY: A HUGE CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 2.402 MILLION OZ//INVENTORY RESTS AT 550.210 MILLION OZ/

FEB 16/WITH SILVER UP 21 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 547.808 MILLIONOZ

FEB 15/WITH SILVER DOWN 46 CENTS TODAY : NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 547.808 MILLION OZ//

FEB 14/WITH SILVER UP 49 CENTS TODAY; A HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 3.235 MILLION OZ INTO THES LV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 547.808 MILLION OZ

FEB 11/WITH SILVER DOWN 18 CENTS TODAY:NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 544.573 MILLION OZ///

SLV FINAL INVENTORY FOR TODAY: 554.167 MILLION OZ//

PHYSICAL GOLD/SILVER STORIES

1.PETER SCHIFF

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

(COURTESY JAMES RICKARDS)

The Newest Case for Gold

The stars are aligning for gold. A combination of geopolitical tumult, supply chain problems and inflation all point to much higher gold prices. Today, I’ll break it all down.

If you believe that the war in Ukraine will end soon, that global supply chains will heal quickly and that inflation is transitory, then you’re probably in for a rude awakening. In fact, none of those things is likely.

Even if the shooting stops in Ukraine soon, something that is not at all assured, the geopolitical consequences will dominate events for years or decades.

Putin will have asserted Russian de facto control over eastern Ukraine, if not outright annexation. Ukraine’s hope of NATO and EU membership will be permanently denied.

And the divisions in the West between the U.S. and the U.K. on the one hand and France and Germany on the other with respect to energy and trade with Russia will be on full display.

The Western alliance will lie in ruins. But Ukraine isn’t the only international security crisis underway.

Simmering Tensions

China has been rattling sabers in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.

Iran is in the late stages of renegotiating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that deals with Iran’s uranium enrichment plans and efforts to build a nuclear warhead that can be fitted on a missile.

North Korea is again testing intermediate-range missiles and may be preparing to test an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching Guam, Hawaii, Alaska and the West Coast of the United States.

Furthermore, there are ongoing crises in Syria, Lebanon, Venezuela, Sudan, Ethiopia and elsewhere around the world. The bottom line is there are plenty of geopolitical tensions to go around.

Besides the geopolitics, there’s the geoeconomics…

“The War Is Already Damaging Global Supply Chains”

Supply chains will be in even worse shape. The global supply chain crisis was underway well before the war in Ukraine. The pandemic particularly hurt supply chains as buyer and seller facilities in plants, ports, shipping, trucking, warehouses and distribution centers were all closed temporarily (and at different times depending on the location of the outbreaks).

This created tremendous bottlenecks and backlogs. Now comes the war in Ukraine with extensive sanctions, retaliation and physical disruption from the war itself. The war is already damaging global supply chains.

For example, BMW and Volkswagen have both shut down automobile production lines because of their inability to obtain a simple cable wiring harness part that is supplied by production facilities in Ukraine.

In some cases, you can assemble most of the automobile and then install a delayed part near the end of the process. That’s not true for wiring harnesses. They are installed almost at the beginning of the manufacturing process. This means that the assembly line is halted at an early stage of production and nothing else can be done in the meantime.

This is a pointed example but far from the only one. The manufacture of many products all over the world is suffering disruption due to supply chain delays with their origin in Ukraine. Agriculture and wheat exports may be the worst affected.

The Breadbasket Is Empty

The planting season begins soon and Ukraine cannot obtain the fertilizer it needs to plant crops. Those crop shortages will impact global supplies next fall when the harvest season begins.

Ukraine’s nickname is the Breadbasket of Europe. It along with Russia supply about 25% of the global wheat supply and 20% of the global corn supply. What do you think will happen when that supply dries up?

The problem is actually worse than that because most of the grain in the world is not raised for human consumption. It’s raised to feed the animals that we eat. If you want a nice hamburger, for example, it’s going to come from a cow that ate wheat probably produced in Ukraine. And now that’s offline.

Then there’s the impact on semiconductors and strategic metals. Airbus gets 50% of its titanium from Russia and Boeing gets 35% of its titanium from Russia. Russia and Ukraine together control 30% of the global output of titanium, so they’re not going to be getting any new airplanes for a while.

“Good Luck Making Semiconductors”

Meanwhile, we’ve cut off semiconductor shipments to Russia. If you cut off semiconductors to Russia, yes, that will damage their economy. But how do you make semiconductors? You take silicon chips and etch them with lasers.

How do you power a laser? With a processed neon gas. Sixty-five percent of all the processed neon gas in the world comes from one company in Odessa, Ukraine. So Putin says, oh, you’re cutting off my semiconductors? Fine. I’m going to cut off your neon gas. Good luck making semiconductors.

Basically, you’re talking about shutting down much of the world’s semiconductor industry. Think about that for a second. There are over 1,400 semiconductors in your car alone.

Supply chains take decades to build but can be fractured in a matter of weeks when extreme sanctions are imposed, as they have been on Russia.

Pick Your Poison

Meanwhile, Russia’s exports will not stop, but they will be rerouted to China, India and the Middle East instead of Europe and the U.S. The result will be higher costs, longer lead times and persistent shortages.

Inflation is also not temporary or “transitory.” Once prices of oil, natural gas, strategic metals and agricultural exports spike, they do not retreat unless there is something like a global depression.

So, your choices are permanently higher prices or a new great depression. Take your pick. All of these scenarios are bad for the global economy but good for gold. The stars are aligning for gold.

Inflation is obviously also good for gold because inflation generally runs ahead of interest rate hikes. The interest rates do catch up eventually, but for the first year or two, higher inflation with lagging rate hikes means real rates are going negative.

That’s the ideal condition for gold price increases.

A Golden Anchor

Contrary to most investors’ expectations, a serious recession or even depression is also good for gold. Gold prices rose almost 75% during the Great Depression (from $20.67 per ounce to $35.00 per ounce) as the government engineered a dollar devaluation to cause inflation in all commodities as a way to defeat the prevalent deflation.

With this as the investment backdrop, gold investors should get ready for what I call $100 days.

At current price levels, making large profits in gold gets easier by the day. Here’s why: If you own gold and it goes up $100 per ounce, you make $100 per ounce. But each $100 per ounce gain is easier than the one before because it’s a smaller percentage gain from a higher denominator.

If gold is $1000 per ounce and it goes up $100 per ounce, that’s a 10% gain. But, if gold is $2,000 per ounce and it goes up $100 per ounce, that’s a 5% gain.

The Sooner You Buy Gold, the Better

Carrying that logic forward, if gold is $3,000 per ounce and it goes up $100 per ounce, that’s a 3.3% gain. Each increase is easier because it represents a smaller percentage of the new base price.

But you still make $100 per ounce.

That’s why it’s important to buy gold now because this process is just beginning. We’ll see $100 per ounce gains on a weekly basis. Soon, we’ll see those gains on a daily basis. At $5,000 per ounce, a $100 per ounce gain is a 2% gain, which is almost normal daily volatility.

The sooner you buy gold, the sooner you can start to enjoy those $100 days … or maybe $10,000 days if you own 100 ounces.

Regards,

Jim Rickards
for The Daily Reckoning

-END

–

-END-

LAWRIE WILLIAMS

LAWRIE WILLIAMS: Putin’s war of unintended consequences.

When President Putin pressed the ‘invade Ukraine’ button a month ago he surely made a huge miscalculation. There have been devastating effects on the Russian economy, although one suspects it can handle these. Progress of his armed forces has been much slower than anticipated, despite supposedly superior numbers and weaponry. Huge losses of personnel and equipment are reportedly being incurred and the strength of opposition from the Ukrainian people (even those of Russian ethnicity) has been far stronger than his forces had been led to believe

In his ideal scenario, Kyiv would have fallen within a couple of days, the Ukraine government deposed and the assumed welcome by a population which he believed would wish for Russian alignment and effective control would bring him rapid success. This would have been achieved without any response from what he saw as a weak NATO alliance bent on avoiding a direct military conflict with what his advisers and generals had told him was a virtually invincible military machine.

In the event virtually none of these objectives have been achieved apart from the reluctance of NATO forces to become directly involved in the military conflict. The Russian military’s potential invincibility has been shown up as dubious to say the least, few Ukrainian cities have so far totally succumbed to Russian occupation despite a callous bombardment of civilian areas with substantial loss of life; there has been no welcome from the Ukrainian citizenry and, arguably, NATO is now more united than it has ever been before.

Ukraine, and its charismatic actor-turned-President, Volodomyr Zelenskyy, has been winning the global propaganda war hands down – apart from within Russia itself where the domestic media is increasingly under total Kremlin control. Indeed Russia has probably found itself more politically isolated than at any time since the end of the Cold War.

President Putin has always felt that any increase in Western economic sanctions designed to cripple his country’s economy could be shrugged off and indeed has been following a de-dollarisation policy for many years in anticipation. Western reliance on Russian oil, gas and coal might have been seen as something of a trump card in this respect, but recent moves to remove this dependence may have an almost crippling long term effect on the Russian economy if there is no change in leadership, and even then Western nations, in continental Europe in particular, will probably never again hold themselves hostage to a single dominant supplier of key strategic supplies. The Putin war is changing global business relationships in ways he probably cannot have anticipated to the potential long term disadvantage of his nation’s economy.

True, sanctions may be eased if, and when, Russian forces withdraw, but there is little sign of this happening as yet, as Russia perhaps settles for a longer term war of attrition to try and break down Ukrainian resistance. President Putin does seem to be changing the focus of the attack to consolidation into Russia of the Donbas region of Ukraine and perhaps the maintenance of a land corridor between Donbas and Crimea, although it still seems doubtful if Ukraine will agree to this. But at least the two sides do seem to be talking which is a sign of hope for an end to the conflict.

As a result of this apparent marginal reduction in tensions, the gold price has come back a little this morning, but whether this trend will continue remains to be seen. If some compromises can be reached and the confrontation ended, and there does seem to be some small possibility of this occurring, gold could fall back to the $1,900 level or below, particularly if there is indeed some easing of Russian sanctions as a quid pro quo.

That would reduce some of the inflationary pressures resulting from the Russian sanctions but there will still be some ongoing impacts from European nations undoubtedly moving to reduce their dependence on Russian-produced commodities and other supplies. President Putin’s biggest error in initiating the Ukraine invasion may be a miscalculation of the likely long term effects on the Russian economy.

Global trade patterns will thus probably never be the same again. Reliance on strategic supplies from a potential rival nation will be eased out of global trade, This will undoubtedly add to global inflation trends as nations move to become more reliant on strategic supplies from domestic and openly more friendly sources, which will almost certainly lead to higher input costs and consumer prices.

28 Mar 2022

3. Chris Powell of GATA provides to us very important physical commentaries

A must read….

Alasdair Macleod

Alasdair Macleod: Designing a new currency is impractical

Submitted by admin on Fri, 2022-03-25 12:29Section: Daily Dispatches

By Alasdair Macleod
GoldMoney, Toronto
Friday, March 25, 2022

Rising interest rates threaten to destabilise both financial asset values and the fiat currencies in which they are priced. This outcome is feared by the chattering classes who increasingly speculate about currency resets.

So far, we have seen cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, plans for the introduction of central bank digital currencies, plans to de-dollarise Asian trade, and even El Salvador adopting bitcoin as legal tender.
But are these resets valid?

Except for a new currency mooted for cross-border trading purposes between Russia, its former Central Asian satellites and China only at the conceptual stage, all these plans fail in one important respect: as things stand, legally none of them can have the status of a currency.

Money — that is, physical gold and silver, banknotes, and bank credit — is exempt from property law with respect to stolen goods that otherwise can be seized from innocent parties who have subsequently acquired them.

Without this exemption embodied in lex mercatoria a currency replacement is useless. The only replacement for fiat is a currency credibly backed by gold. And that is the legal position! …

… For the remainder of the analysis:

https://www.goldmoney.com/research/goldmoney-insights/designing-a-new-currency-is-impractical?gmrefcode=gata

end

Lundin: sanctioning Russia’s gold reserves may boomerang against the uSA

(Brien Lundin/GATA)

Brien Lundin: Sanctioning Russia’s gold reserves may boomerang against U.S.

Submitted by admin on Fri, 2022-03-25 21:59Section: Daily Dispatches

By Brien Lundin
Gold Newsletter, Metairie, Louisiana
https://goldnewsletter.com/
Thursday, March 25, 2022

Any U.S. sanctions on Russia’s gold reserves would do little more than reveal the degree to which government bureaucrats don’t understand gold.

The beauty of gold, unlike currencies, is that it is an untrackable store of value that has no counterparty.

At least in smaller amounts, Russia could easily sell gold on the open market. In bulk quantities it could just as easily sell the gold to China with no record of the transactions. In fact, that would seem a very likely outlet, as China has demonstrated that it is an eager buyer of gold and has kept the size of its gold reserves a closely guarded secret.

The result of sanctions against Russian gold reserves would be to alert the 36 countries that hold significant portions of their gold reserves in the vaults of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York that they should take their gold back as soon as possible.

And that could create significant turmoil in the gold market, since the Fed has demonstrated difficulty in actually finding and transporting the gold it holds for other nations. The bank famously told Germany that it would take seven years to repatriate just a portion of that nation’s holdings. It ended up taking only four years, but the episode raised serious doubts that all the claimed national gold reserves are actually at hand in the New York Fed’s vaults.

So the United States should think twice before placing sanctions on Russia’s gold reserves.

In the short term, it could depress the gold price if Russia is able to sell a significant portion of its reserves. If, for instance, Russia was able to make arrangements to sell a significant percentage of its gold to China (likely at a discount), that would depress China’s gold buying for some time.

Longer term, when other nations start requesting their gold back from the New York Fed, it would send the U.S. scrambling to find gold to fill those requests, assuming that the gold wasn’t readily available in the Fed’s vaults. This could create enormous new demand in the global gold market and be a big factor in driving the price higher.

In general, the global gold reserve “business” is based on the idea that the holdings are essentially immobile. There’s a lot of evidence that much of this gold has been leased out to institutions over the past few decades, with those institutions then selling the gold into the market and paying minimal interest on the gold debt.

So any call on those reserves would create massive short-covering all down the chain and send the gold price rising precipitously.

end

The big news of the day from Friday:

Russian central bank will resume buying gold from banks, doing so at fixed price

Submitted by admin on Sat, 2022-03-26 10:34Section: Daily Dispatches

From Reuters
Friday, March 25, 2022

https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/russian-cenbank-restart-buying-gold-banks-will-pay-fixed-price-march-28-2022-03-25/

The Russian central bank will restart buying gold from banks and will pay a fixed price of 5,000 roubles ($52) per gram between March 28 and June 30, the bank said today.

The central bank, which suspended gold purchases from banks in mid-March to meet increased demand for the precious metal from households, said the resumption of buying would help ensure sustainable supply and the uninterrupted functioning of gold producers.

END

This is also big news as India allows Russia to invest in Indian local bonds. Many eastern countries will do the same and that will bring down the uSA dollar hegemony

(Goldman/Asia Times/HongKong/GATA)

Dollar reserve system frays with India-Russia currency deals

Submitted by admin on Sat, 2022-03-26 10:50Section: Daily Dispatches

By David P. Goldman
Asia Times, Hong Kong
Saturday, March 26, 2022

Russia and India took a small but important step toward non-dollar trade financing and investment on Friday when the Reserve Bank of India allowed Russia to invest the proceeds of its arms sales to India in local-currency corporate bonds.

Russia’s account with India’s central bank is small, with a reported balance of US$262 million, but the prospective advantages to both countries are enormous.

India will pay for one of its most important import items, Russian weapons, in local currency, and Russia will invest the proceeds in a financial market safe from sanctions.

India changed its rules on external commercial borrowing to accommodate the Russian proposal, Bloomberg News reported. The United States, European Union, and Japan seized Russian central bank reserves as well as the assets of wealthy Russian nationals after Moscow’s troops invaded Ukraine in late February. …

… For the remainder of the report:

Dollar reserve system frays with India-Russia currency deals

end

China is now using huge amounts of coal bypassing LNG use. This should free up LNG gas for europe

(Ambrose Evans Pritchard)

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: China’s coal revival may soon slash our energy bills but at wicked cost

Submitted by admin on Sat, 2022-03-26 10:57Section: Daily Dispatches

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
The Telegraph, London
Friday, March 25, 2022

It would be a grim irony if the Chinese Communist Party rescues Europe from an energy shock this year by shovelling wagons of coal from the mines of Shanxi and Inner Mongolia, trashing the planet in the process.

Citigroup thinks this is exactly what may now happen. Surging coal use in China will displace imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) used in power plants, freeing up hydrocarbons for the rest of the world.

China became the world’s biggest importer of seaborne gas last year: a key reason why gas prices were spiralling upwards even before the Kremlin began to manipulate supply. What it now does determines our fate in Europe.

Citigroup is telling clients that global gas prices could fall as fast as they rose, plummeting over the second half of this year as diverted LNG floods the world market. It has pencilled in European gas prices of $10 per Metric Million British Thermal Unit or lower by the summer, down from a peak of $110 at the height of the winter crisis.

“China could be turning itself from a voracious energy importer to possibly the only country with spare coal and natural gas production capacity to help normalise the global markets,” said Anthony Yuen, the bank’s commodity strategist. …

… For the remainder of the analysis:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/03/25/chinas-coal-revival-may-soon-slash-energy-bills-wicked-ecological/

end

Russia’s ‘nuclear option’ isn’t bombs but gold, London trader Maguire says

Submitted by admin on Sat, 2022-03-26 11:55Section: Daily Dispatches

11:55a ET Saturday, March 26, 2022

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

Russia, London metals trader Andrew Maguire says in his weekly interview with Shane Morand for Kinesis Money, is moving steadily toward using its “nuclear option” in its conflict with the West over Ukraine. That option, Maguire says, doesn’t involve bombs but rather demanding gold as payment for Russia’s oil and gas exports.

Western sanctions against Russia, Maguire adds, are tightening gold supplies and putting gold derivatives in danger.

The interview is 34 minutes long and can be viewed at YouTube here:

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

end

4.OTHER GOLD/SILVER COMMENTARIES

A good read.

(Kimani/OilPrice.com)

How The West’s Ban On Russian Gold Could Backfire

SUNDAY, MAR 27, 2022 – 02:30 PM

Authored by Alex Kimani via OilPrice.com,

The latest round of sanctions imposed on Moscow by the West is drawing some mixed reactions from experts.
The U.S. announcement to block gold transactions was done alongside Group of Seven and European Union allies that will also impose the gold reserve ban.
“Any sanctions on Russia’s gold reserves would do little more than reveal the degree to which government bureaucrats don’t understand gold.”

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine about a month ago, the U.S. and its western allies swiftly imposed a raft of economic and trade sanctions on Russia, notably on buying oil, a partial SWIFT ban and against billionaire oligarchs seen as close to President Vladimir Putin. Russia hit back by imposing export bans including telecoms, medical, vehicle, agricultural, and electrical equipment, as well as some forestry products such as timber.

But it’s the latest round of sanctions that has been drawing mixed reactions across the board: the U.S. ban on gold transactions with Russia.

On Thursday, the U.S. made it clear that any transaction involving gold related to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation is already covered by existing sanctions, and any violations were likely to attract secondary sanctions.

Russia has an estimated $132 billion in gold stockpiles, roughly 20% of the holdings in the Russian Central Bank, thanks to heightened buying activity since the 2014 annexation of Crimea. Those reserves, coupled with Russia’s $630 billion in foreign exchange reserves, can help finance its war machine.

“U.S. persons, including gold dealers, distributors, wholesalers, buyers, individual traders, refineries, and financial institutions, are generally prohibited from engaging in or facilitating prohibited transactions, including gold-related transactions in which blocked persons have an interest,” according to a release from the Treasury on frequently asked questions.

The U.S. announcement to block gold transactions was done alongside Group of Seven and European Union allies that will also impose the gold reserve ban. Putin’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has termed the foreign reserves ban ‘thievery,’ with finance minister Anton Siluanov revealing earlier this month that about $300 billion had been frozen.

A cross-section of experts, however, is not optimistic that a gold ban will be equally effective while others say that Putin might have unveiled the ultimate countermeasure against all sanctions.

Propping the ruble

There’s growing speculation by U.S. officials that Russia is using its vast gold reserves to support its currency as a way to circumvent the impact of sanctions. One way to do that is by swapping the gold for a more liquid foreign exchange that is not subject to current sanctions. Another way would be to sell the bullion through gold markets and dealers. The gold could also be used to directly purchase goods and services from willing sellers.

However, some experts are now questioning the rationale behind banning Russian gold transactions.

“Any sanctions on Russia’s gold reserves would do little more than reveal the degree to which government bureaucrats don’t understand gold. The beauty of gold, unlike currencies, is that it is an untrackable store of value that has no counterparty,” Brien Lundin, editor of Gold Newsletter, has told MarketWatch.
“At least in smaller amounts, Russia could easily sell gold on the open market. In bulk quantities, it could just as easily sell the gold to China with no record of the transaction,” Lundin has added, noting that China has demonstrated that it is an “eager buyer of gold.”

Jeff Wright, chief investment officer at Wolfpack Capital, says selling gold is probably not Russia’s first choice anyway because it could effectively signal a complete collapse of its economy and a sign of weakness by Russian leadership. Rather, Russia is more likely to resort to selling discounted oil to Russian-aligned countries, rather than selling gold, according to Wright.

And, these experts might be right on the money.

A couple of days ago, Putin instructed Russian oil and gas companies to sell their oil and gas to unfriendly countries exclusively in rubles.

Rubles for oil

Putin has ordered that gas contracts with “unfriendly” countries–those responsible for sanctions against Russia–be settled in rubles rather than in foreign currencies and gave Russia’s central bank and gas suppliers like Gazprom one week to implement the change.

Last year, about 97% of Gazprom’s foreign gas sales were in euros and dollars.

Maybe Putin need not have gone that far thanks to the western heavy reliance on Russia’s energy commodities.

Energy payments are a lifeline for Russia’s increasingly isolated economy, and western gas sales have been softening the blow by harsh sanctions. After crashing as much as 40% in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the ruble has managed to claw back much of its losses against the dollar, though it’s still trading nearly 30% below pre-invasion levels. The ruble briefly strengthened to a three-week peak of 95 rubles to the U.S. dollar on news of Putin’s order, before settling weaker at 98 rubles to the dollar.

It’s not clear how far Putin is willing to go to enforce the order. Last week, Russia made a critical bond payment in U.S. dollars despite speculation that it might choose to pay in rubles or even default altogether.

“In an extreme scenario, insisting on ruble payments may give buyers cause to re-open other aspects of their contracts–such as the duration–and simply speed up their exit from Russian gas altogether,” Vinicius Romano, senior analyst for Rystad Energy, has told Fortune.

In the final analysis, sanctions are likely to deal a big blow to the Russian economy, but Russia still might have significant leverage to soften the blow

5.OTHER COMMODITIES/

DIESEL

Small trucking firms are feeling the pain from skyrocketing diesel prices

(zerohedge)

“It’s Been Difficult” – Small US Trucking Fleets Squeezed By Skyrocketing Diesel Prices

SATURDAY, MAR 26, 2022 – 08:00 PM

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, disrupting commodity markets, and the worsening diesel shortage are wreaking havoc on small trucking companies pressured by soaring petroleum prices.

WSJ spoke with US trucking fleets and found smaller ones are susceptible to spiking fuel prices versus larger ones because they don’t have the hedging capacity and working capital.

The latest data from AAA shows the average price for a gallon of diesel at the pump is around $5.079, a record high and up more than 28% since the Ukrainian invasion in late February.

A price shock of this magnitude in such a short time has been brutal for small trucking operators with less leverage than larger fleets.

“It’s been difficult,” said Derek Crusenberry, director of business development at JSG Trucking Co. in Acampo, California, which has 20 trucks hauling lumber, steel, and canned products across Northern California.

“We have had to find ourselves diving into our margins to support operations, to keep the wheels turning, quite literally,” Crusenberry said.

Geopolitical turmoil in Eastern Europe and what Reuters’ head commodity analyst John Kemp has described, “worsening diesel shortages in the United States and the rest of the world are intensifying upward pressure on petroleum prices and threaten to recreate the conditions that led to the record price spike in 2008,” have led to JSG and many other smaller trucking fleets to react slower to changing fuel prices and inability to pass on additional fuel expenses.

To cover unpredictable swings in fuel markets, trucking operators use fuel surcharges. According to freight management company Truckstop, surcharges have doubled to 43 cents a mile from 19 cents since the beginning of the year.

Some trucking firms, especially larger ones, were able to insulate their business ahead of the Ukrainian invasions.

A. Duie Pyle Inc., a trucking firm with 1,800 trucks serving the Northeast and specializing in less-than-truckload hauls, bought 430,000 gallons of diesel before the sudden spike in fuel prices. The carrier is now adjusting fuel surcharges.

“Nobody contemplated back then we could see diesel costs in excess of $5 a gallon.
“The velocity of the increase has really been dramatic,” said Peter Latta, chairman of A. Duie Pyle. He noted customers “have been very understanding.”

Another issue for smaller trucking operators, besides their inability or limited capacity to hedge soaring fuel costs, is the time it takes to receive payment.

Larger firms have credit and working capital lines and are cushioned as they are paid 30 or 45 days after hauling loads. However, smaller firms don’t have that luxury as larger ones, as explained by Avery Vise, a freight analyst at FTR Transportation Intelligence.

“But a smaller carrier, even if it’s getting surcharges, if it’s not getting that surcharge paid until a month or month-and-a-half down the road, they’re going to have to float that difference in the interim,” Vise said. “And that’s potentially problematic.”

To weather the storm, smaller firms reject long-haul jobs, cut down on highway speed, and reduce idling time.

Sadaya Morris, a small truck operator in the Northeast, said her fuel costs have jumped from around $250 to $400 in the last several weeks. She has since moved her business away from freight brokers to working directly with customers for better rates to compensate for rising fuel costs.

A small fleet of eleven trucks in Stockton, California, called Superior Modular Transport Inc, said their weekly fuel costs are up $10,000. Drivers are working fewer hours as customers refuse to pay higher freight costs.

“Ultimately, if it continues, we could possibly have to park trucks,” said President Daniel Titus. There has been a “shock factor,” he added, because Superior’s customers tell the carrier they can’t pass the higher cost of freight transport along to their own customers quickly enough to keep up with the rising prices.

The Biden administration has a real mess on their hands as they might panic release another SPR dump to reign in fuel prices. So far, the other dumps have yet to work.

end

LITHIUM

The huge increase in lithium prices adds dramatically to EV’s and thus could spark demand destruction

(zerohedge0

Morgan Stanley Fears Soaring Lithium Prices Could Spark Demand Destruction For EVs

MONDAY, MAR 28, 2022 – 02:45 AM

Prices of lithium carbonate, a key ingredient in the manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries, have jumped so significantly over the past year that EV manufacturers are beginning to raise vehicle costs. Morgan Stanley points out that demand destruction could be possible if EV prices increase too much in response to soaring commodity prices.

Morgan Stanley’s Jack Lu told clients Thursday that the cost of lithium carbonate has jumped fivefold over the past year. Bloomberg data shows lithium carbonate per ton costs around $74k.

Lu said that because of high lithium carbonate prices, EV manufacturers are set to raise vehicle prices by as much as 15%, which could hurt demand as the cost of ‘going green’ gets more expensive.

“Historically, the battery price cost curve had been declining at a pace of 3% to 7% annually for so many years in a row it almost seemed inevitable.
“But molecules don’t play by the same rules as Moore’s Law. The world has changed, and along with it is a new paradigm of input costs,” Lu said.

The analyst said lithium demand outstrips supply.

“The price explosion tells you that lithium supply is simply nowhere near enough to feed this demand surge,” OilPrice.com reported.

And it’s not just lithium. Nickel, another critical metal for lithium-ion batteries, surged in recent weeks, making the overall cost of batteries more expensive.

Tesla has raised vehicle prices twice this month in response to soaring commodity prices. Tesla also raised prices for its megapack battery.

To counter some of the costs, Tesla recently announced some of its vehicles would use cheaper iron-phosphate battery cells.

According to Kelley Blue Book, EVs cost an average of $56,437, much higher than the average new combustion engine car. Rising commodity prices will only make EVs more out of reach for average Americans as the Biden administration continues pushing its going green agenda.

end

NICKEL/LME

Special thanks to Doug C for sending this to us:

Metal Exchange Chaos Sends Traders Rushing To The Exit – DollarCollapse.com

Inbox

Metal Exchange Chaos Sends Traders Rushing To The Exit

Metal Exchange Chaos Sends Traders Rushing To The Exit

by ◆

The number of open positions across the LME’s six main metals fell more than 8% in the two weeks after the exchange suspended trading in nickel and canceled billions of dollars worth of transactions on March 8. Investors have queued up to unwind their nickel positions since the market reopened, and the chaos has spilled over into other markets too, with aluminum and zinc exposure dropping sharply.

There are signs that open interest will drop further as investors and traders head for the exit, putting a further strain on liquidity in the benchmark futures market for industrial metals. The turmoil in the nickel market has angered many investors and several — including both metals veterans and generalists — have said they are pulling back from the LME.

Physical traders are also shifting their deals away from LME pricing where possible, according the people familiar with the matter. The move, which further threatens the LME’s central role in global metals markets, reduces traders’ need for hedges on the exchange that could then lead to big margin calls.

“With high levels of volatility across all LME metals, against a backdrop of geopolitical instability, open interest has fallen broadly in line with expectation, and is a trend that is evident across commodity markets,” the LME said in a statement.

To be sure, the trend isn’t limited to the LME, and there are signs of mass liquidation across commodities markets amid roiling price moves and severe constraints on financing. But traders and brokers with exposure to other markets say the aversion to trading on the LME has been heightened by its handling of the mayhem in nickel.

The LME suspended nickel trading and canceled transactions after prices soared 250% over two trading sessions, touching a record $101,365 a ton amid a short squeeze focused on China’s Tsingshan Holding Group Co. Following a weeklong suspension and a faltering effort to reopen the market, prices then plunged amid thin volumes, with many previously bullish investors enduring sharp drops as they waited to unwind their positions.

About 31,000 nickel contracts were liquidated between March 8 and March 22, driving open interest to the lowest since 2013. At Wednesday’s three-month closing price, they would have been worth roughly $6 billion.

In China, traders are unwinding positions they had built to bet on the arbitrage between the Shanghai and London markets, according to one Chinese metals trader, who said no-one he’s spoken to there is still trading LME nickel.

Still, while investors are pulling back from the exchange, volumes from industrial users and physical traders may prove more resilient, given that many hedgers have few alternative exchanges they can use.

“People want to trade and they need to trade, but it’s just a very difficult environment,” Michael Widmer, head of metals research at Bank of America Corp., said by phone from London. “If there was a competing contract on a peer exchange, we could see trading migrating over to it, but we’re not there yet.”

Investors are preparing for a massive profit windfall as a group of rare metals needed for our national defense – called Rare Earth Elements or REEs for short – are surging higher on booming demand. China currently controls the global REE market to the tune of about 85%.

6.CRYPTOCURRENCIES

7. GOLD/ TRADING TODAY

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

ONSHORE YUAN: CLOSED DOWN 6.3703

OFFSHORE YUAN: 6.3859

HANG SANG CLOSED UP 280.09 PTS OR 1.31%

2. Nikkei closed DOWN 205.95PTS OR 0.73%

3. Europe stocks ALL GREEN

USA dollar INDEX UP TO 99.20/Euro FALLS TO 1.0966

3b Japan 10 YR bond yield: RISES TO. +.260/ !!!!(Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese yen vs usa cross now at 124.19/ 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:: 107,38 and Brent: 114.11

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

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

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

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

3i European bond buying continues to push yields lower on all fronts in the EMU. German 10yr bund RISES TO +.0.592%/Italian 10 Yr bond yield RISES to 2.12% /SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD RISES TO 1.46%…ITALIAN 10 YR BOND YIELD/GERMAN BUND: 1.53: DANGEROUS FOR THE ITALIAN BANKING SYSTEM

3j Greek 10 year bond yield RISES TO : 2.85

3k Gold at $1933.00 silver at: 25.03 7 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $30.00

3l USA vs Russian rouble;// Russian rouble UP 5 3/4 in roubles/dollar; ROUBLE AT 98.25

3m oil into the 107 dollar handle for WTI and 114 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 124.19 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 .9357– as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF 1.0261 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: 2.485 UP 1 BASIS PTS

USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 2.588 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS

USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 14.84

Futures Reverse Overnight Losses As More Curves Invert, Yen Plummets To 7 Year Low

MONDAY, MAR 28, 2022 – 08:08 AM

After initially sliding lower, US equity futures reversed and erased earlier declines, climbing 0.2% along with Nasdaq futures as Stoxx Europe 600 extends gains to 1.1%, a move that found added inertia after Tesla, one of the world’s biggest companies, soared 6% after hinting it too would pursue a stock split weeks after Amazon did the same. Most Asian shares lost ground earlier, with Chinese stocks falling as a virus flareup led to a lockdown in financial hub Shanghai, and raised worries over fresh supply chain disruptions while even higher yields led to growing recession fears. Cryptocurrency-exposed stocks gains as Bitcoin turned positive for 2022; gold and oil retreated.

The early weakness in risk was driven by today’s extension of last week’s yield surge which saw 10Y yields rise as high as 2.55% and 2Y yields surge as high as 2.41%, and which dented sentiment toward growth sectors with investors concerned about economic risks from inflation and tightening monetary policy. Following recent inversions in the 3s10s and 5s10s, another key part of the Treasury curve also inverted for the first time since 2006, as the yield on the five-year note rose above that on the 30-year bond.

Overnight, bonds slid from Australia to the U.K., while Japan’s 10-year rate extended gains even after the country’s central bank announced two unlimited buying operations to keep yields below the top of its allowed range. The BOJ intervention also sent the yen plunging to a seven-year low and on its way to USDJPY 130, while the dollar jumped. The relentless bond rout suggests fixed-income investors (unlike their permabullish equity colleagues) anticipate an economic downturn and even a recession as the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates.

“The flattening and the inversion of the yield curve bring about the worries of a recession in the U.S.” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, an analyst at Swissquote.

In premarket trading shares in big U.S. energy companies declined as crude prices drop after China’s virus resurgence raised concerns about demand, while rebels in Yemen announced a temporary pause in hostilities against Saudi Arabia. Exxon Mobil (XOM US) -1.4%, Chevron (CVX US) -1.4%. Apple also dropped, sliding 1.8% in premarket trading, after a Nikkei report that the tech giant plans to cut production of the iPhone SE model next quarter amid lower demand for consumer electronics. Beyond Meat slumped 4.9% following a downgrade to underweight from neutral at Piper Sandler. Cryptocurrency-exposed stocks gained in U.S. premarket trading and in Europe as Bitcoin continues its recent rally to climb above the $47,000 level and wipe out losses for the year. Riot Blockchain (RIOT US) +7.5%, Marathon Digital (MARA US) +9.8%. Other digital assets are also higher this morning, with Ether gaining as much as 3.7%. Crypto stocks rising include Riot Blockchain +6.9%, Marathon Digital +8.2%, Bit Digital +5.5%, Coinbase +4.2%, MicroStrategy +6.1%, BitNile +36%, Hive Blockchain +5.7%, Core Scientific +5.1%, Silvergate +4.3%, Eqonex +3.3%, Stronghold Digital +6.2%, Hut 8 Mining +6.8%, Bakkt +6.3% and Ebang +5.3%. Other notable premarket movers:

Microchip, Qorvo and Teradyne shares are downgraded to neutral at Goldman Sachs, as firm reduces estimates across its coverage of chip stocks amid a more challenging macro backdrop. Qorvo (QRVO US) shares fall 2.4%.
Staar Surgical (STAA US) shares surge 18% after the maker of implantable lenses received FDA approval for its EVO Visian lenses.
Beyond Meat (BYND US) shares drop 5.2% following a downgrade to underweight from neutral at Piper Sandler, with broker saying that there are still fundamental risks.
U.S.-listed casino operators with exposure to Macau could be in focus amid rising worries over the spread of Covid-19 in China. Watch stocks including Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO US) and MGM Resorts (MGM US).

The war in Ukraine continues to disrupt supplies of key commodities, stoking inflation risks that are contributing to expectations of more aggressive Fed tightening. Mobility restrictions in China may fan worries about rising costs.

“What is happening with China, it adds to the concerns of — does this add to the supply-chain disruption?” Mary Nicola, a global multi-asset portfolio manager at PineBridge Investments, said on Bloomberg Television.

In the latest geopolitical developments, Ukrainian and Russian negotiating teams are set to resume in-person talks this week. President Joe Biden tried to temper comments calling for the removal of Vladimir Putin by saying the U.S. isn’t seeking regime change in Moscow. Here are the latest Ukraine developments courtesy of Newsquawk:

Ukrainian President Zelensky said he would like an all for all prisoner exchange with Russia and that they have handed over a list to Russia. Zelensky added that they will not sit down for talks with Russia if discussions are about “demilitarisation and some kind of denazification”. Zelensky stated that Ukraine is ready to discuss neutrality and non-nuclear status if backed by security guarantees, while he added that a deal is only possible with a troop withdrawal and that he wants a compromise with Russia regarding Donbass.
Ukrainian Interior Ministry Advisor says he expects no major breakthrough at peace discussions.
Turkish President Erdogan told Russian President Putin in a call that there needs to be a quick ceasefire with Ukraine and that they need to improve the humanitarian situation in the region, while it was also reported that the next round of face-to-face talks between Russia and Ukraine will be held in Turkey on March 28th-30th.
Senior Turkish official says that talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators will begin in Istanbul later today. However, the Russian Kremlin said talks are unlikely to commence on Monday, may start on Tuesday. No substantial achievements/breakthroughs in talks, no progress re. a potential Putin-Zelensky meeting.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov says President Putin never refuses to meet with Ukrainian President Zelensky, but since meetings must be well prepared, a (presidential) meeting to exchange views at this time would be counter-productive.
Ukraine’s Deputy PM says that no humanitarian corridors will be opened today as intelligence suggested potential Russian provocations on corridor routes.

Global shares have recovered from the lows sparked by Russia’s invasion, but questions remain about the durability of the equity market advance. It may be that what we’re seeing is “more a bear-market rally,” Chris Weston, head of research with Pepperstone Financial Pty, wrote in a note. He added that investment flows related to portfolio rebalancing at the end of March and the first quarter could lead to “big and questionable moves.”

In Europe, financial and automotive companies led the Stoxx Europe 600 Index up 1.2%. FTSE MIB outperforms slightly. Insurance, banks and autos are the strongest-performing sectors; just miners and the tech sector are in the red. BASF jumped 3.7% after HSBC raised the German chemicals group to buy from hold. Rolls-Royce slumped 10% in London, paring a 19% jump on Friday. European airlines rebound as oil prices fall further from this month’s 14-year high. Budget carriers lead gains with EasyJet up 4.4%, Wizz Air +4.1% and Ryanair +4%. Here are some of the biggest European movers today:

Swatch advances as much as 5.3%, best performer in the Stoxx 600 consumer products and services subgroup, after it launched a new, low-priced version of the Omega Speedmaster watch.
InPost shares rise as much as 33% after Bloomberg reported the Polish automated parcel-locker provider is attracting potential takeover interest from private equity firms.
BASF shares rise as much as 3.2% as HSBC upgrades to buy, noting its trading in 1Q appears to have been strong and points to upside risk on the chemicals group’s FY guidance.
Telecom Italia rises as much as 3.6% after it said discussions with KKR are still on, while the company has received a non-binding offer from CVC Capital Partners for a 49% stake in its new enterprise services unit.
Moonpig rises after being upgraded to add from hold at Peel Hunt, which said the online greeting card company has been “overly de-rated” by a market averse to online retailers.
Cloetta rises as much as 5.4% after Nordea upgraded the Swedish candy maker to buy on a continued recovery and called the stock a “good defensive play,” with a yield exceeding 4%.
Orpea trades mixed, down as much as 8.2% and up as much as 1%, after the French government said it wants the care home operator to return millions of euros in public funds. AlphaValue says the sum requested is “insignificant.”

Asian stocks fell for a third consecutive day, as a Covid-related lockdown in Shanghai and increasing infections in Taiwan renewed investor concern about the fallout of the virus on global supply chains and manufacturing. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost as much as 1%, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Sony Group the biggest contributors to the retreat. Taiwan’s Taiex was among the biggest decliners among major regional gauges, while China’s CSI 300 index fell to the lowest in two weeks as Shanghai announced plans for mass coronavirus testing. “The shutdown, as you say, of such a big region is going to have a negative impact. Already the economy was slowing,” Peter Oppenheimer, chief equity strategist at Goldman Sachs, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. Meituan jumped after strong earnings and Tencent gained on a share buyback plan, cushioning the regional benchmark and propelling an almost 3% rebound in the Hang Seng Tech Index. Still, Asian stocks are headed for their third-straight monthly loss, the worst stretch since early 2020, as concerns from China’s regulatory crackdowns to U.S. interest rate hikes and Russia’s war in Ukraine weigh on sentiment. “Global markets seem to be a bit nervous about the effectiveness of China’s zero-tolerance policy toward Covid, and the potential for more demand and supply-chain disruptions as we might be only dealing with the tip of the iceberg,” Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, wrote in a note. Japanese stocks fell after two-straight weekly gains on support from a weaker yen, while shares also retreated in Vietnam. Hong Kong stocks advanced, as Meituan led a rally in tech stocks after its earnings release Friday.

Japanese equities fell, taking a breather after posting two-straight weekly gains on support from a weaker yen. Electronics makers were the biggest drag on the Topix, which fell 0.4%. Fast Retailing and Tokyo Electron were the largest contributors to a 0.7% loss in the Nikkei 225. The yen slid 0.9% to around 123 per dollar after the Bank of Japan offered to buy an unlimited amount of 10-year notes twice for the first time ever. “It seems like there’s selling to lock in profits as a reaction to last week’s big rally as well as the concerns in the Chinese markets due to rising coronavirus infections,” said Yoshihiro Okumura, a senior analyst at Chibagin Asset Management. “The situation in China may have a negative impact on Japanese stocks, especially ones that are consumption related or to China”

India’s benchmark equities index rose, snapping three sessions of decline, boosted by gains in Reliance Industries. The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 0.4% to 57,593.49 in Mumbai, reversing a drop of as much as 0.9% earlier in the session. The NSE Nifty 50 Index posted a similar gain. Of the 30 shares on the Sensex, 20 gained while 10 fell. Thirteen of 19 sectoral indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. advanced, led by a gauge of oil and gas companies. Price of Brent crude, a major import for the nation, hovered around $116 a barrel, slipping 3.9% on Monday. “Volatility will continue to be the hallmark in this week’s trading as well as Russia-Ukraine war continues to command investors’ attention,” Prashanth Tapse, an analyst at Mumbai-based Mehta Equities wrote in a note.

In rates, Treasury futures are off worst levels of the day after bear-flattening move inverted 5s30s for the first time since 2006. The 10-year ~2.47% is back to little changed after climbing to 2.553% while short-end USTs cheapen ~14bps overnight with 2y yields stalling near 2.4%. As a result, the closely watched 2s10s dropped as low as 9 bps before reversing and trading at 14bps last. Bunds and gilts keep pace. Benchmark yields reached new YTD highs. Front-end underperformance is reinforced by double auction ahead, totaling $101b of 2- and 5-year notes. Front-end yields remain cheaper by ~5bp on the day, after 2Y climbed 14bp to 2.408%; 2s10s at ~15bp is flatter by ~5bp, 5s30s is back to flat after reaching -7.1bp. Monday’s Treasury auctions include $50b 2-year at 11:30am, $51b 5-year at 1pm; cycle concludes with $47b 7-year sale Tuesday. WI 2-year yield at 2.375% is above auction stops since 2019 and ~82bp cheaper than February’s result. IG dollar issuance slate empty so far; expectations are for around $25b this week. Japanese yen steals the spotlight, weakening over 2% to briefly trade above 125/USD. In Europe, peripheral spreads are mixed, 5y Italy underperforming in the complex. Italian bonds lead euro-area declines, with the belly underperforming on the curve as money markets raise ECB tightening wagers.

In commodities, crude futures drift around the Asian lows. WTI drops over 4.5% before rising off the lows to trade near $109.77. Spot gold is under pressure, dropping close to $33 before stalling near $1,930/oz. Base metals are mixed; LME nickel drops as much as ~8%.

Looking at today’s calendar, we have February wholesale inventories, advance goods trade balance, March Dallas Fed manufacturing activity.

Market Snapshot

S&P 500 futures up 0.2% to 4,546
STOXX Europe 600 up 0.6% to 456.32
MXAP down 0.6% to 178.15
MXAPJ little changed at 583.13
Nikkei down 0.7% to 27,943.89
Topix down 0.4% to 1,973.37
Hang Seng Index up 1.3% to 21,684.97
Shanghai Composite little changed at 3,214.50
Sensex up 0.1% to 57,423.97
Australia S&P/ASX 200 little changed at 7,412.42
Kospi little changed at 2,729.56
German 10Y yield little changed at 0.62%
Euro down 0.2% to $1.0961
Brent Futures down 3.7% to $116.17/bbl
Gold spot down 1.4% to $1,929.93
U.S. Dollar Index up 0.46% to 99.24

Top Overnight News from Bloomberg

Spain plans to hand out about 16 billion euros ($17.6 billion) in aid through the end of June to mitigate the impact of the war in Ukraine. The government will offer some 6 billion euros in tax breaks and direct aid with another 10 billion in loans for small- and medium- sized companies as part of a package of policies to counter surging costs, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Monday in Madrid. The package will be approved Tuesday by the Cabinet, he said
The U.K. urged all public bodies to identify contracts they have with Russian and Belarusian companies and to switch suppliers, as Boris Johnson’s government seeks to ramp up pressure on President Vladimir Putin.
The steepest global bond rout of the modern era extended Monday, with Australian and New Zealand notes sliding and the Bank of Japan stepping in to cap the rise in yields
President Joe Biden sought to clarify his call for the removal of Vladimir Putin, saying he wasn’t seeking regime change after European allies raised concern and critics said he was further inflaming tension with Russia. In-person talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiating teams will resume this week, officials said
French President Emmanuel Macron warned against an escalation of “words or actions,” a day after President Joe Biden said Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. doesn’t have a strategy of regime change
Oil retreated as China’s worsening virus resurgence raised concerns about demand in the world’s biggest crude importer, while rebels in Yemen announced a temporary pause in hostilities against Saudi Arabia
The People’s Bank of China may soon need to move away from using the reserve requirement ratio as a tool to spur liquidity and growth in the economy since it’s already at relatively low levels and is becoming less effective in addressing the structural challenges facing the economy
Japan’s day traders are making record bullish bets on their home currency, just as the world turns against it
Australia’s bonds are on the cusp of a turnaround as the global inflation scare looks overdone and elevated yields promise higher income to investors, according to Janus Henderson Group
President Joe Biden’s budget release on Monday is shaping up as a direct appeal to moderate Democrats, emphasizing deficit reduction and flexibility on social spending as the White House hopes to win support for new legislation before November’s midterm elections

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newqsuawk

Asia-Pacific stocks traded mostly lower with the region cautious heading into month-end and this week’s various risk events, while higher yields and a lockdown in Shanghai contributed to the headwinds for risk sentiment. ASX 200 shrugged off weak business confidence and was kept afloat by strength in mining stocks and financials. Nikkei 225 is set to snap its 9-day win streak and tested the 28,000 level to the downside. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. were mixed with early weakness in the mainland amid a two-stage lockdown in Shanghai after asymptomatic cases in the city rose to a record high and with data also showing a slowdown in Industrial Profits for February YTD. However, the PBoC’s liquidity boost eventually helped stem some of the losses in China, while the Hong Kong benchmark recovered into the green with advances led by Meituan Dianping and Sinopec post-earnings

Top Asian News

Sea Decides to Shut Shopee India Due to Market Uncertainty
Renewables Firm Seeks First Indian Dollar Bond Since War Began
CIFI, Country Garden USD Bonds Set for Highest Closes in Weeks
China Stocks Fall as Shanghai Lockdown Deepens Growth Concerns

European bourses are firmer, extending on the pre-open futures performance, shrugging off a downbeat APAC handover amid COVID concerns. Sectors are primarily in the green though Tech and Energy names lag amid Apple and crude benchmark action, respectively. Stateside, futures are contained/marginally softer ahead of a quiet schedule and after a mixed close on Friday; NQ, -0.3%, modestly lags amid yield action. Apple (AAPL) intends to make ~20% less iPhone SE’s next quarter than was originally planned, via Nikkei; reducing iPhone and AirPods output amid Ukraine war uncertainty. -1.8% in pre-market Tesla (TSLA) is to ask shareholders to vote on more shares for a stock split, according to Bloomberg. +3.6% in pre-market

Top European News

Deutsche Bank to Issue Additional Tier 1 Notes With Call in 2028
Spain to Spend $17.5 Billion to Offset Economic Hit From War
European Gas Falls as Nations Arrange Terminals for More LNG
U.K. Govt Investigates Cutting Contracts With Russia Suppliers

In FX, BoJ intervenes to curb JGB yield but waves green light to further Yen weakness, USD/JPY breaches barriers from 123.50 all the way up through 125.00 before easing back. DXY tops 99.000 and mid-March high to expose Y-T-D peak as US Treasuries continue to sink and the curve flattens or inverts. Aussie maintains momentum on commodity related grounds, while Kiwi is hampered by less hawkish RBNZ outlook from Westpac; AUD/USD approaches 0.7550, NZD/USD hovers under 0.6950 and AUD/NZD tests 1.0850. Euro underpinned by EUR/JPY cross demand, EUR/USD recovers from sub-1.0950 to get close to 1.1000 at best. Loonie and Nokkie undermined by hefty retreat in WTI and Brent, USD/CAD circa 1.2485 and EUR/NOK around 9.4700. Franc softer after SNB President repeats that nominal value is not the same as real and inflation differentials are impacting moves, USD/CHF circa 0.9350 and EUR/CHF above 1.0250. SNB Chairman Jordan said Swiss inflation is high for Switzerland but low in international comparison, while they will make policy adjustments to keep inflation under control if needed and consider the inflation difference between Switzerland and other countries when deciding on currency interventions. SNB Chairman Jordan added that the nominal value of CHF is different to its real value and businesses can cope with a stronger nominal CHF due to higher inflation abroad. Furthermore, he added that CHF remains highly valued and that they are ready to intervene to prevent it from becoming too strong, while parity with EUR is symbolic but not economically important and they look at all currencies and inflation differences not just at the euro.

In fixed income, bonds buckle again as the bear trend continues. Curves flatter or more inverted amidst a front-loaded and shorter-dated supply schedule. JGBs hold up a bit better as BoJ offers to buy unlimited amounts in defence of its YCT through to month/fy-end.

In commodities, WTI and Brent are clipped amid COVID measures from China and progress on the JCPOA; currently, off lows of USD 108.28/bbl and USD 115.32/bbl respectively. Saudi-led coalition said it began an operation to neutralise the targeting of oil facilities with the goal to protect global energy sources from hostile attacks and ensure supply chains, while it carried out airstrikes against sources of threats in Yemeni cities of Sanaa and Hodeidah, according to Al Arabiya. SGH Macro Advisers noted on Friday that Russia is in active talks with Asian partners about the possibility of sending further oil supplies to the Asian market, while SGH Macro understands that China will import at least 10mln tons of Russian oil on top of its original import plan for this year and Beijing sources said the price that Russia offered is equivalent to about USD 70/bbl which is to be settled directly in CNY and RUB. Qatar’s Foreign Minister said the conflict in Ukraine and its geopolitical ramifications, is spurring some countries to explore new ways of pricing oil outside of the dollar, according to CNBC. UAE Energy Minister says everyone is saying to raise production, but financial institutions are hesitant to finance many oil/gas projects globally. US, UK and Japanese banks are considering jointly extending USD 1bln in loans to Kuwait Petroleum Corp to help in increasing oil production, according to Nikkei. Spot gold/silver are hampered amid broader price action and as other havens, particularly JPY and core-debt, experience marked weakness.

US Event Calendar

08:30: Feb. Retail Inventories MoM, est. 1.4%, prior 1.9%
08:30: Feb. Advance Goods Trade Balance, est. -$106.2b, prior – $107.6b
08:30: Feb. Wholesale Inventories MoM, est. 1.1%, prior 0.8%, revised 1.0%
10:30: March Dallas Fed Manf. Activity, est. 11.0, prior 14.0

DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

The dam finally broke last week with yields rocketing up as markets woke up to the reality that every upcoming FOMC meeting could bring a 50bps hike. An array of Fed speakers during the week either endorsed this or didn’t rail against it too strongly.

This move has continued this morning with some big yield increases for an Asian session. US 2yr yields are +9.5bps and 10yrs +5.1bps to 2.52%, flattening 2s10s to 15.6bps. The 5s30s yield curve has inverted for the first time since 2006.

This follows last week’s big moves where 2yr treasury yields gained +33.3bps over the week, predominantly in two large chunks on Monday (+17.9bps) around Powell’s speech and on Friday (+13.5bps). This was the largest weekly advance in 2yr yields since June 2009. Markets increased the odds of a 50bp rate hike in May to 77%, while total tightening for the year increased to 239bps, up from 200bps the week before. 10yr yields modestly lagged the short end move, climbing +32.4bps (+10.1bps Friday), which sent the 2s10s yield curve to its flattest level since February 2020, closing the week at +19.7bps but hitting +13.8bp on Tuesday. The 5s30s yield curve which has inverted this morning declined -23.8bps (-10.1bps Friday) on the week. European sovereign yields also moved higher, with 10yr bunds, gilts, and OATs increasing +21.4bps (+5.5bps Friday), +19.8bps (+4.9bps Friday), and +18.6bps (+3.3bps Friday), respectively.

Given just how far the Fed is behind the curve it’s fair to say that if the post GFC cycle could be erased from people’s memory banks, then I think markets might be pricing 300-400bps of hikes this year. However the fact that the last decade was so moribund from an activity and inflation point of view means that markets still refuse to believe the Fed can get very far. The market is collectively anchored to the trends of the last cycle. Remember that before the FOMC 9 months ago in June 2021 the Fed and the market were hardly pricing in any rate moves until 2024, and only 3 hikes at the start of this year. Overall there has been a constant misunderstanding of this cycle which is totally different to the last. Clearly this is changing but the 240bps plus of total hikes now priced in for 2023 still isn’t a big year of tightening historically.

Asian equity markets are mostly weaker this morning on the back of Covid concerns in Shanghai as the city with 26 million people goes into semi-lockdown from today. The Nikkei (-0.58%) is lagging despite the Japanese yen resuming its slide after the BOJ intervened in bond markets with two offers to buy unlimited 10yr JGBs at 0.25% to defend its yield cap.

The Shanghai Composite (-0.13%) and CSI (-0.79%) are down but the Hang Seng (+1.31%) is moving higher after shares of Meituan soared over +10% after the company posted better than expected revenue in the final quarter of 2021. Stock futures in the US indicate a negative start with contracts on the S&P 500 (-0.31%) and Nasdaq (-0.41%) trading in the red.

Elsewhere, Oil prices are declining as concerns about demand in China (the world’s biggest crude importer) grow. Brent futures are -2.52% to $117.61/bbl while WTI futures are slipping -2.84% to $110.66/bbl, as I type. OPEC meet later this week so that will be a focus.

The most interesting news story over the weekend centred around the unscripted finale to Biden’s speech in Poland on Saturday. In a remark widely interpreted to endorse regime change in Russia he said, “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.” White House officials immediately tried to soften or walk back the ad-lib remarks, including US Secretary of State Blinken on TV yesterday morning. Other Western countries have distanced themselves from the remarks as countries try to not inflame the situation more than it is already.

Moving on, with the rates market in prime focus, the highlight of this week is likely Friday’s payrolls print in the US but the preliminary European CPI prints (Wednesday to Friday) might pip it for excitement depending on the numbers. Germany’s is out on Wednesday. We also have US ISM on Friday which given last week’s strong preliminary global PMIs will be a focus along with the final global PMIs on the same day.

The core PCE within the US spending and income numbers on Thursday will also be of note as will the JOLTS numbers on Tuesday. This has been our favourite lead indicator of US employment over the last year or so and should continue to show an incredibly tight labour market.

Fedspeak was the defining theme last week but this week is likely to be less exciting. Nevertheless, tomorrow see’s Harker (hawk / non-voter) and Bostic (neutral / non-voter). Elsewhere Barkin (neutral / non-voter) on Wednesday, and Williams (dove) on Thursday are the only other two scheduled.

Expanding a bit on the payrolls preview, the market is expecting a +450k gain with the unemployment rate expected to drop to 3.7% from the current 3.8%. One thing to watch might be average earnings as last month the report has a slight dovish feel due to a surprisingly low earnings number. We thought this looked anomolous at the time and will find out this week whether we were right or not.

President Biden’s 2023 budget today will also be scrutinised for responses to inflation, the conflict in Eastern Europe and other topics. However given the congressional arithmetic it’s not clear how much anything he says can manifest itself into actual policy.

In corporate earnings, the spotlight will be on Chinese firms, with the largest real estate companies, including Country Garden and Evergrande, reporting earnings along with EV leaders BYD and XPeng. Results from pandemic outperformers Micron, BioNTech and Lululemon will also be due. European companies reporting will include consumer discretionary bellwethers such as Porsche and H&M. The day by day week ahead calendar is at the end as usual on a Monday.

Moving on to recap last week now and we’ve already highlighted the huge move in bonds at the top. Energy also had a decent week before this morning’s fall as brent crude oil prices advanced +11.2% (+1.36% Friday) to $120.65/bbl. European natural gas prices continued to fall though with a -6.11% dip on the week (-9.29% Friday).

The run up in oil prices helped fuel a +7.9bp increase in 10yr breakevens (+3.8bps Friday), which eclipsed 3.00% at one point before closing at 2.982%, the highest level on record.

European equities staged a modest retreat over the week, with the STOXX 600, DAX, CAC, falling -0.23% (+0.11% Friday), -0.74% (+0.22% Friday), and -1.01% (-0.03% Friday). The S&P 500, meanwhile, put in a second weekly advance despite the much tighter path of policy, gaining +1.79% (+0.51% Friday), returning it to levels from immediately before the US warned the world of an imminent Russian invasion on Friday 11th February. The Energy sector led the gains following this week’s gain in oil, increasing +7.42% this week (+2.28% Friday), extending its YTD outperformance where it is now +42.25% higher with the next closest sector being utilities at +1.70% higher.

On data Friday, University of Michigan inflation expectations were unchanged from the prior survey, with expectations for the next year at +5.4% and 5y expectations at +3.0%.

END

3. ASIAN AFFAIRS

i)MONDAY MORNING// SUNDAY NIGHT

3 a./NORTH KOREA/ SOUTH KOREA

///NORTH KOREA

END

3B JAPAN

The yen falters to 124.19 to the dollar while the 10 yr Japanese bond yield climbs abover .26%. Kuroda promises intervention but so far no bonds are bid

(zerohedge)

“The Move Is A Big Deal” – Yen Tumbles After BOJ Intervenes To Cap JGB Yields Amid Global Selloff

SUNDAY, MAR 27, 2022 – 11:50 PM

Last Friday, when the BOJ unexpectedly failed to intervene with one of its trademark offers to purchase an unlimited amount of bonds when the 10Y JGB broke above 0.23% – a level which just one month ago prompted Kuroda to step into the market to contained further yield gains – and spiked the yen while pushing the 10Y JGB yield to a 6-year high and on the verge of rising above the 0.25% upper boundary of the BOJ’s Yield Curve Control corridor, we said that “Japan, that paragon of MMT crackpots everywhere, suddenly finds itself trapped in a lose-lose dilemma: intervene in the bond market and spark a furious, potentially destabilizing and uncontrolled plunge in the yen which would also lead to galloping (if not worse) inflation, which could collapse what little faith remains in the BOJ, or do nothing and contain the slump in the yen while risking far higher yields which in a country where the debt is orders of magnitude greater than GDP, could also spell fiscal and monetary doom.”

We then added the following: “As a result, the market – having long gotten used to amicable interventions from the BOJ – will now surely test one of these two outcomes, and how the BOJ responds could have dramatic consequences for this original MMT test case. Should the BOJ’s reaction spark further erosion of faith in either Japan’s fiscal or monetary policies, the outcome for the world’s most indebted nation would be disastrous.”

So fast forward to today, when bond traders pushed the 10Y JGB yield even more, rising as high as 0.245%, and clearly intending to force the BOJ to make a decision…

… Kuroda did just that and it was to keep JGBs in line while risk an accelerating collapse in the yen.

On Monday morning, one day after the BOJ left many stunned with its refusal to announce an open-ended bond market intervention as yields spiked, the central bank changed its mind and conceded that it was not willing to risk a bond market collapse, announcing that it will purchase an unlimited amount of 10-year bonds at a fixed rate of 0.25%.

The decision comes as interest-rate hikes by major peers such as the Federal Reserve have sent yields across the globe soaring, adding upward pressure on Japan yields. The 10-year yield stood at 0.242% at 10:23 a.m. in Tokyo, compared to a tolerated level by the BOJ of 0.25% under its yield-curve control policy.

And while JGB yields will remain at or below 0.25% (for now) courtesy of the BOJ’s verbal intervention which however failed to actually prompt any actual trades…

*BOJ SAYS NO BIDS TENDERED FOR FIXED-RATE BOND-BUYING OFFER

… the same can not be said of the Yen which fell to a fresh 6-year low of 123.11 against the U.S. dollar, with little stopping the USDJPY rising as high as 130.

The move underscores the central bank’s commitment to keep monetary settings loose, following Governor Kuroda’s earlier remarks that policy will remain unchanged even if inflation jumps. Japan’s bond yields have been moving higher after the BOJ’s fixed-rate buying offer on Feb 14 – the first such operation since 2018 – helped push them lower.

Meanwhile, the dilemma facing the BOJ grows: the growing policy divergence between the BOJ and the Fed has heaped pressure on the yen, with the currency slipping to a six-year low against the dollar in March. Of course, by failing to keep a floor under the yen, the BOJ invites even higher inflation, which will – sooner or later – force the BOJ to break, and when it does it will lose control over both the yen and JGBs.

“The BOJ will automatically conduct such operations when the 10-year yield approaches 0.25%, as waiting for the yield to rise past that would invite unnecessary speculation and also prompt players to test yield upside,” said Takafumi Yamawaki, head of local rates and currency research at JPMorgan in Tokyo. “The BOJ probably separates bond purchases from risk of a weaker yen as changing its stance on bond purchase operations would undermine the current yield curve control framework.”

Meanwhile, much of the “developed” world tightening (with the sole exception of China), traders had been speculating that the BOJ will also have to start normalizing policy at some point. However, clearly that time is not now and Kuroda has repeatedly ruled out the possibility of near-term policy adjustments. Providing a modest buffer, Inflation in Japan is also far from a 2% target, unlike other countries where red-hot price gains have stoked concerns.

Meanwhile, the collapse in the yen is set to accelerate. As Bear Traps Report Larry McDonald reminds us, by collapsing to levels last seen in 2015, the Yen’s freefall has reignited fears of a re run of events that led to the 2015 renminbi devaluation. In a recent note from last week, SocGen’s Albert Edwards called this “an earthquake in the world of foreign exchange.” So as Japan weakens the Yen to save the economy China is the loser and could force it to pursue another currency devaluation in a beggar they neighbor world.

This, as McDonald writes, is bullish hard assets; how can the Fed get aggressive into that? JPY weakness likely has the most negative impact on South Korea within emerging markets and won’t make China happy either.

Finally, McDonald quotes a CIO from a Florida based hedge fund, who writes that “I’m in the camp that the Yen move is a big deal. This is what happens when money printing goes too far… Zervos at a dinner this week in Miami said he thinks BOJ stays easy and has to … he sees the USD/Yen at 130 by year end. This would make Japan very competitive very quickly, what will that mean for emerging markets?”

And more importantly, what does that mean for China and its untenably strong currency. We are about to find out.

end

Japanese automakers are still grappling with skyrocketing costs of raw materials and a shortage of semiconductors.

(zerohedge)

Japanese Automakers Still Grappling With Skyrocketing Cost Of Raw Materials, Shortage Of Semiconductors

SUNDAY, MAR 27, 2022 – 08:50 PM

Here we are, almost halfway through 2022, and the semiconductor crisis that was supposed to have been dealt with by this point is still stinging the auto industry. While it was the pandemic that first tossed the industry into turmoil, the war in Ukraine has ensured the shortage won’t stop anytime soon, according to a new report from Nikkei.

Automakers like Toyota and Nissan are still grappling with higher costs and struggling to ramp up output, the report says. In total, Japan’s manufacturers “face an increase in raw materials costs of around 1.4 trillion yen ($11.5 billion) for the year through March,” the report says.

Seiji Sugiura, an analyst at the Tokai Tokyo Research Institute, commented: “Carmakers are expected to absorb some of the rise in costs through cost-cutting efforts, but it will be difficult to absorb all the increases.”

Sanshiro Fukao, a senior fellow at the Itochu Research Institute, added about the supply chain for building automobiles: “The premise that ‘if you place an order, parts will be immediately delivered’ is collapsing.”

And even as some parts have become unavailable, raw materials for other parts have skyrocketed in price. For example, palladium, nickel and aluminum have all surged to record highs this month. The metals are used in automobile catalytic converters, batteries and other car parts.

The price hikes are likely due to the fact that 40% of palladium production comes from Russia, Nikkei notes. This has forced auto manufacturers to abandon buying from Russia and seek out alternative sources.

Hiroo Suzaki, president of South African metal producer Impala Platinum Japan, commented: “Losing Russian supply would leave a significant impact on the palladium market.”

Some demand for palladium will eventually wane due to the adoption of electric vehicles, Mikio Fujita, senior market analyst for Johnson Matthey, said. But for now, that doesn’t help automakers. Fujita commented: “As the auto industry shifts to electric vehicles, catalyst demand is expected to gradually shrink in the long run.”

Nickel, on the other hand, is expected to see a significant increase in demand thanks to the adoption of EVs. “This has led to an even tighter market and premiums are soaring to record high levels in Europe,” one trader told Nikkei.

Russia is also the world’s number 2 aluminum producer, accounting for 5% of global output. “These metals are not as essential as oil and therefore are more likely to be exposed to supply risks or to become a target of sanctions,” Takayuki Honma, chief economist at Sumitomo Corporation Global Research, commented.

The rising cost of raw materials means that price hikes will be passed on to consumers. Honda CFO Kohei Takeuchi explained: “We usually absorb the costs through our internal efforts to cut costs, but the rise is too large to do so.”

end

3c CHINA

CHINA/

Chinese stocks slump as well as the yuan on Shanghai lockdown news

(zerohedge)

Chinese Stocks Slump, Yuan Weakens On Shanghai Lockdown News

MONDAY, MAR 28, 2022 – 07:00 AM

Much to the chagrin of both the locals (who have been stockpiling necessities for fear of another lockdown) and sell-side economists (who have been cranking out client notes warning about the potential economic blowback), local authorities in Shanghai announced a staggered lockdown of China’s largest city (which has a population of more than 25 million people, 3x the population of NYC) after it reported a record number of daily cases.

The news rattled local markets on Monday, as Chinese stocks tumbled, bond yields dropped and the yuan weakened against the dollar.

The reaction wasn’t exactly a surprise, as rising case numbers both on the mainland and in Taiwan have sown fears about fresh supply chain havoc (although authorities in Shanghai did stipulate that the local port would remain open).

Here’s a rundown of various market moves (source: Bloomberg):

Asian stocks fell for a third consecutive day, as a Covid-related lockdown in Shanghai and increasing infections in Taiwan renewed investor concern about the fallout of the virus on global supply chains and manufacturing.
10-year government bond yields fall 1bp to 2.79%.
The onshore and offshore yuan fell to the lowest in two weeks. USD/CNY climbed as much as 0.3% to 6.3825, while USD/CNH climbed as much as 0.2% to 6.3983.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost as much as 1%, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Sony Group the biggest contributors to the retreat.
Taiwan’s Taiex was among the biggest decliners among major regional gauges, while China’s CSI 300 index fell to the lowest in two weeks.
Asian stocks are headed for their third-straight monthly loss, the worst stretch since early 2020.
Macau casinos and some Chinese consumer-related companies declined as the lockdown in Shanghai was seen hurting a recovery in China’s consumption.

One economist from Goldman Sachs (which recently projected that China will lose one percentage point of annualized GDP growth for every month that its lockdowns persist) warned that the Shanghai lockdown would only exacerbate the situation in an already slowing economy.

“The shutdown, as you say, of such a big region is going to have a negative impact. Already the economy was slowing,” Peter Oppenheimer, chief equity strategist at Goldman Sachs, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.

Another economist suggested that the panic could spread to global markets.

“Global markets seem to be a bit nervous about the effectiveness of China’s zero-tolerance policy toward Covid, and the potential for more demand and supply-chain disruptions as we might be only dealing with the tip of the iceberg,” Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, wrote in a note.

There were a few stand-out gainers: Meituan jumped after strong earnings and Tencent gained on a share buyback plan, cushioning the regional benchmark and propelling an almost 3% rebound in the Hang Seng Tech Index

According to Sunday’s announcement, authorities said they would divide Shanghai into two districts for the purposes of the mass testing, using the Huangpu River that passes through the city as a guide. Districts to the east of the river, and some to its west, will be locked down and tested between March 28 and April 1, while the rest of the city will be locked down and tested between April 1 and 5.

US equity futures turned lower Monday morning as the market contagion appeared to spread to the US, amid fears that more supply chain disruptions could exacerbate inflationary pressures, increasing the market’s conviction in Citi’s call for 4 consecutive 50 basis point rate hikes this year.

END

Shanghai Orders Staggered Lockdowns After Reporting Record New COVID Cases

SUNDAY, MAR 27, 2022 – 08:00 PM

Update (2000ET): In an effort to mitigate the economic blowback from its latest lockdown, authorities in Shanghai said that the city’s port would continue to operate amid the staggered lockdowns that were ordered on Sunday.

* * *

After weeks of panic-buying for fear that the Communist authorities would order another lockdown, President Xi has apparently tossed his “targeted” approach aside and ordered a lockdown in Shanghai, the country’s largest city and its financial hub.

The city of 26 million will be locked down “in two stages” over the span of nine days as authorities try to quash surging COVID numbers. The lockdowns were ordered after the city reported a new record number of infections on Saturday.

During that 24 hours period, the city recorded 2,631 new asymptomatic cases, which accounted for nearly 60% of China’s total new asymptomatic cases that day, plus 47 new cases with symptoms.

Local authorities announced on Sunday they would divide Shanghai into two districts for the purposes of the mass testing, using the Huangpu River that passes through the city as a guide. Districts to the east of the river, and some to its west, will be locked down and tested between March 28 and April 1, while the rest of the city will be locked down and tested between April 1 and 5.

During the lockdowns, public transit will be suspended, including ride-hailing services, according to an announcement from the city government released on its official WeChat account. Personal vehicles will be barred from the roads unless otherwise approved.

While authorities have sought to assuage the public’s growing sense of unease, locals have been panic-buying food and other essentials for fear that a new lockdown could be ordered at any time, potentially leaving them confined to their homes (or, worse, to “bubble”-style dormitories in the factories where they work)

As a result of the lockdown order, local companies and factories will suspend manufacturing, or require workers to work remotely during the lockdown, with the exception of those who work in food production or supply, or who provide other essential services.

“The public is asked to support, understand and cooperate with the city’s epidemic prevention and control work, and participate in nucleic acid testing in an orderly manner,” the government added.

Western investment banks have been scrambling to gauge the impact of more potential lockdowns in China, and a team from Goldman Sachs recently postulated that continuing lockdowns could wipe an entire percentage point off of annual GDP growth for every four weeks that a lockdown persists.

Meanwhile, a team of analysts from Mizuho warned in a note to clients published over the weekend that the Chinese economy is suffering its worst contraction since COVID first emerged in Wuhan more than two years ago.

Economic activity “may notably deteriorate across the board” in March due to increasing mobility restrictions across China, exacerbated by an ongoing slump in the domestic property market. Outbreaks are hammering a wide range of industries and sectors, including in-person services, construction and some manufacturing activity. The result is that “it’s getting harder for Beijing to achieve its ‘around 5.5%’ GDP growth target for 2022,” the economists said. Mizuho now sees a possibility that annualized GDP growth for 2022 could contract to just 2.9%, Bloomberg reports.

More than 14M residents of the city have already taken rapid antigen tests recently, and restive residents have recently started pushing back harder against authorities’ constant insistence on testing. Videos of angry crowds pushing through cordons have recently circulated on western social media.

Expect to see more of those as exhausted locals vent their frustration with the CCP’s “zero COVID” policy failure.

end

4/EUROPEAN AFFAIRS//UK AFFFAIRS

end

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

RUSSIA/UKRAINE

Kremlin threatens to halt supplies as G7 minister reject the “unacceptable” demand to pay for gas in roubles. I would gather it is also unacceptable to be paid in gold

(zerohedge)

Kremlin Threatens To Halt Supplies As G7 Ministers Reject “Unacceptable” Demand To Pay For Gas In Rubles

MONDAY, MAR 28, 2022 – 09:01 AM

Update(9:01ET): Russia on Monday has issued a firm and unyielding response to G-7 ministers who had dismissed as “unacceptable” its plan to only accept ruble payments for Russian gas going to “unfriendly” nations.

Earlier Monday German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said from Berlin that the Kremlin demand for natural gas contracts to be paid in rubles is a “one-sided and clear breach of contracts” – saying the contracts must be honored under prior conditions, according to Bloomberg. “That means that a payment in rubles is not acceptable and we urge the relevant companies not to comply with Putin’s demand,” Habeck said. “Putin’s effort to drive a wedge between us is obvious but you can see that we won’t allow ourselves to be divided and the answer from the G-7 is clear: the contracts will be honored.”

The Kremlin’s quick shooting down of the German economy minister’s comments and the G-7’s stance on the ruble came Monday via a Russian lawmaker to state-run RIA Novosti: “Russian lawmaker Abramov says G7’s refusal to pay in Russian roubles for gas will definitely lead to a halt in supplies.”

Elsewhere the Kremlin said it’s not running a “charity” – according to TASS:

Moscow is handling the details of its gas delivery plans to unfriendly countries for payment in rubles, but it won’t engage in charity if Europe refuses to pay in the Russian currency, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.
…The Kremlin spokesman remained tight-lipped on what measures Russia might take if Europe refused to pay for gas in rubles, noting that these “issues should be sorted out as they develop.” “But we will definitely not supply gas for free, that’s for sure. It is hardly possible and reasonable to engage in charity in our situation,” he emphasized.

Putin has reportedly set a deadline for days away…

* * *

Grab a cup of coffee and catch up on all the latest development, news and fake news out of Ukraine, courtesy of Newsquawk:

Negotiations/Talks

Ukrainian President Zelensky said he would like an all for all prisoner exchange with Russia and that they have handed over a list to Russia. Zelensky added that they will not sit down for talks with Russia if discussions are about “demilitarisation and some kind of denazification.” Zelensky stated that Ukraine is ready to discuss neutrality and non-nuclear status if backed by security guarantees, while he added that a deal is only possible with a troop withdrawal and that he wants a compromise with Russia regarding Donbass.
Ukrainian Interior Ministry Advisor says he expects no major breakthrough at peace discussions.
Turkish President Erdogan told Russian President Putin in a call that there needs to be a quick ceasefire with Ukraine and that they need to improve the humanitarian situation in the region, while it was also reported that the next round of face-to-face talks between Russia and Ukraine will be held in Turkey on March 28th-30th.
Senior Turkish official says that talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators will begin in Istanbul later today. However, the Russian Kremlin said talks are unlikely to commence on Monday, may start on Tuesday. No substantial achievements/breakthroughs in talks, no progress re. a potential Putin-Zelensky meeting.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov says President Putin never refuses to meet with Ukrainian President Zelensky, but since meetings must be well prepared, a (presidential) meeting to exchange views at this time would be counter-productive.
Ukraine’s Deputy PM says that no humanitarian corridors will be opened today as intelligence suggested potential Russian provocations on corridor routes.

Other Officials

US President Biden said NATO is a defensive alliance and it has never sought Russia’s demise and that “swift and punishing” costs are the only things that will influence Russia to change course. Biden added that US forces are in Europe to defend NATO allies, not to engage with Russian forces and stated that Russian President Putin cannot remain in power, although Biden later said that he was not calling for a regime change in Russia.
White House official said President Biden was not calling for a change of regime in Russia and the US envoy to NATO also commented that the US does not have a policy of regime change in Russia. In relevant news, a Kremlin spokesman responded that it is not for US President Biden to decide and said the President of Russia is elected by Russians.
German Chancellor Scholz said a regime change in Russia is not NATO’s goal. Furthermore, Scholz said that Germany is considering purchasing a missile shield.
US Secretary of State Blinken said Israeli efforts to mediate on Ukraine-Russia are important and closely coordinated with the US.

Defence/Military

Russia launched 70 missiles on targets in Ukraine on Saturday which was the largest daily amount since the war began, although reports added only 8 of the 70 missiles reached the target, according to Pravda with most shot down by Ukrainian defense.
UK Ministry of Defence said Russia is maintaining a distant blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast and effectively isolating Ukraine from maritime trade, while it noted that Russian naval forces are continuing their sporadic missile strikes against targets throughout Ukraine. UK Defence Ministry also said Russia is stepping up attempts to encircle Ukrainian forces directly facing the separatist regions in the east, advancing from the direction of Kharkiv in the north and Mariupol in the south, according to Bloomberg.
US is to provide an additional USD 100mln in civilian security assistance to Ukraine, according to the State Department.
Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister said that Russian forces are regrouping but not able to advance anywhere within Ukraine, via Reuters. Subsequently, reports suggest that Russia is attacking to the east and northwest of Kyiv, trying to take key roads and settlements, according to a war reporter based in Ukraine

Energy/Economic Sanctions

US is to sanction companies providing technology for Russian military and intelligence services, according to a WSJ report late on Friday.
Japanese Finance Minister Suzuki said the government cannot confiscate foreign central banks’ reserves parked with the BoJ under current laws, while Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno said they will revise FX control laws swiftly to strengthen sanctions against Russia and hope to submit a bill at the current parliamentary session.
Russian Kremlin says President Putin has instructed the CBR and Gazprom to use the RUB in gas sale transactions to unfriendly nations by March 31st, via AJA Breaking.

Other

Iranian Foreign Minister said that France, Germany and UK agree on the text and that the US ‘accepts’ it must address some remaining issues, while he also stated that a deal hinges on the US removing the IRGC from the terror list, according to Bloomberg. Furthermore, Iran’s Foreign Minister said Tehran welcomes normalisation of ties with Saudi Arabia and is determined to expand cooperation with Syria, according to state TV.
EU’s Borrell said a nuclear agreement with Iran is very close.
US Special Envoy for Iran Malley said he can’t be confident that a deal is imminent and said they also thought they were close a few months ago.
US Secretary of State Blinken said a return to the JCPOA is the best way to put Iran’s nuclear program back in the box and that US commitment to the principle of Iran never acquiring a nuclear weapon is unwavering, while he added the US will continue to stand up to Iran if it threatens the US and its allies.
Israeli PM Bennett said that he hopes the US will heed calls against the delisting of the IRGC from its terrorism blacklist, while Israel’s Foreign Minister said Israel and the US will continue working together to prevent a nuclear Iran.
Two police officers were killed and four people were injured during a shooting attack in Israel’s Hadera, which ISIS claimed responsibility for.
North Korean leader Kim said North Korea will keep developing formidable striking capabilities and their self-defence force cannot be bartered nor be bought according to KCNA, while it was separately reported that North Korea is to accelerate the restoration of its demolished nuclear test site, according to South Korea press.
END
Is Time Running Out For Lessors Of Russian Aircraft? – Mentour PilotInboxRobert Hryniak1:21 PM (10 minutes ago)toA $10 billion USD hit to insurers? Or will they walk and leave the lessors with the hit?https://mentourpilot.com/is-time-running-out-for-lessors-of-russian-aircraft/Cheers
Robert
Mariupol Mayor Orders “Complete Evacuation” Of City Now In Russian Hands; Ukraine Says It’s Retaken Major Kiev Suburb
MONDAY, MAR 28, 2022 – 11:47 AMThe important southeast city of Mariupol has now been completely taken over by Russian forces, according to its mayor, after weeks of siege and intense bombardment and fighting. Mayor Vadym Boichenko announced Monday that his city is “in the hands of the occupiers”.”Not everything is in our power,” he said in a live television interview. “Unfortunately, we are in the hands of hands of the occupiers today.” He then called for a total evacuation of all remaining Ukrainians from the city, which before the invasion was at 400,000 – but which some estimates now put at possibly just over 150,000 remaining.Prior drone footage over Mariupol, via Reuters“According to our estimates, about 160,000 people are in the besieged city of Mariupol today, where it is impossible to live because there is no water, no electricity, no heat, no connection,” Boichenko said. “And it’s really scary.”Last week Russian ground forces reached the center of the city, where street-to-street fighting continued for days – thought it’s unclear Monday if this has continued.While there have been previous short-lived intermittent humanitarian corridors set up for the evacuation of civilians, the Mariupol mayor urged a major new effort. “The situation in the city remains difficult. People are beyond the line of humanitarian catastrophe,” Boichenko said according to Reuters. “We need to completely evacuate Mariupol.”“The Russian Federation is playing with us. We are in the hands of the invaders,” he stressed. Reuters detailed:He said 26 buses were waiting to evacuate civilians from Mariupol, which normally has a population of about 400,000 people, but Russian forces had not agreed to give them safe passage. He did not say where they were waiting.Boichenko described additionally that city’s drivers who are leading evacuation routes are coming under fire. “Our heroic drivers under the fire are trying to reach the places where Mariupol residents can be picked up, and they are waiting with the hope that they will have such an opportunity,” he described.Ukrainian government statements have estimated that up to 90% of all buildings, including residences, have been damaged or destroyed after weeks of heavy shelling.Also on Monday it’s being reported that Ukrainian forces have retaken the significant Kiev suburb of Irpin. While as yet unconfirmed, CNN cited the mayor as follows:”Irpin was freed last night. Now we need to clear the town totally. There are wounded Russian soldiers. They are offering to surrender or they will be destroyed. Irpin is a staging area for an attack. We will [next] liberate Bucha, Vorzel and Hostomel,” Irpin Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn told CNN on Tuesday.Markushyn announced on Telegram: “We have good news today – Irpin has been liberated” – however Reuters has written, “There is no independent confirmation of the claim.”
END

BREAKING REPORT: Biden Refuses to Rule Out First-Strike Use of US NUCLEAR WEAPONS Under ‘Extreme Circumstances’ in Dramatic Reversal of His Campaign Vow…

Inbox

With the Neocons in full control of the DC narrative and war mongering on every corner.The attempt to walk back Biden’s words fed by the likes of Blinken are too little, too late. The message was delivered and received and Russia understands only too well. Let’s hope Putin has a thick skin, because the Neocons in the Kremlin will itch to strike first with a mass strike. What happens if Russia decides it has no choice but to act first? Does anyone understand that a dozen or more cities in America can evaporate at the same time with hypersonic missiles that no will see until they hit? One single glide war head coming from the south would never be seen on the edge of space and take a dozen cities out before anyone could react. Then, what does one do or how does America cope? Does anyone understand that given Russia’s history of invasions and loss, that they will accept a loss of a 100 million people to win the right to still exist? The brave words of the G7 not to pay in Rubles is humorous at best because what shall their tell their citizens when the gas flow stops? How long before real chaos and riots break out? Do you know that over 10% of all Italian farmers are on the edge of going out of business due to high energy costs? Who will replace their output in food supply? Let alone the damage to the Italian economy. Energy costs alone will produce a catastrophic problem in food availability within a year, that few are prepared for.
We are sleep walking into nuclear war lead by a bunch of deadbeat morons who are totally clueless about what they are doing. And certainly, the failed nation state of the Ukraine is not worth dying for. It is a mess where no one has clean hands not even the Ukrainians themselves who have practiced genocide on their own citizens. And if unipolar hegemony is to be fought over ( even though it does not exist anymore) then we can expect this to become a hot war and not just a war of words or currencies games. With a global fallout that will kill many millions not killed by nukes.
While this is tragic to watch, why is Ukrainian life any more precious than the lives of people in Yemen or Africa where people are dying daily due to inhumanity of man to his fellow man? We all bleed the same and we all die as no one escapes death. Have we no heart to see we are all one? Truly, tragic to watch callous indifference and war mongering and false bravado of nuking the other guy when all anyone wants is to live life to best of their ability with hope for a better tomorrow. Because failed hegemony that is dying its’ natural death will not be avoided by war but only accelerated. Western military ambitions to exert hegemony since currency hegemony is being attacked openly is delusional at best. As the west no longer possesses the technology superiority to command attention or control. This fact, nit fiction. Perhaps even the boys at the Pentagon understand this better than the delusional bunch running the administration. And if America was to try now, it will fail and many millions will die with no ticker tape parades in New York because New York will cease to exist. Yes, cities like Moscow may well be gone but is this really the best society can do?
Pray!

BREAKING REPORT: Biden Refuses to Rule Out First-Strike Use of US NUCLEAR WEAPONS Under ‘Extreme Circumstances’ in Dramatic Reversal of His Campaign Vow…

END

Reality

Inbox

Whether we want to accept or not the West has started a war with Russia that may not be kinetic at this time but is war by proxy with Ukrainians being expendable cannon fodder.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

“Today, a genuine hybrid war, a ‘total war’ has been declared against us. This term, which was exploited by Hitler’s Germany, is now pronounced by many European politicians when talking about what they want to do with Russia. The goals are not concealed, they are publicly announced, that is to destroy, devastate, ruin, and suffocate the Russian economy and Russia as a whole,” Lavrov stressed.

The foreign minister lashed out at this “sanctions spree”, pointing out that it is becoming clear that all values that those in the West have been preaching to Russia, like freedom of expression, a market economy, the sanctity of private property and the presumption of innocence, are not worth a red cent.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24 launched a special military operation in Ukraine in response to a request for help from the Donbass republics. He said Moscow had no plans for an occupation of Ukraine. After that the United States, the European Union and Britain, as well as a number of other countries said they were imposing sanctions on Russian individuals and legal entities.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

the Russian response of trading gas and other natural resources in Rubles will shake up the nations but the march is on to real war. Right now their choice is turn the lights out or pay with Rubles. The only question is when and my guess is 1st quarter 2023. As by then acute food shortages amongst other disruptions will have occurred and the desperation of the WEF crowd will in full view of a collapsing agenda.

About 10 days ago, the Brits delivered their latest portable anti tank missiles to the Azov crowd in Kharkov for training and use against the Russians. All sides will want to understand the effectiveness of such missile systems in battlefield performance. To date much of the equipment being used by Russia is older and is outdated in their arsenal but adequate for the job. While we have also demonstration of more modern missiles destroying munitions depots buried under 60 feet of rock with precise accuracy. Even the fuel depot destruction a short distance away from Biden when he was speaking was evident with black smoke in the background.

Europe is living on borrowed time on the Euro and everyone knows this, so a push to war will be made to blame it all on Russia. In the meantime Russia is doing some house cleaning of parties not aligned to it’s needs and certain oligarchs and other officials are being dispatched. Note those who ran to Dubai with their jets. None of this is being reported, but a house cleaning is underway and will result in a more unified Russian perspective without western leaning. Russia does not care about sized yachts of oligarchs and sees it as a lesson for such folks to invest at home. With the outlandish anti Russian vilification occurring in various countries led by a unified MSM cry it will not be surprising to see many Russians living outside of Russia returning home.

Certain reinforcements are now being sent in for the 2nd phase of operational achievement of stated goals as it is now quite clear there will be no negotiated settlement or accommodation. So a complete mop up of all NeoNazi types will take place in stages. There is no hurry because time and a lack of resupply will break the hold on cities without a need for needless civilian casualties. However, we should be prepared for the Azov crowd to do as much civilian damage as possible and this may cause accelerated use of more determinate weapon systems to take them out.

The longer it takes the more crop disruption of supply will be evident and thus expect grains like wheat and corn or even sunflower oil to increase. Meanwhile the US chip business will start to suffer production issues as Neon gas supply remains cut off for about 60% of needed supply. Should replacement be found it will come at a much higher cost, likely out of India. All of such things will add to pressure to act and it is likely all sides will buy measured time to build up supply of weapons to field locations.

None of this will be lost on other state actors with agendas and scores to settle from China to Iran or even Yemen.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

A general update on activities :

1. Large surrenders around Kiev. 70++ many officers including confirmed (based on patch on uniform) Lieutenant Colonel https://www.bitchute.com/video/GRckno5YljHY/ They ran out of food/fuel/water and surrendered.

2. By far the most important advances/gains for RF forces have been around Izyum. Though a small part of south Izyum (south of the river) is still controlled by Ukrops, Russia has wheeled around them and pushed south and captured Kamyanka and is assaulting Sukha.
https://twitter.com/GeromanAT/status/1507764883860897804
If you look on a map this is already a bit of a distance towards Slavyansk. There are videos of Russia utilizing TOS1 thermobaric with massive barrages in this region, the earth is pockmarked to hell and Ukies here have taken MASSIVE losses because they recognize the juncture here as extremely strategically important to their backlines and rearguard/supply. They are fighting with all their might for this space.
You can see videos here of the TOS1 barrage https://twitter.com/Levi_godman/status/1507810935716696070
https://twitter.com/Levi_godman/status/1507811009880334344
There are also satellite photos of hugely cratered and pockmarked fields. This area is a real meatgrinder and Ukies have taken their largest losses of the past week here.
Also Russia has numerous pontoon bridges in the area where forces are pouring into https://twitter.com/hengenahm/status/1507816865598476298
https://twitter.com/JackDetsch/status/1507779212660420612
https://twitter.com/JackDetsch/status/1507778623935295490

Also there continues to be reports of Russian attacks as far SW of Izyum as Barvinkove so there’s definitely some type of advanced force operating in that area. This area’s of utmost importance as it’s one of the main resupply corridors for the Ukie cauldron and Russia now controls the crux of the junction here, stifling the Ukie battle group while continuous air strikes to the rear supplies around Kramatorsk drain the very last of Ukie fuel/lubricants/reserve armor.

3. Russia has completely taken the town of Slavutych
https://twitter.com/RWApodcast/status/1507667161350909956
There’s videos of RF troops there but I won’t bother posting every little clip and clog up the report. The town is taken and RF forces have already negotiated with the mayor and staff for incorporation with civil/military administration of RF forces.

More importantly however, the city of Chernuhiv has been cut off. It was one of the cities left alone in the rearguard after RF forces initially stormed towards Kiev and simply bypassed many medium sized cities. It is a city of importance and now it is completely cut off on all its major axes. (Slavutych is on the outskirts of this city and thus has facilitated the aforementioned)

Incidentally, other reports indicate that more RF forces have begun to pour in from the north (Belarus) down towards the Kiev and Chernuhiv regions to continue fortifying positions here. https://www.bitchute.com/video/MFPqPpwWPzZm/

4. Mariupol is winding down to the last few quarters. Azov is being exterminated and we have daily reports/videos now of their top staff fleeing desperately dressed as civilians. Here’s a high ranking ‘commander’ that was captured today trying to sneak out: https://www.bitchute.com/video/gEzMlvwq3Sog/

past 2 days: https://www.bitchute.com/video/eexwMOENbXd2/
https://www.bitchute.com/video/klmbuAbhSf5g/
https://www.bitchute.com/video/MSZzx2XrpIV1/

all caught/killed trying to flee.

Meanwhile Chechens are going wild taking the last few districts right on the outskirts of Azovstal factory: https://www.bitchute.com/video/yDNGONYxEtGJ/

Some maps of Mariupol: https://twitter.com/Suriyakmaps/status/1507808613569552387
You can see the final Azovstal factory battleground is in the sites https://telewebgram.com/data/dynamic/1135021433/document/5330248581217523212.mp4
full exposé: https://zen.yandex.ru/video/watch/623f4bb54350ba1f01ada39f

Lastly as everyone has heard, Russia sent a big statement to the U.S. the other day. Literally as Biden was giving his speech in Rezsnow Poland on the border of Ukraine, Russia struck a powerful series of blows via Kh-101 missiles onto fuel depots in Lyviv on the border of Poland, a mere 80-90miles away from Biden’s “live speech”. In fact so close that you could likely see the giant columns of black smoke from where Biden was stationed. If that’s not a “statement” then I don’t know what is. Further confirmations now assert that Russia struck another depot/city in Dubno not far away as well.

END

UKRAINE/RUSSIA//USA

No surprise here!

(zerohedge)

Leader Of Lugansk People’s Republic Hints At Referendum To Join Russia “In Near Future”

SUNDAY, MAR 27, 2022 – 10:45 AM

The leader of the Lugansk People’s Republic, one of the two breakaway territories in the Donbas that have been recognized by Moscow as independent states, said Sunday that he is planning to hold a referendum on joining the Russian Federation “in the near future”.

Speaking to journalists on Sunday, Leonid Pasechnik said that “in the near future a referendum will be held in the republic, where people will exercise their absolutely constitutional right, and give their opinion with respect to joining Russia.”

He added that he was “somehow sure that’s precisely the way it will be.”

The comments come one day after President Biden called for “regime change” in Russia during a speech in Warsaw (before his people swooped in to clarify that he was condemning Russia’s efforts to exercise power over the region, not within Russia itself). Later, Secretary of State Antony Blinken clarified that “we do not have a strategy of regime change in Russia.”

Still, Biden’s comments marked the second time in as many days where the aging American president let it slip that regime change in Russia – and American boots on the ground – might be part of NATO’s endgame playbook.

Even if the people of Lugansk clearly choose to align themselves with Russia, there’s little doubt that the west will reject the legitimacy of their decision on the grounds of Ukraine being a ‘sovereign state’.

Back in Moscow, Russian Senator Andrey Klishas reiterated on Sunday that both Lugansk and Donetsk had the right to seek to join Russia unless such a move would violate their constitutions.

But not all Russian politicians expressed support for an immediate referendum. Leonid Kalashnikov, who chairs the Russian Duma’s committee on the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots, warned that “now is not the right moment” for holding a referendum in the republic. He added that “you hardly need to bother with such questions when destiny is being determined on the frontline.”

Both the Donetsk People’s Republic and the LPR declared independence in 2014 after the Euromaidan revolt that drove Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovich from power.

The government in Kiev said Sunday that a vote to join Russia would have no legal basis and would face a strong response from the international community, essentially threatening more military aggression as Kiev would seek to hold on to the breakaway Republics, according to a Reuters report.

“All fake referendums in the temporarily occupied territories are null and void and will have no legal validity,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said in a statement to Reuters.
“Instead, Russia will facе an even stronger response from the international community, further deepening its global isolation.”

Of course, one of the stipulations of Minsk II, the peace deal signed in 2015 that led to a formal ceasefire in the region, was that Donetsk and Lugansk would be given more autonomy from the government in Kiev, along with local elections.

END

Ukraine Says Russia Seeking To Split Country “Like North & South Korea”

MONDAY, MAR 28, 2022 – 09:15 AM

Last week Russia’s military appeared to for the first time since the invasion began a month ago set limits to the scope of what it hopes to achieve in terms of territorial gains. On Friday Russia’s first deputy chief of the General Staff Sergei Rudskoi said the following as quoted in Interfax: “Our forces will focus on the main thing – the complete liberation of Donbas.”

And now President Zelensky and his military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, are charging Russia with seeking to split Ukraine in two, akin to North and South Korea. “The occupiers will try to pull the occupied territories into a single quasi-state structure and pit it against independent Ukraine,” Budanov said in an official Defense Ministry statement. According to the AP, “He predicted that guerrilla warfare by Ukrainians would derail such plans.”

With the focus of Russian operations currently in the south and the east of the country, Budanov described that Russian forces “will try to impose a dividing line between the unoccupied and occupied regions of our country. In fact, it is an attempt to create North and South Korea in Ukraine.”Via AP

As Ukraine-Russia ceasefire talks continue Monday, Zelensky is emphasizing the territorial integrity of Ukraine will be maintained. “Our priorities in the negotiations are known. Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are beyond doubt,” he said in a Sunday evening televised address.

“Effective security guarantees for our state are mandatory,” he said. “Our goal is obvious — peace and the restoration of normal life in our native state as soon as possible.”

Speaking in Russian to a group of Russian journalists which seemed to be a direct signaling to Moscow, he added of Ukraine’s readiness to further dialogue toward a withdrawal of all troops: “…security guarantees and neutrality, non-nuclear status of our state. We are ready to go for it. This is the most important point.”

Talks are expected to resume this week in Turkey from March 28 through March 30. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in his latest statements mentioned Serbia as a possibility to host high-level talks; however, which would likely not be seen as a “neutral” territory by Kiev and the West.

“Moscow is ready to consider various venues for talks with Ukraine, including Belgrade, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Serbian mass media on Monday,” TASS reported Monday. The report detailed:

When asked whether Belgrade could host negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations, Lavrov noted that now an agreement has been reached to organize a meeting in Istanbul, “a geographical location, in respect of which the possibilities of both sides coincide.”
“We will be ready to consider other venues, including Belgrade,” he said.

Meanwhile, more and more Russian flags have been observed going up in and around Mariupol, which appears still on the brink of total takeover by Russian forces amid fierce fighting.

And despite indications that Russia is most heavily focused to the east, Ukraine authorities say that Russian forces have continued to surround the capital of Kiev, as fighting is ongoing in the suburbs and it’s believed the Russians are trying to choke off supply lines.

“The enemy is trying to make a corridor around Kyiv and block transport routes,” Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar announced in televised remarks. She said there are no signs on the ground that Russia has given up in attempts to capture Kiev.

She said: “The defense of Kyiv continues. Ground forces, Air Assault Forces, special operations forces, territorial defense are involved. Kyiv residents are also very active in the defense of Kyiv. It is very difficult for the enemy. But we must speak honestly: the enemy is not letting up attempts to seize Kyiv after all. Because taking Kyiv essentially means taking Ukraine. So that is their goal.”

END

/USA/IRAN

Pay no attention to this

(zerohedge)

Iran Calls Nuclear Deal “Imminent” While US Envoy Rejects Assessment, Saying “Not Confident”

SUNDAY, MAR 27, 2022 – 09:55 AM

In the past two weeks there were strong signals from Iran nuclear deal negotiators in Vienna, especially among the Europeans, that a finalized restored JCPOA deal was in the final stretches and even imminent. The question of if an agreement could be quickly reached would also immediately impact global oil prices, as Iranian oil would provide relief to supply sought by Western nations who have imposed far-reaching sanctions on Russia.

But on Sunday, the US top envoy for Iran talks, Robert Malley, appeared to pour cold water on the latest optimistic headlines, saying he’s not confident a deal is imminent following almost a year of talks.

“I can’t be confident it is imminent… A few months ago we thought we were pretty close as well,” Malley told a Doha Forum conference, according to Reuters. “In any negotiations, when there’s issues that remain open for so long, it tells you something about how hard it is to bridge the gap.”Robert Malley, file image

But Tehran was quick to rebut this negative assessment, essentially saying the ball is in Washington’s court and suggesting that if there is no deal, it’s due to the United States:

The U.S. special envoy’s remarks come as Iran is striking an optimistic tone. Kamal Kharrazi, a senior advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said a nuclear deal is imminent.
“Yes, it’s imminent. It depends on the political will of the United States,” Kharrazi said, according to Reuters.

One major potential obstacle that could derail a finalized deal is the US administration keeping Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), after Trump listed it in 2019.

The White House is said to be considering reversing the listing, which would certainly trigger massive GOP backlash in Congress, and evoke anger from Washington’s ally Israel. The State Department when asked to comment recently on the development rejected reports of impending plans to remove the IRGC from the FTO as “speculation”.

The Iranians see the IRGC as a legitimate and integral part of the country’s main military branches, while over the past three years Washington has seen it as an initiator of terror plots abroad, and as a main way that Tehran has helped to prop up Assad in Syria, despite American-Gulf sponsored regime change efforts.

The Iranians have stressed that “IRGC is a national army and a national army being listed as a terrorist group certainly is not acceptable,” according to a statement from the Ayatollah’s office given to Reuters.

END

6// GLOBAL COVID ISSUES/VACCINE MANDATE

Now they need a 2nd booster. Soon it will be a third and a fourth and each time more problems will occur.

(zerohedge)

Biden Administration Set To Approve 2nd Booster Dose For Americans Over 50

SATURDAY, MAR 26, 2022 – 03:00 PM

As COVID ‘experts’ including Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Scott Gottlieb urge Americans to beware another wave of COVID driven by subvariant BA2, the Biden Administration has reportedly decided to approve a second round of booster shots for Americans over 50 – much to the delight of Moderna and Pfizer, the biggest producers of said shots.

According to the NYT, the FDA could approve the next round of shots as soon as next week.

However, “major complications” have reportedly plagued the decision, leading to a lengthy delay. These complications include:

How long the protection from a second booster would last.
How to explain the plan to the public.
And even whether the overall goal is to shield Americans from severe disease or from less serious infections.

But the FDA has apparently decided to err on the side of caution, believing that, should BA2 cause a resurgence in the US (like it’s doing in Western Europe and the UK), that making boosters available could potentially save lives. However, if the next wave doesn’t hit until the fall – or doesn’t hit at all – then the decision to authorize the shots could be criticized as a major waste of resources.

After all, as the WHO has repeatedly warned, the priority for the American-made vaccines should be to distribute them across the developing world, to guard against the possibility of a more virulent mutation emerging in an area with far lower vaccination rates than the US. The BA2 subvariant is driving another wave o cases in Europe, but so far, it’s believed to only be responsible for roughly one-third of new cases in the US.

end

I would not trust the FDA with a 10 foot pole

(Stieber/EpochTimes)

FDA Tells Doctors In 8 States To Stop Using COVID-19 Treatment

SUNDAY, MAR 27, 2022 – 07:35 PM

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

U.S. drug regulators have directed health care workers in eight states to stop using a COVID-19 treatment because it may not be effective against an Omicron subvariant that is rising in prevalence.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said sotrovimab, a monoclonal antibody used to treat COVID-19, can no longer be used in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Providers in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are also being told to stop using stotrovimab.

Regulators believe the treatment, which was given emergency use authorization in May 2021, “is unlikely to be effective against the BA.2 subvariant,” the FDA said in a statement.

BA.2 is a subvariant of Omicron, a variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

According to genomic surveillance conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, BA.2 was responsible for 12.6 percent of COVID-19 cases in the United States in the week ending on March 5. But the agency projected an increase to 35 percent in the week ending on March 19, and the subvariant was pegged as circulating widely in the northeast.

Based on the estimates, BA.2 is responsible for the majority of the cases in the states where administration of sotrovimab is now limited.

The FDA had indicated in February that it would limit the treatment.

Several studies have indicated sotrovimab does not perform well against BA.2, including one published in Nature Medicine.

But GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology, the makers of the drug, have said testing suggested the treatment retained neutralizing activity against BA.2.

The companies said Friday they were aware of the FDA’s move and are preparing to send a data package to the agency and other regulatory authorities that show a higher dose of sotrovimab works against BA.2.

COVID-19 treatments that do appear to be effective against BA.2 include Pfizer’s pill, paxlovid; the antiviral from Gilead Sciences known as remdesivir; and the recently authorized bebtelovimab, a monoclonal made by Eli Lilly, according to the FDA.

“We will continue to monitor BA.2 in all U.S. regions and may revise the authorization further to ensure that patients with COVID-19 have effective treatments available. Health care providers should also monitor the frequency of BA.2 in their region as they choose appropriate treatment options for patients,” the agency said.

The FDA previously cut off authorization for REGEN-COV, a monoclonal from Regeneron, and a separate treatment from Eli Lilly because laboratory testing suggested they didn’t hold up well against Omicron.

end

ISSUES/GLOBAL ISSUES

COVID// VACCINE//GLOBAL//

Insanity is the New Norm in the U.S. as Professional Sports Players can be Exempt from COVID Vaccine Mandates but Navy Seals Cannot

March 26, 2022 4:18 pm

As the American public continues to have their attention focused on the situation in Ukraine and the corporate media’s propaganda that Russia is a threat to our way of life, because they are ready to launch cyber attacks and nuclear bombs at us, the REAL destruction of America continues on from within at break-neck speed. On Thursday this past week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who began his press conference by saying “we’re going to focus on the science” and then proceeded to do just the opposite, issued an executive order that exempted professional sports players and the entertainment industry from having to comply with COVID-19 vaccine mandates. If you are a NYC sports fan, I am sure that you welcomed this news, as now you can attend games with your fellow Billionaire Wall Street executives who fund these teams, and watch your team put their best players on the field or court for a change, along with your fellow New York residents such as Albert Bourla, Jamine Dimon, Larry Fink, and many others who probably got tired of the COVID protocols preventing them from enjoying their entertainment and then handed Mayor Eric Adams a memo outlining his executive order. The New York City professional sports franchises and entertainment industry are now considered essential services who do not have to comply with COVID mandates. If, on the other hand, you are employed by the U.S. Government on a military salary, you are considered expendable, even if you are among the elite members of our nation’s Special Forces. In yet another decision by our “Conservative” U.S. Supreme Court who continues to rule as if there is actually a killer virus that has been raging as a “pandemic” for going on 3 years now that the public has to be protected from, the Court ruled 6-3 against Navy Seals being entitled to a religious exemption for COVID-19 vaccine mandates, and their right to defend their country.

New Stew Peters Live: Zelenko Exposes Pfizer Assassination List, Circuitry in Vaxx Vials, War Propaganda Revealed | Prophecy | Before It’s News

Inbox

You have to watch this
https://beforeitsnews.com/prophecy/2022/03/new-stew-peters-live-zelenko-exposes-pfizer-assassination-list-circuitry-in-vaxx-vials-war-propaganda-revealed-2529218.html

GLOBAL ISSUES

VACCINE MANDATES/

Strange for Sun Life Insurance as they are imposing vaccine mandate on all employees despite the fact that the company is experiencing increasing deaths due

those vaccines.

special thanks to Robert H for providing this for us;

Sun Life imposing vaccine mandate on all in-person staff | True North

Inbox

Sun Life imposing vaccine mandate on all in-person staff

VACCINE INJURIES

Heart Issues Detected Months After COVID-19 Vaccination: Study

Inbox

https://m.theepochtimes.com/post-vaccination-heart-issues-detected-months-after-covid-19-vaccination-study_4364565.html?utm_source=newsnoe&utm_campaign=breaking-2022-03-27-2&utm_medium=email2&est=8AOJKsYe9cRcylNY0zRRPGZaGB%2Fuosd%2FY7x1eZOmZYHRvc6bDbbbnj0Z

Heart Issues Detected Months After COVID-19 Vaccination: Study

A health care worker fills a syringe with Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine in a file image. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)

Heart abnormalities were detected months after COVID-19 vaccination, according to a study.

Researchers at Seattle Children’s Hospital reviewed cases of patients younger than 18 who went to the hospital with chest pain and elevated serum troponin levels, two key markers of heart inflammation, within a week of getting a second dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.

While 35 patients fit the criteria, 19 were excluded for various reasons, including receiving care in another state after the initial visit. Cardiac imaging of the remaining 16 patients, performed three to eight months after they were first examined, showed 11 had persistent late gadolinium enhancement, a heart abnormality, though at lower levels than months earlier.

The followup imaging also revealed abnormal global longitudinal strain, a measure of heart function, in three-quarters of the patients, with little change from the initial examinations, as well as “significantly improved” measures of blood pumping and no detected regional wall motion issues, another abnormality.

Researchers said while symptoms “were transient and most patients appeared to respond to treatment,” the study showed a “persistence of abnormal findings,” noting that late gadolinium enhancement is known as an indicator of heart injury and is associated with a worse prognosis in patients with typical myocarditis.

The findings “rais[e] concerns for potential longer-term effects,” they wrote, adding that they plan to repeat imaging at one year after the vaccine to assess whether problems are still present.

The findings were published following peer review in The Journal of Pediatrics. The researchers said no funding was received for the paper.

VACCINE IMPACT

How the Criminal FDA Protects Big Pharma by Controlling the Media

March 25, 2022 5:00 pm

The British Medical Journal (BMJ) has released a video of whistleblower Brook Jackson, who was a regional director employed by Ventavia Research Group in Texas in 2020 to monitor the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine trials. When she observed the data from the trials being handled improperly, she recommended they stop enrolling people in the trials. But her employer did not agree, so she reported them to the FDA. She thought that the FDA would take action to correct this fraud, but instead, her employer fired her shortly after she contacted the FDA. Brook Jackson learned the hard way that the FDA does not protect the public, but the pharmaceutical industry. Not only did the FDA not respond to her reporting, they did not even bother to investigate the site where the alleged infractions occurred. So she took her story to the British Medical Journal (BMJ), who ended up publishing it because she backed up everything she was reporting with solid facts and information. But when the article in the BMJ was shared on Facebook, the Facebook fact checkers marked it as fake news. This is a common tactic that the FDA has done historically, by controlling the media to cover up the crimes of Big Pharma.

Local, National Media Paid $MILLIONS To Push COVID-19 Vaccines

March 25, 2022 5:20 pm

In January, the Conejo Guardian reported that $1.8 million of federal COVID money was used by Ventura County supervisors to buy positive local media coverage regarding business-shattering public health mandates. The investigation showed that, among other media outlets, The Acorn Newspapers received $450,000 in forgivable federal “COVID” loans and $262,000 in County funding via advertisements, and the Acorn’s coverage of public health policy was universally positive and affirming during that time. This trend was true with all local news sources the Guardian surveyed. This story has exploded nationally as an investigation by TheBlaze shows that $1 billion of federal money went to hundreds of local newspapers and TV stations, plus major players like Fox News, CNN, Newsmax, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times (LA Times), to promote the federal government’s message about COVID mandates, “vaccinations” and more.

Vaccine Impact

Michael Every

Michael Every on the day’s major topics

Rabobank: The West’s Grand Strategy Is As Poor As Russia’s Logistics

MONDAY, MAR 28, 2022 – 10:10 AM

By Michael Every of Rabobank

No Retreat, No Surrender

To paraphrase Harold Wilson, a weekend is a long time in geopolitics. Indeed, the last few days have seen more major developments.

On Friday, Russia appeared to pivot on its war goals. Suddenly it was no longer talking about denazification or demilitarization, let alone the end of the Ukrainian state. Instead, it stressed that it had reached the end *of the first phase* of fighting, had significantly weakened Ukraine’s military, and from now on would concentrate its forces on liberating the eastern Donbas region it previously held parts of. President Putin, speaking Sunday, congratulated Russian forces fighting in Donbas – and only Donbas. Some are wondering if the upcoming May 9 Russian holiday celebrating their WW2 victory over Nazism will be the ideal date for Moscow to claim that they have repeated the ‘victory’ over Ukraine. One can expect markets to rally on the back of such “peace in our time” dreams.

However, there is reason for pessimism. Russia is fighting on too many fronts, and the possible encirclement of Ukrainian forces in the east was always a good target: but it is still bombing Ukraine’s west. Ukraine says Moscow aims to split the country like North and South Korea – as the breakaway ‘Luhansk republic’ expects to hold a “referendum on independence”. Russia does not want to give up territorial gains outside Donbas and give Ukraine a morale-boosting victory, and it will not give up its land bridge to Crimea. Ukraine will not drop its demands for a *full* Russian withdrawal; and so the West will not be able to drop sanctions – and Russia would still be in a position where escalation would suit it better. Ukrainian President Zelenskiy, begging for more urgently needed weapons, does not seem to see de-escalation. Some Russian foreign policy sources suggest Putin still wants to drag Poland into the crisis to escalate to the NATO level, where a deal might be done. Tellingly, Putin propagandists on Russian TV, while admitting the “special military operation” is not going well, are nonetheless talking about an existential struggle where defeat is unacceptable. Worryingly in this regard, Russia also just reiterated its willingness to use nuclear weapons vs. even an existential conventional threat.

On which note, US President Biden’s speech from Poland has made matters far worse.

He stressed the US would not get dragged into conflict with Russia, despite an earlier gaffe telling US troops they were headed to Ukraine.
He underlined this war is not going to be over quickly: “We need to be clear-eyed. This battle will not be won in days or months either. We need to steel ourselves for the long fight ahead.”
He made clear this is not just about Ukraine, but a new Cold War: “The battle for democracy could not conclude and did not conclude with the end of the Cold War. Over the last 30 years, the forces of autocracy have revived all across the globe. Its hallmarks are familiar ones: contempt for the rule of law, contempt for democratic freedom, contempt for the truth itself… Let us resolve to put the strength of democracies into action to thwart the designs of autocracy… The darkness that drives autocracy is ultimately no match for the flame of liberty that lights the souls of free people everywhere.” How will China (and US businesses in China) hear the above when, like Putin, Beijing already see the West ganging up on it. Friday’s EU-China pre-scheduled summit will be interesting.
He showed economic war will be a key part of the West’s arsenal: “These economic sanctions are a new kind of economic statecraft with the power to inflict damage that rivals military might.”
He said energy policy needs to change: “Europe must end its dependence on Russian fossil fuels. And we, the US, will help… Over the long term, as a matter of economic security and national security and for the survivability of the planet, we all need to move as quickly as possible to clean, renewable energy. And we’ll work together to help get that done so that the days of any nation being subject to the whims of a tyrant for its energy needs are over. They must end. They must end.” How does Qatar, who Germany just signed an energy deal with, or the Saudis, or Iran, etc., feel about that?
He implied freedom is not free (or free money): “It will not be easy. There will be costs. But it’s a price we have to pay.”
But the key gaffe was saying: “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.” So, regime change. Yes, the White House stepped in to assert the US was “not discussing Putin’s power in Russia or regime change.” Or God, presumably. Yet for a paranoid Russia (and China), the diplomatic damage is done. Add it to the West saying Russia has only a few years of dollar/euro income for its energy, and then zero – while the EU provides a steady flow of billions to Moscow to pay for the war to try to strengthen its hand on the ground Even if it was diplomatically acceptable to back regime change, it is impossible for the US to achieve. True, academic Kamil Galeev argues US sanctions will soon see Russia’s railway and airline networks fail, and the regions will then hoard their produce until the national economy dissolves; but control of nukes will stay in Moscow and with Putin.

Regrettably, as its rhetoric soars, the West’s grand strategy is as poor as Russia’s logistics. They are validating Russia’s/China’s existential fears even without taking the most aggressive near-term military actions. So, ‘No Retreat, No Surrender’, as a 1986 Cold War throwback.

Yet this is 2022 and the world and the US have changed. The West listened to the speech and wondered how its supply chains and exporter profits will cope, and some in NATO did not like Biden’s language; the rest of the world wondered how it is going to pay its energy bills and eat: the EU now supports reduced use of biofuels to boost food production, but an agri ‘Marshall Plan’ is MIA. Even the US is far from united internally as ‘culture war’ dominates over Cold War – is it ready for the long-haul Biden proposes? As Ukrainians focus on triggers, warnings, and macro-aggression, some in the US do the same on trigger-warnings and micro-aggressions, or to “autocracy” as their revenue stream; or even to Putin directly; or indirectly, via neo-isolationism, neo-realism, or the tribalism that ‘Biden is against him’. Putin is even dragging JK Rowling into the war –“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azov-Ban”?– as a protest sign I saw read “Russian troop pronouns are was/were” – which speaks to why Russia sees this as existential.

The economic war also rages. We will shortly find out if Putin is bluffing about taking roubles for gas exports or not. Moreover, while China’s Sinopec is pulling back from planned Russian investments over fears of potential US sanctions, the Washington Post argues ‘China will back Putin no matter how badly it goes in Ukraine’ and that:

“The key question now is just how far Beijing will go to support Moscow. While Xi would like to maintain good relations with Europe and avoid a further deterioration in the US-China relationship, the fate of Putin and the Russian state directly implicates China’s core security interests. Not only would the prospect of a beaten and broken Russia activate China’s fears of instability along their shared 2,500-mile border, but it would also create uncertainty about the future leadership and geopolitical orientation of the Russian government. If Putin were eventually to fall from power, would his successor remain aligned with Beijing? So the more anxious Beijing becomes about the war and Putin’s personal position in power, the more likely it is to step up support by providing direct economic assistance, mitigating the impact of sanctions and even supplying military equipment.
Clearly, China’s preference is to avoid secondary sanctions in response to any support — access to the international market and the US dollar remains critical for China’s economy and its continued rise. But Beijing could pursue means of support that are difficult to track, such as facilitating Russia’s access to US dollars via offshore accounts, or by directing state-owned enterprises and even private companies to increase their purchases of non-sanctioned Russian goods and services. If China does decide to supply Russia with military assistance, it would likely seek to avoid equipment and hardware that would flagrantly violate international law and sanctions or be easily traceable, and instead provide spare parts, ammunition or certain dual-use items that aren’t yet sanctioned.”

In which case, what does the US do, exactly? Retreat? Surrender? It doesn’t sound like it.

So, all is in flux globally. In Asia, Russia is holding military exercises near Japan, the Solomon Islands are in focus, and China’s foreign minister visited India Friday, hoping to bring them into the Eurasian camp: India made clear China needs to de-escalate on their shared border first, where the reverse is happening. China is also locking down Shanghai over Covid. In the Middle East, the Iran deal hangs on the issue of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp, Houthis attacked Saudi Arabian oil facilities again – and this time the Saudis struck back hard, and Israel’s Prime Minister tweeted out his sympathies to the Saudis; that, as the US Secretary of State and the foreign ministers of the UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, and Morocco all attend a landmark summit in Israel.

Everyone is going to be involved. Bloomberg reports ‘Shaken by spiking commodities, trading houses adapt to survive’; Politico adds ‘‘Too big to fail’: White House careful not to target food companies as it pressures Putin’. Yet recall the slew of regulation and oversight that loomed for banks after their ‘too big to fail’ moment, and now does for global ocean carriers. If everything is geopolitical, the bigger you (and profits) are, the more you are going to get noticed.

The Fed also appears to be saying ‘No Retreat, No Surrender’ on rates as if it still thinks this is a red-hot testosterone-and-adrenalin-fuelled 1986 US economy. US 2s are now at 2.27% and 10s at 2.47%, the highest since mid-2019. That Fed fighting style overlooks what happened in 1987 – and I don’t mean the cheap(er) follow up/cash-in of ‘No Retreat, No Surrender 2’. I mean the Black Monday Wall Street crash.

Indeed, equity markets think they are inflation hedges during a war and Cold War. They think inflation can be passed on without end-demand being destroyed (but, please, listen to the people dialling in to UK radio stations in tears saying they already can’t feed their kids!); or, alternatively, without the Fed and other central-banks seeing a wage-price spiral and acting even more on rates; or, in either case, without the government saying: “There’s a Cold War on – national-security price controls!” If that market is wrong, there will be at least one painful retreat and surrender.

7. OIL ISSUES

8 EMERGING MARKET& AUSTRALIA ISSUES

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

AUSTRALIA/

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

Euro/USA 1.0966 DOWN .0004 /EUROPE BOURSES //ALL GREEN

USA/ YEN 124.19 UP 2.363 /NOW TARGETS INTEREST RATE AT .11% AS IT WILL BUY UNLIMITED BONDS TO GETS TO THAT LEVEL…

GBP/USA 1.3116 DOWN 0.0059

Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE CLOSED UP 2.26 PTS OR 0.07%

Hang Sang CLOSED UP 280.09 PTS OR 1.31%

AUSTRALIA CLOSED DOWN 0.01% // EUROPEAN BOURSES OPENED ALL GREEN

Trading from Europe and ASIA

I) EUROPEAN BOURSES ALL GREEN

2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang SANG CLOSED UP 280.09 PTS OR 1.31%

/SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 2.26 PTS OR 0/07%

Australia BOURSE CLOSED DOWN 0.01%

(Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED DOWN 205.95 PTS OR 0.73%

INDIA’S SENSEX IN THE GREEN

Gold very early morning trading: 1928.40

silver:$24.94-

USA dollar index early MONDAY morning: 99.20 UP 41 CENT(S) from FRIDAY’s close.

THIS ENDS MONDAY MORNING NUMBERS

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And now your closing MONDAY NUMBERS 1: 00 PM

Portuguese 10 year bond yield: 1.34% UP 1 in basis point(s) yield from YESTERDAY/

JAPANESE BOND YIELD: +0.26% UP 2 AND 0/10 BASIS POINTS from YESTERDAY/JAPAN losing control of its yield curve/

SPANISH 10 YR BOND YIELD: 1.45%// UP 1 in basis points yield from yesterday.

ITALIAN 10 YR BOND YIELD 2.11 UP 3 points in basis points yield from yesterday./

the Italian 10 yr bond yield is trading 66 points higher than Spain.

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD: RISES TO +0.589% IN BASIS POINTS ON THE DAY//

THE IMPORTANT SPREAD BETWEEN ITALIAN 10 YR BOND AND GERMAN 10 YEAR BOND IS 1.52% 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 MONDAY

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

Euro/USA 1.0969 DOWN .0009 or 09 basis points

USA/Japan: 123.48 UP 1.651 OR YEN DOWN 165 basis points/

Great Britain/USA 1.3088 DOWN 87 BASIS POINTS

Canadian dollar DOWN 89 BASIS pts to 1.2556

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The USA/Yuan, CNY: closed ON SHORE (CLOSED ..DOWN 6.3722

THE USA/YUAN OFFSHORE: (YUAN CLOSED (DOWN)..6.3874

TURKISH LIRA: 14.83 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LEVEL/DEATH WISH/HYPERINFLATION TO BEGIN.

the 10 yr Japanese bond yield at +0.26

Your closing 10 yr US bond yield DOWN 2 IN basis points from FRIDAY at 2.457% //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%) very problematic

USA 30 yr bond yield: 2.567 DOWN 2 in basis points

Your closing USA dollar index, 99.19 UP 40 CENT(S) ON THE DAY/1.00 PM/

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

London: CLOSED DOWN 1.07PTS OR 0.01%

German Dax : CLOSED UP 54.53 POINTS OR 0.83%

Paris CAC CLOSED UP 155.89PTS OR 1.09%

Spain IBEX CLOSED UP 56.20PTS OR 0.68%

Italian MIB: CLOSED UP 214/35 PTS OR 0.87%

WTI Oil price 106.24 12: EST

Brent Oil: 113.98 12:00 EST

USA /RUSSIAN /// RUBLE RISES TO: 95.90 UP 8.10 RUBLES/DOLLAR

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD; +.589

CLOSING NUMBERS: 4 PM

Euro vs USA: 1.0979 DOWN .0003 OR down 3 BASIS POINTS

British Pound: 1.3085 DOWN .0090 or DOWN 90 basis pts

USA dollar vs Japanese Yen: 123.82 UP 0.0065

USA dollar vs Canadian dollar: 1.2532 UP .0065 (CDN dollar DOWN 65 basis pts)

West Texas intermediate oil: 103,83

Brent OIL: 109.15

USA 10 yr bond yield: 2.463 DOWN 2 points

USA 30 yr bond yield: 2.562 DOWN 3 pts

USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 14.83

USA DOLLAR VS RUSSIA///USA/ ROUBLE: 95,00 DOWN 9 ROUBLES (ROUBLE UP 9 ROUBLES/USA )//

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: UP 94.65 PTS OR 0.27%

NASDAQ 100 UP 233.09 PTS OR 1.54%

VOLATILITY INDEX: 19.59 DOWN 1.22PTS

GLD: 179.06 DOWN 3.32 PTS OR 0.38%

SLV/ 22.93 DOWN .55 PTS OR 0.59%

end)

USA trading day in Graph Form

Oil, Gold, Yen, & Yield-Curve Slapped Lower; Ruble & Crypto ‘Rock’et Higher

MONDAY, MAR 28, 2022 – 04:01 PM

While oil plunged and crypto soared, perhaps the biggest news of the day was that the Ruble continued to charge higher, almost erasing all of the post-invasion losses…

Source: Bloomberg

And gold in rubles has fallen back towards CBR’s buying level announced last week…

Source: Bloomberg

Crude crashed on demand anxiety as China begins its lockdown in Shanghai. It was rescued briefly by OPEC+ headlines that they don’t care about temporary ‘war premium’ and will stock to their current supply plan, but that didn’t last long as the reports of progress in peace-talks sent WTI legging down further, settling with a $104 handle…

Bitcoin ripped back above $48,000 (and up to its 200DMA)…

Source: Bloomberg

…pushing it back into the green for 2022 and to its highest level of the year (Ethereum also surged up to $3400)…

Source: Bloomberg

‘Growth’ stocks soared with tech-heavy Nasdaq the clear winner but going into the last hour, reports of possible breakthroughs in Russia-Ukraine peace talks sent all the majors higher. The rally dragged The Dow just into the green along with the S&P with even Small Caps desperately ramped to a tiny gain on the day…

Growth outperformed value (energy and financials suffered today), slamming the Value/Growth ratio back to basically unchanged on the month..

Source: Bloomberg

Treasuries were a mixed bag today with the long-end outperforming amid a massive flattening (2Y +6bps, 30Y -2bps)…

Source: Bloomberg

But what was consistent was the worsening of yield curve inversions across almost the entire curve (5s10s, 5s30s, 7s10s, and 20s30s all inverted now). The rate of collapse in the yield curve is almost unprecedented…

Source: Bloomberg

The forward curve is already flashing red for recession with 1Y Fwd 2s30s now 41bps inverted!!!!!

Source: Bloomberg

The dollar rallied up to 2 week highs, retracing all the post-FOMC losses…

Source: Bloomberg

The dollar is being helped by the carnage in JPY…

Source: Bloomberg

Gold was smashed lower on the peace-talk headlines…

In context, Gold is getting close to the key $1900 level and the pre-invasion lows…

Finally, what is most glaring is that the market is now pricing in 9 more rate-hikes in 2022… which the market sees as guaranteeing a recession… and therefore the market is pricing in almost three rate-cuts in 2023/24….

Source: Bloomberg

With stocks only a few percent off their highs, do you think they are pricing in 9 more hikes this year?

END

I) /MORNING TRADING

END

AFTERNOON

Stocks Jump, Gold & Oil Dump On Report Russia Abandons “De-Nazification” Demands In Peace Talks

MONDAY, MAR 28, 2022 – 03:00 PM

The FT reports, according to four people briefed on the discussions, Russia is no longer requesting Ukraine be “denazified” and is prepared to let Kyiv join the European Union if it remains militarily non-aligned as part of ongoing ceasefire negotiations.

The draft ceasefire document does not contain any discussion of three of Russia’s initial core demands – “denazification”, “demilitarisation”, and legal protection for the Russian language in Ukraine – the people added.

And the market seems to be happy that the nazis can stay?

Crude prices extended their losses (lower geopol risk)…

And Gold is getting monkeyhammered lower…

Russia “can’t and won’t talk about progress” because “it could only harm the negotiating process”, Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, was quoted by Interfax on Monday.

“For now, unfortunately, we cannot speak of any significant achievements and breakthroughs”, he added.

As part of the agreement under consideration, again citing sources, The FT reports that Ukraine would also refrain from developing nuclear weapons, or hosting foreign military bases in addition to abandoning its pursuit of Nato membership.

We have to say we find this hard to believe and can only think that Ukraine must be ‘offering’ plenty in return – perhaps giving up The Donbas and allowing the land-bridge to Crimea to remain?

END

II)USA data

IIB) USA COVID/VACCINE MANDATES

iiia) USA inflation//SHIPPING commentaries//LOG JAMS//

Look at what happened to this chain when managment tried to replace new lower waged personelle. They quit and this forced the chain to close

(zerohedge)

“I Was Stunned And Disgusted” – Kansas Applebee’s Forced To Close As Workers Revolt Over Wage-Cut Plans

FRIDAY, MAR 25, 2022 – 06:00 PM

As American workers and businesses struggle with the fallout from the most vicious bout of inflation in 40 years, workers across the US are struggling as wage growth lags behind inflation. For example, federal jobs data released last month showed that wage growth was disappointingly slow, as the YoY growth rate actually declined from January, coming in at just 5.1% (and missing the Wall Street consensus forecast of 5.8%).

Since the start of the pandemic, most economists expected near-record numbers of open jobs would force employers to hike wages significantly. And while wages did indeed climb for public-facing workers during the pandemic, that once-torrid growth has since leveled off.

While businesses with large numbers of white-collar workers have the option of saving on office rents by shifting to a permanent all-remote or hybrid model, restaurants, brick-and-mortar retail businesses, restaurants and other businesses that rely on a permanent in-person workforce simply don’t have that luxury.

This has created new tensions between management and labor that is, in some cases, leading to conflict. And one particularly interesting example of this tension played out at an Applebees in Lawrence, Kansas, when workers quit en masse in protest of a suggestion by management to try and hire new workers at a lower wage, based on the notion that higher gas prices would force more of the millions of Americans currently on the sidelines of the labor market to seek employment.

Here’s what happened, according to a report in the Lawrence Journal-World.

The restaurant on south Iowa Street was closed for large parts of Tuesday because of high gasoline prices, but perhaps not for the reasons you would think. Multiple employees of the chain quit after seeing an email from a regional manager urging the restaurant to begin hiring employees at lower wages, under the theory that people are becoming more desperate to take a job as fuel prices increase.
“Everyone has heard that gas prices continue to rise,” read an email that came from the account of Wayne Pankratz, executive director of operations for Applebee’s franchisee Apple Central LLC. “The advantage this has for us is that it will increase application flow and has the potential to lower our average wage. How you ask?
“Most of our employee base and potential employee base live paycheck to paycheck. Any increase in gas price cuts into their disposable income. As inflation continues to climb and gas prices continue to go up, that means more hours employees will need to work to maintain their current level of living.”

The workers’ revolt started when one of the managers at the restaurant saw the email, and was so enraged, he made copies and distributed them to other employees. By the time the restaurant was set to open on Tuesday, the staff refused to work, and a walkout began.

When Jake Holcomb, one of several managers at the Lawrence restaurant, ended up seeing the email on Monday, it upset him enough that he made copies of the email and distributed them to several employees of the restaurant.
When opening time arrived on Tuesday, the manager who was scheduled to open the restaurant at 2520 Iowa St. declined to open the restaurant after reading the emails. She has since quit over the email. Holcomb has too. In total, Holcomb said three of the six managers at the restaurant quit in protest of the email.
“I was just stunned and disgusted,” said Holcomb, who had worked at Applebee’s in Lawrence and elsewhere since 2020.
By Wednesday, the Lawrence restaurant had reopened. A spokesman for Apple Central LLC confirmed the Lawrence location was closed for a time on Tuesday, but he couldn’t confirm how many employees had quit or what role a lack of employees played in Tuesday’s closing.

The restaurant reopened on Wednesday, but word was out, and now Applebee’s corporate has stepped in to do damage control.

But the spokesman said he agreed that the email was stunning.
“It is embarrassing. It really is,” said Scott Fischer, director of communications for Apple Central, which is based in Kansas City and has 47 Applebee’s restaurants in the Midwest.

As the cost of everything from housing to gas to food continues to surge, America’s hourly workers are indeed feeling the pinch far worse than their white collar peers. Let this be a warning to any other businesses looking for savings by lowering wages: America’s wage laborers are officially stretched to the breaking point.

end

iiib) USA economic stories

end

iv)swamp stories

END

The King Report (including swamp stories)

Let us close with this offering courtesy of Greg Hunter interviewing Gerald Celente

https://usawatchdog.com/wwiii-has-begun-gerald-celente/
WWIII Has Begun – Gerald CelenteBy Greg Hunter On March 26, 2022 In Political Analysis49 CommentsBy Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com Renowned trends researcher and publisher of “The Trends Journal,” Gerald Celente, has long said “when all else fails, they take you to war.” To say our world is failing is a profound understatement. Celente proclaims, “World War III has begun. . . . I was born one year after the end of WWII, and crazy people will take you to war in the blink of an eye. . . . The war criminals are leading us into another war.”Celente says the reason for war usually surrounds a failing economy. This time is no different. Celente explains, “I have been saying that when all else fails, they take you to war. What followed the Great Depression? War. What followed the dot com bust? More war. That’s right. Georgie Bush’s ratings were way down, and the Nasdaq was down 66% before 9/11.”Celente goes on to point out the economy in the USA is failing. For proof, look no further than the “16% inflation” destroying paychecks of Americans, especially at the gas pump. Celente also says in the commercial real estate market in NYC alone, only 35% of the office space is being rented. That means 65% is vacant, and it’s the same all over the country. Celente predicts, “We are headed for an economic calamity the likes of which we have never seen in our lifetime. They are getting our minds off it with the war in Ukraine. . . . You know, I wrote in the magazine in the beginning of the year, we said that the Covid war would wind down by late March and mid-April. It’s winding down. . . . So, now, as we said in the magazine, we went from the Covid war to the Ukraine war, and now to world war. We are headed to World War III. . . . There is not a peep about a cease-fire. Biden is only bragging about more weapons being sent in. Biden says we are going to defeat the Russians. We are not backing down. No one is talking about a cease-fire, and no one is talking about peace. If we don’t unite for peace, we are all going to die in war.”In closing, Celente is warning about some sort of event or false flag giving the banking powers a reason to shut down the banks and separating you from your money. Celente warns, “I am saying to everyone listening, we are at the crucial point where one day, they are going to say a bomb, hacking or whatever, and to save your lives and to save your money, we are closing down the banking system. You won’t be able to get your money out, and maybe when you do, they will devalue it. They did it, before and they will do it again. This time, it will be much worse. My plan centers around the three G’s: guns, gold and a getaway plan.”Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog.com as he goes One-on-One with the top trends researcher on the planet, Gerald Celente, publisher of The Trends Journal for 3.26.22. (There is much more in the 42 min. interview.)
https://usawatchdog.com/wwiii-has-begun-gerald-celente/
(To Donate to USAWatchdog.com Click Here)After the Interview: There is free information on TrendsResearch.com.If you want to become a subscriber of The Trends Journal (which is weekly) click here.Please Support Our Direct Sponsors Below
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end

Well that is all for today.

Sorry that I was not very thorough today as I spent most of today at the hospital

I will be having surgery for a hip replacement on Tuesday, so I will not give a commentary on that

day, but hopefully I will commence again on Wednesday or Thursday

douglas cundey	7:57 AM (45 minutes ago)
me

Robert Hryniak	11:22 AM (4 minutes ago)
to

Robert Hryniak	5:41 PM (4 minutes ago)
to

Robert Hryniak	Sat, Mar 26, 8:01 PM (13 hours ago)
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