April 20/2023 · by harveyorgan · in Uncategorized · Leave a comment·Editi

GOLD PRICE CLOSED: UP $12.70, TO $2007.80

SILVER PRICE CLOSED:UP 2 CENTS AT $25.30

Access prices: closes 4: 15 PM

Gold ACCESS CLOSE $2004.95

Silver ACCESS CLOSE: 25.29

Bitcoin morning price:, $29,171 DOWN 1033 Dollars

Bitcoin: afternoon price: $28,311 DOWN 1893 dollars

Platinum price closing $1097.30 UP $4.10

Palladium price; $1594.15 DOWN $17.45

END

Due to the huge rise in the dollar, we must look at gold and silver in currencies other than the dollar to understand where we are heading

I will now provide gold in Canadian dollars, British pounds and Euros/4: 15 PM ACCESS

CANADIAN GOLD: $2701.500 UP 16.29 CDN dollars per oz (ALL TIME HIGH 2732.50)

BRITISH GOLD: 1611.21 DOWN 2.10 pounds per oz//(ALL TIME HIGH//1629.84)

EURO GOLD: 1827,68 UP 0.40 euros per oz //(ALL TIME HIGH//1860.82)

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COMEX DATA EXCHANGE:

COMEX//NOTICES

EXCHANGE: COMEX

EXCHANGE: COMEX
CONTRACT: APRIL 2023 COMEX 100 GOLD FUTURES
SETTLEMENT: 1,995.200000000 USD
INTENT DATE: 04/19/2023 DELIVERY DATE: 04/21/2023
FIRM ORG FIRM NAME ISSUED STOPPED

118 C MACQUARIE FUT 12
363 H WELLS FARGO SEC 25
435 H SCOTIA CAPITAL 13
661 C JP MORGAN 5
737 C ADVANTAGE 3 2
800 C MAREX SPEC 9 4
880 C CITIGROUP 1

TOTAL: 37 37
MONTH TO DATE: 23,445

JPMorgan stopped 5/37 contracts

GOLD: NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR APRIL/2023. CONTRACT: 37 NOTICES FOR 3700 OZ or 0.1150 TONNES

total notices so far: 23,445 contracts for 2,344,500 oz (72.923 tonnes)

SILVER NOTICES: 30 NOTICE(S) FILED FOR 150,000 OZ/

total number of notices filed so far this month : 374 for 1,870,000 oz

END

GLD

WITH GOLD UP $12.70

INVESTORS SWITCHING TO SPROTT PHYSICAL (PHYS) INSTEAD OF THE FRAUDULENT GLD

/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD://////A DEPOSIT OF 0.70 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD

INVENTORY RESTS AT 926.57 TONNES

Silver//

WITH NO SILVER AROUND AND SILVER UP 2 CENTS

AT THE SLV// HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.021 MILLION OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV.//: INVESTORS ARE SWITCHING SLV TO SPROTT’S PSLV

CLOSING INVENTORY: 465.002 MILLION OZ

Let us have a look at the data for today

SILVER//OUTLINE

SILVER COMEX OI ROSE BY A STRONG SIZED 508 TO 158,879 AND CLOSER TO THE RECORD HIGH OI OF 244,710, SET FEB 25/2020 AND THIS STRONG SIZED GAIN IN COMEX OI WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR STRONG $0.11 GAIN IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX ON WEDNESDAY. WE HAVE THIS YEAR SET ANOTHER RECORD LOW AT 117,395 CONTRACTS ///MARCH 29.2023. OUR BANKERS WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING THE PRICE OF SILVER DOWN (IT ROSE BY $0.11). AND WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING ANY SPEC LONGS AS WE HAD A MONSTER GAIN ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES 1009 CONTRACTS. WE HAD 0 CRIMINAL NOTICES FILED IN THE CATEGORY OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK TRANSFER FOR 0 MILLION OZ// ( THE TOTAL ISSUED IN THIS CATEGORY SO FAR THIS MONTH TOTAL 25.83 MILLION OZ.) WE HAVE FINISHED WITH OUR SPECS BEING SHORT AS THEY COVERED WITH THE RISE IN PRICE IN JANUARY . WE HAVE NOW RETURNED TO OUR USUAL AND CUSTOMARY SCENARIO: BANKERS SHORT AND SPECS LONG.

WE MUST HAVE HAD:
A STRONG ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS( 501 CONTRACTS) iiii) AN INITIAL SILVER STANDING FOR COMEX SILVER MEASURING AT 1.055 MILLION OZ(FIRST DAY NOTICE)+ THE 25.83 MILLION OZ OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK/+ 1.975 MILLION OZ NORMAL SILVER STANDING FOR APRIL///THUS TOTAL NEW STANDING 27.805 MILLION OZ/ //// V) STRONG SIZED COMEX OI GAIN/ STRONG SIZED EFP ISSUANCE/.

I AM NOW RECORDING THE DIFFERENTIAL IN OI FROM PRELIMINARY TO FINAL –71 CONTRACTS

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

TOTAL CONTRACTS for 13 days, total 17,976 contracts: OR 89.880 MILLION OZ . (1383 CONTRACTS PER DAY)

TOTAL EFP’S FOR THE MONTH SO FAR: 89.880 MILLION OZ

LAST 23 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: 207.430 MILLION OZ//A NEW RECORD FOR EFP ISSUANCE

APRIL: 114.52 MILLION OZ FINAL//LOW ISSUANCE

MAY: 105.635 MILLION OZ//

JUNE: 94.470 MILLION OZ

JULY : 87.110 MILLION OZ

AUGUST: 65.025 MILLION OZ

SEPT. 74.025 MILLION OZ///FINAL

OCT. 29.017 MILLION OZ FINAL

NOV: 134.290 MILLION OZ//FINAL

DEC, 61.395 MILLION OZ FINAL

JAN 2023/// 53.070 MILLION OZ //FINAL

FEB: 2023: 100.105/ MILLION OZ/FINAL//MUCH STRONGER ISSUANCE VS THE LATTER TWO MONTHS.

MARCH 2023: 112.58 MILLION OZ//FINAL//STRONG ISSUANCE BUT BELOW LAST MONTH

APRIL 89.880 MILLION OZ

RESULT: WE HAD A STRONG SIZED INCREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF 508 CONTRACTS WITH OUR $0.11 GAIN IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX//WEDNESDAY.,. THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A STRONG SIZED EFP ISSUANCE CONTRACTS: 501 CONTRACTS ISSUED FOR MAY AND 0 CONTRACTS ISSUED FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS) WHICH EXITED OUT OF THE SILVER COMEX TO LONDON AS FORWARDS./ WE HAVE A GOOD INITIAL SILVER OZ STANDING FOR APRIL OF 1.055 MILLION OZ//FIRST DAY NOTICE// 150,000 OZ QUEUE JUMP (WHICH INCREASES THE AMOUNT OF SILVER STANDING) + 0 MILLION NEW EXCHANGE FOR RISK TODAY (INCREASES THE AMOUNT OF SILVER STANDING) //NEW EXCHANGE FOR RISK STANDING 25.83 MILLION OZ, THUS TOTAL SILVER OZ STANDING FOR DELIVERY IN APRIL TOTALS 27.805 MILLION .. WE HAVE A HUGE SIZED GAIN OF 1080 OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES

WE HAD 30 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 150,000 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 STRONG SIZED 7228 CONTRACTS TO 475,026 AND CLOSER TO THE 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: ADDED 646 CONTRACTS

this is the 7th day in a row where contracts on the comex were added!!

WE HAD A STRONG SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI ( 7228 CONTRACTS) WITH OUR $12.00 LOSS IN PRICE. WE ALSO HAD A STRONG INITIAL STANDING IN GOLD TONNAGE FOR APR. AT 66.892 TONNES ON FIRST DAY NOTICE // PLUS A 500 OZ QUEUE. JUMP :(QUEUE JUMPING = EXERCISING LONDON BASED EFP’S, ATTACHED TO COMEX CONTRACTS ) (EFP is the transfer of COMEX contracts immediately to London for potential gold deliveries originating from London)YET ALL OF..THIS HAPPENED WITH OUR $12,00 LOSS IN PRICE WITH RESPECT TO WEDNESDAY’S TRADING.WE HAD A GOOD SIZED LOSS OF 5313 OI CONTRACTS (16.525 PAPER TONNES) ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES.

E.F.P. ISSUANCE

THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A FAIR SIZED 1915 CONTRACTS:

The NEW COMEX OI FOR THE GOLD COMPLEX RESTS AT 475,076

IN ESSENCE WE HAVE A GOOD SIZED DECREASE IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 5313 CONTRACTS WITH 7228 CONTRACTS DECREASED AT THE COMEX AND 1915 EFP OI CONTRACTS WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS TOTAL OI LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 5531 CONTRACTS OR 16.525 TONNES.

CALCULATIONS ON GAIN/LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES

WE HAD A FAIR SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (1915 CONTRACTS) ACCOMPANYING THE STRONG SIZED LOSS IN COMEX OI (7228 //TOTAL LOSS IN THE TWO EXCHANGES 5959 CONTRACTS. WE HAVE ( 1) NOW RETURNED TO OUR NORMAL FORMAT OF BANKERS GOING SHORT AND SPECULATORS GOING LONG ,2.) GOOD INITIAL STANDING AT THE GOLD COMEX FOR APRIL. AT 66.892 TONNES FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S QUEUE JUMP OF 500 OZ//NEW STANDING 74.02 TONNES // ///3) SOME LONG LIQUIDATION//4) STRONG SIZED COMEX OPEN INTEREST LOSS/ 5) FAIR ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL PAPER/

HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS IN 2023 INCLUDING TODAY

APRIL

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

TOTAL EFP CONTRACTS ISSUED: 43,331 CONTRACTS OR 4,333,100 OZ OR 134.77 TONNES IN 13 TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 3333 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS : THIS MONTH IN 13 TRADING DAY(S) IN TONNES 134.77 TONNES

TOTAL ANNUAL GOLD PRODUCTION, 2022, THROUGHOUT THE WORLD EX CHINA EX RUSSIA: 3555 TONNES

THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 134.77/3550 x 100% TONNES 3.80% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL PRODUCTION

ACCUMULATION OF GOLD EFP’S YEAR 2021 TO 2023

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: 409.30 TONNES INITIAL( THIS IS NOW A RECORD EFP ISSUANCE FOR MARCH AND FOR ANY MONTH.

APRIL: 169.55 TONNES (FINAL VERY LOW ISSUANCE MONTH)

MAY: 247.44 TONNES FINAL//

JUNE: 238.13 TONNES FINAL

JULY: 378.43 TONNES FINAL

AUGUST: 180.81 TONNES FINAL

SEPT. 193.16 TONNES FINAL

OCT: 177.57 TONNES FINAL ( MUCH SMALLER THAN LAST MONTH)

NOV. 223.98 TONNES//FINAL ( MUCH LARGER THAN PREVIOUS MONTHS//comex running out of physical)

DEC: 185.59 tonnes // FINAL

JAN 2023: 228.49 TONNES FINAL//HUGE AMOUNT OF EFP’S ISSUED THIS MONTH!!

FEB: 151.61 TONNES/FINAL

MARCH: 280.09 TONNES/INITIAL (ANOTHER STRONG MONTH FOR EFP ISSUANCE)

APRIL: 134.77 TONNES

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 MAR HEADING TOWARDS THE ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF APRIL., FOR BOTH 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 (NOV), 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 ROSE BY A STRONG SIZED 508 CONTRACTS OI TO 158,879 AND CLOSER TO OUR COMEX HIGH 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 5 YEARS AGO. HOWEVER WE HAVE SET A NEW RECORD LOW OF 117,395 CONTRACTS MARCH 27/2022

EFP ISSUANCE 501 CONTRACTS

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

MAY 501 and ALL OTHER MONTHS: ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 501 CONTRACTS. EFP’S GIVE OUR COMEX LONGS A FIAT BONUS PLUS A DELIVERABLE PRODUCT OVER IN LONDON. IF WE TAKE THE COMEX OI GAIN OF 508 CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 501 OI TRANSFERRED TO LONDON THROUGH EFP’S,

WE OBTAIN A HUGE GAIN OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 1009 CONTRACTS.

THUS IN OUNCES, THE GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES TOTAL 5.045 MILLION OZ

OCCURRED WITH OUR $0.11 GAIN IN PRICE ….. OUR SPEC SHORTS HAVE NOWHERE TO HIDE!

END

OUTLINE FOR TODAY’S COMMENTARY

1a/COMEX GOLD AND SILVER REPORT

(report Harvey)

b, ) Gold/silver trading overnight Europe,//GOLD COMMENTARIES

(Peter Schiff)

c) Commentaries from: Egon von Greyerz///Matthew Piepenburg via GoldSwitzerland.com, Pam and Russ Martens

ii a) Chris Powell of GATA provides to us very important physical commentaries

b. Other gold/silver commentaries

c. Commodity commentaries//

d)/CRYPTOCURRENCIES/BITCOIN ETC

2.ASIAN AFFAIRS//

THURSDAY MORNING//WEDNESDAY NIGHT

SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 3.10 PTS OR 0.09% //Hang Seng CLOSED UP 29.21 POINTS OR 0.14% /The Nikkei closed UP 50.81 PTS OR 0.18% //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED DOWN 0.08 % /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed UP TO 6.8803/OFFSHORE CHINESE YUAN UP TO 6.8861 /Oil DOWN TO 78.80 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT AT 81.86 / Stocks in Europe OPENED ALL RED// ONSHORE YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING STRONGER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE STRONGER

a)NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA

outline

b) REPORT ON JAPAN/

OUTLINE

3 CHINA

OUTLINE

4/EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

OUTLINE

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

OUTLINE

6.Global Issues//COVID ISSUES/VACCINE ISSUES

OUTLINE

7. OIL ISSUES

OUTLINE

8 EMERGING MARKET ISSUES

9. USA

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

GOLD

LET US BEGIN:

THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST FELL BY A STRONG SIZED 7228 CONTRACTS DOWN TO 475,026 WITH OUR STRONG LOSS IN PRICE OF $12.00 ON WEDNESDAY,

EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE

WE ARE NOW IN THE ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF APRIL… THE CME REPORTS THAT THE BANKERS ISSUED A FAIR SIZED TRANSFER THROUGH THE EFP ROUTE AS THESE LONGS RECEIVED A DELIVERABLE LONDON FORWARD TOGETHER WITH A FIAT BONUS.,

THAT IS 1951 EFP CONTRACTS WERE ISSUED: : JUNE 1951 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:

TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 1951 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 LOST THE FOLLOWING TODAY ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES: A GOOD SIZED TOTAL OF 5959 CONTRACTS IN THAT 1915 LONGS WERE TRANSFERRED AS FORWARDS TO LONDON AND WE HAD A STRONG SIZED LOSS OF 7874 COMEX CONTRACTS..AND THIS GOOD SIZED LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES HAPPENED WITH OUR LOSS IN PRICE OF $12.00. WE ARE NOW WITNESSING THE BANKERS GOING NET SHORT AND THE SPECS GOING NET LONG.

// WE HAVE A STRONG AMOUNT OF GOLD TONNAGE STANDING: APRIL (75.02) ( ACTIVE MONTH)

TONNES),

HERE ARE THE AMOUNTS THAT STOOD FOR DELIVERY IN THE PRECEDING 12 MONTHS OF 2021-2022:

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 YEAR 2021 (JAN- DEC): 601.213 TONNES

YEAR 2022:

JANUARY 2022 17.79 TONNES

FEB 2022: 59.023 TONNES

MARCH: 36.678 TONNES

APRIL: 85.340 TONNES FINAL.

MAY: 20.11 TONNES FINAL

JUNE: 74.933 TONNES FINAL

JULY 29.987 TONNES FINAL

AUGUST:104.979 TONNES//FINAL

SEPT. 38.1158 TONNES

OCT: 77.390 TONNES/ FINAL

NOV 27.110 TONNES/FINAL

Dec. 64.541 tonnes (TOTAL YEAR 656.076 TONNES)

2003:

JAN/2023: 20.559 tonnes

FEB 2023: 47.744 tonnes

MAR: 19.0637 TONNES

APRIL: 74.02 tonnes

THE SPECS/HFT WERE SUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE( IT FELL $12.00) //// AND WERE SUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING SOME SPECULATOR LONGS AS WE HAD OUR GOOD SIZED LOSS OF 5313 CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES

WE HAVE LOST A TOTAL OI OF 16.525 PAPER TONNES OF TOTAL OI FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES, ACCOMPANYING OUR INITIAL GOLD TONNAGE STANDING FOR APRIL. (66.892 TONNES) FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S QUEUE JUMP OF 500 OZ… ALL OF THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR LOSS IN PRICE TO THE TUNE OF $12.00

WE HAD + ADDED 644 CONTRACTS TO THE COMEX TRADES TO OPEN INTEREST AFTER TRADING ENDED LAST NIGHT

NET LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 5313 CONTRACTS OR 531,300 OZ OR 16.525 TONNES.

Estimated gold comex today 155,752 poor

final gold volumes/yesterday 229,807 fair

//APRIL 20/ APRIL 2023 CONTRACT

Gold	Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers* Inventory in oz*	nil
Withdrawals from Customer* Inventory in oz*	803.770 oz 25 kilobars Brinks .
Deposit to the Dealer* Inventory in oz*	nil OZ
Deposits to the Customer* Inventory, in oz*	160,855.000 Oz 5,000 kilobars jpmorgan
No of oz served (contracts) today	37 notice(s) 3700 OZ 0.115 TONNES
No of oz to be served (notices)	353 contracts 35300 oz 1.097 TONNES
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month	23,445 notices 2,344,500 OZ 72.923 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*	x

i)Dealer deposits: 0

total dealer deposit: nil oz

No dealer withdrawals

Customer deposits: 1

i)Into JPMorgan: 160,755.000 oz

5,000 kilobars

total deposits: 160,755.000 oz

customer withdrawals: 1

i) Out of Brinks: 803,77 oz (25 kilobars)

total withdrawals: 803.77 oz

Adjustments; 0

CALCULATIONS FOR THE AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR MAR.

For the front month of APRIL we have an oi of 390 contracts having LOST 137 contracts. We had 142 contracts served ON WEDNESDAY so we GAINED 5 contracts or 500 oz will stand at the comex.

May GAINED 37 contracts up to 1794.

June LOST 9044 contracts DOWN to 393,485 contracts.

We had 37 contracts filed for today representing 3700 oz

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 equate to 37 contract(s) of which 0 notices were stopped (received) by j.P. Morgan dealer and 5 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 APRIL /2023. contract month,

we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (23,445 x 100 oz ), to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of (APRIL. 390 CONTRACTS) minus the number of notices served upon today 37 x 100 oz per contract equals 2,379,800 OZ OR 74.02 TONNES the number of TONNES standing in this active month of APRIL.

thus the INITIAL standings for gold for the APRIL contract month: No of notices filed so far (23,445 x 100 oz)+ 390 OI for the front month minus the number of notices served upon today (37)x 100 oz} which equals 2,379,800 oz standing OR 74.02 TONNES in this active delivery month of APRIL..

TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING: 74.02 TONNES WHICH IS HUGE FOR AN ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH.

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COMEX GOLD INVENTORIES/CLASSIFICATION

NEW PLEDGED GOLD:

241,794.285 oz NOW PLEDGED /HSBC 5.94 TONNES

204,937.290 PLEDGED MANFRA 3.08 TONNES

83,657.582 PLEDGED JPMorgan no 1 1.690 tonnes

265,999.054, oz JPM No 2

1,152,376.639 oz pledged Brinks/

Manfra: 33,758.550 oz

Delaware: 193.721 oz

International Delaware:: 11,188.542 o

total pledged gold: 1,703,295.912 OZ 52,97 tonnes

TOTAL OF ALL GOLD ELIGIBLE AND REGISTERED: 22,113,246.333 OZ

TOTAL REGISTERED GOLD: 12,292,837.996 (382.358 tonnes)..

TOTAL OF ALL ELIGIBLE GOLD: 9,840,408.337 O Z

REGISTERED GOLD THAT CAN BE SERVED UPON: 10,589,542 OZ (REG GOLD- PLEDGED GOLD) 329.379 tonnes//

END

SILVER/COMEX

APRIL 20//2023// THE APRIL 2023 SILVER CONTRACT

Silver	Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers* Inventory*	NIL oz
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory	584,234.469 oz CNT Loomis .
Deposits to the Dealer* Inventory*	nil
Deposits to the Customer Inventory	519,607.550 oz JPMorgan
No of oz served today (contracts)	30 CONTRACT(S) (150,000 OZ)
No of oz to be served (notices)	21 contracts (105,000 oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)	374 Contracts (1,870,000 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*

i) 0 dealer deposit

total dealer deposits: nil oz

i) We had 0 dealer withdrawal

total dealer withdrawals: oz

We have 1 deposits into the customer account

i)Into JPMORGAN 519,607.550 oz

Total deposits: 519,607.550 oz

JPMorgan has a total silver weight: 141.674 million oz/273.640 million =51.90% of comex .//dropping fast

Comex withdrawals: 2

i) Out of CNT 566,743.369 oz

ii) Out of Loomis: 17,491.100 oz

Total withdrawals; 584,234.409 oz

adjustments: 1

JPMorgan: dealer to customer account:

3,418,935.160 oz

the silver comex is in stress!

TOTAL REGISTERED SILVER: 30.629 MILLION OZ (declining rapidly).TOTAL REG + ELIGIBLE. 273.680 million oz

CALCULATION OF SILVER OZ STANDING FOR MAR

silver open interest data:

FRONT MONTH OF APRIL /2023 OI: 51 CONTRACTS HAVING LOST 1 CONTRACT(S). WE HAD 31 NOTICES FILED ON TUESDAY SO WE GAINED 30 CONTRACTS OR AN ADDITIONAL 150,000 OZ WILL STAND FOR DELIVERY IN THIS NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF APRIL.

MAY SAW A LOSS OF 5307 CONTRACTS DOWN TO 60,957

JUNE HAD A 15 CONTRACTS GAIN TO 263

TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR TODAY: 30 for 150,000 oz

Comex volumes// est. volume today 80,076 strong

Comex volume: confirmed yesterday: 95,621 very strong

To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in APRIL. we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at 374 x 5,000 oz = 1,870,000 oz

to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of APRIL(51) and the number of notices served upon today 30 x (5000 oz) equals the number of ounces standing.

Thus the standings for silver for the APRIL/2023 contract month: 374 (notices served so far) x 5000 oz + OI for the front month of APRIL (51) – number of notices served upon today (30 )x 500 oz of silver standing for the APRIL. contract month equates to 1.975 million oz +/ NEW EXCHANGE FOR RISK TODAY: 0 MILLION OZ //NEW TOTALS EXCHANGE FOR RISK FOR MONTH OF APRIL: 25.83 MILLION OZ// THUS TOTAL SILVER OZ STANDING: 27.805 MILLION 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

APRIL 20/WITH GOLD UP $12.70: HUGE CHANGES TODAY IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF .87 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 926.57 TONNES

APRIL 19//WITH GOLD DOWN $12.00 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 925.70 TONNES

APRIL 18/WITH GOLD UP $12.15 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.03 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 925.70 TONNES/

APRIL 17/WITH GOLD DOWN $7.15 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.89 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 927.72 TONNES

APRIL 14/WITH GOLD DOWN $38.90 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.47 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 930.61 TONNES

APRIL 13/WITH GOLD UP$31.70 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 3.17 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 934.08 TONNES

APRIL 11/WITH GOLD UP $14.30 TODAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 903.91 TONNES

APRIL 10/WITH GOLD DOWN $21.40 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 930.91 TONNES

APRIL 6//WITH GOLD DOWN $9.15 TODAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 930.91

APRIL 5//WITH GOLD UP 0 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 930.04

APRIL 4/WITH GOLD UP $36.30 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A DEPOSIT OF 2.02 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 930.04 TONNES

APRIL 3/WITH GOLD UP $14.20 TODAY;NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 928.02 TONNES

MARCH 31/WITH GOLD DOWN $10.30 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.44 TONNES FROM THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 928.02 TONNES

MARCH 30//WITH GOLD UP XX TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/: A DEPOSIT OF 2.24 TONNES FROM THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 929.47 TONNES

MARCH 29/WITH GOLD DOWN $4.85 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 4,16 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD.//INVENTORY RESTS AT 927,23

MARCH 28/WITH GOLD UP $19.50 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF .86 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 923.07 TONNES

MARCH 27/WITH GOLD DOWN $28.50 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.45 TONNES FROM THE GLD./INVENTORY RESTS AT 923.97 TONNES

MARCH 23/WITH GOLD UP $47.70 TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//A DEPOSIT 87 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 925.42 TONNES

MARCH 21/WITH GOLD DOWN $38.70 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: ANOTHER HUGE DEPOSIT OF 3.4 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 924.55 TONNES

MARCH 20//WITH GOLD UP $9.60 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 6.36 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 921.08 TONNES

MARCH 17/WITH GOLD UP $50.50 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 914.72TONNES

MARCH 16/WITH GOLD DOWN $6.95 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 1.45 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 914.72 TONNES

MARCH 15/THE IDES OF MARCH: WITH GOLD UP $18.75 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 913.27 TONNES

MARCH 14/WITH GOLD DOWN $4.75 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES: A MONSTER DEPOSIT OF 11.85 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 913.27 TONNES

MARCH 13/WITH GOLD UP $48.85 TODAY: VERY STRANGE HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.73 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD///INVENTORY REST AT 901.42 TONNES

MARCH 10//WITH GOLD UP $31.60 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD; A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.47 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 903.15 TONNES

MARCH 9/WITH GOLD UP $16.50 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 906.62 TONNES

MARCH 8/WITH GOLD DOWN $1.15 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 5.5 TONNES FROM THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 906.62 TONNES

MARCH 7/WITH GOLD DOWN $33.20 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 912.12 TONNES

MARCH 6/WITH GOLD UP $0.55 TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF .57 TONNES FROM THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 912.12 TONNES

MARCH 3/WITH GOLD UP $14,10 TODAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 912.69 TONNES

MARCH 2/WITH GOLD DOWN $4.00 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.61 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 912.69 TONNES

MARCH 1/WITH GOLD UP $18.90 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.31 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 915.30 TONNES

GLD INVENTORY: 926.57 TONNES

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

APRIL 20/WITH SILVER UP 2 CENTS TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.021 MILLION OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 465.002 MILLION OZ/

APRIL 19/WITH SILVER UP 11 CENTS TODAY; NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 467.023 MILLION OZ//

APRIL 18/WITH SILVER UP 18 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.757 MILLION OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 467.023 MILLION OZ

APRIL 17/WITH SILVER DOWN 33 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.194 MILLION OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 469.780 MILLION OZ//

APRIL 14/WITH SILVER DOWN 48 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 470.974 MILLION OZ/

APRIL 13/WITH SILVER UP HUGELY BY 48 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 2.389 MILLION OZ OF SILVER INTO THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 470.974 MILLION OZ

APRIL 11/WITH SILVER UP 27 CENTS TODAY; NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 468.585 MILLION OZ

APRIL 10/WITH SILVER DOWN 17 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 468.585 MILLION OZ

APRIL 6/WITH SILVER UP 2 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV; A DEPOSIT OF 4.643 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 468.585 MILLION OZ//

APRIL 5/WITH SILVER DOWN 4 CENTS TODAY; NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 463.942 MILLION OZ

APRIL 4/WITH GOLD UP $1.11 TODAY CRIMINAL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.47 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 463,942 MILLION OZ

APRIL 1/WITH SILVER DOWN 14 CENTS TODAY; NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 465.412

MARCH 31/WITH SILVER UP 14 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE GLD/: A MASSIVE 4.779 MILLION OZ DEPOSITED INTO THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT465.412 MILLION OZ

MARCH 30/WITH SILVER UP XX CENTS TODAY;HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV.: A DEPOSIT OF 550,000 OZ INTO THE SLV/.INVENTORY RESTS AT 460.633 MILLION OZ

MARCH 29/WITH SILVER UP 11 CENTS TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 1.195 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 460.082

MARCH 28/WITH SILVER UP 28 CENTS TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 368,000 OZ FORM THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 458.887 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 27/WITH SILVER DOWN 15 CENTS TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 230,000 OZ FROM THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 459.255 MILLION OZ

MARCH 23 WITH SILVER UP 62 TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A SMALL DEPOSIT OF 919,000 0z INTO THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 459.485 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 21/WITH SILVER DOWN 24 CENTS TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 781,000 OZ FORM THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 458.566 MILLION OZ/

MARCH 20./WITH SILVER UP 15 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: ANOTHER MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 3.401 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 459.347 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 17/WITH SILVER UP 79 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 10.478 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 462.748 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 16/WITH SILVER DOWN 25 CENTS TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A WITHDRAWAL OF 5.009 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 473.226 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 15/WITH SILVER DOWN 7 CENTS TODAY; BIG CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 643,000 OZ INTO THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 478.235 MILLION OZ/

MARCH 14/WITH SILVER UP 9 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.287 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV////INVENTORY REST AT 477.592 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 13/WITH SILVER UP $1.35 : NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 478.879 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 10.WITH SILVER UP 36 CENTS TODAY; NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 478.879 MILLION OZ…

MARCH 9/WITH SILVER UP 2 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 1.195 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 478.979 MILLION OZ

MARCH 8/WITH SILVER DOWN 6 CENTS TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 459,000 OZ FROM THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 477.684 MILLION OZ

MARCH 7/WITH SILVER DOWN 88 CENTS TODAY;HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 920,000 OZ FROM THE SLV/////INVENTORY RESTS AT 478.143 MILLION OZ

MARCH 6/WITH SILVER DOWN 13 CENTS TODAY; NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 479.063 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 3/WITH SILVER UP 67 CENTS TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 1.369 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 479.063 MILLION OZ//

MARCH 2/WITH SILVER DOWN $.16 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 920,00 OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 477.694 MILLION OZ

MARCH 1/WITH SILVER UP 4 CENTS TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.574 MILLION OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 478.614 MILLION OZ.

CLOSING INVENTORY 465.002 MILLION OZ//

PHYSICAL GOLD/SILVER STORIES

1:Peter Schiff

A must read

Silver Demand Set Records In Every Category In 2022

THURSDAY, APR 20, 2023 – 03:20 PM

Via SchiffGold.com,

Silver demand set a record in every category last year based on final data released by the Silver Institute this week.

Total global silver demand in 2022 came in at a record $1.242 billion ounces. This represented an 18% increase in silver demand over 2021.

Net physical silver investment rose for a fifth consecutive year to a new high of 332.9 million ounces. Silver investment in India charted a staggering 188% increase over 2021 with lower prices and bargain hunting driving demand higher. There was modest demand growth in the US despite ongoing supply shortages that drove premiums exceptionally high – especially on American Silver Eagle coins.

Industrial demand posted a record of 556.5 million ounces in 2022. Green energy initiatives helped drive industrial offtake higher. Photovoltaics (PV) alone consumed 140.3 million ounces of silver.

Demand for silver in the solar energy sector is expected to continue to grow. According to a study by scientists at the University of New South Wales, solar manufacturers will likely require over 20% of the current annual silver supply by 2027. And by 2050, solar panel production will use approximately 85–98% of the current global silver reserves.

Electrification within the automotive segment, along with other power generation and distribution investments also supported industrial demand.

Silver jewelry fabrication increased by 29% year-on-year to a record 234.1 million ounces. India led the way, with demand doubling year on year.

Meanwhile, silverware demand in 2022 charted an even bigger spike of 80% to 73.5 million ounces, another record high.

While demand for silver soared, supply was flat last year.

Mine output dropped by 0.6% to 822.4 million ounces. Production from primary silver mines was almost flat year-on-year, rising by just 0.1% to 228.2 million ounces. Lower by-product output from lead and zinc mines, particularly in China and Peru, drove overall mine output down.

A modest increase in recycling offset the decrease in mine output.

Record global silver demand and a lack of supply upside contributed to last year’s 237.7 million ounce market deficit. It was the second consecutive annual deficit in a row. The Silver Institute called it “possibly the most significant deficit on record.” It also noted that “the combined shortfalls of the previous two years comfortably offset the cumulative surpluses of the last 11 years.”

Looking ahead to 2023, the Silver Institute projected “this year is expected to be another of solid silver demand. Industrial fabrication should reach an all-time high, boosted by continued gains in the PV market and healthy offtake from other industrial segments.”

The report noted that silver coin and silver bar demand, along with the demand for silver in jewelry fabrication would likely fall short of the 2022 record but they are all forecast to remain historically high.

Meanwhile, supply growth in 2023 will likely not exceed single digits.

As a result, this year will also see another large deficit for silver, amounting to a projected 142.1 Moz, which would be the second-largest deficit in more than 20 years. Adding up the supply shortfalls of 2021-2023, global silver inventories by the end of this year will have fallen by 430.9 Moz from their end-2020 peak. To put this into perspective, it is equivalent to more than half of this year’s forecasted annual mine production, and more than half of the inventories presently held in London vaults offering custodian services.”

You can download the Silver Institute’s full report HERE.

ernd

2 Commentaries from: Egon von Greyerz///Matthew Piepenburg via GoldSwitzerland.com, Pam and Russ Martens//JAMES RICKARDS//

END

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

for sure!! Dollar hegemony is the cause of Africa (including South Africa’s) problems

(Global Times/Beijing)

Global Times: Dollar hegemony, not China, is the cause of Africa’s debt problems

Submitted by admin on Wed, 2023-04-19 20:07Section: Daily Dispatches

By Shi Qing
Global Times, Beijing
Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Not long ago U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visited three African countries — Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia. This is the fifth visit by a high-ranking Biden administration official to Africa this year.

During her visit, Harris repeatedly raised the issue of African debt, urging China to reduce debt owed by Ghana and Zambia, and announced the dispatching of a full-time resident adviser to Accra to assist the U.S. Ministry of Finance with debt restructuring issues from 2023 onwards.

While the U.S. is pointing its finger to African debt issue, its own domestic economy is on the verge of trouble. Washington’s monetary policy has shifted from extreme easing to radical interest rate hikes, triggering multiple U.S. banks to collapse as well as subsequent negative chain reaction around the world.

How can the U.S., whose financial policy is so irresponsible and self-serving, be so emboldened to lecture African countries how to deal with debt problems?

It is time for the U.S. to take a look in the mirror and examine its role in African debt issues.

The U.S.’ irresponsible monetary policy is the root of African debt problems. Relying on dollar hegemony, the U.S. has implemented three rounds of quantitative easing, cut interest rates to near zero, and flooded Africa and emerging markets with low-interest dollars.

It then arbitrarily and aggressively raised interest rates, boosted the U.S. dollar exchange rate, and attracted the return of dollars. As a result, African countries have to face liquidity shortages, broken funding chains, currency depreciation, skyrocketing debt repayment costs denominated in dollars, a surge in sovereign debt, and exacerbated debt problems. …

… For the remainder of the commentary:

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202304/1289429.shtm

end

Arkansas affirms gold and silver as legal tender as they eliminate taxes on them

(MMN)

Arkansas affirms gold and silver as legal tender and eliminates taxes on them

Submitted by admin on Wed, 2023-04-19 00:09Section: Daily Dispatches

From Money Metals News Service, Eagle, Idaho
Tuesday, April 18, 2023

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — Sound money advocates are rejoicing as House Bill 1718, the Arkansas Legal Tender Act, has become the law in the Natural State.

Backed by the Sound Money Defense League, Money Metals Exchange, and sound money advocates and supporters throughout the state, HB 1718 reaffirms gold and silver as legal tender, as well as ending all taxes on the purchase, sale, or exchange of specie, including state capital gains taxes.

The Arkansas Legal Tender Act, introduced by Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R-18) and Sen. Jonathan Dismang (R-18), passed overwhelmingly in the House by a vote of 82-8, unanimously out of the Senate with a 32-0 vote, and ultimately received Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ signature on April 11. …

… For the remainder of the report:

https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2023/04/18/arkansas-passes-legal-tender-act-removes-taxes-on-gold-and-silver-002726

END

I think Jan is correct: he guesses that Saudi Arabia is selling oil to China for gold

(Jan Nieuwenhuijs)

Jan Nieuwenhuijs: Is Saudi Arabia selling oil to China for gold?

Submitted by admin on Wed, 2023-04-19 00:00Section: Daily Dispatches

11:56p Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold (and Silver):

Gold researcher Jan Nieuwenhuijs today addresses speculation, for which there is limited evidence, that Saudi Arabia is surreptitiously selling oil to China in exchange for gold from the Shanghai international exchange.

Nieuwenhuis’ analysis is headlined “Is Saudi Arabia Selling Oil to China for Gold?” and it’s posted at the Gainesville Coins internet site here:

https://www.gainesvillecoins.com/blog/is-saudi-arabia-selling-oil-to-china-for-gold

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

END

For your interest…

Craig Hemke at Sprott Money: Comex gold options sweet spot

Submitted by admin on Tue, 2023-04-18 23:48Section: Daily Dispatches

11:50p Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold (and Silver):

Working from the assumption that the Comex gold and silver futures markets are largely rigged by the positioning of big options traders, the TF Metals Report’s Craig Hemke today tries predicting where that rigging will place gold and silver prices next Tuesday when options on the June contracts expire.

Hemke’s analysis is headlined “Comex Gold Options Sweet Spot” and it’s posted at Sprott Money here:

https://www.sprottmoney.com/blog/COMEX-gold-options-sweet-spot-April-18-2023

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

end

4. OTHER GOLD/SILVER RELATED COMMENTARIES/silver

Silver Vs Stocks: Comparing Performance During Recessions

WEDNESDAY, APR 19, 2023 – 11:20 PM

Historically, silver has been an alternative to traditional investments like stocks and bonds.

Amid the recent wave of bank failures and rising interest rates, many investors sought the metal, making prices jump.

But has silver helped investors weather recessionary storms in the past?

The infographic below, via Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti, uses data from Macrotrends to highlight silver’s price movements during recessions and compares it to changes in the S&P 500.

Silver Price During Recessions

Like gold, silver’s value comes from its scarcity as a precious metal. Silver, however, has a higher industrial use, from electronics and medical applications to batteries and solar panels.

Additionally, the silver market is much smaller than the gold market, making it a much more volatile asset.

The metal saw its biggest price drop in 1980 when it tumbled over 56% after the Hunt brothers, who controlled over half of the world’s privately owned silver, failed in an attempt to corner the market and were forced to sell after a rise in margin requirements.

Silver prices plummeted again during the 1990s recession before a steady recovery that culminated in an all-time high reached in 2011, three years after the 2007-2008 Financial Crisis.

Over the last five decades, silver has only outperformed the S&P 500 in three of eight recessions: 1973, 1981 and 2007.

As of March 2023, the silver nominal price was down 6.1% while the S&P500 was down 3.3%.

Silver Price in 2023

Over the next months, silver demand is expected to rise, supporting the price. Silver’s industrial market could be lifted from further gains in vehicle electrification and governments’ expanding commitment to green infrastructure, according to the Silver Institute.

However, if the economic scenario worsens and industrial users of silver reduce their output, the metal may face some headwinds.

END

5.IMPORTANT COMMENTARIES ON COMMODITIES:

GLOBAL COMMODITIES ISSUES/FOOD IN GENERAL

6.CRYPTOCURRENCY COMMENTARIES/

1.YOUR EARLY CURRENCY/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN AND EUROPEAN BOURSE MOVEMENTS/AND INTEREST RATE SETTINGS//,THURSDAY MORNING.7:30 AM

ONSHORE YUAN: CLOSED UP TO 6.8803

OFFSHORE YUAN: 6.8861

SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 3.10 POINTS OR 0.09%

HANG SENG CLOSED UP 29.21 PTS OR 0.14%

2. Nikkei closed UP 50.81 PTS OR 0.18%

3. Europe stocks SO FAR: ALL RED

USA dollar INDEX UP TO 101.86 EURO FALLS TO 1.0934 DOWN 17 BASIS PTS

3b Japan 10 YR bond yield: FALLS TO. +.4670Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese YEN vs USA cross now at 134.77 /JAPANESE YEN FALLING AS WELL AS LONG TERM 10 YR. YIELDS RISING //EVENTUALLY THIS WILL BREAK THE JAPANESE CENTRAL BANK

3c Nikkei now ABOVE 17,000

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

3e Gold UP /JAPANESE Yen DOWN CHINESE YUAN: UP// OFF- SHORE: UP

3f Japan is to buy INFINITE TRILLION YEN’S worth of BONDS. Japan’s GDP equals 5 trillion usa

Japan to buy 100% of all new Japanese debt and NOW they will have OVER 50% of all Japanese debt.

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

3h European bond buying continues to push yields lower on all fronts in the EMU. German 10yr bund DOWN TO +2.480***/Italian 10 Yr bond yield RISES to 4.367*** /SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD RISES TO 3.522…** DANGEROUS//

3i Greek 10 year bond yield RISES TO 4.303

3j Gold at $2007.00 silver at: 25.36 1 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $30.00

3k USA vs Russian rouble;// Russian rouble UP 0 AND 32 /100 roubles/dollar; ROUBLE AT 81.58//

3m oil into the 78 dollar handle for WTI and 81 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 CONTINUES NIRP. THIS MORNING RAISES AMOUNT OF BONDS THAT THEY WILL PURCHASE UP TO .5% ON THE 10 YR BOND///YEN TRADES TO 134.77 10 YEAR YIELD AFTER BREAKING .54%, FALLS TO .4670% STILL ON CENTRAL BANK (JAPAN) INTERVENTION

30 SNB (Swiss National Bank) still intervening again in the markets driving down the FRANC. It is not working: USA/SF this 0.8965 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF 0.9804 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: 3.568 DOWN 3 BASIS PTS…GETTING DANGEROUS//

USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 3.767 DOWN 2 BASIS PTS/

USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.2145 DOWN 5 BASIS PTS

USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 19.41…

GREAT BRITAIN/10 YEAR YIELD: UP 1 BASIS PTS AT 3.8640

end

2. Overnight: Newsquawk and Zero hedge:

2. a)FIRST, ZEROHEDGE (PRE USA OPENING// MORNING

US Equity Futures Slide As Global Risk Sentiment Turns Sour

THURSDAY, APR 20, 2023 – 07:03 AM

US equity futures suffered their biggest overnight drop this week as a premarket slide in Tesla shares added to uncertainties surrounding the future of US monetary policy as well as the overall quality of the first-quarter earnings season. Contracts on the S&P 500 fell 0.7% as of 7:00 a.m. in New York while Nasdaq 100 futures took a 1% hit. Elsewhere, bond yields were lower, the USD was lower, and commodities were weaker on global demand fears.

In premarket trading, Tesla slid as much as 8.5% and were down -6% at last check, after the EV maker’s first-quarter results were hit by a slew of price cuts, denting profit margins and prompting at least six analysts – including Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas – to cut their price targets. MegaCap techs are also dragging indices lower with most names down 1%, or more. Bed Bath & Beyond shares tumbled 19% in premarket trading after Dow Jones reported that the retailer is preparing a bankruptcy filing for as early as this weekend. The stock had soared almost 100% in the three days prior. Here are some other premarket movers:

Chip stocks decline in after Asian bellwether TSMC gave a disappointing revenue forecast for the current quarter amid a slump in demand for electronics.
IBM rises as much as 2.2% after the IT services company reported first-quarter results that analysts say show positive growth trends.
Las Vegas Sands rises as much as 4.8%, after the casino operator’s first-quarter earnings beat expectations and boosted hopes that a recovery in Macau and in Singapore is gaining momentum. Analysts hiked their price targets on the stock.
Bath & Body Works drops 3.7% after Piper Sandler cuts its rating to neutral, with consensus estimates for the personal care products maker seen as “simply just too high.”
Charles Schwab shares fall as much as 1.7% after Redburn downgraded the brokerage to sell from neutral, citing challenges from the Fed’s tightening cycle and the re-regulation of midsize banks.
Cryptocurrency-exposed stocks fall and are poised to extend losses as Bitcoin dives further below the closely watched $30,000 level.

With better Bank earnings and a lackluster start from Tech earnings, the market seemingly remains stuck in near-term range of 3800 – 4200, with the SPX failing at 4150 level. Next week’s tech earnings will be the litmus test for bears and bulls.

Meanwhile, hawkish Fedspeak continues with some estimating 25bps – 50bps, or more, hikes remaining. Investors are seeking comfort whether policymakers will address growing recession worries, such as those flagged by the Federal Reserve’s monthly Beige Book survey which clearly noted that a credit crunch has arrived, or keep on fighting inflation as suggested by Fed Bank of New York President John Williams, who said price gains remained too high.

“We’re in a paradoxical situation,” said Alexandre Hezez, chief investment officer at Group Richelieu, a Paris-based asset manager. “If the Fed keeps on raising rates it’s not positive as it would mean we’re not done with inflation yet, but if it cuts, that would mean there are recessionary forces around.” The best path forward would be “a status quo” for the coming months, after a 25 basis-point hike in May, Hezez said, noting strong divergences on the matter among the Federal Open Market Committee.

European stocks are on course for their largest fall in almost four weeks amid tepid earnings and the prospect of additional monetary tightening. The Stoxx 600 is down 0.3% with autos, miners and tech the worst performing sectors while Renault and Nokia have fallen sharply after their respective quarterly updates. Here are the most notable European movers:

Renault shares fall as much as 7.9% as pricing concerns offset positives from the first-quarter sales beat, with analysts questioning the sustainability of the French carmaker’s pricing
Tryg shares rise as much as 4.7% with analysts saying the Danish insurer’s better-than-expected profit, dividend and combined operating ratio all make for a reassuring update
Haleon shares rise as much as 3% in early trading to hit a record high. The consumer health group’s first-quarter update is strong and shows good momentum for the group, analysts say
Bankinter jumps as much as 5%, kicking off 1Q earnings season for European banks with a strong set of numbers and analysts pointing to a net interest income beat
Getlink shares gain as much as 2.8% after the French cross-channel transport operator reported a 1Q revenue beat and management maintained its Ebitda outlook
Rexel shares rise as much as 3.8% after it reported a “strong beat” that should lead to consensus full-year estimates rising to the upper end of company’s guidance, Citi says
ASML leads gains in shares of European semiconductor-equipment makers after TSMC — the industry bellwether and a major ASML customer — kept its full-year capex target unchanged
Nordic Semiconductor shares fall as much as 17% to the lowest intraday level in more than two years after the chipmaker gave bleak 2Q guidance and scrapped a revenue outlook
Sartorius AG falls as much as 7.8% after the German laboratory equipment group’s 1Q results, which Morgan Stanley analysts say was “significantly weaker than anticipated on all metrics”
Stora Enso drops as much as 6.4% to lowest since August 2020 after the Finnish forestry group said operational Ebit for 2023 is now set to be “significantly lower” than in 2022
Nokia shares fall as much as 2.9% to the lowest intraday level in more than a year, after the telecom equipment maker reported first-quarter margins well below estimates

Earlier in the session, Asian stocks edged lower as volatility across global markets remained subdued, with investors awaiting new catalysts and digesting recent corporate earnings. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped as much as 0.4% before paring its loss. Most major benchmarks were up or down by less than 0.5%, with South Korea and mainland China leading the declines.

In key results Thursday, TSMC forecast worse-than-anticipated revenue for the current quarter, reflecting a persistent slump in global chip demand. Chinese EV battery maker CATL is expected to report strong revenue growth later in the day. China tech earnings so far have been in line, “could have been better but we stay more optimistic,” given positive initiatives from companies such as Alibaba, Xiaolin Chen, head of international at Kraneshares, told Bloomberg TV. “Overall you see very encouraging and constructive policies get introduced by policymakers or corporates themselves to become more market oriented.” The Kospi slipped after coming close to a bull market. The gauge is Asia’s best performer among major markets this year, climbing 19% from a September low amid frenzied gains in EV-battery related stocks and heavyweight Samsung Electronics.

Japanese stocks were mixed in thin trading as investors eye upcoming earnings from major domestic and overseas companies. The Topix closed little changed at 2,039.73, while the Nikkei advanced 0.2% to 28,657.57. Volume on both gauges was more than 20% below the 30-day averages. Out of 2,158 stocks in the Topix, 1,203 rose and 811 fell, while 144 were unchanged. “There is a lack of news, and investors are still waiting for corporate earnings results to come out and then further on, monetary policy,” said Naoki Fujiwara, chief fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index was little changed to close at 7,362.20, as gains in banks were offset by broad declines in mining shares. Asian shares were broadly lower as investors parsed mixed corporate earnings and the latest assessment on the US economy. Australia’s central bank should set up an expert policy board, hold fewer meetings and give press conferences explaining its decisions, according to recommendations from an independent review that would align it with many global peers. Read: RBA Review Calls for Expert Policy Panel, Fewer Meetings (3) In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.3% to 11,879.68.

In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index is flat. New Zealand dollar dropped to a month-low after data showed the nation’s inflation slowed down more than expected, spurring expectations for the central bank to ease policy tightening.

In rates, US two-year yields are lower after a five day rally, falling 3bps to 4.22% while 10-year yieldS fell as much as 5bps to 3.54%, the lowest since Monday; traders bet on 23bps of Fed tightening in May and 30bps by June, while pricing 50bps of cuts by year-end. German and UK two-year borrowing costs both fall by 1bps.

In commodities, crude futures extended their recent decline with WTI falling 1.8% to trade near $77.70. Will OPEC have to get involved again and cut production some more? Spot gold is little changed around $1,994.

Bitcoin continues to slip and has drifted more than 1% %to a fresh USD 28.56k WTD trough vs Monday’s USD 30.5k best, action which has come alongside the broader dip in sentiment with specific fundamentals somewhat limited.

To the day ahead now, and data releases from the US include the weekly initial jobless claims, existing home sales for March and the Conference Board’s leading index for March. From central banks, we’ll get the ECB’s account of their March meeting, and hear from ECB President Lagarde, the ECB’s Visco, Holzmann and Schnabel, the Fed’s Waller, Mester, Bowman and Bostic, the BoE’s Tenreyro and BoC Governor Macklem. Finally, earnings releases include AT&T, Union Pacific and American Express.

Market Snapshot

S&P 500 futures down 0.7% to 4,147.50
STOXX Europe 600 down 0.4% to 466.47
MXAP little changed at 162.39
MXAPJ down 0.1% to 523.29
Nikkei up 0.2% to 28,657.57
Topix little changed at 2,039.73
Hang Seng Index up 0.1% to 20,396.97
Shanghai Composite little changed at 3,367.03
Sensex little changed at 59,513.37
Australia S&P/ASX 200 little changed at 7,362.19
Kospi down 0.5% to 2,563.11
Brent Futures down 1.5% to $81.91/bbl
Gold spot up 0.2% to $1,997.99
U.S. Dollar Index down 0.12% to 101.84
German 10Y yield little changed at 2.48%
Euro up 0.1% to $1.0970

Top Overnight News

Today Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen on Thursday will call for a “constructive” and “healthy” economic relationship between the United States and China, one in which the two nations work together to confront challenges like climate change, according to excerpts from prepared remarks. NYT
The BOJ is “warming” to the idea of tweaking its policy in a hawkish direction this year, but probably won’t take any actions at next week’s meeting. RTRS
TSMC, the leading chipmaker for the likes of Apple and Nvidia, has warned that a weaker than expected recovery in China has hit demand for its semiconductors. The Taiwanese chipmaker cut its forecast for the semiconductor market this year, excluding memory, to a mid-single-digit percentage decline. FT
Germany’s PPI for March dramatically undershoots the Street consensus, coming in at +7.5% Y/Y (down from +15.8% in Feb and below the Street’s +9.8% forecast). RTRS
Brussels is preparing emergency curbs on Ukrainian grain imports to five member states close to the war-torn country, bowing to pressure from Poland and Hungary after they took unilateral action to pacify local farmers. FT
ECB minutes will be scoured today for any additional hints on the duration of the tightening cycle. It gave no guidance on its next moves after the March meeting, though Christine Lagarde, who speaks today, indicated more tightening is coming. Governing Council hawk Klaas Knot told the Irish Times that officials may need to raise interest rates in June and July following a hike next month. BBG
NY Fed chief John Williams said that while the banking sector has stabilized following the second-largest bank collapse in US history, the recent stress may tighten credit conditions. Chicago’s Austan Goolsbee said he’s still waiting to see if the fallout causes the economy to slow more than expected. Loretta Mester and Raphael Bostic are among Fed speakers today. BBG
Uncertainty continues to linger about whether or not the US will make it through to late summer without risking a debt-ceiling-related default after figures indicating the size of the Treasury’s tax day cash influx were somewhat lackluster. The amount of money that the US government has on hand to pay its bills jumped just $108.47 billion on Tuesday. BBG
Tesla plunged as much as 8.5% premarket after Elon Musk signaled price cuts will continue at the expense of profit margins. Profit missed and the operating margin slumped to 11.4% from 19.2% a year ago. BBG

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

APAC stocks traded rangebound with the region indecisive following the flat handover from the US where earnings were under the spotlight and early headwinds were seen after firmer-than-expected UK CPI data. ASX 200 was indecisive as participants digested output updates and with the mining sector subdued despite the fresh record Q1 iron ore shipments by Rio Tinto, while Australian Treasurer Chalmers announced recommendations from the independent RBA review which included establishing separate boards for governance and monetary policy with fewer meetings and press conferences to be conducted after policy decisions. Nikkei 225 gradually pared opening losses following mixed trade data including better-than-expected exports growth and after a recent report that the BoJ is said to be wary of tweaking yield control this month. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were mixed following the lack of surprises by the PBoC which maintained its benchmark lending rates for the 8th consecutive month and as frictions lingered after the US Commerce Department imposed a USD 300mln civil penalty on Seagate for supplying hard disk drives to Huawei in violation of export controls.

Top Asian News

PBoC 1-Year Loan Prime Rate (Apr) 3.65% vs Exp. 3.65% (Prev. 3.65%); 5-Year Loan Prime Rate (Apr) 4.30% vs Exp. 4.30% (Prev. 4.30%)
PBoC official expects consumer inflation to pick up later this year; the impact on the Yuan from volatility in major currencies is limited, expects it to be basically stable with two-way swings.
US Trade Representative Tai said they have seen supply chain fragility and that US trade restrictions on China are narrowly targeted, while she added the US doesn’t intend to decouple and intends a level trade playing field with China.
US Commerce Department imposed a USD 300mln civil penalty on Seagate (STX) and said the Co. sold 7.4mln hard disk drives to Huawei between August 2020-September 2021 in violation of export controls, according to Reuters.
RBA independent review recommended that the RBA should have dual objectives of price stability and full employment, while it should retain a flexible inflation target of 2%-3% and aim at the mid-point. It was also recommended that the government form a monetary policy board of experts which would comprise of the RBA Governor, Deputy Governor, Treasury Secretary and 6 external members with the Governor as Chair in which the policy board would conduct 8 meetings a year with a press conference after each meeting, while the government should establish a governance board with an external chair and legislate changes to commence from July 2024. Furthermore, the RBA should retain independence and the power of government to override decisions should be repealed.
BoJ is reportedly open to tweaking Yield Curve Control (YCC) this year if wage momentum holds, according to Reuters sources; may engage is more lively debate in the June and July meetings; no current consensus on how soon to phase YCC out, July wage tally key.

European bourses are lower across the board, Euro Stoxx 50 -0.3%, as pressure emerged without a clear catalyst after a relatively contained open. Sectors are largely in the red, with Autos underperforming amid downside in Renault post-earnings and with attention on Tesla; elsewhere, Nokia slumps and L’Oreal trims upside after their latest updates. Stateside, futures are pressured to a larger extent than their European peers with downside occurring in tandem with the above move and exacerbated by marked pressure in Tesla, NQ -1.1%. TSMC (2330 TT/TSM) Q1 (TWD): Net Profit 206.9bln (exp. 192.8bln), Sales 508.6bln (exp. 517.9bln), Gross Profit 286.5bln (prev. 273.2bln). EPS 7.98 (exp. 7.41), Gross Margin 56.3% (exp. 54.5%). Q2 Guidance (USD): Revenue 15.2-16.0bn (exp. 17.3bln), Gross Margin 52-54% (exp. 52.5%), Operating Margin 39.5-41.5% (exp. 40%). TSM +0.4% in pre-market trade. Tesla (TSLA) – Q1 2023 (USD): Adj. EPS 0.85 (exp. 0.85), Revenue 23.33bln (exp. 23.29bln). Still sees FY production 1.80mln vehicles (exp. 1.84mln). Tesla did not release its automotive margins, but continues to believe that its operating margin will remain among the highest in the industry. CEO Musk has taken a view that pushing for higher volumes and a larger fleet is the right choice here vs lower volume and higher margins. -7.5% in pre-market trade.

Top European News

Turkey Gas Field Launch Sets Up Pre-Election Giveaway
European Gas Prices Swing With Signs of Weak Industrial Demand
Melrose Spinoff Dowlais Slips in Rare London Trading Debut
Nokia Misses Estimates as Clients Reduce Spending on 5G Gear

Kiwi deflated as NZ CPI metrics miss consensus, NZD/USD sub-0.6200 and AUD/NZD eyeing 1.0900.
DXY drifting within 102.040-101.780 range after failing to close above the 21 DMA again.
Aussie and Euro underpinned by option expiries between 0.6700-0.6695 and at 1.0925 vs the Buck.
Franc firm and retesting 0.9850 vs Greenback as Treasury yields ease; Yen, Pound and Loonie rangy.
PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 6.8987 vs exp. 6.8979 (prev. 6.8732)

Fixed Income

Core benchmarks have pared back initial recovery momentum and are now in close proximity to the neutral mark on the session, though currently retain an incremental positive bias.
Given the above, bonds are yet to mark new troughs though the waning momentum is notable but worth caveating with the particularly hefty upcoming US agenda.
Specifically, the action has seen Bunds, Gilts and USTs move closer to their 133.42, 99.94 and 114-07 intraday lows vs initial recovery highs; stateside yields are lower, with curve action again most pronounced at the short-end.

Commodities

Crude benchmarks remain under pressure, with specific fundamentals limited and the complex printing new multi-week lows. Though, the magnitude of today’s action has thus far been much less pronounced than the losses seen earlier in the week.
Specifically, WTI and Brent June futures are under USD 78/bbl (vs high 79.07/bbl) and USD 82/bbl (vs high 82.92/bbl) respective highs.
Spot gold has attempted to reclaim the USD 2k/oz mark but is yet to convincingly surmount the figure despite the softer USD and equity landscape, base metals are lower in fitting with the mentioned tone though the downside is perhaps capped as the Dollar dips.
Pakistan’s first order for Russian discount oil has been placed, via Pakistan’s petroleum minister; intends to import 100k BPD of Russian oil.

Geopolitics

China Hainan Maritime Bureau said it will ban passage during military drills in nearby waters in South China Sea amid military drills from Friday to Sunday, according to Kyodo.
Iran says its navy has forced a US submarine to surface as it enters the Gulf, via State TV.

US Event Calendar

08:30: April Initial Jobless Claims, est. 240,000, prior 239,000
08:30: April Continuing Claims, est. 1.83m, prior 1.81m
08:30: April Philadelphia Fed Business Outl, est. -19.3, prior -23.2
10:00: March Existing Home Sales MoM, est. -1.8%, prior 14.5%
10:00: March Home Resales with Condos, est. 4.5m, prior 4.58m
10:00: March Leading Index, est. -0.7%, prior -0.3%

DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

Markets have struggled a bit over the last 24 hours, with bonds and equities selling off thanks to strong inflation data and a mixed batch of earnings releases. However by the close of business both Euro and US equities had broadly clawed their way back to flat (S&P -0.01%) but with yields on 10yr Treasuries (+1.5bps) ending just a shade under their one-month highs at of 3.59% and Bund yields at their highest close since March 9th.

The initial catalyst for the bond and equity weakness yesterday came from the UK inflation release shortly after we went to press yesterday. It showed CPI inflation had only fallen to +10.1% in March (vs. +9.8% expected), and core inflation was above expectations as well at +6.2% (vs. +6.0% expected), which disappointed hopes that we’d be in the midst of a broader trend lower by this point. At the same time, the print was also on the upside of the BoE’s own staff forecasts in February, which had looked for a +9.2% number yesterday. So with the previous day’s wage data surprising on the upside too, the picture is one of stronger inflationary pressures than previously thought.

With another inflation report surprising on the upside, that spurred a broader selloff among sovereign bonds, and investors continued to dial back the chances of rate cuts from central banks this year. UK gilts were at the forefront of that, with the 10yr yield up by +10.9bps, and investors moved to fully price in a 25bp rate hike from the BoE in May for the first time since late February. Our own UK economist at DB has also adjusted his expectations for the BoE (link here), and now sees them taking Bank Rate up by 25bps in both May and June. If realised, that would leave the terminal rate at 4.75%, and he argues the risks are now skewed to the upside of that as well.

Those moves in the UK were echoed in other countries, and investors priced in a growing chance that the ECB would deliver another 50bp hike in two weeks’ time. That led to a rise in yields across the continent, with those on 10yr bunds (+3.8bps), OATs (+3.7bps) and BTPs (+6.2bps) all moving higher on the day. Likewise in the US, the 10yr yield rose +1.5bps to 3.591%, which came as investors further downplayed the chance of rate cuts this year. What’s interesting is that investors are now increasingly considering whether the Fed will pursue further rate hikes after the next decision in May, and the odds of a 25bp hike in June hit a post-SVB high of 29.4% yesterday. That’s partly because of the inflation data of late, but they’ve also been propelled by the persistent easing of financial conditions over recent days, with Bloomberg’s index now at its most accommodative level since the SVB collapse. Whilst that might be welcome news after the recent turmoil, one consequence of easier financial conditions is it puts more of the onus on the Fed to tighten policy to get inflation back to target, rather than relying on tighter financial conditions.

On that topic, yesterday was the first Fed Beige Book since the SVB episode. The Beige Book is released two weeks prior to FOMC meetings and publishes anecdotal data/comments from the various districts. On credit conditions, five districts mentioned tighter conditions with a respondent from New York mentioning that “Credit standards tightened noticeably for all loan types, and loan spreads continued to narrow. Deposit rates moved higher.” A respondent from California, the epicentre for stress last month, said that “following recent volatility in deposit levels at regional and community banks, outflows have reportedly stabilized since late March.” Not all regions saw large disruptions with a respondent in Chicago saying there was “some movement in deposits but little change in credit availability following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank”. Attention will turn to the senior loan officer survey early next month. It’s always been a huge favourite lead indicator of ours but the whole financial world will be watching this time around.

For equities, as discussed at the top, the main news came after the close as we heard from Tesla, which dropped more than -6% in after-market trading before recovering its losses. The EV-maker missed profit estimates with EPS coming in at $0.85 ($0.86 estimated) as margins were tighter than expected. The company also expects there to be “ongoing cost reduction” of their vehicles.IBM (+1.73% in after-market trading) rose after beating earning expectations and increased sales guidance for 2023.

Also after the close we learned that the US Treasury took in $129bn across corporate and individual income taxes, which means that the Treasury General Account is now up to $252bn, up from $144bn on Monday. Today is another big day to watch as it will capture a portion of Tuesday’s deadline day tax flows, yet to be reported. The overall total was softer than some initial assumptions and leaves an x-date of midsummer as the most likely. Also on the debt ceiling, House Speaker McCarthy released a plan yesterday to raise the debt ceiling by $1.5tr, which would push the “x-date” out into March 2024. The GOP hope to vote on the bill in the coming days as an opening salvo in talks with the White House. Moderate members of both parties also pushed forward an idea that would suspend the debt ceiling until December 31 and then possibly February 2025 if certain conditions were met. The plan is likely dead-on-arrival given the slim GOP majority and the weakened position of Speaker McCarthy, who would have to put the bill up to a vote.

Prior to this, and as mentioned at the top, the S&P 500 had another quiet day, ending just -0.01% lower and remaining in the very narrow band seen over recent sessions. There was a decent amount of dispersion once again though with rate-proxies such as utilities (+0.78%) and real estate (+0.55%) rising, while cyclicals fell back led by communications (-0.72%), materials (-0.31%), and energy (-0.25%). The VIX index of volatility declined a further -0.4pts to 16.4pts, which marked its lowest closing level since November 2021. Elsewhere the NASDAQ (0.03%) was similarly unchanged with the Dow Jones (-0.23%) seeing a marginal loss. In Europe there were modest declines as well, leaving the STOXX 600 down -0.10%.

Asian equity markets are broadly trading lower this morning following a tepid performance of US equities on Wall Street. As I type, the Chinese stocks are leading losses across the region with the Shanghai Composite (-0.69%) and the CSI (-0.63%) edging lower while the Hang Seng (+0.19%) is just above flat. Elsewhere, the KOSPI (-0.28%) is trading in negative territory while the Nikkei (+0.09%) held on to its minor gains. Outside of Asia, US stock futures tied to the S&P 500 (-0.18%) and NASDAQ 100 (-0.33%) are modestly lower as risk appetite remains downbeat following the latest batch of earnings.

In early morning data, exports in Japan rose +4.3% y/y in March (v/s +2.4% expected), down from growth of +6.5% in February mainly due to a drop in China-bound shipments. Imports outpaced exports, increasing 7.3% in the year to March (v/s a +11.6% expected increase), the smallest advance in two years and coming after the prior month’s 8.3% gain. Meanwhile, the nation’s trade deficit narrowed for the second consecutive month, contracting to 754.5 billion yen ($5.6 billion) from an upwardly revised deficit of 898.1 billion yen in February,

When it comes to the Bank of Japan’s decision next week, Bloomberg reported yesterday that officials were wary of adjusting their yield curve control policy this soon after last month’s market turmoil. The meeting isn’t until a week on Friday, but will be the first for new Governor Ueda, so will likely get more attention than usual anyway.

2 b) NOW NEWSQUAWK (EUROPE/REPORT)/ASIA REPORT

Earnings remain in focus, TSLA -6%, ahead of a packed Central Bank docket – Newsquawk Europe Market Open

THURSDAY, APR 20, 2023 – 01:46 AM

APAC stocks traded rangebound with the region indecisive following the flat handover from the US. Tesla lower by 6.1% after hours post-earnings.
European equity futures are indicative of a contained open with Euro Stoxx 50 future flat after the cash market closed flat yesterday.
DXY lingers just below the 102 mark, FX markets overall contained, NZD the laggard across the majors post-CPI.
Crude futures continued to retreat after slipping beneath post-OPEC voluntary cut lows.
Looking ahead, highlights include German Producer Prices, US IJC, Existing Home Sales, EZ Consumer Confidence (Flash), ECB Minutes, Speeches from Fed’s Williams, Waller, Mester, Bowman & Bostic, ECB’s Lagarde & Schnabel, Supply from Japan, Spain & France.
Earnings from Phillip Morris, AT&T, American Express, Publicis, EssilorLuxottica, Renault & Nokia.

View the full premarket movers and news report.

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US TRADE

EQUITIES

US stocks finished relatively flat after a choppy trading session as participants digested earnings releases and with early headwinds after firmer-than-expected UK CPI data spurred some global hawkish central bank repricing.
SPX -0.01% at 4,152, NDX -0.02% at 13,089, DJIA -0.23% at 33,897, RUT -0.23% at 33,897.
Click here for a detailed summary.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

Fed’s Beige Book stated that overall economic activity was little changed in recent weeks and nine districts reported either no change or only a slight change in activity this period while three indicated modest growth.
Fed’s Goolsbee (voter) said the Fed is still figuring out the credit impact from the recent bank strains and he is still waiting to see if the fallout from recent bank failures could cause the economy to slow more than expected. Goolsbee added his message is to be prudent and patient, while he noted the things to watch during the next two weeks until the Fed’s next meeting are prices and credit, according to Reuters citing a Marketplace interview.
Fed’s Williams (voter) said US inflation is still too high and the Fed will act to lower price pressures, as well as noted that tighter credit conditions will weigh on growth and it will take time to gauge the impact of tighter banking conditions. Williams also commented that it is likely to take two years to get back to the 2% inflation target and it will take time for Fed actions to lower inflation, while he sees inflation to ease to 3.25% this year and noted inflation is moderating but demand still outstrips supply.
White House said it is always monitoring developments in the currency market and the primacy of the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency is underpinned by fundamentals. Furthermore, the White House said there should be no negotiations on the debt ceiling which Republicans need to lift.
US House Speaker McCarthy confirmed the introduction of a House debt limit legislation bill that proposes a debt ceiling lift of USD 1.5tln and a cut to federal spending of USD 4.5tln.
Tesla (TSLA) – Q1 2023 (USD): Adj. EPS 0.85 (exp. 0.85), Revenue 23.33bln (exp. 23.29bln). Still sees FY production 1.80mln vehicles (exp. 1.84mln). Tesla did not release its automotive margins, but continues to believe that its operating margin will remain among the highest in the industry. CEO Musk has taken a view that pushing for higher volumes and a larger fleet is the right choice here vs lower volume and higher margins. Shares fell 6.1% after market

APAC TRADE

EQUITIES

APAC stocks traded rangebound with the region indecisive following the flat handover from the US where earnings were under the spotlight and early headwinds were seen after firmer-than-expected UK CPI data.
ASX 200 was indecisive as participants digested output updates and with the mining sector subdued despite the fresh record Q1 iron ore shipments by Rio Tinto, while Australian Treasurer Chalmers announced recommendations from the independent RBA review which included establishing separate boards for governance and monetary policy with fewer meetings and press conferences to be conducted after policy decisions.
Nikkei 225 gradually pared opening losses following mixed trade data including better-than-expected exports growth and after a recent report that the BoJ is said to be wary of tweaking yield control this month.
Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were mixed following the lack of surprises by the PBoC which maintained its benchmark lending rates for the 8th consecutive month and as frictions lingered after the US Commerce Department imposed a USD 300mln civil penalty on Seagate for supplying hard disk drives to Huawei in violation of export controls.
US equity futures (ES -0.3%) were softer after a bout of mixed earnings and amid the cautious mood in Asia.
European equity futures are indicative of a contained open with Euro Stoxx 50 future flat after the cash market closed flat yesterday.

FX

DXY traded rangebound but held on to the prior day’s gains and briefly reclaimed the 102.00 handle, after the firm inflation data from across the pond spurred some hawkish central bank pricing and with several Fed comments overnight including from Williams who noted that US inflation is still too high and the Fed will act to lower price pressures.
EUR/USD remained stuck near the 1.0950 level albeit with the downside cushioned after recent hawkish comments by ECB officials on inflation and as participants await the ECB minutes due later today.
GBP/USD was lacklustre with price action choppy after having faded its inflation-induced gains.
USD/JPY kept afloat after a recent report suggested the unlikelihood of a BoJ policy tweak next week.
Antipodeans declined with underperformance in NZD/USD after Q1 CPI printed softer than expected although the impact on money market pricing of rates was negligible as inflation remained well above target.
PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 6.8987 vs exp. 6.8979 (prev. 6.8732)
SNB’s Schlegel said Swiss inflation is low in international comparison but still too high and above the level associated with price stability, while he said they cannot rule out further rate hikes to bring inflation under control and that markets expect that tightening isn’t over.

FIXED INCOME

10yr UST futures eked slight gains and continued to claw back some of the prior day’s losses that were spurred by the inflationary-induced headwinds from the UK, with the recovery facilitated after support held at 114.00.
Bund futures were marginally higher albeit with further advances limited by recent hawkish ECB rhetoric.
10yr JGB futures were kept afloat amid prospects of a delayed exit from the BoJ’s ultra-easy policy although gains were limited after relatively softer results from the 20yr JGB auction.

COMMODITIES

Crude futures continued to retreat after slipping beneath post-OPEC voluntary cut lows.
Spot gold traded sideways with the precious metal contained by an uneventful dollar.
Copper futures marginally weakened alongside the cautious overnight risk tone.

CRYPTO

Bitcoin was rangebound with price action indecisive after its recent slip back below USD 29,000.

NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES

PBoC 1-Year Loan Prime Rate (Apr) 3.65% vs Exp. 3.65% (Prev. 3.65%)
PBoC 5-Year Loan Prime Rate (Apr) 4.30% vs Exp. 4.30% (Prev. 4.30%)
US Trade Representative Tai said they have seen supply chain fragility and that US trade restrictions on China are narrowly targeted, while she added the US doesn’t intend to decouple and intends a level trade playing field with China.
US Commerce Department imposed a USD 300mln civil penalty on Seagate (STX) and said the Co. sold 7.4mln hard disk drives to Huawei between August 2020-September 2021 in violation of export controls, according to Reuters.
RBA independent review recommended that the RBA should have dual objectives of price stability and full employment, while it should retain a flexible inflation target of 2%-3% and aim at the mid-point. It was also recommended that the government form a monetary policy board of experts which would comprise of the RBA Governor, Deputy Governor, Treasury Secretary and 6 external members with the Governor as Chair in which the policy board would conduct 8 meetings a year with a press conference after each meeting, while the government should establish a governance board with an external chair and legislate changes to commence from July 2024. Furthermore, the RBA should retain independence and the power of government to override decisions should be repealed.

DATA RECAP

Japanese Trade Balance Total Yen (Mar) -754.5B vs. Exp. -1294.8B (Prev. -897.7B, Rev. -898.1B)
Japanese Exports YY (Mar) 4.3% vs. Exp. 2.6% (Prev. 6.5%)
Japanese Imports YY (Mar) 7.3% vs. Exp. 11.4% (Prev. 8.3%)
Australian NAB Business Confidence (Q1) -4 (Prev. -1)
New Zealand CPI QQ (Q1) 1.2% vs. Exp. 1.7% (Prev. 1.4%)
New Zealand CPI YY (Q1) 6.7% vs. Exp. 7.1% (Prev. 7.2%)
RBNZ Sectoral Factor Model Inflation Index (Q1) 5.7% (Prev. 5.8%)

EU/UK

UK Chancellor Hunt said when inflation is above 10%, it is destabilizing the economy, while he added there is a plan to bring inflation down and that the tightness of the labour market is a factor behind inflation.
UK government review is set to recommend a cut in reliance on semiconductor imports from geopolitically sensitive parts of the world such as Taiwan, while the strategy is to be announced “within weeks” and will offer “hundreds of millions” of pounds in long-term “targeted” financial support to the sector, according to FT sources.
UK’s Unite union said security officers at Heathrow Airport are to strike on May 4th-10th and May 25th-27th.
ECB’s Schnabel said while headline inflation has started to decline, underlying inflation proves sticky and inflation momentum remains high for all components except for energy, while she added that supply-side shocks from bottlenecks and the energy prices continue to fade.

2 c. ASIAN AFFAIRS

ASIAN AND AUSTRALIAN CLOSINGS//EUROPE OPENING TRADING:

WEDNESDAY MORNING/TUESDAY NIGHT

2 d./NORTH KOREA/ SOUTH KOREA/

///NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA/

END

2e) JAPAN

JAPAN/

END

3 CHINA /

end

4.EUROPEAN AND UK AFFAIRS

CZECH REPUBLIC

Massive protests in the Czech Republic as protesters call for Czech Government resignation

(Semonsen/EuropeanConservative.com)

Massive Protest Sees Demonstrators Call For Czech Government’s Resignation

THURSDAY, APR 20, 2023 – 02:00 AM

Authored by Robert Semonsen via EuropeanConservative.com,

Amid mounting economic woes, thousands of flag-waving Czechs filled Prague’s iconic Wenceslas Square on Sunday afternoon to demand the resignation of the country’s five-party coalition government, with many urging peace in Ukraine and for the Czech Republic to leave NATO.

Organized by the new non-parliamentary party Law, Respect, Expertise (PRO), the rally, the second of its kind to take place in just over a month, saw thousands of people—under the banner “against poverty”—gather in the capital city’s main square, before walking to the Straka Academy, the seat of the government, the online newspaper iDNES reports.

Protesters, most of whom accuse Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s center-Right government of being overly concerned with Ukraine while neglecting the needs of Czechs, were seen carrying banners with the words “Away with NATO,” “No war,” and “Lying government and media.”

“We are here to stand up for our country and for our Czech Republic. We want to take down the five-coalition Fiala government with a non-violent civil protest,” Jindrich Rajchl, a lawyer who serves as the head of the PRO party, said at the beginning of his speech.

“Collect the last remnants of your honor, realize that you are not up to [the task], and resign,” he said, referring to Fiala’s government.

Rajchl, the main organizer of the event, called Czech Defense Minister Jana Cernochova “the biggest security risk for our country” due to her pro-war stance. Rajchl rejected claims that he and his party are pro-Russian.

Protesters like Renata Urbanova, who traveled to Prague from the southern city of Pisek, told the press that Fiala’s government is “full of warmongers” and complained that their policies are “making [Czechs] suffer.” She complained that “energy is too expensive and so is food.”

Since the onset of the war in February 2022, Fiala’s government has been among the European Union’s most fervent proponents of the collective West’s sanctions against Russia, despite the serious damage they have inflicted on the Czech economy. Additionally, the Czech government is among the top providers of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and has taken in massive amounts of refugees, both of which place a further strain on the country’s economy.

Having granted temporary protection to some 400,000 Ukrainian refugees—with its relatively small population of 10.5 million—the Czech Republic hosts the most Ukrainian refugees per capita in the world. The country’s inflation rates are among the highest in the European Union, registering at 17.5%, 16.7%, and 15%, in the first three months of this year, respectively.

END

They are nuts: EU readies levies on high carbon imports. Their stupid goal: to price carbon emissions and thus to put pressure on other countries to do the same

(zerohedge)

EU Readies Levies On High-Carbon Imports… To Pressure Rest Of World On Climate Change

THURSDAY, APR 20, 2023 – 02:45 AM

The European Parliament has now approved legislation to phase in a levy on high-carbon imports based on the CO2 emitted in producing them.

As Statista’s Martin Armstrong notes, the law is a world-first and awaits final approval from EU countries – expected within a few weeks.

Infographic: Imports Play a Major Role in EU Carbon Footprints | Statista

You will find more infographics at Statista

The tax aims to put pressure on countries outside of EU borders to put a price on CO2 emissions – while also countering the benefits to EU industries relocating to regions with weaker environmental laws.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal:

“The tax gives credit to countries that put a price on carbon, allowing importers of goods from those countries to deduct payments made for overseas emissions from the amount owed at the EU’s borders.”

If we take into account the size of the population, China emits 2 times more carbon dioxide per capita than the world average, the EU 1.5 times more and the United States 3 times more.

But these figures do not account for emissions associated with imported goods and services, for which much of the production (and carbon footprint) is located in manufacturing countries that still rely heavily on fossil fuels.

When including the impact of products that are used locally but manufactured abroad, the carbon footprint per capita in the EU is higher than in China: 11 tons of CO2 equivalent per year compared to 8.

The figure for the United States is 21 tons.

END

EU/FARMERS

Livid EU farmers are furious at the EU green agenda and are fighting back

(zerohedge)

“Why Does Brussels Hate Us?” Livid EU Farmers Hit Back At Green Agenda

THURSDAY, APR 20, 2023 – 07:45 AM

European farmers are furious over a bullshit plan by the European Union which would force then to be treated as industrial plants, similar to steel mills or chemical works, in order to force them to cut greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution, the Financial Times reports.

Greek farmer Takis Kazanas, 66, and his four sons run a 230-acre ranch with 300 cattle ranch in the mountains overlooking the Thessalian Plain. While the farmers already capture biogas from cow dung, and use homemade manure vs. chemical fertilizer, Kazanas is one of many farmers up in arms over environmentalist bureaucrats who want to impose crippling new rules on them in order to cut emissions by 55% by 2030 vs. 1990 levels.

“That’s what the EU says and that’s what I do,” says Kazanas, regarding the ‘earth-friendly’ measures he already employs. “Today, everyone blames cattle for methane production and pollution . . . I have a different opinion.”

The sheer scale of the transformation that the European Commission is asking for in its Farm to Fork strategy — halving the amount of pesticides applied by 2030, cutting the use of fertilisers, doubling organic production and rewilding some farmland — would be remarkable even in less urgent times.

Yet it comes as the war in Ukraine has upended global food markets, and as farmers face a cut in subsidies in the Common Agricultural Policy, the €55bn-a-year programme that has underwritten Europe’s food security since 1962.

The EU argues that the agriculture sector is badly in need of environmental reforms. One senior EU official working on climate policy calls it “our problem child”. -FT

According to Brussels, nitrous oxides found in fertilizer, as well as animal urine and poop, are a large part of the problem.

One problem facing farmers is thin margins between organic producers who survive on local trade, to pig farmers whose profits are being whittled away by international competition. As the Times notes, “even a small increase in the price of feed can wipe out annual profits.”

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU almost immediately unveiled ‘Farm to Fork’ pollution targets. According to a senior commission official, “the debate has changed.”

The goals of the program, via FT, are to:

Cut the use of chemical and hazardous pesticides by 50% by 2030
Reduce fertiliser use by 20% by 2030
Lower by 50% the sales of antimicrobials for farmed animals and in aquaculture
Increase the amount of land devoted to organic farming to 25% in 2030 from 9.1% in 2020
Bigger livestock farms to comply with clean air and water regulations that apply to heavy industry

That said, farmers have banded together – and thanks to organized, well-funded campaigns, EU governments have softened their tone over what is becoming a new battleground over green ambitions.

In the Netherlands, the government recently paused a program which would shutter farms in order to reduce nitrous oxide emissions, after a Farmer Citizen Movement (BBB) won a surprising share of provincial elections in March. Poland, Bulgaria and Hungry, meanwhile, have temporarily halted imports of grain, dairy products, meat, fruits and vegetables from Ukraine after farmers were livid over Ukrainian commodities flooding the market and depressing prices.

Belgian MP, Tom Vandenkendelaere, says the pressure on farmers is insane.

“It is the number of policies hitting them at the same time. We need to slow down,” he said, adding that farmers are being made to feel vilified for simply doing their jobs.

“They feel their whole way of life is under attack … Farmers are asking, ‘Why does Brussels hate us?’“

Well, it is, and farmers are suffering.

Boeren op een Kruispunt, an independent non-profit offering mental health counselling to farmers in Flanders, northern Belgium, has reported a 44 per cent increase in demand in 2022 compared with 2021, he says.

According to the French Institute for Health, farmers are three times more likely to commit suicide than other professionals. As Caroline van der Plas, leader of the BBB, told the Dutch parliament this month: “People who provide our daily food . . . are dismissed as animal abusers, poisoners, soil destroyers and environmental polluters.”

EU environmentalists don’t care.

“It is a significant change for our farmers, but inevitably they will have to be part of the solution,” said Virginijus Sinkevičius, the EU’s environment and fisheries commissioner, who added: “Maybe that won’t happen overnight.”

And according to the office of European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, “The commission is convinced that the transition to a resilient and sustainable agricultural sector, in line with the European green deal and its Farm to Fork and biodiversity strategies, is fundamental to food security.”

The farmers have their backs up against the wall

Belgium farmer Bram van Hecke, says he and his father and brothers are feeling squeezed – between policymakers trying to force them into untenable production and consumers who can’t afford inflated food prices.

“If you go to a bank saying I want to invest but my income will halve they are not going to give you a loan,” he told the Times. “Producing more is a viable business, while being extremely environmental might harm your business.”

Van Hecke says an EU directive requiring that farmers track the spread of ‘muck’ with GPS is already costing his family €10,000-€15,000 annually.

“The average land price in Flanders is €63,000 per hectare — we lose about 4 hectares to the nitrates directive. You can do the maths,” he said. “The government is saying we are going to increase your costs but there is no vision for helping increase income.”

end

5 RUSSIA//UKRAINE AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

RUSSIA/UKRAINE

UKRAINE

Robert H to us:

While so many folks think this conflict in Ukraine should be over soon. This is completely wrong as Russia sees this ending in 2027-2030. They have no need for a rapid conclusion as internally their inflation rate is down to 3%. Compare that to what is occurring in the West. Rampant inflation destroys economies, it does not build them and outs a burden on society of increased prices. When it ends Ukraine will end in its present form.
This morning a US satellite was downed over Kiev, as a distinct warning. Russia has stated that there are red lines when it comes to killing Russians. The US has publicly already complained about Russia using space like weapons to darken satellite imaginary and disconnect GPS in the Ukraine. The reality is they will not allow US imaginary to kill their soldiers by feeding targeting data to Ukrainians. This is coming to an end. Ask Musk why his satellites are falling selectively out of the sky.
The longer this charade goes on the weaker both NATO and America appear on a world stage. Battleground weaknesses on display are not inspirational for going to war with China. None of this is lost on many nations.
This all plays into the longer term weakness of using the Federal Reserve Dollar as a settlement currency. Just the same, weakness in a military forum will not serve to strengthen anything. Remember the corruption of Ukraine is unparalleled. One reason grain is not moving as much as it could be from Odessa is because shippers are refusing to pay bribes to Ukraine port officials.
This week Russians are in China coordinating on a new settlement currency that likely is a at least a year away as new participants like the Saudis become part of the BRICS in a new expanded block. What is clear is that the West is not invited. It is the same with China and Russia who are about to leapfrog chip manufacturing beyond what the west has. Within 2 years both of them will lead the West in chip design and manufacturing.
The best program is for America to stand together as the nation it once was to come together to move forward. It no longer can afford the multitude of bases and in reality gunboat diplomacy has had its day. As even Blinken is learning that China wants nothing to do with DC.

END

6.Global Issues//COVID ISSUES/VACCINE ISSUES/

Senate report claims the COVID 19 virus came from a lab leak exactly what we have been telling you

(Stieber/EpochTimes)

Chinese Lab Developed COVID-19 Virus, Senate Report Claims

WEDNESDAY, APR 19, 2023 – 06:20 PM

Authored by Zachary Steiber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The COVID-19 virus originated in a Chinese laboratory and was leaked unintentionally, a new U.S. Senate report concludes.

The virus, SARS-CoV-2, leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), which tests bat coronaviruses, twice in 2019, researchers conducting the report say.

“The preponderance of information supports the plausibility of an unintentional research-related incident that likely resulted from failures of biosafety containment during SARS-CoV-2 vaccine-related research,” the 301-page report, released on April 17, states.

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Ky.), a member of the Senate Health Committee, released the report, which was produced by a team that included Dr. Robert Kadlec, a longtime former government health official who played a key role in developing the COVID-19 vaccines, and staffers on the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, where Marshall chairs the Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security. The final report updates an interim report released in the fall of 2022.

Researchers started with two hypotheses, Marshall told reporters in a briefing. One was that the virus started in animals before spilling over to humans, known as a natural origin. The other was a leak from the Wuhan lab, located in the same city where the first COVID-19 cases were detected in late 2019.

“They exhausted every piece of evidence that they could find, every resource witness that they could talk to, to come up with conclusions,” Marshall said.

Kadlec’s team of consultants spent approximately 18 months probing the COVID-19 origins and concluded that the available evidence supports a lab leak.

More specifically, there was likely an aerosol leak that caused an infection of lab personnel or the virus may have been released to the outside environment due to biocontainment failures. One theory revolves around cleaning agents causing corrosion of welded seams in the lab, a possibility mentioned in multiple 2019 documents on upgrading the lab.

“Patents addressed biocontainment faults with animal transfer cabinets, biosafety autoclaves, leaky airtight doors, and excessive corrosive disinfectants affecting stainless steel laboratory equipment and biocontainment structures,” the report states.

Both domestic and foreign bodies have for years raised concerns about biosafety at the WIV. A 2018 U.S. State Department cable, for instance, (pdf) reported that the then-newly opened biosafety level four lab at the facility had a “serious shortage” of trained technicians to safely operate the lab.

Researchers at the lab, before the pandemic, reported experimenting on mice, bats, and palm civets to find coronaviruses that were more capable of infecting humans, and sometimes experimented at sub-biosafety level four conditions. A more recent summary showed scientists conducted experiments that increased the function of a bat coronavirus. WIV’s refusal to reveal the full results of their experiments resulted in U.S. officials ending a subgrant after the pandemic started.

Research-related lab biosafety issues can unfold in a number of ways, while most infections acquired in laboratories due to lapses are never conclusively determined, researchers have said previously.

Chinese reports, communications, and notices were offered as support for the lab leak theory, including an attempt in November 2019 to procure an air incinerator at the lab. That suggested “some concern about the risk of an infectious aerosol escape,” researchers say in the new report. They also noted that WIV staffers underwent a remedial biosafety training course that same month.

Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 suggest the virus was manmade, including the presence of a furin cleavage site at the same location that was proposed in a grant proposal by EcoHealth Alliance, the report concludes. EcoHealth funneled U.S. taxpayer money to scientists in Wuhan.

Judicial Watch: Records Show Funding for EcoHealth/Wuhan Institute Research to Create Coronavirus ‘Mutants’; Eco Health planned to sequence the spike protein from coronaviruses obtained from bats for

the purpose of “creating mutants to identify how significantly each would need to evolve to use ACE2,” which is explained as “the receptor to gain entry to human cells.”; stunning FOIA findings

DR. PAUL ALEXANDERAPR 20

Through FOIA, Judicial Watch has uncovered a substantial amount of information about COVID-19 issues:
- ‘HHS records included emails of then-Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Francis Collins showing a British physicians’ group recommended the use of Ivermectin to prevent and treat COVID-19.
- Heavily redacted HHS records showed that just two days prior to FDA approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine a discussion was held between U.S. and UK health regulators regarding the COVID shot and “anaphylaxis,” with the regulators emphasizing their “mutual confidentiality agreement.”
- Judicial Watch obtained HHS records regarding data Moderna submitted to the FDA on its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, which indicated a “statistically significant” number of rats were born with skeletal deformations after their mothers were injected with the vaccine. The documents also revealed Moderna elected not to conduct a number of standard pharmacological studies on the laboratory test animals.
- Heavily redacted records from the FDA regarding the COVID-19 booster vaccine detailed pressure on COVID booster use and approval.
- HHS records detailed internal discussions about myocarditis and the COVID vaccine. Other documents detail adverse “events for which a contributory effect of the vaccine could not be excluded.”
- Judicial Watch uncovered HHS records detailing the extensive media plans for a Biden administration propaganda campaign to push the COVID-19 vaccine.
- HHS records revealed previously redacted locations of COVID-19 vaccine testing facilities in Shanghai, China. The FDA had claimed the name and location of the testing facilities were protected by the confidential commercial information exemption of the FOIA.
- NIH records showed an FBI “inquiry” into the NIH’s controversial bat coronavirus grant tied to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The records also show National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) officials were concerned about “gain-of-function” research in China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology in 2016. The Fauci agency was also concerned about EcoHealth Alliance’s lack of compliance with reporting rules and use of gain-of-function research in the NIH-funded research involving bat coronaviruses in Wuhan, China.
- Texas Public Information Act (PIA) records showed the former director of the Galveston National Laboratory at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Dr. James W. Le Duc, warned Chinese researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology of potential investigations into the COVID issue by Congress.
- HHS records regarding biodistribution studies and related data for the COVID-19 vaccines showed how a key component of the vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), were found outside the injection site, mainly the liver, adrenal glands, spleen and ovaries of test animals, eight to 48 hours after injection.
- Records obtained from HHS through a FOIA lawsuit related to hydroxychloroquine and COVID-19 revealed that a grant to EcoHealth Alliance was cancelled because of press reports that a portion of the grant was given to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
- HHS records revealed that from 2014 to 2019, $826,277 was given to the Wuhan Institute of Virology for bat coronavirus research by the NIAID.
- NIAID records showed that it gave nine China-related grants to EcoHealth Alliance to research coronavirus emergence in bats and was the NIH’s top issuer of grants to the Wuhan lab itself. The records also included an email from the vice director of the Wuhan Lab asking an NIH official for help finding disinfectants for decontamination of airtight suits and indoor surfaces.
- HHS records included an “urgent for Dr. Fauci ” email chain, citing ties between the Wuhan lab and the taxpayer-funded EcoHealth Alliance. The government emails also reported that the foundation of U.S. billionaire Bill Gates worked closely with the Chinese government to pave the way for Chinese-produced medications to be sold outside China and help “raise China’s voice of governance by placing representatives from China on important international counsels as high level commitment from China.”
- HHS records included a grant application for research involving the coronavirus that appears to describe “gain-of-function” research involving RNA extractions from bats, experiments on viruses, attempts to develop a chimeric virus and efforts to genetically manipulate the full-length bat SARSr-CoV WIV1 strain molecular clone.
- HHS records showed the State Department and NIAID knew immediately in January 2020 that China was withholding COVID data, which was hindering risk assessment and response by public health officials.
- HHS records show that NIH officials tailored confidentiality forms to China’s terms and that the World Health Organization (WHO) conducted an unreleased, “strictly confidential” COVID-19 epidemiological analysis in January 2020.
- Fauci emails include his approval of a press release supportive of China’s response to the 2019 novel coronavirus.’

end

Megyn Kelly rips into transgender protestors who assaulted and who ‘kidnapped’ Riley Gaines; the left and trans people are making Gaines into a heroine and leader! I support Riley Gaines, this trans

transgender bullsh*t must end and we need to call this crap out for what it is, these are men, MALES, IMO ‘would be’ perverts, rapists, and pedophiles, men with PENISES who are trying to rape women

DR. PAUL ALEXANDERAPR 20

SLAY NEWS

The latest reports from Slay News

NYC to Impose Restrictions on Public Meat Consumption to Fight ‘Climate Change’Democrat Mayor Eric Adams has revealed plans to impose restrictions on the amount of meat and dairy products the public can consume in New York City.READ MORE

FDA Withdraws Authorization for Monovalent Pfizer and Moderna Covid Shots The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced new protocols for COVID-19 vaccinations.READ MORE

American Black Liberal Activists Charged with Acting as Illegal Agents of Russian Government The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged several American liberal activists with illegally serving as agents of the Russian government.READ MORE

GOP Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Tells Don Lemon to His Face: ‘You’re Doing a Disservice to Our Country’GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy shut down a furious Don Lemon on CNN today.READ MORE

Elon Musk Asks ‘Where Is the Manifesto’ of Transgender Nashville Mass Shooter: ‘Unabomber Got His Published’Twitter boss Elon Musk has taken to social media to ask why the manifesto of transgender mass shooter Audrey Hale hasn’t been published.READ MORE

Former NFL Player Chris Smith Dies Suddenly at 31 Former NFL player Chris Smith has died suddenly at just 31 years old.READ MORE

Elon Musk Issues ‘Dire’ Warning to America: ‘Last Time Fed Raised Rates Going into a Recession Was 1929’Twitter CEO Elon Musk has issued a warning to America about the “dire situation” emerging from Democrat President Joe Biden’s bungling of the economy.READ MORE

Chicago Couple Attacked by Teen Mob Debunks Lori Lightfoot: ‘They Said They Were Trying to Kill Us’A Chicago couple has debunked Democrat Mayor Lori Lightfoot after speaking out about being beaten by a violent mob of teenagers in the city’s streets.READ MORE

Alec Baldwin Slams Halyna Hutchins’ Family as ‘Misguided,’ Demands Lawsuit Dismissed While trying to get the lawsuit against him thrown out of court, Alec Baldwin has slammed the family of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer who the embattled Hollywood star shot dead on the set of his movie “Rust.”READ MORE

Goldman Sachs: AI Could Automate Two-Thirds of All American Occupations Goldman Sachs economists have warned that two-thirds of all occupations across America could be partially automated by artificial intelligence (AI).READ MORE

Federal Appeals Court Blocks Democrats’ Biden-Backed Natural Gas Ban in California City Plans by Democrat lawmakers to ban natural gas in the City of Berkley, California have been blocked by a federal appeals court.READ MORE

Italy’s Illegal Immigration Skyrockets, Government Declares ‘State of Emergency’Illegal immigration into Italy has quadrupled, causing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government to declare an official “state of emergency.”READ MORE

Jim Jordan Confronts Scientists Who ‘Called Us Names’ over Lab Leak: ‘This Is Not a Conspiracy Theory’Republican Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) has confronted scientists who tried to shut down reports that COVID-19 originated from a lab leak in China.READ MORE

VACCINE IMPACT

New 2023 Documentary Premiere: COVIDISM – Contagious Deception

April 19, 2023 6:45 pm

Health Impact News has just published the premiere of the 2023 documentary film, Covidism: Contagious Deception. “Covidism: Contagious Deception” is the most comprehensive documentary on COVID-19 I have had the pleasure to watch, as it thoroughly analyzes both the scientific and political aspects of the COVID-19 mass deception launched in 2020. The documentary was written and produced by a Health Impact News subscriber, Bonum Vincit (pseudonym), a Bulgarian independent film producer who would like to remain anonymous. This is an amazing film that features interviews and footage of many of the leading dissenting scientists and doctors who tried to warn the public as this mass deception unfolded. These voices were censored from the corporate media and the major social media sites. We have published this film in four parts. Part 1 carefully examines how authorities worldwide have been gaming the numbers regarding cases, hospitalizations and deaths from the alleged coronavirus. Part 1 also explains how health officials actively suppressed safe and effective treatments for Covid-19, while employing deadly protocols for hospital patients. Part 2 focuses on the fascinating timeline of events, which led to the global Covid-19 response, and investigates whether or not the science on the lethality and infectivity of Sars-Cov-2 justified countermeasures such as lockdowns and mask-wearing. Part 3 is a deep dive into the topic of Covid-19 “vaccines,” detailing the plethora of scientific evidence for their unsafe and ineffective nature, while exposing the deceptive tactics of manipulating the statistics. Part 4 puts all the pieces of the puzzle together, exposing the premeditated sinister political motivations behind the global Covid-19 response, and how it is intricately tied to a much larger agenda – The Great Reset. This work was a labor of love, and the film producer began it back in 2020, which means it took him almost 3 years to produce this film. He is not accepting any donations for this amazing work, and he wants everyone to freely copy and distribute the film.

A Hair’s Breath From A Damp Squid

THURSDAY, APR 20, 2023 – 02:05 PM

By Michael Every of Rabobank

The title of today’s Global Daily fuses two mangled English metaphors I hear into one message for markets – a narrative can be nearly right, but one wrong letter gives it a different meaning.

Yet again, UK deflationistas were proved painfully wrong in expecting a damp squid. Headline CPI remained over 10% in March, core CPI was unchanged at 6.2% y-o-y, and food inflation was nearly 20%. That’s with a weak economy, ‘healed’ supply chains – as far as Brexit will allow, higher BOE interest rates, and negative real wages growth. As a result, BOE rates are going to go even higher, with chatter of 5%. UK inflation go down from here, but how quickly it gets back to 2% is not clear: not when ‘UK warns of cyber-attacks from new ‘Wagner-like’ Russian cyber-hackers’ aimed at businesses and infrastructure, i.e., structural geopolitical supply-side shocks.

The Fed’s Beige Book was either a hair’s breath from a need for more rate hikes, or for rate cuts. Overall economic activity was little changed, with consumer spending, manufacturing, freight volumes, residential real estate sales, construction, and CRE leasing all flat to down; auto sales steady; but travel, tourism, and nonfinancial services up. Bank lending volumes and loan demand generally declined, with tightened lending standards amid increased uncertainty and concerns about liquidity. Employment growth moderated somewhat, with the labor market becoming less tight on increased supply; wages showed some moderation but remained elevated. Consumer prices generally increased due to still-elevated demand as well as higher inventory and labor costs. Home and rent prices levelled out at near record highs. Further relief from input cost pressures was anticipated, but changing prices more frequently vs. previous years was expected.

Likewise, New Zealand’s Q1 CPI was 1.2% q-o-q vs. 1.5% expected and 6.7% vs. 6.9% y-o-y. However, this was only due to a dip in tradables CPI from 1.4% q-o-q in Q4 to 0.7% in Q1, while non-tradables picked up from 1.5% to 1.7%, which is where it should be y-o-y. Moreover, Australia’s long-awaited RBA review saw a flurry of 51 recommendations including:

No changes to the 2-3% CPI target or the inflation targeting regime;
Remove the words “on average, over time” from the 2-3% inflation target;
Split the RBA into two boards, one responsible for monetary policy to be “staffed by experts,” and another responsible for corporate governance;
Hold fewer meetings by shifting to a 6-week interval, rather than monthly;
Hold press conferences after every meeting to improve communication; and
Remove the power of the government to override monetary policy decisions

A voice at the Council of Trade Unions said: “A big, fat load of nothing,” as changes to the policy board make no difference if you stack it with a bunch of MIT-educated New Keynesian Phillip Lowe clones. In that respect, the review was a damp squid. There was certainly no echo of Lagarde on what central banks are now for, i.e., helping on the supply side, which is a hawkish shift in the geopolitical sense. However, Rabo’s Ben Picton notes the reform reads as a hawkish tilt in a vanilla sense. First, loose language gives too much discretion to the RBA on how quickly they achieve their inflation mandate: it just admitted it is happy to take longer than peer central banks to bring inflation down. Second, a number of politicians have recently lobbied the Treasurer to exercise his power to reverse rate increases, and this seems to be a pointed response. As such, we are arguably a hair’s breath away from more trouble in the housing market.

Meanwhile, we saw headlines in the financial press on de-dollarisation and that the dollar may now account for less than half of global reserves. However, there are a few wrong letters in those claims according to @Brad_Setser, who comprehensively demolishes the argument with data for the broadest measure of reserves, including sovereign wealth funds and state banks. Indeed, he concludes: “the biggest driver of the fall in reported dollar reserves was bond market valuation changes tied to rising US rates — and the biggest reason why folks sold reserves and FX was the dollar’s extreme strength.” That’s being felt in economies like Egypt, scrambling to find dollars.

Here I have to underline again that a global shift away from the dollar would be massively inflationary for some; deflationary for others; see Eurodollar defaults on a scale dwarfing the GFC; and end the current global economic architecture, including supply chains, with no global replacement. In short, it would not be a damp but a giant squid – or a Kraken.

Yet some economies are trying to move in that direction by shifting to more dollar-priced, local FX-cleared barter. It remains to be seen if we are a “hair’s breath” away from trouble as a result. A lot of drive in this direction is likely due to China preparing a bunker immune to US sanctions. That raises the question of what might happen ahead that could force the US to introduce them: though as we argued back in our ‘Ukraine Metacrisis’ report in early 2022, the logic was always that sanctions on Russia would have to extended wider in order to work, risking a terrible outcome for the global economy. However, before then, as Setser alludes to, the response is likely going to be even higher US rates and a stronger dollar to punish commodity exporters trying to go their own way: that’s not in the Beige Book. Then we see what happens with Fed swaplines.

Meanwhile, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Borrell, just underlined its stance towards China: “de-risking, not de-coupling”, via a 4-element strategy: values, economic security, Taiwan and Ukraine. Typically, this is not a hair’s breath from a damp squid: it’s already there.

On values, China can only see this as confrontational.
On economic security, given China’s civilian-military fusion, how can one differentiate? Saying “diversification of supply chains, control of inbound and outbound investments, and the development of anti-coercion tools” is easy. Delivering them means forcing a dilution of export, import, and FDI exposure across the private sector: how? Moral suasion, or tariffs and capital controls? The EU wants to reduce its EUR400bn trade deficit with China: how, without being mercantilist in turn?
On Taiwan, China sees this as interference in its internal affairs.
On Ukraine, the EU says it can only develop relations with Beijing if it persuades Moscow to withdraw. This is not going to work for a multitude of reasons.

Elsewhere, Egypt was ready to produce 40,000 rockets to sell to Russia to fight Ukraine, but after ‘a talk’ with the US, it decided to sell artillery to the US to send to Ukraine to fight Russia; Russia says it will arm North Korea if South Korea helps arm Ukraine; a potential civil war in Sudan could drag in regional powers on the different sides (one pro-Russian, one not); Canada told the US that it will “never” meet its pledged commitments to NATO; China is seeking to acquire equipment and knowledge in the Dutch space sector, sometimes in circumvention of export restrictions, says Dutch military intelligence; Michael Dell says customers are demanding less reliance on China; and the US Select Committee on the CCP tweets: “HAPPENING NOW: The fate of the Indo-Pacific hangs in the balance as members of the Select Committee engage in a fictional war game to decide the American response to the Chinese Communist Party’s 2027 invasion of Taiwan.”

Also, the Financial Times notes: ‘The new Washington consensus: Yesterday’s US economic orthodoxy is today’s heresy’.

On multiple fronts, we are hair’s breadth from something – and I think it involves something larger than a squib.

7//OIL ISSUES//NATURAL GAS ISSUES/USA AND GLOBE

end

8. EMERGING MARKETS//AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND ISSUES

END

YOUR EARLY CURRENCY/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN CLOSING MARKETS AND EUROPEAN BOURSE OPENING AND CLOSING/ INTEREST RATE SETTINGS THURSDAY MORNING 7;30AM//OPENING AND CLOSINGS

EURO VS USA DOLLAR:1.0934 DOWN.0017

USA/ YEN 134.77 UP 0.050 NOW TARGETS INTEREST RATE AT .50% AS IT WILL BUY UNLIMITED BONDS TO GETS TO THAT LEVEL…//YEN STILL FALLS//

GBP/USA 1.2408 DOWN 0.0020

USA/CAN DOLLAR: 1.3485 UP .0016 (CDN DOLLAR DOWN 16 PTS)

Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE CLOSED DOWN 3.10 PTS OR 0.09%

Hang Seng CLOSED UP 29.21 PTS OR 0.14%

AUSTRALIA CLOSED DOWN .08% // EUROPEAN BOURSE: ALL RED

Trading from Europe and ASIA

I) EUROPEAN BOURSES ALL RED

2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang SENG CLOSED DOWN 29.21 PTS OR 0.14 %

/SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 3.10 PTS OR 0.09%

AUSTRALIA BOURSE CLOSED DOWN 0.08%

(Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED UP 50.81 PTS OR 0.18%

INDIA’S SENSEX IN THE GREEN

Gold very early morning trading: 1999.85

silver:$25.25

USA dollar index early THURSDAY morning: 101.82 UP 15 BASIS POINTS FROM WEDNESDAY’s close.

THURSDAY MORNING NUMBERS ENDS

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

And now your closing THURSDAY NUMBERS 11: 00 AM

Portuguese 10 year bond yield: 3.280% DOWN 9 in basis point(s) yield

JAPANESE BOND YIELD: +0.4670 % DOWN 0 AND 3//100 BASIS POINTS /JAPAN losing control of its yield curve/

SPANISH 10 YR BOND YIELD: 3.481 DOWN 10 in basis points yield

ITALIAN 10 YR BOND YIELD 4.313 DOWN 3 points in basis points yield ./ THE ECB IS QE’ ING ITALIAN BONDS (BUYING ITALIAN BONDS/SELLING GERMAN BUNDS)

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD: 2.4435 DOWN 6 BASIS PTS

END

IMPORTANT CURRENCY CLOSES FOR THURSDAY

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

Euro/USA 1.0969 UP 0.0019 or 19 basis points

USA/Japan: 134,06 DOWN 0.664 OR YEN UP 66 basis points/

Great Britain/USA 1.2452 UP .0024 OR 24 BASIS POINTS //

Canadian dollar UP .0006 OR 6 BASIS pts to 1.3464

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The USA/Yuan, CNY: closed ON SHORE (CLOSED UP.(6.8726)

THE USA/YUAN OFFSHORE: (YUAN CLOSED (UP)…. 6.8786

TURKISH LIRA: 19.41 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LEVEL/DEATH WISH/HYPERINFLATION TO BEGIN.

the 10 yr Japanese bond yield at +0.4670…VERY DANGEROUS

Your closing 10 yr US bond yield DOWN 7 in basis points from WEDNESDAY at 3.586% //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%) very problematic

USA 30 yr bond yield 3.745 DOWN 4 IN BASIS POINTS

USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.164% DOWN 10 in basis points.

USA dollar index, 101.48 DOWN .19 in basis points ON THE DAY/1.00 PM

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

London: CLOSED UP 0.72 points or .01%

German Dax : CLOSED UP 98.27 PTS OR .62%

Paris CAC CLOSED DOWN 12.88 PTS OR 0.17%

Spain IBEX DOWN 44.70 PTS OR .47%

Italian MIB: CLOSED DOWN 290.17 PTS OR 1.04%

WTI Oil price 77.05 12: EST

Brent Oil: 81/18. 12:00 EST

USA /RUSSIAN /// REMAINS AT: 81.56/ ROUBLE UP 0 AND 33//100 RUBLES/DOLLAR

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD; +2.4435 DOWN 6 BASIS PTS

UK 10 YR YIELD: 3.789 DOWN 7 BASIS PTS

CLOSING NUMBERS: 4 PM

Euro vs USA: 1.0957 UP 0.0005 OR 5 BASIS POINTS

British Pound: 1.2431 UP 0003 or 3 basis pts

BRITISH 10 YR GILT BOND YIELD: 3.7810% DOWN 10 BASIS PTS

USA dollar vs Japanese Yen: 134.31 DOWN 0.404 //YEN UP 41 BASIS PTS//

USA dollar vs Canadian dollar: 1.3481 UP .0012 CDN dollar, DOWN 12 basis pts)

West Texas intermediate oil: 77.29

Brent OIL: 80/92

USA 10 yr bond yield DOWN 6 BASIS pts to 3.545%

USA 30 yr bond yield DOWN 4 BASIS PTS to 3.753%

USA 2 YR BOND: DOWN 10 PTS AT 4.1657%

USA dollar index: 101.62 DOWN 5 BASIS POINTS

USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 19.40

USA DOLLAR VS RUSSIA//// ROUBLE: 81.55 UP 0 AND 34/100 roubles

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: DOWN 109.21 PTS OR 0.32%

NASDAQ 100 DOWN 102.73 PTS OR 0.78%

VOLATILITY INDEX: 17.55 UP 1.09 PTS (6.62)%

GLD: $186.09 UP 0.73 OR 0.39%

SLV/ $23.17 DOWN 0.06 OR 0.26%

end

USA AFFAIRS

1 a) USA TRADING TODAY IN GRAPH FORM

Debt Ceiling Fears, Fugly Data, & FedSpeak Slam Stocks & Crypto; Gold & Bonds Bid

THURSDAY, APR 20, 2023 – 04:00 PM

Some more ugly data today (Philly Fed slumped, claims jumped, home sales weak, leading indicators tumbled) sent the US Macro Surprise Index down to its lowest in over two months…

Source: Bloomberg

Debt ceiling anxieties are building (US Sovereign risk hits record high)…

Source: Bloomberg

And a scold of FedSpeakers today ahead of the blackout window did not help (most notably Mester):

DOVISH-ISH – *FED’S GOOLSBEE: STILL FIGURING OUT CREDIT IMPACT OF BANK STRAIN
NOTHINGBURGER – *FED’S WALLER SEES “CONSIDERABLE PROMISE” IN POTENTIAL USE OF BLOCKCHAIN TECH (no policy comments)
HAWKISH – *FED’S MESTER: INFLATION STILL TOO HIGH, PROVING TO BE STUBBORN, NEED REAL RATES IN POSITIVE TERRITORY FOR SOME TIME
HAWKISH – *FED’S MICHELLE BOWMAN: LOWERING INFLATION ESSENTIAL FOR ECONOMY
HAWKISH – *DALLAS FED’S LORIE LOGAN SAYS INFLATION HAS BEEN MUCH TOO HIGH

And it was Mester that turned markets after Nasdaq had managed to get back into the green. The European open saw stocks get slammed lower only for the US open to get a boost from 0DTE traders lifting everything. But once Nasdaq had inched into the green, the buying ended and stocks plunged to fresh lows after Mester’s hawkish call…

Worst day in almost a month for US Stocks.

TSLA suffered its worst day since Jan after margins compressed more than expected…

AT&T also painted an ugly picture of the consumer…

Regional Banks gave back some of yesterday’s losses, but really its just floundering along at the post-SVB lows…

VIX hovered near 16 month lows, but VVIX has decoupled ahead of tomorrow’s OpEx…

Treasury yields were lower across the whole curve (with the 2Y outperforming on the day) with 30Y Yields actually dipping lower on the week briefly (and 2Y yields underperforming on the week)

Source: Bloomberg

The evolution of the shortest end of the curve over the past few weeks shows the rapid increase in anxiety over an earlier-than-expected X-Date for the debt ceiling as tax receipts dry up…

The dollar inched lower today – stuck in its narrow range this week…

Source: Bloomberg

Bitcoin extended losses, tumbling back to $28,000…

Source: Bloomberg

Gold rallied on the day with Spot prices back above $2,000…

Oil prices dropped notably with WTI briefly touching a $76 handle intraday, quickly erasing all the post-OPEC gains as recession fears weigh on demand growth outlooks…

Finally, amid all the chaos surrounding the debt ceiling debacle, USA is now ‘riskier’ than AAPL…

Source: Bloomberg

Some currency translation muddies the verdict, but the trend is clear.

END

.i b Morning trading:

Early morning trading:

II) USA DATA//

Jobless claims hits 17 month highs

(zerohedge)

The Number Of Americans Claiming Jobless Benefits Hits 17-Month High

THURSDAY, APR 20, 2023 – 08:36 AM

Initial jobless claims were expected to tick higher last week and it did, up to 245k (from 239k prior and higher than the 240k expectation). That is basically in line with the highest level since Jan ’22.

Source: Bloomberg

Continuing claims continued to rise, up from 1.804mm to 1.865mm last week.

That is the highest level since Dec 2021.

It appears those revisions changed everything.

end

The all important Philly Fed Mfg index unexpectedly slumps

(zerohedge)

Philly Fed Business Survey Unexpectedly Slumps To ‘Worst Since Lehman’

THURSDAY, APR 20, 2023 – 08:48 AM

Shortly after The Empire Fed Manufacturing survey unexpectedly surged back into expansion, The Philly Fed Business survey unexpectedly puked to its lowest (ex-COVID lockdowns) since March 2009.

Analysts expected a rebound from -23.2 to -19.3, the headline plunged to -31.3 in April.

This is the eighth straight month of contraction (10 of the last 11 months).

Source: Bloomberg

Under the hood, prices paid fell to 8.2 from 23.5, but prices received fell to -3.3 from 7.9…

Goodbye margins!

end

USA existing home sales resume their slide in March while home prices drop the most in 10 years

(zerohedge)

US Existing Home Sales Resume Slide In March; Home Prices Drop Most In A Decade

THURSDAY, APR 20, 2023 – 10:08 AM

After February’s massive surge in existing home sales, expectations were for a modest pullback in March. The 14.,5% jump in Feb was revised down to 13.8% surge (still huge), but March printed a 2.4% MoM decline (worse than the expected 1.8% drop).

source: Bloomberg

That is the 13th monthly decline in the last 14 months and leaves existing home sales down around 22% YoY with the SAAR dropping back to 4.44mm…

source: Bloomberg

The median selling price of a previously owned home fell 0.9% from a year earlier to $375,700 in March – the largest decline since January 2012.

Homes priced between $250,000 and $500,000 made up nearly half of the month’s transactions, while those above $750,000 comprised a much smaller share.

“Home sales are trying to recover and are highly sensitive to changes in mortgage rates,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said in a statement.

“At the same time, multiple offers on starter homes are quite common, implying more supply is needed to fully satisfy demand.”

The number of homes for sale edged up to 980,000 last month, but still indicative of a lack of inventory.

That’s leading to multiple offers on especially entry-level homes, Yun said.

Some 28% of homes sold during the month went above list price, Yun added.

About 5% were classified as vacation-home sales, down from 7% a year ago.

Sales dropped in all regions but the Northeast, which was unchanged from February.

First-time buyers made up 28% of purchases in March, still historically low. Yun said a “normal” share is closer to 40%

Mortgage rates have since soared back above 7.00%…

…oh and the banking system collapse means lending standards will have tightened dramatically since.

So, don’t expect this sales surge to continue.

III) USA ECONOMIC STORIES

USA leading economic indicators have tumbled for the 12th straight month and signals a recession is imminent

(zerohedge)

US Leading Economic Indicators Tumble For 12th Straight Month, Signal Recession Imminent

THURSDAY, APR 20, 2023 – 10:35 AM

The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) accelerated its decline in March, dropping 1.2% MoM (far more than the 0.7% decline expected).

The biggest positive contributor to the leading index was orders for non-defense capital goods ex aircraft at 0.02
The biggest negative contributor was building permits at -0.28

This is the 12th straight monthly decline in the LEI (and 13th month of 15) – the longest streak of declines since ‘Lehman’ (22 straight months of declines from June 2007 to April 2008)

“The U.S. LEI fell to its lowest level since November of 2020, consistent with worsening economic conditions ahead,” said Justyna Zabinska-La Monica, Senior Manager, Business Cycle Indicators, at The Conference Board.

“The weaknesses among the index’s components were widespread in March and have been so over the past six months, which pushed the growth rate of the LEI deeper into negative territory.

Only stock prices and manufacturers’ new orders for consumer goods and materials contributed positively over the last six months.

The Conference Board forecasts that economic weakness will intensify and spread more widely throughout the US economy over the coming months, leading to a recession starting in mid-2023.”

Despite ‘soft landing’ hype, the LEI is showing no signs at all of ‘recovering’, hitting its lowest since Oct 2020…

And on a year-over-year basis, the LEI is down 7.80% (worse than the 6.6% YoY in Febrary) – close to its biggest YoY drop since 2008 (Lehman) outside of the COVID lockdown-enforced collapse…

Not a good sign for GDP…

The trajectory of the US LEI continues to signal a recession over the next 12 months

Is this the cleanest view of The Fed’s tightening impact on the US economy?

end

The war begins on the debt ceiling debate

(zerohedge)

White House Says ‘Extreme MAGA Republicans Holding The American Economy Hostage’ With Debt Plan

THURSDAY, APR 20, 2023 – 11:05 AM

The White House on Thursday slammed the long-awaited GOP debt limit proposal announced on Wednesday by Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), calling it a “blueprint to devastate hard-working American families” – and invoking “MAGA” not once, but twice.

“Yesterday, Speaker McCarthy sided with the extreme MAGA wing of his conference and released a blueprint to devastate hard-working American families. MAGA House Republicans are holding the American economy hostage in order to take a hatchet to programs Americans rely on every day to make ends meet,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a statement.

The bill pairs a debt ceiling increase expected to last into next year with what McCarthy said would be about $4.5 trillion in savings generated in part by cutting Biden administration priorities.

It aims to raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion or through March 31, 2024, whichever comes first, and it proposes reverting discretionary spending caps to fiscal 2022 levels while limiting growth to 1 percent annually over the next decade. –The Hill

According to Jean-Pierre, House Republicans who vote for the bill will be voting “to cut education, veterans medical care, cancer research, meals on wheels, food safety, and law enforcement,” adding that they would also be voting to offshore American manufacturing, reduce health care for Americans, threaten food assistance for older Americans, boost energy bills, raise taxes and “protect wealthy tax cheats.”

“That stands in stark contrast with President Biden’s Budget, which Invests in America, lowers costs for hardworking families, and cuts the deficit by asking the super-wealthy and largest corporations to pay their fair share,” she continued.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries compared notes with the White House, saying in a Wednesday night statement “House Democrats will oppose any effort to hold the economy hostage as part of any scheme by Extreme MAGA Republicans to jam its right-wing agenda down the throats of the American people.”

The Biden team has been peppering the “Extreme MAGA” messaging in for weeks…

Never mind the ‘extreme inflation’ most Americans are feeling, thanks to the Biden administration.

CNN noted that the GOP plan “would avoid a default” despite Jean-Pierre’s dramatic performance.

The GOP bill is expected to get a House floor vote next week.

end

Home foreclosures and missed credit card payments surge!!

(zerohedge)

Home Foreclosures And Missed Credit Card Payments Surge As Consumers Buckle

WEDNESDAY, APR 19, 2023 – 06:40 PM

In the first quarter of this year, home foreclosures surged, as reported by property data firm Attom. Following a two-year lull, pandemic-related housing assistance programs are winding down. Homeowners who chose not to make mortgage payments are now either negotiating new terms with lenders, selling their properties, or, as current trends suggest, facing foreclosure. This troubling rise coincides with consumers falling behind on their credit card payments.

While still below pre-pandemic levels, foreclosure filings during the first quarter of 2023 totaled 95,712 properties, up 6% from the previous quarter and 22% from a year ago. This was the 23rd consecutive month with a year-over-year increase in foreclosure activity.

“Despite efforts made by government agencies and policymakers to try and reduce foreclosure rates, we are seeing an upward trend in foreclosure activity,” Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM, said in a statement. He continued:

“This unfortunate trend can be attributed to a variety of factors, such as rising unemployment rates, foreclosure filings making their way through the pipeline after two years of government intervention, and other ongoing economic challenges. However, with many homeowners still having significant home equity, that may help in keeping increased levels of foreclosure activity at bay.”

Much of Attom’s data was recorded before Silicon Valley Bank’s demise. A credit crunch followed and sparked further busting of the tech bubble that added capital destruction in private equity and venture capital firms. Now real estate investments, primarily commercial real estate, are being significantly reevaluated as more financial stress is boiling up.

Making matters worse is 24 months of negative real wage growth for consumers who’ve maxed out credit cards and drained personal savings. Lower-tier consumers are coming under pressure as big banks are beginning to notice a startling uptrend in credit card and loan payment delinquencies.

“We’ve seen some consumer financial health trends gradually weakening from a year ago,” Wells Fargo Chief Financial Officer Mike Santomassimo said on an earnings call last Friday.

Banks have tightened their lending standards ahead of expected turmoil among consumers.

Wells Fargo set aside $1.2 billion in the first quarter to cover potential loan losses.

Bank of America provisioned $931 million for credit losses in the quarter, much higher than the $30 million a year prior but below the fourth quarter $1.1 billion provision.

JPMorgan more than doubled the amount it set aside for credit losses in the first quarter from a year earlier to $2.3 billion, reflecting net charge-offs of $1.1 billion. –Epoch Times

UBS analysts led by Erika Najarian believes mounting macroeconomic headwinds would lead to “credit deterioration throughout 2023 and 2024 with losses eventually surpassing pre-pandemic levels given an oncoming recession.”

Najarian said loan defaults are forecast to stay “below the peaks experienced in prior downturns.”

However, we’re noticing that consumers are buckling under financial pressure—an ominous sign of trouble ahead.

end

BuzzFeed is shuttering its news operations

(zerohedge)

BuzzFeed News Shuttering Operations, Shares Plunge

THURSDAY, APR 20, 2023 – 11:40 AM

According to a Twitter post by CNN’s Oliver Darcy, BuzzFeed’s CEO Jonah Peretti told employees via a memo that the company will be reducing headcount by 15% across all departments and shuttering BuzzFeed News.

Darcy tweeted out Peretti’s memo to employees, starting with, “I am writing to announce some difficult news. We are reducing our workforce by approximately 15% today across our Business, Content, Tech and Admin teams, and beginning the process of closing BuzzFeed News. Additionally, we are proposing headcount reductions in some international markets.”

Subject: Difficult News

Hi all,

I am writing to announce some difficult news. We are reducing our workforce by approximately 15% today across our Business, Content, Tech and Admin teams, and beginning the process of closing BuzzFeed News. Additionally, we are proposing headcount reductions in some international markets.

Impacted employees (other than those in BuzzFeed News) will receive an email from HR shortly. If you are receiving this note from me, you are not impacted by today’s changes. For BuzzFeed News, we have begun discussions with the News Guild about these actions.

As part of today’s changes, both our CRO Edgar Hernandez and COO Christian Baesler have made the decision to exit the company. I’m grateful to both of them for their passion and dedication to Complex and to BuzzFeed, Inc. Christian will be with us through the end of April, and Edgar through the end of May to help with the transition.

Marcela Martin, our President, will take on responsibility for all revenue functions effective immediately. In the US, Andrew Guendjoian is our new Head of Sales, and Ken Blom will continue in his role as Head of Revenue Operations. Globally, International Sales will move under Rich Reid, Head of International and Head of Studio, also reporting to Marcela.

I have great confidence in this revenue leadership team, and the early plans I’ve seen from them to accelerate performance from our Business Org. We will share more on their plans in the Business All Hands next week (and we are extending an invite company-wide).

The changes the Business Organization is making today are focused on reducing layers in their organization, increasing speed and effectiveness of pitches, streamlining our product mix, doubling down on creators, and beginning to bring AI enhancements to every aspect of our sales process.

While layoffs are occurring across nearly every division, we’ve determined that the company can no longer continue to fund BuzzFeed News as a standalone organization. As a result, we will engage with the News Guild about our cost reduction plans and what this will mean for the affected union members.

HuffPost and BuzzFeed Dot Com have signaled that they will open a number of select roles for members of BuzzFeed News. These roles will be aligned with those divisions’ business goals and match the skills and strengths of many of BuzzFeed News’s editors and reporters.

We raised this idea with the News Guild this morning and look forward to discussing it further. Moving forward, we will have a single news brand in HuffPost, which is profitable, with a loyal direct front page audience.

I want to explain a little more about why we’ve come to these deeply painful decisions. We’ve faced more challenges than I can count in the past few years: a pandemic, a fading SPAC market that yielded less capital, a tech recession, a tough economy, a declining stock market, a decelerating digital advertising market and ongoing audience and platform shifts. Dealing with all of these obstacles at once is part of why we’ve needed to make the difficult decisions to eliminate more jobs and reduce spending.

But I also want to be clear: I could have managed these changes better as the CEO of this company and our leadership team could have performed better despite these circumstances. Our job is to adapt, change, improve, and perform despite the challenges in the world. We can and will do better.

In particular, the integration process of BuzzFeed and Complex, and the unification of our two business organizations, should have been executed faster and better. The macro environment is tough, but we had the potential to generate much more revenue than we delivered over the past 12 months.

Additionally, I made the decision to overinvest in BuzzFeed News because I love their work and mission so much. This made me slow to accept that the big platforms wouldn’t provide the distribution or financial support required to support premium, free journalism purpose-built for social media.

More broadly, I regret that I didn’t hold the company to higher standards for profitability, to give us the buffer needed to manage through economic and industry downturns and avoid painful days like today. Our mission, our impact on culture, and our audience is what matters most, but we need a stronger business to protect and sustain this important work.

Please know that we exhausted many other cost saving measures to preserve as many jobs as possible. We are reducing budgets, open roles, travel and entertainment, and most other discretionary, non-revenue generating expenditures. Just as we reduced our footprint in NYC last year, we will be reducing our real estate in Los Angeles – from four buildings down to one, which saves millions in costs as well as mirrors our current hybrid state of work.

I’ve learned from these mistakes, and the team moving forward has learned from them as well. We know that the changes and improvements we are making today are necessary steps to building a better future.

Over the next couple of months, we will work together to run a more agile and focused business organization with the capacity to bring in more revenue. We will concentrate our news efforts in HuffPost, a brand that is profitable with a highly engaged, loyal audience that is less dependent on social platforms. We will empower our editorial teams at all of our brands to do the very best creative work and build an interface where that work can be packaged and brought to advertisers more effectively. And we will bring more innovation to clients in the form of creators, AI, and cultural moments that can only happen across BuzzFeed, Complex, HuffPost, Tasty and First We Feast.

It might not feel this way today, but I am confident the future of digital media is ours for the taking. Our industry is hurting and ready to be reborn. We are taking great pains today, and will begin to fight our way to a bright future.

We’ll have a Global All Hands on Friday, where I’ll be answering questions — you can submit questions or comments here, and in the meantime I’m sharing an Employee FAQ.

On Monday we’ll begin to have conversations with each division about the way forward. And in the meantime, I hope you can take time for yourselves this weekend.

Thank you for supporting one another on a difficult day.

Jonah

Here are the highlights of the Buzzfeed restructuring (courtesy of Bloomberg):

Expects to recognize restructuring charges between $7m to $11m mostly in 2Q
Chief Operating Officer Christian Baesler will be departing effective April 28; President Marcela Martin will assume responsibility for all revenue functions
To shut down BuzzFeed News and focus news efforts on a single brand in HuffPost
HuffPost and BuzzFeed Dot Com to open a number of select roles for members of BuzzFeed News

Shares of the failed media outlet stumbled by more than 15% on the session.

Buzzfeed was once worth over a billion dollars. Not so much anymore.

… and so much for the revival of BuzzFeed via the big news earlier this year on incorporating Open AI’s ChatGPT to generate specific content.

USA COVID//

END

SWAMP STORIES

What a bird brain: Biden to punish good credit homebuyers to subsidize high risk mortgages

(zerohedge)

Biden To Punish Good-Credit Homebuyers To Subsidize High-Risk Mortgages

WEDNESDAY, APR 19, 2023 – 12:50 PM

A new rule from the Biden administration will force homebuyers with good credit scores to pay higher mortgage rates in order to subsidize loans to those with riskier borrowing profiles, the Washington Times reports.

The fee, which will apply to those buying or refinancing houses after May 1, will affect homebuyers with credit scores of 680 or higher, will amount to roughly $40 per month on a home loan of $400,000, or nearly $500 per year. Homebuyers who make down payments of 15% – 20% will be hit with the largest fees.

According to those in the industry, the changes will frustrate homebuyers with high credit scores, as well as those looking to refinance, as they’re being punished for having strong financial positions.

“The changes do not make sense. Penalizing borrowers with larger down payments and credit scores will not go over well,” said Ian Wright, a senior loan officer at Bay Equity Home Loans in the San Francisco Bay Area, in a statement to the Washington Times via email. “It overcomplicates things for consumers during a process that can already feel overwhelming with the amount of paperwork, jargon, etc. Confusing the borrower is never a good thing.”

Wright also says that the rule will “cause customer-service issues for lenders and individual loan officers when a consumer won’t understand why their interest rate and fees suddenly changed.”

“I am all for the first-time buyer having a chance to get into the market, but it’s clear these decisions aren’t being made by folks that understand the entire mortgage process,” he continued.

The new fees “will create extreme confusion as we enter the traditional spring home purchase season,” said David Stevens, a former head of the Mortgage Bankers Association who served as commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration during the Obama administration.

“This confusing approach won’t work and more importantly couldn’t come at a worse time for an industry struggling to get back on its feet after these past 12 months,” Mr. Stevens wrote in a recent social media post. “To do this at the onset of the spring market is almost offensive to the market, consumers, and lenders.”

The housing market has been hit hard by a series of Federal Reserve interest rate hikes that have driven mortgage rates above 6%, roughly double the level from early 2022. The Fed has raised rates rapidly to bring down inflation, which hit a four-decade high of 9.1% last summer. -Washington Times

Under the new Biden rules, those with lower credit scores and smaller down payments will qualify for better mortgage rates and discounted fees thanks to the surcharge on those with good scores.

“In the wake of a 3-percentage-point increase in mortgage rates, now is not the time to raise fees on homebuyers,” said NAR president, Kenny Parcell, during testimony to the Federal Housing Finance Agency earlier this year.

Biden appointed FHA Director Santra Thompson, meanwhile, said that the fee changes will “increase pricing support for purchase borrowers limited by income or by wealth,” and the agency considers the fee changes “minimal.”

In short, the fee changes will subsidize higher-risk borrowers by imposing “an intentional disruption to traditional risk-based pricing,” according to Stevens.

“Why was this done? The answer is simple, it was to try to narrow the gap in access to credit especially for minority home buyers who often have lower down payments and lower credit scores,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “The gap in homeownership opportunity is real. America is facing a severe shortage of affordable homes for sales combined with excessive demand causing an imbalance. But convoluting pricing and credit is not the way to solve this problem.”

END

This is big and we knew this would come: an IRS top official becomes a whistleblower and claims that the Biden administration is mishandling the Hunter Biden investigation. The whistleblower is an IRS criminal supervisory agent in charge of the entire probe!!!

(zerohedge)

Biden Admin ‘Mishandling’ Hunter Biden Investigation Says IRS ‘Criminal Supervisory Agent’ In Charge Of Probe

WEDNESDAY, APR 19, 2023 – 06:00 PM

In what should come as a surprise to absolutely no one, an IRS supervisor has stepped forward to blow the whistle on the Biden administration for improperly handling the criminal investigation into the President’s son, Hunter Biden.

In a Tuesday letter sent to Congress by a “career Internal Revenue Service criminal supervisory special agent,’ the whistleblower claims to have information that would contradict sworn testimony by a “senior political appointee,” as well as a “failure to mitigate clear conflicts of interest in the ultimate disposition of the case,” according to the Wall Street Journal, citing the letter.

What’s more, the supervisor says he has evidence showing “preferential treatment and politics improperly infecting decisions and protocols that would normally be followed by career law enforcement professionals in similar circumstances if the subject were not politically connected.”

According to the report, the supervisor has been overseeing an “ongoing and sensitive investigation of a high-profile, controversial subject since early 2020,” which insiders say is Hunter Biden.

Hunter Biden is facing a criminal investigation related to his taxes and whether he made a false statement in connection with a gun purchase. When he said in December 2020 that his tax matters were under investigation, Hunter Biden said he was “confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately.”

Investigators have believed for months they had enough evidence to indict the younger Mr. Biden, the Journal and other news outlets have reported. Prosecutors have also weighed whether Hunter Biden’s well-documented drug addiction would present a defense against a potential criminal tax case, the Journal previously reported. He hasn’t been charged with any wrongdoing. -WSJ

Mark Lytle, a lawyer for the IRS agent, said in the Tuesday letter addressed to both Republican and Democratic leaders on the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, that his client is seeking whistleblower protections in exchange for his information.

“Despite serious risks of retaliation, my client is offering to provide you with information necessary to exercise your constitutional oversight function and wishes to make the disclosures in a nonpartisan manner to the leadership of the relevant committees on both sides of the political aisle,” reads the letter, signed by Lytle, who claims that the employee previously disclosed the information internally at the IRS and to the DOJ inspector general.

US Attorney David Weiss, the top federal prosecutor in Delaware under the Biden administration, has been leading the DOJ’s investigation of Hunter. According to AG Merrick Garland, Weiss has broad authority to pursue charges.

“He has been advised he is not to be denied anything he needs,” Garland told the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 1. “I have not heard anything from that office to suggest that they are not able to do everything the U.S. attorney wants to do.“

END

My goodness..CFPB employee sent 256,000 consumer financial data to its personal emal

(zerohedge)

CFPB Employee Sent 256,000 Consumers’ Financial Data To Personal Email

THURSDAY, APR 20, 2023 – 08:25 AM

In a major black eye for the bloated bureaucratic brainchild of Elizabeth Warren, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau notified Congress that a bureau employee sent confidential data associated with 256,000 people to the employee’s personal email address.

And that’s not all. The now-former employee also sent confidential supervisory information relating to 45 financial institutions, a CFPB spokesman told The Wall Street Journal, which broke the story. There’s no indication yet that the information went any further; nor has a motive been announced.

The information related to people doing business with seven institutions, but most were associated with one firm. The CFPB has so far declined to identify the affected institutions or the bad employee.

The ever-selective Feds took a light-handed approach to the massive breach. Rather than rolling an armored car to the employee’s house, the government simply asked the former employee to delete the emails and provide an “attestation” that he or she had done so. However, as of Wednesday, the employee hadn’t even done that.

In 2017, CFPB’s inspector general recommended narrowing employee access to sensitive data, noting some employees had access to data they’d never need to use in their job.

Though we’re only learning about this incident now, members of Congress were notified almost a month ago — on March 21. Joe Public was left in the dark. So much for the CFPB’s touted commitment to “improving transparency.” Legislators likewise sat on it.

Now that the secret’s out, Republicans — who’ve long warned about the privacy risks associated with the CFPB’s ambitious collection of consumer data — are pouncing.

“Why should the CFPB be trusted to collect more data, burdening financial institutions and potentially limiting services for consumers, when they themselves have demonstrated an irresponsible handling of consumers’ financial information?” asked Sen. Tim Scott, ranking member of the Senate banking committee.

The CFPB spokesman reassured the Journal that the data didn’t include bank account numbers or anything that can be used to access an account.

In February, the Supreme Court said it would evaluate whether the CFPB may legally continue to receive federal funding. In October, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals declared the CFPB’s funding is unconstitutional because its budget comes from the Federal Reserve rather than congressional appropriations.

That made Pocahontas heap angry

END

THE KING REPORT

The King Report April 20, 2023 Issue 6973

Independent View of the News

From yesterday’s King Report: Early trading could be dependent on the institutional reaction to Netflix’s disappointing Q1 results and dismal Q2 guidance. Traders manically bought Netflix after it plunged 12%. Institutions might not be as forgiving. The first-hour indicator could be very handy today. If stocks trade above the first hour high, equities could rally smartly. If the first hour low is breached, equites could be for tough sledding.

Netflix opened at 324.21 (-9.49), the high for the day. It tanked to 316.10 by 9:41 ET. The usual suspects aggressively bought the opening dip. Netflix rebounded to 315.18; but it quickly rolled over.

Tesla cut US prices again: $3k (~6%) for all 3 versions of its Model Y SUV and $2k (5%) for Model 3.

Netflix and Tesla’s sharp declines weighed on other Fangs.

ESMs traded lower when the Nikkei opened and progressively sank until they bottomed at 8:45 ET. Traders wanted to get long for the usual Weird Wednesday upside manipulation. ESMs rallied from the daily low of 4150.50 to 4187.50 at 14:07 ET. ESMs rolled over modestly and went inert. At 15:32 ET, ESMs and stocks gently descended into the close.

Also from yesterday’s King Report: Today is VIX expiration. Be alert for a move into the 14:15 ET VIX Fix and countermove after the fix.

The Fed Beige Book was released at 14:00 ET.

@M_McDonough: Fed Beige Book Summary — Economic activity showed little change recently, with 9 Districts reporting no or slight change and 3 indicating modest growth. Consumer spending remained flat, travel & tourism picked up. Employment growth moderated with several Districts reporting a slower pace. Labor markets saw increased supply, better employee retention, and moderated but elevated wages. Overall price levels rose moderately… though the rate of price increases appeared to be slowing. Consumer prices generally increased, while input cost pressures were expected to ease.

@GuyDealership: Past 10 days have been wild:
— Capital One shut off all dealer floorplans (aka inventory lines of credit)
— USA Auto Sales shut down 39 dealerships after losing its Ally floor plan
— Wells Fargo laid-off all its junior Auto loan underwriters and capped future loans – Insanity.

Morgan Stanley Slides as Credit Loss Provisions Surge Due to Commercial Real Estate ExposureEPS $1.70, beating estimates of $1.65Net revenue $14.52 billion, beating estimates of $14.07 billion, down from $14.8 billion Y/Y…Morgan Stanley revealed that it took a provision for credit losses of $234 million, more than double the estimated $99.1 million, and more than quadrupling the $57 in Q1 ’22, and here’s why: Increases in provisions for credit losses were primarily related to commercial real estate and deterioration in the macroeconomic outlook from a year ago…
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/morgan-stanley-slides-credit-loss-provisions-surge-due-commercial-real-estate-exposure

Global rice shortage is set to be the biggest in 20 years (Grains & CRB Index are trying to break out!)
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/19/global-rice-shortage-is-set-to-be-the-largest-in-20-years-heres-why.html

@SPGlobalRatings: Not just core, but also food inflation remains sticky. Despite a significant moderation in international food prices, food inflation remains high across most Emerging Markets, particularly in EM EMEA. http://ow.ly/ypcf50NNaAW

Positive aspects of previous session
Gasoline declined sharply
Stocks rallied during early US trading; the DJTA jumped 125.98 (UAL+7.5%, EPS -.63. -.73 exp)

Negative aspects of previous session
Stocks declined when they should have rallied for Weird Wednesday and Q1 reporting results
Bonds sank but rebounded in the afternoon to be -10/32 at the NYSE close
Netflix and Tesla led Fangs lower

Ambiguous aspects of previous session
Why are equities struggling during expiry week and earnings season?

First Hour/Last Hour Action [S&P 500 Index]: 1st Hour from NYSE open: Up; Last Hour: Down

Pivot Point for S&P 500 Index [above/below indicates daily trend to traders]: 4150.53
Previous session High/Low: 4162.57; 4134.49

Ex-DNI @RichardGrenell: Why haven’t we had a new Covid variant?
     @elonmusk Replying to @RichardGrenell: Yes, how strange

@KanekoaTheGreat: Former DNI John Ratcliffe says the CDC Director, the Secretary of State, and the Director of National Intelligence agreed that COVID-19 was most likely created in the Wuhan lab, but Dr. Anthony Fauci labeled the lab origin as a “conspiracy theory” because he funded the lab…
https://twitter.com/KanekoaTheGreat/status/1648403195159543809

Intel community may be stalling COVID origins assessments for political reasons, ex-director says
The CIA’s “unjustifiable” refusal to formally assess COVID-19 origins suggests the Biden administration is afraid to face the “enormous geopolitical consequences” of a confirmed lab leak “head-on,” in line with its reluctance to confront China on its spy balloon, according to President Trump’s final director of national intelligence… (China’s investment in Team Big Guy is a very profitable!)
https://justthenews.com/government/congress/intel-community-may-be-stalling-covid-origins-assessments-political-reasons-ex

@Jkylebass: Well-funded Chinese nationals are illegally entering the USA  via the Texas border this year. They are flying primarily into Caracas, Venezuela and El Salvador (which China’s PLA military and their military police have a 225 hectacre outpost at the port of La Unión) and making the trek through Panama’s Darien Gap all the way to the Texas border. The numbers we are currently experiencing have gone parabolic in 2023.
    We (Texas DPS) are now apprehending as many as 530 Chinese nationals (almost entirely military-aged males (MAMS)) EACH WEEK. Over 2,000 per month at today’s catch rates. These are the illegal entries we CATCH (clearly there are many more). They are well coached and immediately ask for asylum…are ‘processed’ (no interviews and no national security checks) and released into America. To escape (or leave) China, they need exit visas…so why aren’t they flying directly into the U.S. via our airports? Their desire is to be inside the US under fake/assumed names via a driver’s license scam operation being investigated by federal and state law enforcement. THIS MUST STOP IMMEDIATELY. Given China’s partnership with Putin’s Russia and their probable invasion of Taiwan, allowing illegal entry to thousands of Chinese MAMS is a SERIOUS VIOLATION OF U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY.
https://twitter.com/Jkylebass/status/1648020719836569600

Alleged Chinese Operative Arrested by FBI For Opening ‘Secret Police Stations’ Attended Ritzy Dem Events – Lu Jianwang, whom the FBI arrested Monday for conspiring to act as an agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), is pictured with New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and even attended an apparent fundraiser for New York Democratic Rep. Grace Meng, according to multiple Chinese-language news reports and photographic evidence. Lu allegedly operated an overseas police station on behalf of the Chinese government…
   Multiple photos taken at events in New York City reveal that Lu Jianwang met with Meng, Adams and Schumer during events in 2022 and 2023…
https://dailycaller.com/2023/04/18/chinese-police-station-fbi-democrats-new-york/

@FinancialTimes: Jack Teixeira held one of the military’s lowest enlisted ranks as what was essentially an IT worker. US officials are still assessing how a person so junior could apparently smuggle out and release some of the nation’s most sensitive secrets. (He was the patsy!) https://t.co/ovsB3j9OQY

@McClellanOsc: Investors Intelligence shows bulls up to 50.7%, and bears down to 24.0%, both the most extreme in months. Bull-bear spread now at 26.7pp, largest since Nov. 2021. But this is once again still just an echo of what (detrended) prices are doing.
https://twitter.com/McClellanOsc/status/1648527988810715138

Tesla reported Adj Q1 EPS of .85, .86 exp; Rev of $23.3B, $23.5B exp; Gross Margins of 19.3%, 21.2% exp. TSLA jumped to 183.50 on the results release but it eventually sank to 170.00 (180.59, -3.72 close).

IBM reported Q1 Rev of $14.25B, $14.33B exp; Adj EPS 1.36, 1.25 exp. IBM sank to 123.20 (126.32 close) and then jumped to 129.39.

Republican US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy unveiled a plan to raise the nation’s debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion and cut federal spending by three times that amount https://reut.rs/3A9jHNv

McCarthy releases full text of bill to extend debt limit and reduce spending
https://justthenews.com/government/congress/mccarthy-releases-full-text-bill-extend-debt-limit-and-reduce-spending

WSJ: Top Fed Official Signals Support for May Interest-Rate Increase 19:00 ET
‘Inflation is still too high,’ says New York Fed President John Williams
https://www.wsj.com/articles/top-fed-official-signals-support-for-may-interest-rate-increase-a7c9a531

Today – Expiry week and Q1 reporting season has not pushed the stock market higher. Apparently, the rising odds of Fed rate hikes in May and June are thwarting the usual trading schemes. When expiry week is disappointing through Weird Wednesday (and the VIX expiry), bulls tend to marshal their resources and forces for a determined upward manipulation on Thursday.

Usually there is a late rally on the day before expiration. There are no Fang/impact results due today.

Expected economic data: Initial Jobless Claims 240k, Continuing Claims 1.825m; April Phil Fed Business Outlook -19.2; March Existing Home Sales 4.5m; March LEI -0.7%; Fed Gov Waller 12:00 ET, Cleveland Fed Pres Mester 12:20 ET, Fed Gov Bowman 15:00 ET

ESMs are -12.00 (On NY Fed President Williams’ hawkish remarks) and USMs are +4/32 at 20:00 ET.

Expected earnings: PM 1.34, ALK -0.48, MMC 2.48, DHI 1.93, T .59, SNA 4.14, AXP 2.68, GPC 2.03, CMA 2.29, UNP 2.58, CSX .43,

S&P 500 Index 50-day MA: 4034; 100-day MA: 3997; 150-day MA: 3927; 200-day MA: 3955
DJIA 50-day MA: 33,103; 100-day MA: 33,382; 150-day MA: 32,678; 200-day MA: 32,568

S&P 500 Index – Trender trading model and MACD for key time frames
Monthly: Trender and MACD are negative – a close above 4514.50 triggers a buy signal
Weekly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 3887.64 triggers a sell signal
Daily: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 4084.70 triggers a sell signal
Hourly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 4133.85 triggers a sell signal

Senior IRS agent blows whistle, alleging Biden DOJ thwarting criminal prosecution of Hunter Biden – Whistleblower account to inspector general, notification to Congress calls into question AG Merrick Garland testimony… The IRS agent has a sterling record investigating tax crimes across the globe, including work on high-profile Swiss Bank prosecutions, and has won several merit awards…
   The agent has provided evidence that at least two Biden DOJ political appointees in U.S. attorneys offices have declined to seek a tax indictment against Hunter Biden despite career investigators’ recommendations to do so and the blessing of career prosecutors in the DOJ tax division. He also alleges that Weiss told agents on the case that the Delaware U.S. Attorney asked to be named a Special Counsel to have more independent authority in the probe but was turned down, according to interviews…
https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/hldsenior-irs-agent-blows-whistle-alleging-bide-doj-thwarting

Biden misspells number 8 as ‘E-I-G-H’ in rambling Maryland speech
“We have a thousand billionaires in America. You know the average tax rate they pay? Eight — E-I-G-H percent — 8%,” Biden said during a visit to a facility of the International Union of Operating Engineers in Accokeek, fewer than 20 miles from the nation’s capital… (What about Hunter?) https://trib.al/BqKA1uV

Judge denies Manhattan DA’s bid to stop House GOP subpoena of former prosecutor
https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/judge-denies-manhattan-das-bid-stop-house-gop-subpoena-former-prosecutor

@KatiePavlich: Biden has invited a criminal lawmaker from Tennessee to the White House Monday but hasn’t invited any of the families of the victims of the Christian Covenant School shooting for a visit.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2023/04/11/kamala-priorities-n2621766

GOP Rep @mattgaetz: Top Army General ADMITS that the BIZARRE practice of forcing women to shower w biological males is harmful to Army recruiting. Meanwhile, the Biden admin official defended the creepy showers! (Not a parody!) https://twitter.com/mattgaetz/status/1648740574118150148

(GOP Rep) Donalds grills Biden SEC commissioner on Steele dossier payment – Gary Gensler, who worked as chief financial officer on 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign, says he was ‘not aware’ of Steele dossier payment… In previous testimonies before House Intelligence Committee, Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta named Gensler as the campaign’s primary money handler in connection with Perkins Coie… https://www.foxnews.com/politics/donalds-grills-biden-sec-commissioner-steele-dossier-payment

@TheBabylonBee: Disney World Forced to Close After DeSantis Builds Elementary School Within 1,000 Feet – “Disney has proudly employed sex predators for years, and this act of aggression by DeSantis will force thousands of our proud pedo-American workers to leave the park to stay outside the 1,000-foot radius required by law,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger. “This is tyranny!”… https://buff.ly/3KOUGvI

Middle School Hosted ‘Disturbing’ Licking Game with Students
Students and staff competed to lick it (Marshmallow cream) off the plexiglass…
https://dailycaller.com/2023/04/19/reaction-school-licking-game/

FBI Controversy: A federal judge ruled last week that the FBI must provide documents related to a 2021 letter that called parents domestic terrorists. https://t.co/eqKmvqzFfV

Ald. Raymond Lopez @RLopez15thWard: Chicago has 8400 active patrol officers on the streets. That is about 311 for every 100K people. NYC has 650 for every 100K. Tell me again how we are over-policed?

Convicted murderer killed 2, wounded 1 while on electronic monitoring for gun possession, prosecutors say – Prosecutors say a Chicago man sentenced to life in prison in 1983, only to be resentenced and released in 2016, killed two people and tried to kill a third while he was on electronic monitoring for a felony gun case Sunday morning…
   This report continues our coverage of individuals accused of killing, shooting, or trying to kill or shoot others while on bond for a pending felony case. CWBChicago began our series of reports in November 2019 after Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans publicly stated, “we haven’t had any horrible incidents occur” under the court’s bond reform initiative…  https://cwbchicago.com/2023/04/5-convicted-murderer-killed-2-wounded-1-while-on-electronic-monitoring-for-gun-possession-prosecutors-say.html

Chicago man arrested for robbing same store 11 times in 5 months: Police
https://www.foxnews.com/us/chicago-man-arrested-robbing-same-store-times-months-police

Mob randomly attacks couple walking in Chicago: They said they were ‘going to kill us’ https://trib.al/DtAKlLP

Chicago police launch internal investigation after couple says cops drove past during mob attack
A woman who witnessed the crime said a CPD unit literally drove around her as she tried to get them to help the victims… “I watched a mob of hooligan’s attack and viciously BEAT an interracial couple on Wabash, I watched several, at least 5, police cars drive by while this attack was in progress. I watched teenage children jump on the hoods of people’s cars, smashing windshields and causing several thousands of dollars of property damage.”…
https://cwbchicago.com/2023/04/chicago-police-internal-investigation-loop-couple-mob-attack-video.html

Second 14-year-old charged in fatal shooting of Chicago grad student in Walmart parking lot
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/second-14-year-old-charged-in-fatal-shooting-of-chicago-grad-student-in-walmart-parking-lot

Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason): Everybody knows what’s at the root of the chaos that we’re seeing in Chicago… but no one wants to talk about it. https://t.co/22jeY2Ltmy

Two teens charged in Dadeville, Alabama, mass shooting at Sweet 16 birthday party
https://www.foxnews.com/us/two-teens-charged-dadeville-alabama-mass-shooting-sweet-16-birthday-party

Home Depot worker fatally shot in California was trying to stop shoplifting, witnesses say https://t.co/JqjAPfHHAx

@DailyCaller: @TuckerCarlson: “When young people are told by their leaders that work is a scam and that stealing thing from other people is a human right, how do you think your economy is gonna look in 10 years? How about your civilization? https://twitter.com/DailyCaller/status/1648489916530315267

Corruption, crime, and inflation are strongly correlated – all the way back to ancient times!

GREG HUNTER

end

See you FRIDAY

GOLD: NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR APRIL/2023. CONTRACT: 37 NOTICES FOR 3700 OZ or 0.1150 TONNES

total notices so far: 23,445 contracts for 2,344,500 oz (72.923 tonnes)

SILVER NOTICES: 30 NOTICE(S) FILED FOR 150,000 OZ/

total number of notices filed so far this month : 374 for 1,870,000 oz

2.ASIAN AFFAIRS//

THURSDAY MORNING//WEDNESDAY NIGHT

a)NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA

b) REPORT ON JAPAN/

3 CHINA

4/EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

6.Global Issues//COVID ISSUES/VACCINE ISSUES

7. OIL ISSUES

8 EMERGING MARKET ISSUES

Silver Demand Set Records In Every Category In 2022

Global Times: Dollar hegemony, not China, is the cause of Africa’s debt problems

Arkansas affirms gold and silver as legal tender and eliminates taxes on them

Jan Nieuwenhuijs: Is Saudi Arabia selling oil to China for gold?

Craig Hemke at Sprott Money: Comex gold options sweet spot

Silver Vs Stocks: Comparing Performance During Recessions

Silver Price During Recessions

Silver Price in 2023

US Equity Futures Slide As Global Risk Sentiment Turns Sour

Earnings remain in focus, TSLA -6%, ahead of a packed Central Bank docket – Newsquawk Europe Market Open

US TRADE

EQUITIES

APAC TRADE

EQUITIES

FX

FIXED INCOME

COMMODITIES

CRYPTO

EU/UK

WEDNESDAY MORNING/TUESDAY NIGHT

2 d./NORTH KOREA/ SOUTH KOREA/

2e) JAPAN

3 CHINA /

Massive Protest Sees Demonstrators Call For Czech Government’s Resignation

EU Readies Levies On High-Carbon Imports… To Pressure Rest Of World On Climate Change

“Why Does Brussels Hate Us?” Livid EU Farmers Hit Back At Green Agenda

Chinese Lab Developed COVID-19 Virus, Senate Report Claims

Judicial Watch: Records Show Funding for EcoHealth/Wuhan Institute Research to Create Coronavirus ‘Mutants’; Eco Health planned to sequence the spike protein from coronaviruses obtained from bats for

the purpose of “creating mutants to identify how significantly each would need to evolve to use ACE2,” which is explained as “the receptor to gain entry to human cells.”; stunning FOIA findings

Megyn Kelly rips into transgender protestors who assaulted and who ‘kidnapped’ Riley Gaines; the left and trans people are making Gaines into a heroine and leader! I support Riley Gaines, this trans

transgender bullsh*t must end and we need to call this crap out for what it is, these are men, MALES, IMO ‘would be’ perverts, rapists, and pedophiles, men with PENISES who are trying to rape women

New 2023 Documentary Premiere: COVIDISM – Contagious Deception

April 19, 2023 6:45 pm

A Hair’s Breath From A Damp Squid

YOUR EARLY CURRENCY/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN CLOSING MARKETS AND EUROPEAN BOURSE OPENING AND CLOSING/ INTEREST RATE SETTINGS THURSDAY MORNING 7;30AM//OPENING AND CLOSINGS

Debt Ceiling Fears, Fugly Data, & FedSpeak Slam Stocks & Crypto; Gold & Bonds Bid

The Number Of Americans Claiming Jobless Benefits Hits 17-Month High

Philly Fed Business Survey Unexpectedly Slumps To ‘Worst Since Lehman’

US Existing Home Sales Resume Slide In March; Home Prices Drop Most In A Decade

US Leading Economic Indicators Tumble For 12th Straight Month, Signal Recession Imminent

White House Says ‘Extreme MAGA Republicans Holding The American Economy Hostage’ With Debt Plan

Home Foreclosures And Missed Credit Card Payments Surge As Consumers Buckle

BuzzFeed News Shuttering Operations, Shares Plunge

Biden To Punish Good-Credit Homebuyers To Subsidize High-Risk Mortgages

Biden Admin ‘Mishandling’ Hunter Biden Investigation Says IRS ‘Criminal Supervisory Agent’ In Charge Of Probe

CFPB Employee Sent 256,000 Consumers’ Financial Data To Personal Email

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