APRIL 21//ANOTHER USUAL AND CUSTOMARY FRIDAY RAID ON GOLD AND SILVER; GOLD CLOSED DOWN $27.80 TO $1980//SILVER FELL BY $.29 TO $25.01//PLATINUM HOWEVER WAS UP $29.65 TO $1126,95 WHILE PALLADIUM WAS ALSO UP $82.50 TO $1602.40//COVID UPDATES//DR PAUL ALEXANDER//VACCINE IMPACT//SLAY NEWS//ALSDAIR MACLEOD..A MUST READ//FRANCE UNDERGOING MASSIVE PROBLEMS WITH NUCLEAR OUTPUT: THEY ARE NOW FORECASTING HUGE INCREASES IN ELECTRICITY PRICES IN 2024 IN FRANCE//POLAND AND HUNGARY CONTINUE TO PROTEST THE DUMPING OF UKRAINIAN GRAINS INTO THEIR RESPECTIVE COUNTRIES//IN THE USA, MONEY SUPPLY GROWTH AT 50 YEAR LOWS//
072 C GOLDMAN 1 118 C MACQUARIE FUT 52 132 C SG AMERICAS 1 323 C HSBC 100 435 H SCOTIA CAPITAL 11 624 H BOFA SECURITIES 1 661 C JP MORGAN 9 732 C RBC CAP MARKETS 1 737 C ADVANTAGE 2 30 800 C MAREX SPEC 4
TOTAL: 106 106 MONTH TO DATE: 23,551
JPMorgan stopped 9/106 contracts
GOLD: NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR APRIL/2023. CONTRACT: 106 NOTICES FOR 10600 OZ or 0.3297 TONNES
total notices so far: 23,551 contracts for 2,355,100 oz (73.253 tonnes)
SILVER NOTICES: 0 NOTICE(S) FILED FOR 0 OZ/
total number of notices filed so far this month : 374 for 1,870,000 oz
END
GLD
WITH GOLD DOWN $27.80
INVESTORS SWITCHING TO SPROTT PHYSICAL (PHYS) INSTEAD OF THE FRAUDULENT GLD
/NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD://////
INVENTORY RESTS AT 926.57 TONNES
Silver//
WITH NO SILVER AROUND AND SILVER DOWN 29 CENTS
AT THE SLV// HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.919 MILLION OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV.//: INVESTORS ARE SWITCHING SLV TO SPROTT’S PSLV
CLOSING INVENTORY: 464.083 MILLION OZ
Let us have a look at the data for today
SILVER//OUTLINE
SILVER COMEX OI FELL BY A GIGANTIC SIZED 2138 CONTRACTS TO 156,741 AND FURTHER FROM THE RECORD HIGH OI OF 244,710, SET FEB 25/2020 AND THIS GIGANTIC SIZED LOSS IN COMEX OI WAS ACCOMPLISHED DESPITE OUR $0.02 GAIN IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX ON THURSDAY. 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 $0.02). AND WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING ANY SPEC LONGS AS WE HAD A MONSTER LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 1732 CONTRACTS. HOWEVER WE HAD 2000 CRIMINAL NOTICES FILED IN THE CATEGORY OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK TRANSFER FOR 10 MILLION OZ// ( THE TOTAL ISSUED IN THIS CATEGORY SO FAR THIS MONTH TOTAL 35.83 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( 406CONTRACTS) iiii) AN INITIAL SILVER STANDING FOR COMEX SILVER MEASURING AT 1.055 MILLION OZ(FIRST DAY NOTICE)+ THE 35.83 MILLION OZ OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK/+ 1.985 MILLION OZ NORMAL SILVER STANDING FOR APRIL///THUS TOTAL NEW STANDING 37.815MILLION OZ/ //// V) HUGE SIZED COMEX OI LOSS/ GOOD SIZED EFP ISSUANCE/.
I AM NOW RECORDING THE DIFFERENTIAL IN OI FROM PRELIMINARY TO FINAL –382 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 14 days, total 18,382 contracts: OR 91.910 MILLION OZ . (1313 CONTRACTS PER DAY)
TOTAL EFP’S FOR THE MONTH SO FAR: 91.91 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: 112.58MILLION OZ//FINAL//STRONG ISSUANCE BUT BELOW LAST MONTH
APRIL 91.91 MILLION OZ
RESULT: WE HAD A HUGE SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF2138 CONTRACTS DESPITE OUR $0.02 GAIN IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX//THURSDAY.,. THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A GOOD SIZED EFP ISSUANCE CONTRACTS: 406 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// 10,000 OZ QUEUE JUMP (WHICH INCREASES THE AMOUNT OF SILVER STANDING) + 10 MILLION NEW EXCHANGE FOR RISK TODAY (INCREASES THE AMOUNT OF SILVER STANDING) //NEW EXCHANGE FOR RISK STANDING 35.83 MILLION OZ, THUS TOTAL SILVER OZ STANDING FOR DELIVERY IN APRIL TOTALS 37.815 MILLION .. WE HAVE A HUGE SIZED LOSS OF 1732 OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES (NOT COUNTING THE 2000 CONTRACT EXCHANGE FOR RISK INCREASE)
WE HAD 0 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 0 OZ
THE SILVER COMEX IS NOW BEING ATTACKED FOR METAL BY LONDONERS ET AL.
GOLD//OUTLINE
IN GOLD, THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY A FAIR SIZED 3453 CONTRACTS TO 478,479 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 600 CONTRACTS
this is the 8th day in a row where contracts on the comex were added!!
WE HAD A FAIR SIZED INCREASE IN COMEX OI ( 3453 CONTRACTS) WITH OUR $12.70 GAIN IN PRICE. WE ALSO HAD A STRONG INITIAL STANDING IN GOLD TONNAGE FOR APR. AT 66.892 TONNES ON FIRST DAY NOTICE // PLUS A 10,000 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 $12,70 GAIN IN PRICEWITH RESPECT TO THURSDAY’S TRADING.WE HAD A GOOD SIZED GAIN OF 5104 OI CONTRACTS (15.87 PAPER TONNES) ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES.
E.F.P. ISSUANCE
THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A FAIR SIZED 1651 CONTRACTS:
The NEW COMEX OI FOR THE GOLD COMPLEX RESTS AT 478,479
IN ESSENCE WE HAVE A GOOD SIZED INCREASE IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 5104 CONTRACTS WITH 3453 CONTRACTS INCREASED AT THE COMEX AND 1651 EFP OI CONTRACTS WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS TOTAL OI GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF5104 CONTRACTS OR15.87 TONNES.
CALCULATIONS ON GAIN/LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES
WE HAD A FAIR SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (1651 CONTRACTS) ACCOMPANYING THE FAIR SIZED GAIN IN COMEX OI (3453 //TOTAL GAIN IN THE TWO EXCHANGES 5104 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 10,000 OZ//NEW STANDING 74.333 TONNES // ///3) ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION//4) FAIR SIZED COMEX OPEN INTEREST GAIN/ 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: 44,982 CONTRACTS OR 4,498,200 OZ OR 139.91 TONNES IN 14 TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 3213 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY
TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS : THIS MONTH IN 14 TRADING DAY(S) IN TONNES 139.91 TONNES
TOTAL ANNUAL GOLD PRODUCTION, 2022, THROUGHOUT THE WORLD EX CHINA EX RUSSIA: 3555 TONNES
THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 139.91/3550 x 100% TONNES 3.94% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL PRODUCTION
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: 139.91 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 FELL BY A HUGE SIZED 2138 CONTRACTS OI TO 156,741 AND FURTHER FROM 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 406 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: 406 CONTRACTS. EFP’S GIVE OUR COMEX LONGS A FIAT BONUS PLUS A DELIVERABLE PRODUCT OVER IN LONDON. IF WE TAKE THE COMEX OI LOSS OF 2138 CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 406 OI TRANSFERRED TO LONDON THROUGH EFP’S,
WE OBTAIN A HUGE LOSS OF OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 1732 CONTRACTS. (HOWEVER
2,000 CONTRACTS OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK WERE TRANSFERRED SO WE REALLY HAD A GAIN OF 268 CONTRACTS.)
THUS IN OUNCES, THE LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES TOTAL 8.660 MILLION OZ (EX EXCHANGE FOR RISK)
OCCURRED WITH OUR $0.02 GAIN IN PRICE ….. OUR SPEC SHORTS HAVE NOWHERE TO HIDE!
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//
FRIDAY MORNING//THURSDAY NIGHT
SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 65.77 PTS OR 1.95% //Hang Seng CLOSED UP 321.24 POINTS OR 1.57% /The Nikkei closed DOWN 93.20 PTS OR 0.33% //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED DOWN 0.43 % /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN TO 6.8893/OFFSHORE CHINESE YUAN UP TO 6.8977 /Oil DOWN TO 77.29 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT AT 80.91 / Stocks in Europe OPENED MOSTLY RED// ONSHORE YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE WEAKER
1. COMEX DATA//AMOUNTS STANDING//VOLUME OF TRADING/INVENTORY MOVEMENTS
GOLD
LET US BEGIN:
THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY A FAIR SIZED 3453 CONTRACTS UP TO 478,479DESPITE OUR STRONG GAIN IN PRICE OF $12.70 ON THURSDAY,
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 1651 EFP CONTRACTS WERE ISSUED: : JUNE 1651 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:
TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 1651 CONTRACTS
WHEN WE HAVE BACKWARDATION, EFP ISSUANCE IS VERY COSTLY BUT THE REAL PROBLEM IS THE SCARCITY OF METAL AND IT IS FAR BETTER FOR OUR BANKERS TO PAY OFF INDIVIDUALS THAN RISK INVESTORS ESPECIALLY FROM LONDON STANDING FOR DELIVERY. THE LOWER PRICES IN THE FUTURES MARKET IS A MAGNET FOR OUR LONDONERS SEEKING PHYSICAL METAL. BACKWARDATION ALWAYS EQUAL SCARCITY OF METAL!
ON A NET BASIS IN OPEN INTEREST WE GAINED THE FOLLOWING TODAY ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES: A GOOD SIZED TOTAL OF 5104 CONTRACTS IN THAT 1651LONGS WERE TRANSFERRED AS FORWARDS TO LONDON AND WE HAD A FAIR SIZED GAIN OF 2821COMEX CONTRACTS..AND THIS GOOD SIZED GAIN ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES HAPPENED WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF $12.70. 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 (74.333) ( 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: 74.333 tonnes
THE SPECS/HFT WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE( IT ROSE $12.70) //// AND WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING ANY SPECULATOR LONGS AS WE HAD OUR GOOD SIZED GAIN OF 5104 CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES
WE HAVE GAINED A TOTAL OI OF 15.87 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 10,000 OZ… ALL OF THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE TO THE TUNE OF $12.70
WE HAD + ADDED + 600 CONTRACTS TO THE COMEX TRADES TO OPEN INTEREST AFTER TRADING ENDED LAST NIGHT
NET GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 5104 CONTRACTS OR 510400 OZ OR 15.87 TONNES.
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month
23,551 notices 2,355,100 OZ 73.253 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 Manfra: 48,226.500 oz
1500 kilobars
total deposits: 48,226.500 oz
customer withdrawals: 2
i) Out of Brinks: 128.604 oz (5 kilobars)
ii) Out of Manfra: 482.265 oz (15 kilobars)
total withdrawals: 610.869 oz
Adjustments; 3
i) dealer to customer hSBC 201.751 oz
ii) dealer to customer/JPMorgan: 96.453 oz
iii) customer to dealer: 9645.300 oz//Manfra
CALCULATIONS FOR THE AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR MAR.
For the front month of APRIL we have an oi of 453 contracts having GAINED 63 contracts. We had 37 contracts served ON THURSDAY so we GAINED 100 contracts or 10000 oz will stand at the comex.
May GAINED 63 contracts up to 1857.
June GAINED 1952 contracts UP to 395,437 contracts.
We had 106 contracts filed for today representing 10,600 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 106 contract(s) of which 0 notices were stopped (received) by j.P. Morgan dealer and 106 notice(s) was (were) stopped received by J.P.Morgan//customer account and 1 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 (23,551 x 100 oz ), to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of (APRIL. 453 CONTRACTS) minus the number of notices served upon today 106 x 100 oz per contract equals 2,389,800 OZ OR 74.333 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 (23,551 x 100 oz)+ 453 OI for the front month minus the number of notices served upon today (106)x 100 oz} which equals 2,389,800 oz standing OR 74.333 TONNES in this active delivery month of APRIL..
TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING: 74.333 TONNES WHICH IS HUGE FOR AN ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH.
TOTAL OF ALL GOLD ELIGIBLE AND REGISTERED: 22,180,861.966 OZ
TOTAL REGISTERED GOLD: 12,303,185,092 (382.680 tonnes)..
TOTAL OF ALL ELIGIBLE GOLD: 9,878,676.8723 O Z
REGISTERED GOLD THAT CAN BE SERVED UPON: 10,599,890 OZ (REG GOLD- PLEDGED GOLD) 329.701 tonnes//
END
SILVER/COMEX
APRIL 21//2023// THE APRIL 2023 SILVER CONTRACT
Silver
Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory
NIL oz
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory
615,184.600 oz
CNT Loomis Delaware
.
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory
nil
Deposits to the Customer Inventory
742,148.247 oz Delaware Manfra
No of oz served today (contracts)
0 CONTRACT(S) (NIL OZ)
No of oz to be served (notices)
23 contracts (115,000 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 2 deposits into the customer account
i)Into Delaware 580,421.540 oz
ii) Into Manfra: 161,726.707 oz
Total deposits: 742,148.247 oz
JPMorgan has a total silver weight: 141.674 million oz/273.767 million =51.75% of comex .//dropping fast
Comex withdrawals: 3
i) Out of CNT 10.891.800 oz
ii) Out of Loomis: 603,217.700 oz
iii) Out of Delaware 1075.100 oz
Total withdrawals; 615,184.600 oz
adjustments: 4//all dealer to customer
Brinks 4916.45 oz
JPMorgan 5019.600 oz
Loomis: 4769.00 oz
Manfra: 20,683.510 o
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: 23 CONTRACTS HAVING LOST 28 CONTRACT(S). WE HAD 30 NOTICES FILED ON THURSDAY SO WE GAINED 2 CONTRACTS OR AN ADDITIONAL 10,000 OZ WILL STAND FOR DELIVERY IN THIS NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF APRIL.
MAY SAW A LOSS OF 9677 CONTRACTS DOWN TO 51,280
JUNE HAD A 276 CONTRACTS GAIN TO 539
TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR TODAY: 0 for NIL oz
Comex volumes// est. volume today 79,124 strong
Comex volume: confirmed yesterday: 87,869 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(23) and the number of notices served upon today 0 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 (23) – number of notices served upon today (0 )x 500 oz of silver standing for the APRIL. contract month equates to 1.985 million oz +/ NEW EXCHANGE FOR RISK TODAY: 10 MILLION OZ //NEW TOTALS EXCHANGE FOR RISK FOR MONTH OF APRIL: 35.83 MILLION OZ// THUS TOTAL SILVER OZ STANDING: 37.815 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 21/WITH GOLD DOWN $27.80 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 926.57 TONNES
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 21/WITH SILVER DOWN 29 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 919,000 OZ FROM THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 464.083 MILLION OZ//
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.
Gold has alternately rallied and tanked over the last week based primarily on how investors view the inflation fight. When they think the Fed is about to win, they buy gold. When they think the fight may have to continue, they sell.
In a recent podcast, Peter explained that investors are right to buy gold based on inflation. But they’re completely backward in their reasoning.
After the CPI came in cooler than expected, gold rallied to a 52-week high. But then we saw a big selloff when the retail sales numbers for March came in weaker than expected. The projection was for retail sales to fall by 0.4%, but they ended up dropping by 1%.
We also got some manufacturing numbers that were weaker than expected.
You would have thought that is bullish for gold because that gets traders thinking about ‘Oh, the Fed can’t hike as much,’ or they’re going to cut more — the economy is weaker. But instead of rallying on that news, gold tanked.”
In fact, gold fell below $2,000 an ounce on Friday, although it rallied late in the session to close above that level.
I think that anything below $2,000 now is to buy. I think this is the low end of this trading range. I just don’t expect us to stay in this range very long. We’re in it now, but I think we’re going to break out, and we’re going to keep moving higher. Because the fundamental news, the technical news is just too bullish for gold.”
Peter noted that gold continues to rally when we get indications that price inflation is cooling. That’s exactly what happened last week when the CPI data came out. But Peter noted the data doesn’t actually indicate the Fed is winning the inflation fight. Core CPI was up by 0.4%. That annualized to nearly 5%.
So, how anybody can look at these numbers and conclude that the Fed is anywhere near winning its inflation battle – look how much the Fed has already raised rates and that’s all they’ve achieved.”
And Peter said he thinks these inflation numbers are “kind of the bottom.” He pointed out that oil prices are pushing upward and the dollar is showing significant weakness.
To me, those are more forward-looking indicators… These forward-looking indicators of inflation would tell you that inflation is going to be a lot stronger in the future. So, looking at these CPI numbers and thinking that it’s going down doesn’t make any sense. But what also doesn’t make any sense is the fact that gold rallied again on the idea that there’s not as much inflation as we thought, so the Fed is not going to have to hike as much or they can cut sooner.”
He said that investors are right to buy gold on the inflation news.
But they’re wrong in their thinking that inflation is going away. It’s not going away. Inflation is going to get worse. But that’s actually more bullish for gold than what they think, which is that inflation is going to go down. And the ironic part about it is to the extent that the inflation numbers get better, and that means the Fed can be easier on its monetary policy, or the markets believe that, that immediately sinks the dollar causing commodity prices to rise. So, the idea that inflation is coming down automatically means inflation is going up.”
Peter went on to point out that Warren Buffet recently said inflation isn’t going away and that he accurately explained politicians don’t have any incentive to cut spending or take the other difficult steps necessary to slay inflation. Just look at the budget deficit for the first six months of fiscal 2023. Meanwhile, there isn’t even talk about reining in government spending.
No one is going to cut spending. No one is raising taxes. So, how are they going to pay for these deficits? Exactly the way Warren Buffett said they will — by creating inflation. So, it’s here to stay. It’s going to go up, and that means gold is going ballistic. The gold price is on a launch pad right now, ready to go to the moon. When it takes off, it’s hard to say, but you’ve just got to get on board this rocket.”
In this podcast, Peter also talks about some startling admissions by Janet Yellen and the Fed.
Submitted by admin on Thu, 2023-04-20 11:59 Section: Daily Dispatches
By Nic Fildes Financial Times, London Thursday, April 20, 2023
Australia’s treasurer has announced the biggest shake-up of the country’s central bank in its 63-year history, proposing the establishment of a new interest rate-setting board and an overhaul of its culture.
The reforms were unveiled after a review of the Reserve Bank of Australia, the first in four decades, was launched last year following sharp criticism of its handling of interest rate guidance and slow response to rising inflation.
Philip Lowe, RBA governor, had indicated in 2020 that the central bank did not expect to raise rates until 2024 before it did so for 10 consecutive months starting in May, pausing only last month.
The about-face left thousands of mortgage holders with sharply rising payments after rates jumped from 0.1 to 3.6% in a year and prompted Lowe to apologise for a lack of clarity in his forward guidance. …
your weekend reading report and it is very important
(Alasdair Macleod)
Alasdair Macleod: How quickly will the U.S. dollar collapse?
Submitted by admin on Thu, 2023-04-20 10:14Section: Daily Dispatches
By Alasdair Macleod GoldMoney, Toronto Thursday, April 20, 2023
This article looks at the factors behind the growing rejection of the dollar for trade settlement purposes by non-aligned nations. They no longer fear political or economic reprisals from America.
The dollar’s monopoly was notably challenged by Saudi Arabia, which removed itself from the U.S. sphere of influence to that of China and Russia. Consequently, peace has broken out throughout the Arab lands.
But rising interest rates have destabilised Western banking systems, which have added to the attractions of payment in China’s renminbi relative to maintaining bank deposits and investments in the currencies of the Western alliance — particularly of the dollar.
Foreigners hold $7 trillion of deposits and short-term bills and $24.5 trillion in bonds and equities. These balances are becoming surplus to their needs.
The outlook is for U.S. bank credit to contract further, which will drive interest rates even higher. More banks can be expected to fail. Foreigners are bound to become increasingly reluctant to hold dollars, which they will sell. Therefore, the question now is not how much will the dollar decline, but how rapidly. …
Despite the usual circumstance of galloping inflation, US and European bank failures, fund rate instability, stagflation, and global conflict, the continuing US adoption of economic sanctions versus sovereigns (just about everywhere) will likely continue to leverage gold prices higher.
Although rumour at the moment, Saudi is trading oil to China in exchange for gold: https://www.gainesvillecoins.com/blog/is-saudi-arabia-selling-oil-to-china-for-gold … and makes sense for any nation dumping the dollar regarding the portent for the accelerating decline of the US dollar, and potential exposure to sanctions levied by the US Axis of Evil.
Likewise, as a means to stash wayward inflationary USd billions somewhere — other than in western markets — a stable, steady and upward valuation of gold spot may present a tempting target for those sovereigns hoping to dump inflationary dollars… in exchange for a real physical asset with true intrinsic value. Such dollar dumping could be an insurmountable obstacle for the gold cartel to overcome, as the cartel continues to suppress gold spot.
That is, as the gold cartel has done for decades. Every trading day the cartel is losing on the spot “fix” (cartel losses reimbursed by the US Fed-Treasury) and eventually those losses could potentially break the LBMA/CME/ Federal Reserve (Treasury) stranglehold on gold spot, that the western gold cartel maintains, every trading day.
Oft mentioned and recently acknowledged by US Treasury Capo Janet Yellen — in a more quavering/ stuttering vocalization than ever — the global condition is pressure to ditch the dollar, and gradually disengage from US Treasury instruments (US Bonds – bills – notes) due to real — or potential — US sanctions exposure. Namely US sanctions related to the pursuit of the conflict in the Ukraine, versus Iran, versus Syria, and a myriad of other states, the possibility of which is now leveraging tremendous pressure on many nations to ditch the dollar.
As a repository for China’s payments to Saudi for billions in oil, Saudi has likely looked askance at the renminbi and investments in China, until now. However, gold for oil is a very attractive option to Saudi Arabia for a number of reasons:
1. The SIGE (Shanghai International Gold Exchange https://en.sge.com.cn/ ), the largest gold bourse in the world, and has setup a vault system known as the International Board which allows full access to import/export of physical gold bullion, to any member of the SIGE that qualifies … that would include a sovereign such as Saudi Arabia.
2. It used to be said that, “You can buy and sell gold in China– but try getting gold out!”* (physical gold) Establishment of the International Board will likely open China for business as a major gold trader going forward.
With regard to Saudi Arabia, leveraging China’s SIGE International Board vaults for physical gold trading in exchange for oil, offers a number of advantages. One is that Saudi will not support the dollar by having to accept US billions which must then be banked with the shaky/devalued western financial system; such trading which would support the ‘strengthening’ of a deteriorating US currency.
China also benefits, by not having to buy US dollars with central bank renminbi to pay the Saudi’s for oil. China’s purchase of Saudi oil with US dollars would weaken the renminbi — at a time of increasing domestic consumption in China — and would strengthen the currency of a corroding western Empire, noted for its duplicity, and predilection for death, weaponry, warfare, destruction, hatred for others, and perversion.
Underlying all of course, is the historic leverage of USA economic sanctions historically, versus regimes whose “behaviour” the US does not condone. Note that it was Trump’s Treasury Secretary, Steve “IndyMAC” Mnuchin, who leveraged US sanctions in a big way.
Mr IndyMAC Mnuchin, Dec 16, 2019:
“The reason why we’re using sanctions is because they are an important alternative for world military conflicts. And I believe it’s worked,” the secretary said. “So whether it’s North Korea, whether it’s Iran or other places in the world, we take the responsibility very seriously.”
As a result of the stupid, misguided, and frankly psychotic actions and reactions regarding the stupid, misguided and frankly psychotic regime within the Beltway (and those before!… ed.)means that pressure on the west’s LBMA gold cartel to collapse may become, as in the foregoing, inevitable and insurmountable.
If so, the day of that collapse of gold suppression by the western gold cartel is long, long overdue..
*Quote: Harvey Organ
Steve Brown
END
$100 MILLION GOLD HEIST
this occurred at Toronto’s Pearson airport.
(zerohedge)
$100 Million Gold Heist At Canada’s Biggest Airport – Goodfellas Meets Italian Job
FRIDAY, APR 21, 2023 – 06:55 AM
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police confirmed they are looking into a gold robbery at Pearson International Airport, just outside Toronto.
At this point, it appears investigators have no idea who stole the gold and how it was removed. We have an idea…
“We are still trying to get accurate information on the heist,” an RCMP spokesperson said, declining to confirm how much gold is missing.
The Toronto Sun reported earlier Thursday that 3,600 pounds of gold being moved through the airport had been stolen.
That would be worth around $105 million.
Pearson is rated as one of the top 30 cargo airports in the world and gold mined in Canada can travel through Pearson on its way to customers around the world.
The newspaper said the theft was likely linked to organized crime, citing an unnamed police source.
The heist reminded The Sun reporters of Nick Pillegi’s iconic book Wiseguy (that Goodfellas was based on) in which his boss Paul Vario and underling James ‘Jimmy the Gent’ Burke “owned” JFK Airport because several organized crime groups are known to have either people or allies placed at Pearson. Monitoring their activities and controlling them is reportedly close to a full-time job.
“See, you gotta understand, we grew up near the airport. It belonged to Paulie.”
– Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), Goodfellas
Gangster Henry Hill. FBI
Burke and his hand-picked team hit JFK again on Dec. 11, 1978, with a $5.875 million robbery of cash and jails from Lufthansa. That caper was worth $24.4 million in 2021.
One thing appears clear – investigators don’t believe the gold was stolen in an attempt to fund terrorism.
If that was the case, protocols would have seen at least a partial shutdown of parts of the airport as soon as police or security officials became aware of the robbery and that didn’t happen.
Finally, The Sun notes that this isn’t the first major gold heist to happen out of Pearson.
In 1952, ten boxes of gold were bound for Montreal but only four boxes showed up. That heist was valued at between $215,000 to $330,000 at the time or more than $3 million today.
Nevertheless, this is one of the largest robberies in Canadian history… from a supposedly secure facility… leaving nothing than a mystery behind.
3600 Pounds of GOLD BULLION Stolen from Canada Airport
Police in Toronto and surrounding areas are going berserk looking for 3,600 pounds of Gold Bullion that was STOLEN from Pearson Airport in Toronto, Ontario. The Gold is said to be worth over US$100 Million.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police confirmed they are looking into a gold robbery at Pearson International Airport. Gold mined in Canada can travel through Pearson on its way to customers around the world.
The airport did not respond to a request for comment. Peel Regional Police, who are responsible for the area, asked for the Mounties’ help, the RCMP said.
The Toronto Sun reported earlier Thursday that 3,600 pounds of gold being moved through the airport had been stolen. The newspaper said the theft was likely linked to organized crime.
END
5.IMPORTANT COMMENTARIES ON COMMODITIES: URANIUM
Uranium is now being brought out from the dead
(EpochTimes)
Bringing Dead US Uranium Enrichment Industry Back To Life Will Be ‘A Heavy Lift’ But Needed: Industry Leader
Long before, the nation’s atrophied uranium enrichment industry, episodically idled by market paralyses and perpetually frozen in costly multi-jurisdictional regulatory entanglements, had ossified into obsolesce.
In 1980, the United States produced and processed 90 percent of the uranium used by 251 nuclear power plants that generated 11 percent of the country’s electricity.
In 2021, only 5 percent of the uranium used by the 55 nuclear power plants operating in the United States—which now generate 20 percent of the nation’s electricity—was produced domestically.
After years of Russian market manipulation stymied profitable domestic production, Congress has responded since 2020 with a series of bills that could, if approved, collectively spend up to $5 billion by 2035 in an attempt to seed a domestic commercial uranium market back to life.
Despite slow-rolling allocations and delays in launching programs, which some attribute to resistance within the Biden administration to nuclear power, mines across five states—mostly in Texas and Wyoming currently permitted to excavate uranium—will soon begin doing so.
Others elsewhere are also expected to participate in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) uranium consortium and subsidized market incubator.
Texas has the most uranium mining operations, but Wyoming has the most uranium, Wyoming Mining Association Executive (WMA) Director Travis Deti said.
“For all purposes,” he declared, “the state of Wyoming is the American uranium industry.”
There are four permitted uranium mines in the Cowboy State and at least three other prospective operations in regulatory review, Deti told The Epoch Times.
But unfortunately, there’s nowhere in the United States for Wyoming mines to send ore for enrichment. Nationwide, only one plant in New Mexico has the capacity to enrich uranium for use in commercial nuclear reactors.
“Even if we were mining it now, we’re shipping it somewhere else [overseas] to get it enriched and refined,” Deti said. “When it comes to conversion and enrichment, we have no capacity to do that” in the United States.
Deti told The Epoch Times he has a solution for private industry: build enrichment plants in Wyoming near the mines, where there is a knowledgeable workforce and “friendly” state regulatory policies geared to spearhead the mine-to-market uranium recovery.
Deti also offers a solution for the Biden administration: to decarbonize energy and ensure a secure domestic energy supply, stop “paying lip service” to nuclear power as pivotal and de-zombify the nation’s uranium production industry by accelerating and streamlining permitting for ore excavation and processing.
“Right now, Russia has a hold on conversion,” or processing uranium for commercial use, he said. Russia produces more than 50 percent of fuel used for nuclear power across the world and nearly a quarter used in the United States.
“Getting everybody to recognize the problem” is a significant achievement, Deti said. But he’s concerned addressing the supply-chain gap won’t get the funding and regulatory relief it needs from the Biden administration, despite mounting bipartisan Congressional support for accelerating long-term remedies.
“I’m skeptical but hopeful,” he said. “We’re starting to turn in the right direction. It is possible that we can do it, but it is a heavy lift.”
1.YOUR EARLY CURRENCY/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN AND EUROPEAN BOURSE MOVEMENTS/AND INTEREST RATE SETTINGS//,FRIDAY MORNING.7:30 AM
ONSHORE YUAN: CLOSED UP TO 6.8893
OFFSHORE YUAN: 6.8977
SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 65.77 POINTS OR 1.95%
HANG SENG CLOSED UP 321.24 PTS OR 1.57%
2. Nikkei closed DOWN 93.20 PTS OR 0.33%
3. Europe stocks SO FAR: MOSTLY RED
USA dollar INDEX UP TO 101.62 EURO FALLS TO 1.0962 DOWN 6 BASIS PTS
3b Japan 10 YR bond yield: FALLS TO. +.4630Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese YEN vs USA cross now at 133.77 /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 DOWN /JAPANESE Yen UP CHINESE YUAN: DOWN// OFF- SHORE: DOWN
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 +2.4550***/Italian 10 Yr bond yield FALLS to 4.320*** /SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD FALLS TO 3.493…** DANGEROUS//
3i Greek 10 year bond yield RISES TO 4.284
3j Gold at $1989.15 silver at: 25.15 1 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $30.00
3k USA vs Russian rouble;// Russian rouble UP 0 AND 12 /100 roubles/dollar; ROUBLE AT 81.43//
3m oil into the 77 dollar handle for WTI and 80 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 133.77 10 YEAR YIELD AFTER BREAKING .54%, FALLS TO .4630% 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 0.8937 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF 0.9797 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: 3.528 DOWN 2 BASIS PTS…GETTING DANGEROUS//
USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 3.745 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS/
USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.114 DOWN 6 BASIS PTS
USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 19.40…
GREAT BRITAIN/10 YEAR YIELD: DOWN 7 BASIS PTS AT 3.7655
end
2. Overnight: Newsquawk and Zero hedge:
2. a)FIRST, ZEROHEDGE (PRE USA OPENING// MORNING
Futures Slide In Risk-Off End To Volatile Week
FRIDAY, APR 21, 2023 – 07:58 AM
US equity futures extended their recent weakness and traded near the week’s lows in early Friday trading as investors digested the latest corporate updates. Investors now await PMI data later today for further direction on the path for monetary policy. Contracts on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 drifted -0.2% lower as of 7:15 a.m. ET, as both indexes were set to end the week in negative territory, the Nasdaq underperforming slightly. Treasury yields edged higher, while the dollar advanced against other major currencies with a measure of its strength set for its first weekly gain in six weeks. Iron ore, gold and oil all decline, as the gains from the latest OPEC+ output cut are now all gone: so will OPEC cut again to reverse the slide in the one asset class that unlike stocks, everyone loves to short as a hedge for the coming recession?
In premarket trading, Tesla edged higher after the electric-vehicle maker increased prices of its Model S and X vehicles in the United States just two days after cutting prices. Wish soared more than 20% in premarket trading after the company announced a buyback plan that represents 30% of its current market value, data compiled by Bloomberg show..
Mullen Automotive surges as much as 53% before paring gains to 30%, set to rebound from three days of losses and joining in broader gains across electric vehicle stocks.
Big Lots shares decline 5.4% after Piper Sandler downgrades the retailer to underweight from neutral, citing weakening demand for home furnishings and mattresses.
Invitae rises 5% after Cathie Wood, whose Ark Investment funds are among leading holders in the genetic testing company, spoke to CNBC yesterday about holding the stock, which has been trading near a record low in recent weeks.
Overstock.com drops as much as 3.4% after the online home goods retailer was downgraded to neutral from overweight at Piper Sandler, with the broker citing demand for home furnishings weakening further.
Despite growing recession fears – yesterday’s Philadelphia Fed index confirming as much – Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester signaled support for another rate hike to quell inflation while flagging the need to watch recent bank stress that may crimp credit and damp the economy. Her Dallas counterpart Lorie Logan said inflation has been “much too high,” while outlining measures to watch.
“We are in the camp of US recession in the second half, and expect data to weaken going forward,” said Mohit Kumar, a strategist at Jefferies International Ltd.. “Once the last Fed hike is done in May, the market will start to focus on the weak economic data and bad data will become bad news; seasonality starts to turn in May, with May and June poor months for risky-asset performance.”
“Continuation of data disappointment and subsequent recessionary fears weigh on both stock prices and bond yields,” said James Athey, investment director at abdrn investments. “In the end, that’s where the trap for equity bulls lay — whichever way you look, it was hard to justify the lofty prices, EPS forecasts and valuations which have been prevailing.”
US stocks have traded in a very narrow range in April after recovering most losses induced by the regional banks turmoil, as the earnings season kicked off. Still, mixed economic data, sticky inflation and the path of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy continue to stay at the forefront of worries. Several Fed officials warned inflation was still too high and measures were needed to contain it, including more hikes.
Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions showed no sign of abating, with reports signalling senile figurehead Joe Biden aims to sign an executive order in the coming weeks that will limit investment in key parts of China’s economy by US businesses. “It’s just the next step in a long line of such restrictions that adds to underlying tension between the US and China, raises the cost of trade, and moves the world further away from peak globalization,” said Sean Callow, a senior currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. in Sydney.
Resilient US earnings have helped equities to hold their year-to-date gains, but US positive surprises are still trending below average, Barclays strategists wrote in a note on Friday. “Okay early first quarter results and rangebound yields maintain the status quo for toppish equities,” Barclays’ Emmanuel Cau said in the note. “But while markets have pared rate cut expectations, history shows a quick Fed pivot from hikes to cuts can only be triggered by much weaker data.”
The Stoxx Europe 600 index edged lower after PMIs for the euro area showed resilient service-sector activity, but a further decline in manufacturing orders. Mining stocks lagged as iron ore fell to the lowest since December, with Rio Tinto Plc and Anglo American Plc both down more than 4%. SAP AG, Europe’s biggest software company, advanced after forecasting profit ahead of analyst’s estimates. EssilorLuxottica SA, the French-Italian owner of Ray-Ban, soared as much as 7.3% to the highest since January 2022, after the French-Italian owner of the Ray- Ban brands reported first-quarter revenue that beat analysts’ expectations. Here are some of the biggest movers in Europe:
Dowlais rises as much as 5.4% after JPMorgan and Investec began coverage with buy-equivalent ratings on the automotive technology business spun off from industrial buyout firm Melrose.
Mercedes-Benz advances as much as 2.9%, the most since March, after a strong 1Q pre-release that shows the German carmaker is “clearly executing very well,” according to Morgan Stanley.
Bureau Veritas gains as much as 1.7% after the testing and inspection firm’s organic revenue growth beat estimates in the first-quarter. Peers including Intertek, SGS and Eurofins rise too.
Alfen and Fastned climb after Deutsche Bank initiated coverage on them with recommendations of buy, saying that the increasing share of electric vehicles in total fleets is boosting demand.
Munters jumps as much as 14%, the most in two years, after the Swedish ventilation group reported a “very strong” 1Q, with analysts noting significant outperformance for its data center division.
European mining stocks are the main underperformers across European equities with iron ore trading at its lowest since December on lukewarm demand in top consumer China.
Tele2 falls as much as 5.1% after the Swedish telecommunications group slightly missed expectations on 1Q adjusted Ebitda due to higher-than-expected costs in its key Swedish market.
Salvatore Ferragamo drops as much as 7.5% as analysts said the Italian luxury firm’s first-quarter sales missed estimates, which had been expected, but which is still “uninspiring.”
European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos said Friday that underlying inflation in the euro area remains “very sticky.” The ECB is widely expected to increase its deposit rate at its next policy meeting on May 4, with the choice likely to be either a quarter- or half-point step.
Earlier in the session, Asian stocks fell, heading for their worst week since early March, as the latest news flow on geopolitics sapped risk appetite across the region and as investors took profit in Chinese shares. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped as much as 1% on Friday, led by material shares. China’s CSI 300 Index dropped as much as 1.1%, led by technology stocks, after geopolitical concerns resurfaced following news that US President Joe Biden aims to unveil curbs on China investment, dealing another blow to worsening ties between the two superpowers. Hong Kong stocks also drop. Separately, China’s military plans to conduct at least five drills in various areas that include waters off its coast and in the South China Sea, while fresh worries emerged about South Korea’s diplomatic ties with China.
Most Asian markets were down, led by Hong Kong and China. A gauge of Chinese technology shares fell more than 3%, led by artificial intelligence and chip names after their recent rally. “The investment ban news may be an excuse, but it looks to me more a case of pocketing gains,” said Huang Huiming, a fund manager at Nanjing Jing Heng Investment Management. “There is a growing discrepancy on valuations, especially amid the earnings season, as most of these AI firms are unlikely to deliver profits in the near term.” South Korean stocks continued to retreat following strong gains earlier in the month. Electric-vehicle battery stocks slid after Tesla sank on further price-cut worries. The Biden administration “can’t be seen to be too conciliatory or too concerned to try to calm tensions, because they’ll expose themselves to criticism for being soft on China,” Teneo managing director Gabriel Wildau told Bloomberg TV. “So despite the best intentions of the Taiwanese and the Biden administration, I think we have a recipe for escalating tensions.” The Asian stock measure was on track for a 1.2% decline this week, its worst performance since concerns about bank stability gripped markets around early March. Meanwhile, a softening in US manufacturing and its labor market is adding to signs of a slowdown in US economy and reigniting recession fears. Traders have once again pared back their expectations for Federal Reserve rate hikes, even though some Fed officials supported more tightening to curb inflation.
Japanese stocks declined as investors weighed US economic data that showed some softening in the labor market, housing and a gauge of business outlook. The Topix Index fell 0.2% to 2,035.06 as of market close Tokyo time, while the Nikkei declined 0.3% to 28,564.37. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. contributed the most to the Topix Index decline, decreasing 2.2%. Out of 2,158 stocks in the index, 930 rose and 1,096 fell, while 132 were unchanged. “The US economic slowdown is the worst news for Japanese stocks,” said Kiyoshi Ishigane, chief fund manager at Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management. “Recently, stocks are cheap even if interest rates are falling, and it seems that the market is moving in the direction of concerns about the economic downturn.” In a bright spot, shares in Rakuten Bank Ltd. jumped by a third in its debut in Tokyo in the biggest initial public offering in Japan since 2018.
India stocks posted their first weekly drop in nearly a month as corporate earnings for the latest quarter started with lackluster performance from software makers. The S&P BSE Sensex was ended flat at 59,655.06 in Mumbai, while the NSE Nifty 50 Index was also little changed. The gauges fell more than 1% each for the week, the first decline since March 24. Shares of small and mid-sized companies, which have rallied in recent sessions as investors rotated exposure from larger peers for value buying, also ended lower. S&P BSE Smallcap gauge fell 0.3%, snapping its 13-day long rally, which was also the guage’s longest run of advances since Jan. 2012. The initial results from HDFC Bank and IT firms “have been on the disappointing side, both with respect to the margins and the business outlook,” Systematix Shares analysts led by Dhananjay Sinha wrote in a note. “This could be a precursor to an overall disappointing performance for 4Q.”
In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was up 0.1% and poised for a 0.4% gain this week, its first weekly advance since March 10 as rising tensions between the US and China dampen risk sentiment. The yen was the biggest gainer among its Group-of-10 peers on Friday, rising 0.3% as leveraged funds bought the currency taking a risk-off view into the weekend, according to Asia-based FX traders; the Aussie dollar is the weakest.
“It’s just the next step in a long line of such restrictions that adds to underlying tension between US and China, raises the cost of trade and moves the world further away from peak globalization,” says Sean Callow, senior currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp.
In rates, treasury futures are near the highs of the day and the curve is a little steeper heading into the early US session. US 10-year yields around 3.53% with bunds slightly underperforming in the sector while gilts are lower by 4.5bp on weak UK retail sales data rather than the uptick in composite PMI; front end led gains in Treasuries steepens 2s10s, 5s30s spreads by 2bp and 1.7bp on the day. Bunds diverge from Treasuries after an upside surprise in service sector PMI data. Treasury market awaits US PMIs with one Fed speaker ahead of this weekend’s blackout period.
In commodities, oil steadied after dropping by the most in more than a month on Thursday, wiping out almost all of the gains stemming from OPEC+’s output cut on signs of a global economic slowdown. Gold dipped below $2,000 an ounce.
Bitcoin is holding around the USD 28k mark, with trading within a narrow range after BTC backed away somewhat from the USD 30k mark in recent sessions.
Looking to the day ahead now, and data releases include the April flash PMIs from Europe and the US, along with UK retail sales for March. From central banks, we’ll hear from ECB Vice President de Guindos, the ECB’s Vujcic and Elderson, and the Fed’s Cook. Finally, earnings releases include Procter & Gamble.
Market Snapshot
S&P 500 futures little changed at 4,149.00
MXAP down 0.8% to 161.36
MXAPJ down 1.1% to 518.00
Nikkei down 0.3% to 28,564.37
Topix down 0.2% to 2,035.06
Hang Seng Index down 1.6% to 20,075.73
Shanghai Composite down 2.0% to 3,301.26
Sensex little changed at 59,599.46
Australia S&P/ASX 200 down 0.4% to 7,330.38
Kospi down 0.7% to 2,544.40
STOXX Europe 600 little changed at 467.07
German 10Y yield little changed at 2.46%
Euro down 0.1% to $1.0958
Brent Futures up 0.1% to $81.20/bbl
Brent Futures up 0.1% to $81.19/bbl
Gold spot down 0.9% to $1,987.15
U.S. Dollar Index little changed at 101.91
Top Overnight News
President Joe Biden aims to sign an executive order in the coming weeks that will limit investment in key parts of China’s economy by American businesses, people familiar with the internal deliberations said.
The euro area’s economic rebound gained further momentum in April thanks to resurgent service- sector activity, while the business outlook remains resilient to recent banking-sector stress.
Tesla Inc. increased prices of its Model S and X vehicles in the US after steep markdowns early this year took a toll on profitability and the carmaker’s shares.
Simon Sadler’s Segantii Capital Management Ltd. has reopened its equities-focused hedge fund and added staff in a bid to boost assets to $7 billion, said people with knowledge of the matter.
A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk
APAC stocks were mostly lower as the region tracked the losses on Wall St where risk sentiment was subdued after mixed earnings releases and disappointing US data. ASX 200 was pressured by weakness in financials and underperformance in the mining sector as Australia’s largest company BHP suffered after a decline in quarterly iron ore output. Nikkei 225 traded indecisively following mixed PMIs and the latest inflation data which printed mostly in line with estimates but remained above 3% and showed an acceleration in nationwide Ex. Fresh Food & Energy CPI. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp underperformed amid ongoing US-China frictions with President Biden to unveil China investment curbs, while there was also fierce rhetoric from China’s Foreign Minister who said both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to China and warned that those who play with fire on Taiwan will get burned.
Asian News
China’s FX regulator said the valuation of Chinese A shares is low and investment prospects are good, while the regulator added that US-China yield differentials are shrinking and the external impact on China is decreasing.
BoJ semi-annual financial system report: domestic financial system has been maintaining stability on the whole.
BoJ is likely to maintain ultra-loose monetary policy and make no change to interest rate targets and yield allowance band at its meeting next week, according to Reuters sources.
European bourses are mixed/flat overall, Euro Stoxx 50 +0.1%, as the complex reverted back to opening parameters after a hawkish move lower on the regions Flash PMIs. Sectors are mixed, in-fitting with the above, with marked underperformance in Basic Resources after updates from BHP and Glencore alongside broader commodity action. US futures are in-fitting with the above and are little changed with parameters even narrower than European peers ahead of PMIs and the final Fed speakers ahead of blackout. SAP (SAP GY) – Q1 (EUR): Revenue 7.44bln (exp. 7.34bln), Cloud Revenue 3.18bln (exp. 3.22bln), adj. EPS 1.08 (exp. 1.20)
European News
BoE’s Tenreyro said the UK inflation target is flexible and intended to respond to shocks, while she added that they may have already tightened a bit too much.
ECB’s Schnabel reiterated that headline inflation has started to decline but noted core inflation proves sticky, while she added that energy contributions to inflation are falling quickly although many other components to inflation are still on the rise.
ECB’s Makhlouf says it is too early to plan a pause in policy tightening.
Chinese Commerce Ministry says it will extend anti-dumping tariffs on some optical fibre imports from the US and EU for five years from April 25th.
FX
DXY mostly firmer within 102.070-101.750 range as the index recovers from post-US claims and Philly Fed retreat awaiting prelim. PMIs.
Yen bucks trend after acceleration in Japan’s ex-food and energy CPI amidst pre-weekend short squeeze, as USD/JPY reverses through 134.00.
Euro propped by strength in EZ services and comp PMIs, but EUR/USD capped by 1.0970-80 option expiries.
Sterling loses tech support(s) as UK retail sales miss consensus, Cable sub-1.2400 and EUR/GBP eyeing 0.8850.
Aussie underperforms below 0.6700 vs Buck as iron ore prices tumble.
PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 6.8752 vs exp. 6.8758 (prev. 6.8987)
Fixed Income
Bunds undermined by better than expected EZ services and composite PMI plus more ECB concerns about core inflation.
Gilts underpinned by weak UK consumption data and US Treasuries sit tight ahead of flash PMIs.
10-year benchmarks diverge between 134.41-133.65, 101.19-100.71 and 114-26+/18 parameters for Bunds, Gilts and USTs respectively.
Commodities
Crude benchmarks are choppy after initial pressure trimmed alongside the recovery in equity benchmarks after the initial hawkish PMI pressure, crude specifics limited.
WTI trades on either side of USD 77.50/bbl while its Brent counterpart oscillates on either side of USD 81.00/bbl, both in relatively tight ranges.
Spot gold was pushed back under USD 2,000/oz from a USD 2,005.62/oz overnight high as the DXY picked up, with the next level to the downside being Wednesday’s trough at USD 1,969.30/oz; base metals are generally lower, though off-lows given the above market action.
Geopolitics
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said there has recently been absurd rhetoric accusing China of upending the status quo, as well as disrupting peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, while Qin added that the logic is absurd and the conclusion dangerous. Qin also commented that both sides of the Strait belong to China and that those who play with fire on Taiwan will eventually get themselves burned, according to Reuters.
G7 countries are considering a near-total ban of exports to Russia, according to Kyodo citing sources.
North Korea said it will continue necessary action until military threats from the US are eliminated and its status of nuclear weapons state will remain an undeniable fact, while it warned it will take strong action if G7 countries attempt to violate its sovereignty and fundamental interests, according to KCNA.
NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg says that all NATO allies have agreed that Ukraine will eventually become a member, main focus currently is to ensure Ukraine prevails against Russia.
US Event Calendar
09:45: April S&P Global US Composite PMI, est. 51.2, prior 52.3
09:45: April S&P Global US Services PMI, est. 51.5, prior 52.6
09:45: April S&P Global US Manufacturing PM, est. 49.0, prior 49.2
Central Banks
16:35: Fed’s Cook Discusses Economic Research
DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap
The last 24 hours have seen a stronger risk-off move in markets, thanks to another round of weak data releases that strengthened fears of a US recession once again. The moves were evident across several asset classes, and the S&P 500 fell back -0.60%, which believe it or not was its largest decline in nearly a month. Otherwise, yields on 10yr Treasuries (-5.9bps) saw their biggest move lower in over two weeks, Brent crude oil prices (-2.71%) saw their biggest daily decline since the height of the market turmoil in mid-March, and HY credit spreads widened as well.
The main factor driving this was a batch of consistently poor data releases from the US. One of them was the Philadelphia Fed’s manufacturing business outlook survey for April, which fell to a new low for this cycle at -31.3 (vs. -19.3 expected). Importantly, the only other times the index has historically been that low since data begins in 1968 is when a recession has either been under way, or is about to begin imminently. Then an hour-and-a-half later, we got the Conference Board’s leading index for March, which also declined by a larger-than-expected -1.2% (vs. -0.7% expected). Once again, the decline in the leading index over both a 6-month and 12-month horizon is now at levels that have historically always been consistent with recessions or imminent recessions. So for those following leading indicators like yield curves, the latest data is another piece of evidence suggesting there’ll be a US recession soon, which fits with our own view at DB Research that expects one later in the year.
If those two indicators weren’t bad enough, yesterday also saw the weekly initial jobless claims surprise on the upside for a 4th week running, coming in at 245k in the week ending April 15 (vs. 240k expected). That’s the first time we’ve had 4 negative surprises since July, back when there was a similar bout of recession concerns. And the continuing claims for the previous week hit 1.865m (vs. 1.825m expected), which is the highest rate since November 2021. So this isn’t just a case of a single data release being over-interpreted.
Whilst the data was surprising on the downside yesterday, investors conviction remained that the Fed would follow through with another 25bp hike at their meeting on May 3. That view was cemented by various Fed speakers yesterday. For instance, Cleveland Fed President Mester said she anticipated that “monetary policy will need to move somewhat further into restrictive territory this year”. That was followed up by Atlanta Fed President Bostic, who reiterated that he favoured another hike, and Philadelphia Fed Preisdent Harker said he anticipated “that some additional tightening may be needed to ensure policy is restrictive enough”. Dallas Fed President Logan also said the committee continues to look at supply-demand imbalances as inflation remains “much too high”. Remember as well that today is the last chance we’ll have to hear from Fed speakers before the next meeting, since their blackout period begins tomorrow.
Despite solid expectations of another hike in May, the risk-off tone predominated yesterday and sovereign bond yields came down across the board. For instance, yields on 10yr Treasuries fell -5.9bps to 3.532%, and in Europe, those on 10yr bunds (-7.0bps), OATs (-6.0bps) and BTPs (-4.8bps) similarly fell. We also heard from ECB President Lagarde, who said that monetary policy “still has a bit of way to go” to get inflation back down, whilst Dutch central bank Governor Knot said it was “too early to talk about a pause”. Last night, the main question now is whether they go for a 25bp hike or continue with the 50bp pace from recent meetings, with markets pricing in a 20% chance of the larger move as of this morning. Finally, we also heard from the BoE’s Tenreyro, one of the most dovish members of the MPC. She only has two meetings left of her term, but said that “we have already tightened too much”.
When it came to equities, the S&P 500 shed -0.60% yesterday, having spent the entire day in negative territory. Energy stocks (-0.89%) saw the biggest losses on a sectoral basis, which came as oil and gas prices saw sharp declines for a second day running. Defensives like utilities (-0.05%) and consumer staples (+0.06%) were the best performers, which highlights how weak the day was across the board. AT&T (-10.41%) saw the largest decline of the entire index, following their earnings release that showed free cash flow came in well beneath estimates at $1bn, whilst their subscriber growth also slowed from its rate a year earlier. American Express (-1.01%) was another to lose ground after their earnings per share missed estimates, but Union Pacific (+0.30%) put in a slightly better performance as their profits beat expectations.
Back in Europe, the STOXX 600 (-0.15%) lost some modest ground for a second day running, with a relatively smaller decline than seen in the US. Sentiment was supported in Europe by better economic data, with the European Commission’s consumer confidence indicator for the Euro Area climbing to a 14-month high of -17.5 (vs. -18.5 expected). Admittedly, that still leaves it well beneath its levels prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but it’s a remarkable comeback from the second-half of last year, when fears of a recession were increasingly widespread.
Overnight in Asia, we’ve seen further losses for equities, with the Shanghai Composite (-1.11%) as the biggest underperformer followed by the CSI 300 (-1.04%), the Hang Seng (-0.74%), and the KOSPI (-0.69%). The Nikkei has been a relative outperformer however, only down -0.27%, which comes as data showed that Japan’s headline CPI fell a tenth as expected in March to +3.2%. However, the core measures continued to accelerate faster than expected, with core-core inflation that excludes fresh food and energy up to +3.8% (vs. +3.6% expected), which is its highest level since 1981. Looking forward however, there are signs that the downbeat tone in markets might be stabilising, with futures on the S&P 500 (+0.02%) posting a very marginal gain this morning.
Another story of the last 24 hours has been the significant decline in commodity prices as fears of a downturn mount. For instance, Brent crude oil prices fell -2.72% to $81.10/bbl, and WTI was also down -2.36% at $77.29/bbl. This wasn’t just seen among energy prices though, with industrial metals like copper (-0.94%) and tin (-0.52%) on the London Metal Exchange seeing noticeable declines as well, alongside key agricultural commodities like corn (-1.26%) and wheat (-2.05%). In fact, coming on the heels of the previous day’s declines, this has been the worst 2-day performance for Bloomberg’s Commodity Spot Index since the height of the market turmoil in mid-March.
Looking at yesterday’s other data, US existing home sales surprised on the downside at an annualised rate of 4.44m (vs. 4.50m expected). Otherwise, German PPI inflation in March fell back to +7.5% year-on-year (vs. +9.8% expected), which is the lowest year-on-year rate since May 2021.
To the day ahead now, and data releases include the April flash PMIs from Europe and the US, along with UK retail sales for March. From central banks, we’ll hear from ECB Vice President de Guindos, the ECB’s Vujcic and Elderson, and the Fed’s Cook. Finally, earnings releases include Procter & Gamble.
2 b) NOW NEWSQUAWK (EUROPE/REPORT)/ASIA REPORT
Hawkish PMI reaction has dissipated in quiet trade ahead of US data & fed speak – Newsquawk US Market Open
FRIDAY, APR 21, 2023 – 06:25 AM
European bourses are mixed/flat overall, as the complex reverted back to opening parameters after a hawkish move lower on the regions Flash PMIs; US futures in-fitting
DXY firmer but back below 102.00, JPY outperforms while Antipodeans lag. GBP hit on retail sales and as EUR lifts on PMIs, though OpEx caps
EGBs have lifted off troughs after initially dropping on hawkish PMIs
Commodities choppy but have been tracking the above market action with crude specifics limited
Fed’s Harker, some additional tightening needed; Bowman, clearly need to continue to work to bring inflation down
Looking ahead, highlights include US Flash PMIs, Speeches from Fed’s Cook & Harker, ECB’s Elderson & de Guindos.
Or why not try Newsquawk’s squawk box free for 7 days?
EUROPEAN TRADE
EQUITIES
European bourses are mixed/flat overall, Euro Stoxx 50 +0.1%, as the complex reverted back to opening parameters after a hawkish move lower on the regions Flash PMIs.
Sectors are mixed, in-fitting with the above, with marked underperformance in Basic Resources after updates from BHP and Glencore alongside broader commodity action.
US futures are in-fitting with the above and are little changed with parameters even narrower than European peers ahead of PMIs and the final Fed speakers ahead of blackout.
Crude benchmarks are choppy after initial pressure trimmed alongside the recovery in equity benchmarks after the initial hawkish PMI pressure, crude specifics limited.
WTI trades on either side of USD 77.50/bbl while its Brent counterpart oscillates on either side of USD 81.00/bbl, both in relatively tight ranges.
Spot gold was pushed back under USD 2,000/oz from a USD 2,005.62/oz overnight high as the DXY picked up, with the next level to the downside being Wednesday’s trough at USD 1,969.30/oz; base metals are generally lower, though off-lows given the above market action.
BoE’s Tenreyro said the UK inflation target is flexible and intended to respond to shocks, while she added that they may have already tightened a bit too much.
ECB’s Schnabel reiterated that headline inflation has started to decline but noted core inflation proves sticky, while she added that energy contributions to inflation are falling quickly although many other components to inflation are still on the rise.
ECB’s Makhlouf says it is too early to plan a pause in policy tightening.
Chinese Commerce Ministry says it will extend anti-dumping tariffs on some optical fibre imports from the US and EU for five years from April 25th.
DATA RECAP
UK GfK Consumer Confidence (Apr) -30 vs. Exp. -35 (Prev. -36)
UK Retail Sales MM (Mar) -0.9% vs. Exp. -0.5% (Prev. 1.2%, Rev. 1.1%); Ex-Fuel MM (Mar) -1.0% vs. Exp. -0.7% (Prev. 1.5%, Rev. 1.4%)
UK Retail Sales YY (Mar) -3.1% vs. Exp. -3.1% (Prev. -3.5%, Rev. -3.3%); Ex-Fuel YY (Mar) -3.2% vs. Exp. -3.1% (Prev. -3.3%, Rev. -3.0%)
EU S&P Global Composite Flash PMI (Apr) 54.4 vs. Exp. 53.7 (Prev. 53.7); “Neither input prices nor sales prices are showing any significant slowdown in the upward momentum of prices… This increases the likelihood that the CB will tighten monetary policy more, or for longer.”
EU S&P Global Manufacturing Flash PMI (Apr) 45.5 vs. Exp. 48.0 (Prev. 47.3); Services Flash PMI (Apr) 56.6 vs. Exp. 54.5 (Prev. 55.0)
UK Flash Composite PMI (Apr) 53.9 vs. Exp. 52.5 (Prev. 52.2); “… combination of faster growth and elevated price pressures put a twelfth rate hike by the Bank of England an increasingly done deal when it next meets on 11th May, and will add to speculation that further hikes may be needed.”
UK Flash Services PMI (Apr) 54.9 vs. Exp. 52.9 (Prev. 52.9); Manufacturing PMI (Apr) 46.6 vs. Exp. 48.5 (Prev. 47.9)
NOTABLE US HEADLINES
Fed Discount Window borrowing rose to USD 69.9bln on April 19th (prev. 67.6bln W/W) which was the first increase since mid-March, while BTFP lending increased to USD 74bln (prev. 71.8bln W/W) and other credit lending was at USD 172.6bln (prev. 172.6bln W/W).
Fed’s Bowman (voter) said they clearly need to continue to work to bring inflation down and that bankers see an economic slowdown as likely within the next year so are seeing fewer opportunities to lend.
Fed’s Harker (voter) said some additional tightening is needed to deal with high inflation and once rate hikes end, the Fed will need to hold steady for a while. Harker also commented that they need to be cautious when moving during a period of uncertainty and that the Fed is close to where it needs to be on rates.
Fed’s Mester (non-voter) said that growth will be slow this year and reiterated that how much higher than 5% rates would need to go and how long they stay there will depend on the economy, while she said that getting inflation down is her focus and they will evaluate the peak funds rate at the FOMC meeting.
Fed could close a loophole that allows some midsized banks to hide losses on securities; “Potential change would reverse 2019 decision to loosen rules for midsize banks”, according to WSJ sources.
US President Biden and his team are preparing to announce his re-election campaign next week, according to Washington Post. Reuters also reported that President Biden plans to launch his re-election campaign with a video as soon as Tuesday, according to sources.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said there has recently been absurd rhetoric accusing China of upending the status quo, as well as disrupting peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, while Qin added that the logic is absurd and the conclusion dangerous. Qin also commented that both sides of the Strait belong to China and that those who play with fire on Taiwan will eventually get themselves burned, according to Reuters.
G7 countries are considering a near-total ban of exports to Russia, according to Kyodo citing sources.
North Korea said it will continue necessary action until military threats from the US are eliminated and its status of nuclear weapons state will remain an undeniable fact, while it warned it will take strong action if G7 countries attempt to violate its sovereignty and fundamental interests, according to KCNA.
NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg says that all NATO allies have agreed that Ukraine will eventually become a member, main focus currently is to ensure Ukraine prevails against Russia.
CRYPTO
Bitcoin is holding around the USD 28k mark, with parameters either side of the figure slim and within recent ranges after BTC backed away somewhat from the USD 30k mark in recent sessions.
APAC TRADE
APAC stocks were mostly lower as the region tracked the losses on Wall St where risk sentiment was subdued after mixed earnings releases and disappointing US data.
ASX 200 was pressured by weakness in financials and underperformance in the mining sector as Australia’s largest company BHP suffered after a decline in quarterly iron ore output.
Nikkei 225 traded indecisively following mixed PMIs and the latest inflation data which printed mostly in line with estimates but remained above 3% and showed an acceleration in nationwide Ex. Fresh Food & Energy CPI.
Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp underperformed amid ongoing US-China frictions with President Biden to unveil China investment curbs, while there was also fierce rhetoric from China’s Foreign Minister who said both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to China and warned that those who play with fire on Taiwan will get burned.
NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES
China’s FX regulator said the valuation of Chinese A shares is low and investment prospects are good, while the regulator added that US-China yield differentials are shrinking and the external impact on China is decreasing.
BoJ semi-annual financial system report: domestic financial system has been maintaining stability on the whole.
BoJ is likely to maintain ultra-loose monetary policy and make no change to interest rate targets and yield allowance band at its meeting next week, according to Reuters sources.
DATA RECAP
Japanese National CPI YY (Mar) 3.2% vs. Exp. 3.2% (Prev. 3.3%); Ex. Fresh Food YY (Mar) 3.1% vs. Exp. 3.1% (Prev. 3.1%)
Japanese National CPI Ex. Fresh Food & Energy YY (Mar) 3.8% vs. Exp. 3.4% (Prev. 3.5%)
Australian Composite PMI (Apr P) 52.2 (Prev. 48.5)
2 c. ASIAN AFFAIRS
ASIAN AND AUSTRALIAN CLOSINGS//EUROPE OPENING TRADING:
FRIDAY MORNING/THURSDAY NIGHT
SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 65.77 PTS OR 1.95% //Hang Seng CLOSED UP 321.24 POINTS OR 1.57% /The Nikkei closed DOWN 93.20 PTS OR 0.33% //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED DOWN 0.43 % /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN TO 6.8893/OFFSHORE CHINESE YUAN UP TO 6.8977 /Oil DOWN TO 77.29 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT AT 80.91 / Stocks in Europe OPENED MOSTLY RED// ONSHORE YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE WEAKER
2 d./NORTH KOREA/ SOUTH KOREA/
///NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA/
END
2e) JAPAN
JAPAN/
END
3 CHINA /
end
4.EUROPEAN AFFAIRS//UK /SCANDAVIAN AFFAIRS
France
This is interesting: new polls show LePen now more popular than Macron. She is ultra conservative and very anti semetic.
(zerohedge)
French Poll Finds Le Pen Now More Popular Than Macron
FRIDAY, APR 21, 2023 – 02:45 AM
A year after Emmanuel Macron won a second term as president of France, triumphing over Marine Le Pen, his far-right challenger, it appears things are not going according to plan for the diminutive French leader.
In 2017, Macron beat Le Pen 66.1% vs 33.9%
In 2022 (last April), Macron triumphed by a narrower margin (58.6% vs 41.5%)
Le Pen was more popular among women, with 52% picking the two-time presidential runner-up, compared with 41% opting for the French leader.
Within the left-wing Nupes grouping, a majority of supporters of the Communist and France Unbowed parties prefer Le Pen, while backers of the Greens and Socialists favor Macron.
Since a series of nationwide strikes and protests against Macron’s plan to raise the minimum retirement age began in mid-January, Le Pen has adopted a discreet stance and fell short of urging her supporters to join the movement, saying they were free to make their own choice.
More than two-thirds of the French polled ‘disapprove’ of Macron…
France’s power prices for early 2024 are double the German prices for next winter as the huge French nuclear fleet continues to show signs of weak output and availability.
The French power price for the first quarter of 2024 was at $455 (416 euros) per megawatt-hour (MWh) on Wednesday.
That’s more than double the price for the same period in Germany, where the power price was at $185 (169 euros) per MWh for early 2024, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
France has had troubles at many of its nuclear reactors, half of which have been shut down for repairs and maintenance at several times over the past year.
Germany, meanwhile, took its last three nuclear power plants offline on Saturday, ending more than six decades of commercial nuclear energy use. Germany ended the nuclear power era despite continued concerns about energy security and energy supply after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the end of pipeline natural gas deliveries from Russia, which was the largest gas supplier to Europe’s biggest economy before the war.
In France, concerns about the operations at France’s large nuclear power fleet resurfaced last month after the French nuclear safety authority, ASN, told energy giant and large nuclear reactor operator EDF to review its program of reactor checks, following the finding of another crack at a nuclear power plant.
This led to an 8% one-day surge in French power prices for next year, the biggest jump since the end of January.
For much of last year, France’s nuclear power generation was well below capacity, as more than half of the country’s reactors were offline at one point in the autumn due to repairs or maintenance.
At the moment, French nuclear power plants are producing 17.5% less than the average output rate for 2020 and 2021. That’s down from 23% last year, so there is some progress, but concerns remain.
end
EU/UKRAINE//GRAIN DUMPING
This is why Hungary and Poland are angry: the EU is forcing policy and demanding these countries to buy dumped grains from Ukraine. Remember Ukraine is not a member of the EU
(Albert/Remix)
Battle Over Ukrainian Grain-Dumping Shows ‘United States Of Europe’ Moving Closer To Reality
Back in the good old days, when our country was just being lured into the European Union, there was a lot of talk about national and EU competencies. The question was how much of our sovereignty would be compromised if we sometimes supported common economic measures, and whether we would retain our autonomy in political, economic and cultural decision-making.
The most important lesson of the last 20 years is that the national room for maneuvering guaranteed by law has been reduced, and the EU leadership, with the European Commission at its head, is trying to turn the federation of independent, sovereign states into a United States of Europe by every possible means.
There is no reason to believe there is a different trajectory at this point. What is one to think, after all, when the Polish and Hungarian governments, which are protesting against the import of Ukrainian grain, are being admonished from Brussels in an illegitimate manner? If this were the first time such a sham claim had occurred, we might not even mention it. However, when we hear — and I quote — that the Poles and Hungarians are not free to decide about Ukrainian grain imports because trade policy is a matter for the EU, then all arguments that relate to reality are increasingly meaningless.
It is high time to say that the importance of independent decision-making by member states — supported and reinforced by hundreds of specific cases — is being trampled underfoot by those who claim to believe in the importance of fair relations between nations. Despite claims from the EU, there is no single governing imperative; that is just a bogus argument.
We have been in the Comecon, the Soviet Union’s Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, and we do not want to work and trade in the shadows again. We already have plenty of experience with economic subordination. Instead, the Hungarian government took the initiative and imposed a temporary ban on imports of major cereals from Ukraine and agricultural products after a lack of EU action left Hungarian farmers vulnerable to the market situation. In other words: It is our farmers who must be protected, not the new customary law of submitting to Brussels’ ideas and its willingness to destroy our own agriculture.
Anyone who does not understand all this in Brussels, Kyiv or anywhere else in the world needs to be reminded of their own protectionism, because the independent marketing and trade of domestic products is a fundamental principle everywhere in the world. In 2023, free trade will largely be promoted by those big businesses and multinationals who have long since conquered the world market, while the poorer countries will be looking for a great power patron and buyer of their goods.
Ukraine is apparently well on the way to scattering the rest of its national wealth to the winds, but that is their business, and ours is to ensure that Hungarian farmers are not disadvantaged simply because someone, somewhere, has decided to collectivize European agriculture. We are not asking for this. We do not want Ukrainian grain, just as we do not want anything else that our warehouses are full of, that we produce a lot of, that we do and will compete in.
It is also worth noting that, while Polish-Ukrainian political-military cooperation is uninterrupted, Warsaw is not joking when it comes to grain. This case has clearly shown that interests always take precedence over ideology, and Brussels should finally realize this. If only because, if trade discipline were to be relaxed and the Eastern European agricultural production loosened, Western investors themselves would inevitably suffer heavy losses.
That, as we know, is also very painful for business interests close to the EU, and if their wallets are being emptied, then the gloves come off.
end
5 RUSSIA//UKRAINE AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS
RUSSIA/USA
Robert H to us:
Capt(N) on Twitter: “Deployment of nuclear-powered submarines of the Pacific Fleet of the #Russian #Navy during the recent exercises on April 17, 2023. https://t.co/MUcJSPAepu” / Twitter
5 Akula class and 1 Yasen class subs launched .. some believed to be on the way to West coast USA Russian way of saying bug off as US carrier fleets position regards to China .. the days of separation to attack China or Russian one on one are gone Russia will not allow a crippling strike on China as China still needs time to arm … the importance of BRICS dictates that Russia will defend a member country against the West .. there is no going back to the past .. that ship of history has sailed
Deployment of nuclear-powered submarines of the Pacific Fleet of the 🇷🇺#Russian#Navy during the recent exercises on April 17, 2023. pic.twitter.com/MUcJSPAepu
Amazing, Walensky admits vaccines do not prevent COVID transmission
(zerohedge)
CDC Director Admits Vaccines Do Not Prevent COVID Transmission, Blames “Evolution Of Science”
THURSDAY, APR 20, 2023 – 09:20 PM
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky admitted during Congressional inquiry that existing covid mRNA vaccinations do not prevent the transmission of the current virus subvariants. However, using typical establishment spin, Walensky also suggested that the vaccines did prevent transmission of the original variants despite the fact that there was no concrete data to support this notion.
Her explanation for the confusion? It was “evolution of science” and the virus that changed the conditions, rather than the CDC being wrong (or lying) about the science and the conditions.
In the video below, Pfizer executive Janine Small is cornered by a member of the European Parliament and openly admits that the company’s covid vaccines were never tested for blocking transmission. This was after Pfizer had consistently claimed the vaccine prevented the spread of the virus. Media damage control argued that even though the mRNA products were not tested for transmission prevention by Pfizer, they are still considered useful for disrupting spread. Data so far suggests that this was a lie:
In 2021, data from the Public Health England and the NHS shows that the vaccinated and unvaccinated had almost identical rates of infectiousness. In other words, a vaccinated person was almost as likely to give you covid as an unvaccinated person.
In the case of the original “wild virus” variant from 2020 to 2021, infections and fatality rates actually plummeted well before the vaccines were widely introduced. This means that natural immunity was the most likely factor in the slowdown of the spread. Transmission was stopped by the human immune system, not the vaccines.
During the same congressional hearing, Walensky asserted that the CDC will continue to recommend masks in schools in communities where COVID-19 levels are high, despite the fact that multiple studies show zero positive results for masks in stopping covid. The CDC continues to ignore these studies in favor of pro-masking policies.
There is a logic behind the CDC’s otherwise bizarre behavior – They have to persist in dismissing the science because their original policies were not based in science, they were based in ideology and malicious intent. The purpose of government pandemic mandates was control, not public safety. Officials saw an opportunity to use covid fear as leverage to steal individual rights while promoting a fake sense of security. And, the strategy almost worked, too.
If it had not been for the incredibly low official Infection Fatality Rate (IFR) of the virus (only 0.23%), if covid had been just slightly more deadly and if conservative states did not have the courage to block Joe Biden’s vaccine passport efforts, then America and much of the western world would look very different today. Just take a look at the draconian laws many Democrats wanted to put in place to punish those who would not submit to the vaccines.
The ongoing insistence of organizations like the CDC in promoting false covid information is proof that oppressive mandates and lockdowns would still be an issue in 2023 if elements of the public had not stood their ground. We dodged a bullet, but just barely.
end
GLOBAL ISSUES:
Domination of the USA dollar is declining rapidly
(zerohedge)
De-Dollarization: Countries Seeking Alternatives To The US Dollar
THURSDAY, APR 20, 2023 – 08:00 PM
The U.S. dollar has dominated global trade and capital flows over many decades.
This graphic catalogs the rise of the U.S. dollar as the dominant international reserve currency, and the recent efforts by various nations to de-dollarize and reduce their dependence on the U.S. financial system.
The Dollar Dominance
The United States became, almost overnight, the leading financial power after World War I. The country entered the war only in 1917 and emerged far stronger than its European counterparts.
As a result, the dollar began to displace the pound sterling as the international reserve currency and the U.S. also became a significant recipient of wartime gold inflows.
The dollar then gained a greater role in 1944, when 44 countries signed the Bretton Woods Agreement, creating a collective international currency exchange regime pegged to the U.S. dollar which was, in turn, pegged to the price of gold.
By the late 1960s, European and Japanese exports became more competitive with U.S. exports. There was a large supply of dollars around the world, making it difficult to back dollars with gold. President Nixon ceased the direct convertibility of U.S. dollars to gold in 1971. This ended both the gold standard and the limit on the amount of currency that could be printed.
Although it has remained the international reserve currency, the U.S. dollar has increasingly lost its purchasing power since then.
Russia and China’s Steps Towards De-Dollarization
Concerned about America’s dominance over the global financial system and the country’s ability to ‘weaponize’ it, other nations have been testing alternatives to reduce the dollar’s hegemony.
As the United States and other Western nations imposed economic sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow and the Chinese government have been teaming up to reduce reliance on the dollar and to establish cooperation between their financial systems.
Since the invasion in 2022, the ruble-yuan trade has increased eighty-fold. Russia and Iran are also working together to launch a cryptocurrency backed by gold, according to Russian news agency Vedmosti.
In addition, central banks (especially Russia’s and China’s) have bought gold at the fastest pace since 1967 as countries move to diversify their reserves away from the dollar.
How Other Countries are Reducing Dollar Dependence
De-dollarization it’s a theme in other parts of the world:
In recent months, Brazil and Argentina have discussed the creation of a common currency for the two largest economies in South America.
In a conference in Singapore in January, multiple former Southeast Asian officials spoke about de-dollarization efforts underway.
The UAE and India are in talks to use rupees to trade non-oil commodities in a shift away from the dollar, according to Reuters.
For the first time in 48 years, Saudi Arabia said that the oil-rich nation is open to trading in currencies besides the U.S. dollar.
Despite these movements, few expect to see the end of the dollar’s global sovereign status anytime soon. Currently, central banks still hold about 60% of their foreign exchange reserves in dollars.
‘Uncanny similarity of unique inserts in the 2019-nCoV spike protein to HIV-1 gp120 and Gag’; Who was the king of HIV research and controlled the funding at NIAID and NIH? Fauci??
Alexander COVID News-Dr. Paul Elias Alexander’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
‘We are currently witnessing a major epidemic caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019- nCoV). The evolution of 2019-nCoV remains elusive. We found 4 insertions in the spike glycoprotein (S) which are unique to the 2019-nCoV and are not present in other coronaviruses. Importantly, amino acid residues in all the 4 inserts have identity or similarity to those in the HIV1 gp120 or HIV-1 Gag. Interestingly, despite the inserts being discontinuous on the primary amino acid sequence, 3D-modelling of the 2019-nCoV suggests that they converge to constitute the receptor binding site. The finding of 4 unique inserts in the 2019-nCoV, all of which have identity /similarity to amino acid residues in key structural proteins of HIV-1 is unlikely to be fortuitous in nature. This work provides yet unknown insights on 2019-nCoV and sheds light on the evolution and pathogenicity of this virus with important implications for diagnosis of this virus.’
We found four new insertions in the S protein of 2019-nCoV when compared to its nearest relative, SARS CoV. The genome sequence from the recent 28 clinical isolates showed that the sequence coding for these insertions are conserved amongst all these isolates.
This indicates that these insertions have been preferably acquired by the 2019-nCoV, providing it with additional survival and infectivity advantage. Delving deeper we found that these insertions were similar to HIV-1. Our results highlight an astonishing relation between the gp120 and Gag protein of HIV, with 2019-nCoV spike glycoprotein. These proteins are critical for the viruses to identify and latch on to their host cells and for viral assembly (Beniac et al., 2006). Since surface proteins are responsible for host tropism, changes in these proteins imply a change in host specificity of the virus.’
Who was the king of HIV research and controlled the funding at NIAID and NIH?
VACCINE IMPACT Texas Medically Kidnaps Newborn Baby Born at Home Because Parents Refused to Bring the Baby to the HospitalApril 20, 2023 8:44 pmA newborn baby was medically kidnapped in Texas last month (March, 2023) because the parents chose to have a home birth with a licensed midwife, and when they took the baby to their pediatrician for a routine checkup, the doctor stated that the child had jaundice and required to be hospitalized. The parents refused to take the baby to the hospital, choosing instead to treat the jaundice themselves under the care of their licensed midwife, so the doctor called Child “Protection” Services who then came with police to the home and abducted the breastfeeding baby by force. The parents finally got to take their baby home earlier today (April 20, 2023) now over a month old, mainly because this became a national story and many people from the community came out to protest. This family will now have to deal with this trauma for the rest of their lives, and who knows what medical treatment was given to the baby while out of the care of the parents.Read More…
MICHAEL EVERY/RABOBANK//
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 FRIDAY MORNING 7;30AM//OPENING AND CLOSINGS
EURO VS USA DOLLAR:1.062 DOWN.0006
USA/ YEN 133.77 DOWN 0.222 NOW TARGETS INTEREST RATE AT .50% AS IT WILL BUY UNLIMITED BONDS TO GETS TO THAT LEVEL…//YEN STILL FALLS//
GBP/USA 1.2388 DOWN 0.0052
USA/CAN DOLLAR: 1.3524 UP .0043 (CDN DOLLAR DOWN 43 PTS)
Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE CLOSED DOWN 65,77 PTS OR 1.95%
Hang Seng CLOSED UP 321.24 PTS OR 1.57%
AUSTRALIA CLOSED DOWN .43% // EUROPEAN BOURSE: MOSTLY RED
Trading from Europe and ASIA
I) EUROPEAN BOURSES MOSTLY RED
2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang SENG CLOSED DOWN 321.24 PTS OR 1.57 %
/SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 65.77 PTS OR 1.95%
AUSTRALIA BOURSE CLOSED DOWN 0.43%
(Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED DOWN 93.20 PTS OR 0.33%
INDIA’S SENSEX IN THE RED
Gold very early morning trading: 1988.70
silver:$25.10
USA dollar index early FRIDAY morning: 101.62 UP 5 BASIS POINTS FROM THURSDAY’s close.
The USA/Yuan, CNY: closed ON SHORE (CLOSED DOWN.(6.8936)
THE USA/YUAN OFFSHORE: (YUAN CLOSED (DOWN)…. 6.9013
TURKISH LIRA: 19.40 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LEVEL/DEATH WISH/HYPERINFLATION TO BEGIN.
the 10 yr Japanese bond yield at +0.458…VERY DANGEROUS
Your closing 10 yr US bond yield UP 2 in basis points from THURSDAY at 3.566% //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%) very problematic
USA 30 yr bond yield 3.770 UP 2 IN BASIS POINTS
USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.190% UP 3 in basis points.
USA dollar index, 101.57 UP 1 in basis points ON THE DAY/12.00 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 2.94 points or .04%
German Dax : CLOSED UP 76.71 PTS OR .49%
Paris CAC CLOSED UP 28.48 PTS OR 0.38%
Spain IBEX DOWN 42.50 PTS OR .45%
Italian MIB: CLOSED UP 95.38 PTS OR 0.35%
WTI Oil price 77.87 12: EST
Brent Oil: 81.52. 12:00 EST
USA /RUSSIAN /// REMAINS AT: 81.61/ ROUBLE DOWN 0 AND 52//100 RUBLES/DOLLAR
GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD; +2.4815 UP 4 BASIS PTS
UK 10 YR YIELD: 3.795 UP 1 BASIS PTS
CLOSING NUMBERS: 4 PM
Euro vs USA: 1.0981 UP 0.0014 OR 14 BASIS POINTS
British Pound: 1.2434 UP 0007 or 7 basis pts
BRITISH 10 YR GILT BOND YIELD: 3.7830% UP 0 BASIS PTS
USA dollar vs Japanese Yen: 134.177 UP 0.179 //YEN UP 18 BASIS PTS//
USA dollar vs Canadian dollar: 1.3545 UP .0064 CDN dollar, DOWN 64 basis pts)
West Texas intermediate oil: 77.72
Brent OIL: 81.47
USA 10 yr bond yield UP 2 BASIS pts to 3.568%
USA 30 yr bond yield UP 2 BASIS PTS to 3.770%
USA 2 YR BOND: UP 2 PTS AT 4.190%
USA dollar index: 101.51 DOWN 7 BASIS POINTS
USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 19.40
USA DOLLAR VS RUSSIA//// ROUBLE: 81.70 DOWN 0 AND 15/100 roubles
DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: UP 22.41 PTS OR 0.07%
NASDAQ 100 UP 14.79 PTS OR 0.11%
VOLATILITY INDEX: 16.66 UP 0.29 PTS (1.69)%
GLD: $184.25 DOWN 1.84 OR 0.99%
SLV/ $22.98 DOWN 0.19 OR 0.82%
end
USA AFFAIRS
1 a) USA TRADING TODAY IN GRAPH FORM
Stocks, Bonds, Gold, & Crypto Slide As US Sovereign Risk Roars To Record High
FRIDAY, APR 21, 2023 – 04:00 PM
A glimpse at the short-end of the yield curve shines a bright light on market stress around the debt-ceiling X-Date being dragged closer. Bills that mature within a month are dramatically bid, while Bills that mature after a potential sooner-than-expected X-Date are bidless…
Source: Bloomberg
The yield curve itself shows that huge kink more clearly…
Source: Bloomberg
And that is reflected in the surge to record highs for short-dated USA sovereign protection costs…
Source: Bloomberg
But while USA risk is rising, US equity risk has been falling all week (to its lowest close since Nov ’21)…
Source: Bloomberg
However, as VIX tumbled to cycle lows this week, VVIX is notably decoupling from it across today’s OpEx…
Source: Bloomberg
Stocks suffered their worst week since March 10th (SVB collapse) with Nasdaq the biggest loser and Small Caps actually managing small gains…
Despite squeezes everyday this week, ‘Most Shorted’ stocks ended lower…
Source: Bloomberg
Energy stocks were the weakest this week while Staples and Real Estate outperformed…
Source: Bloomberg
As Defensives outperformed Cyclicals…
Source: Bloomberg
FSOC voted to tighten up regulation on the financial system (including non-banks) but while regional banks were up on the week, marginally, they are well off the week’s highs…
…and remain just drooling along at the post-SVB lows in context…
Source: Bloomberg
Treasury yields ended the week higher (with the short-end underperforming) after today’s post-PMI spike changed the week…
Source: Bloomberg
Fed Chair Powell’s favorite yield-curve-based recession-signal (18m fwd 3m to spot 3m yield spread) hit its most inverted ever this week….
Source: Bloomberg
Rate-hike expectations continue to rise for next week (now 92% odds of a 25bps hike) but we also saw the entire STIRs curve shioft hawkishly (with June now at 25% odds of a 25bps hike) and the terminal rate back above 5.00%…
Source: Bloomberg
The dollar saw its first weekly gain since 3/10 (but remains only marginally off the February lows). NOTE that during the week though every impulse higher in the dollar was sold into…
Source: Bloomberg
Cryptos had an ugly week…
Source: Bloomberg
With Bitcoin surging back above $30,000 and then running out of steam fast, tumbling back to support at $28,000…
Source: Bloomberg
Spot Gold closed back below $2000 this week, having tried and failed to rally back above it a few times…
Source: Bloomberg
NatGas and Crude were lower on the week, along with copper, as growth fears were resurrected modestly. Silver ended the week unchanged…
Source: Bloomberg
And we note that WTI has erased most of the post-OPEC+ production-cut spike gains…
Source: Bloomberg
Finally, with one week left in the month of April, data back to 1985 shows that May is historically quite good for risk…
As Goldman notes, SPX is positive 76% of the time during the month of May with a median return of 122bps, and NDX is positive 66% of the time during the month of May with a median return of 325bps.
But only one thing matters…
So BTFD next week after Gamma unclenches as 42% of the market cap of the S&P 500 reports earnings?
END
.i b Morning trading:
Early morning trading:
II) USA DATA//
I DO NOT TRUST THE DATA ON THESE TWO REPORTS
(zerohedge)
US Manufacturing & Services PMIs Unexpectedly Soared In Flash April Survey, Inflation Resurgent
FRIDAY, APR 21, 2023 – 09:55 AM
After mixed ‘soft’ regional survey data (Empire Fed spike, Philly Fed puke) and a general slide in the overall macro surprise index, expectations were for a decline in S&P Global’s PMI data in preliminary April data. However, just to baffle everyone with bullshit, both manufacturing and services jumped higher in early April data with the forfmer back into expansion territory (somehow)…
US Manufacturing at 11-month high – prints 50.4 (expansion) in flash April vs 49.2 prior, well ahead of the drop to 49.0 expected.
US Services at 6-month high – prints 53.7 (expansion) in flash April vs 52.6 prior, well ahead of the drop to 51.5 expected.
That is the first expansionary print for manufacturing since Oct 2022.
The headline S&P Global Flash US PMI Composite Output Index registered 53.5 in April, up from 52.3 in March, to signal the quickest upturn in business activity since May 2022.
New orders at US firms increased at the sharpest rate for 11 months in April as new client wins, improved customer confidence and successful marketing strategies drove the uptick.
“The latest survey adds to signs that business activity has regained growth momentum after contracting over the seven months to January. The latest reading is indicative of GDP growing at an annualized rate of just over 2%.
“Growth is also reassuringly broad-based, led by services thanks to a post-pandemic shift in spending away from goods, though goods producers are also reporting signs of demand picking up again.
“Jobs growth has accelerated alongside the resurgence of demand, aided by reports of vacancies being more easily filled, reflecting improved supply of candidates and higher wages.
“However, the upturn in demand has also been accompanied by a rekindling of price pressures. Average prices charged for goods and services rose in April at the sharpest rate since September of last year, the rate of inflation having now accelerated for three successive months. This increase helps explain why core inflation has proven stubbornly elevated at 5.6% and points to a possible upturn – or at least some stickiness – in consumer price inflation.”
Economic strength and resurging inflation – this is terrible news for the ‘pivot’-hopers.
end
III) USA ECONOMIC STORIES
This is extremely troubling!
(Mises)
Money-Supply Growth Fell To A 50-Year Low In Feb. Will The Fed Panic?
Money supply growth fell again in February, falling even further into negative territory after turning negative in November 2022 for the first time in twenty-eight years. February’s drop continues a steep downward trend from the unprecedented highs experienced during much of the past two years.
Since April 2021, money supply growth has slowed quickly, and since November, we’ve been seeing the money supply contract for the first time since the 1990s. The last time the year-over-year (YOY) change in the money supply slipped into negative territory was in November 1994. At that time, negative growth continued for fifteen months, finally turning positive again in January 1996.
During February 2023, the downturn became even bigger as YOY growth in the money supply was at –6.6 percent. That’s down from January’s rate of –5.0 percent, and down from February 2022’s rate of 6.9 percent. With negative growth now dipping below –6 percent, money-supply contraction is approaching the biggest declines we’ve seen in decades. At no point for at least sixty years has the money supply fallen by more than 5.6 percent in any month.
The money supply metric used here—the “true,” or Rothbard-Salerno, money supply measure (TMS)—is the metric developed by Murray Rothbard and Joseph Salerno, and is designed to provide a better measure of money supply fluctuations than M2.
The Mises Institute now offers regular updates on this metric and its growth. This measure of the money supply differs from M2 in that it includes Treasury deposits at the Fed (and excludes short-time deposits and retail money funds).
In recent months, M2 growth rates have followed a similar course to TMS growth rates, although TMS has fallen faster than M2. In February 2023, the M2 growth rate was –2.2 percent. That’s down from January’s growth rate of –1.7 percent. February’s rate was also well down from February 2022’s rate of 10.5 percent.
Money supply growth can often be a helpful measure of economic activity and an indicator of coming recessions. During periods of economic boom, money supply tends to grow quickly as commercial banks make more loans. Recessions, on the other hand, tend to be preceded by slowing rates of money supply growth.
Negative money supply growth is not in itself an especially meaningful metric. But the drop into negative territory we’ve seen in recent months does help illustrate just how far and how rapidly money supply growth has fallen. That is generally a red flag for economic growth and employment.
The fact that the money supply is shrinking at all is so remarkable because the money supply almost never gets smaller. The money supply has now fallen by $1.7 trillion (or eight percent) since the peak in April 2022. In raw numbers, that’s certainly the largest fall we’ve seen. But we can see in the next graph why, in percentage terms, the drop doesn’t beat those of the late 80s and early 90s. Money creation since 2009—and especially since 2020—has been so large that even a drop of $1 trillion is relatively small in percentage terms. Rather, the money supply would have to drop another $5 trillion or so—or more than 25 percent—just to return to the pre-2009 trend.
In fact, since 2009, the TMS money supply has grown by 200 percent. (M2 has grown by 149 percent in that period.) Out of the current money supply of $20 trillion, $5.8 trillion of that has been created since January 2020—or 28 percent. Since 2009, $13.4 trillion of the current money supply has been created. In other words, nearly two-thirds of the money supply have been created over the past thirteen years.
With these kinds of totals, an eight-percent drop puts a fairly small dent in the huge edifice of newly created money. The US economy still faces a very large monetary overhang from the past several years, and this is partly why after nine months of slowing money-supply growth, we are not yet seeing a sizable slowdown in the labor market.
Not surprisingly, this comes after the Federal Reserve finally pulled its foot slightly off the money-creation accelerator after more than a decade of quantitative easing, financial repression, and a general devotion to easy money. The Fed has allowed the federal funds rate to rise to five percent. This has also meant short-term interest rates overall have risen as well. In March, for example, the yield on 3-month Treasurys is approaching the highest level measured in 16 years.
This means trouble for all the zombie companies and banks that have become heavily dependent on easy money. As explained by Daniel Lacalle, the long period of easy money ended up getting banks heavily dependent on low-interest longer-term Treasury and mortgage-backed securities. Now mounting price inflation has forced the Fed to allow interest rates to rise slightly, however. Now, banks find they don’t have enough interest income coming in—i.e., income from those older low-interest securities—to pay the bank’s bills in the current era of higher interest rates. The first problem signs of this yield mismatch have appeared with the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
Banks are therefore reluctant to raise interest rates on deposits, and this has led to a historic decline in bank deposits with March deposits falling deeper into negative territory than in any other month in more than 50 years.
This is all connected to falling money-supply growth, as well. As Bob Murphy notes in his book Understanding Money Mechanics, a sustained decline in TMS growth often reflects spikes in short-term yields, which can fuel a flattening or inverting yield curve—which strongly suggests a recession is approaching. For example, the 3s/10s yield spread often heads toward zero as money supply growth moves in the same direction. This was especially clear from 1999 through 2000, from 2004 to 2006, and during 2018 and 2019, and beginning in 2022.
This all points toward rapidly declining economic activity in an economy where real savings and investments have been hollowed out by more than a decade of easy money. Without an economy geared toward real savings and increased productivity, ongoing monetary inflation will increasingly make price inflation worse. In this fragile economy, the Fed has therefore had to choose between rising price inflation on the one hand, and a banking system teetering on the brink in the other. Inflation fears have—for now—spurred the Fed to allow interest rates to rise, accompanied by a contracting money supply.
It remains to be seen how long it will take the Fed to hit the panic button and retreat back toward easy money, spurring a continuation of this cycle of mounting price inflation.
end
A must read: An analysis on the Trump tax cuts of 2017 and how this created a boom for the USA treasury and also the USA economy
Benjamin Franklin famously wrote in 1789 that “our new Constitution is now established and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Death and taxes are fated. However, are enormous tax hikes also a fait accompli? Is it a certainty – ‘an accomplished fact’ – that the White House and Congress will repeal tax reforms that worked? Tax breaks that helped small business owners and families.
For the past several days Americans have been scrambling to make the deadline to complete their 2022 tax returns. Most taxpayers will be relieved once the ordeal is done. However, here’s an unfortunate reality: if Washington fails to act, the federal tax code is headed for major changes in just a couple of years, including massive tax hikes on families and small businesses.
In December 2017, Congress passed, and Donald Trump signed an historic, comprehensive tax reform package.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act slashed taxes for almost all Americans, substantially reduced corporate and small business taxes, and increased the standard deduction for individuals and couples.
The reforms are set to expire – and certain provisions have already expired – in 2025. Unless the Congress moves to make the 2017 tax reforms permanent, Americans will suffer colossal tax increases crushing small businesses and family budgets.
The 2017 tax cuts delivered results for the American people, despite fierce opposition and false predictions of economic ruin. Opposition to the tax cut plan was intense. It was constant and well organized. At the time, many pundits – both on the right and left – predicted that the Republicans in Congress would cower and (former) President Trump would be forced to fold. It didn’t happen.
The Job Creators Network (JCN) – a nonpartisan group founded by entrepreneurs – stood their post. Building coalitions, offering intellectual ammunition, and countering hysteria with facts, JCN informed the public discourse. In a public debate marked by false narratives and misinformation, JCN did something quaint – it told the truth and made its case based on the facts and evidence.
The JCN reminded Congress:
“Small business is the backbone of the economy with two-thirds of new jobs being created by small businesses. There are 29 million small businesses in America employing 56 million people — that’s 85 million Americans depending on the success of small business.”
In 2017 in the midst of a political frenzy, the Job Creators Network advanced the economic science. JCN followed the evidence that tax reform would benefit all Americans and stimulate the economy. No easy task – remember the piercing opposition from Congressional Democrats and the media? We were bombarded with the worst demagoguery that Washington had to offer – that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was designed to help the wealthiest few Americans, while leaving the rest of us stuck with the bill. It turns out – as the JCN argued – tax reform was a boon to the economy and a saving grace for America’s small businesses.
Here’s what we know happened in the five years since the tax reforms took effect. Stephen Moore (an architect of the tax plan) recently wrote in the Washington Examiner:
“We now have incontrovertible evidence that after five years since they took effect, the Trump tax rate cuts of 2017 raised revenues over this time period. The latest Congressional Budget Office report released earlier [in January] calculated that the federal government collected $4.9 trillion of federal revenue last year. This was up — ready for this? — almost $1.5 trillion since 2017, the year before the tax cuts became law. In other words, revenues were up 40% in five years. The evidence through the first three years of the tax cut finds that the share of taxes paid by the wealthiest 1% rose as well. So much for this being a tax giveaway for the rich.”
Even with the Covid crisis and the pandemic lockdowns, the American economy experienced a ‘giant Laffer Curve’ effect from the 2017 tax cuts. In other words, Moore explains “we got higher growth and higher tax payments with lower tax rates.” The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act delivered good results for the American people.
Moore’s work on the tax reform package is why the Job Creators Network awarded him with its Defender of Small Business Award.
In 2018, JCN president and CEO Alfredo Ortiz called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act “One of the greatest legislative achievements of the decade.” He went on to say that “Steve Moore was not only a major mover and shaker that made passage possible, but he was a strong partner alongside the Job Creators Network in ensuring that small businesses were among the beneficiaries of the legislation.”
What was the economic outlook prior to the 2017 reforms?
The labor force participation rate was in an alarming downward trend – that is to say, the unemployed just stopped looking for work. Wage growth was stalled, and productivity growth was stuck at scarcely 1 percent. And new business investments in infrastructure had slowed to a meager 2.5 percent. America had entered – what the political class told us was – a ‘New Normal’ of measly economic growth and wage stagnation. However, the Job Creators Network argued that easing the tax burden on small businesses (and all Americans) would allow them to expand, hire, and reinvigorate ‘Main Street’.
What do we know today about the 2017 reforms? Another architect of the plan, Kevin A. Hassett, wrote in 2021 (four years into the tax reforms):
“Data released over the past four years have met or even exceeded our predictions. In 2019 alone, real median household income in the U.S. rose by $4,400 — a bigger increase in one year than in the entire 16 years through the end of 2016 combined. From December 2017 through the end of 2019, real wages for the bottom 10 percent of the wage distribution rose 8.4 percent, while real wages for the top 10 percent rose 5.2 percent. Real wealth for the bottom 50 percent rose a staggering 28.4 percent, while that of the top 1 percent rose 8.9 percent.”
Without Congressional action, the tax rates and reform tax structure (for 2026) will revert back to what Americans were subjected to before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act took effect.
Alfredo Ortiz said in a February oped:
“Fortunately, the facts have finally caught up with the tax cuts’ detractors while supporters have been vindicated. A new report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) proves that, on top of the tax cuts contributing to one of the strongest economies in half a century pre-pandemic, the package didn’t compromise the federal budget.”
Recently in RealClearPolicy Ortiz wrote, the only way out of our current economic difficulties “is to empower small businesses through pro-growth policies like those in Job Creators Network’s American Small Business Prosperity Plan.” The first plank of the JCN’s plan is to make the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent:
“The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act unleashed a tsunami of small business expansion—leading to one of the strongest economies in half a century. But now, the legislation is set to incrementally expire and effectively hike taxes on America’s small business community. Congress should make small business tax relief permanent.”
The Job Creators Network was right in 2017. The JCN was the bulwark that forced Congress to stay the course. Even as taxpayers have rushed to submit their returns and beat the IRS’s tax deadline, another deadline looms in our near future.
Without legislative action, the tax cuts are set to expire at the end of 2025 and by 2026 tax rates and tax brackets will be higher for most households and small businesses.
This year everyone (who pays taxes) knows that Tuesday April 18, 2023 is Tax Day. What we need to know is that December 31, 2025, will be a devastating day for most taxpayers – Tax Armageddon Day.
As Franklin warned, “nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
However, December 31, 2025 doesn’t have to be a fait accompli, not if Congress acts and the American people go to the polls in 2024 knowing that tax hikes are coming in 2026.
Massive tax hikes don’t have to be a certainty. You get to decide.
end
Another good read: how USA citizens are moving from blue states to red states
(Philips/EpochTimes)
US ‘National Divorce’ Appears To Already Be Happening
Since 2020, some 2.6 million people have moved out of U.S. counties that were won by President Joe Biden and into those that former President Donald Trump prevailed in, the analysis found. It cited recent Census Bureau data.
“More than 61 percent of the counties that voted for Biden in 2020 lost population, while 65 percent of Trump-supporting counties gained population,” the Issues and Insights analysis said. The data showed that some 2,562,937 people moved from Democrat-leaning counties to Republican-leaning counties since Biden was elected in the divisive November 2020 election.
The two counties that lost the most population from net internal migration were Los Angeles County and Cook County, Illinois, which both overwhelmingly voted in favor of Biden. Cook, which includes Chicago, was down about 200,718, while Los Angeles lost about 363,000 people since the election.
California, which has a Democrat governor and legislature, experienced “a massive net outflow” of people—871,127—in the past two years. New Jersey, which has a Democrat-controlled legislature and a Democrat governor, lost 107,000 people in the same time period, although the analysis noted that red counties in the Garden State gained 22,507.
Meanwhile, the largest loss suffered by any red county or equivalent was Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, which was down by 18,470, the analysis found.
“On the other hand, blue counties lost population in states that saw overall gains,” the analysis noted. “For example, Florida had a net gain of 622,476 over the past two years. But counties that backed Biden nevertheless lost 3,374. Georgia had a large gain of 128,089, but blue counties still had a net loss of 28,178. Tennessee saw an increase of 146,403 people, but counties that voted for Biden saw a decline of 37,306.”
Earlier Calls
Earlier this year, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) posted on social media about the prospects of a “national divorce” occurring within the country, noting that the differences between Republican and Democratic voters are simply too great on a range of issues.
“We need a national divorce. We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government,” Greene wrote in February during Presidents’ Day. “Everyone I talk to says this. From the sick and disgusting woke culture issues shoved down our throats to the Democrat’s traitorous America Last policies, we are done.”
END
Last weekend was chaos in Chicago. And they expect to have another one starting tomorrow
(zerohedge)
Illinois Lawmaker Calls Weekend Chaos A ‘Mass Protest’
THURSDAY, APR 20, 2023 – 06:40 PM
After a flash mob of more than 500 youths trashed downtown Chicago last weekend, smashing and setting fire to cars, terrorizing tourists, smashing windows and fighting in a riot that left two teenage boys hospitalized with gunshot wounds (albeit a common occurrence), oneDemocratic leader is making excuses.Via the Daily Mail
“Since I’m a glutton for punishment and I’m sure I’m gonna get the most unhinged, crime weirdo replies but: I would look at the behavior of young people as a political act and statement,” said state Senator Robert Peters.
In total, just 15 people were arrested.
Others expressed concern, carefully – so as not to offend anyone.
“We’ve had more than our share of downtown mass arrest incidents going back over a decade. This is not new,” said 2nd Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins, PJ Media reports. “What is new is to have it happen three days in a row.”
“There should be all sorts of contingency plans in place for when these incidents occur,” Hopkins continued. “Instead, we had an absolute meltdown of command and control. Nobody knew who was in charge.”
According to Hopkins, interim police SUpt. Eric Carter and Chief of Patrol Brian McDermott got into a shouting match Saturday night, and a disagreement ensued between “Chicago police leadership and CTA management about who was in charge.”
On Monday afternoon, the police department issued a statement saying more security measures would be in place going forward, such as checking bags at beach entry points. The curfew for Millennium Park will also be in place.
Police officials are working closely with youth and outreach workers for when the gatherings occur, according to the statement. Parents were encouraged to accompany their kids or have them remain under adult supervision.
It’s unclear why the police department was caught off guard, as it closely tracks social media for postings about these types of events.
More via PJ Media’s Rick Moran;
Maybe because no cop wants to end up in a viral video protecting himself or trying to restore order. The first order of business in any riot today is not to disrupt the destruction of the city. Laying hands on a rioter is a sure path to lawsuits and court appearances.
In case you were wondering, the kids are planning another outing this coming weekend.
The kids who are going to show up at these riots know that no one will touch them. No one wants to touch them because no one wants to deal with what they represent: the failure of city leaders to accept the responsibility to maintain a civil society.
What’s truly amazing is that you could draw a direct line from the 2020 George Floyd protests to last weekend’s mayhem and not deviate an inch. Actions have consequences and inaction also has consequences. These are the consequences of inaction and what’s truly scary is that when authorities try to regain control and establish order, people are going to die.
That’s the price Chicago is going to pay for stupidity and political gamesmanship.
END
Why the first amendment is critical. We must not let government criminalize free speech
(Whiteheads)
Speak Your Truth: Don’t Let The Government Criminalize Free Speech
“If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”
– George Washington
What the police state wants is a silent, compliant, oblivious citizenry.
What the First Amendment affirms is an engaged citizenry that speaks truth to power using whatever peaceful means are available to us.
Speaking one’s truth doesn’t have to be the same for each person, and that truth doesn’t have to be palatable or pleasant or even factual.
We can be loud.
We can be obnoxious.
We can be politically incorrect.
We can be conspiratorial or mean or offensive.
We can be all these things because the First Amendment takes a broad, classically liberal approach to the free speech rights of the citizenry: in a nutshell, the government may not encroach or limit the citizenry’s right to freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly and protest.
This is why the First Amendment is so critical.
It gives the citizenry the right to speak freely, protest peacefully, expose government wrongdoing, and criticize the government without fear of retaliation, arrest or incarceration.
Nowhere in the First Amendment does it permit the government to limit speech in order to avoid causing offense, hurting someone’s feelings, safeguarding government secrets, protecting government officials, discouraging bullying, penalizing hateful ideas and actions, eliminating terrorism, combatting prejudice and intolerance, and the like.
When expressive activity crosses the line into violence, free speech protections end.
However, barring actual violence or true threats of violence, there is a vast difference between speech that is socially unpopular and speech that is illegal, and it’s an important distinction that depends on our commitment to safeguarding a robust First Amendment.
Increasingly, however, the courts and the government are doing away with that critical distinction, adopting the mindset that speech is only permissible if it does not offend, irritate, annoy, threaten someone’s peace of mind, or challenge the government’s stranglehold on power.
While protecting people from stalking is certainly a valid concern and may be warranted in this particular case, the law does not require speech to be a “true threat” in order to be criminally punished. The Supreme Court has defined a “true threat” as “statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals.”
Indeed, Colorado’s stalking law is so broad that a person can be charged with stalking for repeatedly contacting, surveilling or communicating with an individual in such a way that a reasonable person would feel serious emotional distress.
In the absence of any substantive guidelines on what constitutes a true threat on social media, such laws could empower the government to misinterpret any speaker’s intent and meaning in order to criminalize legitimate political speech that is critical of government officials and representatives.
The Rutherford Institute has taken on the case, warning that the ramifications of it going unchallenged could render anyone who quotes the Bible a criminal if it makes a listener feel unsafe or threatened or judged.
This is what it means to criminalize free speech: it turns those who exercise their free speech rights into criminals.
This criminalization of free speech, which is exactly what the government’s prosecution of those who say the “wrong” thing using an electronic medium amounts to, was at the heart of Elonis v. United States, a case that wrestled with where the government can draw the line when it comes to expressive speech that is protected and permissible versus speech that could be interpreted as connoting a criminal intent.
The case arose after Anthony Elonis, an aspiring rap artist, used personal material from his life as source material and inspiration for rap lyrics which he then shared on Facebook.
For instance, shortly after Elonis’ wife left him and he was fired from his job, his lyrics included references to killing his ex-wife, shooting a classroom of kindergarten children, and blowing up an FBI agent who had opened an investigation into his postings.
Despite the fact that Elonis routinely accompanied his Facebook posts with disclaimers that his lyrics were fictitious, and that he was using such writings as an outlet for his frustrations, he was charged with making unlawful threats (although it was never proven that he intended to threaten anyone) and sentenced to 44 months in jail.
The question the U.S. Supreme Court was asked to decide in Elonis was whether his activity, in the absence of any overt intention of committing a crime, rose to the level of a “true threat” or whether it was protected First Amendment activity.
Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling in Elonis, Corporate America has taken the lead in policing expressive activity online, with social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube using their formidable dominance in the field to censor, penalize and regulate speech and behavior online by suspending and/or banning users whose content violated the companies’ so-called community standards for obscenity, violence, hate speech, discrimination, conspiracy theories, etc.
The fallout is as one would expect.
The internet has become a forum for the government—and its corporate partners—to monitor, control and punish the populace for speech that may be controversial but is far from criminal.
Everything is now fair game for censorship if it can be construed as hateful, hurtful, bigoted or offensive provided that it runs counter to the established viewpoint.
In this way, the most controversial issues of our day—race, religion, sex, sexuality, politics, science, health, government corruption, police brutality, etc.—have become battlegrounds for those who claim to believe in freedom (of religion, speech, assembly, press, redress, privacy, bodily integrity, etc.) but only when it favors the views and positions they support.
In more and more cases, the government is declaring war on what should be protected political speech whenever it challenges the government’s power, reveals the government’s corruption, exposes the government’s lies, and encourages the citizenry to push back against the government’s many injustices.
Indeed, there is a long and growing list of the kinds of speech that the government considers dangerous enough to red flag and subject to censorship, surveillance, investigation and prosecution: hate speech, conspiratorial speech, treasonous speech, threatening speech, inflammatory speech, radical speech, anti-government speech, extremist speech, etc.
In recent years, the government has used the phrase “domestic terrorist” interchangeably with “anti-government,” “extremist” and “terrorist” to describe anyone who might fall somewhere on a very broad spectrum of viewpoints that could be considered “dangerous.”
You see, the government doesn’t care if you or someone you know has a legitimate grievance. It doesn’t care if your criticisms are well-founded. And it certainly doesn’t care if you have a First Amendment right to speak truth to power.
It just wants you to shut up.
Yet no matter what one’s political persuasion might be, the right to disagree with and speak out against the government is the quintessential freedom. When exercised regularly and defended vigorously, these First Amendment rights serve as a bulwark against tyranny.
end
Dangerous indeed!
(DeCamp/Antiwar.com)
House China Committee To War-Game A Chinese Invasion Of Taiwan
The House’s new panel on China will be war gaming a Chinese invasion of Taiwanto explore ways the US can respond in the latest example of the US government preparing for a future conflict with Beijing.
Axiosreported that on Wednesday evening, members of the China committee, which is led by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), will take the role of US officials in the war game that will be conducted by a Center for a New American Security (CNAS).Image: Google Earth/CNN
CNAS is a hawkish think-tank that receives funding from US arms makers and the Taiwanese government through the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, Taiwan’s de facto embassy.
Several members of the Biden administration came from CNAS, including Kurt Campbell, a co-founder of the think tank who now serves as President Biden’s top Asia official on the National Security Council.
China hawks in Congress argue that the US must continue ramping up support for Taiwan to deter a Chinese invasion.
“We need to be moving heaven and earth to enhance our deterrence and denial posture so that Xi Jinping concludes that he just can’t do it,” Gallagher told AP.
But China’s recent rhetoric and actions have demonstrated that more US support for Taiwan puts the island under greater Chinese military pressure.
Beijing just concluded massive live-fire drills around Taiwan that were launched in response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in California
.
END
USA COVID//
END
SWAMP STORIES
Amazing: what crooks
Blinken Busted: Played Central Role In Discrediting Hunter Biden Laptop Story As Election Loomed
FRIDAY, APR 21, 2023 – 09:10 AM
In a major development in the House ongoing probe of the deep state’s October 2020 effort to suppress revelations from Hunter Biden’s “laptop from hell,” a former senior CIA official has testified that he organized an influential letter from former intel officials to help Joe Biden “win the election” — and was inspired to do so by a call from current Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was then a top Biden campaign official.
Mike Morell, who was at the time a former deputy director of the CIA, says he also coordinated with the Biden campaign on strategy for the letter’s release. Word of his revelations comes via a press release jointly issued by the chairmen of the House judiciary and intelligence committees late Thursday, first reported by the New York Post.
Before diving into the new information, let’s briefly recap what was already known...
On Oct. 14, 2020, the New York Post reported that Hunter Biden exploited his father’s position for personal gain — with the apparent knowledge of his father. The story — which drew on emails on a laptop Hunter Biden abandoned at a Delaware computer repair shop — undermined Joe Biden’s denials that he’d communicated with Hunter about his international business schemes.
Five days later, 51 former US intelligence officials issued a public statement assaulting the Post story, infamously declaring that it had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation,” and solemnly declaring their conviction that “American citizens should determine the outcome of elections, not foreign governments.” Politico dutifully published this Natasha Bertrand article on Oct. 19, 2020
Media outlets credulously reported on the letter, which was also used by social media platforms to justify blocking the story. The Post’s Twitter account was even suspended for two weeks. Biden cited the letter in a presidential debate, as he deflected Donald Trump’s exploitation of the damning Post story:
The Post story was of course legitimate. And with today’s release, we know Morell organized the misleading letter from 51 former intelligence community officials after receiving a phone call from Blinken.
In his private sworn testimony, Morell said Blinken called him on or about Oct 17 2020, and that the call “absolutely” triggered his intent to organize the letter, enlisting signatories that included James Clapper, John Brennan and Leon Panetta.
Later that night, Blinken emailed Morell a USA Today story (likely this one) reporting that the FBI was probing whether the Post report had Russian origins. The email appeared to be the forwarding of an email from Blinken’s fellow Biden 2020 campaign staffer, Andrew Bates, who was serving as the director of rapid response.
An Oct. 2020 Morell email to Brennan’s former chief of staff indicates the Biden campaign told Morell that the letter should first go to a certain Washington Post reporter — who hasn’t been outed yet — and that the campaign should get the letter too. Shapiro ended up first delivering the vessel of politically-motivated disinformation to Politico.
After the debate in which Biden used the letter in his defense, Jeremy Bash — former CIA chief of staff, husband of CNN’sDana Bash and now an MSNBC “national security analyst” — coordinated a phone call to Morell from Biden campaign manager Steve Richetti, who thanked Morrell for his handiwork.
With Morell’s testimony in hand, Jim Jordan and Michael Turner — respectively, chairs of the House judiciary and intelligence committees — have now sent a 5-page letter to Blinken asking that he “identify all people with whom you communicated about the inception, drafting, editing, signing, publishing, or promotion” of the former intel-official letter, and “produce all documents and communications” referring to it.
Summarizing the sordid affair in their Thursday afternoon release, Jordan and Turner wrote:
“Although the statement’s signatories have an unquestioned right to free speech and free association—which we do not dispute—their reference to their national security credentials lent weight to the story and suggested access to specialized information unavailable to other Americans. This concerted effort to minimize and suppress public dissemination of the serious allegations about the Biden family was a grave disservice to all American citizens’ informed participation in our democracy.”
Does this remind anyone else of the time an anonymous Biden official told AP that Zero Hedge was a Russian propaganda operation?
END
What a bunch of crap!! they are just going to give Hunter Biden a slap on the wrist
(zerohedge)
Feds Now Eyeing Multiple Felony Charges Against Hunter Biden; IRS Whistleblower Story Grows Legs
FRIDAY, APR 21, 2023 – 10:25 AM
Update (04/21/2023): Several Hunter Biden stories have begun gaining traction in the last 24 hours, including a report by NBC News (so, ‘the narrative’) that federal prosecutors are eyeing charges on three tax crimes and a charge related to a gun purchase.
The possible charges are two misdemeanor counts for failure to file taxes, a single felony count of tax evasion related to a business expensefor one year of taxes, and the gun charge, also a potential felony.
NBC News does let us know that there’s “growing frustration” inside the FBI because both FBI and IRS investigators finished with their Hunter investigations around a year ago and nothing has been done.
The Washington Post previously reported that federal investigators believed they had gathered enough evidence to charge Hunter Biden with tax crimes and a false statement related to a gun purchase.
The decision on which charges to file, if any, will be made by U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who was appointed by President Donald Trump and retained by the Biden administration to continue the Hunter Biden investigation. There are no indications a final decision has been made, said the two sources familiar with the matter. -NBC News
In short – the DOJ is lagging on Hunter’s slap on the wrist.
We’re sure the above reporting was triggered by the IRS whistleblower – the guy in charge of the agency’s Hunter Biden investigation – who came forward earlier this week in a letter to lawmakers, accusing the DOJ of ‘mishandling’ the Hunter Biden case. What’s actually notable here is that the story is big enough that the NY Times can’t avoid reporting on it.
The disclosure fed claims by congressional Republicans that a Justice Department run by the president’s political appointees could not be trusted to make a decision about his son based on the facts and law.
The letter said the client had information that would contradict sworn testimony to Congress from a senior political appointee, an apparent reference to Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, who has offered assurances that the U.S. attorney in Delaware, David C. Weiss, who was appointed by President Donald J. Trump, would be free to run the investigation.
In response, Hunter Biden’s criminal defense lawyer, Christopher Clark, fired back on Thursday, claiming that the I.R.S. supervisor broke the law by disclosing confidential taxpayer information and called on the Justice Department to investigate the supervisor. Mr. Clark said that the only way it was known that the supervisor’s complaints could be linked to the Hunter Biden investigation would be if the supervisor or his lawyer disclosed it, either of which, he said, would have been improper. -NY Times
“It is a felony for an I.R.S. agent to improperly disclose information about an ongoing tax investigation,” said Biden’s lawyer. “The I.R.S. has incredible power, and abusing that power by targeting, embarrassing or disclosing information about a private citizen’s tax matters undermines Americans’ faith in the federal government.”
“Unfortunately, that is what has happened and is happening here in an attempt to harm my client. It appears this I.R.S. agent has committed a crime, and had denied my client protections that are his right.”
Yes, just a private citizen whose family the CCP definitely doesn’t have any leverage over while orchestrating a controlled demolition of the west. No ‘Trump Tower’ implications to report on, right entire MSM? We digress.
END
State Department Fails To Comply With House GOP Subpoena To Turn Over Afghan Dissent Cable
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has failed to comply with a congressional subpoena, which required the State Department to hand over by April 19 a dissent cable from the time of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Epoch Times has learned.
Yimmi Fontenot, the press secretary for Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which issued the subpoena, told The Epoch Times that the State Department has not sent over the cable.
The committee subpoenaed Blinken in March for the cable, which, as The Wall Street Journal first reported, showed the U.S. Embassy in Kabul warning Foggy Bottom about the Taliban quickly gaining ground and the Afghan forces falling apart. They gave suggestions on how to expedite an evacuation and alleviate the situation.
“The cable, dated July 13, also called for the State Department to use tougher language in describing the atrocities being committed by the Taliban,” reported WSJ, citing a person familiar with it. The withdrawal was completed at the end of the following month.
“This committee is empowered by the U.S. Constitution to conduct oversight of the State Department,” said committee chairman Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) in announcing the subpoena on March 28.
“We have made multiple good faith attempts to find common ground so we could see this critical piece of information. Unfortunately, Secretary Blinken has refused to provide the Dissent Cable and his response to the cable, forcing me to issue my first subpoena as chairman of this committee.”
McCaul has requested the cable on multiple occasions.
In a statement to The Epoch Times, the State Department implied it has not turned over the document.
“Secretary Blinken has continued to make clear his and the State Department’s commitment to working with the House Foreign Affairs committee to provide relevant information, while also upholding his responsibility to protect the integrity of the Department’s dissent channel,” said Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel.
“Discussions with the committee about next steps are ongoing, but the Department has again offered a briefing about the concerns raised and the challenges identified by Embassy Kabul, proposed for next week, which we sincerely hope the Chairman will accept, in addition to offering other means to help inform the Committee in its investigation,” he continued.
Blinken told the committee during a March 23 hearing that he would not hand over the cable, citing security and privacy concerns with the State Department’s dissent channel system.
“We continue to believe that our offers can satisfactorily provide the committee with the information it needs to conduct its oversight function while still protecting the dissent channel.”
“It is vital to me that we preserve the integrity of that process and of that channel, that we not take any steps that could have a chilling effect on the willingness of others to come forward in the future, to express dissenting views on the policies that are being pursued,” he said.
However, Blinken expressed a willingness to give the committee “relevant information” from it.
“I hope we can find a way to do it that meets both of our needs,” he said.
McCaul, on the eve of the subpoena deadline, suggested that he would take Blinken to court if he didn’t comply with the subpoena.
“Honestly, I think they’re trying to stonewall this until the end of this Congress,” McCaul told Punchbowl News.
END
THE KING REPORT
The King Report April 21, 2022 Issue 6794
Independent View of the News
Fox’s @ChadPergram: Dem Sen. Manchin: I applaud Spkr McCarthy for putting forward a proposal that would prevent default & rein in federal spending. While I do not agree with everything proposed, the fact of the matter is that it is the only bill moving through Congress that would prevent default. For the sake of the country, I urge President Biden to come to the table, propose a plan for real and substantive spending cuts and deficit reduction, and negotiate now. Failing to do so may score political points with the extremes of the Democratic Party, but make no mistake, it will be the American people – and our nation – who will pay the ultimate price if partisan politics continues to define our politics and policies.
@economics: Biden paints the Republican debt ceiling and spending cut proposal as lacking detail and benefiting the wealthyhttps://t.co/ZECM97x1ms
GOP Sen. @TomCottonAR: It’s remarkable that President Biden won’t even meet with Speaker McCarthy discuss how to lower our debt. What is Biden so scared of? Where is the leadership?
Biden rule will redistribute high-risk loan costs to homeowners with good credit A Biden administration rule is set to take effect that will force good-credit home buyers to pay more for their mortgages to subsidize loans to higher-risk borrowers… (Is this legal?) https://t.co/K917usr6UO
US Economic Data released on Thursday Initial Jobless Claims 245k, 240k exp and prior Continuing Jobless Claims 1.865m, 1.825m exp, 1.804m prior April Phil Fed Business Outlook -31.3, -19.3 exp, -23.2 prior March Existing Homes Sales 4.4m, 4.5m exp, 4.55m prior; prices -9.2% y/y, largest drop in 11 years March LEI -1.2% (lowest since 11/20), -0.7% exp, -0.5% prior revised from -0.3%
The disappointing US economic data unleashed defensive asset allocation. USMs rallied as much 1 1/32; stocks sank, ex-the DJTA, which rallied sharply for the second straight session. UAL’s smaller than expected loss fueled the rally on Wednesday. Yesterday, Matson soared as much as 11% after the land & ocean transportation company lifted Q1 EPS guidance (due May 4) to .81 to .93 from .80.
ESAs traded lower when the Nikkei opened due to Tesla’s soft results. ESMs then traded sideways, in an 8-handle range, until they commenced a sharp decline when Europe opened at 3 ET. A bottom formed at 4:44 ET. After a modest rally that lasted until 7:20 ET, ESMs and stocks fell to new session lows at 8:17 ET. It was time for the rally for the NYSE opening.
ESMs rallied 20 handles by 10:51 ET. ESMs and stocks then rolled over and traded sideways in listless action until they broke higher at 12:30 ET. After a 12-handle breakout, ESMs peaked at 13:30 ET. They then tumbled until 15:28 ET. After a modest rebound, ESMs went inert until someone manipulated ESMs 15 handles higher from 15:50 ET to 15:55 ET. Where’s Gary Gensler and his inept SEC?
@RNCResearch: Treasury Secretary Yellen: Biden’s “actions” on China are “not designed for us to gain a competitive economic advantage or to stifle China’s economic and technological modernization“ https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1649084333897007105
Janet Yellen warns that US decoupling from China would be ‘disastrous’ – FT.
Homebuilder D.R. Horton surges as ‘encouraging’ housing market boosts resultshttps://t.co/dIEYhkGBPb
@nickgerli1: DR Horton sales order backlog just fell by 44% YoY. 2022 Q2: $13.3 Billion, 2023 Q2: $7.4 Billion. That type of drop is comparable to what occurred from 2006 to 2007 in the beginning stages of the last Housing Downturn. https://t.co/mbAVZkj3Yj
Positive aspects of previous session Gasoline declined sharply for the 3rd straight session The DJTA rallied on Matson’s higher EPS guidance Bonds rallied sharply, but on defensive asset allocation
Negative aspects of previous session Tesla led Fangs lower Major equity indices declined sharply, ex-the DJTA, until a last-minute manipulation appeared Action has been listless, which is alarming ahead for expiry week and Q1 earnings season
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]: 4130.98 Previous session High/Low: 4148.57; 4114.57
@EricBalchunas: Tesla has seen about as much trading volume today as the rest of the Top 10 most-traded stocks combined. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that. https://t.co/x2OwVweWZJ
@michaelpsenger: CDC Director Rochelle Walensky tells Congress that vaccinated individuals can, in fact, spread COVID, contrary to her earlier statements, attributing this change to “an evolution of science.” https://twitter.com/michaelpsenger/status/1648748890789920769
Stanford Prof @DrJBhattacharya: There was no “evolution of the science“. Many scientists worldwide knew that the vax does not stop transmission by spring/summer 2021. The 2020 clinical trials did not check for transmission-blocking. @elonmusk Replying to @DrJBhattacharya: They should at least have mentioned that the clinical trials didn’t check for transmission-blocking.
@zerohedge: United Airlines says six Boeing Co. 737 Max 8 aircraft were delayed after a supplier recently discovered a manufacturing defect… folks really can’t wait to fly on this airplane again.
Today – Expiry week and Q1 reporting season continues to disappoint bulls and conditioned traders. If stocks are soft in the morning or at midday, be alert for the usual Friday afternoon rally, which could be exacerbated by an expiry-related manipulation. Technically, stocks are starting to breakdown. This is even more troubling when you consider stocks should have soared this week.
If stocks do not soon rally robustly, it’s highly likely that stocks will suffer a spirited rally, which could be amplified by traders trying to front run the “sell in May and go away” seasonal pattern.
Expected economic data: April S&P Global US Mfg PMI 49, Services 51.5, Composite 51.2
ESMs are -1.75 and USMs are +3/32 at 20:30 ET in very quiet trading.
Ex-top spy admits Hunter Biden laptop letter designed to influence 2020 election, Blinken involved A former acting CIA director has admitted to Congress that he organized the letter that falsely portrayed Hunter Biden’s laptop as Russian disinformation in an effort to influence the 2020 election in favor of Joe Biden and that he did so at the direction of current Secretary of State Antony Blinken, according to a letter released Thursday by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan… Jordan sent a letter demanding Blinken answer a series of questions about Morell’s stunning testimony, as lawmakers weighed the enormity of America’s top diplomat being willing to accuse a nuclear-armed superpower of interfering in the 2020 election without evidence… Morell, who was working as a podcaster and contributor at CBS News, was said to have been on the short list for CIA director and had his desire for a promotion leveraged against him in return for his cooperation… https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/ex-top-spy-admits-hunter-biden-laptop-letter-designed-influence
The MSM and Dems are trying to ignore and underplay the fact that the Biden AG Garland is stifling the Hunter Biden investigation, and Biden Secretary of State Blinken might have instigated a fraud to influence a presidential election. These are titanic scandals! If this were a GOP administration, the MSM howls for impeachments, resignations, and prosecutions would be deafening.
Ex-DNI @RichardGrenell: CNN leadership should be ashamed of themselves – @DanaBashCNN’s husband signed the letter. Are you telling me she didn’t know that the sitting Secretary of State asked her husband to sign the letter?!
GOP Rep MTG Claims the Biden Family Is Involved in a Sex Trafficking Scheme The “Biden crime family participated in human trafficking by soliciting… I just saw evidence of human trafficking that involves prostitutes not only from here in the United States but foreign countries like Russia and Ukraine.”…https://t.co/L9AAFB1SMs
@CollinRugg: Robert F. Kennedy blasts the media and Biden White House, accuses them of lying about the war in Ukraine during an interview with Tucker Carlson. “Russians are killing Ukrainians at a seven to one, eight to one ratio. They cannot sustain this. What we’re being told about this war is not true.” https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1648849084969803776
@ChuckCallesto: 912 Project reveals CCP attempted to take advantage of George Floyd’s death on its second anniversary to PROMOTE DIVIDE / HATRED towards police officers. https://t.co/5ECU3a7rQC
@Surabees: GOP Sen. @JDVance1 at the Heritage Foundation: “This is maybe the most important lesson of Iraq, the people who drive our foreign policy very often don’t know what they’re doing, but they suffer no consequences when they’re wrong.”
@FinancialTimes: The prolonged absence of 89-year-old senator Dianne Feinstein from Capitol Hill has raised uncomfortable questions about the age of many lawmakers in Washington, exposing fissures in the Democratic party that cut across generational and ideological lines.https://t.co/jUrf1EYnhP
Dem Sen. John Fetterman’s opening committee hearing statement raises concern: ‘Not remotely well’https://t.co/gR8KlinozZ
@townhallcom: Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) highlights the vital work that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is doing to ensure that “female dummies” are used in vehicle crash testing “to fight the gender inequity among…crash victims.” (Not a parody!) https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1649054160380399619
Seattle slammed for plan to give gift cards to drug addicts who accept treatment: ‘Gamifying addiction’ (What is subsidized will increase; what is taxed will diminish.) https://t.co/S014ZTf7sI
@ggreenwald: We’ve spoken with 2 major law firms in Nashville who said they’d send retainer letters to represent us suing FBI and the Nashville PD to obtain the manifesto of the Nashville shooter, only to back out at the last second. The political pressures are intense. We should see it.
Selling Out America First – Why the Trumps can’t quit Bud Light, Disney, and Pfizer. Trump Jr.’s argument centered on the company’s donations to the GOP. “We looked into the political giving and lobbying history of Anheuser-Busch,” he said… “They actually support Republicans.”… Second, The Donald himself sided with Disney amid the company’s fight with Gov. Ron DeSantis in Florida, the man who seems to haunt Trump’s nightmares… Walt Disney Co. donated $10.5 million to Trump’s America First Action super PAC in the 2020 election cycle, which was more than it gave to then-candidate Joe Biden during the same period, according to Open Secrets… According to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Trump approached him about chairing a commission on vaccine safety. In February 2017, Kennedy told Science about his talks with Trump… Trump got in there saying, “I’m going to get rid of the swamp.” He asked me to be on a vaccine safety commission. When that news got out, Pfizer gave him $1 million for the inauguration, for his inaugural party, and then he appointed two of Pfizer’s lobbyists, Scott Gottlieb and Alex Azar, to run HHS. They killed the vaccine safety commission, and then Gottlieb went to serve on Pfizer’s board. That is the swamp… https://contra.substack.com/p/selling-out-america-first
@emeriticus: There are no good people left around Trump. I’ve spoken with veterans of the first administration—people who weren’t on team Kushner—and they’re done. They’ve seen what a joke this whole thing has become. And that was before Trump made Alex Bruesewitz the face of his campaign. You’d get Brooke Rollins, the grifters who gave you the First Step Act and pushed for amnesty, and clowns like Bruesewitz. This is illustrative of a bigger problem than any single figure: Trump doesn’t care about policy, so he doesn’t care about alienating smart people with integrity. He elevates the worst and most unserious people because they’re the ones who tell him what he wants to hear.
@jason_meister: According to a new Rasmussen poll, 65% of U.S. likely voters think that undercover agents provoked Jan 6. Can you imagine what the percentage would be if the mainstream media did their job and actually reported on the FBI informants in the crowd, undercover DC Metro cops, undercover Secret Service, and Capitol Police?
@TheRabbitHole84: Chicago’s murder rate is 29.3 for every 100,000 people, which places it amongst the most murder-afflicted nations on the planet. (Brazil 27.38, Mexico ~28) https://t.co/ad3FEVxSQ0
@CWBChicago: More cars have been stolen in Chicago this year than at this point in 2019, 2020, and 2021 combined.https://t.co/ufqtJCV0gf
Good Samaritan who stepped in to save Chicago couple being beaten sends message to Lightfoot Lenora Dennis said she feared for her own life when she stepped in to aid the attacked couple “I’m sorry, Lightfoot. I voted for you… but I can’t be involved in any level of sugarcoating what I saw,” Dennis told Fox News’ Fox News’ Garrett Tenney. “That was mayhem.”…https://t.co/u2HCdpJO9u
@zerohedge: Hey @verizon, remember when you lost a ton of money on HuffPo but at least you made it up with your legendary investment in BuzzFeed (at a $1.5BN valuation). If you are in the market for more media properties give us a call.
‘Double Standard’: Legal Experts Slam Dems for Ignoring Liberal Justice’s Failure to Disclose Spouse’s Consulting WorkJustice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nominee financial disclosure from March 2022 reveals she “inadvertently omitted” consulting income her spouse “periodically receives from consulting on medical malpractice cases” on previous reports.Conservative legal experts said Jackson’s disclosure, along with amendments Justice Sonia Sotomayor has made to her reports, show attacks on Clarence Thomas for his alleged ethics violation in failing to disclose expense paid vacations he received from his friend and billionaire real estate developer Harlan Crow are hypocritical.https://dailycaller.com/2023/04/20/double-standard-ketanji-brown-jackson-financial-disclosure-supreme-court-clarence-thomas-ethics/
@thackerpd: Democrats are referencing a deleted and corrected @mtaibbi tweet w/ the wrong acronym as a possible criminal violation of 1001–false misleading information before Congress. QUESTION: What the hell is going on in America?https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/uploadedfiles/
@ggreenwald: Few things better illustrate what US establishment liberalism has become: — Corporate media employees unite to tell everyone to ignore the #TwitterFiles (“nothing burger”); — MSNBC host uses false claims to attack the journalist. — Dem Delegate threatens him with prison.
Tom Cotton Confronts Deputy Attorney General Over DOJ Double Standards The law passed in the aftermath of Enron’s collapse prohibits actions that “otherwise obstruct, influence, or impede an official proceeding.” “I want to be clear, I’m not talking here about persons who committed violent acts against law enforcement officers and destroyed property,” Cotton said. The Arkansas senator emphasized the Justice Department was using the law to prosecute individuals who “in some cases, were merely present on the Capitol grounds.”… According to Newsweek, demonstrators stormed the hallways of the Jacob Javits Federal Building where House lawmakers convened a field hearing on New York City crime. “Has your department begun to investigate this effort to obstruct or influence the official proceeding of the House Judiciary Committeein New York City?” Cotton asked. “I’m not aware of those events,” Monaco said, declining to comment. “What about in Tennessee, a democratic mob obstructed the Tennessee legislature recently to such a severe extent that the legislature expelled two of its members,” Cotton said. “Is the Department of Justice investigating all those protestors who disrupted the official proceeding of the Tennessee legislature?” “I’m not aware of any such investigation,” Monaco replied… https://thefederalist.com/2023/04/19/tom-cotton-confronts-deputy-attorney-general-over-doj-double-standards/
@AlexEpstein: “Country Faces an Overpopulation by 1975, with Farms Unable to Feed All, Experts Say”—@nytimes in 1952, fearing that US population would reach 190 million. Today we have 330 million people, and our major food-related problem is eating too much.
If you have been following along here on USAW, you all know the real data showing the economy and the U.S. dollar is in real trouble. Now, throw in some politics to cast blame away from the Obama/Biden Administration for tanking the economy and you get some real dangerous wild cards put into the deck. The debt ceiling is headed for a showdown next week, and some people think the Democrats will crash the stock and bond markets when the debt ceiling does not pass. Who knows if this will happen, but the climate is so volatile in Washington D.C. the possibility is real. Look out and prepare for the worst.
Why would an economic crash be valuable to the Obama/Biden Administration? How about to distract from the criminal problems Hunter Biden is facing? Or you can look no further than the latest real approval number from Martin Armstrong released this week on USAW. The real approval number for Vice President Biden is 9.5% according to Armstrong’s Socrates computer program. Another source (I personally know and must keep anonymous) from Big Tech says their latest number is 9% approval for “The Big Guy.” So, double sourced and proof the Obama/Biden Administration knows it is already facing a mountain of an uphill battle. It also knows it is in very big trouble with Biden announcing next week he’s running for re-election in 2024.
The deaths and disabilities keep stacking up with the CV19 bioweapon/vax. The Lying Legacy Media (LLM) keeps trying to cover up and ignore the massive medical genocide, but with 600 million injections in the USA alone, the dike is clearly breaking. Fully vaxed Jamie Foxx has been in the hospital since April 11 with some sort of “medical complication.” Meanwhile, former news anchor, 42-year-old Lesley Swick-Van Ness, was not so fortunate. She passed away from a “sudden illness” Monday morning while vacationing with her family, according to news reports.
When do the death and disabilities peak? Computer data researcher Clif High tells us we have a way to go before the carnage peaks from the CV19 bioweapon/vax. It’s in the video, so watch it for the answer.
There is much more in the 49-minute newscast.
Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog.com as he talks about these stories and more in the Weekly News Wrap-Up for 4.21.23.
(Tech Note: If you do not see the video, know it is there. Unplug your modem and plug it back in after 30 sec. This will clear codes that may be blocking you from seeing it. In addition, try different browsers. Also, turn off all ad blockers if you have them. All the above is a way Big Tech tries to censor people like USAWatchdog.com.)
0:01 / 49:04
After the Interview:
Award winning journalist Alex Newman from The Epoch Times, The New American and Liberty Sentinel.org will be the guest for the Saturday Night Post. He will detail the evil tyrannical agenda the U.N. does not want you to know about until it is too late.
#Russian #Navy during the recent exercises on April 17, 2023. https://t.co/MUcJSPAepu” / Twitter
A newborn baby was medically kidnapped in Texas last month (March, 2023) because the parents chose to have a home birth with a licensed midwife, and when they took the baby to their pediatrician for a routine checkup, the doctor stated that the child had jaundice and required to be hospitalized. The parents refused to take the baby to the hospital, choosing instead to treat the jaundice themselves under the care of their licensed midwife, so the doctor called Child “Protection” Services who then came with police to the home and abducted the breastfeeding baby by force. The parents finally got to take their baby home earlier today (April 20, 2023) now over a month old, mainly because this became a national story and many people from the community came out to protest. This family will now have to deal with this trauma for the rest of their lives, and who knows what medical treatment was given to the baby while out of the care of the parents.Read More…
harveyorganblog.com 
