GOLD PRICE CLOSED: DOWN $5.25 TO $1933,60

SILVER PRICE CLOSED: DOWN $0.16 AT $23.61

Access prices: closes 4: 15 PM

Gold ACCESS CLOSE 19354.60

Silver ACCESS CLOSE: 23.58

SHANGHAI FIXES MORNING AND NIGHT AUGUST 1:

Shanghai Gold Benchmark Price

USD oz gram kilo tola AM1973.83

PM1975.07

Historical SGE Fix

New York price at the time: 1934.00

premium $40.00

Shanghai never saw the raid yesterday.

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Bitcoin morning price:, $29167 DOWN 29 Dollars

Bitcoin: afternoon price: $29,213 DOWN 19 dollars

Platinum price closing $918.20 DOWN $34.90

Palladium price; $1260,40 DOWN $25.75

END

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

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

CANADIAN GOLD: $2,583.20 DOWN 0000 CDN dollars per oz (ALL TIME HIGH 2,775.35)

BRITISH GOLD: 1522.44 DOWN 000 pounds per oz//(ALL TIME HIGH//CLOSING///1630.29)

EURO GOLD: 1767.46 DOWN 1.59 euros per oz //(ALL TIME HIGH/CLOSING//1861.21)//

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EXCHANGE: COMEX

EXCHANGE: COMEX
CONTRACT: AUGUST 2023 COMEX 100 GOLD FUTURES
SETTLEMENT: 1,937.400000000 USD
INTENT DATE: 08/02/2023 DELIVERY DATE: 08/04/2023
FIRM ORG FIRM NAME ISSUED STOPPED

190 H BMO CAPITAL 11
363 H WELLS FARGO SEC 1
435 H SCOTIA CAPITAL 3
624 H BOFA SECURITIES 9
661 C JP MORGAN 20 19
690 C ABN AMRO 20
709 C BARCLAYS 1
737 C ADVANTAGE 3
905 C ADM 1

TOTAL: 44 44
MONTH TO DATE: 6,750

JPMorgan stopped 19/44 contracts.

FOR AUGUST:

GOLD: NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR AUGUST/2023. CONTRACT: 44 NOTICES FOR 4400 OZ or 0.1368 TONNES

total notices so far: 6750 contracts for 675,000 oz (20.995 tonnes)

FOR AUGUST:

SILVER NOTICES: 7 NOTICE(S) FILED FOR 35,000 OZ/

total number of notices filed so far this month : 754 for 3,770,000 oz

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END

GLD

WITH GOLD DOWN $5,25

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

NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:

INVENTORY RESTS AT 909.18 TONNES

Silver//

WITH NO SILVER AROUND AND SILVER DOWN 16 CENTS AT THE SLV// small CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 190,000 OZ FROM THE SLV..

INVESTORS ARE SWITCHING SLV TO SPROTT’S PSLV.

CLOSING INVENTORY: 451.281 MILLION OZ

Let us have a look at the data for today

SILVER//OUTLINE

SILVER COMEX OI FELL BY A HUGE SIZED 3045 CONTRACTS TO 141,093 AND FURTHER FROM THE RECORD HIGH OI OF 244,710, SET FEB 25/2020 AND THIS HUGE SIZED LOSS IN COMEX OI WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR STRONG $0.43 LOSS IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX ON WEDNESDAY. TAS ISSUANCE WAS A HUMONGOUS SIZED 2474 CONTRACTS. THESE WILL BE USED FOR MANIPULATION LATER THIS MONTH. CRAIG HEMKE HAS POINTED OUT THAT THE CROOKS USE THE MID MONTH FOR MANIPULATION AS THEY SELL THEIR BUY SIDE OF THE CALENDAR SPREAD FIRST AND THEN KEEP THE SELL SIDE TO LIQUIDATE AT A LATER DATE. THUS WE HAVE TWO VEHICLES THE CROOKS USE FOR MANIPULATION AND BOTH ARE SPREADERS: 1) AT MONTH’S END/SPREADERS COMEX AND 2/ TAS SPREADERS, MID MONTH. TOTAL TAS ISSUED ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT: 2474 CONTRACTS. DESPITE MANY COMPLAINTS THAT THE CROOKS HAVE VIOLATED POSITION LIMITS DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE TAS ISSUED HAVE A VALUE OF ZERO (AS TO POSITION LIMITS FOR OUR CROOKED BANKERS). THE PROBLEM OF COURSE IS THAT THE CROOKS DO NOT LIQUIDATE THE TAS TOGETHER BUT SELL THE BUY SIDE FIRST AND THEN LIQUIDATE THE SELL SIDE TWO MONTHS HENCE. IT IS OBVIOUS MANIPULATION TO THE HIGHEST DEGREE BUT IT NATURALLY FELL ON DEAF EARS WITH OUR REGULATORS (OCC) WHEN THEY RECEIVED OUR COMPLAINTS. IT THUS LOOKS LIKE THE FED (GOV’T) IS BEHIND ALL OF THESE TRADES.

WE HAVE NOW SET ANOTHER RECORD LOW AT 114,102 CONTRACTS ///JULY 3.2023// OUR BANKERS WERE SUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING THE PRICE OF SILVER DOWN (IT FELL BY $0.43). BUT WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING OF ANY SILVER CONTRACTS AS DESPITE THE HUGE LOSS IN COMEX CONTRACTS, THE ENTIRE LOSS WAS THE USE OF T.A.S. TO LOWER THE SILVER PRICE.

WE MUST HAVE HAD:

A FAIR ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS( 300 CONTRACTS) iiii) AN INITIAL SILVER STANDING FOR COMEX SILVER MEASURING AT 3.105 MILLION OZ (FIRST DAY NOTICE) FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 0 OZ QUEUE JUMP //NEW STANDING REMAINS AT 3.770 MILLION OZ// // // HUGE SIZED COMEX OI LOSS/ FAIR SIZED EFP ISSUANCE/VI) HUMONGOUS NUMBER OF T.A.S. CONTRACT ISSUANCE (2474 CONTRACTS)/ZERO EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUED/

I AM NOW RECORDING THE DIFFERENTIAL IN OI FROM PRELIMINARY TO FINAL –370 CONTRACTS

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

TOTAL CONTRACTS for 3 days, total 1187 contracts: OR 5.935 MILLION OZ (395 CONTRACTS PER DAY)

TOTAL EFP’S FOR THE MONTH SO FAR: 4.435 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

YEAR 2022:

JAN 2022-DEC 2022

JAN 2022// 90.460 MILLION OZ

FEB 2022: 72.39 MILLION OZ//

MARCH: 207.140 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

TOTALS YR 2022: 1135.767 MILLION OZ (1.1356 BILLION OZ)

JAN 2023/// 53.070 MILLION OZ //FINAL

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

MARCH 2023: 112.58 MILLION OZ//FINAL//STRONG ISSUANCE

APRIL 118.035 MILLION OZ(SLIGHTLY GREATER THAN THAN LAST MONTH)

MAY 66.120 MILLION OZ/INITIAL (MUCH SMALLER THIS MONTH)

JUNE: 110.395 MILLION OZ//MUCH LARGER THAN LAST MONTH

JULY 85.745 MILLION OZ (SMALLER THAN LAST MONTH)

AUGUST: 5.335 MILLION OZ

RESULT: WE HAD A HUGE SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF 3045 CONTRACTS WITH OUR STRONG LOSS IN PRICE OF $0.43 IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX//WEDNESDAY.,. THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A FAIR EFP ISSUANCE CONTRACTS: 300 ISSUED FOR SEPT 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 AUGUST OF 3.105 MILLION OZ FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 0 OZ QUEUE JUMP//NEW STANDING 3.770 MILLION OZ// .. WE HAVE A HUGE SIZED LOSS OF 2745 OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES. THE TOTAL OF TAS INITIATED CONTRACTS TODAY: A HUGE 2474//HUGE FRONT END OF THE TAS CONTRACTS WERE LIQUIDATED DURING THE WEDNESDAY COMEX SESSION//RAID . THE NEW TAS ISSUANCE TODAY (2474) WILL BE PUT INTO “THE BANK” TO BE COLLUSIVELY USED AT A LATER DATE./

WE HAD 7 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 35,000 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 SMALL SIZED 29 CONTRACTS TO 439,412 AND CLOSER TO 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: REMOVED: 662 CONTRACTS

WE HAD A TINY SIZED INCREASE IN COMEX OI ( 691 CONTRACTS) DESPITE OUR $3.45 LOSS IN PRICE//WEDNESDAY. WE ALSO HAD A RATHER SMALL INITIAL STANDING IN GOLD TONNAGE FOR AUGUST. AT 30.656 TONNES ON FIRST DAY NOTICE FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 300 OZ E.F.P. JUMP TO LONDON AND IN GOLD WE HAD ANOTHER OF THOSE RARE EXCHANGE FOR RISK OF 220 CONTRACTS OR 22,000 OZ (.684 TONNES) //NEW STANDING 30.752 TONNES + .684 EXCHANGE FOR RISK = 31.436/ + /A FAIR (AND CRIMINAL) ISSUANCE OF 1528 T.A.S. CONTRACTS /// ALL OF..THIS HAPPENED WITH A $3.45 LOSS IN PRICE WITH RESPECT TO WEDNESDAY’S TRADING.WE HAD A STRONG SIZED GAIN OF 5174 OI CONTRACTS (15.92 PAPER TONNES) ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES.

E.F.P. ISSUANCE

THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A STRONG SIZED 5145 CONTRACTS:

The NEW COMEX OI FOR THE GOLD COMPLEX RESTS AT 439,412

IN ESSENCE WE HAVE A STRONG SIZED INCREASE IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 5174 CONTRACTS WITH 29 CONTRACTS INCREASED AT THE COMEX// AND A STRONG 5145 EFP OI CONTRACTS WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS TOTAL OI GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 5174 CONTRACTS OR 15.92 TONNES. WE HAD THE FOLLOWING TAS CONTRACTS INITIATED (ISSUED): A FAIR 1528 CONTRACTS)

CALCULATIONS ON GAIN/LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES

WE HAD A STRONG SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (5145 CONTRACTS) ACCOMPANYING THE SMALL SIZED GAIN IN COMEX OI (29) //TOTAL GAIN FOR OUR THE TWO EXCHANGES: 5174 CONTRACTS. WE HAVE ( 1) NOW RETURNED TO OUR NORMAL FORMAT OF BANKERS GOING SHORT AND SPECULATORS GOING LONG ,2.) FAIR INITIAL STANDING AT THE GOLD COMEX FOR JULY AT 30.656 TONNES FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 300 OZ E.F.P. JUMP TO LONDON //NEW STANDING 30.752 TONNES + .684 TONNES (EXCHANGE FOR RISK)/// 3) ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION WITH CONSIDERABLE TAS LIQUIDATION //4) SMALL SIZED COMEX OPEN INTEREST GAIN/ 5) STRONG ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL PAPER///6: FAIR T.A.S. ISSUANCE: 1528 CONTRACTS

HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS IN 2023 INCLUDING TODAY

AUGUST

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

TOTAL EFP CONTRACTS ISSUED: 10,638 CONTRACTS OR 1,063,800 OZ OR 33.088 TONNES IN 3 TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 3546 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS : THIS MONTH IN 3 TRADING DAY(S) IN TONNES 33.088 TONNES

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

THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 33.088/3550 x 100% TONNES 0.930% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL PRODUCTION

ACCUMULATION OF GOLD EFP’S YEAR 2021 TO 2023

JANUARY/2021: 265.26 TONNES (RAPIDLY INCREASING AGAIN)

FEB : 171.24 TONNES ( DEFINITELY SLOWING DOWN AGAIN)..

MARCH:. 276.50 TONNES (STRONG AGAIN/

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

MAY: 250.15 TONNES (NOW DRAMATICALLY INCREASING AGAIN)

JUNE: 247.54 TONNES (FINAL)

JULY: 188.73 TONNES FINAL

AUGUST: 217.89 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE.

SEPT 142.12 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE ( LOW ISSUANCE)_

OCT: 141.13 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE (LOW ISSUANCE)

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

DEC. 175.62 TONNES//FINAL ISSUANCE//

TOTALS: 2,578.08 TONNES/2021

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

TOTAL: 2,847,25 TONNES/2022

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: 197.42 TONNES

MAY: 236.67 TONNES (A VERY STRONG ISSUANCE FOR THIS MONTH)

JUNE: 172.667 TONNES (WEAKER ISSUANCE THIS MONTH)

JULY: 151.69 TONNES (WEAKER THAN LAST MONTH)

AUGUST: 33.088 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 JUNE. 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 MAY HEADING TOWARDS THE ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF JUNE., 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 (JUNE), 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.

The crooks also use the spread in the TAS account (trade at settlement). They buy the spot TAS (e.g. June) and sell the future TAS two months out (e.g. August). Then they unload the front month (i.e. unload the buy side first so the price of gold/silver falls. This occurs in the middle of the front delivery month cycle. They unload the sell side of the equation, two months down the road. The crooks violate position limits as the OCC refuse to hear our complaints.

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 3045 CONTRACTS OI TO 141,093 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 NOW SET A NEW RECORD LOW OF 114,102 CONTRACTS JULY 3.2023

EFP ISSUANCE 300 CONTRACTS

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

SEPT 300 and ALL OTHER MONTHS: ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 300 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 3045 CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 300 OI TRANSFERRED TO LONDON THROUGH EFP’S,

WE OBTAIN A HUGE SIZED LOSS OF OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 2745 CONTRACTS

THUS IN OUNCES, THE LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES TOTAL 13.725 MILLION OZ

OCCURRED WITH OUR $0.43 LOSS IN PRICE …..

END

OUTLINE FOR TODAY’S COMMENTARY

1a/COMEX GOLD AND SILVER REPORT

(report Harvey)

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

(Peter Schiff)

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

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

b. Other gold/silver commentaries

c. Commodity commentaries//

d)/CRYPTOCURRENCIES/BITCOIN ETC

2.ASIAN AFFAIRS//

THURSDAY MORNING//WEDNESDAY NIGHT

SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 18,77 PTS OR 0.58% //Hang Seng CLOSED DOWN 96.51 PTS OR 0.49% /The Nikkei CLOSED DOWN 548.71 PTS OR 1.68% //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED DOWN 0.61 % /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed UP 7.1683 /OFFSHORE CHINESE YUAN UP TO 7.1785 /Oil UP TO 79.40 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT UP AT 82.97 / Stocks in Europe OPENED ALL MOSTLY RED// ONSHORE YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING STRONGER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE STRONGER

a)NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA

outline

b) REPORT ON JAPAN/

OUTLINE

3 CHINA

OUTLINE

4/EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

OUTLINE

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

OUTLINE

6.Global Issues//COVID ISSUES/VACCINE ISSUES

OUTLINE

7. OIL ISSUES

OUTLINE

8 EMERGING MARKET ISSUES

9. USA

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

GOLD

LET US BEGIN:

THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY A TINY SIZED 29 CONTRACTS UP TO 439,412 DESPITE OUR LOSS IN PRICE OF $3.45 ON TUESDAY.

EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE

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

THAT IS 5145 EFP CONTRACTS WERE ISSUED: : DEC 5145 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:

TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 5145 CONTRACTS

ON A NET BASIS IN OPEN INTEREST WE GAINED THE FOLLOWING TODAY ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES: A STRONG SIZED TOTAL OF 5174 CONTRACTS IN THAT 5145 LONGS WERE TRANSFERRED AS FORWARDS TO LONDON AND WE HAD A SMALL SIZED GAIN OF 29 COMEX CONTRACTS..AND THIS GAIN ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES HAPPENED DESPITE OUR LOSS IN PRICE OF $3.45//WEDNESDAY COMEX. AS PER OUR NEWBIE TRADE AT SETTLEMENT (TAS) MANIPULATION OPERATION (WHICH CRAIG HEMKE HAS POINTED OUT HAPPENS DURING MID MONTH IN THE DELIVERY CYCLE), THE CME REPORTS THAT THE TOTAL T.A.S. ISSUANCE FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT WAS A FAIR 1528 CONTRACTS. THROUGHOUT THE PAST WEEKS, THE BANKERS SOLD OFF THE LONG SIDE OF THE SPREAD WHICH OF COURSE CONTINUES TO MANIPULATE THE PRICE OF GOLD SOUTHBOUND. (THEY KEEP THE SHORT SIDE OF THE CALENDAR SPREAD WHICH WILL BE LIQUIDATED TWO MONTHS HENCE)//THE HUGE NUMBER OF T.A.S. CONTRACTS INITIATED OVER THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS SPELLS TROUBLE FOR THE GOLD/SILVER MARKET AS RAIDS WILL SURELY BE UPON US TRYING TO CONTAIN OUR PRECIOUS METALS RISE IN PRICE.

// WE HAVE A STRONG AMOUNT OF GOLD TONNAGE STANDING: AUGUST (31.436) (NON 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. 64.000 tonnes

(TOTAL YEAR 656.076 TONNES)

2023:

JAN/2023: 20.559 tonnes

FEB 2023: 47.744 tonnes

MAR: 19.0637 TONNES

APRIL: 75.676 tonnes

MAY: 19.094 TONNES + 1.244 tonnes of exchange for risk = 20.338

JUNE: 64.354 TONNES

JULY: 10.2861 TONNES

AUGUST: 31.436 TONNES

THE SPECS/HFT WERE SUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE( IT LOST $3.45) //// BUT WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING ANY SPECULATOR LONGS AS WE HAD A GAIN OF 5836 TOTAL CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES. THE T.A.S. ISSUED ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT WILL BE “PUT INTO THE BANK” TO BE USED AT A LATER DATE AT THE COLLUSIVE CHOOSING OF OUR BANKERS.

WE HAVE GAINED A TOTAL OI OF 18.152 PAPER TONNES OF TOTAL OI FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES, ACCOMPANYING OUR INITIAL GOLD TONNAGE STANDING FOR AUST. (30.656 TONNES) ON FIRST DAY NOTICE FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 300 OZ EFP JUMP TO LONDON //NEW STANDING REDUCES TO 30.752 TONNES // ALL OF THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR LOSS IN PRICE TO THE TUNE OF $3.45.

WE HAD – REMOVED 662 CONTRACTS TO THE COMEX TRADES TO OPEN INTEREST

NET GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 5174 CONTRACTS OR 517,400 OZ OR 15.92 TONNES.

Estimated gold volume today:// 140,607 poor

final gold volumes/yesterday 181,519 poor

//AUGUST 3/ FOR THE AUGUST 2023 CONTRACT

Gold	Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers* Inventory in oz*	nil
Withdrawals from Customer* Inventory in oz*	NOT AVAILABLE TODAY//CME DELINQUENCY .
Deposit to the Dealer* Inventory in oz*	nil
Deposits to the Customer* Inventory, in oz*	nil OZ
No of oz served (contracts) today	44 notice(s) 4400 OZ 0.1368 TONNES
No of oz to be served (notices)	3137 contracts 313700 oz 9.757 TONNES
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month	6750 notices 67,500 OZ 20.995 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

0 dealer deposit:

total dealer deposits: XXX oz

total customer deposits: XXX oz

we had XX customer withdrawals

Adjustments; 0 /

CALCULATIONS FOR THE AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR AUGUST.

For the front month of AUGUST we have an oi of 3181 contracts having LOST 311 contracts. We had 298 contracts filed

on Wednesday, so we lost 3 contracts or an additional 300 oz will not stand at the comex as these guys decided to take delivery over in London.

Sept gained 53 contracts to 2420.

Oct gained 1502 contracts to 34,012 contracts.

We had 44 contracts filed for today representing 4400 oz

Today, 0 notice(s) were issued from J.P.Morgan dealer account and 20 notices were issued from their client or customer account. The total of all issuance by all participants equate to 44 contract(s) of which 0 notices were stopped (received) by j.P. Morgan dealer and 19 notice(s) was (were) stopped received by J.P.Morgan//customer account and 0 notice(s) received (stopped) by the squid (Goldman Sachs)

To calculate the INITIAL total number of gold ounces standing for the AUGUST /2023. contract month,

we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (6750 x 100 oz ), to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of AUGUST (3181 CONTRACT) minus the number of notices served upon today 44 x 100 oz per contract equals 988,700 OZ OR 30.752 TONNES the number of TONNES standing in this active month of AUGUST. + .684 TONNES EXCHANGE FOR RISK = 31.436

thus the INITIAL standings for gold for the AUGUST contract month: No of notices filed so far (6750) x 100 oz + (3181) {OI for the front month} minus the number of notices served upon today (44) x 100 oz) which equals 988,700 oz standing OR 30.752 TONNES + .684 TONNES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK = 31.436 TONNES

TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING: 31.436 TONNES WHICH IS SMALL FOR AN ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

COMEX GOLD INVENTORIES/CLASSIFICATION

NEW PLEDGED GOLD:

241,794.285 oz NOW PLEDGED /HSBC 5.94 TONNES

204,937.290 PLEDGED MANFRA 3.08 TONNES

83,657.582 PLEDGED JPMorgan no 1 1.690 tonnes

265,999.054, oz JPM No 2

1,152,376.639 oz pledged Brinks/

Manfra: 33,758.550 oz

Delaware: 193.721 oz

International Delaware:: 11,188.542 oz

total pledged gold: 2,051,390.452 OZ 63,80 tonnes

TOTAL OF ALL GOLD ELIGIBLE AND REGISTERED: 22,202,871.168 OZ

TOTAL REGISTERED GOLD: 12,102,270.124 (376,43 tonnes)..

TOTAL OF ALL ELIGIBLE GOLD: 10,100,601.044 O Z

REGISTERED GOLD THAT CAN BE SERVED UPON: 10,050,880 OZ (REG GOLD- PLEDGED GOLD) 313.62 tonnes//

END

SILVER/COMEX

AUGUST 3

//2023// THE AUGUST 2023 SILVER CONTRACT

Silver	Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers* Inventory*	NIL oz
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory	NOT AVAILABLE TODAY oz CME BY DEFAULT .
Deposits to the Dealer* Inventory*	N/A oz
Deposits to the Customer Inventory	N/A oz
No of oz served today (contracts)	7 CONTRACT(S) (35,000 OZ)
No of oz to be served (notices)	0 contracts (NIL oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)	754 Contracts (3,770,000 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) XX dealer deposit

NOT AVAILABLE TODAY//DELINQUENCY BY CME

total dealer deposit: XX oz

i) We had 0 dealer withdrawal

total dealer withdrawals: 0 oz

We had XX deposits customer account:

total customer deposits: XXX oz

JPMorgan has a total silver weight: 139.910 million oz/281.652 million =49.71% of comex .//

Comex withdrawals XX

adjustments: 0

TOTAL REGISTERED SILVER: 31.692 MILLION OZ//.TOTAL REG + ELIGIBLE. 281.652 million oz

CALCULATIONS FOR THE NEW STANDING FOR SILVER FOR JULY:

silver open interest data:

FRONT MONTH OF AUGUST /2023 OI: 7 CONTRACTS HAVING LOST 31 CONTRACT(S). WE HAD

31 NOTICES FILED ON WEDNESDAY SO WE GAINED 0 CONTRACTS OR AN ADDITIONAL NIL OZ WILL STAND IN THIS NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF AUGUST.

SEPT HAS A LOSS OF 6068 CONTRACTS DOWN TO 106,144

OCT GAINED 0 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 70.

TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR TODAY: 7 for 35,000 oz

Comex volumes// est. volume today 64,929 fair /

Comex volume: confirmed yesterday: 83,729 strong

To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in AUGUST. we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at 754 x 5,000 oz = 3,770,000 oz

to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of AUGUST (7) and the number of notices served upon today 7 x (5000 oz) equals the number of ounces standing.

Thus the standings for silver for the AUGUST/2023 contract month: 754 (notices served so far) x 5000 oz + OI for the front month of AUGUST (7) – number of notices served upon today (7 )x 500 oz of silver standing for the AUGUST contract month equates to 3.770 million oz.

There are 31.54 million oz of registered silver.

thus if we take today’s standing at 3.73 and add last month’s 30.9 million oz we have 34,63 million oz against only 31.5 million registered silver.

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

AUGUST 3/WITH GOLD DOWN $5.25 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD //: //: / .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 909.18 TONNES

AUGUST 2/WITH GOLD DOWN $3.45 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.75 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD//: //: / .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 909.18 TONNES

AUGUST 1/WITH GOLD DOWN $28.45 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.89 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD//: //: / .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 912.93 TONNES

JULY 31/WITH GOLD UP $9.50 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.89 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD//: //: / .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 912.93 TONNES

JULY 28/WITH GOLD UP $14.15 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.44 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD//: //: / .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 915,82 TONNES

JULY 27/WITH GOLD DOWN $21.80 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.74 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD//: //: / .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 917.26 TONNES

JULY 26/WITH GOLD UP $6.35 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: //: / .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 919.00 TONNES

JULY 25/WITH GOLD UP $2.45 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: //: / .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 919.00 TONNES

JULY 24/WITH GOLD DOWN $4.65 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 5.20 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD//: / .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 919.00 TONNES

JULY 21/WITH GOLD DOWN $3.80 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: / .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 913.80 TONNES

JULY 20/WITH GOLD DOWN $8.70 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 1.73 TONNES FROM THE GLD/ .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 913.80 TONNES

JULY 19/WITH GOLD UP $0.65 TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF .86 TONNES FROM THE GLD/ .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 912.07 TONNES

JULY 18/WITH GOLD UP $23.45 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 912.93 TONNES

JULY 17/WITH GOLD DOWN $6.60 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.73 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 912.93 TONNES

JULY 14/WITH GOLD UP $0.75 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: ////INVENTORY RESTS AT 914.66 TONNES

JULY 13/WITH GOLD UP $3.30 TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.29 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 914.66 TONNES

JULY 12/WITH GOLD UP $24.50 TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.31 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 914.95 TONNES

JULY 11/WITH GOLD UP $6.15 TODAY: BIG CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.0 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 915.26 TONNES

JULY 10 WITH GOLD DOWN $1.35 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.60 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 916.26 TONNES.

JULY 7 WITH GOLD UP $16.80 TODAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 917.86 TONNES.

JULY 6/WITH GOLD DOWN $9.90 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.04 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 917.86 TONNES

JULY 5/WITH GOLD DOWN $2.20 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD; A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.6 TONNES FROM THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 921.90 TONNES

JULY 3/WITH GOLD UP $1.90 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 924.50 TONNES//

JUNE 30/WITH GOLD UP $10.00 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.31 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 924.50 TONNES

JUNE 29/WITH GOLD DOWN $3.20 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 1.26 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD////INVENTORY RESTS AT 926.81 TONNES

GLD INVENTORY: 909.18 TONNES

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

AUGUST 3/WITH SILVER DOWN 16 CENTS TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 189,000 OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV// .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 451.281 MILLION OZ

AUGUST 2/WITH SILVER DOWN 43 CENTS TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 275,000 OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV// .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 451.471 MILLION OZ

AUGUST 1/WITH SILVER DOWN 61 CENTS TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 184,000 OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV// .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 451.746 MILLION OZ

JULY 31/WITH SILVER UP 45 CENTS TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 184,000 OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV// .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 451.746 MILLION OZ

JULY 28/WITH SILVER UP 15 CENTS TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 550,000 OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV// .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 451.930 MILLION OZ

JULY 27/WITH SILVER DOWN 59 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 452.480 MILLION OZ

JULY 26/WITH SILVER UP 15 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 452.480 MILLION OZ/

JULY 25/WITH SILVER UP 24 CENTS TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A SMALL WITHDRAWAL OF 826,000 OZ FROM THE SLV..////INVENTORY RESTS AT 452.480 MILLION OZ/

JULY 24/WITH SILVER DOWN 23 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: ////INVENTORY RESTS AT 453.306 MILLION OZ/

JULY 21/WITH SILVER DOWN 14 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.101 MILLION OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV ////INVENTORY RESTS AT 453.306 MILLION OZ/

JULY 20/WITH SILVER DOWN 38 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.468 MILLION OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV ////INVENTORY RESTS AT 454.107 MILLION OZ/

JULY 19/WITH SILVER UP 11 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A ////INVENTORY RESTS AT 455.875 MILLION OZ/

JULY 18/WITH SILVER DOWN 19 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A ////INVENTORY RESTS AT 455.875 MILLION OZ/

JULY 17/WITH SILVER UP 25 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.856 MILLION OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV////////INVENTORY RESTS AT 455.875 MILLION OZ/

JULY 14/WITH SILVER UP 27 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.21 MILLION OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV////////INVENTORY RESTS AT 455.875 MILLION OZ/

JULY 13/WITH SILVER UP 64 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//////INVENTORY RESTS AT 462.941 MILLION OZ/

JULY 12/WITH SILVER UP $1.00 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.881 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 462.941 MILLION OZ/

JULY 11/WITH SILVER DOWN 5 CENTS TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF .020 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 464.822 MILLION OZ/

JULY 10/WITH SILVER UP 2 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.672 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 464.802 MILLION OZ

JULY 7/WITH SILVER UP 42 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 466.474 MILLION OZ

JULY 6/WITH SILVER DOWN 50 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.667 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 466.474 MILLION OZ//

JULY5/WITH SILVER UP 30 CENTS TODAY; NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 468.141 MILLION OZ//

JULY 3/WITH SILVER UP 7 CENTS TODAY; NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY RESTS AT 468.141 MILLION OZ//

CLOSING INVENTORY 451.281 MILLION OZ//

PHYSICAL GOLD/SILVER COMMENTARIES

1:Peter Schiff/Mike Maharrey

end

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

END

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

This is a big story!! Poland for the first time in 4 years bought over 50 tonnes of gold this quarter. They know what is coming

(Ronan Manly)

Ronan Manly: Poland bought nearly 50 tonnes over 3 months and plans to buy another 50

Submitted by admin on Wed, 2023-08-02 21:51Section: Daily Dispatches

By Ronan Manly
Bullion Star, Singapore
Wednesday, August 2, 2023

Poland’s central bank, Narodowy Bank Polski, is officially the biggest central bank gold buyer in the second quarter of 2023, having accumulated a massive 48.52 tonnes of monetary gold between April, May, and June this year. This is the first time in nearly four years since the Polish central bank last bought gold for its reserves.

This large concentrated buying by the Polish central bank during Q2 also puts the bank in third place globally for gold buying during the first half of 2023, behind China and Singapore.

As a reminder, China claims to have bought 57.85 tonnes of gold during Q1 2023, and 45.1 tonnes during Q2, for a first-half 2023 total of 102.95 tonnes.

Singapore claims to have purchased 68.74 tonnes of gold during Q1 2023, and a net 3 tonnes during Q2, for a first half 2023 total of 71.71 tonnes. …

… For the remainder of the analysis:

https://www.bullionstar.com/blogs/ronan-manly/polands-50-50-gold-buying-50-tonnes-bought-over-3-months-but-another-50-tonnes-to-go/

END

4, OTHER IMPORTANT GOLD/SILVER COMMENTARIES/SILVER

5 a. IMPORTANT COMMENTARIES ON COMMODITIES:

end

5 B GLOBAL COMMODITY ISSUES/FOOD IN GENERAL//

END

6.CRYPTOCURRENCY//DIGITAL CURRENCY// COMMENTARIES/

END

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

ONSHORE YUAN: CLOSED UP TO 7.1683

OFFSHORE YUAN: DOWN TO 7.1785

SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 18.77 PTS OR 0.58%

HANG SENG CLOSED DOWN 96,51 PTS OR 0.49%

2. Nikkei closed DOWN 548.41 PTS OR 1.68%

3. Europe stocks SO FAR: ALL MOSTLY RED

USA dollar INDEX UP TO 102.46 EURO FALLS TO 1.0933 DOWN 9 BASIS PTS

3b Japan 10 YR bond yield: RISES TO. +.641 Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese YEN vs USA cross now at 142.94/JAPANESE YEN FALLING AS WELL AS LONG TERM 10 YR. YIELDS RISING //EVENTUALLY THIS WILL BREAK THE JAPANESE CENTRAL BANK

3c Nikkei now ABOVE 17,000

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

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

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

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

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

3h European bond buying continues to push yields lower on all fronts in the EMU. German 10yr bund UP TO +2.5115***/Italian 10 Yr bond yield RISES to 4.207*** /SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD RISES TO 3.585…**

3i Greek 10 year bond yield RISES TO 3.800

3j Gold at $1935.25 silver at: 23.52 1 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $30.00

3k USA vs Russian rouble;// Russian rouble UP 0 AND 22 /100 roubles/dollar; ROUBLE AT 93.94//

3m oil into the 79 dollar handle for WTI and 82 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 142.94// 10 YEAR YIELD AFTER FIRST BREAKING .54% LAST YEAR NOW EXCEEDS THAT LEVEL TO 0.641% 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 0.8754 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF 0.9571 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: 4.133 UP 6 BASIS PTS…

USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 4.2411 UP 8 BASIS PTS/

USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.902 UP 1 BASIS PTS

USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 26.98…(TURKEY SET TO BLOW UP FINANCIALLY)

GREAT BRITAIN/10 YEAR YIELD: UP 2 BASIS PTS AT 4.4475

end

2.a Overnight: Newsquawk and Zero hedge:

Futures Slide Amid Global Selloff As Bond Rout Accelerates

THURSDAY, AUG 03, 2023 – 08:20 AM

US equity futures are weaker for a second day amid a global stock sell-off sparked by a rout in US Treasuries which accelerated overnight when the BOJ “unexpectedly” stepped in with unlimited bond buying for a second time this week after the benchmark 10-year note yield touched a fresh nine-year high of 0.65%, confusing markets about what it wants to do: keep a cap on yields or strengthen the collapsing yen. European stocks fell 0.6% and Asian markets suffered their worst two-day drop since February as the S&P 500 was set to extend yesterday’s losses. As of 7:45am ET, S&P futures were down 0.3% while Nasdaq futures dropped 0.4% after several very disappointing earnings after the close yesterday. Tech gigacaps were mixed pre-mkt ahead of AAPL (-38bps) and AMZN (+34bps) earnings.

Global bond yields continue to surge higher with 10Y yields now +19.2bps this week. Bill Ackman added to the bearish mood by announcing he’s shorting 30-year Treasuries as a hedge on the impact of higher long-term rates on stocks. Commodities are mixed as the dollar strengthened for a fourth day; nat gas the upside standout with Ags and base metals giving up recent gains, which appear to be more geopolitically related moves. Today’s macro data focus includes ISM-Srvcs, Durable Goods/Cap Goods, Factory Orders, and Jobless Claims. The earnings highlight is after the close when AAPL and AMZN report and while they may not give a strong read-through on the broader economy, certainly every investor will be watching results.

It has been a busy session in premarket trading following an earnings deluge, with PayPal falling as much as 9% after the company’s transaction revenue fell short of estimates and as analysts cut their price targets on the stock, saying that the digital payments company’s transaction margins were disappointing and will weigh on sentiment. Qualcomm shares also fell around 8%, after the chipmaker gave a revenue outlook seen as weak by analysts, underlining headwinds in the handset market. Brokers said the struggling handset business will be slow to recover. Deutsche Bank cut the recommendation on the stock to hold from buy. Here are some other notable premarket movers:

American Well drops 9% after Morgan Stanley downgrades its rating on the telehealth company to equal-weight and says Wednesday’s second-quarter results were “another setback on growth.”.
Aravive shares fall 47% in US premarket trading after its Phase 3 AXLerate-OC trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of batiraxcept in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer did not meet its primary endpoint of progression-free survival. .
DoorDash shares jump 3.6% after the online food ordering and delivery platform reported second-quarter adjusted Ebitda that beat estimates. Analysts said results were good, with William Blair highlighting the strong user engagement and increase in total orders both year-over-year and sequentially.
DXC Technology shares slide 19% after the information technology servicer reported first-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings per share that missed consensus estimates. The company also reduced its full-year outlook for adjusted earnings per share and revenue. RBC Capital Markets downgraded their recommendation on the stock to sector perform from outperform, labeling the print “disappointing.”
EVgo shares rise as much as 16% after the electric-car charging company said CEO Cathy Zoi will retire in November and be succeeded by board member Badar Khan. The company also reported $50.6 million of second-quarter revenue Wednesday, more than five times what it generated in the same period last year.
Etsy shares fell as much as 8.7%, after the online retailer reported its second-quarter results and gave an outlook that Citi said wouldn’t be enough to reassure investors about its growth prospects.
Procore Technologies’ results on Wednesday were solid, but there are gathering macro headwinds, Loop Capital Markets writes in note downgrading the construction-management software company to hold from buy.
Robinhood (HOOD US) shares dropped as much as 9%, after the trading platform’s monthly active users missed analyst estimates, overshadowing the company reaching profitability for the first time since its IPO. On a more positive note, some analysts said that the company beating revenue expectations was a good sign.
Spirit AeroSystems Holdings shares fall 1% after Goldman Sachs cuts its rating on the planemaker’s stock to neutral from buy, saying the company’s medium-term profitability and free cash flow is worse than expected.
US-listed shares of Shopify fall as much as 2.7% on Thursday as Morgan Stanley notes that investors still lack direction from the company on longer-term growth. The Canadian e-commerce company, however, reported revenue for the second quarter that beat the average analyst estimate.
Unity Software shares rise as much as 6.6%, after the graphic tools provider reported second- quarter revenue that beat expectations and raised the low end of its full-year revenue forecast.
Upwork climbs 17% after the online-recruitment company increased its revenue and profit projections for the full year.

All attention remains on the 10-year Treasury yield which increased five basis points to 4.13% this morning. The selling has come on the heels of news that the Treasury will issue $103 billion of securities next week, more than forecast. The decision by Fitch Ratings to strip the US of its AAA credit ranking also put a spotlight on the country’s booming fiscal deficits.

“The US downgrade doesn’t have any direct impact on markets, but what’s happened is there’s been a lot of concurrent news,” Fowler at UBS said. “Treasury supply is going to pick up. And the Bank of Japan’s policy change has also removed the floor on bonds and that’s led to rising yields.”

Long-term debt looks “overbought” from a supply and demand perspective and it’s hard to see how the market will cope with the increased issuance “without materially higher rates,” Ackman said in a tweet.

Warren Buffett, on the other hand, told CNBC the Fitch move doesn’t change what Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is doing at the moment. “Berkshire bought $10 billion in US Treasurys last Monday. We bought $10 billion in Treasurys this Monday. And the only question for next Monday is whether we will buy $10 billion in 3-month or 6-month” T-bills, CNBC cited Buffett as saying.

Elsewhere, the Bank of Japan came into the market for the second time this week to slow gains in benchmark sovereign bond yields, underscoring its determination to curb sharp moves in rates even as it makes room for them to rise. The yen strengthened against all its major peers, adding 0.3%.

In European equities, the Stoxx 600 Index headed for the steepest three-day retreat since March. Infineon Technologies AG plunged as much as 12% after disappointing forecasts from the German chipmaker. Deutsche Lufthansa AG dropped amid concerns over debt and higher costs. Here are the most notable European movers:

Anheuser-Busch InBev shares jump as much as 5.1%, after the brewer reported second-quarter organic adjusted Ebitda that came ahead of estimates. BC Capital Markets said the results were an “impressive demonstration” of the company’s resilience and diversification
Zalando shares gain as much as 9% after the online fashion retailer reported adjusted Ebit for the second- quarter that topped estimates, with analysts pointing to lower marketing costs among the key drivers
Merck KGaA gains as much as 4% after the German health-care conglomerate reported its latest earnings and cut its forecast for the full year. Analysts say the reduced forecast is largely accounted
Beiersdorf shares rise as much as 4.6%, after it reported adjusted Ebit for the first half-year that beat the average analyst estimate Jefferies says the German consumer-goods group’s results came in well ahead in consumer segment
Adecco shares rise as much as 5.9%, as investors look past below-consensus 2Q earnings and focus on the staffing company’s market share gains, robust organic growth and cost control
SES shares rise as much as 16%, after the satellite operator reported estimate-beating results, announced buybacks and said it expects to receive a $3b pretax payment in 4Q after clearing C-band airwaves ahead of schedule
Societe Generale shares gained 3.3%, second best-performer on the Stoxx 600 Banks Index, after the French lender reported net income for the second quarter that beat the average analyst estimate in the first set of results
Infineon shares fall as much as 12%, the most since March 2020. The chipmaker’s fourth-quarter forecasts for margin and revenue both missed analyst estimates as inventory levels edged higher
Veolia Environment falls as much as 8% in Paris trading after broadly in-line 1H results, with Citi analysts saying consensus already prices more than average long- term Ebitda growth and margin outlook
Tenaris’s shares tumbled as much as 8.6% after the Italian steel pipe maker warned that sales and margins will be “significantly lower” in the second half due to an expected decline in sales in the Americas
Solvay drops as much as 4%, as the Belgian chemicals producer reports weaker 2Q volumes and a drop in adjusted Ebitda. Morgan Stanley highlights the steady guidance as a bright spot, however, given the recent spate of profit warnings across the sector
BPER Banca shares declined as much as 9.1% after the Italian lender gave what Deutsche Bank called “prudent” guidance that reflects a slowdown in 2H including in net interest income

Earlier in the session, Asian equities fell, taking their two-day drop to the most since February, as investors sold tech and consumer discretionary shares on concerns over higher bond yields. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index extended losses by as much as 0.8% after a 2.1% drop on Wednesday. Alibaba, Sony Group and Samsung Electronics were among the biggest drags as 10-year Treasury yields climbed past 4.1%. Valuations for tech stocks are generally impacted by higher yields as elevated interest rates affect expectations for future earnings growth.

Fitch Ratings’ downgrade of US sovereign rating and increased Treasuries issuance sparked risk-off mood globally, with the recent rally in Asian stocks halting in August, which is seasonally a bad month for equities. The index has slumped as much as 2.7% so far this week amid bouts of profit-taking in North Asian markets as the AI rally peters out.

Benchmarks in Japan led declines in the region Thursday. All sectors were in the red. Australia’s ASX 200 was dragged lower by losses in tech after the underperformance of their US counterparts, with sentiment not helped by softer monthly exports and a continued contraction in quarterly retail trade.

Investors are now looking ahead to US non-farm payroll data on Friday for cues on the Federal Reserve’s next policy move after ADP Research Institute data showed that US companies added more-than-expected jobs in July. “I think the selloff was waiting to happen,” said Aninda Mitra, head of Asia macro and investment strategy at BNY Mellon Investment Management. “Overconfidence about the inevitability of a US soft landing and dovish policy pricing, when in reality the regime of high inflation and high rates is very much entrenched.”

In FX, the Bloomberg dollar index gained for a fourth day, rising 0.2%; the pound fell 0.3% against the dollar after the BOE hiked rates by 25bps, disappointing markets which had priced in roughly 33% odds of another 50bps hike. JPY stood as the outperforming currency amid haven flows following overnight weakness sparked by another unscheduled BoJ JGB purchase operation. EUR is softer against the Dollar with the Single Currency digesting the Final PMIs for July while the Sterling gears up the Bank of England policy decision.

In rates, treasuries extend losses and the recent bear steepening move with long-end underperformance, leaving 30-year yields cheaper by around 6bps on the day. US yields cheaper by 2bp to 6bp across the curve with long-end led losses steepening 2s10s, 5s30s spreads by 3.5bp and 2.2bp on the day; 10-year yields around 4.13%, cheaper by 5bp on the session with gilts outperforming by 5bp in the sector. Gilts outperformed after the Bank of England raised rates 25bps, in line with estimates. The US session focuses on the flood of US economic data due, including initial jobless claims and ISM services. On the day UK 2-year yields richer by 7bp following Bank of England 25bp hike in a three-way vote split. The Dollar IG issuance slate empty so far; three deals priced $12.2b Wednesday, where issuers paid ~6bps in concessions on order books that were 4.4 times oversubscribed.

In commodities, iron ore slipped back below $100 a ton as investors questioned China’s resolve to revive growth with steel-intensive stimulus and the nation’s biggest group of mills called for curbs on trading. Futures in Singapore lost as much as 4.3%, to head for the sixth weekly drop in the past seven.

Looking ahead, US economic data slate includes July Challenger job cuts (7:30am), 2Q nonfarm productivity, unit labor costs, initial jobless claims (8:30am), S&P services PMI (9:45am), June factory orders, durable goods orders, July ISM services index (10am). We also have the UK July official reserves changes, Italian July services PMI, June retail sales, German June trade balance, the French budget balance for June and the Eurozone PPI result for June. In terms of central banks, we have the BoE decision, the Decision Maker Panel survey and we will also hear from the Fed’s Barkin. Finally, company earnings include Apple, Amazon, ConocoPhillips, Amgen, Booking Holdings, Stryker, Airbnb, Gilead Sciences, Cigna, Regeneron, Monster Beverage, EOG Resources, Block, Moderna, Cheniere, Warner Bros Discovery, Expedia and Draft Kings.

Market Snapshot

S&P 500 futures down 0.5% to 4,516.25
MXAP down 0.8% to 165.41
MXAPJ down 0.5% to 524.45
Nikkei down 1.7% to 32,159.28
Topix down 1.5% to 2,268.35
Hang Seng Index down 0.5% to 19,420.87
Shanghai Composite up 0.6% to 3,280.46
Sensex down 1.1% to 65,036.75
Australia S&P/ASX 200 down 0.6% to 7,311.68
Kospi down 0.4% to 2,605.39
STOXX Europe 600 down 0.9% to 456.84
German 10Y yield little changed at 2.57%
Euro down 0.2% to $1.0914
Brent Futures down 0.5% to $82.76/bbl
Gold spot up 0.1% to $1,935.90
U.S. Dollar Index up 0.19% to 102.79

Top Overnight News from Bloomberg

China will be sending a representative to a major Saudi Arabia summit focused on achieving peace in Ukraine, suggesting Beijing is eager to see the conflict conclude. WSJ
China’s services PMI comes in ahead of the Street at 54.1 (up from 53.9 in June and ahead of the consensus forecast of 52.4). RTRS
The BOJ intervened for a second time this week after the benchmark 10-year yield touched a fresh nine-year high of 0.65%. The unscheduled move pushed the rate fractionally below this level but still well above where it traded before last week’s policy tweak. BBG
Brazil cut its policy rate by 50bp, more than the 25bp anticipated by investors, and said there would be further reductions in the months ahead. WSJ
Another BOE rate hike is in the cards today, the size of which is uncertain given the recent slowdown in inflation. Economists expect at least a 25-bp move to 5.25%, with a strong chance that policymakers may repeat June’s 50-bp jump. Traders see rates peaking around 5.75% by year end, almost a full point below expectations just a month ago. BBG
SALT is causing another fiscal battle in Washington – certain Republicans in the House are threatening to block spending bills unless the $10K cap is increased. WSJ
The SEC is preparing to adopt a rule package as soon as this month aiming to bring greater transparency and competition to the multitrillion- dollar private-funds industry, people familiar with the matter said. SEC Chair Gary Gensler has said he hopes to bring down fees and expenses that cost hundreds of billions of dollars a year. WSJ
Fitch’s downgrade of its U.S. government debt rating Tuesday only fueled more of the partisan bickering that the firm said was raising concerns about America’s ability to tackle its swelling budget deficits. And as Congress prepares to hash out spending for next fiscal year, the two parties aren’t considering the policies that could meaningfully address the problem: raising taxes or cutting spending on major programs such as Medicare or Social Security. WSJ
Bill Ackman is making sizable bets on declines for 30-year US Treasuries as a hedge on the impact of higher long-term rates on stocks. Ackman also sees the short as a “high probability” standalone play, the Pershing Square Capital Management founder said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. An increasing supply of Treasuries will be needed to fund the current budget deficit, future spending plans and higher refinancing rates, Ackman said. BBG

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

APAC stocks mostly followed suit to the weakness in global peers including on Wall St where stocks and bonds were pressured by the US rating downgrade, AMD earnings and hot ADP data, albeit with some of the losses were stemmed in Asia as participants digested Chinese Caixin Services and Composite PMI figures. ASX 200 was dragged lower by losses in tech after the underperformance of their US counterparts, with sentiment not helped by softer monthly exports and a continued contraction in quarterly retail trade. Nikkei 225 underperformed as yields edged higher and with newsflow dominated by earnings. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were choppy and briefly clawed back opening losses in the aftermath of somewhat mixed Chinese Caixin Services and Composite PMI data.

Top Asian News

China’s Foreign Ministry said China is willing to maintain communications regarding the US inviting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi for a visit, according to Reuters.
US House Committee opened an investigation into the suspected Chinese hacking of State Department and Commerce Department emails.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno said he hopes the BoJ works closely with the government and guides policy appropriately to stably and sustainably hit the 2% price target, while he added the government is closely watching FX moves and their impact on Japan’s economy and prices, according to Reuters.

European bourses and US futures continue to slump in an extension of Wednesday’s price action as yields continue to rise; Euro Stoxx 50 -0.8% & ES -0.3% Sectors in Europe are lower across the board with marked underperformance in Tech as Infineon -7.7% slumps post-earnings given two-way commentary and below-forecast Q4 guidance. Autos also stalling on BMW while Travel & Leisure is affected by Lufthansa. Stateside, given the marked yield action the NQ -0.4% is the incremental underperformer with attention on data points before numerous blockbuster earnings, incl. Apple and Amazon after-hours.

Top European News

ECB’s Panetta says monetary policy may operate not just by increasing rates but also by keeping the prevailing level of policy rate for longer. With policy rates now firmly in restrictive territory, setting and communicating the direction of monetary policy has become more complex. The risks to inflation are becoming balanced. Supply chain pressures have substantially abated compared with last year. It is possible that the transmission of our monetary policy might be even stronger than the staff projections indicate.. Adds, will decide in September whether we should pause or not.

Another session of gains thus far the Buck, driven by an upside in bond yields as debt futures continue to trundle lower in a continuation of recent price action. DXY found overnight support around 102.50 before edging higher in early European trade to a 102.84 high at the time of writing.
JPY now stands as the outperforming currency amid haven flows following overnight weakness sparked by another unscheduled BoJ JGB purchase operation.
EUR and GBP are both softer against the Dollar with the Single Currency digesting the Final PMIs for July while the Sterling gears up the Bank of England policy decision.
Antipodeans are all modestly softer on the day amid the firmer Dollar and broader risk aversion, but losses are stemmed by the overnight Chinese Caixin Services PMI which topped forecasts, whilst Australian Trade Balance printed at a slightly wider surplus than expected, although Imports and Exports both contracted.
PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1495 vs exp. 7.1933 (prev. 7.1368)
Brazil Central Bank cut the Selic rate by 50bps to 13.25% (exp. 25bps cut) with the decision not unanimous. BCB stated the current scenario demands serenity and moderation in the conduct of monetary policy and if the expected scenario is confirmed, the committee unanimously expects rate cuts of the same magnitude in coming meetings, while it considered a 25bps cut but concluded a 50bps cut was appropriate due to the improvement in inflation dynamics.

Fixed Income

In short, a continuation of Wednesday’s post-Fitch/Refunding price action with catalysts since somewhat light as we count down to the BoE.
EGBs and USTs are lower across the board and have dropped markedly below the prior sessions’ troughs.
JGBs buck the trend and are modestly firmer after another unscheduled BoJ purchase overnight, which came much later in the session than normal and is the second such operation since the YCC tweak.
BoJ offered to buy JPY 100bln in 1yr-3yr JGBs and offers to buy JPY 300bln in 5yr-10yr JGBs in an unscheduled operation.

Commodities

WTI and Brent futures are subdued as risk sentiment remains on the backfoot whilst the Dollar is underpinned.
Spot gold remains heavy amid the recent gains in the Dollar, with the yellow metal extending losses under USD 1,950/oz following yesterday’s fall below the psychological level.
Base metals are subdued but not to a great extent following the recent selloff in the complex, with the downside possibly cushioned by the rosier Chinese Caixin Services PMI overnight.
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait reaffirmed they jointly own rights to natural resources in the Durra Gas field and renewed calls for Iran to negotiate over the demarcation of borders, according to Saudi’s Foreign Ministry.
Chile Codelco copper production fell 7.39% Y/Y in June to 120.3k tonnes, while Escondida copper mine production rose 8.7% Y/Y to 111.4k tonnes in June.
Ukraine’s PM says Ukraine is considering the possibility of insuring ships and companies going via a “grain corridor”, according to Interfax-Ukraine.

Geopolitics

Ukrainian military warned of drone attacks around Kyiv and said anti-aircraft units were in operation, while explosions were also reported, according to Reuters.
Russian Defence Ministry said navigation is restricted in Kerch Strait and that movement in the Kerch Strait is also limited for aircraft, according to TASS.
Polish PM says Wagner’s forces are moving towards NATO’s eastern flank to destabilize, according to Al Arabiya.

US Event Calendar

07:30: July Challenger Job Cuts -8.2% YoY, prior 25.2%
08:30: July Initial Jobless Claims, est. 225,000, prior 221,000
- July Continuing Claims, est. 1.71m, prior 1.69m
08:30: 2Q Unit Labor Costs, est. 2.5%, prior 4.2%
- Nonfarm Productivity, est. 2.3%, prior -2.1%
09:45: July S&P Global US Services PMI, est. 52.4, prior 52.4
10:00: June Durable Goods Orders, est. 4.7%, prior 4.7%
- June Durables -Less Transportation, est. 0.6%, prior 0.6%
10:00: June Factory Orders, est. 2.3%, prior 0.3%
- June Factory Orders Ex Trans, est. 0.1%, prior -0.5%
10:00: June Cap Goods Ship Nondef Ex Air, prior 0%
- June Cap Goods Orders Nondef Ex Air, prior 0.2%
10:00: July ISM Services Index, est. 53.0, prior 53.9
- July ISM Services Prices Paid, prior 54.1
- July ISM Services New Orders, prior 55.5
- July ISM Services Employment, prior 53.1

DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

August is often a month where everyone thinks it will be quiet but also one that throws up a disproportionate amount of surprises in what are thin liquidity conditions. Clearly by the time the real dog days of the month are amongst us in a couple of weeks we may have forgotten about the Fitch US debt downgrade but its certainly given the start of the month a big dose of volatility with the S&P 500 (-1.38%) seeing its worst day since April. However the increased treasury issuance will live on so that’s something we won’t be able to forget in the weeks and months ahead. All this excitement has occurred ahead of a big day today including the BoE rate decision (we think 25bps over 50bps), US services ISM, jobless claims, unit labour costs and productivity, with Apple and Amazon then reporting after the bell.

The straw that probably broke the back for the Fitch downgrade was the surprise announcement on Monday of the Treasury’s near-term borrowing needs which were formalised yesterday in the refunding announcement. At the margin it seems slightly bigger than the very recently revised expectations but within the range of likely outcomes. Indeed rising borrowing needs are what Fitch cited as a key factor driving its decision to lower its rating for US sovereign debt. The increase in issuance announced yesterday is unlikely to be the last, as the Treasury concurrently announced that it expects “further gradual increases will likely be necessary in future quarters” into 2024. In the subsequent press conference, the Treasury also emphasised it was too early to speculate whether this would lead to future actions by Congress to reduce the deficit. Much too early for that discussion I would imagine but it’s a small shot across the bows nevertheless.

The culmination of this week’s news led to a decent steepening of the curve with 2yr and 10yr USTs -2.4bps and +5.6bps respectively with the latter up to 4.08% (peak at 4.12% for the day), their highest closing level since November last year. The 2s10s slope, while still deeply inverted at -80.5bp, rose to its highest level since early June. 30yr yields also continued to rise, gaining +8.3bps to 4.17%, also the highest since last November. This morning in Asia, US Treasuries are up another couple of basis points to 4.10% as I type.

A strong ADP (more later) contributed to an initial sell off at the front end (with 2yr trading +3.5bp higher at one point). But rates then rallied, especially at the short end, with Fed funds pricing for end-24 down -6.0bps on the day to 4.14%. So longer end yield moves were more of an issuance story than a response to the ADP given the Fed repricing. A reminder that DB thinks that US term premium should be going up for structural issues but the trade has certainly got a kicker from the BoJ last week and now the refunding announcement and Fitch this week.

In contrast, European bonds saw a bull steepening as the equity risk-off story and a flight to quality away from US debt was the dominant theme. 10yr German bund yields fell -2.4bps, with 2yr yields falling -6.0bps.

Equities were in the red across the board, with the S&P 500 slipping -1.38% in its largest down move since April, with only the consumer staples (+0.25%) and healthcare (+0.06%) sectors remaining in the green. 73% of the constituent members of the S&P 500 were negative on the day. Technology led the decline, with the NASDAQ falling -2.17%. The FANG+ index fell -3.45%, with all 10 constituents down. Accompanying the equity decline was a rise in implied volatility, with the VIX seeing its sharpest daily increase since the March banking stress, and up to its highest level since the end of May at 16.09. European equities also slipped with the STOXX 600 falling -1.35%. The retreat was even broader than in the US, with 88% of constituents down on the day.

The credit market was not left unscathed. US high-yield credit default swaps rose +11.3bps, with European Crossover rising +11.5bps. The indices for US and European investment grade credit default swaps also increased, +2.1bps and +2.5bps respectively.

In terms of data, we had the US July ADP report, which upwardly surprised at +324k (vs 190k expected), even if that marked a slowdown from +455k in June. Although typically not the most reliable monthly print, the annual wage growth component of the survey did prove consistent with the softening inflation narrative, falling from 6.4% to 6.2%. Overall, the market paid little attention to the report, with the US debt issuance surprise proving the lead story.

Turning to the UK, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was reported stating that he felt inflation was not falling as fast as he would like. This came ahead of the BoE monetary policy decision later today. Our economists are expecting a 25bps hike to bring the policy rate to 5.25% and looking ahead, we see two further quarter point rate hikes, with the terminal rate at 5.75%. Read their preview here. 2yr gilt yields traded down -6.2bps yesterday ahead of the meeting, following the broader short-end rally in Europe. Money markets moved to price a 27% chance of a 50bp hike, down from 32% the day before. This had been at over 70% prior to the weaker UK inflation print on 19 July.

Risk-off sentiment has continued in Asia overnight. As I check my screens, the Nikkei (-1.42%) is sharply lower with the KOSPI (-0.64%), the Hang Seng (-0.15%), the Shanghai Composite (-0.18%) and the CSI (-0.02%) also edging lower. S&P 500 (+0.07%) and NASDAQ 100 (-0.03%) futures are fairly flat. 10yr JGB yields earlier rose +4bps to 0.66%, the highest since April 2014, but the second unscheduled bond buying program of the week has led to a 2bps rally from the yield highs.

Early morning data showed that China services activity expanded at a faster place in July as the Caixin services PMI edged up to 54.1 v/s (52.4 expected) from a level of 53.9, thus partly offsetting the drag from the weak manufacturing sector. Elsewhere, Australia’s services sector activity contracted in July as the Judo Bank services PMI fell to 47.9 (the lowest since December) from 50.3. Separately, the country’s trade surplus unexpectedly swelled to A$11.3 bn in June (v/s A$10.75 bn expected) compared to a downwardly revised surplus of A$10.5 bn in May.

In the geopolitics sphere, it was reported yesterday morning that Russia conducted a drone strike on the key Danube port in the Odesa region, Ukraine, hitting grain storage facilities. In response, the price of Chicago wheat futures jumped +4.87% above its previous day close before slipping to finish the day down -1.88%. Corn futures also spiked, before falling -1.76% on the day. US corn prices have in fact declined to their lowest since the end of 2020 amid a more encouraging weather outlook.

Looking ahead, we have the US July ISM services index, the Q2 unit labour costs, nonfarm productivity, June factory orders and initial jobless claims from the US. We also have the UK July official reserves changes, Italian July services PMI, June retail sales, German June trade balance, the French budget balance for June and the Eurozone PPI result for June. In terms of central banks, we have the BoE decision, the Decision Maker Panel survey and we will also hear from the Fed’s Barkin. Finally, company earnings include Apple, Amazon, ConocoPhillips, Amgen, Booking Holdings, Stryker, Airbnb, Gilead Sciences, Cigna, Regeneron, Monster Beverage, EOG Resources, Block, Moderna, Cheniere, Warner Bros Discovery, Expedia and Draft Kings.

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

EUROPE

Continued risk off sentiment; focus on BoE; Fed speak, AAPL & AMZN earnings due – Newsquawk US Market Open

THURSDAY, AUG 03, 2023 – 05:56 AM

European bourses & US futures continue to slump in an extension of Wednesday’s price action with yields on the up
EGBs/USTs continue to drop and have made new lows below the post-Refunding/Fitch trough, Gilts pressured further pre-BoE
Further upside for the USD with JPY outperforming on haven action while EUR & GBP slip
Commodities are in-fitting with the above risk tone and accompanying USD strength; complex is conscious of punchy rhetoric from Poland
Looking ahead, highlights include US IJC, Factory Orders, ISM Services, BoE Policy Announcement, BoE’s Bailey, Fed’s Barkin, Bostic & Goolsbee. Earnings from ConocoPhillips, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Apple, Kellogg Co, Moderna, Amazon,com, Warner Bros Discovery & Airbnb.

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EUROPEAN TRADE

EQUITIES

European bourses and US futures continue to slump in an extension of Wednesday’s price action as yields continue to rise; Euro Stoxx 50 -0.8% & ES -0.3%
Sectors in Europe are lower across the board with marked underperformance in Tech as Infineon -7.7% slumps post-earnings given two-way commentary and below-forecast Q4 guidance. Autos also stalling on BMW while Travel & Leisure is affected by Lufthansa.
Stateside, given the marked yield action the NQ -0.4% is the incremental underperformer with attention on data points before numerous blockbuster earnings, incl. Apple and Amazon after-hours.
Click here for more detail.
Click here and here for a recap of the main European equity updates.

FX

Another session of gains thus far the Buck, driven by an upside in bond yields as debt futures continue to trundle lower in a continuation of recent price action. DXY found overnight support around 102.50 before edging higher in early European trade to a 102.84 high at the time of writing.
JPY now stands as the outperforming currency amid haven flows following overnight weakness sparked by another unscheduled BoJ JGB purchase operation.
EUR and GBP are both softer against the Dollar with the Single Currency digesting the Final PMIs for July while the Sterling gears up the Bank of England policy decision.
Antipodeans are all modestly softer on the day amid the firmer Dollar and broader risk aversion, but losses are stemmed by the overnight Chinese Caixin Services PMI which topped forecasts, whilst Australian Trade Balance printed at a slightly wider surplus than expected, although Imports and Exports both contracted.
PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1495 vs exp. 7.1933 (prev. 7.1368)
Brazil Central Bank cut the Selic rate by 50bps to 13.25% (exp. 25bps cut) with the decision not unanimous. BCB stated the current scenario demands serenity and moderation in the conduct of monetary policy and if the expected scenario is confirmed, the committee unanimously expects rate cuts of the same magnitude in coming meetings, while it considered a 25bps cut but concluded a 50bps cut was appropriate due to the improvement in inflation dynamics.
Click here for more detail.
Click here for the Option Expires for the NY Cut.

FIXED INCOME

In short, a continuation of Wednesday’s post-Fitch/Refunding price action with catalysts since somewhat light as we count down to the BoE.
EGBs and USTs are lower across the board and have dropped markedly below the prior sessions’ troughs.
JGBs buck the trend and are modestly firmer after another unscheduled BoJ purchase overnight, which came much later in the session than normal and is the second such operation since the YCC tweak.
BoJ offered to buy JPY 100bln in 1yr-3yr JGBs and offers to buy JPY 300bln in 5yr-10yr JGBs in an unscheduled operation.
Click here for more detail.

COMMODITIES

WTI and Brent futures are subdued as risk sentiment remains on the backfoot whilst the Dollar is underpinned.
Spot gold remains heavy amid the recent gains in the Dollar, with the yellow metal extending losses under USD 1,950/oz following yesterday’s fall below the psychological level.
Base metals are subdued but not to a great extent following the recent selloff in the complex, with the downside possibly cushioned by the rosier Chinese Caixin Services PMI overnight.
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait reaffirmed they jointly own rights to natural resources in the Durra Gas field and renewed calls for Iran to negotiate over the demarcation of borders, according to Saudi’s Foreign Ministry.
Chile Codelco copper production fell 7.39% Y/Y in June to 120.3k tonnes, while Escondida copper mine production rose 8.7% Y/Y to 111.4k tonnes in June.
Ukraine’s PM says Ukraine is considering the possibility of insuring ships and companies going via a “grain corridor”, according to Interfax-Ukraine.
Click here for more detail.

NOTABLE US HEADLINES

White House Economic Adviser Bernstein said they view the Fitch rating downgrade as problematic and said US Treasury debt remains the safest in the world.
Click here for the US Early Morning note.

NOTABLE EUROPEAN HEADLINES

ECB’s Panetta says monetary policy may operate not just by increasing rates but also by keeping the prevailing level of policy rate for longer. With policy rates now firmly in restrictive territory, setting and communicating the direction of monetary policy has become more complex. The risks to inflation are becoming balanced. Supply chain pressures have substantially abated compared with last year. It is possible that the transmission of our monetary policy might be even stronger than the staff projections indicate.. Adds, will decide in September whether we should pause or not.

DATA RECAP

Swiss CPI YY (Jul 2023) 1.6% vs. Exp. 1.6% (Prev. 1.7%); MM (Jul 2023) -0.1% vs. Exp. -0.2% (Prev. 0.1%)
EU Producer Prices YY (Jun 2023) -3.4% vs. Exp. -3.1% (Prev. -1.5%); MM (Jun 2023) -0.4% vs. Exp. -0.2% (Prev. -1.9%)
EU HCOB Services Final PMI (Jul) 50.9 vs. Exp. 51.1 (Prev. 51.1); Composite Final PMI (Jul) 48.6 vs. Exp. 48.9 (Prev. 48.9)
German HCOB Composite Final PMI (Jul) 48.5 vs. Exp. 48.3 (Prev. 48.3)
German HCOB Services PMI (Jul) 52.3 vs. Exp. 52 (Prev. 52); “They are all the more problematic as Germany’s services output price inflation even went back up in July.”
UK S&P Global/CIPS Services PMI Final (Jul) 51.5 vs. Exp. 51.5 (Prev. 51.5); Composite PMI Final (Jul) 50.8 vs. Exp. 50.7 (Prev. 50.7)

GEOPOLITICS

Ukrainian military warned of drone attacks around Kyiv and said anti-aircraft units were in operation, while explosions were also reported, according to Reuters.
Russian Defence Ministry said navigation is restricted in Kerch Strait and that movement in the Kerch Strait is also limited for aircraft, according to TASS.
Polish PM says Wagner’s forces are moving towards NATO’s eastern flank to destabilize, according to Al Arabiya.

CRYPTO

Bitcoin is contained and has been moving either side of the USD 29k mark with specifics somewhat light as we count down to a busier US agenda.

APAC TRADE

APAC stocks mostly followed suit to the weakness in global peers including on Wall St where stocks and bonds were pressured by the US rating downgrade, AMD earnings and hot ADP data, albeit with some of the losses were stemmed in Asia as participants digested Chinese Caixin Services and Composite PMI figures.
ASX 200 was dragged lower by losses in tech after the underperformance of their US counterparts, with sentiment not helped by softer monthly exports and a continued contraction in quarterly retail trade.
Nikkei 225 underperformed as yields edged higher and with newsflow dominated by earnings.
Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were choppy and briefly clawed back opening losses in the aftermath of somewhat mixed Chinese Caixin Services and Composite PMI data.

NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES

China’s Foreign Ministry said China is willing to maintain communications regarding the US inviting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi for a visit, according to Reuters.
US House Committee opened an investigation into the suspected Chinese hacking of State Department and Commerce Department emails.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno said he hopes the BoJ works closely with the government and guides policy appropriately to stably and sustainably hit the 2% price target, while he added the government is closely watching FX moves and their impact on Japan’s economy and prices, according to Reuters.

DATA RECAP

Chinese Caixin Services PMI (Jul) 54.1 vs. Exp. 52.5 (Prev. 53.9); Composite PMI (Jul) 51.9 (Prev. 52.5)
Australian Trade Balance (AUD)(Jun) 11.3B vs. Exp. 11.0B (Prev. 11.8B)
Australian Exports MM (Jun) -2.0% (Prev. 4.0%); Imports MM (Jun) -4.0% (Prev. 2.0%)
Australian Retail Trade (Q2) -0.5% (Prev. -0.6%)

2 c. ASIAN AFFAIRS

ASIAN AND AUSTRALIAN CLOSINGS//EUROPE OPENING TRADING:

THURSDAY MORNING/WEDNESDAY NIGHT

2 d./NORTH KOREA/ SOUTH KOREA/

////SOUTH KOREA/NORTH KOREA/

END

2e) JAPAN

JAPAN

3 CHINA /

CHINA/TAIWAN/USA

Crazy!! Biden now ants to arm Taiwan using leftovers from Ukraine budget

(zerohedge)

Biden Now Wants To Arm Taiwan Using Ukraine Budget

WEDNESDAY, AUG 02, 2023 – 10:40 PM

In a bombshell new report, Financial Times has revealed that President Biden plans to formally ask Congress to use funds to arm Taiwan utilizing the supplemental budget for Ukraine.

The report states that the White House’s Office of Management and Budget “will include funding for Taiwan in the supplemental request as part of an effort to accelerate the provision of weapons, according to two people familiar with the plan.”

If approved by Congress, this would be a major milestone in Washington’s bolstering Taiwan’s defense, given the self-ruled island would for the first time ever receive American arms through what’s called “foreign military financing.”Getty Images

It would also mark a first time use of the “presidential drawdown authority” for Taiwan, meaning the Pentagon would tap its own stockpiles which has long been used to supply Ukraine.

The FT report has come on the heels of last Friday’s newly announced White House aid package of up to $345 million for Taiwan.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office issued another blistering condemnation of US military support to Taiwan, underscoring that Beijing’s efforts to unify the island to the mainland will continue undeterred.

“No matter how much of the ordinary people’s taxpayer money the … Taiwanese separatist forces spend, no matter how many U.S. weapons, it will not shake our resolve to solve the Taiwan problem,” Taiwan Affairs Office said, adding “…Or shake our firm will to realize the reunification of our motherland.”

Meanwhile, Nikkei Asia has observed in some fresh analysis that the Chinese PLA military has steadily increased and even sped up preparations to blockade Taiwan ever since the Pelosi visit. This has continued unabated, FT observes, writing:

China has greatly increased its conducting of military drills simulating the containment of Taiwan since then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island a year ago. Nikkei analyzed the possibility of China’s invasion of Taiwan, using drone-taken images and views by experts.

Even the range of activities by the Chinese military around Taiwan has changed. Before Pelosi’s visit on Aug. 2 of last year, Chinese military planes and ships rarely moved around to the east of Taiwan. Instead, they primarily engaged in activities southwest of the island. Over the past year, they have become active in the Western Pacific, or the Philippine Sea, having Taiwan to the west.

Both of the large Chinese aircraft carriers–the Shandong, which was its first domestically developed aircraft carrier–and the Liaoning, have been spotted in waters near Taiwan, and are becoming more active in conducting war simulations, alarming Taipei further.

Looking at GDP and economic growth, one might ask the obvious: why does Taiwan need our constant taxpayer dollars on a continual basis (akin to Ukraine)?

end

CHINA/TESLA

Tesla not doing too good in China with their electric cars

(zerohedge)

Tesla China Sales Fall 31% Sequentially As BYD Continues Growth

THURSDAY, AUG 03, 2023 – 08:45 AM

Tesla sold 64,285 China-made electric vehicles for the month of July, down 31% from the month prior, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association, reported by Reuters.

The number is the lowest Tesla has posted so far this year in China.

Sequentially, the numbers were lower but year-over-year, thanks to the benefit of a 2022 Shanghai shutdown for production line improvements, sales of the Model Y and Model 3 were actually up 128%.

One of Tesla’s largest competitors in China, BYD, posted 261,105 EV sales in July, up 61% year over year without the benefit of an abnormally easy 2022 comp. As Bloomberg notes, BYD has now surpassed Tesla in global EV sales, effective last year.

Last year BYD sold 1.85 million electric vehicles, up exponentially from the 200,000 the automaker sold in 2019. The chart above shows just how quickly BYD sales have surpassed Tesla.

Some Twitter/X users have asked questions about whether demand in China could be drying up, posting that the company was offering a referral program for Model 3 sales for the month of August.

The dropoff in July will have Wall Street watching Tesla’s China numbers closer heading into Q3. June looked like it held more promise for Tesla, with the automaker posting 74,212 vehicles sold and 19,468 units exported, solidifying a 20.6% sequential rise for the EV maker.

At the end of Q2 Tesla posted 466,140 deliveries for the quarter, ahead of Bloomberg’s consensus estimate of 448,351. The auto manufacturer produced 479,700 vehicles in the quarter, exceeding estimates of 456,617.

4.EUROPEAN AFFAIRS//UK /SCANDAVIAN AFFAIRS

BANK OF ENGLAND/UK

A dovish 25 basis point hike in the uK bank rate

(zerohedge)

BOE Hikes 25bps In Three Way Split, Keeps Forward Guidance For More Hikes

THURSDAY, AUG 03, 2023 – 07:28 AM

With the market split ahead of today’s BOE decision whether the central bank would hike 25 or 50bps (markets priced in a 1-in-3 chances of another 50 basis point jump following last month’s 50bps hike), moments ago the mystery was settled when the BOE raised the key rate by a dovish quarter point to 5.25%, the highest in 15 years, but disappointing the more hawkish corners in the market.

The nine-member MPC split three ways on the decision Catherine Mann and Jonathan Haskel voted for a half-point hike, while Swati Dhingra pushed for no change. The majority led by Governor Andrew Bailey and his deputies voted for a quarter point hike.

The BOE maintained its forward guidance that “if there were to be evidence of more persistent pressures, then further tightening in monetary policy would be required.”

The guidance also included a new sentence suggesting that once the tightening cycle is finished, rates may remain elevated for some time. It said:

“The MPC would ensure that Bank Rate was sufficiently restrictive for sufficiently long to return inflation to the 2% target sustainably in the medium term, in line with its remit.”

According to Bloomberg, this is a signal that once the tightening cycle is finished, rates may remain elevated for some time. It’s a warning for markets not to start anticipating rate cuts anytime soon – maybe for years.

The central bank also repeated that “the current monetary policy stance is restrictive” and that it will “ensure that Bank Rate is sufficiently restrictive for sufficiently long to return inflation to the 2% target sustainably in the medium term, in line with its remit.”

Given the significant increase in Bank Rate since the start of this tightening cycle, the current monetary policy stance is restrictive. The MPC will continue to monitor closely indications of persistent inflationary pressures and resilience in the economy as a whole, including the tightness of labour market conditions and the behaviour of wage growth and services price inflation. If there were to be evidence of more persistent pressures, then further tightening in monetary policy would be required. The MPC will ensure that Bank Rate is sufficiently restrictive for sufficiently long to return inflation to the 2% target sustainably in the medium term, in line with its remit.

Commenting on the (somewhat dovish) hike, BOE head Andrew Bailey said that “inflation is falling, and that’s good news. We know that inflation hits the least well off hardest, and we need to make absolutely sure that it falls all the way back to the 2% target.”

Looking ahead, the BOE’s growth forecasts indicate stagnation through 2025, providing a bleak backdrop for the next election. Governor Bailey said the MPC needs to make absolutely sure that inflation falls all the way back to 2%.

The MPC reduced near-term inflation forecasts and now see the inflation rate hitting 4.9% in the fourth quarter. That’s down from their previous forecast of 5.1%. This suggests that Rishi Sunak is likely to make good on his promise to halve inflation by December this year, but it’ll be a closer call than he might have liked.

Meanwhile, inflation forecasts were revised up slightly over the longer-term, with the BOE building in more evidence of persistence in price increases; to wit, the BoE said there are some upside risks to its modal CPI forecasts, with risks skewed to the upside but less than in May. Says wages data shows risks of more persistent inflation may have begun to crystalize.

Growth:

2023 0.50% (prev. 0.25%)
2024 0.50% (prev. 0.75%)
2025 0.50% (prev. 0.75%)

Inflation:

2023 5.00% (prev. 5.00%)
2024 2.50% (prev. 2.25%)
2025 1.50% (prev. 1.0%)

Notably, the BOE has sidestepped the question of how much it will reduce the size of its balance sheet going forward. Traders had hoped to get a hint on the scale of QT going into its second year. The MPC confirmed it will lay out its plans on the pace of asset sales under its quantitative tightening program for the year starting October 2023 at the next meeting in September, judging that the first year had a small impact on gilt yields and the economy.

In kneejerk response the decision sparked an immediate dovish move, given the unwinding of circa. 40% market pricing for a 50bp hike before hand. As a result, sterling dropped to session lows but then promptly rebounded to pre-BOE levels which were still just off the lowest level in the past month.

… as the accompanying commentary made clear that further tightening could occur and the vote split showed two members, Haskel & Mann, in favour of a 50bps hike. However, as participants then digested the full details of the MPR and the lack of any tweak to the pace of QT further downside has been seen in Cable as the internal commentary from the 6 who voted for 25bp made clear that the “monetary stance was weighing on economic activity” while the accompanying forecasts saw downgrades on the growth front.

Additionally, the BoE statement stated that the monetary stance is restrictive – potentially a hat-tip to being near the end of the tightening cycle. Over the medium- term inflation is seen below target, however, it has been acknowledged by many that the MPC is placing less weight on its forecasts.

Overall, Newsquawk noted that the statement had something for both the hawks and the doves and as such we look to the presser from Governor Bailey for clarity on the next steps and just how much further tightening markets should expect.

Commenting on the rate hike, Samuel Zief, head of FX strategy at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, said today’s decision “looks to us like a central bank that wants to stop hiking”.

We continue to prefer to stick to short-dated UK fixed income given that it provides a compelling yield and a buffer against any further economic resilience that might mean the BoE has to go to 6% or beyond. That said, as we get closer to peak rates in the back half of this year, the risk reward in extending duration is becoming more compelling. That backdrop isn’t supportive of GBP in our view.

Looking ahead, traders now see a 68% chance of a 25bps rate hike in September, and 32% odds of no change; the projected terminal rate dipped modestly from 5.74% pre-BOE to 5.65% after the announcement.

end

Finally somebody is waking up: UK carbon prices plunge after UK offers more allowances to polluting industries

(zerohedge)

UK Carbon Prices Plunge After Whitehall Offers More Allowances To Polluting Industries

THURSDAY, AUG 03, 2023 – 05:45 AM

The UK government is moving their environmental policies a little bit closer to common sense.

Industrial companies now face less strict financial burdens for polluting after the government “watered down” reforms compared with those set by the EU, the Financial Times reported last week.

The new reforms offer more allowances than expected to polluting industries, the report says.

As a result of the changes in UK’s carbon trading scheme, carbon prices are trading at a steep discount compared with Europe. This has led to warnings that the reforms will “undermine” green investments and increase fossil fuel use.

James Huckstepp, an analyst at BNP Paribas, told FT: “The changes to the carbon market have largely passed under the radar in the UK but will have the biggest impact of any policy on the UK’s emissions path.”

The UK Emissions Trading Scheme put a price on the emission of one ton of CO2, similar to a plan in place by the EU. Some companies, like electricity generators, get allowances to cover some of their necessary emissions.

As time progresses, the allowances are cut, thereby incentivizing companies to pollute less – or be forced to pay up. But this year the UK government said it was handing out an additional 53.5 tons of extra allowances between 2024 and 2027.

Since the announcement, UK carbon prices have been trading at a steep discount to European prices. UK carbon prices are £47 a ton, compared to €88.50 (£75.86) in the EU. Previously, the two prices had been near parity.

Adam Berman, Energy UK deputy director of advocacy, commented: “A robust carbon price is critical to attracting investment in clean energy that can bring down prices, reduce emissions and bolster our energy security.”

“Swapping lower prices in the long run for a short period of low prices today is the definition of a penny-wise, pound-foolish approach,” he added, stating that the carbon market was the “cornerstone of the UK’s decarbonization strategy”.

“While there are short-term benefits to energy-intensive industries, the discount that has emerged versus the EU will make it much more challenging for the UK to meet its climate goals, from disincentivizing wind farms to encouraging power generators to burn more gas,” Huckstepp at BNP concluded.

EU/

5 RUSSIA//UKRAINE AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

UKRAINE/GONZALO LIRA

This is a country that the USA and the west supports?

(zerohedge)

Ukraine Rearrests American Blogger Trying To Enter Hungary For Asylum

THURSDAY, AUG 03, 2023 – 06:55 AM

Chilean-American blogger Gonzalo Lira, who was initially detained by Ukrainian intelligence in May for ‘pro-Russian sympathies’—has reportedly been rearrested as he was trying to make his way out of Ukraine into Hungary. His crime?: publishing YouTube videos critical of the war & the US-Kiev-NATO stance.

He once again could face lengthy imprisonment, or even torture – given previous allegations which surfaced during his first detention – but he’s been shunned by the Biden administration and ignored by mainstream media. So much for “democracy”, free speech, and rule of law… as Lira simply doesn’t have the ‘correct’ viewpoint on the war, and thus Washington doesn’t bat an eye over his fate. Watch an entirely legitimate question on Lira from a brave reporter get ignored in the State Dept briefing room (Aug.1st)…

On Tuesday, Lira posted multiple videos explaining that he was attempting to escape Ukraine to neighboring Hungary.

He was due in a Ukrainian court this week, but essentially skipped bail and tried to make it across the Western border, where he was hoping to be granted asylum. His initial apprehension on May 1st by the the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) was for “producing and disseminating materials that justified the armed aggression” of Russia. This included a piece of analysis posted to YouTube called simply ‘Ukraine: A Primer”.

While Lira had not been heard from in months through his typically active social media accounts, he suddenly this week began posting again and documented his ordeal, summarized in a First Post report as follows:

According to Lira, he was beaten and tortured because the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) wanted to extort his entire savings, which amounted to approximately $100,000 when considering the value of the confiscated computers and phones.

…Following his arrest, a judge ruled that he should remain in custody until the trial. Notably, in April 2022, Lira had been detained by the SBU before but was released after a week without any charges filed, likely due to public pressure.

Scenes from his first arrest and a court hearing in May, which his family and supporters called a “kangaroo court”…

Still facing potential prosecution, it seems he took his chances and fled…

And there is now what appears to be an official statement from Ukraine’s military, issued Wednesday, stating that he is indeed under arrest again (below).

Additionally, Mark Sleboda, an American political commentator and Navy veteran living in Russia, reported the following on Wednesday: “I can affirm that Gonzalo Lira, wanted by the Kiev Putsch regime for the crime of criticizing it (aka as ‘free speech’), tried to escape the West-backed Kiev Putsch regime across the Ukrainian border into Hungary where he intended to request political asylum.”

“I can further affirm that Lira was stopped on the Ukrainian side of the border from crossing and has since disappeared, now for more than 24 hours,” Sleboda added. “That is the last that anyone has heard from him.”

Will an American in Ukraine be convicted for posting YouTube videos? And more importantly, will Washington raise any objection whatsoever over the fate of its citizen?

end

RUSSIA/UKRAINE//

Robert H to us:

Make Peace, You Fools! – The American Conservative

Col. Douglas Macgregor.

He is spot on. Except there are no rational thinkers on board the Ship of Fools. Blinded by rabid hatred of all things Russian and with a delusional attitude of thinking that a nuclear exchange is no more troublesome than a warming climate, there is no logic. Even the losing of a triple A credit rating renders no caution, only anger that balderdash is being challenged by Rating Agencies to keep their own creditability. History tells us empires often collapse from within and this Hegemon seems to be working hard to achieve this. Leaving ample room to be out maneuvered by BRICS and the ever growing parade of nations wanting to exit Western boots. Whether America can overcome its’ internal collapse of creditability or externally remains to be seen. However with the same cast, the cast is already cast. And how America faces a lost of internal creditability with not just the political class but institutional leadership remains to be seen. As a public awakens to what has been done and is being done. Current drama will grow in coming weeks.

Sadly, the Western world is stumbling in to a wider conflict leading one to watch a ever growing demise of Europe battling economic decline and massive energy disruptions that will lead to a stark grim reality this winter as costs and supply continues to dislocate not just production but the standard of living enjoyed in the past. All of this is in turmoil as is growing unrest amongst disenfranchised parts of European society who are realizing that a better tomorrow is not going to come.
Capital is leaving Europe for safe harbors, real or perceived with dire consequences. Yes, capital flows do matter because it increases the velocity of economies while contracting them upon departure.

Today’ fractional banking system is fragile at best, beset with fraud, and thievery and games where realities are starting to come to roost. Banks already have started to contract credit and credit lines, especially ones not fully used. Why? Because the truth is some banks no longer have the capital to allow such luxury.
As as much as Ukraine is turning into a graveyard for those fighting; the real horror of mass casualties is just coming into focus with many more on the horizon. As it is, some estimates of Ukrainians having lost a limb or more are exceeding 1MM. Truly a staggering number that includes men and women.
Zelensky is nearing the end of his time as in many a Ukrainian quarter his demise is being discussed and perhaps planned. As there are discussions of a leadership committee after his fall from office. Whether the same delusional crowd by committee matters is doubtful. Leaving Russia to conclude that they must do what many hard liners have always said and that is take all of Ukraine and cleanse it completely of Nazi like believers and install a neutral independent leadership neutered of Western weapons and influence to rebuild itself without Western influence. Bad news for BlackRock and JP Morgan and their shareholders or interest holders. As for NATO Russia has already stated that they will remove the 50% of nuclear missiles delivered to Belarus when America removes its nukes from Europe. We should not hold our breath so realities will come forth as Neocons control a faltering administration headed for collapse under the weight of corruption. And one should expect as early as tonight to start to hear of a more aggressive surgical Russia embracing a more pointed offensive state. As it is, production lines are gearing up for another 300,000 troops to be in uniform in the not too distant future. This is in addition to providing ample gear for fielded manpower in the field. Quietly, Russia has been seeing 40,000+ recruits monthly signing up to fight. And there are very real rumors of another 100,000+ troops equipped and ready to be fielded upon request and fully trained. Unlike the West, the forces deployed today by Russia is no longer the force it was some 16 months ago having been re-equipped with modern weaponry that seemingly undergoes a quarterly refinement becoming more deadly as production lines churn out what the battlefield teaches. Less technical production of things like battle vests and like is out sourced to factories beyond Russia to countries like China who can produce in industrial quantities and quickly. Learning itself and re-equipping it’s own troops. Soon you will hear more noise from China and one should look to Taiwan in mid to late September for drama.

Whether in another year common sense prevails in Europe or not, time will cause Europe to look for growth and rebuilding of basic Economies shattered by severing cheap Russian energy from the mercantile economies of countries like Germany. At some point sheer necessity to survive will cast new realities that are likely to break up the EU and NATO. As nations are forced to choose between total chaos or prosperity with controllable chaos.

Make Peace, You Fools!

end

6.GLOBAL ISSUES//MEDICAL ISSUES

Worker Fired Over Refusal To Receive COVID-19 Vaccine Wins Job Back

WEDNESDAY, AUG 02, 2023 – 05:40 PM

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

The University of Virginia wrongly fired an employee who refused to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, according to a new ruling.

The university “acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner” when it fired Kaycee McCoy, a cytotechnologist, in 2021, Virginia District Court Judge Claude Worrell Jr. said in a July 27 ruling.

Ms. McCoy had asked for a religious exemption to the university’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, with support from her pastor.

But her employer denied the request and terminated Ms. McCoy in November 2021.

Ms. McCoy quickly took her case to the courts, saying that the refusal to grant an exemption violated Virginia’s Constitution, which states in part that all citizens are “entitled to the free exercise of religion” and that no citizen “shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief.”

The university defended its decision, arguing that the plaintiff’s “personal opinions” and “personal preferences” did not make her entitled to a religious exemption. They also said they did not have to grant her an exemption even if her objection was based on sincere beliefs.

Judge Worrell disagreed, finding in favor of the plaintiff.

Virginia courts uphold governmental actions unless the actions are “arbitrary and capricious” or those taken “without a determining principle,” according to previous court decisions.

The university wrongly applied a test aimed at determining the sincerity of belief, the judge said, which “is violative of the separation of church and state doctrine enshrined in both the Virginia and federal constitutions.”

He reversed the termination, ordered the university not to fire Ms. McCoy again, provided she met the exemption requirements, and awarded the plaintiff damages equal to the salary she would have received since being fired, plus interest.

The university did not respond to a request for comment.

Lawyers for Ms. McCoy said the court “handed a victory” to the plaintiff.

Requests Exemption After Mandate Announced

Ms. McCoy started working for the University of Virginia in 2011. She is a cytotechnologist or a laboratory worker who analyzes cells.

The university imposed the COVID-19 vaccine mandate on Aug. 25, 2021, but said it would consider medical and religious exemption requests. The university cited guidance by Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, a Democrat who said that universities could require COVID-19 vaccination but that they should “be prepared to provide reasonable accommodation for medical conditions and/or religious objections.”

Ms. McCoy filed her exemption request on Sept. 12, 2021, before the deadline for such requests.

Ms. McCoy’s objection was partly based on how fetal cells were used in testing or developing all the COVID-19 vaccines.

“The presence of and use of immortalized human cell lines taken against the will of the person aborted, having been used in the development of vaccinations, violates my sincere and firm beliefs that participation in the vaccination mandate is an indirect engagement and participation in abortion,” Ms. McCoy told the university.

She also sent a letter from her pastor confirming the sincerity of Ms. McCoy’s beliefs.

“I fully support Kaycee’s right to this objection based on the exercise of her own personal and faithful convictions,” the pastor wrote.

Denial

Several weeks later, the university denied the request, with no rationale provided.

Ms. McCoy asked for a reason for the denial, but the university said all decisions made by a body described as the “Health System Vaccine Religious Exemption Committee” were final, and no appeals were allowed. Additional information supporting the request could be provided, according to the message, from human resources.

The email said employees not in compliance with the mandate as of Nov. 1, 2021, would be subject to punitive action, including possible termination.

Ms. McCoy was on vacation during the first week of November 2021. When she went to work on the first day after returning from vacation, she met with a supervisor who told her she was suspended and would be fired in five days.

Later that day, an email confirming that the university would not change its denial decision arrived in Ms. McCoy’s inbox.

Mandate Kept in Place

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, issued an executive order upon taking office in 2022 that said any “requirement of state employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccination and disclose their vaccination status or engage in mandatory testing is harmful to their individual freedoms and privacy.”

Mr. Youngkin ordered a halt to such mandates at state institutions, including state universities.

The University of Virginia suspended its mandate for some employees but not workers in its health system.

The university cited a federal rule that forced health care institutions to require COVID-19 vaccination if they receive Medicare or Medicaid funding.

President Joe Biden’s administration ended that rule, and many other mandates, in May. Mr. Biden said the decline in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths led to the change.

END

Huge Numbers Of Kids Permanently Damaged By Lockdowns; New Study Finds

THURSDAY, AUG 03, 2023 – 03:30 AM

Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,

Yet another study has found that the pandemic lockdowns had devastating effects on the development of children, with half of all parents in the UK reporting serious deterioration in emotional and social skills of their kids.

The research comes from the Institute of Fiscal Studies and notes that children aged between four and seven were significantly more likely (52%) to be affected than 12- to 15 year-olds (42%).

The research also found that children whose parents were furloughed, mandatorily made to take a leave of absence from their jobs, were “significantly more likely to experience a worsening in their socio-emotional skills than those whose parents had not been furloughed (51% versus 45%)”.

Essentially, kids whose families experienced hardship due to the lockdown were significantly more likely to have serious developmental issues.

The questions in the study included asking whether children had become “easily scared”, “constantly fidgeting or squirming”, or “generally obedient”.

Author of the study Andrew McKendrick, an IFS research economist commented that “During the Covid-19 pandemic, children from all backgrounds saw their social and emotional skills worsen considerably.”

“Children lived through many changes during these years: school closures, lack of contact with friends and family, and potentially devastating severe illness or death among loved ones,” McKendrick continued, adding that the lockdowns have had “multi-generational impacts.”

“Our research shows that another important driver of children’s declining skills was the economic disruptions experienced by their parents, whether or not those disruptions led to a large income loss,” McKendrick added.

Responding to the study, Children’s Commissioner Rachel de Souza said “I am deeply concerned by the findings of this research on children’s social and emotional skills.”

‘This study shows that the disruption the pandemic caused to children’s development has been long-lasting,” de Souza added.

Arabella Skinner, of the parents’ campaign group UsForThem, commented that the research shows how kids became “collateral damage” of lockdowns, noting “There were many occasions when warnings were ignored.”

“It is an unavoidable fact that many of our children’s development has been negatively impacted by the pandemic restrictions,” Skinner asserted, further urging that “The Government must take action now – they need to support all the services which support our children and ensure that this never happens again.”

This research adds to the voluminous examples of prominent studies showing that the enforced restrictions during the pandemic were catastrophically detrimental to society.

New Johns Hopkins Study: “Lockdowns Have Had Little To No Public Health Effects” And “Imposed Enormous Economic and Social Costs”

Study: Lockdowns Drove 60,000 Children in UK to Clinical Depression

New Study: Babies Born In Lockdown Less Likely To Speak Before First Birthday

Children Suffering From as Many as Three Different Viruses Due to Weakened Immunity Caused by Lockdown

New Study Finds Many Children Unable to Say Their Own Name Due to Impact of Lockdown

Report: Effects of Lockdown May Now Be Killing More People Than COVID

Outbreak of Hepatitis in Children Caused by Lockdowns That Weakened Immunity

Disturbing Lockdown Drawings Show Effect on Children’s Mental Health

Doctors sound alarm over mysterious outbreak of brain infections in Nevada kids – and they believe it’s linked to COVID lockdowns

New Study Concludes Lockdowns Caused AT LEAST 170,000+ Excess Deaths In U.S.

Report: More Than 3000 Diabetics In UK DIED Because Of COVID Lockdowns

Lockdown Advocate Admits Negative Impacts Were Never Considered

Prominent Lockdown Advocate Admits He Got it Wrong

Highest Yearly Increase of Alcohol Deaths in UK on Record During 2020 Lockdown

* * *

GLOBAL ECONOMIC ISSUES//

END

GLOBAL VACCINE/COVID ISSUES“

New Study & Confidential Pfizer Documents confirm mRNA ‘Vaccine Shedding’ has been occurring with shockingly dangerous consequences – The Expose

New Study & Confidential Pfizer Documents confirm mRNA ‘Vaccine Shedding’ has been occurring with shockingly dangerous consequences

DR PAUL ALEXANDER

Remdesivir is DEADLY, causes acute renal (nephrotoxicity) & liver failure: why is FDA, NIH, Health Canada etc. health officials, doctors, hospitals pushing this on patients? knowing it kills! O Gérard

we detected a statistically significant pharmacovigilance signal of nephrotoxicity associated with remdesivir, deserving a thorough qualitative assessment of all available data.

DR. PAUL ALEXANDERAUG 2

Remdesivir and Acute Renal Failure: A Potential Safety Signal From Disproportionality Analysis of the WHO Safety Database

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33340409/

‘Remdesivir is approved for emergency use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and authorized conditionally by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Its benefit-risk ratio is still being explored because data in the field are rather scant.

end

Leprosy: COVID mRNA technology vaccine link? Malone? Weissman? Kariko? Sahin? Bancel? Bourla? crickets? Subversion of immune system (innate & acquired)? why is Leprosy rising in Florida? CDC issues

“CDC issues leprosy warning for people making Florida travel plans”; wow! big move CDC! why? what are you seeing? Florida is foci? if untreated, disease can progress to paralysis, blindness, crippling

DR. PAUL ALEXANDERAUG 2

https://ca.yahoo.com/news/cdc-issues-leprosy-warning-people-192000957.html

end

BOOM, Rand Paul delivers a MOAB, over the target, striking deep into enemy territory! Love it; criminal referral to Justice “Rand Paul says Dr. Fauci caught ‘red-handed’ for lying to Congress: ‘Nobody

‘Nobody has lifted a finger’; Rand is good guy, tries to be strong in pack of enuchs deballed Republicans and malcreant democrats, lets see where it goes! my money riding on ‘NOWHERE’, but good start

DR. PAUL ALEXANDERAUG 2

https://www.foxnews.com/media/rand-paul-says-dr-fauci-caught-red-handed-lying-congress-nobody-lifted-finger?intcmp=tw_fnc

‘Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (R) joined “Fox & Friends” Monday to discuss why he says Dr. Anthony Fauci is lying about his involvement with coronavirus gain-of-function research. Paul said Fauci lied to Congress, which is a felony, about the origins of coronavirus and the Wuhan, China lab research.’

They in DC, deepstate, academia, medical doctors, alphabet agencies like CDC, FDA etc. are so deep in the crimes of COVID, if we jailed the wrongdoers we will need to build new jails by the day in America. Filty criminals they are.

end

SLAY NEWS

The latest reports from Slay News

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Ashley Biden Recording Confirms Controversial Diary Is Hers A new audio recording has emerged of First Daughter Ashley Biden, in which she confirms that a controversial diary is, in fact, hers.READ MORE

Elise Stefanik: Latest Trump Indictment Is a Distraction from Biden Family Corruption Scandal House Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) has warned the American people that the latest indictment against President Donald Trump from the weaponized Department of Justice (DOJ) is a distraction from “one of the greatest political corruption scandals in history.”READ MORE

Video Shows Moment Tennis Star Yibing Wu Collapses at Citi Open in Washington D.C Tennis fans were left stunned at the Mubadala Citi DC Open in the US capital Monday afternoon when China’s star player Yibing Wu collapsed suddenly.READ MORE

Oklahoma’s GOP Governor Signs ‘Women’s Bill of Rights’ to Define ‘Female’ and ‘Mother’Oklahoma’s Republican Governor Kevin Stitt has signed legislation into law that protects women’s rights in the state.READ MORE

DOJ Indicts Trump on Four More Charges as Walls Close In on Biden President Donald Trump has been indicted on charges related to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s politically motivated probe into alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.READ MORE

NY Times Changes Tune as Evidence Mounts: It’s ‘Long Been Known’ That Biden ‘Interacted’ with Hunter’s ‘Business Partners’The New York Times is now changing its tune as the narrative from the White House crumbles regarding Democrat President Joe Biden’s role in his family business.READ MORE

EVOL NEWS

LATEST REPORTS FOR NEWS JUNKIES

John Kerry Vows to Destroy Food Supply to Fight ‘Global Warming’: ‘Bankrupt Every Farmer in America’President Joe Biden’s “Climate Czar” John Kerry is unleashing new attacks on the food supply as he vows to meet “Net Zero” goals to fight “global warming.”READ THE FULL REPORT

Tucker Carlson Drops Bombshell Interview, Devon Archer Admits: ‘Understanding a Regulatory Environment Means Selling Access at the End of the Day’Tucker Carlson released an interview with Hunter Biden’s former associate Devon Archer. Carlson started part one of the interview by asking Archer, “So you worked with Hunter Biden in a bunch of different businesses. What were the skills, the specific skills that he brought to clients?” “Well, at the end of the day, he you know he had a career …READ THE FULL REPORT

Leo Terrell Demands to See Action From Republicans Who ‘Talk a Good Game’: ‘Impeach Joe Biden NOW!’As evidence mounts against Joe Biden that would potentially give House Republicans an opportunity for impeachment, many supporters are growing impatient with the lack of action by the members of Congress. Fox News contributor and civil rights attorney demanded in a post to X yesterday to see action from those who “talk a good game.” “Republicans: You talk a good …READ THE FULL REPORT

‘President Trump Did Nothing Wrong!’ Jim Jordan Reaffirms Support After Latest Indictment U.S. House Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH) reaffirmed his support yesterday for 2024 GOP Presidential front-runner Donald Trump after the latest indictment was announced by special prosecutor Jack Smith. In a post on X, Jordan pointed out that “When you drain The Swamp, The Swamp fights back.” “President Trump did nothing wrong!” Jordan declared. When you drain The Swamp, The Swamp …READ THE FULL REPORT

Trump Thanks Supporters amid Indictment Fiasco, Appears Ready for Upcoming Legal Battles Donald Trump posted a thanks to all of his supporters after facing another indictment by the federal government: “THANK YOU TO EVERYONE!!! I HAVE NEVER HAD SO MUCH SUPPORT ON ANYTHING BEFORE. THIS UNPRECEDENTED INDICTMENT OF A FORMER (HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL!) PRESIDENT, & THE LEADING CANDIDATE, BY FAR, IN BOTH THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND THE 2024 GENERAL ELECTION, HAS AWOKEN THE …READ THE FULL REPORT

NEWS ADDICTS

LATEST REPORTS FOR NEWS JUNKIES

mRNA Inventor: Covid Shots Were ‘Designed to Depopulate Earth’The inventor of the mRNA technology behind Big Pharma’s Covid shots has warned the public that the injections were “designed to depopulate Earth.”READ THE FULL REPORT

Rude Giuliani Says Jack Smith Indictment Eviscerates First Amendment and Criminalizes Questioning Election Results In what came as no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention, the Biden DOJ has now indicted former President Donald Trump in relation to January 6th. “Today’s indictment eviscerates the First Amendment and criminalizes the ruling regime’s number one political opponent for daring to ask questions about the 2020 election results.” Former Republican Mayor of New York City …READ THE FULL REPORT

Mike Pence Appears Supportive of Jack Smith Indictment, Gets Raided on X/Twitter Thread The witch hunt continues. Donald Trump’s former Vice President has officiated his back turn against the man who made him. As if running against Trump and deprioritizing Americans in a recent speech wasn’t bad enough, Pence seems to agree with the prosecutions of Trump. There were far more comments than likes on Pence’s post, if you look it up on …READ THE FULL REPORT

Donald Trump Indicted on Charges Related to 2020 Election Probe Former President Donald Trump has been indicted on 4 federal counts. DC Draino shared: “President Trump has been indicted on 4 federal counts: Conspiracy to defraud the US Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding Obstruction of and Attempt to Obstruct an Official Proceeding Conspiracy against Rights It is *very* important to note he was not charged with Seditious Conspiracy or …READ THE FULL REPORT

Former Democrat Rep Turned Republican Says Joe Biden May Have Committed Treason, Demands Immediate Impeachment U.S. House Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) is hopping mad. Van Drew went on Fox Business and spelled it out in regards to the ongoing Biden scandal: “He’s using public policy, he’s using the power, and when I say he I mean the president, the power of the United States, and the influence of the United States, to actually help …READ THE FULL REPORT

VACCINE IMPACT/

end

MICHAEL EVERY/PHIL MAREY/OR OTHER EXECS //RABOBANK

end

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

Oil Rebounds After Reports That Saudis Will “Extend, Deepen” Voluntary Production Cuts

THURSDAY, AUG 03, 2023 – 09:00 AM

Update (0900ET): Well, we appear to have our answer to the most anticipated question for oil traders.

We noted earlier (below): “We see no looming change in the group’s current supply cadence, nor the required production adjustments set to take effect in 2024,” says Helima Croft at RBC Capital Markets, in a note.

“The question that market participants remain focused on is whether Saudi Arabia will sunset its unilateral 1 mb/d cut at summer’s end or roll it over for another month.”

The Saudi Press Agency is reporting:

An official source from the Ministry of Energy announced that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will extend the voluntary cut of one million barrels per day, which has gone into implementation in July, for another month to include the month of September that can be extended or extended and deepened.

In effect, the Kingdom’s production for the month of September 2023 will be approximately 9 million barrels per day.

The source also noted that this cut is in addition to the voluntary cut previously announced by the Kingdom in April 2023, which extends until the end of December 2024.

The source confirmed that this additional voluntary cut comes to reinforce the precautionary efforts made by OPEC Plus countries with the aim of supporting the stability and balance of oil markets.

This has prompted gain in WTI, erasing much of yesterday’s DOE-driven dump…

* * *

As Bloomberg’s Grant Smith detailed earlier, the biggest question in oil markets is how long Saudi Arabia will extend its 1 million-barrel-a-day supply cut. Riyadh’s handling of a previous strategy offers some guidance — and reassurance — for crude bulls.

The kingdom launched the unilateral cutback last month in a bid to shore up global oil markets, undertaking the solo effort as its comrades in the OPEC+ coalition had already cut output as much as they could bear. It’s had some qualified success, boosting Brent prices to a three-month high above $85 a barrel in London.

The Saudis have committed to extending the measure into August, and OPEC-watchers expect that Riyadh will announce a further continuation into September this week. Traders are bracing for a statement from Saudi state media in the next couple of days, before an OPEC+ monitoring committee convenes to assess markets on Friday.

To understand what the world’s biggest crude exporter may do after that, it’s useful to consider how it handled a similar intervention two years ago.

In January 2021, the Saudis announced a unilateral 1 million-barrel cut to amplify the efforts of its OPEC+ brethren, to take effect in February and March. It was subsequently extended for one more month, and then unwound in stages over the following three months.

One lesson to draw is that the kingdom is prepared to go it alone with supply curbs for a considerable period; it’s quite possible that the restraints adopted in early 2021 could have lasted longer if others in OPEC+ hadn’t been so eager to increase production.

But at the same time, the limited three-month span of the move shows the Saudis won’t make such sacrifices indefinitely. Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman has described this summer’s curbs as a “lollipop” for markets — and at some point all treats must be taken away.

Perhaps the most important final lesson is that, when it comes to restoring shuttered supplies, Riyadh prefers a cautious and gradual approach rather than any sudden moves.

As a result, we may see the latest 1 million-barrel reduction eventually unwound in piece-meal stages. And that ought to give confidence to oil bulls betting that the current rally can go further.

END

8. EMERGING MARKETS//AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND ISSUES

BRAZIL

First major country to end tightening as the Central Bank of Brazil lowered its rate by a larger than expected 50 basis points. Other central banks are now set to follow

(zerohedge)

Brazil Ends Tightening Cycle With Larger Than Expected 50bps Rate Cut; Other Central Banks To Follow

WEDNESDAY, AUG 02, 2023 – 11:40 PM

In the end, Lula got his wish and won his quiet war with Brazil’s central bank.

As BBG’s Sebastian Boyd writes, Brazil’s central bank “couldn’t help but surprise traders today”, and it did so not only with the first rate cut in three years, ending its tightening cycle – which sent the Selic target rate from 2% in March 2021 to 13.75 % in August 2022 – but also did so with a bigger cut than many expected.

The Copom cut the policy rate by 50bp to 13.25% in a tight 5-4 split decision, after keeping it at 13.75% for exactly one year. The four dissenting votes were for a milder 25bp cut.

Going into the meeting, swaps traders were roughly evenly split between 25 and 50 bps, while 30 of 41 economists in Bloomberg’s survey expected a 25-bp cut and 11 saw 50 bps. The bank said it considered cutting the Selic by a quarter-point, but chose to make a larger cut because of continuing improvement in the country’s inflation outlook.

“If the scenario evolves as expected, the committee members unanimously anticipate further reductions of the same magnitude in the next meetings, and it judges that this pace is appropriate to keep the necessary contractionary monetary policy for the disinflationary process,” the Central Bank of Brazil said in a statement.

And while Brazil wasn’t the first central bank to cut its key interest rate first – Uruguay was first, and Chile also followed with a larger-than-expected cut last week – it is by far the biggest so far. Interestingly, the decision was not unanimous. Both the new appointee, Gabriel Galipolo and the president Roberto Campos Neto voted for 50 bps.

The decision was dovish to market expectations but not to market pricing. The (bi-modal) market consensus was leaning towards a 25bp rate cut: of the 41 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, 31 expected a 25bp rate cut and 10 a larger 50bp rate cut.

Even with the larger-than-expected cut Wednesday, the gap between inflation and the Selic rate remains wide and even deeper cuts may be in store, said Gino Olivares, chief economist at Azimut Brasil Wealth Management.

If the central bank trims half a percentage point for the next three meetings, “we will have the Selic at 11.75% at the end of the year, which is still a contractionist level,” Olivares said. “In the future, they will have to evaluate whether to accelerate the pace of easing.”

As the WSJ notes, the central bank began raising the Selic after inflation started to pick up toward the end of 2020 and then rose faster as the Brazil’s economy recovered from the pandemic-induced slowdown. The Russian invasion of Ukraine later pushed inflation even higher as energy and food prices gained amid supply disruptions.

Higher interest rates are now having the expected effect on inflation and the economy, and other factors are also helping calm concerns at the central bank, said Matheus Pizzani, an economist at brokerage CM Capital Markets.

“The more recent evolution of inflation has been closer to what was hoped,” Pizzani said. High rates are helping slow the economy, concerns about the new Brazilian government’s fiscal policies have eased, and the outlook for services inflation is improving, he added.

* * *

In justifying its decision, the Copom – which just a few months ago was contemplating raising its inflation target – signaled the need to maintain a contractionary monetary stance until the disinflationary process consolidates and inflation expectations anchor around its targets. The Copom stated that the improvement of the inflation backdrop, reflecting in part the lagged effects of monetary policy, coupled with the reduction of longer-term inflation expectations provided “the necessary confidence to start a gradual cycle of monetary policy easing”.

The Copom considered the option of reducing the Selic rate to 13.50%, but concluded that it was appropriate to adopt a 50bp cut in this meeting due to an improvement in the inflation dynamics, reinforcing, however, the firm objective of keeping a contractionary monetary policy to re-anchor expectations and bring inflation to the target over the relevant horizon.

The forward guidance points to the maintenance of the current pace of rate cuts in the next meetings (view held by all directors if the macro scenario evolves as expected). The characterization of the balance of risks for inflation suffered significant modifications but remained broadly neutral. The conditional inflation forecast for end-2024 did not improve (remained at 3.4%; i.e., still above the 3.0% target by end-2024 target.

Some economists say part of the current decline in Brazil’s 12-month inflation readings are temporary, stemming from fuel tax cuts the government applied last year. That effect is likely to dissipate in coming months, leading to a possible uptick in the headline inflation measure even as the economy slows, said CM Capital’s Pizzani.

“Inflation readings will increasingly reflect actual supply and demand imbalances,” he said. He sees inflation bouncing back to 4.8% in December, before falling to 3.8% a year later.

Looking ahead, Goldman expects the Copom to cut the Selic rate by 50 bp at the three remaining 2023 meetings, driving the Selic to 11.75% by end-end.

Here are some more details on the rate cut from Goldman

1. For the Copom, the decision to cut 50bp to 13.25% “is compatible with the strategy of convergence of inflation to around the target over the relevant horizon for monetary policy, which includes the 2024, and to a lesser extent 2025, calendar years.” We highlight that 2025 entered the relevant horizon for monetary policy in the August meeting (previously the only relevant horizon was the 2024 calendar years).
2. The Copom reiterated the need to maintain a contractionary monetary stance until the disinflationary process consolidates and inflation expectations anchor around its targets.
3. The Copom stated that the improvement of the inflation backdrop, reflecting in part the lagged effects of monetary policy, coupled with the reduction of longer-term inflation expectations, after the recent decision of the National Monetary Council on the inflation target, “have given the necessary confidence to start a gradual cycle of monetary policy easing”.
4. The Copom considered the option of reducing the Selic rate to 13.50%, but it concluded that it was appropriate to adopt a 50bp in this meeting due to an improvement in the inflation dynamics, reinforcing, however, the firm objective of keeping a contractionary monetary policy to reanchor expectations and bring inflation to the target over the relevant horizon. For the Copom, the current context, characterized by a stage in which the disinflationary process tends to be slower and with partial reanchoring of inflation expectations, requires serenity and moderation in the conduct of monetary policy.
5. Forward guidance: No acceleration in the pace of rate cuts. For the Copom, if the macro scenario evolves as expected, its members unanimously anticipate further cuts of the same magnitude in the next meetings, and judge that this pace [-50bp] is appropriate to keep the monetary stance contractionary necessary for the disinflationary process.
6. Finally, the Copom emphasized that the total magnitude of the easing cycle throughout time will depend on the inflation dynamics, especially the components that are more sensitive to monetary policy and economic activity, on inflation expectations (in particular long-term expectations), on its inflation projections, on the output gap, and on the balance of risks.
7. The Reference Scenario with a BRL/USD that follows a PPP path starting at 4.75 (vs. 4.85 at the June meeting), the Selic path of the market scenario, and where oil prices follow approximately the futures curve for the next six-months, and rise 2% per year thereafter, shows headline inflation at 4.9% by end-2023 (5.0% at the June meeting and still above the 3.25% target), 3.4% by end-2024 (3.4% at the June meeting and closer to the 3.00% target), and 3.0% for end-2025 (vs 3.1 in the June QIR). The assumption for inflation in regulated tariffs/prices rose for 2023 (+40bp to 9.4%) and were unchanged for 2024 (at 4.6%). That is, in this scenario the conditional inflation forecasts for end-2024 remained above the target.
8. The characterization of the balance of risks for inflation suffered significant modifications but remained broadly neutral.
- a. As upside risks to the inflation outlook and inflation expectations, the Copom mentions: (i) greater persistence of global inflationary pressures; and (ii) stronger than expected services inflation resilience/stickiness due to a tighter output gap. The Copom added risk (ii) and deleted as upside risks to inflation: “some residual” uncertainty about the final design of fiscal framework to be approved in Congress and, more relevant for monetary policy, its impact on the expectations for public debt and inflation paths, and on risky assets and a deeper or more persistent unanchoring of long-term inflation expectations.
- b. As downside risks, the Copom stated: (i) a deeper than expected deceleration of global economic activity, particularly due to adverse conditions in the global financial system; and (ii) stronger than expected impact on global inflation from synchronized monetary policy tightening. As downside risks the Copom added risk (ii) and deleted from the statement the risks from: (i) additional decline of the price of commodities measured in local currency (although a sizeable part of this movement has already been observed); and; (ii) a slowdown in domestic credit origination that is deeper than what would be compatible with the current stance of monetary policy.
9. The Copom’s updated scenario can be summarized as follows.
- a. The global environment remains uncertain, with some disinflation at the margin, but against an environment with still high core inflation and labor market resilience in many countries.
- b. On the domestic front, the Copom repeated that “the recent set of indicators remains in line with the baseline scenario of activity deceleration” in the coming quarters.
- c. Notwithstanding the recent reduction of headline inflation, the Copom anticipates an increase in annual headline inflation during 2H2013. Moreover, several core inflation measures have declined recently but remain above the inflation target.

END

CANADA

We are now in deep trouble over here!

(Armstrong Economics)

The Online News Act Bill C-18 | Armstrong Economics

The Canadian government does not want people sharing news stories online. The government should be the sole source of information. The Online News Act (Bill C-18) would require social media platforms and online sources to compensate Canadian news agencies for sharing news online. A report by Angus Reid found that 85% of Canadians do not subscribe to news outlets and primarily rely on the internet for information. The government cannot control what is published online (yet) but they can easily control official news agencies.

Google said the bill “breaks the way the web and search engines have worked for more than 30 years.” It prevents Canadians from freely accessing information, as those costs need to be reacquired somewhere. Any time someone interacts with a news article, the Canadian government wants a cut. In turn, major platforms such as Meta and Google have announced that they will no longer publish news articles by Canadian outlets.

“In order to provide clarity to the millions of Canadians and businesses who use our platforms, we are announcing today that we have begun the process of ending news availability permanently in Canada,” Meta said in a statement. Dictator Trudeau has made a big push toward full media censorship.

“It’s like 1984,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre stated. “You have a prime minister passing a law to make news articles disappear from the internet. Who would’ve ever imagined that in Canada, the federal government would pass laws banning people from effectively seeing the news? Who would’ve thought that we’d have a government that would pass a law to manipulate the algorithms of the internet?” Trudeau will continue to usurp as much power as possible at the expense of the Canadian people.

end

Robert H to us on the above story!

Every Canadian should be up in arms over this.
And you wonder why Canadian to tune of 85% according to Angus Reid polling look to the internet for information? The answer lies in the fact the majority of Canadians no longer believe the liberal balderdash coming from Trudeau.
What will happen is a trend for Canadians to seek out those parties and sites deemed to be reliable and less belief in all levels of government.
As it is lockdowns and restrictions of a Covid scare only have served to harden Canadians to resist this from happening again. This is why even this nonsense of global warming is only a narrative to give government more control over how life is lived. A growing number of people are determining that climate is cyclical just like business cycles. To deny this is to do this at one’s own peril. And in the cause of government, it is all about control for their stay of office.

The Online News Act Bill C-18

end

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

EURO VS USA DOLLAR: 1.0933 DOWN 0.0098

USA/ YEN 142.94 DOWN 0.416 NOW TARGETS INTEREST RATE AT 1.00% AS IT WILL BUY UNLIMITED BONDS TO GETS TO THAT LEVEL…//YEN STILL FALLS//

GBP/USA 1.2666 DOWN 0.0056

USA/CAN DOLLAR: 1.3362UP .0018 (CDN DOLLAR DOWN 18 BASIS PTS)

Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE CLOSED UP 18.77 PTS OR .58%

Hang Seng CLOSED DOWN DOWN 96.51 PTS OR 0.49%

AUSTRALIA CLOSED DOWN 0.61 % // EUROPEAN BOURSE: MOSTLY RED EXCEPT SPAIN

Trading from Europe and ASIA

I) EUROPEAN BOURSES: MOSTLY RED EXCEPT SPAIN

2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang SENG DOWN DOWN 96.51 PTS OR 0.49%

/SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 18.77 PTS OR .58%

AUSTRALIA BOURSE CLOSED DOWN 0.61%

(Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED DOWN 548.41 PTS OR 1.68%

INDIA’S SENSEX IN THE RED

Gold very early morning trading: 1935.30

silver:$23.54

USA dollar index early THURSDAY morning: 102,46 UP 7 BASIS POINTS FROM WEDNESDAY’s CLOSE.

THURSDAY MORNING NUMBERS ENDS

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

And now your closing THURSDAY NUMBERS 11: 30 AM

Portuguese 10 year bond yield: 3.305% UP 6 in basis point(s) yield

JAPANESE BOND YIELD: +0.640% UP 2 AND 0//100 BASIS POINTS /JAPAN losing control of its yield curve/

SPANISH 10 YR BOND YIELD: 3.626 UP 5 in basis points yield

ITALIAN 10 YR BOND YIELD 4.260 UP 8 points in basis points yield ./ THE ECB IS QE’ ING ITALIAN BONDS (BUYING ITALIAN BONDS/SELLING GERMAN BUNDS)

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD: 2.560 UP 7 BASIS PTS

END

IMPORTANT CURRENCY CLOSES FOR THURSDAY

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

Euro/USA 1.0933 DOWN 0.0066 or 66 basis points

USA/Japan: 142.32 DOWN 1.008 OR YEN UP 100 basis points/

Great Britain/USA 1.2694 DOWN 0.0024 OR 24 BASIS POINTS //

Canadian dollar DOWN .0021 OR 21 BASIS pts to 1.3365

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The USA/Yuan, CNY: closed ON SHORE CLOSED (UP) …7.1708

THE USA/YUAN OFFSHORE: (YUAN CLOSED (DOWN)…. (7.1787)

TURKISH LIRA: 26.96 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LEVEL/DEATH WATCH/HYPERINFLATION TO BEGIN.//ON DEATH WATCH

the 10 yr Japanese bond yield at +0.640…VERY DANGEROUS

Your closing 10 yr US bond yield UP 11 in basis points from WEDNESDAY at 4.185% //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%) very problematic

USA 30 yr bond yield 4.311 UP 14 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: CLOSING TIME 12:00 PM

London: CLOSED DOWN 32.47 points or 0.43%

German Dax : CLOSED DOWN 126.64 PTS OR 0.79%

Paris CAC CLOSED DOWN 52.31 PTS OR 0.72%

Spain IBEX DOWN 21.60 PTS OR 0.22%

Italian MIB: CLOSED DOWN 271.80 PTS OR 0.94%

WTI Oil price 80.66 12: EST

Brent Oil: 84.18 12:00 EST

USA /RUSSIAN /// AT: 94.54 ROUBLE DOWN 0 AND 39//100 RUBLES/DOLLAR

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD; +2.560 UP 7 BASIS PTS

UK 10 YR YIELD: 4.5105 UP 6 BASIS PTS

CLOSING NUMBERS: 4 PM

Euro vs USA: 1.0939 DOWN 0.0004 OR 4 BASIS POINTS

British Pound: 1.2698 DOWN .0021 or 21 basis pts

BRITISH 10 YR GILT BOND YIELD: 4.5025 % UP 5 BASIS PTS//

JAPAN 10 YR YIELD: .641%

USA dollar vs Japanese Yen: 142.68 DOWN 0.664 //YEN UP 66 BASIS PTS//

USA dollar vs Canadian dollar: 1.3359 UP .0141 CDN dollar, DOWN 14 basis pts)

West Texas intermediate oil: 81.64

Brent OIL: 85.16

USA 10 yr bond yield UP 12 BASIS pts to 4.93%

USA 30 yr bond yield UP 14 BASIS PTS to 4.311%

USA 2 YR BOND: UP 1 PTS AT 4.895%

USA dollar index: 102.57 DOWN 2 BASIS POINTS

USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 26.97 (GETTING QUITE CLOSE TO BLOWING UP/

USA DOLLAR VS RUSSIA//// ROUBLE: 94.99 DOWN 0 AND 83/100 roubles

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: DOWN 67.42 PTS OR 0.19%

NASDAQ 100 DOWN17.70 PTS OR 0.11%

VOLATILITY INDEX: 16.31 UP 0.22 PTS (1.37)%

GLD: $179.55 DOWN 0.05 OR 0.028%

SLV/ $21.63 DOWN ,12 OR 0.55%

end

USA AFFAIRS

USA TRADING IN GRAPH FORM:

Bond Bloodbath Builds, Yield Curve Steepens, Black Gold Bounces Ahead Of Payrolls

THURSDAY, AUG 03, 2023 – 04:00 PM

Another day, another clubbing of bond bulls (and oil bears)…

Services surveys signaled ‘stickier’ inflation, jobless claims (and falling challenger job cuts YoY) confirmed labor market remains strong, and factory orders jumping all helped send Treasury yields to new cycle highs (and initially weighed on stocks before the ubiquitous wave of buying came back in).

Futures were slammed around the Asia-close-Europe-open and then again at the US cash open before bouncing back aggressively after the ISM data at 10ET. Once Europe closed, stocks faded to end in the red…

Will AMZN/AAPL mark the top?

Source: Bloomberg

Nasdaq has now been ‘overbought’ for 60 days – its longest period since the run-up to the bursting of the dot-com bubble…

As @MacroCharts noted, yesterday’s sharp decline broke the S&P’s longest low-Volatility streak in years. Many similar breaks ended with some big Volatility spikes & Stock declines.

VIX remains elevated but VVIX leaked a little lower today ahead of tomorrow’s payrolls print (but VVIX is definitely still stressed)…

Source: Bloomberg

The recent acceleration in yields appears to have had an effect on long-duration risk-assets…

Source: Bloomberg

Treasuries were clubbed like a baby seal once again with the long-end the ugliest horse in today’s glue factory (30Y +13bps, 2Y +2bps). On the week, 30Y Yields are up 30bps (2Y only +2bps)…

Source: Bloomberg

30Y yields are back up near last October’s highs…

Source: Bloomberg

The 5s30s segment of the yield un-inverted today

Source: Bloomberg

Notably, long-end futs vol has picked up significantly while 10Y Futs vol has risen only modestly…

Source: Bloomberg

Interest-rate options traders are paying through the nose for protection against further increases in long-maturity Treasury yields that are already at their highest levels of the year.

Source: Bloomberg

The dollar ended the day flat, having retraced July’s losses; perfectly round-tripping to the last payrolls print…

Source: Bloomberg

Oil soared back, erasing yesterday’s decline after Saudis were reported as extending their 1m,m b/d production cut through September (and could “deepen” cuts)…

Gold and Bitcoin were noisy but quiet today, modestly lower and higher respectively…

Source: Bloomberg

Finally, as Goldman notes, investor sentiment has shifted further ahead of economic sentiment with PMIs weakening…

Additionally, we note that the relationship between bonds and stocks is at an extreme…

Source: Bloomberg

Will tomorrow’s payrolls print break it bad?

b) THIS AFTERNOON TRADING//

II) USA DATA/

Jobless claims near 6 month lows

(zerohedge)

Jobless Claims Hover Near 6-Month Lows, Missouri Sees Big Jump

THURSDAY, AUG 03, 2023 – 08:37 AM

Both the ISM/PMI surveys and ADP showed job losses in the manufacturing sector, while the latter showed solid job gains on the services side. After last week’s decline in initial jobless claims, expectations are for more of the same labor market strength this week and sure enough, 227k Americans filed last week, up very modestly from the 221k (downwardly revised last week) hovering around 6-month lows. Non-seasonally-adjusted, initial claims fell to 205k, near 9 month lows…

Source: Bloomberg

Under the hood, Missouri saw a big jump in claims with Ohio, California, and Georgia all seeing notable declines…

Continuing claims also remained near 7 month lows at 1.700mm…

Source: Bloomberg

So more of the same, all indications suggest a strong labor market entirely dislocated from The Fed’s tightening moves.

end

III) USA ECONOMIC STORIES

The real numbers are down badly

(zerohedge)

US Factory Orders Surged In June, But…

THURSDAY, AUG 03, 2023 – 10:25 AM

Despite Manufacturing surveys showing the sector in contraction, US Factory Orders jumped 2.3% MoM in June (as expected), the biggest MoM jump since January 2021…

Source: Bloomberg

However, despite the bounce, on a year-over-year basis, orders remain down 0.2%.

Removing the volatile Transportation sector, core factory orders rose only 0.23% MoM (though that did break a 4 month down streak)…

Source: Bloomberg

And left core factory orders down around 5% YoY – a drop we last saw at the start of the COVID lockdowns.

Soft-landing, maybe? But core looks more like more of the same decline.

end

A real mess!! Central Park will be a diaster zone

(zerohedge)

Biden’s Open-Border Policies Create Depression-Era “Hooverville” In New York’s Central Park

THURSDAY, AUG 03, 2023 – 11:22 AM

The Depression-era shantytowns known as Hoovervilles, are about to make a triumphal return smack in the middle of New York’s Central Park.

Amid a relentless influx of illegal immigrants that has exposed liberal NIMBY hypocrisy in the quote-unquote Sanctuary City that is New York, Bloomberg reports that officials are considering housing migrants in Manhattan’s Central Park and Brooklyn’s Prospect Park as part of a plan to find new sites for some of the more than 95,000 asylum seekers who have arrived in the past 15 months.

“Everything is on the table,” Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom said Wednesday at a press conference when asked about housing migrants in city parks. The sites are among 3,000 locations the city is reviewing, she said.

Gothamist first reported that New York City is considering erecting tents in the two major parks and on Randall’s Island as possible sites for the asylum seekers, citing unidentified people familiar with the discussions.

According to Bloomberg, Williams-Isom declined to comment on how imminent the plan is, and didn’t answer a question about who the city is working with on potential plans to house people in city parks, although it is safe to assume that Blackrock is going to expand its role as America’s favorite (and biggest) landlord monopolist by branching out into tents (and collecting a generous multi-billion government handout in the process).

A memo obtained by CNN earlier this year listed a YMCA in Park Slope, Brooklyn; a recreation center in Staten Island; the campuses of York College and Medgar Evers College; and the parking lot at Citi Field in Queens as possible shelter sites.

Placing migrants in temporary structures inside either Central Park or Prospect Park would bring high visibility to a crisis that’s dogged Mayor Eric Adams’s administration for months, and cement the city’s transformation into a modern version of the 1970’s crime and drug ridden Manhattan. On Tuesday, scores of people were sleeping and waiting for help on the sidewalks outside the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan.

Adams has repeatedly criticized the Biden administration for failing to provide significant logistical or financial aid to the city to help manage the crisis. The mayor and members of New York’s congressional delegation met last week with US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas to discuss the issue.

On Wednesday, Williams-Isom denied the city is letting people sleep on the streets as a tactic to force the federal government to come to the city’s aid; it is however a tactic to ensure that many of the wealthiest New Yorkers depart the city for Florida, taking billions in income tax payments with them. No one in the Adams administration “would use any people to do a stunt,” Williams-Isom said, which is amusing because that’s precisely what people the Adams administration is doing.

The city’s shelter system housed 107,900 people as of July 30, a record high that has more than doubled since January 2022, when the total shelter census citywide stood at 45,000 people. Some 56,600 of the city’s current shelter residents are migrants.

On rare occasions in Central Park’s history, the iconic public space has been commandeered for housing in emergencies. During the Great Depression, homeless people set up “Hoovervilles” and in a few months, it will be as if a new Great Depression has arrived to what was once the world’s greatest city.

end

Steve Bannon Pushes Trump/Kennedy Ticket For 2024

WEDNESDAY, AUG 02, 2023 – 10:20 PM

Authored by Naveen Anthrapully via The Epoch Times,

Steve Bannon has reiterated his preference for a Trump/Kennedy ticket for the 2024 presidential run, suggesting that the combination would produce a “massive landslide” win, even as the possibility remains almost nil.

The former White House chief strategist expects a “firestorm of the lawfare will start next spring” for the former president, Mr. Bannon said during a Sunday episode of the podcast “Bannon’s War Room,” referring to the mounting legal issues which Mr. Trump faces at the moment.

If Trump can “walk through that fire,” he can get “55 percent or more of the country.”

And then, “if somehow it worked out [that] you could get Kennedy as a running mate – and I don’t know, that is far from even technically can happen because of the structure of the Democratic and Republican parties and ballot access and all that – you could get 60 percent or higher in the country and win a massive landslide.”

Mr. Bannon had earlier suggested a Trump/Kennedy ticket in April.

During one of the podcasts, Mr. Bannon said that former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake was his top choice for Mr. Trump’s vice president. However, if she were not available, “Kennedy would be an excellent choice.”

Ms. Lake carries a high opinion of RFK Jr. In July, she criticized people who called Mr. Kennedy a “MAGA Democrat,” pointing out that “they just don’t want outsiders in the political machine, they don’t want outsiders coming into the swamp, draining the swamp.”

“They just want just the pre-approved, controllably, easily blackmailed, and easily bribed people like Biden and the whole swamp system down there.”

In addition to Mr. Bannon, many other conservatives are open to the idea of a Trump/Kennedy challenge for the 2024 election.

In an April 29 social media post, former national security advisor Michael Flynn said that he was “really starting to like this presidential candidate’s attitude,” referring to Kennedy.

Conservative talk show host Steve Deace said in an April 6 post to social media that “as long as he doesn’t go trans, a man with high character and courage like RFK Jr. will be tempting.”

GOP operative Roger Stone has also extended support for a Trump/Kennedy challenge.

Despite the support, Mr. Kennedy has dismissed the possibility of teaming up with Mr. Trump.

“Just to quell any speculation, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES will I join Donald Trump on an electoral ticket. Our positions on certain fundamental issues, our approaches to governance, and our philosophies of leadership could not be further apart,” Mr. Kennedy said in a May 10 post on social media.

Trump/Kennedy Similarities, DeSantis’s View

Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Kennedy share numerous similarities. For one, they have both been targeted by the mainstream media.

In an interview with Fox in late July, Mr. Kennedy said that he has been “really slammed in a way that I think is unprecedented, even more than President Trump was slammed by the mainstream, by the corporate media.”

In May, The Washington Post ran an opinion piece with the headline: “His name is Kennedy. His campaign is pure Trump.”

“Like Trump, Kennedy is given to skillful demagoguery, casually misleading with the conviction of a truth-teller … What makes Kennedy most like Trump, though, is the overlay of conspiracy and contempt that tinges nearly everything he says, the destructive distrust in the electorate he seeks to channel,” the article said about Mr. Kennedy.

Mr. Trump has long been a victim of censorship, with the most famous example being (formerly) Twitter censoring his social media posts and canceling his account. Mr. Kennedy has been met with similar censorship attempts.

Prior to a July 20 hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, Democrats circulated a letter to House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), asking that Mr. Kennedy be de-platformed from a scheduled testimony.

Mr. Jordan and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) dismissed such censorship attempts. “The hearing that we have this week is about censorship,” Mr. McCarthy told reporters at the time when asked about the letter. “I don’t think censoring somebody is actually the answer here.”

Florida governor Ron DeSantis, a GOP presidential candidate, also has a favorable view of Mr. Kennedy, suggesting that he would consider the Democrat for a health position in his administration if he wins the 2024 race.

However, Mr. DeSantis dismissed Mr. Kennedy as a choice for vice president, citing the Democrat’s opposition to the U.S. Supreme court’s strike-down of affirmative-action policies at American universities and his pro-climate change activities.

Popularity and Poll Rankings

Mr. Kennedy enjoys a great deal of appeal among the American public.

“A new Harvard-Harris poll puts my favorability rating at 47 percent—higher than Trump (45 percent), DeSantis (40 percent), Biden (39 percent), and every public figure in the poll,” Mr. Kennedy said in a July 23 post on social media.

“And do you know what’s even more remarkable? My unfavorability rating was the lowest among all candidates, at only 26 percent. That shows that the relentless media attacks just aren’t working. People don’t believe the media anymore—with good reason.”

In polls, Mr. Biden has a massive lead over Mr. Kennedy. An average of multiple poll results showed Mr. Biden having more than 64 percent support in the Democratic primary polls, far ahead of Mr. Kennedy’s 15 percent.

Mr. Biden also has more financial backing for the elections. According to data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Mr. Biden raised close to $20 million in the first half of the year, triple the $6.36 million raised by Mr. Kennedy.

Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Kennedy have expressed high regard for each other. In an interview with Newsmax in June, Mr. Trump said he was impressed with how Mr. Kennedy has boosted his popularity in polls.

“I respect him—a lot of people respect him. He’s got some very important points to be made,” the former president said, referring to Mr. Kennedy.

During a town hall hosted by News Nations in late June, Mr. Kennedy said he was “proud that President Trump likes me, even though I don’t agree with him on most of his issues.”

end

A big story!! high electrical energy costs has caused a financial crisis in offshore wind energy projects plus those in the states

(zerohedge)

There Is A Financial Crisis Brewing In Offshore Wind Energy

THURSDAY, AUG 03, 2023 – 01:45 PM

Authored by Felicity Bradstock via OilPrice.com,

The costs associated with U.S. offshore wind projects have risen by 57% since 2021 due to inflation in components and labor costs, as well as rising interest rates, leading to a large number of canceled or renegotiated deals.
The recent cancellations of major offshore wind projects have erased billions of dollars in planned spending and put at least 9.7 additional gigawatts of offshore wind projects in the U.S. at risk.
Despite the financial crisis in offshore wind energy, the Biden administration is persevering with its goal of achieving 30 GW of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030.

A financial crisis is unfolding in the offshore wind power industry. The ultra-efficient and reliable form of clean energy production is an essential component of all of the world’s possible decarbonization pathways, but soaring inflation costs have undercut the sector’s growth and left major projects dead in the water just when their output is most needed. A major policy shift is in order, but the public and private sector are at loggerheads as to who should have to pay for the increasingly expensive development plans.

The massive scale of offshore wind turbines – which stand taller than skyscrapers – plus the strength and consistency of wind at sea – make offshore wind a no-brainer for the global green energy transition. Offshore wind-power potential off the coast of the mainland United States alone is estimated at 4.2 terawatts – nearly four times the entire capacity of all types of generation operating today. It’s an unfathomable amount of energy. But there’s a big problem: offshore wind currently costs about two to five times more than onshore wind.

“The expense associated with a typical US offshore project, before bonus tax credits related to the Inflation Reduction Act, has increased by 57% since 2021,” Bloomberg recently reported, citing figures from BloombergNEF.

“Inflation in the cost of components and labor explain about 40% of that and the rest is tied to rising interest rates.”

This means that any developers who signed long-term development contracts before the sharp increase in costs must now either re-negotiate their deals or walk away from them entirely.

“Energy coming from these projects is desperately needed,” Helene Bistrom, the head of Vattenfall’s wind business, was recently quoted by Fortune.

But, she continued, “with new market conditions, it doesn’t make sense to continue.”

This month has seen a disastrous number of canceled and abandoned offshore wind deals which “erased billions of US dollars in planned spending” in the final week of July alone, according to Fortune. Spanish utility Iberdrola SA agreed to pay $48.9m in fines to cancel a wind power contract off the coast of Massachusetts. In Rhode Island, Danish developer Orsted A/S’s bid to produce offshore wind power was rejected due to rising operational and development costs. And a plan for a wind farm off the shore of the United Kingdom has also been culled by Swedish state-owned utility Vattenfall AB, who – you guessed it – blamed inflation. “Together, the three affected projects would have provided 3.5 gigawatts of power — more than 11% of the total offshore wind fleet currently deployed in the waters of the US and Europe,” reports Fortune. And at least 9.7 additional gigawatts of offshore wind projects are at risk of cancellation in the United States alone.

The current trend in offshore wind power marks a shocking turnaround from what has been a sharp and virtually unceasing decline in renewable energy costs. Since 2008, wind and solar prices have dropped by nearly 70%, and new onshore wind power is the cheapest form of clean energy production in the United States today. “Offshore wind is an outlier though because, unlike onshore wind and solar power, it was still at the high end of the cost curve before this financial shock,” reports Bloomberg. This means that investing in offshore wind must be the project of governments, rather than the private sector. In the long term, offshore wind is an essential investment for meeting climate goals, but in the short term it’s an economic failure.

The Biden administration is pushing ahead with its ambitious goal of achieving 30 GW of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030. Just last month, the United States Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) announced three new Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) off the coasts of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. Together, the areas could potentially host 4 to 8 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy production. But there’s still the big question of financing.

Indeed, the 30 GW by 2030 plan is looking more far-fetched by the minute. So far, the country has installed about 0.1% of that goal, and as much as one-third of the planned projects are currently in dispute according to energy analytics firm ClearView.

END

Gross Domestic Income must equal GDP. But it does not.

However what is trueis total receipts and total tax receipts are falling

We are truly in a recession

(Mish Shedlock)(Mish talk)

What Do Federal Tax Receipts & Total Receipts Suggest About Recession?

THURSDAY, AUG 03, 2023 – 02:25 PM

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Federal tax receipts suggest GDI numbers, not GDP numbers, are accurate. They also hint at recession…

Tax receipts from the BEA, chart by Mish

Tax receipts and total receipts are from the Bureau of Economic Analysis which also produces the government GDP estimates.

Data is through 2023 Q1 because tax data, like Gross Domestic Income (GDI) is not available in the first estimate of GDP for the quarter.

Tax Receipts and Total Receipts Since 2018

Tax receipts from the BEA, chart by Mish

Total receipts have fallen three consecutive quarters. Tax receipts have fallen two straight quarters.

Total Receipts and Tax Receipts Percent Change From Previous Quarter

Tax receipts from the BEA, percent change calculation and chart by Mish

When tax receipts and total receipts both plunge, the economy is typically in recession. There were false signals in 1985 and 2003. There have also been recessions unconfirmed by plunging receipts so this is admittedly not the greatest of signals. But the tax data and the income data align,

Real GDP Beats Expectations, Rises 2.4 Percent in First Estimate for 2023 Q2

On July 27, I noted Real GDP Beats Expectations, Rises 2.4 Pe rcent in First Estimate for 2023 Q2

Nearly everyone cheered the strong report, except it was not entirely strong. GDI did not confirm GDP. GDI was negative for two consecutive quarters.

Nonfarm Payrolls and Employment Levels

Nonfarm payrolls and employment levels from the BLS, chart by Mish.

Payrolls vs Employment Since May 2022

Nonfarm Payrolls: +4,162,000
Employment Level: +2,695,000
Full Time Employment: +2,116,000

Of the 894,000 rise in employment in January, 810,000 was due to annual benchmark revisions. And the BLS does not say what months were revised, just poof, here you go. Again, we cannot, with strong confidence, suggest these reports portray an accurate picture of either jobs or employment.

Every month, economists and the mainstream media tout strong jobs reports. But the household survey (employment levels) have not matched nonfarm payrolls (the establishment survey).

They measure two things. The establishment survey is a count of jobs, whereas in the household survey you are either employed or not regardless of how many jobs you have.

The discrepancy between jobs and employment also lends credence to GDI not GDP. So does the index of total hours worked.

The BLS Jobs Report Falls Way Short of Stellar ADP Expectation

I discuss these discrepancies every month when the job surveys are published. For the latest report, please see T he BL S Jobs Report Falls Way Short of Stellar ADP Expectation

The payroll tax data, income data, and the household survey are all in sync. GDP is the odd man out.

* * *

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USA// COVID//VACCINE/ECONOMIC COSTS

END.

SWAMP STORIES

The legal cases against Trump explained

(EpochTimes)

The Legal Cases Against Trump Explained

WEDNESDAY, AUG 02, 2023 – 08:20 PM

Authored by Petr Svab via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Former President Donald Trump is running for the White House while facing three indictments and one more criminal investigation. Never before has a former president been criminally charged—much less a frontrunner in another presidential race.

As the remaining investigation gets closer to possible charges and the indicted ones inch closer to trials, Mr. Trump has repeatedly pledged that he would continue his campaign even if convicted.Former president Donald Trump speaks at the Republican Party of Iowa’s 2023 Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 28, 2023. (SERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images)

Defense Documents

The most developed case so far involves Mr. Trump’s keeping of documents from his presidency. Special counsel Jack Smith charged Mr. Trump and two of his employees with 37 felony counts, including illegal retention of national defense information, obstruction of government, and lying to the government.

While the trial is set for May 2024, some legal observers expect further delays.

The case traces back to Mr. Trump’s January 2021 exit from the White House. His belongings and some of the documents from his time in office were packed in boxes and shipped to his home at the Mar-a-Lago resort in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The indictment argues that it was at this point that Mr. Trump committed 31 counts of illegally retaining national defense information because he “caused” the boxes to be moved. While this crime, under the Espionage Act, requires criminal intent, no evidence has emerged so far that Mr. Trump was aware the 31 documents in question were in the boxes.

It appears that Mr. Trump was under the impression that he could go through the boxes at his own pace and keep whatever he deemed personal. However, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) had a different view; it demanded the return of all presidential documents as soon as possible.This image, contained in the indictment against former President Donald Trump, shows boxes of records stored in a bathroom at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. (Department of Justice via AP)

Under the Presidential Records Act, all official presidential records must be handed over to NARA, and former presidents are only allowed to take personal items such as journals and artifacts that weren’t intended for official government business. The problem is, the law doesn’t include an enforcement mechanism.

In 2012, when Judicial Watch tried to force former President Bill Clinton to turn over dozens of interview tapes from his presidency that he had kept, Mr. Clinton claimed that the tapes were personal, and the court sided with him. Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an appointee of President Barack Obama, argued that the court had no way to second-guess a president’s assertion of what is or isn’t personal.

“Since the President is completely entrusted with the management and even the disposal of Presidential records during his time in office, it would be difficult for this Court to conclude that Congress intended that he would have less authority to do what he pleases with what he considers to be his personal records,” Judge Jackson wrote.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly cited that case as justification for keeping whatever documents he wanted. However, he faces the charges in Florida, where the case isn’t a controlling precedent.

Mr. Trump sent 15 boxes of materials to NARA in January 2022. NARA then made a referral to the Department of Justice (DOJ) upon finding that some of the documents had classification markings. Shortly after, the DOJ began an investigation.

On May 11, 2022, the DOJ obtained a subpoena that compelled Mr. Trump to turn over all documents with classification markings, including electronic files, at Mar-a-Lago.

Some defense lawyers and former prosecutors have argued that Mr. Trump should have challenged the subpoena as overly broad. The subpoena didn’t specify whether it only covered originals or also copies and whether it covered obviously declassified documents. There are millions of declassified documents online that still have visible classification markings. Locating any such documents in Trump’s possession at Mar-a-Lago—all physical copies ever printed out and all such files on any computers and storage media he owns—would have been a monumental task.Special counsel Jack Smith speaks to the press at the Department of Justice building in Washington on Aug. 1, 2023. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Mr. Trump did no such all-encompassing search. He let his lawyer search some of the boxes brought from the White House.

Most of the obstruction charges focus on that point, alleging that Mr. Trump had his aide, Walt Nauta, move boxes out of a storage room at Mar-a-Lago so that they couldn’t be searched by the lawyer.

Smith added a few more charges on July 27, alleging that Mr. Trump asked his property manager at Mar-a-Lago, Carlos de Oliveira, to have security camera footage deleted after the DOJ subpoenaed some of the footage in June 2022. Smith alleges the footage showed Mr. Nauta moving boxes in and out of the storage room. The updated indictment doesn’t cite direct evidence that Mr. Trump made such a request—only de Oliviera’s alleged claim that he did.

Mr. Smith’s adding of new charges and an additional defendant at this point may displease the judge overseeing the case, Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee. Just a few weeks ago, Mr. Smith requested that the case go to trial in December—a rather short timeline if Mr. Smith knew at the time that additional charges may be forthcoming.

Mr. Trump could theoretically render the whole case moot if he wins the election and issues himself a pardon, although some legal scholars question whether presidents can do that.

Mr. Smith, former head of the DOJ Public Integrity Section, was appointed a special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland on Nov. 18, 2022, to investigate Mr. Trump’s documents retention as well as his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, protest and riot at the U.S. Capitol.

January 6 Case

On Aug. 1, Mr. Smith revealed his indictment of Mr. Trump in the January 6 investigation. He charged the former president with conspiracy to “impair, obstruct, and defeat” the collection and counting of electoral votes, conspiracy against Americans’ right to vote, obstruction of the electoral vote counting by Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, and conspiracy to obstruct the electoral vote counting.

Mr. Trump said he was informed on July 16 that he was a target of a grand jury investigation in relation to the January 6 incident.

The case centers on Mr. Trump’s claims of fraud and other illegalities in the 2020 election and how they played into the events at the Capitol, where a part of a massive protest over the election results boiled over into violence, with some people breaking into the building and fighting with police.Protesters gather on the west front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Brent Stirton/Getty Images)

The indictment alleges that Trump knew his attacks on the election results were false, largely because some people, including state and federal officials, told him some of the claims were false and he kept repeating them.

The 45-page indictment also focuses on Trump’s repeated urging of Vice President Mike Pence to reject electoral votes from states where Trump had contested the results.

It further alleged that Trump incited the January 6 violence by telling the protesters that he hoped Pence would “send [the electoral votes] back to the states to recertify,” despite knowing that Pence repeatedly rejected the idea.

There’s extensive evidence of illegalities during the election, including illegal changes to election rules made with the excuse of the COVID-19 pandemic and some instances of fraud. None of the allegations, however, have been successfully litigated to overturn the election result in any state. Many of the cases have been dismissed for procedural reasons, rather than on the merits of the evidence.

Mr. Trump has argued that if indicted, the proceedings would give him an opportunity to expose information about improprieties in the election.

Georgia Election Case

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis began investigating Mr. Trump shortly after taking office in the largest Georgia county in January 2021.

On Jan. 24, 2022, Fulton County Superior Court granted Ms. Willis’s request for a special purpose grand jury that couldn’t bring charges, but can subpoena witnesses. That panel worked for about eight months, interviewing about 75 witnesses starting in May 2022, local media reported.

Ms. Willis recently said she’s “ready to go,” following up on her previous promises to bring charges by Sept. 1.ATLANTA, GA – NOVEMBER 06: Georgia Secretary of State Ben Raffensperger holds a press conference on the status of ballot counting on November 6, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. The 2020 presidential race between incumbent U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden is still too close to call with outstanding ballots in a number of states including Georgia. (Photo by Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)

The core issue of the probe, according to local media, was a telephone call by Mr. Trump to the state’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, on Jan. 2, 2021.

The content of the call was selectively leaked to the media to create the narrative that Mr. Trump asked Mr. Raffensperger to “find” him enough votes to overturn the election.

When the transcript of the call was released, it turned out that Mr. Trump said he believed hundreds of thousands of ballots had been cast illegally in the state, particularly in Fulton County, which includes the Democrat bastion of Atlanta. He profusely criticized Mr. Raffensperger for failing to sufficiently investigate the fraud allegations.

“Why wouldn’t you want to find the right answer?” Mr. Trump asked.

Mr. Raffensperger and his team countered some of the allegations during the call, saying they were already investigated.

Several times during the conversation, Mr. Trump noted that he only needed to identify about 11,000 illegal votes because that was the margin by which he lost the state.

“If you check with Fulton County, you’ll have hundreds of thousands because they dumped ballots into Fulton County and the other county next to it,” Mr. Trump said.

“So what are we going to do here folks? I only need 11,000 votes. Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break. You know, we have that in spades already.”

Another part of Ms. Willis’s investigation seems to focus on the alternative set of electors who convened at the state Capitol on Dec. 14, 2020, to cast their votes for Mr. Trump, despite the official vote count giving the victory to Mr. Trump’s opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden.

Ms. Willis informed the electors that they were targets of her investigation, and at least eight of the 16 were granted immunity in exchange for their testimony, The Washington Post reported in May.

The state’s Republican Party started a website on July 31 that criticizes the Willis investigation for targeting the electors. It says that the “contingent electors” cast their votes with the express acknowledgment that they would only be counted in case Mr. Trump’s lawsuit challenging the election results in the state succeeded.

The website points to a similar incident in 1960, when John F. Kennedy sued to overturn election results in Hawaii. A set of Democrat electors had cast their votes for Mr. Kennedy even though the state already certified its vote count, with Richard Nixon as the winner. The lawsuit succeeded and the alternative votes were counted.

In Mr. Trump’s case, the lawsuit wasn’t heard until Jan. 8, 2021, two days after the counting of the electoral votes. The suit was tossed on procedural grounds, never getting a hearing on its evidence.

Ms. Willis was barred by a judge from pursuing charges against one of the alternate electors, Georgia’s new lieutenant governor, Burt Jones, after Ms. Willis hosted a campaign fundraiser for Mr. Jones’s opponent in the 2022 race, Charlie Bailey.

Hush Money Case

The first criminal charges against Mr. Trump came in March from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in New York.

Mr. Bragg alleged that Mr. Trump committed 34 felonies because payments marked in his accounting books as legal expenses were in fact reimbursing his then-lawyer Michael Cohen for payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks during a press conference following the arraignment of former U.S. President Donald Trump in New York City on April 4, 2023. (Kena Betancur/Getty Images)

Ms. Daniels communicated to Trump ahead of the 2016 election that she intended to sell to the press her story alleging she had an affair with Trump in 2006; she said she was willing to keep the story to herself if paid. Mr. Trump indeed had Mr. Cohen pay about $130,000 in exchange for a non-disclosure agreement, which Ms. Daniels ended up breaking. Mr. Trump’s company then reimbursed Mr. Cohen.

Mr. Bragg is treating the bookkeeping entries for payments to Mr. Cohen as violations of New York law against falsifying business records. Such violations would only be misdemeanors unless committed in the advancement of another crime. Mr. Bragg has argued that is indeed the case, although the indictment fails to specify what was the other crime supposed to be. There has been speculation in the media that the other crime was a campaign law violation. The argument would be that the hush money for Ms. Daniels was, in fact, an illegal campaign contribution.

Trial is scheduled for March 25, 2024.

end

Watch: Bill Maher Says Democrats Are ‘Full Of Shit’ When It Comes To Illegal Immigrants

www.zerohedge.com/political/watch-bill-maher-says-democrats-are-full-shit-when-it-comes-illegal-immigrants

THURSDAY, AUG 03, 2023 – 09:30 AM

Bill Maher may be a little slow on the uptake when it comes to his willingness to call out disastrous Democrat policies and irrational leftist arguments, but at least he’s not afraid to go against the grain when the epiphanies strike.

Conservatives and some moderates have been pointing out the Democrat insanity on illegal immigration for some time now, specifically the indignant rage leftists express over red states bussing migrants to major Democrat “sanctuary cities.”

As Bill Maher notes, these city governments often pontificate on the virtues of the “American melting pot” until they are faced with housing and feeding thousands of migrants that pack the streets and the parks. Democrats support illegal immigration as long as they never have to deal with those migrants on their doorstep. A humanitarian crisis is forming in New York, DC, Chicago, etc. and it is entirely caused by the political left’s unwillingness to admit that they were wrong.

Keep in mind that the Democrats are still trying to form an “investigation” into Ron DeSantis and his move to bus a handful of migrants to the ritzy progressive vacation town of Martha’s Vineyard.

While Dems focus intently on what they call “human trafficking” on the part of the Florida government, they seem to be oblivious to their own hypocrisy – They fed those same migrants a cheap lunch for the media cameras and then kicked them out of town within 24 hours to a nearby military base.

The leftist ideal of the “melting pot” is a fraud.

They don’t want to take care of the migrants either, they just want those sweet illegal votes in states where ID is not required.

www.zerohedge.com/political/watch-bill-maher-says-democrats-are-full-shit-when-it-comes-illegal-immigrants

END

Tucker Carlson….

A must view….

“Everything Appears To Be A Cover Up”: Capitol Police Chief Challenged J6 Narrative In Never-Aired Tucker Carlson Interview

THURSDAY, AUG 03, 2023 – 11:30 AM

In never-before-seen footage that was withheld by Fox News, former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that January 6th was a complete debacle and a “cover up.”

“Everything appears to be a cover up,” Sund tells Carlson in footage obtained by the National Pulse. “Like I said, I’m not a conspiracy theorist,” he continued. “…but when you look at the information and intelligence they had, the military had, it’s all watered down. I’m not getting intelligence, I’m denied any support from National Guard in advance. I’m denied National Guard while we’re under attack, for 71 minutes…“

Beginning around 19 minutes into the conversation, Sund tells Tucker: “If I was allowed to do my job as the chief we wouldn’t be here, this didn’t have to happen,” adding that he’s “pissed off” about being “lambasted in public” over what happened that day.

The full interview has thus far been hidden from the public at the behest of Rupert Murdoch’s increasingly left-wing Fox News channel, which unceremoniously fired its prime time host Tucker Carlson allegedly as part of a private settlement with Dominion Voting Systems. -National Pulse

“It sounds like they were hiding the intelligence,” Carlson said, to which Sund responds: “Could there possibly be actually… they kind of wanted something to happen? It’s not a far stretch to begin to think that. It’s sad when you start putting everything together and thinking about the way this played out… what was their end goal?”

Last month Carlson told Russell Brand that Sund said the crowd on January 6th was ‘filled with federal agents.’

“I interviewed the chief of the Capitol Police, Steven Sund, in an interview that was never aired on Fox, by the way — I was fired before it could air, I’m gonna interview him again,” Carlson said.

“But Steven Sund was the totally non-political, worked for Nancy Pelosi, I mean, this was not some right-wing activist. He was the chief of Capitol Police on January 6, and he said, ‘Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that crowd was filled with federal agents.’ What? ‘Yes.’ Well he would know, of course, because he was in charge of security at the site.”

“So, the more time has passed… it becomes really obvious that core claims they made about January 6 were lies,” Carlson explained.

“The amount of lying around January 6, and it was obvious in the tapes that I showed, is really distressing.”

Watch: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/everything-appears-be-cover-capitol-police-chief-challenged-j6-narrative-never-aired

end

This is awful!!!

(zerohedge)

Jim Jordan Drops Receipts On Biden-Facebook Censorship Scheme

THURSDAY, AUG 03, 2023 – 12:52 PM

Update (1253ET): Shortly after publication, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) dropped a Twitter thread full of receipts showing the Biden administration’s collusion with Facebook to suppress conservative speech.

“Since it’s a global pandemic, can we give agencies access to targeting parameters that they normally wouldn’t be able to?” said President Biden’s digital director, Rob Flaherty, according to internal company communications.

Continued…

For example, Flaherty questioned whether Facebook was doing enough to reduce traffic from sites like the

@nypost.

“I’m curious – NY Post churning out articles every day… What is supposed to happen to that from Policy perspective. Does that article get a reduction, labels?”

But that wasn’t enough for the Biden White House. Flaherty wanted Facebook to go a step further. He wanted Facebook to kick people off its site.

The Biden White House’s effort to censor opposing viewpoints only grew. So, they upped the pressure. Flaherty demanded that Facebook “play ball” and work with the Biden White House on censorship. He called it his “dream.”

But that’s not all. The Biden White House wanted to control what you saw on Facebook. They questioned whether Facebook could change its algorithm so users saw more posts from the New York Times and less from the @realDailyWire and @TomiLahren.

Why did they do that? Because they didn’t think you were smart enough to decide for yourself. President Biden’s head of strategic communications and public engagement for the #COVID19 response, Courtney Rowe, mocked Real America’s ability to determine what’s true and what isn’t.

Facebook knew it had to act. One employee tried to explain to the White House that if the company couldn’t “remove” content, it could at least “contain it.”

But Flaherty continued to press for more content moderation and CONTROL on so-called “bad” content.

And of course, Facebook caved. The company ADMITTED to the White House that it reduced content of certain posts – even if the posts didn’t violate the company’s terms and contained TRUE information.

Just read this from a Facebook employee.

These newly subpoenaed meeting notes continue to show the Biden White House’s desire to direct and control content on Facebook. More evidence of the censorship-industrial complex.

To be continued…

* * *

Authored by Eric Lundrum via American Greatness,

In new memos recently released by Facebook, the social media giant was pressured by the Biden White House into altering its algorithms so that mainstream news sources would be elevated over conservative sites.

As Just The News reports, the documents over to the House Judiciary Committee following a subpoena detail a series of meetings between Facebook executives and White House Digital Director Rob Flaherty in the spring of 2021. The demands from the White House focused on posts related to the Chinese coronavirus and the efficiency of the COVID vaccines.

In one meeting on April 14th, 2021, Flaherty asked Facebook if it was possible to artificially promote outlets such as the New York Times and the Washington Post, instead the Daily Wire and Fox News, particularly commentator Tomi Lahren.

“If you were to change the algorithm so that people were more likely to see NYT, WSJ, any authoritative news source over Daily Wire, Tomi Lahren, polarizing people,” Flaherty asked.

“You wouldn’t have a mechanism to check the material impact?”

“We have to explain to President, Ron [Klain], people, why there is misinfo on the internet, bigger problem than FB,” said Flaherty, according to the typed notes from Facebook executives.

“Where issues are, what interventions are, how well they are working, for products, want to engage in things that you know to be effective. I don’t even care about specific methodology, you have better, richer data than we’ll ever have.”

Tomi Lahren, who boasted a large following on Facebook, had recently announced that she would refuse to get the COVID vaccine. Meanwhile, Daily Wire had filed a lawsuit against the Biden Administration’s mandate for private workplaces to force its employees to take the vaccine. The Supreme Court eventually struck down Biden’s workplace mandate, while upholding his vaccine mandate for facilities that are funded by Medicare and Medicaid.

“What are the things driving hesitancy on your platform? What is it? How big is the problem? When you are intervening, how are you measuring success?” Flaherty repeatedly grilled the Facebook executives in one meeting.

“Never-before-released internal documents subpoenaed by the Judiciary Committee PROVE that Facebook and Instagram censored posts and changed their content moderation policies because of unconstitutional pressure from the Biden White House,” said Congressman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, on Twitter.

Constitutional scholars have also raised the alarm over the revelations, with George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley saying that he has “asked Congress to pass a law barring federal employees from engaging in censorship and targeting of citizens.”

“Agencies have a right to speak in their own voices,” Turley added.

“Instead, the Biden Administration sought to engage in what I have called ‘censorship through surrogate.’ This is part of that pattern.”

Turley’s take is reiterated by University of Tennessee law professor Glenn Reynolds told Just the News on Wednesday that the First Amendment issue is when the “government is asking people to censor speech, their action is attributable to the government, so both they and the government can be sued.”x

“By working with the government, Facebook exposed themselves to liability,” Reynolds said, noting that they do not “share sovereign immunity” with the government and will “probably very much regret it.”

THE KING REPORT

The King Report August 3, 2023 – Issue 7046

Independent View of the News

China asks some banks to reduce or delay dollar buying, sources sayChina’s currency regulators are asking some commercial banks to reduce or postpone their purchases of U.S. dollars in order to slow the yuan’s depreciation… Investors were excited by the Politburo’s talk of changes to real estate policy and more measures to boost demand in the economy. But that excitement soon faded, as domestic and foreign investors said they would wait for substantive action before putting more money into China…https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/china-asks-some-banks-reduce-or-delay-dollar-buying-sources-2023-08-01/ Japan’s growing debt mountain: Crisis, what crisis?Why the world’s No. 3 economy stays afloat despite towering debt-GDP ratio The International Monetary Fund estimates that the world’s third-largest economy’s ratio is around 260%… the number is expected to continue creeping upward, according to projections… In the meantime, Japan keeps on spending. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has pledged to boost defense expenditure to 2% of GDP by fiscal 2027 from around 1% now, and to double the child care budget to an annual 3.5 trillion yen ($25 billion). He is also planning to issue 20 trillion yen of Green Transformation (GX) bonds over the next decade… Various factors are dampening the fuse on Japan’s debt time bomb. Companies have large cash holdings and are not yet borrowing heavily. Japanese government bonds have a relatively long average maturity and are mostly held domestically. The country has a healthy current account surplus, and a rare period of inflation is also helping…https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Asia-Insight/Japan-s-growing-debt-mountain-Crisis-what-crisis U.S. debt downgrade sinks global markets — but economists are not concernedGoldman Sachs Chief Political Economist Alec Phillips… said the downgrade “should have little direct impact on financial markets as it is unlikely there are major holders of Treasury securities who would be forced to sell based on the ratings change.”… (A 40-year Bond Super Bull warps & perverts cognition)https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/02/us-debt-downgrade-sinks-global-markets-but-economists-are-not-concerned.html Biden administration official blames Trump, Jan. 6 for Fitch AAA US downgradeBiden official says Fitch repeatedly referenced Jan. 6 riots in explaining US credit downgradehttps://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/biden-administration-official-blames-trump-fitch-aaa-us-downgrade A $47,000,000,000,000 U.S. DEBT BOMB – In case you were wondering about the precarious fiscal health of America, it’s really bad (and getting worse). The deficit over the next decade is projected to run at NEGATIVE $20.3 TRILLION. Right now, you’ve got about $32 TRILLION in debt outstanding at the federal level… That public debt piece is going to grow from around $25 TRILLION up to $47 TRILLION. And that assumes no recession in the next decade. It also assumes no other exogenous shock like a war, or a pandemic or anything like that. In other words, best case scenario—the debt is going to grow to $47,000,000,000,000 by 2033…https://app.hedgeye.com/insights/137050-a-47-000-000-000-000-u-s-debt-bomb?type=stock-and-policy%2Chedgeye-tv The ADP Employment Change for July shocked the markets with a 324k jobs gain and +6.2% annual pay. 200k was expected. Leisure & Hospitality increased 201,000! Natural resources and mining +48k, Manufacturing -36k; 1-19 Employees +114k, 20-49 Employees +123k, 50-249 +152k, 250-499 -14k, 500+ Employees -67k ; Northeast +276k; South -144k (Do the NE and South jobs make sense?)https://adpemploymentreport.com/During early Nikkei trading, USUs rallied moderately while ESUs declined sharply. ESUs had a moderate bounce after 20:00 ET; but they rolled over and commenced a decline near 22:00 ET that persisted until 4:19 ET. ESUs rallied 32 handles by the US repo market opening at 3 ET. Sellers then overwhelmed buyers; ESUs and stocks sank until the rally for the European close developed after 11:00 ET. A 13-handle ESU manipulation ended at 11:36 ET. ESUs then sank to a new daily low of 4534.25 at 12:12 ET. A midday rally took ESUs to 4549.00 at 13:35 ET. ESUs then sank until 15:30 ET, hitting a new low of 4527.75. The late manipulation took ESUs to 4541.50 at 15:58ET. USUs traded modestly higher but within an 11/32 range from the Nikkei opening until they broke down when the US cash bond market opened at 8 ET. USUs then turned negative, finally hitting a bottom of 121 20/32 near 11:00 ET. The USU high was 123 13/32. The midday bond rally ended at 13:28 ET with USUs at 122 14/32. USUs rolled over and then traded sideways until they broke lower at 15:30 ET. BofA Joins Fed in Reversing Recession Call amid Growing Optimism (You know what’s coming!) Bank’s economists now see soft landing as most likely outcome See first rate cut in June 2024, slower pace of cuts to followhttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-02/bofa-joins-fed-in-reversing-recession-call-amid-growing-optimism#xj4y7vzkg Ford’s U.S. sales rose nearly 6% in July, but its EVs are still lagging Ford U.S. sales rose 5.9% in July from the prior year. F-series pickup sales rose 8.2%, but sales of the electric Lightning model dropped more than 28%.https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/02/ford-us-sales-rose-nearly-6percent-in-july-but-evs-lag.html @DeSantisWarRoom: “Spending is out of control … The reason why it’s gotten to this point is because Republicans are so worried of ‘a government shutdown.’ First of all, the government doesn’t actually shut down, they take non-essential workers and then they don’t work. But why do we have non-essential workers to begin with?” https://twitter.com/DeSantisWarRoom/status/1686729421577674754 Positive aspects of previous sessionThe dollar rallied; commodities declined sharplyThe late ESU upward manipulation appeared, which truncated equity losses Negative aspects of previous sessionBonds and stocks sank; the NY Fang+ Index tumbled as much as -4.36% (Fangs are very over-owned) Ambiguous aspects of previous sessionHave a critical mass of investors realized that US debt needs are harming bonds? First Hour/Last Hour Action [S&P 500 Index]: 1st Hour from NYSE Open: Down; Last Hour: Down Pivot Point for S&P 500 Index [above/below indicates daily trend to traders]: 4523.38Previous session S&P 500 Index High/Low: 4550.93; 4505.75 A New Attack Impacts Major AI Chatbots—and No One Knows How to Stop ItResearchers found a simple way to make ChatGPT, Bard, and other chatbots misbehave, proving that AI is hard to tame… researchers at Carnegie Mellon University last week showed that adding a simple incantation to a prompt—a string text that might look like gobbledygook to you or me but which carries subtle significance to an AI model trained on huge quantities of web data—can defy all of these defenses in several popular chatbots at once. The work suggests that the propensity for the cleverest AI chatbots to go off the rails isn’t just a quirk that can be papered over with a few simple rules. Instead, it represents a more fundamental weakness that will complicate efforts to deploy the most advanced AI…https://www.wired.com/story/ai-adversarial-attacks/ LK-99 superconductor research breakthrough could mark ‘new era for humankind’A team of South Korean researchers… claimed they were able to synthesize the world’s first superconductor able to conduct electricity at room temperature and ambient pressure from a lead-based material known as LK-99… achieving superconductivity at room temperatures would lead to a revolution in “generation, transforming and distribution of energy.”… (Scientists are very skeptical.)https://nypost.com/2023/08/02/lk-99-superconductor-breakthrough-could-mark-new-era/ Today – Rumors about AAPL and AMZN’s earnings, due after the close, could impact late NYSE trading. We opined last week that some type of equity top could appear this week in a window defined by early in the week upward seasonal bias through the reaction to Apple and Amazon results. Great results could generate a climax top. Disappointing results would be destructive to the general market. The S&P 500 Index low yesterday was 4505.75. 4500 is solid support. Most traders want to be long for Apple and Amazon results as well as a rebound rally. ESUs are +5.00 and USUs are -9/32 at 20:30 ET. Expected econ data: Q2 Nonfarm Productivity 2.3%, Unit Labor Costs 2.5%; Initial Jobless Claims 225k, Continuing Claims 1.708m; S&P US Services 52.4; June Factory Orders 2.3% m/m, Ex-Trans 0.1%; June Durable Goods 4.7%, Ex-Trans 0.1%, Nondef Ex-Air 0.6%; Richmond Fed Pres Barkin 8:30 ET Expected earnings: BDX 2.91, CI 5.95, COP 1.93, K 1.10, AAPL 1.21, AMZN .35, AMGN 4.48 S&P 500 Index 50-day MA: 4394; 100-day MA: 4234; 150-day MA: 4156; 200-day MA: 4088DJIA 50-day MA: 34,188; 100-day MA: 33,690; 150-day MA: 33,629; 200-day MA: 33,459(Green is positive slope; Red is negative slope) S&P 500 Index – Trender trading model and MACD for key time framesMonthly: Trender is negative, MACD is positive – a close above 4514.50 triggers a buy signalWeekly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 4381.51 triggers a sell signalDaily: Trender is positive; MACD is negative – a close below 4510.62 triggers a sell signalHourly: Trender and MACD are negative – a close above 4555.16 triggers a buy signal @RNCResearch: Devon Archer says Joe Biden KNEW Hunter’s foreign business partners were in the room: “I can definitively say, at particular dinners or meetings, [Joe Biden] KNEW there were [Hunter’s] business associates…” https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1686803961951682560 @HouseGOP: Hunter Biden’s longtime business partner Devon Archer CONFIRMS that then-VP Joe Biden talked about foreign business deals with him. “He’s the VP of the United States and he’s talking about foreign business deals with you and thanking you for that.” – Carlson. “Right.” – Archerhttps://twitter.com/HouseGOP/status/1686818546838290447 “This is the Vice President…He’s not allowed to be working on businesses with foreign governments while he’s VP…But here he is.” – @TuckerCarlson highlighting a letter then-VP Joe Biden sent Devon Archer in 2011, Hunter Biden’s longtime business partner. “Right” – Archerhttps://twitter.com/HouseGOP/status/1686814052314398721 @HotSpotHotSpot: Tucker Carlson unveils a letter, written by Joe Biden, apologizing for missing meeting with Hunter Biden’s business partners. But assured Archer that he’d be at the next one.https://twitter.com/HotSpotHotSpot/status/1686818086328877076 Tucker Carlson interview with Devon Archer: Ep. 12 Part 1. Devon Archerhttps://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1686799149109256192 Jack Smith’s team admits to ‘incorrect’ claim about evidence in Trump classified documents caseAll CCTV footage obtained by the government has now been given to the defendants, according to Smith’s team… (What other falsehoods has Smith and his team spewed?)https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/jack-smiths-team-admits-incorrect-claim-about-evidence-trump-classified Turley: Trump Was Indicted for Being Wrong—Which Is Not a CrimeThe special counsel’s latest indictment of the former president, over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, is an assault on the First Amendment… While the indictment recognizes that politicians are protected in making false statements in elections, it proceeds to charge Trump for doing precisely that in claiming that the 2020 election was stolen. Smith simply charged that Trump did not really believe it, therefore it is fraud… As it stands, this is the criminalization of disinformation. It is consistent with the Biden administration’s effort to censor and punish those who refuse to yield on subjects ranging from climate change to COVID. That is why this is a free-speech killing case. Despite Supreme Court cases affirming that lies are protected speech, it would allow the government to arrest candidates who are refusing to listen to “the truth.” Of course, it depends on who the politicians are. Democrats previously challenged certification of prior Republican presidents under the very same law used on Jan. 6. They also refused to listen to those who said that there were no valid grounds for challenge. During the Trump inauguration in 2017, there were also riots fueled by such claims. Yet, there were no indictments nor should have been… The difference seems to be Trump himself. I t seems that there is no cost too great in the pursuit of Trump, even the defining right to free speech…https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-was-indicted-for-being-wrongwhich-is-not-a-crime Jack Smith ‘should be indicted for stupidity’ after latest Trump charges: legal analyst Jarrett told “Hannity” that Smith has a “disreputable habit” of charging “politically driven prosecutions.” On Sunday, former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell told Fox News he was one defendant in such a case, where Smith – then leading the Justice Department’s public integrity section – prosecuted him for corruption only to see the Supreme Court unanimously vacate the conviction. Jarrett further alleged Smith “contort[s] law and mangle[s] evidence,” calling the four charges against Trump a “stretch.”… Jarrett argued Trump was legally permitted to challenge election results under the Electoral Count Act of 1887, a move which Smith appeared to criminalize in his indictment… Jarrett said Democrats challenged presidential elections in 2016 and prior under the act… Dershowitz added that Smith’s indictment acknowledges there is the freedom of speech protection redress of grievances and challenging elections, but that the illegal act alleged is that Trump supposedly knew Biden won and instead conspired with yet-undisclosed individuals to overturn the election…https://www.foxnews.com/media/jack-smith-indicted-for-stupidity-latest-trump-charges-legal-analyst @greg_price11: Adam Schiff spent three years saying that Russian collusion was real while being told in closed door hearings that there was no evidence of it. How is that not “Conspiracy to Defraud the United States?” 24 Straight Minutes of Democrats Denying Election Results – Will Joe Biden, Merrick Garland, and Jack Smith Hold These Democrats Accountable?https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/08/watch-24-straight-minutes-democrats-denying-election-results/ GOP Sen. @marcorubio: When will the investigation begin on the effort by Hollywood actors to overturn the Presidential Election of 2016? (Video) https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/1686807645225660416 Victor Davis Hanson @VDHanson: Special Counsel Jack Smith added new indictments against Donald Trump, among them conspiratorially “unlawfully discounting legitimate votes.” Was Smith here referencing Stacy Abrams who for years claimed she was the real governor of Georgia, barnstorming the country to overturn the vote count? Or maybe Smith referred to ex-president Jimmy Carter? He “discounted” the 2016 vote by claiming Trump won only due to the “Russians”? Or did Smith mean Hillary Clinton who discounted Trump as an “illegitimate” president, prompting her to join the “Resistance” against an elected president? Or maybe Smith meant the Hollywood crowd who cut commercials after the 2016 election, begging viewers to pressure the electors to refuse their constitutional duties to honor their states’ popular vote, and instead in insurrectionary fashion vote for Hillary Clinton? Or was Smith thinking of the 32 Democratic House members and Sen. Barbara Boxer in January 2005 who tried to toss out the legally certified vote in Ohio to swing the election to John Kerry? Or maybe Smith was referencing Molly Ball’s 2021 Time essay? She bragged of the 2020 “cabal” and “conspiracy” hatched by Democrats, Silicon Valley, and corporatists to spend half-a-billion dollars to change state voting laws, censor the news, modulate the 2020 street protests, and absorb the work of state precinct workers? @KanekoaTheGreat: In 2016, Democrats, Hollywood celebrities, and corporate news outlets urged electors to vote against President-elect Donald Trump. Lawrence Lessig’s article in The Washington Post on November 26, 2016, argued that Republican electors had the constitutional right and duty to switch their votes from Trump to Hillary Clinton. This sparked a movement supported by figures like Michael Moore, John Podesta, Keith Olbermann, Rosie O’Donnell, and several Hollywood celebrities. While they only convinced a few electors, it’s important to recognize the double standard of justice in the treatment of Democrats and Republicans when objecting to elections.https://twitter.com/KanekoaTheGreat/status/1681458308358737920 @MonicaCrowley: The judge in the Trump J6 case – an Obama appointee and donor – worked at the same law firm as Hunter Biden. This is the level of contempt they have for the Constitution, the rule of law – and YOU. https://twitter.com/MonicaCrowley/status/1686718764627152896 @SteveDeaceShow: Trump could’ve put a very capable lawyer in charge of the RNC when he had the chance but didn’t. He could’ve drained the swamp when he had the chance but didn’t. He could’ve locked her up with Hillary when he had the chance but didn’t. He could’ve ended lockdowns and their access to ballot harvesting when he had the chance but didn’t. All those unfulfilled promises are coming home to roost today. What he thought was just grandstanding/branding, or political showmanship, was really a game of existential Risk. Someone was playing 4-D chess all along, it just wasn’t him. @Tommy_USA: 5 years ago, LeBron James started a school. Tons of fanfare, loads of resources, fawning media coverage. Oddly, he did it via the school district – rather than starting a private or even a charter school. Today: “Zero 8th graders have passed the state math test in 3 years.” @TheBabylonBee: Hollywood Confused by New Movie That Depicts Child Sex Trafficking as Bad

END

GREG HUNTER..

SEE YOU FRIDAY

Robert Hryniak	10:11 AM (2 minutes ago)
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