AUGUST 29//THE WEST SEEMS TO HAVE LOST CONTROL ON GOLD PRICING: GOLD CLOSED UP $17.05 TO $1936.95 /SILVER ALSO HAD A GREAT DAY UP 49 CENTS TO $24.71/PLATINUM ROSE $15.60 TO $983.40 WHILE PALLADIUM CLOSED DOWN $1.15 TO $1257.70//IMPORTANT GOLD COMMENTARIES TODAY: EGON VON GREYERZ AND MATHEW PIEPENBURG DISCUSS THE WORLD’S FRAGILE FINANCES AND ALASDAIR MACLEOD//GERMANY’S RULING PARTY CONTEMPLATING A RENTAL FREEZE FOR 3 YEARS TO COMBAT INFLATION: BRILLIANT!!??/ERDOGAN TO VISIT RUSSIA TRYING TO REINSTATE GRAIN DEAL//COVID AND VACCINE UPDATES//DR PAUL ALEXANDER/SLAY NEWS/EWOL NEWS/NEWS ADDICTS//FRANCE READY TO SUPPORT NIGER AGAINST THE MILITARY COUP//IN USA: HURRICANE IDALA COULD BRING FLOOD SURGES UP TO 12 FEET//USA REVISED JOB GAINS OVER THE YEAR DOWN BY 1.5 MILLION POUR SOULS// HOME PRICES CONTINUE TO RISE//CONFIDENCE IN USA SINKING//TUCKER CARLSON DEFENDS HUNGARY//VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: GREAT COMMENTARY//SWAMP STORIES FOR YOU TONIGHT..

August 29, 2023 · by · in Uncategorized · 1 Comment

GOLD PRICE CLOSED:  UP $17.05 TO $1936.95

SILVER PRICE CLOSED: UP $0.49   AT $24.71

Access prices: closes 4: 15 PM

Gold ACCESS CLOSE 1937.45

Silver ACCESS CLOSE: 24.74

Shanghai Gold Benchmark Price

USD  oz    PopupAM1960.45

PM1957.97

Historical SGE Fix

 

New York price at the time:  $1918.00

premium  $40.00

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Bitcoin morning price:, $26,038 DOWN 70  Dollars

Bitcoin: afternoon price: $27,952 UP 1844 dollars

Platinum price closing  $983,40 UP  $15.60

Palladium price;     $1257.70 DOWN $1.15

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: $2,626.26 UP 15.25 CDN dollars per oz (ALL TIME HIGH 2,775.35)

BRITISH GOLD: 131,72 UP 7.25 pounds per oz//(ALL TIME HIGH//CLOSING///1630.29)

EURO GOLD: 1780.06 UP 5.32 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: 1,917.900000000 USD
INTENT DATE: 08/28/2023 DELIVERY DATE: 08/30/2023
FIRM ORG FIRM NAME ISSUED STOPPED

435 H SCOTIA CAPITAL 20
624 H BOFA SECURITIES 57
661 C JP MORGAN 82
686 C STONEX FINANCIA 5

TOTAL: 82 82
MONTH TO DATE: 12,118

JPMorgan stopped 0 /82 contracts.

FOR AUGUST:

GOLD: NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR AUGUST/2023. CONTRACT:  82 NOTICES FOR 8200 OZ  or  0.2550 TONNES

total notices so far: 12,118 contracts for 1,211,800 oz (37.6992 tonnes)


FOR  AUGUST:

SILVER NOTICES: 0 NOTICE(S) FILED FOR nil OZ/

total number of notices filed so far this month : 954 for 4,770,000 oz

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END

GLD

WITH GOLD UP $17.05

INVESTORS SWITCHING TO SPROTT PHYSICAL  (PHYS) INSTEAD OF THE FRAUDULENT GLD/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: /A DEPOSIT OF 2.60 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD.

INVENTORY RESTS AT 886,64 TONNES 

Silver//

WITH NO SILVER AROUND AND SILVER UP 49 CENTS  AT  THE SLV// SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 183,000 OZ SILVER INTO THE SLV//

INVESTORS ARE SWITCHING SLV TO SPROTT’S PSLV.

CLOSING INVENTORY: 445.044 MILLION OZ

Let us have a look at the data for today

SILVER//OUTLINE


SILVER COMEX OI FELL BY A HUGE SIZED 2019 CONTRACTS TO 133,507 AND FURTHER FROM THE  RECORD HIGH OI OF 244,710, SET FEB 25/2020 AND THIS HUGE SIZED LOSS IN COMEX OI WAS ACCOMPLISHED DESPITE OUR  $0.03 GAIN  IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX ON MONDAY. TAS ISSUANCE WAS A FAIR SIZED 533 CONTRACTS. THESE WILL BE USED FOR MANIPULATION LATER THIS MONTH/AS WELL AS TODAY. 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 MONDAY NIGHT: 513 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 UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING THE PRICE OF SILVER DOWN (IT ROSE BY $0.03). BUT WERE SUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING SOME  SILVER CONTRACTS AS WE HAD A STRONG SIZED LOSS OF 1162 CONTRACTS ON BOTH EXCHANGES ALONG WITH HUGE T.A.S.LIQUIDATION THROUGHOUT THE COMEX SESSION. 

WE  MUST HAVE HAD: 


A FAIR  ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS( 482 CONTRACTS) iiii) AN  INITIAL SILVER STANDING FOR COMEX SILVER MEASURING AT 3.105 MILLION OZ (FIRST DAY NOTICE) FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S NIL OZ QUEUE JUMP //NEW STANDING REMAINS AT 4.770 MILLION OZ + OUR NEW CRIMINAL 0 CONTRACTS OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK  FOR  0 MILLION  OZ +  EXCHANGE FOR RISK//PRIOR  9.88 MILLION OZ/// : THUS NEW STANDING FOR SILVER IN OZ:  4.770  MILLION OZ + 9.88 MILLION EXCHANGE FOR RISK =  14.650 MILLION OZ/// // // HUGE SIZED COMEX OI LOSS/ FAIR SIZED EFP ISSUANCE/VI)   FAIR SIZED NUMBER OF  T.A.S. CONTRACT ISSUANCE (533 CONTRACTS)/

 I AM NOW RECORDING THE DIFFERENTIAL IN OI FROM PRELIMINARY TO FINAL  375   CONTRACTS

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

TOTAL CONTRACTS for 21 days, total 29,979 contracts:   OR 149.895 MILLION OZ  (1427 CONTRACTS PER DAY)

TOTAL EFP’S FOR THE MONTH SO FAR:  149.895 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 2022: 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: 149.845 MILLION OZ (THIS MONTH IS GOING TO BE HUGE 

RESULT: WE HAD A HUGE SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF 2019  CONTRACTS DESPITE OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF  $0.03 IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX//MONDAY.,.  THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A FAIR EFP ISSUANCE  CONTRACTS: 482  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 4.770 MILLION OZ+ 0 MILLION EX. FOR RISK //NEW TOTAL EXCH. FOR RISK 9.88 MILLION OZ EXCHANGE FOR RISK//  NEW TOTALS STANDING FOR SILVER: 14.65 MILLION OZ//// WE HAVE A STRONG LOSS OF 1537 OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES. THE TOTAL OF TAS INITIATED CONTRACTS TODAY:  A  FAIR 533  CONTRACTS//HUGE FRONT END OF THE TAS CONTRACTS WERE LIQUIDATED  DURING THE MONDAY COMEX SESSION WHICH EXPLAINS THE HUGE OI LOSS COMEX .  THE NEW TAS ISSUANCE MONDAY NIGHT (533) WILL BE PUT INTO “THE BANK” TO BE COLLUSIVELY USED AT A LATER DATE., .

WE HAD 0  NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR  nil  OZ

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

GOLD//OUTLINE

IN GOLD, THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST FELL BY A SMALL  SIZED 1078  CONTRACTS  TO 433,537 AND FURTHER FROM  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: 994 CONTRACTS

WE HAD A SMALL SIZED DECREASE  IN COMEX OI ( 1078 CONTRACTS) DESPITE OUR $6.90 GAIN IN PRICE//MONDAY. 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 8200 OZ  QUEUE JUMP   + PRIOR ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK = (.684 TONNES) //NEW STANDING 38.171 TONNES + .684 EXCHANGE FOR RISK  =  38.855/   + /A FAIR (AND CRIMINAL) ISSUANCE OF 685 T.A.S. CONTRACTS /// ALL OF..THIS HAPPENED WITH OUR  $6.90 GAIN IN PRICE  WITH RESPECT TO MONDAY’S TRADING.WE HAD A SMALL SIZED loss  OF 122  OI CONTRACTS (0.379 PAPER TONNES) ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES.

E.F.P. ISSUANCE

THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A SMALL SIZED 956 CONTRACTS:

The NEW COMEX OI FOR THE GOLD COMPLEX RESTS AT 433,831

IN ESSENCE WE HAVE A SMALL SIZED deCREASE IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 122 CONTRACTS  WITH 1078 CONTRACTS DECREASED AT THE COMEX// AND A SMALL 956 EFP OI CONTRACTS WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS  TOTAL OI loss ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 122 CONTRACTS OR 0.379 TONNES. WE HAD THE FOLLOWING TAS CONTRACTS INITIATED (ISSUED):  A SMALL 685 CONTRACTS)

CALCULATIONS ON GAIN/LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES

WE HAD A SMALL SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (956 CONTRACTS) ACCOMPANYING THE SMALL SIZED LOSS IN COMEX OI (1078) //TOTAL LOSS FOR OUR THE TWO EXCHANGES: 122 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 8200 OZ QUEUE JUMP     //NEW STANDING 38.171 TONNES + .684 TONNES (EXCHANGE FOR RISK//PRIOR) NEW TOTALS: 38.855 TONNES/// 3) ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION WITH SOME TAS LIQUIDATION DURING THE COMEX SESSION //4)  SMALL SIZED COMEX OPEN INTEREST LOSS/ 5) SMALL ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL PAPER///6:  FAIR T.A.S.  ISSUANCE: 685 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:  58,248 CONTRACTS OR 5,824,800 OZ OR 181.17 TONNES IN 21 TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 2774 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE  SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS :  THIS MONTH IN 21 TRADING DAY(S) IN  TONNES  181.17 TONNES

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

THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS  181.17/3550 x 100% TONNES  5.09% 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/2022:  409.30 TONNES //FINAL( 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:  181.17 TONNES (A STRONGER MONTH)

SPREADING OPERATIONS

(/NOW SWITCHING TO GOLD) FOR NEWCOMERS, HERE ARE THE DETAILS

SPREADING LIQUIDATION HAS NOW COMMENCED   AS WE HEAD TOWARDS THE  NEW  ACTIVE FRONT MONTH OF SEPT. 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 (SEPT), 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 2019  CONTRACTS OI TO  133,509 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  A FAIR 482  CONTRACTS 

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

SEPT  482  and ALL OTHER MONTHS: ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE:  482  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 2019 CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 482  OI TRANSFERRED TO LONDON THROUGH EFP’S,

WE OBTAIN A HUGE LOSS OF OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 1537  CONTRACTS 

THUS IN OUNCES, THE LOSS  ON THE TWO EXCHANGES  TOTAL 7.685 MILLION OZ  

OCCURRED DESPITE OUR   $0.03 GAIN 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//

 

TUESDAY MORNING//MONDAY  NIGHT

SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 37.25 PTS OR 1.20%   //Hang Seng CLOSED UP 353.29 PTS OR 1.95%        /The Nikkei CLOSED UP 56.98 PTS OR 0.18%  //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP .69 %   /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN  7.2937  /OFFSHORE CHINESE YUAN DOWN  TO 7.3053 /Oil UP TO 80.74 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT  UP AT 85.19 / Stocks in Europe OPENED  ALL GREEN// ONSHORE YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN  TRADING WEAKER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE WEAKER

a)NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA

outline

b) REPORT ON JAPAN/

OUTLINE

3  CHINA

OUTLINE

4/EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

OUTLINE

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

OUTLINE

6.Global Issues//COVID ISSUES/VACCINE ISSUES

OUTLINE

7. OIL ISSUES

OUTLINE

8 EMERGING MARKET ISSUES

9. USA

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

GOLD

 LET US BEGIN:

THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST FELL  BY A SMALL SIZED 1078 CONTRACTS  TO 433,831 DESPITE OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF $6.05 ON MONDAY.  

EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE

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

THAT IS 956  EFP CONTRACTS WERE ISSUED: :  DEC 956 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:

TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 956 CONTRACTS 

ON A NET BASIS IN OPEN INTEREST WE LOST THE FOLLOWING TODAY ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES: A SMALL TOTAL OF 122  CONTRACTS IN THAT 956 LONGS WERE TRANSFERRED AS FORWARDS TO LONDON AND WE HAD A SMALL SIZED LOSS OF 1078 COMEX  CONTRACTS..AND  THIS GAIN ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES HAPPENED DESPITE OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF $6.90//MONDAY 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 FRIDAY NIGHT WAS A SMALL 685 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)//

// WE HAVE A STRONG AMOUNT OF GOLD TONNAGE STANDING:   AUGUST  (38.855) (  ACTIVE MONTH)

 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: 38.855 TONNES (INCLUDING .6842 EXCHANGE FOR RISK)

THE SPECS/HFT WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE( IT GAINED $6.90) //// AND WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING ANY  SPECULATOR LONGS AS WE HAD A SMALL GAIN OF 872 TOTAL CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES. WE HAD CONSIDERABLE T.A.S. LIQUIDATION ON THE FRONT END OF MONDAY’S TRADING.  THE T.A.S. ISSUED ON MONDAY NIGHT WILL BE “PUT INTO THE BANK” TO BE USED AT A LATER DATE AT THE COLLUSIVE CHOOSING OF OUR BANKERS. 

WE HAVE LOST A TOTAL OI OF 0.379 PAPER TONNES FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES, ACCOMPANYING OUR INITIAL  GOLD TONNAGE STANDING FOR AUGUST. (30.656 TONNES) ON FIRST DAY NOTICE FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 8300 OZ QUEUE JUMP //NEW STANDING ADVANCES QUITE A BIT TO 38.171 TONNES + .6842 (PRIOR EXCHANGE FOR RISK) //NEW TOTAL 38.855 TONNES  //  ALL OF THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE  TO THE TUNE OF $6.90. 

WE HAD  – REMOVED 994    CONTRACTS  TO THE  COMEX TRADES TO OPEN INTEREST

NET GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 122  CONTRACTS OR 12,200 OZ OR 0.379 TONNES.

Estimated gold volume today:// 173,105  awful

final gold volumes/yesterday   124,614 really awful//speculators have left the gold arena

//AUGUST 29/ FOR THE AUGUST  2023 GOLD CONTRACT

GoldOunces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory in oz
 nil
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory in oz64.302 OZ
Brinks

2 KILOBARS












 




















   






 







 




.

 








 









 
Deposit to the Dealer Inventory in oz
nil




 
Deposits to the Customer Inventory, in oznil oz
No of oz served (contracts) today82  notice(s)
8200 OZ
0.2550 TONNES
No of oz to be served (notices)  154 contracts 
  15,400 oz
0.4790 TONNES

 
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month12,118 notices
1,211,800  OZ
37.692 TONNES
Total accumulative withdrawals of gold from the Dealers inventory this monthNIL oz
Total accumulative withdrawal of gold from the Customer inventory this monthx

0 dealer deposit:

total dealer deposits:  NIL oz

customer deposits: 0

nil oz

total customer deposits: nil oz

we had  1 customer withdrawals

i) Out of  Brinks:  64.302 oz (2 kilobars)

total withdrawals  64.302 oz

Adjustments; 0

CALCULATIONS FOR THE AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR AUGUST.

For the front month of AUGUST we have an oi of 236  contracts having LOST 80 contracts.  We had 163 contracts filed

on MONDAY, so we gained 83 contracts or an additional 8300 oz will stand at the comex, 

Sept LOST 61 contracts to 3937.

Oct LOST 3358 contracts to 29,749 contracts.

We had  82 contracts filed for today representing 8200  oz  

Today, 0 notice(s) were issued from J.P.Morgan dealer account and  82  notices were issued from their client or customer account. The total of all issuance by all participants equate to 82   contract(s) of which 0   notices were stopped (received) by  j.P. Morgan dealer and  0  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 (12,118 x 100 oz ), to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of  AUGUST (236  CONTRACT)  minus the number of notices served upon today  82 x 100 oz per contract equals 1,227,200 OZ  OR 38.171 TONNES the number of TONNES standing in this active month of AUGUST. + .684 TONNES EXCHANGE FOR RISK/prior = 38.885 tonnes

thus the INITIAL standings for gold for the  AUGUST contract month:  No of notices filed so far (12,118) x 100 oz +  (236) {OI for the front month} minus the number of notices served upon today (82)  x 100 oz) which equals  1,227,200 oz standing OR 38.171 TONNES + .684 TONNES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK/prior = 38.885 TONNES

TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING: 38.885 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: 2,071,097.121  OZ   64.41 tonnes

TOTAL OF ALL GOLD ELIGIBLE AND REGISTERED:  21,550,525.610 OZ  

TOTAL REGISTERED GOLD:  10,907,962,556   (339.28  tonnes)..

TOTAL OF ALL ELIGIBLE GOLD: 10,642,563.610 OZ  

REGISTERED GOLD THAT CAN BE SERVED UPON: 8,836,865 OZ (REG GOLD- PLEDGED GOLD) 274.86 tonnes//dropping like a stone

END

SILVER/COMEX

AUGUST 29

//2023// THE AUGUST 2023 SILVER CONTRACT

SilverOunces
Withdrawals from Dealers InventoryNIL oz
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory
109,434.183 oz
Delaware














































.














































 










 
Deposits to the Dealer Inventorynil oz
Deposits to the Customer Inventory1,071,379.410 oz
Loomis





 











































 











 
No of oz served today (contracts)0  CONTRACT(S)  
 (nil  OZ)
No of oz to be served (notices)0 contracts 
(NIL oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)954 Contracts
 (4,770,000 oz)
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Dealers inventory this monthNIL oz
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Customer inventory this month

i)  0 dealer  deposit

total dealer deposit: 0

i) We had 0 dealer withdrawal

total dealer withdrawals: 0 oz

We had 1 deposit customer account:

i) Into Loomis : 1071,379.410 oz

total customer deposits: 1,071,379.410 oz

JPMorgan has a total silver weight: 139.276  million oz/278.214 million = 49.96% of comex .//

Comex withdrawals 1

i) Out of Delaware: 109,434.185 oz

adjustments: 4 : all dealer to customer

i) HSBC 265,450.700 oz

ii) Out of Brinks: 29,228.190 oz

iii) Out of JPMorgan 5,237.100 oz

iv)Manfra: 29,664.810 oz

TOTAL REGISTERED SILVER: 42.102 MILLION OZ//.TOTAL REG + ELIGIBLE. 278.214 million oz

CALCULATIONS FOR THE NEW STANDING FOR SILVER FOR August:

silver open interest data:

FRONT MONTH OF AUGUST /2023 OI: 0   CONTRACTS HAVING GAINED 0  CONTRACT(S).  WE HAD

0 NOTICE FILED ON MONDAY 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 7845 CONTRACTS DOWN TO 14,309 WITH 2 MORE READING DAYS BEFORE FIRST DAY NOTICE. WE WILL HAVE A LOW DELIVERY MONTH FOR SEPT.

OCT GAINED 195  CONTRACT TO STAND AT 885.

TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR TODAY: 0 for NIL  oz

Comex volumes// est. volume today 95,602  sthuge

Comex volume: confirmed yesterday: 71,691 large

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 954 x  5,000 oz = 4,770,000 oz 

to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of AUGUST (0) and the number of notices served upon today 0x (5000 oz) equals the number of ounces standing.

Thus the  standings for silver for the AUGUST/2023 contract month:  954 (notices served so far) x 5000 oz + OI for the front month of AUGUST (0) – number of notices served upon today (0 )x 500 oz of silver standing for the AUGUST contract month equates to 4.770 million oz.+ 0 MILLION OZ EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUED TODAY+ //NEW TOTAL EXCHANGE FOR RISK: 9.88 MILLION OZ//NEW SILVER STANDING: 14.65 MILLION oz.  

There are 42.102 million oz of registered silver.

Thus if we take today’s standing at 14.65  and add last month’s 30.9 million oz we have 44.540 million oz against only 42.432 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 29/WITH GOLD UP 17.05 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A DEPOSIT OF 2.6 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD.: / //INVENTORY RESTS AT 886.64 TONNES

AUGUST 28/WITH GOLD UP $6.90 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: / //INVENTORY RESTS AT 884.04 TONNES

AUGUST 25/WITH GOLD DOWN $6.05 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF .87 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 884.04 TONNES

AUGUST 24/WITH GOLD UP $0.65 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD //INVENTORY RESTS AT 884.91 TONNES

AUGUST 23/WITH GOLD UP $21.35 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.32 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD//: //: /// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 884.91 TONNES

AUGUST 22/WITH GOLD UP $2.95 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.87 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD//: //: /// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 889.23 TONNES

AUGUST 21/WITH GOLD UP $7.15 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A DEPOSIT OF 2.60 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD//: //: /// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 890.10 TONNES

AUGUST 18/WITH GOLD UP $1.15 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 6.92 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD//: //: /// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 887.50 TONNES

AUGUST 17/WITH GOLD DOWN $12.80 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: //: /// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 894.42 TONNES

AUGUST 16/WITH GOLD DOWN $7.00 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.44 TONNES FORM THE GLD//: /// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 894.42 TONNES

AUGUST 15/WITH GOLD DOWN $7,45 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.76 TONNES FORM THE GLD//: /// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 895.87 TONNES

AUGUST 14/WITH GOLD DOWN $2.10 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.75 TONNES FORM THE GLD//: /// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 899.63 TONNES

AUGUST 11/WITH GOLD DOWN $2.10 TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF .31 TONNES FORM THE GLD//: /// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 903.31 TONNES

AUGUST 10/WITH GOLD DOWN $1.00 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: /// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 903.69 TONNES

AUGUST 9/WITH GOLD DOWN $8.75 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: /// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 903.69 TONNES

AUGUST 8/WITH GOLD DOWN $9.60 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.31 TONNES FORM THE GLD /// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 903.69 TONNES

AUGUST 7/WITH GOLD DOWN $5.45 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: /// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 906.00 TONNES

AUGUST 4/WITH GOLD UP $7.25 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.18 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/// .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 906.00 TONNES

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

GLD INVENTORY: 886.64 TONNES

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

AUGUST 29/WITH SILVER UP 49 CENTS TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 183,000 OF SILVER INTO THE THE SLV// /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 445.044 MILLION OZ

AUGUST 28/WITH SILVER UP 3 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.281 MILLION OZ OZ FROM THE SLV// /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 444.861 MILLION OZ

AUGUST 25/WITH SILVER UP ONE CENT TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.751 MILLION OZ OZ FROM THE SLV// /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 446.145 MILLION OZ

AUGUST 24/WITH SILVER DOWN 16 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.651 MILLION OZ OZ FROM THE SLV// /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 448.896 MILLION OZ

AUGUST 23/WITH SILVER UP 94 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 826,000 OZ FROM THE SLV// /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 450.547 MILLION OZ

AUGUST 22/WITH SILVER UP 12 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 451.373 MILLION OZ

AUGUST 21/WITH SILVER UP 59 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 917,0000 OZ FROM THE SLV//.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 451.373 MILLION OZ

AUGUST 18/WITH SILVER UP 4 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 452.290 MILLION OZ

AUGUST 17/WITH SILVER UP 15 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 452.290 MILLION OZ

AUGUST 16/WITH SILVER DOWN 13 CENTS TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.275 MILLION OZ INTOTHE SLV/: / .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 452.290 MILLION OZ

AUGUST 15/WITH SILVER DOWN 6 CENTS TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.275 MILLION OZ INTOTHE SLV/: / .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 452.290 MILLION OZ

AUGUST 14/WITH SILVER DOWN 3 CENTS TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A DEPOSIT OF 0.459 MILLION OZ INTOTHE SLV/: //////INVENTORY RESTS AT 452.565 MILLION OZ

AUGUST 11/WITH SILVER DOWN 6 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A DEPOSIT OF 1.926 MILLION OZ INTOTHE SLV/: // OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV// .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 452.106 MILLION OZ

AUGUST 10/WITH SILVER UP 6 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A WITHDRAWAL OF 8,807 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV/: // OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV// .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 450.180 MILLION OZ

AUGUST 9/WITH SILVER DOWN 7 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A WITHDRAWAL OF 8,807 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV/: // OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV// .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 450.180 MILLION OZ

AUGUST 8/WITH SILVER DOWN 40 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: // OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV// .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 458.987 MILLION OZ

AUGUST 7/WITH SILVER DOWN 46 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: // OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV// .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 458.987 MILLION OZ

AUGUST 4/WITH SILVER UP 1 CENT TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.294 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV// OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV// .////INVENTORY RESTS AT 458.987 MILLION OZ

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/

CLOSING INVENTORY 445.044 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

EGON VON GREYERZ..

Von Greyerz: Will This Be The Fall Of Falls?

TUESDAY, AUG 29, 2023 – 06:30 AM

Authored by Egon von Greyerz via GoldSwitzerland.com,

This 25 minute video with Matthew Piepenburg and myself is probably one of the most important discussions that we have had.

For years we have both warned investors about the consequences of a system based on unlimited money printing, debt creation and money debasement.

The world economy and the financial system is now on the cusp of a precipice. 

No one can forecast when the coming violent turn will come. 

It can take years or it can happen tomorrow. 

Future historians will tell us when it happened.

In the meantime investors have one duty to themselves and their dependents which is to protect their wealth from total destruction. 

Money printing and debt creation have taken markets to dizzy and unsustainable levels. 

Since Nixon closed the gold window in 1971, both global and US debt is up over 80X!

And asset markets have been inflated by this fake money with the Nasdaq up 120X and the S&P up 44X since 1971. 

But the bubbles are not just in stocks but also in bonds,  property, art, other collectibles etc, etc.

In our view, the time to pay the Piper is here and now. The consequences will be costly, even very costly for the investors who ignore this major risk. 

Just as bubble assets can go up exponentially they can implode even faster. 

RISK OF MARKETS FALLING 50-90%

Sustained corrections of 50% to 90% in stocks and bonds are very possible and when the bubble bursts it will go so fast that there won’t be time to get out or to buy insurance. 

Whether the Everything Bubble turns to the Everything Collapse today or tomorrow, the time to protect your assets is before it happens which means NOW. 

Forecasting the gold price is a Mug’s game . But understanding the significance of gold for protecting against unprecedented risk is not. We had the Ides of March in mid March this year when 4 US banks, led by Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second biggest bank all went under in a matter of days. 

That was a rehearsal. Bad debts and rising interest rates are a timebomb for the banking system. So is the $2-3 quadrillion derivatives risk. This gargantuan risks are before us  now and could materialise at any time starting this autumn. 

The risk of A Catastrophic Debt Implosion is just too big to ignore. 

In our video discussion below Matt and I discuss these risks and most importantly, the best way to protect or insure against this risk. 

Owning physical gold outside the banking system is by far the superior method to preserve wealth.  

But it is not just about buying physical gold but how you own it, where you store it, in what jurisdictions etc.

This is an area which MAM/GoldSwitzerland has focused on for a quarter of a century and has developed a superior system for HNWIs. 

Please watch this important discussion…https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/von-greyerz-will-be-fall-falls

END

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

Tonight’s reading material

Alasdair Macleod..

Alasdair Macleod: Hedging the end of fiat

Submitted by admin on Mon, 2023-08-28 13:03Section: Daily Dispatches

By Alasdair Macleod
GoldMoney, Toronto
Monday, August 28, 2023

It is slowly coming clear that the fiat dollar’s hegemony is drawing to a close. That’s what the BRICS summit in Johannesburg is all about — rats, if you like, deserting the dollar’s ship. With the dollar’s backing being no more than a precarious faith in it, it is bound to be sold down by foreign holders.

Being only fiat, it could even become valueless, threatening to take down the other Western alliance fiat currencies as well.

How do you protect your paper wealth from this outcome? Some swear by bitcoin and others by gold.

This article looks at what is likely to emerge as a replacement currency system, and concludes that from practical and legal aspects, bitcoin and the entire cryptocurrency industry will fail with fiat, while mankind will return to gold, as it has always done in the past when state control over currency fails. …

… For the remainder of the analysis:

https://www.goldmoney.com/research/hedging-the-end-of-fiat?gmrefcode=gata

END

A summary of events related to the BRICS summit

(New York/Insider)

BRICS summit ended with no new currency and contradictory comments about it

Submitted by admin on Mon, 2023-08-28 09:46Section: Daily Dispatches

By Huileng Tan
Insider, New York
Monday, August 28, 2023

A group of major emerging economies wrapped up a summit in South Africa last Thursday by welcoming six new members — but without a new dollar-challenging currency.

The summit of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa or BRICS nations added Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina, and the United Arab Emirates to its fold. It is the bloc’s first expansion in 13 years as it seeks to be an alternative to Western-led groupings.

While there was talk about the bloc’s possible creation of a common currency to rival the U.S. dollar, that didn’t happen — in fact, chatter from the BRICS nations on the issue was divided, pointing to different opinions that may delay any such development.

As this dollar alternative was being discussed, data from SWIFT showed the greenback was used for a record 46% of foreign-exchange payments via the communications system in July.

Here’s what the leaders of five BRICS members said about de-dollarization: …

… For the remainder of the report:

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/dedollarization-china-india-russia-leaders-brics-summit-yuan-rupee-2023-8

END

This is the big result from the BRICS summit: big oil exporters joining the group.  Local currency settlements for now may replace the dollar

(Global Times/Beijing)

As big oil exporters join BRICS, local currency settlements may replace dollar

Submitted by admin on Fri, 2023-08-25 20:06Section: Daily Dispatches

From Global Times, Beijing
Friday, August 25, 2023

With Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates joining BRICS, the multilateral mechanism now includes major global oil producers and importers. Analysts said that a wider adoption of local currencies for trade among BRICS countries, rather than using the U.S. dollar, seems more natural.

Six candidates — Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates — will be admitted as BRICS members on January 1, 2024, South African president announced on Thursday at the BRICS summit. Currently, BRICS members include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

A Shanghai-based oil industry insider told the Global Times today on the condition of anonymity that having oil producers and consumers as members will set a foundation for BRICS members to use local currencies in settlement, which can definitely reduce transaction costs, adding that people are witnessing the twilight of the petrodollar. …

… For the remainder of the report:

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202308/1296990.shtml

END

4, OTHER IMPORTANT GOLD/SILVER COMMENTARIES

END

5 a. IMPORTANT COMMENTARIES ON COMMODITIES: 

end

5 B GLOBAL COMMODITY ISSUES/FOOD IN GENERAL//FREIGHT

END

6.CRYPTOCURRENCY//DIGITAL CURRENCY// COMMENTARIES/

Bitcoin Spikes After ETF Court Ruling

TUESDAY, AUG 29, 2023 – 10:41 AM

With Bitcoin languishing back at pre-ETF excitement levels – despite hashrates reaching record highs – the news this morning has re-awakened those animal spirits in crypto.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit issued its opinion in Grayscale v. SEC this morning, ruling that the agency was unreasonable to deny the crypto giant permission to launch a Bitcoin ETF.

The win by Grayscale on Tuesday comes after the firm sued the SEC in June 2022 – when the US securities regulator blocked the crypto-focused asset manager from converting its Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to an ETF. 

The firm had argued that the SEC’s approval of ETFs investing in bitcoin futures contracts, but not proposed products that would hold bitcoin directly, is “arbitrary and capricious.”

“The denial of Grayscale’s proposal was arbitrary and capricious because the Commission failed to explain its different treatment of similar products,” wrote Judge Neomi Rao.

Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein said in a Tuesday tweet that the company’s legal team is “actively reviewing” the court’s decision.

https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1696530284542660973&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fcrypto%2Fbitcoin-spikes-after-etf-court-ruling&sessionId=2ee7454dee7703f7155051a0a5f2c90de55a06a6&siteScreenName=zerohedge&theme=light&widgetsVersion=aaf4084522e3a%3A1674595607486&width=550px

Bitcoin is up from $26,000 to $27,000 on the headline.

Grayscale says converting to an ETF would help it unlock about $5.7 billion in value from the $16.2 billion trust by making it easier to create and redeem shares.

GBTC itself is up around 17% on the news, compressing its discount to NAV even more dramatically…

As Fortune.com reports, the ruling does not mean the SEC has to immediately implement the ruling.

The SEC has 45 days to appeal the decision, which could then go either to the U.S. Supreme Court or a so-called ‘en banc’ review, a legal procedure used when a team of judges handles a case deemed to be extremely complex.

While it could appeal the decision, it is also facing applications for Bitcoin ETFs from traditional financial firms like BlackRock and Fidelity, which makes it more likely the agency will simply accept the court ruling and approve applications in coming weeks.

Of course, the SEC will likely not take this denial well and, as some industry participants have noted, will now seek another means to stop this ETF leading top more widespread adoption of crypto.

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

ONSHORE YUAN:   CLOSED DOWN TO 7.2937 

OFFSHORE YUAN:  DOWN TO 7.3053

SHANGHAI CLOSED  UP 37.25 PTS OR 1.20% 

HANG SENG CLOSED UP 353,29 PTS OR 1.95% 

2. Nikkei closed UP 56.98 OR 0.18% 

3. Europe stocks   SO FAR:    ALL  GREEN

USA dollar INDEX UP  TO  104.08 EURO FALLS TO 1.0809 DOWN 16 BASIS PTS

3b Japan 10 YR bond yield: FALLS TO. +.641 Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese YEN vs USA cross now at 146.98/JAPANESE YEN FALLING AS WELL AS LONG TERM 10  YR. YIELDS RISING //EVENTUALLY THIS WILL BREAK THE JAPANESE CENTRAL BANK

3c Nikkei now  ABOVE 17,000

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

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

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

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

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

3h European bond buying continues to push yields lower on all fronts in the EMU. German 10yr bund UP TO +2.5605***/Italian 10 Yr bond yield DOWN to 4.214*** /SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD FALLS TO 3.569…** 

3i Greek 10 year bond yield RISES TO 3.83

3j Gold at $1917.90 silver at: 24.21 1 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $30.00

3k USA vs Russian rouble;// Russian rouble DOWN 0  AND  62 /100        roubles/dollar; ROUBLE AT 95.93//

3m oil into the  80  dollar handle for WTI and 85  handle for Brent/

3n Higher foreign deposits moving out of China//  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 146.98//  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 0.8848 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF 0.9565well 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: 4.217 DOWN 0 BASIS PTS…

USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 4.292  DOWN 0 BASIS PTS/

USA 2 YR BOND YIELD:  5.012 DOWN 5 BASIS PTS

USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 26.61…(TURKEY SET TO BLOW UP FINANCIALLY)

GREAT BRITAIN/10 YEAR YIELD: UP 2  BASIS PTS AT 4.5012

end

2.a  Overnight:  Newsquawk and Zero hedge:

USA EARLY MORNING REPORT

Futures Flat Ahead Of Data Dumpfest

TUESDAY, AUG 29, 2023 – 08:14 AM

US stock futures erased gains of as much as 0.3% following another parade of modest China stimuli as investors monitored the outlook for interest rates ahead of key inflation and jobs data later this week, with the Federal Reserve’s data dependence in firmly mind. Contracts on the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 traded flat by 7:30 a.m. in New York after gaining as much as 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 rises for a second day while Asian stocks closed at the highest level in two weeks, as Chinese equities extended their gains following the country’s market-boosting measures. A fall in Treasury yields also helped sentiment. Treasury yields and the dollar were steady; the USDJPY rose to 146.97, the highest level since November, and a red line for imminent BOJ intervention.

In premarket trading, retailer Best Buy climbed 3.3% ahead of its second-quarter earnings report, while Verizon and AT&T rose after Citigroup upgraded the stocks to buy, saying it sees a more constructive investment case for large-cap telecommunications firms. Here are some other notable premarket movers:

  • BigBear.ai Holdings Inc. climbs 2.9% after HC Wainwright & Co LLC started coverage on the application software company with a buy rating and $4 price target.
  • Emergent BioSolutions slips 2% after Benchmark Company LLC downgraded it to hold from buy, with the analyst citing restructuring plans that are expected to “slow share price rebound.”
  • Jackson Financial rises as much as 7.8% after S&P Dow Jones said the stock is set to join S&P SmallCap 600 index prior to the opening of trading on Sept. 1.
  • Nio falls as much as 3.8% after the Chinese electric-vehicle maker reported bigger-than-expected losses in 2Q as competition heated up. Vehicle sales and margins also missed estimates, while guidance for 3Q deliveries was ahead.
  • Noco-Noco rises as much as 90%, on track to recoup some of its Monday losses when it slid 53% after the Japanese advanced electric battery technology company made its debut on the Nasdaq.
  • PDD Holdings shares surge as much as 13% after the Chinese e-commerce company reported quarterly revenue and earnings well above estimates. Operating and marketing expenses were higher than expected as the company competes with rivals over pricing at home and abroad.
  • Verizon and AT&T rise as Citi upgrades to buy, saying it sees a more constructive investment case for large-cap telecommunications firms.

Despite modest gains so far in the final week of August, global stocks are on track for their worst month in almost a year as policy makers remain determined to stifle inflation. Economic reports are assuming even more importance than usual after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated at Jackson Hole last week that the central bank is ready to raise rates further if the data suggests that is appropriate.

“August has been a challenging month for markets, with investor sentiment cautiously picking up again,” said Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor. “Focus will be on key economic data from the US this week, with hopes that this will fuel expectations that the economy stateside is heading for a soft landing.”

While it’s a bumper week for data releases, including payrolls and GDP, today traders will be monitoring the latest job openings and US consumer confidence data. Other reports this week include US employment growth, the core PCE deflator and August’s payrolls and wages data. Euro-area inflation readings will be in focus this week as well.

Miners led an advance in the Stoxx Europe 600 index after China signaled further measures to support its economy. NN Group NV jumped as much as 11% after the financial-services company reported results that beat analysts’ expectations. European bonds gained, with the German 10-year yield falling three basis points to 2.54%. UK stocks outperformed when they reopened after Monday’s holiday. Here are the biggest European movers:

  • NN Group surges as much as 11%, the most since March 2020, after the Dutch insurance and investment management firm delivered results that analysts say were ahead of expectations
  • Bunzl shares rise as much as 4.8% after the UK distribution and business services company reported a stronger-than-expected margin performance and raised its full-year guidance
  • Vestas climbs as much as 3.3% after Nordea raised the the wind-turbine-maker’s recommendation to buy, citing easing headwinds, flattening inflation, stabilizing supply chains and higher US orders
  • Heineken rises as much as 2.1% as JPMorgan upgrades the Dutch brewer to overweight from neutral. Share price weakness post first-half results presents an attractive entry point, the broker says
  • Britvic shares gain as much as 4%, the most since Nov. 23, after Barclays upgraded its rating on the UK soft-drinks maker to overweight citing multiple top-line and earnings growth drivers
  • Zurich Airport rises as much as 3.1% after the Swiss airport operator reported Ebitda for 1H that beat the average analyst estimate. ZKB says the company benefited from a “true travel boom”
  • Telecom Italia gains as much as 3% after Italy approved a decree which empowers it to take a stake in the phone company’s network business of as much as a 20%
  • NHOA fell as much as 23%, the most on record, after the French maker of renewable-energy equipment launched a €250m capital increase with shareholders’ preferential subscription rights

Earlier in the session, Asian stocks rose 0.8%, climbing for the second day to the highest level in two weeks, as Chinese equities extended their gains following the country’s market-boosting measures. The Hang Seng Index extended its increase into a second day and China’s stocks outperformed, with the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rising more than 2%. Chinese internet firms Tencent and Alibaba provided the biggest support to the gauge, with a measure of tech firms listed in Hong Kong rising as much as 3%.

In its latest stimulus step, China is poised to cut interest rates on trillions of yuan of outstanding home mortgages for the first time since the global financial crisis, as policymakers dig deeper into their toolkit to shore up growth in the world’s second-largest economy.

“If policy measures continue to be unveiled in the coming weeks, the market narrative may shift from ‘too little, too late’ to a more confident stance as policymakers regain credibility,” UBS Global Wealth Management strategists including Solita Marcelli and Mark Haefele wrote in a note.

In rates, Treasury futures were lower in early US session, paring small gains amassed during Asia session and London morning. US 10-year yield around 4.22%, 2bps cheaper on the day, outperforming gilts in the sector while trailing bunds, stronger following German 5-year note auction. The week’s coupon auction cycle concludes with $36b 7-year note sale, following decent demand for Monday’s 2- and 5-year notes.

In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose to 1244, strengthening against EUR, GBP and CHF, and especially the yen, with the USDJPY surging above 147 for the first time since Nov 2022 and guaranteeing that a BOJ intervention is now inevitable. Meanwhile looking at the BBDXY, Sean Callow, strategist at Westpac Banking said that a move in the index toward 1250 “is still achievable over multi-days or week, but will probably require substantial upside surprises on both NFP and CPI.” The British pound edged higher after the slowest increase in grocery bills in almost a year drove down inflation in shops in August, relieving some of the pressure on the Bank of England to keep raising interest rate hikes.

In commodities, oil climbed toward $81 per barrel as traders waited for the next set of clues on the outlook for crude demand in the US and China. Gold was little changed.

Looking at today’s calendar,  we get the August Conference Board consumer confidence read (116.0 survey vs. 117.0 prior), July’s JOLTS job openings (exp. down to 9.5MM from 9.588MM), and the June FHFA house price index; FDIC will propose new guideline for regional banks today; 7yr auction at 1pm.

Market Snapshot

  • S&P 500 futures little changed at 4,442.25
  • STOXX Europe 600 up 0.6% to 458.20
  • MXAP up 0.7% to 160.84
  • MXAPJ up 1.0% to 506.27
  • Nikkei up 0.2% to 32,226.97
  • Topix up 0.2% to 2,303.41
  • Hang Seng Index up 1.9% to 18,484.03
  • Shanghai Composite up 1.2% to 3,135.89
  • Sensex up 0.2% to 65,106.00
  • Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 0.7% to 7,210.46
  • Kospi up 0.3% to 2,552.16
  • German 10Y yield little changed at 2.54%
  • Euro little changed at $1.0811
  • Brent Futures up 0.3% to $84.68/bbl
  • Gold spot up 0.1% to $1,922.94
  • US Dollar Index little changed at 104.05

Top Overnight News

  • Japan may be at an inflection point in its 25-year battle with deflation as price and wage rises show signs of broadening, the government said on Tuesday, signaling its conviction the economy was nearing an end to prolonged stagnation. RTRS
  • Toyota will halt all 14 plants in Japan tonight due to a systems problem, though it doesn’t suspect a cyberattack. It’s not clear when operations will resume. BBG
  • Hong Kong’s lived-in home prices declined for a third straight month in July to a six-month low, reflecting the prevailing sentiment in the city’s property market amid an elevated interest-rate environment. Prices fell 1.1% month on month in July, the biggest drop this year. The widely watched gauge slipped to 343.4 from 347.3 in June, the lowest level since 346.8 in February. SCMP
  • China’s biggest state-owned banks are considering lowering deposit rates for at least the third time in a year, according to people familiar with the matter, as they ramp up efforts to boost the economy and protect margins. BBG
  • The slowest increase in grocery bills in almost a year drove down inflation in British shops in August, relieving some of the pressure on the BOE to keep raising interest rates. The British Retail Consortium said that shop price inflation fell sharply again to 6.9% in August from 7.6% the month before. Food price led the decline, particularly for meat, potatoes and cooking oils. BBG
  • AI technology is actually quite labor-intensive, relying on an army of workers scrubbing the data on which models are being trained. Washington Post
  • Today the FDIC will vote on five separate proposals at a meeting, all aimed at ensuring banks with over $100 billion in assets are prepared for their own potential failures, and can be taken apart smoothly and quickly. RTRS
  • The Biden administration and its European allies are laying plans for long-term military assistance to Ukraine to ensure Russia won’t be able to win on the battlefield and persuade the Kremlin that Western support for Kyiv won’t waver. WSJ
  • Homeowners are increasingly forgoing home insurance, gambling that the likelihood of a disaster isn’t high enough to justify the cost of a policy. Some skipping insurance say they are doing so because they can no longer afford the rising premiums. The national average for home insurance based on $250,000 in dwelling coverage increased this year to $1,428 annually, up 20% from 2022, according to Bankrate. WSJ

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

APAC stocks traded with an upward bias following the positive lead from Wall Street, with little in terms of fresh catalysts to dictate price action heading into month-end. ASX 200 was supported by its gold, mining, and materials sectors but with the gains modest intraday, with the upside hampered by the index’s IT and Healthcare sectors. Nikkei 225 was caged after opening higher, with the index supported by its machinery sector, while Toyota shares waned after reports it is to suspend operations at all of its 14 Japanese assembly plants amid system failures. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp saw another session in the green, with the gains in the former more pronounced as index heavyweights are again buoyed by the recent stock support measures.

Top Asian News

  • Chinese State media reports PBoC may cut banks’ RRR earlier than expected to maintain reasonable ample liquidity, according to reports.
  • Chinese banks are considering additional deposit rate cuts to boost growth, according to Bloomberg; Major lenders could lower rates across key tenors by 5-20bps, the plan has been signed off by regulators and the cut could come as soon as Friday.
  • China to cut rates on existing mortgages as soon as today, via Bloomberg.
  • PBoC sold CNY 385bln via 7-day reverse repos with the rate at 1.80% for a CNY 274bln net injection.
  • South Korea plans government spending of KRW 656.9tln (+2.8% from 2023); and sees debt-to-GDP ratio at 51% in 2024 (vs 50.4% in 2023), according to the Finance Ministry.
  • Xiaomi (1810 HK) Q2 (CNY): Revenue 67.35bln (exp. 65.84bln), Net 5.14bln (prev. 2.08bln). Smartphone revenue 36.6bln. Will not declare an interim dividend for 6 months.
  • Fitch affirms New Zealand at “AA+”; outlook Stable

European bourses are in the green, Euro Stoxx 50 +0.4%, after a constructive open with catalysts light at the time. Following the open, both cash and futures pared some of this move before reverting back towards initial bests on subsequent Chinese source reports. FTSE 100 +1.5% outperforms as it plays catch up to gains elsewhere on Monday’s UK Bank Holiday. As mentioned, sentiment saw some modest upside on the sources with ADRs for Chinese stocks seeing upside. Within Europe, sectors are all in the green featuring outperformance in Basic Resources given benchmark and above factors, Real Estate is firmer after pressure in Monday’s session while Tech has made its way into the green despite initial marginal pressure. Stateside, futures are in the green though only modestly so with the ES and NQ posting gains of circa. +0.1%; upside which began before the Chinese rate reports, but has picked up further since those aired. Agricultural Bank of China (1288 HK) – H1 (CNY): net profit 133.234bln vs. prev. 128.945bln, net interest income 290.421bln vs. prev. 300.219bln, NIM 1.66%

Top European News

  • Riksbank’s Bunge says prices are still rising much too fast, right now it looks like the fight against inflation is not over yet. Says the Swedish Crown is undervalued.

FX

  • DXY continues to rotate around 104.000 as demand for month-end rebalancing counters softer rates and renewed risk appetite.
  • Aussie and Kiwi marginally outperform on 0.6400 and 0.5900 handles against the Buck respectively.
  • Yen off worst levels vs. Dollar, but still vulnerable within a 146.60-32 range after an unexpected rise in Japanese unemployment.
  • Euro wanes against Greenback and eyes big expiry at 1.0800 plus 200 DMA for support.
  • The Yuan saw some two-way action before coming under pressure on source reports that Chinese banks are considering additional deposit rate cuts to support growth, subsequent reports saw some of this briefly pare-back.
  • PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1851 vs exp. 7.2854 (prev. 7.1856)
  • RBA’s Bullock says the impact of climate change on the neutral interest rate is not clear cut; could put upward and downward pressure on the neutral rate. Inflation is still too high, and that will be my first priority as Governor.

Fixed Income

  • Debt futures pare gains after extending to the upside in early EU trade awaiting a relatively busy PM agenda.
  • Bunds retain bid tone within 132.48-13 range amidst decent Bobl sale and demand for 2053 German tap.
  • Gilts pullback further between 94.79-24 parameters after return from 3-day UK weekend.
  • T-note holding middle ground within 109-28+/21+ bounds.

Commodities

  • WTI and Brent Oct’23 are at the top-end of USD 79.79-80.75/bbl and USD 84.11-85.11/bbl parameters. The respective peaks printed following Bloomberg source reports with support via the bullish catalysts of Hurricane Idalia as it continues to intensify as it enters the Gulf.
  • Dutch TTF pulls back modestly after Monday’s pronounced strike-notice-driven gains, developments since have detailed the potential action workers will take from the 7th.
  • Spot gold is in narrow bounds but just about retains a positive bias as the USD picks up, while base metals were already gleaning support from the firmer APAC handover but have extended since.
  • NHC says Idalia is now a hurricane and is expected to rapidly intensify into an extremely dangerous major hurricane before making landfall on Wednesday.
  • Australian union said workers at Chevron’s (CVX) LNG facilities to participate in rolling stoppages, bans and limitations; Industrial action will escalate each week until Chevron agrees to bargaining claims, according to Reuters. Workers at Chevron’s Australian LNG facilities plan work stoppages of as long as ten hours from next week, according to Reuters
  • Chilean copper miner Codelco makes further staff cuts, according to a statement cited by Reuters.
  • Australian Agriculture Minister said the first shipment of Australian barley has been dispatched to China, according to Reuters.
  • Ukraine’s First Deputy Agriculture Minister says Ukraine’s winter wheat sowing area will likely remain unchanged despite the export crisis, according to Reuters.

Geopolitics

  • North Korean Leader Kim says the US has turned waters near the Korean Peninsula into the most unstable region with the danger of nuclear war, reported via KCNA. Will deliver new weapons to military units under the policy of expanding tactical nuclear weapons operations.
  • US President Biden is to meet with Brazilian President Lula on September 19th, according to Reuters.
  • Veteran US diplomat Mark Lambert likely to be named as Assistant Secretary for China and Taiwan, according to Reuters sources; appointment unlikely to change US’ China stance.
  • Taiwan’s Defence Ministry says 12 Chinese military craft entered the ADIZ on Tuesday, seven craft crossed the median line.

US Event Calendar

  • 09:00: June S&P/Case-Shiller US HPI YoY, prior -0.46%
    • 2Q House Price Purchase Index QoQ, prior 0.5%
    • June FHFA House Price Index MoM, est. 0.6%, prior 0.7%
    • June S&P/CS 20 City MoM SA, est. 0.80%, prior 0.99%
    • June S&P CS Composite-20 YoY, est. -1.60%, prior -1.70%
  • 10:00: July JOLTs Job Openings, est. 9.5m, prior 9.58m
  • 10:00: Aug. Conf. Board Consumer Confidence, est. 116.0, prior 117.0
    • Aug. Conf. Board Present Situation, prior 160.0
    • Aug. Conf. Board Expectations, prior 88.3
    • Aug. Dallas Fed Services Activity, prior -4.2

DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

As the UK returns from the holiday weekend, it’s clear that markets have taken last week’s speeches at Jackson Hole in their stride. That will come as a relief to many, since last year saw the S&P 500 plunge -3.37% on the day of Powell’s hawkish remarks, and we also had a relentless bond selloff that continued into late-October. But this time around, the S&P 500 has advanced on Friday (+0.67%) and again yesterday (+0.63%), just as yields on 10yr Treasuries have kept falling after last week’s highs to trade at 4.19% this morning.

In several respects, Powell’s speech on Friday had quite a few hawkish lines in it. For instance, he reiterated that inflation “remains too high”, and that the Fed was “prepared to raise rates further if appropriate”. He also said that they would be keeping policy “at a restrictive level until we are confident that inflation is moving sustainably down toward our objective.” But on the dovish side, he also acknowledged that inflation had moved lower, and pointed out that there was uncertainty about monetary policy lags. Indeed, Powell said that “there may be significant further drag in the pipeline” from those lags, and he weighed up that there were risks from tightening too little and tightening too much. So it was quite a different tone to last year, when it was abundantly clear that Powell’s message was that the Fed wasn’t about to let-up on inflation.

The most obvious takeaway from this year’s speech is that markets now consider another hike this year as increasingly likely, with futures pricing in a 67% chance of a hike by November. That’s been reflected in front-end yields, with the 2yr Treasury yield closing at a post-2007 high of 5.08% on Friday. Furthermore, the 3m T-bill yield rose to another post-2001 high yesterday of 5.484%. In the meantime, the recent pattern of rate cuts being pushed into the future has continued, and the first full 25bp cut now isn’t priced in until the June 2024 meeting.

Over at the ECB, the debate is also continuing about whether there’ll be another hike at their meeting in two weeks’ time. Currently, markets are considering the decision to be finely balanced, with a 42% chance of a move priced in. This is up from 34% on Friday, as markets took a slightly hawkish interpretation to the lack of a reaction in ECB commentary to last week’s underwhelming PMIs. In her own speech at Jackson Hole, President Lagarde avoided giving a clear signal as well, focusing instead on structural shifts such as changing labour markets, geopolitical divisions and the energy transition. Meanwhile, yesterday saw Austria’s Holzmann push for another hike next month, saying that if “there aren’t any big surprises, I see a case for pushing on with rate increases without taking a pause.”

Looking forward, the question of whether we get more hikes will partly be determined by this week’s data, with several important releases coming up. In the US, the main highlight will be the jobs report on Friday, where our US economists expect nonfarm payrolls to have slowed further to +150k in August. That would be the slowest growth since December 2020, and they see that pushing the unemployment rate up a tenth to 3.6%. One category we’ve been following closely is Temporary Help Services, because that has traditionally been a strong leading indicator in previous cycles, turning down ahead of the overall number. It’s fallen for 6 months in a row now, so one to keep an eye on.

Staying on the US, an important release today will be the JOLTS report for July, which has been closely followed by the Fed to see if the tightness in the labour market is easing. Recent months have seen job openings come down to a 2-year low, albeit to a point that’s still well above pre-pandemic levels. The quits rate will also be an important measure in that release as well, since that’s strongly correlated with wage growth. Otherwise this week, look out for the July PCE inflation report on Thursday, which is the Fed’s preferred measure, along with the ISM manufacturing report for August on Friday, which will be out 90 minutes after the jobs report.

Over in the Euro Area, the main focus will be the flash CPI reading for August, which is out on Thursday. Our European economists see the headline print coming in at +5.5% year-on-year, up two-tenths from July, and they see core inflation at +5.4%. So both headline and core would still be more than twice the ECB’s 2% target, hence there’s still pressure for further rate hikes. Tomorrow we should get an initial indication of where the number might be from the country releases in Germany and Spain. At the same time, we found out yesterday that the Euro Area M3 money supply had seen an annual contraction for the first time since 2010, with a -0.4% year-on-year decline in June. So a fresh sign of how the ECB’s rapid monetary tightening is having an effect.

With all that to look forward to, markets put in a solid performance yesterday, with both the S&P 500 (+0.63%) and Europe’s STOXX 600 (+0.89%) posting steady gains. This makes it the first time in August that the S&P 500 managed to post two consecutive rises (after +0.67% on Friday). It was a similar story for sovereign bonds as well, with yields on 10yr Treasuries coming down -3.3bps to 4.20%. Yields on 10yr bunds were virtually unchanged at +0.2bps, while OAT (-0.4bps) and BTP (-1.9bps) yields saw a slight decline.

That positive mood has continued overnight in Asia, with solid gains for the major indices. Since we weren’t around yesterday, it’s worth mentioning that China announced on Sunday that there would be a cut in the stamp duty on stock trades from 0.1% to 0.05%. That helped trigger an initial surge in the CSI 300 of +5.46% on Monday, although the index pared back those gains through the session to only close up +1.17%. And this morning those gains have continued, with the CSI 300 up another +1.45%.

Other indices across the region seen a consistently positive performance this morning as well, with gains for the Hang Seng (+2.02%), the Shanghai Comp (+1.39%), the Nikkei (+0.31%) and the KOSPI (+0.22%). That’s extended to the US, where futures on the S&P 500 are up another +0.08% this morning. The main negative signal overnight has come from Japan, where the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 2.7% in July (vs. 2.5% expected), whilst the jobs-to-applicants ratio slipped further to 1.29.

2 B) NOW NEWSQUAWK (EUROPE/REPORT)/

Equities firmer, boosted after Chinese sources, Crude bid on Idalia news; JOLTS due – Newsquawk US Market Open

Newsquawk Logo

TUESDAY, AUG 29, 2023 – 06:09 AM

  • Equities are in the green despite fading just after the European open, further upside seen on Chinese sources
  • Multiple reports via State Media and BBG that China is considering rate-related action to bolster growth
  • Crude benchmarks print fresh highs on the above and as Idalia intensifies into a hurricane, gas deflates slightly after marked Monday upside
  • DXY continues to rotate around 104.00 with Antipodeans outperforming while the EUR fades towards marked 1.08 OpEx
  • Debt futures pare gains after an initial extension in early trade, though Bunds remain in the green after a decent Bobl outing
  • Looking ahead, highlights include US JOLTS, NBH Policy Announcement, Speeches from Fed’s Barr & RBA’s Bullock, and Supply from the US

More Newsquawk in 3 steps:

1. Subscribe to the free premarket movers reports

2. Listen to this report in the market open podcast (available on Apple and Spotify)

3. Trial Newsquawk’s premium real-time audio news squawk box for 7 days

EUROPEAN TRADE

EQUITIES

  • European bourses are in the green, Euro Stoxx 50 +0.4%, after a constructive open with catalysts light at the time. Following the open, both cash and futures pared some of this move before reverting back towards initial bests on subsequent Chinese source reports.
  • FTSE 100 +1.5% outperforms as it plays catch up to gains elsewhere on Monday’s UK Bank Holiday.
  • As mentioned, sentiment saw some modest upside on the sources with ADRs for Chinese stocks seeing upside.
  • Within Europe, sectors are all in the green featuring outperformance in Basic Resources given benchmark and above factors, Real Estate is firmer after pressure in Monday’s session while Tech has made its way into the green despite initial marginal pressure.
  • Stateside, futures are in the green though only modestly so with the ES and NQ posting gains of circa. +0.1%; upside which began before the Chinese rate reports, but has picked up further since those aired.
  • Agricultural Bank of China (1288 HK) – H1 (CNY): net profit 133.234bln vs. prev. 128.945bln, net interest income 290.421bln vs. prev. 300.219bln, NIM 1.66%
  • Click here for more detail.
  • Click here and here for a recap of the main European equity updates.

FX

  • DXY continues to rotate around 104.000 as demand for month-end rebalancing counters softer rates and renewed risk appetite.
  • Aussie and Kiwi marginally outperform on 0.6400 and 0.5900 handles against the Buck respectively.
  • Yen off worst levels vs. Dollar, but still vulnerable within a 146.60-32 range after an unexpected rise in Japanese unemployment.
  • Euro wanes against Greenback and eyes big expiry at 1.0800 plus 200 DMA for support.
  • The Yuan saw some two-way action before coming under pressure on source reports that Chinese banks are considering additional deposit rate cuts to support growth, subsequent reports saw some of this briefly pare-back.
  • PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1851 vs exp. 7.2854 (prev. 7.1856)
  • RBA’s Bullock says the impact of climate change on the neutral interest rate is not clear cut; could put upward and downward pressure on the neutral rate. Inflation is still too high, and that will be my first priority as Governor.
  • Click here for more detail.
  • Click here for the Option Expires for the NY Cut.

FIXED INCOME

  • Debt futures pare gains after extending to the upside in early EU trade awaiting a relatively busy PM agenda.
  • Bunds retain bid tone within 132.48-13 range amidst decent Bobl sale and demand for 2053 German tap.
  • Gilts pullback further between 94.79-24 parameters after return from 3-day UK weekend.
  • T-note holding middle ground within 109-28+/21+ bounds.
  • Click here for more detail.

COMMODITIES

  • WTI and Brent Oct’23 are at the top-end of USD 79.79-80.75/bbl and USD 84.11-85.11/bbl parameters. The respective peaks printed following Bloomberg source reports with support via the bullish catalysts of Hurricane Idalia as it continues to intensify as it enters the Gulf.
  • Dutch TTF pulls back modestly after Monday’s pronounced strike-notice-driven gains, developments since have detailed the potential action workers will take from the 7th.
  • Spot gold is in narrow bounds but just about retains a positive bias as the USD picks up, while base metals were already gleaning support from the firmer APAC handover but have extended since.
  • NHC says Idalia is now a hurricane and is expected to rapidly intensify into an extremely dangerous major hurricane before making landfall on Wednesday.
  • Australian union said workers at Chevron’s (CVX) LNG facilities to participate in rolling stoppages, bans and limitations; Industrial action will escalate each week until Chevron agrees to bargaining claims, according to Reuters. Workers at Chevron’s Australian LNG facilities plan work stoppages of as long as ten hours from next week, according to Reuters
  • Chilean copper miner Codelco makes further staff cuts, according to a statement cited by Reuters.
  • Australian Agriculture Minister said the first shipment of Australian barley has been dispatched to China, according to Reuters.
  • Ukraine’s First Deputy Agriculture Minister says Ukraine’s winter wheat sowing area will likely remain unchanged despite the export crisis, according to Reuters.
  • Click here for more detail.

NOTABLE US HEADLINES

  • US Senate Majority Leader Schumer is to host Tesla (TSLA) CEO Musk and Meta (META) CEO Zuckerberg for an AI forum next month, according to Axios.
  • US Commerce Secretary Raimondo in meeting with China’s Premier, US wants to work with China on climate change, AI, fentanyl crisis; the world is expecting us to step up together to solve problems.
  • US FDIC is set to propose heightened rules to ensure regional banks can be safely dissolved in times of stress.
  • Click here for the US Early Morning Note.

NOTABLE EUROPEAN HEADLINES

  • Riksbank’s Bunge says prices are still rising much too fast, right now it looks like the fight against inflation is not over yet. Says the Swedish Crown is undervalued.

NOTABLE EUROPEAN DATA

  • UK BRC Shop Price Index YY (Aug) 6.9% (Prev. 7.6%); the lowest level since October 2022.
  • German GfK Consumer Sentiment (Sep 2023) -25.5 vs. Exp. -24.3 (Prev. -24.4, Rev. -24.6).

GEOPOLITICS

  • North Korean Leader Kim says the US has turned waters near the Korean Peninsula into the most unstable region with the danger of nuclear war, reported via KCNA. Will deliver new weapons to military units under the policy of expanding tactical nuclear weapons operations.
  • US President Biden is to meet with Brazilian President Lula on September 19th, according to Reuters.
  • Veteran US diplomat Mark Lambert likely to be named as Assistant Secretary for China and Taiwan, according to Reuters sources; appointment unlikely to change US’ China stance.
  • Taiwan’s Defence Ministry says 12 Chinese military craft entered the ADIZ on Tuesday, seven craft crossed the median line.

CRYPTO

  • Bitcoin is a touch softer on the session as the USD continues to inch its way higher, but remains shy of WTD best. Currently, BTC is holding just below USD 26k after dipping to a USD 25.94k low.

APAC TRADE

  • APAC stocks traded with an upward bias following the positive lead from Wall Street, with little in terms of fresh catalysts to dictate price action heading into month-end.
  • ASX 200 was supported by its gold, mining, and materials sectors but with the gains modest intraday, with the upside hampered by the index’s IT and Healthcare sectors.
  • Nikkei 225 was caged after opening higher, with the index supported by its machinery sector, while Toyota shares waned after reports it is to suspend operations at all of its 14 Japanese assembly plants amid system failures.
  • Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp saw another session in the green, with the gains in the former more pronounced as index heavyweights are again buoyed by the recent stock support measures.

NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES

  • Chinese State media reports PBoC may cut banks’ RRR earlier than expected to maintain reasonable ample liquidity, according to reports.
  • Chinese banks are considering additional deposit rate cuts to boost growth, according to Bloomberg; Major lenders could lower rates across key tenors by 5-20bps, the plan has been signed off by regulators and the cut could come as soon as Friday.
  • China to cut rates on existing mortgages as soon as today, via Bloomberg.
  • PBoC sold CNY 385bln via 7-day reverse repos with the rate at 1.80% for a CNY 274bln net injection.
  • South Korea plans government spending of KRW 656.9tln (+2.8% from 2023); and sees debt-to-GDP ratio at 51% in 2024 (vs 50.4% in 2023), according to the Finance Ministry.
  • Xiaomi (1810 HK) Q2 (CNY): Revenue 67.35bln (exp. 65.84bln), Net 5.14bln (prev. 2.08bln). Smartphone revenue 36.6bln. Will not declare an interim dividend for 6 months.
  • Fitch affirms New Zealand at “AA+”; outlook Stable

DATA RECAP

  • Japanese Unemployment Rate (Jul 2023) 2.7% vs. Exp. 2.5% (Prev. 2.5%)
  • Japanese Jobs/Applicants Ratio (Jul 2023) 1.29 vs. Exp. 1.3 (Prev. 1.3)

2 c. ASIAN AFFAIRS

TUESDAY MORNING/MONDAY NIGHT

SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 37.25 PTS OR 1.20%   //Hang Seng CLOSED UP 353.29 PTS OR 1.95%        /The Nikkei CLOSED UP 56.98 PTS OR 0.18%  //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP .69 %   /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN  7.2937  /OFFSHORE CHINESE YUAN DOWN  TO 7.3053 /Oil UP TO 80.74 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT  UP AT 85.19 / Stocks in Europe OPENED  ALL GREEN// ONSHORE YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN  TRADING WEAKER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE WEAKER

2 d./NORTH KOREA/ SOUTH KOREA/

////SOUTH KOREA/NORTH KOREA/

Kim Jong Un Says His Navy To Soon Be Equipped With Nuclear Weapons

TUESDAY, AUG 29, 2023 – 03:20 PM

Amid the continuing standoff with Washington, which has included the US and South Korea conducting regular joint military drills (and the US parking a nuclear-armed submarine off S.Korea to boot), North Korea says its giving its navy nuclear deterrent capabilities. 

Kim Jong-Un says he is authorizing the navy “expanded use of tactical nuclear weapons”. The alarming words, meant as a warning to Washington and Seoul, came during his visit to the country’s naval command headquarters.

“From now on, KPA’s Navy will become a part of the national nuclear deterrence force, tasked with strategic missions,” he said, according to KCNA.

He explained that the Korean Navy has remained “on full readiness for war” and could “destroy the target, designated by the Central Committee when the time comes.”

He also specified that all armed forces branches will soon “receive new equipment” in accordance with the “policy of expanded use of tactical nuclear weapons.”

“War is not only a standoff between vehicles and equipment, it is also a standoff between ideas, ideals and morals,” he added.

Kim further emphasized that “the secret of rapid development of the Navy’s combat capabilities lies in a strong promotion of upgrade of equipment” and in staging drills in a “practical combat situation.”

Kim Jong Un brought his daughter to stand by his side to mark the country’s “Navy day”…

In the past two months, nuclear rhetoric on the peninsula has been soaring, especially in the wake of the Ohio-Class USS Kentucky having docked in the South Korean port of Busan as of July, which marked the first time since 1981 that an American nuclear-armed submarine arrived in the country.

END

2e) JAPAN

JAPAN

3 CHINA /

CHINA/

end

4.EUROPEAN AFFAIRS//UK /SCANDAVIAN AFFAIRS

GERMANY

Germany’s ruling party proposes a 3 year rent freeze to halt inflation.  That will go over good????

(Mish Shedlock)

Germany’s Ruling Party Proposes A 3 Year Rent Freeze To Halt Inflation

TUESDAY, AUG 29, 2023 – 05:00 AM

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Rents are rising at a record pace in Germany. Politicians turn to a price control gambit guaranteed to fail…

Rent Control Evidence

Please a September 2019 Stanford Business Study on The Effects of Rent Control Expansion on Tenants, Landlords, and Inequality: Evidence from San Francisco

Using a 1994 law change, we exploit quasi-experimental variation in the assignment of rent control in San Francisco to study its impacts on tenants and landlords. Leveraging new data tracking individuals’ migration, we find rent control limits renters’ mobility by 20 percent and lowers displacement from San Francisco. Landlords treated by rent control reduce rental housing supplies by 15 percent by selling to owner-occupants and redeveloping buildings. Thus, while rent control prevents displacement of incumbent renters in the short run, the lost rental housing supply likely drove up market rents in the long run, ultimately undermining the goals of the law.

A Brookings Study says “Rent control appears to help affordability in the short run for current tenants, but in the long-run decreases affordability, fuels gentrification, and creates negative externalities on the surrounding neighborhood. These results highlight that forcing landlords to provide insurance to tenants against rent increases can ultimately be counterproductive. If society desires to provide social insurance against rent increases, it may be less distortionary to offer this subsidy in the form of a government subsidy or tax credit. This would remove landlords’ incentives to decrease the housing supply and could provide households with the insurance they desire.”

Common Sense

Common sense suggests the same thing.

Landlords of rent control units have no incentive to make improvements, and developers do not want to add units in rent control areas.

The common remedy to the latter point is to offer developers incentives. Developer incentives further distorts the markets.

Rent Control Doesn’t Work, But It’s Still a Good Idea

Leave it To Vox to conclude Rent control won’t fix the housing crisis. It’s still a good idea.

Role of the Fed

None of the articles addressed the Fed’s role in creating housing bubbles, housing speculation, and asset bubbles in general.

Charles Hugh Smith Via ZeroHedge

The Problem Isn’t a Housing Shortage, It’s the Concentration of Ownership by the Wealthy, this bubble is fundamentally an artifact of central bank and government policies that enrich the already-rich, who were incentivized to outbid each other with low-cost credit to snap up “investment properties” with their “surplus capital” that generate more income and capital gains that cash, which until recently was “trash” due to near-zero savings yields.

Bingo.

Rent controls cannot possibly address that fundamental problem.

The Fed Commits to a 2 Percent Inflation Target, Carefully

Please note The Fed Commits to a 2 Percent Inflation Target, Carefully

Powell’s Warnings

Here is the key thing Powell said today: “As is often the case, we are navigating by the stars under cloudy skies.”

And to that I would add, using tools like inflation expectations proven to be totally worthless.

The Fed creates bubbles because it is has no idea what inflation is. Hell bent on raising routine consumer inflation, the Fed ignored massive bubbles in housing.

The Housing Bubble Is Expanding Again

Case Shiller National and 10-City home prices indexes plus OER, CPI, and Rent indexes from the BLS.

After a two-month decline in most markets, prices are again on the rise.

For discussion, please see The Housing Bubble, as Measured by Case-Shiller, Is Expanding Again

Maybe Smith is right and the AirBnB Bubble will pop the housing bubble.

But meanwhile, Biden is doing everything he can to stoke inflation with energy policy and tariff madness.

*  *  *

Subscribe to MishTalk Email Alerts.

end

5 RUSSIA//UKRAINE AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

RUSSIA/UKRAINE//TURKEY

Erdogan announces a Russian trip where he will seek a restoration of the grain deal with Putin

(zerohedge)

Erdogan Announces Russia Trip Where He’ll Seek To Restore Grain Deal With Putin

TUESDAY, AUG 29, 2023 – 05:45 AM

The head of the country which comprises NATO’s second largest military is planning a trip to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the announcement Monday, and teased potential progress for reestablishing the critical Black Sea grain deal, despite ongoing international tensions over Russia bombing Ukraine ports, which has been strongly condemned by the West.

“President Erdoğan has so far led an intense diplomacy in order to help prevent a global food crisis,” ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) spokesman Ömer Çelik said in announcing the upcoming trip, 

The meeting will be held as soon as next week, with Bloomberg reporting a date of Sept.8 – prior to Erdogan going on to India for the G20. The Turks as well as Russian media confirmed it will be hosted in Sochi. But it could happen early next week, with TASS mentioning September 4 as a possible date, citing diplomatic sources.

“Turkish news reports said Erdogan planned to bring up the issue of renewing the grain deal during the potential talks with his Russian counterpart,” TASS wrote. “Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov previously said that the meeting between the two leaders would take place shortly, but he did not name any specific dates.”

Since the Black Sea Grain Deal Initiative expired on July 17, and as Moscow pulled out (by not renewing it), global food prices have risen. Meanwhile Ukraine has with Western backing sought to establish an alternate export route by using the maritime territory of Romania and Bulgaria.

Within NATO, Erdogan has not been as vociferous in condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine compared to other leaders, instead playing more of an intermediary role, keeping diplomacy open. Prior to its collapse, Turkey touted the grain deal as its greatest achievement toward peace and dialogue related to the Ukraine war.

The West will be watching Erdogan’s actions closely, and likely some officials will condemn the Turkish leader’s trip to Russia outright, after China’s Xi was recently another major leader to visit Russia during the war.

end

ISRAEL/LIBYA

Seems we have more Arab nations seeking to join the Abraham accords. This one did not end well for Libya’s foreign minister who was fired for meeting with Israel

(zerohedge)

Checking In On NATO-Liberated Libya: Foreign Minister Fired For Meeting With Israel

TUESDAY, AUG 29, 2023 – 04:15 AM

Libyan Foreign Minister Najla al-Mangoush met with her Israeli counterpart FM Eli Cohen last week in Rome.

Upon reports of the “controversial” meeting, mass protests have erupted across the country, which since Muammar Gaddafi’s overthrow at the hands of NATO-backed rebels has been in a state of internecine conflict and chaos.Protests in Tripoli, Libya. via AP

FM Mangoush represents Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripoli, which is the United Nations and US-backed authority in Libya, following years in-fighting among rival Libyan factions ruling western, eastern, and southern parts of the country. 

The North African country has never recognized nor had diplomatic relations with Israel. Any dealings with Israeli are punishable by imprisonment, according to the Libyan penal code. 

Al Jazeera is reporting Monday that Foreign Minister Mangoush has been fired, which is a deeply ironic situation given the Tripoli government was literally installed after the US-NATO military intervention in 2011.

In wake of the controversy, both governments are now trying to downplay the Rome meeting as more of a chance encounter, but regional sources have pointed out the following:

Reporting from West Jerusalem, Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett said: “[An Israeli] foreign ministry spokesman said that it was a coordinated meeting, it was not something accidental bumping into, it was a deliberate, direct session of talks with Italian foreign minister in attendance.”

Over a decade after Obama pledged to bring “democracy” to Gaddafi’s Libya, by bombing it in support of NATO-armed rebels, the new government dismisses ministers for merely meeting with close US-ally Israel.

The Associated Press has revealed that no less than CIA Director William Burns was earlier this year dispatched by the White House to urge Tripoli to enter diplomatic relations with the Jewish state:

A Libyan government official said normalization of relations between the countries was first discussed in a meeting between the Tripoli-based prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, and CIA Director William Burns, who visited the Libyan capital in January.

According to the official, Burns proposed that Dbeibah’s government, which is recognized as Libya’s internationally backed government, join the group of four Arab countries that normalized relations with Israel under the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020. The Libyan premier gave an initial approval, but he was concerned about public backlash in a country known for its past support for the Palestinian cause, the official said. 

Back in 2011, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was considered the “architect” of the war, which many pundits have also called “Obama’s Iraq”. Like with US policy in Syria, it resulted in arming and empowering jihadists and other fanatical Islamists. 

Rather than stemming the expansion of terrorism in the Mideast/North Africa (MENA) region, Washington’s “Arab Spring” era interventions served to exacerbate and spread terrorism in the region.

END

6.GLOBAL ISSUES//MEDICAL ISSUES

How crazy is this!! German court sentences a judge for ruling against government mask mandates

(EpochTimes)

German Court Sentences Judge For Ruling Against Government’s Mask Mandates

TUESDAY, AUG 29, 2023 – 03:30 AM

Authored by Bryan Jung via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),People outside a COVID-19 rapid test center waiting to get a day pass to visit shops and cultural institutions, in Weimar, Germany, on March 29, 2021. (Karina Hessland/Reuters)

A German court has sentenced one of its own judges to prison for ruling against the government’s mask mandates.

In 2021, Judge Christian Dettmar struck down a local government ordinance that required schoolchildren to wear masks in the German state of Thuringia. The case made headlines across Germany.

Judge Dettmar is now set to lose his legal career and pension and receive a two-year suspended prison sentence for allegedly “perverting the law.”

During the pandemic-era lockdowns, the Thuringian state government ruled that all children were to wear masks while at school, stay a minimum distance from each other, and take virus tests.

The judge ruled that masks shouldn’t be mandatory for children at two schools in Weimar, Thuringia, after the mother of two children, aged 8 and 14, complained that the masks were giving them insomnia, nausea, and headaches.

‘I Saw Danger in Delay’

Judge Dettmar told the schools in Weimar that they could no longer enforce the order, as the mandates weren’t compatible with the welfare of the children involved.

His decision immediately sparked outrage in the state government, which called for his punishment and removal.

The judge’s ruling was overturned by the Higher Regional Court in Erfurt, following a complaint by the state’s education department, which forced students to once again wear masks in schools.

The district court in Erfurt stated that only an administrative court held the jurisdiction to make such a ruling and that Judge Dettmar’s decision didn’t fall under the scope of his court.

“The good cause of protecting children, which they may have had in the back of their minds, does not justify the way,” the district court judge said in his ruling.

Judge Dettmar defended his decision on the matter, arguing that he had merely consulted certified university experts.

“I still don’t know why I’m sitting here. I have three grown-up children myself. At that time, I was driven by the everyday life of the schoolchildren. I saw danger in delay. The reports I use come from experienced university professors,” he said.

The high court decision also led to Judge Dettmar’s suspension from the bench after a disciplinary hearing was conducted by the Judicial Service Court.

State prosecutors then took action against the judge, charging him with “perverting the law” and ruling on a matter he had no authority over.

According to German public broadcasting channel MDR, the court heard arguments from prosecutors that Judge Dettmar had made his ruling as a political statement against lockdowns, not out of genuine concern for the children involved.

He was also accused of deleting emails and files from his computers to cover up the reason for his ruling.

A police raid on his home and his office, conducted only weeks after his ruling was overturned, seized his electronic devices, including his mobile phone, which contained private correspondence that allegedly revealed his bias against lockdown measures.

Prosecutors further accused the judge of being biased toward experts who were critical of lockdown rules before giving his verdict, according to the German tabloid Bild.

They said he met with them before hearing from the official experts who were consulted in the case when making his original decision.

Judge Dettmar said he did consult with scientists who were skeptical of the measures enacted by the government at the time.

State Prosecutors Want Harsher Sentence

Judge Dettmar had been suspended on probation pending the investigation’s results.

His legal team is considering an appeal in the case as he faces possible dismissal from his duties as a judge in addition to his two-year suspended sentence.

According to German law, a civil servant who’s sentenced to a custodial sentence of more than 12 months is deprived of both position and pension.

The prosecutors, who had originally asked for a three-year sentence, are also appealing the sentence, according to MDR, which has been following the story since it broke in 2021.

The defense has argued that the trial was politically motivated and was intended to silence dissenters.

Before his sentence, Judge Dettmar said he had no regrets about his decision and that he would make the same ruling again “out of deep inner conviction.”

“I have considerable doubts about the usefulness of masks. If you want to wear them voluntarily to school, you can do so, but we don’t have to patronize parents,” he said.

COVID Lockdown Rules, Revisited

Germany instituted some of the harshest restrictions in Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic. The German government eased most mandates in March 2022, but many German politicians were eager to reinstitute them, and stricter mask rules were issued the following winter.

While most of the world dropped mask travel requirements in 2022, the German government, under left-wing Social Democratic Party (SPD) Chancellor Olaf Scholz, waited until February to finally end the mandates on long-distance trains and buses.

SPD Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, who was known for his enthusiastic lockdown policies, claimed in February 2022 that the world would be dealing with COVID-19 for another 10 years, Der Spiegel reported, implying that Germany would also be dealing with pandemic measures to some degree for several years.

But Mr. Lauterbach told the German publication in January that “the population has built up high immunity, and the experts who advise us no longer believe there will be another big, serious winter wave.”

“At this point, we also don’t foresee particularly dangerous variants reaching us in the coming weeks and months,” he said.

Nonetheless, he appealed to the public to continue wearing masks voluntarily indoors and on trains.

In the United States, some schools and businesses are reintroducing mask requirements because of concerns about new variants of the virus.

end

GLOBAL ISSUES

GLOBAL VACCINE/COVID ISSUES

DR PAUL ALEXANDER

New York Post: Did Biden et al. INC order the ‘code red’, did Biden approve Jack Smith’s charging of Trump (’45’)? it’s seeming so now! New reporting that just weeks before Special Counsel Jack Smith

brought charges against Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents, one of Biden’s top aides met with White House counsel’s office, raising serious concerns about a legal hit takeout of ’45’

DR. PAUL ALEXANDERAUG 28
 
READ IN APP
 

Weaponized Collusion? Jack Smith’s Team Huddled With Biden White House Before Trump Indictment

“They have trashed every ethical rule that exists and they have created a state police…”

‘While President Biden has repeatedly claimed that the Justice Department has full autonomy and isn’t ‘weaponized’ against political opponents, a new report by the NY Post suggests otherwise.

Just weeks before Special Counsel Jack Smith brought charges against Donald Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents, one of his top aides met with the White House counsel’s office, raising serious concerns about coordinated legal efforts against Biden’s top political opponent going into the 2024 election.

end

Derangement of the Biden administration knows no bounds, they know Biden does not know if he is upside down or not, literally! So they give him this sh*t to spew & the frightening thing is that there

are sheep mindless morons in our society that buys this crap! hell, they bought the inventor (s) of mRNA technology & that tripe! Imagine, now pushing for finds for a mRNA vaccine that WILL never work

DR. PAUL ALEXANDERAUG 28
 
READ IN APP
 

“I signed off this morning on a proposal we have to present to the Congress a request for additional funding for a new vaccine that is ne- — necessary — that works,” the official White House transcript reads.’

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/biden-fund-new-covid-19-vaccine-everybody-whether-theyve-gotten-it-or-not?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1782

end

SLAY NEWS

The latest reports from Slay News
Multiple Florida Counties Back Resolution to Ban Covid ShotsA resolution to ban Covid shots and other mRNA vaccines is gaining widespread support from multiple counties in Florida.READ MORE
Jack Smith’s Team Coordinated with Biden White House before Trump IndictmentSpecial Counsel Jack Smith’s team coordinated with Joe Biden’s White House shortly before launching a politically motivated indictment against President Donald Trump, a bombshell new report has revealed.READ MORE
Trump Warns Kevin McCarthy He’ll ‘Fade into Oblivion’ Unless He Impeaches Biden: ‘Impeach the Bum’President Donald Trump has issued a warning to Republicans who are slow-walking while talking about how to impeach Joe Biden.READ MORE
‘Joe the Plumber’ Dead at 49Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, also known as “Joe the Plumber,” died yesterday at 49 years old, his wife has announced.READ MORE
Tucker Carlson Planning to Interview Putin, Left ImplodesIndependent news reporter Tucker Carlson is reportedly in negotiations to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin.READ MORE
TV News Crew Robbed at Gunpoint in Chicago as City Hit with 30 Robberies in 12 HoursWhile reporting on the violent crime wave in Democrat-controlled Chicago, a TV news crew was robbed at gunpoint over the weekend.READ MORE
Trump Drops Hammer on Fox News: ‘Forever Gone!’President Donald Trump has dropped the hammer on Fox News after his recent interview with Tucker Carlson crushed the network’s Republican debate viewer numbers.READ MORE
Kevin McCarthy Issues Warning to Biden: ‘Democrats Now Tell Me They’re Very Concerned’House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has issued a warning to Joe Biden about the level of concern that’s mounting in response to investigations into the Democrat president’s family business.READ MORE
NIH-Backed Study: Covid Masks Expose People to Toxic ChemicalsAs Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration prepares to bring back mask mandates, concerns are growing about the health implications of widespread masking.READ MORE
Biden Asks Congress to Fund New Covid Shot, Says ‘Everybody’ Will Be VaccinatedDemocrat President Joe Biden has revealed that he’s asked Congress for funding to develop a new Covid vaccine, asserting that “everybody” will take the shot.READ MORE
Maui Identifies Cause of Wildfires, Throwing Cold Water over Democrats’ ‘Global Warming’ NarrativeOfficials in Maui have identified the cause of the recent devastating wildfires, directly contradicting the Democrats’ narrative that “global warming” was to blame.READ MORE

EVOL NEWS

Ukraine’s Zelensky Caught Buying Luxury Mansion with U.S Aid Money Meant for ‘Fighting War’READ MORE… 
LATEST NEWS:
Florida’s Top Health Official Calls on American People to Rise Up Against Biden’s Mask MandatesRead more…Big Pharma Insider: ‘Pandemic Was a Military Bioterrorism Project’Read more…San Francisco Bakery Refuses Service to Police Officer Because of “Store Gun Ban”Read more…Judge Deciding Trump’s Fate in 2024 Election Comes from Family of Marxist RevolutionariesRead more…RFK Jr’s wife says Biden admin’s denial of secret service protection is ‘surprising and shocking,’ urges them to ‘reconsider’Read more…Mike Pence ‘Confident’ that President Trump will NOT be GOP NomineeRead more…WATCH: Popular Atlanta Muralist Paints Giant Mural of Trump’s MugshotRead more…Sage Steel Leaves Woke ESPN to ‘Exercise First Amendment Rights More Freely’Read more…

NEWS ADDICTS

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

“Central Banks Just Made It Clear They Aren’t In Control, And Don’t Pretend To Be”

TUESDAY, AUG 29, 2023 – 09:55 AM

By Michael Every of Rabobank

Jackson Hole: “Does my R* look big in this?”

The Jackson Hole central banking symposium has been running at its Wyoming venue since 1981. As such, it spans almost the entire neoliberal economic era in which central banks have been independent rockstars, not the boring civil servants following a political lead of prior decades. Ironically, 2023’s event, titled “Structural Shifts in the Global Economy,” pointed out an intellectual hole at central banks and their sudden lack of power, prompting look-in-the-mirror criticism. In particular, the focus was on the size of their R*s now politics matters again – that’s as President Biden released a video about tbuilding middle-class bottoms up and out as the American dream, rather than letting things trickle down.

R* is the term for the presumed ‘neutral’ short-term interest rate expected when an economy is at full strength and inflation is stable. That sounds obscure, but it matters hugely now rates are no longer at 5,000-year lows. R* tells us where rates will peak and are likely to stay close to. The valuation of many tens of trillions of financial assets depends on this; more so because a huge part of that asset pile is still hoping we will soon go back to 5,000-year low rates. Yet ‘the Hole’ saw central banks say the global backdrop has changed, and imply that so have their R*s.

FOMC Chair Powell’s speech, ‘Inflation: Progress and the Path Ahead’, said: “We are prepared to raise rates further if appropriate, and intend to hold policy at a restrictive level until we are confident that inflation is moving sustainably down toward our objective.” On R*, he noted, “the supply and demand dislocations unique to this cycle raise further complications… there is evidence that inflation has become more responsive to labor market tightness than was the case in recent decades,” leading to uncertainty. Especially when the White House whiteboard is talking about surging investment and rising middle-class wages.

ECB’s President Lagarde’s speech, ‘Policymaking in an age of shifts and breaks’, was not a paeon to zero-hour contracts as would have been the case four years ago. Instead, she quoted Kierkegaard’s “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards,” who aptly wrote ‘Fear and Trembling’. She noted three structural shifts: (i) “profound changes” in the labour market; (ii) the energy transition; and (iii) geopolitical shocks, and argued that whether these will prove permanent is unclear, “but it is already evident that, in many cases, their effects have been more persistent than we initially expected.” As a result, pre-Covid GDP models where swings in demand are most important “may no longer be appropriate [as] we are likely to experience more shocks emanating from the supply side.” She’s completely right there: our models are wrong.

Moreover, these larger relative price shocks can be transmitted more easily because they act as an “implicit coordination mechanisms vis-à-vis their competitors” for firms who are “not only more likely to adjust prices, but also to do so substantially.” That’s the Sellers’ Inflation economists are busier explaining doesn’t happen than looking at the political-economy of why it does. Meanwhile, tight labor markets mean “[when] workers have greater bargaining power, a surge in inflation can trigger “catch up” wage growth which can lead to a more persistent inflation process.”

The only responses, she argued, are: clarity, flexibility, and humility. Central banks have to stress that rates will stay higher for longer, show flexibility in analysis, and “be clear about the limits of what we currently know and what our policy can achieve.”

BOE Deputy Governor Broadbent’s speech, ‘The economic costs of restricting trade: the experience of the UK’, (spuriously) argued there’s no evidence that less globalised trade is more effective at protecting from economic shocks. It also underlined that unwinding second-round energy-price effects in wage inflation will not be as rapid or as marked as their emergence. As a result, “policy will probably have to remain in restrictive territory for quite some time yet.” He also pondered if “perhaps the wage Phillips curve is convex – falls in unemployment from low levels have more powerful effects on inflation than those from higher levels. Or maybe these two underlying drivers –the worsening terms of trade and the tight labour market– have interacted in some way, each amplifying the effect of the other, i.e. there’s a multiplicative term in the Phillips curve…. in the face of these uncertainties, setting monetary policy becomes a good deal more complicated.” And just after he spoke, UK air-traffic control failed on a Bank Holiday weekend.

In short, all of the above speeches answered the question “Does my R* look big in this?” in the positive, which is never well-received: we can expect markets to be unhappy too when they twig.

At the short end of the yield curve, central banks are going to err on the side of caution via higher for longer: yesterday’s $45bn 2-year US auction cleared at 5.02%, the highest since 2008. Further down the curve, if central banks are right about the global backdrop changing, inflation is not going back to 2% without a larger R* to sit on it. However, if they are wrong, keeping rates high is likely to risk deflation, in which case they will have managed to tear the economy a new R*, BOJ style. Then we will see what the White House whiteboard says.

Worryingly, central bankers have been wrong for decades. Indeed, in a moment of delicious pathetic fallacy, when they went on a hike at Jackson Hole with some economists this weekend, they were reportedly forced to retreat due to a summer downpour involving hailstones(!) Talk about “not having a playbook,” as Lagarde out it, or, as Powell did, “navigating by the stars under cloudy skies.” I’m only listening to central bankers now because they are willing to say they have been wrong and are guideless, which is the first step towards wisdom.

However, market forecasts of a return to 2% CPI *and* lower interest rates are still not accepting that their demand-side DSGE models are wrong, and are assuming central banks are in control when they just made it clear that they aren’t, and don’t pretend to be! Even the central bank markets were most sure was always in control, the PBOC, is looking increasingly powerless – and note the rally and sell-off in Chinese stocks yesterday.

Regardless, many economists and analysts will insist on a small R* with no deflationary downside. That’s the ‘safe’ choice: to forecast a large R* is to bring down calamity; to forecast a small R* is to imply calamity being brought down on us. Even safer is not to read any of the Jackson Hole speeches, nor think about Sellers’ Inflation, changes to labour markets, deglobalisation, geopolitics, nor the energy transition, and just focusing on the ‘positives’, i.e., neither Powell nor Lagarde backed a September hike. (Oops! Mester and Holzmann both then did.)

There are some central banks who prefer to avoid serious thinking too. We get to hear from RBA soon-to-be Governor Bullock today, but as things stand the Reserve Bank implies it may stop hiking at just 4.1% and then lower rates soon(ish), even as Melbourne houses already sell at auction for a million dollars over the asking price. On which, I recall Scottish comedian Billy Connolly noting that because we can’t see our own backsides, we choose somebody else’s and project that as a mirror of ours: except we cheat by choosing a much smaller one than our own.

On structural changes in general and property in particular, what we didn’t get from Jackson Hole was talk of the need for multiple R*s for different sectors as part of a policy response, which is where I think we head in time via rates hikes and acronyms like QE for the ‘right kind of investment’, or rate cuts and acronyms like QT for the ‘wrong kind’. If you accept everything else they said, this shift will follow.

Of course, that will need a ring-fenced economy, as normal before Jackson Hole began to run, and political ideology to match. Central banks, looking for a new playbook or not, aren’t ready to back *that* kind of shock until politicians are – but some of them are starting to mumble it.

end

The Western World Is About To Deliver Some Very Bad News To Its Young Adults

MONDAY, AUG 28, 2023 – 07:40 PM

By Benjamin Picton, Senior Macro Strategist at Rabobank

Here Be Dragons

I’ve been away on holiday for the last two weeks trying my best to pay more attention to my children than I do to the markets. Mission accomplished for the most part, but it has been hard to look away while momentous shifts seem to be occurring all around us. Indeed, at the Jackson Hole symposium over the weekend, ECB President Lagarde re-upped her comments from April by suggesting that “there are plausible scenarios where we could see a fundamental change in the nature of economic interactions”, “past regularities may no longer be a good guide for how the economy works” and “there is no pre-existing playbook for the situation we are facing.” Translation: “we really don’t know if rates are high enough or not, and that isn’t really the point anyway.”

So, according the second most senior central banker in the world we’re in uncharted waters, and as anyone who has ever taken an interest in the Age of Discovery will know, once you reach the edge of the known world, here be dragons.

The most obvious dragon is of course China, and its surrogates, which are making new attempts at formalizing challenger status to the G7 via the BRICS bloc. Michael Every notes:

The BRICS just expanded to allow in Argentina, Ethiopia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Iran, so with much hullabaloo we can colour in more countries, GDPs and commodities (like oil) as ‘anti-dollar’. However, Argentina is a serial defaulter with a plummeting currency, and may dollarize soon; Ethiopia is one of the world’s poorest countries, and recently brushed with civil war; Egypt has a wilting currency; Saudi Arabia and the UAE have their currencies pegged to the US dollar, and the former is haggling over a US defence deal and nuclear tech; and Iran is heavily sanctioned, again with a collapsing currency, and could be daggers drawn again with Saudi at any time. In short, the world is changing, but as the FT has pointed out, the BRICS+ (a name created by Goldman Sachs) don’t even have an official website. Meanwhile, it was the Euro, not the dollar, that saw its share of SWIFT transactions collapse to a record low in the latest data. You want to look at potential early victims of any global tectonic shifts? Look there.

This reads as a very ragtag group, with “relationships” built mainly around a common outsider status and no small dose of opportunism in seizing a perceived first-mover advantage in undermining dollar hegemony. We remain sceptical. As we’ve covered in this publication many times, the idea of commodity standard like some kind of petro-Yuan is laden with problems.

The auspices aren’t great for the new alternative multilateralism. The putative centre of the BRICS+ bloc, China, is struggling to revive its flagging growth engine while economic remedies that are taken as orthodox in the West are shunned for their perceived incompatibility with Xi Xinping thought. Markets have been waiting for months for signs of big-bang stimulus from the CCP or the PBOC, but as the WSJ reports, maybe it just ain’t coming. Chinese perceptions that Western consumerism is flabby, decadent and morally obtuse stands at odds with the need for China to fulfil the role of deficit-runner in order to get enough Yuan into the hands of the periphery. How can Argentina, Brazil, Iran and Egypt buy virtuous Chinese manufactures if they don’t have any Yuan? The answer here is that trade will continue to be conducted in dollars, one way or another.

China clearly has little appetite for further credit expansion either. The CCP has made several attempts over the years to rein-in debt levels, all of which have ultimately been abandoned in the face of a stalling economy. For the time being, Xi Xinping is resisting large-scale easing of credit conditions, urging “patience” while the economy passes through what policy-makers hope is a temporary soft patch, rather than the start of a Japan-style stagnation brought on by decades of malinvestment and speculative pump-priming of real estate assets.

The real question now is how strong the CCP and the PBOCs resolve to address burgeoning debt-levels will be in the face of economic slowdown. For an authoritarian regime whose legitimacy is built on the delivery of rapidly rising living standards, slow growth poses a potentially existential risk. The obvious retort here is that authoritarian states have no need to court popular opinion, but the speed at which the Covid-Zero policy was ultimately abandoned in the face of civil discontent should serve as an indication that the CCP is ultimately still sensitive to what the population thinks.

Looking back to Jackson Hole it’s fair to say that debt and popular discontent aren’t a uniquely Chinese problem. During the meeting of rich men north of Richmond (Jackson Hole is north of Richmond, I checked) a paper presented by Barry Eichengreen and Serkan Arslanap broke the bad news that “public debts will not decline significantly for the foreseeable future”, “primary surpluses of… 3 to 5 percent of GDP are very much exceptions to the rule” and that “inflation is not a sustainable route to reducing high public debts.” That all makes for sobering reading for already beleaguered millennials and Gen Z’s, who will be the can carriers for Eichengreen and Arslanap’s prognosis that “given ageing populations, governments will have to find additional finance for healthcare and pensions”.

What seems to be missing here is a dose of Huw Pill cod liver oil, whereby the West confronts the idea that we’re not as rich as we used to be, and that deteriorating demographics and higher spends on national security might necessitate a lowering of ambitions around what is possible in welfare economics. There are signs that the message is starting to get through. BOJ Governor Ueda nodded to the plight of the West when he suggested that the relocation of supply chains will result in lower productivity in the future, which ultimately means lower real incomes. Meanwhile, former French Ambassador to the United States Gerard Araud, echoes Michael Every’s assessment of Europe’s diminishing importance by writing in the UK Telegraph that “deluded Europe can’t see that it is finished.”

Nobody likes bad news, but telling young people that they need to pay a higher proportion of their stagnant incomes to fund the pensions of people who are wealthier than they are ever likely to be is sure to go down like a lead balloon, especially when pop culture is already communicating the sense that a Dollar doesn’t buy what it used to, and is taxed to the hilt.

So, the plates are shifting and policy makers in the West seem to be either totally unsure of the answers, or proffering answers that are anathema to the social fabric. We’re in uncharted territory and here be dragons.

end

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

END

8. EMERGING MARKETS//AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND ISSUES

NIGER/FRANCE

France ready to support military action in Niger

(zerohedge)

France Ready To Support Military Action In Niger, Won’t Pull Ambassador: Macron

TUESDAY, AUG 29, 2023 – 02:45 AM

France is defying the orders of Niger’s junta leaders, who have ordered France’s ambassador to immediately leave the country.

On Friday, French Ambassador Sylvain Itte was issued a letter telling him to exit the country within 48 hours, but Paris has said it will not recognize the “the putschists” but instead supports “a president who has not resigned,” according to fresh statements of French President Emmanuel Macron.Via Reuters

“Our policy is the right one. It depends on the courage of President Mohamed Bazoum, the commitment of our diplomats, of our ambassador on the ground who is remaining despite pressure,” Macron affirmed in a speech to a gathering of French ambassadors in Paris on Monday.

He also dismissed assertions that there’s reason to be afraid of Niger’s military rulers, given Amb. Itte could face arrest or even violence, also after earlier this summer the French embassy was attacked and set on fire by pro-coup demonstrators.

“One shouldn’t give in to the narrative used by the coup leaders that consists of saying France has become our enemy,” Macron said in the speech.

He also blamed Niger’s military coup leaders for country’s current economic woes and political instability. “The problem of Nigeriens today is the coup leaders who put them in danger because they are abandoning the fight against terrorism, because they are abandoning a policy that was economically good for (the population) and they are in the process of losing international funding that was helping them emerge from poverty,” he said.

But importantly, Russian media has picked up on an important part of speech where Macron said he’s willing to support military intervention if it is decided by a regional bloc of African states:

France is set to support any efforts, including military intervention, made by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to restore constitutional order in Niger, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday.

“We support the diplomatic and, if it is decided, the military activity of ECOWAS,” he said, adding that Paris will not drop its support for legitimately elected President Mohamed Bazoum.

ECOWAS has made the threat several times, but has lately waffled in the face of Niger’s warning that it is ready to fight if invaded.

Niger also has a couple of regional supporters in the countries of Mali and Burkina Faso, both also run by juntas. These two outside powers would like jump by Niger’s side against the ECOWAS coalition.

END 

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

EURO VS USA DOLLAR:  1.0809 DOWN  0.0016

USA/ YEN 146.98 UP 0.514  NOW TARGETS INTEREST RATE AT 1.00% AS IT WILL BUY UNLIMITED BONDS TO GETS TO THAT LEVEL…//YEN  STILL FALLS//

GBP/USA 1.2590 DOWN    0.0020

USA/CAN DOLLAR:  1.3617 UP .0018 (CDN DOLLAR DOWN 18 BASIS PTS)

 Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE CLOSED UP 37.25 PTS OR 1.20% 

 Hang Seng CLOSED UP 353.29 PTS OR  1.95%  

AUSTRALIA CLOSED UP 0.68 %  // EUROPEAN BOURSE:  ALL GREEN

Trading from Europe and ASIA

I) EUROPEAN BOURSES:    ALL GREEN

2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang SENG  UP 353.28 PTS OR  1.95% 

/SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 37,25 PTS OR  1.20%

AUSTRALIA BOURSE CLOSED UP 0.68% 

(Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED UP 56.98 PTS OR 0.18%  

INDIA’S SENSEX  IN THE GREEN

Gold very early morning trading: 1918.70

silver:$24.20

USA dollar index early TUESDAY morning: 104.08 UP 9 BASIS POINTS FROM MONDAY’s CLOSE.

TUESDAY  MORNING NUMBERS ENDS

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

And now your closing TUESDAY NUMBERS 11: 30 AM

Portuguese 10 year bond yield: 3.194%  DOWN 7  in basis point(s) yield

JAPANESE BOND YIELD: +0.645% DOWN 0 AND  6//100   BASIS POINTS /JAPAN losing control of its yield curve/

SPANISH 10 YR BOND YIELD: 3.201 DOWN 7  in basis points yield 

ITALIAN 10 YR BOND YIELD 4.146 DOWN 8  points in basis points yield ./ THE ECB IS QE’ ING ITALIAN BONDS (BUYING ITALIAN BONDS/SELLING GERMAN BUNDS)

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD: 2.507 DOWN 7  BASIS PTS 

END

IMPORTANT CURRENCY CLOSES FOR TUESDAY  

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

Euro/USA 1.0855  UP  0.0029 or 29  basis points 

USA/Japan: 145.93 DOWN 0.536 OR YEN UP 54 basis points/

Great Britain/USA 1.2627 UP   0.0017 OR 17  BASIS POINTS //

Canadian dollar UP  .0019 OR 19 BASIS pts  to 1.3581

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The USA/Yuan,  CNY: closed    ON SHORE  CLOSED    (UP) …7.2805

THE USA/YUAN OFFSHORE:    (YUAN CLOSED (UP)…. (7,2847)

TURKISH LIRA:  26.62 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LEVEL/DEATH WATCH/HYPERINFLATION TO BEGIN.//ON DEATH WATCH

the 10 yr Japanese bond yield  at +0.645…VERY DANGEROUS

Your closing 10 yr US bond yield DOWN 9 in basis points from MONDAY at  4.127% //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%) very problematic

 USA 30 yr bond yield  4.226 DOWN 8  in basis points   ON THE DAY/12.00 PM

USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.886 DOWN 19 BASIS PTS.

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

London: CLOSED UP 71.01  POINTS or 1.78%

German Dax :  CLOSED UP 146.23 PTS OR 0.93%

Paris CAC CLOSED UP 49.88 PTS OR 0.68%

Spain IBEX UP 100.10 PTS OR 1.05%

Italian MIB: CLOSED UP 338.95 PTS OR 1.19%

WTI Oil price  80.31   12: EST

Brent Oil:  84.74   12:00 EST

USA /RUSSIAN ROUBLE ///   AT:  95,53;   ROUBLE DOWN 0 AND  22//100       

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD; +2.507 DOWN 7 BASIS PTS

UK 10 YR YIELD: 4.485  DOWN 2  BASIS PTS

CLOSING NUMBERS: 4 PM 

Euro vs USA: 1.0887 UP  0.0062   OR 62 BASIS POINTS

British Pound: 1.2653 UP   .0043 or  43 basis pts 

BRITISH 10 YR GILT BOND YIELD:  4.482% UP 0 BASIS PTS//

JAPAN 10 YR YIELD: .641%

USA dollar vs Japanese Yen: 145.73 DOWN   0.736 //YEN UP 74 BASIS PTS//

USA dollar vs Canadian dollar: 1.3555  DOWN .0045 CDN dollaR UP 45  basis pts)

West Texas intermediate oil: 81.22

Brent OIL:  85.49

USA 10 yr bond yield DOWN 11 BASIS pts to 4.113% 

USA 30 yr bond yield  DOWN 9   BASIS PTS to 4.217% 

USA 2 YR BOND: DOWN 15  PTS AT 54.882%  

USA dollar index: 103.33 DOWN 66  BASIS POINTS  

USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 26.56 (GETTING QUITE CLOSE TO BLOWING UP/

USA DOLLAR VS RUSSIA//// ROUBLE:  95.46  DOWN 0   AND  15/100 roubles

GOLD  1937.85

SILVER: 24.76

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE:  UP 292,89 PTS OR 0.62% 

NASDAQ 100 UP 324,98 PTS OR 2.15%

VOLATILITY INDEX: 14.50 DOWN 0.58 PTS (3.85)%

GLD: $179.87 UP 1.74 OR 0.98%

SLV/ $22.71 UP 0,49 OR 2.21%

end

USA AFFAIRS

USA TRADING IN GRAPH FORM

:

Markets JOLTed

TUESDAY, AUG 29, 2023 – 04:00 PM

No-good, terrible, bad news about the US labor market (coupled with a tumble in consumer confidence and uptick in inflation expectations) sparked chaos across multiple asset-classes today.

US Macro data has disappointed for 8 straight days, its biggest serial disappointment since June 2022…

Source: Bloomberg

The bad news sent the market’s expectations for Fed rate changes dramatically (dovishly) lower, erasing all of the post-Powell hawkish shift…

Source: Bloomberg

Stocks were already lifting at the cash open, then ripped higher after the dismal jobs data with long-duration equities outperforming…

The S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow all managed to close back above their 50DMAs…

‘Most Shorted’ stocks squeezed higher – the biggest surge in a month…

Source: Bloomberg

0-DTE traders faded the early gains (and covered) and then faded the rally in the S&P after Europe closed (and covered)…

Source: SpotGamma

NVDA did its thing, surging back above pre-earnings close highs (topping $490) before sliding back

Bonds were aggressively bid with the short-end outperforming…

Source: Bloomberg

2Y Yields tumbled back below 5.00%…

Source: Bloomberg

…and the yield curve (2s30s) steepened significantly…

Source: Bloomberg

The dollar puked today, its biggest daily drop since mid-July…

Source: Bloomberg

Bitcoin started to rally when the dollar fell and then exploded higher (topping $28,000) on the SEC loss in court…

Source: Bloomberg

Spot Gold spiked around 1%, its best day since mid-July, nearing $1940…

Source: Bloomberg

Oil prices rallied ahead of tonight’s API data, with WTI back above $81 (after finding intraday support around $80)…

Finally, we note the market has swiftly gone from fear to greed as VIX, VVIX, and Skews are all tumbling. VVIX (vol of vol) is is its lowest since March…

Source: Bloomberg

After all, what is there to worry about? As SpotGamma notes, from today until the end of next week, there are a few data points (jobs, ISM) but, (based on IV’s) they are fairly low risk. Added into this window is the Labor Day holiday (next Monday).

Entering into the week of 9/11, there are a litany of catalysts including: CPI, large Sep OPEX, VIX Exp & FOMC. This suggests to us vol may be under pressure another ~2 weeks, and then risks pick up.

While there is no particular reason to be bearish, we note that a strong rally into OPEX/VIX Exp would certainly clear up the downside “padding” that we’ve been enjoying (and discussing) over the last few weeks. This could make downside into end of September/October “more available”.

LATE MORNING/EARLY AFTERNOON TRADING//

Bonds, Big-Tech, Bitcoin, & Bullion Soar After JOLTS Weakness Sends Rate-Hike Odds Plunging

TUESDAY, AUG 29, 2023 – 10:31 AM

A much weaker than expected JOLTS print (3rd biggest miss on record and downward revisions) sparked the kind of event risk chaois in markets that we had warned about.

First things first, the recent hawkish trend in rate-change expectations have been smashed dovishly lower…

Source: Bloomberg

Which sent the dollar lower, erasing the post-Powell spike…

Source: Bloomberg

And sparked a bid in bonds, big-tech (long duration) stocks, bitcoin, and gold.

Treasury yields plunged, led by the short-end (with 2Y yields back below 5.00%)…

Source: Bloomberg

Bitcoin exploded back up towards $27,000…

Source: Bloomberg

Spot Gold spiked back up to $1935…

Source: Bloomberg

And stocks extended earlier gains led by Nasdaq…

Some serious moves across asset-classes – we do not expect them all to hold.

end

II USA DATA

Interesting: USA home prices rise for the 4th straight month despite high mortgage rates 7.3%

US Home Prices Rose For 4th Straight Month In June, Case-Shiller Data Shows

TUESDAY, AUG 29, 2023 – 09:05 AM

After seeing their biggest rise in more than a year in May, home prices in America’s 20 largest cities rose once again in June, up 0.92% MoM (the latest Case-Shiller data released today). That is the 4th straight monthly increase in prices, but they remain down just over 1% YoY…

Source: Bloomberg

The Nation Home Price Index rose 0.65% MoM, but also remains down YoY (barely at -0.02%).

Chicago, Cleveland, and New York again led the way reporting the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities in June. On the other side of the scale, we note that Tampa just rolled negative and Miami is about to turn red YoY...

And judging by the resumption of the rise of mortgage rates since the Case-Shiller data was created, we would expect prices to also resume their decline…

Source: Bloomberg

But, when selling volumes and inventory are so low, anything can happen. Certainly not the tamping-down of home unaffordability that The Fed would have been hoping for.

end

Not good Conference Board confidence plunged in august as inflation expectations ticks up

(zerohedge)

Conference Board Confidence Plunged In August, Inflation Exp Ticks Up

TUESDAY, AUG 29, 2023 – 10:09 AM

After reaching two year highs in July, The Conference Board  consumer confidence survey was expected to show a very modest decline in August. Instead it plunged from the best in two years to the weakest since May (July was revised down from 117 to 114 and then August printed 106.1, dramatically below the 116.0 exp).

The Present Situation plunged to its lowest since Dec 2022 and expectations tumbled…

Source: Bloomberg

“Consumer confidence fell in August 2023, erasing back-to-back increases in June and July,” said Dana Peterson, Chief Economist at The Conference Board.

“August’s disappointing headline number reflected dips in both the current conditions and expectations indexes.

Write-in responses showed that consumers were once again preoccupied with rising prices in general, and for groceries and gasoline in particular.

The pullback in consumer confidence was evident across all age groups—and most notable among consumers with household incomes of $100,000 or more, as well as those earning less than $50,000. Confidence held relatively steady for consumers with incomes between $50,000 and $99,999.”

“Expectations for the next six months tumbled back near the recession threshold of 80, reflecting less confidence about future business conditions, job availability, and incomes.

“Consumers may be hearing more bad news about corporate earnings, while job openings are narrowing, and interest rates continue to rise—making big-ticket items more expensive.

Notably, expectations for interest rates jumped in August after falling two months ago. Also, the outlook for stock prices fell and average 12-month inflation expectations ticked up.

The measure of expected family financial situation, six months hence (not included in the Expectations Index) softened further.”

Meanwhile, inflation expectations ticked up from Oct 2020 lows…

Source: Bloomberg

The Conference Board’s measure of labor market tightness worsened slightly last month (less jobs plentiful vs hard-to-get)…

Source: Bloomberg

The proportion of consumers saying recession is ‘somewhat’ or ‘very likely’ ticked down again in August but remain elevated at 69.0%.

So a weaker stock market and stickier prices finally broke the optimism cycle? Or is this reflective of Americans hitting the credit wall together?

END

Huge drop in job openings rattle markets/huge revisions and all numbers are revised sharply lower

so much for Bidenomics

(zerohedge)

Labor Market Implodes: Job Openings Crater, Prior Data “Unexpectedly” Revised Sharply Lower

TUESDAY, AUG 29, 2023 – 10:33 AM

For months we have been warning that at a time when the US economy is careening into a hard landing recession, the manipulated, seasonally-adjusted, and politically goalseeked job openings data released as part of the DOL’s JOLTS report is sheer rubbish (see “US Job Openings Far Lower Than Reported By Department Of Labor“; “Handle The JOLTS Data With Care“, “Just Make it Up: Job Openings Unexpectedly Soar As Labor Department Now Guessing What The Number Is“). Today, the BLS finally got the memo.

With consensus expecting only a modest drop in the July job openings from 9.582 million to 9.5 million, what the BLS reported instead was a doozy: in July there were just 8.827 million job openings, the first sub-9 million print since March  2021. It was also the 3rd biggest miss on record!

Worse, had the BLS not drastically slashed the May number from 9.582MM to a laughable 9.165MM, the drop would have been almost 800K job openings. And yes, today’s downward revision…

… continues the recent trend of every single data point in the Biden administration being revised sharply lower in subsequent month(s), in a coordinated propaganda attempt to make the economy look stronger, then quietly revise it away when everyone forgets.

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And while one month does not a trend make, three months does, which is bad because the 3-month drop in job openings was 1.5 million, the second highest on record surpassed only by the total economic shutdown during the covid crash.

According to the BLS, the largest decrease in job openings was in professional and business services (-198,000); health care and social assistance (-130,000); state and local government, excluding education (-67,000); state and local government education (-62,000); and federal government (-27,000). By contrast, job openings increased in information (+101,000) and in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (+75,000)

The plunge in the number of job openings meant that in July the number of job openings was just 2.986 million more than the number of unemployed workers, the lowest since August 2021.

Said otherwise, in July the number of job openings to unemployed dropped to just 1.51, the lowest level since Sept 2021.

As the number of job openings cratered to the lowest in more than two years, the number of people quitting their jobs – an indicator traditionally closely associated with labor market strength as it shows workers are confident they can find a better wage elsewhere – also plunged by 253K to just 3.549MM (after tumbling 265K in May), the lowest since Feb 2021.

And just in case some still believe the “Bidenomics” strong jobs lie, the number of hires also crashed in July, plunging by 167K to just 5.773 million, the lowest level since Jan 2021.

So what to make of this ugly data which as not only UBS, but also the NFIB…

… Opportunity Insights…

… and even Goldman …

… have been warning is long overdue?

The answer is simple: while the drop was substantial, the real number of job openings remains still far lower since half of it – or some 70% to be specific – is guesswork. As the BLS itself admits, while the response rate to most of its various labor (and other) surveys has collapsed in recent years, nothing is as bad as the JOLTS report where the actual response rate has tumbled to a record low 31%

In other words, more than two thirds, or 70% of the final number of job openings, is estimated!

And at a time when it is critical for Biden to still maintain the illusion that at least the labor market remains strong when everything else in Biden’s economy is crashing and burning, we’ll let readers decide if the admin’s Labor Department is plugging the estimate gap with numbers that are stronger or weaker.

As for the Fed, now that the labor market has officially cracked – because a sub 9mm print means that the rate hikes are really taking their toll on the economy – no surprise that odds of a May rate hike tumbled back below 50% after the huge JOLTS miss…

… and no surprise that stonks are surging: we are now officially back into “bad news is great news” for the market mode, since the end of Biden’s fiscal stimmy means that only the Fed is available to kickstart the economy when it officially slides into a recession next.

END

This Hurricane is going to be a doozy!.They expect flood surges up to 12 feet

“Wrap Up Preparations!”: Hurricane Idalia Barrels Toward Florida

BY TYLER DURDEN

TUESDAY, AUG 29, 2023 – 12:40 PM

According to the latest update by the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Idalia formed early Tuesday morning and is currently 320 miles south-southwest of Tampa. With maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, Idalia is a Category 1 hurricane. 

NHC expects Idalia to ‘rapidly intensify’ later today and could strike the Gulf Coast of Florida as a Category 3 or above on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale on Wednesday morning. 

“Rapid intensification is likely through landfall, and Idalia is forecast to become an extremely dangerous major hurricane before landfall on Wednesday,” said NHC senior hurricane expert Eric Blake.

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Landfall is expected between 0800 and 1000 ET tomorrow around the north of Tampa, but any shift in trajectory could put the metro area of 400,000 in jeopardy. 

NHC predicts Florida’s Big Bend area could be flooded with 12 feet of storm surge. 

Rainfall between 6 to 12 inches is expected. 

Forecasters predict sustained winds of 120 mph with gusts up to 150 mph before the storm makes landfall. 

“This is going to be a major hurricane,” said Gov. Ron DeSantis from the state Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee Monday.

DeSantis continued, “It’s likely to continue strengthening all the way until impact and it could have catastrophic storm surge in your area.”

“If this storm hits at high tide, storm surge could and would reach 8 to 12 feet in some areas and so that would be life-threatening storm surge,” the governor said. 

He said the Big Bend area of the state hasn’t been blasted with a hurricane of this strength in decades. 

Ron DeSantis has ordered the activation of the National Guard while the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced President Biden approved an emergency declaration for the Sunshine State.

III) USA ECONOMIC STORIES

(courtesy Retail Dive)

special thanks to Robert H for sending this to us:

Good indicator of consumer deterioration

https://www.retaildive.com/news/macys-Q2-loss-small-format-expansion/691472/

Macy’s swings to a loss in Q2 as consumer situation deteriorates

Credit card delinquencies took an $84 million bite out of revenue, and that could worsen as student loan payments resume, executives said. But sales fell in stores and online as well.

Published Aug. 22, 2023

Daphne Howland

Senior Reporter

People shopping in a department store.

A small-format Macy’s store. The department store said it will open smaller locations in the Northeast and West, and expand further in the Midwest. Courtesy of Macy’s: Jean-Marc Giboux, AP Photography for Macy’s

Dive Brief:

  • Macy’s on Tuesday said its Q2 net sales fell 8.4% year over year to $5.1 billion, with brick-and-mortar sales down 8% and online sales down 10%. The department store swung to a $22 million loss from $275 million in net income a year ago.
  • Overall comparable sales fell 7.3%. At Macy’s, comps fell 8.2%, at Bloomingdale’s they fell 2.6% and at Bluemercury they rose 5.8%. Inventory was down 10% year over year, and gross margin declined to 38.1% from 38.9% a year ago.
  • The company announced further expansion of its small-format strategy. For the first time Macy’s will open smaller off-mall locations in the Northeast and West, with openings in Boston, Las Vegas and San Diego, along with a third for the Midwest, in Indiana.
  • Image attribution tooltipImage attribution tooltip

Dive Insight:

In a fraught economic environment that has undermined discretionary spending all year, credit card delinquencies took a bite out of Macy’s results in the second quarter. “Other revenue,” which includes credit card revenues, was down by $84 million to $150 million and was just 2.9% of net sales, down from 4.2% last year, according to the company’s press release.

That could deteriorate further as student loan payments resume, executives warned in a conference call with analysts.

“This is about credit card balances. This is about student loans, which we know is going to come into focus in the next month or two, auto loans, mortgages,” said Adrian Mitchell, who is Macy’s chief financial officer and chief operating officer. “So we just believe that the customer is coming under pressure because these are new realities that they have to continue to deal with as we get through the back half of this year and move into next year.”

Still, executives expressed optimism that its customers will come through during the all-important back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons, noting tie-ups with Disney and Toys R Us, strong wholesale partnerships and a new private label push. Outgoing CEO Jeff Gennette announced a new deal with Under Armour, just weeks after reintroducing Nike.

“The return of Nike and Under Armour speaks to the strength and reach of Macy’s, and our ability to attract sought-after wholesale partners,” he said. “Looking ahead, we’re working with both brands as well as potential new partners on how to expand further.”

Gennette also noted that 80% of product reviews for the recently unveiled On 34th store brand have received four or more stars. GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders said the brand has a noticeble attention to detail that surpasses many of the company’s other labels.

“To date, standards of presentation in store are relatively strong and we hope they remain that way,” Saunders said in emailed comments. “While On 34th cannot in and of itself pull Macy’s out of the mire, it is an example of the type of initiative that is needed to start moving the dial. All that said, we are not holding our breath as too many previously hopeful ideas have been squandered and sullied.”

Macy’s is dropping the “Market by Macy’s” moniker for the latest locations of its small-format fleet and “will bear just the iconic Macy’s nameplate,” per that release. The first eight locations will continue to be known as Market by Macy’s. The company is looking to accelerate its expansion of small stores in the next six to 18 months, working toward the optimum balance of large-format mall anchors and smaller off-mall stores, Mitchell said.

“We see a portfolio of healthy big box stores, where we will continue to invest, complemented by a large number of small format stores,” he said.

But that and other tactics are questionable, given the company’s past struggles in maintaining merchandising standards plus the added challenges coming from the current macroeconomic environment, according to GlobalData’s Saunders. Macy’s sales fell 7.5% compared to 2019, while overall non-food retail spending in the U.S. rose about 32.1%, he noted.

“This shows that Macy’s is not only running in the opposite direction to most other retailers, but that it has lost a very significant amount of market share,” he said. In our view this throws the company’s entire strategy into doubt. Management can put out all the warm platitudes it likes, but it does not change the fact that Macy’s is a retailer in decline. Unfortunately, in the present environment we believe that the pace of deterioration will only accelerate.”

The pressure is on Bloomingdale’s CEO Tony Spring, who has been tapped to replace Gennette at the helm of the overall company next year.

“While past internal appointments have been disappointing, we are hoping that Tony’s background in luxury and merchandising will help produce a change in Macy’s approach to retail,” Saunders said

end 

Always a good read:

Victor Davis Hanson…

Save The Rule Of Law By Destroying It?

MONDAY, AUG 28, 2023 – 06:20 PM

Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

Some truths are so staggering in their ramifications that Americans simply shrug and tune them out as if strangers in a strange land.

Is their current bewilderment because modernist America is unrecognizable —a nonexistent border, downtown homeless juxtaposed to hipster professional elites, DEI racial essentialism, cities reverting to precivilizational wastelands, millions exiting blue states to red, an FBI and DOJ gone rogue, the normalization of violent theft and assault, biologically born men sandbagging women’s sports and their locker room privacy?

We are reaching the point where the once unbelievable has become the banal, as a single generation has done its best to undo the work of a prior 12 generations.

Consider the following:

Three leftwing prosecutors are criminalizing politics with more than 90 simultaneous indictments of Donald Trump, the ex-president and currently the leading Republican primary candidate. While New York prosecutor Letitia James is hounding Trump with a $250 million state lawsuit against the Trump organization and family, on the pretense of supposedly Trump overvaluing his real estate and filing inaccurate financial statements.

Is there any Mafia don, mass murderer, or terrorist who has faced so many indictments or suits in so many jurisdictions at almost the same time?

The prosecutors’ immediate lawfare agendas seem transparent enough. They wish to bankrupt candidate Trump with endless legal costs, and humiliate him with his mugshot blasted over the Internet, and put endless Lilliputian legal ropes over a shackled candidate Gulliver, and inflate the ego and agendas of local prosecutors, and purportedly earn Trump empathy enough to win the nomination only to be hemorrhaged with still more indictments, gag orders, and court appearances to bleed him out in the general election.

Americans ask themselves questions whose answers are never given. Why are all these Trump prosecutors leftwing or with Democratic connections?

Would any of the 90 something indictments for “crimes” of years past have been lodged against a citizen Trump who had retired from politics?

Why are these indictments of alleged wrongdoing of years ago now in summer 2023 suddenly being synchronized in leftwing jurisdictions of New York, Washington, Miami, and Atlanta with the beginning of the 2024 election cycle?

Are any of the indictments against Trump also applicable to others?

Alvin Bragg’s charge of campaign finance violations (Hillary Clinton, 2016)?

Jack Smith’s allegations of encouraging mass civil unrest (Kamala Harris, 2020)?

Illegally removing and possessing classified federal documents (Joe Biden 2009-2022)?

Letitia James’s lawsuit alleging financial irregularities and fraud (Al Sharpton 2009-2014)?

Fani Willis’s claim that Trump was seeking to sabotage the constitutional duties of state electors (Martin Sheen, and an array of B-list Hollywood actors, 2016) and colluding to interfere with an election (Fani Willis 2023-4)?

Will any losing Republican candidate in a contested election any longer question the integrity of questionable balloting—in the manner of Vice President Al Gore in 2000, Sen. Barbara Boxer and 32 Democratic congressional representatives in 2004, candidate Jill Stein or Hillary Clinton in 2016, or Stacey Abrams 2018—and thereby risk financially and career-crimpling indictments?

Will conservative district attorneys in places like Wyoming, Alabama, or West Virginia now seek to indict a Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or Gavin Newsom to earn notoriety, to weaken the opposing party, and to leapfrog to higher office in the manner that we should expect a Fani Willis or Alvin Bragg to be currently planning?

When Republicans retake the Congress and White House, will they begin indicting all the weaponized prosecutors who colluded to exempt a grifting Hunter Biden for five years? Will they try Joe Biden as a private citizen for his prior corruption over the last 15 years?

Why would Donald Trump believe the 2020 election was “rigged?” Was he cribbing that belief from liberal journalist Molly Ball’s braggadocious 2021 Time essay? After all, she outlined what she called a leftwing “cabal” and “conspiracy” to change voting laws, turn on/turn off the 2020 Antifa/BLM street protests, absorb the work of registrars, and suppress unwelcome social media news.

Was it more morally suspect to question the ethics surrounding the election year 2020 or for Mark Zuckerberg to infuse $419 million to absorb in asymmetrical fashion the work of the registrars in key swing precincts?

A Cardboard Cutout President

We are witnessing the daily deterioration of President Biden to the point that caricature and jokes about his senility are no longer funny. He is not just an embarrassment but becoming an existential danger to the country. Does anyone believe that in a national crisis over Taiwan or nuclear escalation in Ukraine, Joe Biden would or could make the final decision?

Biden cannot finish a teleprompter sentence without slurring his words, losing his place, or screaming and whispering in incoherent fashion. If that is his public persona, what he is like in private sessions of governance?

He spontaneously both shouts angrily and creepily whispers for effect. Moving a lightweight aluminum beach chair becomes a Herculean task.

In almost every impromptu speech Biden flat-out lies or spins self-serving autobiographical fantasies—often in the midst of foreign dignitaries, grieving families, and refugees from devastating natural disasters.

Biden often does not know where he is on stage or where he is to enter or exit. He is one fall from oblivion.

Not since Woodrow Wilson’s final year in office, has any president simply been unable to fulfill his duties, both physically and cognitively.

Or perhaps the country is in the same position as when an ailing Franklin Roosevelt in late 1944 was deemed just hale enough to get elected and continue Democratic control of the White House, but deemed not healthy enough to finish his first year in office—necessitating the rapid removal from the ticket of the socialist Vice President—and an otherwise likely 1945 President—Henry Wallace.

Yet there has been almost no serious speculation in Congress or among the cabinet about invoking the 25th Amendment. This silence is doubly strange given the Left’s former fixation between 2017-21 with removing Trump by any means possible—including invoking the 25th Amendment.

That silly effort led to the surreal—the acting FBI director Andrew McCabe and the deputy attorney general Rod J. Rosenstein scheming to wiretap Trump in private conversations to reveal his supposed craziness–or the Congress dragging in an incompetent Yale psychiatrist to testify that at a distance she had diagnosed Trump as demented.

Do we recall ex-Pentagon officials and officers talking openly about a military coup to remove the supposedly touched commander in chief?

Our Chairman of the Joint Chiefs contacted the head of the People’s Liberation Army to warn him that Trump might be unhinged. So is Gen. Mark Milley now making yet another call to Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army to warn him that Joe Biden is dangerously disturbed?

It is precisely that entire cast of characters that now sit mum as Joe Biden believes we are fighting in Iraq against the Russians or that his late son Beau died in action in Iraq, or it is impossible to square the tens of millions of dollars that flowed from abroad to the Biden accounts with any concrete expertise rendered or income reported as taxable.

Is the tolerance of Biden’s senescence because his blank stares and mental confusion prove useful to the Left by exempting the president from offering any defense of his mostly defenseless policies or defending his absurd claims to know nothing of the Biden family grifting operations that were predicated on his own offices?

Or do the puppeteers, the Obamas, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and the hard leftists of the party find a non-compos mentis Biden mannequin a useful veneer in pushing through their extreme agendas? Or does the media call the shots, especially after they propelled a basement bound Biden to the White House?

Mainstreaming Corruption

There have been a few corrupt presidents in our past, who (as in the case of Lyndon Johnson) left office far richer than when they entered or were surrounded by rogues (Grant and Harding) or were masters of leveraging and grifting long-term contracts and networks in their lame duck tenures to ensure their impending multimillionaire status the day they left office (the Clintons and Obamas).

But never in memory has an entire extended presidential family been involved in selling influence for millions of dollars in quid pro quo lucre—the vast majority of such ill-gotten gains likely untaxed, by being channeled through sham companies, foreign deposits, fake names and alias email accounts.

Never has a corrupt presidential family itself offered so much proof of its own guilt. Do the Democrats have any idea of the smelly Biden albatross hanging about their collective necks?

How much longer can they continue to dismiss the communications on the Hunter Biden laptop?

Or the testimonies of IRS whistleblowers?

Or the assertions of Biden family business associates?

Or the statements of relevant Ukrainian oligarchs?

Or the latest assertions of Viktor Shokin?

Or the extraordinary efforts of the Bidens to stonewall subpoenaed documents, use fake names and shadow email accounts, compromise federal prosecutors, appoint sham special counsels, and use media toadies to the point of embarrassment to hide the ugly truth?

In sum, what were the Bidens so afraid of that prompted them to corrupt the DOJ and FBI to stonewall any discussion of the huge cash infusions that came from abroad into their family coffers?

Americans have impeached or nearly impeached presidents before for abuse of power, lying under oath, or supposedly using government to pursue their own personal agendas or harass their enemies.

But never has a president been so clearly compromised by bribery from shady foreign government-related grandees in expectation of favorable treatment.

In other words, there is growing evidence that Joe and Hunter Biden, and likely Jim Biden as well, made millions of dollars on the hopes that then Vice President Biden, and perhaps one day a future president Biden, would alter or compromise U.S. foreign policy on the expectation of getting rich.

The State Department’s Ukraine team deemed Viktor Shokin making progress in rooting out corruption. So why did Joe Biden without consultation fire him? Did Biden put his own financial interests above the country’s—in a fashion that the Founders worried was impeachable “treason?”

If the current investigations are not halted or compromised, we may soon learn why the Constitution explicitly specified bribery and treason as an ironclad cause for impeachment.

Can Americans even comprehend that they have elected a dishonest man to the presidency who is protected by his own senility, his decades-long everyman construct of ol’ Joe Biden from Scranton, his usefulness as a prop to the radical leftwing agenda, and the defensive and offensive weaponization of the criminal justice system?

Can Americans digest that instead of campaigning against Donald Trump, outdebating him, outspending him, and outfoxing him, their government must unleash kindred prosecutors to destroy Trump by blowing up the entire tradition of blind American jurisprudence?

Are the media and left claiming that to save the rule of law from Trump, they must first destroy it?

end

Amazing Americans are abandoning home insurance due to higher costs (inflation)

(zerohedge)

Americans Abandon Home Insurance: An Ominous Sign In Era Of ‘Bidenomics’

TUESDAY, AUG 29, 2023 – 02:40 PM

In yet another ominous sign, consumers are being pushed to the financial brink, leading some to abandon homeowner insurance due to soaring premiums. Without this coverage, homeowners are left vulnerable to fires, burst pipes, theft, vandalism, and windstorms.

“Some skipping insurance say they are doing so because they can no longer afford the rising premiums,” said The Wall Street Journal. New Bankrate data shows insurance on a $250,000 home jumped to $1,428 annually, up 20% from 2022. That’s about a $119 monthly payment. 

Amy Bach, executive director at United Policyholders, a national nonprofit insurance consumer-advocacy group, said an increasing number of homeowners in the past several years who have no mortgage or inherited a home are abandoning insurance because they can’t afford it. 

“It is a risky proposition to go without home insurance, and you need to fully understand the financial consequences if you lose your home,” said Noah Damsky, a financial adviser in Los Angeles.

WSJ spoke with Larry Farinholt, who owns a 1,100-square-foot home in the Los Angeles metro area and last had home insurance a quarter century ago. He estimates a $50,000 savings, though if anything happened, such as a fire, he would be devastated:

“It would probably be financially devastating if I lost my house.” 

The good news, unlike a majority of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck, Farinholt said if disaster struck, he would be able to afford a condo due to his savings.

According to a 2023 survey by the Insurance Information Institute, an industry trade group, and the reinsurer Munich Re, about 12% of US homeowners don’t have homeowners insurance — and half of them have household incomes under $40,000 per year. 

Some borrowers cannot service their mortgage debts, blaming late or missed payments on rising insurance premiums, Rick Sharga, founder and CEO of CJ Patrick, a real-estate consulting firm, said. 

Meanwhile, insurance companies have said premiums are rising because of inflation: 

“The cost to insure new home customers in California is far higher than the price they would pay for policies due to wildfires, higher costs for repairing homes, and higher reinsurance premiums,” said a recent statement from Allstate explaining its decision to stop writing new policies. 

Matthew Carletti, an insurance industry analyst for JMP Securities, said the rebuilding and replacement home costs have surged between 2019 and 2022. 

Similar surges have been seen in auto insurance, citing the same reasons: rising part and labor costs. 

Homes and automobiles are becoming even more unaffordable for the working poor, forcing some into a dystopic lifestyle where they own nothing. 

And according to WEF, they’ll be happy… 

END

They have money for migrants but not to fix crumbling infrastructure???:

(zerohedge)

NYC’s Crumbling Infrastructure On Full Display As Century-Old Water Line Floods Times Square

TUESDAY, AUG 29, 2023 – 02:00 PM

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is dealing with yet another problem: A century-old water pipe broke early Tuesday, flooding midtown streets and the city’s busiest subway station.

Rohit Aggarwala, commissioner of NYC’s Department of Environmental Protection, told AP News the 20-inch water line erupted around 0300 ET under 40th Street and Seventh Avenue. The pipe was installed 127 years ago. Videos uploaded on X, formerly known as Twitter, show water flooding into the Times Square subway station.

https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1696556663606554679&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fmarkets%2Fnycs-crumbling-infrastructure-full-display-century-old-water-line-floods-times-square&sessionId=327f79638aebc9c1a93fa88f74512cb5233e4f4d&siteScreenName=zerohedge&theme=light&widgetsVersion=aaf4084522e3a%3A1674595607486&width=550px

https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1696555850821783573&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fmarkets%2Fnycs-crumbling-infrastructure-full-display-century-old-water-line-floods-times-square&sessionId=327f79638aebc9c1a93fa88f74512cb5233e4f4d&siteScreenName=zerohedge&theme=light&widgetsVersion=aaf4084522e3a%3A1674595607486&width=550px

Aggarwala said DEP crews found the leak about an hour after the break and were able to stop the flow. Crews are working on 40th Street and Seventh Avenue to fix the century-old pipe. The disruption has led to a suspension in subway service in much of Manhattan, including on the 1, 2, and 3 lines, which run underneath the construction area.

This water main break draws more attention to the financial capital of the world’s aging infrastructure, such as bridges, roads, and sidewalks.

Besides crumbling infrastructure, NYC finds itself in a migrant crisis, surging violent crime, and a commercial real estate downturn in office towers that might unleash a doom loop threatening to impede the local economy, erode municipal tax inflows, and stifle an economy recovery.

USA// COVID//VACCINE/

SWAMP STORIES

TUCKER CARLSON..

a must view

Tucker Carlson Apologizes To Hungary On Behalf Of America, Slams ‘Disgusting’ US Ambassador Over Lack Of Diplomacy

TUESDAY, AUG 29, 2023 – 06:55 AM

Tucker Carlson flew to Hungary last week where he gave two powerful speeches – apologizing for the United States’ lack of diplomacy and its “cultural imperialism.”

Carlson started by apologizing on behalf of the United States after US Ambassador David Pressman, a gay activist, lectured the Hungarian government over LGBTQ rights.

“The point of diplomacy is not to hector other nations for its own sake,” said Carlson. “To show up in someone else’s country and scream at them because they’re different from you.”

“I’m not in the habit of apologizing for the United States. In fact, I don’t think I ever have, but the behavior of the American ambassador to Hungary makes me want to apologize,” said Carlson. “It’s disgusting and inexcusable. It’s also so far from the norms of diplomacy in my country that it’s hard for me to believe that David Pressman is actually doing what he’s doing.

“And so for a creep like David Pressman, who is not a diplomat – who’s a political activist and Biden donor – to show up in your country and lecture you about your culture, and threaten you because you do things differently from the way they do things where he lives… hurts the United States and is a grave embarrassment to me as an American, and an outrage to me as someone who pays his salary. It’s disgusting.“

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/tucker-carlson-apologizes-hungary-behalf-america-slams-disgusting-us-ambassador-over-lack

Hungary under Orbán has been tightening laws targeting LGBT propaganda. Currently same-sex couples in Hungary aren’t allowed to adopt children, and changing genders is also illegal. Pressman, meanwhile is a gay human rights lawyer and California-born former aide to former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright. Earlier this year, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto slammed Pressman, saying he was way out of line.

Carlson also criticized America’s ‘cultural imperialism,’ insisting that larger countries have a responsibility not to force their ideologies or lifestyles onto smaller ones, and that this behavior undermines the notion of self-determination.

“That is not the basis of a successful Empire,” he said.

“Everybody wants Freedom everyone understands the concept of self-determination,” said Carlson, adding “Hungary isn’t hassling anybody else; Hungarians have views, your government has views.”

Carlson then warned: “It’s the ones who tell you the 180 degree opposite of the truth who you need to be careful of and they’re the ones who will enslave you.”

He also warned NATO… “The world is reseting completely. The post-war order is collapsing. NATO is going to collapse. NATO cannot stand long term.”

In closing, he recommended reading books.

“The most important thing I ever did other than get married was read books not tweets, not electronic but paper books in traditional form and read them every day,” said Carlson, pondering whether the decline in reading is responsible for the clouding of the world’s collective wisdom.

He then conveyed a message to the West…

“What Hungary is saying to the West is we want to be part of the West… maybe don’t push your garbage on us so aggressively,” he said – in essence, that Hungary doesn’t want to be an island, it wants to participate in Western civilization but without the oppressive force of cultural changes that don’t align with its values.

Watch the entire speech below: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/tucker-carlson-apologizes-hungary-behalf-america-slams-disgusting-us-ambassador-over-lack

Carlson’s speech echoes some of what he told a crowd in Esztergom, Hungary two years ago, when he told the crowd that the US media landscape lacks objectivity, and discussed the importance of respecting culture, history, and beauty in society. Carlson views these elements as essential for human happiness and effective governance, something he thinks Hungary has managed better than the U.S.

“If you disobey the political orders from the ruling party they’ll shut you down,” Carlson said (prior to being shut down).

Carlson was particularly struck by Hungary’s stance on migration. “Hungary stood alone essentially in saying you know no thanks, and that struck me as a totally legitimate thing to do,” he said, referring to the Orban’s decision to block migrants from entering the country.

Flashback:

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/tucker-carlson-apologizes-hungary-behalf-america-slams-disgusting-us-ambassador-over-lack

END

My goodness:  5400 national archive pseudonym documents

(zerohedge)

Revealed: National Archive Has 5,400 Biden Pseudonym Documents From Time As Veep

TUESDAY, AUG 29, 2023 – 09:35 AM

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) revealed it’s in possession of some 5,400 records that contain email pseudonyms that President Joe Biden used during his tenure as vice president. 

The jarring number was revealed in a letter from the Archives to the Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF), which last year filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for any documents that referenced three pseudonymous email accounts: robinware456@gmail.com, JRBWare@gmail.com and Robert.L.Peters@pci.gov.  

“We have performed a search of our collection for Vice Presidential records related to your [June 9, 2022] request and have identified approximately 5,138 email messages, 25 electronic files and 200 pages of potentially responsive records that must be processed in order to respond to your request,” said the letter from NARA. 

Roswell, Georgia-based SLF received that letter last year, but made it public on Monday as it announced it has taken its FOIA pursuit to the next level, by filing a federal lawsuit against the Archives to compel the release of the records.  

“SLF requested these now highly sought after emails from NARA on June 9, 2022, through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request,” said the group in a statement. “Unfortunately, after identifying nearly 5,400 potentially responsive records, NARA has dragged its feet and still has not produced a single email. SLF now turns to the court, asking it to order NARA to produce Biden’s emails.”

The revelation of the high quantity of documents comes on the heels of a push for the same documents by House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer. Earlier this month, he sent a letter to NARA asking it to turn over any unredacted documents that reference the pseudonyms. 

“Joe Biden has stated there was ‘an absolute wall’ between his family’s foreign business schemes and his duties as Vice President, but evidence reveals that access was wide open for his family’s influence peddling,” said Comer in a statement.One email to Biden’s pseudonym account referenced his call to Ukraine’s president — and Hunter was copied at a time when he served on Burisma’s board

“We already have evidence of then-Vice President Biden speaking, dining, and having coffee with his son’s foreign business associates,” Comer continued.  “We also know that Hunter Biden and his associates were informed of then-Vice President Biden’s official government duties in countries where they had a financial interest. The National Archives must provide these unredacted records to further our investigation into the Biden family’s corruption.”

While mystery swirls around the several thousand documents, we do know that one of the emails details plans for a phone call with Ukraine’s former president, Petro Poroshenko. An aide to Biden, John Flynn, copied Hunter at his email address at Rosemont Seneca Partners – while Hunter was serving on the board of Ukrainian energy giant, Burisma, which was deemed to be corrupt by the Obama-Biden State Department.

END

TRUMP RAP GOES VIRAL:

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-rap-first-day-out-goes-viral-after-former-president-booked-and-released

Trump Rap ‘First Day Out’ Goes Viral After Former President Booked And Released

MONDAY, AUG 28, 2023 – 09:00 PM

Authored by Matthew Lysiak via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Trump the Don has just thrown down a powerful lyrical flex—and a warning to the Deep State.Jessie Friedman. (Courtesy of Rachel Friedman)

A new parody rap of a fired-up former President Donald Trump after his release from his Atlanta, Georgia booking has been rising up the charts. As of Monday morning “First Day Out” by Trump the Don had shot up to #3 on the iTunes Hip Hop chart, #34 overall, and has garnered 2.8 million views on social media since its release on Friday.

“I’ve been blown away by the response. It’s gone completely viral,” Jessie Friedman, 29, the alter ego behind Trump the Don, told The Epoch Times. “Like so many other Americans I was disgusted and felt like fighting back in a comedic way. I never expected it to blow up like this.”

Mr. Friedman, a resident of central Florida, who had been rapping since the age of 13, found inspiration for the song after first seeing the former president’s historic mugshot on the news. Fired up, Mr. Friedman decided to write an ode first popularized by other artists’ experience rapping about their first day of freedom after being in police custody.

“In hip-hop it’s common for when an artist gets out of prison they do rap for a couple minutes about their first day out to just flex and let everyone know that hey, I haven’t been defeated. I’m still here standing strong,” said Mr. Friedman. “I felt Trump deserved a flex of his own so I went to work.”

“First Day Out,” which is 90 seconds in length, shares the thoughts of a fictionalized Trump after exiting the Atlanta jail.

The song opens with shout-outs to notable conservative figures before launching into a defiant, yet humorous, screed, “Out on bail, out on bail. I won’t see inside a cell.”

“I got homies doing life in jail they living in Hell. These DAs are acting silly. My mugshot is worth a billi. Sold some merch and made and made a milli.”

The lyrical Trump continues: “I am not who they are after. I’m just in the way, they want to get to you but I won’t let ‘em. Cold-hearted now I’m heartless getting back to where I started. I don’t need to do the race, Ima beat the RICO charges. And if I go to prison you can’t do me like the Clintons. I’ll be laid up eating steak with secret service straight up chillin. Screaming Orange man bad! Got the whole world mad! Thug life shout out to all of my MAGA based chads”

The song ends with Trump issuing a warning: “Coming for the deep state I will stop the new world order. But before that I’ll finish the wall at the border.”

Mr. Friedman, who says he supports Trump but not the Republican Party, is hoping his music not only makes people smile, but through humor, can also inspire change in the way political parties are perceived.

“It’s wild to see these rock stars, who, while growing up, I had always thought of as these counter culture renegades, step in lockstep with corporate and government powers, telling us to mask up and obey authority,” said Mr. Friedman. “We look to them to fight the power, but they are all conforming. Sit down. Do what you’re told. That is their message. Trump is the true rebel.”

“It’s sick. You can rap all you want about guns and everyone will celebrate, but talk about the Second Amendment and you get canceled,” Mr. Friedman added.

Recent months have seen political songs strike a deep chord in American culture. For several weeks the number one song on the iTunes chart has been Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men of North Richmond,” which chronicles how corrupt elites on both sides of the political aisle have profited at the expense of the struggling lower and middle classes.

Mr. Friedman, who currently resides in central Florida and also raps under the name “Hi-Raz The Rapper,” had a chance meeting with his lyrical inspiration at the former president’s Florida residence in Mar a Lago.

“It was my wedding and Trump showed up to wish us luck,” said Mr. Friedman. “He was a lot of fun. Couldn’t have been nicer.”

The rapper says that while he is taking time to enjoy the success of his newest song, he plans to get back to work soon to create more musical parodies. However, if the former president is elected to a second term Mr. Friedman says he would gladly make time in his schedule for any potential reelection events.

“Why not light up his inaugural?” said Mr. Friedman. “I’m just this white Jewish rapper living out my dream while living in this clown world, so I say, Let’s go. And knowing Trump the little bit that I do, he might just be into Trump the Don.”

THE KING REPORT

The King Report August 29, 2023 Issue 7064Independent View of the News
  China Cuts Stock Trade Tax, Tightens IPOs to Boost MarketThe levy charged on stock trades will drop from 0.1% to 0.05% as of Aug. 28, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement Sunday, in a move to “invigorate capital markets and boost investor confidence.”…    Other highlights of the measures announced by CSRC on Sunday: Margin ratio for margin trading is lowered to 80% from 100%, effective from market closing on Sept. 8   Adjustment will apply to both new and existing contracts of margin trading    For companies with stock prices fallen below IPO levels or net asset levels, or which haven’t paid cash dividends or which are paying a total cash dividend lower than 30% of average net profit of the recent three years, the controlling share holders and de facto controlling holders will not be allowed to cut holdings in the secondary market.  https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-cuts-stock-trade-tax-112430871.html China Asks Some Funds to Avoid Net Equity Sales to Boost MarketStock exchanges issued the so-called window guidance to several large mutual fund houses, telling them to refrain for a day from selling more onshore shares than they purchased…https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-28/china-asks-some-funds-to-avoid-net-equity-sales-to-boost-market China’s 5.5% Stock Rally Fizzles in Blow to Market Rescue EffortAfter opening 5.5% higher on a slew of market support measures announced over the weekend, the CSI 300 Index of mainland stocks pared its advance to close just 1.2% higher…    Data Sunday showed the decline in China’s industrial profits persisted in July, the latest reading to confirm the dire state of the economy that has lapsed into a deflation…https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/china-markets-rally-authorities-steps-021520759.html The palpable panic among China’s elites is generating global fear of a ‘Lehman-like’ event for China. While professional traders across the globe were reluctant to play due to China’s intervention in a clearly dire environment, US traders once again eschewed fundamentals to play ingrained patterns: The rally for the NYSE opening and the propensity for US stocks to rally on Monday. ESUs traded sideways, in a 10-handle range from the Nikkei opening until they commenced a rally 7 minutes after the 8 ET US bond market opening.  It was the usual buying, the Pump, for the NYSE opening.  ESUs hit 4447.25 at 9:34 ET.  The Dump pushed ESUs to 4432.75 at 8:52 ET. ESUs then soared on Monday Rally buying, but they double topped at 10:27 ET.  ESUs then sank to 4423.75 at 11:40 ET on liquidation for the European close.  With many Old World traders done for the day, US traders got jiggy for a Noon Balloon and drove ESUs to a new minor daily high of 4447.75 at 13:04.  As if someone rang a bell to end the Noon Balloon, ESUs then tumbled to 4423.25 at 13:57 ET.  ESUs and stocks then went inert until the rally for the last-hour manipulation began at 14:39 ET. ESUs hit 4438.75 at 15:07 ET.  After ESUs sank to 4428.50 at15:21 ET, the usual suspects performed the late manipulation, driving ESUs to a new high of 4449.50 at 15:47 ET.  ESUs and stocks then dropped to 4438.25 at 15:55 ET.  A final manipulation put ESUs to 4443.50 at the close. The $45B US 2-year note auction produced a yield above 5% (5.024%) for the first time since 2006.  The $46B 5-year auction drew 4.400%, the highest auction rate since 2007. Positive aspects of previous session.Once again US traders ignored ugly global fundamentals to play trading schemesBonds and notes rallied modestly Negative aspects of previous sessionPrecious metals rallied smartly Ambiguous aspects of previous sessionWhat financial evil will China produce? First Hour/Last Hour Action [S&P 500 Index]: 1st Hour from NYSE Open: Up; Last Hour: Up Pivot Point for S&P 500 Index [above/below indicates daily trend to traders]: 4429.28Previous session S&P 500 Index High/Low: 4439.56; 4414.98 Government shutdown could impede GOP’s Hunter Biden probe: McCarthy https://trib.al/gueOKb2 The feckless GOPe House Speaker is already crafting excuses to consort with Biden and Dems to enact even more fiscal profligacy!
 Zelenskiy says elections could happen under fire if West helpsUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, responding to calls by a US senator this week to announce elections in 2024, said on Sunday voting could take place during wartime if partners shared the cost, legislators approved, and everyone got to the polls… (Perpetual grifting of the US for funds!)
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/zelenskiy-says-elections-could-happen-under-fire-if-west-helps-2023-08-27/ Today – The usual suspects once again ignored troubling global fundamentals and orchestrated the standard Monday Rally.  Chinese activity is likely to impact early trading today.  Can China rally without intervention?  The usual suspects won’t have the conditioned Monday Rally response to support them today.  Furthermore, markets will be extremely thin this week ahead of the Labor Day Weekend.  ESUs are +2.00 and USUs are 11/32 at 20:50 ET. Expected econ data: June FHFA House Price Index 0.6% m/m; June S&P CoreLogic 20-city house prices 0.8% m/ & -1.65% y/y; July JOLTS Job Openings 9.45m; August Conference Board Consumer Confidence 116.2; Fed VCEO for Supervision Barr 15:00 ET S&P 500 Index 50-day MA: 4460; 100-day MA: 4317; 150-day MA: 4220; 200-day MA: 4148DJIA 50-day MA: 34,667; 100-day MA: 35,122; 150-day MA: 33,792; 200-day MA: 33,742(Green is positive slope; Red is negative slope) S&P 500 Index – Trender trading model and MACD for key time framesMonthly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 3752.81 triggers a sell signalWeekly: Trender and MACD are negative – a close above 4586.76 triggers a buy signalDaily: Trender and MACD are negative – a close above 4456.52 triggers a buy signalHourly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 4392.83 triggers a sell signal @CBS_Herridge: GOP aide tells @CBSNews the “momentum is going toward opening an impeachment inquiry” + the IRS whistleblower testimony was a “game changer” for the Hunter Biden plea and for house GOP investigators. MORE: https://twitter.com/CBS_Herridge/status/1696194073567105388 National Archives acknowledges 5,400 Biden pseudonym emails, faces lawsuit for their releasehttps://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/national-archives-acknowledges-5400-biden-pseudonym-emails-faces-lawsuit U.S. Attorney Weiss Colluded with DOJ to Thwart Congressional Questioning, Emails Show https://t.co/RDpjmDM5LF @TruthNinja316: QUID PRO QUO? Why did Burisma’s Attorney, John Buretta (Former EDNY colleague of Jack Smith), just “randomly” reach out to Lutsenko (The man who replaced Shokin) to provide “information I believe will be helpful to your office”?  This included governmental perks such as “technical assistance from beyond the DOJ”.  SIX MONTHS LATER, all criminal charges against Burisma/Zlochevsky will be dropped.   https://twitter.com/TruthNinja316/status/1696197983216587070 Biden, Harris advisers irked by Newsom’s plan to debate DeSantis: ‘Disrespectful’https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-harris-advisers-irked-newsoms-plan-debate-desantis-disrespectful Internet blasts Donald Trump’s claim he shot 67 to win club tourney“I am pleased to report, for those that care, that I just won the Senior Club Championship (must be over 50 years old!) at Bedminster (Trump National Golf Club), shooting a round of 67,” Trump, the 45th president of the United States, posted… “For some reason, I am just a good golfer/athlete — I have won many Club championships, and it’s always a great honor!”… “Probably only played 12 holes,” @chefbissell posted. “I don’t understand how anyone believes this guy!… https://t.co/K9Be98Kwjy Chicago mayor mocked for suing automakers for car thefts: ‘Criminals run rampant’ but it’s a ‘Kia problem’ https://trib.al/XUnWu0S “We know they are lying, they also know they are lying, we also know they know we know they are lying, yet they continue to lie.” — Alexander Solzhenitsyn (A product of dependency on the state)

GREG HUNTER  

SEE YOU WEDNESDAY

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