Shanghai Gold Benchmark Price

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PM1998.40

Historical SGE Fix

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Bitcoin morning price:, 29,952 UP 1208 DOLLARS

Bitcoin: afternoon price: $29,483 UP 739 dollars

Platinum price closing $889.65 UP $11.00

Palladium price; $1136.50 DOWN $ 9.50

END

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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: $2,714.00 UP $5.50 CDN dollars per oz (ALL TIME HIGH 2,775.35)

*BRITISH GOLD: 1627.85 UP 2,35 pounds per oz//NEW (ALL TIME HIGH//CLOSING///1630.29)

EURO GOLD: 1868.95 UP 3.90 euros per oz // NEW(ALL TIME HIGH/CLOSING//1868.95)//high.* OCT 20.2023

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EXCHANGE: COMEX

EXCHANGE: COMEX
CONTRACT: OCTOBER 2023 COMEX 100 GOLD FUTURES
SETTLEMENT: 1,968.400000000 USD
INTENT DATE: 10/19/2023 DELIVERY DATE: 10/23/2023
FIRM ORG FIRM NAME ISSUED STOPPED

118 C MACQUARIE FUT 55
190 H BMO CAPITAL 4
323 C HSBC 95
323 H HSBC 1
363 H WELLS FARGO SEC 700
435 H SCOTIA CAPITAL 120
523 C INTERACTIVE BRO 4
624 H BOFA SECURITIES 292
657 C MORGAN STANLEY 2
661 C JP MORGAN 16
686 C STONEX FINANCIA 4
690 C ABN AMRO 18 28
737 C ADVANTAGE 1 49
905 C ADM 15
991 H CME 68

TOTAL: 736 736
MONTH TO DATE: 10,498

JPMorgan stopped 16/736 contracts.

FOR OCT.:

GOLD: NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR OCT/2023. CONTRACT: 736 NOTICES FOR 73,600 OZ or 2.289 TONNES

total notices so far: 10,498 contracts for 1,049,800 oz (32.653 tonnes)

FOR OCT:

SILVER NOTICES:5 NOTICE(S) FILED FOR 25,000 OZ/

total number of notices filed so far this month : 508 for 2,540,000 oz

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END

GLD

WITH GOLD UP $14.50

INVESTORS SWITCHING TO SPROTT PHYSICAL (PHYS) INSTEAD OF THE FRAUDULENT GLD/ : / NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD

INVENTORY RESTS AT 848.24 TONNES

Silver//THIS IS CRIMINAL: PHYSICAL SILVER LEAVING DESPITE THE RISE IN PRICE

WITH NO SILVER AROUND AND SILVER UP 50 CENTS AT THE SLV// HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: ANOTHER MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 2.658 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV//

INVESTORS ARE SWITCHING SLV TO SPROTT’S PSLV.

CLOSING INVENTORY: 441.871 MILLION OZ

Let us have a look at the data for today

SILVER//OUTLINE

SILVER COMEX OI ROSE BY HUMONGOUS SIZED 1897 CONTRACTS TO 125,360 AND CLOSER TO THE RECORD HIGH OI OF 244,710, SET FEB 25/2020 AND THIS ULTRA- HUGE SIZED GAIN IN COMEX OI WAS ACCOMPLISHED DESPITE OUR GOOD $0.08 LOSS IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX ON THURSDAY. WE HAD SOME SPEC SHORT COVERING EPISODE IN THURSDAY’S COMEX TRADING.. TAS ISSUANCE WAS A STRONG SIZED 783 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 THURSDAY NIGHT: 783 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 HAD 4 OI. CONTRACTS REMOVED FROM PRELIMINARY OI TO FINAL!

WE HAVE NOW SET ANOTHER RECORD LOW AT 114,102 CONTRACTS ///JULY 3.2023// OUR BANKERS WITH THE HELP OF SPECULATORS AND HIGH FREQUENCY TRADERS WERE SUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING THE PRICE OF SILVER DOWN (IT FELL BY $0.08). BUT WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING ANY SILVER LONGS AS WE HAD A GIGANTIC SIZED GAIN OF 2249 OI CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES AS THE SPEC SHORTS TRIED AGAIN DESPERATELY TO COVER THEIR SHORTFALLS.

WE MUST HAVE HAD:

A FAIR ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS( 352 CONTRACTS) iiii) AN INITIAL SILVER STANDING FOR COMEX SILVER MEASURING AT 1.530 MILLION OZ (FIRST DAY NOTICE) FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 10,000 OZ QUEUE JUMP + 0 CONTRACTS OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK FOR 0 MILLION OZ TODAY+ 4.0 MILLION OZ EXCHANGE FOR RISK PRIOR //NEW STANDING IS THUS 2.630 MILLION OZ NORMAL SILVER DELIVERY + 4.0 EXCHANGE FOR RISK = 6.630 MILLION OZ/////HUGE SIZED COMEX OI GAIN/ FAIR SIZED EFP ISSUANCE/VI) STRONG SIZED NUMBER OF T.A.S. CONTRACT ISSUANCE 783 CONTRACTS)/

I AM NOW RECORDING THE DIFFERENTIAL IN OI FROM PRELIMINARY TO FINAL – REMOVED 4 CONTRACTS

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

TOTAL CONTRACTS for 14 days, total 14,522 contracts: OR 72.610 MILLION OZ (1037 CONTRACTS PER DAY)

TOTAL EFP’S FOR THE MONTH SO FAR: 72.610 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: 171.43 MILLION OZ (THIS MONTH IS GOING TO BE HUGE //2ND HIGHEST ON RECORD

SEPT: 72.705 MILLION OZ (SMALLER THIS MONTH)

OCT: 72.61 MILLION OZ (THIS IS GOING TO BE A STRONG MONTH FOR EFP ISSUANCE//

RESULT: WE HAD A HUGE SIZED INCREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF 1897 CONTRACTS DESPITE OUR LOSS IN PRICE OF $0.08 IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX//THURSDAY.,. THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A FAIR EFP ISSUANCE CONTRACTS: 352 ISSUED FOR OCT AND 0 CONTRACTS ISSUED FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS) WHICH EXITED OUT OF THE SILVER COMEX TO LONDON AS FORWARDS. . WE HAVE A SMALL INITIAL SILVER OZ STANDING FOR SEPT OF 1.532 MILLION OZ FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 10,000 OZ QUEUE JUMP:+ A NEW ISSUANCE OF 0 CONTRACTS OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK FOR 0 MILLION OZ. THUS NEW TOTAL OF SILVER STANDING: 2.620 MILLION OZ+ 4.0 MILLION OZ EXCHANGE FOR RISK = 6.630 MILLION OZ//// /// WE HAVE A HUMONGOUS SIZED GAIN OF 2249 OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES. THE TOTAL OF TAS INITIATED CONTRACTS TODAY: A STRONG SIZED 783 CONTRACTS//LITTLE FRONT END OF THE TAS CONTRACTS WERE LIQUIDATED DURING THE THURSDAY COMEX SESSION. THE NEW TAS ISSUANCE THURSDAY NIGHT A HUGE (783) WILL BE PUT INTO “THE BANK” TO BE COLLUSIVELY USED AT A LATER DATE., .

WE HAD 5 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 25,000 OZ

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

GOLD//OUTLINE

IN GOLD, THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY A VERY STRONG SIZED 8338 CONTRACTS TO 454,864 AND CLOSER TO THE RECORD (SET JAN 24/2020) AT 799,541 AND PREVIOUS TO THAT: (SET JAN 6/2020) AT 797,110.

THE DIFFERENTIAL FROM PRELIMINARY OI TO FINAL OI IN GOLD TODAY: – REMOVED 1173 CONTRACTS

WE HAD A STRONG SIZED INCREASE IN COMEX OI ( 8338 CONTRACTS) WITH OUR $12.90 GAIN IN PRICE//THURSDAY. WE ALSO HAD A RATHER STRONG INITIAL STANDING IN GOLD TONNAGE FOR SEPT. AT 16.562 TONNES ON FIRST DAY NOTICE FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S HUGE 38,000 OZ QUEUE JUMP /NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 32.718 TONNES/ + /A HUGE (AND CRIMINAL) ISSUANCE OF 1860 T.A.S. CONTRACTS /// ALL OF..THIS HAPPENED WITH OUR $12.90 GAIN IN PRICE WITH RESPECT TO THURSDAY’S TRADING.WE HAD A VERY STRONG SIZED GAIN OF 13,676 OI CONTRACTS (42,538 PAPER TONNES) ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES.

E.F.P. ISSUANCE

THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A STRONG SIZED 5388 CONTRACTS:

The NEW COMEX OI FOR THE GOLD COMPLEX RESTS AT 454,864

IN ESSENCE WE HAVE A VERY STRONG SIZED INCREASE IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 13,676 CONTRACTS WITH 8338 CONTRACTS INCREASED AT THE COMEX// AND A STRONG SIZED 5,388 EFP OI CONTRACTS WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS TOTAL OI GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 13,676 CONTRACTS OR 42.538 TONNES. WE HAD THE FOLLOWING TAS CONTRACTS INITIATED (ISSUED): A STRONG 1860 CONTRACTS)

CALCULATIONS ON GAIN/LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES

WE HAD A STRONG SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (5388 CONTRACTS) ACCOMPANYING THE STRONG SIZED GAIN IN COMEX OI (8338) //TOTAL GAIN FOR OUR THE TWO EXCHANGES: 13,676 CONTRACTS. WE HAVE ( 1) NOW RETURNED TO OUR FORMER FORMAT OF BANKERS GOING LONG AND SPECULATORS GOING SHORT ,2.) FAIR INITIAL STANDING AT THE GOLD COMEX FOR OCT. AT 16.562 TONNES FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 38,000 OZ QUEUE JUMP//NEW STANDING 32,718 TONNES// /// 3) ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION AND SOME TAS LIQUIDATION BUT HUGE SPEC SHORT COVERINGS DURING THE COMEX SESSION //4) STRONG SIZED COMEX OPEN INTEREST GAIN/ 5) STRONG ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL PAPER///6: STRONG T.A.S. ISSUANCE: 1860 CONTRACTS

HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS IN 2023 INCLUDING TODAY

OCT

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

TOTAL EFP CONTRACTS ISSUED: 61,133 CONTRACTS OR 6,113,300 OZ OR 190.77 TONNES IN 14 TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 4366 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS : THIS MONTH IN 14 TRADING DAY(S) IN TONNES 190.77TONNES

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

THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 190.77/3550 x 100% TONNES 5.38% 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: 195.28 TONNES (A STRONGER MONTH)//FINAL

SEPT: 254.709 TONNES (WILL BE LARGER THAN LAST MONTH AND A STRONG MONTH)

OCT. 190.77 TONNES. LIKE SILVER, THIS MONTH IS GOING TO BE A STRONG E.F.P. ISSUANCE.

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 ROSE BY A HUGE SIZED 1897 CONTRACTS OI TO 125,368 AND CLOSER TO OUR COMEX HIGH RECORD //244,710(SET FEB 25/2020). THE LAST RECORDS WERE SET IN AUG.2018 AT 244,196 WITH A SILVER PRICE OF $14.78/(AUGUST 22/2018)..THE PREVIOUS RECORD TO THAT WAS SET ON APRIL 9/2018 AT 243,411 OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS WITH THE SILVER PRICE AT THAT DAY: $16.53). AND PREVIOUS TO THAT, THE RECORD WAS ESTABLISHED AT: 234,787 CONTRACTS, SET ON APRIL 21.2017 OVER 5 YEARS AGO. HOWEVER WE HAVE NOW SET A NEW RECORD LOW OF 114,102 CONTRACTS JULY 3.2023

EFP ISSUANCE A FAIR 352 CONTRACTS

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

DEC 352 and ALL OTHER MONTHS: ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 352 CONTRACTS. EFP’S GIVE OUR COMEX LONGS A FIAT BONUS PLUS A DELIVERABLE PRODUCT OVER IN LONDON. IF WE TAKE THE COMEX OI GAIN OF 1897 CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 352 OI TRANSFERRED TO LONDON THROUGH EFP’S,

WE OBTAIN A HUMONGOUS SIZED GAIN OF OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 2249 CONTRACTS

THUS IN OUNCES, THE GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES TOTAL 11.245 MILLION OZ

OCCURRED WITH OUR $0.08 LOSS IN PRICE …..(SOME SHORT COVERINGS)

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//

FRIDAY MORNING//THURSDAY NIGHT

SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 22.33 PTS OR 0.74% //Hang Seng CLOSED DOWN 123.76 PTS OR 0.72% /The Nikkei CLOSED DOWN 171.26 PTS OR 0.54% //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED DOWN 1.16 % /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN AT 7.3163 /OFFSHORE CHINESE YUAN CLOSED DOWN TO 7.3322 /Oil UP TO 90,68 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT DOWN AT 93.74/ Stocks in Europe OPENED ALL RED// 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 ROSE BY A STRONG SIZED 8338 CONTRACTS TO 454,864 WITH OUR STRONG GAIN IN PRICE OF $12.90 ON THURSDAY. OUR SHORT SPECULATORS TRIED TO COVER THEIR POSITIONS DURING COMEX TRADING WITH LITTLE SUCCESS.

EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE

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

THAT IS 5388 EFP CONTRACTS WERE ISSUED: : DEC 5388 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:

TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 5388 CONTRACTS

ON A NET BASIS IN OPEN INTEREST WE GAINED THE FOLLOWING TODAY ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES: A HUGE SIZED TOTAL OF 13,676 CONTRACTS IN THAT 5388 LONGS WERE TRANSFERRED AS FORWARDS TO LONDON AND WE HAD A VERY STRONG SIZED GAIN OF 8338 COMEX CONTRACTS..AND THIS GAIN ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES HAPPENED WITH OUR HUGE GAIN IN PRICE OF $12.90//THURSDAY 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 THURSDAY NIGHT WAS A STRONG 1860 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: OCT (32.718) ( 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)

SEPT: 15.281 TONNES FINAL

OCT. 32.718 TONNES

THE SPECS/HFT WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE( IT GAINED $12.90) //// AND WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING ANY SPECULATOR LONGS AS WE HAD A HUGE GAIN OF 13,676 TOTAL CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES. WE HAD A ZERO T.A.S. LIQUIDATION ON THE FRONT END OF THURSDAY’S TRADING. THE T.A.S. ISSUED ON THURSDAY NIGHT WILL BE “PUT INTO THE BANK” TO BE USED AT A LATER DATE AT THE COLLUSIVE CHOOSING OF OUR BANKERS. IT DID HAVE SOME SPECULATOR SHORT COVERING WITH THE MASSIVE PRICE INCREASE.

WE HAVE GAINED A TOTAL OI OF 42.538 PAPER TONNES FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES, ACCOMPANYING OUR INITIAL GOLD TONNAGE STANDING FOR OCT. (16.562 TONNES) ON FIRST DAY NOTICE FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 38,000 OZ QUEUE JUMP //NEW TOTALS STANDING:32.718 TONNES ALL OF THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE TO THE TUNE OF $12.90. FOR THE PAST FEW WEEKS, THE SPECULATORS HAVE GONE MASSIVELY SHORT WITH OUR BANKERS NET LONG. THE BIG QUESTION IS NOW HOW MUCH GOLD WILL THE BANKERS PULL FROM OUR SHORT SPECULATORS. SPECULATORS YESTERDAY ADDED TO THEIR HUGE SHORTS.

WE HAD REMOVED 1173 CONTRACTS TO THE COMEX TRADES TO OPEN INTEREST

NET GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 13,676 CONTRACTS OR 1,367,600 OZ OR 42.538 TONNES.

Estimated gold volume today:// 289,176 fair

final gold volumes/yesterday 282,811 fair/

//speculators have left the gold arena

//OCT 20/ /// THE OCT. 2023 GOLD CONTRACT

Gold	Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers* Inventory in oz*	nil
Withdrawals from Customer* Inventory in oz*	20,174.171 oz OZ JPMorgan .
Deposit to the Dealer* Inventory in oz*	nil
Deposits to the Customer* Inventory, in oz*	nil oz
No of oz served (contracts) today	736 notice(s) 73,600 OZ 2.289 TONNES
No of oz to be served (notices)	21 contracts 2100 oz 0.0653 TONNES
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month	10,498 notices 1,049,800 OZ 32.653 TONNES
Total accumulative withdrawals of gold from the Dealers* inventory this month*	NIL oz
Total accumulative withdrawal of gold from the Customer* inventory this month*	x

0 dealer deposit:

total dealer deposits: 0 oz

customer deposits: 0

total customer deposits: 0 oz

we had 1 customer withdrawals

i) Out of JPMorgan: 20,174,171 OZ

total withdrawals 20,174.171 oz

Adjustments; 1 Loomis

i) Dealer to customer 1639,701 oz

total adjusted

CALCULATIONS FOR THE AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR OCT.

For the front month of OCTOBER we have an oi of 757 contracts having GAINED 361 contracts. We had 19 contracts filed on Thursday, so we gained 380 contracts or an additional 38,000 oz will stand for delivery at the comex in this active delivery month of October. Our short speculators have been met with physical delivery demands by the bank. The only way they can obtain gold is through these EFP’s where delivery is taken in London on a T + 2 basis. We had the commencement of gold speculator short covering last Thursday and this action by the banker longs will continue until the specs have been annihilated

NOV LOST 22 CONTRACTS to stand at 1656

December GAINED 4996 contracts up to 367,938 contracts.

We had 736 contracts filed for today representing 73,600 oz

Today, 0 notice(s) were issued from J.P.Morgan dealer account and 0 notices were issued from their client or customer account. The total of all issuance by all participants equate to736 contract(s) of which 0 notices were stopped (received) by j.P. Morgan dealer and 16 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 OCT. /2023. contract month, we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (10,498 x 100 oz ), to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of OCT. (757 CONTRACTS) minus the number of notices served upon today 736 x 100 oz per contract equals 1,051,900 OZ OR 32.718 TONNES the number of TONNES standing in this active month of OCT.

thus the INITIAL standings for gold for the OCT. contract month: No of notices filed so far (10,498) x 100 oz + (757) {OI for the front month} minus the number of notices served upon today (736) x 100 oz) which equals 1,051,900 oz standing OR 32.718 TONNES

TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING: 31.718 TONNES WHICH IS HUGE FOR AN ACTIVE BUT GENERALLY WEAK DELIVERY MONTH. (OCT). Somebody is after a considerable amount of gold from the comex.

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: 1,960,249.798 OZ 60.97 tonnes

TOTAL OF ALL GOLD ELIGIBLE AND REGISTERED: 19,850,925.137 OZ

TOTAL REGISTERED GOLD 9,976,092.583 (310.299 tonnes)..

TOTAL OF ALL ELIGIBLE GOLD: 9,873,367.054 OZ

REGISTERED GOLD THAT CAN BE SERVED UPON: 8,015.843 (REG GOLD- PLEDGED GOLD) 249.326 tonnes//dropping like a stone

END

SILVER/COMEX

OCT 20

//2023// THE OCT 2023 SILVER CONTRACT

Silver	Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers* Inventory*	NIL oz
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory	596,539,100 oz JPMorgan .
Deposits to the Dealer* Inventory*	nil oz
Deposits to the Customer Inventory	608,397.000oz CNT
No of oz served today (contracts)	5 CONTRACT(S) (25,000 OZ)
No of oz to be served (notices)	18 contracts (90,000 oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)	508 Contracts (2,540,000 oz)
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Dealers* inventory this month*	NIL oz
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Customer* inventory this month*

i) 0 dealer deposit

total dealer deposit: 0

total: nil oz

i) We had 0 dealer withdrawal

total dealer withdrawals: 0 oz

We had 1 deposits customer account:

i) Into CNTL 608,397.000 oz

total customer deposit 608,397.000 oz

JPMorgan has a total silver weight: 134.441 million oz/271.677 million or 49.33%

Comex withdrawals 1

i) Out of JPMorgan; 596,539.100 oz

total: 596,539.100 oz

adjustments: 0

TOTAL REGISTERED SILVER: 37.633 MILLION OZ//.TOTAL REG + ELIGIBLE. 271.677 million oz

CALCULATIONS FOR THE NEW STANDING FOR SILVER FOR August:

silver open interest data:

FRONT MONTH OF OCT /2023 OI: 23 CONTRACTS HAVING LOST 2 CONTRACT(S). WE HAD 4 NOTICES FILED

ON TUESDAY, SO WE GAINED 2 CONTRACTS AS WE HAD A QUEUE JUMP OF 10,000 OZ

NOVEMBER GAINED 8 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 422

DEC. LOST 1212 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 99,235 .

TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR TODAY: 5 for 25,000 oz

Comex volumes// est. volume today 81,755//excellent

Comex volume: confirmed yesterday 61,483 fair

To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in OCT. we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at 508 x 5,000 oz = 2,540,000 oz

to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of OCT (23) and the number of notices served upon today 5 x (5000 oz) equals the number of ounces standing.

Thus the standings for silver for the OCT/2023 contract month: 508 (notices served so far) x 5000 oz + OI for the front month of OCT (23) – number of notices served upon today (5 )x 500 oz of silver standing for the OCT contract month equates to 2.630 million oz + 0 MILLION oz of exchange for risk today + 4.0 million oz prior//new totals: 6.630 million oz.

There are 37.633 million oz of 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

OCT 20/WITH GOLD UP $14.50 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD //: //: // INVENTORY RESTS AT 848.24 TONNES

OCT 19/WITH GOLD UP $12.90 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 5.19 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD//: //: // INVENTORY RESTS AT 848.24 TONNES

OCT 18/WITH GOLD UP $32.55 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.02 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD//: //: // INVENTORY RESTS AT 853.43 TONNES

OCT 17/WITH GOLD UP $1.50 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: //: // INVENTORY RESTS AT 855.45 TONNES

OCT 16/WITH GOLD DOWN $6.45 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 6.92 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD //: // INVENTORY RESTS AT 855.45 TONNES

OCT 13/WITH GOLD UP $57.60 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: //: / /// // INVENTORY RESTS AT 862.37 TONNES

OCT 12/WITH GOLD DOWN $3.00 TODAY:BIG CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF .86 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD//: / /// // INVENTORY RESTS AT 862.37 TONNES

OCT 11/WITH GOLD UP $11.20 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:HUGE CHANGES: / /// // INVENTORY RESTS AT 861.51 TONNES

OCT 10/WITH GOLD UP $30.60 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:HUGE CHANGES: A WITHDRAWAL OF 5.77 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD// /// // INVENTORY RESTS AT 861.81 TONNES

OCT 6/WITH GOLD UP $13.05 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:HUGE CHANGES: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.73 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD// /// // INVENTORY RESTS AT 867.58 TONNES

OCT 5/WITH GOLD DOWN $1.35 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:HUGE CHANGES: A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 5.77 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD// /// // INVENTORY RESTS AT 869.31 TONNES

OCT 4/WITH GOLD DOWN $7.40 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 1.44 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/// : // //INVENTORY RESTS AT 875.08 TONNES

OCT 3/WITH GOLD DOWN $6.90 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 1.44 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/// : // //INVENTORY RESTS AT 875.08 TONNES

OCT 2/WITH GOLD DOWN $19.35 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: LD/ : // //INVENTORY RESTS AT 873,64 TONNES

SEPT 29/WITH GOLD DOWN $11.15 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: LD/ : // //INVENTORY RESTS AT 873,64 TONNES

SEPT 28/WITH GOLD DOWN $13.45 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 4.88 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD/ : // //INVENTORY RESTS AT 873,64 TONNES

SEPT 26/WITH GOLD DOWN $XXX TODAY:SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.31 TONNES OF GOLD OUT 05 THE GLD/ : // //INVENTORY RESTS AT 878.52 TONNES

SEPT 26/WITH GOLD DOWN $13.40 TODAY:SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.31 TONNES OF GOLD OUT 05 THE GLD/ : // //INVENTORY RESTS AT 878.52 TONNES

SEPT 22/WITH GOLD UP $5.70 TODAY:SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD DEPOSIT OF 0.58 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/ : // //INVENTORY RESTS AT 878.83 TONNES

SEPT 21/WITH GOLD DOWN $25.60 TODAY:SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.58 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/ : // //INVENTORY RESTS AT 878.25 TONNES

SEPT 19/WITH GOLD UP $0.60 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD : // //INVENTORY RESTS AT 880.217 TONNES

SEPT 18/WITH GOLD UP $8.40 TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD : A DEPOSIT OF 0.57 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 880.217 TONNES

SEPT 15/WITH GOLD UP $13.20 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD : A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.055 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 879.70 TONNES

SEPT 14/WITH GOLD UP $1.00 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD : A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.63 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 882.01 TONNES

SEPT 13/WITH GOLD DOWN $2.00 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD : / //INVENTORY RESTS AT 886.64 TONNES

SEPT 12/WITH GOLD DOWN $11.20 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD : / //INVENTORY RESTS AT 886.64 TONNES

SEPT 11/WITH GOLD UP $4.45 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD : / //INVENTORY RESTS AT 886.64 TONNES

SEPT 8/WITH GOLD UP $0.35 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD : / //INVENTORY RESTS AT 886.64 TONNES

SEPT 7/WITH GOLD DOWN $0.20 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.22 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD.: / //INVENTORY RESTS AT 886.69 TONNES

SEPT 6/WITH GOLD DOWN $8.80 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.16 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD.: / //INVENTORY RESTS AT 889.81 TONNES

SEPT 5/WITH GOLD DOWN $13.50 TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A DEPOSIT OF 0.87 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD.: / //INVENTORY RESTS AT 890.97 TONNES

SEPT 1/WITH GOLD UP $1.00 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A DEPOSIT OF 0.87 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD.: / //INVENTORY RESTS AT 890.10 TONNES

GLD INVENTORY: 848.24 TONNES

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

OCT 20/WITH SILVER UP 50 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:.A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.658 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV/ /// /INVENTORY RESTS AT 441.871 MILLION OZ

OCT 19/WITH SILVER DOWN 8 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:. A /// /INVENTORY RESTS AT 444.529 MILLION OZ

OCT 18/WITH SILVER UP 11 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:. A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.207 MILLLION OZ FROM THE SLV///// /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 444.529 MILLION OZ

OCT 17/WITH SILVER UP 23 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:. : // /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 447.736 MILLION OZ

OCT 16/WITH SILVER DOWN 9 CENTS TODAY: BIG CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:. : //A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.664 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV// /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 447.730 MILLION OZ

OCT 13/WITH SILVER UP 90 CENTS TODAY: BIG CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:. : //A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.375 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV// /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 450.394 MILLION OZ

OCT 12/WITH SILVER DOWN 19 CENTS TODAY: BIG CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:. : //A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.825 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV// /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 451.769 MILLION OZ

OCT 11/WITH SILVER UP 17 CENTS TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:. : //A WITHDRAWAL OF .366 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV// /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 452.594 MILLION OZ

OCT 10/WITH SILVER UP 25 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:. : //A DEPOSIT OF 1.833 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV// /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 452.960 MILLION OZ

OCT 6/WITH SILVER UP 69 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:. : //A DEPOSIT OF 0.916 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV// /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 451.127 MILLION OZ

OCT 5/WITH SILVER DOWN 8 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:. : //A MASSIVE DEPOSIT OF 8.328 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV// /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 450.211 MILLION OZ

OCT 4/WITH SILVER DOWN 34 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:. : // /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 441.883 MILLION OZ

OCT 3/WITH SILVER DOWN 2 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:. : // /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 441.883 MILLION OZ

OCT 2/WITH SILVER DOWN 98 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:. : // /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 441.883 MILLION OZ

SEPT 29/WITH SILVER DOWN 28 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:. A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.183 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV: // /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 441.883 MILLION OZ

SEPT 28/WITH SILVER DOWN 8 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:. A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.88 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV: // /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 442.066 MILLION OZ

SEPT 27/WITH SILVER DOWN 20 CENTS TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:. A WITHDRAWAL OF .641 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV: // /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 448.392 MILLION OZ

SEPT 26/WITH SILVER DOWN 20 CENTS TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:. A WITHDRAWAL OF .641 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV: // /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 448.392 MILLION OZ

SEPT 22/WITH SILVER UP 13 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:. : // /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 449.492 MILLION OZ

SEPT 21/WITH SILVER DOWN 13 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:. : // /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 449,033 MILLION OZ

SEPT 19/WITH SILVER UP 0 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.1 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV. : // /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 449.033 MILLION OZ

SEPT 18/WITH SILVER UP 11 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A DEPOSIT OF 1.651 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV. : // /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 441.332 MILLION OZ

SEPT 15/WITH SILVER UP 37 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.31 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV. : // /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 439.681 MILLION OZ

SEPT 14/WITH SILVER DOWN 16 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: : // /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 440.736 MILLION OZ

SEPT 13/WITH SILVER DOWN 23 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 1,009 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV//: // /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 440.736 MILLION OZ

SEPT 12/WITH SILVER UP 1 CENT TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 3.209 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV//: // /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 439.727 MILLION OZ

SEPT 11/WITH SILVER UP 19 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 3.209 MILLION OZ INTO TEH SLV//: // /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 439.727 MILLION OZ

SEPT 8/WITH SILVER DOWN 8 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: // /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 436.518 MILLION OZ

SEPT 7/WITH SILVER DOWN 21 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: // /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 436.518 MILLION OZ

SEPT 6/WITH SILVER DOWN 36 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.373 OZ OF SILVER OUT OF THE THE SLV// /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 436.518 MILLION OZ

SEPT 5/WITH SILVER DOWN 69 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 734,000 OZ OF SILVER OUT OF THE THE SLV// /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 437.891 MILLION OZ

SEPT 1/WITH SILVER DOWN 20 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.375 MILLION OZ OF SILVER OUT OF THE THE SLV// /.////INVENTORY RESTS AT 440.00 MILLION OZ

CLOSING INVENTORY 441.871 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

JPMorgan Chase Paid $1.085 Billion in Legal Expenses in Last Six Months; It’s Still Battling Hundreds of Charges and Legal Proceedings on Three Continents

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: October 20, 2023 ~

At some point, federal regulators, the Senate Banking Committee and the criminal division of the U.S. Department of Justice are going to reach the same conclusion that Wall Street On Parade reached quite some time ago: JPMorgan Chase is a criminal enterprise in drag as a federally-insured bank.

JPMorgan Chase is the largest U.S. bank, with $3.9 trillion in assets and 4,863 Chase Bank branches sucking in mom and pop deposits across the United States. According to its regulators, it is also the riskiest bank in the United States. And, two trial lawyers have written a fact-intensive book describing how the bank resembles the Gambino crime family. The bank’s admission to five criminal felony counts since 2015 and spiraling rap sheet would seem to back up that theory.

Now comes the latest revelation in the bank’s own 8K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last Friday. Somehow, in just two quarters – the span of a meager six months – this one bank has managed to spend a stunning $1.085 billion on legal expenses. The bank spent $665 million on legal expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2023 and $420 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023. (See footnote (a) on page 4 of JPMorgan Chase’s October 13 SEC filing at this link.)

Reading deeper into its most recent 8K filing strongly hints that this bank is not only a serial criminal enterprise but it is also a full employment program for Big Law.

Throughout this year, Big Law firm WilmerHale has been racking up a lot of billable hours defending JPMorgan Chase from highly credible charges brought by the Attorney General of the U.S. Virgin Islands in a federal lawsuit that the bank “actively participated” in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking of minors by serving as his cash conduit for more than 15 years. While the Attorney General of the U.S. Virgin Islands filed extremely heavy evidence with the court to back up her charges, WilmerHale pursued a scorched earth legal strategy of smearing officials in the U.S. Virgin Islands that brought them to a cheap settlement of $75 million in September.

WilmerHale also represented JPMorgan Chase this year in a federal class action lawsuit on behalf of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims. Given that 15 JPMorgan Chase employees had visited Epstein at his Manhattan mansion where Epstein’s sex slaves were in abundance and their testimony at trial might have added new scandals to the bank, JPMorgan also settled that case for the generous sum of $290 million in June. (Plaintiffs lawyers were to get $87 million of the $290 million.)

WilmerHale also opened up another billing track (and damage control track) by suing one of JPMorgan’s former officials, Jes Staley, attempting to load the blame for the bank’s sleazy dealings with Epstein (a registered sex offender and well-documented sex trafficker of minors) onto Staley’s shoulders. That narrative pretty much fell apart when a former FBI official, hired by opposing counsel as an expert witness, introduced court documents showing that different bank employees had funneled more than $5 million in hard cash to Epstein over a decade, sometimes as much as $40,000 to $80,000 a month, without filing the legally required Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

The Staley case was abruptly settled in September for an undisclosed sum of money.

JPMorgan Chase also paid more legal fees this year to the Big Law firm Paul Weiss to get a very problematic case dismissed in federal court. That case named the Chairman and CEO, Jamie Dimon, as a defendant, along with specific members of its Board of Directors. The thrust of the case was that the same members of JPMorgan’s Board of Directors who brought Jamie Dimon to the top leadership position at the bank, were also, verifiably, engaged in business dealings with Jeffrey Epstein. Before that case could be fleshed out for the public with depositions and discovery, Judge Jed Rakoff very conveniently dismissed it. (See Rakoff’s background with Paul Weiss here.)

Big Law firm Sullivan & Cromwell got a nice feather in its cap under former President Donald Trump (now indicted on 91 felony charges himself) by sending its law partner, Jay Clayton, to be the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (notwithstanding the fact that Clayton had represented 8 of the 10 largest Wall Street banks prior to becoming their “watchdog”). One of its clients was JPMorgan Chase. This year Sullivan & Cromwell brags on its website that it scored a big win “for JPMorgan Chase and the trillion-dollar syndicated loan industry, with the Second Circuit ruling that interests in a syndicated loan were not securities under federal securities laws.” One can’t be sued for securities fraud if the instrument in question is not defined as a “security.”

Big Law firm Covington & Burling, whose revolving door sent law partner Eric Holder to be the head of the U.S. Department of Justice under President Obama, along with its law partner Lanny Breuer to head the DOJ’s criminal division under Holder, represented JPMorgan Chase this year in resolving a federal lawsuit for $499 million among a group of banks over charges that they conspired to stifle competition in the stock lending business.

JPMorgan Chase discloses in its current 8K filing with the SEC that it is not just battling charges here in the U.S. It reports that it is under investigation by the Swiss Competition Commission relating to EURIBOR, the benchmark short-term lending rate in Europe. JPMorgan Chase also advises that “In December 2016, the European Commission issued a decision against the Firm and other banks finding an infringement of European antitrust rules relating to EURIBOR. The Firm has filed an appeal of that decision with the European General Court, and that appeal is pending.”

JPMorgan Chase is also under criminal investigation on the continent of Asia. It reports as follows in its 8K:

“India’s Enforcement Directorate (‘ED’) is investigating J.P. Morgan India Private Limited in connection with investments made in 2010 and 2012 by two offshore funds formerly managed by JPMorgan Chase entities into residential housing projects developed by the Amrapali Group (‘Amrapali’). In 2017, numerous creditors filed civil claims against Amrapali, including petitions brought by home buyers relating to delays in delivering or failure to deliver residential units. The home buyers’ petitions have been overseen by the Supreme Court of India and are ongoing. In August 2021, the ED issued an order fining J.P. Morgan India Private Limited approximately $31.5 million. The Firm is appealing the order and the fine. Relatedly, in July 2019, the Supreme Court of India issued an order making preliminary findings that Amrapali and other parties, including unspecified JPMorgan Chase entities and the offshore funds that had invested in the projects, violated certain currency control and money laundering provisions, and ordering the ED to conduct a further inquiry under India’s Prevention of Money Laundering Act (‘PMLA’) and Foreign Exchange Management Act (‘FEMA’). In May 2020, the ED attached approximately $25 million from J.P. Morgan India Private Limited in connection with the criminal PMLA investigation. The Firm is responding to and cooperating with the PMLA investigation.”

Adding to JPMorgan’s legal tab this year, not to mention its humiliation, a Judge in May ruled that the bank has to pay the legal bills for Charlie Javice, the 31-year old woman that scammed the bank (which has the biggest law firms in the world on retainer), to buy her allegedly fraudulently trumped up company. Those legal bills could turn out to be quite hefty. Javice is facing a civil lawsuit filed by JPMorgan Chase as well as criminal charges filed by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The cases we have cited here are just the tip of the iceberg. The bank indicated in a recent SEC filing that it is involved in “several hundred” legal proceedings.

end

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

Researchers state that to defeat USA sanctions, China must turn to gold. In truth, they have already!

(Reuters/Baptista/GATA)

To defeat U.S. sanctions, China must turn to gold, researchers say

Submitted by admin on Thu, 2023-10-19 23:48Section: Daily Dispatches

China Weighs Options to Blunt U.S. Sanctions in a Taiwan Conflict

By Eduardo Baptista
Reuters
Thursday, October 19, 2023

BEIJING — In a war with the United States over Taiwan, China would need to create a global network of companies under U.S. sanctions, seize American assets within its borders, and issue gold-denominated bonds, according to Chinese government-affiliated researchers studying the Western response to Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

The sanctions against Moscow have prompted hundreds of Chinese economists, financiers, and geopolitical analysts to examine how China should mitigate extreme scenarios, including loss of access to U.S. dollars, according to a Reuters review of more than 200 Chinese-language policy papers and academic articles published since February 2022.

“In the context of intensified Sino-U.S. strategic competition and the Taiwan Strait conflict, we should be wary of the U.S. replicating this financial sanction model against China,” wrote Chen Hongxiang, a researcher at a branch of the People’s Bank of China in eastern Jiangsu province.

China, he said, should “prepare for a rainy day” to ensure its financial and economic stability.

The specifics of the scenarios and potential countermeasures are being reported for the first time by Reuters. …

The Beijing-based China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), which counts former commerce ministers among its leaders, published several analyses on lessons China should learn from Russia.

Sun Xiaotao, a CCIEE researcher, published an article in February that argues China should push for more gold-denominated trade to prevent major fluctuations of the yuan — echoing the Russian central bank’s decision to increase its gold reserves by one million ounces since the Ukraine war began.

Reuters could not determine the extent to which the think tanks influence China’s decision-making, but they are known to brief and write reports for leading officials.

Some of China’s policies align with the papers’ recommendations. Central bank data earlier in October showed the PBOC increased its official gold reserves for the 11th consecutive month. …

… For the remainder of the report:

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/china-weighs-options-blunt-us-sanctions-taiwan-conflict-2023-10-20/

END

4, OTHER IMPORTANT GOLD/SILVER COMMENTARIES//ANDREW MAGUIRE//LIVE FROM THE VAULT: Ep.145

EPISODE 145

Why a real physical gold price will rise from the Cartels …

In this week’s episode of Live from the Vault, Andrew Maguire kicks off with a discussion about..

end

5 a. IMPORTANT COMMENTARIES ON COMMODITIES:

END

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

END

6.CRYPTOCURRENCY//DIGITAL CURRENCY// COMMENTARIES/

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

ONSHORE YUAN: CLOSED DOWN AT 7.3163

OFFSHORE YUAN: DOWN TO 7.3322

SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 22.33 PTS OR 0.54%

HANG SENG CLOSED DOWN 123.76 PTS OR 0.72%

2. Nikkei closed DOWN 171.26 PTS OR 0.54 %

3. Europe stocks SO FAR: ALL RED

USA dollar INDEX DOWN TO 105.96 EURO RISES TO 1.0594 UP 8 BASIS PTS

3b Japan 10 YR bond yield: FALLS TO. +.839 Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese YEN vs USA cross now at 149.94/JAPANESE YEN FALLING AS WELL AS LONG TERM 10 YR. YIELDS RISING //EVENTUALLY THIS WILL BREAK THE JAPANESE CENTRAL BANK

3c Nikkei now ABOVE 17,000

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

3e Gold UP /JAPANESE Yen DOWN CHINESE ONSHORE YUAN: DOWN// OFFSHORE: DOWN

3f Japan is to buy INFINITE TRILLION YEN 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 +2.9265***/Italian 10 Yr bond yield UP to 4.936*** /SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD UP TO 4.026…**

3i Greek 10 year bond yield RISES TO 4.328

3j Gold at $1978.40 silver at: 23.15 1 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $30.00

3k USA vs Russian rouble;// Russian rouble UP 1 AND 72 /100 roubles/dollar; ROUBLE AT 95,32//

3m oil into the 90 dollar handle for WTI and 93 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 149.94// 10 YEAR YIELD AFTER FIRST BREAKING .54% LAST YEAR NOW EXCEEDS THAT LEVEL TO 0.839% 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 0.8910 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF 0.9441 well above the floor set by the Swiss Finance Minister. Thomas Jordan, chief of the Swiss National Bank continues to purchase euros trying to lower value of the Swiss Franc.

USA 10 YR BOND YIELD: 4.947 DOWN 4 BASIS PTS…

USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 5.068 DOWN 4 BASIS PTS/

USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 5.144 DOWN 3 BASIS PTS

USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 28.02…(TURKEY SET TO BLOW UP FINANCIALLY)

GREAT BRITAIN/10 YEAR YIELD: DOWN 2 BASIS PTS AT 4.7380

end

2.a Overnight: Newsquawk and Zero hedge:

Futures Slide As Oil And Gold Jump, Treasuries Find Tentative Buyers With Yields At 2007 Highs

FRIDAY, OCT 20, 2023 – 08:19 AM

Global stock dipped and US equity futures traded lower as crude oil extended the weekly advance for a 4th day, rising above $90 on concerns Israel and Hamas war could widen into a regional conflict and as the DOE announced plans to refill the largely drained SPR with another $6 million barrels (good luck doing that with the proposed purchase price of “$79 or below”). As of 8:00am, S&P and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.3%; Europe’s Stoxx 600 was down 0.7% to a seven month low and on course for a fourth day of declines. Meanwhile, Treasuries rose, led by gains in 10-year debt which briefly topped 5% yesterday for the first time since 2007, after Fed chair Jerome Powell suggested the US central bank is likely to hold interest rates steady at its next meeting. Asian equities also fell, on course for their worst week since August; China Evergrande Group is revising the terms of its proposed restructuring plan and Country Garden’s default on dollar bond interest payment still looms. A burst of buying among cryptocurrencies sent bitcoin above $30K, the highest since August.

In premarket trading, American Express gained in premarket trading after third-quarter revenue and profit soared to records. SolarEdge Technologies Inc. slumped 27% after cutting its sales forecast because of canceled orders. The declines spread across the sector, with German photovoltaic systems maker SMA Solar Technology AG down 16%. Stocks exposed to cryptocurrencies, including Cleanspark and Coinbase Global, rise, tracking the Bitcoin price as the digital asset inches closer toward the closely watched $30,000 level. Intuitive Surgical shares fall 7.8% in premarket trading after the maker of surgical tools reported third-quarter revenue that missed estimates. Analysts flagged the systems segment for the miss, noting that it had a higher mix of operating leases. Here are some other notable premarket movers:

HP Enterprise hares fell as much as 4.3% after the computing-services provider forecast adjusted earnings per share for 2024 that missed the average analyst estimate. Analysts note that investments in AI and other projects are pressuring the company’s operating profit and free cash flow.
Jazz Pharmaceuticals rose as much as 6.4% after Bloomberg News reports the company is exploring strategic options including a potential sale.
Regions Financial shares slide 6% after the firm’s third-quarter adjusted earnings per share missed estimates and its net interest margin was lower than consensus.
Riot Platforms and stocks exposed to cryptocurrencies rise in US premarket trading on Friday, tracking the Bitcoin price as the digital asset inches closer toward the closely watched $30,000 level. Riot rises 6%.
Union Pacific is raised to buy at Deutsche Bank, which notes the US railway company is benefiting from the recent positive volume inflection.

A turbulent week in markets has seen Middle East events drive volatility in oil prices and push investors out of riskier assets into havens like gold. At the same time, 10-year Treasury yields have soared 30 points as traders position for higher-for-longer interest rates from the Federal Reserve to cool inflation. Chair Jerome Powell suggested Thursday the Fed is inclined to hold rates steady again at its next meeting, while it watches key growth data.

“This week we had several things weighing on sentiment: the war, poor corporate results, plus strong September US data supporting Powell’s comments yesterday,” said Liberum strategist Susana Cruz, referring to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. “If things stay like this with oil and gas, we might end up in a stagflation situation, making it less likely for a rebound in 2024.”

In terms of the latest geopolitical updates, the main rise in concerns came later in the US session after the Pentagon reported that a US military base in Southern Syria was targeted with a drone attack and a US Navy warship intercepted missiles near Yemen. Brent Crude prices had traded below $90 early in the day, but ended the day +0.96% higher at $92.38/bl. Overnight, oil prices are continuing to climb for the fourth consecutive day with Brent Crude up +0.93% trading above $93bbl as we go to press. Other markets also reacted to the geopolitical risks, with gold prices (+1.38%) hovering around a 21-week high and Israel’s TA-35 Index (-1.85%) seeing a noticeable underperformance .

“The risk premium in crude has shot up again,” said Vandana Hari, founder of consultancy Vanda Insights. “As long as the Israel-Hamas tensions run high, crude will remain susceptible to further spikes on signs of an escalation.”

European equities extended their drop to a seven-month low and on course for a fourth day of declines. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.7% to the lowest since March 20. Miners lagged, along with travel and leisure stocks. L’Oreal SA pared losses as traders weighed disappointing North Asia sales against better than expected performance in North America and Europe. Here are the biggest movers on Friday:

Sika gains as much as 3.6%, the most since August, after the Swiss construction chemicals group reported strong third-quarter figures. Baader says the figures could be overshadowed by antitrust concerns in the sector
Brunello Cucinelli gains as much 5.4%, the most intraday since Sept. 29, after the luxury company increased its full-year sales growth guidance as results showed double-digit growth across all regions in the third quarter
L’Oreal shares fall as much as 3.7% in Paris, the biggest intraday decline since February 10, after the beauty company reported an unexpected decline in North Asia comparable sales, offsetting a better than expected performance in North America and Europe
Yara shares fall as much as 7.2% to their lowest intraday since Dec. 2020 after 3Q Ebitda from the Norwegian fertilizer company missed analyst estimates. Norne Securities calls the release “disappointing,”
Boliden falls as much as 8% to its lowest intraday level since Nov. 2020 after the miner reported 3Q earnings. Analysts note weak cash flow in the quarter due to working capital build
Husqvarna falls as much as 10%, the most since May 2022, after the Swedish gardening and outdoor group reported a weak set of third-quarter figures, with analysts noting the soft end-user demand continuing throughout 3Q and 4Q
InterContinental Hotels shares drop as much as 3.3%, as analysts look past the hotel operator’s forecast-beating revenue-per-available room in 3Q to highlight macroeconomic and financing issues impacting the development of new hotels
Rexel shares drop as much as 6.7% to their lowest level in nearly 10 months, after the French electrical supplies distributor’s same-day sales for the third quarter missed analyst estimates given a tough backdrop
Forvia shares fall as much as 2.5% after the auto-parts company’s third-quarter revenue beat consensus and announced an “encouraging” new disposal program, but analysts remain cautious given high financial costs
Duerr shares fall as much as 22%, the most on record, to the lowest intraday since May 2020, as the machine maker cut its adjusted Ebit margin on a strong decline in its wood-processing arm HOMAG’s order intake
Salvatore Ferragamo shares fall as much as 6.5% to the lowest intraday level since November 2020 after the Italian luxury group reported weak third-quarter results as expected, with double-digit sales declines across geographies

Earlier in the session, Asian equities fell, on course for their worst week since August, as investors fretted over escalation in the Middle East crisis in addition to Federal Reserve policy and China’s uneven recovery. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell as much as 0.9% before paring its decline, with Samsung, Tencent and BHP Group among the biggest drags.

A record injection of extra cash by China may offer support after the nation’s stocks erased all gains seen during their massive reopening rally that took off late last year. The economy has been challenged this year by a lack of demand and a downturn in the property market. Still, Morgan Stanley advises against buying the dip in Chinese equities as market sentiment is likely to stay fragile while foreign fund outflow could persist near-term. Meanwhile, concerns around property sector lingered on with Country Garden Holdings missing a dollar bond interest payment, effectively triggering the largest property sector default since Evergrande.

China’s mainland stock benchmark trimmed losses but remained on course for its worst week since March, even as the central bank injected the most cash on record into the financial system in an effort to keep funding costs low. “Investor sentiment is likely to stay fragile, while foreign fund outflow could persist near term, if without meaningful macro improvement,” Morgan Stanley China strategists including Laura Wang wrote in a note Thursday, adding that there is need for stimulus and additional market liquidity support.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 retreated at the open but then gradually pared its losses amid reports of potential temporary income tax cuts and with participants also digesting the latest Japanese CPI data which printed mostly firmer than expected but softened from the previous month’s pace.
Australia’s ASX 200 was dragged lower with broad weakness seen across all sectors aside from energy which is kept afloat by the geopolitical risk premium uplift in oil prices.
India stocks extended losses to a third day, as concerns that the Israel- Hamas conflict may escalate gripped global markets. The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.4% to 65,397.62 in Mumbai on Friday, taking the weekly fall to 1.3%. The NSE Nifty 50 Index also declined by a similar measure. All of the 18 sectoral gauges maintained by BSE recorded losses for the day.

In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index steadied as investors weighed comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on the likelihood of rates being held steady.

USD/JPY was in focus after briefly dumping when USD/JPY inched to 149.99 before retracing slightly lower.
The New Zealand dollar, Australian dollar and Norwegian krone underperformed on risk-aversion as markets braced for a potential escalation in Middle East conflict over the weekend
GBP/USD dropped as much as 0.4% to 1.2093 after UK retail sales fell more than expected; money markets pared wagers on further BOE hikes to a 60% chance of a final 25 basis point hike, from 90% earlier this week
The Canadian dollar is the outperformer among the G-10’s, rising 0.1% versus the greenback.
The Israeli shekel weakened for a 10th day amid concerns over the potential for a broadening conflict.

In rates, treasuries rose across the curve as yields at multi-year highs drew buyer interest and as rising tensions in the Middle East push investors towards perceived safe haven assets. The curve bull-flattened, unwinding a portion of Thursday’s aggressive steepening that pushed 2s10s spread to least inverted level in more than a year. 10-year Treasury yields are around 4.94% after re-opening in Asia session at 4.992%, new multiyear high; bunds and gilts underperform by 4.5bp and 6bp in the sector. The US 2s10s spread sits around -21bp after topping at -16.9bp Thursday, least inverted level since September 2022. US yields richer by 1bp to 5bp across the curve with long-end-led gains flattening 2s10s, 5s30s spreads by 4..2bp and 0.3bp on the day;

In commodities, spot gold added 0.5% to around $1,984. Oil prices also gain, with Brent futures rising 1.2% to trade near $93.50.

Bitcoin convincingly broke above the $29k mark and has continued to climb to within relative proximity of the $30k handle, though the move has currently stalled/paused for breath around the $29.85k current session high. Action which takes BTC to a fresh WTD peak and to levels not seen since early August. Coinbase’s legal officer Grewal said he is confident that the US SEC will approve a US Bitcoin ETF, via CNBC; adding, it is likely the approval will be “soon”.

Looking to the day ahead now, and data releases include UK retail sales and German PPI for September. Central bank speakers include the Fed’s Harker and Mester. Lastly, earnings releases include American Express.

Market Snapshot

S&P 500 futures little changed at 4,300.25
MXAP down 0.5% to 152.82
MXAPJ down 0.6% to 478.71
Nikkei down 0.5% to 31,259.36
Topix down 0.4% to 2,255.65
Hang Seng Index down 0.7% to 17,172.13
Shanghai Composite down 0.7% to 2,983.06
Sensex down 0.3% to 65,416.08
Australia S&P/ASX 200 down 1.2% to 6,900.72
Kospi down 1.7% to 2,375.00
STOXX Europe 600 down 0.5% to 437.52
German 10Y yield little changed at 2.93%
Euro little changed at $1.0586
Brent Futures up 1.0% to $93.30/bbl
Gold spot up 0.4% to $1,981.64
U.S. Dollar Index little changed at 106.27

Top Overnight News

Middle East tensions escalated as the Pentagon said it’s experiencing an increase in drone attacks on military bases in Iraq and Syria. A US destroyer shot down cruise missiles and drones launched by Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen that were fired toward Israel. BBG
China took a fresh step to ensure funding costs in its financial markets are sufficiently low so a tentative pickup in the nation’s economy can take hold. The PBOC handed lenders a record sum of cash via a short-term liquidity tool on Friday, as an indicator for funding costs surged to the highest since April. BBG
China has imposed export controls on graphite, a material used in electric vehicle batteries, as Beijing hits back at US-led restrictions on technology sales to Chinese companies. FT
In a war with the U.S. over Taiwan, China would need to create a global network of companies under U.S. sanctions, seize American assets within its borders, and issue gold-denominated bonds, according to Chinese government-affiliated researchers studying the Western response to Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. RTRS
BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Friday the central bank will “patiently” maintain ultra-loose monetary policy to achieve its 2% inflation target in a stable manner. RTRS
Jim Jordan is weighing his next move in the campaign for House speaker ahead of a planned third vote at 10 a.m. The Ohio Republican has lost two ballots this week. Jordan is scheduled to hold a press conference at 8 a.m. BBG
The long-awaited delivery of aid to the besieged Gaza Strip has been delayed by disagreements over how to ensure the supplies cannot be used by Hamas, according to three people familiar with the matter. FT
UBS’ next round of job cuts at Credit Suisse — targeting about 10% of support staff — is set to begin Nov. 6, Financial News reported. Compliance, risk and marketing roles may be impacted. BBG
OpenAI is in talks with investors about selling shares at a valuation of $86bn, roughly three times what it was worth six months ago, as advances in artificial intelligence transform the market’s appetite for the industry’s leading companies. FT

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

Asia-Pac stocks mostly declined after the losses on Wall St where the curve steepened as markets digested various comments from Fed Chair Powell and with sentiment pressured by the escalating geopolitical situation. ASX 200 was dragged lower with broad weakness seen across all sectors aside from energy which is kept afloat by the geopolitical risk premium uplift in oil prices. Nikkei 225 retreated at the open but then gradually pared its losses amid reports of potential temporary income tax cuts and with participants also digesting the latest Japanese CPI data which printed mostly firmer than expected but softened from the previous month’s pace. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. were subdued albeit with the downside cushioned after the PBoC’s actions in which it unsurprisingly maintained its benchmark lending rates but boosted liquidity in the interbank market with its largest-ever open market operation net daily injection.

Top Asian News

PBoC 1-Year Loan Prime Rate (Oct) 3.45% vs. Exp. 3.45% (Prev. 3.45%)
PBoC 5-Year Loan Prime Rate (Oct) 4.20% vs. Exp. 4.20% (Prev. 4.20%)
PBoC injected CNY 828bln via 7-day reverse repos with the rate kept at 1.80% for a CNY 733bln net daily injection.
BoJ Financial Stability Report: Financial system has been maintaining stability on the whole; Japanese banks have sufficient capital bases even amid global tightening of financial conditions; vigilance against tail risks continues to be warranted.
BoJ’s Ueda says the economy is recovering moderately, exports and output are moving sideways. Aim at stably and sustainably achieving 2% inflation target, by patiently maintaining current easy policy. Inflation likely to narrow the pace of its rise, then re-accelerate, reflecting changes in corporate wages and price-setting behaviour. Uncertainty surrounding the domestic economy is very high. Need to manage interest rate risk increasing, given very high uncertainty on the domestic economic/price outlook.

European bourses are in the red, Euro Stoxx 50 -1.0%, in a continuation of APAC pressure with fresh catalysts comparably light and the region on track for a week of marked downside. Sectors feature pressure in Basic Resources closely followed by Travel/Leisure given IHG after earnings, while Healthcare is bucking the trend given its defensive status and after pronounced losses on Thursday following Roche. Stateside, futures reside in the red but are yet to deviate significantly from the unchanged mark, ES -0.3%, and holding just below the 4300 figure post-Powell and ahead of Fed’s Harker & Mester alongside a handful of pre-market earnings.

Top European News

UK PM Sunak’s Conservatives lost the by-elections in Tamworth and Mid-Bedfordshire to the Labour Party where the Conservatives previously had a large majority.
BoE’s Bailey expected a “marked fall” in inflation next month, via Belfast Telegraph; September inflation figures were not far from what the BoE had expected. Core inflation fell slightly from what we had expected, this is “quite encouraging”, pay growth as measured is still well above anything consistent with the inflation target.
Riksbank sold USD 1.34bln (between October 6-13th) vs. prev. 390mln, sold EUR 80mln vs. prev. EUR 0 in its currency FX reserve hedging.

Buck betwixt and between as USTs bull-flatten amidst heightened geopolitical risk heading into the weekend, DXY underpinned within a 106.170-420 range.
Loonie firmer pre-Canadian retail sales in contrast to Pound-post weak UK consumption data, consumer sentiment and dovish BoE commentary, USD/CAD and Cable towards base of 1.3683-1.3734 and 1.2093-1.2145 respective parameters.
Euro firm vs Dollar and flanked by decent option expiry interest either side of 1.0565-95 band.
Yen on the brink of 150.00 against the Greenback after dovish BoJ rhetoric and relying on barriers, export offers and expiries to keep afloat.
Aussie and Kiwi hang on 0.6300 and 0.5800 handles vs US peer in face of rising Middle East conflict tension.
PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1793 vs exp. 7.3055 (prev. 7.1795).

Fixed Income

Debt futures decouple and diverge in volatile pre-weekend trade.
Bunds hold just above par within 127.90-52 bounds, Gilts reverse from 91.90 to 91.28 and into negative territory awaiting UK rating reviews and T-note firm between 105-28/135 parameters ahead of Fed’s Harker and Mester.

Commodities

Crude futures are on a firmer footing in a continuation of the geopolitically induced gains seen after the benchmarks settled higher by USD 1.10/bbl and USD 0.88/bbl respectively.
Currently, WTI Dec’23 hovers around USD 85.50/bbl (in a USD 88.88-89.60/bbl range) and Brent edges towards USD 93.50/bbl (in a USD 92.78-93.46/bbl range.)
Spot gold/silver remain firmer going into a weekend with geopolitical tensions/risk high, XAU at highs of USD 1985/oz. Conversely, the downbeat risk tone and poor APAC performance have dented base metals with LME Copper near lows just above USD 7.9k/T.
US and EU reportedly stalled on a steel accord although both sides are seeking a deal to avoid the return of Trump-era levies, according to Bloomberg.

Geopolitics

US President Biden said they are facing an inflection point in history and the US is pursuing every avenue to bring hostages home, while he added the assault on Israel echoes the brutality inflicted on Ukraine and that Hamas and Putin share a want to annihilate neighbouring democracies. Furthermore, Biden said making sure Israel and Ukraine succeed is vital for US national security and they will continue to hold Iran accountable, while he confirmed he is sending an urgent budget request to Congress today.
US President Biden’s supplemental spending request to Congress will include USD 60bln for Ukraine, USD 14bln for Israel, USD 10bln for humanitarian aid, USD 14bln for border security and USD 7bln for the Indo-Pacific, according to sources cited by Reuters.
EU Commission President von der Leyen said 93% of Hamas’s equipment comes from Iran and it is important to step up sanctions on Iran and crackdown on evasion, while she added that Western sanctions on Russia are crippling the economy but ongoing pressure is necessary.
China’s Middle East envoy met with the Russian President’s Special Representative for Middle East and African Countries on Thursday and said China is saddened by the large number of civilian casualties from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. China’s envoy added that China and Russia share the same position on the Palestinian issue and China is ready to maintain communication and coordination with Russia in order to cool down the situation.
North Korean leader Kim met with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and expressed resolve to fulfil commitments made at the summit with Russian President Putin, while they discussed expanding cooperation to actively respond to regional and global issues. It was also reported that North Korea said it has already enacted action plans to be triggered when signs of an imminent nuclear attack are detected, according to KCNA.

US Event Calendar

04:00: Bloomberg Oct. United States Economic Survey
Oct. 20-Oct. 23: Sept. Monthly Budget Statement, est. -$166b, prior -$429.8b

Fed speakers

09:00: Fed’s Harker Speaks on Economic Outlook
12:15: Fed’s Mester Speaks at Manhattan Institute for Policy Research

DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

Not long after I send this I’m off to a Center Parcs for an activity weekend with the family. The kids are incredibly excited. My wife is pretty excited. I am considerably less so and will have to tolerate doing things such as climbing up high above the ground to the tree canopies on dodgy rope bridges with the risk of having to do a zip wire across a lake to get back down to earth.

Markets have been sliding down a zip wire of their own over the last 24 hours, as the confluence of uncertain forces currently impacting markets continued to linger. 10yr US yields closed around a basis point off 5%, a level we haven’t breached since 2007 and were up +7.5bps on the day. The big story was a significant steepening encouraged by Fed Chair Powell’s remarks at the Economic Club of New York. 30yr US yields rose +11.5bps on the day (+12bps after Powell) and 2yr yields fell -6.3bps (-7bps after Powell), leading to the sharpest 2s30s steepening since the March banking stress. And the 2s10s slope rose +13.7ps to -17.2bps, its highest since September 2022 and a long way from the -46bps we were last Thursday. There has been a bit of a correction this morning in Asia as 2, 10 and 30yr US yields are down -1.2bps, -5.1bps and -4.8bps, respectively. So volatile markets.

In the speech on the economic outlook, Powell said that they were “proceeding carefully”, and explicitly nodded to the fact that financial conditions “have tightened significantly in recent months” which you could interpret as lessoning the need for the Fed to act. This led to an initial dovish rates reaction across the board, though there were also some more hawkish comments, including that “ Additional evidence of persistently above-trend growth, or that tightness in the labor market is no longer easing, could put further progress on inflation at risk and could warrant further tightening of monetary policy .” Powell then added a notable comment during the Q&A, saying “I think the evidence is not that policy is too tight right now”.

Overall given the huge steepening, markets must have concluded that the hints that near-term rates didn’t need to go up much more, but that policy wasn’t overly tight, perhaps suggested a “reasonably high for longer” interpretation rather than a “lets make sure we crush inflation before we do anything else” one. Or maybe I’m clutching at straws as to explaining why curves steepened so much on one relatively “to form” speech.

The reaction at the front end was clear though and market pricing for the chance of a Fed hike this year fell back to 25%, from 40% the previous day. US equities seesawed as Powell spoke, with the S&P 500 trading nearly +0.5% up on the day around the end of this speech. But renewed geopolitical concerns contributed to a pronounced weakening during the rest of the session and left it closing down -0.85% on the day. The VIX volatility index rose +2.2pts to 21.4, its highest since March. The equity decline was broad-based with the NASDAQ down -0.96%. Tech megacaps saw a contrasting performance as Netflix, the 42nd biggest company in the S&P 500 was +16.05% and Tesla, the 7th biggest was -9.30% after Wednesday evenings’ results. This morning, the S&P 500 (-0.16%) and NASDAQ 100 (-0.30%) futures continue to drift lower.

In terms of the geopolitical situation, the main rise in concerns came later in the US session amid news that a US military base in Southern Syria was targeted with a drone attack and a US Navy warship intercepted missiles near Yemen. Brent Crude prices had traded below $90 early in the day, but ended the day +0.96% higher at $92.38/bl. Overnight, oil prices are continuing to climb for the fourth consecutive day with Brent Crude up +0.93% trading above $93bbl as we go to press. Other markets also reacted to the geopolitical risks, with gold prices (+1.38%) hovering around a 21-week high and Israel’s TA-35 Index (-1.85%) seeing a noticeable underperformance .

The day’s action followed a fairly divergent set of US data yesterday. On the plus side, the weekly initial jobless claims fell beneath 200k for the first time since January, coming in at 198k (vs. 210k expected). That’s not just a blip either, as it pushed the smoother 4-week moving average down to 205.75k, which is the lowest it’s been since early February. But there were also several more negative reports. For instance, the continuing claims ticked up to 1.734m (vs. 1.706m expected), which is their highest since early July. Then we got more negative news from the housing market, as the number of existing home sales fell to a 13-year low in September, at an annualised rate of 3.96m (albeit a bit above the 3.89m expected). And lastly, the Conference Board’s Leading Index fell for an 18th consecutive month with a -0.7% decline (vs. -0.4% expected).

Ahead of Powell’s speech, European markets had lost a decent amount of ground yesterday, with the STOXX 600 (-1.19%) posting a third consecutive decline and falling to a 7-month low. That was echoed across the major indices, with losses for the FTSE 100 (-1.17%), the CAC 40 (-0.64%) and the DAX (-0.33%), whilst the Swiss Market Index (-2.13%) had its worst daily performance of 2023 so far. European sovereign bonds saw a mixed performance, with yields on 10yr bunds (+0.5bps) inching up but OATs (-0.6bps) and BTPs (-3.8bps) moving lower. Gilts underperformed, with the 10yr yield up +1.6bps and the 30yr yield (+3.5bps) closing at its highest level since 2002, at 5.07%.

Asian equity markets are extending losses this morning with the Nikkei (-0.52%), the Hang Seng (-0.34%), the CSI (-0.30%) and the Shanghai Composite (-0.27%) all lower.

Early morning data showed that Japan’s core inflation dropped below 3% for the first time in over a year on the back of easing gas and electricity prices. National core consumer prices grew +2.8% y/y in September (v/s +2.7% expected so a touch above) from +3.1% in August. At the same time, the national CPI rose +3.0% y/y in September as expected but down from +3.2%. Core ex-food and energy was a tenth higher than expected at 4.2%. Overall this data suggests the BoJ remains on course to tighten policy in the months ahead. See our Japan economists upgraded CPI forecasts after the number here.

In the US House of Representatives, there’s still no sign that any Speaker candidate can get a majority, with Republican Jim Jordan having fallen short in two votes thanks to opposition from fellow Republicans. Earlier yesterday, reporting from several outlets including the Washington Post suggested that Jordan would instead endorse a plan to temporarily empower Patrick McHenry until January 3. However, this plan appeared to be abandoned after a lengthy meeting of House Republicans. On the next steps ahead, Jordan would push for another vote (a third vote) on his candidacy to become speaker. McHenry is currently the Speaker pro tempore of the House, which is a member who acts in the Speaker’s absence when the office becomes vacant. But they don’t have the powers of a normal speaker, meaning the House is still unable to pass legislation, and there’s still an upcoming government shutdown deadline on November 17 if new funding isn’t passed.

To the day ahead now, and data releases include UK retail sales and German PPI for September. Central bank speakers include the Fed’s Harker and Mester. Lastly, earnings releases include American Express.

END

2 B) NOW NEWSQUAWK (EUROPE/REPORT)

Equities in the red while the USD struggles for direction and USD/JPY tests 150.00 – Newsquawk US Market Open

FRIDAY, OCT 20, 2023 – 06:35 AM

European bourses are following the APAC handover and reside well into the red, US futures lower but nearer unch.
USD struggling for direction in somewhat narrow parameters as USD/JPY probes 150.00 while GBP slips post-data/BoE speak
Crude and precious metals firmer with geopolitics continuing to drive action while base metals dip post-APAC trade
Bunds and USTs remain firmer with long-end yields pulling back a touch
Looking ahead, the highlights are ratings which include Moody’s on France & UK, S&P on UK, Italy, Greece & Netherlands, Fed’s Harker & Mester, Earnings from Kering, Schlumberger & American Express.

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1. Subscribe to the free premarket movers reports

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EUROPEAN TRADE

EQUITIES

European bourses are in the red, Euro Stoxx 50 -1.0%, in a continuation of APAC pressure with fresh catalysts comparably light and the region on track for a week of marked downside.
Sectors feature pressure in Basic Resources closely followed by Travel/Leisure given IHG after earnings, while Healthcare is bucking the trend given its defensive status and after pronounced losses on Thursday following Roche.
Stateside, futures reside in the red but are yet to deviate significantly from the unchanged mark, ES -0.3%, and holding just below the 4300 figure post-Powell and ahead of Fed’s Harker & Mester alongside a handful of pre-market earnings.
Click here and here for the sessions European pre-market equity newsflow, including earnings.
Click here for more details.

FX

Buck betwixt and between as USTs bull-flatten amidst heightened geopolitical risk heading into the weekend, DXY underpinned within a 106.170-420 range.
Loonie firmer pre-Canadian retail sales in contrast to Pound-post weak UK consumption data, consumer sentiment and dovish BoE commentary, USD/CAD and Cable towards base of 1.3683-1.3734 and 1.2093-1.2145 respective parameters.
Euro firm vs Dollar and flanked by decent option expiry interest either side of 1.0565-95 band.
Yen on the brink of 150.00 against the Greenback after dovish BoJ rhetoric and relying on barriers, export offers and expiries to keep afloat.
Aussie and Kiwi hang on 0.6300 and 0.5800 handles vs US peer in face of rising Middle East conflict tension.
PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1793 vs exp. 7.3055 (prev. 7.1795).
Click here for more details.
Click here for the Option Expires for the NY Cut.

FIXED INCOME

Debt futures decouple and diverge in volatile pre-weekend trade.
Bunds hold just above par within 127.90-52 bounds, Gilts reverse from 91.90 to 91.28 and into negative territory awaiting UK rating reviews and T-note firm between 105-28/135 parameters ahead of Fed’s Harker and Mester.
Click here for more details.

COMMODITIES

Crude futures are on a firmer footing in a continuation of the geopolitically induced gains seen after the benchmarks settled higher by USD 1.10/bbl and USD 0.88/bbl respectively.
Currently, WTI Dec’23 hovers around USD 85.50/bbl (in a USD 88.88-89.60/bbl range) and Brent edges towards USD 93.50/bbl (in a USD 92.78-93.46/bbl range.)
Spot gold/silver remain firmer going into a weekend with geopolitical tensions/risk high, XAU at highs of USD 1985/oz. Conversely, the downbeat risk tone and poor APAC performance have dented base metals with LME Copper near lows just above USD 7.9k/T.
US and EU reportedly stalled on a steel accord although both sides are seeking a deal to avoid the return of Trump-era levies, according to Bloomberg.
Click here for more details.

EUROPEAN HEADLINES

UK PM Sunak’s Conservatives lost the by-elections in Tamworth and Mid-Bedfordshire to the Labour Party where the Conservatives previously had a large majority.
BoE’s Bailey expected a “marked fall” in inflation next month, via Belfast Telegraph; September inflation figures were not far from what the BoE had expected. Core inflation fell slightly from what we had expected, this is “quite encouraging”, pay growth as measured is still well above anything consistent with the inflation target.
Riksbank sold USD 1.34bln (between October 6-13th) vs. prev. 390mln, sold EUR 80mln vs. prev. EUR 0 in its currency FX reserve hedging.

EUROPEAN DATA RECAP

UK GfK Consumer Confidence (Oct) -30.0 vs. Exp. -20.0 (Prev. -21.0)
UK Retail Sales MM (Sep) -0.9% vs. Exp. -0.2% (Prev. 0.4%); YY (Sep) -1.0% vs. Exp. -0.1% (Prev. -1.4%, Rev. -1.3%)

NOTABLE US HEADLINES

Fed’s Logan (voter) has seen welcome progress on inflation but it is still too high and she is not yet convinced they are moving to 2% inflation, while she added the economy continues to outperform and labour markets are still tight. Logan said it is important to have restrictive financial conditions broadly speaking and the Fed has time to watch the economy and markets before deciding on monetary policy. Furthermore, she said some part of the bond yield rise is tied to term premiums and some part of the rise is also tied to the strength of economic data, as well as noted that the persistent rise in bond yields could mitigate the need for Fed rate hikes.
Fed’s Bostic (non–voter) said cooling inflation remains the Fed’s main mission, while he added they have not seen a wage-price spiral take place and that wages are a lagging indicator in the current economy. Furthermore, he believes the Fed can control inflation without causing large damage to the job market.
US House is to vote again on GOP Rep. Jordan’s speaker bid at 10:00EST on Friday, according to a Jordan staffer.

GEOPOLITICS

US President Biden said they are facing an inflection point in history and the US is pursuing every avenue to bring hostages home, while he added the assault on Israel echoes the brutality inflicted on Ukraine and that Hamas and Putin share a want to annihilate neighbouring democracies. Furthermore, Biden said making sure Israel and Ukraine succeed is vital for US national security and they will continue to hold Iran accountable, while he confirmed he is sending an urgent budget request to Congress today.
US President Biden’s supplemental spending request to Congress will include USD 60bln for Ukraine, USD 14bln for Israel, USD 10bln for humanitarian aid, USD 14bln for border security and USD 7bln for the Indo-Pacific, according to sources cited by Reuters.
EU Commission President von der Leyen said 93% of Hamas’s equipment comes from Iran and it is important to step up sanctions on Iran and crackdown on evasion, while she added that Western sanctions on Russia are crippling the economy but ongoing pressure is necessary.
China’s Middle East envoy met with the Russian President’s Special Representative for Middle East and African Countries on Thursday and said China is saddened by the large number of civilian casualties from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. China’s envoy added that China and Russia share the same position on the Palestinian issue and China is ready to maintain communication and coordination with Russia in order to cool down the situation.
North Korean leader Kim met with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and expressed resolve to fulfil commitments made at the summit with Russian President Putin, while they discussed expanding cooperation to actively respond to regional and global issues. It was also reported that North Korea said it has already enacted action plans to be triggered when signs of an imminent nuclear attack are detected, according to KCNA.

CRYPTO

Bitcoin convincingly broke above the USD 29k mark and has continued to climb to within relative proximity of the USD 30k handle, though the move has currently stalled/paused for breath around the USD 29.85k current session high. Action which takes BTC to a fresh WTD peak and to levels not seen since early August.
Coinbase’s (COIN) legal officer Grewal said he is confident that the US SEC will approve a US Bitcoin ETF, via CNBC; adding, it is likely the approval will be “soon”.

APAC TRADE

APAC stocks mostly declined after the losses on Wall St where the curve steepened as markets digested various comments from Fed Chair Powell and with sentiment pressured by the escalating geopolitical situation.
ASX 200 was dragged lower with broad weakness seen across all sectors aside from energy which is kept afloat by the geopolitical risk premium uplift in oil prices.
Nikkei 225 retreated at the open but then gradually pared its losses amid reports of potential temporary income tax cuts and with participants also digesting the latest Japanese CPI data which printed mostly firmer than expected but softened from the previous month’s pace.
Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. were subdued albeit with the downside cushioned after the PBoC’s actions in which it unsurprisingly maintained its benchmark lending rates but boosted liquidity in the interbank market with its largest-ever open market operation net daily injection.

NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES

PBoC 1-Year Loan Prime Rate (Oct) 3.45% vs. Exp. 3.45% (Prev. 3.45%)
PBoC 5-Year Loan Prime Rate (Oct) 4.20% vs. Exp. 4.20% (Prev. 4.20%)
PBoC injected CNY 828bln via 7-day reverse repos with the rate kept at 1.80% for a CNY 733bln net daily injection.
BoJ Financial Stability Report: Financial system has been maintaining stability on the whole; Japanese banks have sufficient capital bases even amid global tightening of financial conditions; vigilance against tail risks continues to be warranted.
BoJ’s Ueda says the economy is recovering moderately, exports and output are moving sideways. Aim at stably and sustainably achieving 2% inflation target, by patiently maintaining current easy policy. Inflation likely to narrow the pace of its rise, then re-accelerate, reflecting changes in corporate wages and price-setting behaviour. Uncertainty surrounding the domestic economy is very high. Need to manage interest rate risk increasing, given very high uncertainty on the domestic economic/price outlook.

DATA RECAP

Japanese National CPI YY (Sep) 3.0% vs. Exp. 3.0% (Prev. 3.2%); Ex. Fresh Food YY (Sep) 2.8% vs. Exp. 2.7% (Prev. 3.1%)
Japanese National CPI Ex. Fresh Food & Energy YY (Sep) 4.2% vs. Exp. 4.1% (Prev. 4.3%)
New Zealand Trade Balance (NZD)(Sep) -2329.0M (Prev. -2291.0M, Rev. -2273M)
New Zealand Exports (NZD)(Sep) 4.87B (Prev. 4.99B, Rev. 4.97B); Imports (NZD)(Sep) 7.2B (Prev. 7.28B, Rev. 7.24B)

2 c. ASIAN AFFAIRS

FRIDAY MORNING/THURSDAY NIGHT

2 d./NORTH KOREA/ SOUTH KOREA/

//NORTH KOREA/

END

2e) JAPAN

JAPAN/

end

JAPAN

end

3 CHINA

CHINA/USA

China liquidated the most USA treasuries (bonds) in 4 years to prop up the plunging yuan. This is not good for the dollar

(zerohedge)

China Liquidated The Most US Securities In Four Years To Prop Up Plunging Yuan

THURSDAY, OCT 19, 2023 – 11:00 PM

Yesterday, when looking at the latest TIC data, we made a modest proposal: the reason why yields are blowing out has nothing to do with the contrived concept of “term premium”, nothing to do with some ridiculous myth that Bidenomics has decoupled the US from the rest of the world, which now finds itself in some Golden Age of economic growth (where mortgages are now 8% and all credit cards are maxed out), and everything to do with aggressive selling by a handful of key entities, the number one being China which has sold its Treasury holdings in 20 of the past 22 months…

… and the second one being foreign central banks, which after five months of purchases, dumped the most treasuries since the start of the year…

… just as 10Y yields blew out.

But it turns out there was much more, because while we were focusing on just the change in Chinese treasuries, we should have been looking at the bigger picture. And what it reveals, as Bloomberg wrote this morning, is that Chinese investors offloaded the most US bonds and stocks in four years in August, further fueling speculation Beijing is liquidating FX reserves to defend a weakening yuan, or for the same reasons Russia liquidated its own Treasury holdings in 2018: it knew, correctly, that the dollar would be weaponized against it… and if China has any intention to anex Taiwan in the future, why wouldn’t it be shifting away from US Treasury holdings? After all, it saw how quickly Russia would be cut off from SWIFT and the broader dollar regime.

In any case, as the chart below shows, while the bulk of the $21.2 billion of the August sales were in Treasuries and US equities, the Asian nation also cut holdings of agency debt (debunking a widespread if erroneous theory that China is not selling TSYs).

To be sure, an FX liquidation to prop up the currency would make perfect sense: in August, the onshore yuan tumbled to its lowest against the dollar since November, prompting Beijing to tell state-owned banks to step up intervention in the currency market (recall this post from August: “China Launches War On Yuan Bears With 1000+ pip Fixing Gap Vs Estimates“)

“This could be to liquidate some bond holdings to obtain US dollar cash in case it is needed later to defend the yuan via intervention operations,” said Gareth Berry, a currency and rates strategist at Macquarie Group Ltd. in Singapore. “The same reason may go for why they sold stocks.”

In addition to the $14.9BN in US TSY solds in August, the most since May 2022, Chinese investors also sold a record $5.1 billion of US stocks in August, the data showed; incidentally that’s the month that the S&P swooned after hitting a 2023 high just after the Fed’s “final rate hike” FOMC meeting in late July.

While Chinese funds have been selling down holdings in Treasuries this year, they were buying a roughly comparable amount of US agency bonds. As such, the net sale of both types of bonds in August will raise eyebrows for investors tracking demand for US debt.

And, as we noted yesterday, it’s not just China: Japanese investors have also been paring their holdings of US securities, with sales of corporate bonds hitting a record.

“I suspect that Japan investors bought US corporate bonds over the past two years to obtain a yield pick-up over Treasuries,” said Macquarie’s Berry. “Now that Treasury yields have risen so much, they can feel more comfortable rotating back the other way.”

end

CHINA/WEST

this will hurt! EV stocks are hit hard after China curbs graphite exports

(zerohedge)

EV Stocks Slide After China Curbs Graphite Exports In Latest Trade Spat

FRIDAY, OCT 20, 2023 – 10:25 AM

In a clear retaliation at the west for ratcheting sanctions on chip exports, China, the world’s largest producer and supplier of graphite, said it will require export permits for some graphite products as of December 1 as it seeks to protect its national security, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Friday.

Graphite and graphite products are critical for the manufacturing of any electric vehicle battery, and China is the dominant player in the market. Shares of Tesla, Rivian, Nikola, VinFast and Fisker are lower in premarket trading

As of December 1, exporters of high-purity, high-hardness, and high-intensity synthetic graphite material, as well as exporters of natural flake graphite and its products, will have to apply for permits to ship those products out of China.

As Oilprice notes, the move to require permits from exporters to export two types of graphite is seen as China looking to respond to the recent restrictions and investigations by Western governments of Chinese products and manufacturing practices, even though the country’s commerce ministry said it was not targeting any particular country with the move.

The restriction on exports of graphite products is the latest Chinese attempt to exert its market influence to control the supply of critical minerals.

The requirement for graphite export permits is “conducive to ensuring the security and stability of the global supply chain and industrial chain, and conducive to better safeguarding national security and interests,” the Chinese ministry said, as quoted by Reuters.

Earlier this year, China sent shockwaves through the supply chain and chip markets after announcing export controls on two rare earth metals, gallium and germanium.

The technology and critical metals trade war has escalated since the summer.

Earlier this month, the European Commission launched an anti-subsidy investigation into the imports of EVs from China, to determine whether BEV value chains in China benefit from illegal subsidies and whether this subsidization causes or threatens to cause economic injury to EU producers.

And this week, the U.S. said it would ban the sale of more advanced AI chips to China.

Limited diversification of supply could present a challenge to the global critical minerals industry, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned in a report earlier this year. China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Indonesia continue to dominate a large part of the critical raw material supply, while China is a dominant player in refining operations, the IEA noted.

CHINA/RUSSIA

the war with Russia has brought China and Russia closer than ever. The worst plunder in USA history.

(Lei/Bloomberg)

Xi, Putin Cement Economic Ties For Decades To Come

FRIDAY, OCT 20, 2023 – 07:40 AM

By George Lei and Jacob Gu, Bloomberg Markets Live reporters and analysts

Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to China for the Belt-and-Road Forum this week in a rare trip abroad after an arrest warrant was issued against him by the International Criminal Court. While the visit is full of political symbolism, it’s also taking place in the context of booming trade links between the two countries.

Twenty months into the Ukraine war, Beijing and its northern neighbor have become more economically entwined than ever before. The trend looks inevitable in the years — if not decades — to come, despite some degree of reservation on the part of Moscow.

Prior to the war in Ukraine, China’s share of Russian exports had fluctuated in the 10-20% range for several years. Since February 2022, the share has more than doubled as Western sanctions crippled Russian commodity exports and multinational companies decamped en masse. China’s purchase of Russian goods surged in August by the most ever in dollar terms, with the country now accounting for roughly one-third of Russia’s merchandise exports. The interconnectedness, however, is still dwarfed by trade relationships in North America: Canada sends roughly half its exports to the US and the number is over 80% for Mexico.

The deepening ties are a winning proposition for China, according to Philipp Ivanov, a China specialist and senior fellow at the Asia Society in New York. Beijing gets access to Russian commodities and agricultural products at discounted prices while Chinese brands such as Huawei, whose operations are significantly curtailed in the West, expand their presence in a large market without significant competition. “The trend started well before the war and has accelerated afterward,” Ivanov said.

“A new Russia-China trade axis is forming,” Robin Brooks, chief economist at the Institute of International Finance, tweeted early this week, citing a chart that shows a divergence in Chinese export growth between Russia and advanced economies. Even though the Kremlin understands the predicament, it doesn’t have a lot of choices with deepening economic dependency on Beijing, Ivanov noted.

As of July, the Chinese currency accounted for over one-third of Russian imports and one-quarter of exports, according to central bank data. “Virtually all purchases by China of Russian oil, coal and metals are now settled in the yuan,” said Ivanov, who believes that even when the Ukraine war ends and sanctions are lifted, “the lessons learned from the economic blockade will endure among Russian policymakers.” With its pile of yuan cash, Russia has a wide plethora of Made-in-China products to choose from. That’s in stark contrast to trade with India, which is using its own currency to pay for Russian oil and leaving Moscow with billions of excess rupees with nowhere to spend.

Cooperation between the two is not always smooth. On Wednesday, President Xi pushed his Russian counterpart for a breakthrough in a new natural gas pipeline between both countries and Mongolia, seeking “substantial progress” as soon as possible. It appears like a win-win solution that helps China diversify its energy sources and lets Russia redirect natural gas from fields that used to feed Europe. Despite blessings from the very top, few details on the new pipeline emerged on Thursday as state-owned energy companies of the two nations signed a deal to boost gas supplies.

Still, the sheer size of China and demand for Russian resources means Beijing will remain an attractive market for Russia “for decades to come” and trade settlement in the yuan will likely stay in place, according to Asia Society’s Ivanov.

4.EUROPEAN AFFAIRS//UK /SCANDINAVIAN AFFAIRS

EUROPE/coal!

The switching of gas to coal in Europe has not happened as of yet and that causes coal imports to plummet. Coal prices are falling which is directly due to low demand

(OilPrice.com)

European Coal Imports Set To Plummet By 60% In October

FRIDAY, OCT 20, 2023 – 03:30 AM

Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,

European thermal coal imports are expected to dip this month by 60% compared to October 2022, due to low demand and ample stocks, according to preliminary data from Kpler cited by Montel on Thursday.

Total imports by the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, and France are estimated to be around 2 million tons in October, down by 2.8 million tons compared to the same month of 2022, per the preliminary data from Kpler.

Ample thermal coal inventories and weak demand ahead of the peak winter heating season have depressed prices in recent months and purchases and imports into Europe have been in small quantities.

Even with low coal prices and rising natural gas prices in Europe, the fuel-switching to coal has not happened yet, a trader with a German company told Montel.

The share of coal in Europe’s power generation has been declining in recent years, with many countries pledging to phase out unabated coal use.

But last year’s energy and gas crisis has been keeping utilities and governments on edge and ready to have mothballed coal-fired power plants on stand-by in the coldest winter days to ensure the security of electricity supply.

Earlier this month, Germany’s government said it was bringing back online several coal-fired units for this winter in an attempt to save natural gas and avoid power supply shortfalls.

Several coal-fired blocks operated by RWE and LEAG at their Niederaußem, Neurath, and Jaenschwalde power plants will be temporarily reactivated until March 2024 as a precautionary measure to safeguard electricity supply in the coming winter, the Economy and Climate Action Ministry said, referring to a government decision to bring the coal-fired units online again.

Those coal units were already operational during the 2022/2023 winter when Germany was shocked into a severely reduced gas supply with the end of Russian pipeline deliveries. The backup coal capacity was put on stand-by this summer until the government now decided to reactivate them for the coming winter.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

end

EUROPE/SOLAR POWER STOCKS CRASH DUE TO LACK OF DEMAND OF EQUIPMENT.

Renewables are getting whacked today.

(zerohedge)

Lights Out: Solar Power Stocks Crash After Demand Warning Across Europe

FRIDAY, OCT 20, 2023 – 08:55 AM

The renewable energy meltdown continues as solar power company stocks tumbled on Friday morning after solar equipment maker SolarEdge Technologies warned of sliding European demand.

“During the second part of the third quarter of 2023, we experienced substantial unexpected cancellations and pushouts of existing backlog from our European distributors,” said SolarEdge CEO Zvi Lando in a statement.

Lando said, “We attribute these cancellations and pushouts to higher-than-expected inventory in the channels and slower-than-expected installation rates. In particular, installation rates for the third quarter were much slower at the end of the summer and in September where traditionally there is a rise in installation rates.”

SolarEdge also announced preliminary third-quarter results, with third-quarter revenues ranging from $720 million to $730 million, compared to the previous expectation of $880 million to $920 million.

Shares of SolarEdge crashed as much as 28% in premarket trading in New York. Also, Competitor Enphase Energy plunged 17%, Sunrun -9%, and SunPower -8%.

Large short in SolarEdge.

Here’s what Wall Street analysts are saying about SolarEdge’s dismal outlook (list courtesy via Bloomberg):

Goldman Sachs (cut to neutral from buy; PT to $131 from $254)

Downgrade reflects SolarEdge’s negative pre-announcement on “significantly weaker installation rates”

“After a second straight disappointing quarter of results/guidance, we find it hard to defend the stock”

Deutsche Bank analyst Corinne Blanchard

Cut the recommendation on SolarEdge to hold

Trimming numbers for most solar companies, as expects further downside with sluggish demand in the US and European residential market

Also downgrades Sunrun and Sunnova recommendations to hold

BMO analyst Ameet Thakkar (outperform, PT $216)

Expected for a negative update this quarter but SolarEdge’s comments suggest 4Q forecast “will be materially lower than this”

The stock should be “under significant pressure”

Truist Securities analyst Jordan Levy (buy, PT $180)

SolarEdge’s 3Q outlook cut reflects challenges beyond the US market

The company cut its guidance as European residential solar markets weakened during the quarter

Solar demand has also slid in the US due to high-interest rates and less favorable state renewable policies.

We’ve been keeping an eye on the financial crisis brewing in the offshore wind industry.

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

The entire energy transition to renewables is cracking and never was sustainable. And queue more spending from the White House to prop up the failing industry.

5 RUSSIA//UKRAINE AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

ISRAEL/HAMAS/GAZA/THURSDAY NIGHT

Looks like we have a 5 frontal attack on Israel: from Yemen, West Bank, Lebanon, Gaza and Syria.

(zerohedge)

New Rocket Attacks In Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen Suggest Prospect For Regional Conflagration Growing

THURSDAY, OCT 19, 2023 – 05:35 PM

Update(1735ET): Israeli media is reporting that the United States is currently in talks to establish ‘safe zones’ in Gaza after it was widely reported that the IDF has been given the green light by the Netanyahu government to go into the Gaza Strip. There are also emerging reports that an Orthodox Church in Gaza has suffered attack by an Israeli strike, via Times of Israel:

The Hamas-controlled interior ministry says several displaced people who had taken shelter at a church compound in the Gaza Strip have been killed and injured in an Israeli strike.

There was no immediate comment from the IDF, which tells AFP it is looking into the potential strike.

The strike left a “large number of martyrs and injured” at the compound of a Greek Orthodox church, the ministry says.

Witnesses tell AFP the strike appears to have been aimed at a target close to the place of worship where many Gaza residents have taken refuge.

Additionally, Russia has said it is moving more military assets to its bases in Syria:

Moody’s has meanwhile said Israel is under review and could soon be downgraded:

The Moody’s international credit rating agency announces that it is reviewing Israel for a possible downgrade of its A1 credit rating.

Moody’s says the review has been “triggered by the unexpected and violent conflict between Israel and Hamas.”

It notes that while Israel has “proven resilient” in past conflicts, the current level of violence “raises the possibility of longer lasting and material credit impact.”

The Pentagon has confirmed that American troops suffered injuries during the last 24 hours of drone and rocket attacks against bases in Iraq and Syria:

Two drones targeted a base in western Iraq used by U.S. forces, and one drone targeted a base in northern Iraq. U.S. forces intercepted all three, destroying two but only damaging the third, which led to minor injuries among coalition forces at the western base, according to a statement Wednesday by U.S. Central Command.

“In this moment of heightened alert, we are vigilantly monitoring the situation in Iraq and the region. U.S. forces will defend U.S. and coalition forces against any threat,” Central Command said in the release.

On Thursday, several drones and rockets also targeted US troops locations in Deir Ezzor Syria and Al-Tanf.

* * *

Update(1458ET): A huge escalation from Iran-linked militants, just after international headlines reported Israel’s military has been given the “green light” to enter Gaza:

According to CNN, a U.S. Navy vessel operating in the Middle East region intercepted multiple missiles launched from Yemen. A U.S. official says the missiles were launched from the Iran-backed Houthi militant group.

According to more from ABC’s senior Pentagon correspondent, US officials confirm to ABC “the destroyer USS Carney shot down multiple Houthi missiles last night. They were NOT aimed at the ship, but headed in a northerly direction.” There’s speculation that they may have been fired toward Israel in solidarity with Gaza. Israel media is reporting:

Israel believes that the missiles launched from Yemen and intercepted by a US warship today were aimed at Israel – Channel 13

The USS Carney (DDG-64) a Arleigh Burke-Class Destroyer with the U.S. Navy had 3 Missiles launched at it earlier today while in the Red Sea off the Coast of Yemen with all Missiles being Intercepted; the Missiles are believed to have been launched by the “Houthi” Terrorist Group… pic.twitter.com/5pJ5KPXTrF— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) October 19, 2023

Oil surged as the report hit headlines…

According to geopolitical analyst Jason Brodsky, this means Iranian-backed ‘resistance’ movements are achieving “unification of the fronts: first Gaza, then skirmishes from Hezbollah, Iraq, Syria, now Yemen.”

* * *

With the whole region still on edge due to fast moving events in Gaza and on the Lebanese border, US troops in Syria have again come under attack, this time by drones which may have caused injuries.

Drones were sent, allegedly by “Iran-linked” paramilitary groups, against an oil facility in eastern Syria housing American troops, as well as against a US military outpost in the southern desert near Iraq.US Army file image

Al-Tanf base, which is the Pentagon’s lone outpost in the south along the Iraq border, was the separate base that came under attack, per a Beirut-based news source:

According to informed sources who spoke with Al-Mayadeen, three drones were able to fly above the Al-Tanf base at the Syrian-Iraqi-Jordanian border and launch several successful airstrikes.

“The attack led to a major alert within [Al-Tanf], with continuous flights of military aircraft and helicopters in the area,” Al-Mayadeen reported.

Sources within the US-led coalition that spoke with Iraq’s Shafaq News on Wednesday claimed that the occupation forces “successfully intercepted and downed two of the drones, but the third managed to target the base.”

The US occupation base at Conoco oil field in Deir Ezzor governorate was also hit by multiple rockets.

As of Thursday Israel’s military has reportedly been given the “green light” to enter Gaza…

The Israeli military has a “green light” to move into Gaza whenever it’s ready, a member of the country’s security cabinet told ABC News.

Hostages and civilian casualties will be secondary to destroying Hamas, Economy Minister Nir Barakat told ABC News, “even if it takes a year.”

And more dire threats from Israeli officials:

Asked about the miles of tunnels Hamas has built under Gaza, he said they’d become the “world’s biggest cemetery.” Hamas has claimed to be holding some or all of the 203 Israeli hostages it’s taken within that vast network.

“We shall do all efforts to bring our hostages, to bring our hostages [back] alive…” he said, but the “first and last priority” is destroying Hamas.

In the overnight hours, exchanges of fire between the Syrian Army or paramilitaries and Israel were observed in the south. “Sounds of explosions rang out in the province of Quneitra after an Israeli strike against a Syrian army position,” said a regional monitor.

The IDF has also in the last several hours affirmed it is striking against “terrorist positions” of Hezbollah in the region.

Some regional correspondents have said missiles were launched against US bases in Syria as well…

The US military has confirmed its bases in Syria have come under attack, after the day prior US positions in Iraq were attacked as well. Casualties or officials details have remained unclear.

Targeting American troops in Syria and Iraq shows just how dangerous things could rapidly get for Pentagon forces in the region. If Hezbollah and Israel enter full war along the border, these American bases would likely suffer much bigger attacks.

end

ISRAEL/GAZA/HAMAS//FRIDAY AFTERNOON

This will be a multipronged war on many fronts. If Hezbollah fires long range missiles towards Tel Aviv and Jerusalem do not be shocked if Israel uses tactical nukes on them.

(zerohedge)

Israel Amassing Fleets Of Tanks On Northern Border Of Gaza – Ground Invasion Appears Imminent

FRIDAY, OCT 20, 2023 – 01:20 PM

Numerous reports from both mainstream and independent sources confirm that Israel has positioned multiple fleets of tanks and other weaponry on the northern border of Gaza in the past 24 hours in what appears to be preparation for an imminent ground offensive. The tanks are reportedly outfitted with modifications to help counter low-cost but effective rocket and drone attacks.

The delay of what many thought would be a swift ground invasion by Israel in response to the terror attacks on civilian settlements in the south may have been due to Joe Biden’s recent visit with Benjamin Netanyahu, in which Biden admitted in passing that “Americans are worried.” Though, in his mumbling he did not accurately convey why.

With the immense potential for regional escalation the war could very well expand to Lebanon, Iran, Syria and a host of other nations, and draw American troops into a conflict that has nothing to do with the interests of the American public.

The position of the weaponry indicates a north to south sweep of Gaza might be the intended tactic. A wide cast net using ground units to roll like a wave through the area is what some in the strategic community would call “mowing the grass,” as it will surely make contact with and kill numerous Hamas fighters, but also could lead to a number of civilian casualties. The implication being that the problem will only “grow back” in a few years time.

This theory depends on the assumption, though, that the Israeli government intends to allow Palestinian settlements to remain in Gaza. There is the chance that the goal will be the complete removal of all Palestinian presence, creating a historic refugee crisis (which will probably be dumped in the lap of the American public). This may be why so many political representatives in the US have been laying the PR groundwork for the possible importation of millions of Palestinians in the past week.

Some skeptics argue that the positioning of forces in the north is a ploy by Israel and that there will be no ground attack in the near term. However, more Israeli tanks have also been identified being transported toward the Jordanian border in the past day.

This may be part of a multiprong offensive, or merely a defensive measure to prevent a response from troops moving through Lebanon or Syria towards the Jordanian border while the attack on Gaza commences. Mass rallies in favor of Palestinians and Hamas have been common in Jordan ever since Hamas fighters attacked Israel.

It would seem that a wider war in the Middle East may now be unavoidable.

END

ISRAEL/GAZA/QATAR/

Al Jazeera shut down in Israel GAZA and West Bank

(zerohedge)

Israel Moves To Shut Down Al Jazeera Over Gaza Coverage

FRIDAY, OCT 20, 2023 – 02:05 PM

The major Qatari-based news channel Al Jazeera is about to be shut down in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank by Israeli authorities. It has been accused of “helping Hamas” and encouraging violence against Israel. The ban is likely to include a raid on its offices in Israel.

The Israeli government on Friday approved “emergency regulations” giving it the power to shut down foreign news agencies which are deemed to be acting against the “security of the state”. AP file image

The first target for shutdown is believed to be Al Jazeera, given its staunchly pro-Palestinian news coverage, which has also rejected Israel’s denial of the Al Ahli Arab Hospital bombing and mass casualties. Media outlets ranging from i24 News to Times of Israel are reporting that Al Jazeera is the prime target.

The channel is the largest Arabic language news outlet in the world, and also is a prime global source for English-language updates from within Gaza.

Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi has emphasized that Israel was at war on “land, in the air, at sea, and on the public diplomacy front”.

According to The Times of Israel, “The regulations are retroactive, meaning broadcasts by the Qatari network since the war started can now be used as the basis for a decision to shut down the staunchly pro-Palestinian news outlet’s local branch.”

Karhi called out the major Middle East news outlet by name in his fresh comments. “We will not allow in any way broadcasts that harm the security of the state… The broadcasts and reports of Al Jazeera constitute incitement against Israel, help Hamas-ISIS and the terror organizations with their propaganda, and encourage violence against Israel.”

Israel’s communications and defense ministers have reportedly agreed to the following sweeping emergency powers:

Israel will be able to order TV providers to stop broadcasting the news outlet in question;
close its offices in Israel, seize its equipment, and
shut down its website or restrict access to its website, depending on the location of its server.

Al Jazeera has frequently alleged that Israel’s military targets its correspondents in the field, as was the case with slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who had been shot in the head by Israeli forces while covering a raid on Jenin in the West Bank in May 2022.

Some online commentators have noticed the parallels with the Zelensky government in Ukraine, who early in the war with Russia moved strongly against media outlets deemed as ‘opposition’ or ‘pro-Russian’. This included a crackdown on Russian-speaking media in general, despite a huge portion of Ukrainian citizens speaking Russian as either a first or second language.

Al Jazeera’s live, English-language broadcasts can be accessed via the web.

END

Somebody has a brain: USA diverts ammunition initially headed for Ukraine to Israel

(zerohedge)

US Diverts Ammunition For Ukraine To Israel In Yet Another Blow To Zelensky

FRIDAY, OCT 20, 2023 – 09:35 AM

Just ahead of President Biden’s Thursday night speech wherein he made the case for the US keeping up funding both for Ukraine and Israel as it launches its war in Gaza, Axios issued a report detailing that Washington is preparing to divert ammunition meant for Kiev to the Israelis.

“The Pentagon plans to send Israel tens of thousands of 155mm artillery shells that had been destined for Ukraine from U.S. emergency stocks several months ago, three Israeli officials with knowledge of the situation tell Axios,” journalist Barak Ravid wrote.Image via Kyiv Post

These 155mm artillery shells, which Ukraine has been badly in need of given Russian artillery supplies have been steady and far superior, will be shipped “in the coming weeks” instead to Israel in order to fill the depleted emergency stocks the US keeps there.

Under a long-standing bilateral agreement, the Pentagon stores ammunition on Israeli soil. While it belongs to and is overseen by the US military, part of the agreement is that Israel’s Armed Forces (IDF) can access it under US approval in a war scenario.

Starting at some point in late 2022, these emergency stockpiles of artillery shells held in Israel began being sent to Ukraine. But now, with the Gaza war entering full swing, Israel will get the extra supplies instead.

This move without doubt is yet another blow to the Zelensky government, which has retreated from the media spotlight ever since the Hamas terror attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. International press has focused on 24/7 Israel-Gaza coverage. A key part of Ukraine’s strategy of keeping up constant support, which has included tens of billions in aid flowing in from the West, has been to keep Zelensky and the Ukrainian cause center stage in terms of global awareness. Now those days appear over.

Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder sought to defend the move, stressing “we can support both Ukraine and Israel in terms of their defensive needs,” in line with other top US officials.

“We are engaged in comprehensive coordination across the Department of Defense,” an unnamed US defense official had told Axios. “This includes working closely with our combatant commands to ascertain which munitions and equipment from the U.S. inventory can be quickly made available for Israel’s needs.”

Biden’s Thursday night speech sought to continue the theme, which had also been laid out earlier this month by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Biden also said that both Putin and Hamas want “annihilation”. According to a summary of Biden’s main points:

Biden said he will ask Congress on Friday to authorize more spending for the Ukraine war and “unprecedented” military aid for Israel. Media reports say the request will be for about $100 billion and will also include aid for Taiwan, which China will view as highly provocative, and funding for border security.

About $60 billion is expected to be for Ukraine as the White House wants to pass a spending package on the war that will last through the 2024 election. Israel is set to receive about $10 billion in military aid, and the rest will go toward the border, Taiwan, and potentially other areas in the Asia Pacific.

In his speech, President Biden attempted to draw comparisons between Hamas and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they share this in common: they both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy, completely annihilate it,” he said.

Via AFP

But no matter Biden’s superficial attempts to draw comparisons between the two conflicts and how it’s somehow America’s ‘duty’ to jump into supporting both wars, Ukraine is clearly no longer the number one priority for US defense planners.

Already, poll after poll has shown the American public to be “war-fatigued” as well. Popular support for funding Kiev has been waning, also in Europe. The Pentagon itself has lately admitted that money to Ukraine will not be “indefinite”.

end

Special thanks to Chris Powell for sending this to us;

Hamas torture confirmed as Israeli forensics institute identifies victims

Forensic pathologists, including Israeli staffers as well as volunteers from abroad, were visibly disturbed by the evidence before them.

By AARON PORIS/THE MEDIA LINEOCTOBER 20, 2023 07:34Updated: OCTOBER 20, 2023 14:48

Dr. Nurit Bublil, head of the DNA laboratory in Israel’s National Center for Forensic Medicine, stands next to a blood-stained baby’s mattress, Oct. 16, 2023(photo credit: Aaron Poris/The Media Line)

Stifling the urge to retch became a difficult task as I walked through the lower levels of Israel’s National Center of Forensic Medicine (Abu Kabir) in Tel Aviv. The smell of rotting human remains, much of which was completely unrecognizable as human due to the brutality of the attack, was at times too much to bear.

For more stories from The Media Line go to themedialine.org

In light of the growing international interest in (and denials of) the Palestinian terror group Hamas’ October 7 massacre in southern Israel, representatives of the global press were invited to see the horrors for themselves.

Forensic pathologists, including Israeli staffers as well as volunteers from abroad, were visibly disturbed by the evidence before them. Despite every effort to remain objective and detached—as called for by the profession—many broke down into tears throughout the day.

During the initial press conference, the forensics team showed images from their investigations. Among the images were those of charred hands with marks that revealed where the victims’ hands were bound behind their backs with metal wire before being burned alive.

Perhaps the most disturbing image in the slideshow was a completely charred mass of flesh, which at first glance could not be seen as ever having belonged to a human. It was only after a CT scan was done that experts could see the inhumanity of the image.Israeli soldiers remove bodies of of Israeli civilians in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, near the Israeli-Gaza border, in southern Israel, October 10, 2023. (credit: CHAIM GOLDBEG/FLASH90)

Two spinal cords—one belonging to an adult, one to someone young—a parent and child bound together by metal wires in a final embrace before being set alight.

“When you do this job downstairs, you get detached,” Dr. Chen Kugel, the head of Abu Kabir, told The Media Line. “But then you learn the stories and connect to the people. It’s hard not to feel the tragedy. It’s so big. And when I go to the Shura camp [where deceased bodies in Israel are first collected] and see containers like you’d see at the port—but they’re all full of bodies… And you hear the stories—that behind their charred bodies, something terrible happened—it’s very difficult. I’ve seen many things in my 31-year career, but the magnitude and the cruelty [here] is terrible,” Kugel added.

“The proportion of bodies we’ve received who are charred is high,” Kugel explained. “Many have gunshot wounds in their hands, showing they put their hands up to their faces in defense. Many were burned alive in their homes. … We know they were burned alive because there is soot in their trachea, their throats—meaning they were still breathing when set on fire.”

Victims likely died from carbon dioxide, soot inhalation

The single mercy, Kugel said—if there is one to be found—is that the burned victims likely died from carbon dioxide and soot inhalation before the fire killed them.

Kugel also explained that the age range of the victims spans from 3 months to 80 or 90 years old. Many bodies, including those of babies, are without heads.

Asked if they were decapitated, Kugel answered yes. Although he admits that, given the circumstances, it’s difficult to ascertain whether they were decapitated before or after death, as well as how they were beheaded, “whether cut off by knife or blown off by RPG,” he explained.

Kugel was far from the only one who got emotional when discussing the evident travesty. “We disassociate because we need to work, but from time to time it gets to you,” Dr. Nurit Bublil, head of Abu Kabir’s DNA laboratory, told The Media Line.

“Yesterday, I opened evidence from a house in a southern kibbutz, and there was a popular recipe book covered in blood. … I have this same book, and it makes you take a moment and think, it could have been my kitchen, my children, my parents, me. You can’t avoid it,” she said.

Additionally, Israel’s small population gives rise to the fact that no one is far removed from the wake of the massacre. “My sister has a close friend of hers who is still missing,” said Bublil, as she stood beside a blood-stained mattress from a baby’s crib. The DNA from the mattress will be used to try and identify a brutally disfigured and unaccounted-for infant.

“I got the message today from my neighbor,” Bublil continued. “She asked if I could help because her good friend’s husband, father, two nephews, and father-in-law’s wife were all murdered too and have yet to be identified.”

This is the crux of the forensic pathology center’s current mission in which roughly 200 experts are participating. Forensic pathologists, anthropologists, radiologists, and more from Israel as well as from the US, Switzerland, New Zealand, and elsewhere around the world have come not simply to determine the victims’ causes of death but to identify the bodies for burial.

Fighting back tears, Israeli forensic pathologist Dr. Hagar Mizrahi explained that “as you know, the Jewish people must bury their dead as soon as possible.” But as of this writing, nearly two weeks have passed since the massacre, and some 350 bodies remain unidentified. “So, the people here at Abu Kabir are doing their best to help and identify the most severe cases that arrive.”

Identifying bodies

Four places around the country are currently working to identify and release bodies for burial.

The Israel Police headquarters in Jerusalem is handling all the antemortem samples and personal items for DNA comparisons. The Israel Defense Forces is working on 1-1 DNA comparisons using their data on soldiers, including fingerprints, dental records, and DNA. In addition, Abu Kabir is working to collect DNA samples and identification for the most severe cases. It’s also where all the DNA samples from other locations come for additional testing. And the Shura camp near Ramla, in central Israel, is where all the deceased are initially collected. Shura currently has some 950 body bags in its possession.

The word “bags” is written here instead of “bodies” because it’s not clear how many victims there are within them.

“More than one person’s remains may be in a single bag,” Kugel explained, “and one person’s remains may be in multiple bags.” When looking at remains, he added, “We know there are multiple people because we see double. For example, if you see two bones from the left maxilla, then it couldn’t be from the same person.”

And in many cases, bones without so much as a speck of extractable DNA are all that’s left. For that reason, Kugel said that some victims’ families would be right to fear the worst.

“We hope that with CT and biopsies, we can bring the unidentified down to less than 200. But some people, we will never find. We will never identify them. And people need to be prepared for this.”

Speaking personally, Bublil said that she wants the world to know that “generally, Hamas enjoyed the killing.”

According to Bublil, “This was not combat, or a military conflict, or a state conflict, or a political conflict. [Hamas] enjoyed the murders so much that they did everything they could do to celebrate the killing. They celebrated burning houses with civilians inside who didn’t do anything to them. They enjoyed grabbing an 18-year-old girl from a party, a festival, dragging her to a car, and taking her to Gaza. And who knows what happened [to her] in between. They enjoyed and celebrated the death. … These are monsters. They’re not human… They weren’t merciful to anyone. No one who was alive and encountered them remained alive. No one.”

END

Two US Hostages Released For Humanitarian Reasons, Hamas Says, After Israel Tells Troops They’ll See Gaza “From The Inside”

FRIDAY, OCT 20, 2023 – 01:08 PM

Update(1308ET): With Israeli infantry and tank forces states at the border, having been given the green light to enter Gaza by the Netanyahu government, there’s been a potential breakthrough related to American hostages held by Hamas. A Hamas spokesman has announced the release of two US hostages:

The spokesman for Hamas’s military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, has said that the group has released two US captives for humanitarian reasons.

“In response to Qatari efforts, Al-Qassam Brigades released two American citizens (a mother and her daughter) for humanitarian reasons,” Abu Obaida said in a statement.

He added that the move aimed “to prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless”.

The announcement has not received immediate government confirmation from the US side. But Israeli officials appear to be confirming:

The Israeli military earlier in the day announced that it believes the majority of the some 200 hostages in Gaza are still alive. This as the defense minister also told troops massed that the border that they will soon see the Gaza Strip “from the inside”.

If the hostage release is confirmed, this could be a move by Hamas to buy more time before the large Israeli ground incursion, which is likely to result in high casualties among both sides. Meanwhile, President Biden has said Friday that the first Gaza aid trucks are likely to cross into Gaza from Egypt in the ‘next 24 to 48 hours’. Washington is also leaning on Israel to see if more hostages can be negotiated for, prior to the ground assault:

US PRESSES ISRAEL TO DELAY GAZA INVASION TO WIN HOSTAGE RELEASE

* * *

Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder sought to defend the move, stressing “we can support both Ukraine and Israel in terms of their defensive needs,” in line with other top US officials.

Biden said he will ask Congress on Friday to authorize more spending for the Ukraine war and “unprecedented” military aid for Israel. Media reports say the request will be for about $100 billion and will also include aid for Taiwan, which China will view as highly provocative, and funding for border security.

About $60 billion is expected to be for Ukraine as the White House wants to pass a spending package on the war that will last through the 2024 election. Israel is set to receive about $10 billion in military aid, and the rest will go toward the border, Taiwan, and potentially other areas in the Asia Pacific.

In his speech, President Biden attempted to draw comparisons between Hamas and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they share this in common: they both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy, completely annihilate it,” he said.

Via AFP

end

Two Chicagoans Confirmed Released By Hamas, US Presses Israel To Delay Ground Invasion

FRIDAY, OCT 20, 2023 – 02:31 PM

Update(1431ET): Israeli media has confirmed their identities:

A senior Israeli official speaking to The Times of Israel identifies the two hostages released by Hamas as Judith Raanan and her daughter Natalie [18-years old].

The pair, who both have American citizenship, have been transferred to the International Red Cross ahead of their arrival in Israel, the official says.

The two are residents of Evanston, Illinois outside of Chicago and came to Israel this month to celebrate a relative’s 85th birthday and the Jewish holiday season, according to their rabbi.

The Raanan family had been celebrating Simchat Torah in Nahal Oz, a kibbutz in Israel about a mile from the Gaza border when the Hamas onslaught began.

Judith Raanan and her daughter Natalie, via AP/Times of Israel

* * *

Chris Powell: quite a story

A Bedouin hero

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-769309

6.GLOBAL ISSUES AND VACCINE/COVID ISSUES

GLOBAL ISSUES

Telecom giant Nokia is feeling the pinch of lack of global demand as they plan on cutting 14,000 jobs

(zerohedge)

Telecom Giant Nokia Plans 14,000 Job Cuts As Profits Plunge, 5G Market Struggles

FRIDAY, OCT 20, 2023 – 04:15 AM

Telecom giant Nokia announced as many as 14,000, or roughly 16% of its workforce, will be laid off, warning the “timing of the market recovery is uncertain” after weaker demand for 5G equipment.

Bloomberg data shows Nokia employs 86,000 people. The telecom said a “reset” is needed “to reduce its cost base and increase operational efficiency while protecting its R&D capacity and commitment to technology leadership.” It plans to lower its costs by between 800 million euros and 1.2 billion euros by the end of 2026, adding, “This represents a 10–15% reduction in personnel expenses.”

The massive headcount reduction comes after Nokia reported third-quarter net sales plunged 20% year-on-year to 4.98 billion euros. Profits crashed by as much as 69% year-on-year to 133 million euros from July through September, compared with last year.

“In the face of a challenging market environment, we will reduce our cost base to protect our profitability,” Nokia’s chief executive, Pekka Lundmark, said in a video statement.

Lundmark said it’s “impossible to say” how long the downturn in network markets will last, adding on a long-term basis, investments in 5G will be “necessary” to handle surging data traffic due to artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

He did not rule out the possibility of “structural moves” beyond cost-cutting measures. He emphasized that even when considering substantial headcount reductions, Nokia’s primary goal remains safeguarding its ability to maintain strong R&D output.

The CEO acknowledged that the macroeconomic environment will play a significant role in 2024. However, he stated it was too early to provide specific guidance and cautioned against assuming the company would receive support from the market.

Regarding regional insights, the CEO observed a notable slowdown in India in the second half, suggesting a normalization trend compared to the year’s first half.

After earnings, Lundmark told Bloomberg, “Operators have found it challenging to monetize their 5G investments.”

Growth in the India market “is no anymore able to compensate fully for what we are losing in North America,” Lundmark said. “But what comes down, will go back up again and we do not know what the timing is. That’s why we are taking action.”

Shares of Nokia in Europe fell 3.5%, nearing lows not seen since the early days of Covid.

Nokia isn’t the only Western telecom reducing its workforce: Sweden’s Ericsson announced plans to reduce its headcount by 8,500 earlier this year. The slowing global economy and elevated inflation have pressured telecoms.

On Wednesday, Ericsson CEO Borje Ekholm warned: “Underlying uncertainty impacting” its mobile networks will last into 2024, causing doubts over recovery for telecommunications equipment makers.

END

GLOBAL VACCINE/COVID ISSUES

Their gravy train is over!!

(zerohedge)

The COVID Gravy Train Is Over: Pfizer & Moderna Shares Down 35% & 49% This Year

FRIDAY, OCT 20, 2023 – 05:45 AM

It took what felt like forever, but at least some reality is making its way back into healthcare. We guess this means no more dancing nurse Tik Tok videos, though. And now that we’ve seen the “pump” on the healthcare industry from Covid-19, it’s time for the “dump”.

That was the topic of a new report from Bloomberg which reported that vaccine makers, pharmacy chains, makers of at-home rapid tests – and generally anyone who was cashing checks off the back of the Covid-19 hysteria – is now seeing business suffer, or going belly up.

The report notes that the biggest “loser” from the nation’s return to common sense is Pfizer, who was a major beneficiary of the pandemic surge. The company just dramatically reduced its annual sales outlook by $9 billion on Monday. This comes amid waning demand for its Covid vaccines and Paxlovid therapy.

Moderna also warned this week that “it’s too early to accurately project where vaccination rates will land” for the upcoming year. Shares are the lowest they’ve been since November 2020, the report says.

Pfizer shares are down 35% this year and Modena shares are down 49% as the public’s appetite for mRNA technology has taken a back seat to new “miracle” weight loss drugs like Ozempic, which have become the key headline on Wall Street healthcare desks over the last several months.

Max Nisen, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, commented: “The weakening demand for the vaccine and Paxlovid goes to show this really is the transition to post-Covid. People are going to have to figure out what that looks like well beyond Pfizer.”

As the report notes, Americans are, for the most part, “over it” when it comes to the pandemic. The U.S. declared an end to its public health emergency in May.

Emerging variants are still in circulation, and while hospital admissions due to Covid-19 have significantly dropped from their apex, September saw the highest levels since March. Remote work is on the decline, and both eateries and airports are bustling with activity.

Pfizer scaling back its financial outlook indicates a changing landscape. This move will likely prompt other companies that profited from Covid-19 treatments to reconsider and possibly revise their own financial projections, Bloomberg wrote.

Meanwhile, the report points out that the uneven launch of this season’s vaccine complicates the assessment of actual demand. Shortages of both Moderna’s and Pfizer’s latest doses have led pharmacies to deny service to individuals eager for immunization since the vaccines’ autumn release.

And it’s not just vaccine producers experiencing a slump in Covid-related sales. Lucira Health, a maker of at-home Covid tests, filed for bankruptcy in February, while test maker Ellume liquidated in June. Abbott Laboratories also faced a sharp drop in Covid testing revenue this year, leading to job cuts. However, unlike smaller companies, Abbott has other products like diabetes monitors to balance out the dip in Covid-related earnings.

Recall, Zero Hedge contributors were detailing as early as January 2023 that the mRNA gravy train would eventually come to an unceremonious end. Now it’s just a question of when the rug gets pulled out from underneath Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy “miracle” weight loss drugs.

END

end

DR PAUL ALEXANDER

9/11, Shimon Peres, Israeli Statesman, immediate response within 2 hours of islamic terror attacks, “Today I am not an Israeli, today I am an American, we are all Americans and we stand WITH America”;

Peres did not vacillate, was not ambivalent, did not equivocate; he did not preach this newfound pet slogan of the insipid pseudi-intellectual internationalist left of ‘PROPORTIONALITY”; he did not

DR. PAUL ALEXANDEROCT 19

READ IN APP

implore us to understand how we might have offended the attackers; no, he dealt with the attack as an attack and the deaths it brought! He did not talk in a democrat type double speak, leftist insanity and lunacy whereby we may have brought on the 9/11 attack because we offended some group or persons who needed vengeance. No, he said what needed to be said. It was wrong and we stand with America. And we get our ‘must have’ vengeance. He did not say we deserved their (the attackers) hatred, no, he just stood with America. He understood when America crossed the Atlantic in WW II to save the world, it did not occupy, no, all she sought was a plot of land here and there, to bury her dead, her sons who gave blood and treasure for a future and people they did not even know and would never even see. When they got to the base of the cliffs at La Pointe du Hoc (English Channel). He knew what this America was all about.

So now I declare, I am Israeli, we are all Israeli, and I stand with Israel. This my friends, is a war of Western civilization versus pure Nazi-grade evil.

end

Forensic Analysis Reveals Fraud in the Data Pfizer Had vs the Data Pfizer Reported

3.7-fold increase in cardiac events in vaccinated subjects vs placebo

DR PANDAOCT 20

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A new study in the International Journal of Vaccine Theory, Practice, and Research has forensically analyzed the 38 deaths reported in Pfizer’s interim report of their BNT162b2 mRNA clinical trial. This is the same report that the FDA used to authorize the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer vaccine.

According to the study researches uncovered a 3.7-fold increase in cardiac events in vaccinated subjects vs placebo. Pfizer also hid cardiac safety signals, changed the causes of death for some participants in their clinical trial, and failed to investigate why some participants stopped showing up for the trial.

The study found:

3.7-fold increase in cardiac events in vaccinated subjects vs placebo.
Of the 38 deaths reported, 21 vaccinated subjects died compared to 17 placebo.
Of the 15 subjects who were Sudden Adult Deaths (SAD) or Found Dead (FD), 12 died of a cardiac event, 9 of whom were vaccinated.

If Pfizer had given the FDA all of this information, the FDA may not have authorized the vaccine for emergency use.

Let’s look more in depth at three of the concerns:

Cardiac Safety Signals

The authors in the study found that there was a delay in recording the deaths in the trial.

Pfizer used the date that the death was officially recorded in the Case Report Form to determine in which time period to report the death NOT the actual date of death, although both dates were available to them.

The delay of vaccinated subjects was 18 days, while the median delay for placebo subjects was 5 days. This delay was most pronounced in the early months of the trial, and decreased after EUA for the vaccine was granted.

Two vaccinated subjects who died before the EUA data cutoff date were not included in the EUA application because their deaths were not recorded in the Case Report Forms until after the cutoff date. These two subjects died of cardiac events, which would have brought the total number of cardiac deaths in the vaccinated group to four, compared to two in the placebo group.

This delay allowed Pfizer to obscure the safety signal for cardiac events.

end

special thanks to Neil A for sending this to us;

Dr Bryan Biddle…

Explosive Story: Health

Canada Admits Pfizer

Misrepresented Their COVID-19 Shot

Is Health Canada now a spreader of ‘misinformation’?

DR. BYRAM W. BRIDLE

OCT 20, 2023

It has been two years, two months, and twenty-six days (818 total days) since the administration of my employer, the University of Guelph, banned me from accessing my office and laboratory.

– B. Bridle –

I am astonished. Canada’s health regulatory agency has made a stunning admission about Pfizer’s COVID-19 shots. They seem to be grasping reality again; at least for an issue that is a big no-no in the regulation of novel medical products.

First, some background information…

Pfizer’s COVID-19 shots consist of three parts:

A tiny genetic blueprint for the spike protein from SARS-CoV-2, which can cause COVID-19 in some people. This blueprint is called modified RNA.
Lipid nanoparticles, which are tiny fat bubbles that carry the modRNA throughout the body.
A carrier solution that allows the first two products to be injected into the body.

RNA comes from DNA. So, for Pfizer to manufacture their modRNA, they used a form of DNA that comes from bacteria. It is called bacterial plasmid DNA. This is used to make many copies of the modRNA that then get packaged into the lipid nanoparticles.

The bacterial plasmid DNA is then supposed to be removed from the material that gets injected into people. Unfortunately, it turns out that this was not done properly. It appears that most, if not all of the batches of Pfizer’s COVID-19 shots were contaminated with excessive amounts of fragmented bacterial DNA. A few of the problems is that this DNA…

can be very long-lasting
can be a source of proteins that are encoded in the DNA
has the potential to be incorporated into a person’s chromosomes
can cause inflammation in the body
was not disclosed to anyone receiving the shots

Kudos to Kevin McKernan from the USA, who is a great scientist and the person who discovered this issue.

Now, here is one of the biggest shockers about this contaminating bacterial DNA:

The bacterial DNA contains a genetic sequence called the ‘SV40 enhancer’ (‘SV40’ because it comes from ‘Simian Virus 40’). The virus from which this genetic sequence is derived has been implicated in causing cancers in people. It was odd that this was put into the bacterial DNA because its intended function is duplicated by another non-controversial sequence. Here is where things get really ugly. Pfizer was required to disclose to health regulatory agencies all of the bioactive sequences in the bacterial plasmid DNA that they used to manufacture their shots. Pfizer DID NOT DISCLOSE the presence of the genetic sequence from SV40 !!!

Here is another bombshell. A friend and member of my research team, the incredible Canadian virologist Dr. David Speicher, just released a preprint article today. He authored it with the great Kevin McKernan, awesome Jessica Rose, amazing Maria Gutschi, and fabulous David Wiseman. I can attest to the integrity and intellectual brilliance of each of these individuals.

I would like to point you to a Substack article in which Dr. Speicher provided some personal background information. The preprint article can be found here.

The results of Dr. Speicher’s research are profound. He generated the largest data set to date on this topic, using vials from multiple Canadian batches of both the Pfizer and Moderna shots. Every single one was contaminated with bacterial DNA. He also confirmed the presence of the SV40 enhancer sequence in the contaminating DNA in Pfizer’s Canadian vials. And this is hot off the press: he is the first to test a batch of Moderna’s newest booster COVID-19 shot; it was also contaminated, although Moderna’s bacterial DNA does not contain the genetic sequence from SV40.

Speicher, McKernan, and others sharing these scientific findings have been the focus of attacks from many so-called ‘misinformation experts’; none of whom have been able to refute their findings. Colleagues at my own academic institution even took to attacking Dr. Speicher in social media, at least in part as a way to get at me. Faculty and others attacking a member of someone’s research team is profoundly inappropriate. Most academic institutions would view such behaviour, at a minimum, as a form of academic misconduct.

My intention with this article is not to debate the potential harms of the contaminants. There is no question that the safety issue must be taken seriously and robust research must be encouraged and funded. After all, most people in the world have likely had excessive amounts of contaminating bacterial DNA injected into their bodies and there are multiple potential mechanisms whereby this DNA could cause harm.

What I do want to emphasize is this:

The Epoch Times just published a very important article about this issue. Note the stunning headline…

Health Canada Confirms Undisclosed Presence of DNA Sequence in Pfizer Shot

The article directly quotes an email sent by Health Canada to Epoch Times. Specifically, the following was disclosed…

“Health Canada expects sponsors to identify any biologically functional DNA sequences within a plasmid (such as an SV40 enhancer) at the time of submission”

The ‘sponsor’ in this case is Pfizer.

Health Canada went on to say…

“Although the full DNA sequence of the Pfizer plasmid was provided at the time of initial filing, the sponsor did not specifically identify the SV40 sequence.”

And only because Kevin McKernan and others revealed the unexpected presence of the SV40 sequence…

“it was possible for Health Canada to confirm the presence of the enhancer based on the plasmid DNA sequence submitted by Pfizer against the published SV40 enhancer sequence.“

This is an admission of epic proportions, coming from Health Canada. One must wonder why Pfizer would not disclose the presence of a biologically functional DNA sequence to a health regulator when it is clearly their responsibility to do so. I suspect that Health Canada is not happy that their rules were not adhered to and that this was only discovered by objective third-party scientists of integrity who worked diligently despite incessant harassment, defamation, and threats.

Notably, Pfizer has been granted legal indemnity for their shots; something which in and of itself should be a major concern. However, an important court ruling was recently made in Michigan, USA. Specifically, the court ruled that a pharmaceutical company’s legal indemnity was null and void for a contaminated version of the medical product. The product, but not any contaminants are subject to the legal indemnity. And failing to disclose a bioactive component would seem to go one step further. You can read an article about the legal issue here.

So, it would follow that Pfizer’s legal indemnity should be null and void for shots that contaminated with bacterial DNA that included a bioactive sequence that was not disclosed to regulatory agencies.

I wonder what people will think knowing that Health Canada has listened to ‘misinformation spreading scientists’, done their own homework, and then confirmed that they were duped by Pfizer.

If Health Canada was duped, then everyone that received a Pfizer shot was duped.

I call this a proof of principle. What other important information might Pfizer have withheld from regulatory agencies? When someone is caught being deceitful, the onus is not on the one deceived to find a way to trust the deceiver again. Rather, the onus is on the deceiver to earn trust back through a slow, methodical, and repetitious cycle.

This news was broken by Epoch Times several hours ago. This news should be breaking around the world. I just did a search and couldn’t find anything on this from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

This issue can serve as a litmus test in two areas…

If Health Canada does not immediately halt the use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 shots and pursue disciplinary action, then they are undeserving of public trust. It would be an egregious ignorance of the sacred precautionary principle.
Any state-funded news agencies that do not broadcast this bombshell information will demonstrate that they have no concern for the concept of fully informed consent, especially as they continue to espouse taking the shots.

For people who have taken the Pfizer shot, please leave honest feedback in the comments…

Did you consent to receiving shots contaminated with bacterial DNA that includes a bioactive genetic sequence for which Health Canada has confirmed its presence and that they were not informed about it, which contradicts their rules?
How does it make you feel that Pfizer duped Health Canada?
How confident are you in the ‘safe and effective’ mantra after learning of these admissions by Health Canada?

I have often been accused of spreading ‘misinformation’, even though my early warning signals, which have always been solidly based on scientific facts, have proven correct over and over again. But, you don’t need to listen to me on this one. Maybe hearing egregious admissions directly from Health Canada will help wake a few more people up to reality.

This news needs to be spread far and wide. Out of fairness, and for the sake of full disclosure, every person that received at least one Pfizer COVID-19 shot deserves to know this truth.

END

She is a raving lunatic!

Neoliberal Feudalism: Nikki Haley endorses plan to house up to 1,000,000 Palestinians from Gaza. This would be absolutely terrible for the U.S. & result in a huge amount of domestic terrorism down

the road (see Palestinians in Jordan, Lebanon, Eygpt). Anyone who supports this is an abomination who should go work as a day laborer in agriculture, not have anything to do with intellectual pursuits

DR. PAUL ALEXANDEROCT 20

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the road (see Palestinians in Jordan, Lebanon, Eygpt, etc.). Anyone who supports this is an abomination who should go work as a day laborer in agriculture, not have anything to do with intellectual pursuits. No insult intended for day laborers.

'JUST IN: Nikki Haley endorses plan to house up to 1,000,000 Palestinians from Gaza.' well, is Nikki a raving lunatic? Did her campaign just destroy her primary chances? Does she not know we already

———-

end

Pregnant women were never part of any LEGACY registrational Pfizer or Moderna COVID mRNA vaccine trials, NEVER! So until they were studied, they should have NEVER gotten the mRNA vaccine! But we didexpand the vaccine TO them, as well as kids and elderly who were NEVER studied! look at the photo below…this is what we did to women and baby in utero: Bourla, Bancel, Weissman, Kariko etc. KILLERS!DR. PAUL ALEXANDEROCT 19 READ IN APP This is the legacy of the mRNA COVID gene injection, and not one of these beasts, these bastards, these inept corrupted malcreants IMO, and many are in my 33 Horsemen of the COVID Apocalypse listing who should be investigated and questioned under oath…none of these beasts IMO have had any serious questions under oath in any serious forum (with judges and juries) by any serious scientists who simply wish the truth…they have been allowed to pontificate and spew bullshit lies and deceit all the while fattening up and getting rich off the pain of the fraud they helped materialize…I think in the 33, we will find wrong-doing….we just need to man up and find the testicles to do this for many are our ‘friends’…they gave us ‘donations’I hope that we never forget them and we punish them who are shown via judges and juries, to have had a role to play in killing people with their mRNA technology and vaccine.33 Horsemen of the COVID Apocalypse, I have now increased by one Horseman from 32, by adding Jeremy Farrar & you know of him; these are IMO people who have serious questions to answer to help us grasp DR. PAUL ALEXANDER·OCT 8The 33 Horsemen are (who hold answers to important questions & who have to this day not been questioned by a serious reporter): MarksAlexander COVID News-Dr. Paul Elias Alexander’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Read full story

NEWS ADDICTS

LATEST REPORTS FOR NEWS JUNKIES

WEF Whistleblower Warns of Globalist Plan to Microchip Public A former insider at the World Economic Forum (WEF) has blown the whistle to reveal that the globalist organization is planning to microchip the public.READ THE FULL REPORT

Top US Meat Producer to Focus on Insects after Partnering with WEF America’s largest meat producer has announced it is transforming its operations to focus on producing insect-based products after forming a new partnership with the World Economic Forum (WEF).READ THE FULL REPORT

Trump Supporters Targeted by FBI as 2024 Election Nears The federal government has created a new category of extremists, President Donald Trump’s MAGA followers, to track and counter the threat of violence and major civil disturbances around the 2024 U.S. presidential election.READ THE FULL REPORT

This is the Moment a Pro-Hamas Protester ‘Disrupted an Official Proceeding’A Pro-Hamas protester interrupted a Senate hearing on Wednesday, thereby disrupting an official proceeding. Watch as the unseen woman shouted about “genocide in Gaza” and condemning the senators for “funding it” as Sen. James Risch (R-ID) calmly watched. The senator waited for the woman to finish her tirade and then proceeded with his statement. Also on Wednesday, anti-war protesters claiming …READ THE FULL REPORT

Megadeth Rock Star Dave Mustaine Doesn’t Hold Back: ‘We Have the Power to Push Back Against This Tyranny’Dave Mustaine, the frontman and guitarist of Megadeth, as well as one of the founding members of Metallica, declared to a New Jersey concert audience “we have the power” to resist the “tyranny” Americans are living under right now. “Is there anybody here besides me who’s having a great f**king time?” Mustaine asked the crowd to which they responded with …READ THE FULL REPORT

SLAY NEWS

The latest reports from Slay News

Just 0.1% of Sudden Deaths Are Unvaxxed, Data Shows An alarming new data report has revealed that fewer than 0.1 percent of people who die suddenly are unvaccinated for Covid.READ MORE

Covid Shots Linked to Seizures in Toddlers, FDA Study Finds U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revealed that a safety signal has been detected that suggests Covid mRNA shots may be linked to a spike in seizures among toddlers following vaccination.READ MORE

Ilhan Omar Admits Pushing ‘Misinformation’ about Gaza Hospital, Refuses to Apologize Radical Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has admitted to pushing false claims blaming Israel for the Gaza hospital explosion.READ MORE

Chinese Company Forced to Sell Arkansas Farmland Due to New Ban on Foreign Entities Arkansas’ newly enforced ban on foreign entities buying up land in the state has forced a Chinese company to sell farmland.READ MORE

Major Trump Donor Dies in Mysterious Murder-Suicide Attempt A major donor to President Donald Trump has allegedly shot himself dead in a mysterious attempted murder-suicide.READ MORE

‘Devil’ Comet Bigger Than Mount Everest Now Heading Toward Earth after Explosion Scientists are reporting that a “horned” comet three times bigger than Mount Everest is hurtling toward Earth after encountering a large explosion.READ MORE

Anti-Trump Climate Group to Spend $80 Million Promoting Biden’s Green Agenda Ahead of 2024 A radical celebrity-backed anti-Trump climate group is investing a whopping $80 million in national advertising to promote Democrat President Joe Biden’s globalist green agenda ahead of the 2024 election.READ MORE

Mark Levin Slams ‘Hamas Wing’ of the Democrats: ‘Anti-Semites’ & ‘America Haters’ Are ‘All Around Us’Conservative commentator and author Mark Levin has slammed the “Hamas wing of the Democrat Party” in a fiery statement.READ MORE

Joran van der Sloot Confesses to Killing Natalee Holloway A federal judge has revealed that convicted murderer Joran van der Sloot has confessed to killing Natalee Holloway.READ MORE

EVOL NEWS…
WEF Whistleblower Warns of Globalist Plan to Microchip PublicREAD MORE… LATEST NEWS:Biggest Banks at Risk of Collapse This Winter as Massive Failures BegunRead more…Trump Motion to Delay Jan. 6 Civil Case DeniedRead more…Donald Trump Rips Biden’s $100 Million Giveaway to Palestine as ‘Totally Inappropriate’Read more…US to ease Venezuela oil, gas sanctions after election dealRead more…Pop Icon Cher: ‘If Trump Gets Re-Elected in 2024, I Will Leave the Country’Read more…President Biden Walks Back His Statement That Christian Hospital Attack Was Done by ‘Other Team’Read more…Trump Endorses Justice in West Virginia Senate GOP PrimaryRead more…Megadeth Rock Star Dave Mustaine Doesn’t Hold Back: ‘We Have the Power to Push Back Against This Tyranny’Read more…

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

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

We have been harping on this for many years: the world’s electric grids are incapable of supporting renewable energy goals

(EpochTimes)

World’s Electric Grids Incapable Of Supporting Renewable Energy Goals: Agency

FRIDAY, OCT 20, 2023 – 05:00 AM

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),Electricity pylons stand in a row leading to the Unterweser nuclear power plant on March 21, 2011 near Stadland, Germany. The energy grid is among the critical infrastructures that experts are trying to protect from cyberattacks. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Electricity grid capacity available in the world isn’t keeping pace with the rapid growth of “clean energy” technologies, possibly putting governments’ climate goals at risk, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

In order to achieve climate goals set by global governments, more than 80 million kilometers (49.7 million miles) of electric grids have to be added or refurbished by 2040, which is the “equivalent of the entire existing global grid,” according to the Oct. 17 IEA report. Even though “electrification and renewables deployment are both picking up pace,” there is a risk of the clean energy transition stalling due to a lack of “adequate grids to connect the new electricity supply with the demand.”

“At least 3,000 gigawatts (GW) of renewable power projects, of which 1,500 GW are in advanced stages, are waiting in grid connection queues—equivalent to five times the amount of solar PV and wind capacity added in 2022,” the report noted.

“This shows grids are becoming a bottleneck for transitions to net zero emissions.”

While investments in renewable energy such as solar and wind power, electric vehicles (EV), and heat pumps have been “increasing rapidly”—almost doubling since 2010—the investment in power grids has remained “static” at around $300 billion annually, it said.

The 2015 Paris Climate Accords agreed to hold the global increase in average temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Delays in establishing the necessary power grid could put this target “out of reach,” the report stated.

IEA presented a “Grid Delay Case” scenario in which the modernization of existing power grids and the setting up of new grids don’t happen in a timely manner. In such a situation, there would be 58 gigatonnes of additional CO2 emissions from the power sector, as compared to a situation in which the national climate targets are achieved.

“This is equivalent to the total global power sector CO2 emissions from the past four years. It would also mean that the global long-term temperature rise would go well above 1.5 degrees Celsius, with a 40 percent chance of it exceeding 2 degrees Celsius,” it said.

While the IEA report proposes boosting the power grid infrastructure to accomplish the transition to green energy, such transitioning attempts could endanger the reliability of the grid.

In the United States, many electricity operators have taken a stance against stringent greenhouse gas emission rules being imposed on the power generation sector by the Biden administration in its attempt to push renewable energy.

In an Aug. 8 statement, a group of Independent Systems Operators and Regional Transmission Organizations warned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the agency’s proposed emission regulations on the power sector “have the potential to materially and adversely impact electric reliability.”

A host of CO2 emissions rules and decades of efforts to limit fossil fuels have resulted in the retirement of coal and gas power plants at a pace faster than the installation of solar and wind facilities, it said.

Since wind and solar are weather-dependent, there’s a lack of reliable backup sources, raising concerns about potential power shortages, the group stated.

US Power Grid Problem

In an interview with EpochTV earlier this month, energy-related public policy analyst David Blackmon called the power grid issue in the United States a “huge problem.”

“And it’s much bigger than people know because right now, we have a crisis in [the] supply of electric transformers for our power grid,” he said. “Transformers are an integral part of every electricity project in America—around the world, really—and they’re in very short supply. It’s taking up to four years to source new supplies of these transformers. Inventories are very low.

“And, you know, you can’t expand the grid if you don’t have the equipment to do it with. The federal government is not doing anything to solve this problem.”

In March, IEEE Spectrum, a publication of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, published a report on EV transition that highlighted several of the cost challenges in preparing the grid for an electric economy.

Costs of transformers have jumped to as much as $20,000 each, from $3,000 to $4,000, the report said. As larger transformers may be required to support EVs, many of the 180 million power poles in America would also have to be replaced, pushing up the cost further.

Improvements and replacements to the grid’s 8,000 power-generation units and 600,000 circuit miles of AC transmission lines, as well as 70,000 substations to support increased renewable energy and battery storage, are estimated to cost more than $2.5 trillion by 2035, according to the report.

In the IEA report, the agency notes that upgrading the grid infrastructure is a time-consuming process. New grid infrastructure often takes five to 15 years to plan, permit, and complete.

In contrast, renewable energy projects can be completed in just one to five years. It also pointed out that grid investments would need to double by 2030 from current levels to more than $600 billion per year.

Moreover, while the IEA report presents renewable energy as a pro-climate action, such energy projects can pose serious pollution risks.

For instance, while there are currently more than 500 million solar panels in the United States, tens of millions of solar panels are expected to be added in the coming years. Meanwhile, nothing has been done to make the industry fully recyclable, creating a question about the safe disposal of the panels.

Toxic chemicals in solar panels include cadmium telluride, lead, hexafluoroethane, and more. In addition, silicon tetrachloride, a chemical created as a byproduct of solar panel manufacturing, can cause severe irritation and burns to the skin and eyes.

Tossing solar panel waste in landfills presents a long-term risk to the environment as the toxic minerals and metals can end up seeping into the ground.

end

My goodness: How brilliant!! Biden plans to buy 6 million barrels of oil at $79.00 despite the fact that it is 20 dollars higher in price

Way to go Joe!

(zerohedge)

Biden Plans To Buy 6 Million Barrels Of Oil For The SPR At $79

FRIDAY, OCT 20, 2023 – 09:50 AM

Suffering months of humiliating jeers about the dre state of the US SPR, which has been half-drained at a time when geopolitical risk is the highest it has been in years, the US Department of Energy announced that it wants to buy 6 million barrels of crude oil for the strategic petroleum reserve as part of efforts to refill it after a massive release last year of close to 200 million barrels.

The release was the result of a political attempt by the White House to bring retail fuel prices down ahead of the 2022 Midterm elections following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which at the time some warned would empty the strategic petroleum reserve at a time when it was better full. The outcome was partially successful as Democrats retained the Senate, the problem is that the SPR remains the emptiest it has been in 40 years.

This year, the Department of Energy has repeatedly said it wanted to start refilling the SPR but the price never seemed right, after the department set itself a range of between $68 and $72 per barrel for the refill push.

Then, idiotically, when oil prices did decline to the low $70s earlier this year (amid expectations that Biden will finally tip the US into a recession) the cartoonish amateurs at the Department of Energy headed by the incompetently cackling Jennifer Granholm…

… bought only a few million barrels for the SPR, which remains at a 40-year low. The total amount bought so far is 4.8 million barrels, which cost the DoE an average of below $73 per barrel, according to Reuters.

And now, the DoE is saying that it was ready to buy oil for the reserve at a price of $79 per barrel or less. The timeframe for the potential purchases is December and January. Which of course means there will be zero refilling since oil will not drop that low and instead the DOE will be forced to keep chasing higher, pushing the price of oil in the process.

West Texas Intermediate is currently trading at $90 per barrel. Whether it could decline to $79 over the next two months is anyone’s guess but given that OPEC, and more specifically Saudi Arabia, remains determined to keep a lid on production, chances for that are slim, even with higher Venezuelan oil production now that Washington lifted the oil sanctions for six months.

News of the plan to refill the SPR has helped to push oil prices higher, which now have a new price floor one which eliminates the chance of WTI falling anywhere close to $79 anytime soon, absent a massive economic recession of course, yet since a recession will spark immediate QE and even more fiscal stimulus, any oil price drop will be temporary at best.

Meanwhile, instead of encouraging US oil output to refill the SPR faster and at a much lower cost to the US, the idiots who control Biden’s teleprompter would rather cut deals with dictators such as Maduro instead of empowering and funding US shale/E&Ps to produce much more at a time when the world is the closest it has been to WW3 since the Cuban Missile Crisis.

end

8. EMERGING MARKETS//AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND ISSUES//

end

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

EURO VS USA DOLLAR: 1.0594 UP 0.0008

USA/ YEN 149.94 UP .139 NOW TARGETS INTEREST RATE AT 1.00% AS IT WILL BUY UNLIMITED BONDS TO GETS TO THAT LEVEL…//YEN STILL FALLS//

GBP/USA 1.2138 UP 0.0003

USA/CAN DOLLAR: 1.3687 DOWN .0028 (CDN DOLLAR UP 28 BASIS PTS)

Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE CLOSED DOWN 22.33 PTS OR 0.74%

Hang Seng CLOSED DOWN 123.76 PTS OR 0.72%

AUSTRALIA CLOSED DOWN 1.16% // EUROPEAN BOURSE: ALL RED

Trading from Europe and ASIA

I) EUROPEAN BOURSES: ALL RED

2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang SENG DOWN 123.76 PTS OR 0.72%

/SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 22.33 PTS OR 0.74%

AUSTRALIA BOURSE CLOSED DOWN 1.16%

(Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED DOWN 171,26 PTS OR 0.54%

INDIA’S SENSEX IN THE RED

Gold very early morning trading: 1981.25

silver:$23.12

USA dollar index early FRIDAY morning: 105.96 DOWN 9 BASIS POINTS FROM THURSDAY’s CLOSE.

FRIDAY MORNING NUMBERS ENDS

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And now your closing FRIDAY NUMBERS 11: 30 AM

Portuguese 10 year bond yield: 3.592% DOWN 2 in basis point(s) yield

JAPANESE BOND YIELD: +0.840% DOWN 0 AND 7//100 BASIS POINTS /JAPAN losing control of its yield curve/

SPANISH 10 YR BOND YIELD: 3.991 DOWN 4 in basis points yield

ITALIAN 10 YR BOND YIELD 4.915 DOWN 3 points in basis points yield ./ THE ECB IS QE’ ING ITALIAN BONDS (BUYING ITALIAN BONDS/SELLING GERMAN BUNDS)

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD: 2.884 DOWN 4 BASIS PTS

END

IMPORTANT CURRENCY CLOSES FOR FRIDAY

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

Euro/USA 1.0588 UP 0.0002 or 2 basis points

USA/Japan: 149.87 UP 0.060 OR YEN DOWN 6 basis points/

Great Britain/USA 1.2147 UP 0.0013 OR 13 BASIS POINTS //

Canadian dollar UP .0024 OR 24 BASIS pts to 1.3692

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The USA/Yuan, CNY: closed ON SHORE CLOSED (DOWN) …7.3163

THE USA/YUAN OFFSHORE: (YUAN CLOSED (DOWN)…. (7.3216)

TURKISH LIRA: 28.01 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LEVEL/DEATH WATCH/HYPERINFLATION TO BEGIN.//ON DEATH WATCH

the 10 yr Japanese bond yield at +0.847…VERY DANGEROUS

Your closing 10 yr US bond yield DOWN 9 in basis points from THURSDAY at 4.906% //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%) very problematic

USA 30 yr bond yield 5.084 DOWN 2 in basis points ON THE DAY/12.00 PM

USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 5.075 DOWN 10 BASIS PTS.

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

London: CLOSED DOWN 97,39 POINTS or 1.30%

German Dax : CLOSED DOWN 242.26 PTS OR 1.64%

Paris CAC CLOSED DOWN 105.15 PTS OR 1.52%

Spain IBEX DOWN 117,70 PTS OR 1.29%

Italian MIB: CLOSED DOWN 389.82 PTS OR 1.40%

WTI Oil price 90.30 12: EST

Brent Oil: 93.25 12:00 EST

USA /RUSSIAN ROUBLE /// AT: 95.37; ROUBLE UP 1 AND 67//100

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD; +2.8840 DOWN 4 BASIS PTS

UK 10 YR YIELD: 4.7030 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS

CLOSING NUMBERS: 4 PM

Euro vs USA: 1.0589 UP 0.0003 OR 3 BASIS POINTS

British Pound: 1.2154 UP .0019 or 19 basis pts

BRITISH 10 YR GILT BOND YIELD: 4.678% DOWN 7 BASIS PTS//

JAPAN 10 YR YIELD: .836%

USA dollar vs Japanese Yen: 149.87 UP 0.067 //YEN DOWN 7 BASIS PTS//

USA dollar vs Canadian dollar: 1.3706 DOWN .0009 CDN dollar UP 9 basis pts)

West Texas intermediate oil: 899.02

Brent OIL: 92.27

USA 10 yr bond yield DOWN 7 BASIS pts to 4.921%

USA 30 yr bond yield DOWN 2 BASIS PTS to 5.085%

USA 2 YR BOND: DOWN 8 PTS AT 5.088 %

USA dollar index: 106.00 DOWN 4 BASIS POINTS

USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 27.99 (GETTING QUITE CLOSE TO BLOWING UP/

USA DOLLAR VS RUSSIA//// ROUBLE: 95.32 UP 1 AND 73/100 roubles

GOLD 1981.00

SILVER: 23.37

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: DOWN 286.89 PTS OR 0.86%

NASDAQ DOWN 222.25 PTS OR 1.50%

VOLATILITY INDEX: 21.21 UP .19PTS (0.89)%

GLD: $183.59 UP 0.50 OR 0.27%

SLV/ $21.40 UP 0.29 OR 1.37%

end

USA AFFAIRS

USA TRADING IN GRAPH FORM

“No All Clear” – Bitcoin & Bullion Jump, Stocks Dump On Week As Yield-Curve Un-Inverts

FRIDAY, OCT 20, 2023 – 04:00 PM

An inverted curve lights the fuse but the un-inversion is ‘the bad part’ signaling imminent recession…

…and today we saw the 2s30s curve go positive once again and closed at its ‘steepest’ since Aug 2022…

Source: Bloomberg

Additionally, the ‘real’ yield curve steepened dramatically, also pushing back up towards un-inverted…

Source: Bloomberg

The steepening is extremely evident in the week’s moves across the curve with 2Y up just 3bps and 30Y up 33bps…

Source: Bloomberg

There was also a notable swing in rate-cut expectations for next year. While we zoomed out for context in the chart below, this week saw rate-cut expectations drop from 84bps to 67bps and then reverse back to 78bps (of cuts) after Powell…

Source: Bloomberg

As we discussed previously, this is a warning sign because inverted yield curves precede recessions, but it’s the re-steepening that signals the downturn is going to hit sooner rather than later.

Source: Bloomberg

Historically it is the 3m30y yield curve that has started steepening first before a recession, beginning to rise about five months before its onset. It began in mid-January, which would put a downturn starting as early as June. The spread between 3-month and 30-year yields is about minus 84 basis points, versus the January low of minus 115 basis points.

And 3m30Y has been steepening dramatically this week…

Source: Bloomberg

And before we leave bond-land, we note that financial conditions are now at their tightest since Nov 2022…. and it looks like its starting to drag on the real economy…

Source: Bloomberg

Equity markets did not like this ‘high for long’ adjustment, especially longer-duration (big tech) as Nasdaq led the week’s weakness, down 3%. Equities went out at their lows…

Under the hood today (a monthly OpEx), 0-DTE traders were fighting the down-trend all day – buying calls early and dumping puts later…

Source: SpotGamma

This week saw the 3rd major shorting wave in October with ‘Most Shorted’ basket dumping…

Source: Bloomberg

Energy and Staples were the week’s only green sectors with Discretionary and Real Estate hammered…

Source: Bloomberg

The S&P broke below its uptrendline from September and reached down to its 200DMA

Source: Bloomberg

Regional banks were clubbed like a bay seal this week, now below SVB spike lows…

Source: Bloomberg

The big banks were very mixed with WFC outperforming since earnings began (and the only one green) and MS the biggest loser…

Source: Bloomberg

Of particular note, the GLP-1s (Anti-Obesity drugs) significantly underperformed this week…

Source: Bloomberg

And AI-related names underperformed the AI-at-risk names (amid an admittedly weak market for tech)…

Source: Bloomberg

VIX is on the rise (finally) back above 20 but as Nomura’s Charlie McElligott warns, make no mistake: there is no “all clear” [to sell ‘high vol’] when “Vol of Vol” VVIX remains parked at 115…

Source: Bloomberg

…which tells you that via “demand for Tails” and a broader distribution of market outcomes that we can remain “stressed,” particularly as client hedging is moving away from short-dated “1 day event risk” and now, into the “unknowable” – where you add geopolitics now on top of the “real risk” being the Credit cycle turn.

While VIX was rising, Gold surged this week with spot prices very close to breaking $2000…

Source: Bloomberg

Oil rallied on the week with WTI getting close to $90 intraday before sliding today…

Bitcoin also caught a safe-haven (and ETF-driven) bid…

“Bitcoin is more user-friendly, stable, and global than some local currencies, especially in geopolitical conflicts and sanctions. In other words, the more unrest and uncertainty in the world, the more value bitcoin demonstrates, it’s a sad truth,” BTCM Chief Economist Youwei Yang told The Block.

“Bitcoin’s resilience, especially when juxtaposed with the recent downturns in stock market indices, lends credence to the narrative that the digital asset serves as a potential hedge in tumultuous times, akin to gold,” Sei Labs Co-Founder Jeff Feng added.

Talking of panic and capital ouflows (which also surged in China), the black market price for the Argentine Peso crashed 10% to 1100/USD (the official-ish price has been ‘capped’ at 350/USD for 3 months)…

Finally, this is worth paying attention in the context of surging US interest rates…

Source: Bloomberg

…since the Biden administration came into office, the risk of a US sovereign credit event has risen by 5x and are on the rise again now back to levels last seen during the debt-ceiling debacle. That trend is not Americans’ friend (and is perhaps why gold has been so bid).

EARLY MORNING TRADING/

TUCKER CARLSON..

a must view….

“How To Avoid WW3”: Tucker And Ramaswamy Talk War

THURSDAY, OCT 19, 2023 – 09:30 PM

Tucker Carlson sat down with Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to discuss how best to avoid World War 3.

“The stakes are higher than many Americans understand,” Carlson began. “It’s easy to imagine several other nations getting pulled into the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Those countries would include Russia, Iran, Turkey, China, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, and possibly many more.”

For starters, Ramaswamy says we need to “remember the mistakes we have made in our own past, in the last 20 to 25 years after 911,” adding “How did we end up in $6 trillion plus of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thousands of American lives that we won’t get back.”

“Part of how we ended up there was in the era after 9/11, you remember it,” he continued. “The tolerance for debate was very limited. Shut up. Sit down and do as you’re told. Go along with the plan.”

Ramaswamy says he’s world that this is the same mentality he’s starting to see right now in the current situation between Israel and Hamas.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/how-avoid-ww3-tucker-and-ramaswamy-talk-war

Ramaswamy also suggested that Israel needs to have a solid plan if they’re eventually going to invade Gaza.

“Let’s just go step by step in terms of where we are. Israel mounts a ground Invasion into Gaza. Doesn’t have a clearly defined goal, but they’ve mounted that ground Invasion. That crosses a red line that Hezbollah has previously identified, saying that that’s their red line for attacking Israel. And this might be exactly when Israel is mired in a ground conflict in Gaza, which I worry could be a trap.

“Networks, kilometers upon kilometers of tunnels. A lot of traps that they could walk into.”

And if Hezbollah strikes at Israel, the United States will undoubtedly be dragged into a wider conflict.

According to Ramaswamy, the “elephant in the room” is the West’s lack of clearly defined objectives – without which there could be chaos.

“This a time to have a clearly defined objective. Instead we get histrionics from the likes of Lindsay Graham, or Nikki Haley or Mike Pence, offering histrionics at a time when we could use actual strategy,” he continued – to which Tucker replied: “Isn’t it amazing to get a moral lecture from people who’ve so diminished our country, and who are responsible for the deaths of so many Americans, lecturing you, from some high horse.

Ramaswamy continued: “What’s a better alternative to the plan as it currently exists, which is a non-plan, an invasion of Gaza without a clear objective?” he said, adding “We seem to analyze the mosquitoes on the elephant’s tail without talking about the actual elephant.”

So, to avoid WW3, Israel – and the West as a whole, need to clearly define a plan that will minimize a broader regional conflict.

end

II USA DATA

III) USA ECONOMIC STORIES

Bidenomics is just not working: 3700 Detroit casino workers have walked off the job as they strike for higher wages due to rising cost of living

(zerohedge)

3,700 Detroit Casino Workers Walk Off The Job, Strike For Higher Wages Due To Rising Cost Of Living

FRIDAY, OCT 20, 2023 – 07:15 AM

It isn’t just auto workers that are striking in Detroit.

Thousands of casino workers walked off the job this week as look to negotiate for higher wages and better working conditions, according to CNBC. The ask was prompted by a higher cost of living, the report says.

Affected casinos include the MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino, and Hollywood Casino at Greektown. Those properties are owned by MGM Resorts and Penn Entertainment, respectively.

The report says that 3,700 workers from an array of positions spanning dealers to cleaning staff, are being represented by the Detroit Casino Council. The DCC is “made up of five unions including the United Auto Workers”, the report says.

As a result of the strikes, MotorCity Casino revised its online presence to indicate the closure of high-stakes tables, poker rooms, and valet service, as well as its spa and select dining and drinking establishments. FanDuel told CNBC it would close its FD Sportsbook at MotorCity Casino as a result.

Hollywood Casino at Greektown said that it intends to continue operations, but told CNBC: “We are disappointed by the decision of the Detroit Casino Council as we have made generous, progressive settlement offers that position our team members and business for sustainable success.”

“Regarding the status of our negotiations, we’ve made six proposals to the union and our current offer includes the single largest pay increase in the history of MGM Grand Detroit. It is a significant proposal,” Matt Buckley, president and COO of MGM’s Midwest Group said in a letter to employees.

The Detroit Casino Council is arguing that a now-expired 3 year deal workers agreed to during Covid doesn’t have good enough wage increases (3%) for the post-Covid inflationary environment.

The DCC said in a press release: “In contrast, industry gaming revenues have now surpassed pre-pandemic levels to reach a new record high. In 2022, the Detroit casino industry generated $2.27 billion in gaming revenue and is on track for another record-breaking year in 2023. The three Detroit casinos collectively reported $813 million more in total gaming revenues in 2022 than in 2019, but total wages paid to workers represented by the DCC were $34 million less when comparing those same years.”

The DCC says that every day a strike continues, it puts about $738,000 of city and state tax revenue at risk.

MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle told CNBC last week: “It doesn’t help when UAW in Detroit is asking for 40%. I mean, that’s a top line that’s hard to ignore. That being said, I think what matters here locally is people’s ability, particularly on the front line to exist, to pay rent and to get to the next step in life. And so I think that’s what’s relevant.“

end

Rep Tlaib faces censure demand after supporting Pro Palestine protest.

(EpochTimes)

Rep. Tlaib Faces Censure Demand After Supporting Pro-Palestine Protest At Capitol Hill

FRIDAY, OCT 20, 2023 – 10:45 AM

Authored by Savannah Hulsey Pointer via The Epoch Times,

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called for Congress to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) on Oct. 18, calling the Michigan Democrat a “terrorist sympathizer” after she participated in a protest at Capital Hill.

“Today [Tlaib] followed Hezbollah’s orders for a ‘day of unprecedented anger.’ She organized the occupation of the Cannon office building with radical Global Intifada group and anti-Israel activists JVP,” Ms. Greene posted on X, formerly Twitter.

“Tlaib is a terrorist sympathizer and does not belong in congress!”

Ms. Greene further announced that she planned to introduce a censure resolution against Ms. Tlaib, saying “After what she did today, I expect even Democrats will join in. She is an Israel hating America hating woman who does not represent anything America stands for.”

Hamas accused Israel of an airstrike on a hospital in Gaza, earlier this week. The Israel Defense Forces have denied hitting the hospital, and the White House confirmed that its assessment showed Israel wasn’t to blame for the attack. This came after Hamas terrorists massacred Israeli civilians earlier this month.

However, a large group of demonstrators demanding an Israeli cease-fire entered the Cannon House office building in the afternoon of Oct. 18, resulting in several arrests, according to Capitol police.

Demonstrators are detained by U.S. Capitol Police after they staged a sit-in inside the Cannon House Office Building to demand a cease-fire against Palestinians in Gaza on Independence Avenue near the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Oct. 18, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Protesters gathered outside the Capitol around midday, demanding that Congress do something to end the fighting between Israel and Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip.

Before the protesters entered the Capitol, Ms. Tlaib and Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) addressed the gathering and urged President Joe Biden to work on an immediate ceasefire.

Ms. Tlaib is of Palestinian descent and an outspoken advocate for statehood for their territories. The Michigan Democrat attended the event and posted an image of herself with protesters outside. It is unknown whether she entered the Cannon building with the protesters.

“I wish all the Palestinian people would see this. I wish they could see that not all of America want them to die. That they are not disposable, that they have a right to live,” said Ms. Tlaib, the only current Palestinian-American member of Congress.

Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) speaks during a House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on gun violence in Washington on June 8, 2022. (Andrew Harnik/Pool/Getty Images)

Videos taken by Epoch Times reporters inside the Cannon building on Capitol Hill show protesters chanting, “Cease fire now!”

Ms. Greene is also “formally requesting” that Capitol police save security footage and arrest records from the House demonstration demanding a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, and compared the protest to the breach on Jan. 6.

Ms. Greene shared a copy of the letter she sent to U.S. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger on X, requesting that his department “preserve all video surveillance footage, photographic evidence, police reports, and arrests records from all House Office Buildings on October 18, 2023.”

“The group that organized the insurrection, Jewish Voice for Peace, is a pro-Islamic anti-Semitic group that seeks the destruction of the state of Israel, according to the Anti-Defamation League,” the letter says.

Ms. Greene’s description of the protest as an “insurrection” echoes the language used by a House committee on Jan. 6 to describe the disturbance at the Capitol in 2021, which occurred as Congress was certifying President Biden’s victory over former President Trump.

“These actors caused elevators to be shut down, staircases and hallways to be blocked, exits to be made inaccessible, and official legislative business to be obstructed, putting Members of Congress, their staffs, and Capitol visitors at risk,” Ms. Greene said of the demonstration.

Ms. Greene also stated that the Committee on House Administration “must investigate this incident and review all footage and evidence provided by Capitol Police, and the insurrectionists involved must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Representatives for Capitol Police did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times’s request for comment.

END

ROBERT h TO US

IMPORTANT.

A Financial Crisis Is Here! U.S. Banks Are Closing Down Hundreds Of Branches And Laying Off Thousands Of Workers

This is the reality and much worse. In the Deep South there is a company that shall remain unnamed but a major household name in furniture who had PNC yank their credit line without warning on a technicality seizing $50MM in cash of deposits people prepaid for furniture. Apart from 10’s of million of equity flushed and hundreds of employees cast adrift with no severance and no likely credit loss. Imagine the impact whether you are employee or consumer. No way to save the company as the Bank will not discuss a rescue with fresh equity even though there was no equity shortfall.
The bank clearly is in this for themselves where client cash is more valuable than the client.
In London banks are selling $1billion lots of real estate for 25-35 cents on the dollar.
Today, the reality is that we are all faced with personal protection of cash assets where teh Bank is the thief.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/a-financial-crisis-is-here-u-s-banks-are-closing-down-hundreds-of-branches-and-laying-off-thousands-of-workers/

end

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON

end

USA// COVID//VACCINE/

end

SWAMP STORIES

Read this!

1,000 Days Without A Trial: Jan. 6 Prisoner Shares His Story of ‘Endurance, Perseverance, And Hope’

THURSDAY, OCT 19, 2023 – 10:00 PM

Authored by Patricia Tolson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),Jake Lang rescued Philip Anderson from a stampede at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Courtesy of Jake Lang)

On Oct. 12, Jake Lang passed a milestone: 1,000 days in jail without a trial. To mark the anniversary, he wanted to share with the American people “the horrific conditions of confinement,” which he says he and many of his fellow Jan. 6 prisoners have had to endure.

“During this time, I’ve done 20 months of solitary confinement,” Mr. Lang told The Epoch Times. “For 15 months of that, I wasn’t allowed to have a haircut or a shave.”

This was intentional, he said, to make Jan. 6 prisoners look like “homeless vagrants” or “deranged terrorists” during video court appearances.

Jan. 6 prisoners are frequently denied family visitation, Mr. Lang said. They spend months with no sunlight. Lights in their cells remain on at night, depriving them of sleep.

His account aligns with first-hand reports from other Jan. 6 prisoners, detailed in a Congressional report in 2021.

Troublesome prisoners are subjected to “diesel therapy,” where inmates are shackled together—frequently with violent gang members—for long bus or plane rides to another facility. The trips can take hours, days, or weeks. Fights are frequent. Personal belongings and discovery for their trials—family photos, exculpatory documents, and notes related to their cases—are often lost.

Family members lose track of them.

The 28-year-old Mr. Lang (full name: Edward Jacob Lang) has been charged with several counts, including an “obstruction” charge, for which he could receive a 20-year sentence. As reported by The Epoch Times, Mr. Lang has challenged this charge with the Supreme Court.

Following his arrest on Jan. 16, 2021, Mr. Lang has been shuttled from one prison to another. In New York, he was moved to three different facilities, including the MDC Brooklyn where Jeffrey Epstein was held.

Then he was taken to an airport in Newburgh, New York, put on a plane with about 200 convicted felons, and transported to Oklahoma, he said.

He was moved to Northern Neck Regional in Warsaw, Virginia, and then to the DC Jail, known to Jan. 6 prisoners as “The Gulag.”

Confined to his cell for 23 hours and 15 minutes each day for three months, he was frequently physically assaulted. The first time was on Sept. 18, 2021, before a rally in the DC mall in support of Jan. 6 prisoners.

About 6 a.m., he said “around 70 officers began banging on the cell doors” of Jan. 6 inmates, ordering them to get dressed and grab their mats. They were being moved to “a more secure location,” they were told.

Guards were shouting. Inmates were confused and scared.

“Some thought we were being taken outside to a firing squad,” he said. “They thought they were going to kill us.“

To ease their fear, he began singing the national anthem.

A guard threw him against the wall and punched him in the ribs.

They were all taken to the basement and placed in cells with no windows, no sinks, or toilets.

The ordeal lasted eight hours.

Mr. Lang was then “tossed in the hole.”

“It’s disgusting down there,” he said. “The walls are wet. There’s vermin and cockroaches, and there’s a little slot in the door that they feed you through like a dog.”

About 10 months later, Mr. Lang was brought back up to the pod—an independent section within the facility that holds a small number of prisoners. His fellow Jan. 6 prisoners gathered at his cell door to greet him.

“One of the guards yelled for them to get away from my door, just arbitrarily enforcing a rule that didn’t exist,” he explained. “He called the sergeant, who opened the door and unloaded a whole can of military-grade pepper spray directly into my eyes.”

Naked and in cuffs, an emergency response team dragged him from the cell and brought him to a shower. Female guards watched, “laughing hysterically” at his pain.

He wasn’t given soap, so the oil ran down his body to his groin where the burning became excruciating. In his cell, the burning oil transferred to his mattress. He woke from nightmares thinking he was on fire.

When he was thrown back in “the hole,” he went on a 12-day hunger strike that cost him 30 pounds.

Negotiations for ending his hunger strike included a haircut, family visitation, and a Congressional investigation into the deaths of Ashli Babbitt and Rosanne Boyland.

He was then moved to Alexandria Regional Jail and placed in solitary.

After reporting his treatment to the press, he was sent to a federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

After more press interviews, he was moved to Rappahannock Regional Jail in Stafford, Virginia.

One month and multiple interviews later, he was back at Northern Neck. A week later he was once again at Lewisburg, and then landed back at the DC jail, where he has been for the past six months.

“Friday, October 13th marked my 1,000th day in prison. But God’s grace has supplied me and the rest of the January 6 prisoners with strength, endurance, perseverance, and hope, knowing that we will have vindication from this political persecution. One day, from all over the country, more than 200 of us will emerge from these prisons and gulags. We will be redeemed and restored and all of the things they’ve done to us will all be washed away.”

Mr. Lang’s trial had been set to begin Oct. 10, but was postponed pending an indication on his Supreme Court petition.

END

Then read this:

and this person was with homeland security? She was hired to look after asylum claims?

(Mish Shedlock)

Homeland Security Immigration Officer On Leave After “F**k Israel” Post

FRIDAY, OCT 20, 2023 – 08:35 AM

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Nejwa Ali, an officer with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services is placed on leave. Check out her social media posts praising Hamas…

Today, the New York Post reports Homeland Security Officer on Leave After it was Revealed She Worked for PLO and Wrote ‘F–k Israel’ Post.

This story surfaced yesterday on the Daily Wire: The U.S. Gov’t Hired A Pro-Hamas PLO Spokeswoman To Handle Asylum Claims

Nejwa Ali worked in 2016 and 2017 as a public affairs officer for the Palestinian Delegation to the U.S., which according to its own website, served as the “PLO office in D.C.” That office was expelled from the country by the Trump administration, but Ali landed on her feet, according to a screenshot of her LinkedIn profile, securing a job at DHS as an “Asylum Officer,” where she was tasked with “applying immigration laws and regulations to asylum applications.”

This January, she moved over to being an Adjudication Officer for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS). People with that job, according to the agency, “analyze new or amended legislation and policy, prepare written reports of findings, and review and make determinations on cases for immigration benefits.”

Though Ali’s job at DHS included vetting people to make sure they were not a threat to the country before letting them in, it’s not clear that anyone from the agency vetted her. That her primary allegiance was to the Palestinians, not the United States, was evident from her social media profiles, where she posts as “Falastine Mi Amor.”

She has posted extremist rhetoric continuously to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for years — rhetoric that intensified this month as Palestinian terrorists murdered over 1,000 Jews on October 7 and Ali cheered. “F*** Israel, the government, and its military. Are you ready for your downfall?” she wrote on Instagram after the attacks.

Ali has made several posts glorifying the terrorist attacks on Israel, including one depicting armed terrorists paragliding into the Jewish state with the caption, “Free PALESTINE.”

“Palestine will be free one day. F*** APARTHEID Israel and any Israeli that supports that bulls***. F*** you, may Allah forgive you. and spare us the crocodile tears, I sure as hell give zero f***s,” she wrote on Instagram.

USCIS declined to say why it would hire someone who previously worked for a foreign quasi-government that was expelled from the United States and put them in position to determine who was allowed to come into the country.

It said, “applicants seeking employment with USCIS are thoroughly vetted and subject to extensive security and background checks before they can receive a permanent position with the agency.”

“F*** APARTHEID Israel and any Israeli that supports that bulls***. F*** you, may allah forgive you,” she wrote, alongside pictures of violent leftist Americans Assata Shakur and Malcolm X. In 2017, she posted a picture of herself grinning in front of a statute of Che Guevara, the murderous Communist militant.

Nejwa Ali Officer at DHS

Zero Vetting

Trump expelled the Palestinian Delegation to the U.S. Subsequently, Nejwa Ali was hired by the DHS.

I do not know how many Biden hires remained in the department when Ali jot that job.

Regardless, it’s clear that there is zero vetting by the ridiculously-named Department of Homeland Security.

Why this person was not fired on the spot is a mystery. The process should have gone like this.

Q: Did you make those statements?
A: Yes.

You’re fired.

More accurately, she should never have been hired in the first place.

And now there should be immediate background checks on anyone Ali approved for entry into the US.

Humanitarian Crisis: Do You Support Israel Shutting of Water in Gaza Strip?

My question of the day on October 15 was Do You Support Israel Shutting of Water in Gaza Strip?

My question of the day on October 17 Is Biden’s trip to Israel worth the risks?

If I am missing gains or risks, chime in.

Why is there No Vetting at Homeland Security?

My question of the day today is Why is there little is any vetting at Homeland Security?

And this person to makes immigration decisions on top of it.

This is truly inexcusable. Heads ought to roll from the top down, but they won’t.

end

Biden To Beg Congress For $14B In Israel Aid, $60B For Ukraine As Part Of $105B Package

FRIDAY, OCT 20, 2023 – 12:40 PM

Earlier Friday we noted that President Biden is planning to divert ammunition from Ukraine to Israel, with Pentagon spox Patrick Ryder insisting “we can support both Ukraine and Israel in terms of their defensive needs.“

Now, as announced in a Thursday night primetime address from the Oval Office (Biden’s second), the administration is about to approach Congress with a $105 billion package request that will include $60 billion for Ukraine, which the MSM immediately notes is “in line with an annual appropriation to continue US aid.”

The administration is also seeking to send $14 billion in Israel aid, which officials say reflects requests Biden received while traveling to the region on Wednesday, as well as $14 billion for border security – a provision meant to appease fractured House Republicans, who are currently working out a new speaker.

The full breakdown of Biden’s request is as follows:

$60 billion in funding to Ukraine
$14 billion to Israel
$10 billion in humanitarian aid to Ukraine and around the world
$14 billion for border funding to address drug trafficking and fentanyl
$7 billion for the Indo-Pacific and Taiwan

Biden justified the Israel aid by saying that the terrorist group Hamas, which attacked Israel this month, as well as Russia, “both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy.”

“History has taught us that when terrorists don’t pay a price for their terror, when dictatorships don’t pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction,” said Biden. “We cannot and will not let terrorists like Hamas and tyrants like Putin win — I refuse to let that happen.“

Biden also warned Iran against entering the conflict in the Middle East.

But first things first… the House GOP need to elect a speaker so they can get to work debating the above package and, as Biden wants them to do, “get over our divisions.”

end

What a mess!!

Watch Live: 3rd Speaker Vote Commences After McCarthy Stumps For Jordan

FRIDAY, OCT 20, 2023 – 11:19 AM

Jim Jordan (R-OH) has apparently called his party’s bluff. After losing two votes for speaker (by at least 20 votes), Jordan threatened to take his ball and go home, leaving interim speaker (and Democrat darling) Patrick McHenry (R-NC) in charge until January.

Looks like Jordan’s haters hate the idea of ‘Speaker McHenry’ even more, so Jordan is now holding a 3rd vote, today, right now.

Aaaand he’s already got 15 ‘no’s’ – so it’s another bust. Jordan can lose just 4 Republican votes.

The move comes after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) nominated Jordan for the 3rd round – suggesting that fences have been mended between Jordan and his Freedom Caucus supporters, and McCarthy’s centrist camp – which can’t wait to give more money to Ukraine (and now Israel).

McCarthy called Jordan an “effective legislator,” prompting laughter from Democrats. McCarthy then fired back at them, calling them ineffective on border policy and other issues.

end

THE KING REPORT

GREG HUNTER

Middle East Headed for War, Economy Headed for Total Collapse

Middle East Headed for War, Economy Headed for Total Collapse

By Greg Hunter On October 20, 2023 In Weekly News Wrap-UpsNo Comments

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com (WNW 604 10.20.23)

Everywhere you look in the Middle East, you see signs of a brewing war. The world is divided over the Hamas and Israel fighting. It is the most violent division in the world that has not been seen for a very long time. The U.S. Navy has aircraft carriers off the cost of Israel, and Russia is threatening to sink them with hypersonic missiles. Now, the terror looks like it is coming to America with it’s wide-open Southern border. FBI Director Chris Wray is warning a terror attack could likely happen in America in the not-so-distant future. I guess the FBI is not going to go after Catholics and Trump supporters and focus on real terrorists for a change.

The economy is going to collapse, and that is a mathematical certainty according to financial writer Bill Holter. Debt is off-the-charts at record levels, interest rates have doubled and then some, big banks are losing money by the billions of dollars and there is no way to stop the inevitable fall. Meanwhile, people are ignoring the red flashing warning signs and are all in on risky stock investments. The only way this ends–is badly. Today we have a 5% 10-year Treasury which was below 1% in 2020. What could go wrong with 4-fold increase in interest rates? I think plenty, and what’s coming can wipe your family out financially for a generation. The coming war in the Middle East is only going to make things much worse, much faster.

There is much more in the 37-minute newscast.

Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog.com as he talks about these stories and more in the Weekly News Wrap-Up for 10.20.23.

(https://usawatchdog.com/middle-east-headed-for-war-economy-headed-for-total-collapse/)

:https://usawatchdog.com/middle-east-headed-for-war-economy-headed-for-total-collapse/

Bill Holter will be the guest for the Saturday Night Post. The time for the economy that you know is short, and Holter lays out the reasons why. You won’t want to miss this as Holter includes some words of wisdom and stories from the late great Jim “Mr. Gold” Sinclair.

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SEE YOU MONDAY.