NOV 16//ALL PRECIOUS METALS BREAK OUT FROM MANIPULATIVE LEVELS: GOLD ROSE $22.70 TO $1983.95//SILVER ROSE BY $.38 TO $23.84/PLATINUM ROSE $5.80 TO $898.75 WHILE PALLADIUM ROSE BY $16.85 TO $1042.00//COMEX DATA SUGGESTS THAT IT IS TOTALLY BROKEN WITH HUGE AMOUNTS OF T.A.S. ISSUANCE, E.F.P. ISSUANCE AS WELL AS EXCHANGE FOR RISK ON BOTH SILVER AND GOLD COMEX//LACKLUSTRE MEETING BETWEEN BIDEN AND XI: BIDEN EVEN CALLS XI A “DICTATOR” WHICH ANNOYED THE CHINESE//ANOTHER CHINESE CITIZEN ARRESTED IN CALIFORNIA FOR TIES TO THE CHINESE CPP//ISRAEL VS HAMAS: ISRAEL INVADES SHIFA HOSPITAL AGAIN AND FINDS MILITARY HARDWARE AND TUNNELS UNDERNEATH THE HOSPITAL//ISRAEL SECURES THE WESTERN SECTION OF GAZA CITY PLUS THE HARBOUR//HAMAS SENDS 3 TERRORISTS TO KILL CITIZENS IN JERUSALEM BUT WERE FOILED: ONE SOLDIER DEAD STOPPING THE ATTACK//ISRAELIS HAVE PHOTOS OF HOSTAGES AFTER THEY HAVE BEEN CAPTURED//FULL EXTENT ON THE TUNNELS AND WEAPONRY REVEALED UNTER RANTISI HOSPITAL//UKRAINE VS RUSSIA UPDATES BY PEPE ESCOBAR//THE IDIOT ERDOGAN OF TURKEY WANTS TO SEND ANOTHER PEACE FLOTILLA TO GAZA EXACTLY 13 YEARS FROM HIS FIRST DISASTROUS “PEACE MISSION”//USA DATA SUGGESTS THE USA IN A BIG DOWNTURN AS WALMART MISSES//INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION MISSES AND CONTINUOUS JOBLESS CLAIMS RISE//SWAMP STORIES FOR YOU TONIGHT..
GOLD: NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR NOV/2023. CONTRACT: 2 NOTICES FOR 200 OZ or 0.00622 TONNES
total notices so far: 1971 contracts for 197,100 oz (6.1306 tonnes)
FOR NOV:
SILVER NOTICES 0 NOTICE(S) FILED FOR NIL OZ/
total number of notices filed so far this month : 818 for 4,090,000 oz
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END
BOTH GLD AND SLV ARE FRAUDULENT VEHICLES
GLD
WITH GOLD UP $22.70//
INVESTORS SWITCHING TO SPROTT PHYSICAL (PHYS) INSTEAD OF THE FRAUDULENT GLD/ : / NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:
INVENTORY RESTS AT 870.45 TONNES
SLV//
WITH NO SILVER AROUND AND SILVER UP 38 CENTS AT THE SLV// SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 778,000 OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV////
INVESTORS ARE SWITCHING SLV TO SPROTT’S PSLV.
CLOSING INVENTORY: 440.768 MILLION OZ
Let us have a look at the data for today
SILVER//OUTLINE
SILVER COMEX OI FELL BY A FAIR SIZED 292 CONTRACTS TO 134,534 AND CLOSER TO THE RECORD HIGH OI OF 244,710, SET FEB 25/2020 AND THIS FAIR SIZED LOSS IN COMEX OI WAS ACCOMPLISHED DESPITE OUR REALLY STRONG $0.39 GAIN IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX ON WEDNESDAY. WE HAD CONSIDERABLE SPEC SHORT COVERING EPISODE IN WEDNESDAY’S COMEX TRADING.. TAS ISSUANCE WAS A STRONG SIZED 589 CONTRACTS. THESE WILL BE USED FOR MANIPULATION LATER THIS MONTH/AS WELL AS TODAY.THIS ENDS THE MEGA HUGE ISSUANCES OF T.A.S.
CRAIG HEMKE HAS POINTED OUT THAT THE CROOKS USE THE MID MONTH FOR MANIPULATION AS THEY SELL THEIR BUY SIDE OF THE CALENDAR SPREAD FIRST AND THEN KEEP THE SELL SIDE TO LIQUIDATE AT A LATER DATE. THUS WE HAVE TWO VEHICLES THE CROOKS USE FOR MANIPULATION AND BOTH ARE SPREADERS: 1) AT MONTH’S END/SPREADERS COMEX AND 2/ TAS SPREADERS, MID MONTH. TOTAL TAS ISSUED ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT: 589 CONTRACTS. DESPITE MANY COMPLAINTS THAT THE CROOKS HAVE VIOLATED POSITION LIMITS DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE TAS ISSUED HAVE A VALUE OF ZERO (AS TO POSITION LIMITS FOR OUR CROOKED BANKERS). THE PROBLEM OF COURSE IS THAT THE CROOKS DO NOT LIQUIDATE THE TAS TOGETHER BUT SELL THE BUY SIDE FIRST AND THEN LIQUIDATE THE SELL SIDE TWO MONTHS HENCE. IT IS OBVIOUS MANIPULATION TO THE HIGHEST DEGREE BUT IT NATURALLY FELL ON DEAF EARS WITH OUR REGULATORS (OCC) WHEN THEY RECEIVED OUR COMPLAINTS. IT THUS LOOKS LIKE THE FED (GOV’T) IS BEHIND ALL OF THESE TRADES.
WE HAVE NOW SET ANOTHER RECORD LOW AT 114,102 CONTRACTS ///JULY 3.2023// OUR BANKERS WITH THE HELP OF SPECULATORS AND HIGH FREQUENCY TRADERS WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING THE PRICE OF SILVER DOWN (IT ROSE BY $0.39). AND WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING ANY SILVER LONGS AS WE HAD A HUGE SIZED GAIN OF 852 OI CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES AS THE SPEC SHORTS TRIED AGAIN DESPERATELY TO COVER THEIR SHORTFALLS WITH ZERO SUCCESS.
WE MUST HAVE HAD:
A HUGE SIZED 1144 ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS) iiii) AN INITIAL SILVER STANDING FOR COMEX SILVER MEASURING AT 1.430 MILLION OZ (FIRST DAY NOTICE) FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 0 OZ QUEUE JUMP +200 EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE FOR 1.0 MILLION OZ//NEW EXCHANGE FOR RISK 1.245 MILLION:
//NEW STANDING FOR SILVER IS THUS 4.15 MILLION OZ + 1.245 (EX. FOR RISK) = 5.395 MILLION OZ.
//FAIR SIZED COMEX OI GAIN/ HUGE SIZED EFP ISSUANCE/VI) STRONG SIZED NUMBER OF T.A.S. CONTRACT ISSUANCE 589 CONTRACTS)/
I AM NOW RECORDING THE DIFFERENTIAL IN OI FROM PRELIMINARY TO FINAL – REMOVED A HUGE 509 CONTRACTS (the cme will no longer provide preliminary no to be except through a paywall)
HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS OCT ACCUMULATION FOR EFP’S SILVER/JPMORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES/STARTING FROM FIRST DAY/MONTH OF NOV:
TOTAL CONTRACTS for 12 days, total 4333 contracts: OR 21.665 MILLION OZ (361 CONTRACTS PER DAY)
TOTAL EFP’S FOR THE MONTH SO FAR: 21.665 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: 97.455 MILLION OZ
NOV. 21.665 MILLION OZ (GOING TO BE QUITE SMALL THIS MONTH)
RESULT: WE HAD A FAIR SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF 292CONTRACTS DESPITE OUR STRONG GAIN IN PRICE OF $0.39 IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX//WEDNESDAY.,. THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A HUGE 1144 EFP ISSUANCE CONTRACTS: 1144 ISSUED FOR DEC 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 NOV. OF 1.432 MILLION OZ FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 0 OZ QUEUE JUMP
NEW STANDING 4.150 OZ + 1.245 MILLION OZ EXCHANGE FOR RISK: NEW TOTAL 5.395 MILLION OZ/// /// WE HAVE A HUGE SIZED GAIN OF 1389OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES. THE TOTAL OF TAS INITIATED CONTRACTS TODAY: A STRONG SIZED 589CONTRACTS//LITTLE FRONT END OF THE TAS CONTRACTS WERE LIQUIDATED DURING THE WEDNESDAY COMEX SESSION. THE NEW TAS ISSUANCE WEDNESDAY NIGHT A HUGE (589) WILL BE PUT INTO “THE BANK” TO BE COLLUSIVELY USED AT A LATER DATE., .
WE HAD 0 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR NIL OZ
THE SILVER COMEX IS NOW BEING ATTACKED FOR METAL BY LONDONERS ET AL.
GOLD//OUTLINE
IN GOLD, THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST FELL BY A FAIR SIZED 2930 CONTRACTS TO 484,704 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 754 CONTRACTS
WE HAD A SMALL SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI ( 558 CONTRACTS) WITH OUR $1.00 LOSS IN PRICE//WEDNESDAY. WE ALSO HAD A RATHER STRONG INITIAL STANDING IN GOLD TONNAGE FOR NOV. AT 4.3514 TONNES ON FIRST DAY NOTICE FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 0 OZ QUEUE JUMP + TODAY’S 200 CONTRACT ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK FOR 0.6220 TONNES// EXCHANGE FOR RISK PRIOR:3.1905 TONNES //TOTAL EXCH FOR RISK: 3.8125 TONNES // TOTAL GOLD STANDING FOR NOV: 6.7340 TONNES + 3.8125 TONNES (EX. FOR RISK) = 10.5465 TONNES // ALL OF..THIS HAPPENED WITH OUR $1.00 LOSS IN PRICE WITH RESPECT TO WEDNESDAY’S TRADING.WE HAD A TINY SIZED GAIN OF 196OI CONTRACTS (.6096PAPER TONNES) ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES.
E.F.P. ISSUANCE
THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A FAIR SIZED 2372CONTRACTS:
The NEW COMEX OI FOR THE GOLD COMPLEX RESTS AT 483,704
IN ESSENCE WE HAVE A SMALL SIZED DECREASE IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 558 CONTRACTS WITH 2930 CONTRACTS DECREASED AT THE COMEX// AND A FAIR SIZED 2372 EFP OI CONTRACTS WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS TOTAL OI LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 558 CONTRACTS OR 0.6096 TONNES. WE HAD 200 EXCHANGE FOR RISK 0.6220 TONNES. WE HAD THE FOLLOWING TAS CONTRACTS INITIATED (ISSUED): A STRONG 1997 CONTRACTS.
CALCULATIONS ON GAIN/LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES
WE HAD A FAIR SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (2372 CONTRACTS) ACCOMPANYING THE FAIR SIZED LOSS IN COMEX OI (2930) //TOTAL LOSS FOR OUR THE TWO EXCHANGES: 558 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 NOV. AT 4.3514 TONNES FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 0 OZ QUEUE JUMP: NEW STANDING 6.7340 TONNES + 3.1905 TONNES EXCHANGE FOR RISK PRIOR + .6220 EXCHANGE FOR RISK TODAY /THUS NEW TOTAL FOR GOLD STANDING: 10.5465 TONNES // /// 3) ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION AND SOME TAS LIQUIDATION AND WE HAD ATTEMPTED SPEC SHORT COVERINGS DURING THE COMEX SESSION //4) FAIR SIZED COMEX OPEN INTEREST LOSS/ 5) FAIR ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL PAPER///6: STRONG T.A.S. ISSUANCE: 1997 CONTRACTS
HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS IN 2023 INCLUDING TODAY
NOV
ACCUMULATION OF EFP’S GOLD AT J.P. MORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES: (EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL) FOR THE MONTH OF NOV. :
TOTAL EFP CONTRACTS ISSUED: 37,682 CONTRACTS OR 3,768,200 OZ OR 117.206 TONNES IN 12 TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 3140 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY
TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS : THIS MONTH IN 12 TRADING DAY(S) IN TONNES 117.206 TONNES
TOTAL ANNUAL GOLD PRODUCTION, 2022, THROUGHOUT THE WORLD EX CHINA EX RUSSIA: 3555 TONNES
THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 117.206/3550 x 100% TONNES 3.29% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL PRODUCTION
SEPT 142.12 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE ( LOW ISSUANCE)_
OCT: 141.13 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE (LOW ISSUANCE)
NOV: 312.46 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE//NEW RECORD!! (INCREASING DRAMATICALLY)//SIGN OF REAL STRESS//SURPASSING THE MARCH 2021 RECORD OF 276.50 TONNES OF EFP
DEC. 175.62 TONNES//FINAL ISSUANCE//
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. 248.09 TONNES. LIKE SILVER, THIS MONTH IS GOING TO BE A STRONG E.F.P. ISSUANCE.
NOV. 117.206TONNES//
SPREADING OPERATIONS
(/NOW SWITCHING TO GOLD) FOR NEWCOMERS, HERE ARE THE DETAILS
SPREADING LIQUIDATION HAS NOW COMMENCED AS WE HEAD TOWARDS THE NEW ACTIVE FRONT MONTH OF SEPT. WE ARE NOW INTO THE SPREADING OPERATION OF GOLD
HERE IS A BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF HOW THE CROOKS FLEECE UNSUSPECTING LONGS IN THE SPREADING ENDEAVOUR ;MODUS OPERANDI OF THE CORRUPT BANKERS AS TO HOW THEY HANDLE THEIR SPREAD OPEN INTERESTS:HERE IS HOW THE CROOKS USED SPREADING AS WE ARE NOW INTO THE NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF MAY HEADING TOWARDS THE ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF JUNE., FOR BOTH GOLD:
YOU WILL ALSO NOTICE THAT THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST STARTS TO RISE BUT SO IS THE OPEN INTEREST OF SPREADERS. THE OPEN INTEREST IN WILL CONTINUE TO RISE UNTIL ONE WEEK BEFORE FIRST DAY NOTICE OF AN UPCOMING ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH (SEPT), AND THAT IS WHEN THE CROOKS SELL THEIR SPREAD POSITIONS BUT NOT AT THE SAME TIME OF THE DAY. THEY WILL USE THE SELL SIDE OF THE EQUATION TO CREATE THE CASCADE (ALONG WITH THEIR COLLUSIVE FRIENDS) AND THEN COVER ON THE BUY SIDE OF THE SPREAD SITUATION AT THE END OF THE DAY. THEY DO THIS TO AVOID POSITION LIMIT DETECTION. THE LIQUIDATION OF THE SPREADING FORMATION CONTINUES FOR EXACTLY ONE WEEK AND ENDS ON FIRST DAY NOTICE.”
WHAT IS ALARMING TO ME, ACCORDING TO OUR LONDON EXPERT ANDREW MAGUIRE IS THAT THESE EFP’S ARE BEING TRANSFERRED TO WHAT ARE CALLED SERIAL FORWARD CONTRACT OBLIGATIONS AND THESE CONTRACTS ARE LESS THAN 14 DAYS. ANYTHING GREATER THAN 14 DAYS, THESE MUST BE RECORDED AND SENT TO THE COMPTROLLER, GREAT BRITAIN TO MONITOR RISK TO THE BANKING SYSTEM. IF THIS IS INDEED TRUE, THEN THIS IS A MASSIVE CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD AS WE NOW WITNESS A MONSTROUS TOTAL EFP’S ISSUANCE AS IT HEADS INTO THE STRATOSPHERE.
The crooks also use the spread in the TAS account (trade at settlement). They buy the spot TAS (e.g. June) and sell the future TAS two months out (e.g. August). Then they unload the front month (i.e. unload the buy side first so the price of gold/silver falls. This occurs in the middle of the front delivery month cycle. They unload the sell side of the equation, two months down the road. The crooks violate position limits as the OCC refuse to hear our complaints.
First, here is an outline of what will be discussed tonight:
1.Today, we had the open interest at the comex, in SILVER FELL BY A FAIR SIZED 292CONTRACTS OI TO 134,534 AND FURTHER FROM OUR COMEX HIGH RECORD //244,710(SET FEB 25/2020). THE LAST RECORDS WERE SET IN AUG.2018 AT 244,196 WITH A SILVER PRICE OF $14.78/(AUGUST 22/2018)..THE PREVIOUS RECORD TO THAT WAS SET ON APRIL 9/2018 AT 243,411 OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS WITH THE SILVER PRICE AT THAT DAY: $16.53). AND PREVIOUS TO THAT, THE RECORD WAS ESTABLISHED AT: 234,787 CONTRACTS, SET ON APRIL 21.2017 OVER 5 YEARS AGO. HOWEVER WE HAVE NOW SET A NEW RECORD LOW OF 114,102 CONTRACTS JULY 3.2023
EFP ISSUANCE 1144 CONTRACTS
OUR CUSTOMARY MIGRATION OF COMEX LONGS CONTINUE TO MORPH INTO LONDON FORWARDS AS OUR BANKERS USED THEIR EMERGENCY PROCEDURE TO ISSUE:
DEC 1144 and ALL OTHER MONTHS: ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 1144 CONTRACTS. EFP’S GIVE OUR COMEX LONGS A FIAT BONUS PLUS A DELIVERABLE PRODUCT OVER IN LONDON. IF WE TAKE THE COMEX OI LOSS OF 292 CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 1144 OI TRANSFERRED TO LONDON THROUGH EFP’S,
WE OBTAIN A HUGE SIZED GAIN OF OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 852 CONTRACTS
THUS IN OUNCES, THE GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES TOTAL 4.260 MILLION OZ
c) Commentaries from: Egon von Greyerz///Matthew Piepenburg via GoldSwitzerland.com, Pam and Russ Martens
ii a) Chris Powell of GATA provides to us very important physical commentaries
b. Other gold/silver commentaries
c. Commodity commentaries//
d)/CRYPTOCURRENCIES/BITCOIN ETC
2.ASIAN AFFAIRS//
THURSDAY MORNING//WEDNESDAY NIGHT
SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 21.91 PTS OR 0.71% //Hang Seng CLOSED DOWN 246.18 PTS OR 1.36% /The Nikkei CLOSED DOWN 95.29 PTS OR 0.28% //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED DOWN 0.65 % /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN AT 7.2502 /OFFSHORE CHINESE YUAN CLOSED DOWN TO 7.2585 /Oil DOWN TO 76.09 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT DOWN AT 80.44/ Stocks in Europe OPENED ALL MIXED// ONSHORE YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE WEAKER
1. COMEX DATA//AMOUNTS STANDING//VOLUME OF TRADING/INVENTORY MOVEMENTS
GOLD
LET US BEGIN:
THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST FELL BY A FAIR SIZED 2930 CONTRACTS TO 483,704 WITH OUR LOSS IN PRICE OF $1.00 ON WEDNESDAY TRADING.
EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE
WE ARE NOW IN THE NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF NOV..… THE CME REPORTS THAT THE BANKERS ISSUED A FAIR SIZED TRANSFER THROUGH THE EFP ROUTE AS THESE LONGS RECEIVED A DELIVERABLE LONDON FORWARD TOGETHER WITH A FIAT BONUS.,
THAT IS 2372 EFP CONTRACTS WERE ISSUED: : DEC 2372 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:
TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 2372CONTRACTS
ON A NET BASIS IN OPEN INTEREST WE LOST THE FOLLOWING TODAY ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES: A SMALL SIZED TOTAL OF 558 CONTRACTS IN THAT 2372 LONGS WERE TRANSFERRED AS FORWARDS TO LONDON AND WE HAD A FAIR SIZED LOSS OF 2930 COMEX CONTRACTS..AND THIS GAIN ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES HAPPENED WITH OUR LOSS IN PRICE OF $1.00//WEDNESDAY COMEX. AS PER OUR NEWBIE TRADE AT SETTLEMENT (TAS) MANIPULATION OPERATION (WHICH CRAIG HEMKE HAS POINTED OUT HAPPENS DURING MID MONTH IN THE DELIVERY CYCLE), THE CME REPORTS THAT THE TOTAL T.A.S. ISSUANCE FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT WAS A GOOD SIZED 1997 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)//. THIS ENDS THESE MEGA T.A.S. ISSUANCES!!
// WE HAVE A STRONG AMOUNT OF GOLD TONNAGE STANDING: NOV (10.5465 TONNES ( NON 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. 35.869 TONNES + 1.665 EXCHANGE FOR RISK =37.0355 tonnes
NOV: 6.7340 TONNES + 3.1905 (EX. FOR RISK) + 6096 exchange for risk today = 10.5465 TONNES
THE SPECS/HFT WERE SUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE( IT LOST $1.00) //// BUT WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING ANY SPECULATOR LONGS AS WE HAD A TINY SIZED GAIN OF196 TOTAL CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES. WE HAD A STRONG T.A.S. LIQUIDATION ON THE FRONT END OF WEDNESDAY’S TRADING. THE T.A.S. ISSUED ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT, WILL BE “PUT INTO THE BANK” TO BE USED AT A LATER DATE AT THE COLLUSIVE CHOOSING OF OUR BANKERS. WE ALSO EXPERIENCED SOME SPECULATOR SHORT COVERING
WE HAVE LOST A TOTAL OI OF 1.736 PAPER TONNES FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES, ACCOMPANYING OUR INITIAL GOLD TONNAGE STANDING FOR NOV. (4.3514 TONNES) ON FIRST DAY NOTICE FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 0OZ QUEUE JUMP //NEW TOTALS STANDING:6.7340 TONNES + .6096 exchange for risk today +3.1905 EXCHANGE FOR RISK/PRIOR; NEW TOTAL STANDING: 10.5465 TONNES ALL OF THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR LOSS IN PRICE TO THE TUNE OF $1.00. FOR THE PAST SEVERAL 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.
WE HAD REMOVED –754 CONTRACTS TO THE COMEX TRADES TO OPEN INTEREST (CROOKS)
NET LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 558 CONTRACTS OR 55,800 OZ OR 1.736 TONNES.
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month
1971 notices 197,100 oz 6.1306 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: nil oz
we had 1 customer withdrawals
i) Out of JPMorgan: 385.812 oz (12 kilobars)
total withdrawals 385.812 oz
Adjustments; 0
CALCULATIONS FOR THE AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR NOV.
For the front month of NOVEMBER we have an oi of 196 contracts having LOST 0 contracts. We had 0 contracts filed on WEDNESDAY, so we gained 0 contracts or an additional NIL oz will stand for delivery at the comex in this NON active delivery month of NOVEMBER. 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. However we had another 200 contracts of exchange for risk issued for .6220 tonnes and this will be added to the delivery totals.
December LOST 7873 contracts DOWN to 220,371 contracts. The Dec OI is unusually high with less than two weeks before FDN
JAN. gained 49 contracts RISING TO 2465 contracts.
We had 2 contracts filed for today representing 200 oz
Today, 0 notice(s) were issued from J.P.Morgan dealer account and 2 notices were issued from their client or customer account. The total of all issuance by all participants equate to 0 contract(s) of which 0 notices were stopped (received) by j.P. Morgan dealer and 0 notice(s) was (were) stopped received by J.P.Morgan//customer account and 0 notice(s) received (stopped) by the squid (Goldman Sachs)
To calculate the INITIAL total number of gold ounces standing for the NOV. /2023. contract month, we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (1971 x 100 oz ), to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of NOV. (196 CONTRACTS) minus the number of notices served upon today 2 x 100 oz per contract equals 216,500 OZ OR 6.7340 TONNES + .6220 TONNES EX FOR RISK TODAY/3,1905 TONNES EX. FOR RISK/PRIOR: total ex. for risk = 3.8125//THUS TOTAL STANDING: 10.5465 TONNES
thus the INITIAL standings for gold for the NOV.contract month: No of notices filed so far (1971) x 100 oz + (196) {OI for the front month} minus the number of notices served upon today (2) x 100 oz) which equals 216,500 oz standing OR 6.7340 TONNES + 3.8125 EX FOR RISK FOR MONTH = 10.5465 TONNES
TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING: 10.5465 TONNES WHICH IS HUGE FOR AN ACTIVE BUT GENERALLY WEAK DELIVERY MONTH. (OCT). Somebody is after a considerable amount of gold from the comex.
TOTAL OF ALL GOLD ELIGIBLE AND REGISTERED: 19,883,599.656 OZ
TOTAL REGISTERED GOLD 10,060.788.902 (312.93 tonnes)..cme corrected
TOTAL OF ALL ELIGIBLE GOLD: 9,822,810.754 OZ
REGISTERED GOLD THAT CAN BE SERVED UPON: 8,215,842(REG GOLD- PLEDGED GOLD) 255.54 tonnes//dropping like a stone
END
SILVER/COMEX
NOV 16
//2023// THE NOV 2023 SILVER CONTRACT
Silver
Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory
NIL oz
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory
40,681.408 oz
Delaware
.
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory
nil oz
Deposits to the Customer Inventory
nil oz
No of oz served today (contracts)
0 CONTRACT(S) (NIL OZ)
No of oz to be served (notices)
12 contracts (60,000 oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)
818 Contracts (4,090,000 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 0 deposits customer account:
total customer deposit nil oz
JPMorgan has a total silver weight: 134.441 million oz/266.755 million or 50.37%
Comex withdrawals 1
i) Out of Delaware: 40,681.408 oz
total: 40,681.408 oz
adjustments: 1//dealer to customer ASAHI
i) 1,133,098.618 oz
TOTAL REGISTERED SILVER: 38.258 MILLION OZ//.TOTAL REG + ELIGIBLE. 266.519 million oz
CALCULATIONS FOR THE NEW STANDING FOR SILVER FOR August:
silver open interest data:
FRONT MONTH OF NOV /2023 OI: 12 CONTRACTS HAVING LOST 271 CONTRACT(S). WE HAD 271 NOTICES FILED ON WEDNESDAY, SO WE GAINED 0 CONTRACTS OR AN ADDITIONAL NIL OZ WILL STAND FOR SILVER IN NOVEMBER AT THE COMEX
DEC. LOST 2128 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 62,346
JANUARY LOST 3 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 882
TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR TODAY: 0 for NIL oz
Comex volumes// est. volume today 97,460// very good
Comex volume: confirmed yesterday 87,755 very good
To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in NOV. we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at 818 x 5,000 oz = 4,090,000 oz
to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of NOV. (12) and the number of notices served upon today 0 x (5000 oz) equals the number of ounces standing.
Thus the standings for silver for the NOV/2023 contract month: 818 (notices served so far) x 5000 oz + OI for the front month of NOV (12) – number of notices served upon today (0 )x 500 oz of silver standing for the NOV contract month equates to 4.150 MILLION OZ +1.0 MILLION OZ EXCHANGE FOR RISK TODAY + .245 MILLION OZ (EXCHANGE FOR RISK) =5.395 MILLION OZ
There are 39.391 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//
BOTH GLD AND SLV ARE MASSIVE FRAUDS!
NOV 16/WITH GOLD UP $22.70 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:/ / // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 870.45 TONNES
NOV 15/WITH GOLD DOWN $1.00 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:/ / // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 870.45 TONNES
NOV 14/WITH GOLD UP $16.35 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:/ / // //A DEPOSIT OF 2.3 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD// INVENTORY RESTS AT 870.45 TONNES
NOV 13/WITH GOLD UP $12.00 TODAY:SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:/ / // //A DEPOSIT OF .87 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD// INVENTORY RESTS AT 868.15 TONNES
NOV 10/WITH GOLD DOWN $30.70 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:/ / // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 867.28 TONNES
NOV 9/WITH GOLD UP $12.50 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:/ / // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 867.28 TONNES
NOV 8/WITH GOLD DOWN $14.95 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:A MASSIVE DEPOSIT OF 4.04 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/ / // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 867.28 TONNES
NOV 7/WITH GOLD DOWN $14.70 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:A DEPOSIT OF 4.33 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/ / // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 863.24 TONNES
NOV 6/WITH GOLD DOWN $9.90 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:A DEPOSIT OF 1.73 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/ / // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 863.24 TONNES
NOV 3/WITH GOLD UP $5.75 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: / // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 861.51 TONNES
NOV 2/WITH GOLD UP $6.55 TODAY:BIG CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A HUGE DEPOSIT OF 2.02 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/ // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 861.51 TONNES
NOV 1/WITH GOLD DOWN $6.15 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 859.49 TONNES
OCT 31/859.49 TONNES//
OCT 30/WITH GOLD UP $7.80 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 861.80 TONNES
OCT 27/WITH GOLD UP $1.20 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 861.80 TONNES
OCT 26/WITH GOLD UP $2.90 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A DEPOSIT OF 1.73 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD// // INVENTORY RESTS AT 861.80 TONNES
OCT 25/WITH GOLD UP $9.00 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:/: //: // INVENTORY RESTS AT 860.07 TONNES
OCT 24/WITH GOLD DOWN $1.30 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 3.17 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD//WHAT A MASSIVE FRAUD! //: //: // INVENTORY RESTS AT 860.07 TONNES
OCT 23/WITH GOLD DOWN $6.80 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A MASSIVE 15.00 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD//WHAT A MASSIVE FRAUD! //: //: // INVENTORY RESTS AT 863.24 TONNES
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
GLD INVENTORY: 870.45 TONNES
Now the SLV Inventory/( vehicle is a fraud as there is no physical metal behind them
NOV 16/WITH SILVER UP 38 CENTS TODAY:SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A WITHDRAWAL OF 778,000 OZ FROM THE SLV//://// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 440.768 MILLION OZ
NOV 15/WITH SILVER UP 39 CENTS TODAY:NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV://// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 441.587 MILLION OZ
NOV 14/WITH SILVER UP 78 CENTS TODAY:SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A DEPOSIT OF 183,000 OZ INTO THE SLV ////// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 441.587 MILLION OZ
NOV 13/WITH SILVER UP 5 CENTS TODAY:NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: ////// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 441.364 MILLION OZ
NOV 10/WITH SILVER DOWN 59 CENTS TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF .733 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV////// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 441.364 MILLION OZ
NOV 9/WITH SILVER UP 17 CENTS TODAY:NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: //// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 440.631 MILLION OZ
NOV 8/WITH SILVER UP 13 CENTS TODAY:NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: //// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 440.631 MILLION OZ
NOV 7/WITH SILVER DOWN 59 CENTS TODAY:NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: //// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 440.631 MILLION OZ
NOV 6/WITH SILVER DOWN 6 CENTS TODAY:NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: //// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 440.631 MILLION OZ
NOV 3/WITH SILVER UP 41 CENTS TODAY:BIG CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 0.638 MILLION OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV///// /// /INVENTORY RESTS AT 440.631 MILLION OZ
NOV 2/WITH SILVER UP 11 CENTS TODAY:BIG CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.924 OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV///// /// /INVENTORY RESTS AT 439.993 MILLION OZ
NOV 1/WITH SILVER DOWN 11 CENTS TODAY:BIG CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 916,000 OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV///// /// /INVENTORY RESTS AT 441.917 MILLION OZ
OCT 31/442.833 MILLION OZ///INVENTORY
OCT 30/WITH SILVER UP 46 CENTS TODAY:NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: /// /// /INVENTORY RESTS AT 443.750 MILLION OZ
OCT 27/WITH SILVER UP 3 CENTS TODAY:BIG CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 641,000 OZ FROM THE SLV/// /// /INVENTORY RESTS AT 443.750 MILLION OZ
OCT 26/WITH SILVER DOWN 14 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/ /// /INVENTORY RESTS AT 444.391 MILLION OZ
OCT 25/WITH SILVER DOWN 6 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/ /// /INVENTORY RESTS AT 444.391 MILLION OZ
OCT 24/WITH SILVER DOWN 8 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A MASSIVE DEPOSIT OF 2.52 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV/// /// /INVENTORY RESTS AT 444.391 MILLION OZ
OCT 23/WITH SILVER DOWN 23 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:/ /// /INVENTORY RESTS AT 441.871 MILLION OZ
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 UP XXX 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
CLOSING INVENTORY 449.768 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
One of the many surprising things about the Everything Bubble was the way interest rates kept rising. A lot of observers (including this one) believed that in each successive bubble, the “terminal” interest rate — that is, the rate that starts to break things, causing a crash — would be lower because the amount of bad debt was always rising.
In the housing bubble of the 2000s, the 10-year Treasury yield hit 5% before everything fell apart. So something less than that — say 4% — seemed to be a logical terminal rate for this cycle. But the 10-year yield blew through that level and just kept on going, hitting 5% in late October, and taking 30-year mortgage rates to a ridiculous (given sky-high house prices) 8%.
Inflation was the perceived culprit. As long as consumer prices were rising at more than the Fed’s target of 2%, the conventional wisdom had rates staying “higher for longer.”
Signs of a slowdown have been multiplying (see here, here, and here) but high inflation overshadowed those other stats. Now everything is pointing in the same direction — down hard — so the other bad news fits the new narrative. Some recent headlines:
(MarketWatch) – Sales at retailers nationwide fell 0.1% in October and dropped for the first time in seven months.It was the first negative reading since March, the government reported. Retail sales represent about one-third of all consumer spending and usually offer clues on the strength of the economy.
(CNBC) – Feeling the pressure of inflation and rising interest rates over the past few months, an increasing number of consumers have been making credit card payments 30 days late or more. That climbing “credit card delinquencies” rate may trend higher this holiday season. Typically, it’s at the end of the year when more consumers start to pay late.
(CNBC) – Walmart topped Wall Street’s fiscal third-quarter earnings estimates as sales rose, but the big-box retailer struck a cautious tone with its outlook after it saw consumer spending weaken at the end of the period. The company’s shares fell by 7% on the news.
(Zero Hedge) – Shares of Burberry Group PLC tumbled the most in a decade on Thursday following an announcement that the British trenchcoat manufacturer is unlikely to meet its yearly revenue targets, citing a global downturn in luxury spending.
For the Sept. 30-ending second quarter, Burberry said falling sales in the US and a downturn in China led to comparable-store sales increase by only 1%, compared to 18% in the year’s first quarter. The company warned revenue targets for the year ending March 2024 won’t be met and noted that profits will be on the lower end of analysts’ forecasts.
(CNBC) – U.S. crude prices fell 5% on Thursday as inventories rose while industrial production fell. U.S. crude inventories rose by 3.6 million barrels last week while production held steady at a record 13.2 million barrels per day, according to data released by the Energy Information Agency Wednesday.
Tapped-out consumers, frozen real estate, falling prices
Past bubbles like the dot-coms and sub-prime housing popped when those single overleveraged sectors imploded. But this time around it looks like the Everything Bubble will just crumble under the weight of its myriad imbalances. Not one thing, but many are rolling over, which leaves very few places to hide.
Today we’re considering the real environment that determines economic conditions.
It has nothing to do with short-term data, Fed policy, conventional economic models or other factors most economic commentary focuses on.
Instead, it has to do with the “trilemma,” identified in the 1960s by economist Robert Mundell.
Mundell identified three critical policy variables that nations face:
the central bank policy rate,
the exchange rate,
and open capital accounts.
He said that nations could control any two of these variables, but not all three at once.
If you want to control the policy rate and the exchange rate you can, but you have to close your capital account. Otherwise, if your policy rate is high and your capital account is open, capital will flow in and make your exchange rate higher than you want.
Or if you have a set exchange rate and open capital account, you have to let your policy rate float along with other central banks to avoid the exchange rate pressure.
In the first case, you control the policy rate and have an open capital account, but you lose control over exchange rates. In the second case, you control your exchange rate and have an open capital account, but you lose control of your policy rate. The only way to control the policy rate and the exchange rate is to close the capital account.
As Mundell explained, you can control two of the three factors, but not all three.
If you try, you will fail — markets will make sure of that. A country that attempts to have all three will fail in one of several ways including a reserve crisis, an exchange rate crisis or a recession.
Freedonia Can’t Escape the Trilemma
Consider the case of a country — call it Freedonia — that wants to cut its interest rate from 3% to 2% to stimulate growth. At the same time, Freedonia’s main trading partner, Sylvania, has an interest rate of 3%.
Freedonia also keeps an open capital account (to encourage direct foreign investment).
Finally, Freedonia pegs its exchange rate to Sylvania at a rate of 10-1. This is a “cheap” exchange rate designed to stimulate exports from Freedonia to Sylvania.
In this example, Freedonia is trying the impossible trinity. It wants an open capital account, a fixed exchange rate and an independent monetary policy (it has an interest rate of 2% while Sylvania’s rate is 3%).
What happens next?
The arbitrageurs get to work. They borrow money in Freedonia at 2% in order to invest in Sylvania at 3%. This causes the Freedonia central bank to sell its foreign exchange reserves and print local currency to meet the demand for local currency loans and outbound investment.
Printing the local currency puts downward pressure on the fixed exchange rate and causes inflation in local prices.
Eventually something breaks.
Country Freedonia may run out of foreign exchange forcing it to close the capital account or break the peg (this is what happened to the U.K. in 1992 when George Soros broke the Bank of England).
Or country Freedonia will print so much money that inflation will get out of control forcing it to raise interest rates again.
The exact policy response can vary, but the end result is that country Freedonia cannot maintain the trilemma. It will have to raise interest rates, close the capital account, break the peg or all three in order to avoid losing all of its foreign exchange and going broke.
This shows you how powerful the trilemma is as an analytic tool.
The Trilemma Explains the Strong Dollar
The major economies today all have mostly open capital accounts (although China does impose some restrictions), which means they can control interest rates or exchange rates, but not both.
Most major economies fix short-term interest rates, which means they lose control over exchange rates.
This means the interest rate and the exchange rate have to be thought of as a pair. A higher interest rate generally results in a stronger currency. That’s exactly what the U.S. is experiencing today where sharply higher interest rates have resulted in a stronger dollar.
The ability of central banks to pursue any interest rate policy they might prefer is further constrained by conditions in the real economy.
Central banks target policy rates intended to produce maximum real growth, low unemployment and price stability.
As noted above, if maximum potential real growth in the U.S. is about 3%, the Fed will target a neutral rate of interest (also called r*) that will produce 3% growth, which is consistent with price stability and should optimize employment at the same time.
If the Fed guesses at a neutral rate that is too high, they will slow the economy, hurt job growth and cause disinflation or deflation. If the Fed guesses at a neutral rate that is too low, they will cause the economy to run hot, tighten labor markets and cause inflation.
Since the Fed is guessing, they are likely to guess wrong. Sooner than later, the Fed’s incorrect guess shows up in economic data.
Still, the result of trying to hit a neutral rate means central banks will wander high or low while trying to converge on the unseen target. Other central banks are doing the same.
This neutral rate targeting combined with Mundell’s trilemma shows us that all major central banks with reserve currency status are not really free agents but are highly constrained by the need to hit the neutral rate, avoid inflation or deflation and maintain reasonably stable exchange rates.
This is a highly imperfect process with many errors committed along the way, but it does provide a framework for forecasting international monetary policy using just a few key factors.
The One Big Exception to the Trilemma
By the way, there’s historically been one big exception to the trilemma. That’s the United States.
The U.S. sets interest rates independently and has an open capital account. The U.S. does not officially peg the dollar to any other currency (thus technically not breaking the trilemma). But it does work with other countries to allow them to informally peg to the dollar.
Why hasn’t the U.S. suffered adverse consequences? Because the U.S. doesn’t need foreign exchange.
The dollar is still the leading reserve currency in the world (about 60% of global reserves and close to 90% of global foreign exchange trades), so the U.S. can never run out of foreign exchange to pay for things. It can just print more dollars!
This is what the French called the dollar’s “exorbitant privilege” in the 1960s.
Now you see why so many trading partners like the BRICS nations are trying to escape from a dollar-denominated global system (among other reasons, like escaping dollar-based sanctions).
The game is rigged against other countries, and in favor of the U.S.
This is why the game won’t last — and why King Dollar’s days are numbered.
end
END
3. CHRIS POWELL//GATA GOLD COMMENTARIES:
Watch the New Orleans conference at home while helping GATA too
Submitted by admin on Wed, 2023-11-15 16:30Section: Daily Dispatches
4:31p ET Wednesday, November 15, 2023
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
You missed a lot if you didn’t attend the New Orleans Investment Conference this month — a great city renovating itself, wonderful restaurants, refreshing weather, people who make hospitality a way of life, and, of course, financial commentary from some great minds. (Oh, well, GATA’s too.)
But you don’t have to keep missing what was said at the conference. For the conference is selling video recordings of all 40 hours of its proceedings — conference presentations and speaker workshops — for just $199 for you to watch at home. And ever generous to GATA, the conference will pay us a commission on every recording purchased by our supporters through the internet link below.
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc. CPowell@GATA.org
end
(COURTESY BLOOMBERG)
For Russia, Hong Kong outs Dubai as its biggest hub
(Bloomberg)
Hong Kong ousts Dubai as biggest hub for Russian gold trade
Submitted by admin on Wed, 2023-11-15 12:20 Section: Daily Dispatches
By Malaika Kanaaneh Tapper and Eddie Spence Bloomberg News Wednesday, November 15, 2023
Shut out of London following the invasion of Ukraine, Russian gold trading switched to Dubai. Now it’s shifting again, to the bullion hub of Hong Kong.
The city has long been a key conduit for bullion entering the Chinese mainland — the world’s biggest consumer market — but since April, Russian shipments surged. Hong Kong imported 68 tons of Russian gold this year, four times as much as the whole of 2022.
The shift to Hong Kong was driven by U.S. sanctions on Russia’s top gold miners, as well as a crackdown by the United Arab Emirates on illicit activities in its bullion market, according to people familiar with the matter.
The move east underlines the challenge faced by the West in curbing resource flows that fund the Kremlin’s war machine. …
1.YOUR EARLY CURRENCY VALUES/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN AND EUROPEAN BOURSE MOVEMENTS/AND INTEREST RATE SETTINGS THURSDAY MORNING.7:30 AM
ONSHORE YUAN: CLOSED DOWN AT 7.2502
OFFSHORE YUAN: UP TO 7.2585
SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 21.91 PTS OR 0.71%
HANG SENG CLOSED DOWN 246.18 PTS OR 1.36%
2. Nikkei closed DOWN 95.29PTS OR 0.28%
3. Europe stocks SO FAR: ALL MIXED
USA dollar INDEX UP TO 104.36 EURO FALLS TO 1.0846 DOWN 9 BASIS PTS
3b Japan 10 YR bond yield: FALLS TO. +.786 Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese YEN vs USA cross now at 151.28/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 DOWN for WTI and DOWN FOR Brent this morning
3h European bond buying continues to push yields lower on all fronts in the EMU. German 10yr bund UP TO +2.6120***/Italian 10 Yr bond yield DOWN to 4.384*** /SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD DOWN TO 3.617…**
3i Greek 10 year bond yield RISES TO 3.818
3j Gold at $1965.00 silver at: 23.62 1 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $30.00
3k USA vs Russian rouble;// Russian rouble UP 0 AND 37 /100 roubles/dollar; ROUBLE AT 89.09//
3m oil into the 76 dollar handle for WTI and 80 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 151.28// 10 YEAR YIELD AFTER FIRST BREAKING .54% LAST YEAR NOW EXCEEDS THAT LEVEL TO 0.786% 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 0.8898 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF: 0.9651 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: 4.4500 DOWN 3 BASIS PTS…
USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 4.668 DOWN 2 BASIS PTS/
USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.895 DOWN 2 BASIS PTS
USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 28.67…(TURKEY SET TO BLOW UP FINANCIALLY)
GREAT BRITAIN/10 YEAR YIELD: DOWN 6 BASIS PTS AT 4.1840
end
2.a Overnight: Newsquawk and Zero hedge:
Futures Drop As Walmart Consumer Caution Pours Cold Water On Sentiment
THURSDAY, NOV 16, 2023 – 08:30 AM
S&P futures dropped and global stocks paused their rally on Wednesday as the euphoria over a potential dovish pivot by central banks faded and earnings from a slew of companies undershot expectations. A boost to sentiment from the US averting a government shutdowns was offset by a last minute debacle in the Biden-Xi talks in which the US president (correctly) called his Chinese counterpart a “dictator”; sentiment was also pressured by disappointing guidance and commentary on the US consumer from retail giant Walmart. As of 8:15am, S&P futures ticked 0.2% lower. 10YTreasuries steadied just below 4.5%, after yields increased by almost nine basis points in the previous session. The dollar was little changed and West Texas Intermediate declined toward $76 a barrel.
In premarket trading Cisco tumbles 10% after its forecast raised concerns that corporations are reining in their technology spending. Walmart sank over 6% after it modestly raised its annual profit forecast, but struck a cautious tone about the outlook for US shoppers. Alibaba Group fell 8% after the company said it won’t proceed with a full spinoff of its cloud unit. Cisco Systems Inc. headed for its biggest drop in 18 months after saying new product orders are slowing. Children’s Place falls 19% after posting 3Q profit that fell short of estimates.
This week’s rally in stocks and bonds has prompted some to ponder whether the market is jumping the gun on expectations of interest rate cuts. While data has showed US inflation slowing, other economic measures such as retail sales and Target Corp. earnings indicate consumer demand remains resilient.
“The inflation discussion is done and dusted,” said Peter Kinsella, head of FX strategy at Union Bancaire Privee UBp SA. “Now the narrative will slowly shift from inflation to growth risks, and we have to wait and see what happens with labor market data.”
In other news, President Xi Jinping’s comment that his country will not fight a cold, or a hot, war with the US is being viewed as a sign Beijing is intent on repairing recently soured relationship with the US. He spoke after a meeting with his US counterpart Joe Biden. “The tone from both sides seems conciliatory and that is good,” said Redmond Wong, a market strategist at Saxo Capital Markets in Hong Kong.
The focus now turns to US initial jobless claims and industrial production figures due later Thursday, with investors also likely to tune in to a lineup of speakers from the Fed and European Central Bank.
European stocks are on course to snap a three-day winning streak. The Stoxx 600 is down 0.3%, led by declines in energy and leisure shares while utilities and industrial goods lead the outperformers. Burberry plunged 9% after saying weaker demand for high-end goods may make its sales forecast impossible to hit. Meal-kit firm HelloFresh SE sank 18% after cutting sales expectations. Here are the biggest movers Thursday:
Siemens gains as much as 5.8%, the most since February, after the German industrial conglomerate presented an overall strong report, with analysts noting a return to growth for its key Digital Industries division, impressive cash flow and a fresh EU6 billion buyback as key positives
Arcadis rises as much as 5.3%, the most in more than six months, after the Dutch engineering firm announced targets for 2024-26 on its capital markets day that Degroof Petercam says were substantially above expectations
SSE rise 2.8% as BNP Paribas Exane says the UK utility is “entering a sweet spot” after upgrading its rating to outperform. Reports that UK will upgrade offshore wind auction price caps could open bidding opportunities for SSE next year
EFG International shares gain as much as 3.4% after the Swiss asset manager reported results for the first 10 months of the year that signal a strong 2023, according to ZKB. Other analysts also point to the company’s hiring as a good sign
Premier Foods advances as much as 5.2%, the biggest intraday advance since May, after the packaged-food company reported first-half results that were seen as good by analysts. Jefferies highlighted the company’s strong momentum carrying into the second quarter
Hotel Chocolat shares jump as much as 164%, the most on record, after US candy giant Mars agreed to buy the premium chocolate maker and retailer for £534 million ($662 million)
City Pubs shares gain as much as 33%, the most on record, after Young & Co.’s Brewery agrees to buy the chain of pubs operator for 108.75 pence in cash and 0.032658 new Young’s A Shares
Soitec shares flip to gains after erasing a 6.1% drop at the open. The French firm’s results for fiscal 2Q showed a strong rebound in its core segment of providing wafers to smartphone-chip vendors, with the division recording a 90% jump in sales from a quarter earlier
HelloFresh declines as much as 21%, the most ever, as the meal-kit company cut full-year sales and Ebitda guidance, citing challenges in acquiring customers in the US and a slow ramp-up of its capacity to produce ready-to-eat pre-made meals
Burberry shares drop as much as 11% after the UK trench-coat maker warned that a global slowdown in luxury demand has taken a toll on its sales and put its yearly revenue targets at risk
Allegro drop as much as 6.9% after the Polish e-commerce platform’s guidance for 4Q signals ballooning losses in Czech Republic and modest gross merchandise value (GMV) growth despite stronger trends in October
Earlier, Asian stocks halted a three-day winning run. Chinese shares were undermined by data showing home prices fell at the fastest clip since 2015; traders also cited profit-taking following the meeting between Xi Jinping and Joe Biden. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell as much as 0.8%. Xiaomi was one of the biggest contributors to the loss as investors were unimpressed by its new electric vehicle, while Tencent fell as amid concerns on its revenue. Hong Kong and mainland benchmarks led losses across the region. Chinese home prices fell by the most in eight years in October, signaling the property slump is worsening even after government stimulus. Meanwhile, the much-anticipated meeting of Xi and Biden delivered an outcome that was seen as largely in line with expectations.
Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp weakened amid mixed tech earnings ahead of Alibaba’s results and with participants digesting the rhetoric from the Biden-Xi meeting which was said to be constructive and productive as they agreed to restart cooperation on counter-narcotics and create forums for military-to-military contact. However, reports noted that Biden said Xi was a dictator and he also raised concerns about human rights abuses.
Australia’s ASX 200 was lower with the energy and mining-related sectors pressured by a deterioration in the commodities complex and with stronger-than-expected employment data doing little to spur risk appetite.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 failed to sustain its early gains despite better-than-expected exports and machinery orders.
India stocks logged their best back-to-back gains since July, skirting losses in their Asian peers, led by gains in technology stocks. The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.5% to 65,982.48 in Mumbai, while the NSE Nifty 50 Index advanced by the same magnitude. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was down 0.3% for the day.
In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index is unchanged. The kiwi is the worst performer among the G-10’s, falling 0.5% versus the greenback.
GBP/USD steadied at 1.2400 after the Bank of England’s Megan Greene said she wasn’t even thinking about rate cuts
NZD/USD sank as much as 0.9% to 0.5971 and AUD/USD fell as much as 0.7% to 0.6456 on falling Chinese house prices and a mixed Australian job report
In rates, treasuries were richer across the curve, unwinding a portion of Wednesday’s losses and following wider gains in gilts where yields are richer by almost 10bp across long-end of the curve. US session features several economic data releases and at least five Fed speakers. Also, corporate deal flow is expected to be heavy for a second straight day. US yields richer by ~4bp across long-end of the curve with futures on session highs in early trading; 10-year is around 4.48%, near day’s low, trailing gilts in the sector by 4bp. Long-end outperformance in Treasuries pushes 2s10s spread flatter by around 1bp on the day with 5s30s spread also slightly tighter vs Wednesday close. Gilts have outperformed their German counterparts as UK 10-year borrowing costs fall by 7bps.
In commodities, oil fell as an increase in US inventories added to market sentiment over weaker demand and steady supplies. WTI fell 0.6% to trade near $76.20. Gold edged up, after a modest decline on Wednesday as US data pointed to signs of resilience in the US economy that could affect the Federal Reserve’s rate path.
Bitcoin remains stuck in very narrow USD 37-37.5k range after a failed attempt to break out above $38k last night. Ethereum spiked to $2100 after confirmation that Blackrock had filed for an ETH ETF.
US economic data includes October import/export price indexes, initial jobless claims, November Philadelphia Fed business outlook and New York Fed services business activity (8:30am), October industrial production (9:15am), NAHB housing market index and Kansas City Fed manufacturing (11am) and September TIC flows (4pm). Scheduled Fed speakers include Mester (8:30am, 11:45am and 1:30pm), Williams (9:25am), Waller (10:30am), Barr (10:35am) and Cook (12pm)
Market Snapshot
S&P 500 futures little changed at 4,516.50
STOXX Europe 600 down 0.3% to 453.20
MXAP down 0.2% to 160.68
MXAPJ down 0.2% to 504.48
Nikkei down 0.3% to 33,424.41
Topix down 0.2% to 2,368.62
Hang Seng Index down 1.4% to 17,832.82
Shanghai Composite down 0.7% to 3,050.93
Sensex up 0.7% to 66,138.36
Australia S&P/ASX 200 down 0.7% to 7,058.42
Kospi little changed at 2,488.18
Brent Futures down 0.4% to $80.85/bbl
Gold spot up 0.4% to $1,967.34
German 10Y yield little changed at 2.63%
Euro little changed at $1.0857
U.S. Dollar Index little changed at 104.35
Top Overnight News
Biden and Xi met for four hours on Wed and reached agreements on curbing fentanyl production and resuming military-to-military communications, but otherwise it was a fairly uneventful gathering (the most important takeaway was that the two men agreed to continue talking as relations thaw, although Biden reiterated that considered Xi to be a dictator). NYT
A decision by Germany’s top court to strike down off-budget funding for climate action has called into question about €770 billion ($840 billion) of state funding, according to people familiar with the matter. BBG
The US and EU are haggling over terms to extend a truce on steel and aluminum trade after talks stalled on a more lasting agreement. The US proposed prolonging the status quo until end-2025, but the EU wants changes to the current deal before agreeing to an extension, people familiar said. BBG
Hamas agrees to a deal whereby it will release 50 women and child hostages in exchange for a 3-5 day ceasefire and the release of certain women and children being held in Israeli prisons. WaPo
Israeli president Isaac Herzog has said that his country cannot leave a vacuum in Gaza and would have to maintain a “very strong force” in the coastal enclave for the near future to prevent Hamas re-emerging in the besieged strip. FT
Iran’s supreme leader delivered a clear message to the head of Hamas when they met in Tehran in early November, according to three senior officials: You gave us no warning of your Oct. 7 attack on Israel and we will not enter the war on your behalf. RTRS
Senate passes bill to avoid a shutdown (the vote was 87-11), sending it to the White House for Biden’s signature (the new spending deadlines are 1/19 and 2/2). WaPo
Larry Summers said transitory factors like bottlenecks are partly behind the faster-than-expected slowdown in US inflation. He still doesn’t see a return to 2% without a significant downturn. BBG
CSCO reported solid EPS upside, but the guidance was very soft (mgmt. said the culprit behind the poor forecast isn’t macro weakness but instead absorption hiccups as customers take time to install and implement prior purchases before making new ones). RTRS
Liquidity – Top book liquidity has doubled from $8M to $16M month-to-date. The ability to transfer risk has increased. We expect liquidity to tick lower heading into Thanksgiving.
More details on overnight moves from Newsquawk
APAC stocks were mostly negative as the recent data-driven momentum eventually lost steam. ASX 200 was lower with the energy and mining-related sectors pressured by a deterioration in the commodities complex and with stronger-than-expected employment data doing little to spur risk appetite. Nikkei 225 failed to sustain its early gains despite better-than-expected exports and machinery orders. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp weakened amid mixed tech earnings ahead of Alibaba’s results and with participants digesting the rhetoric from the Biden-Xi meeting which was said to be constructive and productive as they agreed to restart cooperation on counter-narcotics and create forums for military-to-military contact. However, reports noted that Biden said Xi was a dictator and he also raised concerns about human rights abuses.
Top Asian News
US President Biden said talks with Xi were constructive and productive, while they made real progress and are restarting cooperation on counter-narcotics, as well as resuming military-to-military contact. Biden also raised concerns about people detained in China and about China’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, while he emphasised the US would take actions to prevent US technology from being used to undermine US security and said that Chinese President Xi is a dictator.
Chinese President Xi said China has no plan to replace the US and that he hopes the two countries can be partners, respect each other and coexist peacefully. Xi added that both sides should have more dialogue, discuss more and handle differences calmly, as well as promote mutually beneficial cooperation in fields including the economy, trade, agriculture, climate change and AI. Furthermore, he said the US should stop arming Taiwan and support China’s peaceful reunification with Taiwan, while he hopes the US will lift its unilateral sanctions and provide a fair and just environment for Chinese companies.
Chinese President Xi said during his APEC address that the door of US-China relations cannot be shut and the world needs China and the US to work together. Xi also stated China is ready to be a partner and friend of the US and that the US should not bet against China, while he added that there is plenty of room for US-China cooperation and that it is wrong to view China as a threat and play a zero-sum game.
US senior administration official said the Biden-Xi meeting lasted for over 4 hours and both leaders acknowledged that they want to keep lines of communication open, while there are no plans for another visit between Biden and Xi at this time although they kept the door open to it.
China’s state planner said it will continue to expand domestic demand and promote high growth in services consumption. NDRC added it will coordinate the link between macro policies this year and next year and make sure there is a good start to the economy in 2024, while it will roll out policy measures to attract foreign investment with bigger efforts and will increase household income in urban and rural areas, as well as improve consumption capability of low- and mid-level income groups.
“China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Thu it will implement tariff reduction and exemption for imported equipment for foreign investment projects encouraged by the government”, according to Global Times. “The Ministry also urged responsible authorities to study relevant policies encouraging foreign investment and help the involved enterprises to report corresponding projects in accordance to national policies.”
European bourses are struggling for direction, Euro Stoxx 50 -0.1%, as newsflow slows considerably in European hours and the tailwind from US data begins to fizzle out. Sectors are tilting negative with stock specifics dictating, aside from Energy which lags on recent benchmark action. Elsewhere, Luxury names slump post-Burberry’s concerns around attaining guidance while Utilities and Industrials benefit from broker action and Siemens results respectively. Stateside, futures are in the red but as above action is very contained and limited thus far with futures flat/0.10% lower ahead of a number of Fed speakers incl. Williams and key earnings from WMT & M, among others. NetEase Inc (NTES) Q3 2023 (USD): EPS 1.84 (exp. 1.47), Revenue 3.7bln (exp. 3.82bln). Cuts quarterly dividend to 0.495/ADS (prev. 0.525/ADS).
Top European News
BoE’s Greene says the latest inflation data is good news and labour market data is positive. The question is whether BoE policy is restrictive enough and we may need to be restrictive for longer; Greene makes clear that we are in restrictive territory. Markets globally have not really clocked on to how long central banks will need to stay restrictive. UK wage growth is still incredibly high. I am not thinking about cuts.
FX
Buck continues to recover from post-US CPI lows as DXY forms a base above 104.00 between 104.30-56 parameters.
Euro and Yen relatively firm within 1.0831-60 and 151.13-47 respective ranges on yield spread and data dynamics.
EUR/USD flanked by hefty option expiries and USD/JPY solidly underpinned.
Sterling gleans some support around 1.2400 via hawkish remarks from BoE’s Greene and Aussie on either side of 0.6500 via strong payroll gain.
Kiwi lags sub-0.6000 in the face of big upside expiry and AUD/NZD headwinds
PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1724 vs exp. 7.2474 (prev. 7.1752)
Fixed Income
Debt futures regroup and rebound after early buying petered out for a while.
Bunds off lower 130.56 low having peaked at 130.89.
Gilts extend both ends of the Liffe range to 96.34-74 amidst hawkish BoE rhetoric.
T-note hovers towards the top of 108-17/07 band awaiting US IJC, IP and a host of Fed speakers.
Commodities
WTI Dec’23 and Brent Jan’24 futures are softer around USD 76.30/bbl (vs high 76.61/bbl) and USD 80.90/bbl (vs high 80.98/bbl) following a session of selling on Tuesday; as mentioned, newsflow has been slow with specifics for crude equally limited.
Spot gold moving back above its 50 DMA (USD 1,962.30/oz) from a USD 1,956.55/oz trough, but off its intraday peak of USD 1,968.61; Spot silver found support at its 200 DMA.
3M LME copper has reclaimed a USD 8,300/t handle for the first time since the end of September, although iron ore futures fell overnight after China’s NDRC yesterday said it is investigating “unreasonably high prices; LME zinc prices meanwhile slipped some 3% following a larger-than-usual build in zinc inventories (+65kt).
US and the EU discussions on a permanent steel agreement have reportedly reached a stalemate, according to Bloomberg sources; Biden admin has proposed prolonging the status quo until the end of 2025 to hammer out a permanent deal.
Geopolitics
US senior official said Chinese President Xi said there were no such plans for China military action against Taiwan in the coming years, while Xi told Biden China’s preference was for a peaceful reunification but also talked about conditions in which force could be used.
North Korea said the US and its allies are raising tensions in the region, while it will respond to military threats by the US and its allies with more aggressive and strategic military acts, according to KCNA.
Pentagon said the State Department approved a potential sale of sidewinder missiles to South Korea.
US Event Calendar
08:30: Oct. Import Price Index YoY, est. -1.8%, prior -1.7%
08:30: Oct. Import Price Index ex Petroleu, est. -0.3%, prior -0.3%
08:30: Oct. Import Price Index MoM, est. -0.3%, prior 0.1%
08:30: Nov. New York Fed Services Business, prior -19.1
08:30: Nov. Continuing Claims, est. 1.85m, prior 1.83m
08:30: Oct. Export Price Index MoM, est. -0.5%, prior 0.7%
08:30: Oct. Export Price Index YoY, prior -4.1%
08:30: Nov. Philadelphia Fed Business Outl, est. -8.0, prior -9.0
08:30: Nov. Initial Jobless Claims, est. 220,000, prior 217,000
09:15: Oct. Capacity Utilization, est. 79.4%, prior 79.7%
09:15: Oct. Manufacturing (SIC) Production, est. -0.4%, prior 0.4%
09:15: Oct. Industrial Production MoM, est. -0.4%, prior 0.3%
10:00: Nov. NAHB Housing Market Index, est. 40, prior 40
11:00: Nov. Kansas City Fed Manf. Activity, prior -8
16:00: Sept. Total Net TIC Flows, prior $134.4b
16:00: Sept. Net Foreign Security Purchases, prior $63.5b
DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap
I like to think I’ve had a relatively decent career so far but I did doubt myself yesterday given where I was late at night. I’m in Frankfurt and after a busy day was very hungry when I arrived back at my hotel after meetings. Looking at the room service menu I decided that to satisfy my hunger would be an unreasonable cost so I went for a walk in search of food. I’m not sure if I went the wrong way but after half a mile of going past closed shops and empty buildings, I found myself in a row of kebab shops. By this stage I had lost the will to carry on and ended up in a fried fish bar. I choose something that required cooking and waited. It was only when I left with my takeaway 20 minutes later that I realised my suit smelt of fried food. So if you have a meeting with me today in Frankfurt excuse the smell.
While I was locked in meetings yesterday there was just a 13bps range for 10yr US yields. It all felt quite dull in comparison with Tuesday. In all seriousness it was another large move across the curve with US yields selling off around 7-9bps from 2s to 30s as the moves the prior day were deemed to be a bit overdone with just under half the rally reversed. This reversal was helped by some positive news on the corporate earnings side, as well as some better data releases, which led to growing doubts about whether the Fed would actually cut rates as swiftly as many were hoping. We’ve seen yields fall 2-4bps across the curve in Asia again though so volatility remains. Risk has managed to shrug this all off with the S&P 500 (+0.16%) hitting a 2-month high, with US HY spreads reaching their tightest level since September. President Biden and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping have held what was a tightly-scripted diplomatic encounter their first in a year. It has generally gone without incident with relations thawing a little. More below.
Delving in now with more detail. The bond moves had several drivers throughout the day, which all added up to a broadly positive narrative about the economy. One was the latest retail sales print for October, which saw a slightly smaller -0.1% contraction than the -0.3% expected, with the September number revised up two-tenths to +0.9% but with August revised down. Retail control which goes into GDP was in line at 0.2% down from 0.7% (revised up 0.1pp) last time so some slowing. Later on, we had t he New York Fed’s Empire State manufacturing survey, which hit a 7-month high of 9.1 (vs. -3.0 expected). And on the corporate side, Target (+17.8%) was the strongest performer in the entire S&P 500 after they announced better than expected earnings.
The stronger newsflow meant there was a bit more scepticism about the rate cuts being priced for 2024 after Tuesday’s CPI report. For example, the rate priced in at the Fed’s December 2024 meeting was back up by +10.8bps to 4.437%, which reversed almost half of the previous day’s -25.2bps decline. And in the near term, the likelihood of a cut by the May meeting came down from 86% on Tuesday to 73.5% by the close. So we’ve now got a slightly shallower pace of cuts priced in relative to 24 hours ago. Bear in mind this is now the 7th time in the last two years we’ve had a very clear example of markets getting excited about a dovish pivot, and on the previous 6 those dovish expectations have entirely unwound again. For reference, Henry has collated all the times we’ve seen this in an update yesterday (link here). It all started with the Omicron variant being seen as the reason the Fed wouldn’t be able to raise at all in 2022! It’s a a fascinating trip down memory lane of the last two years of the markets continually being fooled on rates. At some point there will be a dovish pivot, and this could be closer than the others to it, but be wary that we’ve now been to this well 7 times in 2 years.
Moving back to those Treasury moves in more detail. The 2yr yield was up +7.6bps to 4.91%, and the 10yr yield +8.4 bps to 4.531%. As mentioned at the top we’ve rallied back again overnight with yields 2-4bps lower across the curve.
In Europe yields on 10yr bunds (+4.4bps), OATs (+4.9bps) and BTPs (+3.2bps) all moved higher, whilst gilts (+7.5bps) underperformed in spite of a lower-than-expected CPI print for October. The release showed headline CPI falling to a two-year low of +4.6% (vs. +4.7% expected), whilst core CPI fell to a 19-month low of +5.7% (vs. +5.8% expected). In turn, that saw investors grow in confidence that the Bank of England was finished hiking rates, with only a 11% likelihood of a further hike now priced in.
For equities, the S&P 500 (+0.16%) hit a two-month high. The gains were driven by a mix of cyclicals and staples; with food (+2.47%), autos (+2.03%), banks (+1.44%), and transports (+1.24%) the highlights. Small-cap stocks continued the post CPI climb, with the Russell 2000 advancing +0.16% even if they were up +1.75% early in the session. Likewise in Europe, the STOXX 600 (+0.42%) posted a 3rd consecutive advance, closing at its highest level in nearly two months as technology (+2.18%) and basic resources (+1.46%) led the way.
Presidents Biden and Xi met in California yesterday ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Following the meeting, President Biden noted that the talks were “some of the most constructive and productive discussions we’ve had .” The talks came with agreements on reopening military communications, and cracking down on fentanyl manufacturing in China. The two leaders and their advisors also discussed topics such as climate change, AI, and the upcoming Taiwanese elections. Ahead of the meeting, there was a joint statement from both governments detailing new climate change commitments including building carbon-capture technology in order to curtail pollution. The post-meeting news conferences and speeches are carrying on as we type and there’s generally an air of cautious diplomatic progress. However, make no mistake that these tension will likely be hovering over us for many, many years.
Staying with the US, the Senate has joined the House in passing the bill to avert the shutdown this week. President Biden will now look to sign the bill into law. This short-term funding kicks the problem into January. So join us then for the latest in this drama.
Another important story yesterday came from Germany where the federal constitutional court said that €60bn from unspent pandemic funds could not be moved into an off-budget climate fund. In 2022, the government approved a plan to retroactively shift 2021 funds into the extra-budgetary “Climate and Transformation Funds” (“Klima- und Transformationsfonds”; KTF) in an attempt to prefinance future KTF spending. The ruling is something that could have important ramifications for fiscal policy over the coming years, and finance minister Christian Lindner acknowledged that the judgement “has potentially far-reaching implications for government practice and the budgetary policy”. The final parliamentary 2024 budget draft consultations will start today as planned. See more on the ruling and the implications from our German economists here.
Bucking the recent trend, Asian equity markets are lower this morning with Chinese equities leading losses after home prices fell at their fastest pace since 2015. The Hang Seng (-1.65%) is emerging as the biggest underperformer with the CSI (-0.96%) and the Shanghai Composite (-0.64%) also edging lower. Elsewhere, the Nikkei (-0.66%) and KOSPI (-0.10%) are also slightly lower. S&P 500 (-0.19%) and NASDAQ 100 (-0.29%) futures are also on the softer side.
Coming back to Japan, data showed that exports rose +1.6% on the year (v/s +1.0% expected), a second consecutive month of growth but decelerating from a +4.3% increase the previous month. Imports slipped -12.5% y/y in October (v/s -12.8% expected) as against a revised -16.6% decline previously, mainly due to lower demand for energy-related products like coal, crude oil, and LNG. Still, the trade balance swung back to a deficit of ¥662.5 billion in October.
Elsewhere, Australia’s October employment was strong. Data showed that net employment increased last month by 55,000 well above the modest 7,800 increase in September. Most of the gain was due to a 37,900 gain in part-time jobs while full-time employment rose 17,000. Meanwhile, the official unemployment rate edged higher to 3.7% last month as expected, up from 3.6%.
Lastly, the main other data release came from the US PPI yesterday, which surprised on the downside like the CPI. For instance, monthly headline PPI was at -0.5% (vs. +0.1% expected), and the measure excluding food, energy and trade was ‘only’ up +0.1% (vs. +0.2% expected). In turn, that took year-on-year headline PPI down to +1.3% (vs. +1.9% expected), which reversed a run of three consecutive increases in the year-on-year measure. Interestingly airfares that fell -0.9% in CPI were up +0.8% in the PPI. Healthcare was at 0.5% in the PPI and this feeds more into core PCE than the softer healthcare data in the CPI on Tuesday. So some food for thought on inflation after a big week.
To the day ahead now, and US data releases include industrial production for October, the NAHB’s housing market index for November, and the weekly initial jobless claims. Central bank speakers include ECB President Lagarde, Vice President de Guindos, and the ECB’s Centeno, Knot and De Cos, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Barr, and the Fed’s Mester, Williams, Waller and Cook, and BoE Deputy Governor Ramsden. Lastly, today’s earnings releases include Walmart.
end
2 B) NOW NEWSQUAWK (EUROPE/REPORT)
Equities incrementally weaker, Antipodeans underperform; Fed speak & WMT earning due – Newsquawk US Market Open
THURSDAY, NOV 16, 2023 – 06:22 AM
European bourses are incrementally weaker, whilst US futures teeter around the unchanged mark; DAX 40 outperforms post-Siemens
DXY is slightly firmer with underperformance in the Antipodeans on fairly muted risk sentiment
USTs/EGBs back in the green after briefly retreating alongside downside in Gilts amid hawkish remarks from BoE’s Green
Crude remains on the backfoot while metals march higher, although iron declined overnight amid Chinese intervention
Looking ahead, highlights include US IJC, BoE’s Ramsden, ECB’s Lagarde & de Guindos, Fed’s Barr, Waller, Cook, Mester & Williams, Supply from US, Earnings from Walmart
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EUROPEAN TRADE
EQUITIES
European bourses are struggling for direction, Euro Stoxx 50 -0.1%, as newsflow slows considerably in European hours and the tailwind from US data begins to fizzle out.
Sectors are tilting negative with stock specifics dictating, aside from Energy which lags on recent benchmark action. Elsewhere, Luxury names slump post-Burberry’s concerns around attaining guidance while Utilities and Industrials benefit from broker action and Siemens results respectively.
Stateside, futures are in the red but as above action is very contained and limited thus far with futures flat/0.10% lower ahead of a number of Fed speakers incl. Williams and key earnings from WMT & M, among others.
WTI Dec’23 and Brent Jan’24 futures are softer around USD 76.30/bbl (vs high 76.61/bbl) and USD 80.90/bbl (vs high 80.98/bbl) following a session of selling on Tuesday; as mentioned, newsflow has been slow with specifics for crude equally limited.
Spot gold moving back above its 50 DMA (USD 1,962.30/oz) from a USD 1,956.55/oz trough, but off its intraday peak of USD 1,968.61; Spot silver found support at its 200 DMA.
3M LME copper has reclaimed a USD 8,300/t handle for the first time since the end of September, although iron ore futures fell overnight after China’s NDRC yesterday said it is investigating “unreasonably high prices; LME zinc prices meanwhile slipped some 3% following a larger-than-usual build in zinc inventories (+65kt).
US and the EU discussions on a permanent steel agreement have reportedly reached a stalemate, according to Bloomberg sources; Biden admin has proposed prolonging the status quo until the end of 2025 to hammer out a permanent deal.
BoE’s Greene says the latest inflation data is good news and labour market data is positive. The question is whether BoE policy is restrictive enough and we may need to be restrictive for longer; Greene makes clear that we are in restrictive territory. Markets globally have not really clocked on to how long central banks will need to stay restrictive. UK wage growth is still incredibly high. I am not thinking about cuts.
NOTABLE US HEADLINES
Fed’s Barkin (2024 voter) said hope to eventually bring interest rates back to normal and noted that a lot of frenzy has been taken out of the housing market, while they are seeing banks pull back credit which he added is not unexpected.
US Senate voted to pass the stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown, as expected.
US senior official said Chinese President Xi said there were no such plans for China military action against Taiwan in the coming years, while Xi told Biden China’s preference was for a peaceful reunification but also talked about conditions in which force could be used.
North Korea said the US and its allies are raising tensions in the region, while it will respond to military threats by the US and its allies with more aggressive and strategic military acts, according to KCNA.
Pentagon said the State Department approved a potential sale of sidewinder missiles to South Korea.
CRYPTO
Bitcoin under modest pressure but stuck in very narrow USD 37-37.5k parameters with specifics for BT C light and general macro developments limited.
APAC TRADE
APAC stocks were mostly negative as the recent data-driven momentum eventually lost steam.
ASX 200 was lower with the energy and mining-related sectors pressured by a deterioration in the commodities complex and with stronger-than-expected employment data doing little to spur risk appetite.
Nikkei 225 failed to sustain its early gains despite better-than-expected exports and machinery orders.
Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp weakened amid mixed tech earnings ahead of Alibaba’s results and with participants digesting the rhetoric from the Biden-Xi meeting which was said to be constructive and productive as they agreed to restart cooperation on counter-narcotics and create forums for military-to-military contact. However, reports noted that Biden said Xi was a dictator and he also raised concerns about human rights abuses.
NOTABLE HEADLINES
US President Biden said talks with Xi were constructive and productive, while they made real progress and are restarting cooperation on counter-narcotics, as well as resuming military-to-military contact. Biden also raised concerns about people detained in China and about China’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, while he emphasised the US would take actions to prevent US technology from being used to undermine US security and said that Chinese President Xi is a dictator.
Chinese President Xi said China has no plan to replace the US and that he hopes the two countries can be partners, respect each other and coexist peacefully. Xi added that both sides should have more dialogue, discuss more and handle differences calmly, as well as promote mutually beneficial cooperation in fields including the economy, trade, agriculture, climate change and AI. Furthermore, he said the US should stop arming Taiwan and support China’s peaceful reunification with Taiwan, while he hopes the US will lift its unilateral sanctions and provide a fair and just environment for Chinese companies.
Chinese President Xi said during his APEC address that the door of US-China relations cannot be shut and the world needs China and the US to work together. Xi also stated China is ready to be a partner and friend of the US and that the US should not bet against China, while he added that there is plenty of room for US-China cooperation and that it is wrong to view China as a threat and play a zero-sum game.
US senior administration official said the Biden-Xi meeting lasted for over 4 hours and both leaders acknowledged that they want to keep lines of communication open, while there are no plans for another visit between Biden and Xi at this time although they kept the door open to it.
China’s state planner said it will continue to expand domestic demand and promote high growth in services consumption. NDRC added it will coordinate the link between macro policies this year and next year and make sure there is a good start to the economy in 2024, while it will roll out policy measures to attract foreign investment with bigger efforts and will increase household income in urban and rural areas, as well as improve consumption capability of low- and mid-level income groups.
“China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Thu it will implement tariff reduction and exemption for imported equipment for foreign investment projects encouraged by the government”, according to Global Times. “The Ministry also urged responsible authorities to study relevant policies encouraging foreign investment and help the involved enterprises to report corresponding projects in accordance to national policies.”
DATA RECAP
Chinese House Prices YY (Oct) -0.1% (Prev. -0.1%)
Japanese Trade Balance (JPY)(Oct) -662.5B vs. Exp. -735.7B (Prev. 62.4B, Rev. 72.1B)
Japanese Exports YY (Oct) 1.6% vs. Exp. 1.2% (Prev. 4.3%); Imports YY (Oct) -12.5% vs. Exp. -12.2% (Prev. -16.3%, Rev. -16.6%)
Japanese Machinery Orders MM (Sep) 1.4% vs. Exp. 0.9% (Prev. -0.5%); YY (Sep) -2.2% vs. Exp. -3.6% (Prev. -7.7%)
Australian Employment Change (Oct) 55.0k vs. Exp. 20.0k (Prev. 6.7k); Unemployment Rate (Oct) 3.7% vs. Exp. 3.7% (Prev. 3.6%)
Australian Participation Rate (Oct) 67.0% vs. Exp. 66.7% (Prev. 66.7%)
END
2 c. ASIAN AFFAIRS
THURSDAY MORNING/WEDNESDAY NIGHT
SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 21.91 PTS OR 0.71% //Hang Seng CLOSED DOWN 246.18 PTS OR 1.36% /The Nikkei CLOSED DOWN 95.29 PTS OR 0.28% //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED DOWN 0.65 % /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN AT 7.2502 /OFFSHORE CHINESE YUAN CLOSED DOWN TO 7.2585 /Oil DOWN TO 76.09 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT DOWN AT 80.44/ Stocks in Europe OPENED ALL MIXED// ONSHORE YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE WEAKER
2 d./NORTH KOREA/ SOUTH KOREA/ //
NORTH KOREA/
END
2e) JAPAN
end
3 CHINA
CHINA/USA
OBVIOUSLY, the meeting with Xi went off the rails: Biden strays from script and calls Xi a dictator.
(zerohedge)
Biden Strays From Script, Calls Xi A “Dictator”, In Post-Meeting Presser Bombshell
WEDNESDAY, NOV 15, 2023 – 05:38 PM
Update(2115ET): Hands down the biggest moment from Biden’s post-Xi meeting, and which threatens to derail any positive feelings built through the day, was his off-the-cuff remark calling Xi a “dictator”. Was he so far off-script that the White House will issue a clarification? Will the dictator comment stand? Watch the moment which is sure to rile Beijing, and immediately cast a cloud over whatever ‘progress’ may have been made after hours of talks…
The dictator comment is the sort of off-the-cuff comment from Biden that has stirred controversy in the past. His response came after the formal set of questions had been presented from the media. Reporters were shouting out questions to extend the briefing. Biden has made comments in the past about defending Taiwan and Russian “incursions” into Ukraine that forced White House staff to clarify what the president had intended.
As seen in the above clip, the press was ushered out of the room fairly quickly after the dictator comment from Biden.
The below also shows how careful Biden’s staff was trying to be earlier in the day in trying to prevent any spontaneous interaction between the president and the press…
The dictator remarkwill probably overshadow what looks like some cut-through on some very important areas, namely controlling fentanyl and on both militaries talking to each other. China may choose to ignore it… or not.
Certainly the CCP is not known to ignore such statements, especially as it’s not the first time Biden called Xi a dictator.
China will also not be happy at the fact that President Biden put great emphasis on Washington’s “Ironclad commitment” to defending Indo-Pacific allies while talking directly to President Xi. end
CHINA
owner of a Biolab busted in California as being linked to the CCP military program(house report/zerohedge)
Owner Of Chinese Biolab Busted In California Linked To CCP Military Program: House Report
WEDNESDAY, NOV 15, 2023 – 10:00 PM
The Chinese owner of a makeshift biolab discovered in a remote California city has ties to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and a Chinese military program, according to a report by the House Select Subcommittee on the CCP.
Jia Bei Zhu, 62, was arrested in October for distributing misbranded medical devices and lying to the FDA.
The lab, located near Fresno, California (less than 200 miles from where Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Joe Biden on Wednesday), was discovered serendipitously when a local code enforcement officer noticed a garden hose attached to the facility. This led to the discovery of thousands of vials, some labeled in Mandarin, others in an undeciphered code. However, the inaction by the FBI and CDC in this matter, as reported by the committee, is perplexing and concerning.
Zhu, a PRC citizen, was reportedly a key figure in China’s “military-civil fusion organizations“ – entities that blur the lines between civilian research and military applications. This strategy, according to the State Department, is part of the CCP’s grand vision to transform its People’s Liberation Army into a formidable global power by 2049.
While the committee’s investigations unearthed Zhu’s extensive involvement in several PRC government-controlled companies, his activities in the U.S. under the alias “David He” and the discovery of dangerous materials in the unlicensed lab in Reedley, California, are particularly alarming. Here, officials found over 20 potentially infectious agents, including HIV and Malaria, and genetically engineered mice carrying COVID-19.
Zhu’s confession of operating his companies to “further PRC policy” and meet demands of a PRC premier raises serious concerns about espionage and intellectual property theft. His history of operating companies in Canada, engaging in the massive theft of American cattle-related intellectual property, and fleeing to the U.S. after a $330 million judgment, only adds to the gravity of the situation.
The committee also highlighted Zhu’s inflammatory private messages on WeChat, where he talked about defeating “the American aggressor” and referred to his companies as tools against “American imperialism.”
CDC Ignores Evidence?
But perhaps even more disturbing is the alleged disregard by the CDC for potential evidence, including a freezer labeled “ebola.” This negligence or possible cover-up raises critical questions about the integrity and competence of these federal agencies in handling matters of national security.
The committee’s findings corroborate an investigation by the Daily Caller from August 2023, which linked Zhu’s biolab to Ai De Biopharmaceutical in Qingdao, China. This connection suggests a broader network of PRC-controlled companies engaging in dubious activities on American soil.
As the full scope of Zhu’s operations and his connections to the PRC government unfold, this case may well represent a glaring example of the CCP’s covert operations in the United States, blending industrial espionage with potential biological threats. The implications for national security are profound and demand an urgent and thorough response from U.S. authorities.
end
4.EUROPEAN AFFAIRS//UK /SCANDINAVIAN AFFAIRS
EUROPE//UK
BURBERRY CRASHING
as we have pointed out to you on several occasions: luxury spending experiencing a huge slowdown
(zerohedge)
Burberry Shares Tumble Most In Decade On Luxury Spending Slowdown
THURSDAY, NOV 16, 2023 – 09:55 AM
Shares of Burberry Group PLC tumbled the most in a decade on Thursday following an announcement that the British trenchcoat manufacturer is unlikely to meet its yearly revenue targets, citing a global downturn in luxury spending.
For the Sept. 30-ending second quarter, Burberry said falling sales in the US and a downturn in China led to comparable-store sales increase by only 1%, compared to 18% in the year’s first quarter. The company warned revenue targets for the year ending March 2024 won’t be met and noted that profits will be on the lower end of analysts’ forecasts.
Shares declined as much as 11% following the news, the steepest intraday drop since the 20% plunge on Sept. 11, 2012.
Even with half-year operating profits at $276.64 million, or 15% from last year, CEO Jonathan Akeroyd said Burberry said the company was making “good progress” on strategic goals.
“We continued to build momentum around our new creative vision with the launch of our Winter 23 collection in September, the first designed by Daniel Lee,” Akeroyd said in a statement.
He added, “While the macroeconomic environment has become more challenging recently, we are confident in our strategy to realize our potential as the modern British luxury brand, and we remain committed to achieving our medium and long-term targets.”
Meanwhile, softer demand for luxury goods has recently weighed on several large fashion houses.
Last week, luxury group Richemont was the latest evidence of faltering consumer demand for luxury watches, jewelry, and clothing. The owner of Cartier Jewelry reported first-half profits that missed Wall Street’s forecasts.
Richemont Chairman Johann Rupert said on a call with analysts that inflation, slowing economic growth, and rising geopolitical tensions hurt sentiment, while the full effects of interest rates have yet to be seen.
Also last week, the company behind Don Julio tequila, Diageo, saw shares plunge, following a warning about a “materially weaker” performance in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In October, luxury conglomerate LVMH, controlled by billionaire Bernard Arnault, reported sliding demand for high-quality products, such as leather goods, perfumes, watches, and wine, in China, Europe, and the US.
A global luxury downturn is an ominous sign the economy is headed for some landing, if that is ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ following central banks’ most aggressive monetary tightening spree in a generation to tame inflation.
5 RUSSIA//UKRAINE AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS
ISRAEL/HAMAS/ AL SHIFA HOSPITAL/WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Israel uncovers weapons, grenades and uniforms found in Shifa hospital. It now looks that the hospital is now free from Hamas
and hopefully they can go back to their normal tasks
(Times of Israel)
IDF says weapons found in Gaza hospital prove it was ‘unequivocally’ used for terror
Amid ongoing operation around Shifa, which Israeli and US officials say Hamas uses as a major HQ, army releases images of grenades, uniforms and equipment stored in facility
Hamas weapons found inside Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, following a raid by Israeli special forces, November 15, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday that its troops found military equipment including weapons in their raid on Gaza’s biggest hospital.
In an operation that began before dawn and continued for much of Wednesday, Israeli forces entered part of Shifa Hospital, with a journalist at the site telling AFP that the IDF had carried out room-by-room searches, after days of fighting on the outskirts of the facility with Hamas gunmen.
The IDF had encircled Shifa for days, and has said Hamas maintained a major operations command center beneath the facility, using the patients, staff, and civilians sheltering there to provide cover for its terrorists and gunmen. The US on Tuesday confirmed that Hamas and Islamic Jihad use Shifa and other Gaza hospitals, and tunnels underneath them, “to conceal and to support their military operations and to hold hostages.”
“In the hospital, we found weapons, intelligence materials, and military technology and equipment,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters.
“We also found an operational headquarters with comms equipment… belonging to Hamas” and “Hamas uniforms,” he said.
The army published images of guns, grenades, and other equipment it said were found at Shifa.
“These findings unequivocally prove that the hospital was used for terror, in complete violation of international law,” Hagari said.
The video released by the military from inside Shifa showed three duffel bags it said it found hidden around an MRI lab, each containing an assault rifle, grenades and Hamas uniforms, as well as a closet that contained a number of assault rifles without ammunition clips. A laptop was also discovered and taken for study.
“These weapons have absolutely no business being inside a hospital,” Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman, said in the video, adding that he believed the material was “just the tip of the iceberg.” The military said the search was continuing, but it did not immediately show evidence of tunnels or an extensive military center.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza denied the claims, saying Israeli forces “did not find any equipment or weapons in the hospital.”
In this image taken from a video released by the Israeli Defense Forces on November 15, 2023, Israeli soldiers walk in the area of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. (Israel Defense Forces via AP)
The military said it carried out a “precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area in the hospital,” and that its soldiers were accompanied by medical teams bringing in incubators and other supplies.
The army did not appear to have advanced to parts of the hospital below, where Hamas’s main command center is widely believed to be located.
It said it would continue to operate in Shifa Hospital in order to find intelligence information and Hamas assets, and added that forces were also searching for hostages, though they have not found any of them.
An IDF soldier with medical supplies at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City in a handout photo distributed on November 15, 2023 (Israel Defense Forces)
Hours before Israel’s raid, the United States said its own intelligence indicated terrorists have used Shifa and other hospitals — and tunnels beneath them — to support military operations and hold hostages.
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters in a Wednesday briefing that Shifa Hospital is “an active legitimate hospital… We want their patients to be as protected as possible.”
Palestinians look at destruction in Rafah, Gaza Strip, November 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)
However, he clarified that “what Hamas is doing… It is a violation of the law of war to headquarter yourself in a hospital.”
Asked whether the US gave prior approval to the IDF’s Shifa Hospital raid, Kirby said it did not, because Washington does not expect Israel to provide advance notice of its military operations in Gaza.
Dave Harden, a former USAID mission director in the West Bank and Gaza, tweeted Wednesday that it was well known in the Strip that Hamas terrorists used Shifa Hospital as a commander center and would use ambulances for travel.
“When I was in seat, it was broadly suspected/understood as far back as 2014 that Hamas used Shifa Hospital complex as a command center and base for operations,” Harden wrote, noting it was based on assessments from both Palestinian and Israel officials.
He added that Hamas “used ambulances to move its people,” something he learned in conversations with the then-head of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Wednesday in Tel Aviv with a US delegation headed by White House Mideast czar Brett McGurk and the State Department’s top diplomat for the Mideast Barbara Leaf, stressing that the IDF operation to “free Shifa Hospital from the control of the Hamas terror group” points to the Israeli determination and ability to completely root out Hamas from every corner of Gaza, the premier’s office said.
This image taken from a video released by the Israeli Defense Forces on November 14, 2023 shows an explosion inside a building in Gaza City. (Israel Defense Forces via AP)
The statement added that the group discussed a number of topics, with a focus on the issue of freeing the hostages held captive in Gaza.
The military’s Shifa raid drew condemnation from UN, Jordan, and the West Bank’s Palestinian Authority, which called it a violation of international law.
Under international humanitarian law, hospitals can lose their protected status if combatants use them for military purposes. But civilians must be given ample time to flee, and any attack must be proportional to the military objective — putting the onus on Israel to prove it was a big enough military target to justify the siege against it.
The United Nations estimated there were at least 2,300 patients, staff and displaced Palestinians inside Shifa. At one point during the war, tens of thousands of Palestinians fleeing Israeli bombardment were sheltering at the hospital, but most left in recent days, as the fighting drew closer.
Global agencies including the World Health Organization and the International Committee of the Red Cross raised concerns for the safety of patients and medical staff following the raid.
Neither Hamas nor the IDF reported any clashes inside the hospital. The military said its troops killed five terrorists outside Shifa at the start of the operation.
War erupted when Hamas-led terrorists launched a devastating onslaught on October 7, in which they rampaged through southern communities, killing over 1,200 people, mostly civilians butchered in their homes and at a music festival, and kidnapping some 240 people. In response, Israel embarked on a massive air and ground campaign with the aim of toppling the terror group’s regime in Gaza, which it has ruled since 2007.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said Wednesday that 11,500 people had been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, including at least 4,710 children and 3,160 women. The figures cannot be independently verified and do not distinguish between civilians and terrorists, and also do not differentiate between those killed by Israeli airstrikes or by failed Palestinian rocket launches.
END
ISRAEL//HAMAS//USA/WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Biden accuses Hamas of war crime for operating under GAZA hospitals including Shifa and Rantisi
(CNN)
Biden accuses Hamas of “war crime” for operating what US and Israel claim is command node at Gaza hospital
From CNN’s Betsy Klein and DJ Judd
US President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference after his meeting with China’s President President Xi Jinping in Woodside, California, on Wednesday. Doug Mills/The New York Times/Pool/AP
US President Joe Biden accused Hamas of committing a “war crime” for operating what the US and Israel have claimed is a command node under the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza.
Biden said he discussed the dangerous situation at the hospital, Gaza’s largest, during his meeting with China’s leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday.
“You have a circumstance where the first war crime is being committed by Hamas by having their headquarters, their military hidden under a hospital. And that’s a fact. That’s what’s happened,” Biden told reporters during a press conference Wednesday.
Some context: Israeli forces launched a raid early Wednesday morning on Al-Shifa, after accusing Hamas of operating from tunnels beneath the vast complex – a claim denied by the militant group and hospital officials.
CNN cannot verify either side’s claims.
Israel said its troops found “military equipment used by Hamas,” the military said in a statement but offered no evidence yet of a vast tunnel network it claimed was used by the militant group.
Israel said it will present more evidence to support their claims of a Hamas command center, an adviser to the prime minister told CNN Wednesday.
Conditions at Al-Shifa, which has run out of fuel and is no longer considered operational, have deteriorated rapidly in recent days amid intense fighting, with doctors warning of a “catastrophic” situation for patients, staff and displaced people still inside.
Wednesday’s raid has also sparked widespread international criticism.
Biden noted that the US has called on Israel to be “incredibly careful” as it targets Hamas in the area, but suggested that action was justified.
“We discussed the need for them to be incredibly careful. You have a circumstance where you know there is a fair number of Hamas terrorists. Hamas has already said publicly that they plan on attacking Israel again, like they did before.”
The president also noted the savagery of Hamas’ October 7 attacks in Israel. “And so, the idea that they’re going to just stop and not do anything is not realistic,” he added.
Israeli forces, he suggested, are “bringing in incubators” and “other means to help the people in the hospital,” adding that there have been efforts to get doctors, nurses, and other personnel out of harm’s way.
Evidence: In a follow up exchange with CNN, Biden told MJ Lee, “Yes,” he was absolutely confident based on intelligence he’d seen that Hamas was operating a command center under the Al-Shifa hospital, but declined to share details on the evidence.
“No, I can’t tell you—I won’t tell you,” he told CNN.
end
ISRAEL/HAMAS/GAZA/THURSDAY MORNING
Israel now gives evacuation orders in Southern Gaza as they search for the 239 hostages. They now have full control of Al Shifa hospital and no gunfire.
(zerohedge)
Israel Orders Evacuations In Southern Gaza After Gaining Full Control Of Al-Shifa Hospital
THURSDAY, NOV 16, 2023 – 09:05 AM
Israel’s military up till now has sought to present southern Gaza as some kind of safe zone as it pushed Gazans to evacuate the northern half of the Strip to pave way for the ongoing ground and aerial assault. But all the while there have still been intermittent airstrikes on southern Gaza, after some one million or more civilians have been internally displaced.
New leaflets have been mass dropped over the Strip warning towns located in southern Gaza that inhabitants must evacuate. “Palestinians in parts of southern Gaza said they received evacuation notices Thursday,” the AP reports.
“The signal that fighting is about to expand in the south comes a day after Israeli forces began searching a north Gaza hospital where they claimed Hamas militants operate — a claim that Hamas and hospital staff deny,” the report continues. Already some two-thirds of the Strip’s some 2.3 million people have been made homeless by the fighting.
The leaflets dropped over parts of the south reportedly said, “For your safety, you need to evacuate your places of residence immediately and head to known shelters,” and named multiple specific neighborhoods.
“Anyone near terrorists or their facilities puts their life at risk, and every house used by terrorists will be targeted,” the leaflets said, strongly suggesting that the IDF sees the locations has homes to terror bases.
These southern towns are already overflowing with the internally displaced, including at schools, medical facilities, and sprawling makeshift tent cities.
The latest death toll from Gaza’s health ministry says over 11,300 – mostly civilians – have been killed in Gaza since early October airstrikes began. The United States has still not backed a ceasefire. Over 50 IDF troops have been confirmed killed since the ground assault began.
At the same time, a new United Nations statement complied by a group of UN experts and special rapporteurs has cited what it says is evidence of “increasing genocidal incitement” against Palestinians.
“We are deeply disturbed by the failure of governments to heed our call and to achieve an immediate ceasefire,” the UN group said. “We are also profoundly concerned about the support of certain governments for Israel’s strategy of warfare against the besieged population of Gaza, and the failure of the international system to mobilize to prevent genocide.”
This comes as momentum grows within the UN Security Council toward calling for a ceasefire, or at least a significant humanitarian pause.
Meanwhile, heavy fighting continues to be observed near and around Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital, the Strip’s largest. It now appears to be under the control of the Israeli military, which has filmed groups of its troops taking medical supplies into the facility.
The New York Times, taking note of this ‘info war’ and battle of competing narratives in progress, says the IDF will now seek to make its case to the world:
What Israel finds — or doesn’t — in the hospital could affect international sentiment about the invasion and influence the negotiations taking place on freeing more than 239 hostages being held by Hamas.
Eighteen hours after the raid on the hospital began, the Israeli military released photos and video that it said backed its assertions. It distributed images of 13 guns that it said its soldiers had discovered in the hospital, as well as a statement saying that it had found a military command center in the hospital’s M.R.I. unit.
Al-Shifa Hospital Director Muhammad Abu Salmiya in an interview with Al Jazeera has rejected Israeli claims that the large medical complex was being used as a Hamas command center or base of operations. He said the following:
The Israeli army’s claims are false, and there was no gunfire from inside the hospital toward the Israeli soldiers.
We will not leave the patients alone: we will live and die together.
Water shortage is making it hard for us, but we will try our best to survive.
The Israeli army bombed the water line.
There are some Israeli vehicles behind the specialised surgeries building and the general surgeries building.
The army is digging up the ground to allow military tanks to besiege the hospital.
“We can see the tanks before our eyes and we can see the soldiers walking inside the hospital,” Salmiya has said. IDF troops reportedly entered the hospital itself without major bloodshed inside – though the past days had witnessed airstrikes and mortars kill or wound people huddled at the entrance courtyard to the facility.
At this point there’s been over 12 hours of an ongoing Israeli search and inspection of the hospital. “The occupation forces roam freely inside the hospital and they only want to kill, kill, then kill,” al Shifa director Salmiya claimed further.
END
ISRAEL/HAMAS/LATE THURSDAY MORNING
NBC NEWS
What we know//
2ND ISRAELI ENTRY INTO AL SHIFA HOSPITAL:
Israeli forces remained inside Al-Shifa, the Gaza Strip’s main hospital after storming it for a second time in 24 hours, Israeli officials say. The Israel Defense Forces say it discovered AK-47s, hand grenades, military uniforms and a laptop with a photo of a kidnapped Israeli soldier on it, in the hospital.
IDF raid at Al-Shifa hospital goes on as hundreds of patients remain insidePatrick SmithSoldiers are searching building to building at the Al-Shifa hospital complex, as hundreds of patients and medical remain inside, a spokesperson for the Israeli military said in a statement today.The mission is “shaped by our understanding that there is well-hidden terrorist infrastructure in the complex,” they said, adding that soldiers were “proceeding one building at a time, searching each floor, all while hundreds of patients and medical staff remain in the complex.”The IDF started its military operation at the hospital yesterday, in search of what it called a “terrorist cell.”Hamas and doctors at the hospital have both denied Israeli claims that the militant group is using the hospital as a base.The IDF spokesperson added that it had already found weapons and intelligence materials at the hospital, including information relating to the more than 200 hostages taken from Israel to Gaza on Oct. 7.
Video shared after yesterday’s raid does not appear to show definitive evidence that a Hamas command center exists beneath the hospital, a claim that Israeli officials have repeatedly made and Hamas has forcefully denied.
Three gunmen opened fire at a crossing in Jerusalem, injuring seven people before they were shot dead by officers, police said today. Israeli officials also said they were opening an investigation into crimes committed during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, including allegations of sexual violence.
More than 1.6 million people have been displaced in Gaza, and health officials there say more than 11,200 have been killed. Israel estimates 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas terrorist attack Oct. 7, with 239 people still held hostage in Gaza.
NBC News’ Keir Simmons, Raf Sanchez, Erin McLaughlin, Matt Bradley, Jay Gray and Chantal Da Silva are reporting from the region.
END
END
TIMES OF ISRAEL/THURSDAY MORNING
More information indicating a clear link between Shifa and Hamas held hostages and tunnels underneath
A laptop the IDF says was found in Shifa Hospital on November 16, 2023, with an image of rescued hostage Pvt. Ori Megidish. (Screenshot/IDF)
The IDF says it has “clear information” indicating a connection between Hamas activity in Shifa Hospital and the hostages, as well as “new findings” indicating a Hamas tunnel network under the complex.
It says it is investigating laptops and other technological devices that were found in the medical center.
Contrary to earlier information an IDF spokesman told the BBC, claiming that a laptop contained photos and videos of hostages taken after their abduction to Gaza, the IDF clarifies that the photos are not in fact from after their abduction.
The IDF says that on one of the laptops, a background showed a publicly available image of Pvt. Ori Megidish before she was captured.
The IDF says that during scans today “new findings were found indicating significant underground infrastructure in the hospitals, and our forces are working to uncover them.”
Hamas has been accused by Israel of maintaining its main command center under Shifa Hospital.
END
Rockets found under children’s beds and in strollers. Found in Beit Hanum/North Gaza
WATCH: Israel finds Hamas rockets under children’s beds, in strollers
Israeli forces have conquered and eliminated all terrorist threats from the western side of Gaza City, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced on Thursday afternoon.
Speaking following a situational assessment and a visit to the IDF’s 36th Armored Division, Gallant noted that the IDF has “significant findings” from its operation in Al-Shifa Hospital.
He also said that the Israeli military had conquered the Western part of the main city in the Strip, adding the IDF had begun its second stage of the war.
end
(Jerusalem Post//Thursday morning)
IDF finds data on rescued hostage in Al-Shifa Hospital laptops
The IDF said there is extensive additional data that it still needs to parse from the technological items it found at the hospital
By YONAH JEREMY BOBNOVEMBER 16, 2023 16:12Updated: NOVEMBER 16, 2023 16:58
An Israeli officer points at hospital signage at the Al Shifa hospital complex, amid their ground operation against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Gaza City, November 15, 2023(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)
The IDF announced on Thursday that it has found data at Al-Shifa Hospital linked to the hostage Ori Magidish, the Israeli hostage recently rescued by the IDF.
On a laptop computer at Hamas’s Shifa command center, there were data and pictures of Magidish from before she was kidnapped.
Further, the IDF said there is extensive additional data that it still needs to parse from the technological items it found at the hospital and will continue to make announcements as it combs through the data.
No ‘smoking gun’ evidence yet
IDF Spokesperson R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari on Wednesday night presented Hamas weapons, military equipment, and intelligence technology which IDF forces found in more than 18 hours of searching Shifa Hospital since the early morning.
However, the IDF’s findings were not the same level of “smoking gun” as the vast explosives, advanced weapons, and hostage holding room that it found at Rantisi Hospital just a few days earlier.
Tents and shelters used by displaced Palestinians stand at the yard of Al Shifa hospital during the Israeli ground operation around the hospital, in Gaza City November 12, 2023 (credit: AHMED EL MOKHALLALATI/VIA REUTERS)
In addition, no senior Hamas officials were found, and other than five Hamas terrorists killed as the IDF entered the hospital, there was no dramatic gunfight on Wednesday as has occurred at other symbols of Hamas’s rule.
Hagari noted that IDF intelligence indicated that after the October 7 slaughter of 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, around 200 Hamas terrorists returned to Shifa.Advertisement
However, when asked where they were now, Hagari was not able to provide an answer.
The IDF showed military equipment hidden behind an MRI machine, video cameras systematically covered up throughout the hospital, and large numbers of Hamas uniforms discarded, but did not find Hamas forces themselves or signs of hostages having been held there.
Hagari was asked if the IDF’s delay in taking Shifa had led to Hamas and possibly hostages being moved elsewhere, and responded, “we went at the right time for us…We evacuated many civilians,” noting that if more civilians had been at Shifa when the IDF finally went in, “this would have harmed our forces, their people,” and would have played into Hamas’s strategy since it wanted “the IDF harming patients in the hospital.”
Another IDF spokesperson on Thursday told BBC that they believed most Hamas forces had fled Shifa only a few days before the IDF entered.
Instead, he said the IDF’s operation was very precise and gradual, after special training for the troops of Division 36 who would enter the hospital to avoid civilian casualties despite the potential close fighting.
The IDF spokesperson also promised more findings of Hamas infrastructure, saying “this will take time. It is a complex area and there are still lots of civilians around. However long it will take, there is no doubt that Hamas used it as an infrastructure of terror.”
Foreign reports noted the IDF arresting two persons, and questioning a large number of young adolescent Palestinians at gunpoint, but without any sizable number of arrests.
IDF sources said that inspecting Shifa’s underground tunnel network, where many of the key findings against Hamas regarding Rantisi Hospital were made, has still not started in earnest, and will take significant amounts of time.
But generally speaking, the dramatic battle or findings expected at Shifa has not transpired by press time, though foreign media reported that many civilians were told earlier Wednesday to lie on the floor and stay away from the windows to avoid gunfire.
IDF to BBC: We have photos and videos of hostages taken during captivity
The IDF has uncovered laptops inside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza containing photos and videos of hostages taken during captivity, Israeli military spokesperson Lt.-Col. Jonathan Cornicus revealed to the BBC on Thursday.
“We uncovered a lot of computers and other equipment which could shed light on the current situation, hopefully regarding hostages as well,” Cornicus, who was accompanied by reporters entering the hospital, was quoted as saying.
This is a developing story.
END
Interesting: Iran reveals that it is playing a central role behind Hamas holding hostages. Why is the International Red Cross meeting with Iran?
(Jerusalem Post)
Iran reveals its role behind Hamas holding hostages – analysis
Iran’s foreign minister meets with ICRC president and discusses Hamas holding “prisoners.”
People attend a gathering in support of Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Tehran, Iran, November 3, 2023(photo credit: WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)
Iranian pro-regime media on Wednesday discussed Iran’s meeting with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The Iranian regime held a meeting with the president of the ICRC, according to Iran’s own regime media Press TV and Fars News. Iran’s Press TV also says that “the Israeli regime has, throughout the war, been stonewalling Hamas’ ‘positive approaches’ concerning the issue of the prisoners of war.”
This would appear to indicate that Iran has a role in Hamas’ hostage-taking. Iran has backed Hamas in the wake of the October 7 attack. Iran’s media refers to “civilian prisoners” held by Hamas and discusses the “readiness for exchanging more,” which could indicate Iran is directly in contact with Hamas and representing the terror group in talks with the ICRC.
“The American administration too has ramped up the intensity of the war on Gaza with its all-out presence and support for the Zionist regime,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in a meeting with Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in Geneva on Wednesday, Iran’s Press TV reported.
Foreign minister Eli Cohen demanded the Red Cross to do more to establish contact with hostages abducted in the Gaza Strip, according to a report on November 15. “Cohen made his remarks on Tuesday in Geneva, where he held talks with several relatives at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and UN organizations,” a report from Switzerland noted. “To date, no one has seen the hostages,” said Cohen. “We have no signs of life.” The ICRC, the UN, and various human rights groups have done nothing to aid the 240 hostages held by Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza since October 7. Israeli soldiers take a position inside the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing ground operation of the Israeli army against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, according to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in this handout picture obtained by Reuters on November 11, 2023. (credit: IDF/Handout via REUTERS)
According to the regime’s own Press TV reports, the Iranian foreign minister Amir-Abdollahian met with the ICRC head. The ICRC also held talks with the Iranian foreign minister on October 10 according to the Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry. The IRGC has thus had talks with Iran at least twice since the Hamas attacks on October 7. It has not contacted the hostages in Gaza or done anything to help them publicly.
Kidnapping is not new for Iranian-backed groups
Iranian-backed groups have often kidnapped civilians in other countries. For instance, Iranian-backed militias kidnapped Elizabeth Tsurkov in Iraq, an Israeli-Russian researcher who was affiliated with Princeton. A recent video of her released by the extremist Kataib Hezbollah group shows her being forced to speak on video about her kidnapping. She has also not been visited by the ICRC.
The Tehran regime media appears to admit that Iran is behind Hamas’s kidnapping of hostages and holding them.
Iran’s Press TV says that “the Israeli regime has, throughout the war, been stonewalling Hamas’ ‘positive approaches’ concerning the issue of the prisoners of war.” Press TV goes on to note that “The foreign minister was referring to the Palestinian resistance movement’s release of several civilian prisoners, and its expression of readiness for exchanging more.
The regime has, however, ruled out the prospect, pressing with its atrocities against Gaza.” This appears to indicate that Iran is behind Hamas’s kidnapping of civilians including women and children, and people from numerous countries around the world, such as Thailand and Russia. Hamas also massacred foreign workers from Nepal and Thailand. However, Turkey, Russia, China, and other countries have not condemned attacks by the terrorist group.
“The ICRC chief, for her part, thanked the Islamic Republic for its trust in the committee and positive contribution to its missions,” according to the Press TV report and Fars News. The ICRC head Egger “said both sides are worried about the situation in Gaza, noting that the committee was trying to stay neutral in the conflict and perform its humanitarian duties.” Both Press TV and Fars News indicate that Iran is representing Hamas in talks with the ICRC. Go to the full article >>
END
BELOW RANTISI HOSPITAL//TUNNELS//HUGE WEAPONRY
Unbelievable….
Palestinian protesters clash at DNC headquarters last night
(ZEROHEDGE)
Violent Clash Erupts As DNC HQ Mobbed By Pro-Palestinian Protestors
THURSDAY, NOV 16, 2023 – 08:10 AM
Cops and Gaza-ceasefire advocates clashed at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee on Wednesday night, with each side accusing the other of initiating the violence.
While the fracas was largely limited to shoves and pepper-spray, the incident underscores growing progressive discontent with Biden’s blank-check backing of Israel’s massively destructive assault on Gaza, and could foreshadow consequences in next year’s general election. About 75% of Democrats and half of Republicans want a ceasefire, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll published Wednesday.
A DNC campaign reception was underway at the time of the protest arranged by groups including If Not Now and Jewish Voice for Peace Action. AP reports that “scores of Democratic representatives and candidates” were on hand, including Hakeem Jeffries, the House Minority Leader.
Protesters told AP they’d attempted to block the building’s doors so the VIPs inside would have to face the candlelight vigil outside and the group’s call for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas that erupted 41 days ago when the Palestinian group’s al-Qassam Brigade invaded the Zionist state, killing more than a thousand civilians and military service members.
An estimated 150 protesters assembled at DNC headquarters. While Capitol Police characterized the group as “illegally and violently protesting,” the demonstrators say the cops initiated force without giving any warning.
“It is shameful the way that nonviolent protesters and members of our community were met with violence tonight,” Philadelphian protestor Dani Noble told AP. “It is absolutely shameful.” Noble said police were “pulling on folks that are disabled or have have chronic illnesses, pulling people to the ground.”
As cops in riot gear yanked protestors from doorways and pushed them across the street, other cops bolted inside to protect the reception attendees. They rushed legislators into the building’s basement and others were laters whisked away in police cars. Congressional staffers received alert messages declaring that nobody could enter or exit buildings associated with the House of Representatives.
Capitol Police says six cops had minor injuries in the fracas. Only one person was arrested by US Capitol Police, under a charge of assaulting a police officer.
Some Democratic officials who attended the event took to the platform formerly known as Twitter to cultivate their preferred version of what took place. California Rep Brad Sherman described the crowd as “pro-terrorist, anti-Israel protestors” who “grew violent, pepper-spraying police officers and attempting to break into the building.” Protestors deny such an intention, and videos reviewed by ZeroHedge don’t support Sherman’s accusation of a break-in attempt or protesters using pepper spray. Police reportedly did use spray.
Apparently trying to shame ceasefire advocates into rallying around the war state’s backing of Israel — and ignoring the growing electoral peril of his stance and that of Biden — Sherman also tweeted, “Apparently, these pro-Hamas demonstrators want Republicans to prevail in the next Congressional election.”
end
THURSDAY/JERUSALEM POST
Last night, the IDF captured the habour in GAZA. The port initiated many maritime terrorist attacks
(Jerusalem Post)
IDF captures Hamas terror port in Gaza
Hamas used the harbor as a training facility for their naval commando forces and to launch infiltrations into Israel.
By ALEX WINSTONNOVEMBER 16, 2023 11:48Updated: NOVEMBER 16, 2023 12:06
IDF soldiers successfully capture the Hamas-controlled harbor in Gaza, November 16, 2023 (IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)
IDF soldiers of the 188th Brigade and Shayetet 13 successfully gained control of the Gaza harbor, the IDF announced on Thursday morning. The harbor had been under the control of Hamas.
During the operation, in which soldiers of the Combat Engineering Corps and the Air Force also participated, some 10 tunnel shafts were destroyed as well as other Hamas infrastructure, and 10 terrorists were killed. Tunnels used in the area led directly to the sea to aid undetected maritime infiltrations.
All buildings in the harbor area were successfully cleared.
IDF soldiers capture the Hamas-controlled harbor in Gaza, November 16, 2023 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)
Hamas used the harbor as a training facility for their naval commando forces for planning and executing naval terror attacks. Under the guise of a civilian harbor, Hamas used the area for training and carrying out terror attacks, all the while using civilian and Gaza harbor police vessels.
Infiltrations by sea were part of Hamas’s attack on October 7, and in the following weeks there were regular attempts to reach Israel this way, including one incident when Hamas terrorists attempted to infilatre the town of Zikim but were countered by Israeli forces.
At least ten Hamas terrorists were killed in waters off the shore of the southern Gaza border town of Zikim after attempting to infiltrate into Israel on October 24.
END
IDF strikes Haniyeh’s house. He is hiding in Qatar. The house served as a meeting place for the terrorists.
(Jerusalem Post)Advertisement
IDF strikes residence of Hamas leader
The residence of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, which was used as terrorist infrastructure, was hit by an airstrike on Wednesday night as IDF troops continue to operate in the Gaza Strip, the IDF revealed.
Haniyeh, the Head of Hamas’ Political Bureau, is based in Qatar but his Gaza residence often served as a meeting point for Hamas’s senior leadership to direct terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers. The IDF also announced two fallen officers on Thursday morning. Captain Asaf Master and Captain Kfir Itzhak Franco were named by the IDF as having fallen in battle in Gaza.
END
THURSDAY/NEAR JERUSALEM INSIDE ISRAEL
This morning a shooting attack inside Israel by terrorists from the West Bank city of Hebron. The terrorists were neutralized, They were stopped at Gush Etzion, just outside Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the object of their terror attacks
IDF soldier murdered in Jerusalem tunnel terror attack, five wounded
Hamas later claimed responsibility for the attack • Israel Police prevented a mass slaughter in Jerusalem
Police and security personnel at the scene of a shooting attack at a checkpoint near Jerusalem, November 16, 2023(photo credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
An IDF soldier was murdered in a terror attack carried out by Hamas terrorists on Route 60, south of Jerusalem on Thursday, the Israeli military confirmed.
Three Palestinian terrorists began shooting at a checkpoint near the entrance to Jerusalem, injuring several people before being shot dead by Israeli troops at the scene.
Five other Israelis were wounded to varying degrees, as per Israeli reports. They were later rushed to Hadassah-University Medical Center and Shaare Zedek Medical Center in the capital for further treatment.
The IDF on Thursday evening confirmed that Cpl. Avraham Fetena, 20 years old from Haifa, was the soldier murdered in the terror attack.
Police and security personnel at the scene of a shooting attack at a checkpoint near Jerusalem, November 16, 2023 (credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Israel Police prevented a ‘mass slaughter in Jerusalem’
Jerusalem District Police Commander Doron Turgeman said that security forces had prevented a major terror attack.
“Axes and a lot of ammunition were found in the terrorists’ vehicle,” Turgeman said. “They were probably planning to carry out a more significant operation in Jerusalem, but we eliminated them before they could do so.”Advertisement
The police confiscated three weapons from the terrorists – two pistols and an M-16-style weapon.
Magen David Adom paramedics who were at the scene stated: “We quickly arrived at the scene and saw four wounded people lying there with gunshot wounds – one of them, a young man about 20 years old, was unconscious with gunshot wounds to his upper body. We gave him medical treatment and evacuated him urgently to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
“Three others who were wounded were treated at the same time – a 20-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man suffered gunshot wounds to their limbs,” they said.
“They were fully conscious and their condition was defined as moderate. We evacuated two more wounded in a minor condition. In addition, we also treated several anxiety victims.”
Later, the Hamas terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that it had been carried out by their armed wing, Al-Qassam Brigade in the West Bank.
The Hamas-affiliated terrorists were later identified by security forces as 26-year-old Hebron resident Abed al-Qadr al-Qawasmi, the son of a senior Hamas terrorist Abdullah al-Qawasmi who was killed in 2003, and Hassan Mamon Kapisha, whose father was deported to Turkey in 2011.
The identity of the third terrorist has not yet been definitively verified, the Shin Bet said.
Weapons discovered in the vehicle of terrorists who carried out a shooting attack at the Route 60 checkpoint, November 16, 2023 (Police Spokesperson’s Unit)
Three terrorists, reportedly from Hebron, were shot and killed by security forces, according to Israel Police, as Border Police forces and the IDF are currently scanning the area.
The police confiscated three weapons from the terrorists – two pistols and an M-16-style weapon.Magen David Adom paramedics who were at the scene stated: “We quickly arrived at the scene and saw four wounded people lying there with gunshot wounds – one of them, a young man about 20 years old, was unconscious with gunshot wounds to his upper body. We gave him medical treatment and evacuated him urgently to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center.”Three others who were wounded were treated at the same time—a 20-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man suffered gunshot wounds to their limbs,” they said. “They were fully conscious and their condition was defined as moderate. We evacuated two more wounded in a minor condition. In addition, we also treated several anxiety victims.”
This is a developing story.
END
Hostage Yehudit Weiss found dead in a structure containing rifles and rocket propelled grenades
(Times of Israel)
Hostage found dead in a structure adjacent to Al-Shifa Hospital, IDF says
Yael Factor
TEL AVIV — Yehudit Weiss, a hostage abducted from her home by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack, was found dead in a structure “adjacent” to Al-Shifa Hospital, the IDF said in a statement today.
Weiss’ body was identified in a process by the medical personnel and institute of forensic medicine and the Israel Police. Her family was informed today that she has been declared dead.
“The IDF sends its heartfelt condolences to the family,” the statement said. “The national task before our eyes is to locate the missing and return the abducted persons home.”
The IDF added that in the structure where Weiss was found, the military found equipment including Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
end
Netanyahu believes that Shifa hospital housed the hostages but they moved south through the tunnels
It looks like most of the HAMAS are in the south along with the hostages.
Now what will their next move be?
(Jerusalem Post/Thursday afternoon)
IDF’s next steps in Gaza: Hostage deal or southern offensive? – analysis
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant discussed on Thursday moving the war forward to new stages, but conspicuously did not refer to going South.
By YONAH JEREMY BOBNOVEMBER 16, 2023 21:55Updated: NOVEMBER 16, 2023 22:09
An artist sprays a graffiti for the release of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, in the Jezreel Valley, on October 30, 2023(photo credit: Anat Hermony/Flash90)
There is a debate at the highest levels of the government and the IDF about whether the military should already begin its invasion of southern Gaza or whether this must wait for an interim deal on hostages, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
Numerous leaks have been made about terms that Israel or Hamas wants as the sides negotiate what might be an interim deal getting significant numbers of Israeli civilian hostages back, but not all hostages, for some kind of pause and prisoner exchange, but not necessarily that Hamas has demanded.
Whether Israel agrees to a deal or not which Hamas has been desperate for, even the possibility of being close to a deal may currently be slowing the push into southern Gaza, the Post understands.
The concept is that this is a unique tipping point where the IDF has mostly taken over northern Gaza and could make a natural pause.
In contrast, once the IDF invades southern Gaza, to do so it will not only have committed large numbers of air, sea, and ground forces, it will also need to maneuver a huge logistics complex from the North toward the South to facilitate such an ongoing invasion.
IDF soldiers continue ground operations in Gaza, November 16, 2023 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)
Where could they be hidden?
Put simply, unless the war is for sure going to continue for more than a week or so, committing to the South seems unwise.
Once that invasion happens, it is also possible that the IDF will come into closer contact with Hamas leaders and hostages, which could compromise aspects of the current deals being discussed.Advertisement
Few hostages or top Hamas leaders were found to date in the North.
IDF Chief-of-Staff (Lt.-Gen.) Herzi Halevi made it clear on Thursday that “if it were up to me”, the IDF would be pushing further south.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant discussed on Thursday moving the war forward to new stages, but conspicuously did not refer to going South.
Although the government and the IDF have said they wanted to eliminate Hamas, they have consistently preached that bringing back hostages was an equal goal – something which has not seemed to add up until now.
But this moment before an invasion of the South, could be a point where a balancing between the two goals takes place.
Israel can take some time to weigh the decision, but within some period of days, stagnant forces could reduce morale, so the question will likely not remain open for too long.
END
(Jerusalem Post)
Netanyahu: Strong indications Hamas kept hostages at Al-Shifa hospital
The possibility of finding the hostages, “was one of the reasons we entered Shifa hospital,” Netanyahu said. “But if they were, they were taken out.”
By TOVAH LAZAROFFNOVEMBER 16, 2023 21:59Updated: NOVEMBER 16, 2023 22:47
Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister Benny Gantz hold a joint press conference at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on November 11, 2023(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
There were “strong indications hostages were held in Shifa hospital in Gaza,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CBS News on Thursday as he defended the IDF’s highly-criticized military operation in the medical facility on the 41st day of the war in Gaza.
The possibility of finding the hostages, “was one of the reasons we entered Shifa hospital,” Netanyahu said. “But if they were, they were taken out.”
Palestinian medics said on Thursday they are increasingly afraid for the lives of hundreds of patients and medical staff at Gaza’s biggest hospital, cut off from all links to the outside world for more than a day after the IDF entered.
“In the Shifa Hospital, IDF troops found an operational tunnel shaft and a vehicle containing a large number of weapons,” the army said, as it released videos and photographs that it said showed the tunnel shaft and weapons.
Israeli soldiers inspect the Al Shifa hospital complex, amid their ground operation against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Gaza City, November 15, 2023 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)
Military equipment including Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenades were also uncovered in Al-Shifa hospital, the army said.
It also found the body of Yehudit Weiss, a hostage Hamas seized from Kibbutz Be’eri, near Shifa Hospital on Thursday. The IDF entered Gaza as part of its military campaign to oust the terror group from the Strip after it killed over 1,200 people and took over 239 hostages on October 7.Advertisement
Talks are ongoing for the possible release of some 50 hostages in exchange for a three-to-five-day pause in hostilities.
The high Palestinian death toll in Gaza, due to the war, which Hamas asserts is over 11,000 has opened Israel up to intense criticism and scrutiny, made sharper by its entry into the Gaza hospital.
Human Rights Watch cautioned that hospitals have special protections under international humanitarian law.
“Hospitals only lose those protections if it can be shown that harmful acts have been carried out from the premises,” the watchdog’s UN Director Louis Charbonneau told Reuters.
US defends IDF claims, dismisses calls for ceasefire
US State Department spokesman Matthew Millers defended the IDF’s operations to uncover Hamas arms and infrastructure in Gaza medical facilities as he dismissed the idea of a ceasefire.
“I’m not aware that there is an acceptable threshold level for assault rifles held in hospitals. That’s not general humanitarian practice,” Miller said as he pushed back at those who doubted Hamas had operated from within Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
He attacked the misinformation that has entered the debate about Hamas and its actions in Gaza, particularly its use of civilians as human shields.
“I am surprised … that people have ignored the weight of public evidence over years and years of Hamas using civilian infrastructure as human shields. Israel has a right to conduct those military to hold those terrorists accountable,” Miller said.
“The idea that Hamas uses civilian infrastructure as human shields is not contested,” he said.
It is important, however, that Israel operate under international law, minimize civilian casualties and ensure the entry into Gaza of humanitarian aid.
The US is in “active conversations” with the government of Israel to ensure that “as they continue to look at expanded military or ground operations in Gaza” they also allow for “humanitarian corridors” for civilians and for “humanitarian pauses,” he said.
U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters he was doing everything in his power to free hostages. The U.S. president had told reporters this week that his message to the hostages was “Hang in there, we’re coming,” raising questions about what he meant.
Asked to clarify the comment, Biden told a news conference: “What I meant was, I’m doing everything in my power to get you out. Coming to help you, get you out. I don’t mean sending in the military in there … I was not talking about the military.”
Biden said he was working on the issue constantly, and would not stop until the hostages – including a three-year-old American child – were freed.
Biden said Hamas was committing war crimes by having its military headquarters under a hospital, repeating a statement made by a White House spokesperson on Tuesday, and he was confident about the U.S. intelligence supporting that “fact.”
Tents and shelters used by displaced Palestinians stand at the yard of Al Shifa hospital during the Israeli ground operation around the hospital, in Gaza City November 12, 2023 (credit: AHMED EL MOKHALLALATI/VIA REUTERS)
He said Israel had gone into Gaza’s biggest hospital, Al Shifa, with a limited number of troops with guns, and was not carpet-bombing the site.
“They were told … we discussed the need for them to be incredibly careful,” Biden said, adding that Israel had an obligation to use as much caution as possible in going after targets.
But he said it was “not realistic” to expect Israel to stop its military actions, given threats by senior Hamas officials that they intended to attack Israel again and their past “horrific” actions.
“Hamas has already said publicly that they plan on attacking Israel again, like they did before, where they cut babies’ heads off,” Biden said.
On Wednesday, Biden said Israel was now bringing in incubators and other equipment to help people, and its soldiers allowing doctors, nurses and other staff to “get out of harm’s way.”
Biden said he had told Netanyahu that he did not believe the war would end until a two-state solution was reached.
“I made it clear to Israel that I think it’s a big mistake for them to occupy Gaza,” he said.
end
LEBANON/ISRAEL/HEZBOLLAH
Hezbollah, Hamas rockets drop, IDF attacks in North continue
IDF soldiers also hit a terrorist in Lebanon who was attempting to fire into Israeli territory.
By YONAH JEREMY BOBNOVEMBER 16, 2023 12:10Updated: NOVEMBER 16, 2023 21:09
Smoke rises close to the border with Lebanon, in northern Israel, November 15, 2023(photo credit: REUTERS/EVELYN HOCKSTEIN)
Hezbollah fired a small number of rockets and anti-tank missiles, but Thursday was a rare day where the small volume and lack of danger posed by the attacks meant that the IDF did not even send out a formal public message about the attacks.
The Jerusalem Post separately confirmed the details.
Likewise, Hamas rocket attacks dropped to under 20 in the last 24 hours, from an average that has steadily dropped from hundreds a day, to close to 100, to 75, to 50, to now even lower numbers.
IDF fighter jets carry out airstrikes on Hezbollah targets
On the northern front, IDF fighter jets carried out airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Thursday morning. The targets included Hezbollah military posts.
IDF soldiers also hit a terrorist in Lebanon who was attempting to fire into Israeli territory.
END
RUSSIA/UKRAINE
ROBERT H:
The earth shook in Ukraine – Scientist: “There are radioactive particles as far as England” – Russia hit depleted uranium warehouses – WarNews247
The sheer stupidity of conflict and use of depleted uranium weapons in conflict is well documented in places like Syria. Where to this day families experience horrors of contamination. For what productive end do pretend this is civilized behavior? This should be a crime against humanity! Clearly, the Western culture of indifference to such fallout has reached new levels of dumb. Only this time eager hands in such efforts now cause their own citizens to suffer for stupidity. Winds in Ukraine often blow westward and now all those uninformed innocent people who never had a voice will live with potential grief imposed by fools. This Ukrainian conflict is a cancer upon Europe and will serve no productive purpose. Ukraine as a nation is finished as it will never return to prior territorial borders. What remains to be seen is whether Europe chooses or allows the choice of its own destruction for Neocon glory. With the current problems Europe and other nations face this is beyond nuts!
Evidence keeps piling up, via leaked reports, of an across-the-board breakdown in the Ukrainian frontlines…
Previously, we focused on the southern Zaporozhye front. Now let’s focus on Kharkov, in the northeast.
The attached document, fully verified for authenticity, is a July report to the Chief of Staff of the operational-tactical group “Sumy”.
The report essentially says that it’s impossible to withdraw two thirds of the A7383 unit from the battlefield to recover combat readiness because the remaining one third is incapable of holding the fort – which happens to extend along 55.5 km.
In parallel, recruiting was proceeding very slowly.
As of four months ago, the 127th separate territorial defense brigade in Kharkov was still equipped with 72% of personnel – 2,392 soldiers and 256 officers. Yet, crucially, the moral-psychological condition of the unit was critical – just as in the previous instance in Zaporozhye.
So forget about recovering combat readiness: this is yet another case of a brigade – now in Kharkov – that cannot fight properly. The previous case was far from being an exception to the current rule.
The conclusion is stark: with whole brigades in critical condition, the entire Ukrainian frontline may be about to fall.
The Hundred Days Debacle
Facts on the ground point to the Russian Armed Forces (RAF) taking the initiative all along the SMO frontlines. This is recognized even by Polish and Estonian intel. Main battles are being fought on the Avdeevka-Marinka line in the DPR and the Kupyansk-Svatovo line in the LPR.
RAF has enough manpower and weapons to keep the Ukrainians under a 24/7 state of despair. Objectives remain the same: to capture the whole of DPR and LPR within their administrative borders.
In parallel, the ever-unplugged Dmitri Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, has announced a massive increase in the production of weapons and military equipment. Medvedev constantly stresses that the capabilities of the Russian defense industry have reached an unprecedented level – and much faster than expected.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov, for his part, echoes what Foreign Minister Lavrov has been detailing for months now: Kiev – and its NATO handlers – better realize they cannot and won’t “win” in the battlefield.
Medvedev always relishes upping the ante: “The West must admit that not only Donbass and Crimea are not Ukraine, but also Odessa, Nikolaev, Kiev and practically everything else.”
That was a sharp response to former NATO Secretary- General Anders “Fogh of War” Rasmussen, who said that Kiev could be accepted into NATO “without lost territories,” referring to Crimea and Donbass.
That set Medvedev on a roll: “What then should we admit to NATO, you ask? Well, we can accept the city of Lemberg with its surroundings [the Lviv region] if they really insist there.”
This analysis focuses on “what the Russians are doing with their ongoing ‘mud season offensive’ in Ukraine, really a collection of local attacks across the length of the front line” – with the exception of Kherson.
Strategically, Russia has committed none of its own massive reserves while the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are pressured all along the frontlines – and the Russians silently prepare a surprise knockout blow elsewhere.
A Perfect Storm of dwindling financing, weaponizing and Western “support” has darkened Kiev’s horizon, while serial Ukrainian disasters on the ground are so obvious they are even being picked up by Western mainstream media.
This ain’t no “stalemate”.
The previous analysis is only one among many that matches the breakdown of Ukrainian brigades across the frontlines – consisting “largely of units already mauled in their disastrous Hundred Days Offensive.”
The Hundred Days Offensive should rather be qualified as NATO’s Hundred Days Debacle.
The debacle is the key reason why the “Biden combo” administration is now desperately trying to impose a ceasefire: a face-saving gambit as crucial as throwing the sweaty sweatshirt in Kiev under a double-decker bus.
end
TURKEY
Erdogan, the lunatic, is going to retry the 2010 GAZA flotilla “peace plan”. If you recall this ended in disaster 13 years ago
(Jerusalem Post)
Mavi Marmara, group behind 2010 Gaza flotilla clash, plans to launch new ship into Gaza
Members from the Mavi Marmara organization attacked IDF soldiers who boarded their ship during the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla, leaving ten killed and dozens wounded.
Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, carrying pro-Palestinian activists to take part of a humanitarian convoy, leaves from Sarayburnu port in Istanbul, Turkey May 22, 2010.(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Turkey-based Mavi Marmara organization, which infamously participated in the “Gaza Freedom Flotilla” of ships into Gaza in 2010 and fought with IDF naval forces, announced on Wednesday new plans to launch another flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“We are setting out again towards Gaza as a civil and independent movement, in line with the decision we made with the International Freedom Flotilla, of which we are a member,” the organization announced in a statement.
Members of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition have held meetings in London to plan the next flotilla from Europe to Gaza, which is set to sail next year in an attempt to break the naval blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip.
“Our goals remain full human rights for all Palestinians,” the group wrote on its official website about its next flotilla. “In particular, freedom of movement within historic Palestine and the right of return.”
Mavi Marmara operated one of the 37 ships that were part of the 2010 flotilla – a passenger ship carrying over 600 passengers. IDF forces boarded the ship after it refused to reroute to the Port of Ashdod and were met with violent resistance by the passengers.
English-language flyer declaring Mavi Marmara’s intention to participate in the next Gaza Freedom Flotilla. (credit: MAVI MARMARA ORGANIZATION)
Ten passengers on Mavi Marmara’s ship died in the clashes, while dozens of others were injured. Ten IDF soldiers were wounded on the ship as well.
“We are setting out again towards Gaza against the blockade in Palestine with ship fleets formed from different countries. Support the purchase of ships for the fleet and the supply of humanitarian aid materials, and raise your voice against the blockade and embargo,” the statement said. Advertisement
“Now is the time to end the blockade and embargo,” the flyer made by Mavi Marmara declares.
2010 Gaza Flotilla disaster
The original Gaza Freedom Flotilla arrived in Israeli waters in May 2010. After multiple warnings, IDF naval forces intercepted six groups of ships that were on their way to Gaza. The flotilla was sponsored by the Free Gaza Movement (FDM), several European Palestinian solidarity organizations, and Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH), an Istanbul-based Islamic charity fund that has ties to Hamas.
Members on board one of the largest ships in the flotillas – the Mavi Marmara that disembarked from Turkey – attacked the IDF with weapons. Israeli commandos descended on ropes from helicopters onto the Mavi Marmara and were immediately attacked with clubs, knives, and metal rods. Three soldiers were taken captive. Israeli troops opened fire after a protester, later identified as Ken O’Keefe, a former US marine aboard the Mavi Marmara, seized a gun from one of them.
As a result of the clash on the Mavi Marmara, ten flotilla members were killed and dozens were wounded. Ten Israeli soldiers were also wounded during the attack. The other five flotilla ships did not engage in fighting with the IDF, instead sailing to the Port of Ashdod and returning to their home countries.
END
GLOBAL VACCINE/COVID ISSUES
(Epoch Times)
Actress Sues AstraZeneca After COVID-19 Jab Leaves Her With Brain Injuries
An Australian theatre star and vaccination advocate is suing pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, claiming that a life-threatening stroke left her unable to work after taking the company’s vaccine.
Melle Stewart, 42, is known for her acting in both the UK and Australia, including playing the lead in the musical Mamma Mia! and Channel 7’s Home and Away.
Ms. Stewart received her first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on May 24, 2021.
Two weeks later, she began having seizures, lost her ability to speak, and lost all movement on the right-hand side of her body.
Brain surgeons diagnosed her with Vaccine-Induced Thrombocytopenic Thrombosis (VITT), a blood-clotting condition that the manufacturer and the regulators now acknowledge as a “very rare side effect” of this particular vaccine.
She underwent multiple procedures and rigorous therapy, including craniectomy, a three-hour operation to remove a portion of her skull to reduce the pressure in her brain and keep her alive.
Surgeons have since replaced that part of her skull with a titanium plate the size of her hand.
‘Linked to the Vaccine’
From the start, the doctors “were running the hypothesis that this was linked to the vaccine,” said Ms. Stewart’s husband, Ben Lewis.
“It was a relatively new diagnosis. But Melle had zero medical history. She was so healthy. She looked after her body like a temple. After all that was her job. She had never even been in hospital before,” he said.
Despite this, blood tests conducted by a haematologist revealed specific markers to confirm the vaccine as the cause.
Ms. Stewart exhibited low blood platelet levels and clotting issues, necessitating five blood transfusions within four days.
The couple had never had COVID-19 to their knowledge, but the theatre industry had been shut down during the pandemic, so they believed that mass vaccination was a crucial step in bringing back audiences.
“It’s incredibly frustrating. Words are my life and it has gone now. I say the words but getting them out is an issue,” Ms. Stewart told The Telegraph about the dim prospect of a theatrical appearance.
“I am grieving over it. It is hard.”
While she received £120,000 (A$230,000) from the government as an acknowledgement of the vaccine’s damage, it falls short of compensating the substantial earnings lost by her and her husband, who put his work on pause to nurse his wife back to health.
Ms. Stewart has agreed to a second vaccination and wants people to know that she remains an advocate for vaccination.
“Despite the issues I’ve had due to the Astra Zeneca vaccine, I have gone on to receive multiple doses of the Pfizer vaccine and I remain a staunch advocate for vaccination,” Ms. Stewart said.
However, the pair are compelled to take legal action against AstraZeneca because they believe they were misled by the government’s reassurances.
“We had an expectation this vaccine was safe to use but AstraZeneca was not safe to use in this case,” Mr. Lewis said.
“And while there are only a relatively small number of people injured or worse, it is incumbent on the government to take care of the very few people who have done the right thing for the country and society.”
Vaccine Damage Payment
Ms. Stewart’s tax-free payment from the government is part of a compensation scheme set up in 1979 to maintain public confidence in all vaccinations.
For people who have suffered life-changing injuries from having a COVID-19 vaccination, and the flow-on impacts on their loved ones, critics consider this to be woefully inadequate.
The present payout amount has not been raised since 2007.
The scheme requires that victims demonstrate they are 60 percent disabled as a result of the vaccine. Those who do not meet this threshold receive no financial assistance, without a sliding scale for those with lesser damage.
In response to the landmark legal case against the company, of which Ms. Stewart is a part, an AstraZeneca spokesperson told The Epoch Times that “patient safety is our highest priority and regulatory authorities have clear and stringent standards to ensure the safe use of all medicines, including vaccines.”
“Our sympathy goes out to anyone who has lost loved ones or reported health problems,” he said.
The spokesperson added that the government’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) granted full marketing approval for Vaxzevria for the UK based on the “safety profile and efficacy” of the vaccine.
end
Biden DOJ Quietly Hires More Lawyers For Vaccine Injury Lawsuits
WEDNESDAY, NOV 15, 2023 – 06:40 PM
In January, the CDC was forced to reveal the results of its VAERS safety signal monitoring for COVID-19 vaccines (thanks to a FOIA request by Zachary Stieber of the Epoch Times), which painted an alarming picture. The analysis, spanning Dec. 14 2020 through July 29, 2022, revealed:
There were 770 different types of adverse events that showed safety signals in ages 18+, of which over 500 (or 2/3) had a larger safety signal than myocarditis/pericarditis.
The CDC analysis shows that the number of serious adverse events reported in less than two years for mRNA COVID-19 vaccines is 5.5 times larger than all serious reports for vaccines given to adults in the US since 2009 (~73,000 vs. ~13,000).
Twice as many mRNA COVID-19 vaccine reports were classified as serious compared to all other vaccines given to adults (11% vs. 5.5%). This meets the CDC definition of a safety signal.
In April, the Biden administration rejected several demands for compensation from people who have been injured by the Covid-19 vaccine, despite the fact that injury reports have been on the rise – as evidenced by a February report by Florida Surgeon General Joseph Lapado over a 4,400% increase in life threatening conditions reported to in the state to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) since the 2021 rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines.
Meanwhile, several lawsuits have been filed against the Biden administration by vaccine-injured individuals over worldwide vaccine contracts that indemnified drugmakers from litigation, as well as for censorship surrounding the big tech crackdown on people sharing their experiences after receiving Covid-19 vaccines.
DOJ Hires Lawyers
In response to the mounting vaccine injuries, the Biden DOJ quietly began hiring more lawyers in October to handle vaccine litigation. In a posting to USAJobs.gov, the Washington DC Office of Office of Constitutional and Specialized Tort Litigation – Vaccine Litigation Staff asks for individuals who can fight “claims of injury as a result of the receipt of vaccines” covered by the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (“Vaccine Act”).
The job pays between $94,199 and $183,500 for whatever soulless Devil’s Advocate acolyte take a job fighting vaccine injured Americans.
The position is a unique trial practice in support of public health, science, and medicine. The legal and medical issues at stake in each case vary. Trial attorneys independently manage heavy caseloads, and while streamlined procedures are utilized, many cases involve complex scientific issues of causation that require expert witnesses in medical fields such as pediatrics, neurology, immunology, and epidemiology. In cases in which petitioners are found entitled to compensation, the litigation occasionally requires use of damages experts to develop an appropriate life care plan for the injured party, including medical treatment and related care needs, and the determination of other compensable damages, such as lost earnings and pain and suffering, often awarded through a structured settlement.
Attorneys with limited experience will focus primarily on litigating cases in a “claims” type posture, typically involving less complicated issues of science and medicine, limited damages, and fewer court appearances, with the possibility of transitioning to handling more complex cases in litigation over time.
Attorneys appear frequently before the Office of Special Masters in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and also appear before the judges of the Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit when handling appeals. Responsibilities include factual and legal research, medical record review, brief writing, and working with expert witnesses to develop the defense of claims, as well as to address the life care needs of vaccine-injured petitioners in some cases. The majority of cases are resolved informally, and thus attorneys engage regularly in settlement and damages negotiations, including alternative dispute resolution, and drafting settlement memoranda.
Hilariously, while the DOJ came after Elon Musk’s SpaceX (which deals with matters of national security) for not hiring illegal immigrants, the vaccine injury job posting requires applicants to be “a U.S. Citizen or National.”
Other interesting job requirements include:
Must be able to obtain and maintain a Top Secret security clearance with eligibility for Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) access depending on organizational assignment / duty location.
Financial Disclosure: If selected, you will be required to disclose financial information in accordance with DOJ and Federal ethics guidelines.
You will be required to complete a pre-employment security investigation and background check which includes a drug screening.
We think they’re going to need more than eight.
end
ROBERT H:
New Report Raises Concerns That CDC Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System Is Broken | The Epoch Times
Not a surprise any more, as the majority of the Western public no longer believes mass media or government.
We will see a return to more natural cures for health issues and perhaps experience a rejection of big Pharma.
As we head into the next decade, it is will be during a time where individuality will rule more strongly what we do will be what we learn to make judgement calls based on what we learnt and know to be true from experience or fall and friends and distrust of all official parties will continue to decrease. This is a trend brought about by corruption and greed on the part of so called elites who will find themselves less able and outcasts where once crowds gathered to listen. The end result will be a collapse of government as we know it and a new system. While scary, throughout history this is what has ushered in change. Rome learnt this the hard way and more than likely America will follow with blindness down the same road. We should expect and not be surprised at the coming breakup of nations splintered into smaller parts as this too is a historical trend. And more than likely corporations will be forced to change well beyond anything experienced as the ability to adapt will test not just management skills but the ability to cope and exercise common sense dictated by change.
than in September 2022. This is the 15th consecutive month of decline compared to the same month a year ago. Why? Is it the COVID mRNA technology vaccine (Pfizer, Moderna etc.)? I say YES! You?
The month of September 2023 confirms the downward trend in births observed over the past 15 months.’
The month of September 2023 confirms the downward trend in births observed over the past 15 months. Births are still at a very low level, with 55,446 births over the entire month, or 1,848 births on average each day. The number of births per day had never been less than 2,000 for the month of September since 1994, the first year of availability of monthly data for mainland France and the overseas departments. The downward trend in births observed in recent months therefore continues in September 2023.
Cumulatively, over the period from January to September, there will be 507,318 births in 2023, or 39,980 fewer than in 2022, a drop of 7.3%.
treatment when seeking care? Is this medical management of men in COVID? Is this accumulated death due to the mRNA technology COVID vaccine? What? Is this a systemic problem many years in making?
‘The life expectancy of men in the U.S. is nearly six years shorter than that of women, according to new research published on Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.
At least partially as a consequence of over 1 million Covid-19 deaths, life expectancy in the U.S. has declined significantly over the past few years, falling from 78.8 years in 2019 to 77 in 2020 and 76.1 in 2022 — undoing over two decades of progress. This puts the country far behind its wealthy peers: Countries such as Japan, Korea, Portugal, the U.K., and Italy all enjoy a life expectancy of 80 years or more. Countries such as Turkey (78.6) and China (78.2) also fare better. This falloff has become a key issue for the Food and Drug Administration.’
IMO, this is fraught with COVID and vaccine and we need more long-term data but seem antecedents or fundaments were before?
radical islamic terror; the fact no names, nothing, on killer, tells you all you need to know…I will be surprised if turns out to be what we already know happened here; police saying it was intended
Toronto police say a driver is in custody after four people were struck by a vehicle on Wednesday around 12:40 p.m. in the parking lot of a North York apartment building. One female victim has since died from injuries sustained in the crash, police said. (Martin Trainor/CBC – image credit)
‘A woman is dead after Toronto police say a driver may have intentionally used their vehicle to hit four people in North York on Wednesday.
the truth is JT did nothing to UNITE Canada, caused too much racial division, broke backs of local Canadians whose back Canada was built on & with Njoo & Tam, KILLED Canadians via loon COVID policies
But don’t get orgasmic with the replacements even the conservatives, they are all crooks and have and will sell Canadians out. Our problem is we have no good choice, NONE!
Pierre? I am holding my nose, I need more intel. Its like Danielle Smith, her camp, she, they used my name for votes etc. yet still now, operating like Jason Kenney who killed Albertans with his madness in COVID. Lets see. We still holding out hope for Danielle.
end
(Epoch Times)
Top FDA Officials Accepted Jobs With Moderna After Playing Key Roles In The Licensure Of COVID-19 Vaccines
A new BMJ investigation reveals a “revolving door” between FDA officials tasked with regulating COVID-19 vaccines and the companies who manufacture them.
Two high-level regulatory officials with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) involved in vaccine oversight accepted jobs at Moderna just months after signing off on the licensure of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine, according to a British Medical Journal (BMJ) investigation.
The report by Peter Doshi, associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and senior editor at The BMJ, reveals a long-standing revolving door between the FDA and pharmaceutical companies whose products it regulates and raises questions about the impartiality and independence of top FDA regulators.
Dr. Doran Fink is a “physician/scientist experienced in regulation and clinical development/licensure of vaccines and related biological products” and was deeply involved with vaccine regulation at the FDA for more than 12 years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
According to the BMJ report, Dr. Fink started his FDA career as a clinical reviewer in 2010 and “worked his way up” to Deputy Director of the Division of Vaccines and Related Product Applications within the FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review, where he led a team of medical officers focused on infectious diseases and related biological projects.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Fink was a prominent voice on COVID-19 vaccines and which population groups should receive them. He spoke on behalf of the FDA at numerous meetings held by the agency’s vaccine advisors who met to discuss whether to approve COVID-19 vaccines, change their composition, or authorize boosters.
Dr. Fink also presented at meetings held by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices—a group of health experts that develop recommendations on how to use vaccines—as the FDA’s “principal FDA ex officio representative.”
According to the BMJ report and Dr. Fink’s LinkedIn profile, Fink also served on the senior leadership team for COVID-19 vaccine review and policy activities in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
As part of his role, he advised vaccine manufacturers on vaccine development throughout the pandemic and coordinated “expedited review of regulatory submissions,” advised U.S. government stakeholders outside the FDA on COVID-19 vaccine science and development, and contributed to FDA guidance on the development, licensure, and emergency use authorization of COVID-19 vaccines.
Most notably, Dr. Fink engaged in a “senior level review” of the FDA’s decision memoranda for emergency use authorization and licensure of COVID-19 vaccines, including Moderna’s.
According to Fink’s LinkedIn profile, he left the FDA in December 2022 and started a job at Moderna as the head of “Translational Medicine and Early Clinical Development, Infectious Diseases” in February 2023.
Dr. Jaya Goswami has a similar history. Dr. Goswami began working as a medical officer at the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research in March 2020 and had “broad oversight over vaccines and biologics clinical development,” according to the BMJ report.
Goswami was responsible for determining whether Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine clinical data met regulatory standards for approval. Moderna’s SPIKEVAX received FDA approval in January 2022. Goswami’s LinkedIn profile said she left the FDA in June 2022 and began working for Moderna that same month as their director of clinical development in infectious diseases.
At Moderna, Goswami has been involved with the company’s investigational mRNA vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (mRNA-1345). The company announced in a press release on July 5 that it had submitted marketing authorization applications with the European Union, Switzerland, and Australia, as well as a “rolling submission of a Biologics License Application” to the FDA—which will be reviewed by the department within the FDA that employed Drs. Fink and Goswami.
According to Moderna, the company made $18.5 billion in 2021 from sales of its COVID-19 vaccine, more than $19 billion in 2022, and projects sales of its COVID-19 vaccine will reach at least $6 billion in 2023.
Dr. Doshi, writing for The BMJ, warns that this is another sign of the “revolving door” between pharmaceutical companies and the regulators entrusted with regulating their products.
Both FDA employees worked in vaccine regulation during the COVID-19 pandemic and joined Moderna—whose only product was its COVID-19 vaccine.
“The revolving door is particularly abusive in agencies that have a huge flood of money going in. That’s a big problem with the FDA,” Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen, told The BMJ.
Holman was referring to the federal funding Moderna received as part of Operation Warp Speed that helped expedite the authorization of COVID-19 vaccines. Holman suggests a “cooling-off period” of at least two years to break down close relationships and networks that could present an ethical problem for employees who leave regulatory agencies for the companies whose products they regulate.
No Evidence FDA Enforces Ethical Requirements for Employees
“The recurring issue of the revolving door culture between industry and regulators has long been a concern and raises questions about regulatory impartiality,” Kim Witczak, a global pharmaceutical drug safety advocate and member of the FDA’s Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee told The Epoch Times in an email.
“A troubling trend is the intentional career move of making a stop at a regulatory agency, with the real payoff occurring when they transition to drug company roles. While this might benefit the pharmaceutical industry, it poses risks to public health. The worry arises about potential bias in regulating practices, including being lenient in criticism or overlooking safety concerns,” she said.
Ms. Witczak said the absence of strong measures leaves the FDA vulnerable to corruption, and implementing safeguards, such as a mandatory “cooling off period,” is important for maintaining regulatory integrity.
FDA press office Jeremy Kahn told the BMJ the agency has “more enhanced ethics restrictions than most other federal agencies” and “takes seriously its obligation to help ensure that decisions made and actions taken, by the agency and its employees, are not, nor appear to be, tainted by any question of conflict of interest.”
Kahn also said the FDA provides “robust information and resources to employees regarding the steps that must be taken to fulfill these ethics obligations,” however, the BMJ found the FDA doesn’t keep records of where employees go when they leave the agency and doesn’t require employees obtain approval or clearance before taking an industry job.
When the BMJ asked the FDA whether the health regulators sought direction from the FDA’s Office of Ethics and Integrity before accepting positions with Moderna and whether they recused themselves from any FDA matters related to their employment search, the FDA told the BMJ to file a Freedom of Information Act Request.
Moderna’s vice president of communications and media, Chris Ridley, said the company had “no comment” when asked the same by Mr. Doshi.
The FDA’s Long History of ‘Revolving Door’ Culture
This is not the first time issues have been raised with the FDA’s “revolving door”—a concept defined in an October 2005 paper by the Revolving Door Working Group (RDWG) as the “movement of individuals back and forth between the private sector and the public sector.”
According to RDWG, the government-to-industry revolving door is where “public officials move to lucrative private-sector positions in which they may use their government experience to unfairly benefit their new employer in matters of federal procurement and regulatory policy.”
This may allow public servants to use their office for personal or private gain at the expense of taxpayers, cast doubts on the integrity of official actions, could influence a government employee’s official actions through promises of a future high-paying job with the company benefits from the official’s actions, could provide an unfair advantage or give the appearance of undue influence and impropriety.
In a 2016 study published in The BMJ, researchers followed 55 medical reviewers involved in drug approvals in the FDA’s hematology-oncology division over several years. Of 26 medical reviewers who left the agency, 15 went to work for the biopharmaceutical industry, were consultants to it, or did both.
A search conducted in 2018 by the journal Science found that 11 of 16 FDA medical examiners involved with 28 drug approvals left the agency for new jobs or became consultants with companies whose products they recently regulated.
Another prominent example of a top regulatory official who left the FDA to work for the drug industry is former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who unexpectedly resigned in March 2019 after less than two years of serving in the position.
In June 2019, Pfizer announced that Dr. Gottlieb had been appointed to its board of directors “effective immediately” and joined the company’s Regulatory and Compliance Committee and the Science and Technology Committee.
Dr. Gottlieb, who is also a CNBC contributor, was frequently consulted by news media outlets on COVID-19 vaccines, helped the company rake in more than $100 billion in sales of its vaccine and anti-viral, and flagged tweets that questioned COVID-19 vaccines for “X,” formerly known as “Twitter,” as revealed by the Twitter files.
According to the BMJ investigation, Moncef Slaoui, a prominent member of Moderna’s board of directors, was appointed by President Trump to co-lead Operation Warp Speed. Although he resigned from Moderna’s board and sold his stake in the company, Moderna, which had never brought a product to market, received $4.94 billion in federal funding for 300 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine. The FDA Commissioner at the time, Stephen Hahn, authorized Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 18, 2020, and stepped down six months later when he accepted a job with Flagship Pioneering—“the venture fund that birthed Moderna.”
Over 200,000 people march on Washington to support Israel, combat rising antisemitismREAD MORE…LATEST NEWS:Democrats Turn New York into Spy State, Launch Social Credit War on Trump SupportersRead more…Former Editor of The Recount Arrested on Child Pornography ChargesRead more…Japan’s economy shrinks far more than expected in third quarterRead more…Derek Chauvin makes another bid to overturn federal conviction in murder of George FloydRead more…Michigan judge rejects attempt to prevent Trump from appearing on the 2024 ballotRead more…Michigan Judge Shoots Down Yet Another Effort to Keep Trump Off 2024 BallotRead more…Caitlyn Jenner Slams Joe Biden — ‘The World’s Weakest Leader’Read more…FCC Commissioner Sounds the Alarms About Coming Biden ‘Takeover’ of InternetRead more…
FCC Commissioner Sounds the Alarms About Coming Biden ‘Takeover’ of InternetWhile Americans have been fixated on the Swift-Kelce romance and wondering what really happened to Matthew Perry, the Biden administration has quietly made an audacious move to take over the Internet as we know it and regulate it in the name “Equity.” That’s right: The fate of the Internet as we know it hangs in the balance. And it’s set …READ THE FULL REPORT
Caitlyn Jenner Slams Joe Biden — ‘The World’s Weakest Leader’Bruce Jenner also known as Caitlyn Jenner has labeled President Joe Biden as the “world’s weakest leader” as the octogenarian commander-in-chief gets ready to meet with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping, all while Americans are still being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. The reality TV star and Olympic gold medalist, who is transgender, criticized Biden in an X post on …READ THE FULL REPORT
Michigan Judge Shoots Down Yet Another Effort to Keep Trump Off 2024 BallotA Michigan judge has denied an effort to remove former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot. The judge stated that the Secretary of State lacks the authority to intervene in a primary election if the party lists a candidate who is ineligible for the position, in accordance with Michigan law. “The ultimate decision is made by the respective …READ THE FULL REPORT
MICHAEL EVERY/PHIL MAREY/OR OTHER EXECS //RABOBANK
END
7//OIL ISSUES//NATURAL GAS ISSUES//ELECTRICAL GRID ISSUES// RENEWABLE ENERGY ISSUES//USA AND GLOBE
Russia Claims It Will Continue To Adapt To Oil Sanctions
Russia is adapting to the increasingly stricter U.S. sanctions on trade with Russian oil and is acting in accordance with its own interests, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday, commenting on reports that the United States was looking into punishing more vessels breaching the G7 price cap on Russia’s crude.
The price cap mechanism set by the G7 and the EU says that Russian crude shipments to third countries can use Western insurance and financing if cargoes are sold at or below the $60-a-barrel ceiling. The measure took effect at the end of 2022 when the EU imposed an embargo on imports of Russian crude oil.
But Western officials are reportedly increasingly concerned that Russia could be selling most of its crude above the price cap.
Last month, the United States took a tougher stance on the sanctions against Russia and sanctioned two vessels for violating the price cap.
The U.S. is also reportedly working to further clamp down on price cap evasion.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has requested information from ship management companies about 100 tankers suspected of violating the sanctions on Russian oil, Reuters reported earlier this week, citing a source who has seen the notices the Treasury has sent. The tankers under scrutiny have loaded Russian crude from the Far Eastern port of Kozmino and from the port of Primorsk on the Baltic Sea, according to the source.
“While we do not confirm or comment on investigations or enforcement actions, Treasury is committed to enforcing the price cap and reducing Russia’s resources for its war against Ukraine,” a spokesperson for the Treasury told Reuters.
Commenting on the report, the Kremlin spokesman said, as carried by Russian news agency TASS, “Sure, we understand that the American authorities continue to press for more sanctions in one form or another.”
“But we adapt to these conditions and act in a way that best suits our interests,” Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Tuesday.
END
8. EMERGING MARKETS//AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND ISSUES//
YOUR EARLY CURRENCY/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN CLOSING MARKETS AND EUROPEAN BOURSE OPENING AND CLOSING/ INTEREST RATE SETTINGS THURSDAY MORNING 7;30AM//OPENING AND CLOSINGS
EURO VS USA DOLLAR: 1.0846 DOWN 0.0009
USA/ YEN 151.28 UP .077 NOW TARGETS INTEREST RATE AT 1.00% AS IT WILL BUY UNLIMITED BONDS TO GETS TO THAT LEVEL…//YEN STILL FALLS//
GBP/USA 1.2391 DOWN 0.0031
USA/CAN DOLLAR: 1.3724 UP .0041 (CDN DOLLAR DOWN 41 BASIS PTS)
Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE CLOSED DOWN 21.91 PTS OR 0.71%
Hang Seng CLOSED UP 246,18 PTS OR 1.36%
AUSTRALIA CLOSED DOWN .65% // EUROPEAN BOURSE: ALL MIXED
Trading from Europe and ASIA
I) EUROPEAN BOURSES: ALL MIXED
2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang SENG DOWN 246.18 PTS OR 1.36%
/SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 21.91 PTS OR 0.71%
AUSTRALIA BOURSE CLOSED DOWN 0.65%
(Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED DOWN 95.29 PTS OR 0.28%
INDIA’S SENSEX IN THE GREEN
Gold very early morning trading: 1964.40
silver:$23.60
USA dollar index early THURSDAY morning: 104.36 UP 9 BASIS POINTS FROM WEDNESDAY’s CLOSE.
The USA/Yuan, CNY: closed ON SHORE CLOSED (UP) …7.2424
THE USA/YUAN OFFSHORE: (YUAN CLOSED (UP)…. (7.2569)
TURKISH LIRA: 28.68 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LEVEL/DEATH WATCH/HYPERINFLATION TO BEGIN.//ON DEATH WATCH
the 10 yr Japanese bond yield at +0.784…VERY DANGEROUS
Your closing 10 yr US bond yield DOWN 7 in basis points from MONDAY at 4.468% //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%) very problematic
USA 30 yr bond yield 4.645 DOWN 5 in basis points ON THE DAY/12.00 PM
USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.848 DOWN 7 BASIS PTS.
Your 12:00 AM bourses for Europe and the Dow along with the USA dollar index closing and interest rates: THURSDAY: CLOSING TIME 12:00 PM
London: CLOSED DOWN 76.86 POINTS or 1.03%
German Dax : CLOSED DOWN 36.24 PTS OR 0.51%
Paris CAC CLOSED UP 37.39 PTS OR 0.78%
Spain IBEX UP 32.20 PTS OR 0.33%
Italian MIB: CLOSED DOWN 174,25 PTS OR 0.59%
WTI Oil price 77.55 12: EST
Brent Oil: 81,70 12:00 EST
USA /RUSSIAN ROUBLE /// AT: 89.15; ROUBLE UP 0 AND 31//100
GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD; +2.5835 DOWN 4 BASIS PTS
UK 10 YR YIELD: 4.1820 DOWN 6 BASIS PTS
CLOSING NUMBERS: 4 PM
Euro vs USA: 1.0848 DOWN 0.0006 OR 6 BASIS POINTS
British Pound: 1.2408 DOWN .0013 or 13 basis pts
BRITISH 10 YR GILT BOND YIELD: 4.1700% DOWN 8 BASIS PTS//
JAPAN 10 YR YIELD: .785%
USA dollar vs Japanese Yen: 150.66 DOWN .543 //YEN UP 54 BASIS PTS//
USA dollar vs Canadian dollar: 1.3766 UP 0.0082 CDN dollar DOWN .82 basis pts)
West Texas intermediate oil: 72.99
Brent OIL: 77.54
USA 10 yr bond yield DOWN 8 BASIS pts to 4.452%
USA 30 yr bond yield DOWN 6 BASIS PTS to 4.631%
USA 2 YR BOND: DOWN 7 PTS AT 4.842 %
USA dollar index: 104.30 UP 2 BASIS POINTS
USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 28.67 (GETTING QUITE CLOSE TO BLOWING UP/
USA DOLLAR VS RUSSIA//// ROUBLE: 89.15 UP 0 AND 31/100 roubles
GOLD 1981.60 3:30 PM
SILVER: 23,77 3:30 PM
DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: DOWN 45.61 PTS OR 0.13%
NASDAQ UP 16.00 PTS OR 0.10%
VOLATILITY INDEX: 14.09 DOWN 0.09 PTS (0.63)%
GLD: $183.69 UP 2.05 OR 1.13%
SLV/ $21.76 UP .31 OR 1.45%
end
USA AFFAIRS
USA TRADING IN GRAPH FORM
Bonds & Bullion Soar On Dismal Data Amid Carnage In Crude & Crypto
THURSDAY, NOV 16, 2023 – 04:00 PM
Continuing jobless claims worse in two years; industrial production’s biggest YoY decline since COVID lockdowns; and homebuilder sentiment plunges back near COVID lockdown lows… but apart from that, Bidenomics is killing it!!
Source: Bloomberg
…and reflexively, as economic growth fears grow, yields decline, dollar slides, and financial conditions ‘ease’. In fact, Goldman’s FCI has erased more than half of the ‘tightening’ that occurred from Aug to Oct – that The Fed was so proud of – in two weeks.
Source: Bloomberg
And all that was interpreted dovishly for monetary policy with rate-cut expectations increasing marginally for next year…
Source: Bloomberg
Bonds were aggressively bid today with yields down around 8-10bps across the curve, basically erasing yesterday’s spike higher. On the week, yields are all down significantly with the long-end standing out as the underperformer as the belly does best…
Source: Bloomberg
Lower yields did nothing for stocks today as most of the majors clung desperately to the unch-ish level. Small Caps were hammered hard from the open, tried to recover in the afternoon but still ended the biggest loser. Nasdaq and the S&P were almost perfectly unch and The Dow lagged a little.
Hedge fund longs outperformed their shorts today, erasing some of the plunge this week…
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has delayed its approval for Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum Futures ETF applications. The regulator filed for an extension on November 15 stating that it needed more time to properly review the issues of the application and its decision regarding ETFs.
“The Commission finds it appropriate to designate a longer period within which to take action on the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change and issues raised therein,” the SEC stated in the filing.
Ethereum got an early boost after BlackRock filed for a spot ETF, but that was immediately slammed from almost $2100 to below $1950 where it found some support…
Source: Bloomberg
Bitcoin was also clubbed like a baby seal, round-tripping yesterday’s gains, plunging from $28,000 to $35,5000 where it found support…
Source: Bloomberg
The dollar trod water for the second day in a row, taking a breather from Tuesday’s bloodbathery.
Source: Bloomberg
Gold was favored today with spot prices up over 1%, nearing $1990 intraday…
Source: Bloomberg
Notably, spot gold found support on Tuesday at the 200DMA and has ramped higher since…
Source: Bloomberg
…but black gold was monkeyhammered today. WTI plunged arund 5% with front-month trading down to a $72 handle intraday before a tiny bounce. This is the lowest level since July and notably below the price level when OPEC+ surprised the world with a coordinated supply cut. Technically, it is also in trouble finding no support at the 200DMA. Today was in the Top 5 worst days of the year for crude…
Source: Bloomberg
Finally, somewhat ominously US Treasuries appear to be following a very similar path this year as they did in 1987 (of course at a different absolute level)…
Source: Bloomberg
But stocks aren’t…
Source: Bloomberg
…yet!
EARLY MORNING TRADING//
TUCKER CARLSON
II USA DATA
Excellent Bellwether on the state of the uSA economy. It is crashing and so is Walmart
(zerohedge)
Walmart Crashes On Disappointing Guidance, Warns That Consumer Spending Is Deteriorating
THURSDAY, NOV 16, 2023 – 07:50 AM
After yesterday’s solid (inventory liquidation driven) earnings from Target, many were hoping for follow through today from the OG, the world’s largest retailer WMT which reported Q3 results at 7:00am ET. Alas, those same long-suffering consumer discretionary investors were in for more disappointment when the retailing giant reported earnings that generally beat on revenue and earnings, and even though it raised its previous guidance, the numbers came in shy of Wall Street estimates which in turn sent its stock tumbling.
Let’s take a closer look at what WMT reported, starting with Q3 historicals:
Adjusted EPS $1.53 vs. $1.50 y/y, just barely beating the (previously lowered) consensus estimate of $1.52
Revenue $160.80 billion, +5.2% y/y, beating the estimate of $159.13 billion (global eCommerce net sales hit $24 billion, reaching 15% of net sales; they were up 15% led by pickup and delivery)
Total US comparable sales ex-gas +4.7%, beating the consensus estimate +3.35%
Sam’s Club US comparable sales ex-gas +3.8%, beating estimate +3.66%
The increase in Walmart’s comp store sales was notable because both Target and Home Depot reported declines in that metric this week, as consumers continued to pull back from discretionary purchases.
The key charts:
So far so good, and if that was the extent of it the stock would probably be soaring now. However, what the market threw up all over was the company’s disappointing guidance (which was raised but still failed to meet consensus estimates), as well as its cautious tone about the outlook for US shoppers after signs of weakness at the end of October.
Looking ahead, Walmart forecast that adjusted earnings for fiscal 2024 will be in the range $6.48-$6.48 a share, up from its previous outlook range of $6.36 – $6.46 a share. However, this was still viewed as weak compared to consensus: Wall Street had been estimating $6.48, which Walmart now admits may be a stretch.
Not helping was the company’s commentary on consumer strength, or rather, weakness trends: according to CFO John Rainey, there was a “sharper falloff” in sales during the last two weeks of October. Demand however picked up in November, spurred in part by seasonal offerings.
“The takeaway for us is that we’re seeing strength, we’re seeing share gains versus others, but there still is pressure on the consumer,” Rainey said. The punchline: “We are more cautious on the consumer than we were 90 days ago at this time.”
Separately, the company als warned that “general merchandise sales reflected softness in discretionary categories including apparel, home, and toys”, categories which some had expected would show a rebound.
In the aftermath of Target’s earnings, which were actually quite ugly but for some reason the huge short squeeze was enough to make markets forget that fundamentals are rapidly deteriorating, Walmart’s muted tone pointed to growing uncertainty around consumer spending even as the company grabs more sales from many rivals.
One thing is certain: the market did not like what Walmart had to say, and the shares tumbled as much as 8%. Walmart stock had climbed 20% this year through Wednesday, compared with the 17% increase in the S&P 500 Index. It is about to lose about half this gain in the premarket.
another indicator on the continuing crashing of the USA economy assisted by the Fed’s foolish interest rate hikes
(zerohedge)
Continuing Jobless Claims Surges To 2 Year High
THURSDAY, NOV 16, 2023 – 08:34 AM
The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the first time last week jumped to 231k (from an upwardly revised 218k), up to its highest since August…
Source: Bloomberg
Massachusetts and New York saw the biggest increase in claims while Oregon and Georgia saw the largest decrease…
Worse still, continuing claims keeps rising, to 1.864mm – the highest since November 2021…
Source: Bloomberg
And it’s going to get worse, as Goldman reminds us that ongoing seasonal distortions have increasingly weighed on the level of continuing claims over the last six months, and we now expect that the reversal of those distortions could exert a cumulative boost of 375k to the level of continuing claims between now and March.
We’re gonna need more seasonal adjustments.
end
Another strong indicator that the economy is crashing!
(zerohedge)
Industrial Production Plunges In October As Auto-Maker Strikes Hit
THURSDAY, NOV 16, 2023 – 09:25 AM
After its surprising bounce last month (on a seasonally-adjusted basis, because it crashed NSA), US Industrial Production was expected to decline 0.3% MoM in October. It was worse – down 0.6% MoM from a downwardly revised September print (from +0.3% to +0.1%). October’s decline is the worst since Dec 2022…
Source: Bloomberg
On the manufacturing specific sector, consensus was for a 0.4% drop MoM but it was considerably worse, dropping 0.7% MoM (and September’s print was revised down from +0.4% to +0.2% MoM). That is the biggest MoM drop since March.
That is also the 8th straight month of YoY declines for Manufacturing production.
Source: Bloomberg
Output was weighed down by a 10% plunge in motor-vehicle production as the annualized rate of car assemblies dropped to 9.22 million units, the least since February 2022.
Starting in September, the United Auto Workers union authorized targeted strikes against the Big Three Detroit automakers, disrupting production at the companies and at their suppliers. The UAW reached tentative agreements with management in late October, laying the groundwork for a rebound in factory output in November.
So theoretically, we should see bounce back next month. Unless demand – as WMT hinted at – has fallen off a cliff.
end
Philadelphia Fed manufacturing continues long trend in contractionary territory
Nov. 16, 2023 at 8:35 a.m.
MarketWatch
Index improves slightly to negative 5.9 in November from negative 9 in the prior month
The Philadelphia Fed said Thursday its gauge of regional business activity improved slightly to negative 5.9 in November from negative 9 in the prior month. Any reading below zero indicates deteriorating conditions.Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal expected a negative 7.5 reading in November.This is the 16th negative reading in the past 18 months.Key details: The barometer on new orders fell 3 points but remained at positive 1.3 in November.The shipments index dropped a sharp 10.8 points to negative 17.9.The six-month business outlook fell from 9.2 in October to negative 2.1 this month, which was the first negative reading since May.Big picture: Economists have been talking about the possibility of a stabilization in the factory sector.Earlier this week, the Empire State index rose to 9.1 in November, the highest level since April.The New York and Philadelphia Fed reports are the first regional manufacturing gauges that offer timely reads of the manufacturing sector.In October, the national ISM factory index fell 2.3 percentage points to 46.7%.
III) USA ECONOMIC STORIES
California landlords struggle to make ends meet after the eviction moratorium ends
(zerohedge)
California Landlords Struggle To Make Ends Meet After Eviction Moratorium Ends
After years of missed rental payments, one Oakland property owner was left on her own to recover her losses, despite desperately seeking help from the city, state, and local law enforcement.
Carolyn Silas-Sams, a retired paralegal and an Oakland resident, said she inherited a duplex in the city in 2006 from her late mother and has been maintaining it ever since, although she never imagined that she would face the disaster that she has over the past few years due to the eviction moratorium.
“I’m telling you … any level of education would not allow your brain to accept that something like this could happen, because it’s not rational,” she told The Epoch Times.
After remodeling her three-bedroom unit, she rented it out in December 2019 to a woman on Section 8 housing, a federal program that provides rental assistance for low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled. The woman claimed to have four children who would be moving in.
The mother had said that she’d struggled to find housing that was suitable for four kids.
Unfortunately, her empathy led to thousands of dollars in lost rent and damages that she has now had to cover on her own.
“Initially, she did have Section 8; then, what I didn’t know is that she was in line to have her kids taken. … Fact of the matter is, the kids never even came,” Ms. Silas-Sams said.
She said her tenant lied about the children moving in to get a larger rental allowance from Section 8.
Ms. Silas-Sams asked housing officials for help but was denied.
Because of the moratorium, nothing could be done, she said. Meanwhile, the tenant’s boyfriend moved in. Fighting ensued and it was discovered that the boyfriend was selling drugs from the apartment and hiding stolen goods in it, she said. The tenant was finally evicted in October.
“If you could just see all of the filth that I’ve had to move out,” she said.
Some rental relief was offered by Alameda County, where the apartment is located, for tenants earning less than 80 percent of the county’s median income, which means below $76,000, per 2022 calculations. But in Oakland, the city had its own rental relief program, prioritizing those who were earning less than 30 percent of the area median income, or below $30,000 for the same year.
According to the city’s website, Oakland received $28 million during the pandemic from the federal government for rental assistance, with another $10.4 million from the state. But demand outstripped the funding and landlords were left on the hook for unpaid rents.
While the rental assistance programs ended in March 2022 for Alameda County and Oakland, renters in the county’s unincorporated areas can still receive assistance if they earn less than 80 percent of this year’s median income, or $78,500 and below.
Ms. Silas-Sams said that because there weren’t any repercussions for not paying rent, tenants such as hers didn’t even attempt to apply for the relief provided at the time.
“Even the program that they could have signed up for—that may have paid me something, they were too trifling to even do that. Because they didn’t have to, they didn’t have to do anything,” she said.
From mid-2020 until now, Ms. Silas-Sams hasn’t received any rental payments but has still had to cover her $4,400 mortgage payments in addition to water and garbage expenses, she said.
“I’ve drained everything from my 401(k),” she said. “I’ve even had to borrow from family members, which is stressful. And I had to borrow from my life insurance. … In fact, I was just about to call them again because I don’t have the mortgage for this month.”
According to estimations by Chris Moore, a landlord in Alameda County who led efforts to end the eviction moratoriums in the cities of Oakland and San Leandro and in Alameda County, there’s about $1 billion in unpaid back rent for Alameda County alone. He said evictions are always a last resort.
In the Bay Area, tenants can receive free advice and representation from attorneys, he said, who often fight evictions with various arguments, costing the landlord thousands in attorney fees.
“I can disprove all of them,” Mr. Moore said, “but I have to … pay a lawyer $500 to $600 an hour. It costs $30,000 to $40,000 now to do an eviction, so I can tell you, I’m not interested in evicting the tenant.”
Mr. Moore is also a board member of the East Bay Rental Housing Association—a nonprofit that represents 1600 rental property owners providing about 40,000 rental homes in Alameda and Contra Costa counties and, along with their affiliates, represent 700,000 rental homes in California.
“Most tenants do try to make a payment plan and work with us … the ones [that don’t] are really hurting the mom-and-pop housing providers that only have maybe a couple of units, and they don’t have the capital to survive,” he said.
Ms. Silas-Sams, who said she didn’t have the money to hire a lawyer, was able to prevail in court after the moratorium was lifted in July, and her tenant was evicted in October with the help of the local sheriff’s department.
She said she had to spend more than $3,000 hauling away the junk left behind, including drug pipes, stolen credit cards, driver’s licenses, and lots of trash scattered throughout the apartment.
Initially, the tenant agreed to move out after threats of eviction, but after cleaning crews cleaned out the unit, she reappeared and was legally allowed to stay because of the moratorium.
“She turned around and she came back on the day that we were moving this stuff out, and I was not there. … She told [the junk removal man], ‘What are you doing? This is my place,’” she said.
Police were called and responded, but they sided with the tenant.
“They let her stay,” Ms. Silas-Sams said.
There were an average of 310 eviction filings per month in 2019, but during the moratorium, the monthly average dropped to about 55, according to the Alameda County Superior Court. Since it has been lifted, the average number of evictions has risen to about 580 per month, which some say is because landlords were barred from doing so for years.
“So why is it happening? Basically, the government said, ‘Hey, you don’t have to pay your rent for the last three and a half years,’ which, by the way, our industry is the only one they did that too,” Mr. Moore told The Epoch Times.
A recent article in The Wall Street Journal reported that there could be more than $1 billion in unpaid back rent in the greater Los Angeles area because of its eviction moratorium.
In the city of Los Angeles, landlords who owned 12 or fewer units were eligible to receive through taxpayer dollars up to $30,000 per rental unit for unpaid rents, but they had to apply for the program from Oct. 23 through the end of the month.
According to the county’s Department of Consumer and Business Affairs website, other assistance that’s “coming soon” includes up to $30,000 in total for landlords with four or fewer units whose mortgages went into default, or $30,0000 for landlord expenses outside of their mortgage payments that accrued due to missed rental payments.
According to Daniel Yukelson, executive director of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, such relief for landlords won’t make up for the losses that they incurred during the pandemic.
“When you look at what the city’s providing the landlords and what they’re providing in rent subsidies to renters and compare it to the over $1 billion of COVID rental debt that’s still owed … all this pales in comparison,” Mr. Yukelson told The Epoch Times in a recent interview. “It’s really a drop in the bucket compared to the losses that property owners have suffered these past three-plus years.”
END
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY/ANTISEMITISM
Police Escort Jewish Students From ASU Meeting After Rocks Thrown
Jewish students at Arizona State University left a student government event under university police supervision after pro-Palestinian protesters shouted and threw rocks at their meeting from outside.
The students had gathered to debate proposed Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions student government legislation against Israel, according to The State Press, ASU’s independent student-run publication.
Representatives of ASU’s five Jewish student organizations argued against boycotting Israeli institutions, while members of the school chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine demanded support.
The meeting ended early after protesters at a pro-Palestine rally threw rocks at the second-floor window of the hall where the students had gathered.
“Members of SJP left the room, and the session abruptly adjourned because of Jewish students’ and senate members’ safety concerns,” The State Press reported.
The ASU campus police department posted Wednesday to X that “ASUPD is actively investigating the disruption of the ASU Student Government meeting last night.”
“The incident is being reviewed for possible disorderly conduct/criminal damage charges,” the department wrote. “No arrests have been made at this time.”
Neither The State Press nor the ASU police specified whether the protesters were ASU students.
AZ Advisors President Avraham Ber posted Wednesday on X that “close to 20 Jewish students at @ASU had to leave a campus building thru a back door with a police escort together with their @Chabad Rabbi Shmuel Teichtel to return to the Chabad House for safety after a[n] Antisemitic incident.”
“Students speak on the video as they walk with the police escort that they do not feel safe on campus as the meeting ended abruptly with acts of violence,” Ber wrote.
Protesters also ended the meeting with “death threats,” he wrote.
ASU Jewish student organization @chabadasu recorded a video of several Jewish students leaving the meeting with Rabbi Teichtel on Instagram Live.
“We don’t feel safe on this campus,” one student said in the video.
“We are okay now boruch Hashem,” @chabadasu wrote in an update to the post. “We are very disturbed by what happened and the clear anti-Semitism and rocks thrown at the windows where the meeting was held. We are thankful to ASU police for their protection [at] this event once again.”
ASU President Michael Crow posted Wednesday on X that “@ASUPolice is investigating last night’s disruption of a USG meeting on the Tempe campus.”
“Let it be clear that ASU will not tolerate acts of intimidation or violence,” Crow wrote.
An Instagram video posted Tuesday night by ASU’s Students for Justice in Palestine showed students packed into the meeting hall, with some wearing keffiyehs and holding pro-Palestine signs while others donned Israeli flags.
Two pro-Palestinian signs shown read “Intifada Until Victory” and “Palestinian Liberation is Women’s Liberation.”
Just following the meeting’s interruption by protesters, students in the room are shown shouting “We will not be silenced” and “Free, free Palestine,” according to the video.
They exit the building and join a large chanting crowd of protesters shouting “Free, free Palestine,” led by a woman shouting into a megaphone.
“From the sea to the river, Palestine will live forever,” they shouted, as shown in the video. “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
“F**k ASU,” they said. “Long live the Intifada…When people are occupied, resistance is justified.”
ASU SJP President Finn Howe told The State Press that his organization has been working with undergraduate student government Senator Samuel Ndinjiakat Jr. to draft pro-BDS legislation over the few weeks leading up the meeting.
The legislation itself could not be presented to the student government meeting because of “procedural policy,” Howe told the paper.
Howe told the paper that SJC is “completely against antisemitism” and has ” a long history of standing beside Jewish students.”
“It is not about Judaism versus Islam,” he said. “It’s about standing up against genocide.”
Ben Griffith, an ASU senior and member of the campus Hillel, told the outlet that “the proposed BDS resolution is “incredibly antisemitic.”
At the meeting, Jewish student organizations collaborated to “get as many Jewish students involved and together to show that we are proud of our Judaism and want to feel safe on campus,” Griffith said.
END
FREIGHT ISSUES/USA
END
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON
USA// COVID//VACCINE/
end
SWAMP STORIES
Trump Files Motion For Mistrial In NY, Claims Judge Has “Tainted” Case
WEDNESDAY, NOV 15, 2023 – 04:40 PM
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday requested a mistrial in his New York fraud case, arguing that the trial judge and his top law clerk have exhibited bias against Trump and “tainted” the case.
“This appearance of bias threatens both Defendants’ rights and the integrity of the judiciary as an institution,” Trump’s counsel wrote in the 30-page motion that we imagine Judge Arthur Engoron will swiftly dismiss – until it resurfaces at Trump’s likely appeal, should he lose.
Trump’s counsel pointed to posts made by Judge Arthur Engoron to a Wheatley School alumni page, which the judge appears to run, referencing the case or individuals involved with it, including Trump, his son Eric Trump and Trump attorney Alina Habba.
The motion cited New York code reading that “a judge shall not make any public comment about a pending or impending proceeding in any court within the United States or its territories.” –The Hill
Trump’s legal team also pointed a finger at Engoron’s top law clerk, who they called a “co-judge,” who confers with Engoron via whispers or written notes before most orders are issued.
“The principal law clerk is given unprecedented and inappropriate latitude,” reads the filing, which also says the clerk has made “partisan political contributions in excess of strict limits,” including groups which support NY Attorney General Letitia James (D), a Trump foe.
Previous attacks on the clerk by Trump prompted a limited gag order which prevents the former president from talking about, or posting about, the judge’s staff.
Trump’s Truth Social account falsely derided the clerk as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) “girlfriend” and included personally identifying information about her. A Schumer spokesperson called the post “ridiculous, absurd, and false” in a statement to The Hill.
As Trump and his counsel have repeatedly toed the line regarding their comments about clerk, the judge’s frustration has increased — at one point, unexpectedly calling Trump to the witness stand to explain himself. -The Hill
According to a spokesperson for the NYAG’s office, Trump is “once again” trying to “dismiss the truth and the facts, but the numbers and evidence don’t lie.”
“He can keep trying to distract from his fraud, but the truth always comes out.”
END
He must wait a year until Trump get in and then the fun begins
(zerohedge)
Sen. Rand Paul Says He Wants Federal Prosecution Of Fauci For COVID Coverup
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has said he’s pursuing federal criminal action against Dr. Anthony Fauci for perjury before Congress.
In an interview on EpochTV’s “American Thought Leaders” with Jan Jekielek, Dr. Paul said he has asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to prosecute Dr. Fauci for giving false testimony during multiple congressional hearings.
“We haven’t had a lot of luck,” Dr. Paul said. “Garland is not paying attention to the referral, but [Dr. Fauci] did lie to Congress.”
The Epoch Times reached out to Georgetown University, where Dr. Fauci is employed, for comment but didn’t receive a reply by the time of publishing. In July, Dr. Fauci joined the university as a distinguished university professor in its school of medicine’s department of medicine.
Dr. Paul alleges that Dr. Fauci—and multiple other parts of the federal government—engaged in an “extensive” coverup of the origin, threat, and potential treatments for COVID-19. The senator said he detailed the two-year misdirection in his book “Deception: The Great Covid Cover-Up,” which was published in October.
“Virtually everything they said in private, they said the opposite in the public at the same time,” Dr. Paul said.
As early as February 2020, Dr. Fauci and other scientists convened and discussed their conclusion that the genetic sequence of the virus that causes COVID-19 appeared to have been manipulated in a lab to make it more infectious to humans. They were doubly concerned because they knew that the Wuhan, China, lab performed gain-of-function research.
Dr. Paul also alleges that many of the scientists involved in the U.S. public health response to COVID-19 were “funding the lab in Wuhan.”
“They actually have a direct conflict of interest because they are the ones that will be culpable,” Dr. Paul said. “Why is [Dr. Fauci] so wedded to trying to make you believe it came from the animal kingdom and not the lab? Because he funded the lab.“
The entire motive of the alleged conspiracy was to do everything possible to avoid attachment to money that went to the Wuhan lab or to gain of function research “because it attached guilt for the pandemic to them,” according to Dr. Paul.
More Secretive Than the CIA
Although the pandemic has been declared over in the United States and the worst of the hysteria surrounding it is fading from public memory, the executive branch of the government is still hesitant to share non-classified information with Congress and the public.
Dr. Paul said the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health are more secretive and hide more materials than the CIA. There are long waits for relevant documents. When they arrive, much of the information is redacted. He said the secrecy is indicative of having something to hide.
Dr. Paul said Dr. Fauci personally chose to avoid safety procedures to fund and conduct research in a dangerous, totalitarian country such as China.
The goal of Dr. Paul’s book, he said, isn’t just to correct the record on Dr. Fauci and the pandemic but also to prevent another, worse situation. If it had been a more virulent pathogen, such as the Ebola virus, undergoing gain-of-function research and that escaped into the world, the consequences would have been much more dire.
“So this is a discussion … that’s as important or more important than nuclear weapons,” Dr. Paul said. “It needs to be treated that way.”
end
THE KING REPORT
The King Report November 16, 2023 Issue 7120
Independent View of the News
@TaviCosta: An unprecedented $8.2T of US government debt will be maturing in the next 12 months, or 1/3 of the total Treasuries outstanding. That is 3.5x more than what was net issued so far this year. Keep in mind that the fiscal deficit next year would also require at least another $2T in addition to the $8.2T that needs to be re-issued. (Desperate times call for rigging US economic data!) https://twitter.com/TaviCosta/status/1724287792920871059
(Interest) Cost of US Debt (.USDEBTCO G Index on BBG)
Team Obama-Biden got too clever by half. Instead of modestly fudging US economic stats like previous administrations, they got greedy and absurdly rigged the October CPI Report. Anyone with a modicum of integrity and sanity realizes that healthcare insurance premiums did NOT decline 34% y/y. The absurd computation was widely mocked, except by Street economists and ‘experts.’
The BLS does NOT measure the inflation/costs of healthcare premiums. It measures healthcare company retained earnings! You can’t make this up! Its new method smooths retained earnings data.
If you acknowledge that the BLS’s healthcare insurance premium component is fraudulent, then you must acknowledge that the BLS’s CPI is bogus – and other components are probably bogus, which creates a totally bogus CPI that greatly understates US inflation.
The BLS: CPI health insurance methodology The CPI measures health insurance inflation using an indirect method.[1] The indirect method views health insurance as a composite good. Total premiums pay for insurance services (risk protection, claim processing, etc.) and medical goods and services through the insurer reimbursements to providers. Rather than pricing the full premium of health insurance plans, the CPI prices the services provided by the health insurer measured by the portion of the total premium that isn’t used to indirectly purchase medical goods and services. The premiums minus benefits spending is known as the retained earnings… After conducting extensive research on these recommendations, we determined that the health insurance index could be improved by smoothing the retained earnings data and by using more timely, higher frequency data…Following recommendations from CNSTAT, starting in April 2024, we will switch the retained earnings calculation from an annual relative updated in October to a two year moving average using semiannual data and will update in April and October.[5] The next annual update in October 2023 will involve a six month transition to account for issues relating to changing in methodology… https://www.bls.gov/cpi/additional-resources/improvements-cpi-health-insurance-index.htm
Team Obama-Biden wasn’t content with producing fraudulent October CPI, so they replicated the deed by crafting the biggest decline in PPI since April 2020. PPI sank 0.5% m/m in October; +0.1% m/m was consensus. Core PPI was 0.0% m/m & 2.4% y/y; +0.3% m/m & 2.7% y/y were expected.
PPI Final Goods’ declined 1.4% m/m on a 6.5% drop in energy, with gasoline -15.3%. Services are 0.0%.
USZs opened modestly lower on Tuesday night and then rallied to a high of 115 23/32 at 22:12 ET. They then declined to 114 26/32 at 7:46 ET. On the PPI release, USZs jumped to 115 15/32. They quickly tumbled to a daily low of 114 10/32. Some pundits blamed the USZ tumble on US October Retail Sales, which fell 0.1% m/m; -0.3% was consensus. Ex-Auto sales are +0.1% m/m; -0.2% was expected.
USZs eventually hit a bottom of 113 30/32 at 11:44 ET. Was it retail sales, or is Mr. Bond not fooled by bogus US government economic statistics? Or does Mr. Bond expect the new $2T+ in funding to spark inflation from a higher base than where Team Obama-Biden sparked that previous inflation surge?
After a modest rally that ended at 12:40 ET, USZs fell back to the daily low and created a quadruple bottom at 113 30/32. USZs plodded to 114 10/32 but fell to 114 4/32 (-1 10/32) by the NYSE close.
@ClevelandFed: What do CEOs think inflation will be? The Survey of Firms’ Inflation Expectations (SoFIE) shows they expect CPI inflation will be 4.2% over the next year…https://t.co/Jv7uMQ4DMI
The NY Fed’s Empire State Mfg. gauge rose to 9.1, the highest level since April; -3.0 was expected.
If the US has a ‘Goldilocks’ economy, why are beaucoup Americans despondent about the US economy?
ESZs steadily rallied from the Nikkei open until they spiked to the daily high of 4541.25 on the release of the October PPI. ESZs then sank to 4516.75 at 9:52 ET. Conditioned buyers bought the early NYSE dip and then drove ESZs to 4533.00 by 11:00 ET. ESZs then sank to a daily low of 4510.75 at 13:15 ET.
The afternoon rally took ESZs to 4529.50 at 14:42 ET. ESZs fell to 4520.00 at 15:26 ET. It was time for the late manipulation. After a 6-handle rally, ESZs sank to 4514.75 at 15:55 ET and hit 4517 at the close.
@colbyLsmith: Speaking with FT, @MaryDalyEcon (SF Pres) says the recent inflation data is “very, very encouraging” but warns against prematurely calling time on the rate-rising cycle The Fed must now be “thoughtful, take our time, not rush to judgment and not make declarations“https://ft.com/content/ce61eb
Target Shares Soar after Big Earnings Beat on ‘Inventory Management’; Comp Sales Drop Most Since 2009 – Earnings per share for the quarter (ending Oct. 28) came in at $2.10 per share, beating Wall Street’s estimate of $1.47. This was due primarily to a 14% reduction in inventory from a year ago… comparable sales fell 4.9% for the second consecutive quarter… That was the second-largest drop since 2009. (What is beyond ‘irrational exuberance?”) https://t.co/bBKX2ISsig
China c.bank boosts liquidity injection through policy loan, rate unchanged The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said it was keeping the rate on 1.45 trillion yuan ($199.92 billion) worth of one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) loans to some financial institutions unchanged at 2.50% from the previous operation.. With 850 billion yuan worth of MLF loans set to expire this month, the operation resulted a net 600 billion yuan of fresh fund injection into the banking system… https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-cbank-boosts-liquidity-injection-through-policy-loan-rate-unchanged-2023-11-15/
PE Firms Trapped in China after $1.5 Trillion Betting Spree Private equity firms that amassed more than $1.5 trillion of assets in China in just two decades are now struggling to offload once-promising investments they were counting on for hefty returns… Buyout firms are exploring private sales. But mounting concerns about the risks of investing in mainland China have left so-called secondary buyers demanding discounts of 30% to more than 60%, according to people familiar with the market. Haircuts in Europe and the US are closer to 15%… https://news.yahoo.com/pe-firms-trapped-china-1-230000836.html
@YahooFinance: “CEOs doing in business in China need to start getting very, very serious about the security risks, about the geopolitical competition, and about the regulatory and policy risks inside of China,” says shehzadhqazi. https://twitter.com/YahooFinance/status/1724832381511626926
@RNCResearch: A confused Biden looks to Antony Blinken, who then instructs the press to leave so Biden and Xi Jinping can meet privately. Biden just sits there and smirks. (“The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still.” What does Xi think?) https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1724873254215589898
Joe Biden and Xi Jinping meet to discuss U.S.-China relations – NBC News updates The Chinese president said his country’s relationship with the U.S. has “never been smooth sailing” over the last 50 years “yet it has kept moving forward” with twists and turns. “It is unrealistic for one side to remodel the other, and conflict and confrontation has terrible consequences for both sides,” he said. “The world at large is big enough for the two countries to succeed.”… https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/live-blog/biden-xi-jinping-meeting-live-updates-rcna124921
China Xinhua News @XHNews: China and the United States should assume a new vision and build together 5 pillars for bilateral relations, Chinese President Xi Jinping said at the summit with his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden on Wednesday. (5 pillars at link) https://twitter.com/XHNews/status/1724947245597179930
@AFP: Xi,Biden agree to restart high-level military-to-military talks: Chinese state media @AFP: China’s Xi agrees on steps to ‘dramatically’ curb trafficking of fentanyl: US
Though there are no media reports, Team Biden had to discuss a Ukraine-Russia peace plan.
Positive aspects of previous session Stocks rallied sharply in early NYSE trading
Negative aspects of previous session Bonds declined sharply; stocks declined in the morning and the late afternoon
Ambiguous aspects of previous session Did the BLS rig October PPI? Rigged US econ data is now a conspiracy fact!
First Hour/Last Hour Action [S&P 500 Index]: 1st Hour from NYSE Open:Up; Last Hour: Down
Pivot Point for S&P 500 Index [above/below indicates daily trend to traders]: 4506.45 Previous session S&P 500 Index High/Low: 4521.17; 4495.31
WYRK: There is a new law in New York State that allows tenants to stay in the home they are renting even if they do not pay… (For) An entire year!…https://t.co/88dXcxWBbq
After the close, Cisco sank as much as 16% because CSCO cut its FY 2024 revenue forecast to $55.0B to $55.0B from $57B to $58.2B and its EPS estimate to 3.97 to 3.93 from 4.01 to 4.08.
Today – After the explosive rally on the October CPI Report, USZs declined sharply on Wednesday. ESZs and stocks surged higher in early NYSE trading but declined sharply in the late AM and PM. This action suggests that stocks and bonds need to rest and retrench.
ESZs are -3.50 and USZs are +10/32 at 20:35 ET. Expected retailer earnings: BBSI .35, WMT 1.52
Expected economic data: Oct Price Index -0.3% m/m, Exports -0.5% m/m; Initial Jobless Claims 220k, Continuing Claims1.846m; Phil Fed Business Outlook -8.3; Oct Industrial Production -0.4% m/m, Mfg. Production -0.4%, Capacity Utilization 79.4%; NAHB Housing Market Index 40; Fed VCEO for Supervision Barr 9:30 & 10:35 ET, Cleveland Fed Pres Mester 8:30 & 11:45 ET, NY Fed Pres Williams 9:25 ET, Fed Gov. Waller 10:30 ET, Fed Gov. Cook 12:00 ET
S&P 500 Index 50-day MA: 4337; 100-day MA: 4406; 150-day MA: 4339; 200-day MA: 4263 DJIA 50-day MA: 33,827; 100-day MA: 34,294; 150-day MA: 34,067; 200-day MA: 33,827 (Green is positive slope; Red is negative slope)
S&P 500 Index – Trender trading model and MACD for key time frames Monthly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 3828.58 triggers a sell signal Weekly: Trender and MACD are negative – a close above 4425.18 triggers a buy signal Daily: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 4370.63 triggers a sell signal Hourly: Trender is positive; MACD is negative – a close below 4444.55 triggers a sell signal
Speaker Johnson calls for ‘key witnesses’ to testify under oath in Biden impeachment inquiry “At this stage, our impeachment inquiry has already shown the corrupt conduct of the President’s family, and that he and White House officials have repeatedly lied about his knowledge and involvement in his family’s business activities… Now, the appropriate step is to place key witnesses under oath and question them under the penalty of perjury, to fill gaps in the record,” Johnson said… Johnson, who was a constitutional lawyer before being elected to Congress, has taken a careful and meticulous approach to the possibility of impeaching the president… https://www.foxnews.com/politics/speaker-johnson-key-witnesses-testify-under-oath-biden-impeachment-inquiry
Fox’s @JesseBWatters: EXCLUSIVE: the Secret Service has responded to Primetime’s FOIA over the White House cocaine investigation. We now know they’ve been lying to you about everything. After telling us they didn’t find any DNA and destroying the bag of coke, the documents tell us there’s three tubes of DNA that they didn’t destroy. They did find DNA on the baggie- it was processed and moved to an evidence vault for preservation. They now have an insurance policy. https://twitter.com/JesseBWatters/status/1724605970116911191
@CollinRugg: Democrat tries to cut off Rep. Clay Higgins after he triggers FBI Director Wray about questions regarding FBI informants’ involvement on January 6. Higgins accused the FBI of filling “ghost busses” with FBI informants who dressed up like Trump supporters. After Higgins asked Wray about “ghost busses,” one Democrat interjected. After a minute of back and forth, Higgins was allowed to continue. “These buses are nefarious in nature and were filled with FBI informants dressed as Trump supporters and deployed onto our capitol on January 6th. Your day is coming.” https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1724819481208529390
Doorbell footage shows woman ‘stealing ballots’ from Massachusetts mailbox – as officials probe allegations of voter fraud (Another conspiracy theory that is now a conspiracy fact!) https://trib.al/3PrOEjd
Gunman who killed Texas SWAT cop and 2 hostages was reportedly on FBI terror watchlist (The FBI lets another one commit evil! Too busy watching parents & Catholics?) https://trib.al/nVDhPJz
@greg_price11: Biden judicial nominee Sara Hill “made history” by being the first Native American woman nominated to serve as a federal judge in Oklahoma. Today, she was unable to explain the difference between a stay order and an injunction when asked by Sen. Kennedy. https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1724880591848456660/video/2
Hundreds of Federal Officials Sign Letter Objecting to Biden’s Support for Israel, Demanding Cease-Fire – Many of the signatories are in their 20s and 30s, reflecting a generational divide over U.S. policy toward Israel… On social-media, Yacoub publicly called out Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris in scorching personal attacks… According to her LinkedIn profile, Yacoub’s portfolio with the State Department includes gender, human rights, as well as “DEI and Racial Equity.” After Axios publicized the posts, Yacoub turned her X account private… https://www.nationalreview.com/news/hundreds-of-federal-officials-sign-letter-objecting-to-bidens-support-for-israel-demanding-cease-fire/
Vivek Ramaswamy says Nikki Haley pulling gender card after ‘girl problem’ diss Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy accused his rival Nikki Haley of leaning into identity politics Wednesday after the former ambassador to the United Nations floated that the biotech entrepreneur “may have a girl problem.”… (Because he critics Haley and RNC Chair McDaniel.) “He comes out of the gate, he hits the female chair of the party,” the 51-year-old said. “He hits the female anchor on the platform and then he hits me. And I’m not saying anything, but he might have a girl problem.”… Sorry Nikki, having two X chromosomes doesn’t immunize you, Ronna McDaniel, or Kristen Welker from criticism. I don’t think Kamala Harris is going to run so there might be an opening for you in the party of identity politics. — Vivek Ramaswamyorm… https://trib.al/uDpsrXI
@publicpolicyman: The now closed Ditka’s Restaurant at the old Tremont Hotel now called the Salina on Chestnut Street will soon become a migrant shelter, just steps from Michigan Avenue, John Hancock, & Water Tower place.
@CWBChicago: A Venezuelan migrant has been charged with shoplifting from 3 stores on the Magnificent Mile in a single day. He has been arrested 3 times under 2 different names since arriving in Chicago
AM2025.46
Patrick SmithSoldiers are searching building to building at the Al-Shifa hospital complex, as hundreds of patients and medical remain inside, a spokesperson for the Israeli military said in a statement today.The mission is “shaped by our understanding that there is well-hidden terrorist infrastructure in the complex,” they said, adding that soldiers were “proceeding one building at a time, searching each floor, all while hundreds of patients and medical staff remain in the complex.”The IDF started its military operation at the hospital yesterday, in search of what it called a “terrorist cell.”Hamas and doctors at the hospital have both denied Israeli claims that the militant group is using the hospital as a base.The IDF spokesperson added that it had already found weapons and intelligence materials at the hospital, including information relating to the more than 200 hostages taken from Israel to Gaza on Oct. 7.![posts[i].image.ImageName (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)](https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/562573 "An IDF soldier in a bedroom located next to a Hamas weapons factory in northern Gaza.")
![posts[i].image.ImageName (photo credit: WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)](https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/561846 "People attend a gathering in support of Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Tehran, Iran, November 3, 2023")
Israeli soldiers take a position inside the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing ground operation of the Israeli army against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, according to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in this handout picture obtained by Reuters on November 11, 2023. (credit: IDF/Handout via REUTERS)
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