DEC 22//GOLD CLOSED UP $17.85 TO $2057.50//SILVER REMAINED PAR AT $24.30 /PLATINUM WAS UP $11.05 TO $977.15 WHILE PALLADIUM WAS DOWN BY $3.90 TO $1208.60//GOLD COMMENTARIES TONIGHT BY MICHAEL MAHARRAY AND ALASDAIR MACLEOD//ISRAEL VS HAMAS UPDATES//IRAN AND HOUTHIS VS THE WEST UPDATES//LEBANON/HEZBOLLAH VS ISRAEL UPDATES//COVID AND VACCINE UPDATES//IMPORTANT COMMENTARY FROM GERRT VANDEN BOSCHE TONIGHT AS A MUST READ//USA DATA RELEASES//SWAMP STORIES FOR YOU TONIGHT//
Do not pay much attention to the big drop in price of gold and silver post 12 noon. London closes for good around this time. Our crooks do not have to worry about longs taking delivery. Monday is a holiday so their attention span increases by a few days. They start to worry on Tuesday.
Shanghai gold closed last night at 471.82 yuan/gram or $2070.63 /oz
Daily Shanghai Gold Benchmark Price Chart
Contract : SHAU
交易时间 ：2023-11-27 早盘价 : 470.29 午盘价 : 471.82
定价值
SHANGHAI GOLD PREMIUM OVER NY: 31 DOLLARS
Bitcoin morning price:, 43,653 UP 24 DOLLARS
Bitcoin: afternoon price: $43,782 UP 153 dollars
Platinum price closing $977.15 UP $11.05
Palladium price; $1208.60 DOWN $3.90
END
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Due to the huge rise in the dollar, we must look at gold and silver in currencies other than the dollar to understand where we are heading
I will now provide gold in Canadian dollars, British pounds and Euros
4: 15 PM ACCESS
*CANADIAN GOLD: $2,723.00 UP $9.90 CDN dollars per oz( * NEW ALL TIME HIGH 2,795.90 CDN DOLLARS PER OZ//DEC 1 272023)
*BRITISH GOLD: 1616.59 UP 5.10 pounds per oz// *(NEW ALL TIME HIGH//CLOSING///1655.17 BRITISH POUNDS/OZ) OCT 2/2023
*EURO GOLD: 1864.27 UP 7.05 euros per oz //* (ALL TIME CLOSING HIGH: 1903.75 EUROS PER OZ//DEC 1.2023)
DONATE
Click here if you wish to send a donation. I sincerely appreciate it as this site takes a lot of preparation
363 H WELLS FARGO SEC 70 365 C MAREX CAPITAL M 17 435 H SCOTIA CAPITAL 88 657 C MORGAN STANLEY 1 661 C JP MORGAN 25 60 690 C ABN AMRO 24 737 C ADVANTAGE 4 3 905 C ADM 12
TOTAL: 152 152 MONTH TO DATE: 14,858
JPMorgan stopped 60/152 contracts.
FOR DEC.:
GOLD: NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR DEC/2023. CONTRACT: 152 NOTICES FOR 15,200 OZ or 0.4728 TONNES
total notices so far: 14,858 contracts for 1,485,800 oz (46.215 tonnes)
FOR DEC:
SILVER NOTICES 467 NOTICE(S) FILED FOR 2,335,000 OZ/
total number of notices filed so far this month : 3874 for 19,370,000 oz
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Click here if you wish to send a donation. I sincerely appreciate it as this site takes a lot of preparation
END
BOTH GLD AND SLV ARE FRAUDULENT VEHICLES
GLD
WITH GOLD UP $17.85//
INVESTORS SWITCHING TO SPROTT PHYSICAL (PHYS) INSTEAD OF THE FRAUDULENT GLD/ : / NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: //
INVENTORY RESTS AT 878.25 TONNES
SLV//
WITH NO SILVER AROUND AND SILVER DOWN 0 CENTS AT THE SLV// HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: V/ A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.289 MILLION OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV//
INVESTORS ARE SWITCHING SLV TO SPROTT’S PSLV.
CLOSING INVENTORY: 441.104 MILLION OZ
Let us have a look at the data for today
SILVER//OUTLINE
SILVER COMEX OI ROSE BY A SIZED 556 CONTRACTS TO 130,909 AND CLOSER TO THE RECORD HIGH OI OF 244,710, SET FEB 25/2020 AND THIS GIGANTIC SIZED GAIN IN COMEX OI WAS ACCOMPLISHED DESPITE OUR LOSS $0.02 IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX ON THURSDAY. WE HAD A ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION WITH CONSIDERABLE T.A.S. LIQUIDATION (AND SOME SHORT COVERING BUT AT TOUCH LOWER PRICES) AT THE COMEX SESSION. WE HAD A GIGANTIC 1103 T.A.S ISSUANCE AND THESE WILL BE USED FOR MANIPULATION LATER THIS MONTH/AS WELL AS TODAY.
CRAIG HEMKE HAS POINTED OUT THAT THE CROOKS USE THE MID MONTH FOR MANIPULATION AS THEY SELL THEIR BUY SIDE OF THE CALENDAR SPREAD FIRST AND THEN KEEP THE SELL SIDE TO LIQUIDATE AT A LATER DATE. THUS WE HAVE TWO VEHICLES THE CROOKS USE FOR MANIPULATION AND BOTH ARE SPREADERS: 1) AT MONTH’S END/SPREADERS COMEX AND 2/ TAS SPREADERS, MID MONTH. TOTAL TAS ISSUED ON THURSDAY NIGHT: 1103 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 FELL BY $0.02), AND WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING ANY SILVER LONGS AS WE HAD A GIGANTIC SIZED GAIN OF 1162 OI CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES.
WE MUST HAVE HAD:
A STRONG SIZED 606 ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS) iiii) AN INITIAL SILVER STANDING FOR COMEX SILVER MEASURING AT 1,5 MILLION OZ (FIRST DAY NOTICE) FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 130,000 OZ QUEUE JUMP + 0 CONTRACTS OF EX. FOR RISK FOR 0 MILLION OZ EX. FOR RISK //NEW TOTAL STANDING 20.315 MILLION OZ.+0 MILLION OZ (EX. FOR RISK TODAY) + 6.5 MILLION EX. FOR RISK/PRIOR= NEW TOTAL OF 26.815 MILLION OZ
//NEW STANDING FOR SILVER IS THUS 26.815 MILLION OZ
//HUGE SIZED COMEX OI GAIN/ STRONG SIZED EFP ISSUANCE/ VI) MEGA GIGANTIC SIZED NUMBER OF T.A.S. CONTRACT ISSUANCE 1103 CONTRACTS)/
0 CONTRACT EX.FOR RISK =0 MILLION OZ//NEW TOTAL FOR EX. FOR RISK + 6.5 MILLION OZ.
I AM NOW RECORDING THE DIFFERENTIAL IN OI FROM PRELIMINARY TO FINAL – REMOVED – 50CONTRACTS (the cme will no longer provide preliminary no to be except through a paywall)
HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS DEC. ACCUMULATION FOR EFP’S SILVER/JPMORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES/STARTING FROM FIRST DAY/MONTH OF DEC:
TOTAL CONTRACTS for 16 days, total 12,269 contracts: OR 61.345MILLION OZ (766 CONTRACTS PER DAY)
TOTAL EFP’S FOR THE MONTH SO FAR: 61.345 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. 50.050 MILLION OZ
DEC. 61.345 MILLION OZ//THIS IS GOING TO BE A STRONG ISSUANCE OF EFP’S FOR THIS MONTH.
RESULT: WE HAD A GIGANTIC SIZED INCREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF 556CONTRACTS WITH OUR LOSS IN PRICE OF $0.02 IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX//THURSDAY.,. THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A STRONG EFP ISSUANCE CONTRACTS: 606 ISSUED FOR FEB AND 0 CONTRACTS ISSUED FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS) WHICH EXITED OUT OF THE SILVER COMEX TO LONDON AS FORWARDS. WE HAVE A GOOD INITIAL SILVER OZ STANDING FOR DEC. OF 18.755 MILLION OZ FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S .130 MILLION OZ QUEUE JUMP /NEW TOTAL STANDING 20.315MILLION OZ//+0 MILLION EX. FOR RISK TODAY + 6.5 MILLION OZ EXCHANGE FOR RISK/PRIOR//NEW TOTAL 26.815 MILLION OZ.
NEW STANDING 26.815 million OZ /// WE HAVE A HUMONGOUS SIZED GAIN OF 1162OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES WITH THE SLIGHT LOSS IN PRICE. THE TOTAL OF TAS INITIATED CONTRACTS TODAY: A HUGE SIZED 1103CONTRACTS//CONSIDERABLE FRONT END OF THE TAS CONTRACTS WERE LIQUIDATED DURING THE THURSDAY COMEX SESSION. THE NEW TAS ISSUANCE THURSDAY NIGHT (1103 WILL BE PUT INTO “THE BANK” TO BE COLLUSIVELY USED AT A LATER DATE., .
WE HAD 467 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 2,335,000 OZ
THE SILVER COMEX IS NOW BEING ATTACKED FOR METAL BY LONDONERS ET AL.
GOLD//OUTLINE
IN GOLD, THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY A FAIR SIZED 3,091 CONTRACTS TO 481,866 AND CLOSER TO RECORD (SET JAN 24/2020) AT 799,733 AND PREVIOUS TO THAT: (SET JAN 6/2020) AT 797,110.
THE DIFFERENTIAL FROM PRELIMINARY OI TO FINAL OI IN GOLD TODAY: -removed 366 CONTRACTS
WE HAD A FAIR SIZED INCREASE IN COMEX OI ( 3091 CONTRACTS) WITH OUR $5.10 GAIN IN PRICE//THURSDAY. WE ALSO HAD A RATHER LIGHT INITIAL STANDING IN GOLD TONNAGE FOR DEC.. AT 44.914 TONNES ON FIRST DAY NOTICE FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 15,400 OZ QUEUE JUMP + 0 ISSUANCE OF EX. FOR RISK CONTRACTS // TOTAL GOLD STANDING FOR DEC SO FAR INCREASES TO 50.85 TONNES // ALL OF..THIS HAPPENED WITH OUR $5.10 GAIN IN PRICE WITH RESPECT TO THURSDAY’S TRADING. WE HAD A STRONG SIZED GAIN OF 5963 OI CONTRACTS (18.547)PAPER TONNES) ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES.
E.F.P. ISSUANCE
THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A FAIR SIZED 2872CONTRACTS:
The NEW COMEX OI FOR THE GOLD COMPLEX RESTS AT 482,232
IN ESSENCE WE HAVE A STRONG SIZED INCREASE IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 5963 CONTRACTS WITH 3091 CONTRACTS INCREASED AT THE COMEX// AND A FAIR SIZED 2872EFP OI CONTRACTS WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS TOTAL OI GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 5963 CONTRACTS. WE HAD 0 CONTRACTS EXCHANGE FOR RISK TODAYFOR 0.0 TONNES/EX FOR RISK PRIOR = 4.634 TOTAL //NEW TOTAL STANDING 46.22 TONNES + 4.634 TONNES= 50.85 TONNES.. WE HAD THE FOLLOWING TAS CONTRACTS INITIATED (ISSUED): A FAIR 1609CONTRACTS.
CALCULATIONS ON GAIN/LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES
WE HAD A FAIR SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (3457CONTRACTS) ACCOMPANYING THE FAIR SIZED GAIN IN COMEX OI (3091) //TOTAL GAIN FOR OUR THE TWO EXCHANGES: 5963 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 DEC. AT 44.914 TONNES FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 15,400 OZ QUEUE JUMP + 4.634 TONNES EX. FOR RISK PRIOR//NEW STANDING 50.85 TONNES / / 3) ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION AND CONSIDERABLE TAS LIQUIDATION WITH SOME SHORT LIQUIDATION (COVERING) 4) FAIR SIZED COMEX OPEN INTEREST GAIN/ 5) FAIR ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL PAPER///6: FAIR T.A.S. ISSUANCE: 1609CONTRACTS
HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS IN 2023 INCLUDING TODAY
DEC
ACCUMULATION OF EFP’S GOLD AT J.P. MORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES: (EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL) FOR THE MONTH OF DEC. :
TOTAL EFP CONTRACTS ISSUED: 59,379 CONTRACTS OR 5,937,900 OZ OR 184,69TONNES IN 16 TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 3711 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY
TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS : THIS MONTH IN 16 TRADING DAY(S) IN TONNES 184.69TONNES
TOTAL ANNUAL GOLD PRODUCTION, 2022, THROUGHOUT THE WORLD EX CHINA EX RUSSIA: 3555 TONNES
THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 184.69/3550 x 100% TONNES 5.21% 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. 239.16 TONNES//WILL BE STRONG THIS MONTH,
DEC. 184.69 TONNES.
SPREADING OPERATIONS
(/NOW SWITCHING TO GOLD) FOR NEWCOMERS, HERE ARE THE DETAILS
SPREADING LIQUIDATION HAS NOW COMMENCED AS WE HEAD TOWARDS THE NEW ACTIVE FRONT MONTH OF DEC. 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 NOV HEADING TOWARDS THE ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF FEB., FOR GOLD: AND MARCH FOR SILVER
YOU WILL ALSO NOTICE THAT THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST STARTS TO RISE BUT SO IS THE OPEN INTEREST OF SPREADERS. THE OPEN INTEREST IN WILL CONTINUE TO RISE UNTIL ONE WEEK BEFORE FIRST DAY NOTICE OF AN UPCOMING ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH (SEPT), AND THAT IS WHEN THE CROOKS SELL THEIR SPREAD POSITIONS BUT NOT AT THE SAME TIME OF THE DAY. THEY WILL USE THE SELL SIDE OF THE EQUATION TO CREATE THE CASCADE (ALONG WITH THEIR COLLUSIVE FRIENDS) AND THEN COVER ON THE BUY SIDE OF THE SPREAD SITUATION AT THE END OF THE DAY. THEY DO THIS TO AVOID POSITION LIMIT DETECTION. THE LIQUIDATION OF THE SPREADING FORMATION CONTINUES FOR EXACTLY ONE WEEK AND ENDS ON FIRST DAY NOTICE.”
WHAT IS ALARMING TO ME, ACCORDING TO OUR LONDON EXPERT ANDREW MAGUIRE IS THAT THESE EFP’S ARE BEING TRANSFERRED TO WHAT ARE CALLED SERIAL FORWARD CONTRACT OBLIGATIONS AND THESE CONTRACTS ARE LESS THAN 14 DAYS. ANYTHING GREATER THAN 14 DAYS, THESE MUST BE RECORDED AND SENT TO THE COMPTROLLER, GREAT BRITAIN TO MONITOR RISK TO THE BANKING SYSTEM. IF THIS IS INDEED TRUE, THEN THIS IS A MASSIVE CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD AS WE NOW WITNESS A MONSTROUS TOTAL EFP’S ISSUANCE AS IT HEADS INTO THE STRATOSPHERE.
The crooks also use the spread in the TAS account (trade at settlement). They buy the spot TAS (e.g. June) and sell the future TAS two months out (e.g. August). Then they unload the front month (i.e. unload the buy side first so the price of gold/silver falls. This occurs in the middle of the front delivery month cycle. They unload the sell side of the equation, two months down the road. The crooks violate position limits as the OCC refuse to hear our complaints.
First, here is an outline of what will be discussed tonight:
1.Today, we had the open interest at the comex, in SILVER ROSE BY A HUGE SIZED 556CONTRACTS OI TO 130,959 AND CLOSER TO THE 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 606 CONTRACTS
OUR CUSTOMARY MIGRATION OF COMEX LONGS CONTINUE TO MORPH INTO LONDON FORWARDS AS OUR BANKERS USED THEIR EMERGENCY PROCEDURE TO ISSUE:
MARCH 606 and ALL OTHER MONTHS: ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 606 CONTRACTS. EFP’S GIVE OUR COMEX LONGS A FIAT BONUS PLUS A DELIVERABLE PRODUCT OVER IN LONDON. IF WE TAKE THE COMEX OI GAIN OF 556 CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 606 OI TRANSFERRED TO LONDON THROUGH EFP’S,
WE OBTAIN A HUMONGOUS SIZED GAIN OF OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 1162CONTRACTS
THUS IN OUNCES, THE GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES TOTAL 5.810 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//
FRIDAY MORNING/THURSDAY NIGHT
SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 3.94 PTS OR 0.14% //Hang Seng CLOSED DOWN 280.72 PTS OR 1.69% /The Nikkei CLOSED UP 28.58 PTS OR 0.09% //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP 0.03 % /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed UP AT 7.1327 /OFFSHORE CHINESE YUAN CLOSED UP TO 7.1496 /Oil DOWN TO 74.27 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT UP AT 79.86/ Stocks in Europe OPENED MOSTLY GREEN// ONSHORE YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING STRONGER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE STRONGER
1. COMEX DATA//AMOUNTS STANDING//VOLUME OF TRADING/INVENTORY MOVEMENTS
GOLD
LET US BEGIN:
THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY A FAIR SIZED 3091 CONTRACTS TO 481,866 WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF $5.10 WITH RESPECT TO THURSDAY TRADING. WE MUST HAVE HAD ZERO LONG SPEC LIQUIDATIONS IN THE COMEX SESSION WITH SOME SPEC SHORT COVERINGS DURING TODAY’S RISE IN PRICE.
EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE
WE ARE NOW IN THE ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF DEC..… 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 2872 EFP CONTRACTS WERE ISSUED: : FEB 2872 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:
TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 2872CONTRACTS
ON A NET BASIS IN OPEN INTEREST WE GAINED THE FOLLOWING TODAY ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES: A STRONG SIZED TOTAL OF 5963 CONTRACTS IN THAT 2872 LONGS WERE TRANSFERRED AS FORWARDS TO LONDON AND WE HAD A FAIR SIZED GAIN OF 3091 COMEX CONTRACTS..AND THIS STRONG GAIN ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES HAPPENED WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF $5.10//THURSDAY COMEX. AS PER OUR NEWBIE TRADE AT SETTLEMENT (TAS) MANIPULATION OPERATION (WHICH CRAIG HEMKE HAS POINTED OUT HAPPENS DURING MID MONTH IN THE DELIVERY CYCLE), THE CME REPORTS THAT THE TOTAL T.A.S. ISSUANCE FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT WAS A FAIR SIZED 1609 CONTRACTS. THROUGHOUT THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS, THE BANKERS SOLD OFF THE LONG SIDE OF THE SPREAD WHICH OF COURSE CONTINUES TO MANIPULATE THE PRICE OF GOLD SOUTHBOUND. (THEY KEEP THE SHORT SIDE OF THE CALENDAR SPREAD WHICH WILL BE LIQUIDATED TWO MONTHS HENCE)//.
// WE HAVE A LIGHT AMOUNT OF GOLD TONNAGE STANDING: DEC (50.85 TONNES) ( 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
DEC. 46.22 + 4.634 TONNES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK = 50.85TONNES
THE SPECS/HFT WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE( IT GAINED $5.10) //// AND WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING ANY SPECULATOR LONGS AS WE HAD A STRONG SIZED GAIN OF5963 TOTAL CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES. WE HAD A FAIR T.A.S. LIQUIDATION ON THE FRONT END OF THURSDAY’S TRADING . THE T.A.S. ISSUED ON THURSDAY NIGHT, WILL BE “PUT INTO THE BANK” TO BE USED AT A LATER DATE AT THE COLLUSIVE CHOOSING OF OUR BANKERS. WE ALSO EXPERIENCED CONSIDERABLE SPECULATOR SHORT COVERING
WE HAVE GAINED A TOTAL OI OF 18.547 PAPER TONNES FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES, ACCOMPANYING OUR INITIAL GOLD TONNAGE STANDING FOR DEC. (44.914 TONNES) ON FIRST DAY NOTICE, FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 15,400 OZ QUEUE JUMP (FOR 0.4790 TONNES)//NEW TOTAL STANDING FALLS TO 46.22 + 4.634 TONNES EXCHANGE FOR RISK : NEW TOTAL 50.85 TONNES../ ALL OF THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE TO THE TUNE OF $5.10
WE HAD -removed 366 CONTRACTS TO THE COMEX TRADES TO OPEN INTEREST (CROOKS)
NET GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 5963 CONTRACTS OR 596,300 OZ OR 18.547 TONNES.
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month
14,858 notices 1,485,800 oz 46.215 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: nil oz
customer deposits: 0
we had 2
2) customer withdrawals
I) Out of JPMorgan: 393.499 oz
iii) Out of Manfra: 5,146.942 oz
total withdrawals 5240.441 oz
Adjustments; 0
CALCULATIONS FOR THE AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR DEC.
For the front month of DECEMBER we have an oi of 283 contracts having LOST 80 contracts. We had 234
contracts served upon THURSDAY, so we GAINED or an additional 154 CONTRACTS OR 15400 OZ (0.4790 tonnes) will stand for delivery at the comex
JAN. GAINED 127 contracts RISING TO 3197 contracts.
FEB GAINED 1390 CONTRACTS RISING TO 368,300
We had 152 contracts filed for today representing 15,200 oz
Today, 0 notice(s) were issued from J.P.Morgan dealer account and 25 notices were issued from their client or customer account. The total of all issuance by all participants equate to 152 contract(s) of which 0 notices were stopped (received) by j.P. Morgan dealer and 60 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 DEC. /2023. contract month, we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (14,858 x 100 oz ), to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of DEC. (283 CONTRACTS) minus the number of notices served upon today 152 x 100 oz per contract equals 1,498,900 OZ OR 46.22 TONNES + 4.634 TONNES EX. FOR RISK ISSUED/PRIOR/ (FOR DELIVERY HERE) = 50.85 TONNES.
thus the INITIAL standings for gold for the DEC.contract month: No of notices filed so far (14,858) x 100 oz + (283) {OI for the front month} minus the number of notices served upon today (152) x 100 oz) which equals 1,498,900 oz standing OR 46.22 TONNES + 4.634 tonnes of ex. for risk = 50.85 TONNES
TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING FOR DEC: 50.85 TONNES WHICH IS LIGHT FOR THE BIGGEST ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH IN THE CALENDAR. THEY PROBABLY KNOW THAT NO REAL GOLD IS PRESENT AT THE COMEX.
TOTAL OF ALL GOLD ELIGIBLE AND REGISTERED GOLD: 20,041,014.732 OZ
TOTAL REGISTERED GOLD 10,259,054.909 (319.09 tonnes).
TOTAL OF ALL ELIGIBLE GOLD: 9,781,959.823 OZ
REGISTERED GOLD THAT CAN BE SERVED UPON: 8,699795 oz (REG GOLD- PLEDGED GOLD) 270,59 tonnes
END
SILVER/COMEX
DEC 22
//2023// THE DEC 2023 SILVER CONTRACT
Silver
Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory
NIL oz
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory
270,544.360 oz oz
Loomis
.
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory
nil OZ ASAHI
Deposits to the Customer Inventory
1,177,617,480oz
Brinks CNT
No of oz served today (contracts)
467 CONTRACT(S) (2,335,000 OZ)
No of oz to be served (notices)
189 contracts (945,000 oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)
3874 Contracts (19,370,000 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: nil oz
i) We had 0 dealer withdrawal
total dealer withdrawals: 0 oz
We had 2 deposits customer account:
i)Into Brinks 579,352.950 oz
ii) Into CNT 598,264,539 oz
total customer deposits: 1,177,617.480 oz
JPMorgan has a total silver weight: 133.1390 million oz/274.929 million or 48.36%
Comex withdrawals 1
i) Out of Loomis 270,544.360 oz
total withdrawals 270,544.360 oz
Adjustments; 1
Manfera
customer to dealer: 941,481.247 oz
TOTAL REGISTERED SILVER: 47.660 MILLION OZ//.TOTAL REG + ELIGIBLE. 274.929 million oz
CALCULATIONS FOR THE NEW STANDING FOR SILVER FOR DECEMBER:
silver open interest data:
FRONT MONTH OF DEC /2023 OI: 656 CONTRACTS HAVING LOST 172 CONTRACT(S).
WE HAD 198 CONTRACTS SERVED ON THURSDAY, SO WE GAINED 26 CONTRACTS OR 130,000 OZ UNDERWENT A
QUEUE JUMP TAKING DELIVERY OVER AT THE COMEX
JAN GAINED 18 CONTRACTS UP TO 1885 CONTRACTS
FEB LOST 20 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 433
MARCH GAINED 549 CONTRACTS TO 108,212.
TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR TODAY: 467 for 2,335,,000 oz
Comex volumes// est. volume today 46.404// poor
Comex volume: confirmed yesterday 48,919 poor
To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in DEC. we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at 3874 x 5,000 oz = 19,370,000 oz
to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of DEC. (656) and the number of notices served upon today 467 x (5000 oz) equals the number of ounces standing.
Thus the standings for silver for the DEC/2023 contract month: 3407 (notices served so far) x 5000 oz + OI for the front month of DEC. (656) – number of notices served upon today (467 )x 500 oz of silver standing for the DEC contract month equates to 20.315 MILLION OZ. to which we add 0 million oz of exchange for risk today and then add prior exchange for risk of 6.5 million oz//
New total standing: 26.815 million oz.
There are 47.660 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!
DEC 22/WITH GOLD UP $17,85 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:/. // INVENTORY RESTS AT 878.25 TONNES
DEC 21/WITH GOLD UP $5.10 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:A DEPOSIT .58 TONNES OF 2.02 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD//. // INVENTORY RESTS AT 878.25 TONNES
DEC 20/WITH GOLD DOWN $3.60 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.02 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD//. // INVENTORY RESTS AT 877.67 TONNES
DEC19/WITH GOLD UP $12.15 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:. // INVENTORY RESTS AT 879.69 TONNES
DEC18/WITH GOLD UP $5.50 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:. /A DEPOSIT OF 173 TONNES INTO THE GLD// INVENTORY RESTS AT 879.69 TONNES
DEC14/WITH GOLD UP $47.35 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:. /A DEPOSIT OF 2.42 TONNES FROM THE GLD// INVENTORY RESTS AT 877.96 TONNES
DEC13/WITH GOLD UP $3.90 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:. /A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.89 TONNES FROM THE GLD// INVENTORY RESTS AT 875,65 TONNES
DEC12/WITH GOLD DOWN $0.60 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:. /A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.01 TONNES FROM THE GLD// INVENTORY RESTS AT 878.54 TONNES
DEC11/WITH GOLD DOWN $21.20 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:. // / / // INVENTORY RESTS AT 880.55 TONNES
DEC 8/WITH GOLD DOWN $30,80 TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:. // / / // A WITHDRAWAL OF .28 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/// INVENTORY RESTS AT 880.55 TONNES
DEC 7/WITH GOLD DOWN $.20 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:. // / / // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 880.83 TONNES
DEC 6/WITH GOLD UP $11.70 TODAY:SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.29 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD. // / / // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 880.83 TONNES
DEC 5/WITH GOLD DOWN $5.85 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 2.30 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD. // / / // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 881.12 TONNES
DEC 4/WITH GOLD DOWN $43.15 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 2.31 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD. // / / // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 878.82 TONNES
DEC 1/WITH GOLD UP $32.05 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.02 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD. // / / // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 876.51 TONNES
NOV 30/WITH GOLD DOWN $8.70 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.02 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD. // / / // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 878.53 TONNES
NOV 29/WITH GOLD UP $7.20 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.73 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD. // / / // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 880.55 TONNES
NOV 28/WITH GOLD UP $26.45 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: // / / // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 882.28 TONNE
NOV 27/WITH GOLD UP $9,85 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: // / / // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 882.28 TONNES
NOV 24/WITH GOLD UP $11.20 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.15 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD// / / // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 882.28 TONNES
NOV 22/WITH GOLD DOWN $8.45 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD / / // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 883.43 TONNES
NOV 21/WITH GOLD UP $21.65 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD / / // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 883.43 TONNES
NOV 20/WITH GOLD DOWN $4.15 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A MAMMOTH DEPOSIT OF 12.98 TONNES INTO THE GLD:/ / // // INVENTORY RESTS AT 883.43 TONNES
GLD INVENTORY: 878.25 TONNES
Now the SLV Inventory/( vehicle is a fraud as there is no physical metal behind them
DEC 22/WITH SILVER UP 0 CENTS TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.289 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV//////INVENTORY RESTS AT 441.104 MILLION OZ
DEC 21/WITH SILVER DOWN 2 CENTS TODAY:NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//////INVENTORY RESTS AT 443.393 MILLION OZ
DEC 20/WITH SILVER UP 28 CENTS TODAY:NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//////INVENTORY RESTS AT 443.393 MILLION OZ
DEC 19/WITH SILVER UP 27 CENTS TODAY:BIG CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/: A MASSIVE DEPOSIT OF 2.747 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 443.393 MILLION OZ
DEC 18/WITH SILVER DOWN 9 CENTS TODAY:BIG CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/: A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.794 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 440.646 MILLION OZ
DEC 14/WITH SILVER DOWN 8 CENTS TODAY:BIG CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/: A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 3.00000 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 441.470 MILLION OZ
DEC 13/WITH SILVER DOWN 8 CENTS TODAY:BIG CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/: A DEPOSIT OF 10.326 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 444.470 MILLION OZ
DEC 12/WITH SILVER DOWN 5 CENTS TODAY:BIG CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/: A WITHDRAWAL OF 594,000 OZ FROM THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 434.144 MILLION OZ
DEC 11/WITH SILVER DOWN 19 CENTS TODAY:NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/: A ////INVENTORY RESTS AT 434.735 MILLION OZ
DEC 8/WITH SILVER DOWN 80 CENTS TODAY:NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/: A DEPOSIT OF 1.648 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV////INVENTORY RESTS AT 434.735 MILLION OZ
DEC 7/WITH SILVER DOWN 15 CENTS TODAY:NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/: // //://// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 433.090 MILLION OZ
DEC 6/WITH SILVER DOWN 25 CENTS TODAY:NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/: // //://// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 433.090 MILLION OZ
DEC 5/WITH SILVER DOWN 34 CENTS TODAY:SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/: A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.305 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV// //://// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 433.090 MILLION OZ
DEC 4/WITH SILVER DOWN 90 CENTS TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/: A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.7333 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV// //://// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 433.395 MILLION OZ
DEC 1/WITH SILVER UP 15 CENTS TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.923 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV// //://// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 434.128 MILLION OZ
NOV 30/WITH SILVER UP 20 CENTS TODAY:NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/ //://// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 436.051 MILLION OZ
NOV 29/WITH SILVER UP 15 CENTS TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV” A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 4.122 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV// //://// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 436.051 MILLION OZ
NOV 28/WITH SILVER UP 64 CENTS TODAY:NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV //://// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 440.173 MILLION OZ
NOV 27/WITH SILVER UP 32 CENTS TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV //:////A WITHDRAWAL OF 1,008,000 OZ FROM THE SLV. //INVENTORY RESTS AT 440.173 MILLION OZ
NOV 24/WITH SILVER UP 70 CENTS TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV //:////A WITHDRAWAL OF 549,000 OZ FROM THE SLV. //INVENTORY RESTS AT 441.181 MILLION OZ
NOV 22/WITH SILVER DOWN 21 CENTS TODAY:NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV //://// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 441.730 MILLION OZ
NOV 21/WITH SILVER UP 32 CENTS TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A DEPOSIT OF 2.794 OZ FROM THE SLV//://// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 441.730 MILLION OZ
NOV 20/WITH SILVER DOWN 26 CENTS TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A WITHDRAWAL OF 1,824,000 OZ FROM THE SLV//://// //INVENTORY RESTS AT 438.936 MILLION OZ
CLOSING INVENTORY 441.104 MILLION OZ//
PHYSICAL GOLD/SILVER COMMENTARIES
1:Peter Schiff/Mike Maharrey
The movement to sound money
(Mike Maharray)
Bills Filed In Oklahoma & Missouri Would Eliminate Capital Gains Tax On The Sale Of Gold & Silver
Bills filed in the Oklahoma and Missouri legislatures for the 2024 legislative session would eliminate state capital gains taxes on the sale of gold and silver. The legislation would also take other steps to treat gold and silver as money instead of as commodities.
In Missouri, Rep Doug Richey filed HB1867 on Dec. 11. Rep. Bill Hardwick filed HB1955 on Dec. 15. The bills are companions to SB735 filed in the Senate by Sen. William Eigel earlier this month.
In Oklahoma, Sen. Shane Jett filed SB1507 and Sen. Nathan Dahm is running SB1508.
The enactment of any of these bills would eliminate state capital gains taxes on the sale and exchange of gold and silver bullion.
Both of these states are already among the 42 that do not levy sales taxes on gold and silver bullion.
Exempting the sale of gold and silver bullion from taxes lowers the investment cost of precious metals. It also takes a step toward treating gold and silver as money instead of commodities. Taxes on precious metal bullion erect barriers to using gold and silver as money by raising transaction costs.
Imagine if you asked a grocery clerk to break a $5 bill and he charged you a 35-cent tax. Silly, right? After all, you were only exchanging one form of money for another. But that’s essentially what a sales tax on gold and silver bullion does. By eliminating this tax on the exchange of gold and silver, Missouri and Oklahoma would treat specie as money instead of a commodity. This represents a small step toward reestablishing gold and silver as legal tender and breaking down the Fed’s monopoly on money.
“We ought not to tax money – and that’s a good idea. It makes no sense to tax money,” former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul said during testimony in support of an Arizona bill that repealed capital gains taxes on gold and silver in that state. “Paper is not money, it’s fraud,” he continued.
The impact of enacting this legislation will go beyond mere tax policy. During an event after his Senate committee testimony, Paul pointed out that it’s really about the size and scope of government.
“If you’re for less government, you want sound money. The people who want big government, they don’t want sound money. They want to deceive you and commit fraud. They want to print the money. They want a monopoly. They want to get you conditioned, as our schools have conditioned us, to the point where deficits don’t matter.”
GOLD AND SILVER AS LEGAL TENDER
Under provisions in the Missouri bill, gold and silver in physical or electronic form would be accepted as legal tender and would be receivable in payment of all debts contracted for in the state of Missouri. The state would be required to accept gold and silver for the payment of public debts. Private debts could be settled in gold and silver at the parties’ discretion.
Practically speaking, this would allow Missourians to use gold or silver coins as money rather than just as mere investment vehicles. In effect, it would put gold and silver on the same footing as Federal Reserve notes.
Oklahoma took a similar step in 2014. Utah and Arkansas also consider gold and silver legal tender.
The proposed Missouri law also includes provisions authorizing the state to invest in gold or silver “greater than or equal to one percent of all state funds” and to expressly bar any state agency, department, or political subdivision from seizing gold or silver bullion.
BACKGROUND
The United States Constitution states in Article I, Section 10, “No State shall…make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.” Currently, all debts and taxes in the US are either paid with Federal Reserve Notes (dollars) which were authorized as legal tender by Congress, or with coins issued by the US Treasury — very few of which have gold or silver in them.
The Federal Reserve destroys this constitutional monetary system by creating a monopoly based on its fiat currency. Without the backing of gold or silver, the central bank can easily create money out of thin air. This not only devalues your purchasing power over time; it also allows the federal government to borrow and spend far beyond what would be possible in a sound money system. Without the Fed, the US government wouldn’t be able to maintain all of its unconstitutional wars and programs. The Federal Reserve is the engine that drives the most powerful government in the history of the world.
Tax repeals knock down one of the tax barriers that hinder the use of gold and silver as money, and could also begin the process of abolishing the Federal Reserve’s fiat money system by attacking it from the bottom up – pulling the rug out from under it by working to make its functions irrelevant at the state and local levels, and setting the stage to undermine the Federal Reserve monopoly by introducing competition into the monetary system.
In a paper presented at the Mises Institute, Constitutional tender expert Professor William Greene said when people in multiple states actually start using gold and silver instead of Federal Reserve Notes, it would effectively nullify the Federal Reserve and end the federal government’s monopoly on money.
“Over time, as residents of the state use both Federal Reserve notes and silver and gold coins, the fact that the coins hold their value more than Federal Reserve notes do will lead to a “reverse Gresham’s Law” effect, where good money (gold and silver coins) will drive out bad money (Federal Reserve notes). As this happens, a cascade of events can begin to occur, including the flow of real wealth toward the state’s treasury, an influx of banking business from outside of the state – as people in other states carry out their desire to bank with sound money – and an eventual outcry against the use of Federal Reserve notes for any transactions.”
Once things get to that point, Federal Reserve notes would become largely unwanted and irrelevant for ordinary people.
2,c) Commentaries from: Egon von Greyerz///Matthew Piepenburg via GoldSwitzerland.com, Pam and Russ Martens, John Rubino
END
3. CHRIS POWELL//GATA GOLD COMMENTARIES:
Your weekend reading material
Alasdair Macleod…
Alasdair Macleod: Free banking — myth and reality
Submitted by admin on Thu, 2023-12-21 16:36Section: Daily Dispatches
By Alasdair Macleod GoldMoney, Toronto Thursday, December 21, 2023
Surely it is now apparent that central banks are guilty of mismanaging the economy. By slashing interest rates to zero and in some cases to an unnatural minus figure, then flooding financial systems with currency-equivalent credit conjured out of nothing, followed by rapidly increasing interest rates in an attempt to stem the consequences, central banks have bankrupted themselves and much of their entire economies
Even though hapless economists and money managers are still in thrall to them, central banks have proved themselves to be unfit for purpose. It is time for a new system based on true economic demand for credit without state interference.
The ineptitude of the monetary planners is now sharply focused by events in Argentina, whose new president has vowed to close the central bank and introduce a currency board for the peso backed by the U.S. dollar. Far from being a maverick politician, President Milei is being well advised. Currency boards work, imposing an automatic discipline on government spending.
This article opens up the debate between free banking without central banks under gold standards, and the fiat currency system that gives central banks the power of debasement. Commercial banking without central banks is the historical norm, and the evils of statist currency management is a more recent development.
Those who argue that central banks represent progress from free banking are clearly in the wrong. …
Submitted by admin on Thu, 2023-12-21 16:24 Section: Daily Dispatches
From Money Metals News Service, Eagle, Idaho Thursday, December 21, 2023
Against the backdrop of high inflation and geopolitical uncertainty, states are increasingly enacting measures that encourage saving in precious metals and even using gold and silver as money.
With five bills signed into law in 2023, sound money reforms are gaining momentum across the United States.
Money Metals’ Sound Money Defense League project has emerged as an influential force, actively engaging in legislative battles by building intense grassroots support, drafting legislation, recruiting bill sponsors, and providing expert testimony to lawmakers.
This year 25 states considered 50 pieces of legislation aimed at ending taxes on the monetary metals, strengthening state finances by investing reserve funds in physical gold, establishing in-state depositories, and more.
The 2024 Sound Money index, published by Money Metals Exchange, provides a full rundown on how each state stacks up in this important policy area. …
A good read from Robert Lambourne explaining gold swaps
(Robert Lambourne/Chris Marcus)
GATA’s consultant on BIS, Robert Lambourne, explains gold swaps
Submitted by admin on Wed, 2023-12-20 19:34Section: Daily Dispatches
7:35p ET Wednesday, December 20, 2023
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
Chris Marcus of Arcadia Economics this week interviewed GATA’s consultant on the Bank for International Settlements about the bank’s heavy and largely surreptitious intervention in the gold market via gold swaps on behalf of the bank’s central bank members.
Lambourne reports regularly via GATA on the BIS’ swaps, which are obliquely reported in the bank’s monthly reports. His most recent report is here:
1.YOUR EARLY CURRENCY VALUES/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN AND EUROPEAN BOURSE MOVEMENTS/AND INTEREST RATE SETTINGS THURSDAY MORNING.7:30 AM
ONSHORE YUAN: CLOSED UP AT 7.1327
OFFSHORE YUAN: UP TO 7.1496
SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 3.96 PTS OR 0.14%
HANG SENG CLOSED DOWN 280.72 PTS OR 1.69%
2. Nikkei closed UP 28.58 PTS OR 0.09%
3. Europe stocks SO FAR: ALL MOSTLY GREEN
USA dollar INDEX DOWN TO 101.26 EURO RISES TO 1.1022 UP 18 BASIS PTS
3b Japan 10 YR bond yield:RISES TO. +.618 Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese YEN vs USA cross now at 142.11/JAPANESE YEN NOW RISING AS WELL AS LONG TERM 10 YR. YIELDS RISING //EVENTUALLY THIS WILL BREAK THE JAPANESE CENTRAL BANK
3c Nikkei now ABOVE 17,000
3d USA/Yen rate now well ABOVE the important 120 barrier this morning
3e Gold UP /JAPANESE Yen UP CHINESE ONSHORE YUAN: UP// OFFSHORE: UP
3f Japan is to buy INFINITE TRILLION YEN worth of BONDS. Japan’s GDP equals 5 trillion USA
Japan to buy 100% of all new Japanese debt and NOW they will have OVER 50% of all Japanese debt.
3g Oil UP for WTI and UP FOR Brent this morning
3h European bond buying continues to push yields lower on all fronts in the EMU. German 10yr bund DOWN TO +1.9595***/Italian 10 Yr bond yield DOWN to 3.559** /SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD DOWN TO 2.885…**
3i Greek 10 year bond yield UP TO 2.991
3j Gold at $2062.20 silver at: 24.46 1 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $30.00
3k USA vs Russian rouble;// Russian rouble UP 0 AND 19 /100 roubles/dollar; ROUBLE AT 91.95//
3m oil into the 74 dollar handle for WTI and 79 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 142,11// 10 YEAR YIELD AFTER FIRST BREAKING .54% LAST YEAR NOW EXCEEDS THAT LEVEL TO 0.618% 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 0.8545 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF: 0.9417 well above the floor set by the Swiss Finance Minister. Thomas Jordan, chief of the Swiss National Bank continues to purchase euros trying to lower value of the Swiss Franc.
USA 10 YR BOND YIELD: 3.859 DOWN 4 BASIS PTS…
USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 4.000 DOWN 4 BASIS PTS/
USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.327 DOWN 2 BASIS PTS
USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 29.09…(TURKEY SET TO BLOW UP FINANCIALLY)
GREAT BRITAIN/10 YEAR YIELD: DOWN 4 BASIS PTS AT 3.528
end
2.a Overnight: Newsquawk and Zero hedge.
2 B) NOW NEWSQUAWK (EUROPE/REPORT)
European bourses mixed & US Futures lower, DXY dips & GBP bid post Retail Sales; US PCE due – Newsquawk US Market Open
FRIDAY, DEC 22, 2023 – 05:49 AM
European bourses are mixed whilst US futures are entirely in the red; Nike (-12.2%) shares slump in the pre-market
Dollar remains sub-102, GBP firmer post Retail Sales and Antipodeans softer
Fixed benchmarks are around unchanged and Gilts are muted as Retail Sales strength is offset by GDP revisions
Crude and Spot Gold benefit from broader weakness in the Dollar whilst Base Metals are mixed
Looking ahead, US Personal Income, Core PCE, US Durable Goods, UoM Inflation Expectations (Final), and Canadian GDP
2. Listen to this report in the market open podcast (available on Apple and Spotify)
3. Trial Newsquawk’s premium real-time audio news squawk box for 7 days
EUROPEAN TRADE
EQUITIES
European equities, Stoxx600 (+0.1%), remain afloat despite significant losses in Prosus (-17.2%), with Retail also subdued post Nike earnings.
European sectors are mixed with a slight positive bias; Basic Resources and Energy benefit from broader commodity action, whilst Tech lags, hampered by Prosus.
Chinese regulator issues drafts for online game management, according to Reuters; requires online games to set spending limits, ban daily login rewards. Requires online game approvals to be processed by regulators within 60 days. Pressuring gaming names in APAC trade and in the European session; Tencent (-12.5%), Ubisoft (-5.1%).
US equity futures are softer across the board, NQ (-0.2%); Nike (NKE) is down 12.2% in pre-market after cutting guidance.
Click here and here for the sessions European pre-market equity newsflow, including earnings.
Dollar is stuck sub-102 following yesterday’s data induced/month-end selling; trade has been contained between a tight range of 101.89-61.
EUR and JPY are slightly firmer having spent the majority of the session flat; price action may pick up ahead of the NY cut where there are large clips due to roll off.
GBP outperforms post-UK Retail Sales, though with gains capped after lower GDP revisions.
Antipodeans underperform, giving back some of the prior day’s advances; AUD/NZD cross holds slightly above 1.08.
PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.0953 vs exp. 7.1306 (prev. 7.1012)
UK GDP QQ (Q3) -0.1% vs Exp. 0.0% (prev. 0.0%); UK GDP is now estimated to shown no growth in Q2 2023 (prelim. 0.2%); click here for more details and analysis
UK GDP YY (Q3) 0.3% vs. Exp. 0.6% (Prev. 0.6%)
UK Retail Sales MM (Nov) 1.3% vs. Exp. 0.4% (Prev. -0.3%); UK Retail Sales YY (Nov) 0.1% vs. Exp. -1.3% (Prev. -2.7%, Rev. -2.5%); click here for more details and analysis
UK Retail Sales Ex-Fuel MM (Nov) 1.3% vs. Exp. 0.4% (Prev. -0.1%, Rev. 0.2%); UK Retail Sales Ex-Fuel YY 0.3% vs. Exp. -1.5% (Prev. -2.4%, Rev. -2.1%)
German Import Prices MM (Nov) -0.1% (Prev. 0.3%); German Import Prices YY -9.0% (Prev. -13.0%)
UK Business invest YY (Q3) 2.3% (Prev. 2.8%, Rev. 8.0%); UK Business Invest QQ -3.2% (Prev. -4.2%, Rev. 1.4%)
French Producer Prices MM (Nov) 2.4% (Rev. -0.1%); French Consumer Confidence (Dec) 89.0 vs. Exp. 88.0 (Prev. 87.0, Rev. 88)
Spanish GDP Final QQ (Q3) 0.3% vs. Exp. 0.3% (Prev. 0.3%); Spanish GDP YY (Q3) 1.8% vs. Exp. 1.8% (Prev. 1.8%)
Italian Consumer Confidence (Dec) 106.7 vs. Exp. 103.8 (Prev. 103.6); Italian Manufacturing Business Confidence (Dec) 95.4 (Prev. 96.6)
NOTABLE US HEADLINES
Apple (AAPL) reportedly pulled watches from online stores to meet the US-ordered ban, according to Bloomberg. Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 are unavailable to buy on the website. A ban on Apple watches has been ordered in a patent technology fight.
Nike Inc (NKE) Q2 2024 (USD): EPS 1.03 (exp. 0.85), Revenue 13.39bln (exp. 13.43bln). Guides Q3 revenue slightly negative Y/Y; cuts FY24 revenue growth estimate to +1% (prev. mid-single digit growth), confirms gross margin increase of 140-160bps, via conference call; sees 400bps headwinds from supply chain disruptions. Nike Executive said “We are seeing indications of more cautious consumer behavior around the world in an uneven macro environment.” Shares fell 11.7% after-market.
US Commerce Secretary Raimondo said she doesn’t see any change in tone from China regarding Taiwan, via CNBC interview.
China’s top military officer, on Taiwan, said Chinese armed forces will resolutely defend state sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to the Defence Ministry.
The Chinese Central Military Commission’s top military officer had a video call with his US counterpart; China said the US should respect China’s sovereignty in the South China Sea, according to Reuters.
CRYPTO
Bitcoin (-0.4%) back beneath USD 44k whilst Ethereum (+2.6%) continues to climb.
APAC TRADE
APAC stocks initially traded with a modest positive bias following the gains on Wall Street but with gains capped ahead of the US PCE and the Christmas break, whilst losses in Hong Kong tilted sentiment into the red after China announced online gaming restrictions.
ASX 200 was flat in tight ranges above 7,500, whilst the breadth of the sectors was also narrow. Energy and IT were the relative outperformers.
Nikkei 225 saw support from its Banking Sector, but Autos and Retail once again underperformed.
Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were choppy and initially held a mild positive bias, whilst Hang Seng was later hit hard after Chinese regulators issued drafts for online game management, with shares of Tencent and NetEase slumping on the announcement and extending losses on return from the lunch break, with Tencent -16% and NetEase -28% at one point.
NOTABLE HEADLINES
Bank of Communications (601328 CH), Construction Bank (601939 CH), China’s Agricultural Bank (601288 CH), Bank of China (601988 CH), and China’s ICBC (601398 CH) cuts interest rates on some deposits from Dec 22.
PBoC injected CNY 40bln through 7-day reverse repos at 1.80% and CNY 291bln via 14-day reverse repos at 1.95%; both rates maintained.
Samsung Electronics (005930 KS) and other smartphone manufacturers are planning to increase production in 2024, according to Nikkei, “In a sign the industry is finally pulling out of its yearlong slump”.
China regulator issues drafts for online game management, according to Reuters; requires online games to set spending limits, and ban daily login rewards.
BoJ Oct meeting minutes (two meetings ago): Members agreed on the need to patiently maintain the current easy policy; Several members said must sustain YCC to continue supporting wage growth.
Tencent (0700 HK) VP says the new draft regulation does not bring about any fundamental changes regarding the business model and operational speed
DATA RECAP
Japanese CPI, Core Nationwide YY (Nov) 2.5% vs. Exp. 2.5% (Prev. 2.9%); Overall Nationwide 2.8% (Prev. 3.3%)
Australian Private Sector Credit (Nov) 0.4% (Prev. 0.3%)
Australian Housing Credit (Nov) 0.4% (Prev. 0.4%)
LATAM
Brazil Congressional Budget Committee approves main part of 2024 budget, according to Reuters.
2C ASIA AFFAIRS
FRIDAY MORNING/THURSDAY NIGHT
SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 3.94 PTS OR 0.14% //Hang Seng CLOSED DOWN 280.72 PTS OR 1.69% /The Nikkei CLOSED UP 28.58 PTS OR 0.09% //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP 0.03 % /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed UP AT 7.1327 /OFFSHORE CHINESE YUAN CLOSED UP TO 7.1496 /Oil DOWN TO 74.27 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT UP AT 79.86/ Stocks in Europe OPENED MOSTLY GREEN// ONSHORE YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING STRONGER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE STRONGER
2 d./NORTH KOREA/ SOUTH KOREA/ //
NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA
END
2e) JAPAN
3 CHINA
CHINA
China cracking down on gaming stocks.
(zerohedge)
Gaming Stocks Plunge After Beijing Unleashes Surprise Crackdown
FRIDAY, DEC 22, 2023 – 07:45 AM
Video game and software stocks in China plummeted on Friday following the Communist Party’s unexpected announcement of new gaming restrictions, reigniting fears that Beijing is resuming its crackdown on the internet sector.
Bloomberg reports the country’s top gaming regulator published draft rules designed to curb gaming addiction among users by limiting total money spent and online time. These so-called ‘caps’ on each player restrict the amount of time, ban rewards for frequent usage, and even prohibit content that violates national security.
An intense selloff swept across China’s largest gaming companies as concerns mount that the new rules would dent earnings.
Tencent shares in Hong Kong plunged 12%, the most since October 2008, while NetEase crashed 25%. Bloomberg data showed 37 Interactive Entertainment and Perfect World slid by the daily 10% limit. Gaming stocks in Europe, South Africa, South Korea, and Japan also fell.
“The government gaming curb measures will hurt gaming companies’ earnings,” said Yang Junxuan, a fund manager at Shanghai Junniu Private Fund Management Co.
Junxuan said, “But the more important concern is people are worrying that more measures targeting the sector will come, just like what Beijing did to the education sector in the past.”
Chinese authorities have aimed to tackle gaming addiction, attributing rising levels of near-sightedness in children to online entertainment.
The crackdown, with little warning, reminds us of the days when the Communist Party waged war against the country’s tech sector several years ago for amassing too much power and expanding recklessly.
For more color on how the rules will impact gaming stocks, Bloomberg has compiled comments from top Wall Street analysts:
Daisy Li, fund manager at EFG Asset Management HK
“With the rules, gaming players behavior could change and the companies daily active users could take a hit”
Its hard to quantify the impact at this stage but the draft rules raise concerns over the gaming companies’ monetization prospects
The big share price drop in NetEase and Tencent may also reflect that the two names are consensus long
Xin-Yao Ng, an investment director for Asian equities at abrdn
“Previous clampdowns were more on minors, which didn’t matter as much for monetization, but this new clause seems broad-based across all users”
The draft includes an especially concerning clause that would limit monetization of hard core games, suggest things like removing common rewards like daily login, first purchase, and tiered rewards for the amount of spending, etc. There also seems to a suggestion of capping per-person spending
The rules, if implemented, will reduce significantly monetization flexibility for the developers
Yang Junxuan, a fund manager at Shanghai Junniu Private Fund Management Co.
The gaming curb measures, including a ban on rewards for frequent log-ins, are likely to hurt gaming companies’ earnings
More importantly, investors have concerns that there will be additional measures targeting the sector, as happened when Beijing cracked down on the education sector
Willer Chen, senior analyst at Forsyth Barr Asia Ltd.
The comprehensive and stringent draft rules would have a sizable impact on the gaming companies’ earnings outlook.
“It caught people off guard, right before the holiday and hitting sentiment hard”
“It feels disheartening as well for this to happen after a year that is already so difficult for the market”
Steven Leung, an executive director at UOB Kay Hian
This reminds investors of the nightmare a few years ago, when the government tried to regulate mobile games’ play times
“Tencent is the very few names in which people still have some interest, and with these new rules, investors may just leave the market totally, because the policy risk is too high”
Rajeev De Mello, a global macro fund manager at GAMA Asset Management
“In a way it is a fitting end for a year that has severely disappointed China bulls like me”
“The first thought that crossed my mind when I saw the gaming headlines was that regulatory changes can still hit us anytime. I did think that we had reached a pause in tightening regulations”
Mike Leung, investment manager at Wocom Securities
“Strict regulation will inevitably hinder the long-term development of the online gaming industry, raising doubts about whether the government is contemplating a new round of regulatory direction.”
And Lightstream Research analyst Mio Kato warned: “This is the beginning of the end for the current mobile gaming business model.”
END
END
4.EUROPEAN AFFAIRS//UK /SCANDINAVIAN AFFAIRS
POLAND
This is very bothersome: Poland was moving to sound money and then they put in Donald Tusk (pro EU government) and all hell broke loose
(zerohedge)
“It’s Like Martial Law” – Poland’s Pro-EU Govt Seizes Public News Channels In Massive Police Raid
Poland’s public television news stations went off the air yesterday as police conducted massive raids to seize public news station TVP, with fears becoming realized that Prime Minister Donald Tusk would move quickly to crack down on press freedoms once he assumed power.
A group of senior Law and Justice (PiS) politicians, including party leader Jarosław Kaczyński and former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, arrived at the headquarters of state-run TV broadcaster TVP on Wednesday afternoon as the new pro-EU government moved to seize control of state-run press in dramatic authoritarian fashion.
Both Morawiecki and Kaczyński said the government’s decision to replace public media chiefs resembled a “coup d’état” and an illegal “takeover by force.”
Kaczyński told reporters that the Law and Justice (PiS) party stood in defense of democracy and a “pluralistic media.”
PiS politicians compared the action to the introduction of martial law in Poland in 1981 in the sense that the government then also shut down TV programs and dismissed scores of journalists.
There was outrage too at an incident in which a female MP from PiS was assaulted by one of the bodyguards who assisted the new chairman of the TVP Board in taking over an office at TVP.
END
GERMANY
Germany moving to the right of centre
(Denes Albert/reMix)
Germany’s Anti-Immigration AfD Party Soars To New High In Year-End Poll
Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has reached 23 percent in a new Forsa poll, marking the highest poll result the party has ever reached for a Forsa poll at the national level.
The poll, conducted for RTL/ntv’s trend barometer, shows the AfD has gained one point compared to last week, while the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) remain the top party in Germany, standing at 31 percent.
Combined, the AfD and CDU/CSU could easily form a coalition government if elections were held now.
At the same time, the poll shows the dire state of the ruling coalition, with the Social Democrats (SPD) at 14 percent, the Greens at 13 percent, and FDP at 5 percent. The Left party (Die Linke) lost one point, falling to 3 percent.
The RTL/ntv trend barometer shows a number of hypothetical options for chancellor, with 15 percent choosing Olaf Scholz, 24 percent Friedrich Merz, and 18 percent Robert Habeck.
In another potential configuration involving Scholz, Merz and Annalena Baerbock, Scholz comes in at 19 percent, Merz at 27 percent, and Baerbock is at 17 percent.
The AfD’s plan to run Alice Weidel in the chancellor position is not reflected as an option in the poll.
The poll also asked whether respondents had the impression that politicians at the federal level understand what “moves” people in their everyday lives, to which 81 percent of Germans answered in the negative.
The IDF destroys Hamas operational tunnels in Palestine Square, December 21, 2023(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)
IDF destroys Hamas terror leaders’ Gaza City tunnel network
The demolition of the subterranean structure followed the revelation that the IDF had taken control of Hamas’s Gaza City “senior quarter,” the IDF noted.
Soldiers for the Yahalom special operations unit of the IDF’s Combat Engineering Corps, along with troops from the 401st Brigade combat team, destroyed the secret underground web of tunnels seized on Wednesday by Israeli forces, the IDF said on Thursday.
The demolition of the subterranean structure followed the revelation that the IDF had taken control of Hamas’s Gaza City “senior quarter,” the IDF added. The network of tunnel branches reportedly contained apartments, offices, and living quarters of senior Hamas officials.
Tunnels beneath an urban center
The tunnels led to above-ground sites in the Shejaia neighborhood’s Palestine Square.
The Jerusalem Post reported on Wednesday that Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar, and Muhammad Deif had used this network to manage the organization’s operation and movement through the center of Gaza City, which has nicknamed the area “Commander’s Square.”
Colonel Beni Aharon noted that the tunnels were used to store equipment taken from civilians that could enable Hamas leadership to shelter there for an extended period of time.
The IDF destroys Hamas operational tunnels in Palestine Square, December 21, 2023 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)
Further, the location of the tunnels was apparently strategically constructed in an area between a high-class residential area that includes a college, a hotel, a school for the deaf, and a fancy bridal shop.
The demolition of the tunnel network was carried out in a controlled manner, the IDF reported.
THEN
IDF turns Yahya Sinwar’s home to dust in Gaza’s Khan Yunis
This visit was likely the closest the media has gotten to Sinwar, given IDF intelligence predictions that he is hiding in the tunnels of Khan Yunis with hostages nearby.
A group of journalists entered southern Gaza on Thursday – in that area for the first time – including the remains of one of the homes of Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.
This visit was likely the closest the media has gotten to Sinwar – and the remaining hostages were taken from Israel on October 7 – given IDF intelligence predictions that he is hiding in the tunnels of Khan Yunis with hostages nearby.
Under constant background shooting and large explosions said to be a mix of air strikes, artillery, or tank attacks, highly armored “Namer vehicles” escorted the journalists on the trip, traveling between an IDF base, the Khan Yunis headquarters of the IDF, Sinwar’s house, and a stop to get supplies. These vehicles are capable of resisting rocket-propelled grenade hits.
An IDF airstrike has turned Sinwar’s house into a crater. Another house across the street (now rubble) saw heavy fighting just two days before, according to IDF sources. Though the house was still standing, it bore signs of explosions and bullet holes throughout.
The Khan Yunis crater where the home of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar used to be, December 21, 2023 (credit: YONAH JEREMY BOB)
Two key IDF commanders gave The Jerusalem Post on-and-off-record updates on the status of the all-important front, which will decide the fate of Hamas, the Israeli hostages, and the war in general.
IDF made considerable progress in Khan Yunis, commander says
“This crate is what is left of the house,” said IDF 98th Division Commander Brig.-Gen. Dan Goldfus added that they attacked it from the air.
Goldfus said that the military made considerable progress against Hamas in three weeks of fighting in Khan Yunis.
He said the IDF’s artillery and air force undertook 1,300 attacks in Khan Yunis alone, eliminating 50% of the 150 tunnel shafts found so far, including Hamas’s head of drone warfare, head of the lookout units, and head of Nukhbeh forces in the field.
IDF Commando Commander Col. Omer stated, “We are in the heart of Khan Yunis in the neighborhood of the Sinwar family, a place viewed as the heart of terror in Khan Yunis. This area has lots of terror infrastructure, with areas for firing rockets. Many terrorists come out of here, and we are having face-to-face battles with them every day.”
“We have been fighting here for more than two weeks. We will stay to clean out the area [of Hamas],” he added.
Omer expressed confidence that his forces would succeed at the goals set for them by the government, including one particular goal: The steady and patient movement of Palestinian civilians away from the fighting parts of Khan Yunis. They said that civilians have mostly followed evacuation instructions to Al Masawi to the west, or Rafah to the south, on Egypt’s border.
The IDF has collected significant Hamas intelligence items left behind that aided the planning of future IDF operations, including one which was a classified Hamas financial report for the Khan Yunis Brigade, that details more than a million dollars spent on various items related to building their terror tunnels back in 2022.
The officials said they were relieved to receive additional reinforcements from IDF Kfir Brigade Unit 900.
Other than general pressure to squeeze Hamas out of any parts of Gaza it still controls, none of the IDF officials said they had any specific signs that they were closer to catching Hamas’s high command, or to finding and rescuing hostages.
The IDF said it destroyed 1,500 tunnel shafts this week and withstood over 22,000 attacks (as of December 10) – the vast majority against northern Gaza. These figures are impressive, but a senior IDF source suggested that the destruction of all of Khan Yunis’s tunnels could take years to frame southern Gaza as still being very much mid-operation.
IDF soldiers operate in Gaza’s Khan Yunis area on December 21, 2023 (IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)
All indications are that the battle for Khan Yunis, as much as it is progressing in serious ways, could easily extend into “Stage 3” of the war – months past when the “main war” is expected to end by January 31.
Some of this can be attributed to the vast amount of time it took to move civilians out of harm’s way. Another reason is that Hamas’s top officials have less of a place to flee to from Khan Yunis the same way they could from northern Gaza, while another reason is that Khan Yunis Brigade chief Rafa’a Salameh and his commanders are considered among Hamas’s toughest.
Goldfus’ 98th Division has lost around 90 soldiers since October 7, 20 lost during the ground invasion.
IDF soldiers operate in Gaza’s Khan Yunis area on December 21, 2023 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)
IDF reports fewer Hamas counterattacks in Gaza
The IDF said particular progress was noted specifically in eliminating lookouts and against general Hamas morale. One example of this is that in the last week, the IDF said it saw fewer Hamas counterattacks than in the first two weeks of December.
In Khan Yunis, IDF sources suggested there was much more work to do on Hamas’s tunnel network and command structure. Goldfus said, “We are fighting with the enemy from location to location both above ground and below ground. The enemy built generally in Gaza – especially in Khan Yunis – a substantial tunnel network to fight us, to survive [our attacks], to move from place to place [unseen by the IDF]. We are forcing them out to fight them, and are destroying the [Hamas] infrastructure above and below ground.”
Military sources described facing four distinct kinds of fighting in different geographic landscapes of Khan Yunis. In small village areas, most attacks are from underground, as in where suddenly several Hamas forces emerge with rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
In agricultural areas, the IDF faces many more improvised explosives, while in built-up more urban areas, the IDF is being confronted with anti-tank missiles guided by lookouts, though Khan Yunis does not have as many buildings or as many very high buildings as Gaza City (at most, a small number of 12-floor buildings).
In Bani Suheila, a neighborhood in eastern Khan Yunis, the IDF has faced drone and rocket attacks, and more group counterattacks in general.
In another area, the IDF faces much more intense face-to-face fighting.
IDF soldiers operate in Gaza’s Khan Yunis area on December 21, 2023 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)
The IDF is also using information warfare to inject a wedge between the general Gazan population and Hamas, Goldfus explained. The name in Arabic for the informational warfare campaign refers both to “opening the gates of hell” for Hamas as well as “a new horizon” for Palestinian civilians.
Standing over the crater of what was once Sinwar’s house, Goldfus inverted an Arabic Hamas slogan for Hamas bringing a “deluge” of terror to Israel on October 7 into Arabic along the lines of “all that is left you is sand.”
Palestinians and their supporters this week condemned a proposal by an Israeli real estate developer specializing in the construction of illegal settlements to build beachfront homes for Jewish colonists over the bombed-out ruins of Gaza.
“A house on the beach is not a dream,” reads an advertisement published by Harey Zahav—an Israeli company notorious for building settlements in the illegally occupied West Bank—that drew international attention following last week’s Practical Preparation for Gaza Settlement Conference in Tel Aviv.
The ad depicts an artist’s rendering of luxury homes superimposed over an actual photograph of a Gaza neighborhood destroyed by Israeli attacks—which have killed nearly 20,000 people while displacing over 85% of the embattled strip’s 2.3 million people since early October.
While the Israeli government funds settler organizations, Harey Zahav’s proposal is not believed to be state-supported. However, critics noted that Israeli Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel has drafted a plan to forcibly expel Gazans into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, and that a separate proposal by the right-wing think tank Misgav Institute for National Security & Zionist Strategy declared that “there is currently a unique and rare opportunity to evacuate the entire Gaza Strip.”
Such plans have been compared with the Nakba ethnic cleansing of more than 750,000 Arabs—by deadly violence and forced displacement—from Palestine during the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948.
“An Israeli real estate firm is already cashing in on genocide, churning out blueprints to build Israeli homes in Gaza on land leveled by bombs,” activist Sarah Wilkinson said Tuesday on social media.
Harey Zahav’s proposal comes amid statements by Israeli political and military leaders that critics say incite or advocate genocide of Palestinians. Evem prior to the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, numerous Israeli officials called for the recolonization of a Gaza Strip from which some or all of the Palestinian residents—around two-thirds of them the descendants of Nakba refugees—have been removed.
While Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005, the besieged enclave is still considered occupied under international law.
END
Gadi Haggai, a 73 year old resident of Nir Oz murdered while in captivity
(Jerusalem Post)
Nir Oz resident Gadi Haggai murdered, body held by Hamas
Nir Oz resident Gadi Haggai, 73, was murdered during the October 7th massacre and his body is still being held by Hamas, Kibbutz Nir Oz announced on Friday.
His wife, Judith, was wounded and is still being held hostage by Hamas as well.
New Yorker and Canadian citizen Judith Weinstein and her husband, Gad Haggai, have been missing from Kibbutz Nir Oz since October 7, 2023 (Courtesy)
Kibbutz Nir Oz announces that 73-year-old resident Gadi Haggai, abducted on October 7, is dead.
It does not say how it received the information, but adds that Haggai’s body remains in the hands of Gaza terrorists. Haggai was a father of four and grandfather of seven.
His wife Judith remains captive and is believed to have been wounded during the attacks.
The two were out on a morning walk in the kibbutz fields when the October 7 attacks began. According to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, before they were taken, Judith had time to notify friends by phone that the two were shot and that Gadi was seriously wounded.
END
Benjamin Netanyahu to ‘Post’: Setting the record straight
Israel enables aid to Gazan civilians. Hamas blocks it.
By BENJAMIN NETANYAHUDECEMBER 22, 2023 15:21
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU leads a cabinet meeting at the Kirya in Tel Aviv, last Sunday. The prime minister has made little secret of his plan to remain in office after the war, the writer notes(photo credit: MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90)
On October 7, Israel was brutally attacked by Hamas terrorists. They murdered over 1,200 people, wounded hundreds, and kidnapped over 200 hostages. In the most lethal attack on Jews since the Holocaust, they raped and decapitated women, killed children in front of their parents, burned babies and mutilated bodies.
After the attack, Hamas officials vowed that they would repeat this savagery “again and again and again.” In the face of such an attack and such a threat, eliminating Hamas is a necessary and proportionate response.
Israel responded to the October 7 atrocities by waging a just war of self-defense
We set clear goals: Destroy Hamas, release our hostages, and ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel. We are committed to continuing the war until these goals are achieved. Once Hamas is destroyed, Gaza will have to be demilitarized and deradicalized. Those are the pillars for future peace.
Israel is pursuing its military goals in full compliance with international law.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a cabinet meeting at the Kirya, December 17, 2023 (credit: MENAHEM KAHANA/POOL VIA REUTERS)
Hamas has been doing upmost to put Palestinian civilians in harm’s way
Israel has been targeting Hamas terrorists, not Palestinian civilians. While we have been doing our utmost to keep Palestinian civilians out of harm’s way, Hamas has been doing its utmost to keep them in harm’s way. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) issued warnings to Palestinian civilians, asking them to evacuate intended combat zones and establish humanitarian corridors for their safe passage; Hamas, on the other hand, has been trying to prevent Palestinian civilians from leaving at gunpoint. We enable food, water, and medicine to enter Gaza for the civilian population; Hamas often diverts and steals these supplies for its use.
Israel did not start this war, but Israel will win it. The sooner we do so the better for Israelis, Palestinians, and for anyone seeking a peaceful Middle East.Advertisement
Benjamin Netanyahu is the Prime Minister of Israel
WEST BANK/ISRAEL
END
LEBANON/NORTHERN ISRAEL
IDF strikes Hezbollah as rocket fire continues
Israel reportedly gave mediators a six to eight week deadline to find a diplomatic solution for rising tensions with Lebanon.
Smoke rises from areas in Lebanon during strikes by Israeli warplanes, October 9, 2023(photo credit: David Cohen/Flash90)
The IDF struck targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in southern Lebanon on Friday morning as several rockets were fired from Lebanon toward Israel.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the rocket fire.
Later on Friday morning, Hezbollah announced that two of its members had been killed in the ongoing exchanges of fire along the Lebanese-Israeli border, bringing the total number of Hezbollah terrorists killed since October 7 to 121.
Mossad intends to target senior Palestinian terrorists in Lebanon
The Lebanese Ad-Diyar newspaper cited “diplomatic sources” on Friday as stating that the Mossad intends to target senior Palestinian terrorists, including Hamas’ Saleh al-Arouri and Osama Hamdan and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ziad Nakhalah.
A man climbs on the coffin of Hezbollah member Abbas Raad, senior Hezbollah figure and member of parliament Mohammad Raad’s son. (credit: ALAA AL-MARJANI/REUTERS)
Arouri, the deputy head of Hamas’s political bureau who has often been tied to the terrorist movement’s operations in the West Bank, has been highlighted in media reports since earlier this year as a potential target for assassination due to his role in West Bank terrorism.
The sources told Ad-Diyar that the threats are serious and that “exceptional measures” are being taken in the field. The report claimed that Bernard Émié, the director of the General Directorate for External Security, warned Lebanese officials about the threat during a recent visit to Beirut.
According to the Lebanese L’Orient-Le Jour newspaper, Israel has provided international mediators with a six to eight week deadline to find a diplomatic solution for the rising tensions with Lebanon. Israeli officials have told mediators that they’re willing to make a concession and accept that Hezbollah move only 10 km from the border instead of withdrawing all the way north of the Litani River.Go to the full article >>
END
LEBANON/ISRAEL
This is good! Lebanon ready to implement UN measure for Hezbollah to disarm. Israel will leave the disputed areas if they do so
(JERUSALEM POST)
Lebanon PM: Ready to implement UN measure for Hezbollah to disarm if Israel leaves disputed areas
BEIRUT — Lebanon is ready to implement a UN resolution that would help end Hezbollah’s cross-border attacks on Israel if Israel also complies and withdraws from disputed territory, Lebanon’s prime minister says.
The frontier between Lebanon and Israel has seen escalating exchanges of fire, mainly between the IDF and the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group, since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7 with the Gaza-ruling terror organization’s devastating onslaught, raising fears of a broader conflagration.
UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, called for the removal of armed personnel south of Lebanon’s Litani River, except for UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese army and state security forces.
The solution to the current cross-border hostilities “is the implementation of international resolutions,” including Resolution 1701, Prime Minister Najib Mikati says in a statement.
“We are totally ready to commit to their implementation, on condition the Israeli side does the same, and withdraws — according to the international laws and resolutions — from occupied territory,” he adds, which his office says refers to Mount Dov — also known as Shebaa Farms — the Kfar Chouba hills and the Lebanese side of the village of Ghajar.
END
LEBANON/ISRAEL
Hezbollah fires rocket barrage at northern Israel; IDF responds with Lebanon strikes
Israeli jets, artillery hit terror targets in southern Lebanon in response to fire; IDF’s Hagari says Hezbollah ‘continues to endanger the future of the entire state of Lebanon’
Smoke billows after Israeli strikes over Lebanon’s southern town of Kfar Kila near the border with Israel on December 21, 2023. (AFP)
Hezbollah fired a large barrage of rockets toward northern Israel on Friday morning, as Israel warned that the terror group was endangering Lebanon’s future.
Some 20 rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Shomera area in northern Israel, with additional rocket fire on other areas along the border.
The Israel Defense Forces did not not immediately publish information on potential casualties in the attacks.
In response to the rocket fire, responsibility for which was claimed by Hezbollah, the IDF said fighter jets carried out airstrikes against a series of sites belonging to the terror group in Lebanon.
It said the targets included military compounds where Hezbollah members operated, and other infrastructure belonging to the terror group.
In addition, the military said it shelled the rocket launch sites with artillery.
An Israeli Air Force fighter jet flies over the border area with south Lebanon, in northern Israel on December 20, 2023. (Jalaa Marey/AFP)
On Thursday evening, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said that Iran-backed Hezbollah was putting Lebanon at risk.
“Hezbollah has turned southern Lebanon into a combat zone and continues to endanger the future of the entire state of Lebanon for Hamas and Iran,” he said.
“We will continue to work to distance Hezbollah from the border,” he said.
FILE – IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari speaks to the press at the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv on October 18, 2023. (Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP)
Israel has said it will no longer tolerate the presence of Hezbollah along the northern frontier after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, in which thousands of terrorists burst into Israel from Gaza, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping over 240, mostly civilians.
Israel has increasingly warned that if the international community does not push Hezbollah forces away from its border through diplomatic means, it will take action.
In recent days, officials from the US and France visiting the region have sought to head off an escalation on the Lebanese front.
Hagari’s comments came hours after two Israeli civilians were wounded in an anti-tank missile attack from Lebanon on the northern town of Dovev, which occurred at the same time as another missile appeared to hit cars in the nearby community of Avivim.
Moments after the attack on Avivim and Dovev, a Home Front Command alert warned residents of other towns in the Upper Galilee of a suspected enemy drone infiltration.
A video showed what appears to be an interceptor missile exploding in the sky over the northern city of Safed, after the drone infiltration alert sounded in communities closer to the Lebanese border. Shortly after the blast, authorities gave the all-clear on the drone alarm.
Later, two anti-tank missiles were reported to have directly hit a home in Ramot Naftali, causing no injuries. A separate direct rocket hit was reported in Metula, also not causing casualties.
On Thursday afternoon, the IDF said it had carried out a new wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon following the attacks on northern Israel.
It said the sites hit by fighter jets included rocket launch sites, military buildings, and other infrastructure belonging to the terror group. Another site belonging to Hezbollah was targeted by aircraft, tanks, and artillery.
Additionally, the IDF said it shelled several areas along the border with artillery, presumably to prevent Hezbollah from carrying out attacks.
Several more rockets were fired from Lebanon at Arab al-Aramshe, but failed to cross the border, according to the IDF. It added that an aircraft struck the cell behind the launches.
Regarding the drone infiltration alarm that sounded earlier in the day, the IDF said it had identified a number of “aerial targets” that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon.
It said an interceptor missile was fired during the incident, and “the event is over,” without elaborating further.
Israeli reserve soldiers take part in a drill in the Golan Heights, December 19, 2023 (Michael Giladi/Flash90)
Several rockets were fired by Hezbollah at the northern city of Kiryat Shmona late Wednesday, causing damage but no injuries. The Kiryat Shmona Municipality said the salvo included at least eight rockets, two of which landed in the city, causing damage to infrastructure, homes, a preschool and cars.
Since October 7, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.
So far, the skirmishes on the border have resulted in four civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of seven IDF soldiers. There have also been several rocket attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
Hezbollah has named 121 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 16 Palestinian terror operatives, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 17 civilians, three of whom were journalists, have been killed.
END
IRAN/HOUTHIS/ISRAEL/USA/
This is a good commentary on the folly of the uSA with respect to Yemen
(Pepe Escobar)
Escobar: Yemen Ready To Stare Down A New Imperial Coalition
No one ever lost money betting on the ability of the Empire of Chaos, Lies and Plunder to construct a “coalition of the willing” whenever faced with a geopolitical quandary.
In every case, duly covered by the reigning “rules-based international order”, “willing” applies to vassals seduced by carrots or sticks to follow to the letter the Empire’s whims.
Cue to the latest chapter: Coalition Genocide Prosperity, whose official – heroic – denomination, a trademark of the Pentagon’s P.R. wizards, is “Operation Prosperity Guardian”, allegedly engaged in “ensuring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.”
Translation: this is Washington all but declaring war on Yemen’s Ansarullah. An extra US destroyer has already been dispatched to the Red Sea.
The Houthi military not only reaffirmed it has “weapons to sink your aircraft carriers and destroyers” but made a stunning call to both Sunnis and Shi’ites in Bahrain to revolt and overthrow their King, Hamad al-Khalifa.
As of Monday, even before the start of the operation, the Eisenhower aircraft carrier was around 280 km off the closest Ansarullah controlled latitudes. Houthis have Zoheir and Khalij-e-Fars anti-ship ballistic missiles with a range of 300 to 500 km.
Ansarullah Supreme Political Council member Muhammad al-Bukhaiti felt compelled to re-stress the obvious: “Even if America succeeds in mobilizing the entire world, our operations in the Red Sea will not stop unless the massacre in Gaza stops. We will not give up the responsibility of defending the Moustazafeen (oppressed ones) of the Earth.”
The world better get ready: “Aircraft carrier sunk” may become the new 9/11.
Shipping in the Red Sea Remains Open
Weapons peddler Lloyd “Raytheon” Austin, in his current revolving door position as head of the Pentagon, is visiting West Asia – mostly Israel, Qatar and Bahrain – to promote this new “international initiative” for patrolling the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb strait (which links the Arabian Sea to the Red Sea) and the Gulf of Aden.
As al-Bukhaiti remarked, Ansarullah’s strategy is to target any ship navigating the Red Sea linked to Israeli companies or supplying Israel – something that for the Yemenis demonstrates their complicity with the Gaza genocide. That will only stop when the genocide stops.
With a single move – a de facto maritime blockade – Ansarullah proved that the King is Naked: Yemen has done more in practice to defend the Palestinian cause than most of the key regional players put together. Incidentally, they were all ordered by Netanyahu in public to shut up. And they did.
It’s quite instructive to once again follow the money. Israel has been hit very hard. The port of Eilat is virtually closed, and its income fell by 80%.
For instance, Taiwanese shipping giant Yang-Ming Marine Transport Corporation originally planned to re-route its Israel-bound cargo to the port of Ashdod. Then it cut off any shipments to any Israeli destination.
It’s no wonder Yoram Sebba, President of the Israel Chamber of Shipping, revealed himself to be puzzled by Ansarullah’s “complex” tactics and “unrevealed” criteria that have imposed “total uncertainty”. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan have also been caught in the Yemeni net.
It’s crucial to keep in perspective that Ansarullah only blocks ships that are going to Israel. The bulk of maritime shipping in the Red Sea remains wide open.
So shipping giant Maersk’s decision not to use the Red Sea, alongside other global shipping behemoths, may be pushing the envelope too fast – as in nearly begging for a US-led patrol to be in effect.
Enter CTF 153
So far, on one side we have Yemen virtually ruling the Red Sea. On the other side, we find UAE-Saudi-Jordan tandem, in the form of an – alternative – cargo land corridor set up from the port of Jebel Ali in the Persian Gulf across Saudi Arabia to Jordan and then Israel.
The corridor uses logistical tech from Trucknet: that’s truck-based overland connectivity in practice, reducing transport time from 14 days via the Red Sea to a maximum of 4 days on the road, 300 trucks a day, everyday.
Jordan of course is in, operating the trans-shipment from the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
The overarching framework for all this is the One Israel plan, enthusiastically promoted by Netanyahu, whose key aim is a link with the Arabian peninsula and most of all the NEOM tech metropolis to be built theoretically up to 2039 in the northwestern Tabuk province in Saudi Arabia, north of the Red Sea, east of Egypt across the Gulf of Aqaba, and south of Jordan.
NEOM is MbS’s project to modernize the country, which is incidentally bound to feature Israel-operated AI cities.
This is what Riyadh is really betting on, much more than developing closer relations with Iran under the framework of BRICS+. Or to care about the future of Palestine.
On the planned naval blockade of Yemen though, the Saudis were way more circumspect. Even as Tel Aviv directly asked the White House to do something, anything, Riyadh “advised” Washington to exercise some restraint.
Yet as few things matter most for the Straussian neocon psychos who currently direct US policy than to protect the trade interests in the Red Sea of its aircraft-carrier in West Asia, the decision to set up a “coalition” was all but inevitable.
Enter the latest – actually fourth – incarnation of the Combined Maritime Force (CMF): a multinational coalition from 39 nations established in 2002 and led by the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.
The task force already exists: it’s CTF 153, focusing on “international maritime security and capacity building efforts in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb and Gulf of Aden”. That’s the basis for Coalition Genocide Prosperity.
Members of CTF 153 include, apart from the usual suspects US, UK, France and Canada, Europeans such as Norway, Italy, Netherlands and Spain, superpower Seychelles and Bahrain (the Fifth Fleet element).
Saudi Arabia and UAE, crucially, are not members. They know, after a seven-year war, when they were part of another “coalition” (the US was sort of “leading from behind”) what it means to fight Ansarullah.
All Aboard the Northern Sea Route
If the Red Sea situation turns really red, it will instantly shatter the Riyadh-Sanaa ceasefire. The White House and the US Deep State simply do not want a peace deal. They want Saudi Arabia at war with Yemen.
The Red Sea turned red will also send the global energy crisis into a tailspin. After all at least four million barrels of oil and 12% of total global seaborne-trade to the West transits the Bab al-Mandeb every single day.
So once again we have graphic confirmation that the Empire of Chaos, Lies and Plunder only calls for ceasefires when it’s losing badly: see the Ukraine case.
Yet no ceasefire in Gaza – supported by the overwhelming majority if UN member-states – runs the risk of metastasizing into an expansion of the war in West Asia.
That may fit into the clumsy imperial rationale of setting West Asia on fire to disturb China’s commercial BRI drive and the entry of Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE into the expanded BRICS next month. Simultaneously, and in tune with the absence of real strategic planning in Washington, that does not take into consideration an array of appalling, unintended consequences.
So according to imperial optics, the only path ahead is further militarization – from the Mediterranean to the Suez Canal, the Gulf of Aqaba, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. That fits exactly into the framework of the War of Economic Corridors.
An axiom should be set in stone: Washington would rather bet on a possible, deep global recession than simply allowing a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. The recession may well turbo-charge a widespread economic collapse of the collective West, and an even more rapid rise of multipolarity.
To offer much needed relief of so much insanity: almost casually, President Putin recently remarked that the Northern Sea Route is now becoming a more efficient maritime trade corridor than the Suez Canal.
end
Yemen/USA
(zerohedge)
Too Late For US Naval Deterrence In Red Sea After Biden Misled World On Houthi Attacks
THURSDAY, DEC 21, 2023 – 08:00 PM
It has become clear there’s a full-blown Houthi war on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. Weeks ago, we featured commentary that cited US defense officials who were frustrated that the Pentagon was being held back from responding forcefully against Houthis positions in Yemen by the Biden White House.
President Biden stood accused of “downplaying” the threat, as statements in Politico have underscored, “Some current and former military officials were frustrated by the administration’s initial response to the Houthis’ Sunday attacks on the ships.” This as some top military brass pushed for a more forceful response, lest the Iranian proxies grow more emboldened.
But more emboldened is precisely what has happened, as container ships are coming under drone and missile attack on a daily basis at this point, triggering delays and rising prices on goods as major liners avoid Red Sea transit altogether.USS Carney destroyer, via US Navy
Fast-forward to this week, now nearing the end of December and The Wall Street Journal has run an alarming but apt headline this which spells outU.S. Naval Deterrence Is Going, Going, Maybe Even Gone.
Increasingly, Biden’s desire to make nice with the Iranians in order to keep global energy prices down ahead of the 2024 election is translating to a posture of ‘looking the other way’—and some analysts worry it’s too late to reestablish deterrence.
The Commander-in-Chief hasn’t so much as ordered a military response when American warships in waters off Yemen themselves come under direct attack. Again, this is what has deeply frustrated Pentagon leaders, who feel handcuffed. In its fresh commentary, WSJ points to the reality and immediate consequences of the US Navy coming under attack, but failing to respond or decisively hit back:
Recently the news broke that the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Carney had fended off several missile and drone attacks in the Red Sea. While Biden administration officials tried to frame the battle, for a battle it surely was, as the Carney’s defending nearby merchant ships, it seems clear that Iranian-supplied Houthis were targeting the Carney directly as well as the commercial ships it was accompanying.
This was only one of several recent assaults on American naval assets in the region. They have happened despite the presence of the Ford carrier strike group in the eastern Mediterranean and the Eisenhower strike group in the Gulf of Aden—a conventional level of naval deterrence that should have reduced aggressive activities by U.S. enemies. Instead, Iran attacked American ships and allies.
But still, if the last 20+ years of the so-called global war on terror has taught Washington anything, it is that it’s hard to deter a hardened and determined ragtag army of insurgents with things like giant naval assets sitting off a coast which are designed to fight bigger, conventional wars.
Ships burn as White House dithers…
The WSJ along with beltway think tanks worry this shows US naval power to be in decline. We should add that this is perhaps but one symptomatic indicator that US Empire itself is in decline and in retreat amid foreign policy failure after failure. Writes WSJ further:
These events show that American naval deterrence is failing, and a recent report from the Sagamore Institute concludes that it could soonevaporate.
The report, “Measuring and Modeling Naval Presence,” models the effect of various ships and combinations of ships across a mix of maritime regions. The model pitted an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the U.S. Navy’s current utility platform of choice, against a People’s Liberation Army Navy Luyang III destroyer in several locations ranging from the high seas to the waters approaching the Taiwan Strait. It suggested that the deterrent value of American Navy ships operating in close proximity to a determined adversary has recently declined.
As expected, the report ends with a call to further bloat Pentagon budgets, saying “The Navy’s budget, size and force architecture all need urgent attention from Congress if the U.S. is to preserve its ability to deter its enemies. Failure to do so imperils global trade as well as America’s place in the world and the safety of its people.”
The below headline also just about summarizes the situation perfectly well…
But, we should add, there’s many other factors too. For starters, Washington has chosen to rush headlong into foreign quagmire after foreign quagmire.
From bases in Iraq to Syria, to naval battle groups in the Mediterranean and Mideast waters, this adventurism overseas has ultimately given the Iranians and their allies easy targets as US troops and assets are ‘sitting ducks’ – placed conveniently close to hostile forces. In the case of Syria, the US is engaging in massive oil, gas, and wheat theft – as an outgrowth of its last decade of regime change efforts against Assad in Damascus.
Simultaneously, the US has essentially given Israel a blank check to execute its war in Gaza, and consistently refuses international efforts at reaching lasting, permanent ceasefire. Washington is left with no exit and no ultimately strategy, yet all the while wants to see oil prices kept down, and trade routes open. As is usual in the region, the US wants its proverbial cake and to eat it too.
* * *
And as a reminder of the prescient Rabobank commentary we just featured…
Concerningly, Marine Tracker data suggests that the launch of Operation Prosperity Guardian has not been sufficient to prevent freight companies from diverting their largest container ships away from the coast of Yemen. The loss of prestige for the global hegemon will not have gone unnoticed by America’s adversaries, who will be emboldened by any signs of weakness.
Adding to the concern has been the lukewarm response of major allies invited to join Operation Prosperity Guardian. Canada committed no ships and opted instead to only send a clutch of staff officers while Australia (an AUKUS ally who fought with the United States in Iraq, Vietnam and Korea) also refused US requests to send a warship to the Red Sea.
The Australian Government claims the refusal was due to a preference to focus on interests in the Asia-Pacific region, but local media has suggested that it is actually because none of Australia’s 7 frigates and 3 air-warfare destroyers are appropriately equipped to deter attacks from cheap Houthi (Iranian) drones for any length of time. If this really is the case, it is an astonishing gap in capability that highlights the extent to which conventional fleets face disruption from small, cheap and agile adversaries. That doesn’t bode well for the security of supply chains elsewhere.
Of course, the situation in the Red Sea has created winners as well as losers. The winners again appear to be Russia and China.
end
YEMEN/HOUTHIS/IRAN/ISRAEL/USA
Iranian spy ships assisting Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping according to intelligence
(zerohedge)
Iranian Spy Ship Is Assisting Houthi Attacks On Red Sea Shipping: Intel Officials
FRIDAY, DEC 22, 2023 – 10:20 AM
The Houthi war on commercial shipping in the Red Sea just escalated in a big way, at least in the minds of national security officials. Western intelligence sources have issued new statements alleging that Iranian intelligence is directly assisting Yemen’s Houthi forces with targeting information, after more than two months of war in Gaza has seen some one hundred or so drones and missiles threaten both US warships and container vessels in regional waters.
“Iran’s paramilitary forces are providing real-time intelligence to Yemen’s Houthis that the rebels are using to direct drones and missiles to target ships passing through the Red Sea, Western and regional security officials said,” a Friday report in The Wall Street Journal says. This is reportedly via one or more Iranian spy ships which patrol the same waters.
“Tracking information gathered by a surveillance vessel controlled by Iran’s paramilitary forces in the Red Sea is passed to the Houthis, who have used it to attack commercial vessels passing through the Bab el-Mandeb strait in recent days, according to the officials,” according to the report.
This allegation of Tehran’s deepened involvement comes on the heels of the Biden administration having unveiled a multinational naval force to patrol and protect the Red Sea. It includes at least ten nations. This Red Sea chaos and uncertainty, which has seen several international shipping vessels struck by drones and missiles, suffering damage, has resulted in rising oil prices and insurance rates.
While weeks ago the Houthis declared they would target any Israeli-linked ship or vessel bound for Israeli ports, tankers of various flags and ownership have come under direct attack. More recently, US warships have actually been targeted too, as the WSJ in a prior report underscored:
Recently the news broke that the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Carney had fended off several missile and drone attacks in the Red Sea. While Biden administration officials tried to frame the battle, for a battle it surely was, as the Carney’s defending nearby merchant ships, it seems clear that Iranian-supplied Houthis were targeting the Carney directly as well as the commercial ships it was accompanying.
As for the new WSJ statements alleging an Iranian role, the report continues, “Many vessels sailing in the strait have been switching off their radios to avoid being tracked online, but an Iranian vessel stationed in the Red Sea is enabling the Houthi drones and missiles to accurately target the ships, the officials said.”
A Houthi statement has countered the allegations, however : “It’s strange to attribute everything to Iran as if it were the world’s strongest power,” a military spokesman said. “We have intelligence facilities that have proven themselves over the years of aggression against us.”
To a large degree, Iranian intel and weapons support to the Houthis is nothing “new” – it’s likely been happening going all the way back to 2015, when the Saudi-led coalition (which includes UAE and the US) began a large-scale bombing campaign against the Houthi rebels after they overran the capital of Sanaa. Throughout the Saud-Yemen war, Iranian missiles and drones have been recovered after being launched from Yemen.
Reports like this put US armchair hawks & Atlantic Council keyboard warriors on a war path…
The sourcing in the new WSJ report is interesting too, only referencing “Western and regional security officials.” This could easily simply be “American and Israeli security officials” – and really this ‘Houthis as Iran’s proxy’ is something they’ve emphasized for years.
But this moment is much more dangerous for the potential to see an eventual clash of Iranian and US forces in the Middle East. It seems we are one drone launch away from a bigger US-Houthi war, which again would have Iranian officers not so distant in the background.
END
ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS
well written!!
Ayelet Frisch/Jerusalem Post
Gaza on the day after – opinion
An analysis of the Israel-Hamas war by international strategic advisor Ayelet Frish.
By AYELET FRISHDECEMBER 22, 2023 14:32Updated: DECEMBER 22, 2023 17:15
As Israel’s ground operation in Gaza continues to progress in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 massacre of Israelis by Hamas and the war which followed, the unavoidable discussion about the fate of the Gazan people – their future inside the war-torn Strip – is becoming a central topic of debate. Leaders of the international community, especially in Israel, are contemplating and weighing the complex set of options that appear to be on the table. Finding a solution to this delicate and significant issue will require a comprehensive international plan of action and widespread consensus.
The post-war options for the future of Gaza have started to take shape, as world leaders are formulating plans for the day after the war. The main options that have risen to the top of the international discourse include: an Israeli military zone in northern Gaza resembling Israel’s “Area B” model in the West Bank, where Gazans will lead civil life while Israel retains security control inside the Strip; a multinational force, headed by the United Nations, that will govern Gaza, similar to the roll of UNIFIL in southern Lebanon today; the rule of a regional multinational government headed by moderate Arab states, such as those who normalized relations with Israel; or rule by the Palestinian Authority, the party which governs the the West Bank but is considered controversial and extreme amongst Israelis for its underlying support of terrorism.
In order to examine these possibilities, we must first consider one indisputable fact: The State of Israel after Oct. 7 is not the same country that existed on Oct. 6. The horrors that took place dramatically reduced Israelis’ belief in peace and coexistence with any Palestinian entity and severely damaged trust that the Palestinians could serve as potential peace partners. Many people in Israel who identify, or previously identified, as leftists, who advocated for a two-state solution, no longer believe that peace is the answer. Their dream was destroyed by the nightmare that ensued on that bloody Saturday.
Currently, most Israelis do not believe that Gaza can be handed to the Palestinian Authority or any other Palestinian entity for fear that within a few years, whoever would be left in charge would attempt another massacre.
The results of a recently published opinion poll highlight the lack of trust. According to the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, headed by Khalil Shikaki, 57% of respondents in Gaza and 82% in the West Bank believe that Hamas was justified in launching the October attacks. When asked if they believed that Hamas committed war crimes, only 5% of participants in the West Bank answered “yes” and only 17% in Gaza. When asked whether or not Hamas committed atrocities in Israel on Oct. 7 (slaughter, mutilation, beheading, raping and burning of Israeli civilians), the overwhelming majority answered “no” while only 7% (1% in the West Bank and 16% in Gaza) said it did. These polls indicate that a significant percentage of Palestinians support the evil and murderous acts of Hamas.
When decision makers in Israel examine these findings and realize that even in the West Bank, a clear majority of Palestinians support terrorism, they cannot begin to contemplate a withdrawal from Palestinian territories in order to enable the establishment of a free and independent Palestinian State.
This poll clearly shows that if zones of the West Bank had not been set up as “Area B”, with Israeli security control and military presence, the slaughter that came from within Gaza could have eventually emerged from within the West Bank as well. Advertisement
Further to this point, in the months since the war began, Israeli security forces arrested around 2,400 wanted terrorists across the West Bank, with around 1,200 believed to be affiliated with Hamas, foiling countless terrorist attacks, including attempted suicide bombings. During an IDF counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank city of Jenin earlier this month, Israeli forces seized dozens of weapons and hundreds of explosives, uncovering more than 10 tunnel shafts and a handful of terror operation centers, some of which were destroyed by Israeli troops. Leaders looking ahead at the post-war future in Gaza cannot ignore the terrorism brewing inside the West Bank.
In another poll conducted this week by the opinion polls company Midgam, headed by Mano Geva, published on Israel’s Channel 12 News, Israelis were asked if they would support or oppose handing over control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority in the day after the war. A total of 19% of participants answered that they are in favor of granting the PA control over Gaza, while 54% oppose and 27% are uncertain.
For generations, many Israelis grew up on the vision of two states for two peoples. A large portion of the Israeli population believed in peace with the Palestinians before the October attacks. The same Israelis who were slaughtered and kidnapped on Oct. 7, residence of Israel’s southern communities and kibbutzim, were amongst the strongest believers in the vision of coexistence. Their dreams were shattered after they saw the true face, the true evil, of Hamas on that day.
After the colossal breach of trust that shook Israelis and changed long-held perceptions, Israel cannot hand the keys to Gaza over to the Palestinian Authority as part of a two-state agreement, at least not in the immediate post-war future. The more likely outcome is an agreement in which Israel retains full military control over Gaza and ensures the complete demilitarization of any Palestinian entity ruling there.
It is important to emphasize that a majority of Israelis are opposed to Israeli rule over Gaza in which Israel would be responsible for education, infrastructure, and the health and welfare of Palestinian residents. Israel wants Gazans to govern themselves with the aid of international forces, but it must have a security presence in the Strip in order to maintain safety and stability after the war.
Any plan that is considered must take Israelis’ lack of faith in the Palestinians into account while allowing a local demilitarized Palestinian entity to manage civilian affairs in Gaza. Israel must also learn from past mistakes and ensure that the mechanism of money transfers into the hands of Gaza’s rulers is terminated. Billions of dollars entered the Strip throughout the years under Israel’s watch, money used by Hamas to fuel its terrorism machine and construct its underground web of terror tunnels. Israel paid the ultimate price for this policy and will need a paradigm shift in its approach in the day after the war.
The majority of Israelis want the children of Gaza to grow up with economic opportunities and high-quality education, with a school curriculum that does not include teachings of hatred for Israel and the Jewish people. Israelis want Gaza’s children to grow up to be good people who contribute to the good of the world. When Hamas and other terrorist groups are removed from power, the option for an independent Palestinian State will once again be on the table, as far as Israel is concerned.
Beyond Gaza, the question about the future of the West Bank needs to be asked as well. There too, terrorism is inevitably deterring the prospects of peace.
The world’s powers, primarily the United States, are currently pushing for a solution in Gaza that would include the West Bank and lead to the creation of a Palestinian state. A two-state solution needs people-to-people cooperation. At the moment, the Israeli people are bleeding from their wounds and there is a tremendous lack of trust and a great deal of suspicion after the attacks of Oct. 7. It is my belief that Israelis will come back to the table only once Hamas and the threat of terrorism is eradicated. Right now, Israel is focused on winning this war, and our army is making tremendous progress in its ground operation in Gaza. We cannot afford to take any additional chances.
When analyzing the day after the war, one cannot ignore the political ramifications within Israel. For Prime Minister Netanyahu, who already began his political campaign- depicting himself as Israel’s sole defender against the creation of a Palestinian state modeled on the Oslo peace accords-, the day after the war will present a major dilemma. It is obvious that Netanyahu’s biggest political rival Benny Gantz will leave the current wartime government as soon as the war ends. When Gantz pulls out of the coalition, the hard-right forces in Netanyahu’s government will retain their political influence, assuming that there are no further changes to the political makeup.
If that is the case, then Netanyahu will again be subject to the whims and desires of the extreme factions of his party: Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir. They will likely be opposed to any process that would give Palestinians any civil rule in Gaza. Prime Minister Netanyahu is usually cautious and opposes extremism, but in this case, he will have limited maneuverability. Smotrich and Ben Gvir have the power to break up the government, and if Israel goes to elections, Netanyahu’s ability to survive lies with his base of right-wing voters who are opposed to any civilian rule in Gaza.
As a citizen of the State of Israel, I have prayed and dreamed of peace between Israel and the Palestinians for decades, but I believe that this is not the time to pursue this shared dream. We cannot forget or ignore the evil and the depth of the terror that we have witnessed. We must sanctify life and secure our nation, and only then return to the subject of peace.
There are difficult days ahead for people like me, who still dream of the day where Jews and Palestinians will live side by side in peace and prosperity. But even if it takes time, I am not ready to give up on the dream. When the evil of terror is erased, when the children of Gaza will be taught about multiculturalism, common values, kinship and tolerance, when they’ll witness their leaders visiting Israel for serious peace talks like other leaders in the Arab world have done in the past, then we will see the vision of peace rise up again and hopefully this time, it will become the new reality.
END
/RUSSIA//UKRAINE
Being discussed now in DC by Russia
An excess of 500,000 dead Ukrainians + who knows how many wounded and missing
Complete Ukraine surrender.
Complete surrender of all military equipment.
Russian territory will range from Karkhov to Odessa, and gives Russia complete control of Black Sea coast.
Western Ukraine cannot join NATO, or have __any__ military aid.
Russia does not care who controls western Ukraine, and have openly offered it to Poland.
end
Lt Col Richard Hecht
end
GLOBAL VACCINE/COVID ISSUES
Growing Number Of GOP Candidates Pledge To Disavow COVID-19 Vaccine And Big Pharma
Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, a practitioner in Texas and founder of Coalition of Health Freedom, has used her platform on X, to call on candidates in races across the country to make clear their position on whether the COVID-19 vaccine should be pulled off the market and to publicly pledge that they will not accept campaign donations from pharmaceutical interests.
“Want to help? It’s primary season. Let’s replace the politicians who aren’t protecting their constituents,” Dr. Bowden said in a Dec. 17 post on X. “Ask your representatives … publicly whether they stand with 17,000+ doctors to support pulling the Covid shots off the market.”
Story continues below advertisement
The movement appears to be gathering momentum. In total, Dr. Bowden says 26 candidates and elected officials from 11 states have publicly signed on, stating that the shots must be pulled from the market.
David Lowe, a combat veteran and current stay-at-home dad who is running in the Texas Republican Primary for State Representative of District 91, told The Epoch Times that he was compelled to make the pledge out of principle.
“It is pretty clear that the numbers and the data behind the vaccine were not accurate and as a result we are looking at what is probably one of the greatest blunders in modern medical history,” said Mr. Lowe. “We started enforcing injections on people without having accurate information and it ended up costing lives.”
“This whole episode has been a dark blotch on our country and there needs to be change and that starts with our elected representatives,” added Mr. Lowe.
John Perez, who is running in the GOP primary for the House District 133 seat in Texas, cited the outsized influence pharmaceutical companies have had on the political system.
“I pledge right here and right now that I have not and will not accept donations or in-kind contributions from Big Pharma PACs or Big Pharma companies,” Mr. Perez wrote in a Dec 17 post on X, responding to Dr. Bowden’s challenge. “It comes down to individual choice and freedom – not the bottom line of big drug companies enabled by egregious government overreach.”
A poll conducted on Dr. Bowden’s social media account of her nearly 300k followers cited more than 94 percent of respondents answering that they would be “more likely” to support a candidate who did not accept money from pharmaceutical companies.
While the poll would presumably be skewed towards more right-leaning vaccine skeptics, it could prove relevant in a GOP primary in which political forecasters are predicting a number of tight races.
Candidates in New Hampshire, Kentucky, and Florida have also joined the movement with more expected as the message continues to spread across social media, according to Dr. Bowden, who says she began the call to action to expose politicians’ true interests.
“If you look at the data on the uptake of the latest COVID shot, it’s clear that most politicians are no longer getting this shot and are no longer giving them to their kids,” said Dr. Bowden.
“It is quite hypocritical; if it isn’t safe enough for their kids or themselves, how is it safer for their constituents?”
The past two years have seen the COVID-19 vaccines become mired in controversy. The original COVID-19 vaccines were taken by more than 80 percent of Americans after officials pledged that the shots would be effective in both preventing contraction and stopping the spread of the virus.
However, once it was revealed that the shots didn’t work as promised, interest in the subsequent booster shots decreased dramatically.
Vaccines could also be attributed to widespread reports of negative health outcomes believed to have been caused by the shots. COVID-19 vaccines have been named the primary suspect in over 1.5 million adverse event reports, according to the FDA Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) database. The numbers could be even higher. An FDA-funded study out of Harvard found that VAERS cases represent fewer than 1 percent of vaccine adverse events that actually occur.
Mr. Lowe says that while GOP voters have a diverse set of concerns, including crime, the border, and inflation, just because COVID-19 is off the front pages of the newspapers doesn’t mean it is out of mind for the constituents he is hoping to serve in his district.
“Conservatives and everyday votes have a growing concern about the vaccines and the influence of pharmaceutical companies on our political process,” said Mr. Lowe.
“We need to acknowledge that there is an issue and that it is something that is going to affect our country for years to come,” he said.
“A lot of people on the other side of this want to move on, but if we don’t take action the next time we have a so-called pandemic what is going to stop us from committing the same errors all over again? Every person running for political office needs to take the pledge.”
end
Interesting: health care trainee seeks 1.6 million in compensation
(zerohedge)
Danish Healthcare Trainee Seeks $1.6 Million Compensation After Severe COVID-19 Vaccine Injury
FRIDAY, DEC 22, 2023 – 04:15 AM
A 30-year-old Danish healthcare trainee is seeking $1.6 million in compensation through Denmark’s workers’ compensation program, after sustaining major injuries from a single dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, Berlingske reports.
Jasmin Jenson took the jab on February 27, 2021 – just 12 days before the Danish Health Authority paused the use of the vaccine. Jenson, who was interning at a residence for autistic individuals, experienced a reaction to the vaccine just hours after being injected. She subsequently became so ill that she had to give up her education.Jasmin Jenson (photo: Tobias Stidsen)
Jenson is now on disability pension due to constant headaches, concentration difficulties, and nearly chronic fatigue. Her loss of working capacity has been assessed at 90 percent, leading to a compensation of approximately 11 million DKK (US$1.6 million), according to the report.
This amount takes into account that she was only 30 years old when the injury occurred. The compensation would be paid out gradually, offset against her disability pension, and corresponds to the salary she could have earned as a healthcare assistant until she turns 73 in 2064, the age for public pension eligibility in Denmark.
Jensen’s employer, Fredericia Municipality, initially refused to report her case as a work-related injury, arguing that vaccination was voluntary. However, the case was reported only because Jensen herself did so with assistance from Danish trade union magazine, Fagbladet FOA.
Voices from the Ground: Jensen and the Municipality’s Director Weigh In
Jensen’s own recount of the events echoes the desperation of millions who were forced into vaccination to protect their livelihood: “Our leader was very clear in urging us to get vaccinated. I didn’t want to oppose it.”
Conversely, Mette Heidemann, the Director of Employment and Welfare at Fredericia Municipality, paints a picture of adherence to national recommendations and a hands-off approach to employee health decisions: “An employer cannot force employees to get vaccinated. An employer can only make recommendations.”
But they did…
Meanwhile, with 240 similar cases reported to the Danish Workers’ Compensation Board, each involving loss of working capacity post-COVID vaccination, the story of Jasmin Jensen is not an isolated incident but part of a larger, ongoing wave of lawsuits and claims that are piling up around the world.
end
Special thanks to Milan S for bringing this important commentary to us:
No end to corruption….
(Epoch Times) Main Stream Media….
Following a report alleging that an importer of rapid COVID-19 tests with billions in government contracts gave regulators incomplete data about the product’s accuracy in detecting the disease, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government will need to learn lessons to prepare for the next pandemic.
“During the pandemic, we were doing everything we could in unprecedented ways to get as many different ways of keeping Canadians safe as we possibly could, whether it was on rapid tests, whether it was on procurement of PPE, whether it was on contracts for vaccines,” Mr. Trudeau told reporters on Dec. 21.
“There’s no doubt that obviously lots of lessons to learn about things that worked really well, about things that we probably won’t be doing again in the next pandemic when it comes.”
On Dec. 21, Global News reported that the company BTNX, a small rapid COVID-19 test kit supplier, allegedly deleted dozens of samples from a study it submitted to Health Canada. The report alleges that company’s deletions made its test appear more reliable and sensitive than it was in actuality.
BTNX said it did not give inaccurate information to Health Canada, claiming in a response to Global News that it had “at all times operated with integrity and transparency, and have manufactured and distributed our COVID-19 rapid tests in accordance with Health Canada and international standards.”
Prior to COVID-19, BTNX’s revenue was based on harm reduction, such as selling kits used by people to test illicit drugs for deadly substances such as fentanyl. But the company received an estimated $2 billion through 15 federal contracts in 2021 and 2022, and provided 404 million COVID tests to the Public Health Agency of Canada, Global News says.
The tests were used across the country as a screening tool before Canadians returned to work, sent their children to school, and visited relatives in long-term care facilities, in addition to being relied on by government to determine whether to lift or intensify public health restrictions.
According to Global News, BTNX sourced its tests from a manufacturer in China called Assure Tech. When analyzing Assure Tech’s original evaluation and BTNX’s edited study, Global News said it found that BTNX had edited some details but kept the remaining data identical.
poses no imminent threat to Covid-19 vaccinees (vaccinated) will soon receive a shocking lesson; C-19 mass vaccination program transformed this natural pandemic into an immune escape pandemic..”
Vanden Bossche gave me permission to share this e-mail as written as he prepares to publish this as a report; you shall have the final report shortly:
‘In their incredibly naive belief that through technology, they can control biology, technocrats have been seduced into pursuing sophisticated technologies without fully understanding their biological impact. Their C-19 mass vaccination program not only transformed this natural pandemic into an immune escape pandemic but also into what must now be referred to as the largest and most dangerous gain-of-function experiment ever conducted in the history of biology—one that mankind has unleashed on its very own species….’
Start Geert’s e-mail actuall full here:
‘Dear all,
It’s impossible to convey the intricacies of my analysis through e-mail, but I must emphasize the impending emergence of yet another, but spectacularly different SARS-CoV-2 (SC-2) variant that I strongly predict to cause highly virulent vaccine breakthrough infections (VBTIs) in highly COVID-19 (C-19) vaccinated populations.
This conclusion can be drawn from the notable rise in the prevalence of JN.1, which has incorporated several replication-enhancing mutations beyond the spike (S) protein, combined with the concomitant increase in the C-19 hospitalization and mortality rates, as currently observed in the USA and several European countries.
Painfully, several scientists and so-called ‘experts’ persist in the belief that currently circulating variants, including JN.1, remain neutralized after vaccination with updated booster vaccines (e.g., with the XBB.1.5 vaccine). However, they don’t grasp that updated booster vaccines only confer a short-lived neutralization activity to the crossvariant S-reactive Abs previously induced as a result of immune refocusing following vaccine breakthrough infections (VBTIs) with newly emerging variants. This short-lived neutralization effect rapidly transitions into a more stable suboptimal infection-inhibiting (i.e., infection-mitigating) effect. The latter causes highly C-19 vaccinated populations to collectively exert immune selection pressure on viral infectiousness and, therefore, drives the propagation of more infectious variants!
These newly emerging, more infectious variants don’t leave enough time to the immune system of C-19 vaccinees to sustain the production of non-neutralizing Abs (NNAbs), the production of which used to be triggered by the interaction of previously induced neutralizing Abs that exhibit a strongly diminished neutralizing capacity towards the new infecting S variant.
NNAbs have repeatedly been reported to facilitate VBTIs with newly emerging SC-2 variants by virtue of their infection-enhancing effect. As the concentration of these NNAbs produced upon VBTIs in highly C-19 vaccinated populations will soon collectively decrease to suboptimal levels, SC-2 is poised to undergo a spectacular mutation to overcome the immune selection pressure collectively exerted by these Abs on the virus’s capacity to prevent their virulence-inhibiting activity. This implies that high infection rates in highly C-19 vaccinated populations will no longer benefit from a protective effect against severe C-19 disease.
The unexpected emergence of Omicron and its significant mutational changes in the receptor-binding domain of S protein (S-RBD) has caught us all off guard. The advent of Omicron was a scourge as it paved the way for the imminent appearance of a new variant, only expected to emerge much more suddenly and come with mutations (presumably in the O-glycosylation profile) that are even much more spectacular.
Unlike the previous situation with the advent of Omicron, the consequence this time will not be limited to heightened infectiousness but will be compounded by a high level of viral virulence.
As I repeated over and over again: “Society in highly C-19 vaccinated countries will be caught off guard”.
Unvaccinated individuals, though, have long since transitioned from adaptive humoral adaptive immunity to trained cell-based innate immunity to cope with the variants. Therefore, the feared variant poses no problem for a non-vaccinated individual in good health. That’s why I keep saying that ‘Africa will win’.
I am describing the above-summarized insidious immune subversive mechanisms in more detail in a new article; however, it may not be finished before the tsunami hits… What else can I do at this point other than to cite Sherlock Holmes:
“How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”
Last, but not least:
As the emergence of Omicron has unambiguously been driven by the large-scale C-19 vaccination program conducted in the middle of the SC-2 pandemic, all stakeholders of this mass vaccination program, starting with the WHO, are to be blamed and held accountable for the current deplorable evolution of this pandemic.
In their incredibly naive belief that through technology, they can control biology, technocrats have been seduced into pursuing sophisticated technologies without fully understanding their biological impact. Their C-19 mass vaccination program not only transformed this natural pandemic into an immune escape pandemic but also into what must now be referred to as the largest and most dangerous gain-of-function experiment ever conducted in the history of biology—one that mankind has unleashed on its very own species….’
END
View in browserThat was the key, a positive result with fraud PCR (used to manufacture a fake fraud non 0.05% IFR pandemic which was an EMERGENCY if any) did not mean you were INFECTED (SAGE gets it fully), norINFECTIOUS or that it was lethal pathological & that you would become severely ill or die; it never did! SAGE gets it & it was all a lie, COVID was a PCR manufactured LIE & it toppled 45, see my stackDR. PAUL ALEXANDERDEC 22READ IN APPSage’s NewsletterPerson Who Understands the QuestionIt’s a bloody good question, Sage. I don’t think you’ve really elicited a good answer yet. I haven’t given you one. I genuinely don’t think your original question was rhetorical but in practise, I think that it is. There is no legitimate use of the technique of PCR, configured to make, in the opinion of the manufacturer, a test. There’s nothing being test…Read more10 days ago · 92 likes · 175 comments · Sage HanaPerson Who Understands the QuestionWhat Was the PCR Test Even Designed to do and to what Plausible End?‘It’s a bloody good question, Sage. I don’t think you’ve really elicited a good answer yet. I haven’t given you one.I genuinely don’t think your original question was rhetorical but in practise, I think that it is.
Former AG: Jack Smith’s Special Counsel Appointment Is UnconstitutionalREAD MORE…
LATEST NEWS:
Top Expert: Soaring Vax Deaths Are Being Covered UpRead more…Bill Barr: SCOTUS Will ‘Slap’ Down Colorado Disqualification DecisionRead more…Is It Legal to Punish Trump for a Crime That He’s Never Been Convicted of Committing?Read more…Affidavit: Ex-G League player admitted to killingRead more…U.S. House quietly investigated separate sex tape scandalRead more…Of Course: Biden Admin Linked to Trump Ballot Ban in ColoradoRead more…McCaul Mulls Subpoena for State in Atheism Grant ProbeRead more…Robert De Niro Humiliates President Trump: ‘Joe Biden ‘On a Gurney’ Would Be Preferable to Trump’Read more…
North Korea’s Dictator Kim Jong-Un Sends a Dire Threat: ‘We Will Nuke America if It Makes Wrong Decision’North Korean Communist leader Kim Jong-un announced via state media on Wednesday that firing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was essential to “clearly show what action the DPRK has been prepared and what option the DPRK would take when Washington makes a wrong decision against it.” Kim’s comments were paraphrased in an article by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), …READ THE FULL REPORT
Robert De Niro Humiliates President Trump: ‘Joe Biden ‘On a Gurney’ Would Be Preferable to Trump’His intense hatred for former President Donald Trump is so overwhelming that he’d prefer a president rendered incapable, who is only able to blink his eyes, rather than enduring a potential second Trump administration. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Robert De Niro asserted his latest bold statement when questioned about whether Biden is the “right person” to face …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
8. EMERGING MARKETS//AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND ISSUES//
ARGENTINA
END
YOUR EARLY CURRENCY/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN CLOSING MARKETS AND EUROPEAN BOURSE OPENING AND CLOSING/ INTEREST RATE SETTINGS FRIDAY MORNING 7;30AM//OPENING AND CLOSING
EURO VS USA DOLLAR: 1.1027 UP .0018
USA/ YEN 142.11 UP 0.041 NOW TARGETS INTEREST RATE AT 1.00% AS IT WILL BUY UNLIMITED BONDS TO GETS TO THAT LEVEL…//YEN STILL FALLS//
GBP/USA 1.2718 UP .0034
USA/CAN DOLLAR: 1.3278 DOWN .0008 (CDN DOLLAR UP 8 BASIS PTS)
Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE CLOSED DOWN 3.94 PTS OR 0.14%
Hang Seng CLOSED DOWN 280.72 PTS OR 1.69%
AUSTRALIA CLOSED UP 0.03% // EUROPEAN BOURSE: ALL MOSTLY GREEN
Trading from Europe and ASIA
I) EUROPEAN BOURSES: ALL MOSTLY GREEN
2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang SENG DOWN 280.72 PTS OR 1.69%
/SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 3.96 PTS OR 0.14%
AUSTRALIA BOURSE CLOSED UP .03%
(Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED UP 28.58 PTS OR 0.09%
INDIA’S SENSEX IN THE GREEN
Gold very early morning trading: 2063.15
silver:$24.45
USA dollar index early FRIDAY morning: 101.26 DOWN 22 BASIS POINTS FROM THURSDAY’s CLOSE.
The USA/Yuan, CNY: closed ON SHORE CLOSED (UP) …7.1333
THE USA/YUAN OFFSHORE: (YUAN CLOSED (UP)…. (7.1526)
TURKISH LIRA: 29.26 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LEVEL/DEATH WATCH/HYPERINFLATION TO BEGIN.//ON DEATH WATCH
the 10 yr Japanese bond yield at +0.624…VERY DANGEROUS
Your closing 10 yr US bond yield UP 3 in basis points from THURSDAY at 3.906% //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%) very problematic
USA 30 yr bond yield 4.063 UP 3 in basis points ON THE DAY/12.00 PM
USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.332 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS.
Your 12:00 AM bourses for Europe and the Dow along with the USA dollar index closing and interest rates: FRIDAY: CLOSING TIME 12:00 PM
London: CLOSED UP 2.78 POINTS or 0.04%
German Dax : CLOSED UP 18.76 PTS OR 0.11%
Paris CAC CLOSED DOWN 2.58 PTS OR 0.03%
Spain IBEX UP 7.60 PTS OR 0.08%
Italian MIB: CLOSED UP 79.03 PTS OR 0.26%
WTI Oil price 73.95 12: EST
Brent Oil: 79.42 12:00 EST
USA /RUSSIAN ROUBLE /// AT: 92.00; ROUBLE UP 0 AND 15//100
GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD; +1.967 UP 2 BASIS PTS
UK 10 YR YIELD: 3.5310 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS
CLOSING NUMBERS: 4 PM
Euro vs USA: 1.1013 UP 0.0008 OR 8 BASIS POINTS
British Pound: 1.2703 UP .0021 or 21 basis pts
BRITISH 10 YR GILT BOND YIELD: 3.5310% DOWN 3 BASIS PTS//
JAPAN 10 YR YIELD: 0.623%
USA dollar vs Japanese Yen: 142.49 UP 0.422 //YEN DOWN 42 BASIS PTS//
USA dollar vs Canadian dollar: 1.3258 DOWN 0.0026 CDN dollar UP 26 basis pts)
West Texas intermediate oil: 73.55
Brent OIL: 79.16
USA 10 yr bond yield UP 1 BASIS pts to 3.903%
USA 30 yr bond yield UP 4 BASIS PTS to 4.054%
USA 2 YR BOND: DOWN 1/2 PTS AT 4.351 %
USA dollar index: 101.34 DOWN 14 BASIS POINTS
USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 29.23 (GETTING QUITE CLOSE TO BLOWING UP/
USA DOLLAR VS RUSSIA//// ROUBLE: 92.00 UP 0 AND 15/100 roubles
GOLD 2052.80 3:30 PM
SILVER: 24.14 3:30 PM
DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: DOWN 18.52 % PTS OR 0.05%
A weird week of macro data – strong jobless claims but weak labor market data from UMich; housing starts soared but new home sales crashed; rapidly slowing inflation all driven by goods deflation (as crude prices begin rising again). So macro surprises have flatlined for a week or two – even as financial conditions continue to loosen dramatically…
Source: Bloomberg
As Goldman’s Chris Hussey notes, “This week we got further data suggesting that we have not only landed softly, but that the principal concern of a successfully soft landing economy — that growth takes off again, triggering renewed inflation, and prolonging the Fed hiking cycle — is likely behind us.”
Small Caps soared almost 3% this week (its 6th straight week higher), now up 25% from the lows on Oct 27th. The Dow lagged on the week, but still managed gains while Nasdaq and S&P rallied for the 8th week in a row (the longest streak since 2017)…
Today was 0-DTE selling pressure again, like Wednesday (but on a smaller scale) and Thursday (which worked briefly but then was face-ripped).
The black line is the S&P 500. The red line is 0-DTE options delta flow…
‘Crap’ stocks – ok, profit-less tech – surged this week, but not before Wednesday’s 0-DTE-inspired crash wrecked some dreams…
Source: Bloomberg
…and no this is not the same chart, ‘most shorted’ stocks also followed the same pattern with a big squeeze at the cash open every day this week…
Source: Bloomberg
…and the biggest losers have become the biggest winners as financial conditions have eased…
Source: Bloomberg
The Bullish consensus is getting serious…
Source: Bloomberg
Are investors really excited about The Fed being forced to massively slash rates?
Rate-cut expectations surged to a new high this week, now pricing in 163bps of cuts in 2024…
Source: Bloomberg
If The Fed needs to cut rates that far, that fast, it won’t be because of slowing inflation – it will be because of accelerating depression… which ain’t good for stonks.
Nevertheless, the market is now pricing a 90% chance of The Fed starting to cut rates in March…
Source: Bloomberg
So much for the FedSpeak trying to jawbone the market back from its extreme reaction to Powell.
They better hope that cyclical inflation doesn’t ‘cycle’ back higher (cough Red Sea cough)… and/or that acyclical inflation falls fast…
Source: Bloomberg
Treasuries were mixed this week with the short-end the best performer by far but the long bond was the only segment of the curve to end higher on the week…
Source: Bloomberg
Which bull-steepened the curve quite notably on the week…
Source: Bloomberg
The dollar fell to its weakest since July, down for the 5th week in the last 6…
Source: Bloomberg
Ethereum soared today relative to bitcoin, but only enough to bring it back to unchanged (relative to bitcoin) on the week…
Source: Bloomberg
On the week, both ETH and BTC were up around 4% (while Solana soared 35%), with BTC holding around $44,000…
Source: Bloomberg
Gold is up 4 of the last 5 days, rising for the 5th week of the last 6 and back above $2050 spot to three-week highs…
Source: Bloomberg
Oil prices rose for the second week in a row, after seven straight weeks lower. The 3% jump in WTI was the best week since mid-October (finding resistance at $75)…
Source: Bloomberg
Finally, from a valuation perspective, things are getting a little pricey. It now takes the average American 1279 hours of work to earn enough to buy The Dow…
Source: Bloomberg
That’s quite a jump from the 225-hour average from 1965 to 1995 before Greenspan unleashed the activist Fed.
END
AFTERNOON TRADING//
TUCKER CARLSON
II USA DATA
Banks usage of the Fed’s bailout facility soars to new record highs at 131 billion dollars. RRP (Reverse Repo) rises a bit to 778 billion. Anything below 500 billion will be deadly
(zerohedge)
Banks’ Usage Of The Fed’s Bailout Facility Soars To New Record High
THURSDAY, DEC 21, 2023 – 04:40 PM
For the second week in a row, money-market funds saw outflows, down $16.1BN this week,
Source: Bloomberg
Once again, institutional funds were responsible for all the outflows (-$26BN) while retail funds continued their streak on inflows (+$10BN) that is unbroken since April…
Source: Bloomberg
In a breakdown for the week to Dec. 20, government funds – which invest primarily in securities like Treasury bills, repurchase agreements and agency debt – saw assets fall to $4.79 trillion, a $24 billion decline.
Prime funds, which tend to invest in higher-risk assets such as commercial paper, meanwhile, saw assets rise to $955 billion, a $7.66 billion increase.
“This is a turning point and you do start to see money move out of money markets, into riskier assets, into term rates to lock in higher rates,” Jeffrey Rosenberg, a portfolio manager at BlackRock Financial Management said in a Bloomberg Television interview.
“As cash rates start to come down, you’re penalized in 2024 for holding cash because the rates and the prospect of the rates is to go lower.”
So, is this divergence starting to narrow?
Source: Bloomberg
Notably, the exodus from The Fed’s reverse repo facility has stalled in recent days
Source: Bloomberg
Following the prior week’s unexpected $2.2BN rise, The Fed’s balance sheet resumed its shrinkage, down $15.5BN last week to a new cycle low…
Source: Bloomberg
Usage of The Fed’s BTFP bank bailout facility soared again last week, jumping $7.5BN to $131BN…
Source: Bloomberg
But Regional Bank shares still don’t care…
Source: Bloomberg
While this is, at first glance, a worry – bans are borrowing more to fill their balance sheet loss holes – there is another possibility.
An arbitrage for banks is growing more attractive thanks to traders who are betting the Fed will aggressively cut interest rates in 2024.
The rate on the Fed’s Bank Term Funding Program – which allows banks and credit unions to borrow funds for up to one year, pledging US Treasuries and agency debt as collateral valued at par – is the one-year overnight index swap rate plus 10 basis points.
That figure is currently 4.88%, down from 5.17% on Dec. 13.
For institutions that have an account at the Fed, they can borrow from the BTFP at 4.88% and park that at the central bank to earn 5.40% – the interest on reserve balances.
The 52bp spread matches the widest level since the Fed introduced the facility to support a struggling banking system after the collapse of California’s Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in New York.
Finally, equity market caps continue to soar after recoupling with bank reserves at The Fed (though the stalling in the drawdown of the RRP has slowed the expansion this week)…
Source: Bloomberg
Of course, with The Fed’s massive pivot yesterday, sending yields plummeting, regional bank balance sheets may be rescued… for now. Until the next wave of inflation hits…
END
US Durable Goods Orders Surge Most Since July 2020, But…
FRIDAY, DEC 22, 2023 – 09:10 AM
The last few months have been volatile – to say the least – for US durable goods orders, November saw orders surge 5.4% MoM – the biggest monthly jump since July 2020. This sent year-over-year orders growth up 10.1% – the highest since May 2022…
Source: Bloomberg
The headline orders print was more than double the +2.3% MoM expected and Ex-Transports, durable goods orders jumped 0.5% MoM (+0.1% exp).
The surge in orders was primarily based on non-defense aircraft & parts orders surging 80.1% MoM – as goes Boeing, so goes the S&P 500?
Source: Bloomberg
However, core capital goods shipments, a figure that is used to help calculate equipment investment in the government’s gross domestic product report, declined for the second month in a row, dragging YoY growth down to +1.0% – the lowest since Feb 2021…
Source: Bloomberg
So, apart from Boeing, things maybe aren’t full Goldilocks after all.
END
US New Home Sales Crash In November, Despite Plunging Rates
FRIDAY, DEC 22, 2023 – 10:11 AM
While existing home sales bounced very modestly off record lows in November, it has been the ‘strength’ of new home sales – with buyer heavily subsidized by homebuilders – that has held up the housing market.
Of course, investors don’t care about actual fundamentals, rates are down so ‘buy buy buy’ the builders…
Source: Bloomberg
Trouble is, even as mortgage rates have plunged recently, applications for home purchases has continued to decline…
Source: Bloomberg
And while mortgage rates have declined (rapidly), they remain massively high relative to the effective mortgage rate for all Americans. That difference is the ‘subsidy‘ that homebuilders have to fill to enable buyers – and it’s still yuuuge!
Source: Bloomberg
So, just how many new homes were sold in November?
The last few months have been very choppy for new home sales but November clarified that homebuilders just hit a wall on their subsidization!
New home sales crashed 12.2% MoM – the biggest MoM drop since April 2022. That dragged the YoY change to just 1.4%…
Source: Bloomberg
9 of the last 10 months have seen downward revisions to the new home sales SAAR!
Source: Bloomberg
New home sales fell in the South by the most, followed by the West. The Northeast and Midwest saw increased sales…
Source: Bloomberg
The new home sales SAAR printed 590k (well below the 690k exp) – the lowest since Nov 2022… catching down to existing home sales reality…
Source: Bloomberg
And another catch-up to reality for sales, even as rates tumble…
Source: Bloomberg
Finally, we note that the median new home priced jumped to $434.7k from $414.9k…
Source: Bloomberg
The median existing home price dropped to lowest since April while median new home price jumped to highest since August
Odd that these ‘actual’ new home sales are plunging as ‘soft survey’ data shows homebuilder sentiment rising, and housing starts.
end
Just government expenditures.. Economy is still in big trouble
(zerohedge)
US Durable Goods Orders Surge Most Since July 2020, But…
FRIDAY, DEC 22, 2023 – 09:10 AM
The last few months have been volatile – to say the least – for US durable goods orders, November saw orders surge 5.4% MoM – the biggest monthly jump since July 2020. This sent year-over-year orders growth up 10.1% – the highest since May 2022…
Source: Bloomberg
The headline orders print was more than double the +2.3% MoM expected and Ex-Transports, durable goods orders jumped 0.5% MoM (+0.1% exp).
The surge in orders was primarily based on non-defense aircraft & parts orders surging 80.1% MoM – as goes Boeing, so goes the S&P 500?
Source: Bloomberg
However, core capital goods shipments, a figure that is used to help calculate equipment investment in the government’s gross domestic product report, declined for the second month in a row, dragging YoY growth down to +1.0% – the lowest since Feb 2021…
Source: Bloomberg
So, apart from Boeing, things maybe aren’t full Goldilocks after all.
III USA ECONOMIC COMMENTARIES
USA/RUSSIA
Biden is a total moron
(Mish Shedlock)
White House Hysteria: New Domino Theory, Putin Won’t Stop With Ukraine
In an effort to get Republicans to commit hundreds of billions of dollars for Ukraine and Israel, Biden trots out the Domino Theory. Anyone remember that?
President Joe Biden pleaded with Republicans on Wednesday for a fresh infusion of military aid for Ukraine, warning that a victory for Russia over Ukraine would leave Moscow in position to attack NATO allies and could draw U.S. troops into a war.
Biden spoke as the United States planned to announce $175 million in additional Ukraine aid from its dwindling supply of money for Kyiv. He signaled a willingness to make significant changes to U.S. migration policy along the border with Mexico to try to draw Republican support.
“If Putin takes Ukraine, he won’t stop there,” Biden said. Putin will attack a NATO ally, he predicted, and then “we’ll have something that we don’t seek and that we don’t have today: American troops fighting Russian troops,” Biden said.
Western analysts went straight from complacency to panic in their assessment of Vladimir Putin. When Ukraine pushed back, western commentators went as far as to fantasise about regime change in Russia; now the same commentators are warning that Putin is about to occupy Kiev, and then go on to attack Nato.
This is utter nonsense. We have warned against under-estimating him. Now we warn against over-estimating him. It takes more than a ban on sales of iPhones and Mercedes cars to deprive him of the technology needed to wage war. At the same time, Putin does not have the means, nor is he unlikely to acquire them, to wage war against Nato – not even a Nato with Donald Trump as US leader.
Nato has rightly started to take the defence of its eastern borders more seriously. Finland has just concluded a military deal with the US. So did Sweden. Germany is planning to dispatch an entire brigade to Lithuania. The west is not helpless.
Putin has troops he can burn, but the rate at which he is burning them now is unsustainable for him, both militarily and politically. The unsustainable can be sustained for a period, sometimes a long period, but it ends eventually. We heard of a three-year battle plan into 2026. In the end, he will go along with a truce that would secure him some territory in eastern Ukraine and expose the west’s grandstanding rhetoric. Such an outcome would be perceived in Russia as a political victory for him.
After the war, we would expect his priority to shift towards infrastructure. Russia has a lot to offer given its geographical location at the centre of the Eurasian continent. The most important strategic project for Russia would be the development of the Northern sea route, from the Baring Sea in the east to the North Sea in the west. The melting of the Arctic ice is making this route viable for large transport. But it would require huge investment into port infrastructure along the way. Post-war Eurasia will be a different place.
The Domino Theory Revisited
Younger readers may not even be aware of the Domino Theory. The theory stated we need to fight them “over there” or we would be fighting them here.
The result was US involvement in Vietnam, initially in a limited fashion, but ultimately in a major war, with overall involvement lasting nearly 20 years.
About 8.7 million served during the Vietnam era between 1964-1973, about 3.1 million in Vietnam. 2.2 million people were drafted. 58,279 US military died for nothing and total deaths in North and South Vietnam were about 1.4 million.
The US lost the war, dominos did not fall, and Vietnam is now a trading partner.
The Domino Theory stated simply that Communist victory in one country or region would spark neighboring regions to rise up against pro-American governments, which would lead to more victories and further insurgencies. By keeping the first domino upright—in this case Vietnam—the US could prevent Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and even India from succumbing to Communist takeovers.
It’s striking that the biggest proponent of the Domino Theory during the war, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, later confessed, “I think we were wrong. I do not believe that Vietnam was that important to the communists. I don’t believe that its loss would have lead – it didn’t lead – to Communist control of Asia.”
In retrospect, said McNamara, “we should have begun our withdrawal from South Vietnam [in 1965]. There was a high probability we could have done so on terms no less advantageous than those accepted nearly six years later–without any greater danger to U.S. national security and at much less human, political, and social cost to America and Vietnam.”
In Retrospect
In retrospect, we had no business in Vietnam first place.
In retrospect, I would have spit on McNamara then and would spit in his face now if he was still alive.
In retrospect, US meddling in Ukraine led by John McCain fomented the mess we see today. I strongly advised against US meddling at the time.
In retrospect, US support for Israel, no matter what Israel did, contributed to the setup we have today.
In retrospect, the war in Iraq and the killing of Hussein led to the formation of ISIS. I vehemently opposed US actions at the time.
In retrospect, the US killing of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi led to ISIS taking over the country.
In retrospect, the US wasted trillions of dollars in Afghanistan, also leaving in defeat. Once again, I said so ahead of time.
Please don’t make a fool of yourself comparing Putin to Hitler, or Mideast events to WWII. Israel has proven it can defend itself. And US support for Israel for decades, no matter what, has at a minimum, increased tensions. This post does not support Hamas which Israel has a right to destroy.
No Change
I was against US meddling in 1966 and have been against meddling ever since. And I have been on the right side of history.
The US cannot afford to be the world’s policeman and the results of trying have backfired every time (assuming perpetual war is not the desired goal).
END
IIIB USA COMMENTARIES RE ISRAEL/HAMAS WAR/ and PERVASIVE ANTISEMITISM
NY Times Blasts Harvard’s Gay In Detailed Plagiarism Review As Scandal Spirals Out Of Control
THURSDAY, DEC 21, 2023 – 10:45 AM
The New York Times has come out with a scathing article, analyzing five instances of plagiarism committed by Harvard President Claudine Gay.
To review, Gay has been credibly accused of more than 40 acts of plagiarism during her tenure at Harvard – which the university secretly investigated, threatened journalists over, and ultimately concluded was no big deal – clearing her of breaching Harvard’s “standards for research misconduct.”
Not so fast…
The Times, looking at just five examples of Gay’s plagiarism, wrote: “her papers sometimes lift passages verbatim from other scholars and at other times make minor adjustments, like changing the word “adage” to “popular saying” or “Black male children” to “young black athletes.””
In one lengthy section, Dr. Gay discusses the formation of a coalition called the Unified Movement Against Racial Discrimination.
She describes the “expulsion of four young black athletes from the volleyball team of the Tiete Yacht Club because of their color.”
Three years earlier,David Covin, then a professor at California State University, Sacramento, wrote about “the dismissal of four Black male children from the volleyball team of the Tiete Yacht Club in May, 1978, because of their color.” His paper, “Afrocentricity in O Movimento Negro Unificado,” appeared in the Journal of Black Studies.
Dr. Gay’s paper does not attribute the passage about the athletes to Dr. Covin, who died this year, nor to a source whom Dr. Covin credited in his paper. Dr. Covin’s name does not appear in the suggested further reading at the end of the paper. –NY Times
Gay even plagiarized an acknowledgements section!
And yet, now she’s ‘correcting’ a few things. So kids, if you get caught plagiarizing (and you’re a in a protected class), you get a do-over, or five.
“It’s troubling to see the standards we apply to undergrads seem to differ the standards we apply to faculty,” Harvard professor of government and longtime liberal stalwart, Theda Skocpol, told the Times on Wednesday.
Meanwhile… it’s just getting worse and worse for Harvard and Gay.
When does the scandal factor exceed wokeness quotient?
end
FREIGHT ISSUES/USA
END
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON
end
USA// COVID//VACCINE/
end
SWAMP STORIES
Border crisis triggers chaos across America’s food export market
This week, news of the Biden administration’s southern border crisis continuing to spiral out of control comes as no surprise. However, what’s alarming is the closure of international rail border crossings in Texas that could disrupt food trade between the US and Mexico.
Bloomberg reports more than 40 US food companies and associations have penned a letter to the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, requesting the federal government to immediately reopen the El Paso and Eagle Pass international rail crossings.
Both rail crossings were closed earlier this week by the US Customs and Border Protection because of President Biden’s disastrous open southern border crisis, which led to tens of thousands of migrants, if not more, using freight trains to traverse Mexico north to the US.
“The crossing closures are causing exports to be lost,” the coalition said in the letter obtained by Bloomberg.
The letter, signed by the National Grain and Feed Association and the National Corn Growers Association, said the $28.5 billion market for US agricultural exports could be severely disrupted if a prolonged shutdown of the border is seen.
They said a logjam has formed on rail networks in at least six states due to the border crossing shutdowns.
“We have also heard of customers in Mexico telling US suppliers they will begin to look to other countries if the US cannot provide a resilient and reliable supply chain,” the letter said.
The letter warned: “Each day the crossings are closed we estimate almost 1 million bushels of grain exports are potentially lost along with export potential for many other agricultural products.”
Radical progressives in the White House who have championed open southern borders through Biden’s first term are now sparking what appears to be the beginnings of supply chain chaos that is only hurting American farmers.
None of this would be happening if Democrats in the White House enforced ‘common sense’ law and order on the southern border. But it has become quite apparent that open borders, flooding blue cities with millions of illegals, is what Democrats wanted right before the incoming presidential election cycle (read: here).
END
Should Texas Ban Biden From The Ballot For Not Securing The Border?
Wouldn’t it make as much sense as Colorado’s ban of Trump?
I am not seriously proposing that, but apparently it is under discussion in Texas following a ridiculous decision by the Colorado Supreme Court to ban Trump from the Colorado ballot on grounds of insurrection.
Take the Colorado Supreme Court majority, and its laughable claim in its decision this week that it didn’t “lightly” reach its finding of Trump-as-insurrectionist and was “mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions” and “solemn” about it. The opinion was in fact so wild—glossing over basic questions of due process, federalism and the Constitution—that three liberal justices strongly rejected it. The majority knew it would be left to the U.S. Supreme Court to clean up their mess.
There was a day when the professional class—in particular prosecutors and lower-court judges—cared about institutions at least as much as about winning. Not this crew. What makes their actions more deplorable is the cynical view that harming the high court is an added benefit, not a cost. They come amid a vicious campaign to vilify the court as partisan and corrupt. If the justices rule against Mr. Trump in these suits, the left accomplishes an immediate political goal. If they rule in Mr. Trump’s favor, the left smears the justices and ramps up its campaign to pack the court.
The Supreme Court may have no choice but to hear and decide these cases. But there are better and worse outcomes. The biggest question now is whether the three liberal justices understand the grave risks of this lawfaring agenda—not just to the immediate moment, but to the future health of the nation. Do they sign up for the campaign with opinions that justify novel legal theories and the judicial usurpation of elections—in the process inviting more special counsels, more rogue court decisions, more litigation? Or do they recognize this game for what it is, acknowledge the sound legal reasons for why no one has attempted such reckless prosecutions and lawsuits before, and send a message it needs to stop?
The best outcome would be a string of 9-0 Supreme Court decisions that put a decisive end to the current upheaval and discourage a repeat. There’s a much easier way—for all involved—to settle the nation’s political disputes. It’s called an election. Let’s have one, and live with the results.
Novel Legal Theories
Here’s the question at hand: Should Texas Ban Biden from the Ballot?
Mr. Trump hasn’t been convicted of insurrection by a jury or judge. It seems to me that when and if he is, a state court might feel free to remove his name from a ballot. Until he is, they shouldn’t. Because without conviction, whether Trump committed insurrection is a matter of opinion and argument. With conviction it can be asserted as proven fact.
The southern border of the state of Texas is in functional collapse, with an unprecedented wave of illegal immigrants entering the U.S. The Washington Post this week likened the border area to a “Mad Max” world of cut-through barriers and debris. Fox News on Wednesday showed an order instructing a recently crossed migrant to report to U.S. immigration officials to make her case to stay in America. Fox showed the date on the order: January 2031. An immigration lawyer said it is proof of what illegal immigrants already sense: The administration is in effect granting back-door amnesty to all who come. And so they’re coming. Among them are—again the number is unprecedented—natives of China, India, Africa, Turkey. This is a challenge to our national security that most won’t begin to worry about until something bad happens. The Department of Homeland Security reported this week that 35,000 illegal immigrants with criminal convictions were encountered in fiscal 2023. That’s only the number caught. In October alone, Customs and Border Protection reported apprehending 13 people on the terrorist watchlist. Again, that’s only the number caught. What a disaster.
If Colorado is able to ban Mr. Trump from the ballot over charges of insurrection, can Texas ban Joe Biden from the ballot on grounds he has defied his constitutional responsibility to defend the country by securing its borders? There are politicians in Texas already promising to do just that.
Spirit of the Decision
Noonan says “I sympathize with the decision’s spirit, but it was a dangerous move in a deeply divided country.”
I don’t have sympathy with the “spirt” because who gets to decide that?
Under guise of spirit, Texas banning Biden from the ballot make about as much sense as Colorado’s ban of Trump.
Biden’s Spirit
This country is in one hell of a mess because of Biden’s spirt. He has repeatedly rebuffed Supreme Court rulings on student loans, eviction moratoriums, and the EPA.
Literally everything this president does begs for more inflation (tariffs, regulations, EPA rulings, declaring war on fossil fuels, child tax credits, student loan forgiveness, etc. etc. etc.)
I am sick of people thumbing their noses at the Supreme Court and wanting to pack the Court to get what they want.
Trump’s Spirit
Trump defenders will have you believe it’s acceptable to call Chris Christie a pig, Nikki Haley a birdbrain, and DeSantis “DeSanctimonious”.
In the spirt of things, his supporters overlook his extreme arrogance, narcissism, belittling everyone, and his preposterous lies like “Mexico will pay for the wall”, “tariffs will shrink national debt”.
Like Biden, Trump also supports tariffs. Right now they are engaged in a competition as to who can do the most tariff damage.
As a result of all of this “spirit” (on both sides of the aisle), we will have to make a decision between Trump and Biden.
Biden promised to be a healer. In reality he is just as divisive as Trump with his extreme Left policies. The big difference is Biden far more polite about things.
They both deserve to lose. Unfortunately, one of them will win.
Forced Choice
Forced at gunpoint to choose, I would vote tor Trump. In practice, I will not vote for either of them. I will again vote Libertarian.
I would especially appreciate someone who favored free trade, was willing to tackle the deficit (military spending and entitlements), and was genuinely anti-war. Socially, I want someone to mind their own business.
Such a candidate would win this election in a landside. Unfortunately, opposing spirits will not let either party nominate that person.
The Devil We Had Is Better Than the Devil We Got
Independents will decide this election once again. The polls favor Trump.
I concur for economic reasons, but I sure would prefer a different set of choices.
END
Big news at the end of the day. Supreme Court rules against Smith and will not expedite Trump immunity clash
(zerohedge)
Supreme Court Rules Against Special Counsel, Will Not Expedite Trump Immunity Clash
FRIDAY, DEC 22, 2023 – 02:35 PM
The Supreme Court’s new docket just dropped, notably without expedited consideration of Trump’s claim of presidential immunity in his 2020 election interference case – a critical question which will determine whether he can be put on trial for trying to overturn the results of the last presidential election.
The one-sentence order, with no noted dissents, means that a federal appeals court in Washington will be the first to review a district judge’s ruling earlier this month which rejected Trump’s claim of immunity – with arguments scheduled to begin Jan. 9.
The move (or lack thereof) comes eight days after the USSC agreed to consider whether to expedite consideration of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s petition to short-circuit the appeals court and immediately weigh in on Trump’s claim of presidential immunity to try and have the case tossed.Smith argued that public interest required intervention now so that his well-timed case against the former president could proceed as scheduled in March.
“This case involves — for the first time in our Nation’s history — criminal charges against a former President based on his actions while in office,” Smith said in his filing, requesting the abnormally fast review. “And not just any actions: alleged acts to perpetuate himself in power by frustrating the constitutionally prescribed process for certifying the lawful winner of an election.”
Trump’s attorneys, on the other hand, argued that the case was too important to be rushed, and that Smith was doing the bidding of Joe Biden’s reelection campaign – saying that the special counsel “confuses the ‘public interest’ with the manifest partisan interest in ensuring that President Trump will be subjected to a months-long criminal trialat the height of a presidential campaign where he is the leading candidate and the only serious opponent of the current Administration.”
“The combination of an almost three-year wait to bring this case and the Special Counsel’s current demand for extraordinary expedition, supported by the vaguest of justifications, creates a compelling inference of partisan motivation,” Trump lawyer D. John Sauer wrote.
The move comes after Trump appealed an appeals court judge’s rejection of that argument.
The setting of Trump’s DC trial for the spring of 2024 – conveniently scheduled one day before the Super Tuesday primaries – was undoubtedly the result of a shared interest between the Special Counsel and the presiding judge, Tanya Chutkan: to convict Donald Trump before the 2024 election. Moreover, given the 11+ million pages of documents involved in this case, the hundreds (if not thousands) of hours of video and audio, and the hundreds of witnesses, the accelerated trial date was a violation of Trump’s Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel, which includes the opportunity to prepare for trial.
The Special Counsel’s DC case against Trump comprises novel legal theories that have never been tried in American courts, most notably whether Presidential challenges to an election can be criminalized under the United States code. The attorneys for Trump have filed lengthy and well thought-out motions, reasoning that the Constitution and the doctrine of presidential immunity required dismissal of this criminal case. Judge Chutkan denied each one in her desire for a quick trial.
This is the last thing Smith wanted…
END
THE KING REPORT
The King Report December 22, 2023 Issue 7145
Independent View of the News
Once upon a time, Street pundits, analysts, and hucksters regularly scolded the masses that the stock market was ‘forward looking’ and not concerned about the past. This notion was debunked on Thursday when ‘the market’ reacted strongly to economic data that is three months old and ignored other data.
US Economic Data Released on ThursdayQ3 GDP 4.9% annualized q/q, down from 5.2% (5.2% expected)Initial Jobless Claims 205k; 215k expected. Continuing Claims 2.865m; 1.88m consensus.LEI -0.5% as expected; prior revised to -1.0% from -0.8%Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Activity -10.5, -3.0 expected, -5.9 prior; New Orders -25.6, but Prices-Paid rose to 25.1 from 14.8! Euphorically bullish traders and biasedly-programed algos went gaga over the Q3 GDP revision because it supports the narrative that a Fed Pivot is nigh.
Key changes to Q3 GDP4.9% annualized q/q, down from 5.2% (5.2% expected)Personal Consumption 3.1% from 3.6% (3.6% consensus)GDP Price Index 3.3% from 3.6%Core PCE Price Index 2.0% q/q from 2.3%Government contributed 0.99 to Q3 GDP, up from 0.94 in the second Q3 GDP estimate.Consumption contributed 2.11, down from 2.44Fixed Investment is 0.46 of GDP, up from 0.42Private Inventories added 1.27, down from 1.40 The BEA: “Real gross domestic income (GDI) increased 1.5 percent in the third quarter, the same as previously published.” (Full report & tables) https://www.bea.gov/sites/default/files/2023-12/gdp3q23_3rd.pdf
Gross Domestic Income should approximate GDP. It has diverged starkly for several quarters!
Christmas shopping season disappoints German retailers –Ifo The Ifo economic institute said its business situation indicator for retail slumped to -12.1 in the final month of the year, from -8.8 in November… “Customers continue to exercise noticeable restraint, and this is likely to give retailers a difficult start to 2024,” Hoeppner said… https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/christmas-shopping-season-disappoints-german-retailers-ifo/ar-AA1lPpql
UK Retailers Report Weak Christmas Trading, CBI Survey Finds – BBG UK retailers have reported a gloomy Christmas trading period, hinting at a weakening in the UK economy as 2023 draws to a close…
UK Dec. CBI Retail Sales Volume Survey at -32vs -11 in Nov.– BBG 6:00 ETVolume for time of year at -25 in Dec. vs -16 in Nov.Volume of orders at -54 in Dec. vs -22 in Nov.Total distribution volume of sales at -15 in Dec. vs -9 in Nov. Nightmare before Christmas? Nearly 4,500 UK retailers are in ‘critical financial distress’ In quarter three some 3,981 retailers were in this position… Food and drug retailers are amongst the hardest hit, with the number of businesses in ‘critical financial distress’ up 10 per cent… https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/nightmare-before-christmas-nearly-4-500-uk-retailers-are-in-critical-financial-distress/ar-AA1lPBe1
ESHs rallied steadily from the Nikkei opening until 4:26 ET. After an 8-handle retreat that ended at 5:40 ET, ESHs rebounded modestly and then traded sideways until they surged when the US Q3 GDP Report was released at 8:30 ET. ESHs soared 24 handles in 12 minutes; but that was the peak (4794.75).
ESHs then sank to 4773.00 at 10:06 ET. After a rally to 4791.75 at 10:20 ET, ESHs rolled over and then commenced a sharp decline at 11:50 ET. ESHs eventually hit a bottom of 4755.50 at 13:20 ET. Then, the usual suspects incontinently poured into ESHs, driving them to a daily high of 4798.25 at 15:59 ET. ESHs went nearly vertical (28 handles) from 15:10 to 15:59 ET.
USHs hit a daily high of 124 30/32 at 9:19 ET. They sank to 123 28/32 (-16/32 for the day) by 13:42 ET.
Positive aspects of previous session Stocks soared again; traders are exceedingly euphoric for equites
Negative aspects of previous session Bonds declined; gold rallied moderately
Ambiguous aspects of previous session How bad will US economic news need to be before it spooks stocks?
First Hour/Last Hour Action [S&P 500 Index]: 1st Hour from NYSE Open: Up; Last Hour: Up
Pivot Point for S&P 500 Index [above/below indicates daily trend to traders]: 4734.60 Previous session S&P 500 Index High/Low: 4748.71; 4708.35
@htsfhickey: Yellen’s opinion piece in today’s WSJ: “Bidenomics Is Working for the Middle Class.” She must have been ordered to write this. According to the polls, few believe this nonsense. The middle class is all too aware that their cost of living is up over 20%.https://t.co/QaOVoMXa35
Leftists have been irate at Chick-fil-A for decades due to its religious roots. Now, NY leftists/fascists are trying to force Chick-fil-A to open outlets on Sunday that have been closed to honor the Sabbath.
New York bill would force some Chick-fil-A locations to open on Sundayshttps://t.co/QAYEPILGTX
Today – Equity traders forcefully dismissed the first significant equity decline in weeks that appeared on Wednesday. After a morning tumble during NYSE trading, hyper-euphoric equity types poured into ESHs and stocks in the afternoon. A near vertical rally appeared during the final 50 minutes of trading.
As we keep warning, US stocks are inflating in a bubble of undeterminable magnitude and duration. Most traders and investors are delusionally exuberant for stocks. The bubble will inflate until something bursts it. No one knows when it will burst or what will burst it. Play accordingly but carefully.
ESHs are -4.50; USHs are +5/32; and Feb AU is +7.60 at 20:05 ET.
Expected economic data: Q3 GDP 5.2%, Consumption 3.6%, GDP Price Index 3.6%, Core PCE Price Index 2.3%; Initial Jobless Claims 215k, Continuing Claims 1.88m; Dec Phil Fed Business Outlook -3.0; Nov LEI 0.5%; Dec KC Fed Mfg. Activity -4
S&P 500 Index 50-day MA: 4460; 100-day MA: 4435; 150-day MA: 4420; 200-day MA: 4332 DJIA 50-day MA: 34,911; 100-day MA: 34,658; 150-day MA: 34,489; 200-day MA: 34,159 (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 3919.56 triggers a sell signal Weekly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 4424.99 triggers a sell signal Daily: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 4676.42 triggers a sell signal Hourly: Trender and MACD are negative – a close above 4774.90 triggers a buy signal
Daily Mail: Jill Biden’s press secretary Michael LaRosa was ‘forced out’ of White House after he ‘tried to take gay dates’ to his room on secure floor of hotel where president was staying during NATO summit in Madrid – A Secret Service source confirmed the incident and claimed that it happened twice on the same trip… (Yes, Virginia, Obama fundamentally changed the USA.) https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12886133/Jill-Biden-press-secretary-Michael-Larosa-dates-hotel-NATO.html
Tennessee police officer involved in cop-gone-wild sex scandal where female officer had affairs with at least SEVEN others sues city and claims he was ‘terminated and defamed’ because he is blackhttps://trib.al/g2RsyZL
Second Capitol Sex Tape Scandal Emerges (Fall of Rome stuff is worsening) https://t.co/klEajZ3EVr
Catholic All-Girls College Reverses Trans Policy after Backlash Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana is back tracking on its decision to allow men who identify as transgender women to enroll in the formerly all-female, Catholic institution… Rhoades had concluded: “The desire of Saint Mary’s College to show hospitality to people who identify as transgender is not the problem. The problem is a Catholic woman’s college embracing a definition of woman that is not Catholic.” https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/12/21/catholic-all-girls-college-reverses-trans-policy-after-backlash/
@NBCNews: A 13-year-old boy who was arrested and accused of planning a mass shootingat an Ohio synagogue will have to read a book and then write a report about a Swiss diplomat who saved more than 62,000 Hungarian Jews during the war, a judge rules. (Not a parody!) https://t.co/Ksq8SBcXbu
It is clear the Uni-party of Democrats and RINO Republicans are desperate to get Trump at all costs. They clearly think they cannot beat him in November of 2024. They have a RICO case, a fraud case and a document case against President Trump. They must think those are not going to work either, so now they are simply trying to remove Trump from the ballot in 2024, state by state. You know this is a loser of a plan when legal eagle Dems line up to call BS on the BS. Even arch Trump enemy former AG Bill Barr is calling foul. Now, you know this is not going to work. What this sort of lawfare like warfare does is show you is how much the swamp wants to get Trump.
This complicated mess can all be explained with one number. That number is nine, as in 9%.9% is still the real approval rating of Joe Biden, according to my sources. This is not even close to a majority of the Democrat Party. 9% actual Biden approval rating explains every desperate act by the swamp. The Obama/Biden Administration’s disastrous policies are causing some of the staunchest Dems to jump off the derailing Biden train. From inflation to mass immigration, everyone hates how this is making life much harder.
You may think the stock market going up is a good sign for the economy, but many economists are warning of a sudden change in the markets. Could it be a dollar that is being shunned in global trade by the so-called BRICS countries? Could it be hundreds of trillions of dollars in derivatives about to explode? Could it be more than 60% of Americans now living paycheck to paycheck? Could it be a new round of banking insolvency? Could it be a much wider war in the Middle East? Could it be all the above? The answer is Yes, or brace for impact.
Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog.com as he talks about these stories and more in the Weekly News Wrap-Up for 12.22.23.
(Tech Note: If you do not see the video, know it is there. Unplug your modem and plug it back in after 30 sec. This will clear codes that may be blocking you from seeing it. In addition, try different browsers. Also, turn off all ad blockers if you have them. Finally, clear your Cashe and that might help too. https://its.uiowa.edu/support/article/719 All the above is a way Big Tech tries to censor people like USAWatchdog.com.)
![posts[i].image.ImageName (photo credit: David Cohen/Flash90)](https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/meips/ADKq_NbyKqu9yrCoABH5kFVcyI5I7tEZrIFZXnDkiUOPk8ZtpEHCESzgMz4MQTELYA-kPtR9m39vZAHHISOdZ3mwU88aafG9MYLyFItOXaCJR6JSoBVNKABThkcwkHacEWS3QXH-Tt-y3Ea6IDUd=s0-d-e1-ft#https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/q_auto/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/567992 "Smoke rises from areas in Lebanon during strikes by Israeli warplanes, October 9, 2023")
Sage’s NewsletterPerson Who Understands the QuestionIt’s a bloody good question, Sage. I don’t think you’ve really elicited a good answer yet. I haven’t given you one. I genuinely don’t think your original question was rhetorical but in practise, I think that it is. There is no legitimate use of the technique of PCR, configured to make, in the opinion of the manufacturer, a test. There’s nothing being test…Read more10 days ago · 92 likes · 175 comments · Sage HanaPerson Who Understands the QuestionWhat Was the PCR Test Even Designed to do and to what Plausible End?‘It’s a bloody good question, Sage. I don’t think you’ve really elicited a good answer yet. I haven’t given you one.I genuinely don’t think your original question was rhetorical but in practise, I think that it is.
harveyorganblog.com 
