SHANGHAI GOLD (USD) FUTURES – QUOTES

Beginning Monday, April 1, 2024, CME Group settlement data will no longer be accessible through ftp.cmegroup.com and will have a delayed publication time of 12:00 a.m. CT on all cmegroup.com web pages. Learn about alternate ways to access the data in our FAQ.

Last Updated 04 Mar 2024 06:32:08 AM CT.

Market data is delayed by at least 10 minutes.

MONTH	LAST	CHANGE	PRIOR SETTLE	OPEN	HIGH	LOW	VOLUME	UPDATED
MAR 2024 SGUH4	–	–	2120.3	–	–	–	0	21:30:01 CT 03 Mar 2024
APR 2024 SGUJ4	2120.4	+0.2 (+0.01%)	2120.2	2099.9	2120.4	2099.8	127	00:53:48 CT 04 Mar 2024
MAY 2024 SGUK4	–	–	2120.1	–	–	–	0	21:30:01 CT 03 Mar 2024
JUN 2024 SGUM4	2130.9	-0.8 (-0.04%)	2131.7	2130.3	2130.9	2130.3	10	00:35:11 CT 04 Mar 2024
AUG 2024 SGUQ4	–	–	2132.3	–	–	–	0	21:30:01 CT 03 Mar 2024
OCT 2024 SGUV4	–	–	2132.9	–	–	–	0	21:30:01 CT 03 Mar 2024
DEC 2024 SGUZ4	–	–	2133.5	–	–	–	0	21:30:01 CT 03 Mar 2024
FEB 2025 SGUG5	–	–	2134.1	–	–	–	0	21:30:01 CT 03 Mar 2024

About this Report

I will now provide gold in Canadian dollars, British pounds and Euros

4: 15 PM ACCESS

*CANADIAN GOLD: $2,872,76 UP $49.73 CDN dollars per oz( * NEW ALL TIME HIGH 2,872.76CDN DOLLARS PER OZ//MARCH 4 2024)

*BRITISH GOLD: 1667.72 UP 212.62 pounds per oz// *(NEW ALL TIME HIGH//CLOSING///1667.72 BRITISH POUNDS/OZ) MARCH 4/2024

*EURO GOLD: 1949.04 UP 28.05 euros per oz //* (ALL TIME CLOSING HIGH: 1949.04 EUROS PER OZ//MARCH 4.2024)

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EXCHANGE: COMEX

ACCESS MARKET:

EXCHANGE: COMEX
CONTRACT: MARCH 2024 COMEX 100 GOLD FUTURES
SETTLEMENT: 2,086.900000000 USD
INTENT DATE: 03/01/2024 DELIVERY DATE: 03/05/2024
FIRM ORG FIRM NAME ISSUED STOPPED

323 C HSBC 2
363 H WELLS FARGO SEC 2
365 H MAREX CAPITAL M 1
435 H SCOTIA CAPITAL 2
661 C JP MORGAN 2
737 C ADVANTAGE 7

TOTAL: 8 8
MONTH TO DATE: 1,193

JPMorgan stopped 2/8 contracts.

FOR MARCH/2024

GOLD: NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR MAR/2024. CONTRACT: 8 NOTICES FOR 800 OZ or 0.02488 TONNES

total notices so far: 1193 contracts for 119300 Oz (3.7107 tonnes)

FOR MARCH:

SILVER NOTICES: 287 NOTICE(S) FILED FOR 1,435,000 OZ/

total number of notices filed so far this month : 3234 for 16,170,000 oz

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END

BOTH GLD AND SLV ARE FRAUDULENT VEHICLES//THEY ARE NOW RAIDING GLD AND SLV FOR PHYSICAL

GLD

WITH GOLD UP $40.50//

INVESTORS SWITCHING TO SPROTT PHYSICAL (PHYS) INSTEAD OF THE FRAUDULENT GLD/ : HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF .86 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD

INVENTORY RESTS AT 823.77 TONNES

SLV//

WITH NO SILVER AROUND AND SILVER UP 49 CENTS AT THE SLV//

NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:

INVESTORS ARE SWITCHING SLV TO SPROTT’S PSLV.

CLOSING INVENTORY: 430.982 MILLION OZ

Let us have a look at the data for today

SILVER//OUTLINE

SILVER COMEX OI ROSE BY A HUMONGOUS SIZED 349 CONTRACTS TO 143,210 AND CLOSER TO THE RECORD HIGH OI OF 244,710, SET FEB 25/2020 AND THIS HUGE SIZED LOSS IN COMEX OI WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR RISE IN PRICE OF $0.49 IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX ON FRIDAY. WE HAD ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION AT THE COMEX SESSION WITH AGAIN MAJOR SHORT COVERING WITH THE HUGE PRICE RISE. WE HAD A STRONG 682 T.A.S ISSUANCE AND THESE WILL BE USED FOR MANIPULATION LATER THIS MONTH/AS WELL AS TODAY. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE CROOKS NEED A HIGHER SILVER T.A.S. TO CARRY ON THEIR CROOKED MANIPULATION ON A DAILY BASIS

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 FRIDAY NIGHT: 682 CONTRACTS. DESPITE MANY COMPLAINTS THAT THE CROOKS HAVE VIOLATED POSITION LIMITS DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE TAS ISSUED HAVE A VALUE OF ZERO (AS TO POSITION LIMITS FOR OUR CROOKED BANKERS). THE PROBLEM OF COURSE IS THAT THE CROOKS DO NOT LIQUIDATE THE TAS TOGETHER BUT SELL THE BUY SIDE FIRST AND THEN LIQUIDATE THE SELL SIDE TWO MONTHS HENCE. IT IS OBVIOUS MANIPULATION TO THE HIGHEST DEGREE BUT IT NATURALLY FELL ON DEAF EARS WITH OUR REGULATORS (OCC) WHEN THEY RECEIVED OUR COMPLAINTS. IT THUS LOOKS LIKE THE FED (GOV’T) IS BEHIND ALL OF THESE TRADES.

WE HAVE NOW SET ANOTHER RECORD LOW AT 114,102 CONTRACTS ///JULY 3.2023// OUR BANKERS WITH THE HELP OF SPECULATORS AND HIGH FREQUENCY TRADERS WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING THE PRICE OF SILVER DOWN (IT ROSE BY $0.49),AND WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING ANY SILVER LONGS AS WE HAD A HUMONGOUS SIZED GAIN OF 1449 CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES, IT OCCURRED WITH A MUCH HIGHER PRICE OF 49 CENTS PER OZ OF SILVER.

WE MUST HAVE HAD:

A HUGE SIZED 1150 ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS) iiii) AN INITIAL SILVER STANDING FOR COMEX SILVER MEASURING AT 22.270 MILLION OZ (FIRST DAY NOTICE) FOLLOWED BY TODAY,S 2.54 MILLION OZ E.F.P. JUMP TO LONDON//NEW TOTALS LOWERS TO : 19.205 MILLION OZ

//NEW STANDING FOR SILVER IS THUS 19.205 MILLION OZ

/ HUGE SIZED COMEX OI GAIN/STRONG SIZED EFP ISSUANCE/ VI) HUGE SIZED NUMBER OF T.A.S. CONTRACT ISSUANCE 682 CONTRACTS)/

I AM NOW RECORDING THE DIFFERENTIAL IN OI FROM PRELIMINARY TO FINAL -REMOVED A HUGE 865 CONTRACTS //

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

TOTAL CONTRACTS for 2 days, total 1350 contracts: OR 6.750 MILLION OZ (675 CONTRACTS PER DAY)

TOTAL EFP’S FOR THE MONTH SO FAR: 6.75 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. 66.140 MILLION OZ//

TOTAL 2023: 1,104.10 MILLION OZ/

JAN ’24 : 78.655 MILLION OZ//

FEB /2024 : 66.135 MILLION OZ./FINAL

MARCH: 6.75 MILLION OZ//

RESULT: WE HAD A HUGE SIZED INCREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF 1214 CONTRACTS WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX//FRIDAY.,. THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A HUGE EFP ISSUANCE CONTRACTS: 1150 ISSUED FOR MAY 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 MARCH. OF 22.270 MILLION OZ ON FIRST DAY NOTICE FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S HUGE 2.54 MILLION OZ E.F.P. JUMP TO LONDON/

//NEW TOTAL STANDING LOWERS TO 19.205 MILLION OZ

WE HAVE A HUMONGOUS GAIN OF 1449 OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES WITH THE STRONG GAIN IN PRICE. THE TOTAL OF TAS INITIATED CONTRACTS TODAY: A STRONG SIZED 682 CONTRACTS//HUGE FRONT END OF THE TAS CONTRACTS WERE LIQUIDATED DURING THE FRIDAY COMEX SESSION/// WITH MAJOR SHORT COVERING FROM OUR SPEC SHORTS ( WITH PRICE OF SILVER RISING) . THE NEW TAS ISSUANCE FRIDAY NIGHT (682) WILL BE PUT INTO “THE BANK” TO BE COLLUSIVELY USED AT A LATER DATE//PROBABLY TODAY., .

WE HAD 287 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 1.435 MILLION OZ

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

GOLD//OUTLINE

IN GOLD, THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY AN ULTRA HUGE SIZED 30,301 CONTRACTS TO 454,351 AND CLOSER TO THE RECORD (SET JAN 24/2020) AT 799,733 AND PREVIOUS TO THAT: (SET JAN 6/2020) AT 797,110, BUT WE ARE NOW CLOSER TO OUR ALL TIME LOW OF 390,000 CONTRACTS.

THE DIFFERENTIAL FROM PRELIMINARY OI TO FINAL OI IN GOLD TODAY: added +32 CONTRACTS

WE HAD A HUGE SIZED INCREASE IN COMEX OI ( 30,301 CONTRACTS) WITH OUR MEGA $40.50 GAIN IN PRICE//FRIDAY. THE BANKERS WERE FORCED TO SUPPLY THE NECESSARY SHORT PAPER TO CONTAIN GOLD’S RISE.WE ALSO HAD A RATHER LARGE INITIAL STANDING IN GOLD TONNAGE FOR MARCH. AT 10.270 TONNES ON FIRST DAY NOTICE FOLLOWED BY TODAY’’S S HUGE 99,000 OZ QUEUE JUMP TO LONDON AS THESE GUYS WANTED IMMEDIATE PHYSICAL DELIVERY. THEY WOULD NOT GET IT AT THE COMEX SO THEY CHOSE LONDON

NEW TOTAL Of INITIAL GOLD STANDING LOWERS TO: 7.2846 TONNES // ALL OF THIS HAPPENED WITH OUR $40.50 GAIN IN PRICE WITH RESPECT TO FRIDAY’S TRADING. WE HAD A HUMONGOUS SIZED GAIN OF 39,139 OI CONTRACTS (121.738) PAPER TONNES) ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES.

E.F.P. ISSUANCE

THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A STRONG SIZED 8838 CONTRACTS:

The NEW COMEX OI FOR THE GOLD COMPLEX RESTS AT 454,383

IN ESSENCE WE HAVE A HUMONGOUS SIZED INCREASE IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 39,139 CONTRACTS WITH 30,301 CONTRACTS INCREASED AT THE COMEX// AND A STRONG SIZED 8838 EFP OI CONTRACTS WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS TOTAL OI GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 39,301 CONTRACTS.. WE HAD THE FOLLOWING TAS CONTRACTS INITIATED (ISSUED): GOOD SIZED 4222 CONTRACTS.

CALCULATIONS ON GAIN/LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES

WE HAD STRONG SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (8838 CONTRACTS) ACCOMPANYING THE HUGE SIZED GAIN IN COMEX OI (30,301) //TOTAL GAIN FOR OUR THE TWO EXCHANGES: 39,301 CONTRACTS. WE HAVE ( 1) NOW RETURNED TO OUR FORMER FORMAT OF BANKERS GOING LONG AND SPECULATORS GOING SHORT ,2.) STRONG INITIAL STANDING AT THE GOLD COMEX FOR MARCH. AT 10.270 TONNES

/ 3) ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION // 4) HUGE SIZED COMEX OPEN INTEREST GAIN/ 5) STRONG ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL PAPER///6: STRONG T.A.S. ISSUANCE: 4222 CONTRACTS//HUGE SHORT COVERING AGAIN

HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS IN 2023-2024 INCLUDING TODAY

MARCH

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

TOTAL EFP CONTRACTS ISSUED: 13,348 CONTRACTS OR 1,334,800 OZ OR 41.517 TONNES IN 2 TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 6674 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS : THIS MONTH IN 2 TRADING DAY(S) IN TONNES 41.517 TONNES

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

THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 41.517/3550 x 100% TONNES 1.16% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL PRODUCTION

ACCUMULATION OF GOLD EFP’S YEAR 2021 TO 2023

JANUARY/2021: 265.26 TONNES (RAPIDLY INCREASING AGAIN)

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

MARCH:. 276.50 TONNES (STRONG AGAIN/

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

MAY: 250.15 TONNES (NOW DRAMATICALLY INCREASING AGAIN)

JUNE: 247.54 TONNES (FINAL)

JULY: 188.73 TONNES FINAL

AUGUST: 217.89 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE.

SEPT 142.12 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE ( LOW ISSUANCE)_

OCT: 141.13 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE (LOW ISSUANCE)

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

DEC. 175.62 TONNES//FINAL ISSUANCE//

TOTALS: 2,578.08 TONNES/2021

JAN:2022 247.25 TONNES //FINAL

FEB: 196.04 TONNES//FINAL

MARCH/2022: 409.30 TONNES //FINAL( THIS IS NOW A RECORD EFP ISSUANCE FOR MARCH AND FOR ANY MONTH.

APRIL: 169.55 TONNES (FINAL VERY LOW ISSUANCE MONTH)

MAY: 247.44 TONNES FINAL//

JUNE: 238.13 TONNES FINAL

JULY: 378.43 TONNES FINAL

AUGUST: 180.81 TONNES FINAL

SEPT. 193.16 TONNES FINAL

OCT: 177.57 TONNES FINAL ( MUCH SMALLER THAN LAST MONTH)

NOV. 223.98 TONNES//FINAL ( MUCH LARGER THAN PREVIOUS MONTHS//comex running out of physical)

DEC: 185.59 tonnes // FINAL

TOTAL: 2,847,25 TONNES/2022

JAN 2023: 228.49 TONNES FINAL//HUGE AMOUNT OF EFP’S ISSUED THIS MONTH!!

FEB: 151.61 TONNES/FINAL

MARCH: 280.09 TONNES/INITIAL (ANOTHER STRONG MONTH FOR EFP ISSUANCE)

APRIL: 197.42 TONNES

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

JUNE: 172.667 TONNES (WEAKER ISSUANCE THIS MONTH)

JULY: 151.69 TONNES (WEAKER THAN LAST MONTH)

AUGUST: 195.28 TONNES (A STRONGER MONTH)//FINAL

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

OCT. 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. 213.704 TONNES. A STRONG MONTH//

TOTAL FOR YEAR 2023: 2,569.57 TONNES VS 2578 TONNES LAST YEAR

JAN ’24: 291.76 TONNES (WILL BE MUCH GREATER THAN LAST MONTH.//3RD HIGHEST EVER RECORDED EX FOR PHYSICAL)

FEB’24: 201.947 TONNES

MARCH 2024: 41.517 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 FEB. 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 (APRIL), 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 349 CONTRACTS OI TO 143,210 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 6 YEARS AGO. HOWEVER WE HAVE NOW SET A NEW RECORD LOW OF 114,102 CONTRACTS JULY 3.2023

EFP ISSUANCE 1150 CONTRACTS

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

MAY 1150 and ALL OTHER MONTHS: ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 1150 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 1214 CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 1150 OI TRANSFERRED TO LONDON THROUGH EFP’S,

WE OBTAIN A HUMONGOUS SIZED GAIN OF OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 1449 CONTRACTS

THUS IN OUNCES, THE GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES TOTAL 7.498 MILLION OZ

OCCURRED WITH OUR $.49 GAIN IN PRICE …..

END

OUTLINE FOR TODAY’S COMMENTARY

1a/COMEX GOLD AND SILVER REPORT

(report Harvey)

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

(Peter Schiff)

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

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

b. Other gold/silver commentaries

c. Commodity commentaries//

d)/CRYPTOCURRENCIES/BITCOIN ETC

2.ASIAN AFFAIRS//

FRIDAY MORNING/THURSDAY NIGHT

SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 12.28 PTS OR 0.41% //Hang Seng CLOSED UP 6.53 PTS OR 0.04% / Nikkei CLOSED UP198.41 PTS OR 0.50%//Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED DOWN 0.13% /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN 7.1993 //OFFSHORE CHINESE YUAN CLOSED DOWN TO 7.2100 /Oil DOWN TO 79.49 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT UP AT 82.98/ Stocks in Europe OPENED ALL MOSTLY RED// ONSHORE YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE YUAN WEAKER

A)NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA

outline

b) REPORT ON JAPAN/
OUTLINE

3 CHINA
OUTLINE

4/EUROPEAN AFFAIRS
OUTLINE

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS
OUTLINE

6.Global Issues//COVID ISSUES/VACCINE ISSUES
OUTLINE

7. OIL ISSUES
OUTLINE

8 EMERGING MARKET ISSUES
9. USA

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

GOLD

LET US BEGIN:

THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY AN ULTRA HUMONGOUS SIZED 30,301 CONTRACTS TO 454,383 WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF $49.50 WITH RESPECT TO FRIDAY TRADING. MOST LIKELY IT WAS THE BANKERS SUPPLYING THE NECESSARY PAPER WITH OUR SHORT PLAYERS EXITING AS FAST AS THEIR FEET COULD CARRY THEM. THE SHORTS HAVE BEEN KILLED SO IT IS UNLIKELY THAT ANY OF THEM WOULD DARE INTO THIS ARENA ESPECIALLY WITH CENTRAL BANKERS BUYING PHYSICAL GOLD ADDING TO THEIR OFFICIAL TOTALS.

EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE

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

THAT IS 8838 EFP CONTRACTS WERE ISSUED: : APRIL 8838 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:

TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 8838 CONTRACTS

ON A NET BASIS IN OPEN INTEREST WE GAINED THE FOLLOWING TODAY ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES: A MEGA HUMONGOUS SIZED TOTAL OF 39,139 CONTRACTS IN THAT 8838 LONGS WERE TRANSFERRED AS EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS TO LONDON AND WE HAD A HUGE SIZED GAIN OF 30,301 COMEX CONTRACTS..AND THIS GAIN ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES HAPPENED WITH OUR HUGE GAIN IN PRICE OF $49.50 FRIDAY COMEX. AS PER OUR NEWBIE TRADE AT SETTLEMENT (TAS) MANIPULATION OPERATION (WHICH CRAIG HEMKE HAS POINTED OUT HAPPENS DURING MID MONTH IN THE DELIVERY CYCLE), THE CME REPORTS THAT THE TOTAL T.A.S. ISSUANCE FOR FRIDAY NIGHT WAS A GOOD SIZED 4222 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/T.A.S. SPREAD WHICH WILL BE LIQUIDATED IN DAYS HENCE//.

// WE HAVE A STRONG AMOUNT OF GOLD TONNAGE STANDING: MARCH (7.2426 TONNES) ( NON ACTIVE MONTH)

HERE ARE THE AMOUNTS THAT STOOD FOR DELIVERY IN THE PRECEDING 24 MONTHS OF 2021-2023:

DEC 2021: 112.217 TONNES

NOV. 8.074 TONNES

OCT. 57.707 TONNES

SEPT: 11.9160 TONNES

AUGUST: 80.489 TONNES

JULY: 7.2814 TONNES

JUNE: 72.289 TONNES

MAY 5.77 TONNES

APRIL 95.331 TONNES

MARCH 30.205 TONNES

FEB ’21. 113.424 TONNES

JAN ’21: 6.500 TONNES.

TOTAL YEAR 2021 (JAN- DEC): 601.213 TONNES

YEAR 2022:

JANUARY 2022 17.79 TONNES

FEB 2022: 59.023 TONNES

MARCH: 36.678 TONNES

APRIL: 85.340 TONNES FINAL.

MAY: 20.11 TONNES FINAL

JUNE: 74.933 TONNES FINAL

JULY 29.987 TONNES FINAL

AUGUST:104.979 TONNES//FINAL

SEPT. 38.1158 TONNES

OCT: 77.390 TONNES/ FINAL

NOV 27.110 TONNES/FINAL

Dec. 64.000 tonnes

(TOTAL YEAR 656.076 TONNES)

2023:

JAN/2023: 20.559 tonnes

FEB 2023: 47.744 tonnes

MAR: 19.0637 TONNES

APRIL: 75.676 tonnes

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

JUNE: 64.354 TONNES

JULY: 10.2861 TONNES

AUGUST: 38.855 TONNES(INCLUDING .6842 EXCHANGE FOR RISK)

SEPT: 15.281 TONNES FINAL

OCT. 35.869 TONNES + 1.665 EXCHANGE FOR RISK =37.0355 tonnes

NOV: 18.7122 TONNES + 16.2505 EX. FOR RISK = 34.9627 TONNES

DEC. 47.073 + 4.634 TONNES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK = 51.707 TONNES

TOTAL 2023 YEAR : 436.546 TONNES

JAN ’24. 22.706 TONNES

FEB. ’24: 66.276 TONNES (INCLUDES 1.723 TONNES EX. FOR RISK)

MARCH: 10.363 TONNES

THE SPECS/HFT WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE( IT GAINED $49.50 //// AND WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING ANY SPECULATOR LONGS AS WE HAD A HUMONGOUS SIZED GAIN OF 39,301 TOTAL CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES WITH OUR HIGHER PRICE. WE HAD TO HAVE HAD ANOTHER HUGE EPISODE OF STRONG SHORT COVERING. WE HAD A GOOD T.A.S. LIQUIDATION ON THE FRONT END OF FRIDAY’S TRADING . THE T.A.S. ISSUED ON FRIDAY NIGHT, WILL BE “PUT INTO THE BANK” TO BE USED AT A LATER DATE AT THE COLLUSIVE CHOOSING OF OUR BANKERS.

WE HAVE GAINED A TOTAL OI OF 121.738 PAPER TONNES FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES, ACCOMPANYING OUR INITIAL GOLD TONNAGE STANDING FOR MARCH. (10.3576 TONNES) ON FIRST DAY NOTICE FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S HUGE 99,000 OZ E.F.P. JUMP TO LONDON//NEW STANDING LOWERS TO 7.2846 TONNES

ALL OF THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR HUGE GAIN IN PRICE TO THE TUNE OF $40.50

WE HAD +added 32 CONTRACTS TO THE COMEX TRADES TO OPEN INTEREST (CROOKS)

NET GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 39,139 CONTRACTS OR 3,913,900 OZ OR 121.738 TONNES.
estimated volume today 338,239 huge

final gold volumes/yesterday 386,218 mega huge

//speculators have left the gold arena

MARCH 4/ INITIAL MARCH GOLD

/ /// THE MARCH 2024 GOLD CONTRACT

Gold	Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers* Inventory in oz*	nil
Withdrawals from Customer* Inventory in oz*	65,936.824 oz ASAHI LOOMIS BRINKS INCLUDES 390 kilobars//LOOMIS AND 37 KILOBARS BRINKS .
Deposit to the Dealer* Inventory in oz*	nil oz
Deposits to the Customer* Inventory, in oz*	89,315.478 oz Loomis
No of oz served (contracts) today	8 notice(s) 800 OZ 0.02488 TONNES
No of oz to be served (notices)	1149 contracts 114900 oz 3.5738. TONNES
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month	1193 notices 119300 oz 3.685 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 deposits:

total dealer deposits: nil oz

total customer withdrawals: 3

i) Out of ASAHI: 52,336.9512 oz

ii) Out of Loomis: 12,538.89 oz (390 kilobars)

iii) Out of Brinks 1,060.98 oz (37 kilobars)

total withdrawal: 65,936.824 oz (2.05 tonnes0

we had 0 customer deposit

total deposit nil

Adjustments:massive 7 all dealer to customer

gold comex in deep stress

i) Asahi: 38,094.830 oz

ii) Brinks 39,352.82 oz

iii) HSBC 8658.386 oz

iv) JPMorgan 1071.65 oz

v) Loomis 3279.402 oz

vi) Malca 34,530.174 oz

vii) Manfra 7283.378 oz

CALCULATIONS FOR THE AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR FEB.

For the front month of MARCH we have an oi of 1157 contracts having LOST 1028 contracts. We had 38 contracts filed upon on Friday, so we lost a huge 990 contracts or an additional 99,000 oz of gold(3.07 tonnes) will not stand at the comex in this non active delivery month of March as they were immediately ferried over to London via an EFP transfer so that they were guaranteed delivery over there.

APRIL GAINED 12,649 CONTRACTS RISING TO 336,852.

MAY EARNED 31 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 35

JUNE INCREASED ITS OI BY 16,997 CONTRACTS UP TO 67,638 CONTRACTS.

We had 8 contracts filed for today representing 800 oz

Today, 0 notice(s) were issued from J.P.Morgan dealer account and 0 notices were issued from their client or customer account. The total of all issuance by all participants equate to 8 contract(s) of which 0 notices were stopped (received) by j.P. Morgan dealer and 2 notice(s) was (were) stopped ( (received) by J.P.Morgan//customer account

To calculate the INITIAL total number of gold ounces standing for the MARCH. /2024. contract month, we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (1193 x 100 oz ), to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of MARCH. (1157 CONTRACTS) minus the number of notices served upon today 8 x 100 oz per contract equals 234,200 OZ OR 7.2846 TONNES

thus the INITIAL standings for gold for the MARCH. contract month: No of notices filed so far (1193) x 100 oz + (1157) {OI for the front month} minus the number of notices served upon today (8) x 100 oz which equals 234,200 oz (7.2846 TONNES)

TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING FOR MARCH: 7.2846 TONNES WHICH IS HUGE FOR A NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH IN THE CALENDAR.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

COMEX GOLD INVENTORIES/CLASSIFICATION

NEW PLEDGED GOLD:

241,794.285 oz NOW PLEDGED /HSBC 5.94 TONNES

204,937.290 PLEDGED MANFRA 3.08 TONNES

83,657.582 PLEDGED JPMorgan no 1 1.690 tonnes

265,999.054, oz JPM No 2

1,152,376.639 oz pledged Brinks/

Manfra: 33,758.550 oz

Delaware: 193.721 oz

International Delaware:: 11,188.542 oz

total pledged gold: 1,354,385.502 42.127 tonnes

TOTAL OF ALL GOLD ELIGIBLE AND REGISTERED GOLD: 18,159,578.870 OZ

TOTAL REGISTERED GOLD 7,956,400.972 (247,,47 tonnes).

TOTAL OF ALL ELIGIBLE GOLD: 10,203,177.898 OZ

REGISTERED GOLD THAT CAN BE SERVED UPON: 6,602,015 oz (REG GOLD- PLEDGED GOLD) 205.35 tonnes/dropping like a stone

END

SILVER/COMEX

MARCH 4/INITIAL

//2024// THE MARCH 2024 SILVER CONTRACT//INITIAL

Silver	Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers* Inventory*	NIL oz
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory	125,660.836oz CNT ASAHI .
Deposits to the Dealer* Inventory*	591,912.800 OZ ASAHI
Deposits to the Customer Inventory	108,420.460 oz CNT
No of oz served today (contracts)	287 CONTRACT(S) (1,435,000 OZ)
No of oz to be served (notices)	607 contracts (3.035 MILLION oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)	3234 Contracts (14.735 MILLION 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) 1 dealer deposit

i0Into ASAHI 591,912.800 oz

total dealer deposit: 591.912.800 oz

i) We had 0 dealer withdrawal

total dealer withdrawals: 0 oz

We had 0 deposits customer account:

total customer deposits nil oz

JPMorgan has a total silver weight: 129.806 million oz/282.596 million or 46.26%

adjustment: 0

Comex withdrawals: 2

: i) CNT: 113,403.536 oz

ii) ASAHI: 12,257.300 oz

total withdrawal: 125,600.836 oz

TOTAL REGISTERED SILVER: 51.885MILLION OZ//.TOTAL REG + ELIGIBLE. 282.1596million oz

CALCULATIONS FOR THE NEW STANDING FOR SILVER FOR DECEMBER:

silver open interest data:

FRONT MONTH OF MARCH /2023 OI: 894 CONTRACTS HAVING LOST 608 CONTRACT(S).

WE HAD 89 NOTICES FILED ON FRIDAY SO STRANGELY WE LOST 512 CONTRACTS OR AN ADDITIONAL 2,560,000 OZ WILL NOT STAND AT THE COMEX AS THEY WERE IMMEDIATELY FERRIED OVER TO LONDON TRYING TO TAKE DELIVERY OVER THERE. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME EVER THAT WE HAD BOTH GOLD AND SILVER EXECUTE AN E.F.P. TRANSFER TO LONDON. THE COMEX IS NOW OFFICIALLY BROKEN.

APRIL SAW A GAIN OF 7 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 842

MAY SAW A GAIN OF 744 CONTRACTS UP TO 116,934.

TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR TODAY: 287 for 1.435 MILLION oz

Comex volumes// est. volume today 83,615 good

Comex volume: confirmed yesterday 75,124 fair to good

To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in MARCH. we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at 3234 x 5,000 oz = 16,170,000 oz

to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of MARCH. (894) and the number of notices served upon today 287 x (5000 oz) equals the number of ounces standing.

Thus the standings for silver for the MARCH/2024 contract month: 3234 (notices served so far) x 5000 oz + OI for the front month of MARCH. (894) – number of notices served upon today (287 )x 500 oz of silver standing for the MARCH contract month equates to 19.205 MILLION OZ.

New total standing: 19.205 million oz.

There are 51.885 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!

MARCH 4 WITH GOLD UP $30.55 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF .86 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 823.77 TONNES

MARCH 1 WITH GOLD UP $40.40 TODAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 822.91 TONNES

FEB29/WITH GOLD UP $12.60 TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//WITHDRAWAL OF 4.03 TONNES INVENTORY RESTS AT 822.91 TONNES

FEB28/WITH GOLD DOWN $1.00 TODAY NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD INVENTORY RESTS AT 826.94 TONNES

FEB27/WITH GOLD UP $4.40 TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF .87 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD:/INVENTORY RESTS AT 826.94 TONNES

FEB26/WITH GOLD DOWN $8.90 TODAY NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:/INVENTORY RESTS AT 827.81 TONNES

FEB23/WITH GOLD UP $17 TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.01 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD.//INVENTORY RESTS AT 827.81 TONNES

FEB22/WITH GOLD DOWN $2.15 TODAY NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD://INVENTORY RESTS AT 829.82 TONNES

FEB21/WITH GOLD DOWN $5.30 TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 7.59 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 29.82 TONNES

FEB20/WITH GOLD UP $16.15 TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 0.58 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 837.89 TONNES

FEB16/WITH GOLD UP $8,60 TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.73 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 837.31 TONNES

FEB15/WITH GOLD UP $11.70 TODAY NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:/INVENTORY RESTS AT 841.92 TONNES

FEB14/WITH GOLD DOWN $2.75 TODAY NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:/INVENTORY RESTS AT 841.92 TONNES

FEB13/WITH GOLD DOWN $20.15 TODAY NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:/INVENTORY RESTS AT 841.92 TONNES

FEB12/WITH GOLD DOWN $4.80 TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A STRONG WITHDRAWAL OF 1.74 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD. / //://INVENTORY RESTS AT 841.92 TONNES

FEB9/WITH GOLD DOWN $8.60 TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A STRONG DEPOSIT OF 1.44 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD. / //://INVENTORY RESTS AT 843.66 TONNES

FEB8/WITH GOLD DOWN $2.70 TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 5.47 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD. / //://INVENTORY RESTS AT 842.22 TONNES:

FEB7/WITH GOLD UP $0.40 TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 4.04 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD. / //://INVENTORY RESTS AT 847.69 TONNES:

FEB6/WITH GOLD UP $8.50 TODAY NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:/ / //://INVENTORY RESTS AT 851.73 TONNES:

FEB5/WITH GOLD DOWN $9.85 TODAY SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:A DEPOSIT OF .58 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD// / //://INVENTORY RESTS AT 851.73 TONNES:

FEB 2/WITH GOLD DOWN $17.95 TODAY SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:A WITHDRAWAL OF .58 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD// / //://INVENTORY RESTS AT 851.15 TONNES:

FEB 1/WITH GOLD UP $5.00 TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.73 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD// / //://INVENTORY RESTS AT 851.15 TONNES:

JAN 31/WITH GOLD UP $16.40 TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.01 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD// / //://INVENTORY RESTS AT 852.88 TONNES:

JAN 30/WITH GOLD UP $6.50 TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.16 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD// / //://INVENTORY RESTS AT 854.89 TONNES:

TOTAL IN LAST 18 DAYS WITHDRAWAL OF 14.12 TONNES

JAN 29/WITH GOLD UP $8.70 TODAYHUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.88 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD// / //://INVENTORY RESTS AT 856.05 TONNES

JAN 26/WITH GOLD DOWN $0.10 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: / //://INVENTORY RESTS AT 858.93 TONNES

JAN 25/WITH GOLD UP $2.50 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: / //://INVENTORY RESTS AT 858.93 TONNES

JAN 24/WITH GOLD DOWN $9.75 TODAY:NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: / //://INVENTORY RESTS AT 858.93 TONNES

JAN 23/WITH GOLD UP $3.95 TODAY:HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.02 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/ //://INVENTORY RESTS AT 858.93 TONNES

GLD INVENTORY: 823.77 TONNES

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

MARCH 4/WITH SILVER UP CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: // : SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 430.982 MILLION OZ

MARCH 1/WITH SILVER UP 49 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: // : SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 430.982 MILLION OZ

FEB 29/WITH SILVER UP 25 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.104 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV//// : SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 430/982 MILLION OZ

FEB 28/WITH SILVER DOWN 7 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 5.123 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV//// : SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 433.086 MILLION OZ

FEB 27/WITH SILVER UP 3 CENTS TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.64 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV//// : SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 427.943 MILLION OZ

FEB 26/WITH SILVER DOWN 44 CENTS TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.065 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV//// : SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 428.603 MILLION OZ

FEB 23/WITH SILVER DOWN 44 CENTS TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.065 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV//// : SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 428.603 MILLION OZ

FEB 22/WITH SILVER DOWN 10 CENTS TODAY NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV

// : SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 432.766 MILLION OZ

FEB 21/WITH SILVER DOWN 28 CENTS TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.348 MILLION OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV// : SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 432.766 MILLION OZ

FEB 20/WITH SILVER DOWN 33 CENTS TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.385 MILLION OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV// : SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 435.008 MILLION OZ

FEB 16/WITH SILVER UP 53 CENTS TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A DEPOSIT OF 1.235 MILLION OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV// : SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 438.393 MILLION OZ

FEB 15/WITH SILVER UP 56 CENTS TODAY NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV : SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 437.615 MILLION OZ

FEB 14/WITH SILVER UP 24 CENTS TODAY NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV : SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 437.615 MILLION OZ

FEB 13/WITH SILVER DOWN 60 CENTS TODAY SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A SMALL WITHDRAWAL OF 0.504 MILLION OZ OZ OUT OF THE SLV: SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 437.615 MILLION OZ

FEB 12/WITH SILVER UP 14 CENTS TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 1.921 MILLION OZ OZ OUT OF THE SLV: SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 438.119 MILLION OZ

FEB 9/WITH SILVER DOWN 4 CENTS TODAY SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A SMALL DEPOSIT OF 600,000 OZ INTO THE SLV: SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 440.040 MILLION OZ

FEB 8/WITH SILVER UP 29 CENTS TODAY NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 439.994 MILLION OZ

FEB 7/WITH SILVER DOWN 18 CENTS TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A MASSIVE DEPOSIT OF 4.04 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV///INVENTORY RESTS AT 439.994 MILLION OZ//LAST 9 DAYS: 10.7598 MILLION OZ WITHDRAWAL

FEB 6/WITH SILVER UP 11 CENTS TODAY NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: /INVENTORY RESTS AT 435.144 MILLION OZ//LAST 9 DAYS: 10.7598 MILLION OZ WITHDRAWAL

FEB 5/WITH SILVER DOWN 32 CENTS TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.345 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV(FAIRY TALES) // /INVENTORY RESTS AT 435.144 MILLION OZ//LAST 8 DAYS: 10.7598 MILLION OZ WITHDRAWAL

FEB 2/WITH SILVER DOWN 50 CENTS TODAY SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.58 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV(FAIRY TALES) // /INVENTORY RESTS AT 438.489 MILLION OZ//LAST 7 DAYS: 14.105 MILLION OZ WITHDRAWAL

FEB 1/WITH SILVER UP 7 CENTS TODAY MEGA CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.19 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV(FAIRY TALES) // /INVENTORY RESTS AT 438.947 MILLION OZ//LAST 6 DAYS: 10.3018 MILLION OZ WITHDRAWAL

JAN 31/WITH SILVER DOWN 8 CENTS TODAY MEGA CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.7438 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV(FAIRY TALES) // /INVENTORY RESTS AT 440.137 MILLION OZ//LAST 5 DAYS: 9.1118 MILLION OZ WITHDRAWAL

JAN 30/WITH SILVER DOWN 5 CENTS TODAY MEGA CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.876 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV(FAIRY TALES) // /INVENTORY RESTS AT 442.699 MILLION OZ//LAST 4 DAYS: 7.368 MILLION OZ WITHDRAWAL

JAN 29/WITH SILVER UP $.37 TODAY MEGA CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.105 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV(FAIRY TALES) // /INVENTORY RESTS AT 444.575 MILLION OZ

JAN 26/WITH SILVER DOWN $0.03 TODAY MEGA CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.556 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV(FAIRY TALES) // /INVENTORY RESTS AT 446.680 MILLION OZ

JAN 25/WITH SILVER UP $0.03 TODAY MEGA CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.831 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV(FAIRY TALES) // /NVENTORY RESTS AT 448.236 MILLION OZ

JAN 24/WITH SILVER UP $0.44 TODAY MEGA CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: ANOTHER DEPOSIT OF 1.375 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV(FAIRY TALES) // //INVENTORY RESTS AT 450.067 MILLION OZ

JAN 23/WITH SILVER UP $0.21 TODAY MEGA CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 16.201 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV(FAIRY TALES) // //INVENTORY RESTS AT 448.694 MILLION OZ

JAN 22/WITH SILVER DOWN $0.45 TODAY NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 458,000 OZ OUT OF THE SLV // //INVENTORY RESTS AT 432.493 MILLION OZ

JAN 19/WITH SILVER DOWN $0.11 TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 458,000 OZ OUT OF THE SLV // //INVENTORY RESTS AT 432.493 MILLION OZ

JAN 18/WITH SILVER UP $0.13 TODAY NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: // //INVENTORY RESTS AT 432.951 MILLION OZ

JAN 17/WITH SILVER DOWN $0.38 TODAY HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 779,000 OZ FROM THE SLV.: // //INVENTORY RESTS AT 433.500 MILLION OZ

JAN 16/WITH SILVER DOWN $0.08 TODAY NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: // //INVENTORY RESTS AT 433.500 MILLION OZ

JAN 12/WITH SILVER UP $0.62 TODAY NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: // //INVENTORY RESTS AT 433.500 MILLION OZ

CLOSING INVENTORY 430.982 MILLION OZ//

PHYSICAL GOLD/SILVER COMMENTARIES

1:Peter Schiff/Mike Maharrey

end

2.Commentaries from: Egon von Greyerz///Matthew Piepenburg via GoldSwitzerland.com, Pam and Russ Martens/ SIMON WHITE..//ALASDAIR MACLEOD…

What is truly behind gold’s breakout?

In this article I look at global supply and demand and pinpoint lack of supply

MACLEODFINANCEMAR 2

READ IN APP

On Friday, gold suddenly rose to $2080. The proximate reason was remarks by Fed Governor Christopher Waller that in future the Fed is likely to purchase Treasury bills rather than term bonds. This is in line with the Treasury’s statement that it is prepared to breach its 20% maximum of debt liabilities held in T-bills.

This is a clear signal that US Treasury debt average maturity will be shortened. The wisdom, or lack of it in this move need not detain us here. But the market appeared to think that the lower supply implied of debt along the yield curve would lead to lower bond yields (the 10-year yield dropped from 4.29% to 4.18% on the release of Waller’s speech.

That gold should rise over $40 on this news seems an over-reaction. And frankly, we have no idea whether it will follow through next week — only time will tell.

But the underlying technical position suggests that the merest excuse was needed for gold to resume its bullish trend. In this article I examine the global supply and demand position for bullion, which explains why even now demand is exceeding mine and scrap supply by a large margin.

Demand is soaking up all new mine supply — and more

According to the US Government’s Geological Survey, global goldmine output in 2023 was 3,000 tonnes. The sources are shown in the USGGS table below:

To this supply we can add an estimated 1,200 tonnes of scrap for a total supply of 4,200 tonnes. So, where was the demand for it?

We should note that no gold escapes China, and that there are probably limited sales from Russia through Dubai, partly due to sanctions. Of their joint output of 680 tonnes, let us assume that 600 tonnes are not available to global markets, taking our supply number including scrap back to 3,600 tonnes.

It is in this context we must look at demand. Official figures from the Shanghai Gold Exchange show that 2,000 tonnes were withdrawn last year. Let us assume that 200 tonnes of that total came from China’s mines, leaving 1,800 tonnes of supply yet to be accounted for. According to the USGGS, central banks “and other institutions” bought 690 tonnes, leaving 1,110 tonnes. The balance in LBMA vaults declined by 400 tonnes, leaving just 710 tonnes of mine output and scrap unaccounted for. A further 420 tonnes were stood for delivery on Comex, leaving us with only 290 tonnes.

According to the World Gold Council’s Indian office, Indian imports for the first ten months amounted to 630 tonnes — say 700 for the full year. Now we are digging into the accumulation of previously mined gold held in above ground stocks to the tune of 410 tonnes.

Between them, India and China account for a significant slice of global jewellery demand, purchased as quasi-money, which is why I have not gone down conventional route of estimating global jewellery demand. But there was undoubtedly substantial jewellery demand net of scrap throughout Asia elsewhere ex-India and China — another 750 tonnes?

If we pencil in that figure holders of bullion long-term holders will have had to liquidate 1,160 tonnes. The only significant offset is the reduction in physical ETF holdings, estimated by the WGC to be 244 tonnes, dropping the net liquidation requirement to 916 tonnes. It is also worth mentioning the recently created ultra-high net worth individuals and their family offices in India and the other high growth Asian economies who will have accumulated gold ingots for storage outside their domiciles.

However you cut it, the only way in which more gold will become available is by higher prices tempting existing holders to sell. But with the dollar already over-owned and its issuing government spiralling into an uncontrollable debt crisis, why buy dollars with gold? And if dollars are unattractive, so are all the other fiat currencies which take their cue from it.

Coming into 2024, the severe lack of available gold at a time of an increasing debt crisis is what’s driving the market. To this we can add the growing loss of credibility for the dollar from geopolitical developments, with the American led proxy war being lost in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East, proving that America is now powerless in that region as well.

The one shoe to drop is the extraordinary disinterest shown by western consumers, exemplified by the reduction in ETF holdings. It is said that they hold less that 1% of their assets in portfolios, estimated to be worth up to $150 trillion. Just to add 1% at current prices is the equivalent of over 23,000 tonnes.

If gold is resuming its upward trajectory, the western investment crowd will become not just curious, but likely to panic buy, particularly as the twin horrors of their bankrupt governments and geopolitical policy failures strike home.

END

3. CHRIS POWELL//GATA GOLD COMMENTARIES: daily Dispatches

4. OTHER GOLD COMMENTARIES/PODCASTS/

Fed Chair Tight-Lipped On Foreign Nations’ Evacuation Of Gold From U.S.

MONDAY, MAR 04, 2024 – 06:30 AM

Authored by Ken Silva via Headline USA,

Concerned about a weaponized financial system, many countries have signaled plans to remove their gold and other assets from the U.S. in the wake of the unprecedented Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

And at least one congressman is demanding answers from the Federal Reserve as to how much foreign gold has actually been removed from U.S. shores so far.

According to a 2023 Invesco survey, a “substantial percentage” of central banks expressed concern about how the U.S. and its allies froze nearly half of Russia’s $650 billion gold and forex reserves. One anonymous central banker told Invesco that his country quietly repatriated its gold from London, and some 68% of the banks surveyed said they are keeping their gold reserve within their country’s borders—up from 50% in 2020.

The apparent desire of foreign countries to bring their gold home would accelerate a trend that began when the U.S. decoupled the dollar from gold in 1971. Since then, the Federal Reserve’s custodial services have dwindled from some 13,000 tons of gold to just a little more than 6,000 tons.

But amidst the geopolitical angst, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is refusing to divulge information about the U.S. central bank’s gold holdings. Insiders say such information could be highly damning.

Fed Chairman Powell’s Obfuscations

In December, Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., asked Powell a series of simple and direct questions, including whether the Federal Reserve has recently repatriated gold to foreign nations, how much gold the central bank is holding now, and how much it held in 2022.

Powell responded to Mooney in a letter dated last Friday, giving evasive non-answers to all the congressman’s inquiries.

The Fed chairman told Mooney that the Federal Reserve does not own gold but holds it as a custodian for other entities—a fact the congressman presumably already knew. Powell also said that the Fed serves as a custodian for a “small portion” of the U.S. government’s gold, telling Mooney that “any questions you may have about such gold are best directed to the Treasury Department.” Rep. Mooney’s questions were not about the Treasury’s gold.

To Chris Powell, secretary-treasurer of the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee, the Fed chairman’s responses to a sitting member of Congress are not only unacceptable but also telling.

“The refusal of the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board even to acknowledge, much less reply to, the questions of a member of Congress about the repatriation of gold from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York confirms that something really big is going on with gold internationally,” Powell said in an email to Headline USA.

“The New York Fed long has disclosed, as a matter of routine, the amount of gold it vaults for other countries. Even now total volume of 6,331 metric tons of custodial gold is listed at the New York Fed’s internet site.”

New York Fed’s Historical Holdings for Governments

Indeed, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, or FRBNY, has listed an estimate for its total gold holdings online for more than a decade.

It appears as if Mooney’s letter may have at least prompted FRBNY to update its website, which states that the bank holds 507,000 gold bars, with a combined weight of 6,331 metric tons, as of 2024.

Before this year, FRBNY had been listing the same statistics on its site for the last five years—claiming that it held 497,000 gold bars, with a combined weight of about 6,190 tons as of 2019. Before 2019, FRBNY listed statistics that were current as of 2015—508,000 gold bars weighing 6,350 tons—and before that, the FRBNY said it had approximately 530,000 gold bars weighing 6,700 tons as of 2012.

Those numbers show that FRBNY’s gold holdings decreased from 2012 to 2019, then increased by 10,000 bars from 2019 through this year.

Assuming the Fed’s website is accurate, one possible reason for the recent uptick is that FRBNY has taken custody of the gold from Ukraine’s central bank.

Has Ukrainian Gold Offset the Withdrawals of Other Nations?

Such a scenario would explain news reports from 2014 about Ukraine’s gold reserves being “hastily airlifted” to the United States from Borispol Airport just east of Kyiv.

At the time, the New York Fed refused to answer questions from the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee about whether it had taken possession of Ukraine’s gold. But when Ukraine disclosed in July 2022 that it had sold $12 billion of its gold reserves since the Russian invasion, the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee returned to the issue.

“The United States and its allies have appropriated tens of billions of dollars in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. So why would Ukraine need to sell its gold reserves unless doing so was a condition of all that U.S. and European assistance, especially since the United States already had taken custody of the Ukrainian gold?” Chris Powell asked in a July 2022 article.

Chris Powell told Headline USA that it’s time for the Federal Reserve to start providing answers.

“What does the Federal Reserve know about international gold flows that it doesn’t want the American people to know? Does this knowledge involve the grotesque financial mismanagement of the U.S. government and its currency? Why shouldn’t the American people know?” he asked.

“Indeed, since gold is the ultimate measure of the value of ALL government currencies, why shouldn’t the whole world be allowed to know?”

Stefan Gleason, CEO of online bullion dealer Money Metals, praised Congressman Mooney for continuing to ask the obvious, but seemingly tough, questions of the Fed and the Treasury about their gold activities.

“The answers as well as non-answers that Mooney receives back from these clandestine government money managers are truly remarkable. Who ever imagined the most basic questions would be so difficult to answer?” Gleason asked.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

END

5 a. IMPORTANT COMMENTARIES ON COMMODITIES /

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

END

6.CRYPTOCURRENCY//DIGITAL CURRENCY// COMMENTARIES/

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

ONSHORE YUAN: CLOSED DOWN 7.1993

OFFSHORE YUAN: UP TO 7.2100

SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 12.28 PPTS OR 0.41%

HANG SENG CLOSED UP 6.53 PTS OR 0.04%

2. Nikkei closed UP 198.41 PTS OR 0.50%

3. Europe stocks SO FAR: ALL MOSTLY RED

USA dollar INDEX DOWN TO 103.78 EURO RISES TO 1.0852 UP 20 BASIS PTS

3b Japan 10 YR bond yield: FALLS TO. +.710 Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese YEN vs USA cross now at 150.37/JAPANESE YEN NOW FALLING AS WELL AS LONG TERM 10 YR. YIELDS RISING //EVENTUALLY THIS WILL BREAK THE JAPANESE CENTRAL BANK

3c Nikkei now ABOVE 17,000

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

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

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

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

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

3h European bond buying continues to push yields lower on all fronts in the EMU. German 10yr bund DOWN TO +2.3900***/Italian 10 Yr bond yield DOWN to 3.825* /SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD DOWN TO 3.263…**

3i Greek 10 year bond yield DOWN TO 3.353

3j Gold at $2082.75 silver at: 23/14 1 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $30.00

3k USA vs Russian rouble;// Russian rouble UP 0 AND 37 /100 roubles/dollar; ROUBLE AT 91.30//

3m oil into the 79 dollar handle for WTI and 82 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 150.37// 10 YEAR YIELD AFTER FIRST BREAKING .54% LAST YEAR NOW EXCEEDS THAT LEVEL TO 0.710% 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 0.8843 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF: 0.9598 well above the floor set by the Swiss Finance Minister. Thomas Jordan, chief of the Swiss National Bank continues to purchase euros trying to lower value of the Swiss Franc.

USA 10 YR BOND YIELD: 4.204 UP 3 BASIS PTS…

USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 4.355 UP 3 BASIS PTS/

USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.556 UP 2 BASIS PTS

USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 31.53…(TURKEY SET TO BLOW UP FINANCIALLY)

GREAT BRITAIN/10 YEAR YIELD: DOWN 5 BASIS PTS AT 4.1330

end

2.a Overnight: Newsquawk and Zero hedge

S&P Futures Flat As MegaTech Bubble Gets Bigger Around The Globe

MONDAY, MAR 04, 2024 – 08:18 AM

US equity futures were flat after closing Friday at a new record high above 5,100 for the first time ever, and gaining for 16 of the past 18 weeks, while European shares extended gains to new all time highs after six weeks of gains, as investors waited for reassurances that central banks are on track to cut interest rates in the coming months. US equity futures traded in a narrow range with S&P futures trading down 0.1% while Nasdaq futures were modestly in the green. NVDA is +1.3% pre-mkt but the rest of Mag7 are flat or down; Apple was down more than 1% after it was hit Monday with a €1.8 billion ($2 billion) penalty from the European Union over an investigation into allegations it shut out music-streaming rivals. SMCI soared 16% after it was added to the S&P 500 index in the latest quarterly weighting change. Treasuries slipped, while commodities are mixed with ags higher and Energy lower; WTI falls below $80 even though OPEC+ extended production cuts through mid-year. Bitcoin topped $65,000, leading traders to bet the cryptocurrency will surpass the record price of almost $69,000, hit during the pandemic. With no US macro data today and only one Fedspeaker, we may see a low volume day as investors await the next batch of data, ISM-Srvcs (tmrw), JOLTS (Weds), Productivity (Thurs), and NFP (Fri). Earnings this week have AVGO and several Consumer/Retailer names which may help clarify the picture on the Consumer.

In US premarket trading, chipmakers continued their ascent, with Western Digital Corp., Micron Technology Inc. and Nvidia Corp. rising more than 1%. Tesla Inc dropped 1.7% on a drop in Chinese auto sales. Cryptocurrency-linked stocks also rallied after Bitcoin breached the $65,000 mark, extending gains to a second consecutive session. Here are some other notable premarket movers:

Super Micro Computer soared 16% and Deckers Outdoor also rallied aboug 6% after the pair were added to the S&P 500 index in the latest quarterly weighting change.
Dutch Bros rise 2.8% after the drive-through coffee chain was upgraded to overweight from neutral at Piper Sandler, which says it’s the right time to become more constructive on the stock.
Lyft shares gain 5.2% after RBC Capital Markets speculates about a partnership between the ride-hailing service and food delivery firm DoorDash (DASH US), with the broker upgrading both to outperform.
Toast shares gain 1.3% in premarket trading after the restaurant software company was initiated with an outperform recommendation at Evercore ISI, which also set a Street-high price target for the stock.
Macy’s rose 16% after Arkhouse Management Co. and Brigade Capital Management boosted their offer for the department store operator by 14% after the company rebuffed a previous proposal.

The S&P 500 has now gained for 16 of the last 18 weeks, a run not seen since 1971, Deutsche Bank analysts pointed out. That rally was fanned further last week by US data that reinforced bets the Federal Reserve would be able to cut rates later this year. The earnings season, meanwhile, showed companies averaging 8% earnings growth.

“Better economic outlook, bullish investor sentiment and some better earnings have supported the equity markets,” Jefferies strategist Mohit Kumar wrote in a note. “Whether it’s the economic outlook or the central bank ‘put’ being back on the table, investors are very positive on risky assets.” While markets have broadly pushed Fed policy-easing expectations to July, from the previously anticipated May, Kumar still expects 75-100 basis points worth of rate cuts this year, according to Bloomberg.

Some hints could come this week from Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s congressional testimony, while the European Central Bank will hold a policy meeting on Thursday. A raft of economic data is also due, including US monthly payrolls figures on Friday.

Europe’s Stoxx 600 reversed earlier losses to trade up 0.3% to a new all time high with technology, health care and banks outperforming. Delivery Hero SE rose after announcing the launch of a financing transaction to amend and extend its financing facilities. Here are the biggest movers Monday:

Delivery Hero rises as much as 6.9% after the German online food ordering services firm amended and extended its existing debt facilities, something Bernstein calls “overwhelmingly positive”
Diasorin advances as much as 5.4% after the Italian biotechology firm said it’s Liaison Plex diagnostics platform received US FDA clearance, a very clear positive, analysts says
Evonik rises as much as 4.5% after announcing job cuts and other measures that will reduce costs by €400 million annually by the end of 2026, with analysts positive on cost cuts
Aryzta gains as much as 6.1%, the most since Jan. 19, after the Swiss industrial baker presented results that Stifel called “compelling” and fresh guidance which boosts confidence
DS Smith shares rise as much as 2.1% to a one-year high, after Bloomberg reported late Friday that Mondi has increased its preliminary takeover offer for the rival packaging company
BT Group advances as much as 2.7% as Berenberg upgrades the telecom operator to buy, saying the investment case should become much clearer and concerns seem overdone
Henkel shares decline as much as 4.5% after the consumer-chemical producer posted in-line 4Q results. RBC flags company outlook for low-single-digit negative impact from M&A in 2024
Comet tumbles as much as 7.9%, the most in more than four months, after the Swiss supplier of radio frequency tools to the semiconductor industry posted an outlook below expectations
SoftwareOne falls as much as 3.3% after the firm’s founding shareholders move to dissolve the group acting in concert between them and Bain Capital and terminate an underlying agreement

Earlier in the session, Asian stocks gained, lifted by the tech sector, as traders prepared for a slew of central bank events and China’s key political meeting this week. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.6%, with chipmakers TSMC and Samsung Electronics among the biggest boosts: the world’s top chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., rose to its highest-ever level. Bets that the Federal Reserve will be able to cut rates as soon as June and Dell’s better-than-expected results provided support for tech shares. Taiwan’s Taiex jumped 2%, Korea’s Kospi rose more than 1% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed above the key 40,000 level for the first time ever. The tech gains came on the heels of “the whole AI push again, especially in Taiwan,” said Xin-Yao Ng, an investment director at abrdn. “The AI thematic is very strong at the moment when themes like EV and renewables are facing issues.”

Chinese equities were steady ahead of the National People’s Congress, an annual gathering of the nation’s top officials that may offer trading cues from policy priorities and signals about fiscal stimulus. While recent “national team” buying has put a near-term floor on the market, some investors say more consistent policies and structural reforms are needed for fund flows to meaningfully return.

Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. were choppy with an early lacklustre mood after the PBoC’s liquidity drain, while China begins its Two Sessions meeting with the focus on the NPC tomorrow including Premier Li’s first government work report and the official GDP target.
ASX 200 lacked conviction amid varied data releases and despite initially printing a fresh record high.
Nikkei 225 resumed its uptrend and climbed above the 40,000 level for the first time.
KOSPI outperformed as it played catch up on its return from a 3-day weekend.

In FX, the US dollar declined for a second day, in a quiet session with no US economic data due. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index is down 0.1% with muted moves across the G-10 currencies. The pound is the best performer, rising 0.2% versus the greenback ahead of the UK budget announcement on Wednesday. Sterling and euro outperformed developed-nation peers while most other currencies were down.

USD/JPY rises 0.2% to 150.38, up for a second day
GBP/USD also gains a second day to 1.2682, up almost 0.5% in two sessions
EUR/USD climbs 0.2% to 1.0853
USD/CHF rises 0.1% to 0.8843; the pair fell as much as 0.3% to session low 0.8806 after Switzerland’s Feb CPI rose quicker than estimated

In rates, treasuries fall, with US 10-year yields rising 2bps to 4.20%, underperforming core European rates. Treasury yields were cheaper by 2bp to 3bp across the curve with spreads broadly within 1bp of Friday’s close; 10-year yields trade around 4.21% with bunds and gilts outperforming by 3bp and 2bp in the sector. 2s10s and 5s30s spreads, little changed on the day, remain inside Friday’s sharp steepening ranges.Monday’s US session is expected to include at least 10 corporate bond offerings, while economic data slate is empty. Key labor-market indicators later this week include February jobs report Friday. The US IG dollar issuance slate empty so far, though syndicate desks are calling for roughly $30b of new IG sales this week and $130b in March

In commodities, oil prices are flat, with WTI trading near $79.90 after OPEC+ extended its oil supply cutbacks to the middle of the year. Spot gold is little changed.

Bitcoin continued to climb higher and rose more than 3% above 65,000, now just $4K away from a new all time high; price action which has lifted Crypto stocks such as Coinbase and Riot. Chinese state media warned against cryptocurrency trading as domestic interest surges amid the bitcoin rally, according to SCMP.

Looking at today’s calendar, the US economic data slate is empty for the session; ahead this week are S&P Global US services PMI, factory orders, ISM services, ADP employment, JOLTS and jobs report. Fed speakers scheduled include Harker at 11am; Barr, Powell, Daly, Kashkari, Mester and Williams are scheduled to appear later this week

Market Snapshot

S&P 500 futures little changed at 5,142.25
STOXX Europe 600 little changed at 498.06
MXAP up 0.4% to 174.83
MXAPJ up 0.7% to 531.07
Nikkei up 0.5% to 40,109.23
Topix down 0.1% to 2,706.28
Hang Seng Index little changed at 16,595.97
Shanghai Composite up 0.4% to 3,039.31
Sensex up 0.2% to 73,938.36
Australia S&P/ASX 200 down 0.1% to 7,735.79
Kospi up 1.2% to 2,674.27
German 10Y yield little changed at 2.40%
Euro up 0.1% to $1.0848
Brent Futures little changed at $83.61/bbl
Gold spot up 0.0% to $2,083.89
U.S. Dollar Index little changed at 103.84

Top Overnight News

In the early 2000s, the U.S. and the global economy experienced a “China shock,” a boom in imports of cheap Chinese-made goods that helped keep inflation low but at the cost of local manufacturing jobs. A sequel might be in the making as Beijing doubles down on exports to revive the country’s growth. Propped up by cheap, state-directed loans, Chinese companies are glutting foreign markets with products they can’t sell at home. Some economists see this China shock pushing inflation down even more than the first. China’s economy is now slowing, whereas, in the previous era, it was booming. As a result, the disinflationary effect of cheap Chinese-manufactured goods won’t be offset by Chinese demand for iron ore, coal and other commodities. WSJ
Beijing is expected to resist growing market pressure for much stronger stimulus to spur China’s economic recovery at its flagship annual political event this week, analysts have said, as President Xi Jinping focuses on turning the country into an advanced manufacturing superpower. FT
Japan is considering calling an end to deflation in the wake of rising prices, Kyodo news reported, a move that would turn a new page for the world’s fourth-largest economy after decades of economic stagnation scarred a generation of workers and investors. RTRS
Israel has “basically signed on” to a six-week ceasefire that would be used to facilitate a second round of swaps of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, a senior US administration official said. FT
OPEC+ extended its oil supply cutbacks to the middle of the year in a bid to avert a global surplus and shore up prices. The curbs — which on paper total roughly 2 million barrels a day — will remain in place until the end of June, according to delegates who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. Group leader Saudi Arabia accounts for half of the pledged reduction. BBG
US real estate inflation is much cooler/tamer than the official gov’t data would suggest as rents ease amid a jump in supply and a downtick in demand (economists insist it’s only a matter of time before the CPI/PCE start to reflect reality). WaPo
SMCI (Supermicro) and DECK (Deckers) will replace WHR (Whirlpool) and ZION (Zions Bancorp) in the S&P 500 prior to the open of trading on Mon March 18. WSJ
Arkhouse and Brigade increase their bid for Macy’s from $21/shr. to $24/shr. and identify additional information about their financing for the deal. RTRS
President Biden is struggling to overcome doubts about his leadership inside his own party and broad dissatisfaction over the nation’s direction, leaving him trailing behind Donald J. Trump just as their general-election contest is about to begin, a new poll by The New York Times and Siena College has found. With eight months left until the November election, Mr. Biden’s 43 percent support lags behind Mr. Trump’s 48 percent in the national survey of registered voters. NYT
The recent rally has driven the share of market cap in stocks with extremely high valuations to levels similar to those reached during the euphoria of 2021. But the prevalence of extreme valuations today looks far less widespread than in 2021 after adjusting for market concentration. In contrast with 2021, the cost of capital (WACC) is much higher today and investors are focused on margins rather than “growth at any cost.” These headwinds from a higher WACC have also weighed on small-caps. Quality is expensive and will tactically underperform when confidence in the inflation outlook improves. However, a higher WACC means valuations of small and unprofitable growth stocks are unlikely to return to their 2021 highs. GIR

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

APAC stocks traded mixed amid a tentative mood ahead of an event-packed week. ASX 200 lacked conviction amid varied data releases and despite initially printing a fresh record high. Nikkei 225 resumed its uptrend and climbed above the 40,000 level for the first time. KOSPI outperformed as it played catch up on its return from a 3-day weekend. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. were choppy with an early lacklustre mood after the PBoC’s liquidity drain, while China begins its Two Sessions meeting with the focus on the NPC tomorrow including Premier Li’s first government work report and the official GDP target.

Top Asian News

China NPC spokesperson said the 2024 annual parliamentary meeting will close on March 11th and they will make new laws to deepen economic reform including financial institutional reform to promote private companies, while the spokesperson said Premier Li will not give a press conference at the close of the NPC this year and will not hold a press conference in following years, according to Reuters. It was separately reported that Beijing is expected to resist market pressure for a much stronger stimulus to spur China’s economic recovery at the annual political event this week, according to FT.
ZOZO (3092 JT), Disco Corp (6146 JT), and Socionext (6526 JT) are to join the Nikkei 225, from April 1
China’s NDRC is to raise retail gasoline and diesel prices by CNY 125/ton and CNY 120/ton respectively from March 5th.
Chinese insurers reportedly warn of debt risks at property giant Vanke (2202 HK/ 2 CH), via Bloomberg

European bourses, Stoxx600 (+0.1%) began the session on a mixed footing and currently trade on either side of the unchanged mark in what has been a catalyst-thin morning. Sectors are mostly lower; Tech takes the top spot, seemingly benefitting from broad-base optimism within the sector. Basic Resources is hampered by the softer risk tone in Chinese trade overnight. US Equity Futures (ES -0.1%, NQ +0.1%, RTY +0.2%) are firmer, though trading with little direction ahead of a quiet docket on Monday. The RTY outperforms, lifted by gains in SMCI (+12.2%) and in tandem with strength in Bitcoin. Attention this week will be on appearances from Fed Chair Powell, the ECB and the US NFP report on Friday.

Top European News

UK Chancellor Hunt said he hoped to be able to lower taxes further in his annual budget on Wednesday but noted it would be “deeply unconservative” for him to do so in a way that required higher borrowing and his budget will be prudent and responsible, according to Reuters. Furthermore, Hunt said during an interview with the BBC that he wants to move towards lower taxes but will only do so in a responsible way and that the most unconservative thing he could do would be to cut taxes by increasing borrowing.
UK Chancellor Hunt is putting together plans for up to GBP 9bln worth of tax increases and spending cuts in order to fund a 2p reduction in national insurance, according to The Times.
UK Chancellor Hunt is reportedly expected to set out plans for private companies to trade shares on exchanges, according to FT.
UK PM Sunak’s close allies reportedly worry that his chances of winning the next UK election have been made even more difficult as one of his Cabinet ministers, Business Secretary Badenock is said to be positioning to succeed him as Conservative Party leader, according to Bloomberg.
EU’s Dombrovskis said it is positive that the e-commerce moratorium has been extended, while he noted there were disappointments related to agriculture and fisheries talks.
S&P upgraded Portugal from BBB+ to A-; Outlook Positive amid ongoing steep external and government deleveraging.

Contained trade for DXY on a 103 handle, holding above Friday’s trough of 103.65 and the 200DMA at 103.79. Catalyst-light session thus far with greater attention on the week’s upcoming risk events.
The EUR briefly eclipsed Friday’s high at 1.0856 before pulling back a touch. For now, is contained between between its 50DMA at 1.0867 and 200DMA at 1.0828.
A slightly softer start to the week for JPY as USD/JPY maintains a footing on a 150 handle. Attention for the pair remains to the upside with Friday’s high at 150.72 and the YTD peak at 150.88. A decisively more hawkish BoJ is required to change fortunes for the pair.
The Swiss Franc is the marginal outperformer across the majors in the wake of firmer-than-expected inflation metrics. EUR/CHF remains above its 200DMA at 0.9560. ING continues to target a move towards 0.96 for EUR/CHF by spring.
PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1020 vs exp. 7.1906 (prev. 7.1059).

Fixed Income

USTs are the relative underperformers, and have been gradually fading from the 111-01 session peak which left USTs just one tick shy of Friday’s best, a pullback which has been gradual and without any real driver but one that is relatively modest when compared to Friday’s action overall.
Bunds are in a tight 132.53-132.89 bound which keeps it near Friday’s best of 132.87 but markedly shy of last week’s 133.61 peak. There was no reaction to EZ Sentix as attention turns to ECB’s Holzmann later today (ECB is in the quiet period) and the ECB Policy Announcement on Thursday.
Gilts are slightly weaker than EGBs but with an equally narrow 30 tick range, the high point resides at 98.33 shy of Friday’s 98.43 best and another 10 ticks from that week’s contract peak.

Commodities

Sideways trade across crude futures with little impetus from the weekend OPEC+ output cut extension through Q2 (as expected), with the move seemingly limiting near-term downside. Geopolitics also remain in focus with Gaza truce talks underway; “Egyptian media reports ‘significant progress’ in talks between the mediators and Hamas on a ceasefire in Gaza”, according to Walla News’ Elster.
A flat-to-subdued morning for precious metals with the Dollar index also caged in a tight range as participants await this week’s myriad of risk events in the absence of unscheduled macro drivers; Spot gold found intraday resistance at Friday’s high (2,088.19/oz) before waning.
Mixed trade across base metals with copper firmer intraday despite the recently reported increases in Chinese inventories; 3M LME copper briefly fell under USD 8,500/t before reclaiming the level and currently prints a USD 8,481.50-8,570/t intraday range.
OPEC+ members agreed to extend voluntary cuts to Q2 whereby Saudi Arabia is to extend its voluntary oil cut of 1mln bpd for Q2 with its output to be around 9mln bpd through June and Russia is to cut oil output and exports by an additional 471k bpd, while the UAE is to voluntary cut oil output by 163k bpd and Iraq will voluntary cut output by 220k bpd. Furthermore, Kazakhstan is to extend voluntary oil output cuts of 82k bpd through to Q2 2024 and Kuwait is to cut oil output by 135k bpd for June.
Russian Deputy PM Novak said Russia will implement an additional voluntary oil and export output cut of 471k bpd for Q2 in which it will cut output by 350k bpd in April with exports cut by 121k bpd, while it will cut output by 400k bpd in May with exports cut by 71k bpd and will cut 471k bpd in June which will all be from output, according to Reuters and The Moscow Times.
GCC ministerial meeting communiqué stated that the entire Durra gas field and its natural resources are jointly and only owned by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Iran’s Oil Minister said Iran aims to reach 1.3bln cubic metres per day of gas output in 5 years.
HSBC says Qatar expansion is likely to prolong Global LNG glut until 2030; cuts Europe TTF forecasts by 14% on average to USD 9.25/9.5/MBTU in 2024/2025E
EQT (EQT) is to curtail approximately 1bcf per day of gross production beginning late Feb amid low nat gas prices from warm winter weather and elevated storage inventories Q1 curtailments expected to total 30-40bcf of net production.

Geopolitics: Middle East

Israeli military spokesman said the IDF concluded the initial review of civilian deaths at the Gaza aid convoy in which it was concluded that the IDF did not carry out a strike towards the aid convoy and the majority of Palestinians that died were the result of a stampede, while forces fired warning shots and responded towards several individuals that approached forces posing an ‘immediate threat’.
Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Sunday for ceasefire talks, while it was also reported that a Palestinian official familiar with Gaza truce talks said they were not there yet when asked whether a deal was imminent. Furthermore, Egyptian security sources had previously stated that parties agreed on the duration of a truce, as well as hostage and prisoner releases although the completion of a deal still requires an agreement on the withdrawal of Israeli forces from northern Gaza and a return of residents.
US VP Harris said what we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating and too many innocent Palestinians have been killed and Gazans are suffering from a humanitarian catastrophe. Harris added that Israel’s government must do more to increase the flow of aid, “no excuses”, as well as work to restore basic services and restore order in Gaza. Furthermore, she said there must be an immediate ceasefire and the threat posed by Hamas must be eliminated, while she added there is a deal on the table and Hamas needs to agree to that deal, according to Reuters.
US VP Harris is to meet with Israeli war cabinet member Gantz on Monday and US Secretary of State Blinken is also to meet with Gantz in Washington on Tuesday.
US official said on Saturday that the outlines of a Gaza peace deal are in place and it depends on Hamas agreeing to release hostages, according to Reuters.
Houthi transport ministry said hostile actions by British and US naval vessels against Yemen caused a malfunction in submarine cables in the Red Sea.
Hezbollah claimed it detonated a large IED and fired artillery at an Israeli force that attempted to infiltrate Lebanon, according to a source via social media platform X.
“Tangible progress on the second day of Cairo negotiations on the truce in Gaza”, according to Egyptian media cited by Sky News Arabia.
“Egyptian media reports ‘significant progress’ in talks between the mediators and Hamas on a ceasefire in Gaza”, according to Walla News’ Elster.

OTHER

Road traffic near Crimea’s port of Feodosia was temporarily restricted following reports of an explosion.
China’s Embassy in the Philippines commented on remarks from the Philippines Ambassador to the US in which it stated the China-related remarks disregard basic facts, ‘wantonly hype up’ the South China Sea issue and maliciously smear China which they strongly condemn, according to Reuters.

US Event Calendar

Nothing scheduled

Central Bank Speakers

11:00: Fed’s Harker Remarks on Economic Impact of Higher Education

DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

We’re currently on a run that you may not see again in your lifetimes. The S&P 500 last week completed a run of 16 positive weeks out of the last 18 for first time since 1971. If this carries on for another week it’ll be 17 out of 19 for the first time since 1964. A remarkable and relentless period of performance.

If the run survives this week it will have navigated a number of big events ending with US payrolls on Friday. Before that we have the US services ISM, China’s Caixin services PMI, the start of China’s National People’s Congress, alongside Super Tuesday in the US presidential race tomorrow. Wednesday sees the latest JOLTS data, the BoC meeting, the UK budget and Powell’s first congressional testimony of the week. Thursday has the latest ECB meeting. Biden’s state of the union address, and Powell’s second testimony. Friday has a fair bit of European data alongside payrolls, including German PPI and Industrial Production.

Let’s briefly review a few of these highlights now starting with payrolls. Our economists and consensus expect +200k against +353k last month with private payrolls at +175k (consensus +160k) versus +317k last month. Winter storms in February bring a lot of uncertainty to the reading as does the fact that January saw a low response rate versus long-term averages so revisions could be sizeable.

Before that we’ll hear from many Fed speakers (see the week ahead calendar at the end for them all) including Chair Powell’s testimonies to the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. He will likely stick to the January FOMC script but the market always seem to get something new out of these appearances which include a lot of congressional Q&A. He may receive plenty of questions about the balance sheet and DB’s Matt Luzzetti co-authored an important academic paper on Friday, discussed on releases by both Governor Waller and Dallas Fed President Logan, called “Quantitative Tightening Around the Globe: What Have We Learned?”.

The most interesting thing around the ECB meeting will be the updated staff forecasts where downgrades might not be as severe as they could have been a couple of months ago including to inflation where the flash print lasts week was ahead of consensus. So there is now unlikely to be any great urgency to cut and our economists have now pushed back their first cut to June from April. See their preview note here where they detail this and everything else you’d want to know about the meeting.

In politics, tomorrow sees ‘Super Tuesday’, when 16 states and territories will be holding primary elections. It perhaps lacks a bit of razzmatazz this year as a Trump vs. Biden rematch looks the overwhelmingly most likely outcome outside of an event removed from the results of the primaries. Perhaps the most interesting thing to learn is whether pollsters are accurately gauging Mr Trump’s actual support levels as a guide to more national trends/predictions for November.

Moving on to Asia, in Japan, there will be several appearances by BoJ speakers including Governor Ueda tomorrow. In China, the main event will be the National People’s Congress starting tomorrow. Our economists have an overview here and point to several key announcements to watch, including the 2024 growth target, the fiscal stance for 2024 and property sector policy.

Staying with Asia, markets have started the week mostly on the positive side led by the KOSPI (+1.30%) after being closed on Friday. The Nikkei (+0.58%) is currently trading above 40,000 for the first time in history. Elsewhere, the CSI (+0.15%) and the Shanghai Composite (+0.22%) are edging higher ahead of the important political meeting this week. The Hang Seng (-0.06%) and the S&P/ASX 200 (-0.14%) are slightly weaker alongside S&P 500 (-0.11%) futures. 2yr (+1.45bps) and 10yr UST (+1.36 bps) yields are slightly higher, trading at 4.55% and 4.19%, respectively.

Brent futures (+0.16%) are slightly higher at $83.68/bbl after OPEC+ members agreed over the weekend to extend voluntary crude supply cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day (mbpd) until the end of second quarter to support the “stability and balance of oil markets”. This was as expected.

Recapping last week now, and markets were given fresh impetus after the US PCE inflation report was in line with expectations, after some fears had built up of an even stronger print. The S&P 500 gained +0.95% last week (and +0.80% on Friday), meaning the index has now recorded positive weekly gains for 16 out of the last 18 weeks, the first time since 1971. Talking of milestones, the Russell 2000 reached its highest level since April 2022, jumping +2.96% on the week (and +1.05% on Friday), so the rally was fairly broad. But it was tech stocks that led Friday’s sizeable rally, with the Magnificent 7 up +1.27% (+1.74% over the week). A strong earnings beat by Dell Technologies (+31.62% Friday) lifted semiconductor stocks (+4.29%) and saw Nvidia (+4.00%) move above $2trn market cap for the first time.

European equities enjoyed a more modest performance last week, with the STOXX 600 near flat (+0.07%) despite a +0.60% rise on Friday. But the German DAX was a standout, as the index shot up to a new all-time after rising +1.81% (and +0.32% on Friday).

Friday’s equity strength came despite the downside surprise in the US February manufacturing ISM (at 47.8 vs 49.5 expected). That said, it may have helped markets by increasing expectations of rate cuts, with the amount of Fed cuts expected by December rising +9.4bps last week to 92bps (+6.6bps on Friday). This supported a rally in sovereign bonds with yields on 2yr Treasuries slipping -16.0bps (and -8.8bps on Friday). 10yr Treasury yields fell by -6.7bps (and -6.9bps on Friday).

Meanwhile in Europe, flash inflation for February came in hotter-than-expected. Headline HICP slowed to 2.6% year-on-year (just above the 2.5% expected), while core saw a larger upside surprise at 3.1% (vs 2.9% expected). Against this backdrop, investors pared back expectations of ECB rate cuts, with the rate priced in for June rising +5.2bps to 23.2bps (+0.2bps on Friday). This marks the first week since October that less than 25bps of cuts have been priced by June. 10yr bund yields rose +5.1bps (+0.2bps on Friday).

In commodities, WTI crude rose to its highest level since October after gaining +2.19% on Friday to $79.97/bbl (+4.55% week-on-week), ahead of OPEC+’s production decision early this month. Last but not least, Friday was a remarkable day for alternative stores of value as gold (+1.89% to $2,083/oz) closed at an all-time high, whilst Bitcoin (+1.89% to $61,921) closed at a two-year high.

2 B) NOW NEWSQUAWK (EUROPE/REPORT)

OPEC+ voluntary cuts extension, DXY sub-104, APAC trade tentative – Newsquawk Europe Market Open

MONDAY, MAR 04, 2024 – 01:33 AM

APAC stocks traded mixed amid a tentative mood ahead of an event-packed week.
European equity futures indicate a slightly higher open with Euro Stoxx 50 future +0.2% after the cash market closed up 0.4% on Friday.
DXY is sub-104, JPY marginally lags across the majors with price action otherwise contained in the FX space.
OPEC+ members agreed to extend voluntary cuts to Q2 whereby Saudi Arabia is to extend its voluntary oil cut of 1mln bpd.
UK Chancellor Hunt said he wants to move towards lower taxes but will only do so in a responsible way.
Looking ahead, highlights include German Import Prices, Swiss CPI, EZ Sentix Index, Australian PMI, Tokyo CPI, Comments from Fed’s Harker.

More Newsquawk in 3 steps:

1. Subscribe to the free premarket movers reports

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

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

US TRADE

EQUITIES

US stocks advanced to new highs on Friday as AI-affiliated names led the charge with particular strength in Dell (DELL) after its earnings report, although regional banks were in a weak spot after NYCB’s (NYCB) (-26%) latest woes, while Fed rate cut pricing across 2024 ramped up by 10bps to 92bps after the ISM Manufacturing survey saw a surprise fall including in the prices paid component.
SPX +0.80% at 5,137, NDX +1.44% at 18,302, DJIA +0.23% at 39,087, RUT +1.05% at 2,076.
Click here for a detailed summary.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

Fed Chair Powell is expected to double down on his message that there’s no rush for the Fed to cut rates when he delivers in semi-annual testimony to the House committee and a Senate panel on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, according to Bloomberg.
Fed’s Bostic (2024) said on Friday that he is “grateful” for inflation progress but the “job is not done” and Fed staff are having a debate about the efficacy of policies. Bostic also said they need to hold rates higher for longer than you’d think and can’t afford to ease up and assume services inflation will cool.
Fed’s Kugler (voter) said on Friday that signs firms are adjusting prices slower bolsters disinflation confidence and she is ‘cautiously optimistic’ inflation will fall without job market damage, while she added the Fed are laser-focused on bringing inflation down to 2%.
US congressional leaders released the text of a bill to fund the government through September 30th and avert a government shutdown, while Senate Majority leader Schumer said the bill sets discretionary spending of USD 1.66tln for fiscal 2024, according to Reuters.
Former US President Donald Trump won the Michigan Republican caucuses, while Nikki Haley was projected to win the District of Columbia Republican Presidential primary.
Fitch affirmed the US at AA+; Outlook Stable.
Fitch downgraded New York Community Bancorp’s (NYCB) rating; Outlook Negative, while Moody’s downgraded NYCB’s long-term issuer rating to B3; Outlook remains on review for a further downgrade.

APAC TRADE

EQUITIES

APAC stocks traded mixed amid a tentative mood ahead of an event-packed week.
ASX 200 lacked conviction amid varied data releases and despite initially printing a fresh record high.
Nikkei 225 resumed its uptrend and climbed above the 40,000 level for the first time.
KOSPI outperformed as it played catch up on its return from a 3-day weekend.
Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. were choppy with an early lacklustre mood after the PBoC’s liquidity drain, while China begins its Two Sessions meeting with the focus on the NPC tomorrow including Premier Li’s first government work report and the official GDP target.
US equity futures traded sideways after Friday’s data-induced rally and as participants await key events.
European equity futures indicate a slightly higher open with Euro Stoxx 50 future +0.2% after the cash market closed up 0.4% on Friday.

FX

DXY languished below the 104.00 level after last week’s dovish data releases and ramp-up in Fed rate cut pricing, while participants await an event-packed week for the US including Super Tuesday, Fed Chair Powell’s Congressional testimony from Wednesday, President Biden’s State of the Union Address on Thursday and the latest NFP report on Friday.
EUR/USD remained afloat amid the lacklustre dollar and ahead of the ECB meeting later in the week.
GBP/USD marginally extended on Friday’s highs albeit with gains contained amid a lack of catalysts, while the focus for the UK will be on the Budget announcement on Wednesday with Chancellor Hunt reportedly considering a further cut in public spending to fund tax cuts.
USD/JPY was rangebound and shrugged off early weakness after finding support around the 150.00 level.
Antipodeans were indecisive amid the mixed sentiment in the region and mixed bag of Australian data.
PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1020 vs exp. 7.1906 (prev. 7.1059).

FIXED INCOME

10-year UST futures marginally pulled back from resistance at the 111.00 level but retained most of last week’s late gains which were spurred by dovish economic releases including disappointing ISM Manufacturing data and a softer Prices Paid component.
Bund futures traded sideways after recent whipsawing and with near-term resistance around 132.50.
10-year JGB futures faded Friday’s advances but with the downside cushioned amid the BoJ’s presence in the market.

COMMODITIES

Crude futures failed to sustain early upside despite OPEC+ extending output cuts through to Q2 and after the Red Sea crisis claimed its first ship casualty in which UK-owned MV Rubymar finally sunk after being hit by a Houthi missile attack in February.
OPEC+ members agreed to extend voluntary cuts to Q2 whereby Saudi Arabia is to extend its voluntary oil cut of 1mln bpd for Q2 with its output to be around 9mln bpd through June and Russia is to cut oil output and exports by an additional 471k bpd, while the UAE is to voluntary cut oil output by 163k bpd and Iraq will voluntary cut output by 220k bpd. Furthermore, Kazakhstan is to extend voluntary oil output cuts of 82k bpd through to Q2 2024 and Kuwait is to cut oil output by 135k bpd for June.
Russian Deputy PM Novak said Russia will implement an additional voluntary oil and export output cut of 471k bpd for Q2 in which it will cut output by 350k bpd in April with exports cut by 121k bpd, while it will cut output by 400k bpd in May with exports cut by 71k bpd and will cut 471k bpd in June which will all be from output, according to Reuters and The Moscow Times.
GCC ministerial meeting communiqué stated that the entire Durra gas field and its natural resources are jointly and only owned by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Iran’s Oil Minister said Iran aims to reach 1.3bln cubic metres per day of gas output in 5 years.
Spot gold took a breather after Friday’s gains which were facilitated by dollar pressure and dovish Fed pricing.
Copper futures were subdued amid the flimsy risk appetite in the metal’s largest purchaser, China.

CRYPTO

Bitcoin extended on gains but is off intraday highs after failing to sustain a brief incursion above USD 64,000.
Chinese state media warned against cryptocurrency trading as domestic interest surges amid the bitcoin rally, according to SCMP.

NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES

China NPC spokesperson said the 2024 annual parliamentary meeting will close on March 11th and they will make new laws to deepen economic reform including financial institutional reform to promote private companies, while the spokesperson said Premier Li will not give a press conference at the close of the NPC this year and will not hold a press conference in following years, according to Reuters. It was separately reported that Beijing is expected to resist market pressure for a much stronger stimulus to spur China’s economic recovery at the annual political event this week, according to FT.

DATA RECAP

Japanese Business Capex YY (Q4) 16.4% vs. Exp. 2.9% (Prev. 3.4%)
Japanese Company Profits YY (Q4) 13.0% vs Exp. 21.3% (Prev. 20.1%)
Japanese Company Sales YY (Q4) 4.2% vs Exp. 4.5% (Prev. 5.0%)
Australian Building Approvals (Jan) -1.0% vs. Exp. 4.0% (Prev. -9.5%, Rev. -10.1%)
Australian Gross Company Profits (Q4) 7.4% vs. Exp. 1.8% (Prev. -1.3%)
Australian Business Inventories (Q4) -1.7% vs Exp. 0.0% (Prev. 1.2%)

GEOPOLITICS

MIDDLE EAST

Israeli military spokesman said the IDF concluded the initial review of civilian deaths at the Gaza aid convoy in which it was concluded that the IDF did not carry out a strike towards the aid convoy and the majority of Palestinians that died were the result of a stampede, while forces fired warning shots and responded towards several individuals that approached forces posing an ‘immediate threat’.
Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Sunday for ceasefire talks, while it was also reported that a Palestinian official familiar with Gaza truce talks said they were not there yet when asked whether a deal was imminent. Furthermore, Egyptian security sources had previously stated that parties agreed on the duration of a truce, as well as hostage and prisoner releases although the completion of a deal still requires an agreement on the withdrawal of Israeli forces from northern Gaza and a return of residents.
US VP Harris said what we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating and too many innocent Palestinians have been killed and Gazans are suffering from a humanitarian catastrophe. Harris added that Israel’s government must do more to increase the flow of aid, “no excuses”, as well as work to restore basic services and restore order in Gaza. Furthermore, she said there must be an immediate ceasefire and the threat posed by Hamas must be eliminated, while she added there is a deal on the table and Hamas needs to agree to that deal, according to Reuters.
US VP Harris is to meet with Israeli war cabinet member Gantz on Monday and US Secretary of State Blinken is also to meet with Gantz in Washington on Tuesday.
US official said on Saturday that the outlines of a Gaza peace deal are in place and it depends on Hamas agreeing to release hostages, according to Reuters.
US military confirmed that UK-owned vessel MV Rubymar sunk on Saturday after being struck by a Houthi missile attack on February 18th to become the first ship casualty of the Red Sea crisis, while Houthis said they will continue sinking more British ships.
Houthi transport ministry said hostile actions by British and US naval vessels against Yemen caused a malfunction in submarine cables in the Red Sea.
Hezbollah claimed it detonated a large IED and fired artillery at an Israeli force that attempted to infiltrate Lebanon, according to a source via social media platform X.

OTHER

Road traffic near Crimea’s port of Feodosia was temporarily restricted following reports of an explosion.
China’s Embassy in the Philippines commented on remarks from the Philippines Ambassador to the US in which it stated the China-related remarks disregard basic facts, ‘wantonly hype up’ the South China Sea issue and maliciously smear China which they strongly condemn, according to Reuters.

EU/UK

NOTABLE HEADLINES

UK Chancellor Hunt said he hoped to be able to lower taxes further in his annual budget on Wednesday but noted it would be “deeply unconservative” for him to do so in a way that required higher borrowing and his budget will be prudent and responsible, according to Reuters. Furthermore, Hunt said during an interview with the BBC that he wants to move towards lower taxes but will only do so in a responsible way and that the most unconservative thing he could do would be to cut taxes by increasing borrowing.
UK Chancellor Hunt is putting together plans for up to GBP 9bln worth of tax increases and spending cuts in order to fund a 2p reduction in national insurance, according to The Times.
UK Chancellor Hunt is reportedly expected to set out plans for private companies to trade shares on exchanges, according to FT.
UK PM Sunak’s close allies reportedly worry that his chances of winning the next UK election have been made even more difficult as one of his Cabinet ministers, Business Secretary Badenock is said to be positioning to succeed him as Conservative Party leader, according to Bloomberg.
EU’s Dombrovskis said it is positive that the e-commerce moratorium has been extended, while he noted there were disappointments related to agriculture and fisheries talks.
S&P upgraded Portugal from BBB+ to A-; Outlook Positive amid ongoing steep external and government deleveraging.

2C ASIA AFFAIRS

MONDAY MORNING/SUNDAY NIGHT

2 d./NORTH KOREA/ SOUTH KOREA/

NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA

END

2e) JAPAN

JAPAN

3 CHINA

CHINA/USA

4.EUROPEAN AFFAIRS//UK /SCANDINAVIAN AFFAIRS

GERMANY/RUSSIA/UKRAINE/SATURDAY

Leaked audio confirming Germany was responsible for blowing up the Crimean bridge.. Moscow is not enthused.

(zerohedge)

Germany Confirms Leaked Audio Of Its Top Generals Discussing Blowing Up The Crimean Bridge

SATURDAY, MAR 02, 2024 – 02:35 PM

In a huge development and absolute smoking gun revelation, the government of Germany has confirmed the authenticity of a leaked audio recording file published by Russia’s state-backed RT. The leak was first published by RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan, who described that she received it from Russian security officials.

It first appeared under the headline “Alleged audio of German officers discussing Crimean Bridge attack leaked” – as it featured top ranking Germany military officials in a private discussion of “a potential German operation to bomb the Crimean Bridge in Russia,” as it was initially described by RT. Russian media is now openly admitting that the call was in fact intercepted by Russia. Moscow is now saying this shows “direct” German involvement in the war.

The audio could have easily been dismissed in the West as simply Russian-sourced propaganda or even an AI fake; however, in an unexpected development the highest levels of the German government have now confirmed that the audio is indeed real and Berlin launched an investigation into the “serious” breach of secured communications.

“What is being reported is a very serious matter and that is why it is now being investigated very carefully, very intensively and very quickly,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in Rome.

Germany’s military has also confirmed the leaked recording, but officials have avoided weighing in the actual content of what was said pending an internal investigation:

A German defense ministry spokeswoman confimed to AFP that the ministry believes a conversation in the air force division was “intercepted”.

“We are currently unable to say for certain whether changes were made to the recorded or transcribed version that is circulating on social media,” the spokeswoman said. Experts consulted by Der Spiegel magazine said they believed the recording was authentic.

Germany’s Ministry of Defense said per the country’s dpa: “According to our assessment, a conversation within the Air Force was intercepted. We cannot currently say with certainty whether changes have been made to the recorded or written version that is circulating on social media.”

AFP further writes that “Topics include aiming the missiles at targets such as a key bridge over the Kerch strait linking the Russian mainland to Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.”

Additionally the potential supply of Taurus long-range air-to-surface missile to Kiev is a major focus of the conversation. The Franco-British cruise missile Storm Shadow also receives mention.

Importantly, it seems none other than Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz – the commander of the national air force, is among the four voices heard in the audio among top generals within the Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces.

A particularly damning section of the audio for which Moscow is currently demanding answers from German leaders…

German military officials reportedly planned to attack Russia’s Crimea bridge, aiming for strategic and political impact, stressing non-direct involvement. “The target is not only of military-strategic importance, but also political good. We can’t be seen as directly involved.” How would this not be an act of war? Source:

@BRICSinfo

Last edited3:16 PM · Mar 1, 2024

1.9M Views

They are heard openly discussing “interesting targets” including the “bridge in the east” and nearby “ammunition depots”.

Of course, the vital 12-mile bridge which spans the Kerch Strait and connects Crimea with mainland Russia was already previously severely damaged and briefly knocked out of commission in a major July 2023 missile or drone attack from Ukraine. Prior to that in October 2022 a truck bomb detonated on the bridge, resulting in parts of the roadway collapsing into the water below.

Those prior attacks were suspected to have had Western intelligence help, given the sophistication of the operations. Are the German officers caught in the audio possibly plotting another future attack? (Or alternately some of the contents or references could predate the prior attacks on the bridge, timeline-wise). Third time’s a charm? Most likely, this is a very recent conversation wherein they talk about a future potential attack:

In the 38-minute recording, military officers discuss the question of how the Taurus long-range cruise missiles could be used by Ukraine. A debate has been taking place in Germany over whether to supply the missiles as Ukraine faced setbacks on the battlefield after two years of war, and with military aid from the United States being held up in Congress.

Earlier this week Scholz said he remains reluctant to send the Taurus missiles to Ukraine, pointing to a risk of Germany becoming directly involved in the war. His hesitancy is a source of friction in his three-party coalition and also annoyed Germany’s conservative opposition.

But in the purported audio recording, German officers discuss the theoretical possibility of the missiles being used in Ukraine.

Listen to more snippets from the Crimean Bridge section of the recording:

RT has compiled a timeline of reporting and outline of what has been learned about the leaked audio recording, including initial international reactions, some of which is reproduced below:

* * *

A transcript and an audio recording, made public

Simonyan posted the transcript of the February 19 phone call on her VK page, identifying the participants as the head of the German air force (Luftwaffe), General Ingo Gerhartz, the branch’s deputy chief of staff for operations, Brigadier-General Frank Graefe, and two others.

Soon afterward, Simonyan published the audio recording of the discussion as well, in German, on her Telegram channel.

What was said in the call

The officers discussed the operational and targeting details of Taurus long-range missiles that Germany was debating sending to Ukraine, as if this had already been agreed upon – and how to maintain plausible deniability so that Germany could avoid crossing the “red line” of direct involvement.

Gerhartz brought up various “tricks” that the Luftwaffe could use, including relying on “many people [in Ukraine] in civilian clothes who speak with an American accent,” but Graefe insisted that “there is no language that makes us a party to the conflict.”

Other officers spoke about providing the Ukrainians with both the missiles and the training to use them, as well as the satellite targeting information, possibly via Poland.

Obsession with the Kerch Strait Bridge

The Germans noted the Ukrainians’ fixation on the Crimean Bridge, mainly for political reasons. They noted that the bridge was sturdy enough that not even 20 missiles would be able to destroy it. The 50 or so missiles Berlin could provide Kiev – in batches – “won’t change the course of the war,” Gerhartz himself admitted.

Russian reactions

“We demand an explanation from Germany. Official Berlin must provide it immediately. Attempts to dodge the question will be considered an admission of guilt,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that NATO had “egg on its face” due to the recording. He also noted that the German officers knew perfectly well that they were discussing direct involvement, as evidenced by attempts to disguise or hide it, and highlighted the part about Americans operating in Ukraine.

Speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin said the legislature will address the recording when it reconvenes on March 11. The matter “deserves the most serious discussion” and Moscow certainly needs to “send a demand to the Bundestag to conduct an investigation,” he added.

Germans have “once again turned into our archenemies,” said former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. “Just take a look at how thoroughly and in what detail the Krauts are discussing long-range missile strikes on Russia’s territory, and are picking out targets and the most workable ways to harm our Motherland and our people.” He ended his post with the WWII-era slogan, “Death to the Fascists!”

Western reactions

When asked about the recording and the transcript on Friday, the Pentagon declined to comment, telling American reporters to reach out to the German military instead.

German officials have responded to the revelation by launching an investigation into how the recording got out. Speaking to Bild, a spokesperson for the Defense Ministry declined to “say anything about the content of the communications that were apparently intercepted.”

However, multiple German media outlets have reported that a preliminary probe appeared to conclude that the recording was authentic. In light of this, Bundeswehr has resorted to censorship, with multiple accounts on X (formerly Twitter) that distributed the material being blocked in Germany, according to Bild.

* * *

Listen to the full leaked audio below (without translation from the German):

Margarita Simonyan, as promised, publishes audio of a conversation between Bundeswehr officers discussing how they will bomb the Crimean Bridge. https://t.me/vicktop55/22144

10:13 AM · Mar 1, 2024

59.4K Views

end

Robert H.

Germany launches investigation into leaked Crimean Bridge attack talk — RT World News

It is a parade of stupidity on a scale that is awful. Of course the Russians listen in just Americans do.
Does no one understand the success of the YARS missile the other day? It is unstoppable and the test was to show the West that it cannot play on par. Russian doctrine is not to be the invader rather it is to be defensive in nature. However have no illusions if the BEAR is threatened it will respond with very sharp talons that will hurt.
America lost the arms race a decade ago and the brain dead NEOCONS still have no sight blinded by hatred and love of war. Europe will be a sacrificial lamb if it is not careful and Britain along with it. You see Neocons believe the ocean will save them. They are wrong, dead wrong. Recently on a trip to Europe everyone spoke of coming war and concern. People see the signs if they look. This was never about Ukrainians or Ukraine but a blind attempt to subdue Russia. Even the Ukrainian cab driver spoke of mass corruption in Ukraine and the reality that Ukrainians who have left and refuse to work believing they are entitled are quickly becoming the new Roma of Europe. He is actually afraid to tell people he is Ukrainian as he is seeing discrimination.
One might imagine looking after one’s own people or country might be a job politicians should apply for. Or otherwise we should rephrase and rethink what politicians should be doing.

https://www.rt.com/news/593569-germany-crimea-leak-probe

END

GERMANY/MONDAY

‘A Complete Disaster For The German Govt’ – Scholz Promises Probe Into “Very Serious” Leaked Recording Of Plan To Destroy Crimea Bridge

SUNDAY, MAR 03, 2024 – 12:15 PM

Yesterday, we detailed the leak of a wiretapped telephone conversation in which senior German officers discuss the use of German Taurus missiles, training, the capabilities of this system and the possibility of destroying the Crimean bridge.

They revealed many interesting facts. Embarrassing for the Germans, who have now launched an investigation…

As The FT reports, German chancellor Olaf Scholz has promised a full investigation after Russia published a recording of a phone call between senior German air force officers in which they appeared to discuss supplying missiles to Ukraine.

Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting with Pope Francis in Rome, Scholz described the incident as a “very serious affair”.

“It will be investigated very carefully, intensively and quickly,” he said.

“It is also necessary to do so.”

Politicians from parties in Scholz’s coalition expressed concern that Russia may have eavesdropped on other sensitive conversations, and that government communications may no longer be adequately protected.

The German defence ministry said:

“According to our assessment, a Luftwaffe conversation was tapped. We cannot say for sure whether changes were made to the recorded or transcribed version that is circulating on social media.”

Konstantin von Notz, a senior Green MP, said it must be swiftly established if the “eavesdropping scandal is a one-time event or a structural problem”.

Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, head of the Bundestag defence committee, told the news agency RND that the Russians were trying to scare Scholz off from allowing the delivery of Taurus missiles.

But the cat is out of the bag.

Adding more color to what we already know, Peter Hanseler breaks down, via Voice From Russia, the full content of the leaked call and shows how the NATO states are already knee-deep in the Ukraine conflict as active warring parties.

Participants

The following persons – some of whom were not fully identified – took part in this conversation:

Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz – Inspector General of the German Air Force

Link to Wikipedia

Lieutenant General Ingo Gerhartz – Image: Wikipedia

Franz Gräfe – Brigadegeneral

Link to Wikipedia.

Brigadier General Franz Gräfe – Image: Defense IQ

Two employees – Fenske and Florstädt (spelling not clear)

Members of the Bundeswehr specialists – not identified.

Purpose of the conversation

From the telephone conference it emerges that the aim of this discussion was to prepare a meeting between these participants and Foreign Minister Boris Pistorius, during which the possibilities and difficulties of using the Taurus system would be presented.

The Inspector General of the German Air Force, Ingo Gerhartz, welcomes Federal Defence Minister Boris Pistorius at Holzdorf Air Base, 12 October 2023 – Source: RT

Summary – the most important points

Preliminary remarks

Here you can read the notes that I made during the course of the interview, which lasted just under 38 minutes. The subtitles indicate the approximate time of the comments made. It is not possible to determine exactly which person said what in this conversation

The first 5 minutes

For the first 5 minutes, the conversation is a chat between the employees, who talk about private and business matters, until Gerhartz joins the conversation.

The only interesting thing is that one of the employees promises the other to send business information via WhatsApp. It seems that security is not at a high level. This attitude may also be the reason why this conversation made it into the public domain.

Minute 05:30

Gerhartz leads the conversation. Pistorius wants to get deeply involved in Taurus. Scholz is blocking it. He had been asked by a journalist whether the reason for the blocking was that this system did not work at all. That is of course not true. You have to give [Pistorius] a good presentation.

Taurus (cruise missile) – Source: Wikipedia

Minute 10:30

You don’t just have to present problems, but also solutions.

When it comes to mission planning, the British use “reachback” and then have a few people on the ground. [This probably means that the missions are planned outside of Ukraine and then implemented with people on the ground (British military personnel).

Minute 10:53

There is talk that the British on the ground [Ukraine] could support the Germans. The planning could go through MBDA [producer of Taurus] – how should that be done – question to the employees.

Minute 11:50

There are two points that are sensitive: firstly, the delivery and secondly, the adaptation of the aircraft (Sukhoi). This would take about 8 months.

Minute 13:50

The manufacturer needs about 6 months to convert Taurus for the Sukhoi or F-16.

Minute 14.23

Training on operation would be provided by the manufacturer. The Bundeswehr would take over the tactical training, which would take place in Germany and last approx. 3-4 months.

Minute 15:10

As long as the training lasted, the British could help. Databases and satellite images would come via the manufacturer. The Ukrainians have more high-tech than the German air force, so it is possible that the Ukrainians could shorten the above-mentioned time required.

Minute 17:00

Ausbildung: 3 Wochen beim Hersteller und 4 Wochen bei der Luftwaffe. Planung von Einsätzen: Wir müssen unterstützen: Unsere Leute brauchen 1 Jahr für die Ausbildung. Mit Unterstützung der Luftwaffe, 10 Wochen Ausbildung für die Ukrainer.

Minute 18:10

The support could be provided on-line from Germany.

Minute 19:00

Political risk of direct involvement: Data does not come directly from us, but via the manufacturer.

Minute 19.:20

Target data combined with satellite images must be processed in Büchel (Germany) and could then be transported by car through Poland to Ukraine [bypassing direct participation in the war].

Minute 20:15

Response time: Order to “Airborne” we would need 6 hours, if it has to be more precise than 3 meters, 12 hours.

Minute 21.15

There are already a lot of Americans walking around in civilian clothes. The Ukrainians have satellite data.

Minute 21.45

Russian air defense: We can take evasive action because we are flying low. Storm Shadow flies over waypoints – we fly around the Russian systems.

Minute 22:40

We need about 50 Taurus in the first round – that won’t change the war, even if we deliver another 50, but then we’re done, there’s no more.

Minute 23.:20

The French and British will say, now it’s your turn to deliver.

Minute 23:40

Unique selling point compared to Storm Shadow in terms of robustness, air defense and altitude. There are two interesting “target types”: firstly the bridge in the east [Crimean Bridge] and then also ammunition depots. The Crimean Bridge is difficult to reach and the pillars are small. Taurus can do that, Storm Shadow can’t.

Minute 24:25

Three routes picked out. Basically feasible with our technology. Limiting factor: SU-24.

Suchoi – SU-24 – Quelle: Wikipedia

The Ukrainians don’t have many left – it’s in the single digits [less than 10].

Pilots can be trained quickly, but training in “image planning” will not be quick [when the Taurus flies low, terrain images have to be loaded].

Minute 26:15

The Crimean bridge is as big as an airfield. You need 10-20 Taurus for that. “If we go for the pillars, we might just make a hole and then there we are. We have to give the Ukrainians all the data, otherwise it won’t work.

Minute 27:50

Bridge is extremely important for Russia – “centerpiece” – militarily and politically. No longer quite as important, as they also have the land bridge. But the Russians are still afraid of using the direct link via Ukraine. [Note: The Russians are currently expanding the railroad lines overland].

Minute 29:05

[Now it’s getting political again]. Can we use the trick of running all the data through MBDA [manufacturer] so as not to show a direct link to the Bundeswehr Ukraine? We plan the data and then drive it by car through Poland to Ukraine. It makes no difference “involved is involved”.

Minute 29:30

If we do the training properly, it takes 4 months. During this phase, we ask the British to take over. Some kind of interim solution. “Just imagine if this gets to the press”.

Minute 30.15

If the political will is there, then someone from Ukraine should come over here. If the condition is no direct involvement in mission planning, then it will take longer and the result will not be so good. Then you can’t do everything with Taurus, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything with it.

Minute 31.:35

Variants: “Quick-Track/Low-Track”. Quick results, such as ammunition depots, but not the bridge.

Minute 32.20

Planning to destroy ammunition depots difficult due to massive air defenses. We don’t know where the Russian air defenses are; hopefully the Ukrainians do.

Minute 33:18

If we have all the data and can use it, we can assert ourselves. The less data and training, the less assertiveness.

Minute 35.23

The longer the decision to deliver the Taurus is delayed, the longer it will take to implement. First simple targets [ammunition depots] then more complex ones [Crimean Bridge] or ask the British for support.

Conclusion

The mere fact that this telephone conversation was intercepted and has now been published raises questions.

Firstly, no one knows whether this is an isolated case or whether the Russian secret services can intercept entire sections of German or even NATO communications.

Two details that emerge from the conversation point to negligence: At the beginning of the conversation, one of the participants tells another that he will send him data via WhatsApp. If I understood correctly, this was work-related information. It also emerges from the conversation that one of the participants is conducting the conversation from a hotel room in Singapore. That’s very revealing and the German side may have been more than negligent.

It is further explained that 50 or even 100 Taurus would be delivered, but that these would have no influence on the course of the war. The question arises as to why this is even being considered – the answer is clear: marketing and politics and the absolute will to escalate.

The officers assume that between 10 and 20 Taurus cruise missiles would be needed to destroy the Crimean Bridge, as the bridge is massive and difficult to destroy. The fixation on destroying this bridge between the Russian mainland and Crimea seems almost like a mania, as the Russians are building a connection via the land bridge from Mariupol, which is a safer alternative to the Crimean Bridge.

Many parts of the conversation revolve around efforts to support the Ukrainians directly – including people on the ground – and thus to play a direct role in attacks on Russia. They are looking for solutions and “tricks” to prevent this from appearing to be the case.

It is clear from the conversation that the Americans and British are already fully, directly and locally involved in the war in Ukraine; we pointed this out a year ago in our article “Sleepwalkers at work: World War 3 has probably already begun” – now the proof is there.

Everyone involved is therefore aware that they are waging war against Russia, i.e. the NATO-Russia war is already a reality. This means that Russia is also entitled to attack NATO targets. The fact that the Russian government has not (yet) done so indicates once again that Russia is pursuing a de-escalating course, while the West is fully committed to escalation.

This leak is a complete disaster for the German government. It shows hesitation, incompetence and dishonesty. Finally, I noticed that the talks were conducted in a very uncoordinated and unstructured manner.

It would be wiser if Chancellor Scholz were to bring himself to negotiate with the Russians, because this is no way to win a war against Russia, but to do everything possible to provoke a world war. Sometimes I wonder whether there are actually people who are deliberately pursuing this goal.

5 RUSSIA//UKRAINE AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

ISRAEL HAMAS/Khan Younis

Commandos raid compound used by Sinwar amid battles in Khan Younis

By EMANUEL FABIAN

Troops of the Commando Brigade operate in Khan Younis, in a handout image published by the IDF on March 2, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF releases new footage of the Commando Brigade operating in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.

The brigade is battling Hamas in the western part of the city, killing dozens of operatives and raiding the terror group’s sites, the IDF says.

The IDF says the Egoz commando unit raided a compound used by Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, where they found an assault rifle. At another site, troops found a cache of Hamas military equipment.

Troops of the Commando Brigade’s training base have also joined the fighting in Khan Younis in recent weeks, killing dozens of operatives during raids on the terror group’s sites, the IDF adds.

END

ISRAEL/GAZA/HAMAS

END

ISRAEL/SYRIA/LEBANON/HEZBOLLAH

Three allegedly killed in south Lebanon by Israeli strike as Hamas delegation meets Russian dep. FM

US military says conducted strike against Houthi missile from Yemen • Biden hopes for Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal by Ramadan

IDF soldiers on the ground in Gaza, February 27, 2024(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT

Three were killed in a vehicle in southern Lebanon after it was attacked by a drone near the city of Naqoura, Maariv reported on Saturday morning citing Arab media.

The drone that attacked the vehicle was allegedly fired upon by Israel, Walla reported, citing reports from Lebanon.

This is a developing story.

3 Hezbollah members killed as car targeted in alleged Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon — reports

A car was hit in an airstrike in southern Lebanon, Lebanese media reports.

The Ynet news site, citing a Saudi report, says a “senior Hezbollah member” was among the three killed in the strike.

Lebanese reports cited by Walla say that the car was hit by a drone near Naqoura.

Hezbollah-led forces began launching daily attacks on Israeli communities and military posts along the border on October 8.

The Iran-backed terror group says it is doing so to support Gaza amid Israel’s war with Hamas, triggered by the terror group’s October 7 massacre.

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi warned this week that Hezbollah would “pay a very high price” for its continued attacks on northern Israel.

end

ISRAEL/HEZBOLLAH/MONDAY

(JERUSALEM POST)

Nasrallah’s grandson killed by Israeli drone strike in south Lebanon – report

Tens of thousands of Israelis and Lebanese have fled villages on both sides of the frontier.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFFMARCH 3, 2024 16:25Updated: MARCH 3, 2024 22:51

HEZBOLLAH LEADER Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah smiles smugly from a poster in Marwahin, southern Lebanon. (photo credit: AZIZ TAHER/REUTERS) — HEZBOLLAH LEADER Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah smiles smugly from a poster in Marwahin, southern Lebanon.(photo credit: AZIZ TAHER/REUTERS)

The grandson of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Abbas Ahmed Halil, was one of the three Hezbollah terrorists killed on Saturday by an IDF strike in Neqoura in south Lebanon, according to a report by the Syrian radio channel Voice of the Capital on Sunday.

This is yet to be confirmed by official sources, but the report cites the same attack in which the IDF announced that three Hezbollah operatives were killed in a vehicle in southern Lebanon after it was attacked by an Israeli drone strike.

The Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper Al-Manar also airstrike in the village of Kila in southern Lebanon and artillery strikes in the villages of Aitaroun and Belida, which are close to the border with Israel.

Israel-Hezbollah aggression has been continuous since October

Israeli strikes since October have killed more than 200 Hezbollah fighters and some 50 civilians in Lebanon, while attacks from Lebanon into Israel have killed a dozen Israeli soldiers and five civilians. Tens of thousands of Israelis and Lebanese have fled villages on both sides of the frontier.

Hezbollah signaled this week that it would halt its attacks if Israel’s Gaza offensive stops, but it is also ready to keep on fighting if the Gaza war continues. On Friday, Hezbollah announced the deaths of four members killed in Lebanon.

Hezbollah members carry mock rockets next to a poster of the group's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah [FIle] (credit: REUTERS) — Hezbollah members carry mock rockets next to a poster of the group’s leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah [FIle] (credit: REUTERS)

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati told Reuters on Thursday a halt to fighting in Gaza as early as next week would trigger indirect talks to end hostilities at the border.

end

ISRAEL/HEZBOLLAH/MONDAY

One killed, seven wounded by anti-tank missile fire in northern Israel

The wounded, all Thai workers, were evacuated by helicopter to several hospitals.

By TZVI JOFFREMARCH 4, 2024 11:39Updated: MARCH 4, 2024 14:09

Magen David Adom evacuates Thai workers wounded in anti-tank missile attack. (photo credit: MAGEN DAVID ADOM) — Magen David Adom evacuates Thai workers wounded in anti-tank missile attack.(photo credit: MAGEN DAVID ADOM)

One person was killed, two people were seriously wounded, four others were moderately wounded, and one other person was lightly wounded after an anti-tank missile was fired toward Margaliot in northern Israel on Monday morning, according to Israel’s emergency medical service, Magen David Adom.

The wounded, all Thai workers, were evacuated by helicopter to Rabin Medical Center-Hasharon Hospital, Rambam Medical Center, and Ziv Medical Center.

“Using an MDA bullet-proof intensive care vehicle, we arrived near the place where the anti-tank missile fire occurred and retrieved the wounded from there,” said MDA senior medic Yigal Ben Udiz and MDA paramedic Walid Kezel. “Together with the IDF medical personnel, we provided medical treatment and evacuated five wounded people who suffered from shrapnel injuries with Air Force helicopters.”

IDF strikes Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon

Shortly after the anti-tank missile attack, the IDF struck a site in Chihine in southern Lebanon, according to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. There were terrorists present in the targeted building, according to the IDF.

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-790125

https://player.jpost.com/public/player.html?player=jpost&media=3676960&url=www.jpost.comIDF strikes Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. (Credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)

On Sunday night, Hezbollah claimed that Israeli forces made two attempts to infiltrate into Lebanese territory. The terrorist movement said it fired at and set off explosive devices targeting the troops.

Additionally, on Sunday night, the IDF struck sites belonging to Hezbollah in Ayta ash Shab and Kfarkela. On Monday morning, the IDF struck Ayta ash Shab again

ISRAEL/HAMAS/SUNDAY

Three IDF soldiers killed, 14 wounded in Gaza trap

Reportedly, the Israeli troops were operating in a two-story building wherein they expected to confront terrorists when they encountered a number of booby traps.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF

MARCH 2, 2024 20:16

Updated: MARCH 2, 2024 21:23

Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip, February 8, 2024 (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT) — Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip, February 8, 2024
(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)

Three IDF soldiers were killed, and 14 others were wounded in southern Gaza, the IDF said. Six of the 14 wounded were left in serious condition.

The Israeli troops were operating in a two-story building wherein they expected to confront terrorists when they encountered a number of booby traps.

According to the IDF, an Israel combat helicopter thereafter arrived at the scene and identified terrorists in the area before laying down fire.

Terrorists eliminated

The IDF noted that it believed the terrorists were killed in the encounter.

Israeli soldiers from the 646 Battalion of the Paratroopers Brigade operating in Al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza, during an Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, January 2, 2023. (credit: OREN BEN HAKOON/FLASH90)

The terrorists engaged by the IDF helicopter were believed to be those who had booby-trapped the building.

On Saturday evening, the IDF named the three fallen soldiers as 19-year-old Sergeant Dolev Malka from Shlomi, 19-year-old Sergeant Afik Tery from Rehovot, and 20-year-old Sergeant Inon Yitzhak from Mitzpe Ramon.

All three were soldiers drafted into the Kfir Brigade and served in the 450th battalion of the Bislamach Brigade as part of the infantry commanders’ training course.

Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.

end

ISRAEL/GAZA/PHILADELPHI CORRIDOR/SUNDAY

IDF conducts wave of strikes near Philadelphi Corridor

An IDF statement Saturday night confirmed that the IDF and Shin Bet had conducted strikes in the area, saying that they had hit Islamic Jihad operatives and terrorist infrastructure.

By MAARIV ONLINE, JERUSALEM POST STAFFMARCH 3, 2024 01:26Updated: MARCH 3, 2024 12:41

A border wall stands between Rafah and Egypt, amid fears of an exodus of Palestinians into Egypt, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Rafah southern Gaza Strip February 16, 2024 (photo credit: IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA/REUTERS) — A border wall stands between Rafah and Egypt, amid fears of an exodus of Palestinians into Egypt, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Rafah southern Gaza Strip February 16, 2024(photo credit: IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA/REUTERS)

The IDF carried out an extensive wave of airstrikes in the Rafah area, including near the Philadelphi Corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt, media outlets in Gaza reported on Saturday. The strikes targeted what the IDF assessed to be Hamas underground infrastructure located beneath the corridor separating Egypt and Gaza.

An IDF statement Saturday night confirmed that the army and Shin Bet had conducted strikes in the area, saying that the strikes had hit Islamic Jihad operatives and terrorist infrastructure, and that no damage was caused to the nearby hospital.

The Philadelphi Corridor and the border between Gaza and Egypt are at the center of the dispute between Jerusalem and Cairo. According to reports, the main agreement is that Israel will operate in the Rafah area, but will do so only after a significant evacuation of the Gazan population of approximately one million people who reside there.

Palestinians inspect the damage from an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on February 18, 2024 (credit: ABED RAHIM KHATIB/FLASH90)

Reports of Gulf State assistance to stop arms smuggling

The Philadelphi Corridor is problematic for Israel due to the smuggling of arms from Egypt into Gaza, and thus into the hands of Hamas. In 2005, the government approved the withdrawal of IDF forces from the corridor to the area of Kerem Shalom. The segment between the Gaza Strip and Kerem Shalom came under Egyptian control, and the Rafah area came under the control of the Palestinian Authority; arms smuggling increased in the wake of this transfer of power.

It has been reported that an Arab Gulf State, as yet un-named, will finance an underground wall to prevent traffickers from smuggling illegal arms through tunnels from Egypt into Gaza. The state agreed to provide the funding for this, but only on condition that there would be full Egyptian approval for the entire process.

END

ISRAEL/GAZA/SUNDAY

Senior Hamas operative killed in IDF airstrike on Gaza, says military

By EMANUEL FABIAN

This picture taken from a position in southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing over the territory on March 3, 2024. (Menahem KAHANA / AFP)

The IDF and Shin Bet say a senior Hamas operative was eliminated in an airstrike in the central Gaza Strip this morning.

Mahmoud Muhammad Abed Khad was tasked with recruiting new operatives to Hamas, specifically to the terror group’s Zeitoun Battalion, according to a joint statement.

The IDF and Shin Bet say Khad was also involved in raising funds for Hamas military activity.

A video published by the IDF shows the strike on a vehicle the operative was driving.

END

ISRAEL/GAZA/MONDAY

IDF says it killed Islamic Jihad cell responsible for weekend rocket fire at Hatzerim, Be’eri

By EMANUEL FABIAN

Troops operating in Gaza in an undated photo released by the military for publication on March 4, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says it struck and killed a group of Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists who fired rockets at Be’eri and Hatzerim on Saturday, within 30 minutes of the attack.

At least four long-range rockets had been fired toward Hazterim near Beersheba and one projectile at Be’eri on the border. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

The IDF says the Nahal Brigade spotted the cell behind the attack shortly after, and directed an airstrike against them.

Over the past day, the IDF says Nahal troops have killed 15 gunmen in central Gaza, with sniper fire and by calling in airstrikes and tank shelling.

In southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, the IDF says the 98th Division has encircled the Hamad Town residential complex, and is carrying out raids in the area of the neighborhood.

The IDF says the 7th Armored Brigade facilitated the evacuation of civilians from the area, while capturing some 80 terror suspects in the process, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives.

END

WEST BANK/ISRAEL

Israeli forces conduct one of largest Ramallah operations in overnight raid

Throughout the West Bank, Israeli forces arrested 13 suspects.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF

An IDF soldier operates in Nablus, in the West Bank overnight. March 4, 2024. (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT) — An IDF soldier operates in Nablus, in the West Bank overnight. March 4, 2024.(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)

Israeli forces operated for six hours in the Al Am’ari refugee camp in Ramallah on Sunday night, one of the largest Israeli raids in the city in years.

During the raid, Israeli forces arrested two wanted individuals, interrogated several other suspects, and confiscated incendiary material published by Hamas, according to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.

A riot broke out during the raid, with Palestinians throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at the soldiers who responded by opening fire. A Border Police officer was lightly wounded on her leg during the riot and was evacuated to the hospital.

A 16-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire during the riot, according to Palestinian reports.An IDF K9 unit operates in Nablus, in the West Bank overnight. March 4, 2024. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)

IDF demolishes home of terrorist who murdered Dees

Israeli forces also operated in Nablus on Sunday night, demolishing the apartment of one of the terrorists responsible for the terrorist attack in which Lucy, Maia, and Rina Dee were murdered.

Throughout the West Bank, Israeli forces arrested 13 suspects, including in Nur Shams, Hebron, Deir Amar, and Tubas.

Since the beginning of the war, about 3,400 suspects have been arrested across the West Bank, including about 1,500 affiliated with Hamas.

Go to the full article >>

END

Majority killed by stampede in Gaza aid convoy catastrophe, IDF probe finds

Our initial review has confirmed that no strike was carried out by the IDF towards the aid convoy,” the IDF published in a statement.

By DANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARDMARCH 3, 2024 11:32Updated: MARCH 3, 2024 12:08

IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. March 3, 2024. (photo credit: SCREENSHOT/IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT) — IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. March 3, 2024.(photo credit: SCREENSHOT/IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)

The IDF confirmed on Sunday morning that it had completed its review and found that no drone strike had occurred during an incident last week where Palestinians were trampled to death while attempting to charge an aid convoy.

“The IDF has concluded an initial review of the unfortunate incident where Gazan civilians were trampled to death and injured as they charged to the aid convoy. Our initial review has confirmed that no strike was carried out by the IDF towards the aid convoy,” the IDF published in a statement.

IDF Spokesperson Rear-Admiral. Daniel Hagari gave a press briefing in which he confirmed that Israel had been involved in the facilitation of the aid convoy in northern Gaza on Thursday.

The operation, aimed at ensuring Palestinians received access to humanitarian aid, was on the 4th night of operation when the trampling incident occurred.

“We want humanitarian aid to reach Gazan civilians in need,” Hagari asserted. “…Our war is not against the people of Gaza. Our war is against Hamas…It is Hamas who have caused immense suffering to civilians on both sides of the border,” Hagari said.

Describing the incident as “unfortunate,” Hagari reiterated that no strike was carried out on the aid convoy and that the majority of Palestinian casualties had been trampled to death by the stampede.

Hagari also claimed that the IDF had fired warning shots in an attempt to disperse the stampede and that IDF troops had begun retreating from the scene when looters began posing an immediate threat to the forces present. Hagari explained that it was due to this threat that IDF soldiers were forced to respond.

“As a professional military committed to international law, we are committed to examining our operations thoroughly,” Hagari reassured. “We have opened an inquiry to examine the incident further, which will help reduce the risk of such a tragic incident from occurring again during one of our humanitarian operations.

“The incident will be examined in the Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism, an independent, professional and expert body. For the sake of transparency, we will share our updates as our examination develops, hopefully in the coming days.”

Hagari insisted “We will continue expanding our humanitarian efforts to the civilian population in Gaza while we fulfill our goals of freeing our hostages from Hamas and freeing Gaza from Hamas.”

Hagari concluded by listing the humanitarian efforts made by Israel in hopes of “alleviating the suffering of civilians in Gaza” during the war against Hamas. He said that humanitarian efforts made by Israel would continue to expand with the help of international partners.

The IDF also confirmed that on Saturday, the US Central Command and the Royal Jordanian Air Force conducted a combined humanitarian assistance airdrop into Gaza.

Additionally, over the past few weeks, in cooperation and coordination with several countries; Jordan, France, the UAE and Egypt, more than 450 packages of food and medical aid were distributed through 21 airdrops to the Gaza Strip.

Concern from international bodies

Only a day prior to the review publication, the United States blocked consideration of a United Nations Security Council resolution blaming Israel for the deaths that occurred during the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

The United Nations Security Council expressed its “deep concern” on Saturday over last week’s aid distribution disaster in Gaza in which over 100 people were killed, the Jerusalem Post reported, as they urged improved access to basic necessities in the enclave including food.

“They [the UNSC] express grave concern over the estimation from the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) that all 2.2 million people in Gaza would face alarming levels of acute food insecurity,” the 15-member body said.

Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.

END

UNRWA/HAMAS/ISRAEL

Israel accuses UN of trying to hush up report on October 7 mass rapes by Hamas

New UN report finds evidence of rampant Oct 7 rapes; Israel: UN tried to hush it up

By REUTERS and TOI STAFF

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks on his priorities for 2024 during a press briefing at UN headquarters on February 8 , 2024 in New York. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP)

Foreign Minister Israel Katz says he has recalled the country’s UN ambassador for consultation over alleged UN attempts to keep quiet a report on sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas during its October 7 onslaught on southern communities.

“I ordered our ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, to return to Israel for immediate consultations regarding the attempt to keep quiet the serious UN report on the mass rapes committed by Hamas and its helpers on October 7,” Katz says in a statement.

“Despite the authority granted to him, the UN secretary general did not order the convening of the Security Council in light of the findings, in order to declare Hamas a terrorist organization and impose sanctions on its supporters,” Katz adds.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Katz also calls on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to recognize Hamas as a terror group.

USA/HOUTHIS/UK/SATURDAY

“Crew Evacuates” Commercial Vessel After Houthi Attack In Red Sea

SATURDAY, MAR 02, 2024 – 09:55 AM

Saturday morning’s headlines are dominated by the news that “Rubymar,” a bulk carrier, that was hit by missiles from Yemen’s Houthi rebels last month, has finally sunk. This marks the first vessel to be fully destroyed in the multi-month Red Sea crisis.

However, there’s more Red Sea crisis news hitting the wires.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center, which monitors Middle East waterways, posted on X around 0700 ET that it had received a report of a commercial vessel attack about 15 nautical miles west of Al-Mukha, also known as Mokha, a port city in southwestern Yemen on the Red Sea coast.

“The crew took the vessel to anchor and were evacuated by military authorities. The vessel has dragged anchor and now in position 13-21.19N 042-57.64E, and is down by the stern, bows remain above waterline,” UKMTO said.

Details about the attack and the vessel remain limited at this time. This story is developing.

END

HONG KONG/HOUTHIS/SUNDAY

Four telecom cables under Red Sea cut, affecting 25% of traffic, Hong Kong firm says

Hong Kong-based HGC Global Communications says four of its undersea telecommunications cables beneath the Red Sea have been cut, affecting some 25 percent of traffic.

The company says it is taking steps to mitigate the damage, including rerouting traffic around the globe and distributing other traffic via the 11 still operable cables in the Red Sea.

It’s unclear how Israeli service providers may be affected.

The firm says clients in the Middle East are asking for “contingency rerouting options from Hong Kong networks to West-bound.”

END

UKRAINE VS RUSSIA/

Russian Strike Rocks Ukraine’s Odesa After Rare Drone Attack On St. Petersburg

SUNDAY, MAR 03, 2024 – 11:35 PM

Russia’s military may have its sights set on Ukraine’s key southern port city of Odesa next. On Saturday a wave of drone and artillery strikes reportedly killed at least 11 people.

According to Ukraine government officials, “Eight were confirmed dead, including a child and a baby, after an overnight drone strike on the southern port city of Odesa.” Two more bodies were said to have been found on Sunday. A direct drone strike appears to have destroyed a residential apartment block.

Zelensky in the attack aftermath said that ongoing aerial strikes like these are why Kiev urgently needs additional batteries of advanced anti-air defense systems.

“Russia continues to hit civilians,” Zelensky said in a statement on social media. “We need more air defenses from our partners. We need to strengthen the Ukrainian air shield to add more protection for our people from Russian terror. More air-defense systems and more missiles for air-defense systems save lives,” he said.

The country’s Interior Minister Igor Klymenko described that in Odesa, “a nine-story building was destroyed as a result of an attack by Russian terrorists” – as stated on Telegram. There have been local reports that debris from an Iranian-made drone was recovered.

At the same time, Ukraine’s cross-border attacks on Russian territory have continued to intensify. On Saturday there was a rare Ukrainian drone attack that reached all the way to St. Petersburg, reportedly striking a residential building in the Krasnogvardeisky district.

Further, Russia’s defense ministry said that overnight a large wave of 38 drones were intercepted over the Crimean peninsula. According to fresh reporting Sunday, some of the drones may have gotten through:

In Russian-occupied Crimea, loud explosions were heard near an oil depot in the early hours of Sunday, according to a local pro-Kyiv Telegram news channel, while Kremlin-installed officials in the territory said that a nearby stretch of highway was closed to traffic for about eight hours.

Videos shared with pro-Ukrainian channel Crimean Wind showed explosions lighting up the night sky, followed by loud booms. The channel said they were taken by local residents near Feodosia — a coastal town in northeastern Crimea. It was not immediately possible to verify the circumstances in which the videos were shot.

Below: severely damaged apartment block in Odesa struck by suicide drone…

Zerohedge.com/geopolitical/russian-strikes-rocks-ukraines-odesa-after-rare-drone-attack-st-petersburg

The last several months have witnessed repeat cross-border attacks on Russian oil and energy infrastructure especially. But Russian civilians have also been killed and injured as a result of drone and missile attacks on the center of Belgorod city.

Moscow has meanwhile condemned Western powers in addition to Kiev, given Kremlin officials have charged that Western-supplied weapons have been used in these cross-border attacks.

END

6.Global Issues//COVID ISSUES

COVID ISSUES/VACCINE ISSUES

end

GLOBAL ISSUES

MARK CRISPIN MILLER

Adele cancels Vegas stint again; Jon Bon Jovi can’t sing due to “vocal injury”; Justin Timberlake’s illness takes a “turn for the worse”; Halsey “back in diapers” due to endometriosis

“Ginger Zee misses ‘Good Morning America’ after falling ill”; “Giants’ Tristan Beck diagnosed with aneurysm in upper arm”; Texas Tech’s Brady Trombello has a “medical emergency”

MARK CRISPIN MILLERMAR 3

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The show can’t go on:

Adele’s cancelation of her Vegas residency, due to “illness,” sparks “fury” among her loving fans (who were surely “vaccinated,” too):

Fury Erupts as Adele Cancels Vegas Show Again: Singer Branded ‘Inconsiderate’ for Repeat Offense

February 29, 2024

Adele is facing backlash from her fans after revealing that her upcoming Las Vegas residency performances are being moved to new dates.

News from Underground by Mark Crispin Miller is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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News broke recently that the 35-year-old Grammy-winning singer-songwriter has postponed several shows planned for the following month.

Adele personally addressed her fans about the changes through a statement released on social media.

Via a post on Instagram and X, formerly Twitter, Adele addressed the impacted performances scheduled from March 1 to 30. Notably, the final series of ten shows remain unaffected from May through June.

The “Rolling In The Deep” singer wrote: “Sadly, I must take a beat and pause my Vegas residency. I was sick at the end of the last leg and through my break. I hadn’t quite gotten the chance to get back to total health before shows resumed, and now I’m sick again, and unfortunately, it’s all taken a toll on my voice.”

“And so on doctors orders I have no choice but to rest thoroughly. The remaining 5 weekends of this leg are being postponed to a later date. We are already working out the details and you willl be sent the information asap. The postponed dates are 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29 & 30 March.”

https://www.musictimes.com/amp/articles/101070/20240229/fury-erupts-adele-cancels-vegas-show-again-singer-branded-inconsiderate.htm

"I'm fully vaccinated" – Adele about Covid-19 on Instagram Live.
— Adele Daily (@adeledailynet) October 9, 2021

Jon Bon Jovi shares his struggles with vocal injury: “I don’t understand why God has taken away my vocal ability”

February 28, 2024

In a candid panel discussion titled “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story” at the Television Critics Association, renowned singer Jon Bon Jovi opened up about the vocal injury that had the potential to bring his career “to a screeching halt.” Expressing his heartfelt sentiment, Jon Bon Jovi shared, “I pride myself on being a true vocalist. I’ve sung with Pavarotti. I know how to sing. I’ve studied the craft for 40 years. I’m not a stylist who just barks and howls. I know how to sing.” He emphasized his dedication and training as a singer, which has been an integral part of his identity as an artist. However, he further revealed his confusion about the vocal injury, wondering why it occurred, saying, “When God was taking away my ability, and I couldn’t understand why, I jokingly said the only thing that’s ever been up my nose is my finger. So there was no reason for this.” The injury had a significant impact on Jon Bon Jovi’s vocal cords, resulting in atrophy that affected his singing capabilities. Describing the condition, he explained, “One of my cords was literally atrophied. So my vocal cords, they’re supposed to look parallel. So let’s pretend one of them looks as thick as my thumb and the other one is as thick as a pinky.”

Link

Bon Jovi is fully “vaccinated”:

Jon Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams join growing list of vaccinated musicians testing positive for Covid-19

November 1, 2021

New Jersey rocker Jon Bon Jovi and Canadian singer Bryan Adams cancelled separate appearances on Saturday night after testing positive for Covid-19. They join a number of artists who have contracted the virus despite vaccination. “Jon is fully vaccinated and feeling fine,” wrote Bon Jovi’s publicist in a statement.

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3154387/jon-bon-jovi-bryan-adams-join-growing-list

Justin Timberlake’s health takes a ‘turn for the worse’ as he shares disappointing news with fans

February 23, 2024

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MAY 09: Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake attend the Los Angeles Premiere FYC Event for Hulu's "Candy" at El Capitan Theatre on May 09, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

Justin Timberlake is battling with his health after admitting his sickness has taken “a turn for the worse”. The 43-year-old was “gutted” to share the disappointing news that a one-off show he planned for Friday in London has been cancelled after he was struck down with the flu.

Link

Halsey Health Update: Singer ‘Back in Diapers’ Following Endometriosis Diagnosis

March 1, 2024

Halsey is trying to make light of a serious situation as she shared a picture of herself wearing adult diapers, following an undisclosed medical procedure, in her Instagram Story.

“Back in diapers but at least they have little bows,” she captioned the photo.

The “Without Me” hitmaker was wearing striped pajamas, and had several bandages covering some parts of her abdomen.

While Halsey did not say much about why she had to don a diaper, many assumed that it might have something to do with her battle with endometriosis. Elsewhere in her Story, she thanked Thaïs Aliabadi, a celebrity OB-GYN, referring to the doctor as her “queen” and thanking her for her “unparalleled care and brilliance.”

https://www.musictimes.com/amp/articles/101103/20240301/halsey-health-update-singer-back-diapers-following-endometriosis-diagnosis.htm

Ginger Zee misses ‘Good Morning America’ after falling ill

February 22, 2024

Sam Champion stands next to Ginger Zee on stage

Good Morning America’s Ginger Zee has revealed that she has been out with a major illness. She explained to her followers that she and her family have been experiencing health issues that “took them out.” Zee, 43, posted a photograph to Instagram on Tuesday night featuring her and her son’s hands as they lay in bed next to one another. While covered in blankets, the meteorologist wore a black hoodie. “Stomach flu has taken us out… hope to be back soon,” she captioned the post. “Stay healthy everyone!” Several of Zee’s GMA co-stars wished her well in their comments on her post. “Oh no! Feel better,” Rebecca Jarvis said. “Feel better soon,” Robin Roberts added. After providing her with a few tips, Dr. Jen Ashton encouraged her to feel better. “Norovirus one of the most highly contagious viruses there is. Less than 50 particles is all it takes to infect someone. Wash all bedding and surfaces well and can remain contagious for 24-48 hrs after the torture ends. Feel better honey!”

Link

Giants’ Tristan Beck diagnosed with aneurysm in upper arm

February 29, 2024

The Giants announced this morning that Beck has been diagnosed with an aneurysm in his upper arm. He’s currently weighing his treatment options. The team will likely have more information in the coming days. There’s no firm timetable on how long Beck might be sidelined, but manager Bob Melvin told reporters that he won’t be on the Opening Day roster (X link via Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle). The Giants appear to be anticipating a fairly lengthy absence, though Melvin did not rule out the possibility that Beck could pitch for them at some point this season. Giants right-hander Tristan Beck [27] has left the team’s spring complex and is traveling back to San Francisco to undergo testing after experiencing discomfort in his right hand, the team announced to reporters (X link via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). The team will provide further updates in the coming days.

Link

Pro baseball’s “vaccination” policy:

We continue to strongly encourage vaccination among Minor League players and make resources available to Minor League teams and players toward that goal. Around 88% of minor leaguers were vaccinated during the 2021 season, according to a league official, a number that mirrored the percentage of players and staff vaccinated at the major league level. COVID-19 protocols at the major league level are decided by the league and MLB Players Association.

Texas Tech baseball releases update on Brady Trombello following medical emergency

February 28, 2024

Lubbock, TX – The Texas Tech baseball team suffered a major scare on Monday, after Brady Trombello had to be taken away in an ambulance to the University Medical Center. There, he underwent surgery. Red Raider fans got some good news and an update on his status a few days afterwards. On Wednesday evening, the Texas Tech Baseball Twitter Account updated Tombello’s status. “Texas Tech can confirm a medical emergency took place Monday afternoon at Rip Griffin Park involving baseball student-athlete Brady Trombello. Texas Tech’s sports medicine and coaching staff provided immediate care and helped transport Trombello via ambulance to University Medical Center where he underwent surgery Monday night. Trombello is recovering and in stable condition. Texas Tech Athletics will provide updates as available, but asks the public to respect the privacy of the Trombello family as he continues his recovery,” Texas Tech baseball wrote in their official statement Wednesday evening.

No age reported.

Link

DR PAUL ALEXANDER

Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and George Soros orchestrated the fraud COVID non-pandemic? Along with pharma. Is this true? Jim Ferguson tells us about the 2,000 page Russian report showing

the origins of the COVID fraud pandemic with UKRAINE playing a central role…wow! I need to read this is depth

DR. PAUL ALEXANDERMAR 1

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https://t.co/YcA7WnSrzx

Russia Releases 2,000 Page Report Proving Deep State & Big Pharma Manufactured Covid Pandemic

Russia has openly alleged that major pharmaceutical companies, along with influential figures within the US political landscape, orchestrated the Covid-19… pic.twitter.com/l4LJldZHJN
— Jim Ferguson (@JimFergusonUK) February 25, 2024

‘x.com/JimFergusonUK/status/1761393940874293335?s=20…

END

Catastrophic outcomes in Britain/UK with the Malone Bourla Bancel mRNA technology vaccine & now Sunak is in trouble & the Head of UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency quits in

disgrace; PETER HALLIGAN’s excellent updating stack below (based on EXPOSE) indicates that “MHRA Chief Exec Jumps Ship After MPs Call For Investigation Into Failure to Flag Covid Jab Side Effects”

DR. PAUL ALEXANDERMAR 1

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Sources here:

Peter’s Newsletter

Head of UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency quits in disgrace

From here: Breaking: MHRA Chief Exec Jumps Ship After MPs Call For Investigation Into Failure to Flag Covid Jab Side Effects. – The Expose (expose-news.com) “An all-party group believe Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) were aware of heart and clotting issues in February 2021 but did not highlight the problems for several months…

end

Vigilant News reports on a video by the Brit media person Neil Oliver who cries out that ‘a storm is coming’ for the guilty; I always liked Neil’s passion; I will add, you damn right! Neil! We are

here because of likes of Malone, Bourla, Bancel, Sahin, Weissman, Kariko et al., it is their mRNA technology & mRNA vaccine that has killed; we want them under oath, judges, courts, if guilty, HUNG!

DR. PAUL ALEXANDERMAR 3

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Yes, I want them all, I don’t care who you are or who you know and what money you have, if your actions in COVID and in that mRNA technology vaccine killed people and judges say you must be put to death, then I will donate wood and rope…we hang you high! we wnsure you are punished and no amount of dog and pony shows, no amount of hiding, no amount of games, will protect you…you must face the legal process and courts one day, judges, juries, and you must be hung, executed if judges call for it. For your crimes. Medical doctors too who killed our peoples.

Neil is right. Props to Neil.

for every life they took in their COVID lies, in the fake non-pandemic, for those who brought the mRNA technology and vaccine knowing it was unsafe and knowing it did not work and knowing it could have killed as it did, we hang them…one by one…with the courts.

Vigilant News

Neil Oliver Warns ‘A Storm Is Coming’ for The Guilty

The Scottish political commentator said on his YouTube channel that millions of lives have been “ruined forever” by Big State, Big Pharma, and Big Media — and that the last four years have been the “most dangerous and blatant assault on freedom and civil rights in the history of humankind…

Listen now

3 days ago · 222 likes · 80 comments · The Vigilant Fox

Hang them high, hang them all high, hang all, every single person in COVID, from virus to lockdown lies to medical management that killed to the Malone, Bourla, Sahin mRNA vaccine, go to court, let

DR. PAUL ALEXANDER·FEB 12

Hang each and everyone of them… if you need hang 1 million doctors, hang them all for they knew what they were doing! Dr. Paul Alexander’s Newsletter_Alexander News Network is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Read full story

Bolshevikism is still alive & preying on America; “A key Bolshevik stratagem is to release inmates from prisons to terrorize and kill citizens.” as Dr. Jmaes Hill MD says, Biden INC. unleashed HELL

these psycho released 30,000 prisoners under First Step Act that already has a 12% recividism rate (near 4,000) of repeat crimes! Biden INC. imposing Bolshevikism on us, like Holodomor; it has begun

DR. PAUL ALEXANDERMAR 3

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America today parallels 20th century Bolshevism in letting criminals loose to harm innocent populations…’

‘Is their project of harming and eliminating people, primarily White Europeans, being implemented today?’

James Hill MD’s Newsletter

Prisoner release as prelude to genocide

The video above shows Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) questioning Federal Prisons Bureau Director Colette Peters on release of prisoners under the First Step Act, a program signed into law by President Trump in 2018 and designed to reduce federal prison populations…

Listen now

SLAY NEWS

WEF Pushes Ban on Home-Grown Food to ‘Fight Climate Change’The World Economic Forum (WEF) is calling on governments to ban the general public from growing their own food at home by arguing that they are causing “climate change.”READ MORE

UN Advances Plan to Link Digital ID to Bank Accounts The unelected United Nations (UN) is advancing its plans to usher in digital IDs for the general public that will be linked to individuals’ bank accounts.READ MORE

MSNBC Dedicates Segment to Smearing White Rural Voters as ‘Most Racist’ in America: ‘Threat to Democracy’Far-left “news” network MSNBC dedicated an entire segment to smearing white voters in rural communities as a “threat to American democracy.”READ MORE

Elon Musk: ‘People Who Get News from Legacy TV Live in a Fake Alternate Reality’X boss Elon Musk has taken a major swipe at establishment news outlets and warned that people who rely on the corporate media as a source of information are being lied to.READ MORE

Biden Unloads on ‘Climate Change Deniers’ during Texas Border Speech: ‘Neanderthals’Democrat President Joe Biden appeared to veer dangerously off-script during his “immigration” speech at the Southern Border during his trip to Texas.READ MORE

Megyn Kelly Says Trump Now Has Upper Hand in His Criminal Cases: ‘Incredible’Former Fox News star Megyn Kelly has said that she believes President Donald Trump has now “pulled the inside straight he needed to beat” the Democrats and their politically motivated criminal cases against him.READ MORE

Transgender Pedo Sentenced to Death for Raping & Killing 3-Month-Old Baby A male predator has been sentenced to death by a Mumbai court after being convicted for the brutal murder of a three-month-old baby in a case that the judge described as “barbaric and inhuman.”READ MORE

Friends Respond to Sudden Death of British Royal Thomas Kingston at 45: ‘Utterly Shocking’British Royal Family member Thomas Kingston, the husband of Lady Gabriella “Ella” Windsor, was found dead on Sunday in Gloucestershire, England.READ MORE

Putin Warns of Nuclear War, Reveals Russia Can Strike Western Targets Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Western nations that there is a genuine risk of nuclear war if they send their own troops to fight in Ukraine.READ MORE

Comedy Legend Richard Lewis Dead at 76 Comedian and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Richard Lewis has died after suffering an unexpected heart attack.READ MORE

Federal Judge Blocks Texas Law Allowing Police to Arrest Illegal Border Crossers A federal judge has blocked a Texas state law that allowed police to arrest foreign nationals who cross the U.S. Southern Border to enter the United States illegally.READ MORE

Majority of Battleground State Voters Blame Biden & Democrats for Border Crisis, Poll Shows A clear majority of voters in key battleground states say they blame President Joe Biden and the Democrats for the border crisis.READ MORE

Tucker Carlson Lifts Lid on Ukraine War: Americans ‘Are Being Lied To’Independent journalist Tucker Carlson has detailed his findings on the endless war in Ukraine and warned that the American people “are being lied to.”READ MORE

The latest reports from Slay News

Fired Covid Nurse Goes Public, Exposes Mass Vaccine Deaths

After she was fired for refusing to comply with her hospital’s vaccine mandate, a California nurse has gone public to blow the whistle on a major cover-up of deaths related to Covid mRNA shots.
READ MORE
Anti-Fertility Chemicals Found in America’s Top Cereals

A troubling new study has found that a staggering 80 percent of Americans have been exposed to anti-fertility chemicals that have been discovered in popular cereals.
READ MORE

Ex-Border Patrol Chief Ortiz Reveals He ‘Never Once Met with’ Biden or Harris during Two-Year Tenure

Former U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz has lifted the lid on the true extent that Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration has been ignoring the mounting crisis at the Southern Border.
READ MORE

More Evidence Emerges of Congress Members Engaging in Insider Trading

Fresh evidence has emerged that shows members of Congress have continued to engage in insider trading – a practice that would land members of the public in jail.
READ MORE

White House Orders Fox News to Retract Reports on Biden Bribery Allegations

The White House is demanding that Fox News retract reports regarding the corruption and bribery allegations that have been made against Democrat President Joe Biden and his family.
READ MORE

Democrats Panic as Supreme Court Dashes Hopes of Trump’s Jan 6 Trial before November

Democrats are now facing the reality that their politically motivated case targetting President Donald Trump over Jan. 6 will not make it to trial before the critical November election.
READ MORE

Texas Wildfire Causes ‘Catastrophic Losses’ to Cattle Herds: ‘Farmers & Ranchers Are Losing Everything’

The devastating impact of the Texas wildfires is beginning to emerge as the cattle industry braces for historic losses.
READ MORE

Adam Schiff Is Trailing GOP Candidate Steve Garvey in California’s U.S. Senate Race, Polling Shows

The latest polling for the race in California for late Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) old Senate seat shows all Democrat candidates are trailing Republican Steve Garvey.
READ MORE

Biden’s DOJ Improperly Lengthened Some Jan 6 Defendants’ Sentences, Federal Appeals Court Rules

Democrat President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) improperly handed down extended sentences to Jan. 6 defendants, a federal appeals court has ruled.
READ MORE

Chris Wallace, Anderson Cooper, Jake Tapper on the ‘Chopping Block’ at CNN

CNN’s new CEO is planning to fire some of the network’s biggest names, according to a new report.
READ MORE

The latest reports from Slay News

25% of Vaxxed Now Have VAIDS, Top Scientists Warn A group of some of the world’s leading scientists has alerted the public to a devastating discovery regarding those who have been vaccinated with Covid mRNA shots.READ MORE

Canadian Government Moves to Criminalize Christianity Canada is moving to criminalize Christianity as the far-left Canadian government seeks to expand its so-called “hate speech” laws to include key elements of the Christian faith.READ MORE

Georgia Judge McAfee Suggests DA Fani Willis to Be Disqualified from Trump Case Georgia Judge Scott McAfee has given a strong indication that he is planning to disqualify Fulton County’s Democrat District Attorney Fani Willis from her politically motivated case against President Donald Trump.READ MORE

Ex-Border Patrol Chief Says He Was Punished by Biden’s White House for Raising Concerns about Migrant Crisis Former United States Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott has blasted Democrat President Joe Biden and accused the White House of punishing him for raising national security concerns over the illegal migrant crisis.READ MORE

Ex-Bill Clinton Official Pleads Guilty to Decades of Spying for Communist Cuba A former top official in ex-President Bill Clinton’s administration has admitted to decades of spying on behalf of Cuba’s communist regime.READ MORE

Wisconsin Supreme Court Hands State Republicans Huge Win Wisconsin’s Supreme Court has just handed Republicans a massive win by refusing to hear a Democrat-led challenge to the state’s congressional maps.READ MORE

Top Republican Moves to Crack Down Anti-Semitism on College Campuses Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is moving to crack down on the anti-Semitism that is plaguing many left-wing college and university campuses.READ MORE

Hero Who Rescued Truck Driver Dangling from Kentucky Bridge Identified The hero who bravely rescued a semi-truck driver who was left dangling from the Clark Memorial Bridge in Kentucky has been identified by authorities.READ MORE

Aggressive Climate Activist Confronts Sen Joe Manchin, Regrets It Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) didn’t respond kindly when he was confronted by an aggressive climate activist in Massachusetts.READ MORE

EVOL NEWS:

Bill Gates Pushes ‘Synthetic Butter’ for ‘General Public Consumption’ – EVOL READ MORE…

LATEST NEWS:

NEWS ADDICT

LATEST REPORTS FOR NEWS JUNKIES

Millions of Sudden Deaths Scrubbed from Official Government Data Information regarding the sudden deaths of millions of citizens has been mysteriously scrubbed from the official government as fatal unexpected disorders among young healthy people continue to soar since early 2021.READ THE FULL REPORT

Bill Gates Pushes ‘Synthetic Butter’ for ‘General Public Consumption’Billionaire Bill Gates has just announced the launch of his new “synthetic butter” which he claims will help stop the so-called “climate crisis” if the fake “food” is consumed by the “general public.”READ THE FULL REPORT

Anti-Trump New York AG Declares ‘War’ On Beef New York’s Democratic Attorney General, Letitia James, has recently initiated legal action against JBS USA, alleging that the company has not fulfilled its commitment to achieving “Net Zero” emissions. The prosecutor, known for her efforts against former President Trump, accuses JBS, the largest beef producer globally, of contributing to the problem of global greenhouse gas emissions, which adversely affects families …READ THE FULL REPORT

Trump Responds With FIRE After Judge Removes Him From State Ballot An Illinois judge has excluded former President Donald Trump from the ballot in the state, citing the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment. However, Cook County Circuit Judge Tracie Porter has temporarily delayed the implementation of the decision, pending an appeal. This comes as the Supreme Court is reviewing a similar case from Colorado, which seeks to disqualify the leading …READ THE FULL REPORT

Federal Judge BLOCKS Police From Arresting Illegal Migrants A Texas state law that permitted the arrest of foreign nationals who crossed the U.S. Southern Border illegally has been blocked by a federal judge. U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra of the Western District of Texas issued a preliminary injunction, preventing state officials from enforcing the law known as Senate Bill 4. This law aimed to make illegal immigration …READ THE FULL REPORT

Scientist Uncovers ‘Smoking Gun’ Evidence China Created Covid

A top scientist has just announced the discovery of “smoking gun” evidence proving that Communist China created Covid as a bioweapon to be used as a mass global depopulation tool.
READ THE FULL REPORT

Klaus Schwab Pushes Technology to ‘Replicate’ a Person’s Brain So They Can ‘Die’

World Economic Forum (WEF) founder Klaus Schwab is pushing a new technology that allows human beings to be replaced by machines.
READ THE FULL REPORT

Trump Goes OFF On Biden During Trip To Border

President Donald J. Trump made a visit to Eagle Pass, a small town in Texas, to share his perspective on the current border situation.
READ THE FULL REPORT

Top Democrat Realizes He’s In For A RUDE Awakening…

The most recent polling data on the California Senate race for the former seat of late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) reveals that Republican Steve Garvey is leading ahead of all Democratic candidates.
READ THE FULL REPORT

Biden Caught SPYING On Tucker Carlson

Tucker Carlson, the ex-Fox News personality, recently exposed troubling information about the Biden administration in a podcast this week.
READ THE FULL REPORT

LATEST REPORTS FOR NEWS JUNKIES

318% Spike in Sudden Deaths Among Vaxxed Young People Official government data has revealed a heartbreaking surge in sudden and unexpected deaths among teenagers and young adults who are “fully vaccinated” for Covid.READ THE FULL REPORT

Criminal Investigation Launched Into Death of Mitch McConnell’s Sister-In-Law Angela Chao, the sister-in-law of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has had her death labeled as a subject of a criminal investigation.READ THE FULL REPORT

Greg Gutfeld Unveils HUGE Strategy for Trump Numerous members of the Republican party hold the belief that President Joe Biden will adopt a strategy akin to his duck-and-hide approach from the previous presidential election, presumably if he were to face off against President Donald Trump once again.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//GLOBAL SHIPPING

OPEC+ extends oil-production cuts, signaling no rush to restore lost volume

March 3, 2024 at 4:03 p.m. ET

MarketWatchSaudi Arabia rolls over 1 million-barrels-a-day cut

OPEC+, made up of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, including Russia, will extend voluntary production cuts into the second quarter, Saudi Arabia’s official press agency said Sunday.

The move was widely anticipated and signals that the producers are in no rush to restore lost volume to the market amid uncertainty over the outlook for demand, analysts said.

Citing an Energy Ministry source, the Saudi press agency said Saudi Arabia would extend its voluntary production cut of 1 million barrels a day, which was implemented in July 2023, until the end of the second quarter in coordination with some OPEC+ participating countries.

That 1 million-barrels-a-day cut is in addition to a cut of 500,000 barrels a day previously announced by Saudi Arabia that runs until the end of this year.

The announcement “does not come as a surprise. However, the decision sends a message of cohesion and confirms that the group in not in a hurry to return supply volumes, supporting the view that when this finally happens, it will be gradual (we expect in 3Q, as demand gets seasonally stronger),” said Giacomo Romeo, an analyst at Jefferies, in a note.

An extension beyond the second quarter, however, remains much more uncertain, Romeo said, and will put the focus on the next meeting of OPEC+ officials in early June.

The decision extends cuts implemented by OPEC+ in late November. Oil prices have subsequently risen, but remain well below 2023 highs set in the fall. Even the Israel-Hamas conflict and the threat that it could spread to threaten oil supplies from the Middle East has failed to push crude back toward those highs.

Crude rallied last week, with May Brent BRN00, -0.11% BRNK24, -0.11% ending Friday at $83.55 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. Brent, the global benchmark, is up 8.5% so far in 2024 but remains more than 13% below its 52-week high set on Sept. 26 at $96.55 a barrel. May West Texas Intermediate crude CL00, +1.97%, the U.S. benchmark CL.1, +1.97% CLK24, +1.90%, ended Friday at $79.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 11.6% in the year to date and leaving it 14.6% below its 52-week high at $93.68 set on Sept. 27.

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

CANADA

END

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

EURO VS USA DOLLAR: 1.0852 UP .0020

USA/ YEN 150.37 UP 0.407 NOW TARGETS INTEREST RATE AT 1.00% AS IT WILL BUY UNLIMITED BONDS TO GETS TO THAT LEVEL…//YEN STILL FALLS//

GBP/USA 1.2678 UP .0042

USA/CAN DOLLAR: 1.3568 UP .0023 (CDN DOLLAR DOWN 23 BASIS PTS)

Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE CLOSED UP 12.28 PTS OR 0.41%

Hang Seng CLOSED UP 6.53 POINTS OR 0.04%

AUSTRALIA CLOSED DOWN 0.13% // EUROPEAN BOURSE: ALL MOSTLY RED

Trading from Europe and ASIA

I) EUROPEAN BOURSES: ALL MOSTLY RED

2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang SENG CLOSED UP 6.53 PTS OR 0.04%

/SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 12.28 PTS OR 0.41%

AUSTRALIA BOURSE CLOSED DOWN 0.13%

(Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED UP 198.41 PTS OR 0.50%

INDIA’S SENSEX IN THE GREEN

Gold very early morning trading: 2082.60

silver:$23.14

USA dollar index early MONDAY morning: 103.88 DOWN 1 BASIS POINTS FROM FRIDAY’s CLOSE.

MONDAY MORNING NUMBERS ENDS

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And now your closing MONDAY NUMBERS 1: 30 AM

Portuguese 10 year bond yield: 3.045% DOWN 0 in basis point(s) yield

JAPANESE BOND YIELD: +0.711% UP 0 AND 7//100 BASIS POINTS /JAPAN losing control of its yield curve/

SPANISH 10 YR BOND YIELD: 3.289 DOWN 0 in basis points yield

ITALIAN 10 YR BOND YIELD 3.860 UP 2 points in basis points yield ./ THE ECB IS QE’ ING ITALIAN BONDS (BUYING ITALIAN BONDS/SELLING GERMAN BUNDS)

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD: 2.4015 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS

END

IMPORTANT CURRENCY CLOSES FOR MONDAY

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

Euro/USA 1.0862 UP 0.0028 or 28 basis points

USA/Japan: 150.49 UP 0.498 OR YEN IS DOWN 50 BASIS PTS

Great Britain/USA 1.2697 UP .0061 OR 61 BASIS POINTS //

Canadian dollar DOWN .0029 OR 29 BASIS pts to 1.3569

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The USA/Yuan, CNY: closed ON SHORE CLOSED DOWN AT 7.1989

THE USA/YUAN OFFSHORE: (YUAN CLOSED (UP)…. (7.2090)

TURKISH LIRA: 31.53 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LEVEL/DEATH WATCH/HYPERINFLATION TO BEGIN.//ON DEATH WATCH

the 10 yr Japanese bond yield at +0.710…

Your closing 10 yr US bond yield UP 5 in basis points from THURSDAY at 4.225% //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%) very problematic

USA 30 yr bond yield 4.370 UP 4 in basis points /12.00 PM

USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.593 UP 6 BASIS PTS.

GOLD AT 10;30 AM 2101.50

SILVER AT 10;30: 23.53

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

London: CLOSED DOWN 42.17 PTS OR 0.55%

German Dax : CLOSED DOWN 18.90 PTS OR 0.11%

Paris CAC CLOSED UP 22.24 PTS OR 0.05%

Spain IBEX CLOSED UP 5.10 PTS OR 0.05%

Italian MIB: CLOSED DOWN 21.95PTS OR 0.07

WTI Oil price 79.64 12: EST/

Brent Oil: 83.21 12:00 EST

USA /RUSSIAN ROUBLE /// AT: 91.31; ROUBLE UP 0 AND 37//100

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD; +2.4000 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS

UK 10 YR YIELD: 4.1710 UP 4 BASIS POINTS

CLOSING NUMBERS: 4 PM

Euro vs USA: 1.0857 UP .0025 OR 25 BASIS POINTS

British Pound: 1.2691 UP .0054 or 54 basis pts

BRITISH 10 YR GILT BOND YIELD: 4.1670 UP 4 BASIS PTS//

JAPAN 10 YR YIELD: 0.708%

USA dollar vs Japanese Yen: 150.50 UP 0.545//YEN DOWN 55 BASIS PTS//

USA dollar vs Canadian dollar: 1.3578 UP .0033 CDN dollar DOWN 33 basis pts)

West Texas intermediate oil: 79.79

Brent OIL: 82.84

USA 10 yr bond yield UP 4 BASIS pts to 4.218%

USA 30 yr bond yield UP 3 BASIS PTS to 4.357%

USA 2 YR BOND: UP 8 PTS AT 4.608%

USA dollar index: 103.77 DOWN 3 BASIS POINTS

USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 31.57 (GETTING QUITE CLOSE TO BLOWING UP/

USA DOLLAR VS RUSSIA//// ROUBLE: 91.25 UP 0 AND 42/100 roubles

GOLD 2117,10 3:30 PM

SILVER: 23.93 3:30 PM

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: DOWN 97.09 PTS OR 0.25%

NASDAQ DOWN 76.43 PTS OR 0.42%

VOLATILITY INDEX: 13.49 UP 0.38 PTS OR 2.90%

GLD: $196.01 UP 3.12 OR 1.62%

SLV/ $21.86 UP .69 OR 3.26%

end

USA AFFAIRS

TODAY’S TRADING IN GRAPH FORM

Gold & Bitcoin Close At Record Highs As Bonds & Stocks Dip

MONDAY, MAR 04, 2024 – 04:00 PM

A quiet macro day let the grown-ups play… and today saw gold and bitcoin roar up to record closing highs (amid rising breakevens and falling rate-cut expectations) as all eyes and ears and algos remain glued to any further hints of QE (Reverse Twist) as Waller revealed last week.

2024 rate-cut expectations drifted (hawkishly lower) to barely three cuts priced in for 2024 now…

Source: Bloomberg

But breakevens are soaring in the face of disinflationary delusion…

Source: Bloomberg

And it appears gold got the hint…

Source: Bloomberg

…soaring to a new record closing high (just shy of its intraday record high)…

Source: Bloomberg

And the other alternative currency also soared, Bitcoin topping $67,000…

Source: Bloomberg

…up to its record closing high (yes, we know bitcoin doesn’t ‘close’)…

Source: Bloomberg

…amid another high volume day in BTC ETFs…

Source: Bloomberg

Ethereum also caught a bid, topping $3600 for the first time since

Source: Bloomberg

Still has some room to go its record highs…

Source: Bloomberg

Elsewhere, stocks ambled along with Small Caps pumped (at the European open) and dumped back to unchanged-ish. A late-day sell program dragged the Nasdaq to the lows of the day and the ugliest horse in today’s glue factory…

VIX continued to decouple from stocks here (and this time it was not call-buying FOMO malarkey as skews ticked higher)…

Source: Bloomberg

As NYCB collapsed to 28 year lows…

Source: Bloomberg

Bonds were sold with the short-end underperforming….

Source: Bloomberg

Which prompted bear-flattening in the yield curve…

Source: Bloomberg

The dollar limped lower but remains broadly speaking in its recent range…

Source: Bloomberg

Oil prices declined, apparently not enthralled by the idea of The Fed printing money to buy short-dated bills anymore, round-tripping Friday’s gains…

Source: Bloomberg

Finally, NVDA just refuses to drop, up another 6% today…

…overtaking Aramco as the 3rd most valuable company in the world…

Source: Bloomberg

It’s different though this time…

Source: Bloomberg

…probably nothing.

MORNING TRADING

AFTERNOON TRADING/

Bitcoin, Bullion, & Breakevens Soar As Markets Lose Faith In ‘Inflation-Fighting’ Fed

MONDAY, MAR 04, 2024 – 10:05 AM

Unpossible…

For months, the talking heads have espoused soft-landings and disinflationary trends and rate-cut-paloozas (but hell no recession at all).

But, after the last set of inflation data hit – showing stickier than expected price rises (especially the acyclical segment)…

…it appears the market ain’t buying what The Fed is selling anymore…

First things first, Breakevens are soaring (the market’s bet on where inflation will be)…

Gold is breaking out, near record highs…

And of course, bitcoin is soaring, also back near record highs…

So is inflation under control or not? Who do you believe, The Fed or your lying eyes?

We also note that the ‘juice’ from last year’s massive loosening of financial conditions is starting to wear off (not great timing for an incumbent in an election year)…

And as a reminder, The Fed is entirely apolitical and would never cut-rates in an election year to juice sentiment in the face of all this ‘animal spirits 2.0’ growth and sticky inflation, and record high stock valuations…. right?

II USA DATA

TUCKER CARLSON….

III USA ECONOMIC COMMENTARIES

Violent mob invades Six Flags amusement park and this ends with a shootout with police.

Seems the media is only interested in the shooting of a 15 yr old

(zerohedge)

Chaos At Georgia Six Flags As Violent Mob Invades – Ends In Shootout With Police

MONDAY, MAR 04, 2024 – 08:05 AM

After opening for only one day, a Six Flags amusement park near Atlanta, Georgia was overrun by a mob of up to 600 rioters who proceeded to fight each other and destroy property. The incident led to a shootout involving the Cobb County Police Department and resulted in the hospitalization of an alleged assailant.

“As officers followed the crowd out, ensuring they left the property, an unknown number of suspects fired at officers. An officer returned fire, striking one of the suspects,” Cobb County Police Department said.

The establishment media has decided to focus primarily on the shooting of the unnamed 15-year-old involved in the police altercation, and many outlets have ignored the events leading up to the incident. The suspect, whose name was not released by police, was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital after receiving medical treatment at the scene. His condition is unknown at this time. The likelihood of the teen being a minority is high, and the media’s focus may be in preparation for an attempt to provoke a BLM-like response in the near future.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/chaos-georgia-six-flags-violent-mob-invades-ends-shootout-police

While Democrat politicians continue to claim that crime in the US is going down, violent mob actions similar to what happened at the Georgia Six Flags have been rising steadily in the past few years. Why don’t crime stats reflect this? Because progressive city governments rarely prosecute the people involved. Low prosecution numbers lead to low convictions and low reported crime rates.

Another factor to consider is a change in FBI crime reporting policies during the pandemic, which allows many cities across the US to avoid providing complete crime numbers until 2025.

erohedge.com/political/chaos-georgia-six-flags-violent-mob-invades-ends-shootout-police

Atlanta and surrounding areas have recently adopted “equity” policies in criminal prosecution, which generally means lesser charges and lighter sentences for minorities. The region is also known for shady political influences when it comes to criminal prosecution, as we have seen in the case of District Attorney Fani Willis.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/chaos-georgia-six-flags-violent-mob-invades-ends-shootout-police

In other words, the majority of these riots are dominated by a certain demographic, and this is largely due to the assumption that assailants will not be aggressively charged because of their skin color. When a specific group of people are assured of privileged treatment in criminal cases, they are incentivized to commit more crimes. It’s not rocket science, it’s common sense.

The refusal to pursue severe punishment for violent offenses and repeat criminals in the name of “racial equity” is swiftly destabilizing American cities. The widespread exodus of citizens from metropolitan areas in the past few years is a testament to growing public concerns over safety. Blue cities are becoming socialist cesspools devoid of rational leadership, and this is the real reason why we can’t have nice things.

END

The USA’s main problems: CRE

(French/Mises)

The End Of “Extend And Pretend”

MONDAY, MAR 04, 2024 – 12:22 PM

Authored by Daouglas French via The Mises Institute,

The number of U.S. commercial foreclosures spiked to 635 in January 2024 from a low of 141 in May 2020 reports real estate data firm ATTOM. The January count was up 17% from the previous month and roughly twice as many as in January 2023.

“Commercial property deals in the US are picking back up at deep discounts—and forcing lenders to face just how far real estate prices have fallen,” notes Sarah Holder on Bloomberg’s “Big Take” podcast.

Bloomberg commercial real estate reporter Natalie Wong detailed a New York office building at 1740 Broadway purchased and renovated by Blackstone at considerable cost and the company has walked away with the debt that’s behind that building being marketed at a 50% discount.

Ms. Wong said,

So you’re seeing these massive discounts on these prominent buildings start to show up in the market, and it’s a lot harder for, whether it’s the investor or the lender, to tell the regulators that the value of a lot of their buildings haven’t fallen greatly. And I—so I think this is starting to create more pressure. You know, a little bit of panic, too, from parts of, you know, the, the lenders that hold these loans.

Pretending has become much harder.

Problem real estate means problem banks. Bloomberg reporter Patrick Clark chimed in “we certainly hear people say over the next couple of years with commercial real estate debt as a catalyst, hundreds, if not thousands of banks are gonna go away, either because they go outta business or they need to be swallowed up or they need to join forces with another weak bank to survive.” (the combination of two weak banks does not make a strong on)

Real estate mogul Barry Sternlicht told Bloomberg “there’s a giant skeleton in the closet of the regional banks,” referring to commercial real estate loans. He made the point that “every piece of real estate is worth less when interest rates go up 500 basis points.”

Sternlicht stressed that there are no lenders for buyers who want to buy properties at deep discounts.

“Commercial banks are already nervous about their commercial office exposure,” he said.

For some banks multifamily loans are the problem. Wolf Richter reports that 49 relatively small banks which average $1.3 billion in assets “had multifamily nonperforming loans (NPLs) that exceeded 5% of their total multifamily loans. At those 49 banks, the multifamily NPL ratio of 5% is far higher than the default rate [1.9%] of multifamily CMBS.”

CREDiQ reports commercial property distress is now 480% higher than in February last year.

“We are in a period of peak stress and expect the next two quarters to be challenging,” Arbor Chairman Ivan Kaufman told analysts on a call last week, reports Bloomberg.

The firm has “longstanding relationships with many quality sponsors that we’ve been working with to step in and take over assets that are underperforming and assume our debt and recap these transactions.”

Fitch Ratings doesn’t believe we are anywhere near peak stress.

“We expect any deterioration to play out for the banking sector over an extended period,” Fitch said.

“During the Global Financial Crisis, losses did not peak until almost two years after a peak in delinquencies, and problem loans have yet to peak for the sector.”

Extend and pretend may be coming to an end.

end

Mish Shedlock on the state of affairs inside USA

Powell To Face Pressure On Rates From Democrats, Bank Rules From Republicans

MONDAY, MAR 04, 2024 – 03:40 PM

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Fed Chair Jerome Powell meets with Congress this week. He will face pressure on two different fronts.

Image courtesy of Mortgage News Daily, annotations by Mish

Pressure on Two Fronts

Bloomberg reports Powell to Face Pressure on Rates From Democrats, Bank Rules From Republicans

The Fed chair heads to Capitol Hill on Wednesday and Thursday for his semiannual testimony before Congress, two years after the central bank began its aggressive battle against surging inflation. With the economy powering along and inflation inching toward the Fed’s sweet spot, Powell will make the case for why officials are in no rush to lower rates.

In a Jan. 30 letter, Senator Sherrod Brown urged Powell to cut rates “early this year,” arguing that high rates are hurting small businesses and putting homeownership out of reach for many Americans. That missive from the Senate Banking Committee chair, an Ohio Democrat who is running for reelection this year, could give cover to other committee Democrats who want to press Powell on rates.

Housing

Maryland Democrat Chris Van Hollen, in an interview last week, said the Fed needs to focus on housing costs “and taking actions necessary to make things more affordable for more Americans.”

“Right now those high interest rates are actually increasing costs for families because one of the big parts of costs for families is housing,” Senator Elizabeth Warren, a persistent Powell critic, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “It’s time to get those interest rates down.”

Capital Rules

Republicans will use Powell’s appearance to grill him on the Fed’s proposal to ramp up capital requirements for big banks by almost 20%.

Election Year

Powell has repeatedly said the looming election plays no role in policy decisions, but some Fed watchers worry rate cuts this year — investors are betting the first reduction will come in June — could be perceived as the Fed giving a boost to Democrats.

Elizabeth Warren Hoot of the Day

Home prices are at record highs. Just what does she think will happen to home prices and inflation if Powell cuts rates too early?

Small businesses are struggling but why is that?

The answer is Biden’s free money to students, Biden’s regulatory madness, Biden’s union push, and massive minimum wage hikes, especially in places like California are all highly inflationary.

The Fed’s Big Problem

On average, the economy looks OK. But averages are misleading. Several large groups of people are struggling. They all have one thing in common.

Case-Shiller home price index, CPI rent index, and the index of hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory workers.

The Fed’s Big Problem is There Are Two Economies But Only One Interest Rate

Who’s Unhappy?

Those looking to buy a home but cannot afford the record high prices, are not faring well in this economy.

The last great time to buy a home was in 2012. Over the next eight years, home prices moved further and further away from wages.

When the Covid pandemic hit in 2020, we had record QE, record fiscal stimulus, mortgage rates hit record lows, and inflation hit the highest levels in 40 years.

When the Fed slashed interest rates to zero, mortgage rates fell below 3.0% for an extended period allowing everyone to refinance at 3.0 percent or below. Most did.

Winners and Losers

The homeowners are generally doing OK. The home ownership rate is 65.7 percent.
The 34.3 percent who rent are generally not doing OK.

The study did not break things down by home owners vs renters, but I suspect most of the use is by renters.

According to the latest CPI report, rent was up at least 0.4 percent for the 29th straight month. Shelter, a broader category, rose 0.6 percent. Food rose 0.4 percent.

CPI data from the BLS, chart by Mish

Credit Card and Auto Delinquencies Soar

Credit card debt surged to a record high in the fourth quarter. Even more troubling is a steep climb in 90 day or longer delinquencies.

Record High Credit Card Debt

Credit card debt rose to a new record high of $1.13 trillion, up $50 billion in the quarter. Even more troubling is the surge in serious delinquencies, defined as 90 days or more past due.

For nearly all age groups, serious delinquencies are the highest since 2011 at best.

Auto Loan Delinquencies

Serious delinquencies on auto loans have jumped from under 3 percent in mid-2021 to to 5 percent at the end of 2023 for age group 18-29.

Age group 30-39 is also troubling. Serious delinquencies for age groups 18-29 and 30-39 are at the highest levels since 2010.

For further discussion please see Credit Card and Auto Delinquencies Soar, Especially Age Group 18 to 39

Generational Homeownership Rates

Home ownership rates courtesy of Apartment List

The above chart is from the Apartment List’s 2023 Millennial Homeownership Report

Those struggling with rent are more likely to Millennials and Zoomers than Generation X, Baby Boomers, or members of the Silent Generation.

The same age groups struggling with credit card and auto delinquencies.

On Average Everything is Great

Average it up as Fed and all the clueless economic and political writers do, and things look great.

This is why we have seen countless stories attempting to explain why people should be happy.

Hello Mr. Powell

There are two economies (the homeowners/asset holders and everyone else). However, there is only one interest rate. Patience please says Powell.

Lowering rates risks risks fueling the housing bubble and the most expensive stock market in history.

It’s Powell’s move. No matter what he does Elizabeth Warren will howl.

She wants lower interest rates, but that will stoke inflation and it will not do a damn thing for renters who don’t have a down payment and cannot a house no matter what the mortgage rate is.

This is a dilemma of the Fed’s making and there is no solution.

IIIB USA COMMENTARIES RE ISRAEL/HAMAS WAR/ and PERVASIVE ANTISEMITISM/WOKISM…

Jewish dentist killed, two others wounded in San Diego shooting

The shooter, who is now in police custody, is believed to be a former patient of the dentist.

By DANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARDMARCH 1, 2024 21:21Updated: MARCH 1, 2024 21:35

Crime scene investigators gather outside a crime scene. (photo credit: REUTERS/SHANNON STAPLETON) — Crime scene investigators gather outside a crime scene.(photo credit: REUTERS/SHANNON STAPLETON)

One person was killed, and two others were wounded in a shooting incident at a dentistry office in San Diego, police confirmed on Friday. Media reports confirmed that the victim killed was an Orthodox Jewish man.

The shooter, a former client of the dentist, is currently in police custody and was named by police as 29-year-old El Cajon resident Mohammed Abdulkareem. Police say that Abdukareem’s motives are unclear but believe that he may have been a disgruntled customer.

Abdulkareem was located and found to be armed with a loaded handgun and several loaded handgun magazines. He purchased the weapons legally only two weeks prior to the shooting, police said.

The victims of the shooting

The Jewish News Syndicate named the victim killed as Benjamin Harouni.

A police officer holds up crime scene tape to allow people to leave after a shooting incident at the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada August 21, 2023. (credit: REUTERS)

Another victim, identified by the Daily Mail as Yareli Carrillo, was shot in both legs but is reportedly in stable condition. A third unnamed victim is also expected to survive wounds sustained during the attack.

“The El Cajon Police Department mourns with the family and friends of the deceased victim and extends heartfelt condolences to those injured in yesterday’s senseless and evil act of violence,” police said in a statement on the attack.

END

FREIGHT ISSUES/USA

END

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON

END

SWAMP STORIES

In Unanimous Decision, Supreme Court Rules Trump To Remain On Presidential Ballots

MONDAY, MAR 04, 2024 – 10:06 AM

The US Supreme Court has ruled in a unanimous decision that former President Donald Trump will be allowed to remain on primary and general ballots in the 2024 US election, after several states removed the former president under the 14th Amendment.

The decision comes after several states – kicked off by the Colorado Supreme Court – ruled that Trump was disqualified from appearing on ballots, citing an interpretation of the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment provision which stipulates that candidates who engaged in an “insurrection or rebellion” against the United States – which Trump has not been charged with or convicted of – should be prevented from holding office.

Maine’s Democratic secretary of state made a similar decision days later, and a judge in Illinois recently issued a similar ruling to prevent his appearance on ballots, according to the Epoch Times.

This is the first time in US history that the US Supreme Court has considered section 3 of the 14th Amendment. The decision comes after a Sunday announcement that the Court would come to a decision today.

And of course, the left is now trying to discredit the Supreme Court despite the fact that this was a unanimous decision.

As the Epoch Times notes further, Lawyers for the former president asked the nine justices to reverse the Colorado court decision because only Congress can make a determination as who can become president.

The Colorado court’s decision was “the first time in the history of the United States that the judiciary has prevented voters from casting ballots for the leading major-party presidential candidate,” his lawyers said, concluding that it “is not and cannot be correct.”

After the ruling, President Trump wrote on social media that he is “not an insurrectionist,” adding that President Joe Biden is one. He also noted that he told supporters to protest “peacefully and patriotically” during a rally on Jan. 6, 2021, before protesters and rioters entered the U.S. Capitol during the certification of electoral votes for the 2020 election, which forms the basis of the “insurrection” accusations against him.

Justices for the Colorado Supreme Court had argued that they believed President Trump engaged in an insurrection because of his activity before and on Jan. 6, 2021, during the breach of the U.S. Capitol building. The former president, however, was never charged or convicted of insurrection. He was charged by a federal special counsel in connection with the 2020 election, but not for insurrection, rebellion, or related charges.

“President Trump asks us to hold that Section Three disqualifies every oath-breaking insurrectionist except the most powerful one and that it bars oath-breakers from virtually every office, both state and federal, except the highest one in the land,” the majority for the Colorado Supreme Court wrote in its 4–3 ruling.

“Both results are inconsistent with the plain language and history of Section Three.”

Oral Arguments

During oral arguments in front of the justices in early February, at least six of the justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts, who was nominated by President George W. Bush, appeared to be at least skeptical of some of the claims made by the lawyer representing several Colorado voters who brought the lawsuit against the Republican front-runner.

“It’ll come down to just a handful of states that are going to decide the presidential election,” Chief Justice Roberts said, referring to the potential effect of the Colorado court’s ruling.

“That’s a pretty daunting consequence.”

Justice Clarence Thomas asked the lawyer, Jason Murray, why there weren’t many examples of individual states’ disqualifying candidates under the 14th Amendment after the Civil War.

“There were a plethora of confederates still around, there were any number of people who would continue to either run for state offices or national offices, so it would seem—that would suggest there would at least be a few examples of national candidates being disqualified,” Justice Thomas, a Bush appointee, said.

Justice Elena Kagan, considered a member of the court’s liberal wing, asked the attorney why one state would have power to determine which candidates should be on the ballot for a nationwide election.

“Why should a single state have the ability to make this determination not only for their own citizens but also for the nation?” she asked the attorney, adding the move would be “quite extraordinary.”

end

The left when nuts on the decision:

House Dems Implode Over Supreme Court Decision; Raskin Crafting Legislation To Bar Trump From Ballot

MONDAY, MAR 04, 2024 – 02:02 PM

Update (1400ET): Not satisfied to let the Supreme Court-enforced Democratic process play out, House Democrats are now preparing legislation to try and keep Trump off the ballot.

“Congress will have to try and act,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, in a comment to creepy deep state mouthpiece Axios (which swears the border is extra-secure!).

Raskin, a former member of the Jan. 6 select committee, said he is already crafting the bill, telling Axios, “I’m working on it – today.”

Raskin pointed to legislation he introduced with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) in 2022 creating a pathway for the Justice Department to sue to keep candidates off the ballot under the 14th Amendment.

“We are going to revise it in light of the Supreme Court’s decision,” Raskin said. –Axios

“I don’t have a lot of hope that Speaker [Mike] Johnson will allow us to bring enforcement legislation to the floor, but we have to try and do it,” said Raskin, who said he’ll ‘beseech’ Republicans to join the bill.

Very Democratic, Jamie.

Update (1320ET): Former President Trump has responded to the Supreme Court’s ruling keeping him on the ballot in Colorado (and therefore, everywhere else).

According to Trump, the decision was “very well crafted,” and “will go a long way toward bringing our country together.”

Trump also slammed Biden for ‘weaponizing’ prosecutors against him.

“President Biden… Fight your fight yourself. Don’t use prosecutors and judges to go after your opponent… our country is much bigger than that,” Trump said, speaking from Mar-a-Lago.

And of course, the left is now trying to discredit the Supreme Court despite the fact that this was a unanimous decision.

CNN isn’t taking it so well…

Nor is Colorado’s Secretary of State…

WATCH: CNN tries to hold it together after 9-0 Supreme Court decision on the Trump Colorado ballot case: “Unfortunately for America, the court isn’t necessarily wrong that this is the way the Framers wanted it to be.”

🚨WATCH: CNN tries to hold it together after 9-0 Supreme Court decision on the Trump Colorado ballot case:

“Unfortunately for America, the court isn’t necessarily wrong that this is the way the Framers wanted it to be.” 🤭 pic.twitter.com/dPbwTgLUH8
— News Nomad 🗞 (@The_Nomad_News) March 4, 2024

From

Benny Johnson

11:17 AM · Mar 4, 2024

·https://www.zerohedge.com/political/supreme-court-rules-trump-remain-presidential-ballots

164.7K Views

“President Trump asks us to hold that Section Three disqualifies every oath-breaking insurrectionist except the most powerful one and that it bars oath-breakers from virtually every office, both state and federal, except the highest one in the land,” the majority for the Colorado Supreme Court wrote in its 4–3 ruling.

“Both results are inconsistent with the plain language and history of Section Three.”

Oral Arguments

“It’ll come down to just a handful of states that are going to decide the presidential election,” Chief Justice Roberts said, referring to the potential effect of the Colorado court’s ruling.

“That’s a pretty daunting consequence.”

Justice Clarence Thomas asked the lawyer, Jason Murray, why there weren’t many examples of individual states’ disqualifying candidates under the 14th Amendment after the Civil War.

“There were a plethora of confederates still around, there were any number of people who would continue to either run for state offices or national offices, so it would seem—that would suggest there would at least be a few examples of national candidates being disqualified,” Justice Thomas, a Bush appointee, said.

KING REPORT//

GREG HUNTER INTERVIEWING BO POLNY

BRICS Will Devastate US Dollar & Economy – Bo Polny

BRICS Will Devastate US Dollar & Economy – Bo Polny

By Greg Hunter On March 2, 2024 In Market Analysis37 Comments

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com (Saturday Night Post)

Biblical cycle timing expert, geopolitical and financial analyst Bo Polny predicted last year to “expect the US dollar to go lower and gold, silver and Bitcoin to trend higher, much higher in 2024.” What have we seen so far? Bitcoin and Gold are, once again, flirting with all-time highs, and silver is starting to turn up, too. What about the dollar? So far, it is holding steady, but Polny contends the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are about to put a hurting on the buck. Polny explains, “The game changer is . . . the BRICS are about to attack the US dollar. I don’t care what anybody says, this is going to happen. The dollar will be dethroned as the world reserve currency. When it is dethroned as the world reserve currency, the bond market will collapse, interest rates will spike and the real estate market will collapse. It will be absolutely devastating to the US economy. This will fulfill the prophecy of Kim Clement. He said the brothers of Goliath, those are the BRICS nations, ‘we will stand in glee, we will cripple you.’ What does that mean, ‘we will stand in glee’? Didn’t we just see Putin slapping high fives in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and with everybody over there? . . . We could see a high probability of a war beginning this March. Why? If you attack the supremacy of the US dollar, it’s an act of war. . . . The dollar will be dethroned as the world reserve currency. It will lose roughly 30% of it’s value, and that will take the USD index down to around the 70’s. Here’s the problem. This is not on millions of dollars of debt like the 1970’s. We now have leverage, upon leverage, upon leverage with derivative contracts. So, a 30% haircut on derivative contracts (in the quadrillions of dollars) is devastating, devastating to the economy. I have said this before, and I am going to say it again, when the US dollar is dethroned as the world reserve currency, you are going to see Bitcoin blow vertical. This is why even at $60,000 (per unit), it is still a deal. Bitcoin is going six digits. I write this in my newsletter. We have a $100,000 price coming on Bitcoin, and that is just a warmup.

Polny goes on to say, “When the US dollar is dethroned as the world reserve currency, there are three things you want to hold. It’s everything opposite the US dollar. The first thing is God’s money. Number one would be silver, number two would be gold. The third thing is not God’s money, it is Bitcoin. It is going to go absolutely crazy because other countries will not accept the dollar as payment. . . . People are going to want to be paid in something that is real like gold, silver and crypto currencies.”

How high will gold and silver go? Polny says, “Right now, an ounce of gold should equal a Bitcoin. We could see gold and silver blow vertical soon. Gold is not allowed to go above $2,100 per ounce, and silver is not allowed to go above $26. . . . As long as the dollar is the world reserve currency . . . the control mechanism stands. When the dollar loses its world reserve currency status, gold and silver are going to blow vertical. Silver could go up three-fold in a single day, and that only starts the biggest bull market with gold and silver in history.”

In closing, Polny predicts, “You cannot stop what is coming. You cannot stop what is coming. The US dollar will be dethroned as the world’s reserve currency. Billionaires are front-running this trade. You can see it visually with Bitcoin. . . . Bitcoin is front-running what gold and silver are about to do this year. It will be much sooner than later. I think it could begin in March and into April. We are going to see gold and silver do a huge catchup game to what Bitcoin has been doing for years.”

Polny points out, “Keep in mind, when Bitcoin first started, it sold for less than a dollar per unit, and now, it is near all-time highs at around $62,000.”

There is much more in the 50-minute interview.
Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog.com as he goes One-on-One with Biblical cycle expert and financial analyst Bo Polny, founder of Gold2020Forecast.com for 3.2.24.
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After the Interview:
You can find free information on Gold2020Forecast.com.

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