MARCH 27//BLOG//GOLD CLOSED UP $15.00 TO $2192.00//SILVER CLOSED UP $.14 TO $24.62//PLATINUM WAS DOWN $.700 TO $900.00 WHILE PALLADIUM WAS ALSO DOWN $19.50 TO $987.90//GOLD COMMENTARY TODAY FROM PETER SCHIFF// JAPAN PANICS AS THE YEN CONTINUES TO PLUMMET//ISRAEL VS HAMAS UPDATES//HEZBOLLAH VS ISRAEL UPDATES//MICHAEL EVERY COMMENTARY// NEWT GINGRICH COMMENTARY//MORE UPDATES ON THE BALTIMORE CATASTROPHE/ SWAMP STORIES FOR YOU TONIGHT//
The Fed has 2200 dollar gold as a line in the sand.
The Fed’s problem is that they are short 67 tonnes of gold and must deliver physical gold to central banks
first day notice: March 28//options expiry March 28//comex options expired Monday.
Bitcoin morning price:$70,070 UP 258 DOLLARS.
Bitcoin: afternoon price: $68,807 UP 1007 dollars
Platinum price closing DOWN $7.00 TO $900.00
Palladium price; DOWN $19.50 AT $987.50
END
SHANGHAI GOLD PREMIUM 28 DOLLARS/COMEX GOLD
SHANGHAI GOLD………
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.
092 C DEUTSCHE BANK 1 363 H WELLS FARGO SEC 2 435 H SCOTIA CAPITAL 82 624 H BOFA SECURITIES 674 657 C MORGAN STANLEY 1 661 C JP MORGAN 12 595 686 C STONEX FINANCIA 1 690 C ABN AMRO 5 905 C ADM 9
TOTAL: 691 691 MONTH TO DATE: 6,057
JPMORGAN STOPPED (RECEIVED) 595/691 CONTRACTS
FOR MARCH/2024
GOLD: NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR MAR/2024. CONTRACT: 691 NOTICES FOR 69,100 OZ or 2.149 TONNES
total notices so far: 6057 contracts for 605,700 Oz (18.8398 tonnes)
FOR MARCH:
SILVER NOTICES: 21 NOTICE(S) FILED FOR 105,000 OZ/
total number of notices filed so far this month : 5487 for 27,435,000 oz
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END
GLD/
BOTH GLD AND SLV ARE FRAUDULENT VEHICLES//THEY ARE NOW RAIDING GLD AND SLV FOR PHYSICAL
THE CROOKS ARE STEALING GOLD AND SILVER FROM THE GLD/SLV AND REPLACING THE PHYSICAL WITH PAPER DOLLARS.
WITH GOLD UP $15.00
INVESTORS SWITCHING TO SPROTT PHYSICAL (PHYS) INSTEAD OF THE FRAUDULENT GLD/ :
HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: AN THIS MAKES A LOT OF SENSE???: A WITHDRAWAL OF 5.18 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD.
/ /INVENTORY RESTS AT 830.15 TONNES
INVENTORY RESTS AT 830.15 TONNES
SLV//
WITH NO SILVER AROUND AND SILVER UP 14 CENTS AT THE SLV//
HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A HUGE DEPOSIT OF 1.691 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV.:
// INVENTORY RISES TO 423.079 MILLION OZ/
INVESTORS ARE SWITCHING SLV TO SPROTT’S PSLV.
CLOSING INVENTORY: 423.079 MILLION OZ
Let us have a look at the data for today
SILVER//OUTLINE
SILVER COMEX OI ROSE BY A SMALL SIZED 76 CONTRACTS TO 160,327 AND CLOSER TO THE RECORD HIGH OI OF 244,710, SET FEB 25/2020 AND THIS GOOD SIZED GAIN IN COMEX OI WAS ACCOMPLISHED DESPITE OUR LOSS IN PRICE OF $0.26 IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX ON TUESDAY. WE HAD ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION AT THE COMEX SESSION WITH AGAIN MAJOR SHORT COVERING WITH THE PRICE LOSS. WE HAD A STRONG 744 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/GOLD 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 TUESDAY NIGHT: 744 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 SUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING THE PRICE OF SILVER DOWN (IT FELL BY $0.26),BUT WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING ANY SILVER LONGS AS WE HAD A HUGE SIZED GAIN OF 2380 CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES WITH THE SMALL GAIN IN PRICE OF 8 CENTS.
WE MUST HAVE HAD:
A MEGA HUMONGOUS SIZED 2304 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 45,000 OZ E.F.P. JUMP TO LONDON
/NEW TOTALS DECREASES TO : 27.435 MILLION OZ
//NEW STANDING FOR SILVER IS THUS 27.435 MILLION OZ
WE HAD:
/ GOOD SIZED COMEX OI GAIN/ HUMONGOUS SIZED EFP ISSUANCE/ VI) STRONG SIZED NUMBER OF T.A.S. CONTRACT ISSUANCE 744 CONTRACTS)/
I AM NOW RECORDING THE DIFFERENTIAL IN OI FROM PRELIMINARY TO FINAL -REMOVED XXX CONTRACTS //
HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS FEB. ACCUMULATION FOR EFP’S SILVER/JPMORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES/STARTING FROM FIRST DAY/MONTH OF MARCH
TOTAL CONTRACTS for 19 days, total 26,750 contracts: OR 133.750 MILLION OZ (1407 CONTRACTS PER DAY)
TOTAL EFP’S FOR THE MONTH SO FAR: 133.750 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: 133.750 MILLION OZ//WILL BE MUCH LARGER THIS MONTH//MAYBE CLOSE TO A RECORD ISSUANCE
RESULT: WE HAD A SMALL SIZED INCREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF 76 CONTRACTS WITH OUR LOSSIN PRICE OF SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX//TUESDAY.,. THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A GIGANTIC EFP ISSUANCE CONTRACTS: 2,304 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 23.385 MILLION OZ ON FIRST DAY NOTICE FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 45,000 OZ E.F.P. JUMP TO LONDON
//NEW TOTAL STANDING RISES TO 27.435 MILLION OZ
WE HAVE A HUGE GAIN OF 2756 OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES DESPITE THE LOSSIN PRICE. THE TOTAL OF TAS INITIATED CONTRACTS TODAY: A STRONG SIZED 744 CONTRACTS//HUGE FRONT END OF THE TAS CONTRACTS WERE LIQUIDATED DURING THE TUESDAY COMEX SESSION/// WITH MAJOR SHORT COVERING FROM OUR SPEC SHORTS
THE NEW TAS ISSUANCE MONDAY NIGHT (744) WILL BE PUT INTO “THE BANK” TO BE COLLUSIVELY USED AT A LATER DATE//PROBABLY TODAY., .
WE HAD 21 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 105,000 OZ
THE SILVER COMEX IS NOW BEING ATTACKED FOR METAL BY LONDONERS ET AL.
GOLD//OUTLINE
IN GOLD, THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST FELL BY A STRONG SIZED 11,816 CONTRACTS TO 503,642 AND FURTHER FROM 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: REMOVED A HUGE 1144 CONTRACTS
WE HAD A STRONG SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI (11,816 CONTRACTS) WITH OUR $1.40 GAIN IN PRICE//TUESDAY. 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 QUEUE. JUMP TO LONDON OF 1500 OZ.
NEW TOTAL Of INITIAL GOLD STANDING RISES TO: 20.0093 TONNES (INCLUDES 1.1695 TONNES OF EX. FOR RISK/PRIOR) // ALL OF THIS HAPPENED WITH OUR $1.40 GAIN IN PRICE WITH RESPECT TO TUESDAY’S TRADING. WE HAD A GOOD SIZED LOSS OF 5989 OI CONTRACTS (18.628 PAPER TONNES) ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES.
E.F.P. ISSUANCE
THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A STRONG SIZED 5827CONTRACTS:
The NEW COMEX OI FOR THE GOLD COMPLEX RESTS AT 503,642
IN ESSENCE WE HAVE A GOOD SIZED DECREASE IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 5989 CONTRACTS WITH 11,816 CONTRACTS DECREASED AT THE COMEX// AND A STRONG SIZED 5,827 EFP OI CONTRACTS WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS TOTAL OI LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 5989 CONTRACTS.. WE HAD THE FOLLOWING TAS CONTRACTS INITIATED (ISSUED): A FAIR SIZED 1568 CONTRACTS,
CALCULATIONS ON GAIN/LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES
WE HAD A STRONG SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (5827 CONTRACTS) ACCOMPANYING THE STRONG SIZED LOSS IN COMEX OI (11,816) //TOTAL LOSS FOR OUR THE TWO EXCHANGES: 5989 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 7.502 TONNES FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S QUEUE JUMP TO LONDON OF 0.0466 TONNES + 1.1695 TONNES OF EX. FOR RISK//PRIOR/NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 20.0093 TONNES.
/ 3) ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION AS THE ENTIRE LOSS IN OI WAS DUE TO SPREADER AND T.A.S. LIQUIDATION // 4) STRONG SIZED COMEX OPEN INTEREST LOSS/ 5) STRONG ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL PAPER///6: FAIR T.A.S. ISSUANCE: 1563CONTRACTS/SHORT COVERING FOR SURE.
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: 110,800 CONTRACTS OR 11,080,000OZ OR 344.634 TONNES IN 19TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 5832 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY
TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS : THIS MONTH IN 19TRADING DAY(S) IN TONNES 344.634 TONNES
TOTAL ANNUAL GOLD PRODUCTION, 2022, THROUGHOUT THE WORLD EX CHINA EX RUSSIA: 3555 TONNES
THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 344.634/3550 x 100% TONNES 9.60% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL PRODUCTION
SEPT 142.12 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE ( LOW ISSUANCE)_
OCT: 141.13 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE (LOW ISSUANCE)
NOV: 312.46 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE//NEW RECORD!! (INCREASING DRAMATICALLY)//SIGN OF REAL STRESS//SURPASSING THE MARCH 2021 RECORD OF 276.50 TONNES OF EFP
DEC. 175.62 TONNES//FINAL ISSUANCE//
TOTALS: 2,578.08 TONNES/2021
JAN:2022 247.25 TONNES //FINAL
FEB: 196.04 TONNES//FINAL
MARCH/2022: 409.30 TONNES //FINAL( THIS IS NOW A RECORD EFP ISSUANCE FOR MARCH AND FOR ANY MONTH.
APRIL: 169.55 TONNES (FINAL VERY LOW ISSUANCE MONTH)
MAY: 247.44 TONNES FINAL//
JUNE: 238.13 TONNES FINAL
JULY: 378.43 TONNES FINAL
AUGUST: 180.81 TONNES FINAL
SEPT. 193.16 TONNES FINAL
OCT: 177.57 TONNES FINAL ( MUCH SMALLER THAN LAST MONTH)
NOV. 223.98 TONNES//FINAL ( MUCH LARGER THAN PREVIOUS MONTHS//comex running out of physical)
DEC: 185.59 tonnes // FINAL
TOTAL: 2,847,25 TONNES/2022
JAN 2023: 228.49 TONNES FINAL//HUGE AMOUNT OF EFP’S ISSUED THIS MONTH!!
FEB: 151.61 TONNES/FINAL
MARCH: 280.09 TONNES/INITIAL (ANOTHER STRONG MONTH FOR EFP ISSUANCE)
APRIL: 197.42 TONNES
MAY: 236.67 TONNES (A VERY STRONG ISSUANCE FOR THIS MONTH)
JUNE: 172.667 TONNES (WEAKER ISSUANCE THIS MONTH)
JULY: 151.69 TONNES (WEAKER THAN LAST MONTH)
AUGUST: 195.28 TONNES (A STRONGER MONTH)//FINAL
SEPT: 254.709 TONNES (WILL BE LARGER THAN LAST MONTH AND A STRONG MONTH)
OCT. 248.09 TONNES. LIKE SILVER, THIS MONTH IS GOING TO BE A STRONG E.F.P. ISSUANCE.
NOV. 239.16 TONNES//WILL BE STRONG THIS MONTH,
DEC. 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 EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL)
FEB’24: 201.947 TONNES
MARCH 2024: 344.634 TONNES//THIS IS GOING TO BE ONE HUMDINGER OF AN E,F,P. ISSUANCE.//2ND HIGHEST EVER RECORDED EFP ISSUANCE.
SPREADING OPERATIONS
(/NOW SWITCHING TO GOLD) FOR NEWCOMERS, HERE ARE THE DETAILS
SPREADING LIQUIDATION HAS NOW COMMENCED AS WE HEAD TOWARDS THE NEW ACTIVE FRONT MONTH OF 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 TINY SIZED 76 CONTRACTS OI TO 160,327 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 2304 CONTRACTS
OUR CUSTOMARY MIGRATION OF COMEX LONGS CONTINUE TO MORPH INTO LONDON FORWARDS AS OUR BANKERS USED THEIR EMERGENCY PROCEDURE TO ISSUE:
MAY 2304 and ALL OTHER MONTHS: ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 2304 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 76 CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 2304 E.FP. ISSUED
WE OBTAIN A HUMONGOUS SIZED GAIN OF OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 2380CONTRACTS
THUS IN OUNCES, THE GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES TOTAL 11.900 MILLION OZ
c) Commentaries from: Egon von Greyerz///Matthew Piepenburg via GoldSwitzerland.com, Pam and Russ Martens
ii a) Chris Powell of GATA provides to us very important physical commentaries
b. Other gold/silver commentaries
c. Commodity commentaries//
d)/CRYPTOCURRENCIES/BITCOIN ETC
2.ASIAN AFFAIRS//
WEDNESDAY MORNING/TUESDAY NIGHT
SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 38.34 PTS OR 1.20% //Hang Seng CLOSED DOWN 225.48 PTS OR 1.36% / Nikkei CLOSED UP 364.70 PTS OR 0.90% //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP 0.46% /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN 7.2259 //OFFSHORE CHINESE YUAN CLOSED DOWN TO 7.2523 /Oil DOWN TO 81.15 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT DOWN AT 85.74/ Stocks in Europe OPENED MOSTLY ALL GREEN// ONSHORE YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE YUAN WEAKER
1. COMEX DATA//AMOUNTS STANDING//VOLUME OF TRADING/INVENTORY MOVEMENTS
GOLD
LET US BEGIN:
THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST FELL BY A STRONG 11,816 CONTRACTS TO 503,642 DESPITE OUR SMALL GAIN IN PRICE OF $1.40 WITH RESPECT TO TUESDAY TRADING. WE HAD HUGE SPREADER LIQUIDATION TODAY ALONG WITH HUGE T.A.S. LIQUIDATION
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 5827 EFP CONTRACTS WERE ISSUED: : APRIL 5827 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:
TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 5827CONTRACTS
ON A NET BASIS IN OPEN INTEREST WE LOST THE FOLLOWING TODAY ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES: A STRONG SIZED TOTAL OF 5,989 CONTRACTS IN THAT 5827 LONGS WERE TRANSFERRED AS EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS TO LONDON AND WE HAD A STRONG SIZED LOSS OF 11,816 COMEX CONTRACTS..AND THIS LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES HAPPENED WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF $1.40 TUESDAY 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 TUESDAY NIGHT WAS A FAIR SIZED 1568 CONTRACTS. WE HAD 0 EX FOR RISK ISSUANCE
THROUGHOUT THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS, THE BANKERS CONTINUE TO SELL 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//. IT SEEMS THAT OUR CROOKS ARE HAVING A HARD TIME TRYING TO CONTROL THE PRICE OF GOLD AND THUS THE NEED FOR RECORD T.A.S. ISSUANCE.
// WE HAVE A STRONG AMOUNT OF GOLD TONNAGE STANDING: MARCH (20.0093 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
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: 18.8398 TONNES + 1.1695 EX FOR RISK = 20.093 TONNES
THE SPECS/HFT WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE( IT ROSE $1.40 //// AND WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING ANY SPECULATOR LONGS AS DESPITE WE HAD A STRONG SIZED LOSS OF5989 TOTAL CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES WITH OUR HIGHER PRICE 0F $1.40
WE HAD A HUGE T.A.S. LIQUIDATION ON THE FRONT END OF TUESDAY’S TRADING ALONG WITH SPREADER LIQUIDATION . THE T.A.S. ISSUED ON TUESDAY NIGHT, WILL BE “PUT INTO THE BANK” TO BE USED AT A LATER DATE AT THE COLLUSIVE CHOOSING OF OUR BANKERS. THE HIGH T.A.S. ISSUANCE IS MEANT TO CONTROL THE PRICE OF GOLD
WE HAVE LOST A TOTAL OI OF 18.628 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 1500 OZ QUEUE JUMP TO LONDON//PRIOR ISSUANCE 1.1695 TONNES EXCHANGE FOR RISK.
NEW STANDING: 18.8398 TONNES + 1.1695 EXCHANGE FOR RISK/PRIOR = 20.0093 TONNES
ALL OF THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED DESPITE OUR GAIN IN PRICE TO THE TUNE OF $1.40
WE HAD REMOVED 1580 CONTRACTS TO THE COMEX TRADES TO OPEN INTEREST (CROOKS)
NET LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 5989 CONTRACTS OR 598,900 OZ
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month
6057 notices 605,700 oz 18.8398 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: 0
total customer withdrawal: nil oz
we had 0 customer deposit
total deposit 0 oz
Adjustments: 0
CALCULATIONS FOR THE AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR MAR.
For the front month of MARCH we have an oi of 691 contracts having LOST 6 contracts. We had 21 contracts filed upon on Tuesday, so we gained 15 contracts or an additional 1500 oz of gold(0.0466 tonnes) will stand at the comex in this non active delivery month of March.
APRIL LOST 49,917 CONTRACTS FALLING TO 30,818. We have 1 more reading day before first day notice March 28.2024. NO TRADING ON GOOD FRIDAY MARCH 29.. APPROX AMT THAT WILL STAND 47 -55 TONNES OF GOLD
MAY GAINED 295 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 1341
JUNE INCREASED ITS OI BY 35,900 CONTRACTS UP TO 404,091 CONTRACTS.
We had 691 contracts filed for today representing 69100 oz
Today, 0 notice(s) were issued from J.P.Morgan dealer account and 12 notices were issued from their client or customer account. The total of all issuance by all participants equate to 691 contract(s) of which 0 notices were stopped (received) by j.P. Morgan dealer and 595 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 (6057 x 100 oz ), to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of MARCH. (691 CONTRACTS) minus the number of notices served upon today 691 x 100 oz per contract equals 605,700 OZ OR 18.8398 TONNES, to which we add yesterday’s 1.1695 exchange for risk = 20.0093 tonnes
thus the INITIAL standings for gold for the MARCH. contract month: No of notices filed so far (6057) x 100 oz + (691) {OI for the front month} minus the number of notices served upon today (691) x 100 oz which equals 605,700 oz (18.8398 TONNES) + 1.1695 ex for risk/prior = 20.0093
TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING FOR MARCH: 20.0093 TONNES WHICH IS HUGE FOR A NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH IN THE CALENDAR.
TOTAL OF ALL GOLD ELIGIBLE AND REGISTERED GOLD: 17,653,625.809 OZ
TOTAL REGISTERED GOLD 7,736,318.775 (240.63 tonnes).
TOTAL OF ALL ELIGIBLE GOLD: 9,917,307.034 OZ
REGISTERED GOLD THAT CAN BE SERVED UPON: 6,403,153 oz (REG GOLD- PLEDGED GOLD) 199.16 tonnes/dropping like a stone
END
SILVER/COMEX
MARCH 27
INITIAL
//2024// THE MARCH 2024 SILVER CONTRACT//INITIAL
Silver
Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory
NIL oz
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory
4974.100 oz
Delaware
.
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory
nil OZ
Deposits to the Customer Inventory
579,610.600OZ
ASAHI
No of oz served today (contracts)
21 CONTRACT(S) (105,000 OZ)
No of oz to be served (notices)
0 contracts (0 oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)
5487 Contracts (27,435,000 oz)
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Dealers inventory this month
NIL oz
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Customer inventory this month
i) 0 dealer deposit
total dealer deposit :nil oz
i) We had 0 dealer withdrawal
total dealer withdrawals: 0 oz
We had 1 deposits customer account:
i) Into ASAHI: 579,610.600 oz
total customer deposits 579.610.600 oz
JPMorgan has a total silver weight: 129.806 million oz/287.737 million or 45.18%
adjustment: 0
Comex withdrawals: 1
i) Out of Delaware: 4974.100 oz
total withdrawal: 4974.100 oz
TOTAL REGISTERED SILVER: 45.829MILLION OZ//.TOTAL REG + ELIGIBLE. 287.737million oz
CALCULATIONS FOR THE NEW STANDING FOR SILVER FOR DECEMBER:
silver open interest data:
FRONT MONTH OF MARCH /2023 OI: 21 CONTRACTS HAVING LOST 43 CONTRACT(S).
WE HAD 34 NOTICES FILED ON TUESDAY SO LOST 9 CONTRACTS OR AN ADDITIONAL 45,000 OZ WILL NOT STAND AT THE COMEX AS THEY WERE E.F.P.d OVER TO LONDON TAKING DELIVERY OVER THERE.
APRIL SAW A LOSS OF 336 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 550
MAY SAW A LOSS OF 866 CONTRACTS UP TO 119,305
TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR TODAY: 21 for 105,000 oz
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 5487 x 5,000 oz = 27,435,000 oz
to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of MARCH. (21) and the number of notices served upon today 21 x (5000 oz) equals the number of ounces standing.
Thus the standings for silver for the MARCH/2024 contract month: 5487 (notices served so far) x 5000 oz + OI for the front month of MARCH. (21) – number of notices served upon today (21 )x 500 oz of silver standing for the MARCH contract month equates to 27.435 MILLION OZ.
New total standing: 27.480 million oz.
There are 45.829 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 27 WITH GOLD UP $15.00 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 5.18 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD// INVENTORY FALLS TO 830.15 TONNES
MARCH 26 WITH GOLD UP $1.40 TODAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD INVENTORY RISES TO 835.33 TONNES
MARCH 25 WITH GOLD UP $17.05 TODAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD INVENTORY RISES TO 838.50 TONNES
MARCH 22 WITH GOLD DOWN $23.75 TODAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD INVENTORY RISES TO 838.50 TONNES
MARCH 21 WITH GOLD UP $24.80 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A STRONG PAPER DEPOSIT OF 1.15 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/:INVENTORY RISES TO 838.50 TONNES
MARCH 20 WITH GOLD UP $1.45 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A STRONG PAPER DEPOSIT OF 1.48 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/:INVENTORY RISES TO 837.35 TONNES
MARCH 19 WITH GOLD DOWN $4.10 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A STRONG PAPER DEPOSIT OF 1.48 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/:INVENTORY RISES TO 833.32 TONNES
MARCH 15 WITH GOLD DOWN $5.20 TODAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/:INVENTORY REMAINS AT 816.86 TONNES
MARCH 14 WITH GOLD DOWN $12.20 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A DEPOSIT OF 1.73 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD//:INVENTORY REMAINS AT 816.86 TONNES
MARCH 13 WITH GOLD UP $14.40 TODAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:INVENTORY REMAINS AT 815.13 TONNES
MARCH 12 WITH GOLD DOWN $21.15 TODAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:NOT AVAILABLE///LAST VALUE 815.13 TONNES
MARCH 11 WITH GOLD UP $3.20 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.44 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD AFTER 7 CONSECUTIVE GOLD PRICE RISES//INVENTORY RESTS AT 815.13 TONNES
MARCH 8 WITH GOLD UP $21.05 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.87 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD AFTER 7 CONSECUTIVE GOLD PRICE RISES//INVENTORY RESTS AT 816.57 TONNES
MARCH 7 WITH GOLD UP $7.20 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 4,20 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 817.44 TONNES
MARCH 6 WITH GOLD UP $17.20 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.30 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 821.47 TONNES
MARCH 5 WITH GOLD UP $16.55 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.30 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD//INVENTORY RESTS AT 821.47 TONNES
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:
GLD INVENTORY: 830.15 TONNES
Now the SLV Inventory/( vehicle is a fraud as there is no physical metal behind them
MARCH 27/WITH SILVER UP 14 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A A DEPOSIT OF 1.691 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV: SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 423.079 MILLION OZ
MARCH 26/WITH SILVER DOWN 24 CENTS TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A A DEPOSIT OF 0.366 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV: SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 421.388 MILLION OZ
MARCH 25/WITH SILVER UP 8 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 3.887 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV: SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 421.022 MILLION OZ
MARCH 22/WITH SILVER DOWN 9 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A HUGE DEPOSIT OF 1.1899 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV: SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 424.909 MILLION OZ
MARCH 21/WITH SILVER DOWN 8 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 3.560 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV: SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 423.720 MILLION OZ
MARCH 20/WITH SILVER DOWN 5 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A HUGE DEPOSIT OF 11.792 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV: SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 427.280 MILLION OZ
MARCH 18/WITH SILVER DOWN 11 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A HUGE DEPOSIT OF 11.792 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV: SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 427.280 MILLION OZ
MARCH 15/WITH SILVER DOWN 9 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.006 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV: SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 417.866 MILLION OZ
MARCH 14/WITH SILVER DOWN 9 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 418.872 MILLION OZ
MARCH 13/WITH SILVER UP 32 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 418.872 MILLION OZ…
MARCH 12/WITH SILVER DOWN 31 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A SMALL WITHDRAWAL OF 0.549 MILLION OZ OF SILVER INTO THE SLV//// : SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 418.872 MILLION OZ…
MARCH 11/WITH SILVER UP 11 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 2.147 MILLION OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV//// : SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 418.323 MILLION OZ…SUCH A MASSIVE FRAUD!
MARCH 8/WITH SILVER DOWN 5 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 4.299 MILLION OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV//// : SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 420.519 MILLION OZ…SUCH A MASSIVE FRAUD!
MARCH 7/WITH SILVER UP 8 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 4.665 MILLION OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV//// : SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 424.818 MILLION OZ…SUCH A MASSIVE FRAUD!
MARCH 6/WITH SILVER UP 52 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 2.378 MILLION OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV//// : SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 427,105 MILLION OZ
MARCH 5/WITH SILVER DOWN 2 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 1.499 MILL;ION OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV//// : SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 429.483 MILLION OZ
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
Assuming CPI measurements are not understatements, the dollar’s value has plummeted by a staggering one-fifth since 2020, yet, rather than acknowledging its role in fueling this economic turmoil, the Biden administration deflects, casting capitalism and corporate greed as the villains. The latest February CPI data show more signs of the upcoming inflation bloodbath.
The following article was originally published by the Mises Institute. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Peter Schiff or SchiffGold.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest price inflation data, CPI inflation in February accelerated for the second month in a row, and price inflation hasn’t proven nearly as transitory as the regime’s economists have long predicted.
According to the BLS, Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rose 3.2 percent year over year during February, without seasonal adjustment. That’s the thirty-sixth month in a row of inflation well above the Fed’s arbitrary 2 percent inflation target.
Month-over-month inflation accelerated, with the CPI rising 0.4 percent from January to February, with seasonal adjustment. Month-to-month growth had been 0.3 percent from December to January.
The ongoing price increases largely reflect growth in prices for food, services, electricity, and shelter.
For example, prices for “food away from home” were up 4.5 percent in February over the previous year. Gasoline prices fell 3.9 percent over the period, but electricity was up 3.6 percent. Prices for “services less energy services” rose 5.2 percent, year over year, while shelter rose 5.7 percent over the period.
Pulling out volatile energy and food prices, we find price inflation remains stubbornly high. So-called core CPI growth remains near four percent—double the “two-percent target”—keeping price inflation growth near thirty-year highs. In other words, core CPI is a long way from returning to “normal.” Moreover, February’s month-over-month increase hit 0.4 percent, which is the largest increase recorded in any month since April 2023.
Biden Blames Corporate Greed
In recent months, supporters of the current regime have repeatedly claimed that inflation is “falling” or otherwise rapidly disappearing. Paul Krugman has been one of the most vocal cheerleaders claiming the problem of price inflation is “solved.” The February numbers, however, have proven troublesome for this narrative because it is becoming increasingly clear that price inflation is not, in fact, rapidly disappearing. Rather, the month-to-month numbers suggest price inflation is growing.
Moreover, cumulative price inflation over the past four years has been enormous. The CPI increased by 19.9 percent from February 2020 to February 2024. In other words, assuming the CPI is correct—and isn’t low-balling the real extent of price inflation—the dollar has lost one-fifth of its value in just four years. This has been devastating for many savers and for those on fixed income.
The Biden administration’s response to this has been predictable in that the President has blamed “corporate greed” when the real causes are runaway deficit spending and the central bank’s easy-money policies.
Biden has repeatedly blamed the private sector for “price gouging” and so-called shrinkflation, which is the term for a reduction in the size of a product while the product’s price stays the same.
A Rapidly Increasing Money Supply
We can get a better view of the real causes of price inflation only if we look somewhere other than the private sector. More specifically, the acceleration in price inflation that we are now being forced to endure is the result of unprecedented increases in the money supply that have occurred since the government-forced covid lockdowns began in the spring of 2020. Faced with a forcibly “closed” economy, the federal government called upon the central bank, the Federal Reserve, to create vast new sums of dollars for distribution to the millions of Americans whose jobs and earnings were destroyed by government lockdowns. These were essentially bribes designed to pay Americans to sit at home and spent their newly-printed money. This created an immediate inflationary boom by mid-2020. It’s easy to see why. The money supply increased by 40 percent between February 2020 and February 2021, rising by $5.7 trillion.
The money supply has shrunk somewhat since early 2022, but on net, the money supply is up by $4.7 trillion since February 2020. That a 32 percent increase. With a current total money supply of approximately $19 trillion, this also means that 25 percent of all the dollars that have ever existed were created after 2020.
In other words, the covid-fueled monetary inflation set up today’s continuing price-inflation spree. The regime economists have repeatedly attempted to gaslight the public with claims of “falling inflation,” but consumers can see that groceries, housing fuel, and services are all significantly more expensive than they were just a few years ago.
Some economists might claim this is no big deal because there has also been price inflation in wages. Unfortunately for regular people, real wages fell throughout most of 2022 and 2023, and continue to show only very anemic growth.
2.Commentaries from: Egon von Greyerz///Matthew Piepenburg via GoldSwitzerland.com, Pam and Russ Martens/
3. CHRIS POWELL//GATA
Switch to gold standard could stabilize prices, Philly Fed researchers find
Submitted by admin on Tue, 2024-03-26 16:47 Section: Daily Dispatches
From Central Banking, London Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Long-run price stability could be a key feature of the gold standard, researchers with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia find.
In their working paper, published in February, Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde and Daniel Sanches explore how the gold standard would operate as a monetary framework in a hypothetical small open economy.
They argue that the price level would consistently converge to its long-run equilibrium value. Inflation and deflation would be “merely temporary phenomena.” …
“Not So Transitory”: Hershey Hit With Downgrade As Cocoa Crisis Hyperinflates Prices
WEDNESDAY, MAR 27, 2024 – 09:30 AM
Cocoa futures in New York reached a new record high this week, exceeding $10,000 per metric ton. Since the start of the year, prices have surged 150%. It smells like hyperinflation.
At the start of February, candy producer Hershey Co’s CEO warned: “Historic cocoa prices are expected to limit earnings growth this year.”
Now, Wall Street analysts are downgrading the Hershey’s Kisses maker because record-high cocoa prices will spark diminishing consumer demand as retail prices of chocolate bars soar.
BNP Paribas Exane’s Max Gumport wrote in a note to clients that his recommendation on Hershey was cut from “outperform” to “neutral” on the thesis that cocoa inflation is “Not So Transitory.”
“The implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation is adding structural costs into the system,” Gumport said, adding, “A meaningful portion of the cocoa inflation we are currently seeing could well be structural” due to the EU regulation.”
He said this is a “step change” in his view that the “vast majority” of the cocoa price surge was due to “temporary supply demand imbalance” from West Africa.
The analysts reduced his 2025 adjusted earnings per share estimate for Hershey by 9% to $9.59 primarily because of the elevated prices that are set to stick around for years. This represents a Wall Street low, according to Bloomberg data, which has a consensus target for next year’s EPS of $10.19
Morgan Stanley recently downgraded Hershey to “underweight” from “equal-weight,” citing significant risks to Hershey’s mid-term outlook, including the “outsized” cocoa inflation.
Bloomberg data shows there are 6 “buys,” 19 “holds,” and 1 “sell” on Hershey.
Here are the latest analyst recommendations on the chocolate company.
Higher bean prices are an ominous sign for shares of Hershey.
Cocoa inflation is unwelcoming news for consumers ahead of Easter weekend. Bloomberg data provides a supply chain analysis of which companies sell the most Hershey products.
All of a sudden, the rise in cocoa prices looks less transitory. It will only feed into long-lasting food inflation that will pressure consumer pocketbooks.
5 B GLOBAL COMMODITY ISSUES/FOOD IN GENERAL//FREIGHT
1.YOUR EARLY CURRENCY VALUES/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN AND EUROPEAN BOURSE MOVEMENTS/AND INTEREST RATE SETTINGSWEDNESDAY MORNING.7:30 AM
ONSHORE YUAN: CLOSED DOWN 7.2259
OFFSHORE YUAN: DOWN TO 7.2523
SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 38.34 PPTS OR 1.20%
HANG SENG CLOSED DOWN 225.48 PTS OR 1.36%
2. Nikkei closed UP 364.70 OR 0.90%
3. Europe stocks SO FAR: MOSTLY ALL GREEN
USA dollar INDEX DOWN TO 103.96 EURO RISES TO 1.0835 UP 3 BASIS PTS
3b Japan 10 YR bond yield: FALLS TO. +.712 Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese YEN vs USA cross now at 151.05/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 UP /JAPANESE Yen UP CHINESE ONSHORE YUAN: DOWN/ OFFSHORE: DOWN
3f Japan is to buy INFINITE TRILLION YEN worth of BONDS. Japan’s GDP equals 5 trillion USA
Japan to buy 100% of all new Japanese debt and NOW they will have OVER 50% of all Japanese debt.
3g Oil UP for WTI and UP FOR Brent this morning
3h European bond buying continues to push yields lower on all fronts in the EMU. German 10yr bund YIELD DOWN TO +2.3100***/Italian 10 Yr bond yield DOWN to 3.618* /SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD DOWN TO 3.141…**
3i Greek 10 year bond yield DOWN TO 3.243
3j Gold at $2188.50 silver at: 24.54 1 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $30.00
3k USA vs Russian rouble;// Russian rouble UP 0 AND 26 /100 roubles/dollar; ROUBLE AT 92.34//
3m oil into the 81 dollar handle for WTI and 85 handle for Brent/
3n Higher foreign deposits moving out of China// huge risk of outflows and a currency depreciation. This can spell financial disaster for the rest of the world/
JAPAN ON JAN 29.2016 CONTINUES NIRP. THIS MORNING RAISES AMOUNT OF BONDS THAT THEY WILL PURCHASE UP TO .5% ON THE 10 YR BOND///YEN TRADES TO 151.05// 10 YEAR YIELD AFTER FIRST BREAKING .54% LAST YEAR NOW EXCEEDS THAT LEVEL TO 0.712% 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 0.9057 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF: 0.9813 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: 4.223 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS…
USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 4.391 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS/
USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.587 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS
USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 32.24…(TURKEY SET TO BLOW UP FINANCIALLY)
GREAT BRITAIN/10 YEAR YIELD: UP 1 BASIS PTS AT 3.990
end
2.a Overnight: Newsquawk and Zero hedge,,,
Futures Rebound Despite $32 Billion In Month-End Pension Selling, Yen Surges Ahead Of Japanese Intervention
WEDNESDAY, MAR 27, 2024 – 08:18 AM
US equity futures rebounded from yesterday’s 3:30pm pension-selling inspired airpocket, and are higher along with European markets, even as Goldman anticipates continued month-end turbulence due to a sizable $32 billion in quarter-end selling, the largest since June 2023 (more details here for premium subs). As of 8:10am ET, S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% while Nasdaq 100 contracts add 0.5%, while European stocks were little changed near Tuesday’s record closing high. As JPM notes, the S&P is on a 3-day losing streak which appears to be mostly month-end/quarter-end related given the trading patterns. SPX -0.73% over those three days.Bond yields are up 1bps across the curve, but USD is flat while the yen bounced from a 34-year low on speculation that Japanese officials may be preparing to intervene to support the currency; commodities are for sale across all 3 complexes with the notable exceptions gold and natgas. Keep an eye on oil prices which could push past near-term expectations as Russia looks to cut production. The major macro events are Waller’s speech (6pm ET) and the 7Y bond auction; yesterday’s 5Y was digested well
In premarket trading, all Mag7 names are higher as are Semis and Large-cap Healthcare. Merck shares jumped 4.8% after Winrevair, a treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension, which is a rare and dangerous form of high blood pressure, won approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. Merck also rose after its Winrevair drug won US approval. Shares in Trump Media & Technology were set to extend gains following its debut as a public company. Here are the other notable premarket movers:
Forge Global (FRGE US) shares fall 12% after the private securities marketplace operator reported total revenue for the fourth quarter that missed the average analyst estimate.
GameStop (GME US) shares slide 19% after reporting adjusted earnings per share and net sales for the fourth quarter that missed the average analyst estimates. The stock had gained about 18% in the two trading sessions before the earnings report.
NCino (NCNO US) shares are up 14% after the cloud banking software company gave a forecast for adjusted earnings that was stronger than expected. Analysts were positive about the company’s results and outlook.
Nuvation Bio (NUVB US) shares jump 13% after the biotechnology company was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies after the acquisition of AnHeart Therapeutics.
One Group Hospitality (STKS US) shares are up 12% after the company said late Tuesday that it’s buying Safflower Holdings, the owner of Benihana, in a deal valued at $365m.
Robinhood (HOOD US) shares rise 7.1%. The company, best known for offering commission-free trading, said it is rolling out a credit card to US consumers as pushes beyond trading.
Trump Media (DJT US) shares jump 14%, putting its stock on track to extend gains after rallying 16% in its first trading day as a public company.
Western Digital (WDC US) shares tick 1.5% higher as the computer hardware and storage company is started with an outperform rating and $80 price target at Evercore ISI, which sees strong potential.
As we first reported last night, with stocks set to cap another strong quarter, pension funds are likely to sell an estimated $32 billion in equities to rebalance their positions, according to Goldman.
While projections on pension flows vary widely on Wall Street, it could heap extra pressure on markets when trading volumes are thin around Easter. After the S&P 500 soared about 26% since late October, traders have flagged concern that positioning is stretched and stocks are more vulnerable to short-term profit taking.
Officials from Japan’s Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Japan and Financial Services Agency met to discuss markets in their first three-way meeting since late May. After the talks, Japan’s top currency official Masato Kanda pledged to take appropriate action against excessive swings, saying he sees speculative moves behind the yen’s plunge. The yen strengthened 0.3%.
“The BOJ’s finger will be on the trigger for FX intervention,” said David Forrester, Singapore-based senior FX strategist at Credit Agricole.
Elsewhere, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with a group of American business executives in Beijing as China seeks to restore confidence in the economy and keep relations with the US on a stable footing. Meanwhile, as much as 2.5 million tons of coal and hundreds of car shipments are threatened with disruption after the sudden collapse of the Baltimore Bridge clogged the supply chains around the port.
Stocks have had a strong start to the year, with major benchmarks scaling record levels. The S&P 500 is set for its fifth month of straight gains, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index of shares closed within a whisker of its all-time high. Still, moves this week have been muted ahead of Friday’s release of the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.
“I’m still rather positive on equity markets, as long as nothing changes in the broader picture, one can just go with the flow,” Francois Rimeu, a strategist at La Francaise Asset Management in Paris, said. He sees a possibility the rally can broaden toward other parts of the market, such as European or mid-cap shares, given “extreme” valuation gaps among technology and US stocks.
European stocks were little changed near Tuesday’s record closing high. Retail shares are the best performers as clothing retailer Hennes & Mauritz jumped as much as 14% after its profit beat estimates thanks to cost cuts, while payments firm Adyen NV got a boost from a broker upgrade. Euro-area data showed an improvement in economic confidence, supporting expectations that the region can soon move beyond its recent weakness.
Earlier in the session, Asian stocks traded mixed after the subdued handover from Wall St heading into quarter-end and Easter. ASX 200 was underpinned by strength in the top-weighted financials and consumer-related sectors, while data also provided a tailwind after an improved leading index and softer-than-expected monthly CPI. Nikkei 225 outperformed as the yen fell to a 33-year low amid dovish-leaning BoJ comments. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. declined amid a slew of earnings and weakness in tech with Alibaba pressured after it withdrew its Cainiao IPO application, while the mainland failed to benefit from the PBoC’s firm liquidity operation and improved Industrial Profits.
In FX, the yen rebounded after slumping to the weakest level in about 34 years, while the krona fell against the euro after the Riksbank opened the door to a rate cut as soon as May. The USDJPY fell 0.3% to ~151.10 after hitting its highest since 1990 earlier on Wednesday after Japan’s top currency official pledged to take appropriate action against excessive moves in the foreign-exchange market as the MOF stepped closer to intervention with its strongest warning yet as the yen slid to the weakest level in about 34 years against the dollar.
USD/JPY rose as much as 0.3% to 151.97, the highest level in about 34 years, then fell 0.3% back to 151.15 as the BOJ stepped closer to potential currency intervention
EUR/SEK rose 0.3% to 11.5111 before paring the advance to trade 0.1% higher at 11.4809, while USD/SEK steadied at 10.5964; The Riksbank signaled a potential pivot to policy easing within the next quarter
In rates, treasuries were little changed after trading in a narrow range through Asia session and European morning, leaving yields within 1bp of Tuesday’s closing levels. Treasury 10-year yields around 4.235%, slightly cheaper on the day with bunds and gilts outperforming in the sector by 3bp and 1bp; curve spreads also within 1bp of Tuesday’s close. Core European rates outperform as bunds rise after Spanish harmonized and core inflation rose less than expected in March. German 10-year yields fall 2bps to 2.33%. With no data scheduled, US session focal points are 7-year note auction and comments from Fed’s Waller after the close. The week’s auction cycle concludes with $43b 7-year note sale at 1pm New York time; Tuesday’s 5-year note stopped through by 1bp.
In commodities, oil prices pared a decline, with WTI falling as much as 1% before rebounding to trade near $81.2. Spot gold rises 0.6%.
In crypto, Bitcoin has been relatively contained and holds around the $70k mark, with Ethereum also holding at key levels around $3.6k.
Looking at today’s calendar, the US economic data slate is empty for the session; Fed members scheduled to speak include Waller at 6pm.
Market Snapshot
S&P 500 futures up 0.3% to 5,281.75
STOXX Europe 600 little changed at 511.13
MXAP little changed at 176.77
MXAPJ down 0.4% to 534.12
Nikkei up 0.9% to 40,762.73
Topix up 0.7% to 2,799.28
Hang Seng Index down 1.4% to 16,392.84
Shanghai Composite down 1.3% to 2,993.14
Sensex up 0.9% to 73,101.01
Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 0.5% to 7,819.61
Kospi little changed at 2,755.11
German 10Y yield little changed at 2.34%
Euro little changed at $1.0826
Brent Futures down 0.8% to $85.58/bbl
Gold spot up 0.0% to $2,179.23
US Dollar Index little changed at 104.39
Top Overnight News
The decadeslong push by American companies into China is stalling. American firms in China are being squeezed by escalating geopolitical tensions, tit-for-tat measures on trade and exports, and China’s drive for self-sufficiency. Meanwhile, the Chinese market is becoming less attractive. The country’s economic growth fell to its slowest rate in decades last year; consumers there are spending less, especially on foreign brands; and its once-unstoppable export machine is faltering. WSJ
China’s President Xi Jinping met US chief executives including Chubb’s Evan Greenberg and Qualcomm’s Cristiano Amon on Wednesday as American business leaders sought to mend ties frayed by geopolitical and trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. FT
China’s industrial profits jumped at the start of this year, with foreign-owned and private groups reporting the largest increases. Industrial profits rose by 10.2% year on year for January-February, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday. Profits at foreign-owned business surged 31.2% and climbed 12.7% at private companies. State-owned enterprises saw profits edge up just 0.5%. FT
The yen pared gains as Japan’s top currency official said the government can’t tolerate speculative moves in the FX market and is prepared to use any option to restore calm, in line with earlier comments from the finance minister. Masato Kanda spoke after a joint meeting of the MOF, BOJ and FSA. Earlier, the yen had slid to its lowest against the dollar since 1990. BBG
The BOE is probing how badly funding for UK businesses would be hit by the reversal of a long-running private equity boom, officials said, as they escalated warnings about leverage, transparency and valuations in private markets. FT
Asset managers kept unwinding bullish Treasury futures bets ahead of the Fed’s recent meeting, a defensive move that sent net long positions for “real money” investors such as pension funds and insurance companies to an eight-month low. The move also signaled some may have been paring back on basis trades. BBG
The Baltimore bridge collapse may cause months of disruptions, block the export of as much as 2.5 million tons of coal, and speed up a shift of cargo to the West Coast. Search operations were halted as six people are presumed dead. BBG
The artificial-intelligence boom is sending Silicon Valley’s talent wars to new extremes. Tech companies are serving up million-dollar-a-year compensation packages, accelerated stock-vesting schedules and offers to poach entire engineering teams to draw people with expertise and experience in the kind of generative AI that is powering ChatGPT and other humanlike bots. They are competing against each other and against startups vying to be the next big thing to unseat the giants. WSJ
UBS and Apollo reached a deal for the carve-out of Credit Suisse’s securitized products business after renegotiating key parts of the accord. Apollo will purchase $8 billion in senior secured financing facilities. BBG
A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk
APAC stocks traded mixed after the subdued handover from Wall St heading into quarter-end and Easter. ASX 200 was underpinned by strength in the top-weighted financials and consumer-related sectors, while data also provided a tailwind after an improved leading index and softer-than-expected monthly CPI. Nikkei 225 outperformed as the yen fell to a 33-year low amid dovish-leaning BoJ comments. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. declined amid a slew of earnings and weakness in tech with Alibaba pressured after it withdrew its Cainiao IPO application, while the mainland failed to benefit from the PBoC’s firm liquidity operation and improved Industrial Profits.
Top Asian News
PBoC Governor Pan said bilateral currency swaps help enhance financial safety nets and that China is willing to deepen financial cooperation with other countries, according to Reuters.
USTR office said the US mission to WTO received a consultation request from China regarding parts of the Inflation Reduction Act and the US is reviewing the request, according to Reuters.
US President Biden’s administration is pursuing TikTok with the FTC investigating the Co. over allegedly faulty privacy and data security practices, according to POLITICO.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin says China has been taking a hard hit as a major trade country; says China has a lot of policy space to shore up the economy; government debt level remains relatively low.
An uninspiring session thus far in Europe, Stoxx600 (+0.1%), bourses within tight ranges and sentiment mixed in relatively light newsflow. European sectors are mixed with little theme or bias; Retail is the clear outperformer after H&M’s (+12%) earnings and Energy lags amid the slide in crude oil prices. US Equity Futures (ES +0.4%, NQ +0.4%, RTY +0.1%) are trading on a firmer footing, attempting to make back the losses seen in the prior session.
Top European news
Riksbank maintains its Rate at 4.00% as expected; “It is likely that the policy rate can be cut in May or June if inflation prospects remain favourable”.
ECB’s Kazaks said inflation is slowing and the first rate cut is nearing, while he doesn’t object to the market view of a June rate cut and said they will lower rates cautiously step by step and must see how the economy reacts to policy easing.
ECB’s Cipollone says uncertainty around inflation is decreasing. Increasingly confident that inflation will converge to 2% by mid-2025. The current economic environment allows for a recovery in real wages in the short term that will not fuel inflation. “The improving inflation outlook, continued strong transmission and further moderation in inflation all create scope for more confidence that we can dial back restriction”. “We are coming closer to the point when we will have the confidence to act”. Says so far from neutral rate that there is room to adjust
Germany economic institutes expect German GDP to grow 0.1% in 2024 (prev. 1.3% in Autumn forecast). Expects German inflation at 2.3% in 2024 and 1.8% in 2025. Unemployment rate seen at 5.8% in 2024 and 5.5% in 2025.
FX
USD is steady vs. peers with DXY in a narrow 104.21-42 range. Upside sees the 25th March high at 104.47. Downside sees yesterday’s low at 104.01; all eyes will be on Fed’s Waller at 22:00 GMT / 18:00 ET.
EUR is flat with a lack of fresh catalysts. Currently trading in close proximity to 200 and 50DMAs at 1.0836 and 1.0838 respectively.
JPY is now firmer vs. the USD after USD/JPY printed a fresh 33yr high overnight. JPY gained strength after news that Japan’s BoJ, MoF and FSA to hold a meeting, though subsequent comments from Japan’s Top Diplomacy Kanda echoed recent jawboning. These remarks failed to spark any real move in USD/JPY, which remains at troughs around 151.10.
AUD hampered by softer yuan, iron ore prices and inflation data overnight. AUD/USD has been as low as 0.6512 but holding above last week’s trough at 0.6503.
SEK is a touch softer vs. the EUR but stopping just shy of the 11.50 mark. Riksbank expectedly left rates unchanged and guidance is pointing towards a H1 cut.
PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.0946 vs exp. 7.2250 (prev. 7.0943).
Fixed Income
USTs are slightly softer and holds around the 110-19 mark; direction today will be guided by Fed’s Waller (Hawk), who in his February remarks foreshadowed the general tone of Powell’s speeches thereafter.
Bund price action has been relatively contained; Spanish Flash CPI showed the core continuing to moderate, resulting in a slight move higher from 133.02 to a peak of 133.11. This move quickly faded and Bunds now reside just above 132.90 into supply.
Gilts are unchanged with fresh catalysts sparse so far and price action generally dictated by EGBs; currently around 99.50.
Italy sells EUR 8.25bln vs exp. EUR 7-8.25bln 3.35% 2029, 3.85% 2029, 3.85% 2034 and EUR 1.5bln vs exp. EUR 1-1.5bln 2031 CCTeu; no move in BTPs.
Commodities
Downbeat trade across the crude complex following the large surprise build in Private Inventories; Brent May fluctuates around USD 85.50/bbl in a USD 85.28-85.87/bbl parameter.
Uneventful trade across precious metals following Tuesday’s volatility which saw spot gold briefly test USD 2,200/oz to the upside.
Base metals are modestly lower across the board in what is seemingly a weakness stemming from the downbeat sentiment seen across Chinese markets overnight.
JPMorgan says without counter-measures the Russian decision to cut oil production could lift Brent to USD 90/bbl in April, mid-90s in May and near USD 100/bbl by September
Geopolitics: Middle East
At least seven people were killed in an Israeli strike on southern Lebanon, according to two security sources cited by Reuters.
China State Council Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson said some individuals in the US have ulterior motives and are continuously fabricating so-called “timelines” and hyping up the mainland’s “military threat” which is creating an atmosphere of war across the Taiwan Straits, while the spokesperson urged the US to stop fanning the flames and take concrete actions in adhering to the one-China principle, according to Global Times
US Event Calendar
07:00: March MBA Mortgage Applications, prior -1.6%
10:00: Revisions: Wholesale sales, inventories
Central Bank Speakers
18:00: Fed’s Waller Speaks on Economic Outlook
DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap
As we continue to draw closer to the Easter holiday, it remained quiet in markets yesterday other than for a sizeable late sell-off in US equities which came a bit out of the blue. Markets have been a bit thin this week so that might have contributed as we await the main event at 12.30pm London time on Friday when I’ll be driving through the French countryside, and you may be having a well-deserved piece of Easter chocolate! That will, of course, be the much anticipated core PCE print.
Perhaps the most exciting thing in the last 24 hours has been the Yen hitting 34-year lows of 151.97 overnight before rallying a touch to 151.75 as I type. The move came on the back of dovish remarks by the BoJ board member Naoki Tamura that the central bank must proceed slowly and steadily towards normalising its ultra-loose policy. However, the prospect of intervention in the currency market has increased after Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki commented that the government “will take bold action” to slow the currency’s drop if needed. The Nikkei is +1.44% as I type and bucking the trend in Asia as we’ll see below.
Indeed, equities closed out weak last night with the S&P 500 -0.28% lower yesterday, following in the footsteps of Monday’s -0.31% loss, with the Nasdaq (-0.42%) slightly underperforming. The S&P 500 had looked set for a very narrow but positive trading range, but then sold off by nearly half a percent in the final 30 minutes of the session, seemingly driven by quarter-end positioning.
Nvidia, the standout stock of the past year, led this late correction, falling from near flat on the day an hour before close to -2.57% at the close. That still leaves its shares up a more than heathy +86.9% YTD. There were also other contrasting moves within the Magnificent Seven (-0.52% overall). Apple fell early on following the news that iPhone shipments into China fell 33% year-on-year in February, but recovered during the session, ending the day as a modest underperformer (-0.67%). On the other hand, Tesla, which has so far trailed behind in 2024 (-28.5% YTD), was among the strongest performers in the S&P 500, rising +2.92% after new developments in the delivery of its self-driving assistance system. S&P (+0.37%) and Nasdaq (+0.38%) futures are back higher this morning.
Earlier on, equities had closed on the firmer side in Europe, with the STOXX 600 gaining +0.24% and the German Dax +0.67%, the latter supported by a moderate improvement in the GfK consumer confidence index from -29.0 to -27.4 (vs -28.0 expected). See Robin Winkler’s recent blog here on the green shoots we’re seeing in German data of late.
Government bonds have had a more difficult quarter but lacked a bit of direction yesterday. Yields rose a bit after decent durable goods data but fell back to broadly flat after a decent 5yr auction. $67bn was issued 1.0bps below the pre-sale yield, so it was a fairly solid auction, even as the indirect bidder share fell to 70.5%. The auctions for this week are far from over, as we have the US 2yr FRN ($28bn) and 7yr Notes ($43bn) auctions coming up later today. 10yr yields eventually fell -1.3bps on the day. 2yr Treasuries outperformed, with yields down -3.3bps. Markets slightly dialled back expectations of Fed cuts, trimming rate cut bets for 2024 by -1.4bps to 78bps.
The US data was mixed. As mentioned above, durable goods orders came in above expectations, up 1.4% (vs 1.0% expected), with core capital goods orders up +0.7% (vs. +0.1% expected). On the other hand, we saw some softer house price data, with the FHFA (-0.1% vs 0.3% expected) and the Case-Shiller 20-City (+0.14% vs +0.20% expected) house price indices for January seeing their weakest monthly prints since summer 2022 and early 2023, respectively. There were also mostly weaker signals in the survey releases. The Philadelphia Fed non-manufacturing activity index fell from -8.8 to -18 and the Richmond Fed’s manufacturing index fell to -11 (vs no change at -5 expected). The headline US Conference Board consumer confidence print for March declined to 104.7 (vs 107.0 expected). More encouragingly, the details of the print saw a rise in the jobs component, as the share of respondents saying jobs are plentiful rose to 43.1% (vs 42.8% prior), the highest level since July. This highlights a still tight labour market for now, which if maintained may weigh on the Fed’s decision to cut rates later this year.
Sticking with the US cycle, overnight Peter Sidorov published a report dissecting the recent resilience of economic activity to tight bank credit conditions. He sees a number of the tailwinds that supported this resilience last year as fading in 2024, leaving risks of a cyclical downturn in play. By contrast, he sees European growth as on track for a gradual cyclical upswing. See the note here for more.
Yesterday in Europe, we heard from the ECB’s Muller, one of the known hawks, who remarked that we are now “closer to [the] point where [the] ECB can start cutting rates.” Notably, Muller stated that “data may confirm inflation trend for ECB’s June meeting”, the first time he has explicitly commented on the June timing for the ECB’s potential next move. For more detail on the next step for the ECB, see the latest note from our European Economics team on the ECB policy path here. Off the back of this, markets increased their expectations of rate cuts, with the expected probability of a 25bps cut by the June meeting rising from 87% to 94% over the day. This sent both 2yr and 10yr bund yields down -1.1bps and -2.2bps, respectively. 10yr BTPs outperformed (-4.3bps) but OATs saw a more modest rally (-1.5bps) amid news that France’s budget deficit was larger than expected in 2023.
This morning in Asia, outside of the Japan move we discussed earlier, equity markets are mostly trading lower with the Hang Seng (-0.63%), CSI (-0.46%), Shanghai Composite (-0.52%) and the KOSPI (-0.17%) all on the weaker side.
Early-morning data showed that Australia’s inflation remained at +3.4% y/y in February for the third straight month against analyst expectations for a +3.5% gain. However, trimmed mean rose to 3.9% from 3.8% which is the first increase since last April and will be a bit uncomfortable for the RBA.
Elsewhere, China’s combined industrial profit for January and February rose sharply, advancing +10.2% y/y mainly because of a weaker base for comparison from last year.
Now to the day ahead. In terms of data releases, we have the Eurozone March services, industrial and economic confidence and the France March consumer confidence. We will hear from the Fed’s Waller and the ECB’s Cipollone. Lastly, we have the US 2yr FRN ($28bn, reopening) and 7yr Notes ($43bn) auctions.
2 B) NOW NEWSQUAWK (EUROPE/REPORT)
Mixed/subdued trade into quarter-end; data, speakers & supply due – Newsquawk Europe Market Open
WEDNESDAY, MAR 27, 2024 – 02:19 AM
APAC stocks traded mixed after the subdued handover from Wall St heading into quarter-end and Easter.
European equity futures indicate a slightly softer open with the Euro Stoxx 50 future -0.1% after the cash market closed up 0.4% on Tuesday.
DXY is a touch firmer on a 104 handle, USD/JPY printed a fresh 33yr high, FX markets are otherwise contained.
BoJ’s Tamura said that based on the current economic and price outlook, the BoJ is likely to maintain accommodative monetary conditions for the time being.
Looking ahead, highlights include Spanish CPI, Retail Sales, EZ Business Sentiment, Riksbank & SARB Policy Announcement, BoJ SOO, Comments from ECB’s Cipollone, Elderson & Fed’s Waller, Supply from Italy, Germany & US.
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US TRADE
EQUITIES
US stocks finished the session in the red after late selling and with the declines led by underperformance in Utilities, Energy and Tech, while price action had earlier been choppy following a mixed set of data releases. T-notes also saw two-way price action with initial pressure in response to the stronger-than-expected Durable Goods data before gradually reversing which was facilitated by a strong 5yr auction.
SPX -0.28% at 5,203, NDX -0.36% at 18,210, DJIA -0.08% at 39,282, RUT -0.19% at 2,070.
S&P said the outlooks on five US regional banks were revised to negative from stable on commercial real estate risks although their ratings were affirmed, while the banks mentioned were First Commonwealth Financial Corp, M&T Bank Corp, Synovus Financial Corp, Trustmark Corp and Valley National Bancorp.
APAC TRADE
EQUITIES
APAC stocks traded mixed after the subdued handover from Wall St heading into quarter-end and Easter.
ASX 200 was underpinned by strength in the top-weighted financials and consumer-related sectors, while data also provided a tailwind after an improved leading index and softer-than-expected monthly CPI.
Nikkei 225 outperformed as the yen fell to a 33-year low amid dovish-leaning BoJ comments.
Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. declined amid a slew of earnings and weakness in tech with Alibaba pressured after it withdrew its Cainiao IPO application, while the mainland failed to benefit from the PBoC’s firm liquidity operation and improved Industrial Profits.
US equity futures (ES +0.3%) clawed back some of the losses seen from yesterday’s late Wall St selling.
European equity futures indicate a slightly softer open with the Euro Stoxx 50 future -0.1% after the cash market closed up 0.4% on Tuesday.
FX
DXY remained afloat as the greenback made further headway against Asia-Pac counterparts.
EUR/USD is steady on a 1.08 handle.
GBP/USD trickled lower following yesterday’s intraday pullback and homes in on the 1.2600 level.
USD/JPY printed a fresh 33-year high of 151.97 after dovish-leaning comments from BoJ’s Tamura which then triggered jawboning from Japanese Finance Minister Suzuki and saw some of the removes reversed.
Antipodeans were influenced again by the PBoC’s reference rate setting with CNY pressured after a relatively stable but slightly softer-than-previous fix, while there were also mild headwinds following softer-than-expected monthly Australian CPI.
PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.0946 vs exp. 7.2250 (prev. 7.0943).
FIXED INCOME
10-year UST futures were rangebound after the prior day’s fluctuations owing to strong Durable Goods data and a solid 5yr auction.
Bund futures were mildly underpinned and looked to retest the 133.00 level after recent ECB rhetoric.
10-year JGB futures edged higher following the more dovish-leaning comments from BoJ’s Tamura and after a stronger 40yr auction.
COMMODITIES
Crude futures were pressured after yesterday’s choppy performance and bearish private sector inventory data.
US Energy Inventory Data (bbls): Crude +9.4mln (exp. -1.3mln), Gasoline -4.4mln (exp. +0.5mln), Distillate +0.5mln (exp. -1.7mln), Cushing +2.4mln.
Spot gold was contained after recent whipsawing and with upside restricted by mild dollar strength.
Copper futures retreated beneath the USD 4.00/lb level amid the risk-averse mood in China.
CRYPTO
Bitcoin was kept afloat in choppy trade and ultimately held above the USD 70,000 level.
NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES
PBoC Governor Pan said bilateral currency swaps help enhance financial safety nets and that China is willing to deepen financial cooperation with other countries, according to Reuters.
USTR office said the US mission to WTO received a consultation request from China regarding parts of the Inflation Reduction Act and the US is reviewing the request, according to Reuters.
US President Biden’s administration is pursuing TikTok with the FTC investigating the Co. over allegedly faulty privacy and data security practices, according to POLITICO.
BoJ Governor Ueda said Japanese households’ sentiment indices are improving recently on expectations of wage hikes, while he added that based on current economic and price projections, accommodative financial conditions are expected to continue for the time being and reiterated they are ready to nimbly conduct bond buying operation if long-term rates rise sharply.
BoJ’s Tamura said that based on the current economic and price outlook, the BoJ is likely to maintain accommodative monetary conditions for the time being and they will guide monetary policy appropriately in accordance with economic, price, and financial developments. Tamura stated that they are not there yet to allow market forces to fully drive long-term interest rate moves and the positive wage-inflation cycle is likely to continue, while he added that future monetary policy guidance is very important to ensure BoJ moves slowly but steadily toward policy normalisation. Furthermore, Tamura said promising to continue with accommodative monetary policy won’t necessarily conflict with the need to raise interest rates.
Japanese Finance Minister Suzuki says closely watching FX moves and won’t rule out any steps including decisive steps to respond to a disorderly FX move, according to Reuters.
DATA RECAP
Chinese Industrial Profit YTD YY (Feb) +10.2% (Prev. -2.3%)
Australian Weighted CPI YY (Feb) 3.4% vs. Exp. 3.5% (Prev. 3.4%)
GEOPOLITICS
MIDDLE-EAST
Israeli official said hostage talks with Hamas are at a dead end and that Israeli negotiators packed up and left Doha.
White House said National Security Advisor Sullivan and Israeli Defence Minister Gallant had a productive meeting. It was later that Israel’s Defence Minister Gallant stressed the importance of US ties and maintaining Israel’s military edge in the region including air capabilities, while they discussed the hostages held in Gaza, humanitarian aid efforts, and how Israel plans to destroy Hamas.
At least seven people were killed in an Israeli strike on southern Lebanon, according to two security sources cited by Reuters.
Houthis warned that Saudi Arabia would be a target if it backs US-UK strikes, according to Energy Intel’s Bakr.
OTHER
China State Council Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson said some individuals in the US have ulterior motives and are continuously fabricating so-called “timelines” and hyping up the mainland’s “military threat” which is creating an atmosphere of war across the Taiwan Straits, while the spokesperson urged the US to stop fanning the flames and take concrete actions in adhering to the one-China principle, according to Global Times
EU/UK
NOTABLE HEADLINES
ECB’s Kazaks said inflation is slowing and the first rate cut is nearing, while he doesn’t object to the market view of a June rate cut and said they will lower rates cautiously step by step and must see how the economy reacts to policy easing.
DATA RECAP
UK Lloyds Business Barometer (Mar) 42 (Prev. 42)
2C ASIA AFFAIRS
WEDNESDAY MORNING/TUESDAY NIGHT
SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 38.34 PTS OR 1.20% //Hang Seng CLOSED DOWN 225.48 PTS OR 1.36% / Nikkei CLOSED UP 364.70 PTS OR 0.90% //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP 0.46% /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN 7.2259 //OFFSHORE CHINESE YUAN CLOSED DOWN TO 7.2523 /Oil DOWN TO 81.15 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT DOWN AT 85.74/ Stocks in Europe OPENED MOSTLY ALL GREEN// ONSHORE YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE YUAN WEAKER
2 d./NORTH KOREA/ SOUTH KOREA/
NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA
END
2e) JAPAN
JAPAN
Japan holds emergency meeting as yen hits 34 year low against the dollar
(zerohedge)
Japanic: BoJ, MFA, FSA Hold Emergency Meeting As Yen Hits 34 Year Low Against Dollar
WEDNESDAY, MAR 27, 2024 – 08:50 AM
Having tumbled to its lowest against the dollar since 1990, Japanese officials started to show signs of panic overnight about the yen’s post-rate-hike weakness… and of course, blamed “speculators”.
Source: Bloomberg
The yen dipped to 151.97 versus the dollar early on Wednesday in Tokyo, before recovering after comments from Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, and his top currency official Masato Kanda indicating that Japan was ready to act.
Source: Bloomberg
The officials spoke after an emergency joint meeting of the MOF, BOJ and FSA.
“We are watching market moves with a high sense of urgency,” Suzuki said.
“We will take bold measures against excessive moves without ruling out any options.”
Kanda later emerged from a meeting with officials at the central bank and the finance regulator and said speculative moves in markets wouldn’t be tolerated.
“I do not consider a 4% move in a span of 2 weeks a mild move.”
Clearly the jawboning is not working as the market is calling Japanese officials’ bluff.
In fact, policymakers are running out of choices short of purchasing the currency to prop it up after the Bank of Japan’s first interest rate hike since 2007 failed to change its trajectory.
“Given recent history, a breach of 152 could instigate intervention,” said Rodrigo Catril, a senior FX strategist at National Australia Bank Ltd. in Sydney.
“The break of the previous high has accelerated the move,” he said, referring to the dollar-yen.
Catril is correct as Suzuki’s reference to bold action is generally interpreted to mean direct intervention in the currency market as yen weakened to a level that prompted Japan to wade into markets in October 2022.
Authorities in Tokyo spent ¥9.2 trillion ($60.6 billion) in 2022 to prop up the yen on three occasions, each time insisting that they were not protecting any specific currency level.
The timing for a large intervention would likely be dramatic given that hedge funds and asset managers combined held a near-record level of bearish positions against Japan’s currency last week, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission going back to 2006.
Still, for now, it’s “all mouth and no trousers” as one London trader said, with everyone eyeing a break of 152.
Finally, there is China.
As The Asia Times reports, many analysts think the PBOC may be finally losing tolerance with Japan allowing the yen exchange rate to drop so far with little blowback in Washington – particularly as China struggles to keep economic growth as close to its 5% target as possible.
It’s still unclear if the drop in the Chinese exchange rate that began Friday is the start of a trend that would surely rock global markets or just a fluke. But the correlation with the Japanese yen’s decline is hard to ignore.
Are the beggar-thy-neighbor currency strategies of the past returning to China’s $18 trillion economy? Is this why Japan has been all talk?
A senior Israeli official who is familiar with the negotiations toward a truce and hostage release deal in Doha says tonight that Hamas’s response to the offer on the table was “ridiculous and left no room for doubt” that the terror group’s Gaza chief Yahya “Sinwar does not want to move forward with a deal at the moment.
In a statement late Monday, Hamas said it had informed mediators that it was sticking to its original position, which includes an end to the war, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and a return of displaced Gazans to the northern part of the enclave, before hostage negotiations in exchange for Palestinian security prisoners.
Israel has repeatedly rejected these demands as “delusional” and unrealistic, and said they were non-starters.
The official tells Channel 12 tonight that Sinwar is “playing for time” and “still dreams” of an escalation of violence in Jerusalem and the West Bank during the Muslim fasting month, which began over two weeks ago. Hamas had called for such violence before the start of Ramadan, when mediators were scrambling to secure a temporary ceasefire.
“Under the conditions created, when [Sinwar] in a tunnel surrounded by hostages as a human shield with food and medicine, and when the diplomatic pressure is exerted on Israel even more strongly – he still dreams of unifying the fronts during Ramadan,” says the official.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier said Israel would not accept Hamas’s demands for a ceasefire and accused Hamas of being uninterested in proceeding with negotiations toward a deal.
He said Hamas’ rejection “served as unfortunate testimony to the damage of the Security Council decision,” which on Monday approved a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages captured by Hamas, without linking the two. The US abstained, which allowed the resolution to pass, sparking a spat with Israel.
Netanyahu said Israel would not give in to Hamas’ “delusional” demands and continue to work to destroy the terror group’s military and governing capabilities, as well as seek the release of the remaining hostages taken during Hamas’s October 7 massacre.
END
ISRAEL/GAZA/HAMAS/USA
Sparks Fly Between US & Israel As Gaza Truce Talks At ‘Dead End’
TUESDAY, MAR 26, 2024 – 09:20 PM
The latest round of ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas in Doha has collapsed and ended in anger and finger-pointing, with the the Israeli delegation reportedly packing up and leaving in haste. This point marks several rounds of failed talks.
A senior Israeli official has declared that efforts toward a truce are “at a dead end” due to unrealistic demands by Hamas. The official further accused Hamas’ Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar of sabotaging diplomatic efforts “as part of a wider effort to inflame this war over Ramadan,” according to Reuters. This brings to an end this latest round of ten days of talks.
Netanyahu’s office repeated its assertion on Tuesday that Hamas had made “delusional” demands, something which has continually stalled talks and prevented any progress. The Israeli statement vowed that it will not address “Hamas’s delusional demands” but will “pursue and achieve its just war objectives.”
Netanyahu also brought the US into it, lashing out in the following:
Hamas’s decision to reject a US-brokered compromise is “clear proof it is not interested in continuing talks, and a sad testament to the damage caused by the UN Security Council resolution,” referring to a call for a ceasefire passed Monday night that the US did not veto, thus enabling its passage.
Hamas has levelled a similar charge at Israel, saying the prime minister is only interested in prolonging the military operation in Gaza. Netanyahu has for weeks made his position clear that any Hamas condition of an Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza which is made part of a hostage release deal remains a non-starter.
Tensions and finger-pointing between the Biden administration and Israel have been on the rise. According to Axios in the wake of the truce talks collapse, “The Israeli statement angered the White House, which sees it as an attempt by Netanyahu to continue the fightthat started the day before between the U.S. and Israel over the UN Security Council resolution, two senior U.S. official said.”
The UNSC has just passed a formal resolution calling for immediate ceasefire, and its adoption was enabled by the US abstention, which infuriated Israel. Commenting on the Israeli statement and reaction, one US official state: “This statement is inaccurate in almost every respect and unfair to the hostages and their families.”
On Tuesday there are reports of Israeli airstrikes on Rafah city…
“Hamas’ response was prepared before the UN vote even took place. We will not play politics with this most important and difficult issue, and we will remain focused on a deal to free the remaining hostages,” the US official added.
As a result of the UN vote, Israel canceled a planned delegation to the White House, which was to discuss the Rafah situation. The White House has called this an “overreaction” on Israel’s part. Israeli leaders have continued to signal that a Rafah ground operation is imminent, even as the US and other allies have warned against it at least until civilians can be moved from harm’s way.
END
END
ISRAEL/SYRIA LEBANON
(ZEROHEDGE)
Israel Unleashes Major Airstrikes On Syria & Deep Inside Lebanon
TUESDAY, MAR 26, 2024 – 07:20 PM
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed on Tuesday another rare strike conducted deep into Lebanese territory. The strikes targeted “a military compound used by Hezbollah’s aerial unit” in the Baalbek District which is in the northeast of the country.
This marks the deepest Israeli strike inside Lebanon since the war began in the wake of the Oct.7 Hamas terror attack, at more than 110km from Israel’s border.
The extent of casualties or damage remains unclear, but it follows a similar February strike on the Bekaa Valley some 100km from the Israeli border, which killed at least two people. There are growing fears that if such strikes become more regular, it will signify a bigger regional war could be opening up.
Hezbollah has lobbed several missiles against northern Israeli communities as well as the IDF base atop Mount Meron over the past days. The Mount Meron surveillance base is about 8km from the Lebanese border and has come under repeat attack over several months.
In the overnight and early morning hours there were also large-scale strikes against areas of eastern Syria. While Israel frequently attacks Syria, some Syrian government-affiliated sources laid blame on the United States. According to regional outlet The Cradle:
Airstrikes targeted a number of areas in Syria’s eastern city of Deir Ezzor and its countryside on 26 March, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries. “At 1:49 AM, American aircraft carried out several simultaneous air strikes targeting a number of areas in the governorate and its countryside,” Syria’s government-affiliated National Defense Forces (NDF) said, according to Sputnik.
The strikes targeted the Salhiya area in Al-Bukamal near the Iraqi border and residential areas in the Al-Mayadin and Al-Qusour areas in Deir Ezzor.
But Israeli media has identified the IDF air force as behind the eastern Syria attack, reportedly targeting ‘pro-Iran’ assets. According to details in The Times of Israel:
The Israeli Air Force carried out airstrikes in the predawn hours of Tuesday morning in eastern Syria, targeting Iranian assets and operatives involved in a recent plot to smuggle advanced arms to West Bank terrorists, The Times of Israel has learned.
More than 15 people were reportedly killed in the strikes in the Deir Ezzor and al-Bukamal areas, close to Syria’s border with Iraq.
The strikes targeted assets belonging to Iran’s Unit 4000, the Special Operations Division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Intelligence Organization, and the special operations unit of the IRGC’s Quds Force in Syria, known as Unit 18840, according to Israeli defense sources.
Various international reports have cited different casualty figures, but what is clear is that there were a series of large airstrikes. Iranian media said a Revolutionary Guard member was killed in Syria overnight.
According to The Associated Press, civilians were among the dead, including women, children, and a World Health Organization (WHO) official:
Dama Post, a pro-government media outlet in Syria, said the strikes targeted the provincial capital of Deir el-Zour that carries the same name, and the towns of Mayadeen and Boukamal. It said 20 people, including women and children, were among the dead.
The World Health Organization said one of its team members, engineer Emad Shehab, was killed in one of the strikes that hit his building. It said Shehab, 42, served as a WHO focal point for water, sanitation, and hygiene in the province since 2022.
Iran-linked insurgent attacks against US bases in Iraq and Syria have mostly quieted down of late, compared to their frequency and weekly occurrence last year in the wake of Oct.7.
In the meantime, any potential scenario where Israel were to move ground troops into southern Lebanon would likely spark a bigger war with Hezbollah, which could engulf all of Lebanon.
END
ISRAEL/HEZBOLLAH//reprisal
One killed, two lightly injured in northern Israel following heavy barrage from Lebanon
The police announced that damage was caused to property. Officers and bomb disposal experts are examining debris sites and scanning for additional remnants.
By DARCIE GRUNBLATTMARCH 27, 2024 08:40Updated: MARCH 27, 2024 11:25
Israeli police work at the area where a rocket landed in Kiryat Shmona, February 13, 2024(photo credit: REUTERS/Avi Ohayon)
Following a heavy barrage of 30 rockets from Hezbollah in Lebanon, one individual was killed, and two were reported as lightly wounded in Kiryat Shmona, Maariv reported. Additionally, damage was caused to property in the area.
Magen David Adom paramedics reported that they rescued the body of 25-year-old Zahar Bashara, from the Druze village of Ein Kaniya in the Golan Heights. Bashara was found without signs of life following a direct hit from one of the rockets, which Hezbollah took credit for. Bashara worked in Kiryat Shmona’s industrial sector. He was pronounced dead at the scene. MDA announced that the worker was not a resident of Kiryat Shmona.
The spokeswoman for Kiryat Shmona commented, “It is with great sorrow that we announce that the young man critically injured from the missile strike this morning on Kiryat Shmona has succumbed to his wounds. He was a 25-year-old resident of one of the settlements in the Golan Heights. Instructions for the residents of Kiryat Shmona who remain in the city are to stay in protected areas until further notice.”
Statement from the police
Israel Police released a statement on the incident, “The police are currently dealing with rocket debris near Kiryat Shmona.”
The police announced that damage was caused to property, and they had no information about casualties. “Officers and bomb disposal experts from the Northern District Police are currently isolating the debris sites and scanning for additional remnants to eliminate any further risk to the public.”
They also called on residents “to avoid approaching the sites, not to touch or handle any rocket debris that may contain explosive material, and to report immediately to the Israel Police’s 100 emergency hotline,” the police announced.
National Unity MK Gideon Sa’ar responded in a statement to the heavy barrage on Kiryat Shmona, “This morning’s heavy barrage on Kiryat Shmona is another reminder of the costs of war. In the middle of it all is the suffering of the evacuees and the collapse of businesses.
Another rocket hit a student dormitory building a few days before the renovation work would be finished. “Based on the current situation, it does not seem to me that the State of Israel and the IDF are taking steps that will guarantee a safe return to our homes,” Raz Malka told Walla. She is a student and a resident of Kiryat Shmona who has lived in Herzliya since the beginning of the war.
She continued, “We have been out of our homes for five months. We left the city because of the fear that what happened in the south would happen to us, but it seems that we will return home without Hezbollah’s capabilities being harmed and without being guaranteed security.”
Israel finds itself entangled in Gaza, Lebanon, the issue of returning hostages and navigating the complexities of the international stage. More of the same sluggish, predictable rhetoric, coupled with bombastic declarations, will not steer Israel away from the perilous course that does not lead to victory. What is urgently needed is a fresh strategic approach to warfare.”
end
ISRAEL LEBANON//LATE IN THE DAY;
IDF kills Islamic Jihad-affiliated terrorists in Southern Lebanon strikes
The strike appeared to be targeted at the Islamic Group’s emergency and relief center in Hebbariyeh village in Southern Lebanon.
By REUTERS, DARCIE GRUNBLATTMARCH 27, 2024 02:12Updated: MARCH 27, 2024 11:48
Smoke rises from a site hit by an airstrike near the town of Ghaziyeh, Lebanon February 19, 2024(photo credit: REUTERS/HASSAN HANKIR)
IDF combat aircraft attacked a military structure Tuesday night in the Habbariyeh region in southern Lebanon, the IDF reported.
A terrorist affiliated with an Islamic Jihad organization, Islamic Group, was in the targeted building. The terrorist reportedly had previously contributed to attacks against Israel and was killed alongside other terrorists who were located in the building.
The military branch of the Islamic Group in Lebanon is considered an extension of the Muslim Brotherhood and is known as the al-Fajr Forces, according to the N12 news site.
At least seven people were killed in an Israeli strike on Nabatieh in Southern Lebanon, Reuters reported, citing two security sources on Wednesday.
Hezbollah responded to strikes
Hezbollah responded to the attacks, saying, “The attack against Habbariyeh, which is located south of Lebanon, will not go unpunished,” according to Maariv.
Smoke and fire rise from a building following an Israeli airstrike on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, amid the ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and the IDF, in this screengrab taken from an undated handout video released on November 24, 2023. (credit: IDF/Handout via REUTERS)
The strike appeared to be targeted at the Islamic Group’s emergency and relief center in Hebbariyeh village in Southern Lebanon, the sources told Reuters.
On Tuesday, Israeli air strikes near two towns in northeast Lebanon killed three Hezbollah terrorists, the group posted on Telegram, and Israel confirmed the strikes.
END
This is a must read
special thanks to Robert h for sending this to us
Robert: “They will do to Israel what they are doing to Ukraine.”
We hear nothing from the Biden administration of how they would propose for Israel to rid themselves of Hamas.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield votes abstain during a vote on a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation of the Palestinian question, at the U.N. headquarters in New York on March 25, 2024. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
Commentary
Many years ago George Orwell coined an oft-quoted phrase “objectively pro-fascist” that comes from this paragraph:
“Pacifism is objectively pro-fascist. This is elementary common sense. If you hamper the war effort of one side, you automatically help out that of the other. Nor is there any real way of remaining outside such a war as the present one. In practice, ‘he that is not with me is against me’.”
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As per Orwell, on Monday, March 25, the Biden administration betrayed America’s longtime ally Israel and effectively went “objectively pro-terrorist” in favor of Hamas’s survival by abstaining from the latest UN Security Council vote on a Gaza ceasefire.
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled plans to send a delegation to Washington on Monday after the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution calling for an ‘immediate cease-fire’ in the Jewish state’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“The resolution passed the Security Council 14-0, with the US abstaining, declining to exercise its veto power in the latest rebuke of Israel by the Biden administration.
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“In a statement, the Israeli PM’s office called the US abstention ‘a clear retreat from the consistent position of the US in the Security Council since the beginning of the war.’
“’This withdrawal hurts both the war effort and the effort to release the hostages, because it gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to accept a cease-fire without the release of our hostages,’ Netanyahu’s office added.”
Indeed. But we should not be surprised here. The Biden administration seems to have at best minimal interest in terrorism or terrorists whether in Moscow (where some 140 people were just mowed down), Israel (where women were shot in the head by Hamas while being raped), or in our own country, having left our border open to anyone for President Biden’s entire term with millions of migrants from multiple countries having arrived unvetted on our soil.
President Biden and his administration seem to have one overweening concern—votes.
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Or, as Sen. Mario Rubio (R-Fla.) succinctly put it after the president’s 2024 State of the Union advocating a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli crisis, the two-state solution President Biden really sought was “Michigan and Minnesota.”
So the president sends Secretary of State Antony Blinken on commutes to Israel lobbying Mr. Netanyahu on behalf of the safety of Gazan civilians, the vast majority of whom, in recent polls, support Hamas.
To call Mr. Blinken hypocritical is an understatement. He knows full well that the Israel Defense Force has done pioneering work in the history of armed conflicts in protecting civilians and that U.S. forces have imitated them.
He also knows, as almost everybody does, that in order to defeat the Germans and the Japanese in World War II, the United States and its allies had to go so much further than Israel ever has in their wanton attacks on civilians.
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In the case of Japan, as we all know, the United States dropped two nuclear weapons on their cities. In the case of the Germans, no quarter was given to the evil Nazi regime that had to be totally destroyed, justifying such actions as the fire-bombing of Dresden.
What then are the Israelis supposed to do about the equally evil Hamas whose followers chant the genocidal plea for a Judenrein Middle East “From the river to the sea”?
We hear nothing from the Biden administration of how they would propose for Israel to rid themselves of Hamas whose leaders have dedicated themselves to ridding the world of Jews, much as did the Nazis at the Wannsee Conference.
Should the United States have made an accommodation with the Nazis, allowing their regime to continue, at the end of World War II?
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That is in essence what the administration is recommending the Israelis do, allow a terror organization whose ideology has included death to all Jews, even so far as to add at one point something called “Jewish trees,” to exist alongside them. These are the same people who parade near-naked Israeli women hostages in their town squares for all to gawk at and revile.
And yet the Biden administration is now “objectively pro-Hamas,” giving them a pathway to survival.
The Biden administration is also holding rearmament over the Israelis heads, particularly in the area of the ammunition.
From here on in, it will most likely be “Israel alone.”
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Forget that Israel and the Jews are the proverbial canaries in the coal mine and that it is Western Civilization that ultimately is under attack by the Islamist Hamas and their allies. There is an election to be won.
Of course, if you win somebody’s votes, you may also lose others. The Jewish vote has historically split roughly two-thirds to one-third in favor of the Democrats with only the minority of more orthodox Jews voting reliably Republican.
Yes, it’s only one poll, but as news of this latest betrayal gets promulgated, the trend toward President Trump will grow, possibly substantially.
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Recently, President Trump opined, “Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion. They hate everything about Israel and they should be ashamed of themselves because Israel will be destroyed.”
He got the usual pushback. But compared to President Biden famously stating, “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black,” President Trump actually has done a great deal for Israel, including the Abraham Accords, moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and recognizing Israeli control over the Golan Heights.
What exactly has President Biden done for black people?
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
end
The truth inside Gaza
Gazan writer to ‘Post’: Israel entering Rafah only way to destroy Hamas
‘We live under a dictatorial rule, under severe repression,’ says M., a voice from inside Gaza who knows he risks his life for criticizing Hamas.
By OHAD MERLINMARCH 27, 2024 15:02Updated: MARCH 27, 2024 15:54
PALESTINIANS FLEE northern Gaza on a horse-drawn cart this week. ‘You’re stuck. Gazans have nowhere to run. No one in the Arab world wants you,’ argues the writer.(photo credit: IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA/REUTERS)
M. is a writer from Gaza. He spoke to The Jerusalem Post from his current location in the southern Gaza Strip, alongside hundreds of thousands of other displaced Gazans.
What is the current situation in Rafah?
“The current situation in Rafah is relatively calm, but people are also anticipating the start of the battle in Rafah, with civilians fearing yet another displacement mechanism from the Israeli army,” M. said. “The displaced suffer daily, mainly psychologically, due to the length of the war, but secondly, due to financial weakness, the lack of sources of income and the lack of purchasing power due to the exorbitant rise in prices.”
M. holds that the high prices are not due to a lack of goods. “The Rafah crossing is operating well, and aid enters in a very large amount, and there is never a shortage. However, the distribution of aid is in the hands of Hamas, which means it does not reach all the displaced people.”Top ArticlesRead More
Benayoun out at Israel National Team; Bachar to take over from Hazan as coach?
“There is certainly a general dissatisfaction on the part of the displaced people, and they are calling against Hamas and Sinwar in particular,” he added, referring to videos of sporadic demonstrations in Rafah featuring calls against Hamas leaders. “We are all eagerly awaiting relief soon with our return to the northern Gaza Strip,” M. concluded.
How do you see the prospects that brought us to this situation, and what would be a possible solution in your view?
“The people of Gaza were surprised by Hamas’s move on October 7, which was preceded by general economic and political paralysis due to the narrow political horizons in Gaza,” explained M.
Women mourn Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, at Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, March 21, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed)
“There is no immediate solution due to Hamas’s intransigence in handing over the [Israeli] hostages, except under impossible conditions which they believe will help them to remain in power. There is no solution except by entering Rafah and pressing the fighting until there is great pressure on Hamas.
“Many Gazans hope that Israel will end the war and eliminate Hamas quickly. They reject the ‘resistance’ and will not accept Hamas again in power,” he added.
end
18 Killed In Gaza Trying To Reach Aid As Pentagon Vows More Airdrops
WEDNESDAY, MAR 27, 2024 – 12:25 PM
The Biden administration announced this week that it plans to resume humanitarian aid drops into Gaza amid reports that large-scale famine is looming. However, critics have said that the airdropped crates from large military transport planes are dangerous given the cramped and desperate conditions on the ground below.
So far the Pentagon has delivered at least 17 airdrops of nearly 500,000 meals, but the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry has said that just on Monday alone 18 people died trying to desperately access the aid, much of which landed in the sea.
Airdropping supplies just off the coast is an apparent safety precaution, after earlier this month Palestinian civilians died after apparently being impacted by falling crates amid parachute failure.
But 12 of the deceased drowned on Monday while trying to access the aid which landed in the Mediterranean. “The aid airdrops pose a real threat to the lives of hungry Palestinians,” Gaza’s government media office warned. Others reportedly perished during stampedes as the aid arrived on land.
The statement further described that some of the recent aid has fallen into active war zones, which presents the risk of hungry civilians getting caught in the crossfire trying to reach it. “This all put the lives of people in real danger,” the office added.
Initially only Jordan was engaged in airdrops, later joined by the US military. Since then and into this week the countries of Germany, Britain, Egypt, Singapore, and UAE have joined and cooperated on airdrops.
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh has noted there have been recent instances of parachute malfunctions when delivering the aid. “As always, safety is a top priority when planning these airdrops,” Singh said. “Of note, during [Monday’s] humanitarian airdrop, which included approximately 80 bundles, three bundles were reported to have had parachute malfunctions and landed in the water.”
A number of human rights and aid groups have criticized air drops as a mere show or PR stunt, saying they aren’t worth the risk given the miniscule amount of aid through such means compared to what’s needed for the Strip’s more than two million people.
The Pentagon is currently seeking to erect a large aid delivery pier off Gaza’s coast, which is expected to take at least a month to complete once started. The US ships participating in the mission departed the US on March 15 and are still traversing the Atlantic Ocean:
The Army and Navy ships that have left the U.S. for a massive humanitarian aid project in Gaza are still making their way across the Atlantic, with two still at ports in Florida and Virginia. It will likely take until mid-April for the vessels to reach Gaza and begin building a temporary causeway to facilitate the entry of life-saving aid into the strip.
Looking at real-time satellite imagery tracking military vessels, it looks like the USAV Gen. Frank Besson Jr., an Army support vessel that left Fort Eustis, Virginia, on March 10, has been moored and presumably refueling at a port in the Azores, Portugal, since Friday. It is at the half-way point between the U.S. and its final destination of Cyprus (nearly 5,000 nautical miles total). At an average speed of 10 knots, its journey will take nearly two more weeks, depending on weather conditions, once it gets going again.
The rest of the vessels are behind and, as of Tuesday, halfway across the Atlantic, though they can travel at slightly higher speeds than the Besson. They include the Army support vessels Loux, Matamoros, Monterrey and Wilson Wharf, which are all traveling together and were between Bermuda and the Azores Tuesday morning.
Below: surreal footage of starving Palestinians attempting to reach the dropped aid…
The Pentagon’s ongoing airdrop mission is meant to fill the gap at least until the US Navy’s maritime delivery missions can begin. Rights groups have also criticized Israel for effectively imposing a full military blockade on Gaza, and have charged that Israel’s military is actively weaponizing food access.
RUSSIA/UKRAINE/ISIS/USA/UK/TAJIKISTAN
Pepe Escobar puts the Crocus connection together as to who is responsible for the attack
It was CIA-UK connections
(Pepe Escobar)
Escobar: The Nuland/Budanov/Tajik/Crocus Connection
Let’s start with the possible chain of events that may have led to the Crocus terror attack.
This is as explosive as it gets. Intel sources in Moscow discreetly confirm this is one of the FSB’s prime lines of investigation.
December 4, 2023. Former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Mark Milley, only 3 months after his retirement, tells CIA mouthpiece The Washington Post: “There should be no Russian who goes to sleep without wondering if they’re going to get their throat slit in the middle of the night (…) You gotta get back there and create a campaign behind the lines.”
January 31: Victoria Nuland travels to Kiev and meets Budanov. Then, in a dodgy press conference at night in the middle of an empty street, she promises “nasty surprises” to Putin: code for asymmetric war.
February 22: Nuland shows up at a Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) event and doubles down on the “nasty surprises” and asymmetric war. That may be interpreted as the definitive signal for Budanov to start deploying dirty ops.
February 25: The New York Times publishes a story about CIA cells in Ukraine: nothing that Russian intel does not already know.
Then, a lull until March 5 – when crucial shadow play may have been in effect. Privileged scenario: Nuland was a key dirty ops plotter alongside the CIA and the Ukrainian GUR (Budanov). Rival Deep State factions got hold of it and maneuvered to “terminate” her one way or another – because Russian intel would have inevitably connected the dots.
Yet Nuland, in fact, is not “retired” yet; she’s still presented as Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs and showed up recently in Rome for a G7-related meeting, although her new job, in theory, seems to be at Columbia University (a Hillary Clinton maneuver).
Meanwhile, the assets for a major “nasty surprise” are already in place, in the dark, and totally off radar. The op cannot be called off.
March 5: Little Blinken formally announces Nuland’s “retirement”.
March 7: At least one Tajik among the four-member terror commando visits the Crocus venue and has his photo taken.
March 7-8 at night: U.S. and British embassies simultaneously announce a possible terror attack on Moscow, telling their nationals to avoid “concerts” and gatherings within the next two days.
March 9: Massively popular Russian patriotic singer Shaman performs at Crocus. That may have been the carefully chosen occasion targeted for the “nasty surprise” – as it falls only a few days before the presidential elections, from March 15 to 17. But security at Crocus was massive, so the op is postponed.
March 22: The Crocus City Hall terror attack.
ISIS-K: the ultimate can of worms
The Budanov connection is betrayed by the modus operandi – similar to previous Ukraine intel terror attacks against Daria Dugina and Vladimir Tatarsky: close reconnaissance for days, even weeks; the hit; and then a dash for the border.
And that brings us to the Tajik connection.
There seem to be holes aplenty in the narrative concocted by the ragged bunch turned mass killers: following an Islamist preacher on Telegram; offered what was later established as a puny 500 thousand rubles (roughly $4,500) for the four of them to shoot random people in a concert hall; sent half of the funds via Telegram; directed to a weapons cache where they find AK-12s and hand grenades.
The videos show that they used the machine guns like pros; shots were accurate, short bursts or single fire; no panic whatsoever; effective use of hand grenades; fleeing the scene in a flash, just melting away, almost in time to catch the “window” that would take them across the border to Ukraine.
All that takes training. And that also applies to facing nasty counter-interrogation. Still, the FSB seems to have broken them all – quite literally.
A potential handler has surfaced, named Abdullo Buriyev. Turkish intel had earlier identified him as a handler for ISIS-K, or Wilayat Khorasan in Afghanistan. One of the members of the Crocus commando told the FSB their “acquaintance” Abdullo helped them to buy the car for the op.
And that leads us to the massive can of worms to end them all: ISIS-K.
The alleged emir of ISIS-K, since 2020, is an Afghan Tajik, Sanaullah Ghafari. He was not killed in Afghanistan in June 2023, as the Americans were spinning: he may be currently holed up in Balochistan in Pakistan.
Yet the real person of interest here is not Tajik Ghafari but Chechen Abdul Hakim al-Shishani, the former leader of the jihadi outfit Ajnad al-Kavkaz (“Soldiers of the Caucasus”), who was fighting against the government in Damascus in Idlib and then escaped to Ukraine because of a crackdown by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – in another one of those classic inter-jihadi squabbles.
Shishani was spotted on the border near Belgorod during the recent attack concocted by Ukrainian intel inside Russia. Call it another vector of the “nasty surprises”.
Shishani had been in Ukraine for over two years and has acquired citizenship. He is in fact the sterling connection between the nasty motley crue Idlib gangs in Syria and GUR in Kiev – as his Chechens worked closely with Jabhat al-Nusra, which was virtually indistinguishable from ISIS.
Shishani, fiercely anti-Assad, anti-Putin and anti-Kadyrov, is the classic “moderate rebel” advertised for years as a “freedom fighter” by the CIA and the Pentagon.
Some of the four hapless Tajiks seem to have followed ideological/religious indoctrination on the internet dispensed by Wilayat Khorasan, or ISIS-K, in a chat room called Rahnamo ba Khuroson.
The indoctrination game happened to be supervised by a Tajik, Salmon Khurosoni. He’s the guy who made the first move to recruit the commando. Khurosoni is arguably a messenger between ISIS-K and the CIA.
The problem is the ISIS-K modus operandi for any attack never features a fistful of dollars: the promise is Paradise via martyrdom. Yet in this case it seems it’s Khurosoni himself who has approved the 500 thousand ruble reward.
After handler Buriyev relayed the instructions, the commando sent the bayat – the ISIS pledge of allegiance – to Khurosoni. Ukraine may not have been their final destination. Another foreign intel connection – not identified by FSB sources – would have sent them to Turkey, and then Afghanistan.
That’s exactly where Khurosoni is to be found. Khurosoni may have been the ideological mastermind of Crocus. But, crucially, he’s not the client.
The Ukrainian love affair with terror gangs
Ukrainian intel, SBU and GUR, have been using the “Islamic” terror galaxy as they please since the first Chechnya war in the mid-1990s. Milley and Nuland of course knew it, as there were serious rifts in the past, for instance, between GUR and the CIA.
Following the symbiosis of any Ukrainian government post-1991 with assorted terror/jihadi outfits, Kiev post-Maidan turbo-charged these connections especially with Idlib gangs, as well as north Caucasus outfits, from the Chechen Shishani to ISIS in Syria and then ISIS-K. GUR routinely aims to recruit ISIS and ISIS-K denizens via online chat rooms. Exactly the modus operandi that led to Crocus.
One “Azan” association, founded in 2017 by Anvar Derkach, a member of the Hizb ut-Tahrir, actually facilitates terrorist life in Ukraine, Tatars from Crimea included – from lodging to juridical assistance.
The FSB investigation is establishing a trail: Crocus was planned by pros – and certainly not by a bunch of low-IQ Tajik dregs. Not by ISIS-K, but by GUR. A classic false flag, with the clueless Tajiks under the impression that they were working for ISIS-K.
The FSB investigation is also unveiling the standard modus operandi of online terror, everywhere. A recruiter focuses on a specific profile; adapts himself to the candidate, especially his – low – IQ; provides him with the minimum necessary for a job; then the candidate/executor become disposable.
Everyone in Russia remembers that during the first attack on the Crimea bridge, the driver of the kamikaze truck was blissfully unaware of what he was carrying,
As for ISIS, everyone seriously following West Asia knows that’s a gigantic diversionist scam, complete with the Americans transferring ISIS operatives from the Al-Tanf base to the eastern Euphrates, and then to Afghanistan after the Hegemon’s humiliating “withdrawal”. Project ISIS-K actually started in 2021, after it became pointless to use ISIS goons imported from Syria to block the relentless progress of the Taliban.
Ace Russian war correspondent Marat Khairullin has added another juicy morsel to this funky salad: he convincingly unveils the MI6 angle in the Crocus City Hall terror attack (in English here, in two parts, posted by “S”).
The FSB is right in the middle of the painstaking process of cracking most, if not all ISIS-K-CIA/MI6 connections. Once it’s all established, there will be hell to pay.
But that won’t be the end of the story. Countless terror networks are not controlled by Western intel – although they will work with Western intel via middlemen, usually Salafist “preachers” who deal with Saudi/Gulf intel agencies.
The case of the CIA flying “black” helicopters to extract jihadists from Syria and drop them in Afghanistan is more like an exception – in terms of direct contact – than the norm. So the FSB and the Kremlin will be very careful when it comes to directly accusing the CIA and MI6 of managing these networks.
But even with plausible deniability, the Crocus investigation seems to be leading exactly to where Moscow wants it: uncovering the crucial middleman. And everything seems to be pointing to Budanov and his goons.
Ramzan Kadyrov dropped an extra clue. He said the Crocus “curators” chose on purpose to instrumentalize elements of an ethnic minority – Tajiks – who barely speak Russian to open up new wounds in a multinational nation where dozens of ethnicities live side by side for centuries.
In the end, it didn’t work. The Russian population has handed to the Kremlin total carte blanche to exercise brutal, maximum punishment – whatever and wherever it takes.
END
RUSSIA/UKRAINE/USA/UK
US ‘Backed Itself Into Corner’ By Blaming ISIS For Moscow Attack As Fires Burned: Kremlin
WEDNESDAY, MAR 27, 2024 – 03:45 PM
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on Wednesday gave an interview to Russian state-run English language media wherein she continued to advance the Kremlin’s claims that the Ukrainian government or its Western partners likely had something to do with the the Crocus City Hall terror attack.
She described that it was strange that a Western media narrative coalesced around ISIS being behind the attack even as the mall and concert hall was still on fire and emergency crews were still responding. She said the US government has backed itself “into a corner” given that officials made bold statements too quickly in the aftermath.
“The very fact that within the first 24 hours [after the attack], even before the fire was put out, the Americans started screaming that it wasn’t Ukraine, I think, is a piece of incriminating evidence. I can’t classify it otherwise; it is evidence in and of itself,” Zakharova told Sputnik.
“The second fact to note concerns the clamor by the US that this assuredly was the work of ISIS,” Zakharova emphasized. “Of course, the speed with which they were able to [come to such forthright conclusions] is astonishing. It took them only a few hours to get to a microphone, turn on the lights, summon the press, and draw a conclusion about who is to blame for this horribly bloody terrorist attack.”
She underscored that all of this demonstrates that US officials “boxed themselves into a corner” because it allowed independent analysts to “[remind] everyone else what ISIS really is.” By that, she meant the recent history of the US/Gulf alliance in Syria having fueled the rise of ISIS:
“You are behind all those ISIS-type structures; you – the United States, Great Britain – yourselves brought them into being,” she concluded.
Kremlin officials have strongly suggested that ISIS militants were used as proxies for the Friday attack in Moscow on behalf of the Ukrainian or possibly Western governments or intelligence agencies.
On Wednesday the official death toll from Russian authorities in the wake of the terror attack on the Moscow concert hall has reached 140 killed, after more people succumbed to their wounds in the hospital.
In the days following the Crocus City Hall attack, Russian state media has been featuring stories on the ‘rise of ISIS’ and the West-sponsored jihad in Syria:
President Vladimir Putin in addressing the terror attack over the weekend vowed to hunt down and punish all perpetrators while also charging that Ukraine prepared a “window” to help the terrorists escape. Since then several more arrests of alleged collaborators and plotter have been made. As for the culprits possibly receiving assistance from Ukraine or Western governments, there’s as yet been no clear evidence presented that demonstrates a connection.
The US – Godfather Of ISIS? While Washington firmly pins blame for the Crocus City Hall attack on ISIS, apparently shielding Ukraine from accusations, RT reveals how Islamic State’s targets over the last few years have raised some interesting questions…
The US – Godfather Of ISIS?
While Washington firmly pins blame for the Crocus City Hall attack on ISIS, apparently shielding Ukraine from accusations, RT reveals how Islamic State's targets over the last few years have raised some interesting questions… pic.twitter.com/aNmIWVy1HH
People who receive Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine have a greater risk of developing chronic hives, according to researchers in Denmark.
The Danish Medicines Agency review of data from Denmark and the European Union validated a safety signal that arose for chronic hives, or chronic urticaria, and Moderna’s shot, the agency said on March 20.
Of 360 cases reported in Europe following the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, 58 were deemed probably caused by vaccination and 228 were determined to be possibly caused by the vaccination, Martin Zahle Larsen from the Danish Medicines Agency said in a statement.
Most of the cases were reported by patients, doctors, or pharmaceutical companies.
The study found that in Denmark, it was expected based on background rates of chronic hives that 175 people who received Pfizer’s shot would experience chronic hives following vaccination and that 18 people who received Moderna’s shot would experience the issue.
While the 105 reported cases after Pfizer vaccination came in under the expected number, the 55 reported cases following Moderna vaccination came in well above the expected number.
The risk of developing chronic hives was calculated to be three times higher for Moderna recipients, compared to the general population. Researchers also stratified the risk by gender and age and found the risk was the highest—5.2 times higher than the background rate—among young men.
Most cases of chronic hives occurred from 7 to 13 days following vaccination.
The results of the study are the validation of a safety signal, or a sign that a vaccine or vaccines causes a specific health issue, Danish authorities said in a document describing the results.
Mr. Larsen, though, told Danish media that additional studies are required to confirm a connection and that scientists think the cases stem from the vaccine’s impact on the immune system.
The cases began being reported after the COVID-19 vaccines were introduced and Norway reported a safety signal for chronic hives in late 2021. The Danish Medicines Agency examined reports of chronic hives after Moderna vaccination but reached the position that the cases were not strong enough to establish a safety signal, it said in September 2022. But data from the county’s compensation system for vaccine injuries subsequently indicated an investigation into the possible side effect should be reopened, prompting a fresh look that led to the new results.
The review was strengthened by gaining access to medical records from the compensation, the agency said.
Moderna did not return a request for comment.
Based in part on the results, the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has recommended labeling for Moderna’s shot be updated to list chronic hives as a possible side effect. Non-chronic hives is already listed as a possible side effect. If the European Union Commission approves the change, the labeling will be updated to include chronic hives.
Previous Studies
Some previous studies have detailed cases of chronic hives following COVID-19 vaccination.
U.S. researchers, for instance, reported in 2022 three new chronic hives cases after Pfizer and Moderna vaccination, including one case in a 24-year-old woman who received a booster of Moderna despite suffering persistent skin problems after the first and second doses.
Swiss researchers in 2023 said they analyzed new chronic hives cases after Pfizer and Moderna vaccination and that the results suggested a link between a booster dose of Moderna’s vaccine and the health problem.
U.S. researchers in January reported a case series of seven patients who developed chronic urticaria within weeks of Moderna vaccination and said the series indicated a “potential correlation” between the shot and the issue. Two of the patients, they noted, went on to receive a Pfizer dose with no problem.
Hives have also been associated with COVID-19, but researchers aren’t sure whether there is a causal link.
Was “absolutely brilliant strategic attack”; on US critical infrastructure – most likely cyber – & our intel agencies know it. Attack perfectly targeted. “They have figured out how to bring us down.”
rapists, murderers, jihadists? How is this possible? How much the US is circling the drain & we are being made defenseless to this leftist democrat MADNESS! we want every single EFFin illegal OUT!
MICHAEL EVERY/PHIL MAREY/OR OTHER EXECS //RABOBANK
“Western Economy Has Rotted Away To A Tipping Point By A Generation Of Neoliberal Economic Theory”
WEDNESDAY, MAR 27, 2024 – 10:45 AM
By Michael Every of Rabobank
Lemonade or Kool-Aid?
“How Lemony Snickets!” So one might think looking at financial press headlines over the past few days. Yet there is one other common theme, which I will address at the end of this list.
The collapsed Francis Scott Key Baltimore bridge, besides the loss of life, underlines how damaging the absence of key infrastructure is: US and global trade will get snarled for some time as 52m tons of cargo annually, 1.3m tons of farm and construction equipment, 2.5m tons of coal, large quantities of lumber, gypsum, nearly a million cars –and everyone who lives in the Baltimore area– face disruption. This incident looks like a power failure on the Maersk-chartered, Singapore-owned, Indian-crewed ship, on top of generational under-investment in infrastructure and the dull institutions that allow economies to work vs. the firms/consultancies which milk the profits from it. However, national security experts had already warned in future wars the US is involved in, and/or terrorist attacks, the risk is of similar sabotage episodes, especially given the prevalence of foreign crews and ships entering the US daily. The US is completely unprepared for this threat, apart from recent action on removing Chinese cranes in US ports. And Europe is arguably just as vulnerable.
The US and Japan just signed the biggest change to their security treaty for 60 years in the face of a threat from China and North Korea: the US may move operational control of forces in Japan from the current base in Hawaii. Such treaty changes are not undertaken lightly, or for no reason. As I’ve said recently, strategists need to look at logistics for signals, not economists.
The Congressional Budget Office says the US risks a Lizz Truss-style bond collapse if it doesn’t change its “unprecedented” fiscal trajectory. Yet this misses one key thing: the Bank of England, in some eyes, deliberately precipitated the Gilts market EM-style sell-off, either because of a sudden passing phase of economic orthodoxy or, possibly, because the government was talking about reforming the Bank of England. It’s unlikely the Fed is going to walk away from the US Treasury: the direction of travel, particularly after the next change of FOMC Chair, could well be the opposite, and in fact may have to – though that has its own market implications.
Newsweek says ‘Gen Z Is Toxic for Companies, Employers Believe’, and notes 68% of US small business owners said Gen Zers were their “least reliable” employees; 71% said they were most likely to have mental health issues; one employer spoke of “absolute delusion, complete lack of common sense, and zero critical reasoning or basic analytical skills.”; less than 4% said Gen Z most aligns with their workplace culture; 62% said they were most likely to create division and toxicity in the workplace; and another noted the tendency for “expecting promotions for simply showing up every day.” This is the generation that is taking over positions in all Western corporations and institutions – if they aren’t marching in the streets instead.
‘Secret RCMP report warns Canadians may revolt once they realize how broke they are’. A heavily redacted version warns Canada “may descend into civil unrest once citizens realize the hopelessness of their economic situation”, and that the next recession “will accelerate the decline in living standards the younger generations have already witnessed,” as most Canadians under 35 “are unlikely ever to be able to buy a place to live.” Now try the rest of the West and see what it looks like. That said, elsewhere the report also warns of Canada facing “increasing pressure to cede Arctic territory.” Presumably not to Gen Z from other countries: so to whom?
‘Chinese ex-trade negotiator slams US for ‘dismantling the system’ of global trade.’ The Boao Forum heard Chinese firms are relocating the Mexico to sell to US consumers, but if the US shuts that option off too –as both Biden and Trump are proposing on EVs– it would mean higher inflation in the US. More importantly, we heard, “It is the globalised economic and trade systems that are at stake…now the US is dismantling the system.”
There are more political rumbles coming from the Balkans that suggest Europe might have even more on its overloaded geopolitical plate to deal with soon. The Serbian Prime Minister just made cryptic warnings about threats to national security via social media, while Kosovo warns of a Serbian invasion.
Can you spot the theme running through all of this?
How about a Western economy rotted away to a potential tipping point by a generation of neoliberal economic theory put into practice, and now experiencing simultaneous: failing ideology; failing infrastructure; failing institutions; failing national security; failing fiscal policy; failing demographics; a failing workforce (say small business-owners); failing society (say the Mounties); and failing global architecture? None of that suggests that we are heading back to a world of ultra-low rates and ultra-low inflation.
Or maybe it’s ‘a series of unfortunate events’, inflation is transitory, and rate cuts solve all.
It’s up to you to decide, as the market drifts along today waiting for what it calls ‘a signal’, while opting to ignore all the blaring alarms going off outside of Bloomberg screens. But when life gives you Lemony Snickets, I suggest you make lemonade, by preparing and trading appropriately, rather than drinking the Kool-Aid.
end
7//OIL ISSUES//NATURAL GAS ISSUES//ELECTRICAL GRID ISSUES// RENEWABLE ENERGY ISSUES//USA AND GLOBE//GLOBAL SHIPPING
8. EMERGING MARKETS//AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND ISSUES//
YOUR EARLY CURRENCY/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN CLOSING MARKETS AND EUROPEAN BOURSE OPENING AND CLOSING/ INTEREST RATE SETTINGS WEDNESDAY MORNING 7;30AM//OPENING AND CLOSING
EURO VS USA DOLLAR: 1.0835 UP .0003
USA/ YEN 151.05 DOWN .472 NOW TARGETS INTEREST RATE AT 1.00% AS IT WILL BUY UNLIMITED BONDS TO GETS TO THAT LEVEL…//YEN STILL FALLS//
GBP/USA 1.2637 UP .0009
USA/CAN DOLLAR: 1.3587 UP .0005 (CDN DOLLAR DOWN 5 BASIS PTS)
Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE CLOSED DOWN 38.34 PTS OR 01.20%
Hang Seng CLOSED DOWN 225.43 POINTS OR 1.36%
AUSTRALIA CLOSED UP 0.46% // EUROPEAN BOURSE: MOSTLY ALL GREEN
Trading from Europe and ASIA
I) EUROPEAN BOURSES: MOSTLY ALL GREEN
2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang SENG CLOSED DOWN 225.43 PTS OR 1.36%
/SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 38.34 PTS OR 1.20%
AUSTRALIA BOURSE CLOSED UP 0.46%
(Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED UP 364.70 PTS OR 0.90%
INDIA’S SENSEX IN THE GREEN
Gold very early morning trading: 2196,90
silver:$24.61
USA dollar index early WEDNESDAY morning: 103.96 DOWN 3 BASIS POINTS FROM TUESDAY’s CLOSE.
The USA/Yuan, CNY: closed ON SHORE CLOSED DOWN AT 7.2280
THE USA/YUAN OFFSHORE: (YUAN CLOSED (DOWN)…. (7.2557)
TURKISH LIRA: 32.27 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LEVEL/DEATH WATCH/HYPERINFLATION TO BEGIN.//ON DEATH WATCH
the 10 yr Japanese bond yield at +0.711…
Your closing 10 yr US bond yield DOWN 1 in basis points from TUESDAY at 4.223% //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%) very problematic
USA 30 yr bond yield 4.392 DOWN 1 in basis points /12.00 PM
USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.581 DOWN 2 BASIS PTS.
GOLD AT 11;30 AM 2192.30
SILVER AT 11;30: 24.60
Your 12:00 AM bourses for Europe and the Dow along with the USA dollar index closing and interest rates: WEDNESDAY CLOSING TIME 12:00 PM//
London: CLOSED UP 5.92 PTS OR 0.07%
German Dax : CLOSED UP 116.90 PTS OR 0.64%
Paris CAC CLOSED UP 34.68 PTS OR 0.42%
Spain IBEX CLOSED UP 142.40PTS OR 1.30%
Italian MIB: CLOSED UP 96.45 PTS OR 0.28%
WTI Oil price 82.08 12: EST/
Brent Oil: 86.42 12:00 EST
USA /RUSSIAN ROUBLE /// AT: 91.84 ROUBLE UP 0 AND 85/100
GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD; +2.3305 DOWN 4 BASIS PTS
UK 10 YR YIELD: 3.9790 DOWN 5 BASIS POINTS
CLOSING NUMBERS: 4 PM
Euro vs USA: 1.0822 DOWN .0011 OR 11 BASIS POINTS
British Pound: 1.2633 UP .0006 or 6 basis pts
BRITISH 10 YR GILT BOND YIELD: 3.965 DOWN 3 BASIS PTS//
JAPAN 10 YR YIELD: 0.711%
USA dollar vs Japanese Yen: 151.36 DOWN 0.159//YEN UP 16 BASIS PTS//
USA dollar vs Canadian dollar: 1.3574 DOWN .0008 CDN dollar UP 8 basis pts)
West Texas intermediate oil: 81.63
Brent OIL: 86.25
USA 10 yr bond yield DOWN 4 BASIS pts to 4.194%
USA 30 yr bond yield DOWN 4 BASIS PTS to 4.356%
USA 2 YR BOND: DOWN 3 PTS AT 4.570%
USA dollar index: 104.07 UP 8 BASIS POINTS
USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 32.26 (GETTING QUITE CLOSE TO BLOWING UP/
USA DOLLAR VS RUSSIA//// ROUBLE: 92.30 UP 0 AND 40/100 roubles
GOLD 2191.05 3:30 PM
SILVER: 24.59 3:30 PM
DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: UP 472.79 PTS OR 1.20%
NASDAQ UP 70.30 PTS OR 0.39%
VOLATILITY INDEX: 12.73 DOWN .51 PTS OR 3.85%
GLD: $203.10 UP 1.46 OR 0.72%
SLV/ $22.51 UP .17 OR 0.76%
end
USA AFFAIRS
TODAY’S TRADING IN GRAPH FORM
Trump’n’Pump Continues As Massive Squeeze Lifts Small Caps Into Month-End; Gold Closes At Record High
Stocks up large (and non-stop in Q1) while bond (prices) drifted lower (yields higher)…
Source: Bloomberg
Which may explain why bonds were bid today (given the absence of macro data), with 10Y Yields back at their lowest in two weeks…
Source: Bloomberg
Nasdaq lagged again on the day (relabalancing) but Small Caps face-ripped higher on the day. Today saw a late-day buying panic (as opposed to the last two days of dumping in the last 30 minutes) which lifted nasdaq green and small caps to a giant day…
Sell, Sell, Sell, Buy!!!!
Thanks in large part to a gigantic short-squeeze – the biggest low-to-high rip for ‘most shorted’ stocks since the end of February…
Source: Bloomberg
Mag7 stocks staged a very late-day comeback today to close green barely…
Source: Bloomberg
And Trump-mania continued with DJT up another 15% today…
Yesterday saw a big resurgent net inflow (over $417mm) into BTC ETFs…
Source: Bloomberg
And that helped lift bitcoin early on but SEC vs COIN headlines prompted some selling which was immediately pounced upon by futures sellers, dragging bitcoin back below $69,000…
Source: Bloomberg
Away from the headlines that are usually front and center on CNBC, the FX market had quite a day as USDJPY tested a key level and was desperately jawboned by every Japanese official that could fog a mirror that “we’ll do something really big, don’t make us!!”.
152 is the weakest for the yen against the dollar since 1990… and is the same level that prompted intervention in 2022…
Source: Bloomberg
It may not look like much but that level is make or break and Tokyo knows it.
But the dollar looked like it did nothing on the day…
Source: Bloomberg
Oil prices rebounded on the day, erasing the post-API losses (as official data came in with a much smaller build)…
Source: Bloomberg
Gold continues to drift higher, testing back up towards $2200 today…
Source: Bloomberg
But closing at a record high in USD…
Source: Bloomberg
Finally, if you’re Japanese, gold has been a great bet…
Source: Bloomberg
…and so has bitcoin…
Source: Bloomberg
…protection from government incompetence.
END
MORNING TRADING/
AFTERNOON TRADING/
II USA DATA
TUCKER CARLSON…
END
III USA ECONOMIC COMMENTARIES
NEWT GINGRICH…
a must read..
Gov. Al Smith And The Anti-Trump Republicans: Gingrich
As I’ve watched some of President Donald Trump’s former appointees and allies say they can’t support him in 2024, I was reminded of a similar scenario in American history.
In 1936, Former New York Gov. Al Smith decided that he could not support President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s re-election.
Smith was a popular reform Democrat who had been elected Governor of New York four times. In 1928, he became the first Catholic ever nominated for President by a major party. To strengthen his campaign, Smith convinced Roosevelt, who was then recovering from polio at Warm Springs, Georgia, to come back and run for governor. Smith lost the presidential race to Herbert Hoover, but Roosevelt became Governor of New York.
When Roosevelt’s New Deal embraced government activism, powerful measures of intervening in the economy, and creating government programs for the poor and unemployed, Smith was alienated. He had been part of the eastern conservative wing of the Democratic Party, which had fought against William Jennings Bryan and his western populism.
Gov. Smith was closer to the business establishment than to radical college professors.
Finally, Smith could no longer support the man he had previously recruited. On Jan. 26, 1936, Smith said at the American Liberty League Dinner:
“I must make a confession. It is not easy for me to stand up here tonight and talk to the American people against the Democratic administration. This is not easy. It hurts me. But I can call upon innumerable witnesses to testify to the fact that during my whole public life I put patriotism above partisanship. And when I see danger – I say ‘danger,’ that is, the ‘Stop, look, and listen’ to the fundamental principles upon which this government of ours was organized – it is difficult for me to refrain from speaking up.”
Despite Smith’s defection, the Roosevelt New Deal coalition was massive (Roosevelt defeated Republican Kansas Gov. Alf Landon by 523 electoral votes and received 60.8 percent of the vote). Landon carried only Maine and Vermont.
I tell that story to say this: The anti-Trump Republicans resemble the anti-Roosevelt Democrats of 1936. They yearn for a party which has disappeared. They advocate policies which are no longer realistic or viable. They are repelled by President Trump’s aggressive style and his dramatic shifts in policy.
They are rapidly becoming a fossilized reminder of a party which no longer exists – and wants to operate in a world which no longer exists.
Some have begun to harken back to the President Ronald Reagan years as a golden time. They wish the GOP could return to them. It is impossible to return to the 1980s, because the world has changed. The problems have changed. The politics have changed. And the institutions are sicker and more destructive than they were under Reagan.
I first spent time with then Gov. Reagan in 1974. I worked to create the first Capitol Steps event – and really the first Contract with America – for candidate Reagan in 1980. For eight years, I served in the House as an active ally of President Reagan on nearly every issue. President Reagan was bold in his visionary approach but careful and cautious in taking risks. While he said the ultimate outcome of the Cold War would be “we win they lose,” he did not risk military confrontation with the Soviet Union.
Reagan would have been appalled at a 22-year war in Afghanistan, which the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs admitted this week was a strategic defeat.
Reagan warned in his farewell address that we were losing ground to a cultural effort to undermine our history, destroy the spirit of patriotism and eliminate learning what it meant to be an American. He would be much bolder and more radical today – faced with collapsing inner-city schools and radical anti-Americanism on college campuses. The Gov. Reagan who took on the counterculture at Berkeley was a much tougher and more intense opponent than the Morning in America Reagan from the 1984 campaign.
People who object to President Trump’s aggressiveness and hide behind a sanitized, phony memory of Reagan forget that it was Governor Reagan who said of the Berkeley protests, “If it takes a bloodbath, let’s get it over with, no more appeasement.”
As Matthew Continetti recently wrote for the National Review, “If Donald Trump is elected president in November, he will have assembled a coalition unlike any Republican nominee in my lifetime.”
Citing research from the American Enterprise Institute, Continetti pointed out that President Trump’s favorability is growing. His popularity is now at the highest points since he left office, and he is making steady gains with white and black Americans – and big gains with Hispanic Americans.
Continetti captured the current challenge for the anti-Trump Republicans: “We aren’t used to a politics where the party of the ‘Left’ represents the establishment, and the party of the ‘Right’ represents an insurgent movement against the settled way of doing things.”
In short, traditional Republicans who wanted to be part of the establishment are being alienated by new Republicans who want to change that establishment.
The traditional Republican leadership (largely the Bush wing of the party) came from Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and had similar pedigrees. They see themselves as governing within the right wing of the old order. They are naturally repelled by the boisterous, noisy emergence of a working-class Republican movement which includes Latinos, African Americans, and blue collar whites. It doesn’t help that the new Republicans want to shatter the old order – not join it.
Think of the anti-Trump Republicans as the Al Smith branch of the GOP. Their complaints will tell you more about them than President Trump – and they will also lose.
Arizona’s city of Tucson may be only days away from a crisis as millions of dollars in federal funds, which had been used to finance programs to house and assist illegal immigrants, are set to expire on April 1, potentially leading to their release en masse in the streets of Arizona’s border communities.
Tucson City Manager Michael Ortega said that the loss of federal funding, which amounts to more than $1 million dollars a week, would be “catastrophic” for the city.
“Keeping a hundred folks off the street is different than a thousand folks everyday,” Mr. Ortega told 13 News. “So I am sounding the alarm.”
More than 1,000 illegal immigrants are processed by Border Patrol before being brought into the city daily. And without the influx of federal dollars, it could, in short time, overwhelm the city, according to Mr. Dahl.
“We’ve never seen the number of people coming in now that we are currently seeing,” Mr. Dahl said. “In the past, we were seeing ten people a day being dropped off and it didn’t really have too much of an impact. But now, we are talking about hundreds every day and there is simply no place in our budgets for this to continue.”
Mr. Dahl said that regardless of the outcome, the city will continue working with non-profit groups set up to assist illegal immigrants. Further, he proposed that Border Patrol could take illegal immigrants to Sky Harbor airport in nearby Phoenix, Arizona, which “is better equipped to deal with the situation.”
However, residents are concerned that the drop in funding could result in thousands of illegal immigrants being released onto the Tucson streets. And with crime and homelessness already high, this would likely cripple the city.
Data released from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) shows that in December, agents were involved in a record 87,330 encounters with illegal immigrants in Arizona’s Yuma and Tucson sectors, which are right on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The new all-time high eclipses the previous high, recorded just one month earlier in November 2023, when CBP agents reported 70,796 encounters. The new data also is the continuation of a troubling trend, marking the seventh consecutive month the state has set a monthly record.
A border patrol source previously told The Epoch Times that agents believe at least some of the increase can be attributed to an upgrade in security over recent months at popular illegal crossings along the Texas border, resulting in some smugglers opting to reroute to southeastern Arizona, where they expect to be met with less resistance.
“These smugglers are very savvy when it comes to American media and they are aware of the message Texas has been sending that they don’t want them coming through their state,” said the agent, who has worked in the field for over a decade, primarily in the southeast region of Arizona.
“It appears, at least in some instances, they are detouring a few hours and crossing where they know they won’t have to encounter any resistance.
“Right now, that place is Arizona, especially the Tucson sector,” he added.
Arizona Sheriff Mark Lamb told The Epoch Times that the crisis confronting Tucson is of the government’s own creation and that even if a path is found to extend federal funding, that it will only serve as a temporary fix that fails to address the core problem.
“All this funding was only hiding the fact that this government’s policies are completely disastrous and serves to keep people from realizing that this is a deeply serious issue,” Mr. Lamb said. “We have homeless vets on the streets of Tucson in desperate need of help, and instead of helping our own, we are supporting thousands of new people every day who broke our laws.”
Mr. Lamb says in his role as sheriff, where he is tasked with enforcing existing law, his hands are tied. However, securing the border has become one of the main platforms, and reasons, for his current run for the U.S. Senate.
“We need to un-elect these people in office,” Mr. Lamb said. “We didn’t have these issues when Trump was president. People are coming here because the government keeps providing incentives in terms of free housing and other things.
“American families work hard only to see their taxes go to people who broke the law and entered the country illegally. That’s not compassionate; that is reckless.”
END
BALTIMORE
this will cost billions and cause a massive buildup of goods to be delivered
Catastrophic supply chain snarls are materializing in the Mid-Atlantic area after a container ship rammed a 1.6-mile-long bridge at the Port of Baltimore, causing the bridge to collapse and paralyzing terminals along the port.
Before we shed more color on the worsening supply chain issues, a new Wall Street Journal report cites people familiar with the investigation into the crash as saying contaminated fuel could’ve contributed to the container ship “Dali” losing power.
According to a Coast Guard briefing report viewed by the WSJ, Dali’s lights began to flicker about an hour after the ship began steaming down the marine channel out of the Baltimore Inner Harbor.
Breakdown of the multiple power failures on the container ship ‘Dali’ that likely caused the impact with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore today. [ Moshe Schwartz]
“The vessel went dead, no steering power and no electronics,” said an officer aboard the ship.
“One of the engines coughed and then stopped. The smell of burned fuel was everywhere in the engine room, and it was pitch black,” the officer said, adding that the vessel didn’t have time to drop anchors before hitting the bridge. Minutes before the crash, officers on the ship issued a mayday call to the Coast Guard.
Fotis Pagoulatos, a naval architect in Athens, said contaminated fuel could seize up the ship’s main power generators and result in a complete blackout and loss of propulsion.
During a press conference, Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, said an investigation is underway to review the vessel’s operations and safety logs and black box recorders to determine what happened in the moments leading up to Baltimore’s biggest industrial disaster in several generations.
REPORT: There were no vehicles traveling on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it fell into the ocean thanks to heroic police officers who jumped into action. It has now been confirmed that the only people on the bridge when it collapsed was a pothole repair crew. A total of eight workers were reportedly on a meal break when the cargo ship crashed into the bridge. The eight workers plunged off the 185-foot bridge into the frigid water. Two of the eight workers were rescued, one who was hospitalized and one who refused treatment. “He brushed his clothes off and wanted to see his family. He was shaken up a little bit but nothing major. I guess the good lord was on his side,” a first responder said. The six other workers are presumed dead.
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Hours after the incident, the White House and federal government agencies quickly ruled out a cyber attack or industrial sabotage as the source of the ship’s power loss. With an investigation barely underway, it would seem too preliminary to rule out those things. It’s not yet illegal to have an open mind.
Despite legacy media outlets won’t even entertain the slightest possibility of a cyber attack or industrial sabotage, some X users say they aren’t ruling anything out, considering NATO and Russia are on the brink of a major conflict, the Red Sea crisis continues, Hamas-Irasel war rages on, and Sino-US relations have yet to recover fully.
We know that in a matter of seconds, the Dali and its all-Indian crew that rammed the bridge triggered an instant shutdown of the Port of Baltimore that could take weeks, if not months, to restore.
“This is a shut down of a major port, and rebuilding will take a significant amount of time as it is over water,” Nada Sanders, a professor of supply-chain management at Northeastern University, told the WSJ in a separate note.
Sanders said, “We will see the effects domestically and globally in terms of shortages and higher prices for the average consumer.”
Bloomberg Economic Insights shows that the auto, energy, and food industries will be the most affected. Here’s an explanation of the disruption:
The wreckage from the Francis Scott Key Bridge essentially blocks incoming and outgoing traffic to the Port of Baltimore.
According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the port ranked 17th in terms of total tonnage handled in 2021. We estimate it intermediates about 2%-3% of US imports.
By those metrics, the disruption to Port of Baltimore traffic would appear to have minimal impact on the broader US economy. But that most likely understates the full effect.
According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, the Port of Baltimore handled about 3% of all East Coast and Gulf Coast imports in the year through Jan. 31. It’s a crucial terminal for European carmakers such as Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Volkswagen AG, and BMW.
It’s also the second-largest terminal for US coal exports, with a shutdown likely crimping shipments to India. And many more terminals will be shuttered…
The 984-foot ship was hauling containers of Chinese-made furniture, appliances, plasticware, and construction machinery.
Expect a localized shortage of these products?
US Customs and Border Protection provides a view into Dali’s cargo.
Why didn’t the State of Maryland or Baltimore City install protective barriers against ship strikes on the Key Bridge? Were woke Democrats in Annapolis too concerned about DEI and burning the state into the ground with reckless spending than care about infrastructure? Yet another failure by Democrats who are asleep at the wheel.
END
Baltimore Port Closure Puts Truck Drivers Who Haul Autos In A Bind
With the closure of the Port of Baltimore for the foreseeable future, the question of which truck drivers are most affected inevitably focuses first on drayage.
But Baltimore is not a major intermodal port, with estimates that its share of U.S. intermodal traffic is in the low single digits.
What the Port of Baltimore is, however, is a huge gateway for automobile imports and, to a lesser extent, car exports. And that fact is likely to shake up the niche truck segment of auto haulers.
Guy Young is the general manager of the Auto Haulers Association of America. Reached by phone Monday, the day of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, he assessed his members’ industry as it suddenly deals with the loss of its biggest import point.
“What car haulers need that not necessarily any of the other types of container shippers need are places to store the cars until the auto haul trucks come in and pick them up,” Young said.
That means parking lots — big ones — and not every port has them. And if they do, there is not necessarily spare capacity beyond what they are utilizing now.
“Containers require a space to put them, too, but you can stack them,” Young said. That obviously isn’t possible with cars.
He noted that the East Coast also has a significant auto import site at the Port of Brunswick, Georgia, not far from Savannah.
In an article published in Forbes, Ken Roberts, who analyzes trade data, said he believed that the Georgia port would be the best location to take in auto carriers diverted from Baltimore. In the article, Roberts said the leading import partners at Brunswick “align most closely with those of the Port of Baltimore.”
Movin’ out?
But that raises a question. Drivers of auto haulers who are located in the Baltimore region to service that port would need to move their base of operations at least temporarily to Brunswick or other ports — Roberts and Young both mentioned Newark, New Jersey, and Jacksonville, Florida, as leading car import sites — to make the increased operations there work. Will they make that move?
Most auto haulers are home at night, Young said. Companies that specialize in auto hauling “probably have drivers that are based in Baltimore or live close by. You can’t necessarily just send them out anywhere because they don’t have a home to get back to.”
Auto hauling is “not really like over-the-road driving,” Young said. “It’s more regional.”
If the drivers who move autos out of Baltimore to the mid-Atlantic or Northeast are doing so in a day’s time, and now will have to tack on additional over-the-road hours to get cars out of a port like Brunswick, “that’s going to affect hours of service,” Young said.
Possible HOS waiver looms
And online chatter Monday was focusing on the possibility of a more generalized HOS waiver from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Governors have the power to declare states of emergency that include state waivers of HOS for a certain period of time, but ultimately, a federal waiver is needed. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore did declare a general state of emergency, but the wording has no specific reference to hours of service.
Auto import data for Baltimore is described in terms of tonnage. In January, according to Maryland data, auto imports were 56,332 tons. The monthly average for 2023 was 68,871 tons. A year earlier it was 71,332 tons. And in 2013, it was 91,191 tons. Specific port by port data was not immediately available, but Baltimore has been described as the largest auto port by several sources.
Auto exports were 5,064 tons in January, averaged 8,883 tons per month in 2023 and averaged 19,783 tons in 2013.
The impact on the number of drayage carriers now staring into a demand for their services is impossible to quantify precisely but is undoubtedly huge.
But Louis Campion, the president and CEO of the Maryland Motor Truck Association, told FreightWaves in an email that his organization has about 75 companies that provide intermodal services to Baltimore’s port.
Although the port is technically open to service freight on the docks and in the terminals, the collapsed bridge serves as a barrier for entry and exit from those facilities, which are all inside the site of the catastrophe.
Campion noted that activity can continue at terminals. “However, unless the waterways are reopened, it will serve as a blockade to the Port and effectively choke off economic activity,” he said. “If the waterways are not cleared so that ships can continue to access the Port, we would see the impact in literally a few days. It may already be difficult as some shippers will most certainly start to re-route to other ports.”
News reports have noted shipping officials who are already rerouting freight.
Drayage drivers would face the same dilemma as the auto haulers Young discussed: They can possibly move their trucks to other ports to service diverted freight, but what becomes their home base?
Campion’s group issued a statement on the bridge collapse that discussed some of the numbers affected by its fallout.
“We know that the Port itself is responsible for 20,000 direct jobs, and thousands of other indirect jobs it creates in industries like trucking,” the statement said. “The Key Bridge is a critical route for trucking into and out of the Port of Baltimore. In 2022 the Bridge carried over 4,800 trucks per day.”
Traffic that had crossed the bridge has three alternative routes. Two are through tunnels that cross under the Port of Baltimore, one on Interstate 95 and the other on Interstate 895, but hazardous materials cannot travel through either tunnel.
The second is the western side of the 695 loop around Baltimore. The eastern side of 695 includes the Key Bridge.
Limited intermodal impact
An irony in the bridge collapse is that it was caused by a container ship, though Baltimore is not a significant intermodal port.
In a commentary about the impact of the bridge collapse on East Coast railroad CSX, the transportation team at Deutsche Bank led by Amit Mehrotra said Baltimore last year handled about 300,000 inbound twenty-foot equivalent units, far fewer than New York/New Jersey (2.4 million) and more than 900,000 in Norfolk, Virginia. However, it was more than the 240,000 units handled in Philadelphia, which has been spoken of as a possible alternate destination for cargo routed away from Baltimore.
That small amount of intermodal service is one reason why the Key Bridge collapse is not viewed as a significant incident for the rail intermodal industry, though it could have more impact on coal traffic. Baltimore is a key export site for coal.
“The temporarily displaced imports should be able to easily reroute to nearby ports of entry,” Deutsche Bank wrote. “There is also plenty of available outbound capacity to divert the 200k+ loaded exports that leave Baltimore each year.”
The bank added that the coal slowdown could impact CSX. The Curtis Bay Coal Piers has export capacity of 14 million tons of coal. “At full capacity this would account for about one third of CSX’s annual export (metallurgical) coal volume (40 million tons), though we estimate the actual volume is much less than this,” Deutsche Bank wrote. “The bottom line is CSX’s weekly coal volumes are likely to be down a lot in the coming weeks; if we assume an impact for 2 months, we see max potential for about 30k lower coal carloads.”
On the energy front, recent records show Baltimore importing minor amounts of petroleum. In December, it was one shipment of asphalt and one shipment of biomass-based diesel, which could be either renewable diesel or biodiesel.
The liquefied natural gas export port at Cove Point, Maryland, is outside the port and is not affected by the collapse, according to a spokesman for the facility.
PHILADELPHIA
One Man Dead After (Yet Another) Shooting At Philadelphia SEPTA Bus Stop
WEDNESDAY, MAR 27, 2024 – 01:45 PM
Another day, another shooting at or near Philadelphia’s mass transit system.
Just weeks after a deadly shooting near a SEPTA stop injured 8 people, another man is dead after a shooting at a bus stop in Northeast Philadelphia.
The shooting took place at the Arrott Transportation Center, according to reports from KYW Newsradio. The report says that “one man was shot in the chest and taken to a nearby hospital where he later died”.
Another man was shot in the leg and is in stable condition. The victim is a 33 year old Philadelphia resident, the report says. And, of course, no arrests have been made as of the time of the article’s writing.
Earlier this month 8 teens were shot near a SEPTA bus, also in Northeast Philadelphia. That report came just hours after a prior shooting injured four and killed one involving mass transit in Philadelphia was reported.
The incident earlier this month happened near Northeast High School at Cottman and Rising Sun avenues, where students were waiting for a bus. Three assailants opened fire, shooting over 30 rounds from across the street, wounding eight teenagers.
Mayor Cherelle Parker commented at the time: “The purpose of our being here today is to inform you all that enough is enough. That every law enforcement partner that we have here in the city of Philadelphia is actively engaged in working together to ensure that every resource that is needed is readily available so that the work can be done to solve crimes.”
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel added: “It’s hard to sit here in three days and have 11 juveniles shot who are going and coming from school. The cowardly acts that we’ve seen over the last three days are unacceptable, The downstream impacts if we do not address gun violence and we do not address guns is what we see today.”
“We cannot ignore what we’re seeing over the last three days. I will not sit here and people call me and tell me what I should or should not be doing,” Bethel continued.
“This is what we see when we give guns in the hands of juveniles and what they do with them. Telling kids they should not carry guns because they’re scared. Really? This is the end results of what we see. So we’re going to work hard and continue with the men and women behind me and my team to get these guns off the street and stop this from happening.”
But, as KYW notes, this week’s shooting marks the fifth shooting on or near SEPTA busses this month. So, it appears the mayor and Police Commissioner have more work to do than just jawboning…
IIIB USA COMMENTARIES RE ISRAEL/HAMAS WAR/ and PERVASIVE ANTISEMITISM/WOKISM…
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iiiC USA COVID //VACCINE ISSUES
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FREIGHT ISSUES/USA
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VICTOR DAVIS HANSON
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SWAMP STORIES
Inmates Run NBC’s Asylum: Former RNC Chief McDaniel Fired After ‘Talent’ Mutiny
WEDNESDAY, MAR 27, 2024 – 07:45 AM
Just four days after she was hired — and before she even started — former Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel was fired by NBC News on Tuesday as the network bent to the wishes of its on-air “talent” who protested her hiring during their programs.
McDaniel was poised to become a talking head providing insights on politics heading into November’s general election. News of McDaniel’s hiring broke on Friday, immediately igniting a firestormamong leftists inside and outside of NBC’s walls.
In the few days that followed, a parade of hosts — including Chuck Todd, Joe Scarborough and Joy Reid, dedicated portions of their shows to raking their bosses over the coals for hiring McDaniel. Rachel Maddow was among the most melodramatically warped, saying that having McDaniel on the payroll was “inexplicable” because she “hasn’t just attacked us as journalists, but…is part of an ongoing project to get rid of our system of government.”
“No organization, particularly a newsroom, can succeed unless it is cohesive and aligned. Over the last few days, it has become clear that this appointment undermines that goal.
After listening to the legitimate concerns of many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be an NBC News contributor. I want to personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down.”
McDaniel, who oversaw seven years of Republican electoral underperformance before resigning in February, was hired by NBC News editorial chief Rebecca Blumenstein. “They thought this would bring in more conservative viewers and give a conservative point of view,” a source at NBC tells the New York Post. “It is misguided given that no wing of the conservative movement claims Ronna any longer! Don’t understand how no one realized that.”
NBC’s fiasco was indeed multi-faceted. Aside from choosing a non-conservative to appeal to conservatives, the move precipitated a spectacle of hypocrisy, as Maddow and others who relentlessly promoted the Russiagate hoax and cheer on efforts to remove Trump from 2024 ballots assailed McDaniel for being dishonest and supposedly undermining democracy.
On his nightly show System Update, Glenn Greenwald found the whole thing darkly amusing:
As much as NBC would like to think this whole clusterf*** is behind them, McDaniel, who is Mitt Romney’s niece, is reportedly looking for an attorney, presumably to help her shake some money out of the peacock’s feathers.
Meanwhile, Conde told employees that he and the network are committed having “diverse viewpoints” and will “redouble our efforts to seek voices that represent different parts of the political spectrum.” In other words, get ready for NBC to prop up a purported “conservative” who gets a stamp of approval from the likes of Rachel Maddow and Joy Reid.
END
KING REPORT
The King Report March 27, 2024 Issue 7209
Independent View of the News
iPhone shipments declined by 33% in China in FebruaryThat is leaving Apple stock down nearly 8% year-to-date. Really, trailing its peers in the Magnificent Seven…https://money.yahoo.com/video/iphone-shipments-declined-33-china-145145033.html Apple tumbled on the NYSE opening and hit a low of 19.65 at 9:31 ET. It then rallied sharply, along with other Fangs, on manipulation to game Q1 performance. Apple hit 171.07 at 10:01 ET. Ship collides with Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing it to collapsehttps://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1772515766929097088 Col (Ret) @JeffFisch: The span between pillars is HUGE, and there are clear markers as well as radar reflectors on the pillars! HOW ON EARTH does a cargo vessel hit a pillar!?(All Indian crew) @RichardStiller4: 8X speed really exaggerates how sharp the Dali turned just before striking the bridge. (Clearly turns into support column!)https://twitter.com/RichardStiller4/status/1772639173058482191 @RealPatrickWebb: Course-logs reveal that the… ship Dali, which struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore changed its course 2-minutes prior to colliding with the bridge and was dealing with a temporary loss of power but regained power prior to striking the bridge. (Cyber-attack?) Ex- CBS investigative reporter @laralogan: Welcome to the world of cyber terrorism. Acc to intel sources: The Baltimore bridge collapse was a 9/11 style attack but they won’t admit it and we cannot see it because it was a CYBER ATTACK. All the SCADA systems that run our critical infrastructure like sewage, electric grid, shipping etc are all wide-open systems with no encryption because it is too expensive. They can shut us down anytime they want. (The FBI ruled out terrorism within 2 hours!) Shipping containers now have to go north to NY or south to North Carolina. The enormity of this is just setting in for US intelligence & those in power are already covering it up… @ULTRA_MAJESTY: WATCH : Baltimore’s Key Bridge collapses after cargo ship hits it; construction crew missing: This looks deliberate, was it a cyberattack? (Lights go out just before the collision)https://twitter.com/ULTRA_MAJESTY/status/1772635940856443097 @julie_kelly2: Chris Wray appointed him to take over Baltimore FBI office—yesterday? DelBagno is an alum of 2016-2020 Washington FBI office. The problem with someone of this pedigree with this agency is half the country won’t believe a word he says. Justifiably so. @CollinRugg: At least 7 people are missing after cargo ship appears to lose power & slam into the support beam of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland. The ship was being piloted by a local pilot who specializes in moving in and out of the Port of Baltimore. Two people have been rescued from the river. One was uninjured and the other is in “very serious condition” in the hospital. The ship is a Singapore-flagged container ship, the Dali.https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1772609699432857909 @visegrad24: The collapse of the Key Bridge means that the Baltimore Port will be unusable for many months. It’s the 13th most important US port for foreign trade. The economic impact on the city, which is already plagued by social misery and violent crime, will be huge.Baltimore bridge collapse triggers fears of inflationary supply-side shockshttps://t.co/bdYhTyJZ0l @GuyDealership: This is one of the busiest U.S. ports for car shipments, handling more than 750,000 vehicles in 2023, according to Reuters.Ship that hit Baltimore bridge also involved in 2016 Antwerp accidenthttp://reut.rs/3PCjCKnWhy did the Baltimore bridge collapse so quickly? Engineers reveal how the ‘flimsy’ structure came crashing down like a house of cardshttps://t.co/3tm9hMNRXI Biden spoke about the Baltimore bridge collapse. It did not go well. @RNCResearch: BIDEN (confused by his giant teleprompter): “It’s virtually that, uh, well, it’s…”https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1772668044440940947Biden says he’s not taking questions, then says he’ll visit Baltimore “as quickly as I can.” He said the same thing about East Palestine, Ohio — and it took him more than a year to visit. @MailOnline: Biden says government will pay the full cost to replace collapsed Baltimore bridge and insists it was an accident: President vows to ‘move heaven and earth’ to get one of world’s busiest ports reopened after disaster in Marylandhttps://trib.al/SeBjqRiBiden claims he commuted over collapsed Baltimore Key Bridge by train ‘many times’ – but it doesn’t have any rail lineshttps://trib.al/r2Sp47HBaltimore City Implodes: Police Force Collapses, Only Three Officers Patrolled Major DistrictThe radical leftists in control of Baltimore City Hall have plunged the metro area just north of Washington, DC, into apocalyptic levels… as violent crime spirals out of control. Failed social justice reforms, defunding the police, and widespread mistrust of the police have resulted in a skeleton police force that will no longer be able to protect residents in some regions of the city. Fox Baltimore reported last Tuesday that only three police officers were on duty for the Southern Police District, which includes more than 61,000 residents…https://www.zerohedge.com/political/baltimore-implodes-police-force-collapses-only-three-officers-patrolled-major-district (Bidenomics – more downward revisions!) The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence index was revised lower for the 5th straight month! @RealEJAntoni: Much attention being paid to the big downward revision in Jan’s durable goods orders, but bigger story is on the inflation side: these new orders have exploded 18.5% higher since Jan ’21 but in real terms are 4.2% lower; we’re going backwards…https://twitter.com/RealEJAntoni/status/1772616599960256700 @zerohedge: US home prices are now rising 6.6% YoY – or more than 3x the Fed’s inflation target – vs 2.5% one year ago. Is Powell waiting for the increase to hit double digits before he cuts? @unusual_whales: 44% of all single-family home purchases were by private investors in 2023, per Washington Times. (That’s why home prices remain elevated despite the surge in mortgage rates!) @ces921: Higher oil and gasoline prices driving Cleveland Fed inflation nowcast levels up again for March. Retail gasoline prices are now up yoy and are the second highest level for this time of year in the last 10 years. Should keep running through Memorial Day which will continue to put pressure on headline inflation for April and May.https://twitter.com/ces921/status/1772643763128594461 @JavierBlas: THE CHOCOLATE CRISIS — Retail chocolate prices are rising (and will increase much further, while shrinkflation will reduce sizes) after wholesale cocoa prices surged to an unthinkable all-time high of ***$10,000 a ton*** on Tuesday… nearly double the record price set 46 years ago!https://twitter.com/JavierBlas/status/1772590152050749743 @TripleNetInvest: Blackstone affiliate takes a huge loss on a 221k sq ft building in Boston. 179 Lincoln St in downtown Boston sold for $10 w/ the buyer assuming $76.5M in mortgage debt. The property last traded for $155.7M in January 2020 w/ the former owner spending millions to renovate the building. This is one of many office properties in Boston that has seen plunging values w/ the CREsituation unlikely to rebound anytime soon. @ces921: Another crappy T-bill auction, where Primary Dealers had to take 47.1% of this 42-day bill with Indirects under 50%. This is the second largest amount primary dealers have had to take of this 42 day bill this year. Yuck. $64B of 5-year notes results: 4.235% vs. 4.245% WI; 70.5% Indirect (Foreign), 16.8% Direct ESMs traded higher, but sideways, from the Nikkei opening until the surged after 2:27 ET. ESMs hit 5294.25 at 3:09 ET. They then sank on the ‘dump’ to5286.75 at 3:51 ET. ESMs then intractably rallied until they hit a daily high of 5300.50 at 6:57 ET. ESMs then commenced a decline that took ESMs to 5284.50 near 10:30 ET. Despite the very negative news (see above), the usual suspects were determined to push stuff high to embellish Q1 performance and affect a Turnaround Tuesday to the upside. ESMs plodded higher until they hit 5293.00 at 11:57 ET. ESMs then sank to an NYSE session low of 5893.00 at 13:45 ET. After a bounce to 5289.00 at 14:35 ET. ESMs did a slow rollover until they collapsed at 15:26 ET. ESMs hit a daily low of 5273.75 at 15:34 ET. After a modest bounce, ESMs sank anew. ESMs hit a final daily low of 5263.00 at 15:57 ET. Positive aspects of previous sessionBonds, which were down smartly, rallied after foreigners devoured the US 5-year auctionStocks rallied early, abetted by rabid Mag 7 buying; Oil and gasoline declined Negative aspects of previous sessionStocks and bond declined moderatelyNvidia traded mostly negative after 10:11 ETESMs suffered another late tumbleAmbiguous aspects of previous sessionWas the Baltimore bridge collision a cyber-attack? First Hour/Last Hour Action [S&P 500 Index]: 1st Hour from NYSE Open: Down;Last Hour: DownPivot Point for S&P 500 Index [above/below indicates daily trend to traders]: 5214.07Previous session S&P 500 Index High/Low: 5235.16; 5203.42 @sentdefender: The Director of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov made some Extremely Bold Claims today about Friday’s Terrorist Attack in Moscow while also expressing a some Very Dangerous Rhetoric; this includes him stating that while the Attack was conducted by ISIS using “Radical Islamists” they were Facilitated by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) as well as the United States and U.K, with him further stating that the Attack will require Retaliatory Action against Ukraine which may include the possible Assassination of Ukrainian Spy Chief, Kyrylo Budanov and other High-Ranking Intelligence Leadership. After the Statements today by FSB Director Bortnikov, I have a feeling that yesterday’s Russian Ballistic Missile Attack against the Ukraine Capital of Kyiv and Odesa were indeed an attempt to Strike at the SBU as well as to Assassination several High-Ranking Members of the Ukraine Intelligence and Security Apparatus. @igorsushko: Speculation in Russia that one of the people present in the Crocus City Hall concert venue during the attack may be the same person seen “detaining” and torturing one of the suspects the next day near the Belarus border. Significant sentiment in Russia that FSB involved in attack.https://twitter.com/igorsushko/status/1772695603283190009Today – Traders tried to affect a Turnaround Tuesday, abetted aggressively Mag 7 buying to embellish Q1 performance gaming. However, the negative events that appeared generated an afternoon tumble. Due to the rabid equity rally in Q1, there could be significant portfolio rebalancing into bonds and out of stocks today and tomorrow. The session will be Q1 performance gamers vs. Q1 rebalancers. Normally, the penultimate day of period contains the peak intensity of performance gaming. However, rumors about the cause of the Baltimore bridge collapse could again thwart bulls and performance gamers. Absenteeism, which is already high for Easter Week, should increase. Be very careful!!! The S&P 500 Index low yesterday was 5203.42, a breach of 5200 would be very bad. Team Obama-Biden cannot afford to deal with a cyber-attack on US infrastructure. Americans would demand retribution against the perpetrator; and Team Obama-Biden doesn’t have the appetite to do so in a general election year. Ergo, the odds of a coverup are extremely high. @laralogan: Multiple intel sources: Baltimore bridge collapse was an “absolutely brilliant strategic attack” on US critical infrastructure – most likely cyber – & our intel agencies know it. In information warfare terms, they just divided the US along the Mason Dixon line exactly like the Civil War.Second busiest strategic roadway in the nation for hazardous material now down for 4-5 years – which is how long they say it will take to recover… fuel, diesel, propane gas, nitrogen, highly flammable materials, chemicals and oversized cargo that cannot fit in the tunnels – that supply chain now crippled.https://twitter.com/laralogan/status/1772675651599770093 @nicksortor: SIX construction workers who were filling potholes on the Key Bridge in Baltimore when it collapsed are now presumed dead, according to their employer. ESUs are +10.25; NQHs are +40.75 (Marking up Fangs!); USHs are -2/32 at 20:10 ET. S&P Index 50-day MA: 5027; 100-day MA: 4814; 150-day MA: 4660; 200-day MA: 4609DJIA 50-day MA: 38,635; 100-day MA: 37,376; 150-day MA: 36,223, 200-day MA: 35,828(Green is positive slope; Red is negative slope) S&P 500 Index (5203.58) – Trender BBG trading model and MACD for key time framesMonthly: Trender andMACD arepositive – a close below 4455.17 triggers a sell signalWeekly: Trender andMACD arepositive – a close below 5003.27 triggers a sell signalDaily: Trender ispositive; MACD isnegative – a close below 5150.30 triggers a sell signalHourly: Trender and MACD are negative – a close above 5240.71 triggers a buy signalGOP @RepBrianMast: Joe Biden tried to APPEASE far-left activists by letting the United Nations pass a “ceasefire” resolution that makes NO MENTION of Hamas. What followed was predictable. Hamas terrorists REJECTED a deal to free hostages and began firing even more rockets at Israeli civilians.Prince Harry named in bombshell $30 million sex trafficking lawsuit against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combshttps://trib.al/mxpmP52 @amuse: RFK Jr. has named far left Democrat donor and activist Nicole Shanahan as his vice president. Nicole provided financial support to both Pete Buttigieg & Biden. She also funded Soros-backed DA George Gascón @IntelPointAlert: NYPD officer shot during traffic stop in Queens has died from his injuries; suspect had 21 prior arrests.https://twitter.com/IntelPointAlert/status/1772429693028855863NY Assembly Speaker Heastie refuses to back tougher sentences for criminals who attack retail workershttps://trib.al/iOTY6D6Illegal immigrant allegedly kills Michigan woman in carjacking gone wronghttps://trib.al/BvpA0Sq‘Squad’ member Jamaal Bowman calls Israel an ‘apartheid’ state, reported rapes were a ‘lie’: videohttps://trib.al/NWyLJntSean Combs has been untouchable for decades — but now people are out to ‘take him down’“He has a very questionable past that he’s been able to control because of his power for a very long time,” Derrick Parker, who was a detective in the NYPD’s rap intelligence unit (aka “Hip Hop Cops”), told The Post. “But it looks to me like someone is behind this — someone who really wants to destroy his brand and take him down.” Parker was referring to Homeland Security agents swarming Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami Monday in a TV thriller-style surprise raid. The cross-country invasion wasreportedly related to sex-trafficking allegations, law enforcement sources told The Post…https://nypost.com/2024/03/26/entertainment/sean-combs-was-untouchable-for-decades-until-a-federal-raid/ @WSJ: Ronna McDaniel is out as an NBC News contributor. The former RNC chairwoman’s hiring sparked an unprecedented on-air backlash from anchors (No pretense anymore, regime media are the servants of the Democratic Party – and they have ZERO TOLERANCE for dissenting views!)
GREG HUNTER INTERVIEWING DANE WIGINGTON
Destructive “Chemtrails” Finally Coming to Light – Dane Wigington
Climate engineering researcher Dane Wigington says it looks like the destructive climate engineering operation that has been going on for decades is finally coming to the attention of the public with new legislation happening in states like Tennessee. Terms like “chemtrails” are used to hide the massive harm being done to the climate. Tennessee is taking action because the harm being done to the “public welfare” with everything from heavy metals, aluminum and nanoparticles being sprayed on everyone to manipulate the climate. Of course, there is no public discussion, let alone public approval, of this evil weather warfare that is well established climate Engineering science since just after WWII. With the Tennessee legislation, we may finally be getting enough public awareness to STOP spraying, poisoning and climate damage being done without public knowledge or permission. Is the Tennessee climate engineering “ban” good news? Wigington explains, “This is extremely good news. The key point here is this raising awareness and credibility for this issue. Clearly, whatever one state passes over its airspace is not going to stop the fallout coming from upwind. You would have to ban this over the whole planet to stop theses toxic particulate matter from saturating all of us. That said, this is extremely important in raising awareness. The Senate bill is 2691 and the House bill is 2063, and it’s being voted on tomorrow (Wednesday 3/27/24 in Tennessee) . . . . The interesting thing is all who are voting for this are Republicans, but this should not be a political issue. The reason why the Democrats are not voting for this is they believe anyone trying to bring attention to the climate engineering issue is somehow trying to dodge the fact that the climate is damaged. That is the furthest thing from the truth. What we are saying at GeoEngineeringWatch.org is how can there be any legitimate discussion about climate anything without addressing this issue first and foremost. . . .On the current course, no one gets out alive. I know that is an incredibly hard pill to swallow, but it is the fact of the matter. . . . What does that mean for all of us? Do we sit down and do nothing? No. We try to bring this issue (Geoengineering) to light, which is, at this moment in time, the single most destructive factor of all human activity. It is the single most destructive problem we face short of nuclear cataclysm. If together we can expose this and stop it and allow the planet to respond to the damage done with whatever life support systems that are left . . . people need to wake up while we can still make a difference. We are running out of time.”
Wigington says climate engineering is criminal, and people at the top know what is happening. Wigington says, “These people are like pirates trying to fill their pockets with loot on the deck of a sinking ship.”
On top of that, the Lying Legacy Media (LLM) are out in force trying to minimize what this Tennessee legislation means to exposing these climate engineering destructive policies. One of the latest acts of destruction is baseball size hail that destroyed thousands of acres of solar panels this past weekend in Texas. Wigington says this type of extreme weather is one of many problems caused by climate engineering. You will not hear how dire the situation is because of the propaganda by the LLM that hide the dire situation we face that is made exponentially worse by so-called “Chemtrails.”
There is much more in the 41-minute interview.
Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog.com as he goes One-on-One with climate researcher Dane Wigington, founder of GeoEngineeringWatch.org, with an update on the calamity geoengineering is causing and legislation in Tennessee to ban it for 3.26.24.
Moshe Schwartz]
harveyorganblog.com 
