GOLD PRICE CLOSED UP $26.30 TO $2218.30
SILVER PRICE UP 20 cents TO $24.82
Gold ACCESS CLOSED $2220.30
Silver ACCESS CLOSED: $24.86
Bitcoin morning price:$70,774 UP 1967 DOLLARS.
Bitcoin: afternoon price: $70,767 UP 1960 dollars
Platinum price closing DOWN $7.00 TO $900.00
Palladium price; DOWN $19.50 AT $987.50
END
SHANGHAI GOLD PREMIUM 30 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.
Last Updated 28 Mar 2024 09:00:58 AM CT.
Market data is delayed by at least 10 minutes.
I will now provide gold in Canadian dollars, British pounds and Euros
4: 15 PM ACCESS
*CANADIAN GOLD: $3008.05 UP $32.03 CDN dollars per oz( * NEW ALL TIME HIGH 3008.05CDN DOLLARS PER OZ//MARCH 28 2024)
*BRITISH GOLD: 1759.36 UP 24.05 pounds per oz// *(NEW ALL TIME HIGH//CLOSING///1759.36 BRITISH POUNDS/OZ) MARCH 28/2024
*EURO GOLD: 2058.33 UP 34.05 euros per oz //* (ALL TIME CLOSING HIGH: 2058.33 EUROS PER OZ//MARCH 28.2024)
DONATE
Click here if you wish to send a donation. I sincerely appreciate it as this site takes a lot of preparation
END
EXCHANGE: COMEX
ACCESS MARKET
EXCHANGE: COMEX
CONTRACT: APRIL 2024 COMEX 100 GOLD FUTURES
SETTLEMENT: 2,190.600000000 USD
INTENT DATE: 03/27/2024 DELIVERY DATE: 04/01/2024
FIRM ORG FIRM NAME ISSUED STOPPED
072 C GOLDMAN 490
092 C DEUTSCHE BANK 99
104 C MIZUHO 649
118 C MACQUARIE FUT 450
118 H MACQUARIE FUT 94
132 C SG AMERICAS 389 38
152 C DORMAN TRADING 3
190 H BMO CAPITAL 1471
357 C WEDBUSH 1
363 H WELLS FARGO SEC 236
365 H MAREX CAPITAL M 1
435 H SCOTIA CAPITAL 799
555 C BNP PARIBAS SEC 76
555 H BNP PARIBAS SEC 1500
624 H BOFA SECURITIES 2
657 C MORGAN STANLEY 61
661 C JP MORGAN 30 2412
686 C STONEX FINANCIA 2
690 C ABN AMRO 20
700 C UBS 1557
DLV615-T CME CLEARING
BUSINESS DATE: 03/27/2024 DAILY DELIVERY NOTICES RUN DATE: 03/27/2024
PRODUCT GROUP: METALS RUN TIME: 20:28:27
726 C CUNNINGHAM COM 2
737 C ADVANTAGE 38
800 C MAREX SPEC 1
905 C ADM 11 40
TOTAL: 5,236 5,236
MONTH TO DATE: 5,236
JPMORGAN STOPPED (RECEIVED) 2412/5236 CONTRACTS
FOR APRIL/2024
GOLD: NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR APRIL/2024. CONTRACT: 5236 NOTICES FOR 523,600 OZ or 16.286 TONNES
total notices so far: 5236 contracts for 5236 Oz (16.286 tonnes)
FOR MARCH:
SILVER NOTICES: 324 NOTICE(S) FILED FOR 1,620,000 OZ/
total number of notices filed so far this month : 324 for 1,620,000 oz
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Click here if you wish to send a donation. I sincerely appreciate it as this site takes a lot of preparation
END
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 $26.30
INVESTORS SWITCHING TO SPROTT PHYSICAL (PHYS) INSTEAD OF THE FRAUDULENT GLD/ :
NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:
/ /INVENTORY RESTS AT 830.15 TONNES
INVENTORY RESTS AT 830.15 TONNES
SLV//
WITH NO SILVER AROUND AND SILVER UP 20 CENTS AT THE SLV//
HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A HUGE DEPOSIT OF 1.006 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV.:
// INVENTORY RISES TO 424.085 MILLION OZ/
INVESTORS ARE SWITCHING SLV TO SPROTT’S PSLV.
CLOSING INVENTORY: 424.085 MILLION OZ
Let us have a look at the data for today
SILVER//OUTLINE
SILVER COMEX OI ROSE BY A SMALL SIZED 198 CONTRACTS TO 160,525 AND CLOSER TO THE RECORD HIGH OI OF 244,710, SET FEB 25/2020 AND THIS STRONG SIZED GAIN IN COMEX OI WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF $0.14 IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX ON WEDNESDAY. WE HAD ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION AT THE COMEX SESSION WITH AGAIN MAJOR SHORT COVERING DESPITE THE PRICE GAIN. WE HAD A STRONG 529 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 WEDNESDAY NIGHT: 529 CONTRACTS. DESPITE MANY COMPLAINTS THAT THE CROOKS HAVE VIOLATED POSITION LIMITS DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE TAS ISSUED HAVE A VALUE OF ZERO (AS TO POSITION LIMITS FOR OUR CROOKED BANKERS). THE PROBLEM OF COURSE IS THAT THE CROOKS DO NOT LIQUIDATE THE TAS TOGETHER BUT SELL THE BUY SIDE FIRST AND THEN LIQUIDATE THE SELL SIDE TWO MONTHS HENCE. IT IS OBVIOUS MANIPULATION TO THE HIGHEST DEGREE BUT IT NATURALLY FELL ON DEAF EARS WITH OUR REGULATORS (OCC) WHEN THEY RECEIVED OUR COMPLAINTS. IT THUS LOOKS LIKE THE FED (GOV’T) IS BEHIND ALL OF THESE TRADES.
WE HAVE NOW SET ANOTHER RECORD LOW AT 114,102 CONTRACTS ///JULY 3.2023// OUR BANKERS WITH THE HELP OF SPECULATORS AND HIGH FREQUENCY TRADERS WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING THE PRICE OF SILVER DOWN (IT ROSE BY $0.14), AND WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING ANY SILVER LONGS AS WE HAD A HUGE SIZED GAIN OF 2198 CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES WITH THE SMALL GAIN IN PRICE OF 14 CENTS.
WE MUST HAVE HAD:
A MEGA HUMONGOUS SIZED 2000 ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS) iiii) AN INITIAL SILVER STANDING FOR COMEX SILVER MEASURING AT 2.465 MILLION OZ (FIRST DAY NOTICE)
/INITIAL TOTALS FOR APRIL: 2.465 MILLION OZ
//NEW STANDING FOR SILVER IS THUS 2.465 MILLION OZ
WE HAD:
/ SMALL SIZED COMEX OI GAIN/ HUMONGOUS SIZED EFP ISSUANCE/ VI) STRONG SIZED NUMBER OF T.A.S. CONTRACT ISSUANCE 529 CONTRACTS)/
I AM NOW RECORDING THE DIFFERENTIAL IN OI FROM PRELIMINARY TO FINAL -REMOVED 382 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 20 days, total 28,750 contracts: OR 143.750 MILLION OZ (1438 CONTRACTS PER DAY)
TOTAL EFP’S FOR THE MONTH SO FAR: 143.750 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: 143.750 MILLION OZ// 4TH HIGHEST ON RECORD.
RESULT: WE HAD A SMALL SIZED INCREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF 198 CONTRACTS WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX//WEDNESDAY.,. THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A GIGANTIC EFP ISSUANCE CONTRACTS: 2,000 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 APRIL. OF 2.465 MILLION OZ ON FIRST DAY NOTICE
//NEW TOTAL STANDING RISES TO 2.465 MILLION OZ
WE HAVE A HUGE GAIN OF 2198 OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES WITH THE GAIN IN PRICE. THE TOTAL OF TAS INITIATED CONTRACTS TODAY: A SMALL SIZED 198 CONTRACTS//SOME FRONT END OF THE TAS CONTRACTS WERE LIQUIDATED DURING THE WEDNESDAY COMEX SESSION/// WITH MAJOR SHORT COVERING FROM OUR SPEC SHORTS
THE NEW TAS ISSUANCE WEDNESDAY NIGHT (529) WILL BE PUT INTO “THE BANK” TO BE COLLUSIVELY USED AT A LATER DATE//PROBABLY TODAY., .
WE HAD 324 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 1,620,000 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 FAIR SIZED 2901 CONTRACTS TO 500,741 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 444 CONTRACTS
WE HAD A FAIR SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI (2901 CONTRACTS) DESPITE OUR $15.00 GAIN IN PRICE//WEDNESDAY. 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 44.8615 TONNES// ALL OF THIS HAPPENED WITH OUR $15.00 GAIN IN PRICE WITH RESPECT TO WEDNESDAY’S TRADING. WE HAD A SMALL SIZED LOSS OF 464 OI CONTRACTS (0.1804 PAPER TONNES) ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES.
E.F.P. ISSUANCE
THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A FAIR SIZED 2437 CONTRACTS:
The NEW COMEX OI FOR THE GOLD COMPLEX RESTS AT 500,741
IN ESSENCE WE HAVE A TINY SIZED DECREASE IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 464 CONTRACTS WITH 2901 CONTRACTS DECREASED AT THE COMEX// AND A FAIR SIZED 2437 EFP OI CONTRACTS WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS TOTAL OI LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 464 CONTRACTS.. WE HAD THE FOLLOWING TAS CONTRACTS INITIATED (ISSUED): A STRONG SIZED 4239 CONTRACTS,
CALCULATIONS ON GAIN/LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES
WE HAD A FAIR SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (2437 CONTRACTS) ACCOMPANYING THE FAIR SIZED LOSS IN COMEX OI (2901) //TOTAL LOSS FOR OUR THE TWO EXCHANGES: 464 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 APRIL. AT 44.8615 TONNES
/ 3) ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION AS THE ENTIRE LOSS IN COMEX OI WAS DUE TO SPREADER AND T.A.S. LIQUIDATION // 4) FAIR SIZED COMEX OPEN INTEREST LOSS/ 5) FAIR ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL PAPER///6: STRONG T.A.S. ISSUANCE: 4239 CONTRACTS/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: 113,237 CONTRACTS OR 11,323,700 OZ OR 352.21 TONNES IN 20 TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 5662 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY
TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS : THIS MONTH IN 20 TRADING DAY(S) IN TONNES 352,21 TONNES
TOTAL ANNUAL GOLD PRODUCTION, 2022, THROUGHOUT THE WORLD EX CHINA EX RUSSIA: 3555 TONNES
THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 352.21/3550 x 100% TONNES 9.99% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL PRODUCTION
ACCUMULATION OF GOLD EFP’S YEAR 2021 TO 2023
JANUARY/2021: 265.26 TONNES (RAPIDLY INCREASING AGAIN)
FEB : 171.24 TONNES ( DEFINITELY SLOWING DOWN AGAIN)..
MARCH:. 276.50 TONNES (STRONG AGAIN/
APRIL: 189..44 TONNES ( DRAMATICALLY SLOWING DOWN AGAIN//GOLD IN BACKWARDATION)
MAY: 250.15 TONNES (NOW DRAMATICALLY INCREASING AGAIN)
JUNE: 247.54 TONNES (FINAL)
JULY: 188.73 TONNES FINAL
AUGUST: 217.89 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE.
SEPT 142.12 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE ( LOW ISSUANCE)_
OCT: 141.13 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE (LOW ISSUANCE)
NOV: 312.46 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE//NEW RECORD!! (INCREASING DRAMATICALLY)//SIGN OF REAL STRESS//SURPASSING THE MARCH 2021 RECORD OF 276.50 TONNES OF EFP
DEC. 175.62 TONNES//FINAL ISSUANCE//
TOTALS: 2,578.08 TONNES/2021
JAN:2022 247.25 TONNES //FINAL
FEB: 196.04 TONNES//FINAL
MARCH/2022: 409.30 TONNES //FINAL( THIS IS NOW A RECORD EFP ISSUANCE FOR MARCH AND FOR ANY MONTH.
APRIL: 169.55 TONNES (FINAL VERY LOW ISSUANCE MONTH)
MAY: 247.44 TONNES FINAL//
JUNE: 238.13 TONNES FINAL
JULY: 378.43 TONNES FINAL
AUGUST: 180.81 TONNES FINAL
SEPT. 193.16 TONNES FINAL
OCT: 177.57 TONNES FINAL ( MUCH SMALLER THAN LAST MONTH)
NOV. 223.98 TONNES//FINAL ( MUCH LARGER THAN PREVIOUS MONTHS//comex running out of physical)
DEC: 185.59 tonnes // FINAL
TOTAL: 2,847,25 TONNES/2022
JAN 2023: 228.49 TONNES FINAL//HUGE AMOUNT OF EFP’S ISSUED THIS MONTH!!
FEB: 151.61 TONNES/FINAL
MARCH: 280.09 TONNES/INITIAL (ANOTHER STRONG MONTH FOR EFP ISSUANCE)
APRIL: 197.42 TONNES
MAY: 236.67 TONNES (A VERY STRONG ISSUANCE FOR THIS MONTH)
JUNE: 172.667 TONNES (WEAKER ISSUANCE THIS MONTH)
JULY: 151.69 TONNES (WEAKER THAN LAST MONTH)
AUGUST: 195.28 TONNES (A STRONGER MONTH)//FINAL
SEPT: 254.709 TONNES (WILL BE LARGER THAN LAST MONTH AND A STRONG MONTH)
OCT. 248.09 TONNES. LIKE SILVER, THIS MONTH IS GOING TO BE A STRONG E.F.P. ISSUANCE.
NOV. 239.16 TONNES//WILL BE STRONG THIS MONTH,
DEC. 213.704 TONNES. A STRONG MONTH//
TOTAL FOR YEAR 2023: 2,569.57 TONNES VS 2578 TONNES LAST YEAR
JAN ’24: 291.76 TONNES (WILL BE MUCH GREATER THAN LAST MONTH.//3RD HIGHEST EVER RECORDED EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL)
FEB’24: 201.947 TONNES
MARCH 2024: 352.21 TONNES//2ND HIGHEST EVER RECORDED EFP ISSUANCE.
APRIL:
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 SMALL SIZED 198 CONTRACTS OI TO 160,907 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 2000 CONTRACTS
OUR CUSTOMARY MIGRATION OF COMEX LONGS CONTINUE TO MORPH INTO LONDON FORWARDS AS OUR BANKERS USED THEIR EMERGENCY PROCEDURE TO ISSUE:
MAY 2000 and ALL OTHER MONTHS: ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 2000 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 198 CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 2000 E.FP. ISSUED
WE OBTAIN A HUMONGOUS SIZED GAIN OF OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 2580 CONTRACTS
THUS IN OUNCES, THE GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES TOTAL 10.900 MILLION OZ
OCCURRED DESPITE OUR $.14 GAIN IN PRICE …..
END
OUTLINE FOR TODAY’S COMMENTARY
1a/COMEX GOLD AND SILVER REPORT
(report Harvey)
b, ) Gold/silver trading overnight Europe,//GOLD COMMENTARIES
(Peter Schiff)
c) Commentaries from: Egon von Greyerz///Matthew Piepenburg via GoldSwitzerland.com, Pam and Russ Martens
ii a) Chris Powell of GATA provides to us very important physical commentaries
b. Other gold/silver commentaries
c. Commodity commentaries//
d)/CRYPTOCURRENCIES/BITCOIN ETC
2.ASIAN AFFAIRS//
THURSDAY MORNING/WEDNESDAY NIGHT
SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 17.52 PTS OR 0.59% //Hang Seng CLOSED UP 148.58 PTS OR 0.91% / Nikkei CLOSED DOWN 597.66 PTS OR 1.46% //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP 0.99% /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN 7.2285 //OFFSHORE CHINESE YUAN CLOSED DOWN TO 7.2643 /Oil UP TO 82.43 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT DOWN AT 86.40/ 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
A)NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA
outline
b) REPORT ON JAPAN/
OUTLINE
3 CHINA
OUTLINE
4/EUROPEAN AFFAIRS
OUTLINE
5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS
OUTLINE
6.Global Issues//COVID ISSUES/VACCINE ISSUES
OUTLINE
7. OIL ISSUES
OUTLINE
8 EMERGING MARKET ISSUES
9. USA
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
1. COMEX DATA//AMOUNTS STANDING//VOLUME OF TRADING/INVENTORY MOVEMENTS
GOLD
LET US BEGIN:
THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST FELL BY A FAIR 2901 CONTRACTS TO 500,741 DESPITE OUR STRONG GAIN IN PRICE OF $15.00 WITH RESPECT TO WEDNESDAY TRADING. WE HAD FINAL SPREADER LIQUIDATION TODAY ALONG WITH SOME T.A.S. LIQUIDATION WHICH ACCOUNTS FOR THE LOSS IN COMEX.
EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE
WE ARE NOW IN THE NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF APRIL..… THE CME REPORTS THAT THE BANKERS ISSUED A FAIR SIZED TRANSFER THROUGH THE EFP ROUTE AS THESE LONGS RECEIVED A DELIVERABLE LONDON FORWARD TOGETHER WITH A FIAT BONUS.,
THAT IS 2437 EFP CONTRACTS WERE ISSUED: : APRIL 2437 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:
TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 2437 CONTRACTS
ON A NET BASIS IN OPEN INTEREST WE LOST THE FOLLOWING TODAY ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES: A TINY SIZED TOTAL OF 464 CONTRACTS IN THAT 2437 LONGS WERE TRANSFERRED AS EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS TO LONDON AND WE HAD A FAIR SIZED LOSS OF 2901 COMEX CONTRACTS..AND THIS TINY GAIN ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES HAPPENED WITH OUR STRONG GAIN IN PRICE OF $15.00 WEDNESDAY COMEX. AS PER OUR NEWBIE TRADE AT SETTLEMENT (TAS) MANIPULATION OPERATION (WHICH CRAIG HEMKE HAS POINTED OUT HAPPENS DURING MID MONTH IN THE DELIVERY CYCLE), THE CME REPORTS THAT THE TOTAL T.A.S. ISSUANCE FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT WAS A STRONG SIZED 4239 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: APRIL (44.8615 TONNES) ( ACTIVE MONTH)
HERE ARE THE AMOUNTS THAT STOOD FOR DELIVERY IN THE PRECEDING 24 MONTHS OF 2021-2023:
DEC 2021: 112.217 TONNES
NOV. 8.074 TONNES
OCT. 57.707 TONNES
SEPT: 11.9160 TONNES
AUGUST: 80.489 TONNES
JULY: 7.2814 TONNES
JUNE: 72.289 TONNES
MAY 5.77 TONNES
APRIL 95.331 TONNES
MARCH 30.205 TONNES
FEB ’21. 113.424 TONNES
JAN ’21: 6.500 TONNES.
TOTAL YEAR 2021 (JAN- DEC): 601.213 TONNES
YEAR 2022:
JANUARY 2022 17.79 TONNES
FEB 2022: 59.023 TONNES
MARCH: 36.678 TONNES
APRIL: 85.340 TONNES FINAL.
MAY: 20.11 TONNES FINAL
JUNE: 74.933 TONNES FINAL
JULY 29.987 TONNES FINAL
AUGUST:104.979 TONNES//FINAL
SEPT. 38.1158 TONNES
OCT: 77.390 TONNES/ FINAL
NOV 27.110 TONNES/FINAL
Dec. 64.000 tonnes
(TOTAL YEAR 656.076 TONNES)
2023:
JAN/2023: 20.559 tonnes
FEB 2023: 47.744 tonnes
MAR: 19.0637 TONNES
APRIL: 75.676 tonnes
MAY: 19.094 TONNES + 1.244 tonnes of exchange for risk = 20.338
JUNE: 64.354 TONNES
JULY: 10.2861 TONNES
AUGUST: 38.855 TONNES(INCLUDING .6842 EXCHANGE FOR RISK)
SEPT: 15.281 TONNES FINAL
OCT. 35.869 TONNES + 1.665 EXCHANGE FOR RISK =37.0355 tonnes
NOV: 18.7122 TONNES + 16.2505 EX. FOR RISK = 34.9627 TONNES
DEC. 47.073 + 4.634 TONNES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK = 51.707 TONNES
TOTAL 2023 YEAR : 436.546 TONNES
JAN ’24. 22.706 TONNES
FEB. ’24: 66.276 TONNES (INCLUDES 1.723 TONNES EX. FOR RISK)
MARCH: 18.8398 TONNES + 1.1695 EX FOR RISK = 20.093 TONNES
APRIL: 2024: 44.8615 TONNES
THE SPECS/HFT WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE( IT ROSE $15.00 //// AND WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING ANY SPECULATOR LONGS AS WE HAD A TINY SIZED LOSS OF 464 TOTAL CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES WITH OUR HIGHER PRICE 0F $15.00. ALL OF THE COMEX OI LOSS WAS DUE TO FINAL SPREADER AND T.A.S. LIQUIDATION.
WE HAD A SOME T.A.S. LIQUIDATION ON THE FRONT END OF WEDNESDAY’S TRADING ALONG WITH SPREADER LIQUIDATION . THE T.A.S. ISSUED ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT, WILL BE “PUT INTO THE BANK” TO BE USED AT A LATER DATE AT THE COLLUSIVE CHOOSING OF OUR BANKERS. THE HIGH T.A.S. ISSUANCE IS MEANT TO CONTROL THE PRICE OF GOLD
WE HAVE LOST A TOTAL OI OF 1.443 PAPER TONNES FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES, ACCOMPANYING OUR INITIAL GOLD TONNAGE STANDING FOR APRIL. (44.8615 TONNES) ON FIRST DAY NOTICE.
NEW STANDING: 44.8615 TONNES
ALL OF THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED DESPITE OUR GAIN IN PRICE TO THE TUNE OF $15.00
WE HAD REMOVED 1580 CONTRACTS TO THE COMEX TRADES TO OPEN INTEREST (CROOKS)
NET LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 464 CONTRACTS OR 46,400 OZ
estimated volume today 232,503 //fair
final gold volumes/yesterday 230,124 fair
//speculators have left the gold arena
MARCH 28/ INITIAL APRIL GOLD
/ /// THE APRIL 2024 GOLD CONTRACT
| Gold | Ounces |
| Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory in oz | nil |
| Withdrawals from Customer Inventory in oz | nil oz . |
| Deposit to the Dealer Inventory in oz | nil oz |
| Deposits to the Customer Inventory, in oz | nil oz |
| No of oz served (contracts) today | 5236 notice(s) 523,600 OZ 2.149 TONNES |
| No of oz to be served (notices) | 9187 contracts 981700 oz 28.575 TONNES |
| Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month | 5236 notices 523600 oz 16.286 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 APRIL.
For the front month of APRIL we have an oi of 14,423 contracts having LOST 16,395 contracts. Thus by definition, the initial amount of gold willing to stand in this big active delivery month of April is as follows:
14,423 notices x 100 oz per notice = 1,442,300 oz or 44.8615 tonnes.
MAY GAINED 117 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 1458
JUNE INCREASED ITS OI BY 13,324 CONTRACTS UP TO 417,415 CONTRACTS.
We had 5236 contracts filed for today representing 523,600 oz
Today, 0 notice(s) were issued from J.P.Morgan dealer account and 30 notices were issued from their client or customer account. The total of all issuance by all participants equate to 5236 contract(s) of which 0 notices were stopped (received) by j.P. Morgan dealer and 2412 notice(s) was (were) stopped (received) by J.P.Morgan//customer account
To calculate the INITIAL total number of gold ounces standing for the APRIL. /2024. contract month, we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (5236 x 100 oz ), to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of APRIL. (XXX CONTRACTS) minus the number of notices served upon today 5236 x 100 oz per contract equals 1,442,300 OZ OR 44.8615 TONNES.
thus the INITIAL standings for gold for the APRIL. contract month: No of notices filed so far (5236) x 100 oz + (XXX) {OI for the front month} minus the number of notices served upon today (5236) x 100 oz which equals 1,442,300 oz (44.8615 TONNES)
TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING FOR APRIL: 44.8615 TONNES WHICH IS HUGE FOR A NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH IN THE CALENDAR.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
COMEX GOLD INVENTORIES/CLASSIFICATION
NEW PLEDGED GOLD:
241,794.285 oz NOW PLEDGED /HSBC 5.94 TONNES
204,937.290 PLEDGED MANFRA 3.08 TONNES
83,657.582 PLEDGED JPMorgan no 1 1.690 tonnes
265,999.054, oz JPM No 2
1,152,376.639 oz pledged Brinks/
Manfra: 33,758.550 oz
Delaware: 193.721 oz
International Delaware:: 11,188.542 oz
total pledged gold: 1,333,165.842 41,40 tonnes
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 28
INITIAL
//2024// THE APRIL 2024 SILVER CONTRACT//INITIAL
| Silver | Ounces |
| Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory | NIL oz |
| Withdrawals from Customer Inventory | nil oz . |
| Deposits to the Dealer Inventory | nil OZ |
| Deposits to the Customer Inventory | nil OZ |
| No of oz served today (contracts) | 324 CONTRACT(S) (1,620,000 OZ) |
| No of oz to be served (notices) | 169 contracts (845,000 oz) |
| Total monthly oz silver served (contracts) | 324 Contracts (1,620,000 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 0 deposits customer account:
total customer deposits nil oz
JPMorgan has a total silver weight: 129.806 million oz/287.737 million or 45.18%
adjustment: 2
customer to dealer
Asahi: 580,630.130 oz
and
Delaware: 26,406.880 oz
Comex withdrawals: 0
total withdrawal: nil 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 APRIL /2023 OI: 493 CONTRACTS HAVING LOST 57 CONTRACT(S).
THUS BY DEFINITION, THE INITIAL AMOUNT OF SILVER STANDING IN THIS NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF APRIL IS AS FOLLOWS:
493 NOTICES X 5000 OZ PER NOTICE = 2,465,000 OZ OR 2.465 MILLION OZ
MAY SAW A LOSS OF 976 CONTRACTS DOWN TO 118,329
JUNE SAW A GAIN OF 1282 CONTRACTGS UP TO 24,067
TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR TODAY: 324 for 1,620,000 oz
Comex volumes// est. volume today 70,542 VERY GOOD
Comex volume: confirmed yesterday 63,006 good.
To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in APRIL. we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at 324 x 5,000 oz = 1,620,000 oz
to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of APRIL (493) and the number of notices served upon today 324 x (5000 oz) equals the number of ounces standing.
Thus the standings for silver for the APRIL/2024 contract month: 324 (notices served so far) x 5000 oz + OI for the front month of APRIL. (493) – number of notices served upon today 324 )x 500 oz of silver standing for the APRIL contract month equates to 2.465 MILLION OZ.
New total standing: 2.465 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 28 WITH GOLD UP $26.30 TODAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:// INVENTORY REMAINS AT 830.15 TONNES
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 28/WITH SILVER UP 20 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A DEPOSIT OF 1.005 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV: SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 424.085 MILLION OZ
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
CLOSING INVENTORY 424.085 MILLION OZ//
PHYSICAL GOLD/SILVER COMMENTARIES
1:Peter Schiff/Mike Maharrey
2.Commentaries from: Egon von Greyerz///Matthew Piepenburg via GoldSwitzerland.com, Pam and Russ Martens/
Very important; CRE problems escalating!
Pan and Russ Martens
Report: Five Banks Have a Combined Half Trillion Dollars in Commercial Real Estate Loans; Number 1 is JPMorgan Chase
By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: March 28, 2024 ~
Yesterday, American Banker released a report showing that five banks in the U.S. hold a combined half trillion dollars in commercial real estate (CRE) loans. It came as a big surprise to a lot of folks that the bank holding the largest amount of CRE loans is JPMorgan Chase – whose bank holding company is also exposed to $49 trillion in derivatives as of December 31, 2023 according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. (See Table 14 at this link.)
JPMorgan Chase is already considered the riskiest bank in the U.S. according to its regulators.
American Banker reported the following CRE totals for the five banks: JPMorgan Chase, $173 billion; Wells Fargo, $139.65 billion; Bank of America, $82.8 billion; U.S. Bank, $55.66 billion; and PNC Bank, $48.89 billion.
Some of the same hubris and willful blindness that prevailed in the runup to the subprime mortgage crisis that blew up large financial institutions in 2008 is showing itself today in regard to commercial real estate loans at federally-insured banks.
On March 7, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified before the Senate Banking Committee as part of his Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to Congress. During his testimony, Powell downplayed concerns about the impact of commercial real estate loans at the largest banks. Powell stated: “There will be bank failures, but this is not the big banks. If you look at the very big banks, this is not a first order issue for any of the very large banks. It’s more smaller and medium size banks that have these issues.”
If CRE is not a problem at the largest banks, that’s because both the banks and the Fed believe that the Fed will always spring to the rescue with an emergency bailout program. In fact, the Fed has already created just such a program that’s waiting in the wings. It’s called the Standing Repo Facility (SRF). It has a lending capacity of $500 billion and can lend to both the federally-insured bank and its trading unit (primary dealer) – thus giving the so-called “universal banks” on Wall Street two bites at the bailout apple.
For a look at just how quickly the Fed can sluice money to Wall Street mega banks with few questions asked by Congress, check out the chart below. It shows the Fed’s emergency money spigot to the mega banks in the last quarter of 2019 – for a financial emergency at the banks which has yet to be explained to the American people.
To grasp how radically things have changed since 2008 when former Goldman Sachs veteran-turned Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson took a 3-page document to Congress and demanded a $700 billion taxpayer bailout for the banks (Troubled Asset Relief Program, TARP), let the full meaning of the chart above sink in. The Fed can now funnel trillions of dollars in cumulative loans to mega banks on Wall Street, report the names of the banks and amounts borrowed two years later, and get a complete news blackout from mainstream media. (Wall Street On Parade was the only media outlet to chart the details and report the names of the banks that got the trillions of dollars in loans in 2019.)
Powell might have his own agenda in playing down the risks to the mega banks on Wall Street. According to Senator Elizabeth Warren, who sits on the Senate Banking Committee, Powell is leading the charge behind the scenes to overturn federal regulators’ proposal to require the largest banks to hold larger amounts of capital to prevent a replay of the 2008 financial crisis.
3. CHRIS POWELL//GATA
Jim Rickards…
Jim Rickards: Why gold is the everything hedge
Submitted by admin on Wed, 2024-03-27 19:32 Section: Daily Dispatches
By James G. Rickards
The Daily Reckoning, Baltimore
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Excerpted from his commentary tonight at The Daily Reckoning, “Gold Is the Everything Hedge”:
* * *
Gold prices are being driven higher by U.S. threats to steal $300 billion in U.S. Treasury securities from the Russian Federation. Those assets were legally purchased by the Central Bank of Russia as part of their reserve position.
The actual securities are held in custody in digital form at European banks, U.S. banks, and the Brussels-based Euroclear clearinghouse. Only about $20 billion of those Treasury securities are held by U.S. banks; the majority are held by Euroclear. Those assets were frozen by the United States at the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
Freezing assets means the Russians cannot collect interest or sell or transfer the assets or pledge them as collateral. Asset freezes are used frequently by the United States, including in the cases of Iran, Syria, Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela, and other nations. Often the assets are frozen for years but ultimately released to the owner as happened in the case of Iran after 2012.
Now the U.S. wants to go further and actually seize the assets, which may be viewed as outright theft under international law. The U.S. proposes to use the $300 billion to finance the war in Ukraine. European entities have expressed considerable uncertainty about this plan but the U.S. has maintained the pressure and wants to complete the theft before the June and July summits of G7 leaders and NATO members.
If the U.S. steals these assets, Russia will likely confiscate an equivalent amount of industrial and commercial assets located in Russia and owned by German, French, and Italian interests among others.
The bottom line is that if U.S. Treasury securities are not a safe investment, then securities of Germany, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and Japan are no better.
The only reserve asset free of this kind of digital theft is gold. Nations are beginning to diversify into gold in order to insulate themselves from digital confiscation by the collective West.
end
Federal Reserve refuses to provide records of foreign gold holdings. Seems that many central banks have asked for the gold stored at the federal Bank of NY to be repatriated back to their home countries.
(Silva)
Federal Reserve refuses to provide records of foreign gold holdings
Submitted by admin on Wed, 2024-03-27 15:41 Section: Daily Dispatches
By Ken Silva
Headline USA, Charlotte, North Carolina
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Weeks after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell evaded a congressman’s questions about the central bank’s foreign gold holdings, the Fed has also declined to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request for records about such holdings.
The Federal Reserve’s lack of transparency comes amid reports that countries are removing their gold and other assets from the U.S. in the wake of the unprecedented Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
According to a 2023 Invesco survey, a “substantial percentage” of central banks expressed concern about how the U.S. and its allies froze nearly half of Russia’s $650 billion gold and forex reserves.
U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., asked Powell about the matter in a December letter, only to have the Fed chair respond last month with evasive non-answers, telling him that the Federal Reserve does not own gold but holds it as a custodian for other entities — a fact that the congressman presumably already knew.
Following Powell’s evasive response, Headline USA filed a FOIA request with the Fed for records reflecting how much gold the Federal Reserve Bank of New York currently holds in its vault, as well as records reflecting the ownership stake that each of FRBNY’s central bank/government clients have in that gold. The FOIA request also sought records about the Fed’s gold holdings prior to Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. …
… For the remainder of the report:
https://headlineusa.com/federal-reserve-refuses-to-provide-records-of-foreign-gold-holdings
end
Secret national police report warns Canadians may revolt once they realize how broke they are
Submitted by admin on Wed, 2024-03-27 11:53 Section: Daily Dispatches
When Americans discover the same thing, their revolt may make Canada’s seem like a tea party.
* * *
By Tristin Hopper
National Post, Toronto
Wednesday, March 20, 2024
A secret Royal Canadian Mounted Police report is warning the federal government that Canada may descend into civil unrest once citizens realize the hopelessness of their economic situation.
“The coming period of recession will … accelerate the decline in living standards that the younger generations have already witnessed compared to earlier generations,” reads the report, entitled “Whole-of-Government Five-Year Trends for Canada.
“For example, many Canadians under 35 are unlikely ever to be able to buy a place to live,” it adds.
The report, labelled secret, is intended as a piece of “special operational information” to be distributed only within the RCMP and among “decision makers” in the federal government. …
… For the remainder of the report:
end
Perfectly correct!
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.” …
… For the remainder of the report:
Price-Level Determination Under the Gold Standard
By Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde and Daniel Sanches
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
January 9, 2024
We present a micro-founded monetary model of a small open economy to examine the behavior of money, prices, and output under the gold standard.
In particular, we formally analyze Hume’s celebrated price-specie flow mechanism.
Our framework incorporates the influence of international trade on the money supply in the home country through gold flows.
In the short run, a positive correlation exists between the quantity of money and the price level. Additionally, we demonstrate that money is non-neutral during the transition to the steady state, which has implications for welfare.
While the gold standard exposes the home country to short-term fluctuations in money, prices, and output caused by external shocks, it ensures long-term price stability as the quantity of money and prices only temporarily deviate from their steady-state levels.
We discuss the importance of policy coordination for achieving efficiency under the gold standard and consider the role of fiat money in this environment. We also develop a version of the model with two large economies. …
… For the full text of the study:
end
4. OTHER MAJOR GOLD COMMENTARIES/PODCASTS/
5 a. IMPORTANT COMMENTARIES ON COMMODITIES/
5 B GLOBAL COMMODITY ISSUES/FOOD IN GENERAL//FREIGHT
END
6.CRYPTOCURRENCY//DIGITAL CURRENCY// COMMENTARIES/
END
1.YOUR EARLY CURRENCY VALUES/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN AND EUROPEAN BOURSE MOVEMENTS/AND INTEREST RATE SETTINGS THURSDAY MORNING.7:30 AM
ONSHORE YUAN: CLOSED DOWN 7.2285
OFFSHORE YUAN: DOWN TO 7.2643
SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 17.52 PPTS OR 0.59%
HANG SENG CLOSED UP 148.58 PTS OR 0.91%
2. Nikkei closed DOWN 594.66 OR 1.46%
3. Europe stocks SO FAR: MOSTLY ALL GREEN
USA dollar INDEX DOWN TO 104.28 EURO FALLS TO 1.0794 DOWN 18 BASIS PTS
3b Japan 10 YR bond yield: FALLS TO. +.706 Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese YEN vs USA cross now at 151.36/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 UP TO +2.3180***/Italian 10 Yr bond yield UP to 3.687* /SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD UP TO 3.172…**
3i Greek 10 year bond yield UP TO 3.290
3j Gold at $2209.20 silver at: 24.54 1 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $30.00
3k USA vs Russian rouble;// Russian rouble UP 0 AND 6 /100 roubles/dollar; ROUBLE AT 92.24//
3m oil into the 82 dollar handle for WTI and 86 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 151.36// 10 YEAR YIELD AFTER FIRST BREAKING .54% LAST YEAR NOW EXCEEDS THAT LEVEL TO 0.706% 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 0.9052 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF: 0.9772 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: 4.228 UP 3 BASIS PTS…
USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 4.362 UP 1 BASIS PTS/
USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.622 UP 5 BASIS PTS
USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 32.33…(TURKEY SET TO BLOW UP FINANCIALLY)
GREAT BRITAIN/10 YEAR YIELD: UP 1 BASIS PTS AT 3.994
end
2.a Overnight: Newsquawk and Zero hedge,,,
2 B) NOW NEWSQUAWK (EUROPE/REPORT)
Stateside equity futures softer, Dollar bid post-Waller though Crude/XAU remains resilient; US IJC due – Newsquawk US Market Open
THURSDAY, MAR 28, 2024 – 06:38 AM
- European bourses hold a positive bias whilst Stateside futures are subdued ahead of a busy docket
- Dollar bid acting as a drag on G10 peers, Antipodeans lag
- Bonds are lower in a continuation of post-Waller price action
- Crude and XAU remains in the green despite the stronger Dollar as geopols remain in focus
- Looking ahead, Highlights include US GDP (F), IJC, UoM Inflation Expectations (F), Japanese Tokyo CPI & Unemployment Rate, Comments from ECB’s Knot, BoE’s Mann & RBNZ’s Orr, Earnings from Walgreens.
More Newsquawk in 3 steps:
1. Subscribe to the free premarket movers reports
2. Listen to this report in the market open podcast (available on Apple and Spotify)
3. Trial Newsquawk’s premium real-time audio news squawk box for 7 days
EUROPEAN TRADE
EQUITIES
- Mixed sentiment across Europe, Stoxx600 (+0.2%), with a modest upward bias following a mostly-firmer APAC handover; the FTSE 100 (+0.5%) benefits from the weaker Pound.
- European sectors hold a strong positive tilt; Travel & Leisure propped up by Evolution (+1.8%), whilst Construction & Materials is found at the foot of the pile.
- US Equity Futures (ES -0.1%, NQ -0.2%, RTY -0.2%) are subdued following yesterday’s late rally and ahead of the long weekend. A busy docket ahead will dictate price action today.
- Click here and here for the sessions European pre-market equity newsflow, including earnings.
- Click here for more details.
FX
- DXY picked up strength in early European trade as participants digested hawkish remarks from the influential Waller at the Fed. DXY now at levels not seen since mid-Feb. Currently eyeing the YTD peak at 104.97. PCE tomorrow looms large.
- EUR has been dragged lower by USD strength; EUR/USD below the double-bottom at 1.0802 and the 1.08 level with a session trough at 1.0775. Next large is the 20th Feb low at 1.0761.
- GBP is outmuscled by the dollar with Cable tripping below the 1.26 level in quiet newsflow, where it eventually found support at its 200 DMA at 1.2588; since, it reclaimed 1.26, where it currently resides. Haskel remarks are hawkish but not necessarily a consensus view on the MPC.
- JPY is one of the better relative performers vs. the USD but ultimately softer. Fresh Yen-specific drivers light ahead of CPI later. Currently contained within yesterday’s 151.02-97 range.
- Antipodeans lag against the majors as the uptick in the USD saw AUD/USD trip below last week’s low at 0.6503 and the 0.65 mark, with softer Australian Retail Sales also a factor.
- PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.0948 vs exp. 7.2259 (prev. 7.0946).
- Click here for more details.
FIXED INCOME
- USTs are pressured and dragging fixed benchmarks lower after Fed’s Waller stuck to his hawkish bias and made clear that there is no need to rush towards rate cuts.
- Bunds ticked higher on the region’s retail numbers, though proved fleeting, with Bunds now probing 133.00 to the downside conforming to the post-Waller pressure seen in Treasuries.
- Gilt price action is in-fitting with peers; specifics light after an interview from BoE’s Haskel who underscored his hawkish credentials and made clear that while he is no longer voting for further tightening he is in no rush to vote for easing. Gilts currently at 99.57 and will find support at 99.41, 27 & 16 from the last three sessions.
- Click here for more details.
COMMODITIES
- A positive day thus far for the oil complex despite the strengthening Dollar and quiet newsflow, though has been edging off best levels in recent trade. Brent reside within 86.30-60/bbl parameters.
- Precious metals vary with spot silver feeling the pressure from the firming Dollar, whilst spot gold is more resilient, potentially supported via geopols/recent BTC strength. XAU briefly printed a fresh weekly high at USD 2,200.75/oz before pulling back under USD 2,200.
- Mixed trade across base metals with copper futures relatively flat; 3M LME copper trades on either side of the unchanged mark and towards the bottom of a USD 8,830.50-8,930.50/t.
- Russia’s Kuibyshev mid-sized oil refinery is at a complete halt following a drone attack on March 23, via Reuters citing sources.
- Click here for more details.
NOTABLE EUROPEAN HEADLINES
- ECB’s Panetta says conditions for policy loosening are nearing; tight policy is contributing to rapid disinflation; risks to price stability has fallen.
KEY DATA RECAP
- German Unemployment Rate SA (Mar) 5.9% vs. Exp. 5.9% (Prev. 5.9%); Unemployment Total SA (Mar) 2.719M (Prev. 2.713M); Unemployment Total NSA (Mar) 2.769M (Prev. 2.814M)
- German Retail Sales YY Real (Feb) -2.7% vs. Exp. -0.8% (Prev. -1.4%)
- UK car output in February rose 14.6% Y/Y to 79,907 units, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
OTHER DATA RECAP
- UK GDP YY (Q4) -0.2% vs. Exp. -0.2% (Prev. -0.2%); GDP QQ (Q4) -0.3% vs. Exp. -0.3% (Prev. -0.3%)
- EU Money-M3 Annual Growth (Feb) 0.4% vs. Exp. 0.3% (Prev. 0.1%); Loans to Non-Fin (Feb) 0.4% (Prev. 0.2%); Loans to Households (Feb) 0.3% (Prev. 0.3%)
- Italian Consumer Confidence (Mar) 96.5 vs. Exp. 97.5 (Prev. 97.0); Manufacturing Business Confidence (Mar) 88.6 vs. Exp. 87.6 (Prev. 87.3, Rev. 87.5)
- Swedish Retail Sales YY (Feb) 0.3% (Prev. -1.2%); Retail Sales MM (Feb) 0.5% (Prev. 0.4%)
- UK Current Account GBP (Q4) -21.177B vs. Exp. -21.4B (Prev. -17.175B, Rev. -18.524B)
- UK Business Invest QQ (Q4) 1.4% (Prev. 1.5%, Rev. -2.8%); Business invest YY (Q4) 2.8% (Prev. 3.7%, Rev. 1.9%)
- Swiss KOF Indicator (Mar) 101.5 vs. Exp. 102.0 (Prev. 101.6, Rev. 102.0)
NOTABLE US HEADLINES
- Fed’s Waller (voter, hawk) said still no rush to cut rates in the current economy and the Fed may need to maintain the current rate target for longer than expected, while he needs to see more inflation progress before supporting a rate cut and needs at least a couple of months of data to be sure inflation is heading to 2%. Waller said he still expects the Fed to cut rates later this year but added the economy’s strength gives the Fed space to take stock of the data and data suggests fewer rate cuts possible this year.
- S&P affirmed the US at AA+; Outlook Stable, while it stated the US outlook remains stable indicating its expectation of continued economic resiliency, as well as proactive and effective monetary policy execution. S&P said the stable outlook reflects the US’s institutional checks & balances, and free flow of info contributing to stability and predictability in economic policies but added that ratings are constrained by fiscal weaknesses such as high net general government debt and deficits.
- Home Depot (HD) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire SRS Distribution for a total enterprise value (including net debt) of approximately USD 18.25bln
GEOPOLITICS
- US military said it destroyed four long-range drones launched by Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, according to Reuters.
CRYPTO
- Bitcoin is firmer on the session and attempting to climb back above USD 71k.
- Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) “could see upside volatility” as USD 15bln options are set to expire on Friday, according to CoinDesk. Click here for more details.
APAC TRADE
- APAC stocks partially sustained the momentum from the late ramp-up on Wall St heading into quarter-end.
- ASX 200 rose to a fresh record high with the broad-based gains in the index led by strength in the mining industry.
- Nikkei 225 was pressured after the JPY bounced back from 33-year lows amid intervention risks.
- Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. were underpinned by tech strength and after another firm PBoC liquidity operation, while China’s 3rd highest-ranked official Zhao Leji stated at the Boao Forum that China’s economy will provide a strong driving force for a world recovery and that China will reduce the ‘negative list’ for foreign investors.
NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES
- China’s top legislator Zhao Leji said at the Boao Forum that Asian countries should inject a strong impetus for world economic growth and that China’s economy will provide a strong driving force for world recovery. Zhao also stated that they oppose trade protection and decoupling, while he added that China is willing to collaborate with other countries on tech innovation and will reduce the ‘negative list’ for foreign investors.
- China’s Commerce Minister discussed with Dutch counterpart lithography machines and strengthening semiconductor industry cooperation, while the Commerce Minister stated that China hopes the Netherlands will uphold the spirit of the contract, support companies in fulfilling their contractual obligations, and ensure the normal conduct of lithography machine trade.
- BoJ Summary of Opinions from the March 18th-19th meeting stated that a member said YCC, negative rate and other massive stimulus tools have accomplished their roles and that the BoJ must guide monetary policy using short-term rate as main policy means in accordance with economic, price and financial developments. Furthermore, a member said shifting to ‘normal’ monetary easing is possible without causing short-term shocks and may have a positive impact on the economy in the medium- and long-term perspective, while a member warned that changing policy now could delay achievement of the BoJ’s price target.
- Citi raises China 2024 GDP growth forecast to 5% (vs 4.6% reported in Jan).
- China’s Commerce Ministry is lifting anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs on Australian wine as of 29th March
DATA RECAP
- Australian Retail Sales MM (Feb F) 0.3% vs. Exp. 0.4% (Prev. 1.1%)
- New Zealand ANZ Business Confidence (Mar) 22.9 (Prev. 34.7); ANZ Own Activity (Mar) 22.5 (Prev. 29.5)
2C ASIA AFFAIRS
THURSDAY MORNING/WEDNESDAY NIGHT
SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 17.52 PTS OR 0.59% //Hang Seng CLOSED UP 148.58 PTS OR 0.91% / Nikkei CLOSED DOWN 597.66 PTS OR 1.46% //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP 0.99% /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN 7.2285 //OFFSHORE CHINESE YUAN CLOSED DOWN TO 7.2643 /Oil UP TO 82.43 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT DOWN AT 86.40/ 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
3 CHINA
CHINA/
Billionaire investor sees China heading for a ‘100-year big storm’
China faces a “100-year big storm” and needs to tackle its debts, or it could endure a lost decade akin to the economic stagnation that gripped Japan in the 1990s.
That’s Ray Dalio, billionaire investor and founder of hedge-fund Bridgewater Associates, in a Wednesday blog post on LinkedIn, urging Chinese leader Xi Jinping to reduce Beijing’s debt load, while also easing monetary policy and guiding its economy through the tumult.
“In my opinion, this should have been done two years ago, and if not done will probably lead to a lost decade,” Dalio wrote.
China should now focus on easing its imbalances, according to Dalio, including in the following areas:
The average age of retirement in China is 53, while the average age of death is 84. “People without incomes have to be taken care of for 31 years on average.” China’s former one-child policy also means one person taking care of two elderly parents. Old-age care in China needs to improve, and the retirement age raised.
China should be clear about how it plans to deal with conflict tied to its wealth gap and values.
The U.S.-China power conflict is having a big negative effect, which raises the odds of a devastating war in the next 10 years.
Climate issues are big and threatening.
Winning the technology war means winning the economic, geopolitical and military wars.
While capitalism produces cycles of credit and spending power, which can unleash periods of creativity and prosperity, it also tends to give way to wealth gaps and a lot of debt, Dalio said.
“And when the debt becomes too large to pay off and there are big wealth gaps, that causes the cycle to reverse,” he said.
In China, debt pressures have combined with international power conflicts, big technological upheavals and drought, flood and pandemic, creating a backdrop for the 100-year storm to crash ashore.
It also is important “to distinguish between the hand Xi was dealt and how he has been choosing to play it,” Dalio said.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HK:HSI is down 3.8% year to date as of Wednesday, but 16% lower from a year ago. The S&P 500 index SPX is up 10% on the year, and finishing Wednesday’s session at a record high.
END
4.EUROPEAN AFFAIRS//UK /SCANDINAVIAN AFFAIRS
END
5. RUSSIA AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS.
ISRAEL HAMAS/
I figured that the number is closer to 40,000 than 30,000
30,000 was always an estimate for how many fighters Hamas had. We now know that the number was too low. Following numbers provided by Israeli defense sources, Israel has killed around 13,000 members of Hamas. Already back in early February, the IDF had wounded another 10,000 to such a degree that it was assessed that they would not be able to return to battle and had arrested another 2,300. The IDF has not provided updated wounded and arrest numbers since then, but simply adding together a series of public announcements regarding arrests, such as the more than 500 Hamas terrorists arrested at Shifa Hospital, at least around 3,500 would have been arrested to date. This means that at least around 26,000 Hamas members have been put out of action by Israel to date when adding together killed, wounded, and arrested totals. Until Tuesday, Israeli defense sources had said that there were four Hamas battalions in Rafah and two left in central Gaza, leaving around 6,000 Hamas forces. Adding 26,000 and 6,000 would have broken the 30,000 total but could be considered close enough to be generally accurate. However, on Tuesday, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer said that Hamas has 8,000 of its forces in Rafah. Adding an additional 4,000 to 32,000 brings us up to 36,000. But that is not the end of it. Recently, IDF sources gave a briefing indicating that around 70% of Hamas forces in Khan Yunis, out of an original 4,500, had been removed from the battlefield. That would leave at least 1,300 additional forces in Khan Yunis. Similarly, there have been reports that Hamas still had at least a few thousand forces left in northern Gaza. Adding all these numbers up, one comes closer to a pre-war Hamas force of 40,000 or more and the idea that it still has around 15,000 or more remaining forces. None of this takes credit away from Israel for having succeeded at taking apart 18 out of Hamas’s 24 battalions and from having succeeded at removing – even with these new numbers – more than 60% of Hamas forces from the battlefield, an impressive feat. The truth is that even as almost all official channels from the IDF repeated the 30,000 number, a couple of high officials always let slip, in less regulated briefings, that the actual number was closer to 40,000. For this reason, when the Jerusalem Post assessed the overall numbers, it always gave two statistics: how much of Hamas was removed and remained based on a 30,000 number and a 40,000 number. Have new terrorists joined Hamas during the course of the war in a way that the IDF has been unable to measure? Was the decision to go with 30,000 to inflate the military’s progress? If it was due to uncertainty, why did the IDF not repeat both numbers in official channels and briefings, in line with its usually conservative estimate policy? There has been at least one example where the IDF seemed to cave to political pressure on the numbers. Up until February 1, defense officials had said Israel had killed around 10,000 Hamas forces. By February 12, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was saying the IDF had killed 12,000 Hamas forces. Although multiple defense sources said the number was still closer to 10,000/10,500 in real-time, within days, the IDF had shifted its total to be consistent with what Netanyahu had said publicly. However, these numbers are not just part of the public relations war. Israel and the IDF need to make assessments about the future of the war and how long it will take to truly defeat Hamas (and what will be lost by the continuation of the war for that amount of time) based on cold-hard factual numbers and not based on wishful thinking. There is no question that, given an unlimited amount of time, the IDF could eventually eliminate Hamas as a fighting force. But time is not unlimited. Anyone who did not know that was reminded when the US decided not to veto the recent UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire. The US has made it clear that despite that vote, it still supports Israel’s goal of defeating Hamas, but only within certain limits in its actions and probably only within a quickly closing time frame.Surprise! Hamas has thousands more fighters than Israel initially thought – analysis
At least around 26,000 Hamas members have been put out of action by Israel to date when adding together killed, wounded, and arrested totals.
Why did the IDF continue to repeat the 30,000 number?
END
ISRAEL HAMAS
THEY CAN NO LONGER SAY THAT RAPE DID NOT HAPPEN!!
(JERUSALEM POST)
‘Devil took over me’: IDF reveals Islamic Jihad terrorist’s October 7 rape confession
Pressed how long the rape lasted, Islamic Jihad terrorist Manar Mahmoud Muhammad Qasem said around 60-90 seconds.
By YONAH JEREMY BOBMARCH 28, 2024 17:00Updated: MARCH 28, 2024 17:16
The IDF on Thursday put out a video of a Unit 504 interrogation of an Islamic Jihad terrorist named Manar Mahmoud Muhammad Qasem in which he explicitly confesses to and describes his rape of an Israeli woman on October 7.
From the interrogation video, Qasem did not seem to know much about the invasion of Israel in advance, but he was told by one of his fellow Islamic Jihad counterparts that they were going to attack Israel when he arrived at their regular base.
Despite being trained for naval combat, he and his counterpart joined in the invasion on land. Qasem noted to the interrogator that his counterpart was wounded in the head after they crossed into Israel, but that he proceeded into a Kibbutz with a handgun and two grenades.
Next, he said, he entered a house alone; it initially appeared empty, but he then found a woman in one of the side rooms.
https://player.jpost.com/public/player.html?player=jpost&media=3688314&url=www.jpost.comThe interrogation of Islamic Jihad terrorist Manar Mahmoud Muhammad Qasem (IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)
“I started to strip her clothes off, and I did what I did”
He said she was terrified of him and that he threw her on the couch when she asked for help.
Qasem described her as wearing a blue miniskirt, a white shirt, and sandals.
After he threw her on the couch, he told the interrogator, “Satan took over me, I lay on top of her on the bed, I started to strip her clothes off, and I did what I did.”
He said that he had also removed her pink bra and pink underwear.
When the interrogator asked him to specify what exactly “he did,” Qasem said, “I went to sleep with her.”
The interrogator then asks him if all they did was go to sleep.
At this point, it seems that the interrogator and the terrorist were speaking at the same time, and one cannot hear the terrorists’s voice, but the subtitles say that he said, “I raped her.”
When the sound for the video returns, Qasem said, “she pushed me, and it didn’t last very long, then I heard yelling outside.”
Pressed how long the rape lasted, Qasem said around 60-90 seconds.
Next, he said that the two put their clothes back on and that two other terrorists entered and took the woman and her mother (who had also appeared) away.
After this, Qasem said he heard gunfire nearby and opened fire on an Israeli male civilian.
He said he hit the man in the lower part of his body, but did not know whether the man survived or not.
He also said he threw one of his grenades at two other Israelis, and then fled.
END
ISRAEL/GAZA/HAMAS/USA
In Reversal, Israel Sending Delegation To White House After “Bibi Made A Mistake”
WEDNESDAY, MAR 27, 2024 – 07:20 PM
Israel’s military has stepped up its airstrikes on the southern Gaza city Rafah in the last two days, on Wednesday bombing at least four homes, raising fears that the planned ground assault is imminent, despite the UN Security Council having just issued an official call for immediate ceasefire.
Gaza health officials said that one of these airstrikes killed eleven people from a single family, as cited in Reuters. One local eyewitness, Jamil Abu Houri, described that “The bombing has increased, and they have threatened us with an incursion, and they say that have been given the green light for the Rafah incursion. Where is the Security Council?”
While UNSC resolutions calling for ceasefire tend to be more symbolic than having real immediate impact, the formal resolution definitely ratcheted the pressure on Israel, and created tension with the White House given that it was the US abstention which allowed it to pass in the first place.
As for the timing of a ground invasion of Rafah, regional media has cited Israeli military sources who say it will begin soon after the Muslim fasting season Ramadan is finished:
The pro-Hezbollah Al-Akhbar daily, citing Egyptian sources who were said to have been in contact with Israel Defense Forces officials, reported that the expected offensive would come after Eid al-Fitr — the three-day holiday that follows Ramadan and ends around April 12 — or in early May at the latest.
The ground incursion inside the last bastion of Hamas in the Gaza Strip would last from four to eight weeks, the sources said, and would be accompanied by an evacuation of the civilian population sheltering in Rafah, which amounts to about 1.5 million people, toward the center of the Strip along specific routes and at specific times, announced to civilians in each area of the city in advance.
The Monday UNSC ceasefire resolution had resulted in PM Netanyahu canceling a top Israeli delegation’s expected visit to the White House this week. The Biden administration slammed the move as an “overreaction”.
On Thursday Netanyahu has reversed course, apparently. “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to send two top Israeli officials to Washington as early as next week for talks about a possible military operation in Rafah,” officials told Axios.
“The Prime Minister’s office has agreed to reschedule the meeting dedicated to Rafah,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced, citing the need for “urgent” discussion on Rafah. According to more from Axios:
A U.S. official told Axios cancelling the trip and the rhetoric around it was “an unnecessary drama on Netanyahu’s part.”
A senior Israeli official agreed and said: “Bibi made a mistake.” She said: “We are now working on a convenient date that will work for both sides.”
ISRAEL is carrying out a MASSIVE BOMBING campaign on Rafah. So much more that UN ceasefire resolution.
from Miami, FL
·
266.1K Views
Starting early this month President Biden had issued a ‘red line’ for the first time over Rafah, warning Israel against attacking the southern enclave which is still packed with over one million internally displaced refugees. Washington has repeatedly called on Israel to facilitate a mass exodus of civilians before any assault takes place. But Israeli officials say the military must go in to eradicate Hamas.
END
ISRAEL/HAMAS ATTACK INSIDE ISRAEL
Child among three wounded in Jordan Valley terror shooting, IDF pursuing suspects
The wounded arrived at Hadassah Hospital for treatment • Two armored busses carrying students were also hit, none wounded • Public figures react.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFMARCH 28, 2024 07:28Updated: MARCH 28, 2024 09:08
Two men and a child were wounded in a terror shooting toward a bus on Route 90 in the Jordan Valley, the IDF confirmed Thursday morning.
Initially, the IDF reported the shooting incident early Thursday morning.
After initial reports, Magen David Adom stated: “At 07:04, a report was received at MDA’s 101 hotline in the Gilboa area about a shooting at two vehicles on Road 90 near Al-Auja. MDA medics and paramedics provided medical treatment to three wounded: a 30-year-old man in moderate to serious condition with gunshot wounds to his limbs, a 21-year-old man in mild condition with a gunshot wound to his limbs and a 13-year-old boy in mild condition with from glass shrapnel wounds to the face. They referred the wounded to Hadassah Hospital in Mount Scopus.”
The IDF later added that a terrorist shot in the direction of multiple vehicles near Al-Auja in the Jordan Valley division of the West Bank. It also announced that soldiers in the area arrived at the scene and began pursuing the terrorist.
Uriel Reins and Keren Gazit, members of Rescue Without Borders, MDA’s emergency response team for the Jordan Valley region, arrived at the scene and reported that medics were giving first aid in two locations, one near the entrance of the town of Naomi.
Rescue Without Borders also reported that two armored bullet-proof buses carrying students were hit, but no one inside was wounded.
Later, emergency MDA medic Lital Kruwani arrived at the scene and gave her account of what happened.
“We were rushed to the entrance to Kibbutz Na’aran. We saw a vehicle with two men who were wounded. According to them, when they passed near Al-Auja, they were shot at, and they continued driving until the entrance to Kibbutz Na’aran,” she said.
“One wounded man, a man about 30 years old, was fully conscious with gunshot wounds to his lower limbs and a second man, 21 years old, with a gunshot wound On foot. We gave them life-saving medical treatment and evacuated them to the hospital. The 30-year-old man’s condition is moderate. MDA medics and paramedics provide medical treatment and refer him to the hospital for serious and minor injuries,” Kruwani added.
Reactions to the attack
Likud MK Dan Illouz responded to the attack on a post on X, saying, “Terror must be defeated in all arenas while defeating the enemy and deepening our roots in the land of our ancestors. Now is the precise time to apply sovereignty to the Jordan Valley, an area whose importance is not disputed in Israeli society. This will be a victory picture that will be remembered for generations.”
The Bus Drivers’ organization from the National Histadrut, which unites the majority of drivers in Israel, issued a statement following the shooting incident, which damaged multiple buses: “This is not the first time that buses and bus drivers have been attacked by gunfire. Buses are a symbol of government, and for this reason, they are repeatedly attacked. This is an ongoing terror against the drivers and passengers. The time has come to promote bus security immediately so that every bus will have a security guard as it was in the past. The blood of the drivers and passengers must not be wasted.”
Chairman of the Yesha Council, Shlomo Ne’eman, gave the following statement in response to the attack: “Another attempt to massacre children, this time a despicable terrorist is shooting at a school bus in the Jordan Valley. We send recovery wishes to the wounded and expect the security forces to reach the terrorists and settle the score quickly. We come back and demand, for the safety of our residents and the residents of the entire State of Israel – it’s time to turn the tide.”
“The Palestinian Authority is waging a war against us, and only action with the same force as in Gaza will eliminate all threats throughout the West Bank. We call on the government of Israel and its leader, on the one hand, to allow the development of the settlement without restrictions and, on the other hand, to go to war to eliminate the vile enemy, he added.
“Jewish blood is not wasted. To all those who wish us harm, we say that even this morning, we will not give in to terrorism that tries to shed Jewish blood and expel us from our country. We will continue to live and develop without fear and dread.”
END
WEST BANK
3 hurt in West Bank terror shooting attack on cars, school buses
IDF launches manhunt for terrorist behind assault on vehicles on Route 90, in Jordan Valley town of al-Auja; 13-year-old boy among the injured
By EMANUEL FABIAN FOLLOW
Today, 9:46 am
Rescue workers at the scene of a terror attack near the West Bank town of Al-Auja, March 28, 2024. (Rescuers Without Borders)
Three Israelis were wounded in a terror shooting attack against school buses and other cars on a major highway in the West Bank on Thursday morning, the military and medics said.
The attack took place in the West Bank town of al-Auja. Route 90, the main north-south artery in the Jordan Valley, passes through the Palestinian town.
Two bulletproof school buses and at least two cars were hit in the attack as they drove through al-Auja, according to medics and local authorities.
In one of the cars, a 30-year-old man was shot and left in moderate to serious condition and another man was shot and lightly hurt, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said.
The Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital later said the first man’s condition had improved and he was now listed in moderate condition.
In the second car, a 13-year-old boy hit by glass shards was said to be in good condition.
Both vehicles continued driving after coming under attack, meeting up with medics at the settlement of Kibbutz Na’aran, north of al-Auja, and at the settlement of Na’ama, south of the Palestinian town.
MDA said it took the three victims to hospitals in Jerusalem.
There were no injuries in the bulletproof school buses that came under fire.
Dashcam footage captured when one of the buses came under fire. Another clip from after the attack showed more than six bullet impacts on the side of the bus.
A separate image from another dashcam video showed the gunman, who appeared to be dressed in all green, opening fire with an assault rifle
במדים ירוקים, חמוש בנשק ארוך: כך נראה המחבל שביצע הבוקר את פיגוע הירי בעוג׳ה בבקעת הירדן, ופצע שלושה ישראלים. המצוד אחריו נמשך
Translate post
·
1,325 Views
END
ISRAEL/HEZBOLLAH/SYRIA/LEBANON
this is important ..Israel’s strategy of destroying their weapon transfers is paying dividends
(Jerusalem Post)
Iran and Hezbollah shaken by Israel’s new warfare tactics, Saudi expert says
The military commentator of the Saudi Al-Hadath channel, Asad Awad commented on the campaign in Israel’s north and analyzed the IDF’s tactics in the region
By MAARIV ONLINEMARCH 22, 2024 16:37Updated: MARCH 23, 2024 07:24
Assad Awad, the military commentator from the Saudi channel Al-Hadath, appeared on the channel on Thursday. He addressed the situation in Israel’s North and analyzed the IDF’s tactics in the region.
Awad addressed Israel’s conflict between Hezbollah and Iran. Speaking on the conflict, Awad suggested, “Israel was surprised by the extent of the tunnels in Gaza and the military methods [of Hamas,] and it has adopted a new strategy for regional deterrence,” he said at the outset.
In the heart of civilian villages: Hezbollah’s weapon production
In the initial stage, according to Awad, “Israel severely hit Iranian shipment operations to the region and destroyed many weapon shipments that were on their way from Iran.Top ArticlesRead More
In order to cope with the boredom of doing monotonous work, making it a game works better
“In the next stage, warehouses in eastern Syria were attacked and destroyed. [The warehouses] contain[ed] weapons that could have been deployed to the border with Israel within hours. In fact, it undermined Iran’s supply lines to Hezbollah and Iranian militias in the region.
“All these actions may serve as a prelude to more significant activities, which may include the destruction of Hezbollah tunnels or at least disrupting the fortifications along the border with Lebanon, stretching over 79 kilometers, as well as in the Golan Heights area, which is expected to be much more challenging.”
Awad went on to clarify that “Geographically, the Golan Heights area – facing Shebaa Farms, is a tough terrain considered a Hezbollah stronghold. Israeli airstrikes will not be advantageous there, and Israel will need to show creativity in finding new operational tactics.”
In his remarks, he referred to the Mountains Brigade, which will begin its operations in the coming weeks – at the height of the war, and will operate in the sectors of Mount Hermon and Mount Dov.
“Forces in the Mountains Brigade participated in the 2006 war and come with a deep familiarity with Hezbollah’s tunnels,'” he said.
“In recent weeks, Hezbollah has begun building tunnels from Syria to Lebanon, aiming to transfer weapons from the arsenals, but at this stage, there is no benefit in tunnels. I estimate 70%-80% of the arsenals have been destroyed,” Awad theorized. “This is expected to delay any plan Hezbollah seeks to implement, and this may be Israel’s opportunity.”
end
ISRAEL LEBANON//
END
END
RUSSIA/
It is going to get quite crowded in the Red Sea
(zerohedge)
Russian Warships Enter Red Sea As Rival US-Led Coalition Patrols
THURSDAY, MAR 28, 2024 – 01:10 PM
The Russian navy’s Pacific Fleet has confirmed that it sent several of its warships through the Bab al-Mandab Strait and into the Red Sea, at a moment Houthi attacks against international shipping is ongoing, and as the waters are still being patrolled by the US-led military coalition.
Russian defense ministry sources identified that the Russian cruiser Varyag and the frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov are engaged in the patrol mission, but it remains unclear whether additional support vessels are participating as well.
State-run TASS describes that the warships are carrying out “assigned tasks within the framework of the long-range sea campaign.” The ultimate destination of the vessels has not been disclosed.
The Varyag and Marshal Shaposhnikov had earlier this month participated in joint naval drills involving Iran, China, and Russia in the Indian Ocean – which Moscow described at the time as practicing “safety in maritime economic activities.”
But a Russian warship presence in the Red Sea certainly makes the waters a bit more ‘crowded’ given that the US and UK are currently leading 22-country naval coalition known as ‘Operation Prosperity Guardian’. Other countries include Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, and a number of additional nations have reportedly sent ships as anonymous participants. There have been no indicators that Moscow intends to cooperate with its rivals and enemies in the Western naval coalition.
The question remains whether Russia is sending its warships out of concern that they’ll come under Houthi attack. At this point not only dozens of commercial vessels been attacked, but US and UK warships as well, which often must intercept inbound drones. The Yemeni rebel group backed by Iran has long said its goal is to thwart any ships passage which is linked to Israel, the US or UK – and further to prevent commercial vessels’ usage of Israeli ports.
However, the Houthis have simultaneously vowed to provide safe passage for Chinese and Russian vessels. But as international reports have noted, some Russian and Chinese vessels have come under attack in rare instances:
Yet, they appear to have misidentified some vessels. Missiles exploded near a ship hauling Russian oil near Yemen in late January. It happened days after a spokesman for the Houthis told a Russian newspaper that Russian and Chinese merchant ships needn’t fear attacks.
The Houthis also fired a missile at Chinese-owned oil tanker Huang Pu on Saturday, US Central Command said, highlighting continued risks to shipping in the seas off Yemen despite the agreement.
But as recently as a week ago, Chinese and Russian diplomats met in Oman with Mohammad Abdul Salam, the spokesman and chief negotiator for Yemen’s National Salvation Government (NSG), and “reached an understanding” about safe passage through the Red Sea and beyond.
Moscow and Beijing have made their positions clear against the Western coalition’s bombings of Yemen in response to the Houthi attacks. For example, Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyansky and China’s UN envoy Geng Shuang have previously blasted the US for illegally bombing the Arab world’s poorest nation while failing to pressure Israel into accepting a diplomatic solution. Polyansky said in mid-February, “An immediate cease-fire in Gaza will help stabilize the situation in the Red Sea, and the de-escalation in those waters will, in turn, unblock the efforts of [UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg].”
“I would like to reiterate that the Security Council has never authorized any country to use force against Yemen. International law and resolutions of the council should not be subjected to misrepresentation and abuse by any country,” Shuang told the UN Security Council earlier this month.
A Houthi spokesman has also set forth that “There is constant cooperation and development of relations between Yemen, Russia, China, and BRICS states, as well as an exchange of knowledge and experience in various areas. This is necessary to drown the US and the West in [the crisis] around the Red Sea, to get bogged down, weaken, and become unable to maintain unipolarity,” he said according to TASS.
6.Global Issues//COVID ISSUES
COVID ISSUES/VACCINE ISSUES//DRUG ISSUES
Compound Found In Broccoli Could Help Dissolve Blood Clots And Prevent Stroke
WEDNESDAY, MAR 27, 2024 – 07:40 PM
Authored by Allison DeMajistre via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Researchers from the Heart Research Institute (HRI) in Australia have found that a common vegetable eaten by millions every day may be able to prevent and treat a leading cause of death worldwide.
The study, published in the journal ACS Central Science, shows results from a three-year investigation into how a natural chemical found in broccoli can help dissolve blood clots and improve the action of a common clot-busting drug used to treat an acute ischemic stroke.
Current Stroke Treatment
Every 40 seconds, someone in the United States suffers a stroke. In 2021, strokes accounted for one in every six deaths from cardiovascular disease.
There are two types of strokes: ischemic and hemorrhagic. An ischemic stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain is obstructed by a clot, while a hemorrhagic stroke results when a weakened vessel in the brain ruptures and causes bleeding inside the brain. According to the American Heart Association, ischemic stroke accounts for 87 percent of all strokes.
The only drug currently available to treat an acute ischemic stroke is tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), a thrombolytic agent that breaks up blood clots and restores adequate blood flow to the brain. Unfortunately, tPA comes with severe limitations and potential dangers, including bleeding into the brain with up to a 45 percent fatality rate when this occurs.
Xuyu Liu, the study’s lead researcher, who holds a doctorate in chemical biology, stated on the HRI website in 2022: “Current treatments are a double-edged sword—by clearing blood clots, it also means a patient has an increased risk of bleeding in the brain should they need emergency surgery. We are looking for clues in nature to find this magic anti-clotting drug which can work where it’s needed but also still allow patients to have antithrombotic treatments.”
HRI researchers discovered that the natural chemical in broccoli, sulforaphane, may improve the performance of tPA and could lead to newer, safer, and more effective medications for acute stroke.
“We know eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and foods low in saturated fats can help prevent heart disease and stroke, but can some of these same vegetables treat and reverse stroke? I think it can and my team is working to prove it at the molecular level,” Mr. Liu said in the 2022 HRI interview.
Sulforaphane’s Protective Properties
In an Australian radio interview, Mr. Liu said his team began investigating broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables three years ago by screening a library of over 100 natural products from healthy diets to find something with properties that would prevent blood clots in the brain.
Mr. Liu’s background included finding ways to prevent cancer with a healthy diet, but when he transitioned into his current role at the HRI, he decided to study sulforaphane derived from cruciferous vegetables and how it could potentially treat blood clots in the circulatory system.
According to Mr. Liu, sulforaphane isn’t limited to broccoli. In the radio interview, he said that cruciferous vegetables produce sulforaphane as a protective mechanism against insects or other types of destruction.
For instance, an intact piece of broccoli doesn’t contain sulforaphane. It isn’t until it’s chopped or chewed that it undergoes a chemical reaction that produces sulforaphane. Sulforaphane’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties are designed to protect the plant, but when ingested by humans, studies have found sulforaphane has numerous anti-cancer and health-protective qualities.
Results and Next Steps
“What we found in a preclinical trial is that the tPA success rate increases to 60 per cent [sic] when the medication is given with the broccoli-derived [sulforaphane],” Mr. Liu said in an HRI interview. “Excitingly, this naturally occurring compound does not cause any signs of bleeding, which is a common side effect associated with blood-thinning agents tested in stroke treatment.”
Preclinical testing showed that administering sulforaphane reduced the formation of blood clots while improving the action of tPA. Initial testing also found that sulforaphane could slow the onset of stroke.
“Not only is the broccoli compound effective in improving the performance of clot-busting medication after a stroke, it could be used as a preventative agent for patients who are at a high risk of stroke,” said Mr. Liu.
Mr. Liu’s next step is to raise funding for human clinical trials with the hope of developing a new preventative and anti-clotting treatment within five years. “This natural product has been used to prevent cancer before, so I think we have a strong rationale in terms of safety and other pharmacological properties,” he said in the radio interview.
end
Secret Docs Reveal Germany’s Public Health Agency Warned Lockdowns Cause More Harm Than Good
THURSDAY, MAR 28, 2024 – 03:30 AM
Authored by John Cody via ReMix News,
Following a long legal battle, Germany’s public health agency, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), has released the confidential protocols that show the RKI was aware that “lockdowns cause more harm than good” and evidence for “making masks mandatory was lacking.”
The RKI voiced concerns in 2020 that shutting down German society could lead to increased child mortality and other negative outcomes. The RKI experts also disagreed with the implementation of FFP2 face masks, saying there was a lack of data to support such a measure.
“Active communication would make sense in order to make clear why the RKI does not recommend this measure,” notes the minute regarding implementing FFP2 mask regulations. The agency even notes in the minutes that it would tell the public it did not support FFP2 mask regulations, but notably, the agency never did so despite mass protests against mandatory masks and other harsh measures.
The 2,500 pages of documents also contain a passage noting that experts warned that lockdowns could “do more harm than good,” with experts citing lockdowns in Africa and the negative outcomes seen there.
The documents have revealed that German politicians dramatized the situation, contrary to the opinions of experts. This was done presumably in order to implement coercive measures and restrict basic rights. There are now calls to release the rest of the documents, as more than a thousand passages are still redacted, representing a third of the total text dating from meeting notes from the “crisis unit” taken between February 2020 and April 2021.
The release of the documents has sent shockwaves through Germany and led even left-wing parties, such as the Greens, to call for a “comprehensive review” of coronavirus policy. Other parties, like the Alternative for Germany (AfD), are calling for more action, including a commission investigation.
Politicians are urging the RKI to lift the redactions and make all findings available to the public, and further court proceedings are pending. In the meantime, debate continues to rage, with the #RKIFiles tag on X already generating 45,000 posts.
An example of just a couple of posts shows the anger many Germans still feel towards the coronavirus-era policies put in place.
“The Bavarian state government tortured children with masks until spring 2022 — even in physical education classes. Not because there was scientific evidence for it, but because Markus Söder liked the role of coronavirus hardliner. #RKIFiles,” wrote one X user.
Another showed video of police brutalizing protesters demonstrating against Covid-19 measures, writing:
“It’s good that the RKI protocols are included in the broader discussion! But there can be no such thing as cheap forgiveness. With the coronavirus, 2/3 of Germans became massively aggressive against 1/3. The handcuffs must click on the main criminals.”
Virologist reacts to report
Virologist Klaus Stöhr, once the WHO pandemic commissioner, said the revealed protocols once again show that the “risk assessment was not based on data.” According to Stöhr, “his hair stood on end when it came to (Germany’s) pandemic plan.”
Stöhr also commented on the fact that the RKI protocols uncovered that experts were telling the government that there is little data to support widespread mask adoption for the public.
“And the fact that what was known about FFP2 masks was completely ignored is just two small building blocks.” There was “a lot more data available where it was seen that the work was not based on evidence,” he said.
The scientist referred to “curfews, border closures, 2G/3G (areas restricted based on vaccination status), and the side effects of lockdowns” as further examples of this. Stöhr noted that “these are all things that were known – including that the vaccines could not halt the spread of the virus.” He said that the vaccines could not end the pandemic, and it was “clear from the beginning that the vaccine couldn’t do that.”
He is now calling for a commission or review process to avoid the mistakes made by the government during the Covid-19 era in the future.
Virologist Hendrik Streeck, who was appointed to the RKI expert council, also stated: “I’m very surprised that entire pages about vaccinations, for example, were blacked out,” he said to Welt. “And I wonder what it says, why the public shouldn’t see it.”
Lauterbach in panic mode?
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) reacted with horror to the findings in the report. As federal health minister during a significant portion of the pandemic, he has often been the top target of criticism from those opposed to Germany’s Covid-19 policies.
“Enlightenment is good, but we must not allow conspiracy theories to arise on social media through the interference of foreign governments,” he wrote on the X platform. Why he referred to “foreign governments” remained unclear, but when cornered, left-wing politicians often resort to claims of “foreign interference” and “Russia.”
Despite calls for a review of policy, Lauterbach is desperate to avoid this outcome and is also openly rejecting a commission, as the AfD and BSW parties are calling for.
Lauterbach claims this would only benefit “a small group of politicians, but also people who perhaps represent radical ideas in other areas.” He claims they would use the findings “to politicize against the state.”
Some from the Greens also resorted to claims of “foreign influence” following the release of the RKI protocols.
Green health politician Janosch Dahmen, one of the most aggressive supporters of extreme Covid-19 policies, said: “It seems to me that the virulent spread of such untruthful rumors is also the result of the influence of foreign intelligence services on our society against the background of Russia’s war against Ukraine, to further divide and render politics incapable of action.”
The AfD, FDP and BSW want an investigation
The AfD, Free Democrats and BSW parties all want a more thorough investigation than a simple “review.”
“The public has a right to know what really happened back then,” said the health policy spokesman for the AfD parliamentary group, Martin Sichert, regarding the redactions still in the report. He appealed to the other parliamentary groups: “Take a look at the protocols of the RKI crisis team and set up a coronavirus investigation committee with us.”
Even the FDP, which is in a governing coalition with the ruling government, is calling for a more thorough investigation. FDP vice-president Wolfgang Kubicki announced that he would “work to ensure that the entire basis for decision-making at this time becomes public.” He also said it is becoming increasingly clear “that the Robert Koch Institute for Health Policy served as a scientific façade for former Minister Jens Spahn and probably also Karl Lauterbach.”
Some Greens are conciliatory
Some left-wing politicians believe some kind of review is necessary to improve “social cohesion.”
“It would be good for social cohesion if there were a review of coronavirus policy with a little distance,” said the Green parliamentary group’s legal policy spokesperson, Helge Limburg, to Welt newspaper. “This could be a commission of inquiry, a commission of experts, or another form of debate that signals to people: We are not simply brushing aside the drastic measures of that time.”
Health and budget politician Paula Piechotta said: “Almost exactly four years after the first pandemic measures were introduced in Germany, it is now overdue to address the mistakes of pandemic policy in a wide range of areas, from health and education to financial policy, in a transparent and timely manner for everyone.”
Her party colleague, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, also said a review of the coronavirus era was necessary but was short on specifics.
“We should now initiate a phase in which we reflect on the difficult pandemic period with all its effects,” he told the Bild newspaper. The German government at the time had to make far-reaching decisions quickly in an unprecedented situation during the pandemic.
“Certainly mistakes were made, but it would also have been a mistake not to make a decision,” he continued. “I think we should have the courage to learn the lessons, review processes, and evaluate the impact.”
In retrospect, it is fair to ask “whether the advisory bodies for politicians really covered the diversity of perspectives in science,” said Green MP Dieter Janecek. “For example, some encroachments on fundamental rights were certainly questionable: Unvaccinated people were not allowed into restaurants or swimming pools, even though it was already clear that the vaccine did not prevent transmission. Children and young people were unduly disadvantaged.”
GLOBAL ISSUES//GLOBAL SALES
end
MARK CRISPIN MILLER
In memory of those who “died suddenly” in the United States and worldwide, March 19-March 25, 2024
Athletes: US (2), Canada, Colombia, Germany, Belgium, Egypt, Turkey, Japan; coaches: US (2), UK, Germany (2), Russia; musicians: US (5), Brazil (2), Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Iran, Indonesia; more
| MARK CRISPIN MILLERMAR 27 |
Denmark:
United States:
https://open.substack.com/pub/markcrispinmiller/p/in-memory-of-those-who-died-suddenly-1ef
News from Underground by Mark Crispin Miller is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Canada:
https://open.substack.com/pub/markcrispinmiller/p/in-memory-of-those-who-died-suddenly-836
Mexico:
Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Suriname, Brazil and Argentina:
https://open.substack.com/pub/markcrispinmiller/p/in-memory-of-those-who-died-suddenly-304
Brazil:
Argentina:
United Kingdom and Ireland:
https://open.substack.com/pub/markcrispinmiller/p/in-memory-of-those-who-died-suddenly-50f
France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Belarus, Cyprus and Spain:
https://open.substack.com/pub/markcrispinmiller/p/in-memory-of-those-who-died-suddenly-36d
Italy:
Italy:
https://open.substack.com/pub/markcrispinmiller/p/in-memory-of-those-who-died-suddenly-4bc
Turkey:
Egypt, Ghana, Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Russia, India, Pakistan, Burma, Japan, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand:
https://open.substack.com/pub/markcrispinmiller/p/in-memory-of-those-who-died-suddenly-673
India:
DR PAUL ALEXANDER
Richard Simmons, Christie Brinkley have skin cancer; Olivia Munn, Gina Bellman, Hannah Storm have breast cancer; Rappin’ 4-Tay has multiple myeloma; Troy’s Chris Lewis has osteosarcoma
New Orleans street evangelist “Umbrella Man” has stomach cancer; Taylor Dayne “feeling good after bout with colon cancer two years ago”; DWTS alum Shannen Doherty “happy” amid cancer battle; more
| MARK CRISPIN MILLERMAR 27 |
UNITED STATES
Richard Simmons, 75, diagnosed with cancer and has procedure that ‘burned his skin’ one day after he admits he’s ‘dying’
March 20, 2024
Fitness guru Richard Simmons has revealed he has skin cancer. The 75-year-old said he went to a dermatologist after spotting a “strange-looking bump” under his right eye that didn’t go away. The 80s icon was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma – the most common form of skin cancer. Richard was referred to a specialist and underwent a procedure that burnt his skin to remove all the cancer. He recalled meeting other skin cancer patients in the waiting room. “I was shocked to see all of the skin cancers that they had. Some had cancer on top of their heads … their face … and their neck,” he wrote.
end
FDA researchers (pre-print paper) clarifies & admits that the Moderna mRNA technology gene-based mRNA vaccine (Bancel, Bourla, Malone, Sahin, Tureci, Weissman, Kariko et al.) causes febrile seizures
yet goers on to still claim that ” the safety profile of monovalent mRNA (Moderna) vaccines remains favorable for use in young children.” tell me, who is EFFing who? If this is so, tell us who to hang
| DR. PAUL ALEXANDERMAR 27 |
somebody needs to be held accountable, no? Why is Malone, Bourla, Bancel, Sahin, Weissman et al. silent on these types of findings when the mRNA technology and vaccine is due to them? Why? Harms to our children? Found elevated seizure risk for both Moderna and Pfizer vaccine.
SLAY NEWS
| The latest reports from Slay NewsAustralia Launches Official Inquiry in Soaring Excess DeathsAustralia has become the first nation to launch an official inquiry into the alarming spike in excess deaths that the country has suffered over the past three years.READ MOREUp to 18% of Registered Voters in 26 States Are Fake, Investigation FindsA bombshell election integrity investigation has found that between 7% and 18% of registered voters in 26 U.S. states are fake.READ MOREKarine Jean-Pierre Melts Down, Ends Interview after Local Radio Host Asks If Biden ‘Has Dementia’White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Piere suffered a meltdown on live radio and stormed out of an interview after the host asked her whether Democrat President Joe Biden “has dementia.”READ MOREBiden Caught Lying about Baltimore Key Bridge: ‘Mentally Derailed’Democrat President Joe Biden has been lying about the Baltimore Francis Scott Key Bridge while giving a speech about the shocking disaster in Maryland.READ MOREBiden Accuses Trump of ‘Lying about Having Money He Definitely Doesn’t Have’On Monday, Democrat President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign issued a statement filled with false allegations about the presidential election frontrunner.READ MORESupreme Court Case Could End Biden DOJ’s Jan 6 Witch HuntA case heading for the U.S. Supreme Court could finally put an end to Democrat President Joe Biden’s Jan. 6 witch hunt.READ MORETrump’s VP Shortlist Is ‘Very Long,’ Constantly ‘in Flux,’ Report SuggestsThere has been rampant media speculation for months about who President Donald Trump is considering to be his 2024 running mate.READ MOREMajority of Voters Believe Biden Is Pushing Trump Indictments to Prevent Re-Election, Poll ShowsA new poll has revealed that the majority of American voters believe that Democrat President Joe Biden is attempting to rig the November election in his favor by targeting his opponent with lawfare attacks.READ MORESupreme Court Refuses to Hear Nicholas Sandmann’s Dismissed Lawsuit against Multiple Media OutletsThe United States Supreme Court has declined to take up the case of Nicholas Sandmann after his lawsuit against multiple corporate media outlets was dismissed.READ MOREBerkeley Forced to Abandon Green Agenda Ban on Natural Gas after Court BattleA nearly four-year court battle has forced the City of Berkeley, California to abandon its landmark ban on natural gas hookups in new buildings.READ MORENew York Judge Grants DA Alvin Bragg’s Request for a Gag Order against TrumpRadical New York Judge Juan Merchan has just sided with Alvin Bragg by approving the Democrat Manhattan district attorney’s request to impose a gag order on President Donald Trump.READ MORERutgers Professor Warns: ‘No Ability to Make Meaningful Progress’ without DEI Offices on Every CampusA Rutgers University professor has warned that colleges will not have the “ability to make meaningful progress” unless all campuses have Marxism-rooted “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) offices for students.READ MORERFK Jr Picks Radical Leftist Democrat Megadonor as Running MateRobert F. Kennedy Jr. has just confirmed that his running mate for the 2024 presidential election is Nicole Shanahan – a far-left megadonor who has donated heavily to President Joe Biden, Democrats, and radical leftist causes.READ MORE |
| EVOL NEWS: |
| Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Nicholas Sandmann’s Dismissed Lawsuit against Multiple Media Outlets – EVOLREAD MORE… |
| LATEST NEWS: |
NEWS ADDICT
| LATEST REPORTS FOR NEWS JUNKIES |
| Top Study Exposes ‘Fatal Consequences’ of Covid ShotsA peer-reviewed study has just been published in a prestigious medical journal that warns of the “fatal consequences” of taking Covid mRNA injections.READ THE FULL REPORT |
| Canada Begins Euthanizing Autistic CitizensThe Canadian government’s plan to begin euthanizing citizens with autism has just been approved by a judge.READ THE FULL REPORT |
| Trump’s Media Company SKYROCKETS After News Breaks…On its inaugural day of trading, Truth Social experienced a remarkable surge on Wall Street.READ THE FULL REPORT |
| ALERT: Bomb Squad Respond to Home of Top Biden AllyEarly Monday morning, a drive-by protest took place at the residence of National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Washington, D.C. As reported by Politico, a car passing by Sullivan’s house threw a small amount of manure at the property around 8:20 a.m.READ THE FULL REPORT |
| DNC Holds ‘Emergency Call’ on RFK Jr’s Leftist VP Pick after Biden Supporters ‘Freak Out’Democrats are ramping up their attacks on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after he revealed his choice of Nicole Shanahan for vice president on Tuesday, claiming the selection would benefit President Donald Trump.READ THE FULL REPORT |
MICHAEL EVERY/PHIL MAREY/OR OTHER EXECS //RABOBANK
“We Don’t Want Your Nice, Cheap Stuff, Thanks”
THURSDAY, MAR 28, 2024 – 01:30 PM
By Michael Every of Rabobank
Thinking you can successfully forecast what markets will do is a fool’s game. However, some recent financial market headlines were easy to forecast years ago. Markets didn’t, and are still failing to join the dots between said headlines and what they imply for asset prices.
No markets-based forecasting skills were needed to predict: Yellen says China’s rapid buildout of its green energy industry ‘distorts global prices’ (Reuters); Yellen to Warn China Against Flood of Cheap Green Energy Exports (New York Times); Janet Yellen says China’s giant EV push ‘distorts global prices’ and hurts workers around the world (Fortune); Janet Yellen warns China against clean energy dumping (Financial Times). Instead, you had to recognize that:
- Our global system was imbalanced, seeing subsidized industrial goods supply agglomerate in China, and debt-driven consumer demand in the Anglosphere – and this would end in a huge crisis. Which it did in 2008, catching most in markets by surprise.
- Negative rates and QE into bank reserves would not solve the West’s core problems – and public anger would see a populist policy shift. Moreover, the response in China would not be to ‘pivot to consumption’ to rebalance the world economy, but to double down to cement their global position. For those who didn’t read Marx, the clue was on the national flag: the hammer and the sickle aren’t symbols of consumer spending and the “fictitious capital” of asset prices, but of physical production of agri/industrial goods.
- History said the West would try reflation and protectionism / industrial policy to match China. In the US, this would have a national security component, as Pentagon began to worry about its purported Chinese rival. All of this would create geopolitical tensions, accelerating the process of reglobalisation away from China, and towards onshoring, near-shoring, and friend-shoring – and physical rearmament. I laid this out as a strategic hypothesis years ago. I didn’t see Covid as an accelerant, but I did warn Russia invading Ukraine would trigger a global meta-crisis based on the above analysis.
So, color me unsurprised the US says it won’t allow China to dump green tech on it. After all, it isn’t an isolated case. We have the clear threat of US (and maybe EU) tariffs on Chinese EVs. We have ever-growing restrictions on the use of US/Western technology in China – indeed, the US just asked its allies not to service chip-making gear in China, to which we see ‘Don’t meddle with our tech access, China’s Xi warns Dutch PM Rutte’: as the likely next NATO head, he isn’t likely to bend to that pressure(?) And, less heralded, yesterday also saw Chinese rail company CRRC withdraw from a bid for a Bulgarian public tender amid an EU inquiry designed to stop state subsidies distorting its single market.
In short, forecasts assuming goods deflation is sustained are (geo)politically naïve. Yes, China *wants* to flood the world with even more cheap goods higher up the value chain. Yes, struggling Western consumers might like to buy them. No, Western governments are not going to let them if it means deindustrialisation when the link between industry and national security has been violently rammed home in multiple geographies. Our Aussie/Kiwi analyst Ben Picton notes even so laissez-faire that they are lazy fare Australia just announced it will be trying to produce its own solar panels as part of the government’s new ‘A Future Made in Australia’ plan, suggesting industrial policy and an expansive fiscal budget to come. But where we go from there is far harder to forecast, and even to think about for some.
Will China get dragged into an FX devaluation race to the bottom alongside JPY and KRW, taking other Asian and EM FX down with it? The signals from the PBOC are mixed, but the tail risk should be clear. The logical thing to do would be for China to allow CNY to strengthen, *if* it wanted to pivot to consumption and import more to rebalance the world economy. But it arguably doesn’t want to, so it won’t. In which case, while we are back to the fool’s game of market forecasts, just how foolish some calls might look in hindsight needs to be underlined. Would the West shrug a weaker CNY off, or would tariffs and industrial policy arrive faster?
At which point, the West has opted to reflate, without integrated supply chains and with a tight labor market, which is inflationary; and with huge fiscal deficits and very high debt levels to boot. But what’s the (geo)political alternative? This Daily has regularly floated a hypothetical unorthodox fiscal-monetary-industrial policy hybrid policy for that challenge. (As in another FT headline, ‘Top Fed official says ‘no rush’ on rates after ‘disappointing’ data’: but note Waller is the new, old Powell, who shows what the Fed might look like in just one possible future, and not the one in our present, from the balance of other FOMC comments of late.)
Yet what would China do with its flood of new production if the West won’t buy it? There’s a limit to how much can be channelled into new markets in the Global South; like the West, they don’t make anything much to sell back to it. As such, they can borrow from China for a few years, and then have their own consumer busts and political backlash. All of that would add to the pressures on an already-buckling global system.
Then things would get very hard to forecast, whatever your market or fundamental view: but holding to “We always want nice, cheap stuff” as your lodestone will only make it harder.
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//
ARGENTINA
Argentinian President Milei doing the right thing! Firing 70,000 government workers
(zerohedge)
“There’s A Lot More Chainsaw”: Argentine President Milei To Fire 70,000 Government Workers
WEDNESDAY, MAR 27, 2024 – 09:55 PM
Argentina’s libertarian president Javier Milei, perhaps best known for his shotgun approach to government jobs…
… plans to fire 70,000 government workers in the coming months, in what Bloomberg called “one of the clearest signs yet of how the libertarian’s chainsaw-style approach intends to slash the swollen state.”
Beyond the job cuts, Milei also boasted at an event on Tuesday that he has frozen public works, cut off some funding to provincial governments and terminated more than 200,000 social welfare plans, which he labeled as corrupt, all as part of his strategy to reach a fiscal balance at any cost this year.
“There’s a lot of blender,” Milei said in an hour long speech at the IEFA Latam Forum in Buenos Aires, referring to the erosion of wages and pensions by 276% annual inflation. “There’s a lot more chainsaw.”
Other key points from Milei’s speech Tuesday:
- Milei said peso futures contracts are aligned with the central bank’s 2% monthly crawling peg scheme, labeling calls to sharply devalue the currency again “ridiculous”
- Argentina central bank on the path to achieving net neutral reserves after starting with debt liabilities that surpassed cash on hand by $11.5 billion in December
- Milei says he’ll double down on his attempts to reform the Argentine economy after 2025 congressional elections, with more than 3,000 reforms in the pipeline
- He described the Senate rejecting his emergency decree as “marvelous” because “it left all the dirty fingers” of exposed of politicians he calls “delinquents”
- Milei expects V-shaped economic recovery
Full speech is below:
It’s not just the US that has a government worker problem with its 23.2 million state parasites…
… Argentina’s state (and deep state) is also rather extensive. And while Milei’s termination plans affest just a small fraction of Argentina’s 3.5 million public sector workers, the job cuts are bound to face tremendous pushback from the country’s powerful labor unions and could jeopardize his high approval ratings. One union representing some government workers went on strike Tuesday, while a government report detailed that private sector workers suffered the worst one-month wage loss in at least three decades once he took office in December.
The leader of the state workers union ATE quickly shot back on X, announcing a national strike without providing further details.
Milei cited polls showing Argentines are more optimistic about the economy’s future, while a recent indicator of the public confidence in the government rose despite his austerity measures.
“People have hope, they’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” Milei concluded.
Well… maybe, but maybe not, because it doesn’t take much by those used to state handouts to organize and collapse the system. And sure enough, a quick look at the country’s real GDP (as measured by the EMAE monthly activity indicator), shows a brutal 4.3% year over year contraction in January, as well as a sequential decline in real GDP of 1.2%, with Goldman noting that “activity softened significantly at the end of 2023 and the weakness extended to the beginning of the year.”
While we appreciate the novelty and excitement sparked by Milei, we wonder: just how much real pain can the people sustain before they demand that he, too, be replaced with someone who promises to ease their pain?
YOUR EARLY CURRENCY/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN CLOSING MARKETS AND EUROPEAN BOURSE OPENING AND CLOSING/ INTEREST RATE SETTINGS THURSDAY MORNING 7;30AM//OPENING AND CLOSING
EURO VS USA DOLLAR: 1.0794 DOWN .0018
USA/ YEN 151.36 UP .068 NOW TARGETS INTEREST RATE AT 1.00% AS IT WILL BUY UNLIMITED BONDS TO GETS TO THAT LEVEL…//YEN STILL FALLS//
GBP/USA 1.2625 UP .0008
USA/CAN DOLLAR: 1.3587 UP .0002 (CDN DOLLAR DOWN 2 BASIS PTS)
Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE CLOSED UP 17.52 PTS OR 0.59%
Hang Seng CLOSED UP 148.58 POINTS OR 0.91%
AUSTRALIA CLOSED UP 0.99% // EUROPEAN BOURSE: MOSTLY ALL GREEN
Trading from Europe and ASIA
I) EUROPEAN BOURSES: MOSTLY ALL GREEN
2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang SENG CLOSED UP 148.58 PTS OR 0.91%
/SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 17.52 PTS OR 0.59%
AUSTRALIA BOURSE CLOSED UP 0.99%
(Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED DOWN 594.66 PTS OR 1.46%
INDIA’S SENSEX IN THE GREEN
Gold very early morning trading: 2211.90
silver:$24.62
USA dollar index early THURSDAY morning: 104.28 UP 22 BASIS POINTS FROM WEDNESDAY’s CLOSE.
THURSDAY MORNING NUMBERS ENDS
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
And now your closing THURSDAY NUMBERS 1: 30 AM
Portuguese 10 year bond yield: 2.997% UP 2 in basis point(s) yield
JAPANESE BOND YIELD: +0.712% UP 0 AND 1//100 BASIS POINTS /JAPAN losing control of its yield curve/
SPANISH 10 YR BOND YIELD: 3.173 UP 3 in basis points yield
ITALIAN 10 YR BOND YIELD 3.673 UP 6 points in basis points yield ./ THE ECB IS QE’ ING ITALIAN BONDS (BUYING ITALIAN BONDS/SELLING GERMAN BUNDS)
GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD: 2.3050 DOWN 0 BASIS PTS
END
IMPORTANT CURRENCY CLOSES FOR THURSDAY
Closing currency crosses for day /USA DOLLAR INDEX/USA 10 YR BOND YIELD/1:00 PM
Euro/USA 1.0804 DOWN 0.0008 or 8 basis points
USA/Japan: 151.27 DOWN 0.015 OR YEN IS UP 2 BASIS PTS
Great Britain/USA 1.2634 UP .0018 OR 18 BASIS POINTS //
Canadian dollar DOWN .0029 OR 29 BASIS pts to 1.3557
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The USA/Yuan, CNY: closed ON SHORE CLOSED DOWN AT 7.2281
THE USA/YUAN OFFSHORE: (YUAN CLOSED (DOWN)…. (7.2612)
TURKISH LIRA: 32.31 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LEVEL/DEATH WATCH/HYPERINFLATION TO BEGIN.//ON DEATH WATCH
the 10 yr Japanese bond yield at +0.712…
Your closing 10 yr US bond yield UP 1 in basis points from TUESDAY at 4.205% //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%) very problematic
USA 30 yr bond yield 4.350 DOWN 1 in basis points /12.00 PM
USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.601 UP 3 BASIS PTS.
GOLD AT 11;30 AM 2207,25
SILVER AT 11;30: 24.66
Your 12:00 AM bourses for Europe and the Dow along with the USA dollar index closing and interest rates: THURSDAY CLOSING TIME 12:00 PM//
London: CLOSED UP 35.50 PTS OR 0.45%
German Dax : CLOSED UP 27.76 PTS OR 0.15%
Paris CAC CLOSED UP 12.95 PTS OR 0.16%
Spain IBEX CLOSED DOWN 13.60PTS OR 0.12%
Italian MIB: CLOSED UP 14.11 PTS OR 0.04%
WTI Oil price 82.29 12: EST/
Brent Oil: 86.29 12:00 EST
USA /RUSSIAN ROUBLE /// AT: 91.47 ROUBLE DOWN 0 AND 17/100
GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD; +2.3050 DOWN 4 BASIS PTS
UK 10 YR YIELD: 3.9750 DOWN 1/2 BASIS POINTS
CLOSING NUMBERS: 4 PM
Euro vs USA: 1.0786 DOWN .0025 OR 25 BASIS POINTS
British Pound: 1.2621 DOWN .0004 or 4 basis pts
BRITISH 10 YR GILT BOND YIELD: 3.980 UP 1/ 1/2 BASIS PTS//
JAPAN 10 YR YIELD: 0.706%
USA dollar vs Japanese Yen: 151.39 UP 0.105//YEN DOWN 11 BASIS PTS//
USA dollar vs Canadian dollar: 1.3546 DOWN .0040 CDN dollar UP 40 basis pts)
West Texas intermediate oil: 83.05
Brent OIL: 86.89
USA 10 yr bond yield UP 1 BASIS pts to 4.205%
USA 30 yr bond yield DOWN 1 BASIS PTS to 4.349%
USA 2 YR BOND: UP 6 PTS AT 4.628%
USA dollar index: 104.29 UP 23 BASIS POINTS
USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 32.33 (GETTING QUITE CLOSE TO BLOWING UP/
USA DOLLAR VS RUSSIA//// ROUBLE: 92.60 DOWN 0 AND 20/100 roubles
GOLD 2221.10 3:30 PM
SILVER: 24.85 3:30 PM
DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: UP 47.29 PTS OR 0.12%
NASDAQ DOWN 26.15 PTS OR 0.14%
VOLATILITY INDEX: 12.98 UP .20 PTS OR 1.56%
GLD: $205.72 UP 2.60 OR .129%
SLV/ $22.75 UP .24 OR 1.07%
end
USA AFFAIRS
TODAY’S TRADING IN GRAPH FORM
Stocks, Gold, & Crypto Soar In Q1 Despite Rout In Rate-Cut Expectations
BY TYLER DURDEN
THURSDAY, MAR 28, 2024 – 04:00 PM
Q1 macro was characterized by a vast divergence between ‘soft’ surveys crashing as ‘hard’ data drifting higher…
Source: Bloomberg
The strong ‘hard’ data – and sticky inflation – along with endless jawboning, drove rate-hike expectations drastically lower in Q1. 2024 expectations for The Fed crashed from almost seven cuts to less than three…
Source: Bloomberg
…and stocks did not even blink!
Source: Bloomberg
With the S&P 500 surging to its best start to a year since 2019 (outperforming Nasdaq)…
Source: Bloomberg
That’s the 5th green month in a row…
Source: Bloomberg
And stocks are up for 18 of the last 22 weeks (it hasn’t done more than that since 1989)…
Source: Bloomberg
Notably, and perhaps surprisingly, Q1’s best performing sector was not tech… it was Energy (with Real Estate the only sector red in Q1). In fact in March, Energy stocks are up 10% while Tech is unchanged…
Source: Bloomberg
Some have argued that Q1’s market strength reflects a growing belief that Republicans will win in November…
Source: Bloomberg
And don’t let anyone tell you this has not been a multiple expansion – tech is now back at over 28x – its post-dot-com bust highs…
Source: Bloomberg
MTUM (momentum) saw its best start to a year… ever….
Source: Bloomberg
In fact, as Goldman shows in the chart below, High Beta Momo – the big Q1 outperformer – reversed its laggard performance in 2023…
Thematically, Bitcoin-Sensitive stocks, AI stocks, and anti-obesity drug stocks all outperformed in Q1, continuing the trend of 2023 gains…
AI-related stocks soared 24% in Q1 while stocks at risk from AI fell around 3% in Q1…
Source: Bloomberg
Anti-Obesity stocks soared in Q1, actually outperforming AI stocks and even GLP-1-at-risk stocks (e.g. WW) managed gains in Q1…
Source: Bloomberg
‘Magnificent 7’ stocks added a stunning $1.7 trillion in market cap in Q1…
Source: Bloomberg
Notably, the implied vol of the Mag7 is once again very elevated relative to the implied vol of the S&P 500. In July of last year, this signaled a big reversal (demand for hedges). In Jan of this year, it was a signal of chasers buying levered bets on the upside. What does it mean this time?
Source: Bloomberg
The strength in stocks and credit has dominated any rise in yields and crushed financial conditions to their loosest since before The Fed started their rate-hiking cycle…
Source: Bloomberg
US Treasuries were dumped in Q1 as rate-cut expectations plunged with the short-end modestly underperforming…
Source: Bloomberg
And while survey-based inflation expectations (UMich) are sliding, the market’s expectation for inflation is anything but…
Source: Bloomberg
The dollar rallied in Q1, erasing around half of the Q4 losses…
Source: Bloomberg
The dollar’s strength was supported by yen weakness as the Japanese currency plunged to its weakest since 1990…
Source: Bloomberg
Not to be outdone, the yuan also tumbled in Q1…
Source: Bloomberg
Q1 was dominated by bitcoin headlines – as the newly minted ETFs saw unprecedented inflows…
Source: Bloomberg
Which helped push Bitcoin to a new record high (in USD)…
Source: Bloomberg
Ethereum also soared in Q1 (up 55%) but Solana outperformed…
Source: Bloomberg
Another alternate currency – gold – also soared to a new record high in Q1…
Source: Bloomberg
And just when you thought NVDA was the big winner, Cocoa hyperinflates in Q1, up 135% YTD!
Source: Bloomberg
Oil, wholesale gasoline, and pump-prices all ripped higher in Q1 (especially March)…
Source: Bloomberg
Finally, as Goldman’s Chris Hussey notes, it’s times like these – when ‘everything is awesome’ – when it is best to assess the risks that swirl around the investment landscape. Here are a few to consider:
- A strong economic landing becomes a hard landing;
- Inflation is sticky, not transitory, and the Fed pushes back;
- The pandemic stimulus surge turns out not to be ‘cost-less’;
- Concentration raises ‘key company’ risk;
- Elections and geo-political risks.
And as a reminder, we’ve seen these ‘everything is awesome’ moments before…
Source: Bloomberg
And they never end well.
END
MORNING TRADING/
AFTERNOON TRADING/
II USA DATA
total garbage
Jobless Claims Continue To Hover (Miraculously) Near Record Lows
THURSDAY, MAR 28, 2024 – 08:40 AM
Layoff announcements continue day after day and WARNs are on the rise, but initial jobless claims continues to trend along in very smooth manner (too smooth)…
Source: Bloomberg
NSA initial claims dipped notably last week…
Source: Bloomberg
And continuing claims have been flat around 1.8mm Americans for months…
Source: Bloomberg
This data continues to confound.
end
FINALLY THEY ADMIT THE OBVIOUS:
Philadelphia Fed Admits US Payrolls Overstated By At Least 800,000
THURSDAY, MAR 28, 2024 – 03:45 PM
The first red flags emerged in the summer of 2022: that’s when the Biden Labor Department started well and truly rigging the labor market data.
Regular readers may recall that it was back in July of 2022, when we first warned that something had “snapped” in the labor market: that’s when a striking discrepancy emerged between the number of US Payrolls (as measured by the BLS’ Establishment Survey, a far more crude and imprecise, yet much more market-moving data series), and the number of actual Employed Workers (as measured by the BLS’ far more accurate Household Survey) . As we showed then, after the two series had tracked each other tick for tick for years, a wide gap opened in March 2022 which quickly grew to 1.5 million jobs in just 3 months…
… one which has since exploded to a whopping 5 million “employed workers” that apparently do not exist.
And while some of this discrepancy could be explained with the record surge in multiple jobholders, which increased by 1 million since March 2022 to an all time high of 8.6 million at the end of 2023 (as a reminder, the Establishment Survey counts 1 worker have 2 or 3 (or more) multiple jobs as, well, 2 or 3 (or more) separate jobs, even if it is just one worker trying to make ends meet under the roaring inflation of Bidenomics), most of the gap remained unexplained.
There was more: it was around the summer of 2022 that the Biden labor department – in its zeal to show job growth no matter the cost, or quality of jobs – also started fooling around with the composition of the labor market, with most of the monthly gains going to part-time workers, even as full-time workers stagnated or declined. The culmination, as we reported earlier this month, is that in February 2024, the US had 132.9 million full-time jobs and 27.9 million part-time jobs. Which is great… until you look back one year and find that in February 2023 the US had 133.2 million full-time jobs, or more than it does one year later! And yes, all the job growth since then has been in part-time jobs, which have increased by 921K since February 2023 (from 27.020 million to 27.941 million).
In other words, starting in 2022 and accelerating to present days, less and less full-time jobs were added, until we got to the absurd situation that all the new jobs in the past year have been part-time jobs!
And then there was, of course, the great jobs replacement theory, only as we first showed well over a year ago, it wasn’t a theory but practice, and following countless months in which native-born workers lost their jobs, including a near-record 3-month plunge to start 2024…
… offset by a record 1.2 million foreign-born (read immigrants, both legal and illegal but mostly illegal) workers added in February…
Or, as we first pointed out several months ago, not only has all job creation in the past 6 years – since May 2018 – has been exclusively for foreign-born workers…
… but there has been zero job-creation for native born workers since June 2018!
Ok fine, but all of the above are really just example of the Biden admin Labor Department playing around with statistics and trying (and succeeding) to fool the greatest number of people. There is really nothing about outright data rigging and fabrication… and also while we realize that the Household survey shows a far uglier labor market – one where part-time jobs, illegal immigrants, and multiple jobholders dominate – what about the Establishment survey, which is behind the actual payrolls number, the only number that matters as far as the market is concerned?
All good points, and to address them, we first have to go back to December 2022, when we reported something shocking: as part of its data analysis of the “more comprehensive, accurate job estimates released by the BLS as part of its Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program“, the Philadelphia Fed found that the BLS had overstated jobs to the tune of 1.1 million! This is what the Philadelphia Fed wrote in its quarterly Early Benchmark Revision of State Payroll Employment report at the time:
Our estimates incorporate more comprehensive, accurate job estimates released by the BLS as part of its Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program to augment the sample data from the BLS’s CES that are issued monthly on a timely basis. All percentage change calculations are expressed as annualized rates. Read more about our methodology. Learn more about interpreting our early benchmark estimates.
So what did this “more accurate”, “more comprehensive” report find? It found that…
In the aggregate, 10,500 net new jobs were added during the period rather than the 1,121,500 jobs estimated by the sum of the states; the U.S. CES estimated net growth of 1,047,000 jobs for the period.
This is shown graphically in the chart below: specifically, the analysis looks at the quarter in the red box, where the green line, or the more accurate “early benchmark” revision of official data, dipped decidedly below the CES trendline (i.e., the nonfarm payrolls).
Alas, since the far more accurate Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) numbers would not be actually incorporated into BLS benchmarks for well over a year after we wrote our analysis in Dec 2022, neither we nor the market would know just how manipulated the data was until early 2024. Which, of course, is now, and as we already know, the BLS had been consistently downward revising virtually all initial job prints in 2023 (ten of the eleven jobs reports heading into Dec 2023 were revised lower) to make the economy more realistic but only in retrospect…
… however, even though we do know now that the jobs data in 2022 was far weaker than anyone thought at the time, nobody really cares: after all there are part-time jobs and illegal immigrants to plug any and all historical holes, plus we are talking about ancient history.
Plus, we have all those great recent jobs reports to fall back on: the ones that confirm that Bidenomics is doing such a great job.
Only… that’s not true either. Presenting Exhibit A: the latest Philadelphia Fed quarterly report on Early Benchmark Revisions of State Payroll Employment. It shows that once again, the BLS has been fabricating jobs, and not just any jobs but those that make up the all-important (if highly inaccurate) payrolls reported by the Biden Bureau of Goalseeked Statistics.
The primary purpose of this analysis, in the Philly Fed’s own words, is “to produce timely estimates of state payroll jobs that closely predict the annual benchmark revisions released by the BLS each March. To do so, we incorporate more comprehensive job estimates released by the BLS as part of its Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program.” This is more or less a replica of the analysis which the Philly Fed performed back in December, when it found that 1.1 million jobs were unexpectedly “missing.”
So what happened this time? Well, the analysis, which looked at state-level data, “found that “the employment changes from June through September 2023 were significantly different in 27 states compared with prebenchmark state estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Current Employment Statistics (CES).” Specifically, “early benchmark (EB) estimates indicated lower changes in 24 states, higher changes in three states, and lesser changes in the remaining 23 states and the District of Columbia.“
Some more details from the report:
Over the full year ending with this 2023 Q3 vintage — which includes additional QCEW data changes affecting the prior three quarters — payroll jobs in the 50 states and the District of Columbia grew 1.5 percent.
- Based on the pre-benchmark CES sum of states and the U.S. CES, payroll jobs grew 1.9 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively.
- The revised CES sum-of-states growth rate is 1.5 percent.
For 2023 Q3, payroll jobs in the 50 states and the District of Columbia rose 0.5 percent, after adjusting for QCEW data.
- Based on both the prebenchmark CES sum of states and the U.S. CES, payroll jobs grew 1.7 percent.
- The revised CES sum-of-states growth rate is 0.5 percent
We’ll go back to the chart above in a second, but first we wanted to show this scatter of state-level employment comparing the St Louis Fed’s more accurate early benchmarking process vs the BLS’ Prebenchmarking CES process: it found that most states’ labor data would be revised lower, in many substantially so.
Ok… but what does all of that mean in English?
Well, to make some more sense of the data, we went through the Early Benchmark state-level data excel spreadsheet provided by the Philly Fed (link), and simply added across the various states to obtain aggregate, country-level data so that we could compare the far more accurate QCEW data with what the BLS had been peddling for the past year.
The result was – again – shocking, and as shown in the chart below, a little over a year after we, or rather the Philly Fed, found that the BLS had overstated payrolls in 2022 by 1.1 million, here we go again, only this time the BLS had overstated payrolls by 800,000 through Dec 2023 (and more if one were to extend the data series into 2024). It’s truly statistically remarkable how every time the data error is in favor of a stronger, if fake, economy.
it also means that far from the stellar 230K average monthly increase in payrolls in 2023, which the White House would spin time and again as direct evidence of the benefits of Bidenomics, the true average monthly payroll increase in 2023 was only 130K! The full monthly change in payrolls as originally reported by the BLS (in green) and the actual monthly number, as per the QCEW (in red) is shown below.
Putting it all together, we now know – as the Philly Fed reported first – that the labor market is far weaker than conventionally believed. In fact, no less than 800,000 payrolls are “missing” when one uses the far more accurate Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data rather than the BLS’ woefully inaccurate and politically mandated payrolls “data”, and if one looks back the the monthly gains across most of 2023, one gets not 230K jobs added on average every month but rather 130K.
Of course, none of that paints Bidenomics in a flattering picture, because while one can at least pretend that issuing $1 trillion in debt every 100 days to add 3 million jos per year is somewhat acceptable, learning that that ridiculous amount buys 800,000 jobs less is hardly the endorsement that the White House needs.
Which is also why nobody in the mainstream media – which is now nothing more than the PR smokescreen for the Biden puppetmasters, the government and the deep state – will ever mention this report.
As such, we urge all readers to read Philly Fed analysis (link here) and to analyze the excel data (link here) at their own leisure, because in a fascist state, the media no longer works for the people
The high GDP numbers due to migrant spending/government spending
Final Q4 2023 GDP Revision Comes In Red Hot 3.4%, Beating Estimates
THURSDAY, MAR 28, 2024 – 09:05 AM
It’s ancient history by now, but moments ago the Biden Bureau of Economic Goalseeking Analysis reported that in its third estimate of Q4 GDP, the US was estimated to have grown by 3.4% (3.440% to be precise), above the 3.2% reported last month and above the 3.2% estimate.
The increase in the fourth quarter primarily reflected increases in consumer spending and state and local government spending that were partly offset by a decrease in inventory investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.
The update from the second estimate reflected upward revisions to consumer spending, business investment, and state and local government spending that were partly offset by downward revisions to inventory investment and exports. Imports were revised down. Here is a more detailed analysis:
- Personal Consumption contributed 2.20% to the bottom line GDP of 3.4%, or two-thirds of the total, up from 2.00% in the previous estimate and up from 1.91% in the first calculation.
- Fixed Investment added another 0.67% to the bottom line, also a solid improvement to the 0.43% previous estimate
- The change in private inventories subtracted 0.47% from the bottom line print, a deterioration to the -0.27% first revision and far below the positive +0.07% contribution in the first estimate.
- Net exports were little changed at +0.25% (consisting of 0.55% exports less 0.3% imports) vs 0.32% in the first revision (0.69% exports less 0.37% imports).
- Finally, government consumption increased modestly to 0.79% of the bottom line, up from the 0.73% estimated previously.
Here the biggest contribution was personal spending, which increased even more than initially suspected, and reflected increases in both services and goods. Within services, the leading contributors were health care (both outpatient and hospital services), other services (led by professional and other services), as well as food services and accommodations. Within goods, the leading contributors to the increase were other nondurable goods (led by pharmaceutical products) as well as recreational goods and vehicles.
Here is a visual summary:
The BLS also provided a breakdown of GDP by industry, noting that the value added of private goods-producing industries increased 7.0%, private services-producing industries increased 2.6%, and government increased 3.1 percent. Overall, 18 of 22 industry groups contributed to the fourth-quarter increase in real GDP
- Within private goods-producing industries, the largest contributors to the increase were nondurable goods (led by petroleum and coal products and chemical products), durable goods manufacturing (led by machinery), and construction.
- Within private services-producing industries, the increase was led by retail trade (led by motor vehicle and parts dealers), health care and social assistance (led by ambulatory health care services), utilities, and professional, scientific, and technical services (led by computer systems design and related services).
- The increase in government reflected an increase in state and local government as well as federal government
Turning to prices, the Q4 2023 numbers are completely irrelevant especially with the latest Feb monthly PCE data out tomorrow (when markets are closed), but here goes anyway:
- GDP prices increased 1.9% in the fourth quarter after increasing 2.9% in the third quarter. Excluding food and energy, prices increased 2.1% after increasing 2.5 percent.
- PCE prices increased 1.8% in the fourth quarter after increasing 2.6% in the third quarter. Excluding food and energy, the all-important – if extremely delayed – PCE “core” price index increased 2.0%, the same increase as in the third quarter. The core PCE came in just below expectations of a 2.1% print.
Finally, looking at corporate profits, these increased 4.1% at a quarterly rate in the fourth quarter after increasing 3.4% in the third quarter. Corporate profits also increased 5.1% in the fourth quarter from one year ago. More details:
- Profits of domestic financial corporations increased 1.3 percent after increasing 2.0 percent.
- Profits of domestic nonfinancial corporations increased 5.9 percent after increasing 4.1 percent.
- Profits from the rest of the world (net) decreased 1.7 percent after increasing 1.7 percent.
end
Pending Home Sales Hover Near Record Lows In February
THURSDAY, MAR 28, 2024 – 10:06 AM
After puking in January, pending home sales were expected to rebound modestly (+1.5% MoM) in February and it did (+1.6% MoM) with a small upward revision for Jan (from -4.9% to -4.7% MoM). However, this still left sales down 2.2% YoY…
Source: Bloomberg
That leaves pending home sales hovering just off record lows…
Source: Bloomberg
A recent report showed listings may be starting to rise, with inventory reaching its highest level for a February since 2020.
“While modest sales growth might not stir excitement, it shows slow and steady progress from the lows of late last year,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement on Thursday.
The Midwest was the main driver of the increase in pending sales, with a 10.6% jump. Contract signings in the South, the nation’s biggest housing market, edged up 1.1%. They were little changed in the Northeast and dropped in the West.
“The high-cost regions in the Northeast and West experienced pullbacks due to affordability challenges,” Yun said.
The pending-home sales report is a leading indicator of existing-home sales given houses typically go under contract a month or two before they’re sold.
TUCKER CARLSON…
END
III USA ECONOMIC COMMENTARIES
CRE’s IN BIG TROUBLE
(zerohedge)
Leaked Document Reveals Amazon To Dump Office Space, In Cost-Cutting Move Amid CRE Tower Crisis
THURSDAY, MAR 28, 2024 – 07:45 AM
Readers are well aware that the office segment of the commercial real estate sector has been in turmoil for the past year with soaring vacancy rates, a record amount of available sublease space, and rising defaults.
Cost-cutting strategies by major corporations will accelerate the office downturn. This will be in the form of lease expirations and/or the early termination of leases.
A leaked document by Business Insider reveals that Amazon is trying to save $1.3 billion over the next three to five years. A person familiar with the new strategy said the company plans to “let certain leases naturally expire, stop the use of some office floors, and negotiate early lease terminations for some buildings.”
The person said Amazon’s current office vacancy rate is 33.8% but expects it to drop to 25% by the end of the year and decrease to 10% over the next three to five years. According to the document, this move to shrink Amazon’s corporate footprint will save the company $1.3 billion in annual operating expense savings.
On Tuesday, BI reported that Amazon initiated another round of layoffs, this time 160 employees from its advertising unit, extending its 18 months of job cuts. The current high office vacancy rate is a direct result of slower growth and continued layoffs.
Like Google, Meta, and many other big tech companies, Amazon overhired in the run-up to and during Covid. Now, the hiring cycle is reversing as artificial intelligence threatens white-collar jobs.
In an email to BI, Brad Glasser, an Amazon spokesperson, said:
“We’re constantly evaluating our real-estate portfolio based on the dynamic and diverse needs of Amazon’s businesses by looking at trends in how employees are using our offices.
“In some cases, employees may move buildings to increase collaboration and drive better utilization of our workspaces. In other cases, we may take on additional space where we’re currently limited or make adjustments where we have excess capacity. The changes we’ve already made are improving vacancy rates, and we expect to see further progress as we continue to learn and iterate on our portfolio.”
Amazon is one of many companies that have been shrinking its corporate footprint. Many other big tech firms have been slashing square footage as office space floods the market, pressuring tower values lower and leaving owners with a difficult decision to either refinance (if they can) or default.
The rating agency Fitch recently warned that the sliding tower value could exceed GFC’s real estate crisis, as the bottom has yet to be found.
One week ago, Goldman told clients that office commercial mortgage-backed securities were being extended and modified rather than refinanced, which has “helped mitigate a default wave and a sharp pick-up in losses on CRE loan portfolios.” But this only means the can is being kicked down the road until after the presidential elections.
END
Electric cars are in trouble//cost is just too high
Fisker Slashes Price Of Its Only Model By 39% In Last-Ditch Bid To Stay Solvent
THURSDAY, MAR 28, 2024 – 09:35 AM
Electric carmaker Fisker is doing everything it can to try and not wind up roadkill on the EV highway amidst industry-wide price cutting and worldwide saturation in competition.
This week Fisker, which is rumored to be on the verge of considering bankruptcy and has seen its stock trade to pennies and be moved to the pink sheets, reduced the price of its only vehicle, the Ocean sport utility vehicle, by a stunning 39%, according to Bloomberg.
The discount applies only to the top end “Extreme” model of the Ocean, which, post-discount, is priced at $37,499. The price cut marks a $24,000 discount to the model’s original MSRP.
The company told Bloomberg it was positioning the vehicle as “a more affordable and compelling EV choice.” Fisker is resorting to significant markdowns in an effort to navigate through liquidity difficulties, the report said.
Earlier in the month, the company halted production and issued a warning that bankruptcy might be on the horizon if it fails to manage its debt obligations.
We can’t say we are surprised, as we have noted that the EV industry is seeing increased competition after last year’s price cuts across the world, led by Tesla, to try and capture demand.
Just days ago we wrote that Nissan was the latest to try and slash costs by 30% just to remain competitive in EVs. Similarly, we have noted that auto companies are slashing investment in EVs, as is the case with American auto manufacturers like Ford and GM. We wrote last month that Joe Biden’s vision for EVs across America is in “full collapse”.
As we wrote then: “…the higher costs are driving automakers away from EVs. And as battery material requirements are set to double by 2027, fulfilling these mandates will be increasingly difficult, putting Biden’s ambitious EV strategy at risk.”
Thinktanks like Brownstone have simply noted that when it comes to EVs, “the great reset didn’t work”.
Jeffrey Tucker wrote last month: “In short, the illusions of these horrible policies have come crashing down. It was born of liberty-wrecking policies under the cover of virus control. Every special interest seized the day, including a new generation of industrialists seeking to displace the old ones by force.”
Recall, a report from Consumer Reports last year found that electric vehicles have almost 80% more problems and are “generally less reliable” than conventional internal combustion engine cars.
end
A good read…
(zerohedge)
The Declining Value Of The US Federal Minimum Wage
THURSDAY, MAR 28, 2024 – 06:55 AM
This graphic illustrates the history of the U.S. federal minimum wage using data compiled by Statista, in both nominal and real (inflation-adjusted) terms. The federal minimum wage was raised to $7.25 per hour in July 2009, where it has remained ever since.
Nominal vs. Real Value
The data Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu used to create this graphic can be found in the table below.
What our graphic shows is how inflation has eroded the real value of the U.S. minimum wage over time, despite nominal increases.
For instance, consider the year 1960, when the federal minimum wage was $1 per hour. After accounting for inflation, this would be worth around $10.28 today!
The two lines converge at 2023 because the nominal and real value are identical in present day terms.
Many States Have Their Own Minimum Wage
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), 30 states and Washington, D.C. have implemented a minimum wage that is higher than $7.25.
The following states have adopted the federal minimum: Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Meanwhile, the states of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee have no wage minimums, but have to follow the federal minimum.
How Does the U.S. Minimum Wage Rank Globally?
If you found this topic interesting, check out Mapped: Minimum Wage Around the World to see which countries have the highest minimum wage in monthly terms, as of January 2023.
BALTIMORE
Coal exports blocked after the bridge collapse
(zerohedge)
Baltimore Coal Exports Blocked After Bridge Collapse
WEDNESDAY, MAR 27, 2024 – 06:20 PM
By Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com
Baltimore Port’s coal exports are likely to be blocked for weeks after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday, according to a Pennsylvania coal trading firm.
The bridge collapsed early on Tuesday after a cargo ship lost power and slammed into the construction, which crumbled within seconds and will disrupt navigation near the Baltimore port, which is one of the biggest coal export terminals in America.
Baltimore is the nation’s second-largest coal exporting port after Norfolk, Virginia, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). In 2022, about one-fifth of U.S. coal exports left through Baltimore.
The port of Baltimore is also one of the 20 largest ports in the U.S. and handles both coal and petroleum products.
Following the bridge collapse, up to 2.5 million tons of coal exports from Baltimore could be blocked for up to six weeks, Ernie Thrasher, CEO at Pennsylvania coal trading firm Xcoal Energy & Resources, told Bloomberg.
“You’ll see some diversion to other ports but the other ports are pretty busy,” Thrasher added.
“There’s a limit on how much you can divert,” said the executive, whose firm works with several coal suppliers.
Globally, the disrupted exports are unlikely to have a huge impact on coal prices, but many coal cargoes from Baltimore are typically headed for India, so there the impact could be felt along the supply chain, Thrasher told Bloomberg.
At any rate, the bridge collapse has already disrupted coal shipments and delivery times.
For example, rail company CSX, which owns the Curtis Bay coal pier in Baltimore, told Reuters on Tuesday that existing coal customers should expect “potential shipment delays.”
Coal producer CONSOL Energy said vessel access in and out of the CONSOL Marine Terminal, located in the Port of Baltimore, has been delayed. As of Tuesday morning, the company did not have a definitive timeline of when vessel access or normal operations will resume.
end
BALTIMORE
the cost will be in the billions
(Freightwaves)
Baltimore Bridge Collapse May Cost Billions, Dramatically Disrupt Supply Chains
THURSDAY, MAR 28, 2024 – 06:30 AM
By Noi Mahoney of FreightWaves
The collapse of Maryland’s Francis Scott Key Bridge Tuesday after it was struck by a cargo ship continues to block access to the Port of Baltimore and could disrupt shipping flows across the U.S.
The Singapore-flagged MV Dali container ship collided with the bridge around 1:35 a.m. on Tuesday. At least six people remain unaccounted for, CNN reports. With rescue and recovery operations ongoing, it’s unclear how long debris from the bridge will block the Patapsco River, which leads to the Port of Baltimore.
For the shipping community, the accident will affect maritime lanes as carriers must seek alternative ports of call while the collapsed bridge continues to block the river, experts said.
“Are any container vessels currently trapped in the bay? That is question No. 1,” Sanne Manders, president of international at Flexport, told FreightWaves. “Right now, there are two vessels trapped: the ship that caused the collision and another general cargo container vessel that is currently trapped.”
The Port of Baltimore is the deepest harbor in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, with five public and 12 private terminals. The port administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Port officials posted on social media that they do not know how long ship traffic in and out of the port will be suspended, although trucks are still being processed.
Manders said another important consideration is the scores of commercial vessels that regularly call at the Port of Baltimore.
“In the next few weeks, 107 vessels will not be able to call that port and will have to divert to other ports,” Manders said. “The question is, are other ports able to absorb that capacity? The reality is that Baltimore is an important port, but for containerized trade, it is relatively small.”
In 2023, the Port of Baltimore handled $80.8 billion in trade, including 1.1 million twenty-foot equivalent units, 1.3 million tons of roll-on/roll-off farm and construction machinery, 11.7 million tons of general cargo, and 847,158 shipments of cars and light trucks.
A number of major companies have distribution warehouses and other facilities at or near the port, including Amazon, FedEx and BMW.
In Maryland, most of the freight is regional, with about 36% of trucking tender volume staying in the state. An additional 22% goes to Pennsylvania and 15% goes to Virginia.
Rachel Shames, vice president of pricing and procurement for CV International, a Norfolk, Virginia-based international logistics and transportation company, wrote in a market update that the collision is expected to create a temporary increase in cargo volume at other East Coast ports.
“The full impacts of this disaster are not yet known, but it’s likely that nearby East Coast ports, including Norfolk, Philadelphia, New York and others will absorb cargo traffic from Baltimore in the short term,” Shames wrote. “This sudden increase in volume may strain operations at other ports.”
Manders said what makes the Port of Baltimore unique is the volume of roll-on/roll-off cargo it handles, such as passenger vehicles, along with agricultural and industrial equipment.
“Then you’re also getting into agricultural exports — rice, sugar, fertilizers, forestry products. It’s pretty big in Baltimore. Then there’s also a big paper industry there and construction materials,” Manders said. “I do think in other commodities and cars, this will have a major impact. There are also some metal exchange warehouses for nickel, tin and copper in Baltimore. Now those can also be moved to other ports, but those are bulky materials, and they don’t move them very easily.”
Jeff Leppert, executive vice president of modal operations at Redwood Logistics, said some of the company’s shipper customers have several ships currently stuck at the port.
“Other impacts include the Port of Baltimore’s fueling depot, which is currently unable to take fueling shipments for the near future,” Leppert told FreightWaves. “The stretch of I-695 that collapsed with the bridge is the only hazmat-approved bridge in the area, so those shipments will have a large diversion in the region and beyond.”
He said all deep-water ships, vessels with a controlling depth of 50 feet, will have to be diverted to ports such as Norfolk and New York/NewJersey.
“We are currently working with all of our shipping customers to find solutions now and for the coming months,” Leppert said.
The Mediterranean Shipping Co. and Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. are two of the Port of Baltimore’s largest shipping lines. Neither company immediately responded to a request for comment from FreightWaves.
Paul Brashier, vice president of drayage and intermodal at ITS Logistics, said the priority right now is to ensure clients are making plans for containers that were originally routed to Baltimore.
“These shipments will be discharged to other ports on the Eastern Seaboard,” Brashier said. “This also means that we must prepare trucking and transload capacity to be able to transport the impacted freight to the appropriate initial location.”
END
BALTIMORE
Carnival Cruise lines hit by the bridge disaster.
(zerohedge)
Carnival Cruise Warns Of Profit Hit From Frozen Baltimore Port After Bridge Collapse
THURSDAY, MAR 28, 2024 – 11:10 AM
The fallout from the bridge collapse in the Port of Baltimore is hitting a wide range of companies, from those that export coal to those that import automobiles, tractors, and cheap Chinese goods that are eventually sold on Amazon. The latest troubles come from the Maryland Cruise Terminal, home to Carnival Corp.
On Wednesday, Carnival warned port disruptions will reduce annual adjusted earnings by $10 million. The cruise line operates ships from the terminal year-round that sail through the Caribbean Sea.
The removal of the massive wreckage left after a container ship rammed into the 1.6-mile-long Francis Scott Key Bridge and sent it crashing into the harbor’s only shipping lane, effectively blocking all access to a large swath of the port, could take weeks, if not months.
Stephen Flynn, a professor of political science and civil and environmental engineering at Northeastern University, told USA Today that it could take several weeks or a couple of months for salvage crews to clear the channel.
“It doesn’t have to be 100% clear in order to turn the lights back on and have the port moving again,” Flynn said, adding it could take a year or more to clear the wreckage completely.
“This is a really hard, messy problem… It’s a bit like a really complex, dangerous jigsaw puzzle,” he said.
On a conference call with investors, Carnival Chief Executive Josh Weinstein said its Baltimore terminal operations have been moved to a temporary space in Norfolk, Virginia, “which should help to minimize operational changes.”
Weinstein said the loss of Baltimore profit hasn’t been factored into full-year guidance.
Carnival raised its full-year adjusted profit guidance by five cents to to 98 cents a share. For the first quarter, which ended on Feb. 29, Carnival recorded a loss of about $214 million, or 17 cents a share. This was much better than the $693 million loss, or 55 cents a share, in the same period one year ago.
Besides Baltimore, Carnival is also facing disruptions in the southern Red Sea as Iran-backed Houthis continue attacking commercial vessels with drones and anti-ship missiles.
While mega companies can easily pick up and leave Baltimore, as seen by Carnival, this will have catastrophic consequences for the local economy as layoffs are only beginning.
Sigh, Baltimore City, surrounding counties, and the State of Maryland. We feel for the residents who are losing their jobs because radical Democrats in the state were more concerned about DEI than improving infrastructure.
Many are asking this question: Why didn’t the government install protective pilings around the bridge to prevent ship strikes from large vessels?
end
Baltimore
Baltimore Union Warns Of Job Loss Tsunami After Bridge Collapse Paralyzes Port
THURSDAY, MAR 28, 2024 – 02:25 PM
The lengthy disruption at the Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest ports on the US East Coasts, will unleash supply chain snarls and resulting financial pressures for the local economy of Baltimore, Maryland, as it’s only a matter of time before companies with direct and indirect exposure of the port fire workers.
“I have 2,400 ILA members who are soon going to be without jobs,” Scott Cowan, president of the labor union’s Baltimore local, said in an interview Wednesday, as quoted by Bloomberg.
Cowan said, “Getting them on the payroll, and keeping their families fed, putting food on the table is my first and foremost thought on my mind.”
On Wednesday, Pete Buttigieg, the US transportation secretary, said it was “too soon to be certain” how long it would take salvage crews to remove the mangled Francis Scott Key Bridge from the shipping channel after a container ship rammed it on Tuesday. The bridge collapsed into the only shipping channel entering and exiting the harbor.
“Rebuilding will not be quick or easy or cheap, but we will get it done,” Buttigieg said, adding the economic impact of the port shutdown would “ripple out” beyond the Baltimore metro area.
“This is an important port for both imports and exports. No matter how quickly the channels can be reopened, we know that it can’t happen overnight. And so we’re going to have to manage the impacts,” he said.
On Thursday, Mediterranean Shipping Company, operator of the world’s largest container ship fleet, warned customers it could be “several months” before port operations are completely restored.
Cowan said since dock workers are based on what’s needed at the port, an extended port closure will result in job loss and ripple through the local economy. He said the federal government has discussed with ILA and the port director how to assist if there’s no work.
“These longshore workers, if goods aren’t moving, they’re not working,” Buttigieg said.
Can longshore workers expect stimmy checks? That could be a likely solution in an election year.
Meanwhile, federal officials told Maryland lawmakers in Annapolis that replacing the bridge and salvage work could exceed $2 billion.
JUST IN: Baltimore port worker claims the Dali cargo ship had a “severe electrical problem” just days before it crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Container Royalty co-administrator Julie Mitchell said the ship was having issues 48 hours before the crash. “Those two days, they were having serious power outages… they had a severe electrical problem. It was total power failure, loss of engine power, everything,” she said. (CNN) Mitchell claims the refrigerated containers tripped breakers on the ship multiple times and mechanics tried fixing the issue. Mitchell said that power problems are rare on cargo ships like the Dali and that it should never have left the port until the issue was fixed. An officer on the Dali says the ship went “dead” and everything went dark. “The vessel went dead, no steering power and no electronics… The smell of burned fuel was everywhere in the engine room and it was pitch black,” they said.
·
6.4M Views
According to Lloyd’s of London Chief Executive Officer John Neal, insurance payouts are expected to be the highest ever recorded for marine insurance.
Jim Monkmeyer, president of transportation at DHL Supply Chain, said there are some indications that the port could reopen in May. However, it could be 3-5 years before a new bridge is constructed, which only suggests local supply chains will be disrupted for years.
We have detailed emerging supply chain disruptions:
- Baltimore Bridge Collapse May Cost Billions, Dramatically Disrupt Supply Chains
- Baltimore Coal Exports Blocked After Bridge Collapse
Some bridge engineers who spoke with the New York Times questioned why the 1.6-mile-long bridge had zero deflection safety systems to protect from ship strikes.
Why is that? Why did state and government officials neglect the safety of a bridge that spanned the only port exit and entry? Were they too busy focusing on woke policies?
end
(Mish Shedlock)
Expect A Financial Crisis In Europe With France At The Epicenter
THURSDAY, MAR 28, 2024 – 05:00 AM
Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,
The EU never enforced its Growth and Stability Pact or Maastricht Treaty rules. The crisis is coming to a head with France and Italy in the spotlight. The first casualty will be Green policy.
Image composite by Mish from the European Commission Compliance Tracker
Compliance Rules
- Deficit rule: a country is compliant if (i) the budget balance of general government is equal or larger than -3% of GDP or, (ii) in case the -3% of GDP threshold is breached, the deviation remains small (max 0.5% of GDP) and limited to one year.
- Debt rule: a country is compliant if the general government debt-to-GDP ratio is below 60% of GDP or if the excess above 60% of GDP has been declining by 1/20 on average over the past three years.
- Structural balance rule: a country is compliant if (i) the structural budget balance of general government is at or above the medium-term objective (MTO) or, (ii) in case the MTO has not been reached yet, the annual improvement of the structural balance is equal or higher than 0.5% of GDP, or the remaining distance to the MTO is smaller than 0.5% of GDP.
- Expenditure rule: a country is complaint if the annual rate of growth of primary government expenditure, net of discretionary revenue measures and one-offs, is at or below the 10-year average of the nominal rate of potential output growth minus the convergence margin necessary to ensure an adjustment of the structural budget deficit in line with the structural balance rule.
Deficit Disaster Zones
France and Italy are major disasters right now on the budget deficit rule. France has a budget deficit of 7 percent and Italy 5 percent.
France needs to reduce its deficit by a whopping 4 percent of GDP!
Neither Italy nor Greece should never have been allowed in the EMU (European Monetary Union – Eurozone) in the first place.
Greece has a debt-to-GDP ratio of 170 percent. The target is 60 percent.
But the lead chart tells the picture. Only the Scandinavian countries are in compliance.
Looser Rules Postpone the Crisis
On February 10, the EU agreed to Looser Fiscal Rules to Cut Debt, Boost Investments.
The latest revamp of two-decades-old rules known as the Stability and Growth Pact came after some EU countries racked up record high debt as they increased spending to help their economies recover from the pandemic, and as the bloc announced ambitious green, industrial and defense goals.
The revised rules allow countries with excessive borrowing to reduce their debt on average by 1% per year if it is above 90% of gross domestic product (GDP), and by 0.5% per year on average if the debt pile is between 60% and 90% of GDP.
Countries with a deficit above 3% of GDP are required to halve this to 1.5% during periods of growth, creating a safety buffer for tough times ahead.
Defense spending will be taken into account when the Commission assesses a country’s high deficit, a consideration triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The new rules give countries seven years, up from four previously, to cut debt and deficit starting from 2025.
Note that the EU can tweak enforcement but not the baseline Stability and Growth Pact targets themselves without unanimous agreement, and a new treaty.
With that background, let’s look ahead to the crisis that looms as described by Eurointelligence.
Europe’s Next Financial Crisis
We would like to alert our readers to a theme that has been preoccupying us for a while – the possibility of another financial crisis in Europe. We have generally been restrained in our warning of financial crises. The main exception was the global financial crisis and its cousin, the euro area’s sovereign debt crisis. Fifteen or so years later, we see another financial crisis ahead here in Europe: a crisis of the European social and political model with deep consequences for fiscal and financial stability.
The canary in the coalmine is the overshooting budget deficits in France and Italy, at over 7% and over 5% for 2024 respectively. These numbers are a symptom, not a cause. Behind them lies a lack of economic growth needed to sustain Europe’s social model. Germany’s fiscal policy could not be more different than that of France or Italy, and yet Germany is afflicted by the exact same problem.
The European model was powered by oligopolistic industrial companies, which were heavily supported by the state through regulation that tilted the level-playing field in their favor. The German car industry is a classic example, but everybody did this.
What is killing this model now is a shift in technology and geopolitical fragmentation. Of the two, we would argue the first is the more important. More and more functions in our lives that were previously the realm of purely mechanical processes are nowadays wholly or partially digitalized. Barriers of entry have collapsed. China went from zero to the world leader in electric cars.
European companies no longer generate sufficient profits to fuel the social model – and to fund long-term research. It is no surprise that Europe has only very few tech companies. In short, Europe’s oligopolistic old-tech model no longer works in a digital world. We have been reporting on the attempts by the EU to stem against technological developments through regulation. But this is a way of addressing symptoms, not causes.
After the multiple global shocks of this decade, the consequences of Europe’s technological decline translate into lower potential growth rates. Italy came first. Its productivity growth has been near zero since it joined the euro. The UK’s productivity growth slumped after the global financial crisis, and never recovered since. Germany’s productivity growth is unlikely to recover, even if the economic cycle does. The German Council of Economic Experts see a potential growth of around 0.5% until the end of the decade. With productivity growth that low, Europe’s model has become financially unsustainable. It is unsurprising that the political system is fragmenting everywhere. The argument for sustained deficits, in France for example, is that you need them to keep Marine Le Pen out of power. This means they will persist.
We have a fiscal crisis ahead, caused by a combination of falling productivity growth and political gridlock. Technology is the main cause of the decline. Geopolitics is what accelerated it. The solutions we have been advocating over the years – a joint fiscal capacity, a capital markets union, joint defense procurement to neutralize the rise in defense spending – are further away than ever. Unless one of these parameters change, a financial crisis is a very plausible scenario.
Spotlight France
France has a budget deficit of 7 percent but wants to fund a European army to fight Russia.
How is that supposed to work?
Spotlight Green Fantasies
The EU has adopted ambitious Green policies that will cost much more money than has been budgeted.
How is that supposed to work?
Targets Won’t Be Met
You can take those Green targets and throw then into the ashcan of ideas that never should have been set in the first place.
Even if you give France 7 years to be deficit compliant, how is France supposed to cut back a whopping 4 percent of GDP?
What’s the Basic Problem?
Eurointelligence says “Technology is the main cause of the decline. Geopolitics is what accelerated it.”
Technology is not the problem. The Maastricht treaty that created the Eurozone is flawed. And it cannot be fixed without unanimous agreement.
Given productivity and work rule differences, one interest rate set by the ECB cannot serve Italy, France, Greece, and Germany.
Add to that, EU nannycrat rules. The EU is more interested in cracking down on Google (Now Alphabet GOOG), Apple (AAPL), Facebook (now Meta Platforms META), and Microsoft (MSFT) for alleged monopolies than developing anything.
The EU Is Dysfunctional
In a single word, the EU is dysfunctional. That’s the problem, not technology. The Maastricht treaty itself is a big part of the reason the EU is dysfunctional. The Euro itself, with one common interest rate, is fundamentally flawed.
Companies like Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple could not exist in the EU because in the name of competition and diversity, the EU would kill them before they ever got big enough to matter.
EU rules make it impossible to fix the basic problem. So the EU has resorted to nannycrat rules to regulate US and Chinese companies instead of fixing anything.
Technology, including AI, and geopolitics is now accelerating the basic problem, the EU is dysfunctional by treaty. It’s showing up in polls everywhere.
European Parliament Polls in France
EP France Polls from Wikipedia
Marine Le Pen’s National Rally is clobbering Renew/Modem by a whopping 12 percentage points, 30-18.
This chart is for France only, not the entire parliament, but it reflects on French President Emmanuel Macron’s sinking popularity and the sinking centrists in general.
A War Economy
As a way to create jobs, EC President Charles Michel promotes a war economy.
In a preposterous proposal to deal with growth, The European Council President Calls on Europe to Switch to a War Economy
I have a suggestion. Let US senator Lindsey Graham and EC president Charles Michel lead the charge.
Instead of fixing Germany’s aging infrastructure, attempting to compete with the US on AI, or competing with China on anything, EC President Charles Michel promotes war as growth.
It’s Time for a New Strategy
Please note German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is refusing to send Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.
On March 16, I commented Ukraine Won’t Win the War, It’s Time for a New Strategy
There’s Solidarity, Then There’s Solidarity
Poll after poll shows support for Ukraine. Every one of then is flawed because they fail to ask “how much are you willing to pay.”
There’s solidarity in the EU, but it stops with wheat and weapons. In the US, Biden is desperate for the war to go on. But he still has no goal. Is Biden’s goal the same as Zelensky’s: “The war will not be over as long as Crimea is occupied.”
We don’t know because Biden won’t say. Biden also will not say how much he is willing to commit. Is it another $150 billion or is it $1 trillion or more?
Meanwhile, prepare for carnage of the center, Greens, and warmongers in the next European Parliament elections.
A fiscal crisis awaits. The first casualty will be Green energy policies.
END
She is a great journalist and will be terrific for Twitter (x)
Ex-CBS Journo Catherine Herridge In Talks To Join X
WEDNESDAY, MAR 27, 2024 – 04:40 PM
Award-winning journalist Catherine Herridge – whose controversial firing by CBS News in February made headlines over the fact that they confiscated her personal files amid an ongoing investigation onto the Hunter Biden laptop story, is in talks to join Elon Musk’s X, the NY Post reports, characterizing the talks as ‘preliminary.’
A potential deal could see Herridge — known for her aggressive reporting on the Hunter Biden laptop scandal — helm an investigative unit that she could help put together, according to a source close to the situation. -NY Post
“We are in discussions with many content creators who are interested in joining X in various ways. Catherine Herridge is a great journalist who strongly supports free speech,” X said in a statement to the outlet.
Wouldn’t it be hilarious if Musk gave Herridge the exact deal Don Lemon demanded? As a reminder, he wanted:
- A $5 million up-front payment from X
- An $8 million salary
- Equity in X
- The right to approve any changes in X policy related to news content
- – A Tesla Cybertruck.
According to the report, joining X would allow Herridge the journalistic freedom to pursue a wide variety of stories.
X has been trying to build a high-profile roster of journalists to bring to its platform. It hired former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, and hired ex-CNN host Don Lemon. Lemon’s agreement with the platform was canceled by X boss Elon Musk, however, following a contentious interview with him earlier this month.
Lemon continues to post episodes of his show on X and YouTube, but viewership has cratered from his first buzzy interview with the Tesla CEO.
“Herridge is weighing a number of opportunities,” one source told The Post.
Meanwhile, the House Judiciary Committee is considering an investigation into CBS News for confiscating Herridge’s files, which the network called “nothing unusual.”
end
IIIB USA COMMENTARIES RE ISRAEL/HAMAS WAR/ and PERVASIVE ANTISEMITISM/WOKISM…
end
iiiC USA COVID //VACCINE ISSUES
END
FREIGHT ISSUES/USA
END
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON
END
SWAMP STORIES
Trump Hits Back Against NY Gag Order — Turley Says: “Appeal”
WEDNESDAY, MAR 27, 2024 – 06:00 PM
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday responded to a gag order issued in his “hush money” case, slamming both the judge and his daughter – who allegedly posted a picture of Trump behind bars on social media.
Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the case in which Trump is accused of making ‘hush money’ payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the 2016 election, issued a gag order blocking Trump fromm making public comments about the court staff, jurors, witnesses, or prosecutors in the case.
“Given that the eve of trial is upon us, it is without question that the imminency of the risk of harm is now paramount,” Merchan wrote.
Trump Responds
On Wednesday, Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, claiming that the decision imperils his First Amendment rights. Trump also took aim at Merchan’s adult daughter.
Merchan, Trump wrote, “is suffering from an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” adding that Merchan’s “daughter represents Crooked Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, and other Radical Liberals,” adding that she allegedly “has just posted a picture of me behind bars, her obvious goal, and makes it completely impossible for me to get a fair trial.”
“This Judge, by issuing a vicious ‘Gag Order,’ is wrongfully attempting to deprive me of my First Amendment Right to speak out against the Weaponization of Law Enforcement, including the fact that Crooked Joe Biden, Merrick Garland, and their Hacks and Thugs are tracking and following me all across the Country, obsessively trying to persecute me, while everyone knows I have done nothing wrong!” the post continues.
Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley suggests appealing the order, writing on his blog;
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan this week became the latest court to impose a gag order on former president Donald Trump with a stinging order that found a history of Trump attacks that threatened the administration of justice. The order will bar public criticism of figures who are at the center of the public debate over this trial and the allegation of the weaponization of the legal system for political purposes, including former Trump counsel Michael Cohen, former stripper Stormy Daniels, and lead prosecutor Matthew Colangelo. Trump is still able to criticize Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Merchan himself. What is most striking is the protection of Cohen who continues to goad Trump in public attacks.
While many of us have criticized past attacks by the former president of judges and staff associated with cases, theses gag orders raise very serious free speech questions in my view. Prosecutors like Special Counsel Jack Smith and Bragg have pushed for a trial before the election. (Recently, Smith even stated that he may force Trump into a trial running up to or even through the election).
After these charges were delayed until just before an election, they have maintained that it is essential to try Trump before November. The timing of charges and proposed trial dates were the choice of these prosecutors. If judges are inclined to facilitate the effort for a pre-election trial, they should show some recognition of the unique context for such prosecution. Yet, judges like federal District Judge Tanya Chutkan have stated that she will not make any accommodation for the fact that Trump is the leading candidate for the presidency.
I was previously highly critical of the efforts of Smith to gag Trump before the election. In my view, the order issued by Judge Chutkan was unconstitutional. I have opposed gag orders in many cases for decades as inimical to constitutional free speech rights.
The barring of Trump from criticizing jurors or court staff (or family members) is largely uncontroversial. However, Cohen and Daniels have long been part of the political campaigns going back to 2016. Indeed, I was highly critical of Cohen when he was still the thuggish lawyer for Trump. He is now one of the loudest critics of his former client and has made continual media appearances, including on his expected appearance in this case.
Cohen’s appearance on the stand will only add to the lawfare claims given the recent view of a judge that he is a serial perjurer who appears to be continuing to game the legal system.
Cohen ironically went public to criticize Trump and celebrate the gagging of him:
“I want to thank Judge Merchan for imposing the gag order as I have been under relentless assault from Donald’s MAGA supporters. Nevertheless, knowing Donald as well as I do, he will seek to defy the gag order by employing others within his circle to do his bidding, regardless of consequence.”
Many Americans view the Bragg case as a raw political effort and many experts (including myself) view the case as legally flawed. Some polls show that a majority now believe the Trump prosecutions generally are “politically motivated.”
This election could well turn on the allegation of lawfare. However, Merchan has now largely bagged the leading candidate (and alleged target of this weaponization) from being able to criticize key figures behind the effort.
The inclusion of Colangelo in the order is equally problematic. Trump has campaigned on his involvement in a variety of cases targeting him in his federal and state systems. His movement between cases is viewed by many as evidence of a “get Trump” campaign of prosecutors. He is currently the most talked about figure that many, including Trump, view as showing coordination between these cases and investigations.
My opposition to past gag orders was based on the constitutional right of defendants to criticize their prosecutions. Courts have gradually expanded both the scope and use of such orders. It has gone from being relatively rare to commonplace. However, the use to gag the leading candidate for the presidency in the final months of the campaign only magnifies those concerns.
There is a division on courts in dealing with such challenges involving politicians. For example, a court struggled with those issues in the corruption trial of Rep. Harold E. Ford Sr. (D–Tenn.). The district court barred Ford from making any “extrajudicial statement that a reasonable person would expect to be disseminated by means of public communication,” including criticism of the motives of the government or basis, merits, or evidence of the prosecution.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected the gag order as overbroad and stressed that any such limits on free speech should be treated as “presumptively void and may be upheld only on the basis of a clear showing that an exercise of First Amendment rights will interfere with the rights of the parties to a fair trial.”
This order allows for criticism of the case and both Merchan and Bragg. However, you have key figures like Cohen and Coangelo who are already central figures in this political campaign. In Cohen’s case, he has actively engaged in a campaign to block Trump politically and has done countless interviews on this case as part of the legal campaign.
While courts routinely rubber stamp such orders (and Trump’s history will reinforce the basis of the Merchan order), I would still try to appeal it. The odds always run against challenging such orders and appellate courts are disinclined to even review such orders. However, there is a legitimate free speech concern raised by this order that should be reviewed by higher courts.
END
KING REPORT
| The King Report March 28, 2024 Issue 7210 | Independent View of the News |
| Japan’s BOJ, MOF, FSA to hold three-party (emergency) meeting as yen slideshttps://finance.yahoo.com/news/japans-boj-mof-fsa-hold-090149522.html S&P Global downgrades outlooks on five regional US banks to ‘negative’The ratings agency downgraded the outlook for First Commonwealth Financial, M&T Bank, Synovus Financial, Trustmark, and Valley National Bancorp to “negative” from “stable,” it said… “The negative outlook revisions reflect the possibility that stress in CRE markets may hurt the asset quality…https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/sp-global-downgrades-outlooks-five-regional-us-banks-negative-2024-03-26/ ESMs opened higher on Tuesday night and intractably rallied, on Q1 performance gaming, until they hit a peak of 5285.75 at 1:45 ET. After a dip to 5276.00 at 3:48 ET, ESMs rallied to 5288.75 at 6:50 ET. Another dip took ESMs to 5281.50 at 8:28 ET. Traders then aggressively got long for the NYSE opening pump & dump. ESMs soared to a daily high of 5294.50 at 9:27 ET. The pump & dump appeared on the NYSE opening. ESMs sank to a daily low of 5270.75 at 11:26 ET. A Noon Balloon, augmented by Q1 performance gaming, pushed ESMs to 5281.50 at 13:00 ET. After a modest retreat, ESMs traded sideways until they spiked higher minutes before the 14:15 ET VIX Fix. ESMs hit 5287.00 at 14:30 ET. After the VIX Fix manipulation, an A-B-C decline took ESMs to 5276.75 at 15:11 ET. The last-hour manipulation forced ESMs to 5313.25 at 16:02 ET. ESMs, Central Time – Here is blatant manipulation that US regulators routinely allow and ignore. Dali cargo ship suffered ‘severe electrical problem’ while docked in Baltimore days prior to bridge collapse crash that saw it suffer ‘total power failure, loss of engine failure’, port worker sayshttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13246079/ Biden says federal government will fund Baltimore bridge rebuildBiden, who called the collision a “terrible accident,” was asked why the federal government should pick up the tab if the ship and its operator were potentially to blame. “That could be but we’re not going to wait for that to happen. We’re going to pay for it to get the bridge rebuilt and opened,” Biden said…https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-says-federal-government-will-fund-baltimore-bridge-rebuild-2024-03-26/ @RNCResearch: Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen walks back Biden’s declaration that taxpayers will cover the cost of a new Key Bridge in Baltimore: “My expectation would be that ultimately there’ll be insurance payments.” https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1773026672473698390 Team Obama-Biden and the FBI quickly declared the Key Bridge collapse a non-terrorist act BEFORE any investigation was made. Why? PS – Insurance companies do NOT pay for acts of terrorism! Reuters: Here is a timeline of the collapse on Tuesday of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge after it was hit by the Singapore-flagged container ship Dali… 01:04 a.m (0504 GMT). – Loaded with shipping containers, Dali departs from Baltimore’s port… 1:24:33 a.m. – Dali appears to suffer a total power failure as all its lights go out… 1:27 a.m. – Dali appears to be colliding with one of the Key Bridge’s piers. The U.S. Coast Guard receives first report of collision. 1:27:10 a.m. – The ship’s lights come back on… (Seconds after the collision!)https://www.reuters.com/world/us/within-minutes-departure-faltering-container-ship-crashes-into-baltimore-bridge-2024-03-26/ @DCNewsLive: video (sped up at parts) with a better breakdown of the entire incident, resulting in the container ship striking the Key Bridge: https://t.co/Hw67SHzjKl @Dominick_Tullo: The plume of black smoke from that barge indicates unburnt diesel fuel, which means the throttle is calling for more diesel than the engines can possibly burn. Meaning the throttle was wide open and likely in reverse to try to stop this… Investigators Probe ‘Dirty Fuel’ in Baltimore Container Ship Disaster Amid Mid-Atlantic Supply Chain Crisis – 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… 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…https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/baltimore-container-ship-crisis Is China spying on American ports? March 13, 2024On Feb. 29, the chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., sent a strongly worded letter to an obscure Chinese equipment manufacturer: Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co. (known as “ZPMC”). ZPMC is the world’s top producer of ship-to-shore gantry cranes used at container terminals the world over — nearly 80% of the cranes at U.S. ports are ZPMC cranes, and the company has a higher share in Europe… The subject of Green’s letter wasn’t a trade dispute of the kind that has erupted between China and the U.S. in the past five years, but something rather more serious: accusations ZPMC secretly installed communications devices in cranes bound for the U.S. that would enable spying and even remote control (or sabotage) of the cranes… https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-spying-american-ports-110000054.html Chinese-made cranes at U.S. ports may pose a national security threat: NPR Feb.21, 2024The U.S. national security officials have really been concerned about Chinese hackers infiltrating critical infrastructure. They’re trying to get an advantage if there was a war or a conflict in the region. These officials say that Chinese hackers have been burrowing into U.S. infrastructure for the past five years or so… The White House says that cyberattacks could pose as big a threat to the port as storms… A major Japanese port was recently hit by a criminal cyberattack. Hackers held it for ransom for two whole days, and shipments were totally halted. White House cybersecurity adviser Anne Neuberger explained why the ports are so important… She said that the ports pump $5.4 trillion into the American economy. That’s over 90% of overseas trade. And the ports are also vital for airlift capabilities for the military. If there was a major disruption at the ports, even short term, it could be disastrous…https://www.npr.org/2024/02/21/1232998691/chinese-made-cranes-at-u-s-ports-may-pose-a-national-security-threat @jenniferzeng97: The CCP’s media suddenly reported Xi Jinping’s Wife Peng Liyuan’s “inspection” in quite a high-profile way. In the meantime, there are rumors that Peng will enter the Politburo, the 25-member core leadership body of the CCP’s Central Committee. Is that possible? @StevenWMosher: It’s Madame Mao–Jiang Qing–all over again. As Xi Jinping succumbs to a combination of megalomania and paranoia, the circle of people he trusts is shrinking. So, like Mao, he appoints his wife to the Politburo. The old men who rule China will not be happy. @zerohedge: Dallas Fed Energy Survey: “Oil and gas production decreased in Q1, according to executives at exploration and production firms. The oil production index moved down to -4.1 in Q1, suggesting small decline in production.” Wait, that’s not what Biden’s DOE reported. Pimco’s Richard Clarida Leans into the Idea of Sticky Inflation Risk‘Hawkish mode’ is the order of the day, and not just staying on the baseline, he says Goods prices in the US had been helping cool down inflation, but higher energy bills — like gasoline in California, above — threaten to put new pressure on the economy… There’s one risk scenario that’s keeping traders up at night: What if US inflation is significantly stickier than many economists believe? And over the past few months, that potential outcome has looked more likely, according to Pimco’s Richard Clarida, who also served as vice chair at the Federal Reserve. “A sticky inflation scenario is maybe not a baseline, but it is a realistic case,” Clarida said. “And I think investors and people looking at the economy need to start thinking about it.”…https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-03-27/us-inflation-is-looking-stickier-than-economists-expected-clarida-says @RyanDetrick: Going back to the ’94 election year, only ONCE has the Fed cut in May-Nov of an election yr. Oh, that was in Oct ’08 when the entire system was falling apart… @GOP: According to Axios, Joe Biden has only used the term “Bidenomics” ONCE in over two months.Americans know “Bidenomics” means higher prices and poorer families. Romanian mob is coming for your debit cards, with ATM-style skimmers now at self-checkouts: authorities warn – Romanian mobsters cross border illegally, steal what they can and cut off ankle monitors if they get caught: authorities (More Bidenomics!)https://www.foxnews.com/us/romanian-mob-coming-debit-cards-atm-style-skimmers-now-self-checkouts Positive aspects of previous sessionStocks & bonds rallied on Q1 performance gaming, & a solid 7-year note auction: 4.185% vs. 4.193% WIA blatant, and supposedly illegal, late ESM manipulation appeared Negative aspects of previous sessionFangs declined because Nvidia sank as much as 3%, which dragged the Mag 7 lower Ambiguous aspects of previous sessionDid the late ESM manipulation exhaust performance gamers? First Hour/Last Hour Action [S&P 500 Index]: 1st Hour from NYSE Open: Down; Last Hour: Up Pivot Point for S&P 500 Index [above/below indicates daily trend to traders]: 5237.23Previous session S&P 500 Index High/Low: 5249.26; 5213.92 Israel Truce Team Leaves Doha; Official Blames Hamas for ‘Dead End’https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/hamas/2024/03/26/id/1158725/ @IsraelRadar_com: Hamas admits: Reports of IDF raping Palestinian women at Shifa hospital are fake; Gaza woman interviewed by Al-Jazeera made it up; why is Hamas admitting it? fake rape story backfired, prompted many families to flee northern Gaza to protect their daughters; this is not what Hamas wanted… so they had to tell the truth, for a change. Kamala Harris is Hamas’ useful idiot – The TelegraphThe vice-president is a major liability for the Biden campaign – and is harming relations with Israel As the Biden Presidency continues to sink at a rapid pace, with nearly two thirds of Americans now believing the country is on the wrong track, Kamala Harris is unwittingly doing her best to speed its demise. Her latest television interview, with ABC News, can only be described as a train wreck that cements her reputation as a calamitous vice president. The interview followed her recent gaffe-ridden visit to Puerto Rico, where Harris cluelessly applauded anti-American protesters singing a song in Spanish accusing her administration of war crimes… Harris warned Israel against a military offensive in Rafah, while ludicrously boasting “I have studied the maps.” Harris, whose expertise on the Middle East is close to zero, saw fit to berate America’s closest ally in the region on its own counter-terrorism policy… Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are both willing to kowtow to the enemies of the free world for the sake of placating America’s radical Left and shoring up domestic political support for the pro-Palestinian/pro-Hamas cause in critically important swing states such as Michigan. They also genuinely do not seem to care about Israel’s own future and security…https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/comment/2024/03/27/kamala-harris-hamas-useful-idiot-rafah-invasion-israel/ NYT: Obama, Fearing Biden Loss to Trump, Is on the Phone to Strategize (The de facto POTUS)As the election approaches, President Biden is making regular calls to former President Barack Obama to catch up on the race or to talk about family. But Mr. Obama is making calls of his own to Jeffrey D. Zients, the White House chief of staff, and to top aides at the Biden campaign to strategize and relay advice. This level of engagement illustrates Mr. Obama’s support for Mr. Biden, but also what one of his senior aides characterized as Mr. Obama’s grave concern that Mr. Biden could lose to former President Donald J. Trump… https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/26/us/politics/obama-biden.html Today – Q1 performance gaming appeared yesterday, with an egregious ESM manipulation of 38 handles from 15:18 ET to 16:02 ET. We regularly note that the peak intensity of a manipulation to game performance tends to occur on the penultimate day of the period. Yesterday’s manipulators will try to extend Wednesday’s gains, and at the least, stave off any quarterly rebalancing the entails the selling of stocks (while buying bonds). Did the late manipulation exhaust performance gamers? ESUs are -4.25; NQHs are -20.75; USHs are -3/32 at 20:05 ET because Fed Gov. Waller said recent strong economic data and the lack of progress on inflation mean there’s no rush to cut rates. S&P Index 50-day MA: 5036; 100-day MA: 4824; 150-day MA: 4666; 200-day MA: 4614DJIA 50-day MA: 38,683; 100-day MA: 37,442; 150-day MA: 36,259, 200-day MA: 35,857(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 and MACD are positive – a close below 4455.17 triggers a sell signalWeekly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 5003.27 triggers a sell signalDaily: Trender and MACD arepositive – a close below 5155.02 triggers a sell signalHourly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 5199.89 triggers a sell signal Jon Stewart found to have overvalued his NYC home by 829% after slamming Trump’s civil case as ‘not victimless’ – “Did @jonstewart commit fraud when he sold his penthouse for $17.5M? NY listed its market value at $1.8M an AV at around 800k… Who did he [sic] defraud?? I am SHOCKED,” he wrote… https://trib.al/haJ6Gmw @RNCResearch: Biden claims he “literally” cut the national debt by $7 billion, $1.4 trillion, $1.7 billion, $1.7 trillion, and “in half,” depending on the day. This is what happens when a compulsive, lifelong liar experiences cognitive decline.https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1772798662839566496 Former Biden family associate Tony Bobulinski threatens to sue Rep. Dan Goldman for ‘defamatory commentary’ https://trib.al/Ast7Uoa Biden’s reversal of Trump’s Afghanistan order blamed for Aug 2021 collapse, says exiled general. https://t.co/mc7WPBt6rz @ChuckCallesto: The daughter of the judge who issued a GAG ORDER on Trump who is also handling his hush money case has KAMALA HARRIS LISTED AS A CLIENT at a firm that has a focus on elections and campaigns. Judge Merchan, a New York State Supreme Court Judge who enacted a gag order against President Trump today, has a daughter, Loren Merchan. Loren holds the position of President and Partner at Authentic Campaigns, a firm that lists Kamala Harris among its clientele. Additionally, Adam Schiff is also a client of the company. Illinois parole board members resign after granting release of man who fatally stabbed 11-year-old boy less than 24 hours later – Board chair Donald Shelter and board member LeAnn Miller stepped down on Monday in the wake of 11-year-old Jayden Perkins’ murder on March 13… https://trib.al/GJxG9cQ You Count the Votes Over and Over Until They Add Up Right – John KassIllinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker—the perpetually frightened rich kid born… has a big fat political problem. He’s hosting the Democratic National Convention, his big fat coming out party in Chicago, in August. His fantasy? Becoming president of the United States of America… The leftists preen like perfumed apes dressed in velvet suits when speechifying about how much they revere the institutions of democracy… But in Chicago, where the DNC is to be held, there is another way, the Chicago Way, the Johnny Rocco Way. The Democrat Primary election for Cook County State’s Attorney—a key office in a county overwhelmed by repeat violent crime–was held last Tuesday. It was a nail-biter with less than 1,700 votes separating the top two candidates. And a day or so after the polls were closed, there was a miracle. 10,000 “lost” votes were found!!!!… As I write this, they’re still counting the votes, again and again. And they’ll keep counting as history and tradition inform us. The newspaper editorial boards wring their hands, afraid of using the F word (fraud). But I think most voters are thinking about the R word, as in Johnny Rocco, who explained how to win elections in blue Democrat cities like Chicago… “Yeah, pay for his campaign expenses. Dish out a lot of groceries, and coal, get my boys to bring the voters out, and then count the votes over and over until they added up right and he was elected … yeah.” “But brag away is what Gov. JB Pritzker did. “Here in Illinois, our elections are protected,” he wrote on X (Twitter) last week. “We’re not scared of more of our people exercising their right to vote. That’s why we’ve expanded early voting, curbside voting, and made the vote-by-mail registry permanent to protect your fundamental right.” “The replies were savage — over 500 of them and counting, almost entirely negative.”… The American people have little if any confidence in American elections. They haven’t forgotten 2020, the media censorship of the politics that joined to rig the last election. And once they completely lose confidence in elections and the rule of law, what do you think happens? Violence…https://johnkassnews.com/you-count-the-votes-over-and-over-until-they-add-up-right/ @TheBabylonBee: Genius: Vacationing Family Poses as Illegal Immigrants To Get Free Hotel Room In New York City https://t.co/KmznuOwKmp @AriFleischer: NBC should never get to host a GOP primary debate or townhall. GOP Senators/Congressmen should not go on Meet the Press. No NBC anchor should participate in a presidential debate. What NBC is saying is if you’re for Trump, you don’t belong. Good. Let NBC be for Democrats only. Megyn Kelly blasts NBC over Ronna McDaniel firing: ‘The children at Dem-SNBC are mad’“Hey, you had no problem hiring Jen Psaki who lied for a living for years as an Obama and then Biden spokesperson, so… what gives?” Kelly said, adding that Psaki reminded her of Dora the Explorer, the main character from the Nickelodeon animated series… On his Truth Social site, Trump said, “These Radical Left Lunatics are CRAZY, and the top people at NBC ARE WEAK.”…https://nypost.com/2024/03/27/media/megyn-kelly-blasts-nbc-over-ronna-mcdaniel-firing/ 3 ways NBC flunked the Ronna McDaniel testThis episode perfectly encapsulates the state of both our political landscape and the corporate media. It exposed the fraud of the so-called journalists at NBC like Chuck Todd, who was one of the first to take to the airwaves on Sunday to blast the hiring. If Ronna McDaniel, a fairly benign mainstream political lifer who happens to be a Republican, is unacceptable at NBC, what does that say for the mission of providing the audience with a diverse set of viewpoints?… NBC’s journalists and hosts couldn’t process sharing a break room with a prominent and actual Republican. Fail one. The bosses gave in to their childish employees, who clearly don’t understand the role of a journalist. Fail two. And the entire news outlet apparently thought McDaniel was a GOP voice that would resonate with conservatives in America to begin with. Fail three…https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4559405-nbc-made-three-huge-mistakes-with-ronna-mcdaniel/ @BernardKerik: NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller leaves behind a young bride and 9-month-old son (pictured). Diller’s brother-in-law Jonathan McAuley posted a picture of the baby son wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words, “My Daddy’s life matters.“ | |
GREG HUNTER
SEE YOU ON MONDAY//
AND A VERY HAPPY EASTER WEEKEND
harveyorganblog.com 
