APRIL 29/BLOG//GOLD CLOSED UP $10.35 TO $2346.15//SILVER CLOSED UP 13 CENTS TO $27.37//PLATINUM CLOSED UP $40.55 TO $955,85 WHILE PALLADIUM CLOSED UP $19.50 TO $977.10//RUSSIA VS UKRAINE: SEEMS THAT UKRAINE IS NOW IN RETREAT//ISRAEL VS HAMAS STILL IN A PAUSE PHASE//COVID UPDATES//COVID INJURY REPORTS//MARK CRISPIN MILLER/DR PAUL ALEXANDER //SLAY NEWS//BIDEN POLL NUMBERS IN FULL RETREAT//SWAMP STORIES FOR YOU TONIGHT//FIRST DAY NOTICE TOMORROW
190 H BMO CAPITAL 1 323 H HSBC 871 363 H WELLS FARGO SEC 60 435 H SCOTIA CAPITAL 100 624 H BOFA SECURITIES 716 690 C ABN AMRO 1 737 C ADVANTAGE 9 991 H CME 6
TOTAL: 882 882 MONTH TO DATE: 18,166
FOR APRIL/2024
GOLD: NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR APRIL/2024. CONTRACT: 882 NOTICES FOR 882,000 OZ or 2.743 TONNES
total notices so far: 18,166 contracts for 1,8166 Oz (56.503 tonnes)
FOR APRIL:
SILVER NOTICES: 0NOTICE(S) FILED FOR 0 OZ/
total number of notices filed so far this month : 1649 for 8,245,000 oz
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END
GLD/
BOTH GLD AND SLV ARE FRAUDULENT VEHICLES//THEY ARE NOW RAIDING GLD AND SLV FOR PHYSICAL
THE CROOKS ARE STEALING GOLD AND SILVER FROM THE GLD/SLV AND REPLACING THE PHYSICAL WITH PAPER DOLLARS.
WITH GOLD UP $10.55
INVESTORS SWITCHING TO SPROTT PHYSICAL (PHYS) INSTEAD OF THE FRAUDULENT GLD/ :
NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:
/ /INVENTORY RESTS AT 832.19 TONNES
INVENTORY RESTS AT 832.19 TONNES
SLV//
WITH NO SILVER AROUND AND SILVER UP $0.13AT THE SLV//
NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:
// INVENTORY INCREASES T0 428.717MILLION OZ/
INVESTORS ARE SWITCHING SLV TO SPROTT’S PSLV.
CLOSING INVENTORY: 428.717MILLION OZ
Let us have a look at the data for today
SILVER//OUTLINE
SILVER COMEX OI FELL BY A SMALL SIZED 13 CONTRACTS TO 169,094 BUT STILL RAPIDLY CLOSING IN ON THE RECORD HIGH OI OF 244,710, SET FEB 25/2020, DESPITE THE RAID AND THIS SMALL SIZED LOSS IN COMEX OI WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR SMALL LOSS OF $0,08 IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX ON FRIDAY. WE HAD ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION AT THE COMEX SESSION WITH AGAIN PANICKING SHORT COVERING BY OUR SPECS WITH THE SMALL PRICE GAIN IN PRICE. WE HAD A STRONG SIZED 514T.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 BUT DEMAND IS JUST TOO HIGH FOR THEM.
CRAIG HEMKE HAS POINTED OUT THAT THE CROOKS USE THE MID MONTH FOR MANIPULATION AS THEY SELL THEIR BUY SIDE OF THE CALENDAR SPREAD FIRST AND THEN KEEP THE SELL SIDE TO LIQUIDATE AT A LATER DATE. THUS WE HAVE TWO VEHICLES THE CROOKS USE FOR MANIPULATION AND BOTH ARE SPREADERS: 1) AT MONTH’S END/SPREADERS COMEX AND 2/ TAS SPREADERS, MID MONTH. TOTAL TAS ISSUED ON FRIDAY NIGHT: 514 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 IN THE PAST YEAR SET ANOTHER RECORD LOW AT 114,102 CONTRACTS ///JULY 3.2023// OUR BANKERS WITH THE HELP OF SPECULATORS AND HIGH FREQUENCY TRADERS WERE SUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING THE PRICE OF SILVER DOWN (IT FELL BY $0.08, BUT WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING ANY SILVER LONGS AS WE HAD A HUGE SIZED GAIN OF 1587 CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES DESPITE THE LOSS IN PRICE OF $0.08
WE MUST HAVE HAD:
A HUMONGOUS SIZED 1600 CONTRACT ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS) iiii) AN INITIAL SILVER STANDING FOR COMEX SILVER MEASURING AT 2.465 MILLION OZ (FIRST DAY NOTICE) FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 0 OZ QUEUE JUMP //NEW STANDING REMAINS AT 8.260 MILLION OZ//
//NEW STANDING FOR SILVER IS THUS 8.260 MILLION OZ
WE HAD:
/ SMALL SIZED COMEX OI LOSS/ HUGE SIZED EFP ISSUANCE/ VI) HUGE SIZED NUMBER OF T.A.S. CONTRACT ISSUANCE 514 CONTRACTS)/
I AM NOW RECORDING THE DIFFERENTIAL IN OI FROM PRELIMINARY TO FINAL -REMOVED A STRONG 237CONTRACTS //
HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS APRIL ACCUMULATION FOR EFP’S SILVER/JPMORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES/STARTING FROM FIRST DAY/MONTH OF APRIL
TOTAL CONTRACTS for 21DAYS, total 30,987 contracts: OR 154.935 MILLION OZ (1476CONTRACTS PER DAY)
TOTAL EFP’S FOR THE MONTH SO FAR: 154.935 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 111035 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.
APRIL: 154.935 MILLION OZ (THIS MONTH WILL PROBABLY BE A WHOPPER OF ISSUANCE OF EFPS//4TH HIGHEST EVER RECORDED FOR A MONTH)
RESULT: WE HAD A SMALL SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF 13 CONTRACTS DESPITE OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX//FRIDAY.,. THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A STRONG EFP ISSUANCE CONTRACTS: 1600 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 FOLLOWED BY TODAYS’ 0 QUEUE JUMP
//NEW TOTAL STANDING REMAINS AT 8.260 MILLION OZ
WE HAVE A HUGE SIZED GAIN OF 1587 OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES DESPITE THE GAIN IN PRICE. THE TOTAL OF TAS INITIATED CONTRACTS TODAY: A STRONG SIZED 514 CONTRACTS,//HUGE FRONT END OF THE TAS CONTRACTS WERE LIQUIDATED DURING THE THURSDAY COMEX SESSION/// WITH MAJOR SHORT COVERING FROM OUR SPEC SHORTS
THE NEW TAS ISSUANCE FRIDAY NIGHT (733 WILL BE PUT INTO “THE BANK” TO BE COLLUSIVELY USED AT A LATER DATE//PROBABLY TODAY., .
WE HAD 0 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR NIL OZ
THE SILVER COMEX IS NOW BEING ATTACKED FOR METAL BY LONDONERS ET AL.
GOLD//OUTLINE
IN GOLD, THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY A SMALL SIZED 403 OI CONTRACTS TO 521,317 AND CLOSER TO THE RECORD (SET JAN 24/2020) AT 799,733 AND PREVIOUS TO THAT: (SET JAN 6/2020) AT 797,110, BUT WE ARE NOW MUCH FURTHER FROM OUR ALL TIME LOW OF 390,000 CONTRACTS.
THE DIFFERENTIAL FROM PRELIMINARY OI TO FINAL OI IN GOLD TODAY: REMOVED 301 CONTRACTS
WE HAD A SMALL SIZED INCREASE IN COMEX OI (403 CONTRACTS) WITH OUR $5.40 GAIN IN PRICE//THURSDAY. THE FRBNY SUPPLIED THE NECESSARY SHORT PAPER TO WHACK GOLD’S PRICE. WE ALSO HAD A RATHER LARGE INITIAL STANDING IN GOLD TONNAGE FOR APRIL. AT 44.8615 TONNES ON FIRST DAY NOTICE FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S HUMONGOUS QUEUE JUMP OF 81,300 OZ.(2.528TONNES)
NEW STANDING 53.673 TONNES// ALL OF THIS HAPPENED WITH OUR $5.40 GAIN IN PRICE WITH RESPECT TO FRIDAY’S TRADING. WE HAD A STRONG SIZED GAIN OF 5443 OI CONTRACTS (16.93 PAPER TONNES) ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES.
E.F.P. ISSUANCE
THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A VERY STRONG SIZED 5039 CONTRACTS:
The NEW COMEX OI FOR THE GOLD COMPLEX RESTS AT 521,317
IN ESSENCE WE HAVE A STRONG SIZED INCREASE IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 5443 CONTRACTS WITH403 CONTRACTS INCREASED AT THE COMEX// AND A STRONG SIZED 5039 EFP OI CONTRACTS WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS TOTAL OI GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 5443 CONTRACTS.. WE HAD THE FOLLOWING TAS CONTRACTS INITIATED (ISSUED): A STRONG SIZED 1939 CONTRACTS,
CALCULATIONS ON GAIN/LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES
WE HAD A STRONG SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (5039 CONTRACTS) ACCOMPANYING THE SMALL SIZED GAIN IN COMEX OI 704 TOTAL GAIN FOR OUR THE TWO EXCHANGES: 5443 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 FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S MASSIVE QUEUE JUMP 2.737TONNES
//NEW STANDING 56.503 TONNES.
/ 3) ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION WITH THE GAIN IN PRICE.
// 4) SMALL SIZED COMEX OPEN INTEREST GAIN/ 5) FAIR ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL PAPER///6: STRONG T.A.S. ISSUANCE: 1939 CONTRACTS/ HUGE SHORT COVERING BY OUR WRONG FOOTED SPECS WITH THE FED’S CONTINUAL RAID ON THE COMEX GOLD.
HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS IN 2023-2024 INCLUDING TODAY
APRIL
ACCUMULATION OF EFP’S GOLD AT J.P. MORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES: (EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL) FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL. :
TOTAL EFP CONTRACTS ISSUED: 81,421 CONTRACTS OR 8,142,100 OZ OR 253.26 TONNES IN 21TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 3968 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY
TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS : THIS MONTH IN 20TRADING DAY(S) IN TONNES 229.60 TONNES
TOTAL ANNUAL GOLD PRODUCTION, 2022, THROUGHOUT THE WORLD EX CHINA EX RUSSIA: 3555 TONNES
THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 253.26DIVIDED BY 3550 x 100% TONNES = 7.13% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL PRODUCTION
SEPT 142.12 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE ( LOW ISSUANCE)_
OCT: 141.13 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE (LOW ISSUANCE)
NOV: 312.46 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE//NEW RECORD!! (INCREASING DRAMATICALLY)//SIGN OF REAL STRESS//SURPASSING THE MARCH 2021 RECORD OF 276.50 TONNES OF EFP
DEC. 175.62 TONNES//FINAL ISSUANCE//
TOTALS: 2,578.08 TONNES/2021
JAN:2022 247.25 TONNES //FINAL
FEB: 196.04 TONNES//FINAL
MARCH/2022: 409.30 TONNES //FINAL( THIS IS NOW A RECORD EFP ISSUANCE FOR MARCH AND FOR ANY MONTH.
APRIL: 169.55 TONNES (FINAL VERY LOW ISSUANCE MONTH)
MAY: 247.44 TONNES FINAL//
JUNE: 238.13 TONNES FINAL
JULY: 378.43 TONNES FINAL
AUGUST: 180.81 TONNES FINAL
SEPT. 193.16 TONNES FINAL
OCT: 177.57 TONNES FINAL ( MUCH SMALLER THAN LAST MONTH)
NOV. 223.98 TONNES//FINAL ( MUCH LARGER THAN PREVIOUS MONTHS//comex running out of physical)
DEC: 185.59 tonnes // FINAL
TOTAL: 2,847,25 TONNES/2022
JAN 2023: 228.49 TONNES FINAL//HUGE AMOUNT OF EFP’S ISSUED THIS MONTH!!
FEB: 151.61 TONNES/FINAL
MARCH: 280.09 TONNES/INITIAL (ANOTHER STRONG MONTH FOR EFP ISSUANCE)
APRIL: 197.42 TONNES
MAY: 236.67 TONNES (A VERY STRONG ISSUANCE FOR THIS MONTH)
JUNE: 172.667 TONNES (WEAKER ISSUANCE THIS MONTH)
JULY: 151.69 TONNES (WEAKER THAN LAST MONTH)
AUGUST: 195.28 TONNES (A STRONGER MONTH)//FINAL
SEPT: 254.709 TONNES (WILL BE LARGER THAN LAST MONTH AND A STRONG MONTH)
OCT. 248.09 TONNES. LIKE SILVER, THIS MONTH IS GOING TO BE A STRONG E.F.P. ISSUANCE.
NOV. 239.16 TONNES//WILL BE STRONG THIS MONTH,
DEC. 213.704 TONNES. A STRONG MONTH//
TOTAL FOR YEAR 2023: 2,569.57 TONNES VS 2578 TONNES LAST YEAR
JAN ’24: 291.76 TONNES (WILL BE MUCH GREATER THAN LAST MONTH.//3RD HIGHEST EVER RECORDED EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL)
FEB’24: 201.947 TONNES
MARCH 2024: 352.21 TONNES//2ND HIGHEST EVER RECORDED EFP ISSUANCE.
APRIL: 253.26 TONNES (WILL BE AN EXTREMELY STRONG MONTH BUT LESS THAN MARCH 2024)
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 APRIL. 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 FELL BY A SMALL SIZED 13 CONTRACTS OI TO 170,016 AND FURTHER FROM 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 1600 CONTRACTS
OUR CUSTOMARY MIGRATION OF COMEX LONGS CONTINUE TO MORPH INTO LONDON FORWARDS AS OUR BANKERS USED THEIR EMERGENCY PROCEDURE TO ISSUE:
MAY 800 and ALL OTHER MONTHS: ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 1600 CONTRACTS. EFP’S GIVE OUR COMEX LONGS A FIAT BONUS PLUS A DELIVERABLE PRODUCT OVER IN LONDON. IF WE TAKE THE COMEX OI LOSS OF 13 CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 1600 E.FP. ISSUED
WE OBTAIN A HUGE SIZED GAIN OF OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 1587 CONTRACTS
THUS IN OUNCES, THE GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES TOTALS 7.935 MILLION OZ
c) Commentaries from: Egon von Greyerz///Matthew Piepenburg via GoldSwitzerland.com, Pam and Russ Martens
ii a) Chris Powell of GATA provides to us very important physical commentaries
b. Other gold/silver commentaries
c. Commodity commentaries//
d)/CRYPTOCURRENCIES/BITCOIN ETC
2.ASIAN AFFAIRS//
MONDAY MORNING/SUNDAY NIGHT
SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 24.41PTS OR 0.71% //Hang Seng CLOSED UP 96.76 PTS OR 0.54% / Nikkei CLOSED //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP 0.88%///Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed UP 7.2412//OFFSHORE CHINESE YUAN CLOSED UP TO 7.2471 Oil UP TO 83.75dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT UP AT 89.15 Stocks in Europe OPENED ALL MIXED
ONSHORE YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING STRONGER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE YUAN STRONGER
1. COMEX DATA//AMOUNTS STANDING//VOLUME OF TRADING/INVENTORY MOVEMENTS
GOLD
LET US BEGIN:
THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY A SMALL SIZED 403 CONTRACTS TO 521,317 WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF $5.15 WITH RESPECT TO FRIDAY TRADING. WE HAD CONSIDERABLE A.S. LIQUIDATION AS WELL AS SHORTS, DESPERATELY TRYING TO GET OUT OF THEIR NAKED SHORTS.
EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE
WE ARE NOW IN THE ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF APRIL..… THE CME REPORTS THAT THE BANKERS ISSUED A STRONG SIZED TRANSFER THROUGH THE EFP ROUTE AS THESE LONGS RECEIVED A DELIVERABLE LONDON FORWARD TOGETHER WITH A FIAT BONUS.,
THAT IS A HUGE 5039 EFP CONTRACTS WERE ISSUED: : JUNE 5039 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:
TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE:5039 CONTRACTS
ON A NET BASIS IN OPEN INTEREST WE GAINED THE FOLLOWING TODAY ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES: A STRONG SIZED TOTAL OF 5443 CONTRACTS IN THAT 5039 LONGS WERE TRANSFERRED AS EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS TO LONDON AND WE HAD A SMALL SIZED GAIN OF 403 COMEX CONTRACTS..AND THIS STRONG GAIN ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES HAPPENED WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF $10.35 MONDAY COMEX. AS PER OUR NEWBIE TRADE AT SETTLEMENT (TAS) MANIPULATION OPERATION (WHICH CRAIG HEMKE HAS POINTED OUT HAPPENS DURING MID MONTH IN THE DELIVERY CYCLE), THE CME REPORTS THAT THE TOTAL T.A.S. ISSUANCE FOR FRIDAY NIGHT WAS A FAIR SIZED 2087 CONTRACTS. WE HAD 0 EX FOR RISK ISSUANCE. MOST OF THE TRADING AND SUPPLY OF CONTRACTS ON THURSDAY WAS ORCHESTRATED BY GOVERNMENT (FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF NEW YORK)
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 STRONG T.A.S. ISSUANCE.
// WE HAVE A STRONG AMOUNT OF GOLD TONNAGE STANDING: APRIL (56.503 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
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: 66.276TONNES (INCLUDES 1.723 TONNES EX. FOR RISK)
MARCH: 18.8398 TONNES + 1.1695 EX FOR RISK = 20.093 TONNES
APRIL: 2024: 53.673TONNES
THE SPECS/HFT WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE( IT ROSE $5.40 //// AND WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING ANY SPECULATOR LONGS AS WE HAD A STRONG SIZED GAIN OF5443 TOTAL CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE 0F $5.40
WE HAD A FAIR T.A.S. LIQUIDATION ON THE FRONT END OF WEDNESDAY’S TRADING ALONG. THE T.A.S. ISSUED ON FRIDAY NIGHT, WILL BE “PUT INTO THE BANK” TO BE USED AT A LATER DATE AT THE COLLUSIVE CHOOSING OF OUR BANKERS.
WE HAVE GAINED A TOTAL OI OF 16.93 PAPER TONNES FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES, ACCOMPANYING OUR INITIAL GOLD TONNAGE STANDING FOR APRIL. (44.8615 TONNES) ON FIRST DAY NOTICE FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S HUGE QUEUE JUMP OF 81,300 OZ (2.528 TONNES)//NEW STANDING; 53.673 TONNES
NEW STANDING: 50.650ONNES
ALL OF THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE TO THE TUNE OF $5.40
WE HAD REMOVED 301 CONTRACTS TO THE COMEX TRADES TO OPEN INTEREST (CROOKS)
NET GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 5443 CONTRACTS OR 544300 (16.93ONNES)
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month
18,166 notices 1,816,600 0oz 56.503 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
we have 0 customer deposits:
total deposit 0 oz
total customer withdrawals: 0
Adjustments: DEALER TO CUSTOMER
I) ASAHI 32,213.800 OZ
II) hsbc 24,246,765 OZ
CALCULATIONS FOR THE AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR APRIL.
For the front month of APRIL we have an oi of 882 contracts having LOST 102 contracts. We had 982 contracts served on FRIDAY, so we GAINED 880 contracts or an additional WHOPPING 88,000 oz (2.737onnes) will stand at the comex
MAY LOST 192 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 1677
JUNE DECREASED ITS OI BY 1888 CONTRACTS DOWN TO 405,291CONTRACTS.
We had 882contracts filed for today representing 88200 oz
Today, 0 notice(s) were issued from J.P.Morgan dealer and 0 notices were issued from their client or customer account. The total of all issuance by all participants equate to 882 contract(s) of which 0 notices were stopped (received) by j.P. Morgan dealer and 0 notice(s) was (were) stopped (received) by J.P.Morgan//customer account
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 (18,166x 100 oz ), to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of APRIL. (882 CONTRACTS) minus the number of notices served upon today (882x 100 oz per contract( equals 1,816000OZ OR 56.503 TONNES.
thus the INITIAL standings for gold for the APRIL. contract month: No of notices filed so far (18,166) x 100 oz + (882{OI for the front month} minus the number of notices served upon today (882 x 100 oz which equals 1,816,000 oz (56.503TONNES)
TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING FOR APRIL: 56.503 TONNES WHICH IS HUGE FOR THIS ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH IN THE CALENDAR.
TOTAL OF ALL GOLD ELIGIBLE AND REGISTERED GOLD: 17,622,732.936OZ
TOTAL REGISTERED GOLD 7,4993,368.950 (233.261 tonnes).
TOTAL OF ALL ELIGIBLE GOLD: 10,123,363.986OZ
REGISTERED GOLD THAT CAN BE SERVED UPON: 5,932,079 oz (REG GOLD- PLEDGED GOLD)
184.512tonnes/dropping like a stone
END
SILVER/COMEX
APRIL 29
FINAL
//2024// THE APRIL 2025SILVER CONTRACT//INITIAL
Silver
Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory
NIL oz
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory
748,671.210 oz
CNT JPM Loomis
.
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory
nil OZ
Deposits to the Customer Inventory
No of oz served today (contracts)
0 CONTRACT(S) (65,000 OZ)
No of oz to be served (notices)
3 contracts (15,000 oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)
1649 Contracts (8,245,000oz)
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: 129,598million oz/293.268million or 44.02%
adjustment: 2
ASAHI customer to dealer 6058.198 oz
Brinks dealer to customer: 304,495.370 oz
Comex withdrawals: 3
i) CNT 66,941.270 oz
ii) JPMorgan: 580,961.000 oz
iii) Loomis 100,768.940 oz
total withdrawal 748,671.210 oz
TOTAL REGISTERED SILVER: 47.602MILLION OZ//.TOTAL REG + ELIGIBLE. 294.016million oz
CALCULATIONS FOR THE NEW STANDING FOR SILVER FOR DECEMBER:
silver open interest data:
FRONT MONTH OF APRIL /2023 OI: 3 CONTRACTS HAVING LOST 13 CONTRACT(S).
WE HAD 13 CONTRACTS SERVED ON FRIDAY, SO WE GAINED 0 CONTRACTS OR ADDITIONAL NIL OZ WILL STAND AT THE COMEX.
.
MAY SAW A LOSS OF 9275 CONTRACTS DOWNTO 10,701
JUNE SAW A GAIN OF 147 CONTRACTS RISING TO 1049
JULY SAW A GAIN OF 7506CONTRACTS UP TO 136,306
TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR TODAY: 0 for NILoz
CONFIRMED volume; ON MONDAY 131,551 HUGE
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 1649 5,000 oz = 8,245,000 oz
to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of APRIL (3 and the number of notices served upon today 0x (5000 oz) equals the number of ounces standing.
Thus the standings for silver for the APRIL/2024 contract month: 1649(notices served so far) x 5000 oz + OI for the front month of APRIL. (3)number of notices served upon today (0x 500 oz of silver standing for the APRIL contract month equates to 8.260 MILLION OZ.
New total standing: 8.260 million oz.
There are 47.602 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!
APRIL 29WITH GOLD UP $10,55TODAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:INVENTORY RISES AT 832.19 TONNES
APRIL 26WITH GOLD UP $5.40TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.54 TONNES FROM THE GLD /INVENTORY RISES AT 832.19 TONNES
APRIL 25WITH GOLD UP $5.05 TODAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD /INVENTORY RISES AT 833,63 TONNES
APRIL 19 WITH GOLD UP $15.00 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD //A MASSIVE DEPOSIT OF 4.32 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/ INVENTORY RISES AT 831.91 TONNES
APRIL 18 WITH GOLD UP $11.30 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD //A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 2.59 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/ INVENTORY FALLS AT 827.59 TONNES
APRIL 17 WITH GOLD DOWN $17.60 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD //A MASSIVE DEPOSIT OF 1,73 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/ INVENTORY RISES AT 830;18 TONNES
REPORT
APRIL 16 WITH GOLD UP $23.10 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD //A MASSIVE DEPOSIT OF 1,73 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/ INVENTORY RISES AT 828.45 TONNES
APRIL 15 WITH GOLD UP $9.30 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD //A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 4.03 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/ INVENTORY FALLS AT 826.72 TONNES
APRIL 12 WITH GOLD UP $2.80 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD //A DEPOSIT OF 2.29 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/ INVENTORY RISESS AT 830.75 TONN
APRIL 10 WITH GOLD DOWN $14.60 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD //A DEPOSIT OF 0.86 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/ INVENTORY RISES AT 828.71 TONNES
APRIL 9 WITH GOLD UP $11.35 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD //A DEPOSIT OF 1.44 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/ INVENTORY RISES AT 827,85 TONNES
APRIL 8 WITH GOLD UP $7.10 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD //A WITHDRAWAL OF 6.02 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/ INVENTORY REMAINS AT 826.41 TONNES
APRIL 5 WITH GOLD UP $38.65 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD //A DEPOSIT OF 1.72 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/ INVENTORY REMAINS AT 832.45 TONNES
APRIL 4 WITH GOLD DOWN $3.35 TODAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD //A DEPOSIT OF 1.73 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/ INVENTORY REMAINS AT 830.73 TONNES
APRIL 3 WITH GOLD UP $33,85 TODAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD // INVENTORY REMAINS AT 829.00 TONNES
APRIL 2 WITH GOLD UP $23.90 TODAY; HUG CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A WITH DRAWAL OF 1.15 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD.:// INVENTORY REMAINS AT 829.00 TONNES
APRIL 1 WITH GOLD UP $18.70 TODAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:// INVENTORY REMAINS AT 830.15 TONNES
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
GLD INVENTORY: 832.19TONNES,
Now the SLV Inventory/( vehicle is a fraud as there is no physical metal behind them
APRIL 29WITH SILVER UP $0.13 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 429.814 MILLION OZ
APRIL 26WITH SILVER DOWN 8 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.097 MILLION OF SILVER INTO THE SLV// :SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 429.814 MILLION OZ
APRIL 25WITH SILVER UP $.05 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A MASSIVE DEPOSIT OF 1.534 MILLION OF SILVER OUT OF THE SLV// :SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 428.717 MILLION OZ
APRIL 24/WITH SILVER DOWN $.05 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A MASSIVE DEPOSIT OF 11.904MILLION OF SILVER INTO THE SLV// :SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 428.280 MILLION OZ
APRIL 23/WITH SILVER UP $0.11TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV / :SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 416.376 MILLION OZ
APRIL 22/WITH SILVER DOWN $1.51 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 2.194 MILLION OF SILVER FROM THE SLV// :SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 416.376 MILLION OZ
APRIL 19/WITH SILVER UP 42 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 3.657 MILLION OF SILVER FROM THE SLV// :SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 418.570 MILLION OZ
APRIL 18/WITH SILVER DOWN $.04TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 3.977 MILLION OF SILVER FROM THE SLV// :SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 422.227 MILLION OZ
APRIL 17/WITH SILVER UP $0.10 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF .868 MILLION OF SILVER FROM THE SLV// :SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 426/204 MILLION OZ
APRIL 16/WITH SILVER DOWN $0.46 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF NON EXISTENT SILVER// :SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 427.072 MILLION OZ
APRIL 15/WITH SILVER UP $0.46 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV :SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 433.929 MILLION OZ
APRIL 12/WITH SILVER UP $0.10 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 4.069 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV :SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 433.929 MILLION OZ
APRIL 11/WITH SILVER UP $0.23 TODAY: STRANGE INDEED! HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 3.931 MILLION OZ :SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 437.998 MILLION OZ
APRIL 10/WITH SILVER UP $0.04 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 441.929 MILLION OZ
APRIL 9/WITH SILVER UP $0.15 TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 0.549 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV// SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 441.929 MILLION OZ
APRIL 8/WITH SILVER UP $0.33 TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 0.320 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV// SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 441.328 MILLION OZ
APRIL 5/WITH SILVER UP $0.61 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 3.748 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV// SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 441.060 MILLION OZ
APRIL 4/WITH SILVER UP $0.20 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 3.671 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV// SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 437.312 MILLION OZ
APRIL 3/WITH SILVER UP $1.14 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 2.835 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV// SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 433.641 MILLION OZ
APRIL 2/WITH SILVER UP 84 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 6.721 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV// SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 430.806 MILLION OZ
APRIL 1/WITH SILVER UP 14 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV// SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 424.085 MILLION OZ
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
CLOSING INVENTORY 428.717 MILLION OZ//
PHYSICAL GOLD/SILVER COMMENTARIES
PETER SCHIFF/SCHIFFGOLD/MIKE MAHARRAY
If 10-Year Yields Surpass 5%, Say Hello To QE (And Massive Inflation)
The wizards at the Fed and US Treasury have been forced to acknowledge that their “transitory,” inflation is, in fact, quite “sticky.” And with the inflation elephant now acknowledged by the circus of high finance, Treasury yields keep inching up, recently reaching 4.7% — the highest since November. The Fed is stuck: It needs to raise interest rates to tame inflation and make Treasuries more attractive. But the Fed can’t afford higher rates, with an already-untenable cost to service the existing debt and loan-dependent industries teetering on the brink.
Once the 10-year Treasury yield goes above 5%, the bond market enters especially dangerous territory, endangering industries like the automotive market and commercial real estate that depend heavily on debt.
With no good options, the Fed will be forced to print money one way or another to stimulate borrowing, turning an inflationary creek of their own making into a raging river of dollar destruction.
The only way the Fed can possibly tame inflation is with interest rates so high that everything collapses. Jamie Dimon himself sees 8% interest rates being needed to tame America’s Fed-fueled inflation beast — but with an economy addicted to a low cost of borrowing, this would make loans unaffordable for entire sectors of the economy that can’t do without.
A serious implosion in commercial real estate would certainly bleed into the banking sector, beginning a chain reaction. Meanwhile, with no chance of the US reigning in spending and getting its fiscal house in order, interest on the US debt can already only be paid with even more borrowed money.
That doesn’t even take into account the over-indebted masses with their breaking-down cars, mortgages on homes that need repairs, and credit cards they use to fund basic expenses. Neither the most loan-dependent industries nor the average American can handle the rising cost of goods, materials, and energy. But they can’t handle 8% interest rates either. This is giving the Fed a mission impossible — raising rates to the levels they need to actually tame inflation orallowing inflation to run amok with fresh money printing to keep borrowing artificially affordable will both result in disastrous outcomes for the economy.
The COVID M1 Hockey Stick (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis)
The truth is, out-of-control spending and lingering COVID stimulus mean that inflation isn’t going away just because of some small rate hikes, as Peter Schiff has repeatedly pointed out, and as Dimon wrote in his recent shareholder letter:
“Huge fiscal spending, the trillions needed each year for the green economy, the remilitarization of the world, and the restructuring of global trade—all are inflationary.”
So while 2024’s rate cuts may get delayed, the Fed knows it might be able to kick the bond market bomb down the road by printing money. And the central bank will do whatever it has to in order to prevent a short-term implosion — even if it means destroying the dollar in the longer term. This is especially true now, as the Fed doesn’t want to anger the incumbent during an election year, giving it further impetus to make the economy look as rosy as possible, at least until the start of the next presidential cycle. That means rate cuts or full-blown QE to prevent a bond market collapse, and worrying about hyperinflation later.
Without gold to preserve your purchasing power, you might be about to see what happens to your money when the Fed is forced to fire up the money printers while inflationary pressures are already itching to explode in a way not seen in years. And if the Fed holds strong and refuses to cut rates this year, or even raises them anywhere near the levels they need to avoid killing the dollar, hold onto your hats — and your gold — and try not to get caught under one of the falling dominos.
END
2.Commentaries from: Egon von Greyerz///Matthew Piepenburg via GoldSwitzerland.com, Pam and Russ Martens/…
END
3. CHRIS POWELL//GATA DISPATCHES
4. OTHER MAJOR GOLD COMMENTARIES/PODCASTS
end
5 a. IMPORTANT COMMENTARIES ON COMMODITIES/COPPER
GOLDEN TELEGRAPH
there is a rush for copper… This space is heating up. Watch for high-grade assets in safe locations to generate significant interest from mainstream investors and big corporates. These high-grade deposits are becoming harder and harder to find.
GoldTelegraph_ (@Gold Telegraph ) posted: There is a rush for copper…
This space is heating up.
Watch for high-grade assets in safe locations to generate significant interest from mainstream investors and big corporates.
These high-grade deposits are becoming harder and harder to find.
1.YOUR EARLY CURRENCY VALUES/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN AND EUROPEAN BOURSE MOVEMENTS/AND INTEREST RATE SETTINGS MONDAY MORNING.7:30 AM
ONSHORE YUAN: CLOSED UP 7.2412
OFFSHORE YUAN: UP TO 7.2471
SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 24.41 PTS OR 0.79%
HANG SENG CLOSED UP 96.76PTS OR 0.54%
2. Nikkei closed
3. Europe stocks SO FAR: ALL MIXED
USA dollar INDEX DOWN TO 105.51 EURO RISES TO 1.0720 UP 29 BASIS PTS
3b Japan 10 YR bond yield: RISES TO. +.886 Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese YEN vs USA cross now at 155.87JAPANESE 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:UP/ OFFSHORE: UP
3f Japan is to buy INFINITE TRILLION YEN worth of BONDS. Japan’s GDP equals 5 trillion USA
Japan to buy 100% of all new Japanese debt and NOW they will have OVER 50% of all Japanese debt.
3g Oil UP for WTI and UP FOR Brent this morning
3h European bond buying continues to push yields lower on all fronts in the EMU. German 10yr bund YIELD UPTO +2.5200/Italian 10 Yr bond yield DOWN to 3..821 SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD DOWN TO 3.293
3i Greek 10 year bond yield DOWNTO 3.410
3j Gold at $2339.60 //Silver at: 27.36 1 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $34.40//AFTER 28.40
3k USA vs Russian rouble;// Russian rouble DOWN 0 AND 67/100 roubles/dollar; ROUBLE AT 93.07/
3m oil into the 83 dollar handle for WTI and 89 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 155.87/ 10 YEAR YIELD AFTER FIRST BREAKING .54% LAST YEAR NOW EXCEEDS THAT LEVEL TO 0.886% 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 0.9115as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF: 0.9772well 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: 4.626 DOWN 4 BASIS PTS…
USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 4.739 DOWN 4 BASIS PTS/
USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.973 DOWN 2 BASIS PTS
USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 32.26…(TURKEY SET TO BLOW UP FINANCIALLY)
GREAT BRITAIN/10 YEAR YIELD: DOWN 4 BASIS PTS AT 4.3360
end
2.a Overnight: Newsquawk and Zero hedge
Futures Rise, Yen Downgraded To Banana Republic Currency After Another Rollercoaster Session
BY TYLER DURDEN
MONDAY, APR 29, 2024 – 08:23 AM
US equity futures swung between gains and losses and traded near session highs as US traders walked to their desks on Monday morning after a rollercoaster day for the Japanese yen, which increasingly looks like some 3rd world banana republic currency instead of belonging to the world’s 3rd largest economy, and which first plunged below 160 vs the USD – the lowest level since 1990 amid dismal volumes thanks to the Japanese market holiday on Monday – only to soar more than 500 pips in what is now the first confirmed BOJ intervention since 2022. Futures were buoyed by rising earnings optimism as traders looked ahead to another very busy week for company results, and as of 7:40am, S&P futures gained 0.2% with Nasdaq futures rising 0.3%, boosted by another surge in Tesla shares. 10Y Treasury yields fell four basis points to 4.62% ahead of today’s announcement by the Treasury of its funding needs for the coming quarter, while the dollar weakened. Oil retreated, with Brent first trading below $89 a barrel, only to rebound higher amid the endless speculation that a peace deal between Israel and Hamas is coming that would reduce geopolitical tensions in the Middle East (spoiler alert: there will be no deal). Gold rose and bitcoin fell.
In premarket trading, Tesla surged 11%, slamming the recent pile up of shorts (the biggest in two years) as Elon Musk’s quick visit to China paid immediate dividends, with Tesla receiving in-principle approval from government officials to deploy its driver-assistance system in the world’s biggest auto market.
Here Altimmune drops 4% after Guggenheim downgraded the stock, saying a partnership for the biotech’s lead asset pemvidutide look “increasingly unlikely.”
Apple climbs 2% after Bernstein upgraded its rating, calling issues in China “more cyclical than structural” and highlighting that the tech giant’s business in the country has tended to be more volatile than the wider company.
AT&T rises 1% as Barclays upgrades to overweight, noting the wireless carrier’s “steadier execution story.”
Paramount Global jumps 5% after Bloomberg reported that the Redstone family and Skydance Media CEO David Ellison have both offered concessions to make a possible change in control at the media company more appealing to other investors.
Shopify advances 3% after Citi raises the e-commerce company to buy, expecting solid first-quarter results following recent industry conferences and channel checks.
SoFi Technologies gains 2% after the company boosted its adjusted Ebitda guidance for the full year.
Southwest Airlines declines 1.2% after Jefferies downgraded the carrier to underperform, noting that optimization plans are languishing as delays at Boeing reduce fleets.
Tandem Diabetes rises 4% after Wells Fargo upgraded the medical device manufacturer, saying a survey indicates stable growth in insulin pumps.
The big overnight market event was the rollercoaster move in the Japanese yen which again took center stage with dramatic moves that fueled speculation over whether the government had intervened to support its beleaguered currency. In holiday-thinned trading, the yen swung wildly, rallying more than 2% on Monday after earlier dropping as much as 1.2% to 160.17 per dollar.
While analysts suggested the size and speed of the jump smacked of intervention, some traders questioned that conclusion and said Japanese banks sold dollars for customers as it rallied. Japan’s top currency official, Masato Kanda, chose to keep investors guessing by declining to comment. Dow Jones reported authorities stepped in to support the yen, citing people familiar with the matter.
It is a busy week: the Fed meeting on Wednesday and US jobs report on Friday will also be critical for markets this week. The last time Fed Chair Jerome Powell spoke, he signaled that policymakers were likely to keep borrowing costs high for longer than previously anticipated, pointing to the lack of further progress on bringing inflation down, and to enduring strength in the labor market. Meanwhile, with Apple and Amazon.scheduled to report in the next few days, investors will be hoping for more evidence that big technology profits can keep propelling stocks.
Morgan Stanley’s in house permabear Michael Wilson said the pressure from higher Treasury yields is taking the shine off an upbeat earnings season; that’s even as Bloomberg data showed that 81% of S&P 500 firms have beaten first-quarter profit estimates so far. Still, as we noted over the weekend, the average stock price has barely outperformed the benchmark index on the day of results — the worst scorecard since the fourth quarter of 2020, the figures showed.
European stocks are higher, the Stoxx 600 rising 0.3% to 509.7, with Dutch medtech Philips the biggest stand-out performer, rising the most on record after striking a settlement related to a device recall; Deutsche Bank was the biggest decliner after making €1.3 billion of provisions, with its country peer Porsche falling too, following its latest earnings. Here are the biggest movers Monday:
Philips gains as much as 37%, the most on record, after the Dutch medical equipment manufacturer agreed to pay $1.1 billion to settle US claims related to the 2021 recall of sleep apnea devices
Alfen surges as much as 14% after it agreed with Dutch grid operator Liander on a new production method to avoid moisture in its Pacto transformer substations, with KBC raising the firm to buy
Anglo American shares gain as much as 4.1% after Bloomberg News reported over the weekend that BHP is considering making an improved proposal after its $39b initial offer was rejected
Unicaja Banco jumped as much as 8% to the highest level since 2018, after the Spanish lender delivered revenue ahead of expectations in the first quarter
Douglas jumps as much as 5.3% after several brokerages initiated the German perfume retailer at buy, including Citi, which called the stock a “scarce asset” in a growing category
Bravida rises as much as 6% after an internal investigation which revealed previously reported overinvoicing at the Swedish real estate services firm was very limited
Atos shares jump as much as 20%, to the highest in almost three weeks, after the IT firm got a non-binding letter of intent from the French state to acquire some parts of the business
Deutsche Bank declines 5.7%, the sharpest drop since 2023, after the German lender’s announcement that it is setting aside as much as €1.3b in legal provisions in a blow to profitability
Porsche AG shares fall as much as 4.6% after the German firm saw a “challenging” first quarter, according to analysts, who note the automaker’s headline earnings miss
Morphosys falls as much as 2.4% after a report flagged a potential issue related to experimental drug pelabresib, an issue which could complicate the planned acquisition by Novartis
Siltronic shares fall as much as 3.4% after the German wafer maker was downgraded to hold by Hauck & Aufhaeuser following a profit warning issued last week
Meanwhile, Asian equities climbed for a second straight day, as benchmarks for mainland and Hong Kong stocks looked set to enter a bull market. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed as much as 0.3%, with AIA Group and TSMC among the top contributors to the gains. The MSCI China Index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index were both on track to close more than 20% higher than their January lows, helped by a surge in property shares after a major Chinese developer reached a solution with bondholders for its liquidity issues.
“China may continue to outperform especially in a scenario where global risk sentiment remains cautious,” Nomura strategists including Chetan Seth wrote in a note. “Fundamentals remain tepid” and economic data in the next couple of months are important to avoid a reversal of recent gains, they added. Benchmarks in Taiwan, the Philippines and South Korea also advanced on Monday. Markets in Japan and Vietnam were closed for holidays.
In FX, the yen rallied to a 155 handle versus the dollar, having earlier weakened past 160 for the first time since 1990. The abrupt swing prompted speculation authorities may have intervened, although Japan’s top currency official has declined to comment even as Dow confirmed intervention. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index is down 0.3% as the greenback loses ground versus all its G-10 rivals.
In rates, treasuries climbed with US 10-year yields falling 4bps to 4.62%, with gains supported by euro-zone bond markets, particularly France’s, outperforming after Moody’s and Fitch affirmed the sovereign’s rating Friday. April inflation numbers from Germany and Spain were taken in stride. US yields richer by 2bp to 4bp across the curve with long-end-led gains flattening 2s10s, 5s30s spreads by 1.5bp and 0.5bp on the day; 10-year remains near session low around 4.625% with bunds outperforming by around 1.5bp in the sector, French 10-year by ~3bp. On Wednesday, Treasury announces quarterly refunding, expected to follow through on its January guidance of holding off on further increases
Oil prices are lower as the US pushes to broker a peace deal between Israel and Hamas. WTI falls 0.2% to trade near $83.70. Spot gold is little changed around $2,338/oz.
Monday’s US session has few calendar events. US economic data slate includes April Dallas Fed manufacturing activity at 10:30am New York time; ahead this week are consumer confidence, ADP employment change, manufacturing PMI, ISM manufacturing, factory orders and April jobs report. Fed members are in self-imposed quiet period ahead of May 1 policy announcement.
Market Snapshot
S&P 500 futures up 0.2% to 5,142.75
STOXX Europe 600 up 0.3% to 509.67
MXAP up 0.9% to 173.90
MXAPJ up 0.9% to 540.54
Nikkei up 0.8% to 37,934.76
Topix up 0.9% to 2,686.48
Hang Seng Index up 0.5% to 17,746.91
Shanghai Composite up 0.8% to 3,113.04
Sensex up 1.2% to 74,584.25
Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 0.8% to 7,637.38
Kospi up 1.2% to 2,687.44
German 10Y yield little changed at 2.55%
Euro up 0.2% to $1.0719
Brent Futures down 0.6% to $88.94/bbl
Gold spot up 0.1% to $2,339.61
US Dollar Index down 0.31% to 105.61
Top Overnight News
Tesla CEO Musk made a surprise visit to Beijing with media reports saying he aims to discuss enabling autonomous driving mode on Tesla cars in China. Later, it was reported Tesla is to partner with Baidu for China self-driving approval, according to Bloomberg. (BBC/Bloomberg) Separately, two US Senators say NHTSA should require Tesla to restrict autopilot use to certain roads.
White House said President Biden approved the Kansas disaster declaration and ordered federal assistance to supplement recovery efforts in areas affected by severe winter storm from January 8th-16th.
Apple intensified talks with OpenAI for iPhone generative AI features in which they are discussing the terms of a possible agreement and how the OpenAI features would be integrated into Apple’s iOS 18, according to Bloomberg. EU says that Apple’s (AAPL) iPad operating system has been designated as a gatekeeper under the EU DMA; apple has six months to comply with EU tech rules.
Paramount is reportedly preparing to fire CEO Bakish, via FT citing sources; additionally, sources add that the Co. is expected to receive a counterbid from Sony and Apollo this week to the offer from Skydance Media. (FT)
China’s industrial profits fell in March and slowed gains for the quarter compared to the first two months, raising doubts about the strength of a recovery for the world’s second-biggest economy. Cumulative profits of China’s industrial firms rose 4.3% to 1.5 trillion yuan ($207.0 billion) in the first quarter from a year earlier, NBS data showed, slower than a 10.2% rise in the first two months. RTRS
China’s banking regulator warns the country’s regional banks to stop piling into long-term government bonds as they could be hit with heavy losses if rates rise. FT
Japan’s currency surged as much as 5 yen against the dollar on Monday, with traders citing heavy dollar-selling intervention by Japanese banks for the first time in 18 months after the yen hit fresh 34-year lows earlier in the day. RTRS
Russia is expected to launch a new large-scale offensive in May or June (although the influx of American weapons will make Ukraine better positioned to withstand the onslaught). FT
Ukraine isn’t expected to regain offensive momentum until 2025 at the earliest and has no clear military path to recapturing the ~20% of the country stolen by Russia. WaPo
BHP is considering an improved bid for Anglo American, people familiar said. The miner may need to find over $9 billion in cost savings from the tie-up to raise the offer, which may be a stretch. BBG
Apple’s iPad was hit by the EU rules aimed at stopping potential competition abuses before they take hold. Apple now has six months to make sure its tablet ecosystem complies with preemptive measures. BBG
AAPL has renewed negotiations w/OpenAI and remains in talks w/Google about incorporating AI-linked technology into the next version of iOS (investors expect to hear a lot more about Apple’s plans at the upcoming WWDC). BBG
A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk
APAC stocks began the week on the front foot after the tech-led surge last Friday on Wall St and amid increased optimism regarding a Gaza truce with negotiators set for talks in Cairo on Monday, although Japan was on holiday and ahead of this week’s key risk events. ASX 200 was led higher by real estate, tech and telecoms owing to softer yields. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. gained with the former entering into bull market territory after climbing over 20% from its January lows, while participants digested a slew of earnings and the mainland also shrugged off the slowdown in March Industrial Profits.
Top Asian News
China’s MOFCOM said export control measures proposed by Japan on semiconductors will seriously affect the normal trade between Chinese and Japanese enterprises, as well as undermine the stability of the global supply chain. Furthermore, it stated that China urges the Japanese side to rectify its ‘erroneous practices’ in a timely manner and China will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, according to Reuters.
US and Taiwan are to hold in-person negotiation talks on trade beginning on April 29th, according to Reuters.
Japanese PM Kishida said they will promote union policies for wage increases, according to Reuters.
PBoC has reportedly expanded a warning on bond investments to regional banks, via Bloomberg citing sources.
Agricultural Bank of China (1288 HK) Q1 (CNY): Net Income 70.839bln (exp. 73.578bln), NII 144.535bln (exp. 137.021bln).
Japanese Top Currency Diplomat Kanda offers no comments on whether there was FX intervention; will continue to take appropriate action against excessive FX moves; does not have a specific FX level in mind. Speculative, rapid, abnormal FX moves have bad impact on the economy, so unacceptable. Ready to respond 24 hours, 365 days, when asked whether Japan was ready to take action in FX. Will disclose at the end of May if there way intervention.
European bourses, Stoxx600 (+0.3%) are almost entirely in the green, taking the lead from a positive APAC session overnight. Trade has been rangebound since the open, though has just been coming off best levels in recent trade. Basic Resources is found towards the top of the pile, benefiting from modestly firmer base metal prices and after further takeover reports regarding BHP/Anglo American. Retail marginally underperforms. US Equity Futures (ES +0.2%, NQ +0.3%, RTY +0.3%) are entirely in the green, posting modest gains in tandem with European peers. In terms of pre-market movers; Apple (+1.5%) gains on reports that it has resumed talks with OpenAI. And Tesla (+6.5%) benefits from news that the Co. has received tentative approval for its self-driving service.
Top European News
ECB’s Wunsch (interview from 20th April) said ECB should be cautious regarding a July cut, should be cautious regarding a larger-than-25bps cut in June. Base case it as least two cuts, “but if we only do two or even three cuts, then we shouldn’t communicate that we’re going to cut at every meeting”. Don’t think ECB has sufficient data to have confidence on 100bps of cuts throughout the year. On what could get in the way of a June cut, Wunsch said “really bad news”, “two bad readings on the inflation front or other major developments.”
Spanish PM says he has decided to stay on as Prime Minister.
Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf is set to step down after coming to the conclusion that is position is no longer tenable, according to The Sunday Times.
Fitch affirmed France at AA-; Outlook Stable and affirmed Switzerland at AAA; Outlook Stable, while it affirmed Sweden at AAA; Outlook Stable.
FX
USD is softer vs. peers in the wake of aggressive USD/JPY selling overnight and into the European morning. From a technical perspective, DXY has been as low as 105.46 but is respecting Friday’s 105.41 base.
JPY was volatile overnight and initially surged above 160.00 with no obvious catalysts and with Japanese participants away from the market. The pair later saw a sharper drop and breached 156.00 to the downside in the absence of any obvious drivers; some have speculated potential intervention. Since, USD/JPY has continued to bleed, going as low as 154.54 (currently 155.80).
EUR is firmer vs. USD (as is the case for all major peers). Focus in the Eurozone today is on the German national CPI at 13:00BST, with regional releases thus far broadly showing increases on a M/M and Y/Y basis, though initial reaction dovish as the core numbers continue to moderate. 1.0733 is the high thus far and yet to approach Friday’s best of 1.0753.
Antipodeans are benefitting from the broadly softer USD. AUD/USD is now up for a 6th consecutive session with focus on a test of 0.66 after printing a session high of 0.6586.
Japan’s Top currency diplomat Kanda said will not comment now, when asked about whether Japan intervened in the currency market.
PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1066 vs exp. 7.2759 (prev. 7.1056).
Fixed Income
USTs are bid with specifics light so far and direction drawn from EGB action after the regions core inflation numbers from Spain & German. Currently at the top-end of a 107-18+ to 107-27+ range with the 10yr yield below 4.65% but in familiar ranges.
Bunds are firmer with markets focussing on the continued moderation in core Spanish and German state CPI into the 13:00BST nationwide German number. Bunds peaked at 130.87 having pared knee-jerk pressure of around 20 ticks on the German headline numbers; now off best levels.
Gilts are a touch firmer but yet to move significantly from the unchanged mark in a narrow circa-20 tick range with specifics light and direction for today and this week broadly likely to come from European and US events. Currently at 96.25 shy of Friday’s 96.33 best and then 96.67 from Wednesday thereafter.
Italy sells EUR 6.75bln vs exp. EUR 5.75-6.75bln 3.35% 2029, 3.85% 2034 BTP and EUR 3.5bln vs exp. EUR 3-3.5bln CCTeu.
EU sells EUR vs exp. EUR 2.5bln 3.125% 2028 and EUR 2.5bln 2.75% 2033 EU Bond.
Commodities
A subdued day for the crude complex despite the weaker Dollar, but amid the lack of geopolitical escalation over the weekend and amid more sanguine atmosphere surrounding the latest Israel-Gaza ceasefire talks. Brent counterpart slipped from USD 89.25/bbl to USD 88.43/bbl.
Mixed trade across precious metals with only spot silver benefiting from the slide in the Dollar, whilst spot gold sees its upside capped by the lack of geopolitical escalation and ahead of FOMC later this week. XAU clambered off its USD 2,319.84/oz intraday low but is yet to reach highs seen on Friday at USD 2,352.64/oz.
Base metals are mixed with some of the market benefiting from the softer Dollar, albeit modestly; 3M LME copper trades on either side of USD 10,000/t.
TotalEnergies (TTE FP) CEO said the Co. is expected to complete the first phase of the solar power project in Iraq within the next year, while the Co. is to complete the first stage of utilising the by-produced gas from Iraq’s project during 2025 with a production capacity of 50mln cubic feet, according to Reuters.
Turkey is in talks with ExxonMobil (XOM) over a multi-billion dollar LNG deal, according to FT.
Geopolitics: Middle East
“Al-Arabiya sources: An Israeli delegation will head to Cairo tomorrow and the plan is indirect negotiations with Hamas”
UKMTO said it has receives a report of an incident 54NM Northwest of Yemen’s Mokha
Egypt offered a new proposal for a truce between Israel and Hamas in which some Israeli hostages would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners and a three-week ceasefire, while Egyptian officials said Israel helped create the proposal and would enter longer-term discussions once Hamas releases the first group of 20 hostages over the truce period, according to WSJ.
Hamas said it received Israel’s official response to its position over ceasefire talks and will study the proposal before submitting its response. It was later reported that a Hamas official told AFP that there were no major issues in the group’s remarks on the truce proposal, while it was separately reported that a Hamas delegation is to visit Cairo on Monday for ceasefire talks, according to an official cited by Reuters.
Israel’s Foreign Minister said Israel will suspend the planned operation in Rafah if Hamas agrees to a hostage deal and stated the release of hostages is their top priority. It was also reported that the Israeli military said the amount of aid going into Gaza will scale up in the coming days.
Palestinian President Abbas said Israel will go into Rafah in the next few days and the US is the only country that can stop Israel from attacking Rafah, while he is worried that Israel will try to push Palestinians out of the West Bank after it is done with Gaza, according to Reuters.
Medical official said at least 13 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on three houses in Rafah in southern Gaza, according to Reuters.
US President Biden spoke with Israeli PM Netanyahu on Sunday and reaffirmed his ironclad commitment to Israel’s security, as well as stressed the need for progress in aid deliveries to be sustained and enhanced in full coordination with humanitarian organisations. Furthermore, they discussed Rafah and Biden reiterated his clear position, according to the White House cited by Reuters.
White House national security spokesperson Kirby said Israel assured the US that they won’t go into Rafah until the US has a chance to share its perspectives and concerns, while he added Israelis have started to meet the aid commitments that US President Biden asked them to meet. It was separately reported that US Secretary of State Blinken will travel to Jordan and Israel following Saudi Arabia, according to Reuters.
France’s Foreign Minister said to make proposals in Lebanon to stabilise the zone and prevent a war between Hezbollah and Israel, according to Reuters.
UKMTO said it received reports of an incident 177 nautical miles southeast of the Port of Nashtoon located in eastern Yemen on Saturday night which involved a small boat that approached a ship, although there was no harm or damage and the ship carried on its journey, according to IRNA.
OTHER
US intelligence found that Russian President Putin did not directly order Navalny’s death in February, according to WSJ. US intelligence report does not dispute Putin’s culpability for the death of Navalny but believes he probably did not order it at that moment, while a Kremlin spokesperson called the intelligence report empty speculation.
Russian Foreign Ministry said there will be a severe response if Russian assets are touched and it is a pity that some in the West do not understand it, while it was also reported that Russia’s Kremlin said there will be endless legal challenges if Russian assets are seized.
Russia’s Kremlin said there are no grounds to hold any peace talks with Ukraine given Kyiv’s official refusal to conduct such talks with Russia.
Kyiv’s top general said fighting on the eastern front worsened and Ukrainian troops had fallen back in three places.
North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said it will make stern and decisive choices in response to the US using human rights for anti-North Korean behaviour, while it added that the US envoy on North Korean human rights is motivated politically and is considered political provocation, according to KCNA.
US Event Calendar
10:30: April Dallas Fed Manf. Activity, est. -11.3, prior -14.4
DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap
I wrote some of this while supervising my three kids doing their homework this weekend. The 6yr old twins had fractions and adverbs, with the latter being pretty challenging. They had a whole story where they had to insert missing adverbs. It was incredibly, astonishingly, extremely, exceedingly, enormously, supremely, difficult. So if you see a few stray adverbs below it’s because I’ve been swimming in them this weekend.
With just two days left of a difficult April for markets, last week actually saw the best week for the S&P 500 (+2.67%) and NASDAQ (+4.23%) since November as earnings generally gave markets a boost even if the US inflation data was net net worrying. You’ll see our full recap of last week towards at the end but looking forward first it’s an exceptionally busy week of important events.
The FOMC conclusion on Wednesday is the obvious highlight (full preview below) but we also have payrolls on Friday to look forward to. DB expect a more hawkish-leaning Fed this week. While our economists expect the Committee will maintain an easing bias (preview here), they do expect the statement and press conference to echo Chair Powell’s view that firmer inflation prints suggest it will take longer to gain confidence about disinflation. The press conference will be fascinating to see the nuances in Powell’s responses as he justifies a likely unchanged easing bias, even if the rhetoric is more hawkish, in the face of rising inflation.
In terms of the jobs report on Friday, our US economists see payrolls gaining +240k in April (consensus +250k), down from +303k in March. The consensus expects the unemployment rate and the hourly earnings growth rate to stay at 3.8% and +0.3% MoM, respectively, although DB expects the former to tick up a tenth. Overall the market sees a solid report.
Other key data in the US includes consumer confidence tomorrow, the manufacturing ISM, JOLTS, and ADP on Wednesday, and the services ISM on Friday. We also see the latest US Treasury quarterly refunding announcement on Wednesday, after the borrowing estimate is due today. This was a big pivot point for global markets back in August (negative) and October (positive) but since then a commitment not to increase auction sizes has reduced its importance. Our strategists preview the event and detail their estimates here. Finally in the US, earnings season maintains its peak pace as 174 report in the S&P versus 180 last week with Amazon (Tuesday) and Apple (Thursday) the obvious highlights. Meanwhile, 66 Stoxx 600 companies will report this week.
In Europe, preliminary CPI reports for Germany and Spain today, and the Eurozone tomorrow will have a lot of significance for the June ECB meeting and whether we will see the first cut. Our European economists preview the release here. For the Eurozone, they expect the headline HICP to fall one-tenth to 2.31% yoy, its lowest value since August 2021 and see core inflation slowing further to 2.45% yoy, 0.50pp lower than in March 2024. Staying in Europe the latest GDP data for Germany, France, Italy and the Eurozone are due tomorrow. In Asia, various China PMIs (tomorrow) will be a big focus and in Japan, several key economic indicators are also due, including industrial production and labour market data tomorrow.
The day-by-day calendar at the end as usual gives a more detailed diary of the main events this coming week.
Asian equity markets have started the week on a positive note extending Friday’s rally on Wall Street. Chinese stocks are the best performers across the region with the Hang Seng (+1.93%) leading gains followed by the CSI (+1.63%) and the Shanghai Composite (+0.94%), buoyed by a rally in property stocks after embattled property developer CIFI Holdings reached a solution with bondholders on a plan to restructure its offshore debt. Elsewhere, the KOSPI (+0.91%) is also trading higher while stock markets in Japan are closed for a public holiday, also meaning no cash Treasury trading as yet. S&P 500 (+0.25%) and NASDAQ 100 (+0.34%) futures are edging higher.
In FX, the Japanese yen remained under pressure as it weakened past 160 earlier (from just below 158 at the open), its weakest level since 1990. This was in thin holiday trading and it’s subsequently bounced back to below 156. So some astonishing moves this morning!
Over the weekend, China’s industrial profits fell -3.5% in March (YoY) and have now risen + 4.3% y/y in the first quarter, significantly down from a +10.2% expansion in the January-February period, thus still pointing to challenges for China even with a better outlook of late.
Recapping last week now, the US March PCE inflation came in line with expectations on Friday at +0.3% month-on-month, allowing markets to breathe a slight sigh of relief compared to the strong Q1 PCE deflator in the GDP data the day before. In year-on-year terms, the March PCE release came in just above expectations at +2.7% (vs 2.6% expected). The month-on-month core print was also in line with consensus at +0.3%, and at +2.8% year-on-year (vs 2.7% expected). The March data also pointed to a still vibrant US consumer, with real personal spending up +0.5% on the month (vs +0.3% expected).
With the PCE print largely in line with expectations, US equities rallied, with the S&P 500 rising +1.02% on Friday. A strong performance by the tech giants following strong Q1 results from Alphabet (+10.22%) and Microsoft (+1.82%) the previous evening saw the Magnificent Seven post their best day in two months (+3.27%). After three weeks of consecutive losses, both the S&P 500 (+2.67%) and the NASDAQ (+4.23%) saw their largest weekly gains since last November. Even as technology spearheaded the rally, the gains were broad-based, as the Russell 2000 index rose +2.79% (and +1.05% on Friday). European equities also advanced, with the STOXX 600 up +1.74% last week (and +1.11% on Friday). The FTSE 100 hit another record high after gaining +3.09% (and +0.75% on Friday).
Friday’s PCE print did little to reverse expectations for fewer Fed rate cuts this year. The number of cuts anticipated by the December meeting was unchanged on Friday (+0.1bps) but down -4.9bps over the week to 34bps, with the decline coming on Thursday following the inflation data within the Q1 GDP release. US Treasuries did see a moderate rally on Friday, as the 2yr and 10yr yields fell -0.3bps and -4.0bps respectively. However, this was insufficient to erase earlier losses with Treasury yields seeing their highest weekly close year-to-date, up +0.9bps to 4.996% for 2yrs and +4.3bps to 4.665% for 10yrs. The story was similar in Europe, as investors dialled back their expectations of ECB rate cuts by -2.2bps on the week to 72bps. This saw 10yr bund yields rise +7.5bps on the week to 2.57%, despite a sizeable recovery on Friday (-5.5bps).
Meanwhile in Asia, the major story last week was the weakening of the Japanese yen. With the Bank of Japan leaving interest rates on hold, alongside restrained commentary on the exchange rate by policymakers, the yen fell -2.33% (and -1.78% on Friday) to 158.33 per dollar, its weakest level since 1990. Against this backdrop, the Nikkei 225 rose +2.34% (and +0.81% on Friday).
Finally in commodities, copper secured its fifth consecutive week of gains after rising +1.48% (and +1.03% on Friday) on the back of growing demand for clean transition metals and tight supply. On the other hand, gold ended its five-week streak of consecutive gains, falling -2.26% (+0.39% on Friday) amid easing geopolitical fears.
2 B) NOW NEWSQUAWK (EUROPE/REPORT)
US equity futures modestly firmer, JPY bid amid suspected intervention, Bonds benefit from Spanish/German CPIs – Newsquawk US Market Open
MONDAY, APR 29, 2024 – 06:02 AM
European bourses were initially firmer, though have since dipped lower; US futures remain modestly in the green
Dollar is softer amid hefty USD/JPY selling; the pair rose to 160.00 before sharp downticks with intervention suspected
Bonds are firmer benefiting from dovish Spanish/German inflation metrics
Crude is softer as Israel-Gaza truce talks continue; XAU flat and base metals mixed
Looking ahead, German CPI, EZ Sentiment, US Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index, Comments from ECB’s de Guindos, US Quarterly Refunding Estimates, Earnings from NXP Semiconductors, Welltower & Paramount
2. Listen to this report in the market open podcast (available on Apple and Spotify)
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EUROPEAN TRADE
EQUITIES
European bourses, Stoxx600 (+0.3%) are almost entirely in the green, taking the lead from a positive APAC session overnight. Trade has been rangebound since the open, though has just been coming off best levels in recent trade.
Basic Resources is found towards the top of the pile, benefiting from modestly firmer base metal prices and after further takeover reports regarding BHP/Anglo American. Retail marginally underperforms.
US Equity Futures (ES +0.2%, NQ +0.3%, RTY +0.3%) are entirely in the green, posting modest gains in tandem with European peers. In terms of pre-market movers; Apple (+1.5%) gains on reports that it has resumed talks with OpenAI. And Tesla (+6.5%) benefits from news that the Co. has received tentative approval for its self-driving service.
Click here and here for the sessions European pre-market equity newsflow, including notable earnings/updates from:
USD is softer vs. peers in the wake of aggressive USD/JPY selling overnight and into the European morning. From a technical perspective, DXY has been as low as 105.46 but is respecting Friday’s 105.41 base.
JPY was volatile overnight and initially surged above 160.00 with no obvious catalysts and with Japanese participants away from the market. The pair later saw a sharper drop and breached 156.00 to the downside in the absence of any obvious drivers; some have speculated potential intervention. Since, USD/JPY has continued to bleed, going as low as 154.54 (currently 155.80).
EUR is firmer vs. USD (as is the case for all major peers). Focus in the Eurozone today is on the German national CPI at 13:00BST, with regional releases thus far broadly showing increases on a M/M and Y/Y basis, though initial reaction dovish as the core numbers continue to moderate. 1.0733 is the high thus far and yet to approach Friday’s best of 1.0753.
Antipodeans are benefitting from the broadly softer USD. AUD/USD is now up for a 6th consecutive session with focus on a test of 0.66 after printing a session high of 0.6586.
Japan’s Top currency diplomat Kanda said will not comment now, when asked about whether Japan intervened in the currency market.
PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1066 vs exp. 7.2759 (prev. 7.1056).
USTs are bid with specifics light so far and direction drawn from EGB action after the regions core inflation numbers from Spain & German. Currently at the top-end of a 107-18+ to 107-27+ range with the 10yr yield below 4.65% but in familiar ranges.
Bunds are firmer with markets focussing on the continued moderation in core Spanish and German state CPI into the 13:00BST nationwide German number. Bunds peaked at 130.87 having pared knee-jerk pressure of around 20 ticks on the German headline numbers; now off best levels.
Gilts are a touch firmer but yet to move significantly from the unchanged mark in a narrow circa-20 tick range with specifics light and direction for today and this week broadly likely to come from European and US events. Currently at 96.25 shy of Friday’s 96.33 best and then 96.67 from Wednesday thereafter.
Italy sells EUR 6.75bln vs exp. EUR 5.75-6.75bln 3.35% 2029, 3.85% 2034 BTP and EUR 3.5bln vs exp. EUR 3-3.5bln CCTeu.
EU sells EUR vs exp. EUR 2.5bln 3.125% 2028 and EUR 2.5bln 2.75% 2033 EU Bond.
A subdued day for the crude complex despite the weaker Dollar, but amid the lack of geopolitical escalation over the weekend and amid more sanguine atmosphere surrounding the latest Israel-Gaza ceasefire talks. Brent counterpart slipped from USD 89.25/bbl to USD 88.43/bbl.
Mixed trade across precious metals with only spot silver benefiting from the slide in the Dollar, whilst spot gold sees its upside capped by the lack of geopolitical escalation and ahead of FOMC later this week. XAU clambered off its USD 2,319.84/oz intraday low but is yet to reach highs seen on Friday at USD 2,352.64/oz.
Base metals are mixed with some of the market benefiting from the softer Dollar, albeit modestly; 3M LME copper trades on either side of USD 10,000/t.
TotalEnergies (TTE FP) CEO said the Co. is expected to complete the first phase of the solar power project in Iraq within the next year, while the Co. is to complete the first stage of utilising the by-produced gas from Iraq’s project during 2025 with a production capacity of 50mln cubic feet, according to Reuters.
Turkey is in talks with ExxonMobil (XOM) over a multi-billion dollar LNG deal, according to FT.
ECB’s Wunsch (interview from 20th April) said ECB should be cautious regarding a July cut, should be cautious regarding a larger-than-25bps cut in June. Base case it as least two cuts, “but if we only do two or even three cuts, then we shouldn’t communicate that we’re going to cut at every meeting”. Don’t think ECB has sufficient data to have confidence on 100bps of cuts throughout the year. On what could get in the way of a June cut, Wunsch said “really bad news”, “two bad readings on the inflation front or other major developments.”
Spanish PM says he has decided to stay on as Prime Minister.
Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf is set to step down after coming to the conclusion that is position is no longer tenable, according to The Sunday Times.
Fitch affirmed France at AA-; Outlook Stable and affirmed Switzerland at AAA; Outlook Stable, while it affirmed Sweden at AAA; Outlook Stable.
DATA RECAP
German State CPIs: Uptick from the prior in-fitting with mainland expectations, core NRW continues to cool. Full reaction here.
EU Cons Infl Expec (Apr) 11.6 (Prev. 12.3); EU Business Climate* (Apr) -0.53 (Prev. -0.3, Rev. -0.32); Services Sentiment (Apr) 6.0 vs. Exp. 6.7 (Prev. 6.3, Rev. 6.4); Industrial Sentiment (Apr) -10.5 vs. Exp. -8.6 (Prev. -8.8, Rev. -8.9); Economic Sentiment (Apr) 95.6 vs. Exp. 96.7 (Prev. 96.3, Rev. 96.2); Consumer Confid. Final (Apr) -14.7 vs. Exp. -14.7 (Prev. -14.7); Selling Price Expec (Apr) 5.4 (Prev. 5.6, Rev. 5.5)
Swedish GDP QQ Prelim. (Q1) -0.1% vs. Exp. 0.2% (Prev. -0.1%); YY Prelim. (Q1) -1.1% (Prev. -0.2%)
Italian Flash Trd Bal Non-EU (Mar) 5.6B (Prev. 6.74B)
NOTABLE US HEADLINES
White House said President Biden approved the Kansas disaster declaration and ordered federal assistance to supplement recovery efforts in areas affected by severe winter storm from January 8th-16th.
Apple (AAPL) intensified talks with OpenAI for iPhone generative AI features in which they are discussing the terms of a possible agreement and how the OpenAI features would be integrated into Apple’s iOS 18, according to Bloomberg. EU says that Apple’s (AAPL) iPad operating system has been designated as a gatekeeper under the EU DMA; apple has six months to comply with EU tech rules.
Tesla (TSLA) CEO Musk made a surprise visit to Beijing with media reports saying he aims to discuss enabling autonomous driving mode on Tesla cars in China. Later, it was reported Tesla is to partner with Baidu (9888 HK) for China self-driving approval, according to Bloomberg. (BBC/Bloomberg) Separately, two US Senators say NHTSA should require Tesla (TSLA) to restrict autopilot use to certain roads.
Paramount (PARA) is reportedly preparing to fire CEO Bakish, via FT citing sources; additionally, sources add that the Co. is expected to receive a counterbid from Sony and Apollo this week to the offer from Skydance Media. (FT)
GEOPOLITICS
MIDDLE EAST – EUROPEAN MORNING
“Al-Arabiya sources: An Israeli delegation will head to Cairo tomorrow and the plan is indirect negotiations with Hamas”
UKMTO said it has receives a report of an incident 54NM Northwest of Yemen’s Mokha
MIDDLE EAST
Egypt offered a new proposal for a truce between Israel and Hamas in which some Israeli hostages would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners and a three-week ceasefire, while Egyptian officials said Israel helped create the proposal and would enter longer-term discussions once Hamas releases the first group of 20 hostages over the truce period, according to WSJ.
Hamas said it received Israel’s official response to its position over ceasefire talks and will study the proposal before submitting its response. It was later reported that a Hamas official told AFP that there were no major issues in the group’s remarks on the truce proposal, while it was separately reported that a Hamas delegation is to visit Cairo on Monday for ceasefire talks, according to an official cited by Reuters.
Israel’s Foreign Minister said Israel will suspend the planned operation in Rafah if Hamas agrees to a hostage deal and stated the release of hostages is their top priority. It was also reported that the Israeli military said the amount of aid going into Gaza will scale up in the coming days.
Palestinian President Abbas said Israel will go into Rafah in the next few days and the US is the only country that can stop Israel from attacking Rafah, while he is worried that Israel will try to push Palestinians out of the West Bank after it is done with Gaza, according to Reuters.
Medical official said at least 13 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on three houses in Rafah in southern Gaza, according to Reuters.
US President Biden spoke with Israeli PM Netanyahu on Sunday and reaffirmed his ironclad commitment to Israel’s security, as well as stressed the need for progress in aid deliveries to be sustained and enhanced in full coordination with humanitarian organisations. Furthermore, they discussed Rafah and Biden reiterated his clear position, according to the White House cited by Reuters.
White House national security spokesperson Kirby said Israel assured the US that they won’t go into Rafah until the US has a chance to share its perspectives and concerns, while he added Israelis have started to meet the aid commitments that US President Biden asked them to meet. It was separately reported that US Secretary of State Blinken will travel to Jordan and Israel following Saudi Arabia, according to Reuters.
France’s Foreign Minister said to make proposals in Lebanon to stabilise the zone and prevent a war between Hezbollah and Israel, according to Reuters.
UKMTO said it received reports of an incident 177 nautical miles southeast of the Port of Nashtoon located in eastern Yemen on Saturday night which involved a small boat that approached a ship, although there was no harm or damage and the ship carried on its journey, according to IRNA.
OTHER
US intelligence found that Russian President Putin did not directly order Navalny’s death in February, according to WSJ. US intelligence report does not dispute Putin’s culpability for the death of Navalny but believes he probably did not order it at that moment, while a Kremlin spokesperson called the intelligence report empty speculation.
Russian Foreign Ministry said there will be a severe response if Russian assets are touched and it is a pity that some in the West do not understand it, while it was also reported that Russia’s Kremlin said there will be endless legal challenges if Russian assets are seized.
Russia’s Kremlin said there are no grounds to hold any peace talks with Ukraine given Kyiv’s official refusal to conduct such talks with Russia.
Kyiv’s top general said fighting on the eastern front worsened and Ukrainian troops had fallen back in three places.
North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said it will make stern and decisive choices in response to the US using human rights for anti-North Korean behaviour, while it added that the US envoy on North Korean human rights is motivated politically and is considered political provocation, according to KCNA.
CRYPTO
Softer session for Bitcoin, dipping as low as USD 61.9k, whilst Ethereum holds firmly above USD 3.1k.
APAC TRADE
APAC stocks began the week on the front foot after the tech-led surge last Friday on Wall St and amid increased optimism regarding a Gaza truce with negotiators set for talks in Cairo on Monday, although Japan was on holiday and ahead of this week’s key risk events.
ASX 200 was led higher by real estate, tech and telecoms owing to softer yields.
Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. gained with the former entering into bull market territory after climbing over 20% from its January lows, while participants digested a slew of earnings and the mainland also shrugged off the slowdown in March Industrial Profits.
NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES
China’s MOFCOM said export control measures proposed by Japan on semiconductors will seriously affect the normal trade between Chinese and Japanese enterprises, as well as undermine the stability of the global supply chain. Furthermore, it stated that China urges the Japanese side to rectify its ‘erroneous practices’ in a timely manner and China will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, according to Reuters.
US and Taiwan are to hold in-person negotiation talks on trade beginning on April 29th, according to Reuters.
Japanese PM Kishida said they will promote union policies for wage increases, according to Reuters.
PBoC has reportedly expanded a warning on bond investments to regional banks, via Bloomberg citing sources.
Agricultural Bank of China (1288 HK) Q1 (CNY): Net Income 70.839bln (exp. 73.578bln), NII 144.535bln (exp. 137.021bln).
Japanese Top Currency Diplomat Kanda offers no comments on whether there was FX intervention; will continue to take appropriate action against excessive FX moves; does not have a specific FX level in mind. Speculative, rapid, abnormal FX moves have bad impact on the economy, so unacceptable. Ready to respond 24 hours, 365 days, when asked whether Japan was ready to take action in FX. Will disclose at the end of May if there way intervention.
APAC DATA RECAP
Chinese Industrial Profits YTD Y/Y (Mar) 4.3% (Prev. 10.2%)
3C ASIA AFFAIRS/
MONDAY MORNING/SUNDAY NIGHT
SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 24.41PTS OR 0.71% //Hang Seng CLOSED UP 96.76 PTS OR 0.54% / Nikkei CLOSED //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP 0.88%///Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed UP 7.2412//OFFSHORE CHINESE YUAN CLOSED UP TO 7.2471 Oil UP TO 83.75dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT UP AT 89.15 Stocks in Europe OPENED ALL MIXED
ONSHORE YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING STRONGER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE YUAN STRONGER
2 d./NORTH KOREA/ SOUTH KOREA/
NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA
END
2e) JAPAN
JAPAN
Japan’s Yen is collapsing. What will happen next: the best analysis is Alasdair Macleod below
(Zerohedge)
“The Yen Collapse Has Become Disorderly”: Look For A Final, Sharp Decline Before It Hits A Floor
and left, leaving traders stunned and speechless at the sheer idiocy of the world’s most clownish central bank, which has decided to invite currency collapse the same abandon as Zimbabwe, if it means pushing up domestic stonks a little bit more even as hyperinflation is unleashed among Japanese society. And now that the collapse in the yen is making banana republics like Turkey blush, and is making FX managers and traders who are still long the Japanese DongLira Yen to the imploding “developed” insolvent, everyone wants to know what happens next?
Below we share to views, one from Deutsche Bank’s Geroge Saravelos, and one from SocGen’s Kit Juckes.
We start with the DB FX strategist who frames the BOJ’s wilful incompetence merely as “benign neglect”, to wit:
On the collapse
The yen has again collapsed today to fresh record lows following the Bank of Japan meeting. We think this is warranted and that this finally marks the day where the market realizes that Japan is following a policy of benign neglect for the yen. We have long argued that FX intervention is not credible and the toning down of verbal jawboning from the finance minister overnight is on balance a positive from a credibility perspective. The possibility of intervention can’t be ruled out if the market turns disorderly, but it is also notable that Governor Ueda played down the importance of the yen in his press conference today as well as signalling no urgency to hike rates. We would frame the ongoing yen collapse around the following points.
Yen weakness is simply not that bad for Japan. The tourism sector is booming, profit margins on the Nikkei are soaring and exporter competitiveness is increasing. True, the cost of imported items is going up. But growth is fine, the government is helping offset some of the cost via subsidies and core inflation is not accelerating. Most importantly, the Japanese are huge foreign asset owners via Japan’s positive net international investment position. Yen weakness therefore leads to huge capital gains on foreign bonds and equities, most easily summarized in the observation that the government pension fund (GPIF) has roughly made more profits over the last two years than the last twenty years combined.
There simply isn’t an inflation problem. Japan’s core CPI is around 2% and has been decelerating in recent months. The Tokyo CPI overnight was 1.7% excluding one-off effects. To be sure, inflation may well accelerate again helped by FX weakness and high wage growth. But the starting point of inflation is entirely different to the post-COVID hiking cycles of the Fed and ECB. By extension, the inflation pain is far less and the urgency to hike far less too. No where is this more obvious than the fact that Japanese consumer confidence are close to their cycle highs.
Negative real rates are great. There is a huge attraction to running negative real rates for the consolidated government balance sheet. As we demonstrated last year, it creates fiscal space via a $20 trillion carry trade while also generating asset gains for Japan’s wealthy voting base. This encourages the persistent domestic capital outflows we have been highlighting as a key driver of yen weakness over the last year and that have pushed Japan’s broad basic balance to being one of the weakest in the world. It is not speculators that are weakening the yen but the Japanese themselves.
The bottom line is that for the JPY to turn stronger the Japanese need to unwind their carry trade. But for this to make sense the Bank of Japan needs to engineer an expedited hiking cycle similar to the post-COVID experiences of other central banks. Time will tell if the BoJ is moving too slow and generating a policy mistake. A shift in BoJ inflation forecasts to well above 2% over their forecast horizon would be the clearest signal of a shift in reaction function. But this isn’t happening now. The Japanese are enjoying the ride
And next, here is the somewhat more actionable view from SocGen’s FX strategist Kit Juckes:
The yen’s decline is becoming disorderly, which points to a final, potentially sharp, decline before it finds a floor
The Bank of Japan, as was universally expected, made no changes to interest rates at today’s policy-setting meeting, though they did edge inflation forecasts higher. Forecasts for the 2025/26 fiscal year look for core inflation (ex-food and energy) at 2.1% and real GDP growth of 1%. In Japan, as in most countries, yields have tended to average more than nominal GDP growth over time, and on that basis the US/Japanese yield differential is set to narrow significantly in the coming quarters. However, for now US yields are rising and Japanese ones are still anchored by very low short-term rates. Those short-term rates give short yen trades their positive carry and have kept the leveraged trading community happy for months.
The chart shows the US-Japanese yield differential and USD/JPY over the last 20 years, with the yield chart extended using the OECD’s forecasts for yields. These are just forecasts but they frame the issue quiet well, particularly bearing in mind how undervalued the yen is now, on any fundamental long-term valuation. If PPP for USD/JPY is now in the mid-90s, fair value adjusted for US exceptionalism and Japanification is still around 110. As long as yield differentials are large and growing, upward pressure on USD/JPY persists and while eventual return to much lower levels is inevitable, the danger here is that unless Japan’s policymakers are much more aggressive (with intervention and monetary policy), this move higher in USD/JPY will end in a final excessive spike higher.
END
This is where we are heading with respect to Japan
The yen is weakening, and JGB yields are rising. These problems are coming to the attention of a widening financial audience. This post looks at the consequences.
This week, the rise in JGB yields and the decline of the yen accelerated (note: the JPY chart is on an inverted scale). There is no doubt that there is a crisis developing.
Ever since the Fed raised interest rates, the Bank of Japan’s monetary policies have become exposed as being out on a limb. The BOJ has been pursuing QE since the year 2000, and in the process has accumulated nearly 60% of its own government’s debt. Relative to the size of the economy, this debt at over 260% of GDP is the highest of the world’s advanced nations.
Until now, these policies failed to fully disrupt the yen’s domestic purchasing power, due to the propensity of Japan’s population to save and the long-term trend of the dollar’s declining interest rates. But US interest rates are no longer declining and with the US Government in a developing debt trap the pressure on the Bank of Japan to raise rates firmly into positive territory is increasing.
Japan’s propensity to save is still there. It means that if the BOJ raises rates, savings will increase even further at the cost of consumption, throwing the economy into statistical recession. This is of course a Keynesian analysis whose errors are now being exposed. That said, Japan has been running on Keynesian hot air since the 1990s asset bubble imploded: that’s thirty years of denying the necessary creative destruction needed for an economy to regenerate.
From higher interest rates, there are some important consequences that flow from Japan’s Keynesianism:
· Already at over 260%, government debt to GDP will soar not only due to continued budget deficits currently exceeding 5% and growing, but importantly because GDP will be contracting due to the savings paradox. It will not be long before this debt to GDP figure increases to over 300%, undermining the fiat yen’s credibility even if interest rates are permitted to rise.
· The BOJ’s balance sheet equity of only Y100 million is already wiped out over hundreds-of-thousand times by bond losses on its QE holdings. These losses will now accelerate astronomically. How long can this bankrupt situation be allowed by markets to persist?
· Going by Japan’s global systemically important banks, her commercial banking system is probably the most highly leveraged in the world. Like the Eurozone G-SIBs, this is because negative interest policies compressed credit margins and the only way in which banks could maintain bottom line profits was to increase their ratios of balance sheet assets to equity capital. Not only do higher interest rates lead to massive losses as the cost of funding rises above interest returns on assets (just like last year’s regional bank failures in the US), but non-performing loans will impact balance sheets as well.
· With many years of suppressed interest rates leading to a decade of negative rates, Japanese local governments and corporates have become debt zombies. Positive interest rates will expose the errors of not addressing the imbalances that arose from the 1990s debt bubble and its subsequent collapse.
As the interest rate crisis facing Japan’s policy makers unfolds, there can be no doubt that Japan’s politicians, true to their Keynesian roots, will double down on trying to prevent deflation. Budget deficits will soar, not just as the balance between revenue and welfare spending tips further into the red, but because of political determination to keep stimulating a rapidly disintegrating economy.
The problems facing Japan are an extreme example of those facing other G7 nations. There is no salvation in higher interest rates either, only economic and monetary collapse. The combination of rising government debt, higher compounding interest costs and an entire economy wrongfooted by rising interest rates are a lethal mix. So what does Mrs Watanabe do about it? Well, getting out of fiat yen into real legal money, which is gold, could be seen as an increasing option. It is favoured by the East Asian masses, and probably by the ordinary Japanese people when they begin to realise what’s happening to their savings.
It will be interesting to see how long it takes for domestic users of Japan’s yen to wake up to the increasing certainty that the fiat yen is in the early stages of outright collapse.
END
During the night, our foreign exchange vigilantes strike:
(zerohedge)
‘FX Vigilantes’ Strike – Yen Suddenly Crashes To April 1990 Lows Against The Dollar
SUNDAY, APR 28, 2024 – 11:15 PM
The yen crashed in early Asia trading, tumbling to match is exact lows from April 1990 in what is being blamed on a ‘fat finger’ trade or multiple barrier-option trades being triggered, by sources that have literally no idea.
“Currency rates is not a target of monetary policy to directly control,” he said.
“But currency volatility could be an important factor in impacting the economy and prices. If the impact on underlying inflation becomes too big to ignore, it may be a reason to adjust monetary policy
n fact, policymakers have repeatedly warned that depreciation won’t be tolerated if it goes too far too fast.
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki reiterated after the BoJ meeting that the government will respond appropriately to foreign exchange moves.
Potential triggers for interventions are public holidays in Japan on Monday and Friday next week, which bring the risk of volatility amid thin trading.
“Should the yen fall further from here, like after the BOJ decision in September 2022, the possibility of intervention will increase,” said Hirofumi Suzuki, chief currency strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.
“It is not the level but it’s the speed that will trigger the action.”
Well currency volatility is what he has now…
Source: Bloomberg
The sudden drop pushed USDJPY perfectly to its April 1990 highs to the tick…
Source: Bloomberg
The currency pain was all focused in the Japanese market as EUR and GBP strengthened against the USD…
Source: Bloomberg
Perhaps even more notably, the yen puked relative to the Chinese yuan, hitting 22 for the first time since 1992 and putting further pressure on Beijing to potentially do something…
Source: Bloomberg
The question is, of course, what will Japan’s MoF/BoJ do now – if anything as their recent excuses about ‘velocity’ or some such spin are now out of the window after a 6-handle standalone surge in their currency in a few short days (when the rest of the world’s currencies are not).
“Authorities may say they don’t target levels per se, but they do pay close attention to the trend and the rate of change and current levels suggest they have to act soon or risk facing a credibility crisis,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group Ltd.
“The FX market is almost taking them on like the bond vigilantes of old.”
However, as we detailed last week,the problem with intervention is that once the genie is out of the bottle… it’s hard to put it back in.
In other words, the onus should be on the BOJ to step in with a much more hawkish move than the market expects.
As Viraj Patel from Vanda Research goes on to note that “we’re at a stage where MoF/BoJ have no choice but to intervene. The best way would be for BoJ to hike 25bps this week. It’s not about the macro anymore (BoJ should’ve normalized policy faster last year).”
Instead, what is going on is that Japan’s disastrous handling of its currency has evolved into a game between speculators and officials: Specs are short yen for good fundamental reasons (carry). At this stage, a “surprise” hike to send a signal to markets that they are concerned about ongoing FX weakness (and don’t test us) would be less costly to the economy vs. a further devaluation in the yen. It also adds an additional level of uncertainty to the BoJ/MoF reaction function – which speculators (long carry trades) don’t like.
Meanwhile, FX intervention – which unfortunately looks to be the MoF/BoJ’s preferred route based on recent history – is not even a short-term fix anymore. USD/JPY dips would be quickly bought into based on recent market chatter. A hike goes a bit further towards solving the root cause of yen weakness – even it’s only a marginally better option.
In a note late last week, Deutsche Bank says the currency’s decline is warranted and finally marks the day where the market realizes that Japan is following a policy of benign neglect for the yen.
We have long argued that FX intervention is not credible and the toning down of verbal jawboning from the finance minister overnight is on balance a positive from a credibility perspective. The possibility of intervention can’t be ruled out if the market turns disorderly, but it is also notable that Governor Ueda played down the importance of the yen in his press conference today as well as signalling no urgency to hike rates. We would frame the ongoing yen collapse around the following points.
Yen weakness is simply not that bad for Japan. The tourism sector is booming, profit margins on the Nikkei are soaring and exporter competitiveness is increasing. True, the cost of imported items is going up. But growth is fine, the government is helping offset some of the cost via subsidies and core inflation is not accelerating. Most importantly, the Japanese are huge foreign asset owners via Japan’s positive net international investment position. Yen weakness therefore leads to huge capital gains on foreign bonds and equities, most easily summarized in the observation that the government pension fund (GPIF) has roughly made more profits over the last two years than the last twenty years combined.
There simply isn’t an inflation problem. Japan’s core CPI is around 2% and has been decelerating in recent months. The Tokyo CPI overnight was 1.7% excluding one-off effects. To be sure, inflation may well accelerate again helped by FX weakness and high wage growth. But the starting point of inflation is entirely different to the post-COVID hiking cycles of the Fed and ECB. By extension, the inflation pain is far less and the urgency to hike far less too. No where is this more obvious than the fact that Japanese consumer confidence are close to their cycle highs.
Negative real rates are great. There is a huge attraction to running negative real rates for the consolidated government balance sheet. As we demonstrated last year, it creates fiscal space via a $20 trillion carry trade while also generating asset gains for Japan’s wealthy voting base. This encourages the persistent domestic capital outflows we have been highlighting as a key driver of yen weakness over the last year and that have pushed Japan’s broad basic balance to being one of the weakest in the world. It is not speculators that are weakening the yen but the Japanese themselves.
The bottom line, Deutscxhe concludes, is that for the JPY to turn stronger the Japanese need to unwind their carry trade. But for this to make sense the Bank of Japan needs to engineer an expedited hiking cycle similar to the post-COVID experiences of other central banks. Time will tell if the BoJ is moving too slow and generating a policy mistake. A shift in BoJ inflation forecasts to well above 2% over their forecast horizon would be the clearest signal of a shift in reaction function. But this isn’t happening now.
The Japanese are enjoying the ride.
Finally, it goes without saying that the only true circuit-breaker for yen weakness is lower US yields/weak US macro, which is unlikely until the election if, as so many now speculate, there has been a directive by the Biden admin to make the economy look as good as possible ahead of the elections, even if that means manipulating the data to a grotesque degree.
One added complexity for MoF/BoJ is that their two options for tackling yen weakness indirectly adds upward pressure to global rates/yields. They’re caught between a rock and a hard place… and speculators know (enjoy) this.
And finally there is China: the longer BOJ/MoF does nothing to curb the collapse of the yen, a move which is seen a pumping up the country’s exporting base at the expense of other mercantilist nations such as China, the higher the probability Beijing will retaliate against Tokyo by devaluing its own currency. At which point all hell will break loose.
After Overnight Collapse To 34-Year-Lows, Yen Surges In Apparent ‘Intervention’
MONDAY, APR 29, 2024 – 08:05 AM
The Japanese Yen strengthened sharply overnight after crashing to its lowest level since April 1990, breaking 160/USD.
The FT reports that traders in Hong Kong, Australia and London said it was “highly likely” that the recovery was due to Japan’s finance ministry selling dollar reserves and purchasing the Japanese currency for the first time since late 2022.
While analysts suggested the size and speed of the jump smacked of intervention, some traders questioned that conclusion and said Japanese banks sold dollars for customers as it rallied.
Japan’s top currency official, Masato Kanda, chose to keep investors guessing by declining to comment.
“It is difficult to ignore the bad effects that these violent and abnormal movements [in currencies] will cause for the nation’s economy,” Kanda told reporters on Monday.
Dow Jones reported authorities stepped in to support the yen, citing people familiar with the matter.
It is unlikely to be the last time Japan intervenes in the currency market this year, given that U.S. interest rates are likely to remain high, said Alvin Tan, head of Asia foreign-exchange strategy at RBC Capital Markets.
“We will have a tug of war going forward between Tokyo and the market,” he said.
* * *
The yen crashed in early Asia trading, tumbling to match is exact lows from April 1990 in what is being blamed on a ‘fat finger’ trade or multiple barrier-option trades being triggered, by sources that have literally no idea.
“Currency rates is not a target of monetary policy to directly control,” he said.
“But currency volatility could be an important factor in impacting the economy and prices. If the impact on underlying inflation becomes too big to ignore, it may be a reason to adjust monetary policy.”
In fact, policymakers have repeatedly warned that depreciation won’t be tolerated if it goes too far too fast.
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki reiterated after the BoJ meeting that the government will respond appropriately to foreign exchange moves.
Potential triggers for interventions are public holidays in Japan on Monday and Friday next week, which bring the risk of volatility amid thin trading.
“Should the yen fall further from here, like after the BOJ decision in September 2022, the possibility of intervention will increase,” said Hirofumi Suzuki, chief currency strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.
“It is not the level but it’s the speed that will trigger the action.”
Well currency volatility is what he has now…
Source: Bloomberg
The sudden drop pushed USDJPY perfectly to its April 1990 highs to the tick…
Source: Bloomberg
The currency pain was all focused in the Japanese market as EUR and GBP strengthened against the USD…
Source: Bloomberg
Perhaps even more notably, the yen puked relative to the Chinese yuan, hitting 22 for the first time since 1992 and putting further pressure on Beijing to potentially do something…
Source: Bloomberg
The question is, of course, what will Japan’s MoF/BoJ do now – if anything as their recent excuses about ‘velocity’ or some such spin are now out of the window after a 6-handle standalone surge in their currency in a few short days (when the rest of the world’s currencies are not).
“Authorities may say they don’t target levels per se, but they do pay close attention to the trend and the rate of change and current levels suggest they have to act soon or risk facing a credibility crisis,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group Ltd.
“The FX market is almost taking them on like the bond vigilantes of old.”
However, as we detailed last week,the problem with intervention is that once the genie is out of the bottle… it’s hard to put it back in.
In other words, the onus should be on the BOJ to step in with a much more hawkish move than the market expects.
As Viraj Patel from Vanda Research goes on to note that “we’re at a stage where MoF/BoJ have no choice but to intervene. The best way would be for BoJ to hike 25bps this week. It’s not about the macro anymore (BoJ should’ve normalized policy faster last year).”
Instead, what is going on is that Japan’s disastrous handling of its currency has evolved into a game between speculators and officials: Specs are short yen for good fundamental reasons (carry). At this stage, a “surprise” hike to send a signal to markets that they are concerned about ongoing FX weakness (and don’t test us) would be less costly to the economy vs. a further devaluation in the yen. It also adds an additional level of uncertainty to the BoJ/MoF reaction function – which speculators (long carry trades) don’t like.
Meanwhile, FX intervention – which unfortunately looks to be the MoF/BoJ’s preferred route based on recent history – is not even a short-term fix anymore. USD/JPY dips would be quickly bought into based on recent market chatter. A hike goes a bit further towards solving the root cause of yen weakness – even it’s only a marginally better option.
In a note late last week, Deutsche Bank says the currency’s decline is warranted and finally marks the day where the market realizes that Japan is following a policy of benign neglect for the yen.
We have long argued that FX intervention is not credible and the toning down of verbal jawboning from the finance minister overnight is on balance a positive from a credibility perspective. The possibility of intervention can’t be ruled out if the market turns disorderly, but it is also notable that Governor Ueda played down the importance of the yen in his press conference today as well as signalling no urgency to hike rates. We would frame the ongoing yen collapse around the following points.
Yen weakness is simply not that bad for Japan. The tourism sector is booming, profit margins on the Nikkei are soaring and exporter competitiveness is increasing. True, the cost of imported items is going up. But growth is fine, the government is helping offset some of the cost via subsidies and core inflation is not accelerating. Most importantly, the Japanese are huge foreign asset owners via Japan’s positive net international investment position. Yen weakness therefore leads to huge capital gains on foreign bonds and equities, most easily summarized in the observation that the government pension fund (GPIF) has roughly made more profits over the last two years than the last twenty years combined.
There simply isn’t an inflation problem. Japan’s core CPI is around 2% and has been decelerating in recent months. The Tokyo CPI overnight was 1.7% excluding one-off effects. To be sure, inflation may well accelerate again helped by FX weakness and high wage growth. But the starting point of inflation is entirely different to the post-COVID hiking cycles of the Fed and ECB. By extension, the inflation pain is far less and the urgency to hike far less too. No where is this more obvious than the fact that Japanese consumer confidence are close to their cycle highs.
Negative real rates are great. There is a huge attraction to running negative real rates for the consolidated government balance sheet. As we demonstrated last year, it creates fiscal space via a $20 trillion carry trade while also generating asset gains for Japan’s wealthy voting base. This encourages the persistent domestic capital outflows we have been highlighting as a key driver of yen weakness over the last year and that have pushed Japan’s broad basic balance to being one of the weakest in the world. It is not speculators that are weakening the yen but the Japanese themselves.
The bottom line, Deutscxhe concludes, is that for the JPY to turn stronger the Japanese need to unwind their carry trade. But for this to make sense the Bank of Japan needs to engineer an expedited hiking cycle similar to the post-COVID experiences of other central banks. Time will tell if the BoJ is moving too slow and generating a policy mistake. A shift in BoJ inflation forecasts to well above 2% over their forecast horizon would be the clearest signal of a shift in reaction function. But this isn’t happening now.
The Japanese are enjoying the ride.
Finally, it goes without saying that the only true circuit-breaker for yen weakness is lower US yields/weak US macro, which is unlikely until the election if, as so many now speculate, there has been a directive by the Biden admin to make the economy look as good as possible ahead of the elections, even if that means manipulating the data to a grotesque degree.
One added complexity for MoF/BoJ is that their two options for tackling yen weakness indirectly adds upward pressure to global rates/yields. They’re caught between a rock and a hard place… and speculators know (enjoy) this.
And finally there is China: the longer BOJ/MoF does nothing to curb the collapse of the yen, a move which is seen a pumping up the country’s exporting base at the expense of other mercantilist nations such as China, the higher the probability Beijing will retaliate against Tokyo by devaluing its own currency. At which point all hell will break loose.
UK Navy Reports Two Vessels Attacked In Red Sea, One Damaged
FRIDAY, APR 26, 2024 – 06:00 PM
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels may have launched attacks on two vessels transiting southwest of Mukha, a port city on the highly contested southern Red Sea.
Bloomberg says the UK Navy has confirmed two attacks on vessels in a series of headlines hitting the Terminal around 1400 ET.
UK NAVY: REPORTS 2 ATTACKS ON VESSEL SW OF AL MUKHA, YEMEN
There are also reports that one of the vessels is “damaged.”
UK NAVY SAYS ATTACKS RESULTED IN DAMAGE TO VESSEL
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations confirmed an incident 14 nautical miles from Mukha earlier.
The Houthis, who support the Palestinian terror group Hamas, have been launching drone and missile attacks on Western vessels since November, disrupting a critical maritime chokepoint known as “Bab-el-Mandeb Strait.”
About a week ago, 16 maritime industry associations and social partners co-signed an open letter to the United Nations urging increased military patrols on heavily traveled shipping routes. This comes after commandos seized a container ship affiliated with Israel as it passed through the Strait of Hormuz two weeks ago.
We have diligently published notes highlighting how maritime chokepoints across the Middle East are under threat, including the Suez Canal, Bab-El Mandeb Strait, and Strait of Hormuz, through which a quarter of all global trade flows.
The Red Sea disruption is far from over. The United States and its allies in the West are losing the battle in defending the world’s major shipping lanes, as Biden’s Operation Prosperity Guardian has been an absolute failure.
All of this symbolizes the world fracturing into a multipolar state, one full of chaos. And it will only get worse from here, hence why military spending worldwide is in a massive bull market.
end
ISRAEL//HAMAS
Hamas takes credit for barrage in Israel’s North after IDF strikes Hezbollah targets
In their message, the group claimed that they targeted an Israeli military position with a salvo of missiles from southern Lebanon.
Abu Ubaida, the spokesman of the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, walks during an anti-Israel military show by Hamas militants in the southern Gaza Strip(photo credit: IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA/REUTERS)
Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades took responsibility for a barrage of over 20 rockets that were launched from Lebanon towards the Upper Galilee in Israel’s North, according to the group’s Telegram channel on Monday.
The terrorist group claimed that they targeted an Israeli military position with a salvo of missiles from southern Lebanon.
Israeli media reported that around 13 of the launched rockets were intercepted by air defense systems and that the rest fell into open areas.
No injuries or damage to property have been reported at this time.
This attack came shortly after the IDF announced that it conducted multiple overnight strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon.
Among the targets struck were operational infrastructure in the area of Jabal Blat, as well as a number of Hezbollah military structures in the area of Marwahin.
Jjpost.com/breaking-news/article-799052
This is a developing story.
end
Hamas to AFP: ‘No substantial disputes with Israeli deal outline’
Pressure has been mounting on Israel and Hamas to come to an agreement before Israel begins the latest military operation in Rafah.
People walk by photographs of Israelis still held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, in Tel Aviv. March 19, 2024(photo credit: MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90)
A Hamas official told AFP on Sunday, “There are no substantial disputes with the deal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages that Israel proposed.”
Pressure has been mounting on Israel and Hamas to come to an agreement before Israel begins the latest military operation in Rafah.
Negotiation teams are expected to meet in Cairo on Monday to discuss the latest proposal for a hostage deal that would avert an Israeli invasion of Rafah
end
ISRAEL HEZBOLLAH
Hamas fires more than 20 rockets from Lebanon at northern Israel
No reports of injuries in attack on Kiryat Shmona area; Hezbollah-linked paper says France drops call for terror group to pull back behind Litani River in new proposal to end fighting
File: Heavy missile rockets hit Kibbutz Hanita, northern Israel, on April 21, 2024. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)
The Lebanon branch of the Hamas terror group launched a barrage of dozens of rockets at northern Israel on Monday morning, as skirmishes on the border persisted amid the war in the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, the Gaza-based Hamas said it had launched a volley of rockets from Lebanon at an army base near the northern city of Kiryat Shmona.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, some 20 rockets had crossed the border in the attack. Most of the projectiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system, while the others apparently struck open areas, it said.1/2
Hamas’s Lebanon branch, which maintains a presence in Lebanon under Hezbollah protection, has claimed responsibility for several attacks on northern Israel amid the war.
Earlier Monday, the IDF announced that its fighter jets struck Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon overnight.
The sites included infrastructure in Jabal Blat, and several buildings used by the terror group in Marwahin, according to the military.
Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.
Israel has threatened to go to war to force Hezbollah away from the border if it does not retreat and continues to threaten northern communities, from where some 70,000 people were evacuated to avoid the fighting.
Hezbollah has maintained it will not enter any concrete discussions with Israel until there is a ceasefire in Gaza, where the war between Israel and Hamas has entered its seventh month.
On Monday, the Hezbollah-linked al-Akhbar newspaper reported that France had removed a provision calling on the terror group to withdraw behind the Litani River in its outline to end the fighting in the north.
Citing informed sources, the report said that the new proposal submitted by French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne on Sunday in Beirut called for a “repositioning” of Hezbollah’s forces, without specifying where.
The new proposal also included a ceasefire in line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War, ensuring the return of residents on both sides living along the border, and the deployment of 15,000 Lebanese soldiers boosted with “adequate equipment” south of the Litani, the report said.
Then, negotiations would be launched on demarcating a border between Israel and Lebanon and forming a committee to oversee such arrangements.
This handout picture provided by the Lebanese photo agency Dalati and Nohra shows France’s Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne (L) meeting with Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, in Beirut, on April 28, 2024. (DALATI AND NOHRA / AFP)
Resolution 1701 demanded that Hezbollah withdraw its forces north of the Litani, a provision the Iranian proxy has ignored.
The ongoing skirmishes on the border have resulted in nine civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 11 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
Hezbollah has named 289 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 56 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 60 civilians, three of whom were journalists, have been killed.
end
ISRAEL/HAMAS
IRAN/
IRAN/ISRAEL
end
RUSSIA/UKRAINE/
Another Russian Oil Refinery Hit By Ukrainian Kamikaze Drones
SATURDAY, APR 27, 2024 – 11:05 AM
Ukrainian military planners have been ramping up Kamikaze drone strikes against the Russian energy industrial complex this week, including an overnight attack damaging an oil refinery as Western sanctions fail to crush Putin’s oil-rich economy that funds the “special military operation” in Ukraine. This comes despite the US publicly telling the Ukrainians to stop attacking Russian refineries for fear Brent crude prices could spike and worsen the inflation storm in the US ahead of the presidential elections in the fall.
Bloomberg reports an oil refinery in the Sloviansk-on-Kuban region was hit by a swarm of Ukranian suicide drones on Saturday morning.
State-run news agency Tass said the refinery strike caused damage and a fire, partially suspending operations at the crude processing facility.
“The work of the (Slavyansk) plant has been partially suspended. Exactly 10 UAVs (drones) flew directly into the plant, there was a strong fire. There may be hidden damage,” Eduard Trudnev, the security director at Slavyansk ECO Group, which operates the plant, was cited as saying by TASS.
On Telegram, Roman Siniagovskyi, a local government official in Slavyansk, said drones struck a distillation tower and storage tank.
Ukraine continues to successfully attack Russian oil refineries. It is confirmed that Ukrainian drones hit Sloviansk Eko oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai. The distillation column has been damaged.
Russia’s defense ministry said 66 drones were intercepted over the Krasnodar region, located in the southern part of the country.
Earlier this week, Ukraine began ramping up drone attacks on Russian refineries after the Biden administration signed a new military aid package worth billions of dollars.
Ukraine’s strategy in the war has shifted to attacking Moscow’s oil revenues by precision-guided strikes on the country’s energy infrastructure. So far, drone strikes have knocked out about 10% of Russia’s oil refinery capacity. This comes as Western sanctions fail to crush Putin’s oil-rich economy funding war efforts.
Aslak Berg, Research Fellow at the Centre for European Reform, recently told Euronews:
“Since Russian import capacity for refined oil products is limited in the short run, since they’re set up to export, it’s actually a fairly clever way of causing disruption in the Russian market with limited impact globally.”
Berg continued,
“The Ukrainians have been hitting refineries, not Russian crude oil production or export facilities. This causes problems for Russia’s domestic market for refined products, but for the rest of the world, a decline in Russia’s exports of products will be compensated for by increased exports of crude oil.”
Meanwhile, Biden’s top officials have pleaded with Kyiv to stop attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure because of the fears that turmoil in crude markets would send pump prices in the US higher ahead of the presidential elections in November.
UBS Global Wealth Management Giovanni Staunovo said that if the Ukrainian drone attacks are limited to Russian oil refineries, then this won’t cause great disruptions in the global market.
However, it could only be a matter of time before Ukranians start attacking Russia’s energy-exporting capabilities. If that’s the case, expect an even higher war risk premium to be baked into Brent crude prices.
The Biden administration has a colossal mess on their hands as stagflation emerges. And don’t forget about the mess in the Middle East.
END
RUSSIA/UKRAINE/THIS MORNING
Ukraine Army Chief Admits ‘Tactical’ Retreat Underway
MONDAY, APR 29, 2024 – 11:20 AM
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi has just issued a new dire assessment confirming widespread international reports that Ukraine forces are getting beaten back from the frontlines.
He has confirmed that his outnumbered troops have fallen back to new positions on the eastern front, west of the villages of Berdychi and Semenivka, outside of Avdiivka – and near Novomykhailivka. Gen. Syrskyi has essentially admitted for the first time that a ‘tactical’ retreat is underway.
“The situation at the front has worsened,” Syrskii wrote on Telegram, ironically coming just days after President Biden signed into effect a $61 billion defense aid package for Ukraine. The Pentagon has vowed to ship new weapons as fast as possible, while some Ukrainian officials have been warning that it is too little, too late.
“In general, the enemy achieved certain tactical successes in these areas, but could not gain operational advantages,” Syrskii said, noting too that Russia has been able to pour additional manpower into the east with ease.
“The enemy has engaged up to four brigades in these directions, and is trying to develop an offensive west of Avdeevka and Maryinka,” the top Ukrainian commander said.
The statement also comes following Russia’s defense ministry announcing that its forces had captured the village of Novobakhmutivka on Sunday.
The BBC has also verified that a collapse of Ukraine’s defenses is underway in certain sectors of Donetsk:
He confirmed Ukrainian forces had withdrawn from some of their positions in an area of Donetsk that had formed part of a defensive line, established after Russia captured Avdiivka in February.
Much of the fighting has been taking place around Chasiv Yar, a Kyiv-controlled stronghold which Russia has been trying to reach after seizing Avdiivka.
New defensive lines had been taken up further to the west in some areas, with Gen Syrskyi conceding the loss of territory to the advancing Russians. Moscow had secured “tactical successes in some sectors,” he said.
Syrskyi described that he has rotated in rested Ukrainian brigades to replace units that suffered losses in the recent assault. But he also took note of a fresh Russian troop build-up near Kharkiv in the north.
Separately, Al Jazeera has independently confirmed that a dramatically reshaped battlefield map is fast emerging:
Online battlefield maps produced by open-source intelligence analysts suggest they have advanced more than 15km (9.3 miles) in the direction of the village of Ocheretyne since capturing Avdiivka.
Further up the front, the Ukrainian-held town of Chasiv Yar is a key emerging battleground because of its position on elevated ground that could serve as a gateway to the cities of Kostiantynivka, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
Last week the Kremlin reacted to news of Biden’s $61 billion defense package finally being authorized by saying Russian forces would as a result step up attacks on Ukrainian defenses, and further that it will be necessary to push the lines back in order to protect against the long-range weapons by supplied by the West.
Meanwhile the hawkish think tank Institute for the Study of War has been trying to put a positive spin on the latest battlefield developments, saying that the arrival of newly rested Ukrainian troops will soon help stabilize the front:
“In general, the enemy achieved certain tactical successes in these areas, but could not gain operational advantages,” Syrskii said, noting too that Russia has been able to pour additional manpower into the east with ease.
“The enemy has engaged up to four brigades in these directions, and is trying to develop an offensive west of Avdeevka and Maryinka,” the top Ukrainian commander said.
The statement also comes following Russia’s defense ministry announcing that its forces had captured the village of Novobakhmutivka on Sunday.
The BBC has also verified that a collapse of Ukraine’s defenses is underway in certain sectors of Donetsk:
He confirmed Ukrainian forces had withdrawn from some of their positions in an area of Donetsk that had formed part of a defensive line, established after Russia captured Avdiivka in February.
Much of the fighting has been taking place around Chasiv Yar, a Kyiv-controlled stronghold which Russia has been trying to reach after seizing Avdiivka.
New defensive lines had been taken up further to the west in some areas, with Gen Syrskyi conceding the loss of territory to the advancing Russians. Moscow had secured “tactical successes in some sectors,” he said.
Syrskyi described that he has rotated in rested Ukrainian brigades to replace units that suffered losses in the recent assault. But he also took note of a fresh Russian troop build-up near Kharkiv in the north.
Separately, Al Jazeera has independently confirmed that a dramatically reshaped battlefield map is fast emerging:
Online battlefield maps produced by open-source intelligence analysts suggest they have advanced more than 15km (9.3 miles) in the direction of the village of Ocheretyne since capturing Avdiivka.
Further up the front, the Ukrainian-held town of Chasiv Yar is a key emerging battleground because of its position on elevated ground that could serve as a gateway to the cities of Kostiantynivka, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
Last week the Kremlin reacted to news of Biden’s $61 billion defense package finally being authorized by saying Russian forces would as a result step up attacks on Ukrainian defenses, and further that it will be necessary to push the lines back in order to protect against the long-range weapons by supplied by the West.
Meanwhile the hawkish think tank Institute for the Study of War has been trying to put a positive spin on the latest battlefield developments, saying that the arrival of newly rested Ukrainian troops will soon help stabilize the front:
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had said “The Kiev regime has failed to achieve the goals of its counteroffensive prepared by NATO instructors” and that Russia has “dispelled the myth of the superiority of western weaponry” while its forces have clearly gained and held the initiative along the front lines.
“Our high combat potential allows us to constantly rain fire on the enemy and stop him from holding the line of defense,” he had said nearly a week ago. This as “Russian defense enterprises have boosted their production capacities several times over.”
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had said “The Kiev regime has failed to achieve the goals of its counteroffensive prepared by NATO instructors” and that Russia has “dispelled the myth of the superiority of western weaponry” while its forces have clearly gained and held the initiative along the front lines.
“Our high combat potential allows us to constantly rain fire on the enemy and stop him from holding the line of defense,” he had said nearly a week ago. This as “Russian defense enterprises have boosted their production capacities several times over.”
Canada: St. Catharines woman who fell ill in Jamaica back home in hospital: Brazil: TV cameraman has heart attack in front of ECU; “Promising Scottish rider Anna Shackley forced to retire at 22”; more
St. Catharines woman who fell ill in Jamaica back home in hospital
April 18, 2024
After days of worry and frustration, Shannon Horner was at her mother’s side at St. Catharines Hospital Wednesday afternoon. Her 65-year-old mother, Kelly Beckerley-Murphy, suffered respiratory failure during a vacation in Jamaica on April 7, and spent 10 days in a hospital in Montego Bay as her family struggled to get her transferred back home while dealing with contradictory information about the availability of hospital beds in Ontario to accommodate her. “She’s still on life-support, but she’s with us,” her daughter said.
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TV cameraman has heart attack in front of Emergency Care Unit
April 12, 2024
Last night we were in front of theEmergency Care Unit recording a report, Paulo and I, we were talking to the population when he began to feel bad. Next to us was Dr. Lebrão, who even though he was not a doctor at the unit, gave the first aid measures, and quickly took him on a wheeled trolley inside the Emergency Care Unit. Immediately he was attended by Dr. Marilla who identified that at that moment he was having a heart attack.
Peter Frampton continues to rock on despite crippling muscle disease
April 16, 2024
Despite Peter Frampton‘s battle with a crippling disease, Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM) — an autoimmune condition characterized by persistent muscle inflammation, progressive weakness, and degeneration — the singer has refused to slow down as he continues to wow his fans with his stage presence and fight on. The musician will turn 74 later this month and has also made the ballot as a candidate for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In an interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune, Frampton revealed that IBM has significantly affected his ability to fully control his fingers, a skill he once had mastered.
Lucy Rose: Singer couldn’t lift her baby after collapsing
April 16, 2024
Shortly after giving birth to her first child, singer-songwriter Lucy Rose went to lift her son out of his cot when she collapsed. For what seemed like an eternity, she lay on the floor inagony with her back spasming. Over the coming weeks, the pain only got worse. Her GP was no help, either. “Every time I’d go in and it was the same thing,” she says. “I’d be yelping in pain, then he’d prod my back and say, ‘There’s nothing wrong here – back pain is part and parcel of having a baby’. Eventually, she went to a chiropractor. It was a big mistake. “They cracked my back and it was the worst pain I’ve ever experienced,” she says. “I was immediately like, ‘That can’t have been right, I’m going to be sick immediately’.” Looking back, she thinks that might have been the point where several of her vertebrae broke. The 34-year-old entered the public eye as a backing vocalist for Bombay Bicycle Club, before striking out as a solo artist with albums like Work It Out and Like I Used To, straddling the worlds of acoustic folk and laid-back, adult pop. Her 2019 album, No Words Left, got the best reviews of her career. But two years later, housebound with pain, the very thought of music was too much to bear. “I couldn’t listen to anything,” she says. “It wasn’t a comfort and it wasn’t going to help me. I was like, ‘Please turn it off’.” After three months of trying to convince doctors that something was wrong, Rose’s husband paid for a private MRI scan. The results showed she had broken her back in eight places. She was diagnosed with a rare form of pregnancy-associated osteoporosis (PAO), a condition that weakens the bones and can lead to fractures. After a second scan, Rose was told her bone density was that of a 110-year-old. “It’s quite shocking, isn’t it?” she says. The condition, which is thought to affect just one in 100,000 women, was also severely isolating. “Every movement made me think of it. Even breathing would make me think of it. But you feel like a broken record when you talk about it all the time. After a while you become more and more closed in.”
One of Labour’s MPs has revealed she has skin cancer in a post on social media. Karin Smyth [59], who represents Bristol South, said in a thread on X this afternoon (18 April) that she was diagnosed after having surgery on her leg last November. “I received a melanoma diagnosis before Christmas and recently had a second operation as part of a preventative treatment plan,” the Shadow Health Minister said. “This means that as Parliament returns this week after the Easter break, I will be continuing my recovery at home in Bristol, ahead of further potential treatment.” Whilst away from Westminster her constituency office will continue to operate as normal, she says, while she has secured permission to vote in parliament remotely, which is known as voting by proxy.
Long Melford player Lewis Brennan recovering after ‘cardiac incident’ at Hadleigh United as response of club officials praised
April 17, 2024
Long Melford have confirmed midfielder Lewis Brennan [25] is recovering from a ‘cardiac incident’ that saw last Tuesday’s Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division game at Hadleigh United abandoned. Manager David Hennessey said the player who has also had spells at Halstead Town and Cornard United, ahead of joining them from Wivenhoe Town in October, 2022, is currently being restricted to ‘light exercise and undergoing further tests’. He said the incident which occurred before half-time was not a heart attack or a cardiac arrest but that a defibrillator was used to provide readings and monitor him until the first responder arrived. Melford released a statement praising ‘some stellar treatment from physios and officials from both clubs’ before he was taken to hospital.
Promising Scottish rider Anna Shackley forced to retire from cycling at 22
April 16, 2024
Anna Shackley has been forced to retire from cycling due to a cardiac arrhythmia, it was revealed on Tuesday. The Scottish SD Worx-Protime rider finished second at the Tour de l’Avenir Femmes last year and was a former under-23 British time trial champion. She was also third in the under-23 category at the World Championships last August, in her home city of Glasgow. However, after a series of tests, the 22-year-old has been forced to leave elite sport, her team announced. “We are very sorry to see Anna’s cycling career end like this,” Danny Stam, the team’s directeur sportif said on Tuesday. “She was one of the bigger talents in the women’s peloton. We saw in recent years that she was making good progress and we believed she could grow to the top of the world.” The press release from SD Worx-Protime said that Shackley was diagnosed with an arrhythmia in January, and she had a heart screening at the Maxima Medisch Centrum in Veldhoven in collaboration with the SD Worx-Protime’s medical team following this. After more tests the decision to end her cycling career was taken. “To say I’m devastated would be a huge understatement,” Shackley wrote on Instagram later on Tuesday afternoon. “Cycling has been my entire life for as long as I can remember and unfortunately it has come to a premature ending.”
English tourist suffers illness while on vacation in Italy, saved by coast guard
April 18, 2024
While on a cruise ship Aurora, an English tourist suffered a serious illness. He is 72. The coast guard of Porto Santo Stefano was crucial in saving the man’s life. The trip went from Civitavecchia to Genova. Near the island of Giglio a radio signal was sent, that medical intervention was needed for a passenger. It was stated, the man was in such condition, that the staff on board could not provide help. The radio centre of Livorno received the message and immediately sent out the Porto Santo Stefano coastal guard, to save the man’s life. The critical condition of the man, made it impossible to transport him by helicopter, so the ship went out and reached the Aurora in less than 40 minutes. The man was brought on board and immediately transported to hospital, saving his life.
Mom uses CPR to save newborn after voice wakes her, telling her ‘look at the baby’
April 17, 2024
A UK mom says she used CPR to save her newborn son, who had stopped breathing in the middle of the night — and she’s now trying to raise awareness about the importance of learning the lifesaving procedure. Last year, Lucy Robin, 35, welcomed Sophie and her twin brother Sammie, who had to be hospitalized in the NICU for nine days after he was born without a heartbeat. When he was finally sent home, “Everything was clinically fine,” the London mom told SWNS. “But I had a gut feeling that something wasn’t right with him.” When he was 17 days old, Robin said she put Sammie to sleep and went to bed herself, but shortly afterwards, “I sat bolt upright in bed. I didn’t even wake up slowly. I literally sat up straight away,” she told the outlet, adding, “As I sat up I remember a voice in my head saying, ‘Look at the baby.’” Robin said Sammie was blue, and when she picked him up “his hands were freezing cold” and he had “a tiny trickle of blood by his nose.” She woke up her husband Patrick, and said she thought Sammie was dead — before realizing, “I need to do something.” Robin began doing CPR while her husband called for an ambulance. In the seven minutes it took for emergency services to arrive, “I got his breathing back but not fully, he was taking a breath once every thirty seconds,” Robin told SWNS. “I was giving CPR and the next minute my house was full of paramedics and police,” Robin said. Sammie was hospitalized for four weeks — and although his mom says doctors aren’t sure what caused him to go into cardiac arrest, he and his sister just celebrated their first birthday.
Pregnant woman, 24, mistook lymphoma symptoms for severe morning sickness until she found ‘golf ball-sized’ tumor in neck
April 12, 2024
Caitlin McAlinden, 24, assumed her worsening symptoms were due to her pregnancy, but then at the 5-month-mark, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. Since the cancer of the lymph system, which is part of the immune system, can mimic hormonal changes, the expectant mother assumed her nausea, fatigue, and even her lump in neck were all related. “This isn’t the pregnancy I was hoping for — I haven’t felt well this entire time,” McAlinden shared via SWNS news agency to Yahoo Life. “Everything I want to do after my baby is born has to be on pause due to the chemo.” After a first trimester of severe sickness, it wasn’t until Christmas Day that McAlinden realized she was losing weight instead of gaining (nearly 30 pounds).
Rugby community rallies for talented player after ‘devastating’ diagnosis
April 18, 2024
A former player for Young Munster RFC, Sean Rigney had recently “made his mark” on Sydney’s rugby scene, before his journey took a devastating turn. Originally from Ballinagar in Co Offaly, the young man recently fell ill and was hospitalised. Rapidly, his condition deteriorated, as he was diagnosed with MRSA, a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus – a type of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This led to the need for open-heart surgery.
With new heart device, Fox Anchor John Roberts, 67, returns to work– urges ‘never be afraid to ask questions’
April 23, 2024
TV journalist John Roberts, who cohosts Fox News’ “America Reports” alongside Sandra Smith, has returned to work after undergoing an FDA-approved ablation treatment for a scary heart issue he’s been living with, something called Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation (PAF), a type of irregular heartbeat that occurs sporadically. Roberts, 67, who previously worked as the Fox News Chief White House Correspondent between 2017 and 2021, was back on screen Monday morning with a “humble heart,” after urging his fans to be proactive and “never be afraid to ask questions” when it comes to your health.
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.
Comedian George Lopez show rescheduled at Eagle Mountain casino
April 20, 2024
Bakersfield, Calif.— Comedian George Lopez’s [62] show Saturday night at Eagle Mountain Casino in Porterville has been canceled due to a medical emergency. The casino said they would be rescheduling their show to June 7, All tickets purchased for tonight will be valid for the new date. The show was scheduled to start at 8:00 pm doors opened at 6:00 pm. This was the first date of his “George Lopez Alllriiiighhttt!” tour.
‘General Hospital’ Max Gail’s wife diagnosed with cancer
April 19, 2024
General Hospital alum Max Gail’s wife has sadly been diagnosed with breast cancer. This all comes while she is caring for her husband while he is undergoing a mystery procedure.
76ers star Joel Embiid confirms Bell’s palsy diagnosis after 50-point game vs. Knicks: ‘It’s been tough’
April 26, 2024
Philadelphia, PA – When the Philadelphia 76ers’ first-round playoff series vs. the New York Knicks began, all eyes were on Joel Embiid’s surgically repaired knee and his overall conditioning level after he’d only been back for six games following a two-month absence. As the series (which the Knicks lead 2-1 after Philly’s Game 3 win on Thursday) has progressed, however, attention has increasingly shifted to Embiid’s face. Specifically, the left side of his face, which has been visibly drooping, and his left eye, which hasn’t been blinking. In his postgame interview on Thursday, Embiid confirmed that he has been dealing with, and has been treated for, a case of Bell’s palsy for the last week-plus, since a few days before Philadelphia’s Play-In victory over the Miami Heat last Tuesday. In a previous report before Embiid spoke, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski noted that Embiid had been trying to keep the condition private so as to avoid a distraction for the Sixers, but as this has become increasingly visible to even casual observers, it was going to be hard to keep it under wraps.
Cancer diagnosis forces candidate to withdraw from Missouri state Senate race
April 25, 2024
A Republican state Senate candidate with a history of obscene and insulting social media posts said Thursday that he will withdraw from the race after receiving a cancer diagnosis. Former state Rep. Chuck Basye [65] of Rocheport made the announcement during an interview on the Wake Up Mid-Missouri show on KSSZ-FM in Columbia. “I received a medical diagnosisa few weeks ago, right around the time I filed, and I have prostate cancer,” Basye said. “And so I’m gonna have to withdraw from the Senate race.” Basye said he had hoped to stay in the race despite the diagnosis but that he’s learning more about his illness and wants to concentrate on treatment. “I was gonna try and hang in there but I had another doctor who recommended an MRI and indicated additional different cancer in the same area, so I don’t know what the status of that is yet,” Basye said.
“It’s not a death sentence:” Julia Fello reveals husband’s heartbreaking diagnosis on Wisconsin’s Afternoon News
April 25, 2024
Milwaukee, WI — Around last April, my family’s lives changed forever. Just a couple weeks before, my husband Jason had been handed this foreign pamphlet filled with information about this disease I was sure he did not have. “Parkinson’s?! Who IS this doctor?!” ‘He’s only 39,’ I thought. So fit. So young. WTF? He went in for the brain scan and thought nothing of it. I would regret not taking off work ever since and being by his side. Even more, not answering his calls, as I was on breaking news as a television news reporter for the NBC affiliate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Jason got the results back in no time. Within an hour. On his drive home. His MyChart app alerted him the results were in. (Under the Affordable Care Act, you as a patient by law, get all of your results. Immediately.) Among the terms that were written out by the radiologist were, ‘Abnormal’ ‘Parkinsonian Syndrome.’ We have learned Early Onset Parkinson’s is far different from late onset Parkinson’s. The doctor we saw a few months ago at Mayo assured us Jason can and will live a long, fulfilling life well into his 80s. Though there will be bumps down the road. We can still travel. He can still work and do all of the things he loves.”
Legendary Nebraska Cornhuskers announcer reveals tragic cancer diagnosis
April 16, 2024
Longtime Nebraska Cornhuskers play-by-play announcer Greg Sharpe took to the podium Monday to reveal that he was diagnosed with cancer. Sharpe explained that he was diagnosed a week or two ago and that the cancer is “in the pancreatic region of the body.” Sharpe is known as the “Voice of the Huskers” and has been with Nebraska Athletics since 2008. “Bottom line is I have been diagnosed with cancer.”
Study shows (study limited by sub-optimal methods, risk of selection bias, confounding) that Pfizer BioNTech vaccine linked to myocarditis/pericarditis (12-17) & seizure (2-4 yrs), Moderna (2-5 yrs)
We did not need this type of study (confounded by selection bias, residual confounding etc.) to tell us that significant numbers of infants, children, young teens etc. have had very serious health complications following the COVID mRNA technology shots.
“Statistical signals were detected for myocarditis or pericarditis after BNT162b2 vaccination in children aged 12 to 17 years and seizure after vaccination with BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 in children aged 2 to 4 or 5 years,”
Alexander COVID News_a PCR manufactured fake COVID pandemic is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Researchers ‘detected a statistical signal for myocarditis or pericarditis in older children, which is consistent with existing literature, and a new statistical signal for seizure in young children’.
First, this was not an optimal research methods design yet the findings (while limited in external validity and to the extent that findings could be extrapolated to the entire US population), given the comprehensiveness of the underlying data etc. should lend some comfort in the sturdiness (validity) of the findings…let us say that these are important ‘flags’ and ‘signals’ that must be acutely and urgently followed up with more robust analysis. The use of historical comparators are not optimal as in this design but very useful and of utility in drawing initial conclusions yet the proper comparative effectiveness research is acutely needed. I also agree that we must interpret these findings with caution since ‘there were only 53 children aged 12 to 17 years who received at least 1 dose of NVX-CoV2373 and 4266 children aged 5 to 17 years who received at least 1 dose of mRNA-1273…it is not possible to draw any meaningful conclusions about these vaccines in these age groups based on this study.’
‘Near-real-time monitoring detected a previously identified statistical signal for myocarditis or pericarditis and a new statistical signal for seizure’.
‘Study used commercial administrative health claims data from Optum (UnitedHealth and affiliated health plans), Carelon Research (Elevance Health, formerly Anthem, and affiliated health plans), and CVS Health (Aetna and affiliated health plans) containing longitudinal medical and pharmacy claims data supplemented with vaccination data from participating local and state Immunization Information Systems’.
Soros DA Lets Far-left Rioters Walk FREEABC News reported that a group of individuals demonstrating in support of Palestine in Texas were released without facing any charges following a decision made by a district attorney’s office supported by Soros.READ THE FULL REPORT
Nancy Pelosi Launches New Attack on IsraelIn an interview published on Monday, Nancy Pelosi, the former House Speaker, expressed her belief that Benjamin Netanyahu, the duly elected prime minister of Israel, should step down from his position.READ THE FULL REPORT
LATEST REPORTS FOR NEWS JUNKIESWEF Demands End of ‘Democratic Elections’: ‘We Will Decide’The World Economic Forum (WEF) has demanded that global governments ban members of the public from taking part in “democratic elections,” declaring that future leaders must, instead, be “chosen” by the unelected globalist elite.READ THE FULL REPORTBiden Tells Another Blatant Lie To AmericaPresident Joe Biden is recounting an anecdote in which he asserts that he was apprehended alongside a Black family while standing on a porch during the civil rights movement. In a recent interview on the radio program hosted by Howard Stern, Biden candidly shared details of a conversation he purportedly had with his mother. According to the narrative, his mother …READ THE FULL REPORTTrump Issues DIRECT Challenge To Joe BidenPresident Joe Biden is currently facing a fresh challenge as he has expressed his readiness to engage in a debate with former President Donald Trump. In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “Crooked Joe Biden just announced that he’s willing to debate! Everyone knows he doesn’t really mean it, but in case he does, I say, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, ANYPLACE, …READ THE FULL REPORTSoros Caught Red-HandedMultiple organizations participating in coordinating demonstrations against Israel on college campuses in the past week have been financially supported by entities backed by liberal billionaire George Soros, as detailed in a recent article. Additionally, it has been revealed that one of these organizations is compensating individuals they refer to as fellows with substantial amounts of money to oversee initiatives spearheaded …READ THE FULL REPORTBorder Patrol Agent Was Shot at by Armed Thugs From Mexican Side of Border in El PasoA Border Patrol agent was shot at from armed individuals near El Paso, Texas, specifically in San Elizario, early Thursday afternoon. TThe shots were fired from the Mexican side of the border. The agent returned fire, as reported by CBP, and fortunately, no injuries were reported. Based on an internal alert from CBP, the armed individuals never crossed into the …
MICHAEL EVERY/PHIL MAREY/OR OTHER EXECS //RABOBANK
Rabobank: Biden’s Dire Rating On His Handling Of The Economy Is Remarkable
MONDAY, APR 29, 2024 – 11:40 AM
By Benjamin Picton, senior strategist at Rabobank
The S Word
Last week the data caught up with the public mood. Annualized US GDP for Q1 was +1.6%, well below the 2.5% consensus estimate and even below the most pessimistic estimate of +1.7% in the Bloomberg survey. Meanwhile, core PCE printed at 3.7%. Well up on the Q4 print of 2% and substantially above the consensus estimate of 3.4%.
Lower growth and higher inflation has sparked conjecture that the United States is headed for – if not already experiencing – the S word: stagflation. The data generated plenty of excitement amongst the commentariat along those lines last week, but on Main Street the news that the economy is slowing – but prices aren’t – appears to have come as no surprise.
The latest CNN poll puts Donald Trump six points clear of Joe Biden at 49-43, but the most telling result in the poll is respondent’s perceptions of Biden’s handling of the economy and inflation. On those points, only 34% and 29% of respondents respectively think the President is doing a good job.
CNN POLL: — President Trump leads Biden 49% to 43% in a two-way race. — President Trump leads Biden 42% to 33% including third party candidates. — 55% say the Trump presidency was a success. 39% say the Biden presidency is a success.
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1.1M Views
Superficially, Biden’s dire rating on his handling of the economy is quite remarkable. After all, this is an economy with a 3.8% unemployment rate, strong growth (at least up until now), employment figures that regularly beat estimates and a government continuing to pour in largesse via a 6.4% fiscal deficit. Usually figures like that should lead to happy consumers, but not this time.
Never before in US history has a president had a lower unemployment rate and a lower approval rating. Either the polls are dead wrong or all the cheerful economic “data” is fabricated
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520.8K Views
There is an FOMC meeting scheduled for this week, and the Q1 national accounts are sure to the main feature of conversation. Our resident Fed watcher Philip Marey published a note on Friday following the release of the March PCE figures reiterating his view that the Fed will cut twice this year, and then only twice again next year. Philip’s forecast is informed by our house view (supported by the CNN poll) that Donald Trump will win the election and enact inflationary universal tariffs, along with our expectation that the US is headed toward recession later in 2024.
Market pricing has now overshot Philip’s forecast at the short end. The OIS curve suggests fewer than two rate cuts this year, while the 2-year yield rose 1.2bps last week to 4.99% and 10-year yields gained 4.5bps to see the curve bear-steepen.
Meanwhile, the world’s largest gold producer – Newmont Mining – saw a 12.5% lift in its stock price on Thursday after reporting better than expected Q1 results. The gold price itself is well off the all-time-highs of two weeks ago, but has consolidated above the $2300/oz level, which could be the new support for another run higher if market perceptions do shift to pricing in a stagflationary scenario of lower-for-longer real rates. Interestingly, the renewed bid under the world’s top gold miner coincides with Meta and Alphabet reinventing themselves as dividend-paying stocks. The idea that companies should actually generate cash and distribute it to shareholders feels like a very “back to the ‘70s”-style inflation hedge to me.
Moving back to the FOMC, last time Powell spoke he indicated that the Fed hasn’t been talking about the potential for further interest rate hikes, only the potential for holding rates where they are for longer. That’s not the case in Australia, where a stronger than expected Q1 inflation report released last week has seen all prospect of rate cuts in 2024 stripped out of the futures curve and replaced with a 50% implied probability of a rate hike by September.
If pundits are worried about stagflation in the USA where annualized growth was 1.6% in Q1 and core inflation 3.7%, what are their thoughts on the situation in Australia where annualized Q4 growth was 0.8%, core inflation is 4%, and the central bank policy rate is only 4.35%?
Higher for longer rates in the USA poses the risk of a lower for longer exchange rates in the Lucky Country and elsewhere, thereby blunting the effectiveness of the exchange rate channel as an inflation fighting tool and raising the prospect that central banks who are still battling inflation could be forced to deliver rate hikes in the face of recessionary local economic conditions to defend their currency (as Indonesia did last week).
Japan isn’t battling tearaway inflation, but it’s there that the strength of King Dollar is most evident. USDJPY has smashed through the 160 this morning, which many have speculated to be the red-line for central bank intervention. This move comes on the back of the decision on Friday to leave monetary policy settings in Japan unchanged, as noted in a comically brief statement issued by the BOJ.
So, will the intervention come? Or could lower than expected CPI forecasts issued last week stay the BOJ’s hand for the time being? That lateral thinkers among us might point out that a sharp devaluation in the JPY is a very fine thing for team West in the great game of geopolitics, as that particular Asian manufacturing and export hub gains competitiveness – and sucks in capital – from struggling neighbours. Those neighbours may in turn be forced to respond by devaluing their own currencies (and buying US treasury bonds? Or gold?), which would provide convenient cover at the WTO for retaliatory tariffs.
Quite aside from the game being played in foreign exchange markets, secularly higher US rates will have balanced sheet effects that reverberate throughout the world economy. Remember the bank failures of last year that led to a new bailout facility (BTFP) being created by the Fed? Well, that bailout facility is no longer accepting new applicants, and right on cue another bank was seized by regulators on Friday after experiencing deposit outflows and substantial declines in the value of its mortgage portfolio (courtesy of high interest rates) that could no longer be securitised and pledged at par.
This is a problem that has not gone away. With loan books full of assets accumulated on valuations conducted under the make-believe interest rates of 15-years of QE, some banks may find themselves preoccupied with another S word as rates normalize in the years ahead: solvency.
7.OIL PRICES/GAS PRICES/OIL ISSUES
end
8. EMERGING MARKETS//AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND ISSUES//
END
YOUR EARLY CURRENCY/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN CLOSING MARKETS AND EUROPEAN BOURSE OPENING AND CLOSING/ INTEREST RATE SETTINGS MONDAY MORNING 6;30AM//OPENING AND CLOSING
EURO VS USA DOLLAR: 1.0720 UP .0029
USA/ YEN 155.87 DOWN 2.42 NOW TARGETS INTEREST RATE AT 1.00% AS IT WILL BUY UNLIMITED BONDS TO GETS TO THAT LEVEL…//YEN STILL FALLS//
GBP/USA 1.2535 UP .0064
USA/CAN DOLLAR: 1.3652 DOWN .0018 (CDN DOLLAR UP 18 BASIS PTS)
Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE CLOSED UP 24.41 PTS OR 0.71%
Hang Seng CLOSED UP 96.76 PTS OR 0.54%
AUSTRALIA CLOSED UP 0.88%
// EUROPEAN BOURSE: ALL MIXED
Trading from Europe and ASIA
I) EUROPEAN BOURSES: ALL MIXRD
2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang SENG CLOSED UP 96.76 PTS OR 0.54%
/SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 24.44 PTS OR 0.79%
AUSTRALIA BOURSE CLOSED UP 0.88%
(Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED UP
INDIA’S SENSEX IN THE GREEN
Gold very early morning trading: 2341.15
silver:$27.39
USA dollar index early MONDAY morning: 105.51 DOWN 29 BASIS POINTS FROM FRIDAY’s CLOSE.
The USA/Yuan, CNY: closed UP ON SHORE CLOSED UP AT 7.2322
THE USA/YUAN OFFSHORE: (YUAN CLOSED (UP)…. (7.2436)
TURKISH LIRA: 32.40 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LEVEL/DEATH WATCH/HYPERINFLATION TO BEGIN.//ON DEATH WATCH
the 10 yr Japanese bond yield at +0.886…
Your closing 10 yr US bond yield DOWN 4 in basis points from FRIDAY at 4.631% //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%) very problematic
USA 30 yr bond yield 4.754 DOWN 3 in basis points /12.00 PM
USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.981 DOWN 2 BASIS PTS.
GOLD AT 11;30 AM 2346.00
SILVER AT 11;30: 27.41
Your 12:00 AM bourses for Europe and the Dow along with the USA dollar index closing and interest rates: FRIDAY CLOSING TIME 12:00 PM//
London: CLOSED UP 7.20 PTS OR 0.09
German Dax : CLOSED DOWN 42.69 PTS OR 0.24%
Paris CAC CLOSED DOWN 23.08 PTS OR 0.29%
Spain IBEX CLOSED DOWN 53.80 PTS OR 0.48%
Italian MIB: CLOSED UP 46.54PTS OR 0.14%
WTI Oil price 83.2612EST/
Brent Oil: 89.3012:00 EST
USA /RUSSIAN ROUBLE /// AT: 92.96 ROUBLE UP 0 AND 56/100
GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD; +2.53230 DOWN 10 BASIS PTS.
UK 10 YR YIELD: 4.3375 DOWN 3 BASIS POINTS
CLOSING NUMBERS: 4 PM
Euro vs USA 1.0719 UP 30 OR 30 BASIS POINTS
British Pound: 1.2560 UP 89 Or 89 basis pts
BRITISH 10 YR GILT BOND YIELD: 4.3305 UP 2 BASIS PTS//
JAPAN 10 YR YIELD: .886
USA dollar vs Japanese Yen: 156.00 DOWN 2.293 YEN UP 229 BASIS PTS//
USA dollar vs Canadian dollar: 1.3664 DOWN .0005 CDN dollar UP 5 BASIS PTS
West Texas intermediate oil: 82.73
Brent OIL: 88.46
USA 10 yr bond yield DOWN 4 BASIS pts to 4.627
USA 30 yr bond yield DOWN 4 BASIS PTS to 4.747%
USA 2 YR BOND: DOWN 2 PTS AT 4.979
USA dollar index: 105.50 DOWN 30 BASIS POINTS
USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 32. 50 GETTING QUITE CLOSE TO BLOWING UP/
USA DOLLAR VS RUSSIA//// ROUBLE: 93.00 DOWN 0 AND 60/100 roubles
GOLD 2,335.303:30 PM
SILVER: 27.17 330 PM
DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: UP 146.43 PTS OR 0.38%
NASDAQ UP 64M42 PTS OR 0.36%
VOLATILITY INDEX: 14.80 DOWN 0.23 PTS OR 1.53%
GLD: $216.18 DOWN 0.44 OR 0.20%
SLV/ $24.83DOWN 0,06 OR 0.24%
end
USA AFFAIRS
TODAY’S TRADING IN GRAPH FORM
Yen & Yellen Yank Stocks, Bonds, & The Dollar On Otherwise Quiet Day
Before the QRA headlines, Goldman’s trading desk noted that overall activity levels were down -19% vs the trailing 2 weeks with market volumes down -7% vs the 10dma, and added that “our floor is dead-paired buy vs sell, but HFs are net sellers and LOs are net buyers.”
After the QRA, activity picked up… to the downside.
And that prompted a rapid down-draft in stocks shortly after 3pmET (led by Small Caps which had been outperforming). However, that didn’t last long as traders quickly remembered that the buyback window reopens later this week. All the majors ended higher on the day with Small Caps leading and the S&P and Nasdaq lagging. By the last few minutes, all the QRA anxiety was long-gone and stocks were surging back towards the highs…
The Dow and Russell 2000 both found support at their 100DMA on the initial QRA dip and bounced right off it…
‘Most Shorted’ stocks dumped on the QRA news, after extending the large two-day squeeze from Thurs/Fri. The basket still ended green on the day…
Source: Bloomberg
TSLA made headlines with news from China that the carmaker’s full-self-drive will be cleared for us, rallying 15% for its best day in three years…
Yields also kneejerked higher on the QRA news but not enough to ruin the day, with yields down 2-4bps across the curve (with the belly outperforming)…
Source: Bloomberg
By the end of the day, yields were at the low of the day and stocks at the high of the day…
Source: Bloomberg
Elsewhere the reaction was muted as traders tried to figure out what the QRA news meant.
The dollar index was dominated by Japanese officials fiddling while Tokyo burns…
Source: Bloomberg
…after yen plunged overnight to its 1990 lows and the very visible hand stepped in…
Source: Bloomberg
Did Japan’s “benign neglect” come to an end?
Source: Bloomberg
Gold was magnificently unmoved by the Borrowing and BoJ buggery, ending very modestly lower…
Source: Bloomberg
Oil ended lower on the day, legging down three times, interestingly in tune with Japan’s intervention…
Source: Bloomberg
Bitcoin was lower today after a modest rollercoaster over the weekend. Notably BTC found support at $62,000 and bounced this afternoon…
Source: Bloomberg
Finally, fear is being rapidly rinsed out of the markets once again…
Source: Bloomberg
…and financial conditions will start easing…
Source: Bloomberg
…too much (again) for Powell’s liking (even in an election year)
END
MORNING TRADING/
AFTERNOON TRADING/
II USA DATA
“I’m Worried…[About] Four More Years” – Dallas Fed Manufacturing Contracts For 24th Straight Month
MONDAY, APR 29, 2024 – 12:40 PM
The Dallas Fed Manufacturing Outlook survey has now been in contraction (below zero) every month since May 2022, falling modestly to -14.5 in April (worse than the -11.2 expected).
New Orders also remain negative (but did improve) and prices continue to rise (though at a slower pace). Labor market measures suggested flat employment and slightly shorter workweeks (hours worked index remained negative for a seventh month in a row) this month.
However, wit that said, wage pressure picked up dramatically this week to a seven-month high…
ource: Bloomberg
However, as always, we glean the most informative perspective from the respondents completed surveys where the pessimism shines through…
The business and political environment is terrible.
Business has not been this slow since COVID, and I’m worried.
Consumer confidence for consumer goods has noticeably worsened.
Customer orders have dropped. The indication is the economy is hurting spending in our area specifically. Customer uncertainty is worsening.
I keep thinking we’ll hit bottom and either level out or turn up, but we keep pushing those hopes out a month, and another month, and another.
There has been a decrease in new orders for three weeks now. Currently, we think this will come around, but we get more concerned as time goes on.
Industrial manufacturing is showing signs of positivity due to the possibility of an interest rate decrease. Please do it. Manufacturing is really hurting.
High prices remain problem for many businesses:
Inflationary pressures on raw materials and construction costs are driving up the cost of public projects. This is causing states to delay or scramble for funding for projects that have long lead times.
Business is generally good, but we’re starting to see more customer resistance to prices. Our costs have increased dramatically over the last two years, and we have customers asking to hold prices to last year’s level, which we just can’t do. We continue to make capital investments to improve productivity and reduce unit labor cost.
And finally, many are fearful of another four years of Bidenomics:
Political instability and politicization have hampered growth. We are entering stagflation.
Fewer governmental regulations would lower our cost of doing business. An example is the 332 report, which we must fill out for the U.S. government; it has no value for us, just expense.
Business is extremely slow, and we see no signs of improvement. We think it will stay slow until after the presidential election, after which, we will either have four more years of slow business or an improving economy.
Maybe that explains why even CNN was forced to admit the latest poll shows Biden fading fast…
CNN POLL: — President Trump leads Biden 49% to 43% in a two-way race. — President Trump leads Biden 42% to 33% including third party candidates. — 55% say the Trump presidency was a success. 39% say the Biden presidency is a success.
0
END
TUCKER CARLSON…
“A Marriage Of Ineptitude & High Self-Esteem” – Tucker Exposes The Liberal Cognoscenti
SATURDAY, APR 27, 2024 – 09:35 PM
“The marriage of ineptitude and high self-esteem is really the marker of our time,” explains Tucker Carlson as part of his wide-ranging discussion with Joe Rogan.
Reflecting on the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Karine Jean-Pierre, Carlson remarks that “I’ve nothing against dumb people at all. My dogs are dumb and I love my dogs…”
“I’m not attacking [AOC] for being dumb, and the White House Press Secretary is in the same category, but the idea that dumb person has no idea she’s dumb, she really thinks like she won the prize, she’s the most impressive, like:
“I’m White House Press Secretary because I’m the best talker in America.”
It’s so crazy and yet the smartest people I know are very often sort of, they have humility.”
Admittedly, we were a couple of weeks off, but trouble has been brewing in the banking sector and tonight – after the close – we get the first bank failure of the year.
The FDIC just seized the troubled Philadelphia bank, Republic First Bancorp and struck an agreement for the lender’s deposits and the majority of its assets to be bought by Fulton Bank.
Republic Bank had about $6 billion of assets and $4 billion of deposits at the end of January, according to the FDIC (considerably smaller than the $100-200BN assets with SVB and Signature).
The FDIC estimated the failure will cost the deposit insurance fund $667 million.
Around half of its deposits were uninsured at the end of 2023, according to FDIC data.
Its total equity, or assets minus liabilities, was $96 million at the end of 2023, according to FDIC filings.
That excluded $262 million of unrealized losses on bonds that it labeled “held to maturity,” which means the losses hadn’t counted on its balance sheet.
Its stock, which was delisted from Nasdaq in August, had been near zero.
Republic Bank’s 32 branches across New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York will reopen as branches of Fulton Bank on Saturday, according to a statement from the FDIC.
Depositors of Republic Bank will become depositors of Williamsport, Pennsylvania-based Fulton Bank, the regulator said.
You should not be surprised given that rates are higher now than they were at the start of the SVB crisis – which means, unless banks have hedged hard or dumped their bonds at a loss, they are even more underwater…
Add to this the fact that last week – seasonally-adjusted for tax-season – US banks saw the largest deposit outflows since 9/11 (yes, that 9/11)…
…and, as we showed earlier, absent the $126BN outstanding in The Fed’s BTFP bailout fund (which is now terminated and slowly running down as the term loans mature)…
…the banking crisis is back and now the question is “who’s next?”
END
Ford’s Latest Earnings Report Reveals Automaker Losing $65,000 for Each Electric Vehicle Sold
The company’s chief executive admitted that the EV division was a ‘huge drag, not just on Ford, but on our whole industry.’
SavFord Mustang Mach-E on display during the 19th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition in Shanghai, on April 20, 2021. (Hector Retamal /AFP via Getty Images)
Ford’s electric vehicle segment continued its losing streak in the first quarter of 2024, netting a loss of more than $1.3 billion while its gas cars reported a profit.
Ford reports its earnings from three segments—Ford Model e, which covers the company’s electric vehicles (EVs); Ford Blue, which relates to the firm’s gas and hybrid vehicles; and Ford Pro, which deals with the commercial segment. On Wednesday, Ford revealed that its Model e segment registered $1.32 billion in losses for the first quarter of 2024.
The other two segments reported profits, with Blue netting $905 million and Pro bringing in $3 billion. As such, Ford’s electric vehicle department was the only segment to report losses in first quarter 2024.
According to company data, Ford sold 20,223 electric vehicles in the first quarter. As such, the $1.32 billion loss equals over $65,000 lost per vehicle. In 2023, the Model e segment had registered a net loss of $4.7 billion.
The 20,223 electric vehicle sales included 9,589 Mustang Mach-E SUVs, 7,743 F-150 Lightning trucks, and 2,891 Ford E-Transit electric vans.
“Ford Model e revenue was down, as wholesales declined and significant industrywide pricing pressure continued to affect electric vehicles currently on the market,” the firm said in its earnings release. “The company expects EV costs to improve going forward, but be offset by top-line pressure.”
“In the meantime, availability of reliable DC fast-charging is more than doubling for Ford EV customers in the U.S. and Canada, as they begin to receive adapters that provide access to more than 15,000 Tesla Superchargers.”
During the company’s earnings call, John Lawler, Ford’s chief financial officer, said that the company expects Model e to suffer losses of around $5 billion this year “driven by continued pricing pressure and investments in new vehicles.”
Ford CEO Jim Farley admitted that the company needs to make “tremendous progress” on Model e as the department is a “huge drag, not just on Ford, but on our whole industry.” He said Ford was “going to build a sustainably profitable EV business with terminal value.”
“And it needs to return the cost of capital on its own and not be subsidized, as I mentioned. And the real turning point for us, not only is our flat costs in Model e this year, but most importantly, it’ll be the profitability in our next cycle of products,” he stated.
“And I’m proud of the work that our team has done to make the adjustments in our capital spending and to make sure that all of our next EVs are profitable.”
Back in February, Mr. Lawler said that Ford scaled down its EV investments given the large losses faced by Model e. The company delayed its second joint venture (JV) battery plant, cut down the size of its lithium iron phosphate (LFP) plant in Michigan, and backed out from a JV battery plant in Turkey.
Ford does not plan on launching Gen 2 EV vehicles “unless we can get to a profit and a return on that capital that we’re investing there at the pricing environment that we now understand is reality,” he said.
For every Ford Lightning EV the company sells, “we can sell 12 ICE [internal combustion engine] vehicles,” Mr. Lawler pointed out. The disparity remained true when comparing the Mach-E EV and ICE vehicles as well.
Falling American EV Interest
Ford’s mounting losses come as a recent poll by Gallup found that fewer Americans were interested in electric vehicles. The percentage of Americans “seriously considering” buying an EV was found to have fallen from 12 percent in 2023 to 9 this year.
During this period, Americans who “might consider” buying an EV in the future dipped from 43 percent to 35 percent. Meanwhile, those who said they “would not buy” an EV rose from 41 percent to 48 percent.
Automaker expectations of EV sales have slowed down as well. A January survey published by KPMG that polled 1,000 auto executives from 30 nations found that confidence in electric vehicles among automakers in the United States and other countries had dipped as many were concerned that their large bets on EVs may take longer to pay off.
The share of executives saying they were “extremely confident” about profitability dropped to 43 percent in 2023 from 48 percent in 2022 in the United States.
“Just a year ago, executives were excited about the prospects for transforming the industry with new kinds of cars. Now, they remain optimistic, but they are more sober about how difficult it will be to manage the transition and preserve or increase profits,” the report stated.
Despite declining interest among Americans, the Biden administration continues to push policies promoting a transition to electric vehicles.
Last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the “strongest-ever pollution standards” for cars that accelerate the “adoption of cleaner vehicle technologies.”
A coalition of 5,000 U.S. car dealerships criticized the EPA standards, noting that the regulations require a bump in EV sales “that is far beyond the consumer interest we are experiencing at our dealerships.”
“Despite generous government, manufacturer, and dealer incentives, our customers continue to bypass EVs over concerns about affordability, charging infrastructure, performance in cold weather, and resale value,” the coalition stated.
“Worse still, the regulations spike in 2031–32 and revert to the unrealistic mandate that essentially requires that two-thirds of all vehicles sold be electric.”
They argued that the EV mandate is not the result of an “open congressional debate.” Instead, “this is unelected Washington bureaucrats dictating what kind of vehicles Americans can buy.”
In our new socialist age, the demand to tax and redistribute income is insatiable. The latest brainstorm arrives in a proposal by four countries in the G-20 group of nations to impose a 2% wealth tax on the world’s billionaires.
“The tax could be designed as a minimum levy equivalent to 2% of the wealth of the super-rich,” write economic ministers of Germany, Spain, Brazil and South Africa in the Guardian. They say the levy would raise about $250 billion a year from some 3,000 billionaires and “would boost social justice and increase trust in the effectiveness of fiscal redistribution.” The countries plan to float this at the next G-20 meeting in June.
Presumably, the plan is to have the G-20 endorse the idea, including President Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Then negotiate a global tax deal that would wait until Democrats control all of the U.S. government to approve it, even if that takes many years.
That’s more or less what Ms. Yellen has done with her global minimum tax on corporations, and the four ministers are candid in saying this is their model. The wealth tax “is a necessary third pillar that complements the negotiations on the taxation of the digital economy and on a minimum corporate tax of 15% for multinationals,” the ministers write.
Ms. Yellen went along with the first two pillars, though as we’ve written they subject American companies to foreign tax raids of the kind the U.S. government has long opposed. An architect of the wealth tax idea is French socialist Gabriel Zucman, who was also behind Ms. Yellen’s global minimum tax. Once a global wealth tax is in place, you can be sure that billionaires won’t be the last target.
The Biden Administration is run by liberal internationalists who are happy to cede more power to multilateral institutions. President Biden is also campaigning on a wealth tax of his own that would impose the highest tax rates on Americans since before the Reagan tax reform. For this crowd, taxing American billionaires to redistribute income around the world is all too imaginable.
I used to dismiss ideas like this. Not anymore.
Letting the G-20 set US tax rates would be unconstitutional, but since when does Biden give a damn?
Besides, if Democrats get control of the Senate, House and White House they may try to pack the courts.
President Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen embrace a massive wealth tax redistribution scheme including taxes on unrealized gains in their Fiscal Year 2025 proposal.
The revenue proposals in the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget (U.S. Treasury, 2024) would raise revenues, help ensure the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share, expand tax credits for working families, and improve tax administration and compliance.
Research has demonstrated that wealth gaps are one of the primary “mechanisms for perpetuating racial economic inequality”.
The millions of African Americans who left the southern United States to escape Jim Crow laws faced formal and informal employment, educational, and housing discrimination in destination cities in the North and West, including discriminatory “redlining” policies that started in the 1930s. In addition to funneling Black households into neighborhoods with lower home values, research has illustrated the extent to which redlining introduced place-based policies that affected the employment, education, and health of residents in those neighborhoods, all of which are directly related to income and wealth accumulation.
Biden’s Wealth Tax Remedy
A minimum tax of 25 percent on total income, generally inclusive of unrealized capital gains, for all taxpayers with wealth greater than $100 million.
Requiring the wealthiest taxpayers to pay at least 25% of their total income in taxes will reduce economic disparities among Americans and raise needed revenue
Inheritance Taxes: In 2019, thirty percent of White families received an inheritance compared to 10 percent of Black families and 7 percent of Hispanic families. The Administration’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget would limit the duration of the GST [Generation Skipping Trust] tax exemption.
The Budget would tax long-term capital gains and dividends at ordinary rates for taxpayers with more than $1 million in income, curtailing a tax expenditure the benefits of which accrue disproportionately to White families. It would also treat transfers of appreciated property as realization events and impose a minimum tax on the wealthiest families, while expanding tax credits that improve equity.
The explanations are 256 pages long. The following points do not represent all of the ways the administration is coming after you.
I have a 15-point synopsis at the end for those just wishing to see general ideas.
Here are some details.
The child tax credit would be expanded through 2025, would permanently be made fully refundable, determined monthly, and paid out in advance. Reforms to the delivery of the credit would facilitate take-up. The earned income tax credit would also be expanded to cover more workers without children. The premium tax credit expansion first enacted in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and extended in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 would be made permanent, making health insurance more affordable for millions of families.
Raising the corporate income tax rate is an administratively simple way to raise revenue to pay for the Administration’s fiscal priorities.
The proposal would increase the tax rate for C corporations from 21 percent to 28 percent. The effective global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) rate would increase to 14 percent under the proposal.
The proposal Revise the Global Minimum Tax Regime, Limit Inversions, and Make Related Reforms described later in this text would further increase the effective GILTI rate to 21 percent.
A new 25- percent minimum income tax would be imposed on extremely wealthy taxpayers. For high income taxpayers, gaps in the law that allow some pass-through business owners to avoid Medicare taxes would be eliminated and Medicare tax rates would be increased. Additional loopholes, including the carried interest preference and the like-kind exchange real estate preference, would be eliminated for those with the highest incomes. Together these reforms would sharply curtail tax preferences that allow the wealthy to pay lower tax rates on their investment income and exacerbate income and wealth disparities, including by gender, geography, race, and ethnicity.
The child tax credit would be expanded through 2025, would permanently be made fully refundable, determined monthly, and paid out in advance. Reforms to the delivery of the credit would facilitate take-up. The earned income tax credit would also be expanded to cover more workers without children.
The proposal would increase the tax rate on corporate stock repurchases to 4 percent.
The Secretary would be granted authority to promulgate any regulations necessary to carry out the purposes of the proposal, including (a) coordinating the application of the proposal with other interest deductibility rules, (b) defining interest and financial services entities, (c) permitting financial reporting groups to apply the proportionate share approach using the group’s net interest expense for U.S. tax purposes rather than net interest expense reported in the group’s financial statements, (d) providing for the treatment of pass-through entities, (e) providing adjustments to the application of the proposal to address differences in functional currency of members, (f) if a U.S. subgroup has multiple U.S. entities that are not all members of a single U.S. consolidated group for U.S. tax purposes, providing for the allocation of the U.S.
The proposal would repeal: (a) the enhanced oil recovery credit for eligible costs attributable to a qualified enhanced oil recovery project; (b) the credit for oil and gas produced from marginal wells; (c) the expensing of intangible drilling costs; (d) the deduction for costs paid or incurred for any qualified tertiary injectant used as part of a tertiary recovery method; (e) the exception to passive loss limitations provided to working interests in oil and natural gas properties; (f) the use of percentage depletion with respect to oil and gas wells; (g) two year amortization of geological and geophysical expenditures by independent producers, instead allowing amortization over the seven-year period used by major integrated oil companies; (h) expensing of exploration and development costs; (i) percentage depletion for hard mineral fossil fuels; (j) capital gains treatment for royalties; (k) the exemption from the corporate income tax for publicly traded partnerships with qualifying income and gains from activities relating to fossil fuels; (l) the OSTLF and Superfund excise tax exemption for crude oil derived from bitumen and kerogenrich rock; and (m) accelerated amortization for air pollution control facilities.
The eligibility of the petroleum taxes dedicated to the OSLTF and Superfund for drawback would be eliminated.
An excise tax on electricity usage by digital asset miners could reduce mining activity along with its associated environmental impacts and other harms. Any firm using computing resources, whether owned by the firm or leased from others, to mine digital assets would be subject to an excise tax equal to 30 percent of the costs of electricity used in digital asset mining.
The proposal would expand the NIIT base to ensure that all pass-through business income of high-income taxpayers is subject to either the NIIT or SECA tax.
The proposal would increase the additional Medicare tax rate by 1.2 percentage points for taxpayers with more than $400,000 of earnings. When combined with current-law tax rates, this would bring the marginal Medicare tax rate up to 5 percent for earnings above the threshold. The threshold would be indexed for inflation.
The proposal would increase the top marginal tax rate to 39.6 percent. The top marginal tax rate would apply to taxable income over $450,000 for married individuals filing a joint return and surviving spouses, $400,000 for unmarried individuals (other than surviving spouses and head of household filers), $425,000 for head of household filers, and $225,000 for married individuals filing a separate return. After 2024, the thresholds would be indexed for inflation using the CPI-U, which is used for all current thresholds in the tax rate tables.
Under the proposal, the donor or deceased owner of an appreciated asset would realize a capital gain at the time of the transfer. The use of capital losses and carry-forwards from transfers at death would be allowed against capital gains and up to $3,000 of ordinary income on the decedent’s final income tax return, and the tax imposed on gains deemed realized at death would be deductible on the estate tax return of the decedent’s estate (if any). Gain on unrealized appreciation also would be recognized by a trust, partnership, or other noncorporate entity that is the owner of property if that property has not been the subject of a recognition event within the prior 90 years.
Preferential treatment for unrealized gains disproportionately benefits high-wealth taxpayers and provides many high-wealth taxpayers with a lower effective tax rate than many low- and middle-income taxpayers. Preferential treatment for unrealized gains also exacerbates income and wealth disparities, including by gender, geography, race, and ethnicity. The proposal would impose a minimum tax of 25 percent on total income, generally inclusive of unrealized capital gains, for all taxpayers with wealth (that is, the difference obtained by subtracting liabilities from assets) greater than $100 million.
The proposal would require a high-income taxpayer with an aggregate vested account balance under tax-favored retirement arrangements that exceeded $10 million as of the last day of the preceding calendar year to distribute a minimum of 50 percent of that excess.
The provision would prohibit a rollover to a Roth IRA of an amount distributed from an account in an employer-sponsored eligible retirement plan that is not a designated Roth account (or of an amount distributed from an IRA other than a Roth IRA) for a high-income taxpayer.
Increase the maximum credit per child to $3,600 for qualifying children under age 6 and to $3,000 for all other qualifying children. Increase the maximum age to qualify for the CTC from 16 to 17. The proposal would make the CTC fully refundable, regardless of earned income.
The first-time homebuyer credit would be equal to ten percent of the purchase price of a home, up to a maximum credit of $10,000. For multiple individuals who purchase a home together, the maximum credit would be allocated proportionally to ownership interest in the purchased home or in a manner determined by the Secretary in published guidance. The credit allocated to a married individual filing a separate return would not exceed $5,000. The home must be in the United States.
Upon disposition, any measured gain on an item of section 1250 property held for more than one year would be treated as ordinary income to the extent of the cumulative depreciation deductions taken after the effective date of the provision. Depreciation deductions taken on section 1250 property prior to the effective date would continue to be subject to current rules and recaptured as ordinary income only to the extent that such depreciation exceeds the cumulative allowances determined under the straight-line method. Any gain recognized on the disposition of section 1250 property in excess of recaptured depreciation would be treated as section 1231 gain. Any unrecaptured gain on section 1250 property would continue to be taxed to noncorporate taxpayers at a maximum 25 percent rate.
In general, no Federal income tax is imposed concurrently on a policyholder with respect to the earnings credited under a life insurance or endowment contract. Furthermore, amounts received under a life insurance contract by reason of the death of the insured generally are excluded from the gross income of the recipient. The proposal would limit the tax benefits for private placement life insurance and annuity contracts.
The proposal would expand the regulatory authority under which the Secretary may require taxpayers to furnish information relating to the verification and computation of the FTC [Foreign Tax Credit].
A separate proposal would first raise the top ordinary rate to 39.6 percent (43.4 percent including the net investment income tax). An additional proposal would increase the net investment income tax rate by 1.2 percentage points above $400,000, bringing the marginal net investment income tax rate to 5 percent for investment income above the $400,000 threshold. Together, the proposals would increase the top marginal rate on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends to 44.6 percent.
Massive Wealth Distribution Scheme.
The administration went after anything and everything from wealth taxes, huge jumps in marginal rates, REIT, Roth IRA conversions, etc.
Here are the key changes, and I may have missed some.
Fifteen Key Points
The top marginal rate on long-term capital gains jumps to 44.6 percent.
Deductions for oil and gas companied eliminated.
30 percent tax on electricity used in mining cryptos
Restrictions on conversions to Roth IRA
Forced acceleration of IRA withdrawals
Taxes on insurance policies
Expanded Child Tax Credits
Earned Income Tax Credits to include those with no kids.
Restrictions on trusts to avoid inheritance taxes
Corporate minimum taxes
Homebuyer tax credits
Minimum 25 percent tax on unrealized stock gains for wealthy individuals
Marginal Medicare tax rate upped to 5 percent
Tax rate for C corporations goes to 28 percent from 21 percent. The effective global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) rate would increase to 14 percent.
If there is anything ambiguous, the Secretary of the Treasury gets to determine what the law is.
If you have any money or assets, Biden is coming after you. He is also going after oil and gas companies, corporations, and Bitcoin to fund massive wealth distribution schemes.
This is on grounds “Research has demonstrated that wealth gaps are one of the primary mechanisms for perpetuating racial economic inequality“.
IIIB USA COMMENTARIES RE ISRAEL/HAMAS WAR/ and PERVASIVE ANTISEMITISM/WOKISM
What a total doorknob: the leader of the Pro Hamas movement at Columbia University
This is a top leader of @Columbia’s UNIVERSITY encampment, with whom the school is “negotiating,” expanding on his thoughts about how Israel supporters “don’t deserve to live.”
This POS likely cannot even find his *****…this is the garbage, the dangerous uneducated morons, the filth the universities spew out…he sounds gay, his choice no doubt, with this laughable pronouns…screw your pronouns, shove them up you gay ass….you are a gay male…with a penis…if he went to Middle East, they would throw his gay ass off a building…kill him…but super-cat don’t know that…no, his mind is addled….deranged….he is too busy wondering how to get into the bathrooms of little boys I imagine.
Columbia anti-Israel encampment ringleader Khymani James rages ‘Zionists don’t deserve to live’ in newly resurfaced video
“Be glad — be grateful — that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists. I’ve never murdered anyone in my life, and I *hope* to keep it that way.” This is a top leader of @Columbia’s encampment, with whom the school is “negotiating,” expanding on his thoughts about how Israel… pic.twitter.com/ugodO4O7M5
Alexander COVID News_a PCR manufactured fake COVID pandemic is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
“Be glad — be grateful — that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists. I’ve never murdered anyone in my life, and I *hope* to keep it that way.” This is a top leader of @Columbia’s encampment, with whom the school is “negotiating,” expanding on his thoughts about how Israel… pic.twitter.com/ugodO4O7M5
This is what Biden et al., the SQUAD wants set upon us…
Meet Khymani James, a student leader of Columbia University’s anti-Israel Gaza Solidarity Encampment who openly states that "Zionists don’t deserve to live"
He made the comments during a meeting with the school that he live-streamed.
Details of the recent limited Israeli retaliatory strike against Iranian anti-aircraft missile batteries at Isfahan are still sketchy. But nonetheless, we can draw some conclusions.
Israel’s small volley of missiles hit their intended targets, to the point of zeroing in on the very launchers designed to stop such incoming ordnance.
The target was near the Natanz enrichment facility. That proximity was by design. Israel showed Iran it could take out the very anti-missile battery designed to thwart an attack on its nearby nuclear facility.
The larger message sent to the world was that Israel could send a retaliatory barrage at Iranian nuclear sites with reasonable assurances that the incoming attacks could not be stopped. By comparison, Iran’s earlier attack on Israel was much greater and more indiscriminate. It was also a huge flop, with an estimated 99 percent of the more than 320 drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles failing to hit their planned targets.
Moreover, it was reported that more than 50 percent of Iran’s roughly 115-120 ballistic missiles failed at launch or malfunctioned in flight.
Collate these facts, and it presents a disturbing corrective to Iran’s non-stop boasts of soon possessing a nuclear arsenal that will obliterate the Jewish state.
Consider further the following nightmarish scenarios: Were Iranian nuclear-tipped missiles ever launched at Israel, they could pass over, in addition to Syria and Iraq, either Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the West Bank, Gaza, or all four. In the cases of Jordan and Saudi Arabia, such trajectories would constitute an act of war, especially considering that some of Iran’s recent aerial barrages were intercepted and destroyed over Arab territory well before they reached Israel.
Iran’s strike prompted Arab nations, the US, the UK, and France to work in concert to destroy almost all of Iran’s drones. For Iran, that is a premonition of the sort of sophisticated aerial opposition it might face if it ever decided to stage a nuclear version.
Even if half of Iran’s ballistic missiles did launch successfully, only a handful apparently neared their intended targets—in sharp contrast to Israel’s successful attack on Iranian missile batteries. Is it thus conceivable that any Iranian-nuclear-tipped missile launched toward Israel might pose as great a threat to Iran itself or its neighbors as to Israel?
And even if such missiles made it into the air and even if they successfully traversed Arab airspace, there is still an overwhelming chance they would be neutralized before detonating above Israel.
Any such launch would warrant an immediate Israeli response. And the incoming bombs and missiles would likely have a 100 percent certainty of evading Iran’s countermeasures and hitting their targets.
Now that the soil of both Iran and Israel is no longer sacred and immune from attack, the mystique of the Iranian nuclear threat has dissipated.
It should be harder for the theocracy to shake down Western governments for hostage bribes, sanctions relief, and Iran-deal giveaways on the implied threat of Iran successfully nuking the Jewish state.
The new reality is that Iran has goaded an Israel that has numerous nuclear weapons and dozens of nuclear-tipped missiles in hardened silos and on submarines. Tehran has zero ability to stop any of these missiles or sophisticated fifth-generation Israeli aircraft armed with nuclear bombs and missiles.
Iran must now fear that if it launched 2-3 nuclear missiles, there would be overwhelming odds that they would either fail at launch, go awry in the air, implode inside Iran, be taken down over Arab territory by Israel’s allies, or be knocked down by the tripartite Israel anti-missile defense system.
Add it all up, and the Iranian attack on Israel seems a historic blunder. It showed the world the impotence of an Iranian aerial assault at the very time it threatens to go nuclear. It revealed that an incompetent Iran may be as much a threat to itself as to its enemies. It opened up a new chapter in which its own soil, thanks to its attack on Israel, is no longer off limits to any Western power.
Its failure to stop a much smaller Israel response, coupled with the overwhelming success of Israel and its allies in stopping a much larger Iranian attack, reminds the Iranian autocracy that its shrill rhetoric is designed to mask its impotence and to hide its own vulnerabilities from its enemies.
And the long-suffering Iranian people?
The truth will come out that its own theocracy hit the Israeli homeland with negligible results and earned a successful, though merely demonstrative, Israeli response in return.
So Iranians will learn their homeland is now vulnerable and, for the future, no longer off limits.
And they will conclude that Israel has more effective allies than Iran and that their own ballistic missiles may be more suicidal than homicidal.
As a result, they may conclude that the real enemies of the Iranian nation are not the Jewish people of Israel after all, but their own unhinged Islamist theocrats.
END
SWAMP STORIES
Worst In 70 Years: Biden Approval Rating Absolutely Dismal
BY TYLER DURDEN
FRIDAY, APR 26, 2024 – 10:00 PM
President Joe Biden has the worst job approval rating since Eisenhower during his recently completed 13th quarter in office, according to a new poll by Gallup.
While Biden clocks in at 38.7%, the previous low was set by George H.W. Bush at 41.8% in 1992. Donald Trump and Barack Obama averaged 46.8% and 45.9% respectively during the same point in their presidencies. Prior to Bush, Jimmy Carter is the only other president with a sub-50% average in his 13th quarter.
Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush averaged between 51% and 55% approval in their 13th quarters, while Dwight Eisenhower had the highest average for a president during his 13th month at 73.2%.
What’s more, Biden’s most recent approval rating places him 277 out of 314 presidential quarters in Gallup history dating back to 1945, placing him in the bottom 12% of all presidential quarters. Biden’s score is technically the lowest of his presidency, which has been dragging in the low 40% range since Q4 of his term.
By political affiliation, Gallup’s poll found that 2% of Republicans approve of Biden’s job in office, while independents have him at 33%. The vast majority of Democrats, 83%, think Biden’s doing an awesome job.
Meanwhile an Axios ‘vibes survey‘ / Harris poll found that most Americans want mass deportations, including 42% of Democrats.
The poll also found that 30% of Democrats and 46% of Republicans say they’d end birthright citizenship guaranteed under the 14th Amendment.
As Axios notes further:
Americans are open to former President Trump’s harshest immigration plans, spurred on by a record surge of illegal border crossings and a relentless messaging war waged by Republicans.
President Biden is keenly aware the crisis threatens his re-election. He’s sought to flip the script by accusing Trump of sabotaging Congress’ most conservative bipartisan immigration bill in decades.
But when it comes to blame, Biden so far has failed to shift the narrative: 32% of respondents say his administration is “most responsible” for the crisis, outranking any other political or structural factor.
“I was surprised at the public support for large-scale deportations,” said Mark Penn, chairman of The Harris Poll and a former pollster for President Clinton, adding “I think they’re just sending a message to politicians: ‘Get this under control,'” suggesting that this is a clear warning to Biden that “efforts to shift responsibility for the issue to Trump are not going to work.”
Drilling down, when asked to identify their greatest concern surrounding illegal immigration, Americans most frequently cited:
Increased crime rates, drugs, and violence (21%).
The additional costs to taxpayers (18%).
Risk of terrorism and national security (17%).
The survey also found that 64% of those polled believe immigrants receive more in welfare and benefits than they pay in taxes, and 54% believe that immigration is linked to spiking US crime rates, which Axios refutes.
Bottom line: “The tradeoff here in the poll is, people would take expanded legal immigration if they saw there’s a crackdown on the border,” according to Penn.
end
DOJ Continues To Refuse Handing Over Audio Recording Of Special Counsel’s Interview With Biden
The Department of Justice (DOJ) stands its ground on its refusal to surrender the audio recording of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s interview with President Joe Biden to the House Oversight Committee.
Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and James Comer (R-Ky.), chairmen of the House Judiciary and Oversight Accountability committees, warned Attorney General Merrick Garland that he would hold him in contempt of Congress unless he handed over the recording of Mr. Hur’s interview stemming from a probe into President Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified information.
In the letter, signed on April 25, Assistant Attorney General Carlos Felipe Uriarte told Mr. Jordan and Mr. Comer that despite the committees’ threats of contempt proceedings, the DOJ has adequately responded and sees no reason to give the audio to the committees.
“We have repeatedly invited the Committees to identify how these audio recordings from law enforcement files would serve the purposes for which you say you want them,” the letter stated.
“We have also repeatedly urged the Committees to avoid unnecessary conflict and to respect the public interest in the Department’s ability to conduct effective investigations by protecting sensitive law enforcement files.”
Mr. Uriarte said the DOJ has already complied with the committees’ request by providing Mr. Hur’s report and testimony in addition to transcripts of the interview.
“This is consistent with our strong record of cooperation this Congress,” Mr. Uriarte said.
The committees have failed to articulate “a legitimate congressional need” for the audio recordings, which Mr. Uriarte said the DOJ is withholding to protect “the confidentiality of law enforcement files.”
“The Department will continue to cooperate reasonably and appropriately, but we will not risk the long-term integrity of our law enforcement work,” Mr. Uriarte said.
Mr. Uriarte elaborated on Mr. Jordan’s and Mr. Comer’s request for the audio recording by questioning the necessity.
Among the committees’ expressed concerns as reviewed by Mr. Uriarte are whether President Biden is linked to “troublesome foreign payments,” whether he “retained sensitive documents related to specific countries involved in his family’s foreign business dealings,” and whether the DOJ has acted impartially by avoiding prosecuting President Biden while targeting former President Donald Trump.
Mr. Uriarte said there’s no evidence found in the transcripts that suggests discussions of these issues will be revealed in the audio recording.
‘Severely Chilling’
“You have offered no explanation of how these specific files would provide any information pertinent to the Committees’ stated purposes,” Mr. Uriarte said. “And even if they did have pertinent information, you have not explained how that information isn’t already available from the transcripts we produced as an extraordinary accommodation to the Committees.”
Mr. Uriarte classified the audio as “sensitive law enforcement information” that, if made public, would send a message “to the public that the Department cannot be trusted to keep law enforcement files confidential.”
“It would be severely chilling if the decision to cooperate with a law enforcement investigation required individuals to submit themselves to public inquest by politicians, particularly because congressional investigations are not subject to the same standards and checks as the Department’s,” he said. “Indeed, the Committees have frequently objected to even the suggestion that your investigative powers are subject to any requirement to justify your requests according to objective standards or limit your demands to avoid harming other values and interests.”
Mr. Uriarte added that the threat of contempt proceedings is “unjustifiable” considering the DOJ’s past cooperation with the committees’ investigations.
“We urge the Committees to deescalate and to work with the Department in the same mode of cooperation and respect that we have shown Congress for over a year,” he said. “Furthermore, the Department is eager to make good use of the remaining time in this Congress, such as by working together with the Committees on legislative priorities that can make real, tangible progress for the American people.”
The committees issued the first subpoenas on Feb. 27 requesting notes, audio files, video, and transcripts related to Mr. Hur’s investigation.
The DOJ responded by providing transcripts, but no recordings.
After his probe into President Biden’s handling of classified documents spanning his over four decades in politics, Mr. Hur said in February that President Biden would not be charged and that a jury would probably not convict him partially due to his cognitive decline.
“We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” Mr. Hur wrote.
‘With Respect to National Security’
In an April 16 testimony before the House Appropriations Committee on the DOJ’s 2025 budget request, Mr. Garland echoed Mr. Uriarte, stating that the reasons for not giving the audio was due to “privileges with respect to national security.”
When asked about Mr. Hur’s observations of President Biden being an “elderly man with a poor memory,” Mr. Garland said he has “complete confidence” in the president based on his own observations.
“I have watched him expertly guide meetings of staff and Cabinet members on issues of foreign affairs and military strategy and policy in this incredibly complex world in which we now face, and in which he has been decisive—decisive in instructions to the staff, and decisive in making the decisions necessary to protect the country,” Mr. Garland said.
The Epoch Times has contacted the subcommittees for comment.
end
New Bombshell Evidence Emerges: Was Trump Set Up In Classified Docs Saga?
This week in Florida, Judge Aileen Cannon unsealed a trove of new documents that Jack Smith fought to keep hidden. And you’ll soon find out why. Among the documents unsealed were extensive exhibits, motions, and other filings shedding light on the intricate web of communication between the Biden White House and the National Archives and Records Administration in the lead-up to Trump’s indictment.
Investigative journalist Julie Kelly found something interesting in the documents that could change everything.
The first things is testimony from an FBI agent who testified that the General Services Association (GSA) had been in possession of Trump’s boxes in Virginia before ordering Trump’s team to come get them
WELL WELL WELL I am pretty sure we never heard this part of the “classified documents/box” story! More from unredacted motions in FLA–this is from an unsealed transcript of witness interview. FBI agent says GSA was holding large quantity of Trump’s boxes in VA and then ordered his team to come get them. I am sure NOTHING hanky happened there…
·
So an entire pallet full of boxes that had been held by GSA somewhere outside of DC is dumped at Mar-a-Lago,” Kelly notes. “Apparently these are the boxes that ended up containing papers with ‘classified markings.'”
“I will double check indictment but I don’t recall this event in the timeline,” she added.
So, it appears that the Biden administration may have been responsible for shipping classified information to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida. This development is significant because Trump has previously blamed the GSA for packing the boxes that contained the classified documents, only to later accuse Trump of essentially stealing them and using that as pretext for sending the FBI to raid his Mar-a-Lago home in August 2022.
“It was a set-up from the get-go,”remarked Tom Fitton, the founder of Judicial Watch.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden had classified information that he was never entitled to have stored in boxes in his garage for years, but was not charged. Biden blamed staffers for packing the classified information.
While this may not prove the Biden administration set up Trump in the classified documents case, considering the way the Biden administration has abused the legal system against Trump, no one can confidently say they wouldn’t.
Even so, it still raises other legitimate questions.
For example, if the GSA had been in possession of the boxes, why wasn’t a review of the materials conducted before they instructed Trump’s team to get them?
When it comes to classified information, they wouldn’t have expected Trump and his staff to be responsible for ensuring that classified documents weren’t among the records.
Perhaps they did review the contents of the boxes and knew classified documents were contained in them before they told Trump’s people to come get them.
NY Home Depot Hires Guards And Dogs To Combat Aggressive Parking Lot Migrants
BY TYLER DURDEN
SUNDAY, APR 28, 2024 – 04:55 PM
A Home Depot in New York has hired armed security guards and K-9 units to protect shoppers from aggressive migrants and thieves in the parking lots, the NY Post reports.
According to City COuncilwoman Kristy Marmorato, “Everybody is well aware of the culture here at Home Depot, that we have day laborers just trying to make an honest living, and they just started to feel like it just started to become a little more aggressive.”
Where people are walking from the store with stuff in their cart, individuals were coming up to them and literally taking stuff out of their carts to help them and they just felt very concerned, very unsafe.“
Two men wearing MSA Security caps and bulletproof vests with a German shepherd in tow patrolled the Home Depot in New Rochelle on Tuesday.
“It’s more about omnipresence,” one guard said, explaining that the company was contracted a few weeks ago. “It’s not like we let them go bite anyone or anything.”
The guard said the store hired them for a number of reasons.
“It’s not just because of [migrants], but because of a myriad of other things too, like people breaking into cars, that kind of stuff,” he said. -NY Post
A reporter for the Post observed at least 30 male migrants hovering near the doors of the Throggs Neck, Bronx location – with several day laborers aggressively confronting shoppers, trying to sell them fake Apple Airpods or trying to earn unsolicited tips for lifting items from shopping carts into cars.
“You come out and you’re a woman by yourself, they literally leech onto your wagon, and you’re like, ‘No, I don’t need any help,'” said one employee. “And when they’re following you to your car, it’s unnerving.”
The employee said that a female supervisor saw one of the men washing his dick and balls with a water bottle in the lot, and that several women have called Home Depot customer service to complain of being robbed by migrants.
“I came to work one day and there had to be 100 guys out here,” she told the Post. “And I’m like, ‘Oh, my God!'”
A regular customer at the store, who asked to be identified only as Cheryl, said she and her husband had a frightening encounter last month.
A man “practically runs over and he goes to point like, ‘Can I take the stuff,’ and my husband said, ‘No, thank you,’” she recalled, noting that they only had a couple of boxes and a paint scraper.
“He’s still keeps following, like on top of us,” she said. “I said, ‘No, thank you.’”
When her husband turned around to open the car door, the man “put his hand” on one of the boxes in their cart. “My husband said, ‘Don’t touch anything.’”
But the man didn’t stop. -NY Post
“It’s come to the point where they’re invading personal space, touching people’s belongings, just harassing,” said Home Depot customer service employee, LaurieAnn Masciocco. “I get it, you’re trying to make a buck. But when it becomes aggressive and harassing, there’s a major issue.“
KING REPORT
The King Report April 29, 2024 Issue 7231
Independent View of the News
The Fed’s self-proclaimed most important inflation measure, Core PCE, was a tad hotter than expected. March PCE Deflator 0.3% m/m as expected and prior; but 2.7% y/y, 2.6% expected, 2.5% priorMarch PCE Core 0.3% m/m as expected and prior; but 2.8% y/y, 2.7% expected, 2.8% prior Harvard’s @jasonfurman: Core PCE inflation over the last 3 months was a 4.4% annual rate. That is higher than any time from Nov 1990 to Mar 2021. April UM Sentiment 77.2, 77.9 expected and prior; Current Conditions 79, 79.1 expected, 77.9 prior; Expectations 76, 77.1 expected, 7 prior, 1-year Inflation 3.2%, 3.1% expected and prior; 5-year Inflation 3.0% as expected and prior The marginally disappointing March Core PCE diminished the enthusiasm for stocks that Microsoft and Google unleashed with their great results. Bonds rallied because dealers and traders forced USMs higher to unload the paper that they bought from massive Treasury Auctions last week. Due to Microsoft and Google’s splendid results, ESMs traded sharply higher but sideways from the Nikkei opening until they broke lower at 4:51 ET. ESMs spiked from 5114.75 at 8:28 ET to 5140.25 at 8:31 ET on an initial wrong reaction to the March PCE data. Traders then unloaded; ESMs sank to 5104.50 at 9:31 ET. The usual suspects then aggressively bought. ESMs methodically plodded higher until they hit a daily high of 5146.50 at 13:34 ET. After a retreat to 5133.25 at 14:31 ET, ESMs rallied to 5144.00 at 15:29 ET on buying for the late Friday Rally. Alas, traders needed to liquidate for the weekend and there were few organic buyers. So, ESMs sank to 5128.75 at 15:59 ET. USMs traded mostly modestly high but sideways during Asian trading. They commenced a rally near 2 ET that ended at 3:48 ET with USMs at 113 27/32, +17/32. After a dip to 113 17/32 at 6:40 ET, USMs meandered higher until they exploded upward two minutes before the 8:30 ET release of the March PCE data. USMs hit a daily high of 114 10/32 and then sank to 113 19/32 at 8:52 ET. After what appeared to be a forced rally by those long from the gigantic $180B of US debt issued last week took USMs to 114 /7/32 at 10:00 ET. USMs then rolled over and eased down to 113 23/32 at 12:05 ET. USMs then traded sideways in a tight range, with a modest upward bias, into the NYSE close. Trump advisors are considering plans to dramatically revamp the Fed, WSJ report saysAlong with those proposals, the draft contends that Trump could remove current Fed Chair Jerome Powell from office and require that Fed policy be aligned with the administration’s goals. That plan… would be consulted on interest rate decisions. In addition, the Treasury Department would be used as an added check and balance to oversee the Fed’s bond-buying activities…https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/26/trump-advisors-are-considering-plans-to-dramatically-revamp-the-fed-wsj-report-says.html The Fed needs revamping; but not in the way that Trump envisions. He is an inflationist! Perhaps that is why gold and bonds are showing concern: Neither Obama-Biden or Trump will arrest fiscal spending or the ballooning US debt. PS – The Fed brought this on themselves! Positive aspects of previous sessionThe NY Fang+ Index soared on MSFT & GOOGLBonds rallied sharply early on manipulation to unload paper from the $180B Treasury issuance Negative aspects of previous sessionThe DJTA declined sharply after its surge on ThursdayThe DJIA rallied only 0.40% despite the NY Fang+ Index soaring 2.9% Ambiguous aspects of previous sessionWhat happens to stocks after Apple reports results on May 2?First Hour/Last Hour Action [S&P 500 Index]: 1st Hour from NYSE Open: Up;Last Hour: DownPivot Point for S&P 500 Index [above/below indicates daily trend to traders]: 5095.91Previous session S&P 500 Index High/Low: 5114.62; 5073.14Biden’s 13th-Quarter Approval Average Lowest Historically (by 8.1) – Averages 38.7% job approvalhttps://news.gallup.com/poll/644252/biden-13th-quarter-approval-average-lowest-historically.aspx @zerohedge: Never before in US history has a president had a lower unemployment rate and a lower approval rating. Either the polls are dead wrong or all the cheerful economic “data” is fabricated. Axios: Biden changes walking routine to Marine OneInstead of walking across the South Lawn to and from Marine One by himself, he’s now often surrounded by aides… With aides walking between Biden and journalists’ camera position outside the White House, the visual effect is to draw less attention to the 81-year-old’s halting and stiff gait. Zoom in: Some Biden advisers have told Axios they’re concerned that videos of Biden walking and shuffling alone — especially across the grass — have highlighted his age…https://www.axios.com/2024/04/26/biden-walkers-white-house-marine-one @RNCResearch: Biden is surrounded by his handlers as he arrives back at the White House following a disastrous, highly embarrassing trip to New York. He takes no questions. https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1783916858795528490Biden claims women sent him racy photos while in Senate, repeats arrest lie in gaffe-filled interview“A lot of lovely women — but women would send very salacious pictures and I’d just give them to the Secret Service. I thought somebody would think I was —” the 81-year-old president said before trailing off… Biden shared other colorful accounts with Stern… The president also mixed up basic facts…https://nypost.com/2024/04/26/us-news/biden-claims-women-sent-him-racy-photos-while-in-senate-repeats-arrest-lie-in-gaffe-filled-interview/ @greg_price11: On Howard Stern’s show today, Biden claimed... (Why would a POTUS go on Stern?)– He saved 6 people from drowning as a lifeguard (Lie)– He received “salacious pictures” from women in the 70s that he handed to Secret Service (Definitely a lie and senators don’t have secret service protection)– That he was arrested as a kid while standing with a black family on their porch as people were protesting desegregation. (Lie) – That he was “runner-up in state scoring” in football. (Lie)https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1783900381346410512 @WesternLensman: Howard Stern has a history of disturbing commentsthat would prevent anyone else from getting in the same room — much less on the same screen for an hour — with the President. The WH and their media stenographers don’t care because they think it’s all been swept under the rug. But as the videos below reveal — it hasn’t. https://twitter.com/WesternLensman/status/1784635138569384169Biden Lectures Press to Get Behind His Campaign – “I have my role, but with all due respect, so do you…” https://modernity.news/2024/04/28/watch-biden-lectures-press-to-get-behind-his-campaign/New York Times blasts Biden for ‘avoiding questions’ from journalists in blistering statementhttps://www.foxnews.com/media/new-york-times-says-biden-avoiding-questions-journalistsBiden Admin Abandons Plan to Ban Menthol Cigarettes to Avoid ‘Angering Black Votershttps://www.zerohedge.com/political/biden-admin-abandons-plan-ban-menthol-cigarettes-avoid-angering-black-votersPhilly lender Republic First Bancorp seized by feds in latest regional bank collapsehttps://nypost.com/2024/04/26/business/philly-lender-republic-first-bancorp-seized-by-feds-in-latest-regional-bank-collapse/Blinken tells Beijing: Stop boosting Russia or face punishments – He says China needs to do more to curb precursor chemical exports fueling the U.S. opioid overdose epidemic.Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended three days of meetings in China on Friday with a stark warning to China’s leadership — stop exporting materials that allow Russia to rebuild its industrial base or face U.S. sanctions… https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/26/blinken-beijing-russia-sanctions-00154556Kremlin, commenting on Blinken lobbying China on Russia, says Moscow and Beijing ties to continue – China has said it… is “not a producer of or party involved in the Ukraine crisis”… (Blinken: “Russia will struggle to sustain Ukraine war without China’s help.”https://www.reuters.com/world/kremlin-commenting-blinken-lobbying-china-russia-says-moscow-beijing-ties-2024-04-27/Ukraine and US working on security treaty text – Zelenskyy revealsUkraine is working with the United States to conclude a 10-year security assurance agreement… to fix specific levels of support from Washington for this and the next 10 years… “This includes armed support, financial, political, and joint weapons production…” (The ~$200B already sent is just the start!)https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/ukraine-and-us-working-on-security-treaty-1714331203.htmlUS Small-Business Rent Delinquencies Rise to a Three-Year HighThe delinquency rate for US small businesses climbed to a three-year high this month, reflecting the impact of rent spikes and declining revenue, according to a monthly survey. The Small Business Rent report from Alignable, which provides an online networking platform for owners, found that 43% of small businesses were unable to pay their rent in full due to economic headwinds. That’s the highest rent delinquency rate since March 2021… (Restaurants 52%)https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/us-small-business-rent-delinquencies-rise-to-a-three-year-high-1.2065864Today – This is Fed Week. Usually, stocks rally into the release of the FOMC Communique on hope that the Fed will issue dovish comments – even when the odds of dovish remarks are slim or none. Yes Virginia, this is pattern trading at its stupidest, no regard for anything except the historic pattern.ESMs are +8.00; NQMs (Naz 100) are +32.25; USMs are +12/32; and Gold is -0.60 at 19:21 ET. Expected economic data: April Dallas Fed Mfg. Activity -11.3 S&P Index 50-day MA: 5124; 100-day MA: 4960; 150-day MA: 4760; 200-day MA: 4690DJIA 50-day MA: 38,790; 100-day MA: 38,209; 150-day MA: 36,809, 200-day MA: 36,321(Green is positive slope; Red is negative slope) S&P 500 Index (5099.96 close) – BBG trading model Trender and MACD for key time framesMonthly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 4638.30 triggers a sell signalWeekly: Trender and MACD are negative – a close above 5271.99 triggers a sell signalDaily: Trender and MACD are negative – a close above 5126.43 triggers a buy signalHourly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 5036.25 triggers a sell signal Inside the failed White House coup to oust Biden press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre“There’s a huge diversity issue and they’re afraid of what folks are going to say… “I think Karine has decided to stay come hell or high water and that’s that.”… (The WH denies they want Karine out.)https://nypost.com/2024/04/26/us-news/inside-the-failed-white-house-coup-against-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre/Pecker testified that he also caught and killed a story about former Chicago Mayor Rahm EmanuelDavid Pecker testified that he paid $20,000 for a story about an alleged affair by former Obama White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in the lead-up to his Chicago mayoral campaign. The tabloid (National Enquirer) publisher said he had a relationship with Rahm’s brother, Ari, a talent agent, who worked with him on a number of times to buy stories about celebrities and suppress them…https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/04/25/trump-hush-money-criminal-trial/pecker-mentions-rahm-emanuel-00154428Horror as GWU protester carries sign with Nazi ‘final solution’ call for extermination of Jewshttps://nypost.com/2024/04/26/us-news/protester-with-final-solution-sign-that-threatens-extermination-of-jews-spotted-at-gwu/Columbia University says it has banned student protester who said ‘Zionists don’t deserve to live’Khymani James, a junior at Columbia and a self-described spokesperson for the pro-Palestinian encampment there, made the comments in a January meeting with a school administrator.https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/columbia-university-says-banned-khymani-james-protester-said-zionists-rcna149642George Soros is paying student radicals who are fueling nationwide explosion of Israel-hating protests – The SJP parent organization has been funded by a network of nonprofits ultimately funded by, among others, Soros, the billionaire left-wing investor…https://nypost.com/2024/04/26/us-news/george-soros-maoist-fund-columbias-anti-israel-tent-city/Schools with the Highest Foreign Student PopulationsThe list of the five college campuses with the highest number of foreign students has fluctuated a bit year to year, but the schools on the list have been Columbia University, New York University, Northeastern University, the University of Southern California, and the University of Illinois… Columbia University. According to the latest DHS data available, in 2022 there were 20,347 foreign students enrolled at Columbia University. The university’s website has the latest data for 2023, and puts the number at 20,321 foreign students. Columbia also lists the population by country of origin; almost half of the foreign students come from China, with 9,961 enrolled students, while Indian students account for 2,357 of the population, and Canadian students come in third with 751 enrolled foreign students. A data table on the Columbia website notes that the university has enrolled a total of 36,649 students. Accordingly, this means approximately 55 percent of students at Columbia University were foreign students as of 2022… University of Illinois…has four strategic partnerships, one with Zhejiang University in China, one with National Taiwan University in Taiwan, one with Kyushu University in Japan, and one with University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom… https://cis.org/Feere/Schools-Highest-Foreign-Student-Populations @TuckerCarlson: About one in five mail-in ballots in the last election was fraudulent, handing Biden the presidency. We know this because the people who committed the fraud have admitted it in a new poll.https://t.co/fxHL9hT4sw @Williamjkelly: This is what has been happening all night at Columbus and Illinois Street. Hundreds of teens and young adults. Heavy police presence including at least 8 squad cars. All it took was warm weather. What will happen when the DNC Convention is here in August and police are diverted to the United Center? Kim Foxx now says she’ll prosecute DNC protesters she just won’t prosecute criminal defendants? https://twitter.com/Williamjkelly/status/1784425045223260395
Catherine Austin Fitts (CAF), Publisher of The Solari Report, financial expert and former Assistant Secretary of Housing (Bush 41 Admin.), has long said, “The federal government is being run as a criminal enterprise. . . .not just a little criminal, but a lot criminal.” Now, CAF contends what is going on in America is much more than greedy criminals. CAF says, “This has turned into warfare against “We the People” on a spiritual level.”
CAF goes on to point out, “There is so much effort in persuading people to think there is nothing you can do, and it’s hopeless. Let me tell you something . . . the central bankers are telling you what they are going to do, and this is not far away in the future. You have all these merchant codes where you cannot use your credit card to buy a gun or the bank throws you out. That’s the control grid getting built.”
What can you do to fight for freedom? CAF says, “Bring transparency, and the second thing is to use cash. If we can all use cash, build cash back up and keep checks going, if you have cash and checks, they cannot go to an all-digital financial system. Find out who is leading the way in your state, and see what you can do to support them. Above anything, you can pray because this is a spiritual war. The devil wants you to believe it’s hopeless and there is nothing you can do. . . . It’s not true. The sane cannot go along with the insane. The divine cannot go along with the demonic. You have to say NO! I am seeing this all over the country. I am seeing Treasurers and State Attorney Generals, and they are all pushing back because they realize this is insane. You cannot go along with this.”
CAF says not only do the Deep State globalists want control of the financial system, but they also want control of your food. CAF says, “You see at this level when you are trying to protect freedom, they cannot get financial control unless they can control the food supply. People can always start their own currencies as long as they can grow food. If you look at the push for financial control and central bank digital currency, it is the same push. They are pushing to control the food supply.”
CAF thinks Washington is so broken, corrupt and criminal that whoever wins the Presidential Election it will not make much of a difference. CAF points out, “Look at how quickly Speaker Mike Johnson caved. Speaker Johnson caved for Ukraine and war all over the world, but he won’t protect our borders. Mike Johnson, Christian, conservative and not a dime to protect our borders. . . Washington is a criminal enterprise, and there is no electing someone big enough to change this. This is not Trump vs Biden. This is the pro-centralization team in Washington. We have to pull power back from Washington.”
(Tech Note: If you do not see the video, know it is there. Unplug your modem and plug it back in after 30 sec. This will clear codes that may be blocking you from seeing it. In addition, try different browsers. Also, turn off all ad blockers if you have them. Finally, clear your cache and that might help too. https://its.uiowa.edu/support/article/719 All the above is a way Big Tech tries to censor people like USAWatchdog.com.)
) posted: There is a rush for copper…
harveyorganblog.com 
