GOLD PRICE CLOSED UP $0.20TO $2300.80

SILVER PRICE UP $0.12 TO $26.59

Gold ACCESS CLOSED $2301.10

Silver ACCESS CLOSED: $26.61

The defense of $2300 gold is now upon us and surpassed. Next up $2400 gold//Silver’s next line is $28.42. Then $34.76 …

Bitcoin morning price:$58,152 UP 121 DOLLARS.

Bitcoin: afternoon price: $59,420 UP 1389 dollars

Platinum price closing  UP $8.75 TO $955.15

Palladium price; DOWN $5.65 AT $939.50

END

SHANGHAI GOLD PREMIUM 55 DOLLARS/COMEX GOLD

SHANGHAI GOLD…

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

4: 15 PM ACCESS

*CANADIAN GOLD: $3136.36 DOWN 42.64 CDN dollars per oz( * NEW ALL TIME HIGH 3,301.52 CDN DOLLARS PER OZ//APRIL 16 2024)

*BRITISH GOLD: 1835.49 DOWN 18.00pounds per oz// *(NEW ALL TIME HIGH//CLOSING///1933.24 BRITISH POUNDS/OZ) APRIL 19/2024

*EURO GOLD: 2145.312 DOWN 22.10 Euros per oz //* (ALL TIME CLOSING HIGH: 2248.89 EUROS PER OZ//APRIL 16.2024)

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END

EXCGE: COMEX

EXCHANGE: COMEX
CONTRACT: MAY 2024 COMEX 100 GOLD FUTURES
SETTLEMENT: 2,299.900000000 USD
INTENT DATE: 05/01/2024 DELIVERY DATE: 05/03/2024
FIRM ORG FIRM NAME ISSUED STOPPED

---

190 H BMO CAPITAL 7
435 H SCOTIA CAPITAL 3
624 H BOFA SECURITIES 3
657 C MORGAN STANLEY 1
661 C JP MORGAN 1
686 C STONEX FINANCIA 1
737 C ADVANTAGE 5 4
880 C CITIGROUP 3

---

TOTAL: 14 14
MONTH TO DATE: 1,555

JPMorgan stopped 1/14

FOR MAY2024 

GOLD: NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR MAY/2024. CONTRACT: 14 NOTICES FOR 1400 OZ  or  0.3297 TONNES

total notices so far: 1541 contracts for 154,100   Oz (4,7932 tonnes)

FOR  MAY:

SILVER NOTICES: 397 NOTICE(S) FILED FOR 1,985,000 OZ/

total number of notices filed so far this month : 4474 for 22.370 million 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 $0.20

INVESTORS SWITCHING TO SPROTT PHYSICAL  (PHYS) INSTEAD OF THE FRAUDULENT GLD/ :

SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL 0F 0.55 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD

/ /INVENTORY RESTS AT 831.64 TONNES

INVENTORY RESTS AT 831.64TONNES

SLV//

WITH NO SILVER AROUND AND

SILVER UP 12 CENTS AT  THE SLV//

HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.479 MILLION OZ FROM THE SKV//

// INVENTORY INCREASES T0 424.174 MILLION OZ/

INVESTORS ARE SWITCHING SLV TO SPROTT’S PSLV.

CLOSING INVENTORY: 424.174 MILLION OZ

Let us have a look at the data for today

SILVER//OUTLINE

SILVER COMEX OI FELL BY A HUGE SIZED 1320 CONTRACTS TO 164,995 BUT STALLING AT CLOSING IN ON THE RECORD HIGH OI OF 244,710, SET FEB 25/2020, AND THIS HUMONGOUS SIZED LOSS IN COMEX OI WAS ACCOMPLISHED DESPITE OUR SMALL GAINOF $0,09 IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX ON WEDNESDAY. WE HAD SOME LONG LIQUIDATION AT THE COMEX SESSION WITH AGAIN SHORT COVERING BY OUR SPECS DESPITE THE GAIN PRICE.  WE HAD A GOOD SIZED 472 T.A.S ISSUANCE AND THESE WILL BE USED FOR MANIPULATION LATER THIS MONTH/AS WELL AS TODAY. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE CROOKS NEED A HIGHER SILVER/GOLD T.A.S. TO CARRY ON THEIR CROOKED MANIPULATION ON A DAILY BASIS 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 WEDNESDAY NIGHT: 472 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 UNUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING THE PRICE OF SILVER DOWN (IT ROSE BY $0.09 BUT WERE SUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING SOME SILVER LONGS AS WE HAD A GOOD SIZED LOSS OF 1120 CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES DESPITE THE GAIN IN PRICE OF $0.09

WE  MUST HAVE HAD:

A FAIR SIZED 200 CONTRACT  ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS) iiii) AN  INITIAL SILVER STANDING FOR COMEX SILVER MEASURING AT 28.130MILLION OZ (FIRST DAY NOTICE) FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S HUGE QUEUE JUMP TO LONDON OF 1,945,000 OZ

//NEW STANDING FOR SILVER//MAY IS THUS 26.105 MILLION OZ 

WE HAD:

/ HUGE SIZED COMEX OI LOSS //FAIR SIZED EFP ISSUANCE/ VI)  GOOD SIZED NUMBER OF  T.A.S. CONTRACT ISSUANCE 472 CONTRACTS)/

 I AM NOW RECORDING THE DIFFERENTIAL IN OI FROM PRELIMINARY TO FINAL -REMOVED   A STRONG 648 CONTRACTS //

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

TOTAL CONTRACTS for 2DAYS, total 2000 contracts:   OR 10.0 MILLION OZ  (1000 CONTRACTS PER DAY)

TOTAL EFP’S FOR THE MONTH SO FAR:  10.000 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  111.035 MILLION OZ(SLIGHTLY GREATER THAN THAN LAST MONTH)

MAY 66.120 MILLION OZ/INITIAL (MUCH SMALLER THIS MONTH)  

JUNE: 110.395 MILLION OZ//MUCH LARGER THAN LAST MONTH

JULY 85.745 MILLION OZ (SMALLER THAN LAST MONTH)

AUGUST: 171.43 MILLION OZ (THIS MONTH IS GOING TO BE HUGE //2ND HIGHEST ON RECORD

SEPT: 72.705 MILLION OZ (SMALLER THIS MONTH)

OCT: 97.455 MILLION OZ

NOV.  50.050 MILLION OZ 

DEC. 66.140 MILLION OZ//

TOTAL 2023: 1,104.10 MILLION OZ/

JAN ’24 : 78.655 MILLION OZ//

FEB /2024 : 66.135 MILLION OZ./FINAL

MARCH: 143.750 MILLION OZ// 4TH HIGHEST ON RECORD.

APRIL: 161.770MILLION OZ (THIS MONTH WILL PROBABLY BE A WHOPPER OF ISSUANCE OF EFPS//3RDHIGHEST EVER RECORDED FOR A MONTH)

MAY: 10.00 MILLION OZ

RESULT: WE HAD A HUGE SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF 1320 CONTRACTS DESPITE OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX//WEDNESDAY.,.  THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A FAIR EFP ISSUANCE  CONTRACTS: 200 ISSUED FOR JULY 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 MAY OF  28.130 MILLION  OZ ON FIRST DAY NOTICE FOLLOED BY TODAYS HUGE 1.945 MILLION OZ QUEUE JUMP

//NEW TOTAL STANDING AT 26.105 MILLION OZ 

WE HAVE A GOOD SIZED LOSS OF 1120  OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES DESPITE THE GAIN IN PRICE. THE TOTAL OF TAS INITIATED CONTRACTS TODAY: A GOOD SIZED 472 CONTRACTS,//HUGE FRONT END OF THE TAS CONTRACTS WERE LIQUIDATED DURING THE WEDNESDAY  COMEX SESSION/// WITH MAJOR SHORT COVERING FROM OUR SPEC SHORTS 

THE NEW TAS ISSUANCE WEDNESDAY NIGHT   (472 WILL BE PUT INTO “THE BANK” TO BE COLLUSIVELY USED AT A LATER DATE//PROBABLY TODAY., .

WE HAD 397 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 1.985 million OZ

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

GOLD//OUTLINE

IN GOLD, THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY A FAIR SIZED 2797 OI CONTRACTS  TO 522,588 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 768 CONTRACTS

WE HAD A FAIR SIZED INCREASE  IN COMEX OI (2797 CONTRACTS) WITH OUR $7.60 GAIN IN PRICE//WEDNESDAY. THE FRBNY SUPPLIED THE NECESSARY SHORT PAPER TO WHACK GOLD’S PRICE. WE ALSO HAD A RATHER LARGE INITIAL STANDING IN GOLD TONNAGE FOR MAY AT 4.684 TONNES ON FIRST DAY NOTICE  FOLLOWED BY TODAY;S 4000 OZ QUEUE JUMP//NEW STANDING 5,.0482 TONNES

NEW STANDING 5.0482 TONNES// ALL OF THIS HAPPENED DESPITE OUR $7.60 GAIN IN PRICE  WITH RESPECT TO WEDNESDAY’S TRADING. WE HAD A VERY STRONG SIZED GAIN OF 12,006 OI CONTRACTS (39.343 PAPER TONNES) ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES.

E.F.P. ISSUANCE

THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A MEGA HUGE SIZED 9209 CONTRACTS:

The NEW COMEX OI FOR THE GOLD COMPLEX RESTS AT 522,588

IN ESSENCE WE HAVE A VERY STRONG SIZED INCREASE IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 12,006  CONTRACTS  WITH 2797 CONTRACTS INCREASED AT THE COMEX// AND A HUGE SIZED 9209 EFP OI CONTRACTS WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS TOTAL OI GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 12,006 CONTRACTS.. WE HAD THE FOLLOWING TAS CONTRACTS INITIATED (ISSUED): A STRONG SIZED 2031 CONTRACTS,

CALCULATIONS ON GAIN/LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES

WE HAD A HUGE SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (9209 CONTRACTS) ACCOMPANYING THE GAIN IN COMEX OI 2797//TOTAL GAIN FOR OUR THE TWO EXCHANGES: 12,006 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 MAY AT 4.684TONNES FOLLOWED BY TODAY;S 4000 OZ QUEUE JUMP 

//NEW STANDING /MAY 5.0482 TONNES. 

 / 3) ZERO LONG LIQUIDATION WITH THE GAIN IN PRICE.

//  4) FAIR SIZED COMEX OPEN INTEREST GAIN 5)  HUGE ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL PAPER///6: STRONG T.A.S.  ISSUANCE: 2031 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

MAY

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

TOTAL EFP CONTRACTS ISSUED: 12,586 CONTRACTS OR 1,258,600 OZ OR 39.147 TONNES IN 1TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 6293 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE  SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS :  THIS MONTH IN 2 TRADING DAY(S) IN  TONNES  39.147 TONNES

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

THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS  39.147 DIVIDED BY 3550 x 100% TONNES = 1.09% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL PRODUCTION

ACCUMULATION OF GOLD EFP’S YEAR 2021 TO 2023

JANUARY/2021: 265.26 TONNES (RAPIDLY INCREASING AGAIN)

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

MARCH:.   276.50 TONNES (STRONG AGAIN/

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

MAY:        250.15 TONNES  (NOW DRAMATICALLY INCREASING AGAIN)

JUNE:      247.54 TONNES (FINAL)

JULY:        188.73 TONNES FINAL

AUGUST:   217.89 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE.

SEPT          142.12 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE ( LOW ISSUANCE)_

OCT:           141.13 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE (LOW ISSUANCE)

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

DEC.           175.62 TONNES//FINAL ISSUANCE//

TOTALS: 2,578.08 TONNES/2021

JAN:2022   247.25 TONNES //FINAL

FEB:           196.04 TONNES//FINAL

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

APRIL:  169.55 TONNES (FINAL VERY  LOW ISSUANCE MONTH)

MAY:  247.44 TONNES FINAL//

JUNE: 238.13 TONNES  FINAL

JULY: 378.43 TONNES FINAL

AUGUST: 180.81 TONNES FINAL

SEPT. 193.16 TONNES FINAL

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

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

DEC:  185.59 tonnes // FINAL

TOTAL: 2,847,25 TONNES/2022

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

FEB: 151.61 TONNES/FINAL

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

APRIL: 197.42 TONNES

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

JUNE: 172.667 TONNES (WEAKER ISSUANCE THIS MONTH)

JULY:  151.69 TONNES (WEAKER THAN LAST MONTH)

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

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

OCT. 248.09 TONNES. LIKE SILVER, THIS MONTH IS GOING TO BE A STRONG E.F.P. ISSUANCE.

NOV.   239.16 TONNES//WILL BE STRONG THIS MONTH,

DEC. 213.704 TONNES. A STRONG MONTH//

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

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

FEB’24: 201.947 TONNES

MARCH 2024: 352.21 TONNES//2ND HIGHEST EVER RECORDED EFP ISSUANCE.

APRIL: 267.05TONNES (WILL BE AN EXTREMELY STRONG MONTH BUT LESS THAN MARCH 2024)

MAY; 39.147 TONNES

SPREADING OPERATIONS

(/NOW SWITCHING TO GOLD) FOR NEWCOMERS, HERE ARE THE DETAILS

SPREADING LIQUIDATION HAS NOW COMMENCED   AS WE HEAD TOWARDS THE  NEW  ACTIVE FRONT MONTH OF 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 HUGE SIZED 1320 CONTRACTS OI  TO 164,995 AND FURTHER FRIM 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 200 CONTRACTS

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

JULY 200  and ALL OTHER MONTHS: ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 200 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 1320 CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 200 E.FP. ISSUED

WE OBTAIN A GOOD SIZED LOSS OF OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 1120 CONTRACTS

THUS IN OUNCES, THE LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES  TOTALS 5.600 MILLION OZ 

OCCURRED DESPITE OUR  $0.09 GAIN IN PRICE …..

END

OUTLINE FOR TODAY’S COMMENTARY

1a/COMEX GOLD AND SILVER REPORT

(report Harvey)

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

(Peter Schiff)

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

REPORT

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

b. Other gold/silver commentaries

c. Commodity commentaries//

d)/CRYPTOCURRENCIES/BITCOIN ETC

2.ASIAN AFFAIRS//

THURSDAY MORNING/WEDNESDAY  NIGHT

SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 8.22 PTS OR .22% //Hang Seng CLOSED UP 444.10 PTS OR 2.5%// Nikkei CLOSED DOWN 37.98PT OR 0.10% //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP 0.22%///Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed UP 7.2411//OFFSHORE CHINESE YUAN CLOSED UP TO 7.2313//Oil DOWN TO 79.47 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT DOWN AT 84.75Stocks in Europe OPENED MOSTLY GREEN

ONSHORE YUAN TRADING BELOW LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN  TRADING STRONGER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE YUAN STRONGER

A)NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA

outline

b) REPORT ON JAPAN/
OUTLINE

3  CHINA
OUTLINE

4/EUROPEAN AFFAIRS
OUTLINE

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS
OUTLINE

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

7. OIL ISSUES
OUTLINE

8 EMERGING MARKET ISSUES
9. USA

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

GOLD

 LET US BEGIN:

THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY A FAIR SIZED 2797 CONTRACTS  TO 522,588 WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF $7.60 WITH RESPECT TO WEDNESDAY TRADING. WE HAD CONSIDERABLE T.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  NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF MAY.…  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 MEGA HUGE 9209 EFP CONTRACTS WERE ISSUED: :  JUNE 9209 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:

TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE:9209 CONTRACTS

ON A NET BASIS IN OPEN INTEREST WE GAINED THE FOLLOWING TODAY ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES: A VERY STRONG SIZED TOTAL OF 12,006 CONTRACTS IN THAT 9209 LONGS WERE TRANSFERRED AS EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS TO LONDON AND WE HAD A FAIR SIZED GAIN OF 2797 COMEX  CONTRACTS..AND THIS VERY STRONG GAIN ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES HAPPENED WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF $7.60 WEDNESDAY COMEX.  AS PER OUR NEWBIE TRADE AT SETTLEMENT (TAS) MANIPULATION OPERATION (WHICH CRAIG HEMKE HAS POINTED OUT HAPPENS DURING MID MONTH IN THE DELIVERY CYCLE), THE CME REPORTS THAT THE TOTAL T.A.S. ISSUANCE FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT WAS A FAIR SIZED 2031 CONTRACTS. WE HAD 0 EX FOR RISK ISSUANCE. MOST OF THE TRADING AND SUPPLY OF CONTRACTS ON WEDNESDAY 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:   MAY  (5.0482TONNES)  (   NON ACTIVE MONTH)

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

DEC 2021: 112.217 TONNES

REPORT THIS AD

NOV.  8.074 TONNES

OCT.    57.707 TONNES

SEPT: 11.9160 TONNES

AUGUST: 80.489 TONNES

REPORT THIS AD

JULY 7.2814 TONNES

JUNE:  72.289 TONNES

MAY 5.77 TONNES

APRIL  95.331 TONNES

MARCH 30.205 TONNES

FEB ’21. 113.424 TONNES

JAN ’21: 6.500 TONNES.

TOTAL  YEAR  2021 (JAN- DEC): 601.213 TONNES

YEAR 2022:

JANUARY 2022  17.79 TONNES

FEB 2022: 59.023 TONNES

MARCH: 36.678 TONNES

APRIL: 85.340 TONNES FINAL.

MAY: 20.11 TONNES FINAL

JUNE: 74.933 TONNES FINAL

JULY 29.987 TONNES FINAL

AUGUST:104.979 TONNES//FINAL

SEPT.  38.1158 TONNES

OCT:  77.390 TONNES/ FINAL

NOV 27.110 TONNES/FINAL

Dec. 64.000 tonnes

(TOTAL  YEAR 656.076 TONNES)

2023:

JAN/2023:    20.559 tonnes

FEB 2023: 47.744 tonnes

MAR:  19.0637 TONNES

APRIL: 75.676  tonnes

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

JUNE: 64.354 TONNES

JULY: 10.2861 TONNES

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

SEPT: 15.281 TONNES FINAL

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

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

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

TOTAL 2023 YEAR : 436.546 TONNES

JAN ’24.      22.706 TONNES

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

MARCH: 18.8398 TONNES + 1.1695 EX FOR RISK = 20.093 TONNES

APRIL: 2024: 53.673TONNES FINAL

MAY/ 2023 5.0482TONNES

THE SPECS/HFT WERE  UNSUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE( IT ROSE BY A GOOD $7.60 //// AND WERE SUNUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING ANY SPECULATOR LONGS AS WE HAD A STRONG SIZED GAIN OF 12,006 TOTAL CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES WITHOUR GAIN IN PRICE 0F $7.60

WE HAD A FAIR T.A.S. LIQUIDATION ON THE FRONT END OF WEDNESDAY’S TRADING.  THE T.A.S. ISSUED ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT, WILL BE “PUT INTO THE BANK” TO BE USED AT A LATER DATE AT THE COLLUSIVE CHOOSING OF OUR BANKERS.

WE HAVE GAINED A TOTAL OI OF 37.343 PAPER TONNES FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES, ACCOMPANYING OUR INITIAL  GOLD TONNAGE STANDING FOR MAY (4.684 TONNES) ON FIRST DAY NOTICE FOLLWED BY TODAY’S QUEUE JUMP OF 40 CONTRACTS OR 4000 OZ ( .1284 TONNES)

NEW STANDING: 5.001 TONNES

ALL OF THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR GAIN  IN PRICE  TO THE TUNE OF $7.60

WE HAVE REMOVED 768 CONTRACTS  FROM THE  COMEX TRADES TO OPEN INTEREST (CROOKS)//PRELIMINARY TO FINAL

NET GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 12,006 CONTRACTS OR 1,200,600 (37.343 TONNES)

confirmed volume WEDNESDAY 248,242 contracts//fair

//speculators have left the gold arena

MAY 2/  MAY  GOLD

/ /// THE MAY 2024 GOLD CONTRACT

Gold	Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory in oz	nil
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory in oz	192.906 OZ (6 KILOBARS) BRINKS           .
Deposit to the Dealer Inventory in oz	00 oz
Deposits to the Customer Inventory, in oz	100.35oz HSBC
No of oz served (contracts) today	14 notice(s) 1400 OZ 0.0435TONNES
No of oz to be served (notices)	68 contracts    6800 OZ 0.2115ONNES
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month	1555notices 155,500 oz 4.837 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:

i

total dealer deposits:  0 oz

we have 1 customer deposits:

i)Into HSBC: 100.35 oz

total deposit 100.35 oz

total customer withdrawals: 1

I) WITHDRAWAL OF 192.06 OZ FROM BRINKS

TOTAL WITHDRAWALS 192.06 OZ 6 KILOBARS

Adjustments: 0

CALCULATIONS FOR THE AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR MAY

For the front month of MAY we have an oi of 82 contracts having LOST 91 contracts.

We had 131 contracts served on Wednesday, so we gained 40 contracts or 4000 oz (,3217 tonnes).

JUNE DECREASED ITS OI BY 2817 CONTRACTS DOWN TO 395,855 CONTRACTS.

JULY GAINED 103 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 234

We had 14 contracts filed for today representing 1400   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 14 contract(s) of which 0  notices were stopped (received) by  j.P. Morgan dealer and 1 notice(s) was (were) stopped  (received) by J.P.Morgan//customer account   

To calculate the INITIAL total number of gold ounces standing for the MAY /2024. contract month, we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (1555 ) x 100 oz ) to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of  MAY ( 82 CONTRACTS)  minus the number of notices served upon today  (14 x 100 oz per contract( equals  162,300 OZ  OR 5.0482 TONNES.

thus the INITIAL standings for gold for the MAY contract month:  No of notices filed so far (1555x 100 oz +  (82 )OI for the front month} minus the number of notices served upon today (14 x 100 oz which equals  162,300 oz (5.0482 TONNES) 

TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING FOR MAY: 5.0482TONNES WHICH IS HUGE FOR THIS A NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH IN THE CALENDAR.  

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX84XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

COMEX GOLD INVENTORIES/CLASSIFICATION

NEW PLEDGED GOLD:

241,794.285 oz NOW PLEDGED /HSBC  5.94 TONNES

204,937.290 PLEDGED  MANFRA 3.08 TONNES

83,657.582 PLEDGED JPMorgan no 1  1.690 tonnes

265,999.054, oz  JPM No 2 

1,152,376.639 oz pledged  Brinks/

Manfra:  33,758.550 oz

Delaware: 193.721 oz

International Delaware::  11,188.542 oz

total pledged gold: 1,582,520,883  49.223tonnes

TOTAL OF ALL GOLD ELIGIBLE AND REGISTERED GOLD:  17,720,789.868 OZ  

TOTAL REGISTERED GOLD 7,533,615.645( 234.327 tonnes).

TOTAL OF ALL ELIGIBLE GOLD: 10,187,767.594 OZ  

REGISTERED GOLD THAT CAN BE SERVED UPON: 5,951,095 oz (REG GOLD- PLEDGED GOLD)

185.10 tonnes/dropping like a stone

END

SILVER/COMEX

MAY 2

INITIAL

//2024// THE MAY 2025  SILVER CONTRACT//INITIAL

Silver	Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory	NIL oz
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory	80,110.310oz HSBC .
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory	00OZ
Deposits to the Customer Inventory	297,693.790 oz delaware
No of oz served today (contracts)	397 CONTRACT(S)    (1.985OZ)
No of oz to be served (notices)	746contracts  (3.730 million oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)	4474 Contracts  (22.370 MILLION oz)
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Dealers inventory this month	NIL oz
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Customer inventory this month

i)  0 dealer  deposit

total dealer deposit :nil oz

i) We had  0 dealer withdrawal

total dealer withdrawals: 0 oz

We had  1 deposits customer account:

i) Into Delaware 297,693.790oz

total customer deposits 297,693.790 oz

JPMorgan has a total silver weight: 129,598million oz/295.188million  or 44.06%

adjustment: 1

customer to dealer hsbc; 55,858.580 oz

Comex withdrawals: 1

i) out of HSBC 80,110.310 oz

total withdrawal 80,110.310 oz

TOTAL REGISTERED SILVER: 62.355MILLION OZ//.TOTAL REG + ELIGIBLE. 295.188million oz

CALCULATIONS FOR THE NEW STANDING FOR SILVER FOR DECEMBER:

silver open interest data:

FRONT MONTH OF MAY/2024 OI: 1143 CONTRACTS HAVING LOST 1532 CONTRACT(S). 

.

We had 1532 notices served on WEDNESDAY so we GAINED enormous 389 contracts or 1,945,000 oz underwent this huge queue jump.

JUNE SAW A GAIN OF 23 CONTRACTS RISING TO 1853

JULY SAW A gain OF 15 CONTRACTS UP TO 135,744

TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR TODAY: 399 for 1.985 million oz

CONFIRMED volume; ON WEDNESDAY 68,554 huge

To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in MAY we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at 4474 x 5,000 oz = 22.370MILLION oz 

to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of MAY (1143 and the number of notices served upon today 397x (5000 oz) equals the number of ounces standing.

Thus the  standings for silver for the MAY/2024 contract month:  4474 notices served so far) x 5000 oz + OI for the front month of MAY (1143 number of notices served upon today (397 500 oz of silver standing for the APRIL  contract month equates to 26.105 MILLION OZ.  

 New total standing: 26.105 million oz.

There are 62.355 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!

 MAY 2 WITH GOLD UP $0.20 ON THE DAY; SMAKK CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF .55 TONNES IF FGOLD FROM THE GLD//INVENTORY FALLS AT 831.64 TONNES

MAY 1 WITH GOLD UP $7.80 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:INVENTORY RISES AT 832.19 TONNES

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

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: 831.64 TONNES,

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

 MAY 2WITH SILVER UP 0.12 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/ A WITHDRAWALOF 4.471 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 424.695 MILLION OZ

MAY 1 WITH SILVER UP 0.09 TODAY: SMALLCHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/ A DEPOSIT OF ,457 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 429.814 MILLION OZ

 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 424.695 MILLION OZ//

PHYSICAL GOLD/SILVER COMMENTARIES

PETER SCHIFF/SCHIFFGOLD/MIKE MAHARRAY

Peter Schiff Blasts Biden’s Proposed Taxes As ‘Blatantly Illegal’

THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2024 – 07:20 AM

Via Schiffgold.com,

Peter appeared on OAN’s Real America with Dan Ball to discuss new prospective income taxes, the latest idiotic craze in politics.

e starts by explaining why President Biden’s desired policy isn’t even an income tax:

“The worst of the capital gains tax is that Biden wants to impose a 25% tax on unrealized capital gains, which is definitely unconstitutional because it’s not an income tax. … If you haven’t realized the gain, you have no income subject to tax under the 16th amendment. It’s a property tax. You’re taxing property, and property taxes are direct taxes. They’re still bound by the rule of apportionment. They’re not exempted through the 16th amendment, so it would be unconstitutional.”

https://youtube.com/watch?v=aLdLQM4NLy8%3Fsi%3DH2oNgPIZ_Nre3mFO

If such a tax was legal, it would still be a terrible policy, and it’d complicate the already burdensome tax code:

“It would also be economically destructive to try to force people to pay taxes on income they haven’t even received. They’d have to sell their assets. Imagine having to appraise your illiquid assets every year and then have to pay some kind of tax without having the liquidity to actually pay it. It would be an economic disaster if that were to be passed!”

Even raising corporate taxes would ultimately fall on the shoulders of everyday Americans:

“Nobody seems to understand: corporations don’t really pay taxes. They collect taxes. When you’re talking about taxing a corporation, you’re taxing the shareholders, you’re taxing the employees and the customers. So that’s the American public! One way or another, all corporate taxes are paid by the public. So if you’re raising the corporate tax, you’re raising the taxes on their employees, their shareholders, and their customers. That’s it.”

Thankfully, Peter thinks the proposed taxes are doomed to fail. He also reminds us of the government’s dishonest record with income taxes:

“It’s not gonna pass. At least we’ve got some Republicans with some sense in the House. This is just red meat to the base— the socialists that dominate the base of the democratic party. Yeah, they want to soak the rich. Remember, the only reason we have an income tax is because the government promised that it was only for the billionaires. … It was only 4% when it first started, back in 1916. So the government lied to the public, because as soon as they got the income tax passed, they started jacking up the rates.”

end

Gold the big winner in terms of yen

(Schiffgold)

“Safe Haven” Yen Trending Towards Zero Against Gold

THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2024 – 10:15 AM

Via SchiffGold.com,

The yen was once known as a safe-haven currency for investors to protect themselves when broader markets are shaky or other currencies are dropping, but those days are numbered. A stable government and consistent (and low) interest rates have been some of the driving factors, but it’s the unwinding of that ultra-low interest rate policy that will be the yen’s “safe haven” undoing as gold retains its protective characteristics and rockets upward.

Both gold and yen have benefitted from investors looking to park their cash somewhere safe during times of high risk. But ZIRP policy in Japan has gone on for so long, that the economy can’t handle even modest upticks in the price of borrowing without triggering chaos. As seen below, the yen is currently in a freefall against gold as it hemorrhages purchasing power:

Gold’s Rise Against the Yen

Source: Bloomberg

If this is what happens with 0-0.1% interest rates, imagine what would happen if they ticked up to even a modest 1%, much less the drastically higher rates that would be set by the free market if a central bank wasn’t pulling the levers.

And despite once being known as correlated with gold, since Japan began ticking interest rates up, the divergence between the two alleged “safe havens” has been decisive and dramatic:

Gold Price in Japanese Yen vs Yen/USDollar Since 1970 (Apr. 23, 2024) – via http://goldchartsrus.com

Now at a 34-year low, the rumors are swirling that the Bank of Japan may intervene to prop up the yen. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, they’ll have to keep letting bond yields increase to attract foreign investment, which puts upward pressure on EU and US bonds as well. And even as it currently stands, neither the European Central Bank nor the Fed can afford their interest payments without borrowing even more money.

Since the start of the year, yields on 10-year Japanese bonds have kept going up.

Japan Government Bonds: 10-Year Yields in 2024

Source: Bloomberg

Japan is also the largest holder of U.S. Treasury securities, to the tune of over $1 trillion, and may be forced to start selling its holdings to keep the yen from totally imploding. If Japan dumps Treasurys to save the yen, yields will tick higher and incentivize the yen carry trade. It won’t save Japan’s collapsing currency. And with high inflation that global central banks won’t be able to reign in, nothing will stop gold’s continuing upward trend against fiat money.

Of course, the US will do everything in its power to stop Japan from offloading US Treasurys — including firing up a new round of QE. With the Bank of Japan trapped, the only “solutions” they have, and the only responses foreign central banks can take, all lead to vicious cycles that will rip through the system and crush the global economy.

The collapsing yen is a set-up for a bond collapse doom-loop to finally begin in earnest. In the US, since the Fed would rather further devalue the dollar than have to raise interest rates enough to stimulate saving over borrowing, inflation has nowhere to go but up. Central banks in Japan and the US are both trapped, partially by themselves and partially by one another.

Rather than let Treasury yields go too high, the Fed would rather start printing money even as it acknowledges that inflation is far from under control. As Peter Schiff said in his recent interview with Anthony Crudele:

“…rather than a winning inflation fight that would cause a severe financial crisis and force the US government to default on its debts and cut spending, the Fed is going to monetize debt…to prevent those political choices from having to be made.”

The yen is beyond saving, and gold will outperform it even if the BoJ manages to narrow the gap in the shorter term. But both the yen and USD will be left in the dust as they ultimately trend toward zero in the long term relative to the yellow metal.

3. CHRIS POWELL//GATA DISPATCHES

China’s huge $170 billion + gold rush causes Taiwan invasion fears

London Telegraph

China’s $170 billion gold rush triggers Taiwan invasion fears

Submitted by admin on Tue, 2024-04-30 13:59 Section: Daily Dispatches

By Melissa Lawford
The Telegraph, London
Tuesday, April 30, 2024

China has built up a $170 billion stockpile of gold after a record buying spree, in a move that has raised fears Beijing is preparing its economy for a possible conflict over Taiwan.

The People’s Bank of China bought 27 tonnes of gold in the first three months of the year, taking its reserves to a record high of 2,262 tonnes, according to data from the World Gold Council.

China has now been buying gold steadily since October 2022, marking its longest buildup of the precious metal since at least 2000. The 17-month streak has increased its gold reserves by 16%.

Gold is trading near a record high of $2,343 per troy ounce, valuing Beijing’s stockpile at $170.4 billion.

Experts said China’s stockpiling was likely an effort to guard its economy against Western sanctions in the event of a conflict over Taiwan. …

… For the remainder of the report:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/04/30/china-launches-gold-buying-spree-amid-fears-o

end

As mentioned on many occasions, China is accumulating massive amounts of gold

(SCMP)

Chinese public is buying more than twice as much gold as the nation mines

Purchases of gold bars and coins, which largely reflect investment and hedging demand, surged by 26.8% year on year to 106.3 tonnes, while gold jewellery sales declined by 3% from a year earlier to 183.9 tonnes.

But China’s domestic gold production rose by 21.2% to only 139.184 tonnes in the first three months of the year, with 53.2 tonnes produced with imported ores or materials, indicating an overreliance on overseas suppliers. …

… For the remainder of the report:

https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3260798/chinas-consumers-seek-security-only-safe-asset-gold-purchases-remain-strong

end

4. OTHER MAJOR GOLD COMMENTARIES/PODCASTS 

5 a. IMPORTANT COMMENTARIES ON COMMODITIES/

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

REPORT THIS AD

END

6.CRYPTOCURRENCY//DIGITAL CURRENCY// COMMENTARIES/

END

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

ONSHORE YUAN:   CLOSED UP 7.2411

OFFSHORE YUAN: UP TO 7.2313

SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 8.22 PTS OR.26%

HANG SENG CLOSED UP 444.10 PTS OR 2.5%

2. Nikkei closed DOWN 37.98 PTS OR 0.10%

3. Europe stocks   SO FAR:  ALL MOSTLY GREEN

USA dollar INDEX UP TO  105.59 EURO FALLS TO 1.0698 DOWN 18 BASIS PTS

3b Japan 10 YR bond yield: RISES TO. +.893 Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese YEN vs USA cross now at 154.84 JAPANESE YEN NOW FALLING AS WELL AS LONG TERM 10  YR. YIELDS RISING //EVENTUALLY THIS WILL BREAK THE JAPANESE CENTRAL BANK

3c Nikkei now  ABOVE 17,000

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

3e Gold DOWN /JAPANESE Yen 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 DOWN for WTI and DOWN FOR Brent this morning

3h European bond buying continues to push yields lower on all fronts in the EMU. German 10yr bund YIELD DOWN TO +2.5320/Italian 10 Yr bond yield DOWN to 3.795 SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD DOWN TO 3.295

3i Greek 10 year bond yield UPTO 3.4944

3j Gold at $2298.75 //Silver at: 26.28  1 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $34.40//AFTER 28.40

3k USA vs Russian rouble;// Russian rouble UP 1 AND 17 100        roubles/dollar; ROUBLE AT 91.97/

3m oil into the 79 dollar handle for WTI and  84 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 154.84/  10 YEAR YIELD AFTER FIRST BREAKING .54% LAST YEAR NOW EXCEEDS THAT LEVEL TO 0.893% 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 0.9178 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF:   0.9756well 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: 4.596 UP 1BASIS PTS…

USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 4.777 UP 3 BASIS PTS/

USA 2 YR BOND YIELD:  4.931 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS

USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 32.35…(TURKEY)

10 YR UK BOND YIELD: 4.327 DOWN 10 PTS

2a New York OPENING REPORT

Futures Rise As Dovish Fed Boosts Sentiment, Reverse Bizarre Post-Powell Slide

THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2024 – 08:16 AM

After a bizarre reversal when US stocks first slumped and then dumped after Powell’s very dovish FOMC statement and press conference, US equity futures have regained their footing this morning and advanced as traders took comfort from the Fed’s signal that there’s no plan to raise interest rates and looked ahead to Apple’s earnings after the close. As of 7:40am, S&P 500 contracts climbed 0.7%, while Nasdaq 100 contracts add 0.9% with Apple, Amazon.com and Nvidia all posting small gains in pre-market trading.

The yen was the center of attention in foreign exchange, after what appeared to be another intervention by Japanese authorities to support the currency.

Treasuries extended gains following the dovish remarks from Powell, which coupled with the Fed tapering QT by more than expected, soothed fears of a rate hike. Traders now turn their attention to a string of US data, including jobless claims and factory orders on Thursday and the nonfarm payrolls report on Friday. The dollar eased against most Group-of-10 currencies with the yen the notable outlier. Oil prices advance, with WTI rising 1% to trade near $79.80. Spot gold falls 0.7%.

In premarket trading, used-car retailer Carvana soared 35% after the car retailer reported a surprise profit, even as the US consumer is increasingly squeezed. DoorDash tumbled 11% after the food-delivery company gave a forecast for adjusted Ebitda that trailed the average analyst estimate at the midpoint. Freshworks crashed 26% after the application software company cut its full-year revenue forecast and announced a CEO transition. Here are some other notable premarket movers:

American International Group (AIG) gains 2% after reporting profit above analysts’ estimates in the first quarter.

• Aspen Aerogels (ASPN) soars 27% after the insulation products provider reported a narrower loss per share for the first quarter and boosted its 2024 revenue guidance.
• Carvana (CVNA) soars 35% after the car retailer reported a surprise profit.
• DoorDash (DASH) falls 11% after the food-delivery company gave a forecast for adjusted Ebitda that trailed the average analyst estimate at the midpoint.
• Emergent BioSolutions soars 58% after the company’s first-quarter earnings-per-share report bucked analysts’ expectations of a loss. The drugmaker also announced job cuts.
• Enovix jumps 26% after the maker of lithium-ion batteries posted 1Q revenue that topped estimates and said it reached a development agreement with a smartphone original equipment manufacturer.
• Freshworks falls 26% after the application software company cut its full-year revenue forecast and announced a CEO transition.
• Novocure gains 9% after the oncology therapy company reported net revenue for the first quarter that beat the average analyst estimate.
• Peloton gains 9% as Chief Executive Officer Barry McCarthy is stepping down from the role and the company plans to cut about 15% of its global workforce.
• Qorvo drops 11% after the chipmaker forecast adjusted EPS and revenue for the fiscal first quarter that trailed the average analyst estimate.
• Rush Street climbs 17% after the online casino and sports betting company boosted its full-year revenue and adjusted Ebitda targets after its first quarter results handily topped expectations.
• Wolfspeed falls 10% after the semiconductor device company gave an outlook that is seen as weak, prompting at least two downgrades.

After a inexplicable swoon in the last 30 minutes of trading on Wednesday, when all the post-dovish FOMC gains were promptly erased, markets celebrated the fact that the Fed struck a more dovish note than some had expected, even after a slew of statistics pointed to sticky inflation pressures. Chair Powell said it’s unlikely the central bank’s next move would be to raise rates, saying authorities would need to see persuasive evidence that policy isn’t tight enough to bring inflation back toward the 2% target.

“All in all, it’s a bull message for markets,” said Benjamin Melman, chief investment officer at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management. “We’ve got the confirmation that Powell doesn’t want to raise rates.”  

Further insight into the health of the US economy will come from initial jobless claims and factory orders on Thursday, though the main focus will be April non-farm payrolls data due at the end of the week. A Bloomberg Economics model points to an unchanged unemployment rate of 3.8%. That suggests “hiring likely remains too hot for the Fed,” economists Andrej Sokol and Scott Johnson wrote in a note.

Additionally, Apple’s earnings, which are due after the US market closes, will give investors a better sense of how the iPhone maker is weathering a sales slump, due in part to a sluggish China market.

“Earnings are looking quite resilient, quite constructive on the equities side,” John Woods, CIO for Asia Pacific at Lombard Odier, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “It’s overwhelmingly a US story for now.”

In Europe, stocks had small moves amid mixed company reports with the Stoxx 600 down 0.3%. Novo Nordisk drops on disappointing results and Moller-Maersk, a bellwether for global trade, also retreats. Shell Plc advanced after the energy producer posted a profit beat and announced a $3.5 billion share buyback. Here are the biggest movers Thursday:

• GN Store Nord gains as much as 15% after the Danish hearing-aid and audio equipment firm’s first-quarter growth and most other metric beat expectations in an “impressive” print
• Standard Chartered jumps as much as 7.2% after the bank delivered a big beat across the board in the first quarter, driven by strong results from its trading and wealth divisions
• Teleperformance surges as much as 19% after the French call-center operator reported stronger-than-expected organic sales growth in the first quarter, while maintaining guidance
• Bayer jumps as much as 5.4% after it persuaded a US court to throw out a $185m award to three persons who blamed exposure to the firm’s toxic chemicals for their brain injuries
• Worldline shares gain as much as 8.9% after the payments firm reported stronger-than-expected organic revenue growth in 1Q, with results offereing some reassurance after a growth slowdown
• Pandora shares rise as much as 7.1%, the most in six months, after the Danish jewelery company beat expectations in the first quarter and raised its sales guidance
• Novo Nordisk falls as much as 3.6% in Copenhagen after the Danish drugmaker reported first-quarter results that included weaker-than-expected sales for its Wegovy weight-loss drug
• Maersk falls as much as 5.6% after the Danish shipping giant reported earnings DNB says were weighed down by a poor outlook and higher expectations than sell-side consensus accounted for
• Vestas shares drop as much as 5.5%, the most in seven months, after the Danish wind turbine maker posted an unexpected loss in the first-quarter on back of a sharp decline in orders
• Hiscox falls as much as 4.2% after first-quarter earnings, with analysts noting further growth headwinds and uncertainty around Baltimore losses, with RBC noting further headwinds in 2024
• Cargotec drops as much as 4.9%, with an upgrade by analysts at Carnegie not enough to stoke a longer rally for the Finnish crane and cargo-handling equipment firm after its record earnings

Earlier in the session, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed as much as 0.9%, with Tencent and Meituan among the biggest contributors. Key indexes in Hong Kong surged more than 2%, with the Hang Seng Index on track to enter a bull market, in a sign that global funds are trickling back into the market. Hong Kong’s currency peg to the greenback is burnishing its haven appeal amid the threat of higher-for-longer US interest rates. Stocks rose in Singapore and Australia, while Taiwanese and South Korean benchmarks traded lower. Japanese stocks fluctuated with the yen amid speculation authorities intervened for a second time this week to support the currency.

“The continued easing bias by the Fed is a welcome development for Asian risk assets,” said David Chao, a strategist at Invesco Asset Management in Singapore. “Global growth, led by the US, appears to be reaccelerating, which is positive for the Asian economies and markets.”

Thursday’s gain pushes the MSCI Asia gauge into the green for May after it dropped 1.5% in April amid worries about higher-for-longer interest rates. A world-beating rally in Hong Kong, helped by mainland Chinese investors, has supported a rebound in the broader Asia index in the past couple of weeks.

In FX, the Bloomberg dollar index dipped while the Swiss franc topped the G-10 FX pile, rising 0.4% versus the greenback after CPI jumped more than economists anticipated to a four-month high. The yen fell as much as 1.1% to 156.28 per dollar after a surge in late New York trade fueled speculation Japanese authorities had once again intervened in the market; Japan’s top currency official Masato Kanda had nothing to say on whether authorities intervened in the foreign currency market after the yen sharply strengthened against the dollar. Tehe USDJPY was last seen trading down to 154.82.

“USD positioning remains a key concern, especially after intervention of this scale, and so further bouts of BOJ action could trigger a deeper flush through the recent 154.50-155.00 area,” Richard Franulovich, head of FX strategy at Westpac, wrote in a note. “However, the 152.00-153.00 area should provide another strong support zone for repositioning basis the underlying fundamental divergence”

In rates, treasuries are richer across the curve, supported by gains seen in European rates as Wednesday’s Fed policy meeting continues to be digested by investors, along with volatility in currencies after Bank of Japan accounts suggested authorities likely intervened in the currency market for possibly the second time this week. Treasury yields richer by 1.5bp to 3bp across the curve with gains led by belly, extending Wednesday’s steepening move in the 5s30s spread by around 2bp, topping through 12bp; 10-year yields around 4.60%, richer by 3bp on the day with bunds outperforming by 1.5bp. Bunds and gilts outperform as they catch up with Wednesday’s post-Fed rally in US government bonds.  The US session focus includes jobless claims and factory orders.  

In commodities, oil clawed back losses from Wednesday and gold advanced.

Bitcoin finds some reprieve following the FOMC, and currently sits just under USD 58k.

Looking ahead, US economic data slate includes April Challenger jobs cuts (7:30am), 1Q unit labor costs, initial jobless claims, March trade balance (8:30am), factory orders, durable good orders (10am). Fed members’ scheduled speeches resume Friday with Goolsbee and Williams at a panel event

Market Snapshot

• S&P 500 futures up 0.6% to 5,077.50
• STOXX Europe 600 down 0.1% to 503.71
• MXAP up 0.9% to 175.18
• MXAPJ up 0.6% to 541.42
• Nikkei little changed at 38,236.07
• Topix little changed at 2,728.53
• Hang Seng Index up 2.5% to 18,207.13
• Shanghai Composite down 0.3% to 3,104.82
• Sensex up 0.3% to 74,702.33
• Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 0.2% to 7,586.97
• Kospi down 0.3% to 2,683.65
• German 10Y yield little changed at 2.55%
• Euro little changed at $1.0702
• Brent Futures up 0.7% to $84.06/bbl
• Gold spot down 0.6% to $2,305.54
• US Dollar Index little changed at 105.76

Top Overnight News

• The yen reversed much of its gains after spiking more than 3% in the last hour of New York trading. The BOJ’s accounts point to another round of intervention totaling about ¥3.5 trillion ($22.6 billion). The currency may weaken to 165 as official buying will only work if coordinated with the US. US officials may resort to more “specific” and “public” rhetoric to help stabilize the yen, Jim O’Neill said. The risk of more intervention over the long weekend is forcing Tokyo FX traders to plan on remaining at their desks. Japanese markets are closed tomorrow and Monday. BBG
• US reportedly discussed finalizing bank capital rules as soon as August, while the Fed, FDIC, and OCC won’t completely redo the July 2023 proposal, according to Bloomberg. BBG
• Chinese property stocks extended their gains on Thurs after gov’t officials signal additional policies will be forthcoming to bolster the industry. RTRS  
• A group of Midwestern Senate Democrats, joined by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, are urging the Biden administration to raise tariffs on China, warning that any cuts to Trump-era duties could hurt U.S. workers — and, implicitly, give the former president an electoral attack line on Democrats. Politico
• Huawei is secretly funding cutting-edge research at American universities including Harvard through an independent Washington-based foundation. The Chinese giant, which is blacklisted by the US, is the sole funder of a research competition that has awarded millions of dollars to scientists around the world, including from universities that ban researchers from working with the company, according to documents and people familiar. BBG
• Swiss CPI for Apr jumps by more than anticipated, coming in at +1.4% (up from +1.1% in Mar and above the Street’s +1.1% forecast). BBG  
• The world economic outlook is perking up as growth proves more resilient and inflation is set to cool faster than previously expected in many countries, the OECD said. It raised its 2024 global GDP forecast to 3.2% from 2.9% in February, with notable improvements in its expectations for the US, China and India. BBG
• Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthis are threatening merchant ships hundreds of miles out in the Indian Ocean after striking a container vessel well beyond the Red Sea last week, maritime officials and experts have warned. FT
• TSLA’s move this week to lay off much of the team responsible for creating the largest and most successful electric-vehicle charging network in the U.S. threw the industry into a state of shock and confusion. WSJ
• Exxon Mobil  is set to close its $60 billion megadeal for Pioneer Natural Resources following an agreement with antitrust enforcers not to add former Pioneer Chief Executive Officer Scott Sheffield to its board of directors, according to people familiar with the matter. WSJ

Earnings

• Qualcomm (QCOM) Q2 2024 (USD): Adj. EPS 2.44 (exp. 2.32), Revenue 9.39bln (exp. 9.34bln). QCT revenue USD 8.03bln (exp. 8.01bln). Internet of Things revenue USD 1.24bln (exp. 1.25bln). Guides Q3 Adj. EPS USD 2.15-2.35 (exp. 2.16). Guides Q3 rev. USD 8.8bln-9.6bln (exp. 9.08bln). +4.70% in pre-market trade
• DoorDash (DASH) Reported Q1 EPS of -0.06 (exp. -0.04), Q1 revenue of USD 2.51bln (exp. 2.45bln); Q1 total orders +21% to 620mln (exp. 608mln), Q1 adj. EBITDA USD 371mln (exp. 368.5mln).-12.70% in pre-market trade
• Novo Nordisk (NOVOB DC) Q1 (DKK): Sales 65.35bln (exp. 63.2bln), Wegovy sales 9.38bln (exp. 10.55bln), Total GLP-1 34.98bln (exp. 34.78bln, prev. 26.7bln), Ozempic 27.8bln (prev. 19.6bln).
• Shell (SHEL LN) Q1 (USD): Total Revenue 74.4bln (exp. 89.9bln), adj. EBITDA 18.71bln (exp. 16.82bln), adj. EPS 1.20 (exp. 1.09), Net Income 7.4bln (exp. 6.5bln), FCF 9.8bln. New share buyback programme of USD 3.5bln.
• Maersk (MAERSKB DC) Q1 (USD): Revenue 12.36bln (exp. 12.26bln). EBIT 177mln (exp. 165.4mln). EBITDA 1.59bln (exp 1.56bln). Ocean Revenue 8.01bln (exp. 7.57bln). Sees FY global container trade at the high end of +2.5-4.5% range.

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

APAC stocks traded mostly positive but with the upside for most bourses limited as the region reflected on the recent FOMC meeting and suspected Japanese currency intervention. ASX 200 was led higher by gold miners, financials and tech which benefitted from softer yields, while participants also digested earnings releases including from NAB and Woolworths. Nikkei 225 clawed back opening losses and returned to flat territory as effects of suspected intervention subsided. Hang Seng outperformed on return from the holiday closure despite the continued absence of mainland participants and Stock Connect flows with developers helped after China’s Politburo pledged efforts to support the property sector, while tech rallied as the unlikelihood of a US rate hike also bodes well for Hong Kong stocks given the HKMA’s requisite to move in lock-step with the Fed.

Top Asian News

• HKMA maintained its base rate unchanged at 5.75%, as expected and in lock-step with the Fed.
• Senate Democrats reportedly urge the Biden administration to raise tariffs on China and warned that any cuts to Trump-era duties could hurt US workers, according to Politico.
• BoJ March Meeting Minutes stated many members shared the view long-term rates should be set by markets and a few members said the BoJ should at some point in the future reduce bond buying amount and shrink its bond holdings, while a few members said the BoJ’s March move is different from the monetary tightening phase experienced in US and Europe. Furthermore, one member said the impact of the rise in short-term rate to around 0.1% will likely be limited and one member said BoJ should slowly but steadily move towards policy normalisation with an eye on economic and price developments.
• RBNZ’s Deputy Governor Hawkesby said the economy is evolving largely as they expected, while mortgage arrears have risen and are not projected to rise as far as they were, according to Reuters.
• Japan’s Top Currency Diplomat Kanda says cannot overlook excessive FX moves having a major impact on Japan’s economy, via JiJi; No comment on FX intervention.
• BoJ data suggested Japanese FX intervention on May 1st, according to Reuters; may have spent JPY 3.26-3.66tln

European bourses, Stoxx600 (-0.2%) are mixed, unable to significantly benefit from the FOMC and mostly positive APAC trade overnight. Price action has been fairly contained around session lows. European sectors are mixed; Banks have been lifted following post-earnings strength in Standard Chartered (+5.9%) and ING (+5.5%). Energy is the clear laggard amid broader weakness in the crude complex, whilst Tech lags. US Equity Futures (ES +0.5%, NQ +0.7%, RTY +1.1%) are entirely in the green, though very much off post-FOMC peaks. In terms of individual movers, Qualcomm (+4.1%) gains pre-market after beating on top/bottom line.

Top European News

• OECD Growth Forecasts: Fed seen cutting rates from Q3 to 3.75-4.00% by end-2025; ECB seen cutting from Q3 to 2.5% by end-2025. Global 2024: 3.1% (prev. 2.9%). 2025: 3.2% (prev. 3%). US 2024: 2.6% (prev. 2.1%). 2025: 1.8% (prev. 1.7%). EZ 2024: 0.7% (prev. 0.6%). 2025: 1.0% (prev. 1.2%) UK 2024: 0.4% (prev. 0.7%). 2025: 1.0% (prev. 1.2%).

FX

• DXY is flat after yesterday’s wild ride which saw the index sold in the wake of the FOMC before being dealt another hammer blow following touted JPY intervention. DXY went as low as 105.43 before staging a marginal recovery, but is yet to reapproach 106. Price action today has been confined to a 105.55-85 range.
• EUR/USD is holding onto 1.07 status and respecting yesterday’s 1.0649-1.0732 range, with the 200DMA currently bang on the 1.07 mark.
• Yet more erratic price action for USD/JPY after the pair dropped aggressively late in the US session amid suspected FX intervention (according to Reuters calculations). The pair fell from circa 157.50 to a low around the 153 mark. However, has since pared around half the move, and currently sits around 155.20.
• CHF is top of the leaderboard following firmer-than-expected Swiss inflation metrics. USD/CHF has subsequently been dragged lower from a 0.9173 peak to a 0.9101 tough.

Fixed Income

• USTs in the red but action more modest than the marked two-way moves seen around the FOMC. Where the headline message was more hawkish than the last gathering but not unexpectedly so. Currently, USTs in a sub-20 tick range at 114-23.
• Bunds are catching up from Wednesday’s market holiday. The resumption of trade overnight was a choppy one, but since the benchmark has been grinding higher as it reacts to the FOMC. Bunds top out at 130.67, 30 ticks shy of Tuesday’s best and a couple more from the 130.98 WTD peak.
• Gilts are firmer despite a lack of specific action as pricing for the BoE, which has been clear on its policy roadmap recently despite dissent, reacts to the net-dovish reaction to the Fed. Gilts gapped higher by 50 ticks to 96.05 and despite a brief foray to a 96.31 WTD peak, just shy of last week’s 33 best.
• France sells EUR 11.926bln vs exp. EUR 10.5-12bln 3.50% 2033, 1.25% 2034, 2.50% 2043, and 3.25% 2055 OAT:

Commodities

• Upward bias across the crude complex, but more so an attempted recovery after futures settled almost USD 3/bbl lower with steep losses on Wednesday amid a surprise EIA crude build coupled with ongoing ceasefire talks. Brent July within a 83.51-84.24/bbl range.
• Mostly softer trade across precious metals in a continuation of the post-Powell unwind with newsflow this morning on the lighter side. XAU trimmed some of yesterday’s move, which saw prices shoot higher from USD 2,281.68/oz to USD 2,328.43/oz.
• Base metals are mostly trading with modest gains with price action choppy as news flow remains thin ahead of US IJC later and NFP tomorrow, whilst APAC trade lacked a firm direction amid the absence of Chinese markets for the rest of the week.
• Shell (SHEL LN) CFO says they continue to see crude oil market tightening in H2 this year; Co. sees an uptick in LNG demand in South Asia
• Ukrainian drones damaged energy infrastructure and caused power cuts in Russia’s central Oryol region, while it was separately reported that Ukrainian drones tried to attack energy infrastructure in Russia’s Smolensk region.

Geopolitics

• “Senior Egyptian official told local media that there is ‘positive progress’ in the the truce negotiations between Israel and Hamis amid ‘extensive Egyptian contacts with all parties’. Hamas has not responded yet on the latest proposal”, via Walla News
• “Israel Broadcasting Corporation: Pessimism in Israel about the possibility of reaching an agreement to release hostages”, according to Sky News Arabia.
• US Secretary of State Blinken said Israel has made very important compromises over the proposal for the hostage deal, while he added they have seen real and meaningful progress in recent weeks.
• Hamas official reportedly expressed opposition to latest hostage deal offer, but the group said talks continue, according to the Times of Israel via social media platform X.
• US, UK and Canadian cybersecurity agencies warned that pro-Russian “hacktivists” are attempting to compromise computer networks for critical industrial sectors of the economy in North America and Europe, according to Bloomberg.

US Event Calendar

• 07:30: April Challenger Job Cuts -3.3% YoY, prior 0.7%
• 08:30: 1Q Unit Labor Costs, est. 4.0%, prior 0.4%
  • 1Q Nonfarm Productivity, est. 0.5%, prior 3.3%
• 08:30: April Initial Jobless Claims, est. 211,000, prior 207,000
  • April Continuing Claims, est. 1.79m, prior 1.78m
• 08:30: March Trade Balance, est. -$69.7b, prior -$68.9b
• 10:00: March Factory Orders, est. 1.6%, prior 1.4%
  • March Factory Orders Ex Trans, prior 1.1%
  • March Durable Goods Orders, est. 2.6%, prior 2.6%
  • March Durables-Less Transportation, est. 0.2%, prior 0.2%
  • March Cap Goods Orders Nondef Ex Air, prior 0.2%
  • March Cap Goods Ship Nondef Ex Air, prior 0.2%

DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

I’m looking bleary eyed at the FOMC reaction this morning after the most spectacular electrical storm at around 2-3am last night led to a very distressed Brontë the dog jumping up onto our bed and refusing to move from being on top of us and costing me well over an hours’ sleep. It was the worst kind of storm, i.e. one without any hot weather preceding it. Only cold!

The main flashes from the Fed last night was that while the FOMC made several hawkish tweaks, Powell signalled that rate hikes remained unlikely and the Fed announced a slightly-larger-than-expected slowing of QT. It’s hard to say it was a dovish meeting but given the recent inflation prints it could have been a lot more hawkish.

This result helped drive a relief rally for bonds, with 2yr Treasury yields (-7.5bps) seeing their largest fall since the day of the previous FOMC decision six weeks ago. Bonds were also supported by weaker US data and a sharp decline in oil prices. However, it was far from plain sailing for risk assets. Equities saw a strong rally in response to Powell’s very early comments in the presser that rates are unlikely to move higher (S&P +1.2% at the peak from slightly down before he spoke), but reversed this move late on, with the S&P 500 down -0.34% by the close. However S&P (+0.5%) and Nasdaq (+0.63%) futures are back up this morning. Adding to the overnight fun and games we have seen renewed speculation that the BoJ intervened in FX markets, after the yen spiked sharply near the US close. More below.

Starting with the Fed details, the FOMC kept rates unchanged and maintained its implicit easing bias but made a few hawkish changes compared to the last meeting. The press release added that “In recent months, there has been a lack of further progress toward the Committee’s 2 percent inflation objective”, with Powell emphasising that the data “so far have not given us this greater confidence” on inflation normalisation. Powell’s prepared remarks removed the wording that dialing back policy restraint was likely “this year”, with a shift away from any calendar-based guidance also evident during the Q&A. That said, the FOMC was focused on holding rates steady for longer as needed, rather than considering rates hike. Powell noted that renewed hikes were “unlikely” and would require “persuasive evidence that our policy stance is not sufficiently restrictive”. Following the meeting, our US economists continue to see the first cut as coming in December. Please see their full reaction note here.

On the balance sheet side, the Fed announced a slowing in the pace of QT. Specifically, the monthly cap on Treasuries runoff will decline from $60bn to $25bn a month starting in June, with the MBS cap kept at $35bn. The decline in the Treasuries cap was on the steeper end of expectations, which appeared to favour a $30bn pace after the minutes of the March meeting supported reducing “runoff by roughly half”.

The avoidance of major hawkish signal coupled with the QT adjustment left markets breathing a sigh of relief, in line with the pattern of yields declining on FOMC meetings that we noted yesterday. Fed funds futures priced as much as +8bps of extra cuts for 2024 as Powell signaled a high bar for rate hikes, with 35bps of cuts this year priced by the close (+6.7bps on the day). A decent move, though this is still nearly 50bps less easing than was priced just after the March FOMC. 2yr Treasury yields fell by -7.5bps to 4.96% from their post-November high the previous day. Bonds did give up some of their initial post-FOMC gains late on, with 10yr yields closing at 4.63% (-5.2bps on the day) after trading as low as 4.58% during Powell’s press conference. Overnight, 10yr UST yields are a basis point lower, trading at 4.62% as I type.

The late reversal was even sharper for equities. As discussed in the intro, the S&P 500 moved from being slightly lower on the day to as much as +1.2% higher as Powell spoke, before fully giving up these gains to close -0.34% lower before the recovery in Asia. We did see the Dow Jones (+0.23%) and Russell 2000 (+0.32%) post modest gains, with the losses for the S&P 500 led by information technology (-1.26%) and energy (-1.60%) stocks. Chipmakers underperformed as Super Micro Computer, the manufacturer of servers whose stock had been up +200% YTD thanks to AI-driven demand, fell -14.03% after its results the previous evening. This saw the Philadephia semiconductor index decline -3.54% and Nvidia -3.93% on the day. Tech performance will again be in focus this evening with Apple’s results after the US close.

Supporting assets yesterday was a sizeable decline in oil prices, which came as the latest EIA inventory report showed a jump in US crude inventories to their highest level since last June. Brent crude prices fell -5.03% to a 7-week low of $83.44/bbl, with WTI down -3.58% to $79.00/bbl (though the daily declines were exaggerated by the change in the benchmark month).

Overnight in Asia, the top story is renewed speculation that BoJ intervened in FX markets after the yen spiked by nearly 3% late on in the US session (from 157.5 to 153.0 per dollar). Japan’s top currency official Masato Kanda had “nothing to say now” on whether authorities intervened, but it is hard to think of an alternative explanation for such a sharp move in thin trading, which follows another sudden swing on Monday. T he yen has reversed much of its initial spike overnight though, trading around 155.77 per dollar as I type.

Asian equity markets are mostly higher this morning led by the Hang Seng (+2.13%) after returning from a midweek holiday with the S&P/ASX 200 (+0.37%) and the Nikkei (+0.21%) also edging higher. Elsewhere, the KOSPI (-0.20%) is bucking the regional trend with mainland Chinese markets remaining shut through the rest of the week.

Ahead of the Fed’s decision, US Treasury yields had already moved lower thanks to some weaker growth and labour market data. For instance, the JOLTS report showed that job openings were down to a 3-year low of 8.488m in March (vs. 8.680m expected). Moreover, the quits rate of those voluntarily leaving their jobs fell to 2.1%, which is its lowest since August 2020, and is a concerning sign given how that indicator is correlated with the strength of the labour market. There wasn’t much respite elsewhere, as the ISM manufacturing print for April fell back into contractionary territory at 49.2 (vs. 50.0 expected), and the new orders subcomponent was also down to 49.1. To be honest, the main factor preventing an even larger decline in yields was the prices paid indicator, which rose to its highest level since June 2022, up to 60.9. So that’s another concerning signal for the Fed on inflationary pressures.

Earlier in the day, we also had the US Treasury’s latest Quarterly Refunding Announcement, where they said they’d be selling $125bn of securities next week. In addition, the statement said that “ Treasury does not anticipate needing to increase nominal coupon or FRN auction sizes for at least the next several quarters.” Alongside that, they announced their new buyback program, where the first operation is intended for May 29.

Meanwhile for European markets, it was an incredibly quiet day as much of the continent had a public holiday. The main exception to that was here in the UK (our holiday isn’t until Monday), where bonds and equities both sold off. Indeed, the 10yr gilt yield (+2.0bps) climbed up to 4.365%, which is its highest closing level in nearly six months. Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 fell -0.28%, although the FTSE SmallCap was near flat at +0.03%. At the margins, the data was also a bit more positive in the UK, as the final manufacturing PMI for April was revised up four-tenths from the flash release to 49.1.

Staying on the UK, local elections are taking place today, which will be the last major electoral test for the political parties ahead of the next general election. There are several votes to look out for, but one of the biggest will be the London mayoral election, where incumbent Sadiq Khan is running for a third term. In political terms, two other important contests will be the mayoral elections in the West Midlands and the Tees Valley, as both are currently held by the governing Conservatives, but the opposition Labour Party are trying to take control. So if Labour managed to win either of those, that would suggest they remain in a strong position ahead of the next general election, which has to be held by January at the latest.

To the day ahead now, and US data releases include the weekly initial jobless claims, the trade balance and factory orders for March, along with preliminary nonfarm productivity for Q1. Today’s earnings releases include Apple. Finally in the political sphere, there are local elections taking place in the UK.

2B European Opening Report

US equity futures in the green & Treasuries softer, but relatively contained post-FOMC, JPY underperforms – Newsquawk US Market Open

THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2024 – 06:00 AM

• European equities are mixed while US equity futures are entirely in the green
• Dollar is flat, CHF bid after hotter inflation metrics, USD/JPY higher and at 155.20
• USTs softer but relatively contained in the fall-out of the FOMC; Bunds are higher and playing catch up
• Crude is incrementally firmer, XAU is softer and base metals are mixed
• Looking ahead, US Challenger Layoffs, International Trade, IJC, CNB Policy Announcement, ECB’s Lane, BoC’s Macklem & Rogers. Earnings from Apple, Moody’s, ConocoPhillips, Becton Dickinson, Amgen, Moderna, Motorola, Zoetis, Booking, Cigna, Cardinal Health & Peloton

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1. Subscribe to the free premarket movers reports

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EUROPEAN TRADE

EQUITIES

• European bourses, Stoxx600 (-0.2%) are mixed, unable to significantly benefit from the FOMC and mostly positive APAC trade overnight. Price action has been fairly contained around session lows.
• European sectors are mixed; Banks have been lifted following post-earnings strength in Standard Chartered (+5.9%) and ING (+5.5%). Energy is the clear laggard amid broader weakness in the crude complex, whilst Tech lags.
• US Equity Futures (ES +0.5%, NQ +0.7%, RTY +1.1%) are entirely in the green, though very much off post-FOMC peaks. In terms of individual movers, Qualcomm (+4.1%) gains pre-market after beating on top/bottom line.
• Click here and here for the sessions European pre-market equity newsflow, including notable earnings/updates from: Shell, Maersk, Novo Nordisk and more.
• Click here for more details.

FX

• DXY is flat after yesterday’s wild ride which saw the index sold in the wake of the FOMC before being dealt another hammer blow following touted JPY intervention. DXY went as low as 105.43 before staging a marginal recovery, but is yet to reapproach 106. Price action today has been confined to a 105.55-85 range.
• EUR/USD is holding onto 1.07 status and respecting yesterday’s 1.0649-1.0732 range, with the 200DMA currently bang on the 1.07 mark.
• Yet more erratic price action for USD/JPY after the pair dropped aggressively late in the US session amid suspected FX intervention (according to Reuters calculations). The pair fell from circa 157.50 to a low around the 153 mark. However, has since pared around half the move, and currently sits around 155.20.
• CHF is top of the leaderboard following firmer-than-expected Swiss inflation metrics. USD/CHF has subsequently been dragged lower from a 0.9173 peak to a 0.9101 tough.
• Click here for more details.
• Click here for OpEx for today’s NY Cut

FIXED INCOME

• USTs in the red but action more modest than the marked two-way moves seen around the FOMC. Where the headline message was more hawkish than the last gathering but not unexpectedly so. Currently, USTs in a sub-20 tick range at 114-23.
• Bunds are catching up from Wednesday’s market holiday. The resumption of trade overnight was a choppy one, but since the benchmark has been grinding higher as it reacts to the FOMC. Bunds top out at 130.67, 30 ticks shy of Tuesday’s best and a couple more from the 130.98 WTD peak.
• Gilts are firmer despite a lack of specific action as pricing for the BoE, which has been clear on its policy roadmap recently despite dissent, reacts to the net-dovish reaction to the Fed. Gilts gapped higher by 50 ticks to 96.05 and despite a brief foray to a 96.31 WTD peak, just shy of last week’s 33 best.
• France sells EUR 11.926bln vs exp. EUR 10.5-12bln 3.50% 2033, 1.25% 2034, 2.50% 2043, and 3.25% 2055 OAT:
• Click here for more details.

COMMODITIES

• Upward bias across the crude complex, but more so an attempted recovery after futures settled almost USD 3/bbl lower with steep losses on Wednesday amid a surprise EIA crude build coupled with ongoing ceasefire talks. Brent July within a 83.51-84.24/bbl range.
• Mostly softer trade across precious metals in a continuation of the post-Powell unwind with newsflow this morning on the lighter side. XAU trimmed some of yesterday’s move, which saw prices shoot higher from USD 2,281.68/oz to USD 2,328.43/oz.
• Base metals are mostly trading with modest gains with price action choppy as news flow remains thin ahead of US IJC later and NFP tomorrow, whilst APAC trade lacked a firm direction amid the absence of Chinese markets for the rest of the week.
• Shell (SHEL LN) CFO says they continue to see crude oil market tightening in H2 this year; Co. sees an uptick in LNG demand in South Asia
• Ukrainian drones damaged energy infrastructure and caused power cuts in Russia’s central Oryol region, while it was separately reported that Ukrainian drones tried to attack energy infrastructure in Russia’s Smolensk region.
• Click here for more details.

NOTABLE EUROPEAN HEADLINES

• OECD Growth Forecasts: Fed seen cutting rates from Q3 to 3.75-4.00% by end-2025; ECB seen cutting from Q3 to 2.5% by end-2025. Global 2024: 3.1% (prev. 2.9%). 2025: 3.2% (prev. 3%). US 2024: 2.6% (prev. 2.1%). 2025: 1.8% (prev. 1.7%). EZ 2024: 0.7% (prev. 0.6%). 2025: 1.0% (prev. 1.2%) UK 2024: 0.4% (prev. 0.7%). 2025: 1.0% (prev. 1.2%).

DATA RECAP

• Swiss CPI YY (Apr) 1.4% vs. Exp. 1.1% (Prev. 1.0%); Core 1.2% (prev. 1.0%). MM 0.3% vs. Exp. 0.1%
• Spanish HCOB Manufacturing PMI (Apr) 52.2 vs. Exp. 50.8 (Prev. 51.4)
• German HCOB Manufacturing PMI (Apr) 42.5 vs. Exp. 42.2 (Prev. 42.2)
• French HCOB Manufacturing PMI (Apr) 45.3 vs. Exp. 44.9 (Prev. 44.9)
• Italian HCOB Manufacturing PMI (Apr) 47.3 vs. Exp. 50 (Prev. 50.4)
• EU HCOB Manufacturing Final PMI (Apr) 45.7 vs. Exp. 45.6 (Prev. 45.6)
• Italian Producer Prices YY (Mar) -9.6% (Prev. -10.8%); Producer Prices MM (Mar) -0.2% (Prev. -1.0%)

EARNINGS

• Qualcomm (QCOM) Q2 2024 (USD): Adj. EPS 2.44 (exp. 2.32), Revenue 9.39bln (exp. 9.34bln). QCT revenue USD 8.03bln (exp. 8.01bln). Internet of Things revenue USD 1.24bln (exp. 1.25bln). Guides Q3 Adj. EPS USD 2.15-2.35 (exp. 2.16). Guides Q3 rev. USD 8.8bln-9.6bln (exp. 9.08bln). +4.70% in pre-market trade
• DoorDash (DASH) Reported Q1 EPS of -0.06 (exp. -0.04), Q1 revenue of USD 2.51bln (exp. 2.45bln); Q1 total orders +21% to 620mln (exp. 608mln), Q1 adj. EBITDA USD 371mln (exp. 368.5mln).-12.70% in pre-market trade
• Novo Nordisk (NOVOB DC) Q1 (DKK): Sales 65.35bln (exp. 63.2bln), Wegovy sales 9.38bln (exp. 10.55bln), Total GLP-1 34.98bln (exp. 34.78bln, prev. 26.7bln), Ozempic 27.8bln (prev. 19.6bln). Click here for more.
• Shell (SHEL LN) Q1 (USD): Total Revenue 74.4bln (exp. 89.9bln), adj. EBITDA 18.71bln (exp. 16.82bln), adj. EPS 1.20 (exp. 1.09), Net Income 7.4bln (exp. 6.5bln), FCF 9.8bln. New share buyback programme of USD 3.5bln. Click here for more.
• Maersk (MAERSKB DC) Q1 (USD): Revenue 12.36bln (exp. 12.26bln). EBIT 177mln (exp. 165.4mln). EBITDA 1.59bln (exp 1.56bln). Ocean Revenue 8.01bln (exp. 7.57bln). Sees FY global container trade at the high end of +2.5-4.5% range. Click here for more.

NOTABLE US HEADLINES

• US reportedly discussed finalising bank capital rules as soon as August, while the Fed, FDIC, and OCC won’t completely redo the July 2023 proposal, according to Bloomberg.

GEOPOLITICS

MIDDLE EAST

• “Senior Egyptian official told local media that there is ‘positive progress’ in the the truce negotiations between Israel and Hamis amid ‘extensive Egyptian contacts with all parties’. Hamas has not responded yet on the latest proposal”, via Walla News
• “Israel Broadcasting Corporation: Pessimism in Israel about the possibility of reaching an agreement to release hostages”, according to Sky News Arabia.
• US Secretary of State Blinken said Israel has made very important compromises over the proposal for the hostage deal, while he added they have seen real and meaningful progress in recent weeks.
• Hamas official reportedly expressed opposition to latest hostage deal offer, but the group said talks continue, according to the Times of Israel via social media platform X.

OTHER

• US, UK and Canadian cybersecurity agencies warned that pro-Russian “hacktivists” are attempting to compromise computer networks for critical industrial sectors of the economy in North America and Europe, according to Bloomberg.

CRYPTO

• Bitcoin finds some reprieve following the FOMC, and currently sits just under USD 58k.

APAC TRADE

• APAC stocks traded mostly positive but with the upside for most bourses limited as the region reflected on the recent FOMC meeting and suspected Japanese currency intervention.
• ASX 200 was led higher by gold miners, financials and tech which benefitted from softer yields, while participants also digested earnings releases including from NAB and Woolworths.
• Nikkei 225 clawed back opening losses and returned to flat territory as effects of suspected intervention subsided.
• Hang Seng outperformed on return from the holiday closure despite the continued absence of mainland participants and Stock Connect flows with developers helped after China’s Politburo pledged efforts to support the property sector, while tech rallied as the unlikelihood of a US rate hike also bodes well for Hong Kong stocks given the HKMA’s requisite to move in lock-step with the Fed.

NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES

• HKMA maintained its base rate unchanged at 5.75%, as expected and in lock-step with the Fed.
• Senate Democrats reportedly urge the Biden administration to raise tariffs on China and warned that any cuts to Trump-era duties could hurt US workers, according to Politico.
• BoJ March Meeting Minutes stated many members shared the view long-term rates should be set by markets and a few members said the BoJ should at some point in the future reduce bond buying amount and shrink its bond holdings, while a few members said the BoJ’s March move is different from the monetary tightening phase experienced in US and Europe. Furthermore, one member said the impact of the rise in short-term rate to around 0.1% will likely be limited and one member said BoJ should slowly but steadily move towards policy normalisation with an eye on economic and price developments.
• RBNZ’s Deputy Governor Hawkesby said the economy is evolving largely as they expected, while mortgage arrears have risen and are not projected to rise as far as they were, according to Reuters.
• Japan’s Top Currency Diplomat Kanda says cannot overlook excessive FX moves having a major impact on Japan’s economy, via JiJi; No comment on FX intervention.
• BoJ data suggested Japanese FX intervention on May 1st, according to Reuters; may have spent JPY 3.26-3.66tln

APAC DATA RECAP

• Australian Building Approvals MM (Mar) 1.9% vs. Exp. 3.0% (Prev. -1.9%, Rev. -0.9%)
• Australian Trade Balance (AUD)(Mar) 5.0B vs. Exp. 7.3B (Prev. 7.3B)
• Australian Goods/Services Exports (Mar) 0.10% (Prev. -2.20%); Imports (Mar) 4.20% (Prev. 4.80%)

THURSDAY MORNING/WEDNESDAY  NIGHT

SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 8.22 PTS OR .22% //Hang Seng CLOSED UP 444.10 PTS OR 2.5%// Nikkei CLOSED DOWN 37.98PT OR 0.10% //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP 0.22%///Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed UP 7.2411//OFFSHORE CHINESE YUAN CLOSED UP TO 7.2313//Oil DOWN TO 79.47 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT DOWN AT 84.75Stocks in Europe OPENED MOSTLY GREEN

ONSHORE YUAN TRADING BELOW 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

Problems facing Japan with a high Debt to GDP level of over 260% and a weak currency

(EpochTimes)

Japan’s Warning For America

WEDNESDAY, MAY 01, 2024 – 11:05 PM

Authored by Michael Wilkerson via The Epoch Times,

Last week, Japan saw its currency, the yen, rapidly depreciate against the U.S. dollar and other world currencies to near record low levels. This drew the attention of financial markets and other observers, and—in some quarters—led to panic. There was concern that Japan, a formerly great nation now increasingly viewed as the “sick man of Asia,” was on the brink of a currency and financial markets crisis.

It wasn’t so long ago that Japan was the envy of the world. Japan’s postwar recovery and subsequent economic miracle produced by the 1980s the world’s second-largest economy after the United States. Numerous Japanese multinational corporations were admired by the business world as a result of their growth, efficiency, and managerial discipline. The state and big business were closely aligned in what appeared an unstoppable formula. Flush with cash and confidence, Japanese companies and investors were aggressively expansionist, acquiring market share, trophy properties, resources, and businesses in the United States and elsewhere. Much like concerns about China today, fears then abounded that Japan would overtake the United States as the global economic leader.

These fears were unfounded. “Japan Inc.” was a house built on a faulty foundation. Overly accommodative easy money, along with high leverage throughout the financial and corporate sectors, facilitated a massive stock market and real estate bubble, which eventually burst in 1990. The crash led to a depression from which Japan has never recovered, even after three decades. The question is, why not? Herein lies a lesson for the United States.

Repeated government bailouts of failing financial and industrial companies have perpetuated Japan’s crisis. Japan’s leaders and policies have repeatedly blocked the process of creative destruction, which—if allowed to run its course and cleanse the system—would have been a massive stimulus to entrepreneurship and economic vitality. However, rather than allow capitalism to work, the Japanese system doomed the country to a generation of stagnation.

As a result, Japan has endured three “lost decades” of weak economic growth, diminished purchasing power, lower and lower standards of living, loss of prestige and influence in the global community, and an aging population that the island nation’s resources are straining to support.

Japan now has the world’s highest government debt-to-GDP ratio, at 264 percent. Japan’s banks are walking zombies, unable to grow or lend because they have never restructured their balance sheets to clean up massive piles of debt left over from excesses of previous decades. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) holds government bonds and other assets equal to 127 percent of Japan’s GDP, the highest ratio of any central bank in the world. This portfolio resulted in over $70 billion in unrealized losses for the BOJ in six months of 2023 alone.

The Japanese yen has devalued against the U.S. dollar by more than 30 percent in just three years since 2021. Since the global financial crisis 2008–09, the yen has lost 75 percent of its value against gold. Because of Japan’s high reliance on imports, this loss of purchasing power has translated directly into a substantially lower standard of living for the Japanese people. In theory, Japan could support the yen by raising interest rates, but this is a political, monetary, and fiscal impossibility.

Decades of easy money policies are a central culprit and cause of this slow-moving trainwreck.

The Bank of Japan only began raising interest rates this March, some three years after the United States and the European Union brought their own easy money policies to an end. This was the first time the BOJ has raised rates since 2007, a move that pulled the official rate out of negative territory. Nonetheless, with inflation now approaching 2 percent, a short-term policy rate of zero to 0.1 percent means that real rates remain around negative 2 percent. This serves as an additional tax on Japanese households and an intended stimulus to spend today rather than save for tomorrow.

Money essentially is free in Japan, but no one can afford to borrow it, even if the banks can manage to lend it. The BOJ and the entire banking system stand in the penumbra of insolvency. Only Japan’s decade-long zero interest-rate policy has allowed Japan’s decrepit financial system to continue to stand following the 2008 financial crisis and the effects of COVID economic shutdowns. Japan cannot afford to raise interest rates to support its currency more than nominally above the zero bound without substantially raising debt service costs and exploding losses. This would bring the entire rickety system to the ground.

A growing economy might help ease the burden, but Japan’s economy is moribund. This is not surprising, as meaningful growth is impossible under mountains of debt. GDP shrank by 0.8 percent in the third quarter and eked out 0.1 percent growth in the fourth quarter. While the country thus barely escaped technical recession (two consecutive quarters of GDP decline), Japan hasn’t posted GDP growth above 2 percent in more than 20 years, save for two rebound quarters after the global shocks of the financial crisis and COVID.

Japan represents a slow-moving demographic disaster. Japan has the oldest median population of any major country in the world and the lowest fertility rate at 1.37. Japan’s fertility rate has been below the minimum population replacement rate (2.1) for 40 years, meaning that the country is both aging and losing economic productivity, and it is probably too late to reverse it.

This all represents a grave warning to the United States.

The U.S. government is chasing Japan for the ignoble title of most indebted nation. Overly indebted nations cannot grow. With federal government debt to GDP of 129 percent, a ratio which is increasing rapidly, the United States is now the fourth most indebted country in the world. Debt is growing more quickly now because the federal government refuses to wean itself off of deficit spending, including an additional $1.7 trillion in 2023, which must be funded by new debt, as must over $1 trillion in interest expense. This debt—and the cost to service it—acts as a drag on our economy. Deficit spending and the borrowing required to support it crowds out private market investment and financings.

Rather than let more insolvent banks and unprofitable firms fail, U.S. monetary policy since at least the 2008 financial crisis has propped up bad business models—and the asset values of otherwise worthless investments—by subsidizing the cost of capital well below the natural rate of interest. In a nation that has been the standard bearer and exporter of capitalism for more than two centuries, socialistic government policies are preventing capitalism from working at home. This will eventually catch up with our financial markets and economy, just as it did for Japan.

It is not just shortsighted monetary and financial policy that threatens U.S. competitiveness.

If Americans’ worsening attitudes toward the importance of marriage and children do not reverse course dramatically, the United States will face the same demographic fate as Japan. The fertility rate in the United States has been in decline since at least 2008, and reached a record low of 1.62 in 2023. This is well below the replacement rate, and thus unsustainable.

Progressives point to declining fertility rates and aging populations to justify mass illegal immigration, but this is a red herring. Bringing tens of millions of unskilled, uneducated, and culturally unassimilated migrants into the nation is not a benefit but rather an untenable burden on social infrastructure, an enervating drain on economic productivity, and an unbearable tax on legal citizens.

At least Japan got that part right.

end

3 CHINA

CHINA/USA/RUSSIA

USA imposes sanctions on Chinese companies vital to Russia’s defense industry

(zerohedge)

US Imposes Sanctions On Chinese Companies Vital To Russia’s Defense Industry

WEDNESDAY, MAY 01, 2024 – 07:25 PM

The Biden administration and US Treasury on Wednesday unveiled nearly 300 new anti-Russia sanctions which especially target third party entities which are said to help Moscow in sanctions-busting activities.

“The almost 300 targets being sanctioned by both Treasury and the Department of State include sanctions on dozens of actors that have enabled Russia to acquire desperately needed technology and equipment from abroad,” the Treasury Department said in a press release.

So-called dual-use items out of China are a key focus of the action, which is being hailed as one of “the most wide-ranging actions against Chinese companies so far in Washington’s sanctions aimed at Russia.” 20 companies based in China and Hong Kong were named

Companies in Turkey, Belgium, Azerbaijan, Slovakia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are also targeted.

“Treasury has consistently warned that companies will face significant consequences for providing material support for Russia’s war, and the U.S. is imposing them today on almost 300 targets,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

It also marks the furthest reaching action that seeks to specifically degrade Russia’s military-industrial base, as well as its biological and chemical weapons programs. For example, companies involved in manufacturing precursor materials for Russia to make explosives are listed.

Last week during Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to China he warned about Beijing’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine. “Russia would struggle to sustain its assault on Ukraine without China’s support,” Blinken had claimed provocatively, while also asserting China is the “top supplier” of Russia’s defense industrial base – albeit not in terms of lethal aid (but instead “dual use” technologies).

This support to Russia’s defense industry additionally constitutes a “medium to long-term threat that many Europeans feel viscerally that Russia poses to them,” Blinken had asserted.

Meanwhile, as Ukraine forces continue getting pushed back from frontline positions by the better-armed Russian force, hawkish threats out of Congress are getting more frantic…

Post

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Conversation

Victor vicktop55

@vicktop55

We must be prepared to strike back at Putin on Russian soil – Congressman Scott “Supporting Ukraine means defeating Vladimir Putin in Russia. We must be prepared to hit him back on Russian territory. And when I see the Biden administration, which does not want to comply with sanctions, and our European allies do not comply with sanctions, and then when Ukraine strikes on Russia, Biden saying, ‘Please don’t do this again’ is a problem,” the congressman said. It seems I missed something. Remind me, please, when Russia struck the United States, because congressmen are now calling for a retaliatory strike on Russian territory? https://t.me/vicktop55/24194

0:41

12:38 PM · Apr 30, 2024

·

82K Views

witter.com/vicktop55/status/1785348095284261266?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1785348095284261266%7Ct

He warned last week that the Biden administration stood ready to introduce more sanctions against China if dual-use goods and technologies continue to be sent to Russia, including things previously identified by Washington as problematic: semiconductors, machine tools, chemical precursors, ball bearings, and optical systems. Based on Wednesday’s Treasury action it is clear that the sanctions were already being prepared even as Blinken was on the three-day trip, which including a meeting with President Xi.

END

4.EUROPEAN AFFAIRS//UK /SCANDINAVIAN AFFAIRS

European automakers are struggling with lackluster demand

(zerohedge)

European Automakers Are Struggling With Falling Demand

THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2024 – 04:15 AM

Shares in names like VW, Mercedes and Stellantis were lower this week, heading into Wednesday’s session, after news of “falling demand” in Europe. 

In the first quarter of this year, Europe’s top two car manufacturers faced a downturn due to diminished demand in China and domestic markets, Financial Times reported on Tuesday this week.

Volkswagen Group saw a significant decline in profits, dropping by a fifth from the previous year to €4.6bn, largely attributed to declining resale values and supply issues at Audi, a key brand within the group, the report says. 

Diminished resale values pose a particular challenge for car manufacturers like VW, heavily involved in customer financing. When used car prices fall below expectations, companies are compelled to take write-downs on these loans.

FT also noted that Stellantis, the parent company of Peugeot and Jeep, experienced a larger-than-anticipated drop in revenue, totaling €41.7bn in the first quarter, primarily due to weaker performance in its core European markets.

Similarly, Mercedes-Benz reported a nearly 30 percent decrease in earnings before interest and tax, down to €3.9bn, as both sales volumes and profit margins experienced declines.

The luxury automaker also said sales of new cars were down by 8%, led by a slowdown in Asia. This prompted Citi to come out this week and comment that they are “increasingly . . . worried about the [Mercedes] Cars operations,” the report notes. 

Meanwhile, Jefferies said it was a “downbeat start” to the year for VW.

As we have been pointing out on Zero Hedge, the automotive industry, previously buoyed by supply chain disruptions driving up prices, is now grappling with challenges stemming from plummeting resale values of electric vehicles. The EV industry, especially in China, is winning by going smaller, we noted last week. 

Factors contributing to this include weaker demand, software obsolescence, and price competition fueled by Tesla and Chinese manufacturers. Additionally, higher interest rates have deterred consumers.

Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz face heightened exposure to issues in China, their largest market, where consumer demand has softened amid intensifying competition from local players. VW reported a lower-than-expected operating margin due to discounts across its models and internal supply chain issues affecting Audi V6 and V8 engine production.

Despite challenges, VW remains focused on transitioning its portfolio with the launch of 30 new models, predominantly electric vehicles, it says. Stellantis also encountered a turbulent quarter as it prepares to introduce new models, particularly electric cars, later in the year. Net revenues for the first quarter were €41.7bn, down 12 percent year-on-year, primarily due to inventory depletion from the previous year.

END

5. RUSSIA AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS.

ISRAEL/HAMAS

Senior Hamas official in Lebanon signals: ‘We made it clear that our position is negative’

Hamdan confirmed that contact with Hamas’s two leaders, Muhammad Deif and Yahya Sinwar, is permanent and that constant close monitoring is conducted in the field.

By MAARIVMAY 2, 2024 00:02Updated: MAY 2, 2024 00:06

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan signaled on Wednesday in an interview with the Hezbollah-backed Lebanese channel “Al-Manar”, that “if the enemy launches an aggressive ground operation in Rafah – the negotiations will be stopped because the resistance does not negotiate under fire,” as reported in Israeli media.

Hamdan also referred to the fighting in Gaza and said that “the resistance capabilities [of Hamas] are still high and the resistance is still fine, this while the Zionist elite brigades have collapsed in the Gaza Strip.”

He later noted, “The Israeli enemy bet on a decrease in its capabilities, but the resistance was preparing.”

END

TURKEY VS ISRAEL

Turkey is the net loser on this!

Turkey Halts All Trade With Israel As Relations At Breaking Point

THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2024 – 12:35 PM

For months, relations between Turkey and Israel have been on the brink of breaking point. Already there has been the recalling of ambassadors, inflammatory rhetoric exchanged between leaders, and then things got more serious when Turkey a month ago moved to restrict 54 products from being exported to Israel until a Gaza ceasefire can be reached.

But Turkey’s government on Thursday has taken the next big step, halting all exports and imports to and from Israel, according to Bloomberg which cited Turkish government officials. It has begun effective today, but Ankara has yet to officially announce the dramatic move.

sraeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has confirmed that the breaking headlines are accurate. He said that Ankara has already begun to block Israeli imports and exports at Turkish ports.

Katz has ordered the foreign ministry to immediately pursue alternatives for trade which focus on “local production and imports from other countries.”

Bilateral trade volume between the two countries, which prior to Oct.7 were enjoying warmer relations, had stood at $5.4 billion last year.

• Turkey sells $5B-$7B of exports to Israel every year.
• Israel sells $2B-$3B of exports to Turkey every year.

But President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been unrelenting in his attacks on Israel and directed against Netanyahu personally. 

In March, he went so far as to suggest the Israeli prime minster should be assassinated for overseeing war crimes in Gaza and against Muslims.

 In a prior election rally the Turkish president vowed to “send [Netanyahu] to Allah to take care of him, make him miserable and curse him.”

This week Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced Turkey will join South Africa’s case against Israel before the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC).

So it appears at this point Turkey is waging both full-scale diplomatic and economic war on Israel. This is unprecedented for a NATO member, which also happens to have the second largest military within the Western military alliance, and is sure to put Western officials in an awkward spot.

end

SAUDI ARABIA/ARAB COUNTRIES/ISRAEL

Saudi Arabia should be worried about an Islamist uprising as chaos runs supreme led by the idiot Biden

Saudi Arabia Worried About Islamist Uprising As US-Backed Normalization With Israel ‘Close’

THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2024 – 12:15 PM

Via The Cradle

Arrests of Saudi citizens over social media posts related to ‘Israeli genocide’ in Gaza have markedly increased in recent months, as Riyadh is reportedly concerned that “Iran and Islamist groups could exploit the conflict to incite a wave of uprisings,” according to people familiar with the matter who spoke with Bloomberg.

Recent arrests include “an executive with a company involved in the kingdom’s Vision 2030 economic transformation plan,” who reportedly expressed views on Gaza deemed “incendiary,” an unnamed media figure who said “Israel should never be forgiven,” and a citizen who called for the boycott of US fast food chains in the kingdom.

According to one of Bloomberg’s sources, over the past six months, there has been a “significant increase” in the number of prisoners entering a maximum-security prison south of Riyadh. The New York-based publication says this account was corroborated by diplomats in the Saudi capital and human rights organizations who have tracked a “spike in social media-related arrests” since 7 October.

“The Saudi arrests for Gaza-related posts indicate Prince [Mohammed bin Salman’s] regime will take a hard line against citizens not toeing the line when it comes to normalizing ties with Israel,” Bloomberg reports.

In a visit to the Gulf kingdom on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that intensive work has recently been done toward a Saudi–Israel normalization deal, which he said is “potentially very close to completion.”

Nevertheless, on Wednesday, the Guardian reported that Riyadh has devised a “more modest” defense pact with Washington as authorities prepare to move past Israeli normalization over Tel Aviv’s intransigence regarding the formation of an independent Palestinian state and their determination to assault Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah.

The British daily described this “Plan B” as a joint US–Saudi effort to “contain Iranian expansionism and [as part of] Washington’s ‘great-power competition,’ particularly with China.”

Moreover, Israeli media on Thursday cited a source in the Saudi royal family as saying that the kingdom sent a message to Tel Aviv stating that any military operation in Rafah “would be a big mistake and would push normalization between the two parties away.”

“Riyadh will appear as a traitorous country in that case,” the Israeli report adds, as Saudi leaders reportedly believe “Saudi Arabia will not be able to normalize relations with Israel if there is no Palestinian state.”

RUSSIA/UKRAINE

Ukrainian drones whack Rosneft refiner in Russia

(zerohedge)

Ukrainian Drones Hit Major Rosneft Refinery In Russia

WEDNESDAY, MAY 01, 2024 – 07:43 PM

By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com

Just as Russia had started to bring back some refinery capacity damaged by Ukrainian drone attacks earlier this year, a new wave of drone attacks hit a major refinery owned by Rosneft, for a second time.

Rosneft’s Ryazan refinery southeast of Moscow caught fire after the overnight drone attack, an anonymous Ukrainian military source with knowledge of the situation told Bloomberg News on Wednesday

Just as Russia had started to bring back some refinery capacity damaged by Ukrainian drone attacks earlier this year, a new wave of drone attacks hit a major refinery owned by Rosneft, for a second time.

Rosneft’s Ryazan refinery southeast of Moscow caught fire after the overnight drone attack, an anonymous Ukrainian military source with knowledge of the situation told Bloomberg News on Wednesday.

The refinery in the region of Ryazan, whose main city of the same name is some 120 miles southeast of Moscow, was first attacked by drones in the middle of March. The first attack also led to a fire.

Drones attacked the Ryazan oil refinery, and a fire started there According to local residents, the attack on the plant took place around 3 am. In social networks report that at first a strong rumble of drones was heard, and then there were two explosions. According to preliminary data, there are no casualties.

0:05

2:16 AM · May 1, 2024

·https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1785553984423383541?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1785553984423383541%7C

75.3K Views

This year, Ukraine has stepped up attacks on oil refineries in Russia, which have reduced Russian refining capacity, and, reportedly, have the White House concerned about rising international prices.

The United States has repeatedly urged Ukraine to halt its drone attacks on Russian oil refineries due to Washington’s assessment that the strikes could lead to Russian retaliation and push up global oil prices, the Financial Times reported in March, citing sources familiar with the exchange.

As of mid-April, Russia had brought back online some oil refining units, reducing the capacity taken offline by Ukrainian drone hits to around 10%, from 14% at the end of March.

The refining capacity in Russia that was offline due to drone attacks was estimated by Reuters in mid-April at around 660,000 barrels per day (bpd), compared to 907,000 bpd offline at the end of March.

Russia said in early April it can repair all damaged units within two months.

n addition to the Ryazan Refinery, 2 UAVs also attacked the Voronezhnefteprodukt Refinery, — ASTRA

1 UAV fell on the territory of “Voronezhnefteprodukt” in the village of Staraya Pokrovka. The other seemed to have been shot down in the suburbs of Voronezh.

0:02

5:15 AM · May 1, 2024

·https://twitter.com/Maks_NAFO_FELLA/status/1785598808077812136/video/

36.6K Views

Russia’s Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov said that all damaged refineries in the country would be restarted by the beginning of June.

“Repairs are underway at the refineries. We plan to re-launch a number of refineries after repairs in April-May, possibly before the beginning of June,” Russian news agency Interfax quoted Shulginov as saying.

“All facilities that were damaged will be re-commissioned,” the minister added.  

end

RUSSIA/UKRAINE

Russia strikes back hitting military HQ in Odesa

(zerohedge)

Russia Strikes Military HQ In Odessa After Ukraine Attacks Crimea With US-Provided ATACMS

THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2024 – 02:45 AM

In yet another among the latest signs that Moscow is escalating its war against Ukraine, pushing sustained strikes deeper into its territory, Russian forces have mounted a large attack against Ukraine’s military headquarters for the southern region. 

The ministry of defense confirmed an attack on Ukraine’s Operational Command South headquarters, coming amid stepped up operations against the southern port city of Odessa. RIA Novosti separately confirmed the attack on the Ukrainian HQ in the center Odessa, citing a ballistic missile strike on the city and three explosions, which reportedly killed three people.

Just last month, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu pledged that his forces will step up attacks on warehouses and logistics hubs with West-supplied weaponry. Moscow has also said it will push back the front lines deeper into Ukrainian territory in order to better prevent NATO-supplied longer range missiles from striking inside Russia. It seems the next big target is Odessa, which would greatly expand Russian military hold in the south.

But Russia also seems to be responding to the increased attacks against Crimea. On Tuesday Russian officials said that the peninsula came under attack with US-provided Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS).

It was revealed only within the last week that these long-range systems were secretly transferred to Kiev by Washington in March. Politico previously documented that the White House “quietly approved the transfer of a number of Army Tactical Missile Systems with a range of nearly 200 miles, said a senior Biden administration official and two U.S. officials, allowing President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s forces to put at risk more Russian targets inside Ukrainian sovereign territory.”

A prior, older version of the ATAMCS missiles were sent last year, but the range was reportedly limited to 100 miles. President Biden and his officials throughout the early phase of the war warned Kiev against attacks on Russian territory but this caution seems to have been abandoned by the US administration.

Governor of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov said of the Tuesday attack that the inbound ATACMS were shot down by Russian air defenses. Russia’s defense ministry (MoD) specified it shot down six of the missiles. 

Additionally, French-made projectiles were also reportedly shot down elsewhere in the country, with TASS reporting that “Russian air defense systems have taken down 29 Ukrainian drones and five French-made AASM Hammer smart bombs over 24 hours in the special military operation in Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Uragan rocket was also shot down.”

Ukraine’s skies remain by and large undefended and unprotected, which is why President Zelensky is essentially begging for more Patriot anti-air defense systems from the US and Europe. Kiev further wants to see the F-16 program hurried along. 

Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Ilya Evlash on Wednesday told a public broadcaster that the first batch F-16 jets could arrive as early as within weeks, after Orthodox Easter (celebrated on May 5 this year); however, other observers have said that this timetable is a stretch and remains unrealistic.

end

6.Global Issues//COVID ISSUES

COVID ISSUES/VACCINE ISSUES//DRUG ISSUES

end

MARK CRISPIN MILLER

END

DR PAUL ALEXANDER

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

‘Shock video: Jewish girl at UCLA bludgeoned into unconsciousness Suffers concussion, unable to recognize her family when she initially woke’; the girl was surrounded by five people wearing keffiyehs

and bludgeoned in the head while they stomped on her Israeli flag. The girl reportedly lost consciousness and her body went limp. She was sent to the Emergency Room….IMO, time to shoot them

DR. PAUL ALEXANDERMAY 1

READ IN APP

Shock video: Jewish girl at UCLA bludgeoned into unconsciousness | WND | by Around the Web

JUST IN: Jewish girl at UCLA sent to the ER after being beaten unconscious by pro-Palestine protesters.

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.

Subscribed

The incident reportedly happened at Dickerson Plaza.

According to ‘ThatKoreanJew’ on IG who is a medical student at UCLA, the girl was surrounded by 5 people.

She suffered a concussion and was unable to recognize her family when she initially woke up.

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.

Dr. Mandy Cohen (CDC Director): ‘We need everyone to get an updated flu shot & updated COVID vaccine…plan ahead, when you get your flu shot in Fall, you will get an updated COVID vaccine…we

want kids protected’; so IMO, this Mandy Cohen is so dumb & dimwitted, she makes Rochelle Walensky blush with envy, how idiotic this current Director is & stupid, nothing she just said made ANY sense

DR. PAUL ALEXANDERMAY 2

READ IN APP

I have listened to Mandy each opportunity I get to see if somehow, she can evidence some level of coherence and each time I walk away with my head hanging low. You now listen to this short video and tell me, do you understand what she said based on all we know today after 4 years of this COVID fraud the harms of the mRNA vaccines (and the viral vector platform) as well as the basic fact that they DO NOT work, including the non-sensical fraud flu vaccine. Tell me, what data, what medical data, clinical evidence, scientific data etc. she knows of that we do not, that drives her to make these ludicrous statements? Is she reading Malone’s Twitter posts again that the mRNA vaccine saves lives? That he had unambiguous evidence…oh God, I do not know which is more dumb, Mandy or a box of rocks. Listening to Mandy is like watching grass grow.

Watch CDC Director Expects New Version of Covid Shot in Fall – Bloomberg

Watch CDC Director Expects New Version of Covid Shot in Fall – Bloomberg

SLAY NEWS

The latest reports from Slay News

Renowned Scientist: All Covid-Vaxxed ‘Will Die in 3 to 5 Years’A world-renowned scientist and leading immunology expert has raised the alarm with an explosive warning to the public that everyone who has been vaccinated with Covid mRNA shots “will die within 3 to 5 years, even if they have had only one injection.”READ MORE

WEF Banker Gloats of Using Covid to Usher In ‘100% Digital’ Global ‘Cashless Society’A powerful central banker has gloated to his fellow World Economic Forum (WEF) members that the Covid pandemic has helped globalists usher in a global “cashless society.”READ MORE

Over 1000 Venezuelan Illegal Aliens Arrested for Committing Crimes in Chicago during 1st QuarterThe latest crime figures have revealed the devastating impact on Chicago from floods of illegal aliens arriving in the Democrat-controlled “sanctuary city.”READ MORE

‘Rob Roy’ Actor Brian McCardie Dies ‘Suddenly’ at 59Celebrated Scottish actor Brian McCardie has reportedly died “suddenly,” his family has revealed.READ MORE

Bill Maher: ‘Rising Star’ Alvin Bragg’s Anti-Trump ‘Hush Money’ Case Could ‘Change the Whole Election’Liberal TV host Bill Maher has had a change of heart regarding Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s “hush money” case against President Donald Trump, asserting that the trial could directly influence the upcoming November election.READ MORE

J.D Vance Responds to Trump VP SpeculationRepublican Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) is one of the names frequently rumored to be near the top of President Donald Trump’s shortlist for his 2o24 election running mate.READ MORE

Michael Cohen Cashing In on Donations for Anti-Trump Rants on TikTokDisgraced former attorney Michael Cohen has been cashing in on donations through Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok as he rants about President Donald Trump to his 290,000 followers.READ MORE

Democrats’ Anti-Trump Lawfare Strategy Is Failing as Only 26% Believe ‘Hush Money’ Trial Will Secure ConvictionThe vast majority of Americans say they don’t believe Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg will prove President Donald Trump’s guilt in the Democrats’ “hush money” lawfare trial.READ MORE

Cancer Patient Wins $1.3 Billion Powerball JackpotThe winner of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot in Oregon last month is a Portland man who has been battling cancer for eight years.READ MORE

EU Launches Election Interference Investigation into FacebookThe European Union (EU) has launched an investigation into Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta over allegations that the company’s social media apps are involved in foreign election interference efforts.READ MORE

MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace Claims Trump Planning to End Freedom of the Press: ‘The Real Threat Looms Larger’In an emotional statement, MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace has bizarrely claimed that President Donald Trump is plotting to end freedom of the press as part of his so-called “attack on democracy” if re-elected.READ MORE

WHO Demonizes America’s Cattle Herds, Claims ‘Bird Flu’ Could Spread to Cows Outside U.SThe globalist World Health Organization (WHO) is ramping up efforts to demonize America’s cattle herds in the latest assault in the war on food.READ MORE

Jim Acosta Outraged as CNN Poll Shows Most Americans ‘View Trump’s Presidency as a Success’CNN host Jim Acosta lashed out at voters after a poll conducted by his own network revealed that most Americans view President Donald Trump’s first term “as a success.”READ MORE

EVOL NEWS

Cancer Patient Wins $1.3 Billion Powerball Jackpot – EVOLREAD MORE… LATEST NEWS:The Potential Role of Modified RNA in COVID Vaccines in the Development of Cancer – EVOLRead more…World-Leading Ontologists Expose Global ‘Turbo Cancer Epidemic’ – EVOLRead more…Donald Trump Just Got BIG News From Court – EVOLRead more…Hunter Biden Threatens to Sue Fox News for Defamation, Publishing ‘Intimate’ Photos of Him – EVOLRead more…EXCLUSIVE: Record Casts Doubt on DOJ Official’s Testimony – EVOLRead more…Minneapolis Agrees To $150,000 Settlement With Man Who Witnessed George Floyd’s Death – EVOLRead more…Federal Court Upholds Major Ruling In Swing-State Mail-In Ballot Case – EVOLRead more…BREAKING: Police Begin To Clear Columbia University Encampment – EVOLRead more…

NEWS ADDICT

LATEST REPORTS FOR NEWS JUNKIES

World-Leading Ontologists Expose Global ‘Turbo Cancer Epidemic’Several of the world’s leading oncologists have spoken out to warn the public about a global “turbo cancer epidemic” among those who received Covid mRNA shots.READ THE FULL REPORT

Pfizer Concealed Cancer Links to Covid Vaccines from Health AgenciesA recent report reveals that Pfizer, the pharmaceutical giant, deliberately chose not to inform regulatory agencies, including Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, that their COVID-19 vaccine contained the cancer-linked Polyomavirus Simian Virus 40 (SV40) DNA sequence.READ THE FULL REPORT

Trump Just Got BIG News From CourtJudge Juan Merchan announced in court on Tuesday that President Donald Trump will have the privilege of attending his son Barron’s high school graduation.READ THE FULL REPORT

Catholics FURIOUS Over ‘Blasphemous’ Rihanna Cover PhotoSeveral American Catholics are expressing their disapproval of a cover photo in which Rihanna is depicted as a provocative Catholic nun, considering it to be a disrespectful and “blasphemous” attack on religious sisters.READ THE FULL REPORT

House Launches Investigation into DOJ Coordination with Anti-Trump DA Alvin BraggChairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan (R-OH) wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday raising serious ethical questions about Matthew Colangelo, who is the lead prosecutor in the criminal case against President Trump in Manhattan.READ THE FULL REPORT

MICHAEL EVERY/PHIL MAREY/OR OTHER EXECS //RABOBANK

7.OIL PRICES/GAS PRICES/OIL ISSUES

Biden’s Red Sea Failure Shown In One Map

THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2024 – 05:45 AM

The US-led maritime coalition, Operation Prosperity Guardian, has been an utter failure in entirely securing critical shipping lanes in the southern Red Sea and deterring Iran-backed Houthis from attacking commercial vessels with drones and missiles near the Bab al-Mandab Strait. 

Days ago, we reported two vessels were attacked in the southern Red Sea, with one sustaining damage. 

Separate footage, timestamped April 29, shows what appears to be Houthis launching a suicide drone at a bulk carrier in the highly contested waters. The terrorist group has been targeting vessels associated with Western countries and Israel since mid-November in solidarity with Palestinians. 

Footage showing a Houthi Shahab drone strike on MV Cyclades bulk carrier off Yemeni coast:

0:09 / 1:13

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/bidens-red-sea-failure-shown-one-map

Continue watching on X

8:06 PM · Apr 30, 2024

We published a note 45 days ago titled “LNG Tankers Still Absent From Red Sea,” and to this day, liquefied natural gas vessels with destinations in Europe and the US are absent from the critical shipping lane. This is a direct result of the Biden administration’s weak foreign policy. 

Meanwhile, late last month, 16 maritime industry associations and social partners co-signed an open letter to the UN calling for urgent assistance as maritime chokepoints were seizing up. None of this should be a surprise as the world fractures into a dangerous multi-polar state. 

“If we ever have a long-term safe resolution to the Red Sea crisis, it’s going to take six to 12 months before we actually have stable networks running through the Suez again,” Alan Murphy, the founder of Sea-Intelligence, told Bloomberg in an interview this week. 

America’s ability to police the heavy seas is miserably failing. The failure of Operation Prosperity Guardian should be a wake-up call. The economics of war for the US doesn’t make sense when million-dollar missiles are trying to intercept $100 drones. 

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 THURSDAY MORNING 6;30AM//OPENING AND CLOSING

EURO VS USA DOLLAR:  1.0698 DOWN .0018

USA/ YEN 154.84 DOWN 0.876 NOW TARGETS INTEREST RATE AT 1.00% AS IT WILL BUY UNLIMITED BONDS TO GETS TO THAT LEVEL…//YEN  STILL FALLS//

GBP/USA 1.2508 DOWN.0028

USA/CAN DOLLAR:  1.3724 DOWN .0001(CDN DOLLAR UP 1 BASIS PTS)

 Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE CLOSED DOWN 8.22 PTS OR .26%

 Hang Seng CLOSED UP 444.10 PTS OR 2.50%

AUSTRALIA CLOSED UP 0.22

 // EUROPEAN BOURSE:     ALL MOSTLY GREEN

Trading from Europe and ASIA

I) EUROPEAN BOURSES:  ALL MOSTLY GREEN

2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang SENG CLOSED UP 444.10 OR 2.50%

/SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 8.22 PTS OR .22%

AUSTRALIA BOURSE CLOSED UP 0.22%

(Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED DOWN 37.98PTS OR .10%

INDIA’S SENSEX  IN THE GREEN

Gold very early morning trading: 2299.10

silver:$26.28

USA dollar index early THURSDAY  morning: 105.59 DOWN 4 BASIS POINTS FROM WEDNESDAY’s CLOSE.

THURSDAY  MORNING NUMBERS ENDS

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And now your closing  THURSDAY NUMBERS 1: 30 AM

Portuguese 10 year bond yield: 3.169% DOWN 3 in basis point(s) yield

JAPANESE BOND YIELD: +0.890% UP 0 AND  3/ 100   BASIS POINTS /JAPAN losing control of its yield curve/

SPANISH 10 YR BOND YIELD: 3.323 DOWN 0 in basis points yield

ITALIAN 10 YR BOND YIELD 3.872 DOWN 0 points in basis points yield ./ THE ECB IS QE’ ING ITALIAN BONDS (BUYING ITALIAN BONDS/SELLING GERMAN BUNDS)

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD: 2.5565 DOWN 3 BASIS PTS

END

IMPORTANT CURRENCY CLOSES FOR  THURSDAY  

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

Euro/USA 1.0693 DOWN  0.0024 OR 24 basis points

USA/Japan: 153.90 DOWN 1.89 OR YEN IS UP 190 BASIS PTS

Great Britain/USA 1.2489 DOWN .0048 OR 48 BASIS POINTS //

Canadian dollar UP 18 OR 18 BASIS pts  to 1.3705

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The USA/Yuan,  CNY: closed UP    ON SHORE  CLOSED UP AT 7.2411   

THE USA/YUAN OFFSHORE:    (YUAN CLOSED (UP)…. (7.2274)

TURKISH LIRA:  32.38 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LEVEL/DEATH WATCH/HYPERINFLATION TO BEGIN.//ON DEATH WATCH

the 10 yr Japanese bond yield  at +0.890…

Your closing 10 yr US bond yield UP 2 in basis points from WEDNESDAY at  4.616% //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%) very problematic

 USA 30 yr bond yield  4.754 UP 4 in basis points  /12.00 PM

USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.914 DOWN 3 BASIS PTS.

GOLD AT 11;30 AM 2304.90

SILVER AT 11;30: 26.64

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

London: CLOSED DOWN 22.89 PTS OR 0.28

German Dax :  CLOSED

Paris CAC CLOSED

Spain IBEX CLOSED

Italian MIB: CLOSED

WTI Oil price  79.2012EST/

Brent Oil:  83.59 12:00 EST

USA /RUSSIAN ROUBLE ///   AT:  92.25 ROUBLE UP 0 AND  80/100      

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD; +2.5565 DOWN 3 BASIS PTS.

UK 10 YR YIELD: 4.339 DOWN 10 BASIS POINTS

CLOSING NUMBERS: 4 PM

Euro vs USA 1.0727 UP 0.0009     OR 9 BASIS POINTS

British Pound: 1.2536 DOWN0.0002 DOWN 2 basis pts

BRITISH 10 YR GILT BOND YIELD:  4.3190 DOWN 9 BASIS PTS//

JAPAN 10 YR YIELD: .890

USA dollar vs Japanese Yen: 153.26 DOWN 2.46YEN UP 246 BASIS PTS//

USA dollar vs Canadian dollar: 1.3678 DOWN.0044 CDN dollar UP 44 BASIS PTS

West Texas intermediate oil: 78.97

Brent OIL:  83.58

USA 10 yr bond yield DOWN 5 BASIS pts to 4.587

USA 30 yr bond yield UP 1 BASIS PTS to 4.722%

USA 2 YR BOND: DOWN 5 PTS AT  4.887

USA dollar index: 105.34 DOWN 41 BASIS POINTS

USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 32. 36 GETTING QUITE CLOSE TO BLOWING UP/

USA DOLLAR VS RUSSIA//// ROUBLE:  92.05 UP 1  AND  0/100 roubles

GOLD  2,302.18 3:30 PM

SILVER: 26.63 3;30 PM

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: UP 322.37 PTS OR 0.85 %

NASDAQ UP 222.99PTS OR 1.29 %

VOLATILITY INDEX: 14.67 DOWN 0.72 PTS OR 4.68%

GLD: $213.13 DOWN 0.66OR 0.31%

SLV/ $24.36 UP 0.09OR 0.37%

end

USA AFFAIRS

TODAY’S TRADING IN GRAPH FORM

Markets Chop As Wall Street Awaits Apple Earnings After Bell, NFP Friday For Market Direction 

THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2024 – 04:00 PM

US equities ended their two-day slide as tech companies surged late in the session. The trading day has been choppy, with Wall Street now turning its attention to Apple’s earnings after the bell. Some analysts anticipate Apple will reveal a major buyback program to offset potentially disappointing earnings amid countless reports from research firms in recent months about slumping iPhone sales overseas. 

Let’s begin with the choppy session in main equity index futures. Futs tumbled at the start of the cash session and caught a bid about 30 minutes later, or around 1000 ET. Since then, price action has been mostly higher into the late afternoon trade. 

Despite the chop, Goldman’s Most Shorted index (GSCBMAL) surged higher, up 4% on the session. Names like Carvana Co. were up 32% late in the session after a better-than-expected first-quarter earnings release. The company is heavily shorted, with about 27.6% of the float short, contributing to the surge in price. 

Within the S&P500, consumer discretionary and technology stocks were up 1.49% and 1.39%, respectively. Almost green across the board. 

Regarding the chop, most S&P500 sectors are still below levels after Wednesday’s late session pump and dump. 

NYSE TICK data shows that most buy programs were out ahead of Apple’s earnings. 

Again, more chop with individual names in the tech sector & Mag7. 

Ahead of Apple earnings, here’s Goldman’s preview: 

All eyes on AAPL tonight. We have positioning at a 7 out of 10, with a recent uptick in interest in the name (altho remains a BM underweight). Focus commentary 1) China trends in March qtr (cons has China revs -11% y/y in March vs the -13% y/y last qtr) .. 2) commentary on AI.. 3) Services visibility (including TAC + App Store)

In the macro world, Wall Street traders are preparing for Friday’s announcement of March non-farm payrolls data. The median estimate tracked by Bloomberg is 240k. 

22V Research polled investors and found that 30% of respondents believe Friday’s jobs report will be “risk-on,” 27% expect a “risk-off” reaction, and 43% said “mixed/negligible.”

Meanwhile, the S&P500 is wedged between the 100-day Simple Moving Average (4979) and the 50-day Simple Moving Average (5129). A combination of Apple earnings (after the bell) and jobs data (Friday) could determine the next direction in price action. 

One day after the Federal Reserve kept the target range for the benchmark rate at 5.25% to 5.5%—after serious concern that the US is headed for stagflation—bond yields across the curve leaked lower late in the session. 

In FX, the greenback is on pace for its biggest drop this year as yields continue sliding. Cryptos, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, trade mainly in chop. BTC/USD is trying to recover the $60k handle late in the cash session. 

We noted early that BlackRock’s ETF saw around $37 million in outflows for the first time, while the remaining spot Bitcoin ETFs collectively notched over $526.8 million in outflows.

Rate traders have priced in about 1.6 cuts this year—up from 1.15 yesterday—but down from nearly 7 earlier this year. There has been dramatic repricing in Fed cuts due to sticky inflation. 

On inflation, using Bloomberg data, the number of mentions in earnings calls for “sticky inflation” surged to record highs in this earnings season. Several mega-corporations like Starbucks and McDonald’s have warned about struggling working poor consumers. 

Here’s the recap of some of today’s top corporate news (courtesy of Bloomberg): 

• Peloton Interactive Inc. said Chief Executive Officer Barry McCarthy is stepping down as the company undergoes a major restructuring that will reduce its global workforce by 15% in an effort to slash costs.
• MGM Resorts International reported first-quarter sales and earnings that beat analysts’ projections, benefiting from the post-pandemic recovery in Macau and a new partnership with Marriott International Inc. that helped fill hotel rooms.
• Carvana Co. reported stronger earnings with revenue topping expectations as the company digs into its restructuring plan and regains sales momentum.
• DoorDash Inc., the largest food delivery service in the US, offered a disappointing profit forecast for the current quarter as the company invests in expanding its list of non-restaurant partners and improving efficiency.
• Moderna Inc. reported a narrower first-quarter loss than Wall Street had expected, as the biotech giant’s cost-cutting helped offset a steep decline in its Covid business.
• Apollo Global Management Inc. reported higher first-quarter profit as the firm raked in more management fees and originated a record $40 billion of private credit, a key area of growth.

By the way, Boeing shares continued to surge even after another Boeing whistleblower died. 

A recap of this morning’s macro data:

• Thursday Humor: Jobless Claims
• Unit Labor Costs Soar In Q1 As ‘AI Productivity Boom’ Fails To Show Up
• US Factory Orders Rise In March… But February Saw Yet Another Downward Revision

…. and it’s an election year – remember that… We cited a note from Goldman’s Adam Crook that points out the Fed and US Treasury are in ‘full-blown stock support mode’… Powell can’t let Biden’s stock market crash… Pro subs read here.  

Anyways, all eyes are on Apple after the bell. 

END

MORNING TRADING/

AFTERNOON TRADING/

II USA DATA

Not good as this triggers high inflation

(zerohedge)

Unit Labor Costs Soar In Q1 As ‘AI Productivity Boom’ Fails To Show Up

THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2024 – 09:05 AM

Remember how AI was going to save the world, give us all more leisure time because of its massive boost to productivity?

Well, in Q1 in the US… it failed to show up as non-farm productivity – or nonfarm employee output per hour – rose at a measly 0.3% annualized rate after an upwardly revised 3.5% gain in the prior period (well below expectations)…

Source: Bloomberg

On the flip-side of that – and echoing the market-worrying ECI data earlier this week – Unit Labor Costs soared 4.7% in Q1 (well above the 4.0% expected and the 0.4% rise in Q4)…

Source: Bloomberg

So wage inflation is confirmed – rising at the fastest pace in a year – as all the gains we have been told to expect from AI just aren’t there in the data.

While quarterly productivity figures are quite volatile, a sustained slowdown represents another hurdle for the Federal Reserve’s inflation fight. With interest rates expected to stay at a two-decade high for awhile longer, business investment in equipment will likely continue to be a weak factor in overall economic growth.

Today’s data corroborates other data that showed gross domestic product cooled in the first quarter while employment costs rose by the most in a year. As a result, inflation is proving stubborn, supporting the Fed’s pivot to a more hawkish stance that will keep interest rates higher for longer than anticipated.

Of course, Fed Chair Powell told us yesterday that he “doesn’t see the stag or the flation” in US data…

Maybe he needs to subscribe to Zero Hedge to see the real picture.

end

Garbage data

(zerohedge)

Thursday Humor: Jobless Claims

THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2024 – 08:36 AM

With WARNs high, JOLTS data tumbling – led construction jobs collapsing, and Challenger-Grey layoffs remarkably elevated, why would anyone question the government’s official data on jobless claims – that continues to languish (in a good way) near record lows.

Last week saw 208,000 Americans file for jobless benefits for the first time (the same as the prior week), basically flat for the last three years…

Source: Bloomberg

In the real world labor market, 2024 has been a shitshow of layoffs…

1. Everybuddy: 100% of workforce
2. Wisense: 100% of workforce
3. CodeSee: 100% of workforce
4. Twig: 100% of workforce
5. Twitch: 35% of workforce
6. Roomba: 31% of workforce
7. Bumble: 30% of workforce
8. Farfetch: 25% of workforce
9. Away: 25% of workforce
10. Hasbro: 20% of workforce
11. LA Times: 20% of workforce
12. Wint Wealth: 20% of workforce
13. Finder: 17% of workforce
14. Spotify: 17% of workforce
15. Buzzfeed: 16% of workforce
16. Levi’s: 15% of workforce
17. Xerox: 15% of workforce
18. Qualtrics: 14% of workforce
19. Wayfair: 13% of workforce
20. Duolingo: 10% of workforce
21. Rivian: 10% of workforce
22. Washington Post: 10% of workforce
23. Snap: 10% of workforce
24. eBay: 9% of workforce
25. Sony Interactive: 8% of workforce
26. Expedia: 8% of workforce
27. Business Insider: 8% of workforce
28. Instacart: 7% of workforce
29. Paypal: 7% of workforce
30. Okta: 7% of workforce
31. Charles Schwab: 6% of workforce
32. Docusign: 6% of workforce
33. Riskified: 6% of workforce
34. EA: 5% of workforce
35. Motional: 5% of workforce
36. Mozilla: 5% of workforce
37. Vacasa: 5% of workforce
38. CISCO: 5% of workforce
39. UPS: 2% of workforce
40. Nike: 2% of workforce
41. Blackrock: 3% of workforce
42. Paramount: 3% of workforce
43. Citigroup: 20,000 employees
44. ThyssenKrupp: 5,000 employees
45. Best Buy: 3,500 employees
46. Barry Callebaut: 2,500 employees
47. Outback Steakhouse: 1,000
48. Northrop Grumman: 1,000 employees
49. Pixar: 1,300 employees
50. Perrigo: 500 employees
51. Tesla: 10% of workforce

Under the hood, California and Massachusetts were the big outliers to the downside (taking New Jersey’s place in the hall of fame of made-up data)…

Continuing claims – according to the government – were also flat week on week at 1.774 million Americans, having gone practically nowhere for a year…

Spot the odd one out… (or spot the government-supplied data)…

Source: Bloomberg

Ah, Bidenomics!!

If Trump wins in November, will all this data suddenly be ‘allowed’ to reflect reality?

TUCKER CARLSON…

END

III  USA ECONOMIC COMMENTARIES

Boeing: a criminal organization?

(zerohedge)

“It Was Brutal”: 2nd Boeing-Linked Whistleblower Dies

WEDNESDAY, MAY 01, 2024 – 09:25 PM

A whistleblower at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems died Tuesday morning following a struggle with a ‘sudden, fast-spreading infection,’ the Seattle Times reports.

45-year-old Joshua Dean, a former mechanical engineer and quality auditor from Wichita, Kansas, alleged that Spirit leadership ignored manufacturing defects on the 737 MAX, including ‘mechanics improperly drilling holes in the aft pressure bulkhead of the MAX.’ When he brought this up with management, he said that nothing was done about it. So he filed a safety complaint with the FAA – and said that Spirit had used him as a scapegoat while they lied to the agency about the defects.

After I was fired, Spirit AeroSystems [initially] did nothing to inform the FAA, and the public” regarding the bulkhead defects, said Dean in his complaint.

In November, the FAA suggested to Dean in a letter that his claims had merit, writing “The investigation determined that your allegations were appropriately addressed under an FAA-approved safety program,” adding “However, due to the privacy provisions of those programs, specific details cannot be released.”

Dean also gave a deposition in a Spirit shareholder lawsuit.

The shareholder lawsuit alleging that Spirit management withheld information on the quality flaws and harmed stockholders was filed in December. Supporting the suit, Dean provided a deposition detailing his allegations.

After a panel blew off a Boeing 737 MAX plane in January, bringing new attention to the quality lapses at Spirit, one of Dean’s former Spirit colleagues confirmed some of Dean’s allegations. -Seattle Times

He had been in good health, and ‘was noted for having a healthy lifestyle,’ according to the report.

He had been in critical condition for two weeks, according to his aunt Carol Parsons, who said he became ill and went to the hospital due to breathing difficulties. He was intubated, after which he developed pneumonia and then MRSA, a serious bacterial infection.

His condition deteriorated rapidly, and he was airlifted from Wichita to a hospital in Oklahoma City, Parsons said. There he was put on an ECMO machine, which circulates and oxygenates a patient’s blood outside the body, taking over heart and lung function when a patient’s organs don’t work on their own. -Seattle Times

Doctors had considered amputating both hands and both feet.

“It was brutal what he went through,” said Parsons. “Heartbreaking.”

Dean was fired in April 2023, after which he filed a complaint with the Department of Labor, alleging he had been terminated in retaliation for blowing the whistle.

He was represented by the South Carolina law firm that represented Boeing whistleblower John “Mitch” Barnett, who was found dead in an ‘apparent suicide’ in March in Charleston.

Barnett was in the middle of giving depositions suggesting that Boeing retaliated against him over complaints related to quality issues when he was found dead from a gunshot wound.

The Charleston County Coroner’s Office reported Barnett’s death appeared to be “from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.” Almost two months later, the police investigation into his death is still ongoing. -Seattle Times

“Whistleblowers are needed. They bring to light wrongdoing and corruption in the interests of society. It takes a lot of courage to stand up,” said Brian Knowles, one of Dean’s lawyers. “It’s a difficult set of circumstances. Our thoughts now are with John’s family and Josh’s family.”

In March, Boeing was rumored to be in talks to buy Spirit, as both companies have come under increasing pressure from airline customers and federal regulators to shore up quality issues following a January 5th incident in which a door plug blew out mid-flight on a 737 MAX 9.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/it-was-brutal-2nd-boeing-linked-whistleblower-dies

Four days later, United Airlines found “loose bolts” on 737 MAX doors following an emergency inspection.

Alaska Airlines flight #AS1282, a Boeing 737 MAX 9, experienced a rapid decompression after the loss of a large panel that included an emergency exit door on the left side of the plane. The flight made a safe return to Portland (PDX).

From

The Oregon

end

This should win the Presidency for Trump.

(zerohedge)

“We Have To Have Law And Order”: Trump Lays Out Plan For Second Term In TIME Interview

BY TYLER DURDEN

THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2024 – 12:55 PM

Authored by Chase Smith via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

In an in-depth interview with TIME magazine, former President Donald Trump laid out his agenda for a second term should he retake the White House in 2025 following the election later this year.

he wide-ranging interview, held over two days at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Florida, with a follow-up phone interview, was the cover story for the magazine titled “If He Wins.”

The interview covers all of the big issues in the 2024 election, ranging from border security and immigration to economic policy, abortion, and foreign affairs.

President Trump also touched on the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol breach and the related court cases, as well as the legal issues he faces.

Immigration, Border Policy

In a transcript of the interview with TIME’s national politics reporter Eric Cortellessa, President Trump said on day one of his second term he would take aggressive action over the illegal immigration crisis.

President Trump plans to initiate a vast deportation operation, citing unsustainable numbers of illegal immigrants, expressing a desire to replicate Dwight Eisenhower’s mid-20th century mass deportations.

President Trump said he plans to do this by using local law enforcement as well as the National Guard when necessary.

“When we talk military, generally speaking, I talk National Guard,” President Trump said, according to the transcript. “But if I thought things were getting out of control, I would have no problem using the military, per se. We have to have safety in our country. We have to have law and order in our country. And whichever gets us there, but I think the National Guard will do the job.”

Regarding housing illegal immigrants in detention facilities or even expanding the nation’s stock of detention facilities, he said it would likely not be necessary due to his policy of mass deportations but did not rule it out if needed.

If local police departments did not want to cooperate, President Trump said the best option to get them to comply would be to incentivize their cooperation.

“Well, there’s a possibility that some won’t want to participate, and they won’t partake in the riches, you know,” he said in the interview. “I want to give police immunity from prosecution because the liberal groups or the progressive groups … that … want to leave everybody in …[S]anctuary cities are failing all over the place, and I really believe that there’s a pent-up demand to end sanctuary cities by people that were in favor of sanctuary cities, because it’s just not working out for the country.”

He added he didn’t believe that his proposals were “bold” but rather “common sense” and that he would uphold any court decisions regarding his policies.

Economy

President Trump is advocating for significant tariffs, especially against China, to protect U.S. industries and jobs.

He said that he didn’t believe that additional tariffs would amount to another tax on Americans and that he didn’t believe it would lead to higher inflation, noting his belief that higher tariffs against China under his first administration were successful.

“So how did it cost us if we had such a good economy,” President Trump asked in response to a question about economists saying his tariff policy cost jobs and lost hundreds of billions. “Everybody admits it. If we didn’t do that, we would have no steel industry right now. They were dumping steel all over this country. And I put a 50% tariff on steel. It was gonna go higher. And the people that love me most are businesses, but in particular, the steel industry. They love me because I saved their industry.”

He said he believed that those tariffs did not and would not lead to businesses passing on higher costs to American consumers.

“I actually think that the country that is being taxed makes less,” President Trump said. “I think what happens is you build. What happens to get out of the whole situation is you end up building, instead of having your product brought in from China, because of that additional cost, you end up making the product in the United States.”

President Trump said that some countries are very tough on the United States when it comes to tariffs.

“[China] charges us 100%,” President Trump said. “But they charge us much more than that. India charges us more than that. Brazil charges us what—Brazil’s a very big, very big tariff country. I ask people, who are the worst to deal with? I’m not going to give that to you because I don’t want to insult the countries because I actually get along with them. But you’d be surprised. The E.U. is very tough with us.”

Foreign Policy

President Trump said that he would not rule out placing conditions on aid to Israel, but aimed to have the Israel-Hamas conflict resolved quickly.

“I think that Israel has done one thing very badly: public relations,” President Trump said. “I don’t think that the Israel Defense Fund or any other group should be sending out pictures every night of buildings falling down and being bombed with possibly people in those buildings every single night, which is what they do.”

He said his record and support of Israel was clear and that his record on being tough with Iran was clear, despite noting that he had a “bad experience” dealing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Look, there’s been no president that’s done what I’ve done for Israel. When you look at all of the things that I’ve done, and it starts with the Iran nuclear deal. You know, Bibi Netanyahu begged Obama not to do that deal. I ended that deal.”

He also brought up Iran in relation to its role in funding Hamas, the terrorist group that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

“During my term, there were stories that Iran didn’t have the money to give to any, there was very little terrorism,” President Trump explained. “But we had no terror … and we got rid of ISIS 100%. Now they’re starting to come back.”

The former president also said that Mr. Netanyahu “rightfully has been criticized for what took place on October 7.”

President Trump said that the United States would support Israel militarily if Iran and Israel were to go to war, although he suggested that the recent attack by Iran on Israel was a “ceremonial attack,” given that it was widely known about beforehand.

He added, “I gave them [Israel] Golan Heights,” and that he was responsible for having the U.S. Embassy moved to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv and recognized the former as Israel’s capital.

On NATO, President Trump criticized European countries for insufficient defense spending and said NATO was fine as long as European countries paid their fair share, but he still did not believe NATO would come to the aid of the United States if necessary and as required by the treaty.

Jan. 6, Election Integrity

President Trump criticized the justice system as biased and discussed potential pardons for individuals allegedly involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach.

“It’s a two-tier system,” President Trump said. “Because when I look at Portland, when I look at Minneapolis, where they took over police precincts and everything else, and went after federal buildings, when I look at other situations that were violent, and where people were killed, nothing happened to them. Nothing happened to them. I think it’s a two-tier system of justice. I think it’s a very, very sad thing. And whether you like it or not, nobody died other than Ashli [Babbitt].”

President Trump said that he “tried to stop the attack” and that his rhetoric was peaceful and patriotic, placing blame on then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, for turning down his offer of “10,000 soldiers” during the “very dramatic and horrible period” on Jan. 6 after the Capitol was breached.

Concerning political violence after this November’s election, President Trump said it was not something he was worried about happening.

“I think we’re gonna have a big victory,” President Trump added. “And I think there will be no violence.”

In response to his legal woes, as he has said in press conferences after his court appearances in New York City the past few weeks, he said that the prosecutions against him are unfair and driven by a corrupt legal system on behalf of President Biden.

To those prosecuting him, he did not say he would go after them using the Department of Justice if re-elected, rather he said, “We are going to have great retribution through success. We’re going to make our country successful again. Our retribution is going to be through success of our country.”

When asked about appointing a special prosecutor to investigate President Biden if he were to be re-elected, he said it would depend on what the U.S. Supreme Court says about presidential immunity in his own case, which is currently before the court.

“Look, a president should have immunity,” President Trump said. “That includes Biden. If they’ve ruled that they don’t have immunity, Biden, probably nothing to do with me, he would be prosecuted for 20 different acts, because he’s created such.”

As far as going after his political opponents, he said that’s currently what’s happening with him.

Abortion

Regarding potential federal legislation on abortion, President Trump expressed confidence that such measures would not garner the required 60 votes in the Senate. He stressed that the issue should be left to states to determine, as evidenced by recent legislative actions in conservative-leaning states like Ohio and Kansas.

When asked about the Life at Conception Act and enforcement of the Comstock Act, President Trump deferred to states’ prerogatives, refraining from committing to specific positions. He hinted at forthcoming statements on related matters.

President Trump declined to offer a personal opinion on women’s access to abortion pills and the enforcement of laws prohibiting their mailing, indicating an intention to address these issues soon.

Regarding potential state-level penalties for obtaining abortions after bans, President Trump reiterated his stance that states should decide such matters, emphasizing the diversity of approaches among states.

When queried about Florida’s upcoming abortion referendum, President Trump refrained from disclosing his voting intentions, reiterating his belief in the importance of states making their own determinations on such matters.

He emphasized a focus on policies that help women and families, referencing the acceptance of his stance on in vitro fertilization by Republicans and recent state legislation affirming it.

“I’ll be doing it over the next week or two,” he said. “But I don’t think it will be shocking, frankly. But I’ll be doing it over the next week or two. We’re for helping women, Eric. I am for helping women.”

Other Details

President Trump discussed his past decision to invoke a minimum ten-year sentence for desecrating monuments, which he felt effectively deterred such actions. President Trump stated he would use the National Guard rather than the military to address protests if necessary, such as Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.

President Trump also acknowledged a perceived anti-white bias in the United States, critiquing the Biden administration for its policies and expressing concern over discrimination against various groups, including white people and Catholics.

He was non-committal about whether the United States should defend Taiwan, preferring not to disclose his stance to maintain negotiation leverage.

President Trump discussed the strategic deployment of U.S. troops overseas, suggesting adjustments might be necessary but emphasizing the ability to manage troop deployments effectively. He criticized South Korea for renegotiating a financial agreement that reduced their payment to the United States for military protection.

The former president also championed democracy over dictatorship, highlighting freedom as a key advantage. However, he expressed concerns about the current state of U.S. democracy, citing the weaponization of federal agencies against political figures.

He refuted claims that he wanted to terminate parts of the Constitution or become a dictator; instead, he accused Democrats of violating constitutional principles through judicial and administrative actions.

He noted when he said he would only be a dictator “on day one” while in an interview with Sean Hannity, that it was clearly a joke and that most people understood it as such.

“That was said sarcastically. That was meant as a joke. Everybody knows that.”

Regarding the pandemic, President Trump reflected on Operation Warp Speed and praised his administration’s rapid development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics.

“You know, you have strong opinions both ways on the vaccines,” President Trump said. “It’s interesting. The Democrats love the vaccine. The Democrats. Only reason I don’t take credit for it. The Republicans, in many cases, don’t, although many of them got it, I can tell you. It’s very interesting.”

He was also skeptical about the efficacy of permanent pandemic preparedness offices, suggesting they were politically motivated and financially wasteful.

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

a must view:

(Chris Powell)

Palestine would murder protesting U.S. students

Posted

MAY 1, 2024

Posted inUncategorizedTags:Gaza, Golda Meir, Hamas, Israel, Palestine, student protests, University of Connecticut, Yale University

By Chris Powell

At Yale University in New Haven, the University of Connecticut in Storrs, and a score of other institutions of higher education, students are protesting the support being given by the United States to Israel in its war with the Hamas regime in Gaza. 

The students want their colleges to dissociate themselves from Israel and from military contractors whose munitions Israel uses. The students call for a ceasefire in the war and chant, “Palestine will be free.”

But there were no protests at the colleges when Gaza attacked Israel on October 7 last year, launching hundreds of rockets and murdering, raping, kidnapping, and mutilating civilians. The protests began only when Israel naturally retaliated and undertook to destroy Hamas. As Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir remarked a half century ago, the world loves Jews as victims but hates them when they fight back.

And what exactly do the students mean by “Palestine will be free”?

Do they mean freedom of speech, press, religion, and assembly? Due process of law? Sexual freedom? 

If so, the students’ sympathies are laughably misplaced, for there have been no such freedoms in Gaza under Hamas rule, and few such freedoms elsewhere in the Arab world. Gaza’s sympathizers on U.S. college campuses would be murdered within a week if they lived among the people they are defending.

So maybe the calls of the students for a ceasefire in Gaza and freedom for Palestine really mean they want the area to be free of Jews. That always has been the objective of the people who have been running Gaza since Israel ended its occupation there in 2005. Back then Palestinians at last had their own state.

But two years later they elected Hamas, a movement sworn to Israel’s destruction. Soon missiles were flying from Gaza into Israel. For years Israel tried to handle the problem merely defensively. Then came last October’s barbaric attack.

Many people are appalled by the destruction and famine in Gaza. By some estimates more than half the structures in the territory have been destroyed or damaged beyond repair, and people are starving. Yet that is common in war. 

Gaza today still looks better than Hamburg, Dresden, Berlin, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and dozens of other cities in Germany and Japan did in 1945. Those cities and many others had to be leveled by Allied bombing to compel the enemy’s surrender. 

Gaza’s sympathizers complain that Israel’s blockading Gaza has made starvation a weapon of war. But starvation always has been a weapon of war. With its submarines Germany tried to starve Britain out of both world wars, just as Britain and the United States, with naval blockades, tried to do the same to Germany. In 1945 the United States mined most Japanese harbors in what was frankly called Operation Starvation. It was highly effective and if undertaken earlier might have prevented the atomic bombings.

For starvation is a far more merciful weapon than bullets and bombs, as it gives an adversary more of a choice for survival.

Some of Israel’s tactics are fairly criticized. But Israel is fighting for survival against an enemy that, at least until recent days, has refused even to contemplate the “two-state solution” the world presses on Israel. Indeed, the integrity of the Palestinian hate for Jews is amazingly pure, since most Palestinians still prefer their own destruction to co-existence. Their longstanding fanaticism now is generating similar fanaticism among Israelis, who years ago moved far closer to peace than the Palestinian factions ever went.

The protesting students don’t help with their calls for a ceasefire. Since Israel was re-established by the United Nations in 1948 there have been dozens of ceasefires with the irreconcilables who surround the country. What is needed is not another ceasefire but peace — that is, a permanent settlement. 

Israel doesn’t want to rule Gaza. But Gaza wants war, having broken a ceasefire last October. So Gaza will have to be the one to ask for peace, and Gaza, not Israel, is where pressure for peace first must be applied. 

---

Chris Powell has written about Connecticut government and politics for many years. (CPowell@cox.net

END

Marxist protesters battle cops at UCLA

(ZERO HEDGE)

All Hell Breaks Out At UCLA As Marxist Protesters Battle Cops 

THURSDAY, MAY 02, 2024 – 07:45 AM

With the anti-Israel protesters (or just brainwashed Marxist kids and some paid agitators) disbanded by the New York Police Department in the overnight hours, attention has shifted onto the chaos unfolding at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles, California.

Fox News reports multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department, California Highway Patrol, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, have arrived at the university in full-blown riot gear and surrounded the anti-Israel (Marxist) encampment on campus. 

Footage on X shows police trying to break through the protester barrier. Notice how the protesters mostly wear the same brand-new white construction helmets; it seems there was organization and funding for the campus takeover

Meanwhile, the Biden administration is awfully silent about the violent Marxist takeover of America’s colleges and universities. Maybe it is because it is optically displeasing to voters to watch leftist indoctrination camps (schools) implode in violence ahead of the presidential elections in November. 

Bloomberg shows the nationwide Marxist takeover of colleges and universities in one map. 

It’s highly speculative, but besides dark Soros money funding the chaos, X user Patrick Webb believes the protests were planned months in advance, as early as November. 

cops&sessionId=c96e83faad07ca8f69c1d9b395de973c7e294305&siteScreenName=zerohedge&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px

As a reminder, these protests have very little to do with the poor Palestinians and more to do with a Marxist takeover of the US. 

One radical left extremist said the quiet part out loud to hundreds of youngsters this week:

“There’s only one solution, intifada revolution. We must have a revolution so we can have a socialist reconstruction of the USA.”

An extremist on the mic says: “There’s only one solution, intifada revolution. We must have a revolution so we can have a socialist reconstruction of the USA.” This isn’t just about Israel/Palestine. It’s an attempt of the Marxist takeover of America. Our colleges have become indoctrination camps.

0:26

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And there is hope. As we showed yesterday, the boys at Pi Kappa Phi at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill stood against the purple-haired Marxists to protect Old Glory. 

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MY BEAUTIFUL PI KAPPA PHI CHAD SQUAD AT UNC CHAPEL HILL HOLDING THE LINE!!!

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Commenting on the UNC incident, CIO Kyle Bass said: “It’s time we fight back against the spineless ‘victims’ who represent the rot that has infected our universities.” 

The reason why woke universities are all of a sudden cracking down on protesters in unison – mostly likely has to do with the terrible optics for the Democratic Party.

END 

House Approves ‘Antisemitism Awareness Act’ Aimed At Cracking Down On Campus Protests

WEDNESDAY, MAY 01, 2024 – 06:45 PM

Late in the afternoon Wednesday the House approved a bill which seeks to crack down on antisemitism on college and university campuses following days of protests and unrest driven by pro-Palestinian activists.

The Antisemitism Awareness Act has been approved in a 320-91 vote and will now head to the Senate. But the central question is: how and by what measure will federal authorities crack down on speech deemed “antisemitic”?

Will criticism of the government of Israel be deemed antisemitic? Will highlighting alleged war crimes or human rights abuses by the IDF be considered so? Will involvement in the BDS movement be deemed anti-Jewish? Will slogans such as “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” be illegal according to federal law? Will criticizing the US $3+ billion in annual foreign aid be considered anti-Jewish?

And what of the many Jewish protesters who are engaged in speech condemning the nation-state of Israel? 

Already, active participation in causes boycotting Israel is ‘illegal’ in a number of US states (typically taking the form of prohibiting state agencies from engaging with companies involved in BDS).

According to an explanation of the definition of antisemitism outlined by the new House-passed bill: 

The bill would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism when enforcing antidiscrimination laws.

The group defines antisemitism as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews” and says “Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

The organization provides a number of examples for what qualifies as antisemitism, including calling for the harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion, and accusing Jewish individuals as inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.

By this measure, even theoretical historical discussions or interpretation could be considered illegal (such has long been the case in some European countries).

Like with any attempt to legislate limits related to the 1st Amendment, this is certainly going to prove very slippery — especially if it gets signed into law and then comes the question of actual enforcement on the ground.

A tiny minority of Republicans are voicing fierce opposition to the bill…

Currently and historically, pro-Israel hawks who advocate for sending billions in American taxpayer dollars to Israel each year tend to accuse any and all opponents of such policies of being antisemitic. Some independent journalists say they’ve struggled to find blatant examples of people being targeted in antisemitic attacks on campuses for the sole reason of being Jewish. 

So if the federal government gets involved in these polemical and semantic games, where will it end? 

END

iiiC USA COVID //VACCINE ISSUES

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FREIGHT ISSUES/USA

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VICTOR DAVIS HANSON

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SWAMP STORIES

‘Unity’: Pro-Israel And Pro-Palestine Supporters Chant “F**k Joe Biden” In Solidarity As Democrats In ‘Panic Mode’ 

Both sides now chanting “F***” Joe Biden”

https://twitter.com/MavenNavarro1/status/1785785576571994299?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwt

In early March, President Biden and the Democrats called for the “Unity of all Americans.” 

Fast forward to the Marxist revolution spreading like stage four cancer at the nation’s colleges and universities, anti-Israel and counter-protesters found common ground, or perhaps a glimpse of solidarity, when both sides were heard chanting “F**K Joe Biden” this week at the University of Alabama. 

“It finally happened. Joe managed to get both sides of the protest to hate him for different reasons,” X user Alex The Ghost wrote. 

The president and the radical left are walking a very fine line between supporting the Marxist kids at schools and their right to protest while simultaneously denouncing antisemitism. The surge in criticism from both the left and the right of the elderly president’s Israel policy risks the unity of both sides in their hatred of the president. 

Meanwhile, Axios reports Democrats are in full-blown’ panic mode’ behind the scenes as campus takeovers by extremists of their own party produce terrible optics ahead of the presidential election in November. 

“The longer they continue, and the worse that they get, the worse it’s going to be for the election overall,” one House Democrat said.

The House Democrat warned that school chaos will only “bring out [the public’s] most conservative side.” 

What’s clear is that campus protesters are becoming a political liability for Biden and Democrats. 

Republicans are now seizing on the opportunity from New York to California to inform voters that under this administration, the destruction and chaos of America continues. Add this chaos to the long list of failures by the Biden administration, including the migrant invasion, worsening drug overdose crisis, violent crime proliferating across metro areas, disastrous foreign policy moves in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, risking World War III, and, of course, the failure of Bidenomics that has ignited stagflation, crushing America’s middle class. 

“[Democrats] were trying to make a big deal out of these Trump trials, but they’ve taken a back seat” to the protests, John Feehery, a Republican strategist and former congressional aide, told Financial Times. 

This week, the White House has been awfully silent on the campus takeover crisis. 

“When will the president himself, not his mouthpieces, condemn these hate-filled little Gazas?” Tom Cotton, the Republican senator from Arkansas, told reporters on Wednesday.

“President Biden needs to denounce Hamas’ campus sympathizers without equivocating about Israelis fighting a righteous war of survival,” Cotton added.

A recent poll showed that 81 percent of voters aged 18 to 35 disapprove of Biden’s handling of the conflict in the Middle East.

Michael Moore, who correctly predicted Trump’s victory in 2016, even issued a plea to Biden urging him to accomplish a ceasefire or face defeat.

“We’re going to lose the election. We’re going to lose Michigan if we don’t turn this around. If President Biden doesn’t turn this around, that is going to do more to put Trump back in the White House. And I refuse to have Donald Trump back in the White House,” said Moore.

To sum up, the Democrats are in serious trouble if anti-Israel protesters and counter-protesters begin to march in solidarity around their hatred of Biden.

KING REPORT

The King Report May 2, 2024 Issue 7232

Independent View of the News

@charliebilello: The US Bond Market has now been in a drawdown for 45 months, by far the longest bond bear market in history. https://t.co/5j52SYc5I3   US Treasury: Quarterly Refunding Statement of Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets The U.S. Department of the Treasury is offering $125 billion of Treasury securities to refund approximately $107.8 billion of privately-held Treasury notes maturing on May 15, 2024…A 3-year note in the amount of $58 billion, maturing May 15, 2027;A 10-year note in the amount of $42 billion, maturing May 15, 2034; andA 30-year bond in the amount of $25 billion, maturing May 15, 2054.Given current fiscal forecasts, Treasury expects to increase the 4-, 6-, and 8-week bill auction sizes in the coming days to ensure sufficient liquidity to meet our one-week cash needs around the end of May… https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2315   Just one day earlier, BofA/Bloomberg risibly and incomprehensibly lamented the ‘drought’ of T-Bills!   A Drought of Treasury Bills Risks Muddying End of Fed’s Balance-Sheet TighteningBofA sees “real risk” of acute supply-demand imbalance (What?!?!)Strong economy, job market boost tax receipts, curb debt sales (Not a parody!)The government is expected to indicate further cuts to T-bill issuance for the May to July period on Wednesday… (With mushrooming fiscal spending to re-elect Joe, how can anyone believe this?!?) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-30/a-drought-of-treasury-bills-risks-muddying-the-end-of-fed-s-qt   @RealEJAntoni: When interpreting Treasury yield data, remember that this market is being heavily manipulated by Yellen – she’s conducting the Treasury versions of both Operation Twist and QE, w/ overreliance on short-term issuance and now buybacks; term premium is now virtually nonsensical. (Schedule of Treasury buybacks at link) https://twitter.com/RealEJAntoni/status/1785660813170114949   CNN (7:35 ET): The Fed could make a big change today. And no, we’re not talking about interest rates – Savvy traders…think… the Fed may curtail its quantitative tightening (QT) program — that’s the selling off of its assets to decrease money supply and increase interest rates — by as much as half… https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/01/investing/premarket-stocks-trading/index.html   Job openings drop to 3-year low of 8.488M (8.68m exp.) as fewer workers quit The Labor Department reported Wednesday that employers posted 8.5 million vacancies in March, down from 8.8 million in February and the fewest since February 2021. The number of Americans quitting their jobs fell to the lowest level (3.329m) since January 2021 — a sign of diminishing confidence in their ability to find something better.  But layoffs fell (Layoffs & discharges 1.5m)… https://nypost.com/2024/05/01/business/job-openings-drop-to-3-year-low-of-8-5m-as-fewer-workers-quit/   ESMs traded sharply lower when the Nikkei opened.  They then intractably rallied to a daily high of 5065.25 at 0:49 ET.  ESMs tumbled to a daily low of 5027.75 at 5037.75 at 6:32 ET.  ESMs then rallied sharply, hitting 9:34 ET.  The ‘dump’ pushed ESMs down to 5044.50 at 10:13 ET.   ESMs then yoyoed with lower highs until the rally into the FOMC Communique release commenced at 13:22 ET.  ESMs jumped to a daily high of 5057.75 at 13:36 ET, a 14-handle rally.   FOMC Communique HighlightsHolds rate in 5.25% to 5.50% rangeLack of further progress on 2% goalCuts Treasury runoff to $25B, Keeps MBS Cap at $35B starting in June  ESMs spiked to 5066.75 at 14:05 ET on the reduction of the Fed’s QT.  The Street expected a cut from $60B/month to $30B.  But Powell threw a bone to The Street with a bigger cut than expected.  ESMs then sank to 5056.00 at 14:06 ET.  Is an extra $5B/month cut in QT significant when the Fed balance sheet is $7.4 trillion (per BBG)?   ESMs then gyrated in a moderate range as the world awaited Powell’s Press Conference.  Minutes before Powell’s scheduled appearance at 14:30 ET, ESMs exploded to a new daily high of 5075.75.  Did someone have Powell’s comments before the official release?   Powell Press Conference HighlightsEconomy has made considerable progress toward our dual goalsInflation has eased substantially over the past year, but inflation is still too highOver the past few months there has been a lack of progress on inflationLabor market remains tightInflation data this year has been higher than expectedFed officials are ‘acutely aware’ of hardships posed by high inflationGaining confidence to cut will take longer than thought  ESMs sank to 5053.25 within two minutes after Powell began his speech.  Buyers returned; ESMs jumped higher, hitting a new daily high of 5076.25.  Sellers appeared; ESMs tumbled to 5055.75 at 14:35 ET.  Buyers got busy; ESMs soared to 5075.25 at 13:46 ET, a 20-handle spike in one minute!!!   Powell Q&A HighlightsPolicy is still restrictive; over time, it will be sufficiently restrictiveHard to know if financial conditions have eased since November (Dope or liar?)The Fed will have a better sense of what is causing inflation over time (It’s the spending, stupid!)Unlikely that the next move will be a rate hikePowell said he doesn’t understand where stagflation talk is coming from (Stupid or a liar!)Powell got agitated and upset when asked if the Fed is being political ahead of the election“The election is just not part of our thinking.”  After Powell’s Q&A began, ESMs soared to a series of new daily highs.  Each time Powell issued a dovish response to a media question, ESMs jumped higher.   When asked if there was a rate hike discussion given inflation data, Powell said he doesn’t see any evidence that inflation warrants a rate hike discussion.  ESMs hit a new high (5126.75) on this!   After Powell ended his Q&A, ESMs and bonds sank.  USMs fell from a high of 115 6/32 to 114 16/32.  ESMs fell to 5099.00 at 15:22 ET, jumped to 5119.75 at 15:27 ET, and sank to 5044.00 at 16:00 ET.   Apparently, The Street feared Powell et al might mention rate hikes if inflation trends continue.  Powell killed the notion that the next Fed move will be a rate hike.  This is a crystal-clear signal that Powell et al will let inflation run hot and Fed leftists are loath to hike rates ahead of the Election of 2024.   Treasuries Rally with Fed Not as Hawkish as Feared – BBG 16:03 ET Bets on a rate cut in September jumped, and gold soared due to Powell’s signal that he and his ilk will allow inflation to run hot.    The idiotic and bungling Powell stated that it is not obvious that there is a connection between inflation and financial conditions!  Powell’s dovish remarks will exacerbate inflation because, once again, he greatly loosened financial conditions by juicing financial asset prices!   Some pundits panned Powell for indicating that he HOPES inflation will fall without rate hikes.   @FrogNews: Jerome ends talking about how diverse his Fed is.  This is the main reason the financial media paints him as a hero.  The fact that he cost you more purchasing power than any chair in 40 years is secondary. We’re pretty much screwed. Fortune (11/22/2021): In the early 2000s, Powell was a partner at the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm that specialized in hiring former government officials and cashing in on their connections. At Carlyle, Powell learned firsthand about the debt-driven business model of the private equity business…  This is exactly the kind of economic activity that the Fed has been relentlessly encouraging over the past decade. Many years of easy money policies have been rocket fuel for private equity firms like Carlyle Group because cheap debt is their lifeblood…     Powell has always been a fixer…who has helped accommodate the needs of big money and big government… He became close with Dillon Read’s chairman, Nicholas F. Brady, who moved to Washington in 1988 to become the Secretary of the Treasury under Ronald Reagan. After George H. W. Bush was elected, Powell left Dillon Read to join Brady at Treasury… https://archive.fo/n9RLz   The history of Carlisle Group  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/31/september11.usa4   BlackRock in China: Nuclear buildup underwritten in part by leading Wall Street firm, report says BlackRock… is investing millions of dollars in an estimated 30 Chinese military-linked companies currently sanctioned by the U.S. government, according to a think tank report prepared for Congress.  Additionally, BlackRock… has invested in companies working on China’s large-scale nuclear weapons buildup, stated the report by the Coalition for A Prosperous America… https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/apr/30/blackrock-in-china-nuclear-buildup-underwritten-in/   Positive aspects of previous session Gasoline and oil tumbled on reports that gasoline seasonal demand fell to a 4-year low The yen rallied 1.1% vs. the $ on BoJ intervention; Powell aided the BoJ   Negative aspects of previous session Powell and the leftist Fed will allow inflation to run hot to re-elect Biden There will be hell to pay later for the Fed’s politics and malfeasance Stocks and bonds sank after their savior, Jerome Powell, ended his Q&A; the S&P closed negative   Ambiguous aspects of previous session What happens to stocks after Apple reports results after today’s NYSE close?   First Hour/Last Hour Action [S&P 500 Index]: 1st Hour from NYSE Open: Down; Last Hour: Down   Pivot Point for S&P 500 Index [above/below indicates daily trend to traders]: 5042.65 Previous session S&P 500 Index High/Low: 5096.12; 5013.45   Jordan flatly rejects senior Hamas official’s idea of moving leadership to kingdom After Abu Marzouk claims good relations with Amman, veteran Jordanian diplomat responds that country ‘has closed the book on Palestinian cells’ – The Hamas leadership was expelled from Jordan and its offices shut by King Abdullah in 1999, with the newly nominated king accusing the terror group of meddling in Jordan’s sensitive relations with its significant Palestinian population… https://www.timesofisrael.com/jordan-flatly-rejects-senior-hamas-officials-idea-of-moving-leadership-to-kingdom/   GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene claims she will introduce a motion to vacate the Speaker chair next week because “He (Speaker Mike Johnson) has passed everything on the Democrats’ wish list, and now has the endorsement of Hakeem Jeffries… We need leaders in the House of Representatives… not working for Hakeem Jeffries (Dem House leader)… Not working for Joe Biden…” https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2-house-republicans-move-to-oust-speaker-johnson-6-months-he-took-gavel   @jessefelder: ‘Asset manager positioning in US equity futures is hovering over 2 standard deviations above average.  https://twitter.com/jessefelder/status/1785705493681639929   Today – Happy Days are Here Again because Powell told the world that the Fed will allow inflation to run hot, and he does NOT see the connection to asset inflation and consumer inflation.  Traders will try to ascertain if the explosive rally on Wednesday was a one-day wonder or if a new up leg has commenced.   The late tumble in ESMs suggests that manic short-covering and momentum buying exhausted itself by the last hour of trading yesterday.  ESMs plunged 82.75 during the NYSE’s last hour!  The S&P 500 Index closed -17.30 despite Powell’s dovish braying!  But Apple reports after today’s close!   A short-term peak for stocks could appear tomorrow if Apple reports good results after today’s close; or there is a soft April NFP; and/or on the Friday Rally.   In the coming days, it will be revealing if Fed hawks dispute and counter Powell’s dovishness.   Due to Powell, ESMs are +20.50; NQMs are +87.75; USMs are -17/32; and Gold is +22.80 at 20:15 ET.     Expected Earnings: CI 6.22, COP 2.04, CAH 1.95, MRDA -3.58, K .85, AAPL 1.50, AMGN 3.94   Expected economic data: Q1 Nonfarm Productivity 0.7%, Unit Labor Costs 3.6%; Initial Jobless Claims 211k, Continuing Claims 1.795m; Mar Trade Balance -$69.7B; Mar Factory Orders 1.6% m/m; Mar Durable Goods 2.6% m/m, Ex-Trans 0.2%   S&P Index 50-day MA: 5128; 100-day MA: 4975; 150-day MA: 4775; 200-day MA: 4698 DJIA 50-day MA: 38,753; 100-day MA: 38,266; 150-day MA: 36,892, 200-day MA: 36,374 (Green is positive slope; Red is negative slope)   S&P 500 Index (5018.39) – BBG trading model Trender and MACD for key time frames Monthly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 4638.30 triggers a sell signal Weekly: Trender and MACD are negative – a close above 5271.99 triggers a sell signal Daily: Trender and MACD are negative – a close above 5126.43 triggers a buy signal Hourly: Trender and MACD are negative – a close above 5054.73 triggers a buy signal   NYPD: 300 arrested at Columbia University and City College of New York Police crackdown at Columbia divides New York Democrats NYC Mayor Adams: There is a ‘movement to radicalize young people’ Columbia student mocked for telling reporters that occupiers might die without food delivery Violence breaks out at UCLA during protests: ‘Utter chaos’ Anti-Israel students at Emory University bash Biden, avoid outright condemning October 7 Emory University police arrest convicted felon who crossed state lines to join anti-Israel protests https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/riot-police-at-ucla-campus-close-in-after-night-of-violent-anti-israel-clashes?   Over 100 protesters arrested across 2 New York college campuses, law enforcement official says Over 100 protesters were arrested Tuesday at Columbia University and City College of New York, according to a law enforcement official.  Most of the arrests were made at Columbia, including about two dozen protesters who police say tried to prevent officers from entering the campus, the official said… https://www.cnn.com/business/live-news/university-protests-palestine-04-30-24/index.html   Inside Columbia’s ‘vandalized’ Hamilton Hall, where pro-terror protesters came face to face with riot police  https://nypost.com/2024/05/01/us-news/inside-hamilton-hall-where-pro-terror-protesters-came-face-to-face-with-riot-police/   @DavidAsmanfox: Frmr NYPD commish Ray Kelly says FBI missed a major conspiracy between Hamas activists and groups coordinating all this crap. The FBI’s been too busy chasing Catholics and other “threats” to national security to notice. We need a major security shakeup…starting at the top.   @SiaKordestani: Wristbands are being used to identify anti-Israel students at @UCLA so that they are allowed to enter Royce Quad, Royce Hall, and Powell Library. Some students are allowed in and out, others are kept out. This is ILLEGAL and UCLA is not just tolerating it but facilitating it. https://twitter.com/SiaKordestani/status/1785397163662745610   Chaos at UCLA as ‘horrific acts of violence’ break out between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel activists with ‘all-out brawls’ and fireworks hurled into crowds hours after cops cleared protesters from Columbia University in dramatic raid (Reports say no police response for 3 hours!) https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13370067/ucla-israel-palestine-protests-video-firework.html   @paulsperry_: REVEALED: Read here the full list of NGOs bankrolling, supporting and organizing pro-Hamas student protestors in NYC and elsewhere. Many of them have been identified by the FBI as Hamas front groups: https://t.co/js0tllVgIZ   Anti-Israel Protests Spotlight Unsolvable Problem for Biden Biden is attempting to continue to support Israel while simultaneously holding together the coalition of voters he desperately needs to win reelection…     Pro-Palestine protests follow Biden wherever he goes. The visceral anger from his base of young and minority voters is reflected in the polls and primary votes… Biden can either fully support Israel – and ensure the base that helped him win the White House in 2020 evaporates. Or Biden can encourage a ceasefire and betray one of the country’s longest allies and our Jewish population. https://www.oann.com/commentary/anti-israel-protests-spotlight-unsolvable-problem-for-biden/   Left-wing university leaders helped create anti-Israel campus chaos. We don’t need to bail them out The left now has a Hamas problem https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/left-wing-university-leaders-helped-create-anti-israel-campus-chaos-bail-out   As Campuses Burn, Biden Hangs in Delaware (Purportedly for a ‘closed-door campaign event’) https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2024/05/01/as-campuses-burnbiden-hangs-in-delaware-n2638505   Calls for Northwestern President’s Resignation Mount, Concessions to Protesters Draw Legal Scrutiny –  full-ride scholarships for Palestinian students and faculty positions for Palestinian academics… https://www.nationalreview.com/news/calls-for-northwestern-presidents-resignation-mount-concessions-to-protesters-draw-legal-scrutiny/   When asked why Biden has not spoken out about Pro-Hamas protests/riots on college campuses, Press Sec. KJP said, “He is monitoring the situation.”  https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1785717279419695612   Trump rips ‘Jewish politicians abandoning Israel’ as NYPD clears Columbia campus of pro-terror protesters – “I’m watching Jewish politicians abandon Israel… And I have seen it and you have seen it. Where is [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer? Why isn’t Schumer speaking up?”… https://nypost.com/2024/05/01/us-news/trump-rips-jewish-politicians-abandoning-israel-as-nypd-clears-columbia-campus-of-pro-terror-protesters/   @JamesOKeefeIII: EXPOSING THE CIA: “So the agencies kind of, like, all got together and said, we’re not gonna tell Trump…Director of the CIA would keep [information from Trump]…” A project manager working in Cyber Operations for the @CIA and an @NSAGov contractor with top-secret clearance working for @Deloitte, Amjad Fseisi, is caught on undercover cameras implicating the highest levels of the intelligence agencies, including “The executive staff. We’re talking about the director and his subordinates,” former CIA Directors “Gina Haspel….And I believe Mike Pompeo did the same thing too,” “kept information from him [Trump]…      “We monitor everything… we also have people that monitor his ex-wife. He likes to use burner phones” – information only an insider with access to highly sensitive information would state… https://twitter.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/1785782393414029738   GOP @RepMattGaetz: I’m formally calling on the @Weaponization Subcommittee to immediately launch an investigation into @OKeefeMedia Group’s bombshell report containing video evidence that American intelligence agencies withheld intelligence from President Donald Trump before & during his presidency and used Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authorities to spy on… Trump. https://twitter.com/RepMattGaetz/status/1785802835579290074   DOJ’s Kristen Clarke Testified She Was Never Arrested. Court Records and Text Messages Indicate She Was.  Before becoming one of the Justice Department’s top leaders, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke was allegedly involved in a violent domestic dispute, according to court documents, records, and text messages—an incident that ended in her arrest and was ultimately expunged. During her Senate confirmation, Clarke specifically denied ever having been arrested for or accused of committing a violent crime… (If a Repub lied in confirmation hearings, the MSM would…) https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/04/30/exclusive-dojs-kristen-clarke-testified-she-was-never-arrested-court-records-and-text-messages-indicate-she-was/   GOP Sen. @BasedMikeLee: “Kristen Clarke is in charge of enforcing civil rights laws…She lied under oath during her confirmation proceedings, and should resign.”   Chicago’s progressive Mayor ‘tried to bully his way into murdered cop Luis Huesca’s funeral family barred him from attending and only backed off when victim’s sister said she’d cause a scene if he appeared’  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13371551/Chicago-mayor-officer-luis-huesca-funeral.html   Wild Disneyland beatdown by mob of moms caught on shocking video Officials at Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but a spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times that the visitors who started the fight were kicked out of the park… (not arrested?) https://nypost.com/2024/05/01/us-news/wild-disneyland-beatdown-by-mob-of-moms-caught-on-shocking-video/   PS – Mug shots show that most of the arrested protesters appear to be middle age.

GREG HUNTER 

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