JUNE 3//BLOG/GOLD ROSE BU $22.85 TO $2348,50//SILVER ROSE 0.35 TO $30,63//PLATINUM CLOSED DOWN $16.35 TO $1020.50 WHILER PALLDAIUM CLOSED UP $11.00 TO $922.50//TONIGHT TWO GOLD RELATED COMMENTARIES FROM PETER SCHIFF AND EXCELLENT COMMENTARIES ON LITHIUM AND COCOA////GERMANY IS CERTAINLY HAVING PROBLEMS WITH IMMIGRATED MIGRANTS (TWO COMMENTARIES)/DURING THE PAST 12 MONTHS CHINA HAS DUMPED A HUGE 101 BILLLION DOLLARS WORTH OF TREASURIES//ISRAEL VS HAMAS UPDATES/COVID UPDATES, VACCINE INJURIES/DR PAUL ALEXANDER/SLAY NEWS ETC/IN SOUTH AFRICA, THE RLING ANC PARTY DEMOLISHED//IN MEXICO A NEW LEADER ELECTED, A LEFTY//IN HUGE USA NEWS, THE BANKING SYSTEM HAS 547 BILLION IN LOSSES YET TO BE ACCOUNTED FOR//ISM MGF REPORTS SHOWS STAGFLATION AND THIS IS GOOD FOR GOLD//COMMENTARY ON THE PLIGHT OOF THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY//SWMP NEWS FOR YOU TONIGHT//
072 C GOLDMAN 100 099 H DB AG 1138 118 H MACQUARIE FUT 217 167 C MAREX 4 1 226 C DIRECT ACCESS 55 323 C HSBC 42 323 H HSBC 35 357 C WEDBUSH 1 363 H WELLS FARGO SEC 131 365 C MAREX CAPITAL M 8 435 H SCOTIA CAPITAL 563 555 H BNP PARIBAS SEC 173 657 C MORGAN STANLEY 9 97 661 C JP MORGAN 4723 1756 661 H JP MORGAN 629 685 C RJ OBRIEN 1 686 C STONEX FINANCIA 78 8 690 C ABN AMRO 31 67 700 C UBS 76 732 C RBC CAP MARKETS 24 11 737 C ADVANTAGE 50 51 878 C PHILLIP CAPITAL 19
DLV615-T CME CLEARING BUSINESS DATE: 05/31/2024 DAILY DELIVERY NOTICES RUN DATE: 05/31/2024 PRODUCT GROUP: METALS RUN TIME: 20:59:04 880 H CITIGROUP 715 905 C ADM 60 21
TOTAL: 5,447 5,447 MONTH TO DATE: 26,861
JPMorgan stopped 10/5447
FOR JUNE 2024
GOLD: NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR JUNE/2024. CONTRACT: 5446 NOTICES FOR 544,600 OZ or 16.942 TONNES
total notices so far: 26,861 contracts for 2,686,100 Oz (83.548 tonnes)
FOR JUNE:
SILVER NOTICES: 45 NOTICE(S) FILED FOR 225,000 OZ/
total number of notices filed so far this month : 755 for 3.755 million oz
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Click here if you wish to send a donation. I sincerely appreciate it as this site takes a lot of preparation
END
GLD/
BOTH GLD AND SLV ARE FRAUDULENT VEHICLES//THEY ARE NOW RAIDING GLD AND SLV FOR PHYSICAL
THE CROOKS ARE STEALING GOLD AND SILVER FROM THE GLD/SLV AND REPLACING THE PHYSICAL WITH PAPER DOLLARS.
WITH GOLD UP $22.85
INVESTORS SWITCHING TO SPROTT PHYSICAL (PHYS) INSTEAD OF THE FRAUDULENT GLD/ :
NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:
/ /INVENTORY RESTS AT 832.21TONNES
INVENTORY RESTS AT 832.21 TONNES
SLV//
WITH NO SILVER AROUND AND SILVER UP $0.35 AT THE SLV//
NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:
// INVENTORY LOWERS TO 413.775 MILLION OZ/
INVESTORS ARE SWITCHING SLV TO SPROTT’S PSLV.
CLOSING INVENTORY: 413,775 MILLION OZ
Let us have a look at the data for today
SILVER//OUTLINE
SILVER COMEX OI FELL BY A HUMONGOUS SIZED 4031 CONTRACTS TO 180,434 AND STALLING FROM ITS MARCH TO THE RECORD HIGH OI OF 244,710, SET FEB 25/2020, AND THIS HUGE SIZED LOSS IN COMEX OI WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR HUGE LOSS OF $1.09 IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX ON FRFIDAY’S RAID ON SILVER. WE HAD SOME LONG LIQUIDATION AS WE HAD A NET LOSS OF 2866 CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES. WE, AGAIN HAD SHORT COVERING BY OUR SPECS WITH THE LOSS IN PRICE AS WELL AS MASS IVE SPREADER AND T.A.S. LIQUIDATION. WE HAD ANOTHER HUGE SIZED 1556 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. THE HIGHER ISSUANCE OF T.A.S. IS NOW USED TO TEMPER OUR SILVER/GOLD PRICE RISE OR RAID LIKE IN SILVER FRIDAY.
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 THURSDAY NIGHT: 1556 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 TODAY;S RAID.
WE HAVE IN THE PAST YEAR SET ANOTHER RECORD LOW AT 114,102 CONTRACTS ///JULY 3.2023// OUR BANKERS WITH THE HELP OF SPECULATORS AND HIGH FREQUENCY TRADERS WERE SUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING THE PRICE OF SILVER DOWN (IT FELL BY $1.09) BUT WERE SUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING SOME SILVER LONGS AS WE DID HAVE A HUGE SIZED LOSS OF 2866 CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES WITH THE LOSS IN PRICE OF $1.09
.
WE MUST HAVE HAD:
A HUMONGOUS SIZED 1165 CONTRACT ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS) iiii) AN INITIAL SILVER STANDING FOR COMEX SILVER MEASURING AT 3.830MILLION OZ (FIRST DAY NOTICE) FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 90,000 OZ QUEUE JUMP
//NEW STANDING FOR SILVER//JUNE IS THUS 3.920 MILLION OZ
WE HAD:
/ HUMONGOUS SIZED COMEX OI LOSS //HUGE SIZED EFP ISSUANCE/ VI) HUGE SIZED NUMBER OF T.A.S. CONTRACT ISSUANCE 1556 CONTRACTS)/
I AM NOW RECORDING THE DIFFERENTIAL IN OI FROM PRELIMINARY TO FINAL -REMOVED A SMALLISH 147 CONTRACTS //
HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS MAY ACCUMULATION FOR EFP’S SILVER/JPMORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES/STARTING FROM FIRST DAY/MONTH OF JUNE
TOTAL CONTRACTS for 1 DAYS, total 1165 contracts: OR 5.825 MILLION OZ (1165 CONTRACTS PER DAY)
TOTAL EFP’S FOR THE MONTH SO FAR: 135.995 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: 161.770 MILLION OZ (THIS MONTH WILL PROBABLY BE A WHOPPER OF ISSUANCE OF EFPS//3RDHIGHEST EVER RECORDED FOR A MONTH)
MAY: 135.995 MILLION OZ //WILL BE A STRONG MONTH FOR EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE
JUNE 5.825 MILLION OZ
RESULT: WE HAD A HUMONGOUS SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF 4031 CONTRACTS WITH OUR LOSS IN PRICE OF SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX//FRIDAY.,. THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A HUMONGOUS EFP ISSUANCE CONTRACTS: 1165 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 JUNE OF 3.830 MILLION OZ ON FIRST DAY NOTICE FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 90,000 OZ QUEUE JUMP
//NEW TOTAL STANDING FOR JUNE 3.920 MILLION OZ
WE HAVE A HUGE SIZED LOSS OF 2866 OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES WITH THE HUGE LOSS IN PRICE. THE TOTAL OF TAS INITIATED CONTRACTS TODAY: A HUGE SIZED 1556 CONTRACTS,//HUGE FRONT END OF THE TAS CONTRACTS WERE LIQUIDATED DURING THE FRIDAY COMEX SESSION/// WITH MAJOR SHORT COVERING FROM OUR SPEC SHORTS AND ZERO LIQUIDATION OF LONGS.
THE NEW TAS ISSUANCE FRIDAY NIGHT (1556) WILL BE PUT INTO “THE BANK” TO BE COLLUSIVELY USED AT A LATER DATE//AND MOST LIKELY TODAY., .
WE HAD 45 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 225,000 OZ
THE SILVER COMEX IS NOW BEING ATTACKED FOR METAL BY LONDONERS ET AL.
GOLD//OUTLINE
IN GOLD, THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST FELL BY A GIGANTIC SIZED 20,788 OI CONTRACTS TO 459,251 AND FURTHER FROM THE RECORD (SET JAN 24/2020) AT 799,733 AND PREVIOUS TO THAT: (SET JAN 6/2020) AT 797,110, BUT WE ARE NOW MUCH FURTHER FROM OUR ALL TIME LOW OF 390,000 CONTRACTS.
THE DIFFERENTIAL FROM PRELIMINARY OI TO FINAL OI IN GOLD TODAY: REMOVED A 209 CONTRACTS
WE HAD A GIGANTIC SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI (20,788 CONTRACTS) OCCURRED WITH OUR LOSS OF $19.40 IN PRICE/FRIDAY. THE FRBNY SUPPLIED THE NECESSARY SHORT PAPER. WE ALSO HAD A HUGE INITIAL STANDING IN GOLD TONNAGE FOR JUNED AT 89.804 TONNES ON FIRST DAY NOTICE FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 50,700 OZ EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL TRANSFER WHERE THESE BOYS WERE IN A HURRY AND THEY TOOK DELIVERY ON THAT SIDE OF THE POND.
NEW STANDING 88.18 TONNES// ALL OF THIS HAPPENED WITH OUR $19.40 LOSS IN PRICE WITH RESPECT TO FRIDAY’S TRADING. WE HAD A HUGE SIZED LOSS OF 17,214 OI CONTRACTS (53.547 PAPER TONNES) ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES.
E.F.P. ISSUANCE
THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A STRONG SIZED 3366 CONTRACTS:
The NEW COMEX OI FOR THE GOLD COMPLEX RESTS AT 459,251
IN ESSENCE WE HAVE A VERY STRONG SIZED DECREASE IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 17,422 CONTRACTS WITH 20,788 CONTRACTS DECREASED AT THE COMEX// AND A STRONG SIZED 3366 EFP OI CONTRACTS WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS TOTAL OI LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 17,422 CONTRACTS.. WE HAD THE FOLLOWING TAS CONTRACTS INITIATED (ISSUED): A STRONG SIZED 3467 CONTRACTS,,
CALCULATIONS ON GAIN/LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES
WE HAD A STRONG SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (3467 CONTRACTS) ACCOMPANYING THE HUGE SIZED LOSS IN COMEX OI 20,788/TOTAL LOSS FOR OUR THE TWO EXCHANGES: 17,422 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 JUNE AT 88.18 TONNES
//NEW STANDING /JUNE 88.18 TONNES.
/ 3) HUGE LIQUIDATION OF CONTRACTS MOSTLY DUE TO SPREADERS//TAS ALONG WITH SOME LONG SPECS
.
// 4) huge SIZED COMEX OPEN INTEREST loss 5) STRONG ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL PAPER///strong T.A.S. ISSUANCE: 3467 CONTRACTS//
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 JUNE. :
TOTAL EFP CONTRACTS ISSUED: 3367 CONTRACTS OR 336700 OZ OR 10.969 TONNES IN 1 TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 3367 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY
TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS : THIS MONTH IN 1 TRADING DAY(S) IN TONNES 10.969 TONNES
TOTAL ANNUAL GOLD PRODUCTION, 2023, THROUGHOUT THE WORLD EX CHINA EX RUSSIA: 3555 TONNES
THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 10.969 DIVIDED BY 3550 x 100% TONNES = 0.309% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL PRODUCTION
SEPT 142.12 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE ( LOW ISSUANCE)_
OCT: 141.13 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE (LOW ISSUANCE)
NOV: 312.46 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE//NEW RECORD!! (INCREASING DRAMATICALLY)//SIGN OF REAL STRESS//SURPASSING THE MARCH 2021 RECORD OF 276.50 TONNES OF EFP
DEC. 175.62 TONNES//FINAL ISSUANCE//
TOTALS: 2,578.08 TONNES/2021
JAN:2022 247.25 TONNES //FINAL
FEB: 196.04 TONNES//FINAL
MARCH/2022: 409.30 TONNES //FINAL( THIS IS NOW A RECORD EFP ISSUANCE FOR MARCH AND FOR ANY MONTH.
APRIL: 169.55 TONNES (FINAL VERY LOW ISSUANCE MONTH)
MAY: 247.44 TONNES FINAL//
JUNE: 238.13 TONNES FINAL
JULY: 378.43 TONNES FINAL
AUGUST: 180.81 TONNES FINAL
SEPT. 193.16 TONNES FINAL
OCT: 177.57 TONNES FINAL ( MUCH SMALLER THAN LAST MONTH)
NOV. 223.98 TONNES//FINAL ( MUCH LARGER THAN PREVIOUS MONTHS//comex running out of physical)
DEC: 185.59 tonnes // FINAL
TOTAL: 2,847,25 TONNES/2022
JAN 2023: 228.49 TONNES FINAL//HUGE AMOUNT OF EFP’S ISSUED THIS MONTH!!
FEB: 151.61 TONNES/FINAL
MARCH: 280.09 TONNES/INITIAL (ANOTHER STRONG MONTH FOR EFP ISSUANCE)
APRIL: 197.42 TONNES
MAY: 236.67 TONNES (A VERY STRONG ISSUANCE FOR THIS MONTH)
JUNE: 172.667 TONNES (WEAKER ISSUANCE THIS MONTH)
JULY: 151.69 TONNES (WEAKER THAN LAST MONTH)
AUGUST: 195.28 TONNES (A STRONGER MONTH)//FINAL
SEPT: 254.709 TONNES (WILL BE LARGER THAN LAST MONTH AND A STRONG MONTH)
OCT. 248.09 TONNES. LIKE SILVER, THIS MONTH IS GOING TO BE A STRONG E.F.P. ISSUANCE.
NOV. 239.16 TONNES//WILL BE STRONG THIS MONTH,
DEC. 213.704 TONNES. A STRONG MONTH//
TOTAL FOR YEAR 2023: 2,569.57 TONNES VS 2578 TONNES LAST YEAR
JAN ’24: 291.76 TONNES (WILL BE MUCH GREATER THAN LAST MONTH.//3RD HIGHEST EVER RECORDED EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL)
FEB’24: 201.947 TONNES
MARCH 2024: 352.21 TONNES//2ND HIGHEST EVER RECORDED EFP ISSUANCE.
APRIL: 267.05TONNES (WILL BE AN EXTREMELY STRONG MONTH BUT LESS THAN MARCH 2024)
MAY; 316.606 TONNES (WILL BE ANOTHER STRONG MONTH// 3RD HIGHEST RECORDED EFP ISSUANCE )// NOTICE THE HUGE INCREASES IN EX FOR PHYSICAL THESE PAST FEW MONTHS. THESE CONTRACTS ARE CIRCLED BACK FROM LONDON WHEREBY METAL IS REMOVED FROM THE COMEX.
JUNE 10.969 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 JUNE. 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 HUMONGOUS SIZED 4031 CONTRACTS OI TO 180,434 AND FURTHER FROM THE COMEX HIGH RECORD //244,710( SET FEB 25/2020). THE LAST RECORDS WERE SET IN AUG.2018 AT 244,196 WITH A SILVER PRICE OF $14.78/(AUGUST 22/2018)..THE PREVIOUS RECORD TO THAT WAS SET ON APRIL 9/2018 AT 243,411 OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS WITH THE SILVER PRICE AT THAT DAY: $16.53). AND PREVIOUS TO THAT, THE RECORD WAS ESTABLISHED AT: 234,787 CONTRACTS, SET ON APRIL 21.2017 OVER 6 YEARS AGO. HOWEVER WE HAVE NOW SET A NEW RECORD LOW OF 114,102 CONTRACTS JULY 3.2023
EFP ISSUANCE 1165 CONTRACTS
OUR CUSTOMARY MIGRATION OF COMEX LONGS CONTINUE TO MORPH INTO LONDON FORWARDS AS OUR BANKERS USED THEIR EMERGENCY PROCEDURE TO ISSUE:
JULY 1165 and ALL OTHER MONTHS: ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 1165 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 3884 CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 1165 E.FP. ISSUED
WE OBTAIN A HUGE SIZED LOSS OF OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 2866 CONTRACTS
THUS IN OUNCES, THE LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES TOTALS 14.330 MILLION OZ
c) Commentaries from: Egon von Greyerz///Matthew Piepenburg via GoldSwitzerland.com, Pam and Russ Martens
ii a) Chris Powell of GATA provides to us very important physical commentaries
b. Other gold/silver commentaries
c. Commodity commentaries//
d)/CRYPTOCURRENCIES/BITCOIN ETC
2.ASIAN AFFAIRS//
MONDAY MORNING/SUNDAY NIGHT
SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 8.82 PTS OR 0.27% //Hang Seng CLOSED UP 323.43 PTS OR 1.79%// Nikkei CLOSED UP 435.13 OR 1.13%//Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP 0.67%///Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN TO 7,2447 CHINESE YUAN OFFSHORE CLOSED DOWN TO 7.2597/ Oil DOWN TO 77.14 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT DOWN AT 81.19 /Stocks in Europe OPENED MOSTLY RED
ONSHORE YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE YUAN WEAKER
1. COMEX DATA//AMOUNTS STANDING//VOLUME OF TRADING/INVENTORY MOVEMENTS
GOLD
LET US BEGIN:
THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST FELL BY A HUGE SIZED 20,788 CONTRACTS TO 459,251 WITH OUR LOSS IN PRICE OF $19.40 WITH RESPECT TO FRIDAY TRADING. WE HAD A HUGE T.A.S. AND SPREADER LIQUIDATION ON FRIDAY AS WELL AS SOME LONGS BEING CLIPPED.
EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE
WE ARE NOW IN THE ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF JUNE.… THE CME REPORTS THAT THE BANKERS ISSUED A HUGE SIZED TRANSFER THROUGH THE EFP ROUTE AS THESE LONGS RECEIVED A DELIVERABLE LONDON FORWARD TOGETHER WITH A FIAT BONUS.,
THAT IS A STRONG SIZED 3366 EFP CONTRACTS WERE ISSUED: : AUGUST3366 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:
TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE:3366 CONTRACTS.
ON A NET BASIS IN OPEN INTEREST WE LOST THE FOLLOWING TODAY ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES: A HUGE SIZED TOTAL OF 17,422 CONTRACTS IN THAT 3366 LONGS WERE TRANSFERRED AS EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS TO LONDON AND WE HAD A HUGE SIZED LOSS OF 17,788 COMEX CONTRACTS..AND THIS LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES HAPPENED WITH OUR HUGE LOSS IN PRICE OF $19.40// FRIDAY COMEX RAID. AS PER OUR NEWBIE TRADE AT SETTLEMENT (TAS) MANIPULATION OPERATION (WHICH CRAIG HEMKE HAS POINTED OUT HAPPENS DURING MID MONTH IN THE DELIVERY CYCLE), THE CME REPORTS THAT THE TOTAL T.A.S. ISSUANCE FOR FRIDAY NIGHT WAS A STRONG SIZED 3467 CONTRACTS. MOST OF THE TRADING AND SUPPLY OF CONTRACTS 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. THE USE OF T.A.S. TODAY IS OF EXTREME IMPORTANCE TO OUR CROOKS IN YESTERDAY’S TRADING
// WE HAVE A STRONG AMOUNT OF GOLD TONNAGE STANDING: JUNE (88.180 TONNES
HERE ARE THE AMOUNTS THAT STOOD FOR DELIVERY IN THE PRECEDING 42 MONTHS OF 2021-2024:
DEC 2021: 112.217 TONNES
NOV. 8.074 TONNES
OCT. 57.707 TONNES
SEPT: 11.9160 TONNES
AUGUST: 80.489 TONNES
JULY 7.2814 TONNES
JUNE: 72.289 TONNES
MAY 5.77 TONNES
APRIL 95.331 TONNES
MARCH 30.205 TONNES
FEB ’21. 113.424 TONNES
JAN ’21: 6.500 TONNES.
TOTAL YEAR 2021 (JAN- DEC): 601.213 TONNES
YEAR 2022:
JANUARY 2022 17.79 TONNES
FEB 2022: 59.023 TONNES
MARCH: 36.678 TONNES
APRIL: 85.340 TONNES FINAL.
MAY: 20.11 TONNES FINAL
JUNE: 74.933 TONNES FINAL
JULY 29.987 TONNES FINAL
AUGUST:104.979 TONNES//FINAL
SEPT. 38.1158 TONNES
OCT: 77.390 TONNES/ FINAL
NOV 27.110 TONNES/FINAL
Dec. 64.000 tonnes
(TOTAL YEAR 656.076 TONNES)
2023:
JAN/2023: 20.559 tonnes
FEB 2023: 47.744 tonnes
MAR: 19.0637 TONNES
APRIL: 75.676 tonnes
MAY: 19.094 TONNES + 1.244 tonnes of exchange for risk = 20.338
JUNE: 64.354 TONNES
JULY: 10.2861 TONNES
AUGUST: 38.855 TONNES(INCLUDING .6842 EXCHANGE FOR RISK)
SEPT: 15.281 TONNES FINAL
OCT. 35.869 TONNES + 1.665 EXCHANGE FOR RISK =37.0355 tonnes
DEC. 47.073 + 4.634 TONNES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK = 51.707 TONNES
TOTAL 2023 YEAR : 436.546 TONNES
2024
JAN ’24. 22.706 TONNES
FEB. ’24: 66.276TONNES (INCLUDES 1.723 TONNES EX. FOR RISK)
MARCH: 18.8398 TONNES + 1.1695 EX FOR RISK = 20.093 TONNES
APRIL: 2024: 53.673TONNES FINAL
MAY/ 2024 8.5536 TONNES + 3.3716 TONNES EX FOR RISK/PRIOR= 11.9325
JUNE; 88.180 TONNES. THIS IS THE HIGHEST RECORDED GOLD STANDING SINCE AUGUST 2022
THE SPECS/HFT WERE SUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE( IT FELL BY $19.40 //// AND WERE SUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING SOME SPECULATOR LONGS AS WE HAD A HUGE LOSS OF 17,214 CONTRACTS ON FRIDAY WITH OUR TWO EXCHANGES WITH THE HUGE LOSS IN PRICE. THE T.A.S. ISSUED ON FRIDAY NIGHT WILL BE “PUT INTO THE BANK” TO BE USED AT A LATER DATE AT THE COLLUSIVE CHOOSING OF OUR BANKERS.
WE HAVE LOST A TOTAL OI OF 53.547 PAPER TONNES FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES, ACCOMPANYING OUR INITIAL GOLD TONNAGE STANDING FOR JUNE (89.804 TONNES) ON FIRST DAY NOTICE FOLLoWED BY TODAYS EFP JUMP TO LONDON OF 507 CONTRACTS OR 50700 OZ (1.576 TONNES)
NEW STANDING FOR JUNE: 88.180 TONNES
ALL OF THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR HUGE LOSS IN PRICE TO THE TUNE OF $19.40
WE HAVE REMOVED 209 CONTRACTS FROM THE COMEX TRADES TO OPEN INTEREST (CROOKS)//PRELIMINARY TO FINAL
NET LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 17,422 CONTRACTS OR 1,742,200 (54.18 TONNES)
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month
26,861 notices 2,686,100 oz 83.548 TONNES
Total accumulative withdrawals of gold from the Dealers inventory this month
NIL oz
Total accumulative withdrawal of gold from the Customer inventory this month
x
0 dealer deposits:
total dealer deposits: NIL oz
we have 1 customer deposit:
I) into brinks 32.15 oz one kilobar
total deposit 32.15 oz
total customer withdrawals: 0
TOTAL WITHDRAWALS nil 0z
Adjustments: 2
customer to dealer/hsbc 3530.490 oz
and
brinks 1,736,154 oz
CALCULATIONS FOR THE AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR JUNE
For the front month of JUNE we have an oi of 6936 contracts having LOST 21,921 contracts. We had 21,414 contracts served on Friday so we lost 507 contracts as these guys could not wait and they took delivery over in London via the Exchange for physical route (ex for physical jump)
JULY GAINED 66 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 2131
AUGUST GAINED 203 CONTRACTS UP TO 378,820 CONTRACTS
We had 5447 contracts filed for today representing 544,700 oz
This is a major assault on the comex for gold and this time it is physical that will be requested.
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 5447 contract(s) of which 0 notices were stopped (received) by j.P. Morgan dealer and 10 notice(s) was (were) stopped (received) by J.P.Morgan//customer account
To calculate the INITIAL total number of gold ounces standing for June /2024. contract month, we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (26,861) x 100 oz ) to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of JUNE ( 6936 CONTRACTS) minus the number of notices served upon today (5447 x 100 oz per contract( equals 2,835,000 OZ OR 88.180 TONNES.
thus the INITIAL standings for gold for the JUNE contract month: No of notices filed so far (26,861 x 100 oz +we add the difference for front month of June (6936 OI} minus the number of notices served upon today (5447) x 100 oz which equals 2,835,000 oz (88.180 TONNES)
TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING FOR JUNE: 88.180 TONNES WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY HUGE FOR THIS VERY ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH IN THE CALENDAR. JUNE IS TRADITIONA;LLLY THE 2ND HIGHEST DELIVERY MONTH OF THE YEAR.
TOTAL OF ALL GOLD ELIGIBLE AND REGISTERED GOLD: 17,677,584.340 OZ
TOTAL REGISTERED GOLD 7,972,277.280 ( 247.97 tonnes).
TOTAL OF ALL ELIGIBLE GOLD: 9,706,541.553 OZ
REGISTERED GOLD THAT CAN BE SERVED UPON: 6,413,790 oz (REG GOLD- PLEDGED GOLD)= 199.49 tonnes //
END
SILVER/COMEX
JUN3
INITIAL
//2024// THE JUNE 2024 SILVER CONTRACT//INITIAL
Silver
Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory
NIL oz
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory
nil oz
.
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory
nil OZ
Deposits to the Customer Inventory
1,162,958.230 oz CNT Loomis
No of oz served today (contracts)
45 CONTRACT(S) (225,000 OZ)
No of oz to be served (notices)
29 contracts (0.145 million oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)
755 Contracts (3.7550 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 2 deposits customer account:
i) into CNT: 42,015.035 oz
ii) Into Loomis 1,120,943.195 oz
total customer deposit 1,162m958.230 oz
JPMorgan has a total silver weight: 128.997million oz/298.751 million or 43.17%
adjustment: 0//
Comex withdrawals: 0
total withdrawal: nil 0z
TOTAL REGISTERED SILVER: 62.494MILLION OZ//.TOTAL REG + ELIGIBLE. 298.751
million oz
CALCULATIONS FOR THE NEW STANDING FOR SILVER FOR JUNE:
silver open interest data:
FRONT MONTH OF JUNE/2024 OI: 74 CONTRACTS HAVING LOST 692 CONTRACT(S).
WE HAD 710 NOTICES SERVED UP ON FRIDAY, SO WE GAINED 18 CONTRACTS OR AN ADDITIONAL 18 CONTRACTS WILL STAND AT THE COMEX VIA A QUEUE JUMP
JULY SAW A LOSS OF 4674 CONTRACTS DOWN TO 136,629
AUG, SAW A GAIN OF 28 CONTRACTS TO 28
SEPT SAW A GAIN OF 1092 CONTRACTS TO 28,515.
TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR TODAY: 45 for 255,000 oz
CONFIRMED volume; ON FRIDAY 120,519 huge
To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in JUNE we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at 755 x 5,000 oz = 3.7550 MILLION oz
to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of JUNE ((74) and the number of notices served upon today 45 x (5000 oz) equals the number of ounces standing.
Thus the standings for silver for the JUNE/2024 contract month: 755 notices served so far) x 5000 oz + OI for the front month of JUNE (74)x number of notices served upon today minus (45)x 5000 oz of silver standing for the may contract month equates to 3.920 MILLION OZ.
New total standing: 3.920 million oz.
There are 62.494 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.
Now that we have surpassed $28.40 the next big line in the sand for silver is $34.76. After that the moon
END
GLD AND SLV INVENTORY LEVELS//
BOTH GLD AND SLV ARE MASSIVE FRAUDS!
JUNE 3 WITH GOLD UP $22.85 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: / //NEW TOTAL TONIGHT 832.21 TONNES
MAY 31 WITH GOLD DOWN $19.40 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: / //NEW TOTAL TONIGHT 832.21 TONNES
MAY 30 WITH GOLD UP $3.60 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: / //NEW TOTAL TONIGHT 832.21 TONNES
MAY 29 WITH GOLD DOWN $13.55 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: / //NEW TOTAL TONIGHT 832.21 TONNES
MAY 28 WITH GOLD UP $22.00 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.15 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD// //NEW TOTAL TONIGHT 832.21 TONNES
MAY 24 WITH GOLD DOWN $2.25 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 5.18 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD// //NEW TOTAL TONIGHT 833.36 TONNES
MAY 23 WITH GOLD DOWN $53.00 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: //NEW TOTAL TONIGHT 838.54 TONNES
MAY 22 WITH GOLD DOWN $32.10 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: //NEW TOTAL TONIGHT 838.54 TONNES
MAY 21 WITH GOLD DOWN $12,00 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: //NEW TOTAL TONIGHT 838.54 TONNES
MAY 20 WITH GOLD UP $21.30 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 5.10 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD//NEW TOTAL 838.54 TONNES
MAY 17 WITH GOLD UP $31.70 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//NEW TOTAL 833.36 TONNES
MAY 16 WITH GOLD DOWN $7.90 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//A DEPOSIT OF 1.43 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD//NEW TOTAL 833.36 TONNES
MAY 15 WITH GOLD UP $34.90 ON THE DAY; SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//A DEPOSIT OF .600 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/INVENTORY RISES TO 831.93 TONNES
MAY 14 WITH GOLD DOWN $17.10 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD//INVENTORY RISES TO 831.33 TONNES
MAY 13 WITH GOLD DOWN $31.10 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A DEPOSIT OF .600 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD////INVENTORY RISES TO 831.93 TONNES
MAY 10 WITH GOLD UP $34.65 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD////INVENTORY REMAINS CONSTANT AT 830.47 TONNES
MAY 9 WITH GOLD UP $18.25 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD////INVENTORY REMAINS CONSTANT AT 830.47 TONNES
MAY 8 WITH GOLD DOWN $0.90 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.72 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD//INVENTORY RISES AT 830.47 TONNES
MAY 7 WITH GOLD DOWN $6.40 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 1.72 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD//INVENTORY RISES AT 832.19 TONNES
MAY 6WITH GOLD UP $21.00 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF .55 TONNES IF FGOLD FROM THE GLD//INVENTORY FALLS AT 831.64 TONNES
MAY 2 WITH GOLD UP $0.20 ON THE DAY; SMAKK CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.17 TONNES IF FGOLD FROM THE GLD//INVENTORY FALLS AT 830.47 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
GLD INVENTORY: 832.21 TONNES, TONIGHTS TOTAL
Now the SLV Inventory/( vehicle is a fraud as there is no physical metal behind them
JUNE 3 WITH SILVER UP $0.35 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY: //INVENTORY REMAINS AT 413.775 MILLION OZ
MAY 31 WITH SILVER DOWN $1.09 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY: A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 3.655 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV//INVENTORY LOWERS TO 413.775 MILLION OZ
MAY 30 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.80 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY//INVENTORY REMAINS AT 417.430 MILLION OZ
MAY 29 WITH SILVER UP $0.20 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV// A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 1.051 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV//INVENTORY DECREASES TO 417.430 MILLION OZ
MAY 28 WITH SILVER UP $1.64 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV// A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 2.832 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV//INVENTORY INCREASES TO 418.481 MILLION OZ
MAY 24 WITH SILVER UP $0.10 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV// A DEPOSIT OF .822 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV//INVENTORY INCREASES TO 421.313 MILLION OZ
MAY 23 WITH SILVER DOWN $1.00 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV// A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.736 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLVINVENTORY INCREASES TO 420.491 MILLION OZ
MAY 22 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.66 TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV// INVENTORY INCREASES TO 422.227 MILLION OZ
MAY 21 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.41 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/A DEPOSIT OF 3.792 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV// INVENTORY INCREASES TO 422.227 MILLION OZ
MAY 20 WITH SILVER UP $1.28 TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.005 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV// INVENTORY LOWERS TO 418.435 MILLION OZ
MAY 17 WITH SILVER UP $1.37 TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/A WITHDRAWAL OF 868,000 OZ FROM THE SLV// INVENTORY LOWERS TO 419.440 MILLION OZ
MAY 16 WITH SILVER DOWN 14 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/ INVENTORY REMAINS AT 420.308 MILLION OZ
MAY 15 WITH SILVER UP 101 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV;; A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.919 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV NVENTORY RESTS AT 420.308 MILLION OZ
MAY 14 WITH SILVER UP 25 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV;;INVENTORY RESTS AT 422.227 MILLION OZ
MAY 13 WITH SILVER DOWN 4 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV;;NVENTORY RESTS AT 422.227 MILLION OZ
MAY 10 WITH SILVER UP 15 CENTS TODAY: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV;; A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 1.,828 MILLION OZ//INVENTORY RESTS AT 422.227 MILLION OZ
MAY 9 WITH SILVER UP 78 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 424.055 MILLION OZ
MAY 8 WITH SILVER DOWN 11 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 424.055 MILLION OZ
MAY 7WITH SILVER DOWN 14 CENTS TODAY: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 424.055 MILLION OZ
MAY 6 WITH SILVER DOWN 12 CENTS TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/ A DEPOSIT OF 0.338 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 424.055 MILLION OZ
MAY 3 WITH SILVER DOWN 12 CENTS TODAY: SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/ A DEPOSIT OF 0.338MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV INVENTORY RESTS AT 424.695 MILLION OZ
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
CLOSING INVENTORY 413.775 MILLION OZ//
PHYSICAL GOLD/SILVER COMMENTARIES
1.PETER SCHIFF SCHIFF GOLD/MIKE MAHARRAY
What A China-Taiwan Conflict Could Mean For Semiconductors, Gold
In a pointed “celebration” of Lai’s recent inauguration, Chinese military aircraft and warships have been conducting large-scale drills around the island. China considers Taiwan a strayed member of its territory and hasn’t ruled out the use of force to assert its claim.
“China will surely be reunified,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his New Year’s address. “Compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should be bound by a common sense of purpose and share in the glory of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”
“I think right now, we will probably lose,” he said.
One likely victim of such a conflict would be Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, which holds about 70% of the world market share. Total industry value is expected to set a record this year at $630 billion—but that could change if China invades Taiwan and, as McCaul warns, “the island doesn’t have the capacity to defend itself” or its industry.
“Everybody that has phones, cars—we have advanced weapons systems—everything’s dependent on semiconductors and this island, over time, because we’ve offshored [manufacturing],” McCaul told Fox News Digital. “And the shutdown of what’s happening [in Taiwan], semiconductors, would really shut down the world.”
Changes in the market for semiconductors mean changes in the market for many base metals, including silicon, germanium, and gallium, all of which are critical components for semiconductor manufacturing. Gold is also a key component of the production process because of its anti-tarnishing properties.
With a semiconductor shortage could come other electronics shortages, squeezing markets for everything from refrigerators to cell phones to electric vehicles. There’s precedent for such a shakeup, which occurred during the semiconductor shortage of the COVID-19 pandemic—and back then, the economic pandemonium didn’t stop short at consumer electronics.
“The recent semiconductor shortage isn’t some far-off issue—it affects everyday citizens around the globe,” the Council on Foreign Regulations reported last year. “Supply-chain challenges can yield price hikes for consumers and lost jobs for manufacturers. Companies laid off thousands of workers [during the COVID shortage] because the United States lacked chips.”
Such a drop in semiconductor production might initially appear to signal a decrease in demand for component metals, like gold. That seems to be the market’s immediate intuition, as shown by mildly ebbing gold prices following the Chinese drills—but a major complicating factor is quickly becoming apparent. China, already one of the world’s largest gold consumers, is busy buying up the precious metal at record rates. The country’s aggressions toward Taiwan will likely continue to drive precious metal prices upward, signaling a second precious metals boom when coupled with the rising market uncertainty and inflation that inevitably follow conflict.
“China is unquestionably driving the price of gold,” Ross Norman, chief executive of MetalsDaily.com, told the New York Times. “The flow of gold to China has gone from solid to an absolute torrent.”
“There is absolutely no question that the timing and the sustained nature of [China’s gold] purchases are all part of a lesson that [the Chinese] have drawn from the Ukraine war,” Jonathan Eyal, associate director of the UK’s Royal United Services Institute, told the Telegraph. “The relentless purchases and the sheer quantity are clear signs that this is a political project which is prioritized by the leadership in Beijing because of what they see is a looming confrontation with the United States.”
“If [China] get[s] much closer to bullying Taiwan and countries start to move their investments out of China, [the gold reserves] will give them a bit of padding to be able to ride through some of the difficulties,” added Sir Iain Duncan Smith, co-chair of the UK Interparliamentary Alliance on China.
Meanwhile, the President has signed an aid package with $8 billion earmarked for Taiwan and the surrounding region, a move that aggravated US-China relations and will encourage economically painful sanctions on both sides. Such spending could also pull the trigger on domestic inflation, resulting in the continued weakening of the U.S. dollar even as the Chinese economy is strengthened by its gold reserves.
This type of monetary policy is why some economists, including Danial Lacalle of the IE Business School in Madrid, are sounding alarm bells at governmental inflation employed as a “policy, not a coincidence.” In this environment, Lacalle warns, it’s a bad idea to bet on inflated currency when choosing investments.
“Staying in cash is dangerous; accumulating government bonds is reckless; but rejecting gold is denying the reality of money,” Lacalle said.
The U.S. national debt is at 34.7 trillion dollars. If you laid that many dollar bills end-to-end, it would wrap around the Earth 134,599 times. That’s enough to travel to the sun and back 17 times. Suffice it to say, we’re in a pickle.
America is slowly approaching the precipice of debt default. This is no minor dilemma. A default could cause approximately 8 million jobs to be lost. In other words, the bill would come due.
For many politicians, the debt crisis is not a pressing concern. At least not enough to take measures to fix it. The Biden administration passed a 1.2 trillion-dollar infrastructure bill in 2021, adding 256 billion dollars to the budget deficit over the next ten years. Biden has also forgiven 167 billion dollars in student loans during his tenure, which was financed through increased government spending. Despite already being one of the most indebted countries in the world, politicians continue to dig the U.S. into an even deeper hole. The problem is not simply a monetary one.
There is an ideological battle underlying our descent into debt.
The ideas that have caused America’s current debt crisis were birthed during the Great Depression. In 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a series of spending measures that were intended to stimulate economic activity in what was called the “New Deal.” FDR spent over 950 billion (inflation-adjusted) dollars on the program while being touted as an economic “savior.” The deal was promoted as what released America from the bonds of the recession. In reality, it made the problem worse.
A study conducted by two UCLA economists found that the New Deal actually extended the Great Depression by seven years. By artificially increasing wages while unemployment remained rampant and below projected recovery rates, FDR’s program harmed economic health. Simply pumping money into the economy wasn’t the fix-all solution it was advertised to be.
This is no surprise. Simply increasing the amount of money in the economy does not increase the total amount of goods and services. It only increases the demand for a stationary supply, which necessarily results in a price increase. Instead of stimulating true economic development, unrestricted government funding has led to an inflationary trap. And yet we keep spending, suppressing the symptoms while worsening the underlying problem.
Another flaw of increasing government spending is its inefficiency relative to private markets. Look no further than the Pentagon’s $640 toilet seat. Government officials don’t have the proper incentives to spend money wisely. Instead, their wasteful spending is bankrolled by tax dollars, debt, and increases in the money supply. Between 2020 and 2022, the money supply alone increased by over 40%. Consequently, inflation burgeoned to 7% and 6.5% in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Government spending is a slippery slope. Once a private entity becomes dependent on a public sector paycheck, it will keep coming back for more. In return, politicians get more control over the lives of their constituents. The decision to increase taxes, the money supply, or the national debt to fund more spending is rooted in an ideology of increased government intervention.
The thinkers who originated Western political philosophy believed that government was meant to protect life, liberty, and property, and nothing more. The modern American regime has drastically overstepped these bounds and instead spends trillions of dollars on niche issues while citizens pay the price in the form of inflation, higher taxes, and debt.
At the heart of the issue is the belief that politicians can spend your money better than you can. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Political leaders only have to cater to the current populus to stay in power, and thus have a heavy tendency to overspend in the present and let future generations pick up the pieces. But the bill is coming due. Experts estimate the U.S. has approximately 20 years to change its spending policies or it will have to default on its debt. We are descending into an economic crisis of our political leaders’ design. While excessive spending appears beneficial in the present, the American people always pay the price.
2. ALASDAIR MACLEOD/JIM RICKARDS/PAM AND RUSS MARTENS/ JAMES RICKARDS/GOLD AND SILVER COMMENTARY
We all know about the non-stop lawfare attacks on Donald Trump. You might like Trump or hate him, but it shouldn’t matter. Every American who cares about justice and the rule of law should be concerned about them.
It corrodes the system of justice that’s long been a source of national pride.
Besides being a financial analyst, I’m also an attorney with a deep understanding of constitutional law. And what they’re trying to do to Trump is unconstitutional in many cases, and in some instances egregiously so.
I’m not a fan of Joe Biden to put it mildly. But I’d be equally appalled if Republicans used the same type of lawfare against him based on specious legal grounds. It shouldn’t happen in the United States, period, regardless of political orientation. It shouldn’t be a partisan issue.
But unfortunately, Democrats have chosen to open Pandora’s box. Beyond the current lawfare, Democrats moved against Trump from the very beginning, in cooperation with the deep state.
Get Trump at Any Cost
It began with the Russian collusion hoax orchestrated by Hillary Clinton in 2016 followed by Operation Crossfire Hurricane run by the FBI and CIA that tied the Trump administration in knots (as intended) from 2017–2019.
This was followed by two impeachments (2019 and 2021) on bogus charges, then the Jan. 6 setup where Trump urged a peaceful demonstration at the Capitol, but Nancy Pelosi refused to deploy the National Guard (as Trump requested) or to notify the Capitol Police (standard operating procedure) in order to precipitate the riot helped along by lots of undercover FBI agents egging the protesters on.
Once Trump decided to enter the 2024 presidential race, he was hit with an “insurrectionist” label to kick him off state ballots in Maine and Colorado, then with the Jan. 6 case in Washington; the classified documents case in Palm Beach; the RICO conspiracy charge in Fulton County, Georgia; and most ridiculous of all, the loan application and “hush money” cases in New York City that threaten to bankrupt Trump or put him in jail.
That’s quite a list but the lawfare freaks have a few more tricks up their sleeves between now and the next election.
Serve Trump, Pay the Price
What’s not as well-known are the other targets of Democratic lawfare, including Trump-affiliated lawyers and advisers.
These include the 73-year-old Harvard-trained economist Peter Navarro, who is now in federal prison; former Trump campaign manager and adviser Steve Bannon, who is now awaiting imprisonment on federal charges; former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was hit with a summons at his 80th birthday party; and John Eastman, a prominent lawyer and constitutional scholar who was arrested in Arizona on 2020 election charges despite having had no involvement in contesting the Arizona election results.
Lawfare is being used against candidates, advisers, members of Congress, judges and others who in any way support Trump or his policies
The purpose of this is clear. Lawfare fanatics not only want to disable Trump, but they also want to disable his advisers and intimidate any other qualified professionals from helping Trump. This is not just lawfare; it’s warfare.
Even if the charges are completely bogus, which is almost always the case, you have to hire attorneys to defend you in court. That could potentially cost hundreds of thousands of dollars — or more in Trump’s case.
Donald Trump might be able to afford to hire all these expensive lawyers to defend him. But most others can’t. So lawfare is designed to ruin them financially. And that’s the point. Even if you win in court, you still lose because you’ve been ruined financially, or at least badly damaged.
Anyone on Team Trump who doesn’t understand the stakes will get run over or worse. But is it really new?
Nixon and Watergate
Lawfare is a good way to understand what happened to Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal in 1972–1974 that resulted in his being driven from office. First, some context is required.
Nixon was elected in a close election in 1968 and then reelected in one of the greatest landslides in U.S. history in 1972. (Nixon carried 49 of the 50 states. Nixon’s opponent George McGovern carried only Massachusetts and Washington, D.C.).
It should be noted that Nixon had an impactful presidency. He opened relations with China after a 25-year freeze, ended the Vietnam War (started by John F. Kennedy and escalated by Lyndon Johnson) after 10 years of combat and over 50,000 Americans killed, created the Environmental Protection Agency (for better or worse) and was president when the first men landed on the moon. Nixon also negotiated the first nuclear arms limitation treaty with the Soviet Union.
To this day, there is no evidence that Nixon knew about the Watergate break-in in advance or had any hand in authorizing it. But as is often said, the cover-up is worse than the crime.
The Long Knives Were out for Nixon
Once the break-in participants were arrested, the White House went into damage-control mode. There’s no doubt Nixon broke the law by authorizing payments to the burglars and their families. He was also aware of perjury by some of his aides. Still, these were not momentous crimes relative to what almost all of his predecessors had done.
Nixon’s acts could arguably be viewed as in the national interest to preserve what had been a successful administration in both domestic and foreign policy. The scandal could have ended with some criminal trials of both campaign officials and some White House officials involved in the cover-up.
But the FBI, liberal media and Democrats were out for blood. Using leaks from Mark Felt (deputy director of the FBI also known as Deep Throat), friendly media outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post and hearings in the Democrat-controlled Senate (summer of 1973) and House (summer of 1974), Nixon’s enemies raised the temperature and, in the end, made Nixon’s resignation almost inevitable due to the threat of impeachment.
Donald Trump has been through this and more; he’s been impeached twice. The point is Trump should study the Watergate playbook to avoid some of Nixon’s mistakes and for guidance on how to stand up to the wolf pack behavior of the progressive media.
He’s going to need all the help he can get.
END
3. CHRIS POWELL//GATA DISPATCHES
CHRIS POWELL…
price fixing scandals in gold have been going on for over 43 years
(Chris Powell)
Faster Capital in Dubai publishes summary of gold price-fixing scandals
Submitted by admin on Mon, 2024-06-03 11:18 Section: Daily Dispatches
11:18a ET Monday, June 3, 2024
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
Faster Capital, a business development company based in Dubai, has published a summary of gold market manipulation that, while emphasizing the culpability of major commercial banks, also cites GATA and the involvement of central banks.
The compendium is titled “Gold Price-Fixing Scandals: Examining the Impact of Goldfix Manipulation” and is posted at the Faster Capital internet site here:
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc. CPowell@GATA.org
4. OTHER MAJOR GOLD COMMENTARIES/PODCASTS/
5 B GLOBAL COMMODITY ISSUES/FOOD IN GENERAL//FREIGHT//lithium
Trump’s ‘Coal Country’ Could Supply Nation With 40% Of Lithium Demand
SATURDAY, JUN 01, 2024 – 07:15 PM
America’s transition to a decarbonized economy demands massive base metals and rare Earth minerals. Currently, China dominates the rare Earth mineral market. However, initiatives are already underway by the US federal government to sever reliance on the Chicoms and boost domestic mining and refining abilities.
One unlikely area where 40% of the nation’s lithium supply could be sourced from is ‘Trump’s coal country,’ otherwise known as good ole’ Appalachia.
According to Justin Mackey, a research scientist at the National Energy Technology Laboratory and PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh, wastewater from oil/gas rigs across the Marcellus Shale formation could supply the nation with 40% of its lithium needs.
“This is lithium concentrations that already exist at the surface in some capacity in Pennsylvania, and we found that there was sufficient lithium in the waters to supply somewhere between 30 and 40 percent of the current US national demand,” Mackey told CBS News.
Mackey said there are lithium mining operations in the US. But he told local media outlet Pittwire, “This is different. This is a waste stream, and we’re looking at a beneficial use of that waste.”
He said finding lithium in water recycled in hydraulic fracking wasn’t difficult, adding, “If you can extract value out of materials, and specifically lithium from this, then you reduce the cost of remediating and handling this waste.”
The researcher said future wastewater extractions of lithium from oil/gas rigs in neighboring states, such as West Virginia, Western Maryland, and Ohio, could spark an “economic boom for the region.”
Trump country has been economically decimated over the last several decades amid de-industrial trends. Death and despair, along with big pharma, helped ignite an opioid and pill epidemic that has killed tens of thousands, if not more.
Could Trump’s coal country be primed for revitalization trends and capitalize off decarbonizing trends? If so, then the land across the region could become increasingly more valuable over the coming decade.
end
COCOA
Global Cocoa Shortage Much Worse Than Previously Forecasted As Prices Surge
SATURDAY, JUN 01, 2024 – 06:05 PM
The International Cocoa Organization has admitted that the global cocoa shortage will be significantly larger than previously forecasted. Cocoa prices in New York have rebounded in recent weeks, inching above the $9,330 per ton mark to close the week.
First reported by Bloomberg, ICCO forecasted demand will exceed production by 439,000 tons, driven mainly by higher cocoa grinding in consuming countries. This is the second estimate for the current October-September year and is much larger than the February forecast for a deficit of 374,000 tons.
“Currently available data reveal that cocoa grinding activities have so far been unrelenting in importing countries despite the record cocoa price rallies,” the ICCO, adding, “As the 2023-24 season progresses, it is certain the season will end in a higher deficit than previously expected.”
After the ‘great cocoa’ run-up in New York in the first 3.5 months of the year, through the first half of April, from $4,000 a ton to over $12,000 (a record high), prices crashed into May, down 44%. But in the last nine trading sessions, prices have surged to $9,330, or about 39%.
The ICCO has increased its estimate for global cocoa grindings to 4.86 million tons, up from the initial forecast of 4.78 million tons, and increased its production projection by 12,000 tons to 4.46 million tons.
The revised forecast has likely captured the attention of Andurand Capital Management’s Pierre Andurand, who has been bullish on cocoa prices this year.
Earlier this month, Andurand joined Bloomberg’s Odd Lots hosts Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal to discuss the cocoa trade.
Weisenthal asked the hedge fund manager:
So what did your analyst see? Or how was your analyst able to see something in the supply and demand situation that he felt, and you felt, was not being identified by the analysts who cover this closely?
Andurand responded:
I think it’s mainly an understanding of how much prices have to move to balance the market. You know, sometimes people can trade that market for like 20 years. They’ve been used to a range of prices and they believe, okay, the top of the range is the high price for example.
But they don’t really ask themselves what makes that price, right?. And sometimes taking a step back can help. I mean what makes the price is mainly the fact that in the past you would have the supply response if prices were going up. But if now you don’t get the supply response, or the supply response takes four or five years, then you need to have a demand response.
And a lot of people look at prices in nominal terms. So you hear people saying ‘Oh, we are at all time high prices in cocoa, but that’s because they look at prices in nominal terms. [The] previous high in 1977 was $5,500 something dollars a ton of 1977 dollars, which is equivalent to $28,000 a ton of today’s dollars.
So we are still very far from previous highs. And so you have to look at a bit more history and understand in the past how prices reacted to a shortage, how long it took to recover the product shortage to actually solve itself. And what’s different today.
So there’s a ratio that we look at that most people look at, it’s actually the inventory to grindings ratio. So it’s a measure of inventory to demand, what we call grinding is basically industrial companies that take the cocoa beans and they want to make chocolate with it. So it’s a process and some of them make the end product chocolate directly. Some of them sell back the product to other chocolate makers.
And so basically a typical grinder would take cocoa beans and make cocoa butter and powder with it. And the prices of both those elements also went up even more than cocoa beans, which means that actually we probably had some destocking everywhere in the chain.
So it looks like demand, when we look at the chocolate makers, the end demand for chocolate didn’t go down at all, it looks to be flat on the year. Grindings look to be down three, three and half percent this year, despite the fact that the end demand is the same in volume, which means that they’ve been destocking cocoa beans actually.
And so we had destocking everywhere — at the end chocolate level, at the cocoa beans, at the cocoa butter and cocoa powder level. So we had this destocking everywhere on the chain and now we have the largest deficit ever on top of two previous years of deficit. And it looks like next year we will have a deficit.
So we’re in a situation where we might actually run out of inventories completely. I mean this year we think we will end up with an inventory to grinding ratio — so inventory at the end of the season — of 21%. For the last 10 years we’ve been between 35% and 40% roughly. At the previous peak in 1977 we were at 19% and that’s what drove us to $28,000 a ton, of todays’s dollars.
If we have another deficit next year, then we might go down to 13%. So I don’t think it’s actually possible. That’s when you really have real shortage of cocoa beans, you can’t get it and that’s when the price can really explode. And so understanding that you have to slow down demand and we know that demand can’t really be slowed.
So that’s when you can have an explosion [in price]. And remember that these commodity futures, you need to have, they’re actually physically settled. So if somebody wants to take delivery, they have to converge with the price of the physical. If you have no physical, somebody wants to take delivery, the price can go anywhere.
So it’s a dangerous commodity too short, right? If you have no physical against it. And actually sometimes we read news that the funds have been pushing cocoa prices. It’s actually completely untrue because the funds have been selling since February. They actually went from a length of 175,000 lots, so that’s 1.75 million tons of cocoa lengths, I think it was around like September last year in average, or a bit earlier, to 28,000 lots to 280,000 tons at the moment.
So they sold more than 80% of their length actually. And the people who’ve been buying the futures from the funds, it’s producers because they’re producing a lot less than they expected.
So what has been happening in the cocoa market is that you had a reduction of what we call the open interest, where both the longs would use their length and the shorts would use their shorts. And then we get into a market where you have less liquidity because you have less exposure, you have less longs and less shorts, and then the volatility increases.
So in the past when people were comfortable being, let’s say, having a 100 lots position now because it moves more than 10 times more than in the past, we’re going to have like a 10 lots position, right? So the market became more — due to the fact that we had a massive move and we have a massive deficit, so everybody’s reducing their positions and because of the increased volatility, we have less activity. And that’s what makes the point more volatile as well.
Andurand reaffirmed his $20,000 price target for later this year or next year…
SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 8.82 PTS OR 0.27% //Hang Seng CLOSED UP 323.43 PTS OR 1.79%// Nikkei CLOSED UP 435.13 OR 1.13%//Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP 0.67%///Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN TO 7,2447 CHINESE YUAN OFFSHORE CLOSED DOWN TO 7.2597/ Oil DOWN TO 77.14 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT DOWN AT 81.19 /Stocks in Europe OPENED MOSTLY RED
ONSHORE YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE YUAN WEAKER
1.YOUR EARLY CURRENCY VALUES/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN AND EUROPEAN BOURSE MOVEMENTS/AND INTEREST RATE SETTINGSMONDAY MORNING.7:30 AM
ONSHORE YUAN: CLOSED DOWN TO 7.2447
OFFSHORE YUAN: DOWN TO 7.2597
SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 8.82 PTS OR 0.27 %
HANG SENG CLOSED UPP 323.43 PTS OR 1.79%
2. Nikkei closed UP 435.13 PTS OR 1.13 %
3. Europe stocks SO FAR: ALL GREEN
USA dollar INDEX DOWN TO 104.56 EURO RISES TO 1.0844 UP 4 BASIS PTS
3b Japan 10 YR bond yield: FALLS TO. +1.049 Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese YEN vs USA cross now at 156/69 JAPANESE YEN NOW FALLING AS WELL AS LONG TERM 10 YR. YIELDS RISING //EVENTUALLY THIS WILL BREAK THE JAPANESE CENTRAL BANK
3c Nikkei now ABOVE 17,000
3d USA/Yen rate now well ABOVE the important 120 barrier this morning
3e Gold UP /JAPANESE Yen DOWN CHINESE ONSHORE YUAN: DOWN OFFSHORE: DOWN
3f Japan is to buy INFINITE TRILLION YEN worth of BONDS. Japan’s GDP equals 5 trillion USA
Japan to buy 100% of all new Japanese debt and NOW they will have OVER 50% of all Japanese debt.
3g Oil DOWN for WTI and DOWN FOR Brent this morning
3h European bond buying continues to push yields lower on all fronts in the EMU. German 10yr bund YIELD DOWN TO +2.6140/Italian 10 Yr bond yield DOWN to 3.910 SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD DOWN TO 3.328%
3i Greek 10 year bond yield DOWN TO 3.622
3j Gold at $2330.00//Silver at: 30.36 1 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $34.40//AFTER 28.40
3k USA vs Russian rouble;// Russian rouble UP 0 AND 83/ 100 roubles/dollar; ROUBLE AT 89.27
3m oil into the 77 dollar handle for WTI and 81 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 156.69/ 10 YEAR YIELD AFTER FIRST BREAKING .54% LAST YEAR NOW EXCEEDS THAT LEVEL TO 1.049% 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 0.9010 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF: 0.9771 well above the floor set by the Swiss Finance Minister. Thomas Jordan, chief of the Swiss National Bank continues to purchase euros trying to lower value of the Swiss Franc.
USA 10 YR BOND YIELD: 4.469 DOWN 5 BASIS PTS…
USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 4.615 DOWN 5 BASIS PTS/
USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.860 DOWN 4 BASIS PTS
USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 32.20…
10 YR UK BOND YIELD: 4.2180 DOWN 6 PTS
2a New York OPENING REPORT
Futures Rise To Start June As Nvidia Jumps, Gamestop Soars
MONDAY, JUN 03, 2024 – 08:21 AM
After closing the month of May on the front-foot when a last minute rebalancing spike in the S&P reversed two days of losses, US stock futures are ticking higher to start the month of June following the lead of broad gains across European equity markets and a jump in Asia. As Bloomberg notes, “a degree of extra optimism about the prospect for interest-rate cuts by the Fed following last week’s PCE data, along with better manufacturing figures from China, filtered through markets.”
As of 7:50am, S&P futures traded 0.2% higher with both Tech and Small-Caps outperforming as bond yields start the day lower amid bull flattening, while Nasdaq futures gained 0.4% signaling a recovery after last week’s 1.4% selloff which was driven by investors pulling out of expensive tech leaders, as NVDA jumped 3% after CEO Jensen Huang announced at the Computex conference that the group plans to update its AI accelerators every year, underlining its bullish outlook on the demand for chips and announced a Blackwell Ultra chip for 2025, along with a next-generation platform in development called Rubin for 2026. 10Y Treasury yields dropped 4bps to 4.46% after closing at 4.50% on Friday; the Bloomberg dollar index jumped while oil was volatile after the OPEC+ group announced an extension of output cuts while setting out a plan to gradually restore some production as early as October. Commodities ex-energy are weaker with natgas the standout +5%. Today’s macro data focus is on ISM-Mfg, vehicle sales, and construction spending. This is an important macro data week with the narrative gradually moving to lower growth; NFP may help frame the Fed’s reaction function.
Pre-market, NVDA is +3% and AMD up 1.6% helping both Mag7 and Semis, after the CEOs of the chipmakers made artificial intelligence announcements in Taiwan. More notable, GME is +75% and AMC +25% after the Reddit account that drove the mania in 2021 posted what appeared to be a $116 million position in GameStop. A screenshot by Keith Gill known as Roaring Kitty, which also included 120,000 call options, couldn’t be verified. Still, that didn’t prevent GameStop shares from more than doubling in premarket trading, or as JPM put it, “It appears the optimism in the last hour of Friday’s trading has resumed.“
Here are some other notable premarket movers:
Autodesk rose 6% after the software company said no financial statements will be restated or adjusted following the results of an investigation by the board’s audit committee.
Boston Beer slips 11% after Suntory Holdings said it is not in talks to buy the company.
Edwards Lifesciences climbs 1% after Becton, Dickinson & Co. agreed to buy the company’s critical care unit.
MarineMax gains 18% after Bloomberg News reported that OneWater Marine Inc. is in talks to acquire the company, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
Paramount Global climbs 6% after Bloomberg reported Skydance Media CEO David Ellison’s latest offer for the company includes an option for non-voting shareholders to cash out a portion of their stock for about $15 a share
Stericycle soars 16% after agreeing to be purchased by Waste Management Inc.
Summit Therapeutics rises 16% after the drug developer said it raised about $200 million while also expanding its license territories with Akeso for the drug ivonescimab.
Elections dominated the newsflow on Monday with results from Mexico and India swaying local markets. India’s Sensex jumped more than 3% and the rupee strengthened the most in a year on speculation a decisive victory would allow Modi to push through policies to spur growth. In Mexico, the peso tumbled after Claudia Sheinbaum became the country’s first female leader in a landslide victory.
South Africa’s ANC lost its 30-year majority and won 159 out of 400 seats (prev. 230 seats) in South Africa’s National Assembly, according to the electoral commission. South African President Ramaphosa said the election results represent a victory for democracy in South Africa, according to Reuters. South Africa’s biggest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, has appointed a negotiating team to speak with other political parties about forming a majority coalition, according to Reuters.
Indian PM Modi’s BJP alliance is projected to win a majority in the general election, according to CNN-News18 exit poll; projected to win 355 to 370 seats in the general election.
Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum is seen winning the presidency with a landslide 56% effective vote vs 30% for Galvez, according to Parametria exit polls. Mexico’s Morena Party Chief said Claudia Sheinbaum has won the presidency. Mexico’s Morena Party is projected to have a simple majority in Congress, according to party head Mario Delgado speaking to Milenio TV.
After the S&P 500 posted gains in six of the past seven months, there’s a split among some of the top Wall Street strategists over whether the rally can continue. Investors betting on more US gains over the coming months will be disappointed, according to strategists at JPMorgan. On the opposing end, Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson says his bull case is in play for now.
“We see the market upside capped during summer due to the inconsistency between the consensus call for disinflation, and at the same time, the belief in no landing and in earnings acceleration,” a JPMorgan team of strategists led by Mislav Matejka wrote in a note to clients.
Elsewhere, online fashion retailer Shein is set to file for an initial public offering in London as soon as this week that could value the company at about £50 billion ($64 billion), according to a person familiar with the matter. Shein’s offering could become one of the UK’s biggest ever IPOs, clawing back a chunk of the market value London has lost from companies shifting their primary listings to New York.
European stocks also gained, led by construction and material names, after a broadly positive Asian session. Estoxx 50 higher by 0.7% in early London session with construction and retail shares leading gains, while health care and mining stocks are the biggest laggards. Here are the biggest movers Monday:
Genmab shares rise as much as 4.4%, the most in a month, after analysts were impressed by the Danish biotechnology company’s presentation on its acasunlimab therapy in patients with previously treated metastatic non-small cell lung cancer
National Grid advances as much as 2.8% after Citi upgrades to buy, saying in note the energy infrastructure operator offers an attractive set-up on factors including a more constructive political and regulatory outlook
Pets at Home gains as much as 5.9% after Liberum upgrades its recommendation on the stock to buy from hold, citing the launch of a new digital platform and the easing of cost pressures as reasons to be optimistic about the pet retailer
Hollywood Bowl rises as much as 5.1% following first-half results, which Berenberg says were solid despite tough comps. The company also raised its interim dividend by more than 20%
Hunting jumps as much as 9.2% after the oil field services provider won a follow-on order from the Kuwait Oil Company valued at $86m, which analysts at Cannacord said has added more firepower to its backlog
GSK plunges as much as 10%, the most since August 2022, following a Delaware court ruling that GSK, Pfizer and other drugmakers must face trials
Borussia Dortmund shares fall as much as 8.1%, the most in almost a year, after the German football club lost the Champions League final to Real Madrid on Saturday
Earlier in the session, technology stocks led a rally in Asia on Monday, as renewed rate-cut hopes and Nvidia’s new chip plans fueled risk-on sentiment. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 1.7%, with TSMC and Tencent among stocks giving the biggest boost to the benchmark. Onshore Chinese equities traded higher after two days of losses. Concerns over the economy’s strength linger even as a private survey showed China’s manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in almost two years in May. Risk sentiment returned to Asia as moderating inflation in the US revived bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates. The region also got an added boost from India, where stocks surged to an all-time-high as exit polls predicted a sweeping victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the general election.
Equity markets displayed some anxiety recently around the impending political uncertainty and “with this clear verdict, markets will heave a sigh of relief,” Motilal Oswal strategists led by Gautam Duggad wrote in a note. The anticipated win by Modi’s party “provides stability and continuity in policy making with a single-party majority government,” which is expected to continue pushing its economic agenda, they said.
In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rises 0.2%. The pound is the weakest of the G-10 currencies, falling 0.3% against the greenback. The Mexican Peso falls 1.5% after preliminary election results spooked investors.
In rates, treasuries gained across the curve led by long-end, following similar gains in gilts and bunds over early London session. 10Y Treasury yields richer by up to 4bp across long-end of the curve with 2s10s, 5s30s spreads flatter by 2bp and 1bp on the day; 10-year yields around 4.465%, richer by 4bp on the day with bunds and gilts outperforming by 1bp each in the sector. Bunds and gilts also gain. With no coupon supply scheduled for this week and Fed officials in self-imposed quiet period, economic data culminating with Friday’s May jobs report are focal points. Meanwhile, ECB is viewed as almost certain to lower interest rates by 25 basis points at its next meeting on Thursday.
In commodities, oil prices advance after OPEC+ set out a timetable for gradually unwinding some of its oil production cuts. WTI rises 0.2% to trade near $77.20 a barrel. Spot gold is little changed around 2,325/oz.
In crypto, bitcoin saw modest gains overnight but remains within recent ranges of around $68,000.
Looking at today’s calendar, US economic data includes May S&P Global US manufacturing PMI (9:45am), April construction spending and May ISM manufacturing (10am); this week also includes JOLTS, factory orders, ADP employment change, services PMIs and May jobs report. Fed officials are expected to refrain from commenting until after their June 12 policy announcement.
Market Snapshot
S&P 500 futures up 0.2% to 5,306.75
STOXX Europe 600 up 0.6% to 521.13
MXAP up 1.7% to 179.78
MXAPJ up 1.9% to 558.17
Nikkei up 1.1% to 38,923.03
Topix up 0.9% to 2,798.07
Hang Seng Index up 1.8% to 18,403.04
Shanghai Composite down 0.3% to 3,078.49
Sensex up 3.2% to 76,333.05
Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 0.8% to 7,761.03
Kospi up 1.7% to 2,682.52
German 10Y yield little changed at 2.63%
Euro little changed at $1.0841
Brent Futures up 0.1% to $81.22/bbl
Gold spot up 0.0% to $2,328.29
US Dollar Index little changed at 104.69
Top Overnight News
Two of China’s biggest cities saw improvements in homebuyer sentiment last weekend after relaxing property restrictions, the first positive signs in months for the embattled real estate sector. In Shanghai, about 90% of the more than 300 units offered at a new project over the weekend were sold, beating the sales-through rate for the same development in March. In Shenzhen, some developers saw buyer interest surge so much they rescinded discount offers. Existing-home sales recovered in both cities. BBG
Russia’s attempts to conclude a major gas pipeline deal with China have run aground over what Moscow sees as Beijing’s unreasonable demands on price and supply levels. Beijing’s tough stance on the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline underscores how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has left President Vladimir Putin increasingly dependent on Chinese leader Xi Jinping for economic support. FT
Exit polls in India point to a landslide election win for PM Modi (Modi’s party and its allies could secure a 2/3 majority in the lower house of parliament, clearing a threshold needed for constitutional changes). Modi is planning a wave of business-friendly reforms during his upcoming third term as he aims to turn India into a manufacturing hub rivaling China. FT / RTRS
Claudia Sheinbaum is set to become Mexico’s first female leader after preliminary results showed her on course to win an overwhelming election victory. The leftwing former Mexico City mayor, a close ally of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, was leading by nearly 30 percentage points, according to a partial official count early on Monday. FT
The Gaza peace plan talked about on Fri by Biden seems unlikely to be adopted (at least in the near-term) as Israel insists it will push ahead to achieve its full war objectives (two of Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners threatened to quit his gov’t if the plan was adopted). NYT
The U.S. economy continues to lose momentum. Growth hasn’t yet slowed to the point that it would be a concern to policymakers, but it might soon if current trends continue. WSJ
The US housing market — long crippled by an inventory drought — is finally starting to see listings rise. But now, in many places, the buyers just aren’t showing up. Sellers are grappling with the fact that higher-for-longer rates are choking off demand during what’s typically the key season for the market. And more of those owners are cutting asking prices than any time since November 2022 as inventory grows stale, according to Redfin Corp. BBG
Consumers have reached their limit following years of aggressive price hikes, and companies will be forced to become more promotional as a result. NYT
10% of registered Republicans were less likely to vote for Trump after the felony conviction (that same poll showed Biden with a 2-point lead among registered voters, up from a tie earlier in the month). RTRS
MSCI said due to the significant size of Saudi Aramco’s secondary offering, MSCI intends to implement changes in MSCI indexes resulting from the offering, according to Reuters.
A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk
APAC stocks opened higher and then extended on gains as the region reacted to the softer-than-expected US Core PCE data on Friday alongside the prospect of a potential Israel-Hamas deal brokered by the US. The broader chip sector in the region was supported by NVIDIA CEO Huang stating the Co. is to upgrade its AI accelerators every year, later followed by an update from AMD at the Computex event in Taipei. ASX 200 saw its upside led by a broader strength across energy and financials, whilst Australia’s Final Manufacturing PMI saw a modest revision higher from the prelim. Nikkei 225 briefly rose back above 39,000 with the upside also led by energy and financials, whilst capex data showed company profits surprisingly accelerated in Q1. India’s Nifty 50 opened sharply higher by almost 3.5% at a record high after exit polls pointed to a landslide win by PM Modi. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were mixed as the former soared at the open with heavyweight stocks Alibaba and Tencent among the top gainers, whilst the latter initially bucked the regional trend and lagged despite any major headlines aside from China stating it will not join the Swiss peace conference on Ukraine, although losses were briefly trimmed after the Chinese Final Manufacturing PMI was revised higher than expected.
Top Asian News
Moody’s Ratings has raised China’s growth forecast to 4.5% (prev. 4.0%) for 2024, according to Reuters.
PBoC injected CNY 2bln via 7-day reverse repos with the rate at 1.80%.
China has allocated CNY 6.44bln for vehicle trade-in subsidies, according to CCTV.
BoJ Executive Director Kato said BoJ has no plan to immediately unload its ETF holdings; and hopes to spend time examining how to unload BoJ’s ETF holdings in the future.
Japanese MOF official said capex data reflects moderate economic recovery but attention is needed on corporate situation amid risks of global slowdown rising.
Japanese Economy Minister Shindo states that real economic growth of 1.3% in FY 2025 is not so unrealistic, according to Reuters.
Australia’s minimum wage and award wages will increase by 3.75% from July 1st, the Fair Work Commission has announced, via ABC.
BoJ Quarterly Bond Markey Survey: index gauging bond market function at -24 (prev. -29), fifth consecutive quarter of improvement
European bourses, Stoxx 600 (+0.5%) are entirely in the green, continuing the price action seen in APAC trade overnight. Indices came under some slight selling pressure in the early portion of the morning, and has been choppy within today’s range. European sectors hold a strong positive tilt; Construction & Materials takes the top spot, joined closely by Retail, which is lifted by significant strength in JD Sports (+7.5%). Healthcare is the clear laggard, dragged down by GSK (-9.4%) on Zantac-related lawsuits. US Equity Futures (ES +0.2%, NQ +0.2%, RTY +0.9%) are modestly firmer, though with price action fairly contained thus far. In terms of pre-market movers, AMD (+1.3%) gains after unveiling a new MI325X accelerator chip, whilst Nvidia (+2.2%) benefits after its CEO said the Co. is to upgrade its AI accelerators every year. GameStop (+66.4%) surges pre-market after Roaring Kitty reveals a USD 116mln position in the Co.
Top European News
Fed’s Kashkari (non-voter) said rates to stay on hold for an “extended” time, and added that the US economy is strong, the labour market is strong, and inflation is coming down, via an FT interview from May 27th (ahead of the blackout period) but published on Monday.
NVIDIA (NVDA) CEO Huang stated the Co. to upgrade its AI accelerators every year. CEO said on Sunday that the Co. next-generation artificial intelligence chip platform, called Rubin, would be rolled out in 2026, according to Reuters.
AMD (AMD) CEO unveiled new MI325X accelerator chip at Computex event in Taipei, to be available in Q4 2024, AMD CEO said the Co. is aiming for an annual cadence for AI chips.
FX
DXY is incrementally firmer and within a tight 104.50-75 range as the index took a breather from Friday’s post-PCE volatility as it looks ahead to this week’s risk events, starting with US ISM Manufacturing later today.
EUR is softer vs. the USD as we enter into ECB week, which is set to see the central bank deliver its first rate cut since September 2019. EUR/USD is yet to approach Friday’s 1.0811 low amid a potential lack in conviction for positioning ahead of upcoming risk events.
GBP is a touch softer vs. both USD and EUR with not much in the way of pertinent UK newsflow as the BoE remains quiet in the run up to next month’s election. Cable is managing to hold above the 1.27 mark which coincides with Friday’s low.
JPY is marginally outmuscling the USD with Japanese fundamentals not seeing much in the way of developments over the weekend. USD/JPY ran into support around the 157 mark.
Antipodeans are both a touch softer vs. the USD with AUD unable to benefit from an upward revision to Chinese Caixin Manufacturing PMI. AUD/USD is currently in consolidation mode, respecting Friday’s 0.6626-0.6672 range and sitting just above its 10 and 21DMAs which both sit at 0.6635.
EM FX: South Africa’s ANC lost its 30-year majority and as such, will now look to form a coalition (USD/ZAR -0.1%). Exit polls point to landslide victories for India’s Modi (USD/INR -0.4%) and Mexico’s Sheinbaum (USD/MXN +1.0%) with focus on whether the latter will be able to obtain a super-majority and enact policies which could be deemed as less market friendly.
PBoC sets USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1086 vs exp. 7.2378 (prev. 7.1111)
Fixed Income
USTs are firmer as Friday’s PCE momentum remains in the driving seat into the ISM Manufacturing PMI. Within this, the Prices Paid metric will draw scrutiny following the jump to 60.9 (prev. 55.8) which took it into strong expansion territory.
A relatively contained start for Bunds holding onto Friday’s PCE-induced upside while APAC-session updates were unable to significantly move the dial; JGB action essentially just catch up to Friday.
Gilts are in-fitting with peers but marginally outperforming EGBs, despite the lack of UK-specific newsflow, with the region’s final PMIs unable to spark any real reaction. Gilts as high as 96.61 with last week’s 97.13 high the next point of resistance.
OAT price action follows the broader complex though with the magnitude of gains shy of its German-peer, likely a follow through from S&P downgrading France on Friday.
Commodities
Crude prices headed lower in the aftermath of the of the OPEC+ meeting which outlined a future roadmap for the restoration of the supply from the voluntary cuts. In the European session, WTI/Brent have bounced off worst levels, albeit marginally so; Brent currently around USD 81.30/bbl.
Precious metals are flat as the haven metals are torn between the stronger USD/constructive risk tone and a post-PMI downtick in yields. As it stands, XAU is unchanged at the mid-point of USD 2314-2331/oz parameters.
Base metals are a touch firmer after the last 8/9 sessions have ended in the red. Albeit, upside is very modest thus far as the broader macro backdrop for the metal has not changed this morning despite two potentially bullish updates.
JP Morgan is of the view that current oil prices are USD 8bbl too cheap and continues to make the bullish case for oil in Q3 amid its demand outlook. Anticipates global oil demand accelerating by 2.5mln BPD from end of April to the end of August. This would raise global refinery runs by 4mln BPD over the same period.
Russia-China gas pipeline deal reportedly stalls over Beijing’s price demands, according to the FT. China is said to have asked to pay prices close to Russia’s subsidised domestic prices and would only commit to purchasing a smaller fraction of the Siberia 2 pipeline’s annual capacity, sources said.
An oil refinery in northwest Russia near the city of Ukhta was operating normally after a fire broke out on Sunday, according to Reuters.
South Korean President Yoon said a vast amount of oil and gas reserve possibly undersea off South Korea’s east coast; has approved exploration of possible oil and gas reserve; reserves could amount to up to 14bln barrels of oil and gas, according to Reuters.
Magnitude 5.7 earthquake hit Antofagasta, Chile region, according to EMSC.
Copper miners Freeport Indonesia has not received copper concentrate export permit extension, according to a spokesperson.
OPEC+
OPEC+ has agreed to extend its collective production cuts, which total around 3.6mln BPD, until the end of 2025 (prev. until the end of 2024). Additionally, the eight states that implemented voluntary cuts of 2.2mln BPD will extend these cuts until the end of Q3 2024 (prev. Q2 2024, exp. at least Q3 2024), after which they will gradually increase production from October 2024 to September 2025, contingent on market conditions.
Additionally, the UAE has been permitted to increase its production by 0.3mln BPD from 2025, according to Reuters.
Baseline revisions have been pushed back a year to 2026. “That’s because some countries like Russia are under embargo and the independent companies are not able to have access to data to support the assessment process.”, according to Energy Intel’s Bakr.
“Under the agreement today there are no barrels that are immediately going to be added to the market. The partial return of the voluntary cuts in q4 this year is subject to market conditions. The agreement also does not stray away from the cautious path the group has been following. Even the possible return of the voluntary cuts is being done cautiously.”, according to Energy Intel’s Bakr.
Saudi Energy Ministry said 2.2mln bpd voluntary oil cuts are to be extended till September and to be gradually phased out on a monthly basis till Sept 2025, according to Reuters citing a statement. Saudi Energy Ministry said the gradual monthly phase-out may be reversed according to market conditions, and added OPEC meeting welcomes Iraq, Russia, and Kazakhstan’s renewed commitment to adhere to OPEC production cuts. Saudi Energy Ministry said the OPEC meeting also welcomes Iraq, Russia, and Kazakhstan’s plan to resubmit their updated compensation for overproduction since January 2024 before the end of June, the statement said.
Saudi Energy Minister said discussions among eight countries implementing voluntary cuts started two or three weeks ago, and “we are waiting for interest rates to come down, better trajectory of global growth, that would probably cause demand to increase with a clear path”, according to Reuters. Saudi Energy Minister said some ministers gathered in Riyadh to make sure they interacted with each other and the message was comprehensively understood and agreed upon.
Bank commentary on OPEC+
Barclays says the OPEC+ outcome was mildly negative on net relative to their baseline balances view; given recent compliance numbers Barclays’ oil balances would be 500k/BPD tighter in H2 and looser by 550k/BPD in 2025.
UBS says OPEC+ announcement “could be seen as slightly bearish oil for very near term but decisions taken also reduce downside risk in the medium-term”. Announcement does not change near-term outlook for oil. Sees oil supply deficit of 1.2 MB/D in Q3’24, expect it to support prices over the next few weeks; lifting Bren to “mid to high USD 80s”.
Geopolitics: Middle East
Israel PM Netanyahu’s office reportedly conveyed to Ben Gvir a message that contrary to President Biden’s words, there is no clause in the draft agreement that includes stopping the war, and that the other clauses will not constitute a “surrender deal.
Israeli PM aide confirmed on Sunday that Israel had accepted a framework deal for winding down the Gaza war being advanced by US President Biden, according to Reuters. The aid however described the plan as flawed and in need of much more work. The aide added that Israeli conditions, including “the release of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas” have not changed.
Hamas said they view US President Biden’s latest proposal for a ceasefire as ‘positive’ and affirmed its readiness to deal positively with any proposal that offers a permanent ceasefire, complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, reconstruction of the strip, return of displaced and a ‘serious’ hostage exchange, according to Reuters.
Axios’ Ravid posts “Israeli officials told me the Israeli hostage deal proposal President Biden presented in his speech exhausted Israel’s manoeuvring space. There will not be a better one. If Hamas rejects it, the conflict will likely escalate.”
Qatar, the US, and Egypt jointly called on Hamas and Israel to finalise the agreement embodying the principles outlined by US President Biden, according to a joint statement.
Israeli Defence Minister said in any process to bring about the end of the war, Israel will not accept the rule of Hamas in Gaza, according to Reuters.
Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich called for the Gaza offensive to be pursued until Hamas is destroyed and all hostages are rescued, saying he would not stay in government otherwise, according to a post on X.
Israeli National Security Minister Ben-Gvir threatened to bring down the coalition government if PM Netanyahu agreed to a deal that would include ending the war without eliminating Hamas, according to a post on X.
US National Security spokesperson Kirby said the US has every expectation that if Hamas agrees to the proposal, then Israel will say yes, according to an ABC News interview.
Yemen’s Houthis said they conducted six military operations including targeting a US aircraft carrier and destroyer, and added they targeted ‘Maina ship, Aloraiq ship and Abliani ship’, according to Reuters.
US CENTCOM said On June 1, it destroyed one Iranian-backed Houthi uncrewed aerial system (UAS) in the southern Red Sea, and also observed two other UAS crash into the Red Sea. No injuries or damage were reported. Additionally, USCENTCOM forces successfully engaged two Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles in the southern Red Sea, according to Reuters.
Israeli PM Netanyahu has accepted an invitation to address both houses of the US Congress, according to Reuters.
Airstrikes said to hit a copper factory in Aleppo, Syria, according to Times of Israel; cites a post showing at least three explosions in quick succession; cites another post noting “This area has a huge presence for the Iranian militias and Hezbollah”. “Al-Arabiya sources: Raids likely to be Israeli targeting northern Aleppo”, according to Al-Arabiya
RUSSIA-UKRAINE
Ukrainian President Zelenskiy said he received a signal from China they will not take part in the peace summit, according to Reuters.
Russian Defence Ministry said Russia struck Ukraine’s energy facilities working for the military-industrial complex, and hit depots with Western weapons, according to RIA.
Russia has announced plans to raise taxes on businesses and the wealthy amid the need for additional revenue to fund the war in Ukraine, according to Sky News.
CHINA-TAIWAN
Chinese Defence Minister, at the Shangri-La dialogue, said China will take resolute actions to curb Taiwan’s independence and make sure such a plot never succeeds, and anyone who dares to separate Taiwan from China will only end up in self-destruction. He added China stays committed to peaceful reunification, however, this prospect is increasingly being eroded by separatists for Taiwan’s independence and foreign forces, according to Reuters.
Taiwan government reiterated Taiwan has never been a part of the People’s Republic of China and added that China has repeatedly openly threatened Taiwan with force at international events, whilst maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait is the common responsibility of both sides of the strait, according to Reuters.
OTHERS
China State Security Ministry alleges British Secret Intelligence Service MI6 turned two staff members of Chinese central state organs to spy for the British government, according to a ministry statement.
North Korea is to temporarily suspend sending balloons carrying trash, but will resume if South Korea sends anti-North Korea leaflets, according to KCNA citing the North Korean Vice Defence Minister.
US Event Calendar
09:45: May S&P Global US Manufacturing PM, est. 50.9, prior 50.9
10:00: April Construction Spending MoM, est. 0.2%, prior -0.2%
10:00: May ISM Manufacturing, est. 49.6, prior 49.2
10:00: May ISM Employment, prior 48.6
10:00: May ISM New Orders, prior 49.1
10:00: May ISM Prices Paid, est. 59.5, prior 60.9
May Wards Total Vehicle Sales, est. 15.8m, prior 15.7m
DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap
It’s a busy morning for the EMR with DB Research launching our latest World Outlook and with the start of the month bringing us our usual performance review which Henry has just published. With regards to the World Outlook “Optimism with uncertainties ahead”, the tone is optimistic across economies and asset markets. Like most others we thought the US would experience a recession last year and when it didn’t happen, we upgraded our US growth numbers considerably in January to the top end of street forecasts for the next couple of years. Nearly 6 months on and our US forecasts remain similar, but we’ve upgraded Euro Area GDP for 2024 by half a percent to 0.9% for 2024. The big uncertainty is the US election with plenty of risks to the growth, inflation, and Fed outlook from the results. In China, our economists upgraded 2024 growth to 5.2% in April which remains unchanged while in Japan growth should stay above trend for the next couple of years which helps us be more hawkish on the BoJ than the market. India continues to be the standout with a minimum of 6-6.5% real GDP growth and 10-11% nominal growth over the next several years. The report also includes all our strategist latest forecasts for YE 24 and into 2025. See the piece here.
Since it’s the start of the month, we’ve also just released our monthly performance review for May and YTD. Most assets rebounded after a weak April with the S&P 500 and STOXX 600 reaching new records during the month. A late surge in the last 20 minutes of month-end trading on Friday helped the S&P 500 regain some poise after a more challenging last week of the month. See the performance review here.
Moving forward, it’s another payrolls week with DB (+200k) and consensus (+190k) expecting job gains to pick up from last month’s +175k number with unemployment widely expected to stay at 3.9%. Our economists think the risks are biased to it rounding down a tenth rather than up. The JOLTS data tomorrow is many people’s preferred employment measure but it’s always a month lagged to payrolls which reduces the impact. The employment components of May’s ISM indices (today for manufacturing and Wednesday for services) will also help fine tune expectations for payrolls. At the index level, our US economists see the manufacturing gauge moving from 49.2 to 49.4 in May and the services one expanding to 50.4 from 49.4 in April. See the week ahead at the end for the rest of the US data releases.
In Europe, all eyes will be on the ECB decision on Thursday, where our European economists expect a 25bps cut with markets pricing in a 96% probability. Their preview is here with all eyes on how they signal the path after this meeting. The Bank of Canada meet beforehand on Wednesday with expectations that they stay on hold for now. In terms of European data, various final PMIs are out this week alongside Germany factory orders (Thursday), industrial production (Friday), and the trade balance (Friday). Elsewhere, there will be the French trade balance data (Friday) and industrial production (Wednesday), Swiss CPI (tomorrow), as well as retail sales for the Eurozone and Italy (Thursday).
Elsewhere we have the presidential elections result in Mexico after yesterday’s election with Sheinbaum set for a landslide victory according to exit polls (BBG) just released. Staying with elections we have the important European Parliamentary elections between June 6-9 (see our econ preview here) and the results of India’s general elections will be counted tomorrow. Exit polls show a resounding win with a predicted seat range of 350-400 for Narendra Modi’s BJP-led NDA coalition which would likely be seen as supportive for the current policy regime after Indian assets had underperformed over the last month. They need 272 for a majority and more than 352 to better the 2019 outcome. See DB’s exit poll reaction piece here. As I type Indian equities have opened around +2.75% higher.
It will be interesting to see the reaction in French bond markets this morning after S&P downgraded from AA to AA- on Friday night due to the Government’s failure to restrain the deficit post Covid. This also may impact the European Parliamentary elections as National Rally’s Le Pen has already seized on it over weekend campaigning.
Asian equity markets are mostly rallying as we start a new month helped by the upbeat manufacturing PMI data coming from the region’s top economies. The Hang Seng (+2.18%), KOSPI (+2.01%) and Nikkei (+0.94%) are all higher but with mainland Chinese stocks lagging with the CSI (-0.15%) and the Shanghai Composite (-0.51%) edging lower. S&P 500 (+0.22%) and NASDAQ 100 (+0.27%) futures are higher and yields on 10yr USTs are -1.5bps lower at 4.48% as I type.
Coming back to the region’s PMI data, China’s Caixin S&P manufacturing PMI rose from 51.4 in April to 51.7 in May (51.6 expected), recording the fastest pace since June 2022. Meanwhile, South Korea’s PMI also rose to 51.6 in May, its highest reading since May 2022 and entering expansionary territory after staying below 50 for the past two months.
Yesterday OPEC+ announced that it would be extending production cuts into 2025 and laid out plans for phasing out voluntary cuts towards the end of the year. Oil is broadly unchanged this morning.
Looking back on last week now and it was another a big week for inflation data, with the US April PCE data on Friday the star of the show. Headline PCE came in line with expectations at +0.3% month-on-month, and +2.7% year-on-year. Similarly, core PCE posted at +0.2% month-on-month, and +2.8%, as expected. On the other hand, real personal spending unexpectedly contracted, falling -0.1% (vs +0.1% expected), down from +0.5% in March, potentially indicating a flagging US consumer.
Despite the weak personal spending data, the PCE inflation numbers helped raise the amount of rate cuts expected this year, with an additional +2.9bps of cuts expected by year-end on the week (and +1.8bps Friday). The prospect of more rate cuts lent support to US fixed income, as 2yr yields fell -7.3bps last week (and -5.2bps on Friday). 10yr yields likewise slipped on Friday, down -4.8bps, but failed to fully erase earlier losses (+3.4bps last week).
Over in Europe, the inflation story was a touch more concerning. The May flash HICP came in above expectations at +2.6% year-on-year (vs +2.5% expected). The core number also surprised to the upside at +2.9% (vs +2.7% expected). In response, markets casted some doubt on how aggressively the ECB will cut over the next months. As such, the amount of rate cuts priced in by overnight index swaps by December fell -7.3bps on Friday, leaving the expected rate -3.3bps lower in weekly terms. This saw yields on 10yr bunds rise +1.2 bps on Friday, adding to the selloff earlier in the week that followed on from a hotter than expected German inflation print last Wednesday, which sent yields up +8.1bps on the week.
US Equities staged a very late month-end comeback on Friday after trading lower much of the day as the personal spending data hinted at a weakening US consumer. In the final hour of trading the S&P 500 rallied nearly a full percentage point to finish +0.80 higher on the day. This made up for some of the week’s earlier losses, leaving the index down -0.51% in weekly terms. The NASDAQ saw a similar rebound, having been down -1.75% near the European close before rallying to finish just below unchanged (-0.01%) on the day and -1.10% on the week. Indeed, tech was dragged down by weakness in the cloud software sector, with the likes of Salesforce slipping -15.78% following a weak earnings report. The Russell 2000 index of small cap stocks fared somewhat better than both the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ, outperforming on Friday (+0.66%), and gaining marginally (+0.02%) last week. In Europe, the STOXX 600 fell -0.46% but retraced some losses on Friday after rising +0.32%.
2B EUROPE OPENING/TRADING
Equities in the green, DXY is incrementally firmer and Crude is choppy after OPEC+; US ISM Manufacturing due – Newsquawk US Market Open
MONDAY, JUN 03, 2024 – 05:56 AM
Equities are in the green; Chip names help to prop up the tech sector, whilst meme-stock GME surges 66% pre-market
DXY is incrementally firmer, G10s are mostly firmer against the Dollar except for the Yen, which gains marginally
USTs continue Friday’s post-PCE advance ahead of US ISM Manufacturing
Crude is incrementally firmer, though residing near lows post OPEC+ which outlined a future roadmap for the restoration of the supply from the voluntary cuts
Precious metals are flat and base metals are generally firmer, benefitting from the higher-than-expected upward revision in the Caixin Manufacturing PMI
Looking ahead, US Final Manufacturing PMI and ISM Manufacturing
2. Listen to this report in the market open podcast (available on Apple and Spotify)
3. Trial Newsquawk’s premium real-time audio news squawk box for 7 days
EUROPEAN TRADE
EQUITIES
European bourses, Stoxx 600 (+0.5%) are entirely in the green, continuing the price action seen in APAC trade overnight. Indices came under some slight selling pressure in the early portion of the morning, and has been choppy within today’s range.
European sectors hold a strong positive tilt; Construction & Materials takes the top spot, joined closely by Retail, which is lifted by significant strength in JD Sports (+7.5%). Healthcare is the clear laggard, dragged down by GSK (-9.4%) on Zantac-related lawsuits.
US Equity Futures (ES +0.2%, NQ +0.2%, RTY +0.9%) are modestly firmer, though with price action fairly contained thus far. In terms of pre-market movers, AMD (+1.3%) gains after unveiling a new MI325X accelerator chip, whilst Nvidia (+2.2%) benefits after its CEO said the Co. is to upgrade its AI accelerators every year. GameStop (+66.4%) surges pre-market after Roaring Kitty reveals a USD 116mln position in the Co.
Click here for the sessions European pre-market equity newsflow and here for additional news.
DXY is incrementally firmer and within a tight 104.50-75 range as the index took a breather from Friday’s post-PCE volatility as it looks ahead to this week’s risk events, starting with US ISM Manufacturing later today.
EUR is softer vs. the USD as we enter into ECB week, which is set to see the central bank deliver its first rate cut since September 2019. EUR/USD is yet to approach Friday’s 1.0811 low amid a potential lack in conviction for positioning ahead of upcoming risk events.
GBP is a touch softer vs. both USD and EUR with not much in the way of pertinent UK newsflow as the BoE remains quiet in the run up to next month’s election. Cable is managing to hold above the 1.27 mark which coincides with Friday’s low.
JPY is marginally outmuscling the USD with Japanese fundamentals not seeing much in the way of developments over the weekend. USD/JPY ran into support around the 157 mark.
Antipodeans are both a touch softer vs. the USD with AUD unable to benefit from an upward revision to Chinese Caixin Manufacturing PMI. AUD/USD is currently in consolidation mode, respecting Friday’s 0.6626-0.6672 range and sitting just above its 10 and 21DMAs which both sit at 0.6635.
EM FX: South Africa’s ANC lost its 30-year majority and as such, will now look to form a coalition (USD/ZAR -0.1%). Exit polls point to landslide victories for India’s Modi (USD/INR -0.4%) and Mexico’s Sheinbaum (USD/MXN +1.0%) with focus on whether the latter will be able to obtain a super-majority and enact policies which could be deemed as less market friendly.
PBoC sets USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1086 vs exp. 7.2378 (prev. 7.1111)
USTs are firmer as Friday’s PCE momentum remains in the driving seat into the ISM Manufacturing PMI. Within this, the Prices Paid metric will draw scrutiny following the jump to 60.9 (prev. 55.8) which took it into strong expansion territory.
A relatively contained start for Bunds holding onto Friday’s PCE-induced upside while APAC-session updates were unable to significantly move the dial; JGB action essentially just catch up to Friday.
Gilts are in-fitting with peers but marginally outperforming EGBs, despite the lack of UK-specific newsflow, with the region’s final PMIs unable to spark any real reaction. Gilts as high as 96.61 with last week’s 97.13 high the next point of resistance.
OAT price action follows the broader complex though with the magnitude of gains shy of its German-peer, likely a follow through from S&P downgrading France on Friday.
Crude prices headed lower in the aftermath of the of the OPEC+ meeting which outlined a future roadmap for the restoration of the supply from the voluntary cuts. In the European session, WTI/Brent have bounced off worst levels, albeit marginally so; Brent currently around USD 81.30/bbl.
Precious metals are flat as the haven metals are torn between the stronger USD/constructive risk tone and a post-PMI downtick in yields. As it stands, XAU is unchanged at the mid-point of USD 2314-2331/oz parameters.
Base metals are a touch firmer after the last 8/9 sessions have ended in the red. Albeit, upside is very modest thus far as the broader macro backdrop for the metal has not changed this morning despite two potentially bullish updates.
JP Morgan is of the view that current oil prices are USD 8bbl too cheap and continues to make the bullish case for oil in Q3 amid its demand outlook. Anticipates global oil demand accelerating by 2.5mln BPD from end of April to the end of August. This would raise global refinery runs by 4mln BPD over the same period.
Russia-China gas pipeline deal reportedly stalls over Beijing’s price demands, according to the FT. China is said to have asked to pay prices close to Russia’s subsidised domestic prices and would only commit to purchasing a smaller fraction of the Siberia 2 pipeline’s annual capacity, sources said.
An oil refinery in northwest Russia near the city of Ukhta was operating normally after a fire broke out on Sunday, according to Reuters.
South Korean President Yoon said a vast amount of oil and gas reserve possibly undersea off South Korea’s east coast; has approved exploration of possible oil and gas reserve; reserves could amount to up to 14bln barrels of oil and gas, according to Reuters.
Magnitude 5.7 earthquake hit Antofagasta, Chile region, according to EMSC.
Copper miners Freeport Indonesia has not received copper concentrate export permit extension, according to a spokesperson.
OPEC+ has agreed to extend its collective production cuts, which total around 3.6mln BPD, until the end of 2025 (prev. until the end of 2024). Additionally, the eight states that implemented voluntary cuts of 2.2mln BPD will extend these cuts until the end of Q3 2024 (prev. Q2 2024, exp. at least Q3 2024), after which they will gradually increase production from October 2024 to September 2025, contingent on market conditions.
Additionally, the UAE has been permitted to increase its production by 0.3mln BPD from 2025, according to Reuters.
Baseline revisions have been pushed back a year to 2026. “That’s because some countries like Russia are under embargo and the independent companies are not able to have access to data to support the assessment process.”, according to Energy Intel’s Bakr.
“Under the agreement today there are no barrels that are immediately going to be added to the market. The partial return of the voluntary cuts in q4 this year is subject to market conditions. The agreement also does not stray away from the cautious path the group has been following. Even the possible return of the voluntary cuts is being done cautiously.”, according to Energy Intel’s Bakr.
Saudi Energy Ministry said 2.2mln bpd voluntary oil cuts are to be extended till September and to be gradually phased out on a monthly basis till Sept 2025, according to Reuters citing a statement. Saudi Energy Ministry said the gradual monthly phase-out may be reversed according to market conditions, and added OPEC meeting welcomes Iraq, Russia, and Kazakhstan’s renewed commitment to adhere to OPEC production cuts. Saudi Energy Ministry said the OPEC meeting also welcomes Iraq, Russia, and Kazakhstan’s plan to resubmit their updated compensation for overproduction since January 2024 before the end of June, the statement said.
Saudi Energy Minister said discussions among eight countries implementing voluntary cuts started two or three weeks ago, and “we are waiting for interest rates to come down, better trajectory of global growth, that would probably cause demand to increase with a clear path”, according to Reuters. Saudi Energy Minister said some ministers gathered in Riyadh to make sure they interacted with each other and the message was comprehensively understood and agreed upon.
BANK COMMENTARY ON OPEC+
Barclays says the OPEC+ outcome was mildly negative on net relative to their baseline balances view; given recent compliance numbers Barclays’ oil balances would be 500k/BPD tighter in H2 and looser by 550k/BPD in 2025.
UBS says OPEC+ announcement “could be seen as slightly bearish oil for very near term but decisions taken also reduce downside risk in the medium-term”. Announcement does not change near-term outlook for oil. Sees oil supply deficit of 1.2 MB/D in Q3’24, expect it to support prices over the next few weeks; lifting Bren to “mid to high USD 80s”.
CRYPTO
Bitcoin saw modest gains overnight but remains within recent ranges of around USD 68,000.
US President Biden said he is vetoing congressional disapproval of US SEC bulletin on crypto-assets, according to Reuters.
NOTABLE DATA RECAP
EU HCOB Manufacturing Final PMI (May) 47.3 vs. Exp. 47.4 (Prev. 47.4)
German HCOB Manufacturing PMI (May) 45.4 vs. Exp. 45.4 (Prev. 45.4)
French HCOB Manufacturing PMI (May) 46.4 vs. Exp. 46.7 (Prev. 46.7)
Italian HCOB Manufacturing PMI (May) 45.6 vs. Exp. 48.0 (Prev. 47.3)
UK S&P Global Manufacturing PMI (May) 51.2 (Prev. 51.3)
Turkish CPI MM (May) 3.37% vs. Exp. 3.0% (Prev. 3.18%); Turkish CPI YY (May) 75.45% vs. Exp. 74.8% (Prev. 69.8%)
NOTABLE EUROPEAN HEADLINES
Deutsche Bank lifts its Euro-area 2024 GDP growth view to 0.9% (prev. 0.4%)
German Engineering Orders +10% Y/Y in April (Domestic +3%; Foreign Orders +13%)
Citi/YouGov UK inflation expectations: 1 year ahead at 3.1% (prev. 3.3%, now the lowest since July 2021), 5-10 years at 3.2% (prev. 3.5%).
Online fashion Co. Shein, which was valued at USD 66bln in its last fundraising, will file a GBP 50bln London float this month, according to Sky News.
Sanofi (SAN FP) reportedly pushes ahead with a EUR 20bln consumer healthcare spin-off, according to the FT.
S&P cut France to AA- from AA; Outlook stable; downgrade on deterioration of budgetary position.
Fitch affirmed Greece at ‘BBB-‘; outlook stable.
Fitch upgraded Ireland to ‘AA’; outlook stable
NOTABLE US HEADLINES
Fed’s Kashkari (non-voter) said rates to stay on hold for an “extended” time, and added that the US economy is strong, the labour market is strong, and inflation is coming down, via an FT interview from May 27th (ahead of the blackout period) but published on Monday.
NVIDIA (NVDA) CEO Huang stated the Co. to upgrade its AI accelerators every year. CEO said on Sunday that the Co. next-generation artificial intelligence chip platform, called Rubin, would be rolled out in 2026, according to Reuters.
AMD (AMD) CEO unveiled new MI325X accelerator chip at Computex event in Taipei, to be available in Q4 2024, AMD CEO said the Co. is aiming for an annual cadence for AI chips.
GEOPOLITICS
ISRAEL-HAMAS, European Morning
Israel PM Netanyahu’s office reportedly conveyed to Ben Gvir a message that contrary to President Biden’s words, there is no clause in the draft agreement that includes stopping the war, and that the other clauses will not constitute a “surrender deal.
ISRAEL-HAMAS
Israeli PM aide confirmed on Sunday that Israel had accepted a framework deal for winding down the Gaza war being advanced by US President Biden, according to Reuters. The aid however described the plan as flawed and in need of much more work. The aide added that Israeli conditions, including “the release of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas” have not changed.
Hamas said they view US President Biden’s latest proposal for a ceasefire as ‘positive’ and affirmed its readiness to deal positively with any proposal that offers a permanent ceasefire, complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, reconstruction of the strip, return of displaced and a ‘serious’ hostage exchange, according to Reuters.
Axios’ Ravid posts “Israeli officials told me the Israeli hostage deal proposal President Biden presented in his speech exhausted Israel’s manoeuvring space. There will not be a better one. If Hamas rejects it, the conflict will likely escalate.”
Qatar, the US, and Egypt jointly called on Hamas and Israel to finalise the agreement embodying the principles outlined by US President Biden, according to a joint statement.
Israeli Defence Minister said in any process to bring about the end of the war, Israel will not accept the rule of Hamas in Gaza, according to Reuters.
Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich called for the Gaza offensive to be pursued until Hamas is destroyed and all hostages are rescued, saying he would not stay in government otherwise, according to a post on X.
Israeli National Security Minister Ben-Gvir threatened to bring down the coalition government if PM Netanyahu agreed to a deal that would include ending the war without eliminating Hamas, according to a post on X.
US National Security spokesperson Kirby said the US has every expectation that if Hamas agrees to the proposal, then Israel will say yes, according to an ABC News interview.
Yemen’s Houthis said they conducted six military operations including targeting a US aircraft carrier and destroyer, and added they targeted ‘Maina ship, Aloraiq ship and Abliani ship’, according to Reuters.
US CENTCOM said On June 1, it destroyed one Iranian-backed Houthi uncrewed aerial system (UAS) in the southern Red Sea, and also observed two other UAS crash into the Red Sea. No injuries or damage were reported. Additionally, USCENTCOM forces successfully engaged two Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles in the southern Red Sea, according to Reuters.
Israeli PM Netanyahu has accepted an invitation to address both houses of the US Congress, according to Reuters.
Airstrikes said to hit a copper factory in Aleppo, Syria, according to Times of Israel; cites a post showing at least three explosions in quick succession; cites another post noting “This area has a huge presence for the Iranian militias and Hezbollah”. “Al-Arabiya sources: Raids likely to be Israeli targeting northern Aleppo”, according to Al-Arabiya
RUSSIA-UKRAINE
Ukrainian President Zelenskiy said he received a signal from China they will not take part in the peace summit, according to Reuters.
Russian Defence Ministry said Russia struck Ukraine’s energy facilities working for the military-industrial complex, and hit depots with Western weapons, according to RIA.
Russia has announced plans to raise taxes on businesses and the wealthy amid the need for additional revenue to fund the war in Ukraine, according to Sky News.
CHINA-TAIWAN
Chinese Defence Minister, at the Shangri-La dialogue, said China will take resolute actions to curb Taiwan’s independence and make sure such a plot never succeeds, and anyone who dares to separate Taiwan from China will only end up in self-destruction. He added China stays committed to peaceful reunification, however, this prospect is increasingly being eroded by separatists for Taiwan’s independence and foreign forces, according to Reuters.
Taiwan government reiterated Taiwan has never been a part of the People’s Republic of China and added that China has repeatedly openly threatened Taiwan with force at international events, whilst maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait is the common responsibility of both sides of the strait, according to Reuters.
OTHERS
China State Security Ministry alleges British Secret Intelligence Service MI6 turned two staff members of Chinese central state organs to spy for the British government, according to a ministry statement.
North Korea is to temporarily suspend sending balloons carrying trash, but will resume if South Korea sends anti-North Korea leaflets, according to KCNA citing the North Korean Vice Defence Minister.
APAC TRADE
APAC stocks opened higher and then extended on gains as the region reacted to the softer-than-expected US Core PCE data on Friday alongside the prospect of a potential Israel-Hamas deal brokered by the US. The broader chip sector in the region was supported by NVIDIA CEO Huang stating the Co. is to upgrade its AI accelerators every year, later followed by an update from AMD at the Computex event in Taipei.
ASX 200 saw its upside led by a broader strength across energy and financials, whilst Australia’s Final Manufacturing PMI saw a modest revision higher from the prelim.
Nikkei 225 briefly rose back above 39,000 with the upside also led by energy and financials, whilst capex data showed company profits surprisingly accelerated in Q1.
India’s Nifty 50 opened sharply higher by almost 3.5% at a record high after exit polls pointed to a landslide win by PM Modi.
Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were mixed as the former soared at the open with heavyweight stocks Alibaba and Tencent among the top gainers, whilst the latter initially bucked the regional trend and lagged despite any major headlines aside from China stating it will not join the Swiss peace conference on Ukraine, although losses were briefly trimmed after the Chinese Final Manufacturing PMI was revised higher than expected.
NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES
Moody’s Ratings has raised China’s growth forecast to 4.5% (prev. 4.0%) for 2024, according to Reuters.
PBoC injected CNY 2bln via 7-day reverse repos with the rate at 1.80%.
China has allocated CNY 6.44bln for vehicle trade-in subsidies, according to CCTV.
BoJ Executive Director Kato said BoJ has no plan to immediately unload its ETF holdings; and hopes to spend time examining how to unload BoJ’s ETF holdings in the future.
Japanese MOF official said capex data reflects moderate economic recovery but attention is needed on corporate situation amid risks of global slowdown rising.
Japanese Economy Minister Shindo states that real economic growth of 1.3% in FY 2025 is not so unrealistic, according to Reuters.
Australia’s minimum wage and award wages will increase by 3.75% from July 1st, the Fair Work Commission has announced, via ABC.
BoJ Quarterly Bond Markey Survey: index gauging bond market function at -24 (prev. -29), fifth consecutive quarter of improvement
DATA RECAP
Chinese Caixin Manufacturing PMI Final (May) 51.7 vs. Exp. 51.5 (Prev. 51.4)
Australian Judo Bank Manufacturing PMI Final (May) 49.7 (Prev. 49.6).
Japanese JibunBK Manufacturing PMI Final SA (May) 50.4 (Prev. 50.5)
Japanese Business Capex (MOF) YY* (Q1) 6.8% (Prev. 16.4%)
Japanese Capital Spending Ex Software Y/Y: 6.8% (exp. 8.4%; prev. 11.7%)
Japanese Company Profits Y/Y: 15.1% (exp. 8.3%; prev. 13.0%)
Japanese Company Sales Y/Y: 2.3% (exp. 2.4%; prev. 4.2%)
GLOBAL
MSCI said due to the significant size of Saudi Aramco’s secondary offering, MSCI intends to implement changes in MSCI indexes resulting from the offering, according to Reuters.
ELECTIONS
South Africa’s ANC lost its 30-year majority and won 159 out of 400 seats (prev. 230 seats) in South Africa’s National Assembly, according to the electoral commission. South African President Ramaphosa said the election results represent a victory for democracy in South Africa, according to Reuters. South Africa’s biggest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, has appointed a negotiating team to speak with other political parties about forming a majority coalition, according to Reuters.
Indian PM Modi’s BJP alliance is projected to win a majority in the general election, according to CNN-News18 exit poll; projected to win 355 to 370 seats in the general election.
Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum is seen winning the presidency with a landslide 56% effective vote vs 30% for Galvez, according to Parametria exit polls. Mexico’s Morena Party Chief said Claudia Sheinbaum has won the presidency. Mexico’s Morena Party is projected to have a simple majority in Congress, according to party head Mario Delgado speaking to Milenio TV.
NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA
END
2e) JAPAN
3 CHINA
CHINA/USA
Huge story: China dumps 101 billion dollars worth of treasuries in the last 12 months. Dollar set to collapse
(zerohedge)
China Dumps $101,900,000,000 in US Treasuries in 12 Months As Fed Governor Dismisses ‘Imminent Demise’ of US Dollar – The Daily Hodl
China Dumps $101,900,000,000 in US Treasuries in 12 Months As Fed Governor Dismisses ‘Imminent Demise’ of US Dollar
By Daily Hodl Staff
New numbers show China has sold $101.9 billion in US Treasury securities over the past 12 months.
The Treasury Department says China cut its holdings from $869.3 billion in March of last year to $767.4 billion in March of this year.
China’s holdings have steadily dropped from an all-time high of $1.31 trillion, which was set in November of 2013.
The news comes as China shifts away from the dollar in cross-border trade and as the global economic alliance known as BRICS contemplates the launch of a digital competitor to the US dollar.
The developments are not going unnoticed at the Federal Reserve.
At a recent conference on the global importance of the US dollar, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said the demise of the dollar is exaggerated, but acknowledged the role of the world’s reserve currency is evolving.
“There has for some time been commentary predicting the dollar is destined for demise – potentially an imminent demise…
The role of the US in the world economy is changing, and finance is always changing. The dollar remains by far the most widely used currency by a number of metrics.”
Waller points to America’s use of sanctions against foreign nations as a factor in the dollar’s future dominance.
“If these sanctions and policies are long-lasting, the shifting cross-border payments landscape – including the rapid growth of digital currencies – could also pose challenges to the dominant role of the US dollar.”
Back in February, Waller said despite the challenges, nations have “few practical alternatives to the dollar,” noting that “in times of global stress, the world runs to the dollar, not away from it.”Don’t Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inbox Check Price Action Follow us on X, Facebook and Telegram Surf The Daily Hodl Mix
Generated Image: Midjourney
END
CHINA/
4.EUROPEAN AFFAIRS//UK /SCANDINAVIAN AFFAIRS
GERMANY
Expect a lot of this throughout Europe
(zerohedge)
German Policeman Dies After Intervening In Stabbing At Anti-Islam Rally
SUNDAY, JUN 02, 2024 – 06:30 PM
Update (2000ET): A 29-year-old German police officer who was repeatedly stabbed during an attack at an anti-Islam rally in the city of Mannheim has died of his wounds after having been “stabbed several times in the area of the head.”
The officer, identified as Rouven L in German media, underwent emergency surgery following the attack and was placed in an artificial coma, only to die of his injuries on Sunday, the Daily Mail reports.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that he was “deeply saddened” by the officer’s death.
“His commitment to the safety of all of us deserves the highest recognition,” Scholz posted on X.
* * *
A shocking video has exploded across social media showing a man stabbing anti-Islam activist and politician, 59-year-old Michael Stürzenberger, during a campaign event in Mannheim.
As Remix News’ John Cody reports, the bloody and chaotic video shows the man running amok among campaign staff, who are wearing blue jackets, while the man stabs any victim in his sight.
The campaign workers scramble to stop the man, who also stabbed a police officer in the neck.
News reports indicate that the suspect has already been shot and killed by police, although the suspect’s death has not been confirmed by all news outlets. In one frame of the video, the man can clearly be seen plunging his knife into the neck of a police officer.
Police say the victim was campaigning and providing “educational information” in the lead-up to the attack in the city square.
Stürzenberger is an anti-Islamic political activist who is a member of the Citizens’ Movement Pax Europa, who earlier served in the Munich Christian Socialist Union (CSU) and as the chairman of the Freedom party, a small party which is now dissolved. He publishes an anti-Islamic blog.
He is well known for producing a citizens’ petition against the construction of a mosque in Munich. He was convicted for “insulting an officer” and “denigration of religious teachings.”
He has also been under surveillance in the past, with the Bavarian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) listing Stürzenberger in its report related to “Islamophobia relevant to the Protection of the Constitution.”
The stabbing incident comes just one week before EU parliament elections.
.
end
GERMANY
My goodness! Mostly from Muslim countries and they will not assimilate
(zerohedge)
Germany Naturalized Over 200,000 Immigrants In 2023
German government records have shown that the country naturalised over 200,000 immigrants in 2023 alone, which amounts to more than the entire population of more than half of its cities.
Most of them arrived in the country in 2015 and 2016 when former Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the floodgates.
A further 10,735 German passports were handed to Turkish immigrants in 2023, with a further 10,710 Iraqi nationals becoming German citizens.
The overall number is the highest in a quarter of a century. There has been a more than 50 percent increase in Iraqis, Syrians, and Afghans becoming citizens compared to the previous year.
A statement from the right wing Alternative For Germany (AfD) Party noted that the amount of immigrants becoming citizens “is more people than the population of Potsdam, Saarbrücken or Leverkusen.”
“The number of naturalizations has thus reached a historic record level, while the traffic-light coalition and the CDU want to fool us into believing that migration is being limited,” the statement further urged.
The massive uptick in naturalised citizens is being put down to a change in the law which allows immigrants to much more easily and quickly obtain passports.
A recent survey found that seven in ten citizens of European countries believe there is too much unchecked immigration. Among Germans, the number was 77 percent.
In addition to problems with social welfare, housing and unemployment, Germany has experienced an explosion in crime, particularly violent crimes and sexual assault.
As we previously highlighted, German government statistics also show that 41 percent of all crime suspects are foreigners, despite them making up a much smaller percentage of the population.
The past week has seen two more incidents, one violent knife attack, and another case of a Syrian immigrant sexually assaulting both a 78 year old woman and a 23 year old after he was released from custody for the first offence.
Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.
END
EUROPE/NATO/RUSSIA/UKRAINE
Robert H to us
Dive for Cover: The First NATO Troops Deployed to Ukraine ~ VIDEO – Europe Renaissance
I had an open chat this morning with a devout Muslim. Interestingly enough he was explaining that the whole of the Arab world is uniting against the West and joining with China and Russia and North Korea in what they see as a holy war against the entire West. And why they are pondering how to make all the things they need independent of the West. He went on to say that daily resentment is growing.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it had expanded its operations to the central area of Rafah. Before the assault on the city, Rafah served as a refuge for over one million displaced Palestinians.
The Associated Press reports that the Israeli military confirmed its forces were now fighting throughout most of Rafah. President Joe Biden claimed that if Israel attacked the population centers in the city without a plan for the civilians living there, it would cross his “red line.”
However, as Israeli troops continue to push into the city, killing hundreds in the process and forcing over one million to flee, Biden administration officials have asserted that Tel Aviv has not crossed the red line. After Israel used a US bomb to kill 45 people living in a tent camp in Rafah, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, “As a result of this strike on Sunday, I have no policy changes to speak to.”
The assault on Rafah has pushed the overall death toll to over 36,000, including according to Gaza’s health ministry tens of thousands of women and children. The IDF has also sustained losses in Rafah, increasing the number of soldiers killed to 289 since October 7.
As Israeli forces are pushing deeper into Rafah, the IDF announced the end of weeks of operations in the Jabalia refugee camp, located in northern Gaza. Tel Aviv initially devastated the city in the early months of the war on Gaza, but its forces returned in May. During the operations, the IDF dropped over 200 bombs.
The attacks on Jabalia and Rafah have caused aid deliveries into Gaza to plummet. Trucks crossing into the Strip in May decreased by two-thirds. This week, two Biden administration officials resigned in part because of the Israeli imposed restrictions on aid deliveries into Gaza and the lack of a response from the White House.
A letter signed by 19 aid agencies released on Tuesday warned that the lack of aid was increasing the risk of death due to starvation and disease.
As Israeli attacks intensify on Rafah, the unpredictable trickle of aid into Gaza has created a mirage of improved access while the humanitarian response is in reality on the verge of collapse, it says. “Aid agencies now fear an acceleration in deaths from starvation, disease and denied medical assistance.”
Meanwhile an Al Jazeera investigation says that 32% of the Gaza Strip has been made uninhabitable:
Israel has taken over 32% of Gaza’s area by “systematically demolishing neighbourhoods” to create a buffer zone and a central axis dividing it, according to Al Jazeera’s Sanad Verification Agency http://aje.io/y0ehjs
·
69.1K Views
While many are on the brink of death, Tel Aviv says it will not sign on to an agreement that would bring the war to a close and Israeli hostages freed. On Thursday, Hamas officials said the group was willing to come to a “complete agreement” that ends the conflict and frees the hostages. On Friday, the Israeli government told the families of the hostages that Tel Aviv was unwilling to end the conflict in exchange for the release of their relatives.
end
Over A Million Flee Rafah As Netanyahu Calls Biden’s Hostage Deal ‘Incomplete’
BY TYLER DURDEN
MONDAY, JUN 03, 2024 – 02:00 PM
After weeks of the intensifying Israeli army ground operation in Rafah, the United Nations has estimated that around one million Palestinians have fled the southern Gaza city.
The United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) issued this new astounding figure on Monday, describing that “a staggering one million people have now fled Rafah in southern Gaza” amid new reports of “overnight attacks in southern, central and northern locations by Israeli forces.”
“Conditions are unspeakable” the agency added, with most families having sought refuge in nearby Khan Younis and its largely damaged and destroyed facilities and buildings.
Rafah had a pre-war population of about 280,000 people, but throughout the conflict at least half or most of all the displaced persons in the Gaza Strip has been pushed into the city. The total prewar population of Gaza was 2.3 million people.
The Israeli military has meanwhile ordered civilians to go to an “expanded humanitarian zone” which lies about 12 miles away; however, most eyewitnesses have told international media that there is nowhere for this many people to go.
One medical aid worker has told Al Jazeera that the situation with hospitals in the Gaza Strip is “beyond catastrophic” at this point:
Dr Dorotea Gucciardo from Glia, a group that 3D prints open-source medical equipment for low-resource areas, has said the situation in hospitals across Gaza is “beyond catastrophic”.
“What we’ve been witnessing since October is a complete systematic destruction of hospitals by the Israeli military, starting in the north and working their way to the south,” she told Al Jazeera.
“There are few operating facilities. we have one semi-functioning hospital [in Deir el-Balah]. Patients are unable to access the healthcare that they need and doctors are unable to provide the resources that they require in order to provide health services,” Gucciardo added.
The situation looks intractable and will likely continue spiraling before it gets better. President Biden’s major peace plan effort he announced Friday continues getting pushback from the Netanyahu government. The prime minister complained to lawmakers there are still significant “gaps” in the plan.
“The claim that we agreed to a ceasefire without our conditions being met is incorrect,” Netanyahu told Knesset members Monday. “The proposal that Biden presented is incomplete.” According to Times of Israel:
Netanyahu said in a Knesset meeting that Israel will not end the war in Gaza until it achieves its three war aims, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel: destroying Hamas’s military and civil governance capabilities, securing the release of all hostages, and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.
He also reportedly said that there are “gaps” between the Israeli version and Biden’s recounting of it.
Netanyahu had also repeated that he’s committed to the original war aim of ensuring Hamas’ destruction, and that it can never return to govern again. But hardline Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is still accusing Netanyahu of “whitewashing” the deal.
Biden on Friday had described that an ‘Israeli deal’ is on the table, but this has triggered dissent, confusion, and anger with the Netanyahu governing coalition.
“This morning, I also went to the Prime Minister’s Office and there, once again, they refused to present the draft agreement to me,” said Ben-Gvir. “If you sign a reckless deal that will bring an end to the war without the collapse of Hamas, Otzma Yehudit [Ben-Gvir’s party] will dissolve the government,” he threatened.
RUSSIA UKRAINE/USA
COVID ISSUES/VACCINE ISSUES//DRUG AND HEALTH ISSUES
A law firm based in Alberta has filed a national class action lawsuit against the federal government over injuries from the COVID-19 vaccines.
The lawsuit, which still needs to be certified by a court, potentially covers the whole country with the exception of Quebec, which has its own civil law system, said Leighton Grey, a lawyer at Grey Wowk Spencer LLP.
“We’ve had tremendous response, we’ve had about 1,300 people already respond and want to be part of the lawsuit,” Mr. Grey told The Epoch Times. “And we think that’s going to grow.”
The “representative plaintiff” is a woman in her 30s from St. Albert, just outside Edmonton.
Mr. Grey said the woman suffered “a pretty severe reaction” to her first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine. She was convinced by her doctor to get a second shot, and her reaction to that was worse.
“Since then she’s had a whole series of health problems, everything from skin rashes … but the most serious one is that she has fainting spells,” he said. “She has unpredictable fainting spells where she falls … and she hurts herself.”
He said the condition has left the married mother of two virtually unable to work. Before receiving the vaccine, she had been a professional massage therapist and a yoga instructor.
“Especially the second injection made it impossible for her to work because of course, she’s living in constant fear of having one of her fainting spells,” said Mr. Grey.
The lawsuit names the Attorney General of Canada, the chief Public Health Officer, and Health Canada. Mr. Grey noted the vaccine companies have federal government “indemnity” from any liability for injuries caused by the vaccines.
“Unfortunately, right now, we can’t directly pierce the indemnity. So that’s why our lawsuit has not sued the pharmaceutical companies,” he said.
Before others can join the class action lawsuit, a judge has to certify that it meets conditions, such as whether it has a reasonable cause of action, and whether it’s an issue of broad public concern.
Mr. Grey said it could be a year or more before the lawsuit passes the certification process, and there is no guarantee it will.
There is also a separate class action lawsuit—also filed in Alberta—against the provincial and federal governments, as well as several individual lawsuits over injuries people believe were caused by the vaccines, he said.
It’s possible some of the lawsuits could end up being joined and move through the courts that way.
“But that hasn’t been determined yet. That’s the type of thing that’s going to be decided as part of case management,” said Mr. Grey.
He is certain the federal government will argue there is no case.
“There’s no doubt that … the defendants are going to challenge certification in terms of there being no reasonable cause of action,” he said.
Canadian courts “have been reluctant to actually adjudicate on the safety and the efficacy of vaccines,” he said. But he believes more information is coming out about the vaccines not being as safe or effective as initially claimed.
“I think we’re going to see legislatures begin to restrict their availability … and I think as those legislative changes happen, I think that’ll impact the way the courts look at these cases,” he said.
For its part, Health Canada maintains the COVID-19 vaccines are safe, and serious side effects are rare.
“COVID-19 vaccines reduce the risk of severe illness, death and post COVID-19 condition (long COVID),” says Health Canada’s website.
It adds that while possible side effects can include Bell’s Palsy, blood clots, Guillame-Barre syndrome, and myocarditis, “serious reactions following vaccination are rare.”
The federal government has a Vaccine Injury Support Program (VISP) to help those injured by the vaccines. Launched in June 2021, the program had paid out $11.2 million to Canadians injured by vaccines as of Dec. 1, 2023. A total of 2,233 applications had been accepted, with 1,825 deemed admissable, 1,032 requiring additional medical records, 138 claims approved, and 164 pending review for eligibility.
The next public report is June 1, 2024.
Vaccine-injured Canadians seeking help through the VISP program have complained to The Epoch Times about long wait times, poor communication, and insufficient payouts.
END
ROBERT H TO US
Myocarditis and Pericarditis Only Appear After COVID Vaccination: NHS Preprint | The Epoch Times
All faith in medicine and bi pharma is being destroyed.
Children who received the AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines faced an elevated risk of epilepsy and appendicitis, according to a new study.
Pfizer recipients were also more likely to suffer from demyelinating disease or heart inflammation, researchers found.
Dr. Julia Hippisley-Cox, a professor of clinical epidemiology at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Primary Health Care Sciences, and colleagues obtained data from a national database on COVID-19 vaccination, mortality, hospital admissions, and COVID-19 infections. They wanted to look at the link between COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Moderna with 12 outcomes, including the heart inflammation condition called myocarditis.
The population of nearly 5.2 million included 1.8 million children aged 5 to 11 and 3.3 million children aged 12 to 17.
The data examined were through Aug. 7, 2022.
In the primary analysis, researchers found 12- to 17-year-olds who received Pfizer’s vaccine were at increased risk of myocarditis, with an additional three cases per million versus the expected rate after a first dose, and an additional five cases per million after a second dose, and hospitalization with epilepsy, with an additional 12 cases per million after a second dose. Females in the age group also faced an increased risk of demyelinating disease after receiving a second dose of the vaccine.
Researchers also identified a “substantially increased risk of hospitalization with epilepsy” among females after receipt of a first dose of AstraZeneca’s shot, with 813 more hospitalizations with epilepsy than expected per million doses, and an elevated risk of appendicitis after a second dose of the vaccine, with 512 excess events per million doses.
While no excess events were found among Moderna recipients, the study lacked the power to detect statistically significant issues, due to few children in the UK receiving Moderna’s vaccine. Further, no elevated risks of the 12 issues were found among 5- to 11-year-olds.
A secondary analysis, involving matching some of the vaccine recipients to unvaccinated children, confirmed an increased risk among 12- to 17-year-olds of hospitalization with epilepsy following Pfizer vaccination, and elevated risks of severe allergic shock and appendicitis in the age group following Pfizer vaccination. No increased risks of any outcome were identified among minor Moderna or AstraZeneca recipients. But among a group of 18- to 24-year-olds studied, elevated risks of a number of conditions were found, including myocarditis, immune or idiopathic thrombocytopenia, epilepsy, and acute pancreatitis.
The study was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research School for Primary Care Research. Multiple authors declared conflicts of interest, including funding from Moderna and AstraZeneca. Limitations included reliance on hospital admission codes and death certificates.
Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca did not respond to requests for comment.
The authors said that their findings “support a favorable safety profile of COVID-19 vaccination using mRNA vaccines in children and young people aged 5-17 years.” The Pfizer and Moderna shots utilize messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology.
Dr. Hippisley-Cox, the study’s corresponding author, did not return a request for comment seeking data on the position. The authors cited in part how they found unvaccinated children faced increased risks of some of the outcomes, including multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.
Udi Qimron, a professor at Tel Aviv University’s Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology, said that the authors wrongly downplayed the risks associated with the vaccines.
“It’s not surprising to learn that some of the study’s authors have financial ties to Moderna and AstraZeneca and/or have served on various UK and Scottish Government COVID-19 advisory groups. One author was even a member of AstraZeneca’s Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Taskforce and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. The conflict of interest in this case is significant,” Mr. Qimrom, who was not involved in the paper, told The Epoch Times via email.
“It is concerning that respected scientific platforms are being used to cover up mistakes and wrongdoing, particularly the coercion and immense societal pressure to vaccinate young children. This should never have been done,” he added. “It is disheartening to see scientific journals collaborating with such practices, which undermines public trust in scientific research, especially when it involves the health and safety of children.”
A million Americans died from COVID-19, marking one of the darkest chapters in our nation’s history. Four years later, more than 10 million Americans are still suffering from long COVID. We continue to fight for accountability.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, in his role as chief medical adviser to the president, insisted upon mask and vaccine mandates, lockdowns, and overstated vaccine efficacy, often disregarding the public’s and private medical professional’s ability to assess the facts.
Many lessons must be learned from Dr. Fauci’s tenure, highlighting the need for supervision and ethical leadership. As a physician, I believe in informing patients of the truth and collaborating on plans.
This week, he will testify before the House of Representatives. We must demand answers for the numerous unresolved issues related to his potential role in the origins of COVID-19, and the subsequent alleged cover-up. Here are several questions I hope are asked:
Dr. Fauci has advocated for and funded risky gain of function (GOF) research for more than 30 years. He was undoubtedly aware of the history of the engineering and structural problems, along with sloppy procedural issues, at the labs in Wuhan, China.
Risky GOF Research: After learning of the possibility of a lab leak from respected scientists, did Dr. Fauci consult the appropriate government agencies at the National Biosurveillance Integration Center, National Center for Medical Intelligence, and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office, all stacked with experts about the risky research at the unsafe Wuhan Institute of Virology? Evidence indicates he consulted private sector scientists with significant conflicts of interest, as they depended on his research funds. Dr. Fauci has never conceded to seeking advice from the correct government channels, why?
He knew the Chinese military was involved in all research at Wuhan laboratories, including that China’s military ran a bioweapons program at the Wuhan Institute of Virology labs. Yet, Dr. Fauci continued to use taxpayer money to fund the research projects in Wuhan, China.
We very much hope Anthony Fauci will discuss this email referencing covid as a bioweapon
·
109.2K Views
Caught in a Lie: Dr. Fauci previously testified before Congress that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) wasn’t funding GOF research. Based on current information, Dr. Fauci has been caught in a lie and should answer for it. Not only has the NIH admitted to funding GOF research, they then changed the definition of GOF research to allow continued foreign research funding. What was Dr. Fauci’s role in changing this definition to secure additional funding?
Continuing Deadly Research at U.S. Taxpayers Expense: China locked us out of Wuhan after the novel coronavirus emerged and refused to share the DNA sequence of SARS-CoV-2 and other valuable information. Dr. Fauci must explain how America benefited from these grants to EcoHealth Alliance and other U.S.-funded GOF research conducted in foreign nations.
Oversight Within NIH Grant Process: Dr. Fauci must also be held accountable for overseeing the NIH grant process. We uncovered and sounded the alarm back in October of 2021 that EcoHealth Alliance was out of compliance with NIH grant policies and had not submitted its year-five report. Why did it continue to receive funding?
When confronted about this, Dr. Fauci claimed ignorance, although it was his responsibility to ensure compliance with these grants. This lack of oversight highlights the immediate need for increased accountability at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the necessity for its own inspector general.
When following the evidence, Dr. Fauci often sought counsel from questionable advisers and scientists with clear conflicts of interest.
The Federal Advisory Committee Act mandates that advice given to the federal government by advisory committees be objective, transparent, and publicly accessible. However, email records show that Dr. Fauci consulted his close network of private scientists, some of whom financially benefited from the NIH grants that Dr. Fauci oversees, and some in that group were waiting on a grant approval worth up to $9 million.
The Federal Advisory Committee Act: Why in February 2020 did Dr. Fauci hold closed advisory committee meetings with scientists who are dependent on his NIH funding, violating the Federal Advisers Committee Act’s requirements for transparency and balanced viewpoints?
Importantly, after that meeting, the Fauci-led group published the “Proximal Origins” theory, concluding that SARS-CoV-2 emerged as a ”natural virus.” Once published, Dr. Fauci seemingly embarked on a mass media cover-up and touted that opinion piece that he orchestrated as scientific fact, even referencing it from the White House podium.
Proximal Origins Theory: Dr. Fauci should be asked why he presumably used his power to manipulate science and publish factually incorrect articles to downplay the lab leak theory. Why was Dr. Fauci directing articles in science journals and pushing his debunked proximal origins theory narrative? Was his involvement so deep that he was manufacturing and rewriting history to evade the responsibility and the role he had in this virus outbreak?
Blocking FOIA Requests: It’s also curious that after Dr. Fauci was questioned by our Senate HELP committee in May 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services shut down all Freedom of Information Act requests. Was Dr. Fauci involved in any discussions for this decision? Why was that decision made?
Many people also don’t know that Dr. Fauci received two government salaries simultaneously, making him the highest-paid federal employee ever. He was both the director of the NIAID and the director of civilian biodefense, which was operating with a $6 billion budget.
Highest-Paid Federal Employee in History: Dr. Fauci should be asked to explain how the attribution of potential intentional pathogen deployment (which he was tasked to oversee and manage) is assessed and how the action plan is developed and implemented. If he can’t adequately answer these questions when asked, he should return the salary and related pension immediately.
* * *
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge
END
Watch Live: Fauci Grilled By House Over COVID-19
MONDAY, JUN 03, 2024 – 09:58 AM
Update (1000ET): Here it is – Fauci appears before the House Select Subcommittee to answer questions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
* * *
Fauci Squirms During GOP Grilling Over COVID, Pandemic Response
MONDAY, JUN 03, 2024 – 03:43 PM
Update (1530ET): Former NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci was grilled by Republicans during Monday testimony in front of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, where he repeatedly denied Republican allegations that he sought to cover up the COVID-19 lab-leak theory – calling the accusation “absolutely false and simply preposterous.”
In his opening statement, Fauci denied trying to silence officials and scientists who thought the virus was created in, or at least escaped from, the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.
“The accusation being circulated that I influenced these scientists to change their minds by bribing them with millions of dollars in grant money is absolutely false and simply preposterous. I had no input into the content of the published paper,” said Fauci. “The second issue is a false accusation that I tried to cover up the possibility that the virus originated from a lab. In fact, the truth is exactly the opposite.”
Following his opening statement Fauci was grilled over the government’s response to the pandemic – defending the CDC over mask mandates, lockdowns, and other public policy – while Democrats on the panel repeatedly bent over backwards to defend him.
Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX) got into a heated exchange Fauci over the measures – at one point forcing the former NIAID director to admit that the Covid-19 vaccine doesn’t stop transmission.
JUST IN: Marjorie Taylor Greene calls for the imprisonment of ‘Mr.’ Fauci to his face as she cites a new report where NIH scientists made over $700 million on cov*d royalties. “NIH scientists made $710 million in royalties from drug makers. A fact that’s been hidden.” “Is it right for scientists and doctors getting paid by the American people, government taxpayer paychecks to get patents where they’re paid millions and hundreds of millions of dollars in royalty fees?” “Do you think that’s appropriate? Do the American people deserve to be abused like that? Mr. Fauci? ’cause you’re not Doctor, you’re Mr. Fauci.” “That man does not deserve to have a license. As a matter of fact, it should be revoked and he belongs in prison.”
1:28
·
2M Views
JUST IN: Marjorie Taylor Greene calls for the imprisonment of 'Mr.' Fauci to his face as she cites a new report where NIH scientists made over $700 million on cov*d royalties.
"NIH scientists made $710 million in royalties from drug makers. A fact that's been hidden."
ENDBREAKING: Fauci sent taxpayer dollars to dangerous labs in Wuhan, China without reviewing the grant proposals. Rep Cloud TX: “Your name is on every single grant, yet you absolve yourself of any sort of responsibility.” LadyQNews
·
2,458 Views
BREAKING: Fauci sent taxpayer dollars to dangerous labs in Wuhan, China without reviewing the grant proposals.
Rep Cloud TX: "Your name is on every single grant, yet you absolve yourself of any sort of responsibility."
in America soon & has started; protect your teen girls, the blond ones too, guard them, teach self defense, teach her to shoot, legal guns, 2nd amendment, to kill jihadist if her life is threatened!
The Islamist expansionism in America is deadly, due to Obama and Biden and the porous borders, we are talking radical extremists who have no intent on integration, they are here to kill and while getting there, subvert and rape. There is a hatred of the west, of USA, and you the infidel, the non-believer of islam. It is that simple. Biden and the democrats, with Obama, play a game for the islamist vote…this is very dangerous and we are seeing the fruits in Michigan…go read about Hamtramck Michigan…fully islamic government right in the USA.
Every GAY American, women, LBGTQ, Jew etc. should be very frightful of radical islam, islamism, creeping jihadism within USA. Due to Biden and Obama.
President, Donald J. Trump in 2024. If you love President Trump and premium cigars, secure your box of these limited-edition Trump 2024 Cigars while supplies last. use coupon code: DRPAUL10
While supplies last, you can get 10% off a box of these limited edition Trump 2024 cigars by using this coupon code at checkout: DRPAUL10
If you love President Trump and premium cigars, secure your box of these limited-edition Trump 2024 Cigars while supplies last. And again, you can save 10% at checkout with this coupon code: DRPAUL10
From Mr. Brandon Vallorani
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.
I just returned from an unforgettable experience at President Trump’s world-renowned jewel of Palm Beach: the Mar-a-Lago Club. For the fifth year in a row, we had the privilege of showcasing our limited edition Trump 2024 cigars at the President’s “Winter Whitehouse.”
While supplies last, you can get 10% off a box of these limited edition Trump 2024 cigars by using this coupon code at checkout: DRPAUL10
Handmade in one of the best tobacco growing regions in the world, Nicaragua, the Trump 2024 Churchills by Vallorani are beloved for their consistently satisfying taste, exceptional draw, and long-lasting light. The exquisite flavor is delivered by the combination of Nicaraguan and Dominican long fillers, Mexican binders, and a beautiful San Andres Maduro leaf wrapper. Contains 20 cigars.
My partner, Alberto, personally sources and oversees the production of our boutique cigars from these factories. Since 1996, he has recruited the finest Cuban rollers to Miami, Florida, who have brought with them the old techniques and qualities of hand-rolled Cuban cigars used in Habana, Cuba before the Revolution in 1959.
If you love President Trump and premium cigars, secure your box of these limited-edition Trump 2024 Cigars while supplies last. And again, you can save 10% at checkout with this coupon code: DRPAUL10
Trump Attorney Lays Out Play to Fight BACKDuring an appearance on Fox News, Will Scharf, an attorney representing Donald Trump, hinted at the possibility of the former president filing a lawsuit against Alvin Bragg, the Democratic Manhattan District Attorney, for what he referred to as “malicious prosecution.”READ THE FULL REPORT
Trump Fires BACK After ConvictionFormer President Donald Trump expressed his disapproval towards Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and New York Judge Juan Merchan following his conviction on Thursday.READ THE FULL REPORT
Top Trump Ally DESTROYS CNN Host After Trump VerdictDuring a heated exchange on CNN, Republican Florida Representative Byron Donalds and host Kate Bolduan clashed over the differential treatment of former President Donald Trump and the Biden family within the legal system.READ THE FULL REPORT
FEC Commissioner Blasts Trump Conviction, Debunks Claim He Violated Election Law Former Commissioner of the Federal Elections Commission, Brad Smith, a preeminent expert on campaign finance law has taken to social media to lash out against the Manhattan trial that led to the conviction of former President Donald Trump. Judge Juan Merchan had prevented Trump’s defense team from seating Smith as a witness or even submitting his testimony to the jury. … READ THE FULL REPORT
Democratic Rep. Calls on New York Governor to Pardon Trump “for the Good of the Country” Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota is urging New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to pardon probable Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump “for the good of the country.” On Thursday, a jury in the deep blue borough of Manhattan convicted Trump on all 34 counts in the falsified business records case brought by District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Phillips took to social … READ THE FULL REPORT
Trump Gets HUGE News Right After Guilty Verdict… It’s ON Several prominent GOP donors have committed to donating millions of dollars to support former President Donald Trump following his conviction on all 34 counts in his Manhattan business records trial. Many of these donors see the case in New York as a politically motivated attack rather than a pursuit of justice, aligning with Trump’s belief that Democrats are trying to … READ THE FULL REPORT
CNN Panics As The Case Against Trump CRUMBLESDefense attorney Randy Zelin stated during an appearance on CNN’s “News Central” on Tuesday that the prosecution in the trial concerning former President Donald Trump’s business records failed to sufficiently prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.READ THE FULL REPORT
Record-high crude imports in India have pushed Asia’s oil arrivals in May to the highest level in a year, per data compiled by LSEG Oil Research and cited by Reuters columnist Clyde Russell.
Asia, the key crude oil importing region and a gauge of oil demand trends, is set to welcome in May 27.81 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil volumes, nearly 1 million bpd higher than the April imports, per the LSEG Oil Research data.
Most of the 920,000-bpd growth in Asia’s estimated crude oil imports this month has been thanks to a 710,000-bpd surge in volumes shipped to India, which is back to importing increased volumes of cheaper Russian crude oil.
India is estimated to see its crude imports jump to a record-high of 5.26 million bpd in May, up by 710,000 bpd from 4.55 million bpd of crude imported in April, according to the data compiled by LSEG Oil Research.
While India is leading Asia’s crude imports higher, China is again showing signs of weaker import demand. The world’s top crude oil importer is expected to haul in 10.72 million bpd of crude in May, down from the 10.93 million bpd imports in April and the lowest per-day volumes since January, Reuters’ Russell notes.
The stronger Indian economy compared to China and the renewed appetite from Indian refiners for Russian crude – after hesitation earlier this year when stricter U.S. sanctions on Russia’s oil trade were enforced – have been pushing Indian fuel demand and crude imports higher in recent weeks.
For example, India is estimated to have boosted its imports of Russian crude to a nine-month high in April, per data Reuters has obtained from industry and shipping sources.
Moreover, India’s crude oil demand has been growing this year despite consistently higher prices, suggesting that it is more resilient to price rises than some expected.
8. EMERGING MARKETS//AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND ISSUES//
SOUTH AFRICA
ANC DEMOLISHED
Ruling Party ‘Obliterated’ In South Africa Election
“South Africa’s a new country today, but I’m really afraid of that. We don’t know what that looks like,” Pieter Fourie, a middle-aged, middle-class man walking his shaggy Alsatian through autumn leaves on a street in Melville, Johannesburg, said.
His younger companion, Sally Kruger, sighed.
“For many years we prayed to get rid of the ANC [African National Congress]. We watched as it destroyed our beautiful country,” she said, gesturing toward a gaping pothole filled with muddy water.
“But now that the ANC’s fallen so badly, so fast, in such a shocking way, I’m finding it hard to find a reason to celebrate.”
Ms. Kruger’s voice trailed off, almost drowned out by screeches from a flock of African ibises.
“I mean, look at what’s rising to replace it!” she exclaimed. “Something even worse. We were in trouble under the ANC. Now we’re in even bigger trouble.”
The couple’s insightful musings reflect the concerns of many citizens in Africa’s largest economy, and its most developed democracy, as the implications of the May 29 election filter through the suburbs, townships, and villages of this “Rainbow Nation” of 62 million.
The ANC, in power since Nelson Mandela led it to a sweeping victory in South Africa’s first multiracial, multiparty poll in 1994 to end white minority apartheid rule, has captured less than 40 percent of the vote, with almost all ballots counted.
The stunning result is reverberating around the world and was predicted by only one survey in the runup to the election.
Most polls had support for the ANC at about 45 to 48 percent.
That outcome would’ve still pushed it into a coalition government, but one that would’ve enabled it to continue exerting dominance in terms of policy direction with support from a few small parties over which it could wield its authority.
Now, if it’s to hold on to a semblance of power, the ANC will have to form a coalition with a larger opposition party, or parties, which it won’t be able to push around.
By law, the new government must be announced within 14 days, so it doesn’t have much time to negotiate its way back into the Union Buildings.
The ANC’s potential partners could not be more different.
On the one side is the centrist Democratic Alliance (DA), which has won 22 percent of the vote and up until now has been the official opposition.
The DA is led by a middle-aged white man, John Steenhuisen, who’s often accused by the ANC of wanting to preserve “white privilege.”
The DA is pro-business and pro-West, and wants to end affirmative action and replace it with “merit-based” employment, privatize state-owned companies, and weaken the “untrammeled” power of ANC-affiliated labor unions.
These policies are “poisonous,” to the ANC, the party’s secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, said in an interview with The Epoch Times shortly before the election.
On the other side of the chasm are two radical leftist parties led by charismatic, allegedly corrupt black men who once vowed to “die for the ANC”: Umkhonto we Sizwe (MKP), whose figurehead is former President Jacob Zuma, 82, and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), whose “commander-in-chief” is Julius Malema, 43.
Together, the MKP, with 15 percent, and the EFF, with a little less than 10 percent, have won almost a quarter of votes cast.
If they form a coalition, they could replace the DA as the official opposition.
The MKP and EFF are “natural bedfellows,” according to professor Dirk Kotze, governance expert at the University of South Africa in Pretoria.
Both are “proudly Marxist” and, like the ANC, are fervent supporters of regimes in China, Russia, Iran, and Zimbabwe.
Both accuse the ANC of “selling out” to white capitalists.
Both advocate seizing white-owned land, including farms, and “nationalizing” mines and banks.
MKP and EFF say all forms of private wealth must be “equally redistributed” among South Africa’s estimated 27 million poor people, mostly black.
Both want to cut trade ties with Western countries in favor of closer cooperation with a “Multipolar World Order” led by Beijing.
Both have made statements vilifying white citizens; Mr. Malema has twice been found guilty of racist hate speech against white people.
Should the ANC choose to partner with one, or both, of these extremist parties to form a coalition government, financial experts say it’ll trigger taxpayer and investor flight and herald the collapse of South Africa’s economy, which is built on gold, platinum, an advanced banking system, and agriculture.
“There’s a faction inside the ANC that remains pro-Zuma and actually admires Malema and agrees with EFF and MKP policies,” Melanie Verwoerd, an independent political analyst and former ANC member of parliament, said.
“Then there’s a more moderate part of the ANC, under [current President] Cyril Ramaphosa, that realize the terrible implications of signing up with either MKP or EFF,” she told The Epoch Times. “This part will prefer to go into coalition with the DA, but they probably don’t have the upper hand at the moment because the ANC under Ramaphosa has performed so poorly in the election.”
Mr. Steenhuisen told The Epoch Times the DA “remains willing to listen to the reasonable people still left” in the ANC.
“We’ll do what’s best for all South Africans,” he said. “We must keep the country out of the hands of the extremists. We must believe them when they tell us exactly what they’ll do with power. They’ll sow racial hatred. They’ll steal private property. They’ll launch a pogrom against white people and legal and illegal African migrants. They’ll sell the country to the Chinese and Russians. They’ll sink more millions into poverty by antagonizing Western investors and trade partners. They’ll make the ANC’s corruption look like small change.”
ANC’s implosion
Mr. Kotze told The Epoch Times the ANC has been a “victim of its own folly and blindness.”
“It’s still a political force in South Africa, but no longer a force to be reckoned with,” he said. “This election has obliterated it.”
Mr. Kotze added that voters had “lambasted” the ANC for 20 years of “consistent failures” on almost all fronts, including governance, the economy, and law enforcement.
“Things started well under Mandela, and things were quite good for a while under [President Thabo] Mbeki,“ he said. ”But when Mbeki started losing control of the ANC around the mid-2000s, to people who just wanted to steal and had no idea how to govern, that’s when South Africa’s downward trajectory began.”
In the months leading up to the May 29 vote, political think-tanks, analysts, and experts branded it the most significant in 30 years.
The ANC was badly wounded, they said, broken by a criminal class within its ranks that had stolen billions of rands, its corruption and mismanagement bankrupting state-owned enterprises to such a degree that ports and railways no longer work, electricity outages plunging South Africa into darkness and economic paralysis on a daily basis.
“Entire towns have been wiped off the face of the earth by the maladministration of ANC municipalities,” Prince Mashele, of South Africa’s Centre for Politics and Research, said.
Failure to curb violent crime, including a murder rate that now stands at 84 per day, also dealt it a “death blow,” he said.
Mr. Kotze said the ANC’s black economic empowerment and “cadre deployment” policies have made people close to the ruling party extremely rich but failed to pull millions out of extreme poverty, reflected in the world’s highest “real” unemployment rate, 41 percent.
Going into the election, though, Mr. Ramaphosa would only acknowledge that his party had made “a few mistakes,” never explaining exactly what those mistakes were, and never apologizing.
“That was a huge miscalculation on his part,” Mr. Mashele said.
As the election approached, the ANC remained confident, in public at least, that voters would elect it back into government by a “large majority,” in Mr. Ramaphosa’s words.
“South Africans know we are the only ones who can improve their lives,” the president said at a rally in Soweto.
Mr. Kotze said the ANC’s “arrogance harmed it immensely” in the election.
Even when the scale of the destruction suffered by the party became clear on May 31, senior ANC official Gwede Mantashe, one of Mr. Ramaphosa’s closest aides, told journalists: “Leave predictions and polls aside. Votes are still flowing in. I’m optimistic we’ll easily reach more than 50 percent.”
Amid the melee of the results hub of South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission near Johannesburg, analyst Wayne Sussman told The Epoch Times: “When counting began at pace on Thursday, I confidently projected the ANC would end on 45 percent. To have the ANC now at around 40 percent, with almost all results declared, tells you the tale of the damage suffered by Africa’s oldest former liberation movement. This is a party that got 70 percent of the national vote in 2004! Its implosion has been amazing. A historic new era of coalition governance has begun, and it’s probably going to be extremely volatile and chaotic.”
That volatility and chaos has already begun: News that the ANC will have to form a coalition government, and the uncertainty this will bring, has caused prices of shares in major South African companies and the value of the rand to plummet.
A week ago, the rand was trading at 18 to the United States dollar; now it’s at almost 19.
END
MEXICO
a big lefty
Mexico Elects Leftist Claudia Sheinbaum As First Female President In Landslide
BY TYLER DURDEN
MONDAY, JUN 03, 2024 – 10:40 AM
Mexico has a new president, marking two historical firsts as Claudia Sheinbaum’s Sunday election by a landslide will make her the first woman to enter the country’s highest office, as well as the first Jewish person.
Sheinbaum’s ruling Morena party is also on track to hold majorities in both chambers of Congress, a possible two-thirds supermajority where reform measures can be passed with no opposition. Thus President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s left-wing party will continue its mandate, and Sheinbaum is his handpicked successor.
The 61-year-old is former mayor of Mexico City and a climate scientist by training. Her chief opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez, also a woman, has called Sheinbaum to concede in addition to Jorge Álvarez Máynez of the small Citizen’s Movement party.
The National Electoral Institute announced that she won around 58-60 percent of votes, according to AFP, which is over 30 percentage points ahead of main opposition rival Galvez. One international outlet has observed of the big numbers she put up:
But this is absolutely a landslide victory, much larger than anyone had expected in fact. And it could be in fact the largest percentage of votes that any candidate has had in recent history in Mexico, including Lopez Obrador himself, an extremely popular president.
But it appears Claudia Sheinbaum has even beaten him.
“I will become the first woman president of Mexico,” Sheinbaum declared from Mexico city, after landslide election projections were released.
“I don’t make it alone. We’ve all made it, with our heroines who gave us our homeland, with our mothers, our daughters and our granddaughters,” she added. “We have demonstrated that Mexico is a democratic country with peaceful elections.”
Her six-year term begins on Oct.1. She has vowed continuity with her predecessor López Obrador:
“We have made possible the continuity and progress of the fourth transformation. I commit to you that I will not let you down. There is history, there is homeland, there is people, and there is commitment,” she said.
Below is a list of national issues she’s up against going into office, compiled by The Associated Press:
ONGOING VIOLENCE: López Obrador claims to have reduced historically high homicide levels by 20% since he took office in December 2018. But that’s largely a claim based on a questionable reading of statistics. The real homicide rate appears to have declined by only about 4 or 5% in six years by some measures.
MORE COMPLEX CONFLICT: Under López Obrador cartels have expanded control in much of the country and raked in money — not just from drugs but from extorting legal industries and migrant smuggling. They’ve also fought with more sophisticated tools like bomb-dropping drones and improvised explosive devices.
“AMLO’S” SHADOW: While Mexico’s next president will likely make history as being the country’s first woman leader, they will likely struggle to step out of the shadow of López Obrador’s larger-than-life image.
THE ECONOMY: López Obrador brags about Mexico’s strong exchange rate against the U.S. dollar; but the strong peso hurts Mexican exporters, and high domestic interest rates – whcih underpin the currency – tend to choke off economic growth.
PEMEX: Mexico’s state-owned oil company continues to totter under a mountain of debt, while López Obrador’s pet project _ a new oil refinery – has yet to function, and many of his other infrastructure projects are unfinished, over budget and unlikely to ever turn a profit.
DEBT: López Obrador also leaves his successor with a staggering budget deficit equivalent to 5.9% of GDP, as well as ongoing costs to fund his building and benefit programs, which will limit their room for manuever.
WATER AND ENERGY SHORTAGE: López Obrador’s favorite state-owned company, the Federal Electricity Commission, has proved both highly polluting and unreliable, especially in the face of drought and an extended heatwave. The whole country faces looming water and energy shortages.
Globally, various left-wing movements are excited about her credentials as a climate scientists. For example Britain’s Jeremy Corbyn has said of her win, “This is a victory for the people of Mexico, for social justice and for the future of our planet.”
The Peso is tumbling Monday morning…
Sheinbaum told a crowd on Sunday: “We imagine a plural, diverse, and democratic Mexico. Our duty is and will always be to look after each and every Mexican, without distinction.”
YOUR EARLY CURRENCY/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN CLOSING MARKETS AND EUROPEAN BOURSE OPENING AND CLOSING/ INTEREST RATE SETTINGS MONDAY MORNING 6;30AM//OPENING AND CLOSING
EURO VS USA DOLLAR: 1.0844 UP .0004
USA/ YEN 156.69 DOWN .525 NOW TARGETS INTEREST RATE AT 1.00% AS IT WILL BUY UNLIMITED BONDS TO GETS TO THAT LEVEL…//YEN STILL FALLS//
GBP/USA 1.2729 DOWN .0008
USA/CAN DOLLAR: 1.3647 UP .0027 (CDN DOLLAR DOWN 27 BASIS PTS)
Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE CLOSED DOWN 8.82 PTS OR 0.27%
Hang Seng CLOSED UP 323.45 PTS OR 1.79%
AUSTRALIA CLOSED UP .67 %
// EUROPEAN BOURSE: ALL GREEN
Trading from Europe and ASIA
I) EUROPEAN BOURSES: ALL GREEN
2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang SENG CLOSED UP 323.43 OR 1.79%
/SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 8.82 PTS OR 0.29%
AUSTRALIA BOURSE CLOSED UP 0.67%
(Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED UP 435.13 PTS OR 1.13%
INDIA’S SENSEX IN THE GREEN
Gold very early morning trading: 2331.30
silver:$30.40
USA dollar index early MONDAY morning: 104.56 DOWN 7 BASIS POINTS FROM FRIDAY’s CLOSE.
The USA/Yuan, CNY ON SHORE CLOSED DOWN AT 7.2427 (ON SHORE)
THE USA/YUAN OFFSHORE: (YUAN CLOSED (UP)…. (7.2562)
TURKISH LIRA: 32.21 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LEVEL/DEATH WATCH/HYPERINFLATION TO BEGIN.//ON DEATH WATCH
the 10 yr Japanese bond yield at +1.049…
Your closing 10 yr US bond yield DOWN 11 in basis points from FRIDAY at 4.411% //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%)
USA 30 yr bond yield 4.527 DOWN 9 in basis points /12.00 PM
USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.823 DOWN 7 BASIS PTS.
GOLD AT 11;30 AM 2343,60
SILVER AT 11;30: 30.43
Your 12:00 AM bourses for Europe and the Dow along with the USA dollar index closing and interest rates: MONDAY CLOSING TIME 12:00 PM//
London: CLOSED DOWN 12.63 PTS OR 0.15%
German Dax : CLOSED UP 110.22 PTS OR 0.60%
Paris CAC CLOSED UP 5.15 PTS OR 0.06 %
Spain IBEX CLOSED UP 75.20 OR 0.66%
Italian MIB: CLOSED UP 177.65 PTS OR 0.51%
PTS
WTI Oil price 74.90 12EST/
Brent Oil: 78.64 12:00 EST
USA /RUSSIAN ROUBLE /// AT: 89.21 ROUBLE UP 0 AND 88/100
GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD; +2.5774 DOWN 8 BASIS PTS.
UK 10 YR YIELD: 4.2760 DOWN 14 BASIS POINTS
CLOSING NUMBERS: 4 PM
Euro vs USA 1.0897 UP 0.0057 OR 57 BASIS POINTS
British Pound: 1.2797 UP 0.0061 OR 61 basis pts
BRITISH 10 YR GILT BOND YIELD: 4.2512 DOWN 12 BASIS PTS//
JAPAN 10 YR YIELD: 1.049%
USA dollar vs Japanese Yen: 156.26 DOWN .962/ YEN UP 96 BASIS PTS//
USA dollar vs Canadian dollar: 1.3641 UP 00021 //CDN dollar DOWN 21 BASIS PTS
West Texas intermediate oil: 74.06
Brent OIL: 78.16
USA 10 yr bond yield DOWN 11 BASIS pts to 4.4056
USA 30 yr bond yield DOWN 10 BASIS PTS to 4.581%
USA 2 YR BOND: DOWN 7 PTS AT 4.820
USA dollar index: 104.08 DOWN 55 BASIS POINTS
USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 32.20 GETTING QUITE CLOSE TO BLOWING UP/
USA DOLLAR VS RUSSIA//// ROUBLE: 89.08 UP 1 AND 01//100 roubles
GOLD 2,345.00 3:30 PM
SILVER: 30.51 3;30 PM
DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: UP 601.81 PTS OR 1.58 %
NASDAQ DOWN 2.01 PTS OR 0.011 %
VOLATILITY INDEX: 13.61 DOWN 0.86 PTS OR 5.81%
GLD: $215,30 DOWN 1.27 OR 0.59%
SLV/ $27.76 DOWN .66 OR 2.32%
end
USA AFFAIRS
TODAY’S TRADING IN GRAPH FORMStocks Slide, Bonds Bid As Crude Crumbles
BY TYLER DURDEN
MONDAY, JUN 03, 2024 – 04:00 PM
After a promising start to the overnight session, which saw both Asia and Europe perk up to start the new month alongside a furious surge in GameStop on the latest meme stonk shenanigans by Roaring Kitty, the mood deteriorated rapidly, and after a very ugly, and quite stagflationary Mfg ISM print, which printed below the lowest estimate (and just as ugly Construction Spending print to boot), the hard landing trade re-emerged, and “bad news was once again bad news” as both yields.
“Bad news may no longer be good news,” said Jose Torres at Interactive Brokers, who was quoted by Bloomberg.
Torres continued, “In recent months, investors have cheered weaker-than-estimated data based on expectations that it could accelerate the start of the Fed’s policy loosening. Investors are now reacting to soft data with fear.”
Yields across the Treasury curve continued their decline from late last week into the new week.
… and equities drifted lower for a 3rd straight day (excluding that glorious last-minute month-end rebel meetup last Friday)…
… as something odd is going on: as The Market Ear flagged earlier, lately the Nasdaq has moved in the opposite direction of the US 10 year, which is unexpected since tech loves falling rates, prompting the traders to conclude that “something is changing”…
More from The Market Ear.
SM Manufacturing Survey Signals Further Stagflation: Growth Slows, Prices Rise
Maybe stagflation fears are becoming concerning for Wall Street…
After all, the US economic surprise is back at summer 2022 lows.
S&P500 has bad breadth.
Is Dow Jones leading tech into another selloff?
In any case, retail MoMo also weighed on sentiment as the opening meetup in the meme universe quickly reversed, and retail favorite stocks slumped…
More broadly, Reddit traders should’ve just rolled their losses into Mag7 stocks after the meme bubble imploded in 2022.
… Momentum continued to take on water, sliding -1% which now makes -3% in 3 sessions (although, as Goldman notes, this trade has failed to meaningfully unwind over the last 3 months and debates around AI sustainability coupled with Software weakness, alongside slower growth and lighter inflation data, all will be key elements for this factor), with the most shorted names continued the recent rebound after the late May rout.
Finally, cyclical stocks were under big pressure following the dismal ISM print, and the GS cyclicals vs. defensives pair trade had their 2nd worst session of the year, as the basket slide to the lowest level since February.
That said, activity was rather subdued, with market volumes down -9% vs the 10dma, even though Goldman’s trading desk reports that overall activity levels were up +24% vs. the trailing 2 weeks.
Some more details from the Goldman desk:
Floor tilts -1.5% better for sale, but HFs are net sellers and LOs are net to buy
HFs tilt -4.5% for sale, that ranks 75th %-ile over the last 1yr. Supply heaviest in Tech, HCare & Staples with modest demand for Comm Svcs, Fins, Mats & Disc.
LOs are +7.5% to buy and moving in the opposite direction of HFs – buying Tech, HCare & Staples vs selling Industrials, Utes, Mats & Energy.
This reaffirms what we noted over the weekend when we pointed out that according to Goldman’s Prime Brokerage, hedge funds have turned very bearish lately and last week saw the biggest shorting of tech stocks in the past 11 weeks, led by software names.
While stocks meandered, for crude, it was an unequivocal one-way street: the commodity crumbled as soon as traders walked in this morning, and then crashed after the disappointing ISM and Construction spending print, as oil remains the only asset that is pricing in a recession while every other asset classes is pricing in a soft landing.
Meanwhile, the narrative surrounding the latest OPEC+ decision confirms that the market remains in sell-everything mode, as summarized below:
OPEC cuts output: “OPEC knows the economy is a disaster, trying to limit supply, oil prices will crash” OPEC plans on gradually raising output: “OPEC cohesions is collapsing, OPEC no longer able to limit supply, prices will crash”
·
85.1K Views
Yet despite the early rug pulls, it was a rather lackluster day, and with hedge funds and LOs pulling back, keeping the party going was all thanks to stock buyabcks. Speaking of, Goldman writes that it saw another active week on the buyback desk with volumes finishing 2.4x vs 2023 YTD ADTV and 1.3x vs 2022 YTD ADTV skewed toward Tech, Financials, and Consumer Discretionary. More importantly, the bank warns that while buybacks will dominate to the tune of about $5BN per day for the next two weeks, in mid-June we will enter the next blackout period, which if past is prologue, signals the next market swoon is imminent.
But not yet: as the bank concludes, “In terms of our desk flows, we continue to see an increased number of discretionary buyback orders on the desk as the majority of companies remain in an open period.”
In another impressive chart (in the real estate world), Goldman’s Chris Hussey says, “95% of mortgage borrowers carry interest rates below current market rates, and almost 80% have rates 2pp below market rates, strongly disincentivizing them from moving since when they do, they will need to pay down the low-rate mortgage and take on a new, much higher-rate mortgage.”
With the earnings season mostly over, traders will shift their attention to whether inflation is heating up again or continuing to decelerate.
Chris Larkin at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley said, “This week’s jobs report represents the next big test.”
The jobs report comes ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve meeting, with the swaps market showing no signs of interest rate cuts anytime soon. There are 1.65 cuts priced in by the end of the year, with the first possible in November.
The Market Ear is correct. Something beneath the surface of the market is shifting.
“Cost pressures continued to build, however, with inflation on that front the strongest in just over a year…”
MON JUN 3, AT 10:05 AM
III USA ECONOMIC COMMENTARIES
USA/BANKING
DEADLY!
$517,000,000,000 in Unrealized Losses Hit US Banking System, FDIC Says 63 Lenders on Brink of Insolvency – The Daily Hodl
$517,000,000,000 in Unrealized Losses Hit US Banking System, FDIC Says 63 Lenders on Brink of Insolvency
By Henry Kanapi
Unrealized losses in the US banking system are once again on the rise, according to new numbers from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
In its Quarterly Banking Profile report, the FDIC says banks are now saddled with more than half a trillion dollars in paper losses on their balance sheets, due largely to exposure to the residential real estate market.
Unrealized losses represent the difference between the price banks paid for securities and the current market value of those assets.
Although banks can hold securities until they mature without marking them to market on their balance sheets, unrealized losses can become an extreme liability when banks need liquidity.
“Unrealized losses on available-for-sale and held-to-maturity securities increased by $39 billion to $517 billion in the first quarter. Higher unrealized losses on residential mortgage-backed securities, resulting from higher mortgage rates in the first quarter, drove the overall increase. This is the ninth straight quarter of unusually high unrealized losses since the Federal Reserve began to raise interest rates in first quarter 2022.”
The FDIC also says that the number of lenders on its Problem Bank List rose last quarter. According to the agency, these banks are on the brink of insolvency due to financial, operational, or managerial weakness or a combination of such issues.
“The number of banks on the Problem Bank List, those with a CAMELS composite rating of ‘4’ or ‘5’ increased from 52 in fourth quarter 2023 to 63 in first quarter 2024. The number of problem banks represented 1.4% of total banks, which was within the normal range for non-crisis periods of 1% to 2% of all banks. Total assets held by problem banks increased $15.8 billion to $82.1 billion during the quarter.”
While the FDIC says that the health of the US banking system is at no imminent risk, it warns that persistent inflation, volatile market rates and geopolitical concerns continue to put pressure on the industry.
“These issues could cause credit quality, earnings, and liquidity challenges for the industry. In addition, deterioration in certain loan portfolios, particularly office properties and credit card loans, continues to warrant monitoring. These issues, together with funding and margin pressures, will remain matters of ongoing supervisory attention by the FDIC.” Don’t Miss a Beat –
CALIFORNIA
Newsom is trying to stop his use of increasing taxation on Californian
(Jonathan Turley)
“Democracy Is On The Ballot”: California Democrats Seek To Prevent Voters From Approving New Taxes
That mantra of President Joe Biden and other Democrats has suggested that “this may be our last election” if the Republicans win in 2024. A few of us have noted that the Democrats seem more keen on claiming the mantle of the defenders of democracy than actually practicing it. Democrats have sought to disqualify Donald Trump and dozens of Republicans from ballots; block third party candidates, censor and blacklist of those with opposing views; and weaponize the legal system against their opponents.
Most recently, in California, democracy is truly on the ballot and the Democrats are on the wrong side.
California has always prided itself on the ability of citizens to vote on changes in the law directly through referenda and ballot measures. That is precisely what citizens are attempting to do with a measure that would require voter approval of any tax increase, including a two-thirds vote for some local taxes. It is called the Taxpayer Protection Act and it is a duly qualified statewide ballot measure slated for the November 2024 ballot.
The state Democrats are apoplectic over the prospect of citizen control over revenue and taxes. What was a quaint element of democratic empowerment is now challenging a core vehicle of Democratic power. So Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic leaders have taken the issue to the state Supreme Court to demand that citizens be denied the right to decide the issue.
In oral arguments, the attorney supporting the challenge explained to the justices that citizens are simply not equipped to deal with the complexities of taxation and should not be allowed to render such a decision.
In a prior decision, Associate Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar wrote that:
“Whether the context involves taxation or not, all of these cases underscore how courts preserve and liberally construe the public’s statewide and local initiative power. Indeed, we resolve doubts about the scope of the initiative power in its favor whenever possible and we narrowly construe provisions that would burden or limit the exercise of that power.”
Half of the Court seemed to be inclined to deny the public the right to decide the question.
The Court, however, may wait until after the election to render a decision on the limits of democracy in California.
END
Citizens are just tapped out
(zerohedge)
A “Restaurant Apocalypse” Is Starting To Sweep Across America, And That Is Really Bad News For The U.S. Economy
You can get a really good idea how the U.S. economy is doing by watching restaurants in your area. When the economy is booming, restaurant parking lots are full and chains are feverishly establishing new locations. But when the economy is struggling, restaurants get a lot less traffic and poor performing locations get shut down. Sadly, in 2024 it appears that a “restaurant apocalypse” has started to sweep across America. Most people have very little discretionary income to spend as a result of our cost of living crisis, and that is particularly true for our young adults. Americans under the age of 40 love to eat out, but these days most of them are experiencing financial stress, and this is having an enormous impact on the restaurant industry.
In 2023, visits to sit-down restaurants dropped by about five percent compared to 2022…
Americans are eating out less as inflation weakens the dollars in their pocket, which is leading to some harsh consequences for restaurants across the country.
Visits to sit-down restaurants were down nearly five percent in 2023 from the year prior, according to location analytics firm Placer.ai.
So this is a trend that has stretched on for over a year.
People just aren’t eating out as much as they once did.
As a result, we are seeing a wave of closures all over the country. Even in the Big Apple, large numbers of restaurants are being shut down…
Even big metropolitan areas in the US known for their great dining spots are struggling to maintain an environment where it’s profitable to run a restaurant.
Eater NY reported that over 40 bars and restaurants closed in New York City from December 2023 to January 2024, with some of the owners saying business simply never picked up after the COVID lockdowns in 2020.
When times get tough, difficult decisions need to be made.
After closing 46 restaurants last year, Applebee’s has decided to close another 35 locations this year…
Applebee’s is to close another 35 further locations this year, after shutting 46 in 2023.
The restaurant chain has shut at least three locations so far this year and has plans to close even more, president Tony Moralejo said in an earnings call on Wednesday.
Closing restaurants was ‘an incredibly difficult decision’ and a ‘last resort’ for the company, Moralejo said.
And I am very saddened by what has happened to Boston Market.
At one time they had almost 1,000 locations all over the United States, but now the entire chain is about to go belly up…
In the case of Boston Market, a chain that once had nearly 1,000 locations nationwide, the company’s death has been slow, but the pace of its demise has picked up over the past few months.
Now, with its store count continuing to dip, the chain seems to have reached the end even if it won’t confirm that given that there no longer appears to be anyone around to make that decision.
Boston Market owner Jignesh “Jay” Pandya was recently denied Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time and has been barred from filing again for six months. That leaves his company, which faces massive financial obligations, unable to gain court protection from its creditors.
Our ongoing inflation crisis is the primary reason why this is happening.
Consumers simply have a lot less discretionary income now.
Jessica Dunker, the president and CEO of the Iowa Restaurant Association, said the reason restaurants are shuttering is because the cost of goods is up 30 percent and they are having to shell out higher wages to keep staff on.
Unfortunately, things aren’t going to get any better any time soon.
For example, the cost of orange juice is expected to go up dramatically because of a very bad harvest in Brazil…
Breakfast lovers are in for another jolt as orange juice prices surge to near-record levels. A new report released on Friday indicates that Brazil, the leading global exporter of OJ, is facing its worst harvest in over three decades. This alarming development compounds existing issues in Florida’s citrus groves, which have been plagued by disease and are experiencing collapsing production levels to the lowest in decades.
Fundecitrus wrote in a note that Brazil will produce 232.4 million boxes—each weighing about 90 pounds—for the growing season this year. That’s a 24% collapse from a year earlier and the lowest production levels in 36 years.
We have reached a point where the vast majority of Americans just can’t afford to eat out on a regular basis.
Needless to say, that is really bad news for fast food chains like McDonald’s.
At one time, serving middle class families was their core business.
But now most middle class families just can’t afford to eat at McDonald’s very often.
In a desperate attempt to lure them back, McDonald’s will soon introduce a five dollar meal deal…
McDonald’s is looking to launch a $5 meal in the US in a move to bring back price-sensitive customers.
The meal includes four items, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg and Restaurant Business. Customers would choose between two of the chain’s signature burgers — a McChicken or a McDouble — and get four-piece McNuggets, fries, and a drink. The $5 promotion would last for a month, Bloomberg reported.
So they are going to bring back affordable food for one month.
That’s just great.
Unless they make the five dollar meal deal permanent, I don’t expect that it will make much of a difference.
Consumer sentiment plunged to the lowest level in six months as price increases reaccelerated, according to the latest University of Michigan survey of consumers, released Friday.
Additionally, consumers are bracing for even higher price increases in the year ahead compared to readings from prior months, the survey found.
The gauge, which is closely tracked by the Biden administration, plunged 13% from April’s 77.2% reading, to 67.4%. That’s the biggest one-month drop since mid-2021. Economists polled by FactSet were expecting consumer expectations to fall to just 76.9%.
And they have good reason to be pessimistic, because even though our politicians in Washington are engaging in an unprecedented spending spree in a desperate attempt to keep the economy propped up, the truth is that the wheels are starting to come off and tremendous chaos is ahead.
What happens to the Biden economy? Dowd says, “The economy is going to take a nosedive sometime in the next 12 months. The real economy is not doing well. . . . The only thing that has been holding up the GDP growth is government spending. We are spending $1 trillion every 100 days. That’s adding $1 trillion to the deficit. The only job creation is government jobs, and they don’t actually add to the economy. . . . Reports are coming out now that the low-income consumer is getting absolutely hammered. McDonald’s talked about it in their most recent earnings call. . . . So, low-income and the middle-class are getting squeezed while the rich continue to plug along.”
Vasos said self checkout will remain in a limited number of higher volume stores. He added that the shift away from self checkout will drive increased customer engagement and should position the company to begin reducing “shrink”, aka theft, in the second half of 2024 with a material impact expected in 2025.
“Shrink continues to be the most significant headwind in our business,” Vasos said, addressing soaring retail theft.
In addition to cutting self-checkouts, Vasos said the company’s supply chain teams are also addressing shrink on other fronts that include ensuring deliveries are on time and made in full. He said Dollar General is also focusing on delivering a more consistent front end staffing presence and removing high-shrink SKUs.
A focus on reducing store manager turnover is also part of Dollar General’s shrink reduction initiatives. Vasos said the company is seeing year over year reductions in turnover in all levels within its retail operations, including regional director, district manager, store managers, assistant store managers and sales associates.
Despite the shrink-related concerns,Dollar General’s Q1 performance beat analyst expectations, driven by better than expected sales, traffic and upside to the operating margin, analysts with Telsey Advisory Group led by Joe Feldman said. The consumables comp was positively offset by negative comps in home, seasonal and apparel, Feldman said.
Vasos also said during an earnings call that softness in discretionary categories reflects the continued spending pressure consumers are currently experiencing. Consumers “continue to be very value oriented in their shopping behavior, which we see manifested in accelerated share growth in private brands sales as well as increased engagement with items at or below the $1 price point,” Vasos said. “Importantly, we continue to do well with our core customers while growing with middle and higher income trading customers from adjacent cohorts.”
Dollar General’s first quarter beat is “evidence that more defensively positioned consumable heavy models are positioned to navigate a softer, low-income backdrop,” Wells Fargo analysts led by Edward Kelly said in a note. Wells Fargo’s analysts said Dollar General’s “challenged performance” last year offers room for improvement. The retailer’s Q1 performance “suggests the company is on track for some improvement.”
However, “while we are disappointed to hear management admit in the release to experiencing shrink and mix headwinds greater than initially expected coming into the year, the margin didn’t miss,” Wells Fargo said.
Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, echoed that sentiment, describing 2023 as a “torrid” year for the retailer that saw Dollar General stumble across several areas as comparable sales slipped into negative territory. But the first quarter appears to be starting on a more positive note.
“Dollar General remains a nicely profitable company and is generating a reasonable return,” Saunders said. “However, we believe profit growth will remain subdued for the balance of this year as investments continue. In our view, Dollar General has made the right determination that sales and customer share must be protected in the short term, even if that comes at the expense of some margin.”
For Q2, the company’s outlook is for same-store sales growth in the low 2% range. Dollar General reiterated its full-year guidance with net sales growth ranging from 6% to 6.7% and same-store sales growth ranging from 2% to 2.7%.
IIIB USA COMMENTARIES RE ISRAEL/HAMAS WAR/ and PERVASIVE ANTISEMITISM/WOKISM
END
iiiC USA COVID //VACCINE ISSUES
END
FREIGHT ISSUES/USA
END
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON
END
SWAMP NEWS
nuts!
The Deepfake Privilege? The Justice Department Makes Startling Claim To Withhold the Biden-Hur Audiotape
We have been discussing the dubious constitutional basis for President Joe Biden withholding the audio tapes of his interview with special counsel Robert Hur. I have previously written that the claim of privilege makes little sense when the transcript of the interview has already been released. It seems curious that Biden is claiming to be the president “who cannot be heard” in withholding the audio version.
It just got wackier as the Justice Department seeks to create a new type of “Deepfake privilege” that would effectively blow away all existing limits on the use of the privilege when it comes to audio or visual records of a president.
Multiple committees are investigating Biden for possible impeachment and conducting oversight on the handling of the investigation into his retention and mishandling of classified material over decades. Classified documents were found in various locations where Biden lived or worked, including his garage. The mishandling of classified material is uncontestable. Broken boxes, unprotected areas and lack of tracking are all obvious from the photos.
Biden made the situation even worse with a disastrous press conference in which he attacked Hur and misrepresented his findings.
Hur’s ultimate conclusion that Biden’s diminished cognitive abilities would undermine any prosecution left many dumbfounded. After all, the man who is too feeble to prosecute is not only running a superpower with a massive nuclear arsenal but running for reelection to add four more years in office.
From impeachment to oversight to the 25th Amendment (allowing the removal of a president for incapacities), there are ample reasons for Congress to demand information and evidence from the government on these questions. Congress is also interested in looking at repeated omissions for “inaudible” statements. Under this sweeping theory that Biden can legitimately withhold these recordings under executive privilege, any president could withhold any evidence of incapacity or criminality.
As previously explained, the claim that the audiotape but not the transcript remains privileged is hard to square with precedent or logic. However, now the Justice Department appears to be pivoting with a new claim with a late Friday filing. The filing obtained by Politicostates that the audiotape must be withheld due to the risk that it could be altered by artificial intelligence and passed off as authentic in a deepfake release: “The passage of time and advancements in audio, artificial intelligence, and ‘deep fake’ technologies only amplify concerns about malicious manipulation of audio files.”
Consider the implications of that argument for a second. It would mean that any visual or audio recording of the President could be withheld due to the danger of digital or other manipulation. It would eviscerate any existing limits on privilege assertions.
It is also absurd since you could create such fake recordings using the transcript and Biden’s voice from countless interviews through AI programs. The Justice Department acknowledges that obvious logical disconnect by noting that the release would make any fake version more credible.
“To be sure, other raw material to create a deepfake of President Biden’s voice is already available, but release of the audio recording presents unique risks: if it were public knowledge that the audio recording has been released, it becomes easier for malicious actors to pass off an altered file as the true recording,.”
The filing is logically and legally absurd. It is also dangerous.
For a president who is already carefully insulated from questions and controlled in public appearances, the argument would allow staff to completely control any public or, more importantly, congressional review of his actual speech and discourse.
In seeking to prevent “malicious actors” from altering reality, the government is claiming the right to frame reality as an inherent constitutional prerogative.
The argument ignores that, if an audiotape is released, it is harder to pass off a fake as genuine. As it stands, actors can claim tapes as leaked or derived from other sources. In the absence of an official tape, such arguments can be difficult to refute.
The fact that this spurious argument is being made by Merrick Garland’s Justice Department is another disappointing sign that he has abandoned his pledge to remain apolitical in office. This litigation is clearly designed for one overriding purpose: to delay any release until after the election when it cannot harm the President.
It is the legal version of a deepfake — misrepresenting the law to mislead citizens into believing that they are better off with less information on the credibility and competence of their president.
END
Trump Campaign Raises Staggering $200 Million Since Thursday Conviction
SUNDAY, JUN 02, 2024 – 07:15 PM
If Democrats needed further confirmation that prosecuting Donald Trump on an obscure misdemeanor elevated to a felony just for him… (while the same DA reduced 60% of felonies to misdemeanors last year), the Trump campaign has raised over $200 million since Thursday’s verdict in the former president’s New York ‘hush money’ trial.
Of that, $70 million was from small donors, and 30% of the total were first-time donors to a political campaign, Eric Trump told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Sunday.
“I mean, these are Americans who are p*ssed off, said the younger Trump. “They’re coming out of the woodwork and they want to support a guy that they just believe is getting bamboozled by a system.
“We saw it with Impeachment one, we saw it with Impeachment two, we see it where they weaponize every liberal DA and AG across the country with one intent: To take him down, to slander him, to ruin his reputation, to try and divide his family, to try and bankrupt him, to throw him in jail, to do whatever the hell they can do,” he added.
“America sees through it. They know exactly what’s going on.”
The $200 million was raised in a matter of just three days, which far surpasses any amount raised by President Biden’s campaign in a similar time frame. Within 24 hours of President Trump’s guilty verdict, the Trump campaign received $53 million in donations. The Biden campaign raised a total of $51 million for all of April.
According to a Friday statement by Trump campaign officials Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, “Biden and his Democrat allies have turned our legal system into a political tool, and Americans from every corner of the country have had enough,” adding “This momentum is just getting started and together, as President Trump stated perfectly, Americans will render the real verdict on November 5.”
end
fun begins
(zero hedge)
Jury Selection Begins In Hunter Biden Gun Trial
MONDAY, JUN 03, 2024 – 09:40 AM
Of all the things Hunter Biden has been accused of, and recorded himself doing, he’ll be in a Delaware courthouse this week on three federal felony gun charges.
Jury selection begins in the case brought against him by special counsel David Weiss, who has charged the First Son with making a false statement during the purchase of a firearm, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a licensed firearm dealer, and one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
According to the indictment, Hunter bought a Colt Cobra revolver Oct. 12, 2018 – during which he “knowingly made a false and fictitious written statement, intended and likely to deceive that dealer with respect to a fact material to the lawfulness of the sale of the firearm … certifying he was not an unlawful user of, and addicted to, any stimulant, narcotic drug, and any other controlled substance, when in fact, as he knew, that statement was false and fictitious.”
Specifically, Hunter answered ‘no’ when asked if he was “an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance.”
Eleven days after Hunter bought the gun, his brother’s widow, Hallie Biden, threw it in a dumpster behind a market near a school. An elderly man discovered the items and police later obtained them from him. Authorities placed the items into “an evidence vault” and no charges were brought.
Searches of Mr. Biden’s account, undertaken as federal agents investigated him for tax crimes, uncovered evidence that led to the firearm charges. That included pictures showing drugs and texts relating to how Mr. Biden was using drugs. He later wrote in his memoir that he was addicted to drugs during the period he bought and owned the revolver.
Maximum prison time on all charges could be up to 25 years (we’ll wait for you to catch your breath), and each count carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years of unsupervised release.
The trial begins almost a year after Judge Maryellen Noreika blew up a sweetheart plea deal, which would have conveyed broad immunity to Hunter on a wide swath of unrelated potential criminal charges. The deal sought to cap a five-year investigation into Hunter’s tax affairs and business dealings.
After the plea deal unraveled, David Weiss requested and was granted “special counsel” status by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
During the trial, prosecutors will not be allowed to let the jury know about Hunter’s 2014 discharge from the Navy after testing positive for cocaine, nor his salacious child support case for his out-of-wedlock daughter in Arkansas. Judge Noreika also said that Weiss only has to show that Hunter was addicted to drugs, not that he was on them the day he purchased the gun.
The prosecution does not plan to bring out the entire infamous laptop containing details of Hunter Biden’s life but will introduce certain portions. Noreika ruled that Hunter Biden’s team will be able to question aspects of the laptop in front of the jury. The laptop, which leaked in 2020 just before the presidential election, was decried as Russian disinformation by 51 former intelligence officials.
Noreika also ruled that the special counsel cannot mention Hunter Biden’s pending federal tax trial in California during the trial in Delaware, which is also part of Weiss’s investigation and scheduled for a September trial. –Fox News
In January, federal prosecutors said that Hunter can’t hide behind the 2nd Amendment that Democrats seek to destroy.
“Anglo-American law has long recognized that the government may disarm those who, by their conduct or characteristics, present an increased risk to public safety if they possess firearms,” prosecutors said in a Jan. 16 filing. That means a U.S. law against gun ownership by people who use or are addicted to drugs can still stand under the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision that struck down restrictions in New York, they added.
Hunter’s trial is expected to last around two weeks. He separately faces nine tax-related federal charges in a case scheduled to go to trial in September in Los Angeles.
end
Top Judge Blocks Complaints Against Trump Judge Aileen Cannon
The chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has blocked complaints against the judge overseeing one of former President Donald Trump’s criminal cases.
Chief Judge William Pryor Jr., in a newly released order dated May 22, instructed the circuit court’s clerk to stop accepting new complaints against U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon after the clerk was flooded with complaints.
“Since May 16, 2024, the clerk of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has received over 1,000 judicial complaints against Judge Cannon that raise allegations that are substantially similar to the allegations raised in previous complaints,” Judge Pryor, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, wrote in the order. “These complaints appear to be part of an orchestrated campaign.”
Judiciary rules enable each judicial council to act when a series of “many essentially identical complaints” from different people flood into the circuit in which the council is based. The council can instruct the circuit clerk “to accept only a certain number of such complaints for filing and to refuse to accept additional complaints.”
Judge Pryor recommended to the council that it instruct the clerk to stop taking additional complaints against Judge Cannon, and the council adopted the recommendation. Judge Pryor entered the new order on behalf of the council.
Federal law lets people file complaints against federal judges over judicial misconduct, which includes treating litigants “in a demonstrably egregious and hostile manner” and “making inappropriately partisan statements.”
Some activists and others have complained about Judge Cannon’s ruling against special counsel Jack Smith, who is prosecuting President Trump. The rulings have resulted in the trial against the former president being pushed back multiple times.
After Mr. Smith’s team on May 31 asked for an immediate gag order on President Trump, for example, Judge Cannon on June 2 directed President Trump to respond and said the government could issue a reply to that response on or before June 21.
Misconduct can not include the correctness of a judge’s ruling or allegations about delays, “unless the allegation concerns an improper motive in delaying a particular decision or habitual delay in a significant number of unrelated cases,” according to judicial rules.
The order does not apply to four of the complaints lodged against Judge Cannon, according to Judge Pryor. The judge said he reviewed those complaints and dismissed them because they “lack[ed] sufficient evidence to raise an inference that misconduct has occurred.”
Many of the complaints that flooded in are aimed at the rulings or other actions of Judge Cannon in the case against President Trump, which centers on his handling of documents containing sensitive information. President Trump was charged with Espionage Act violations and obstruction in the federal case. He has pleaded not guilty.
“Although many of the complaints allege an improper motive in delaying the case, the allegations are speculative and unsupported by any evidence,” Judge Pryor said. “The complaints also do not establish that Judge Cannon was required to recuse herself from the case because she was appointed by then-President Trump.”
Judge Cannon was appointed by President Trump in 2020. Before that, she served as a federal prosecutor.
The order also does not cover an unspecified set of complaints, which “will be acted upon in due course,” according to Judge Pryor.
Judge Cannon’s orders also remain subject to review from the appeals court, he noted.
District judge orders are commonly appealed, with appeals decided by circuit courts. Appeals of circuit court decisions are taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 2022, Judge Pryor was part of an appeals court panel that overturned Judge Cannon’s order, which had stopped federal authorities from reviewing documents seized from President Trump’s resort in Florida.
The panel said Judge Cannon issued that order despite having no jurisdiction.
END
Buzz Kill: The Trump Conviction Presents A Target-Rich Environment For Appeal
Below is my column in the Hill on the most compelling grounds for an appeal in the Trump case after his conviction on 34 counts in Manhattan. There has been considerable criticism of the defense team and its strategy in the case, including some moves that may undermine appellate issues. However, after the instructions became public, I wrote a column that I thought the case was nearly un-winnable, even for those of us who previously saw a chance for a hung jury.
Clarence Darrow would likely have lost with those instructions after the errors in the case by Judge Juan Merchan. At that point, it became a legal canned hunt. So the attention will now shift to the appellate courts. While it may be tough going initially in the New York court system for the former president, this case could well ended up in the federal system and the United States Supreme Court. The thrill kill environment of last week may then dissipate as these glaring errors are presented in higher courts.
Here is the column:
The conviction of former President Donald Trump in Manhattan of 34 felonies produced citywide celebrations. This thrill-kill environment extended to the media, where former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman told MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace that it was “majestic day” and “a day to celebrate.” When I left the courthouse after watching the verdict come in, I was floored by the celebrations outside by both the public and some of the media.
The celebrants would be wise to think twice before mounting this trophy kill on the political wall. The Trump trial is a target-rich environment for an appeal, with multiple layers of reversible error, in my view.
I am less convinced by suggestions that the case could be challenged on the inability of Trump receiving a fair trial in a district that voted roughly 90 percent against him. The problem was not the jury, but the prosecutors and the judge.
Some of the most compelling problems can be divided into four groups.
The Judge
Acting Supreme Court justice Juan Merchan was handpicked for this case rather than randomly selected. This is only the latest in a litany of Trump cases where Merchan has meted out tough rulings against Trump and his organization. With any other defendant, there would likely be outrage over his selection. Merchan donated to President Biden. Even though the state bar cleared that violation based on the small size of the contribution, it later stressed that no such contributions were appropriate for a judge. We learned later that Merchan has contributed to a group to stop the GOP and Trump. Merchan’s daughter is also a Democratic organizer who has helped raise millions against Trump and the GOP and for the Democrats.
To his credit, CNN legal analyst Elie Honig has previously said that this case was legally dubious, uniquely targeted Trump and could not succeed outside of an anti-Trump district. On the judge, he recently challenged critics on the fairness of assigning a Biden donor who has earmarked donations for “resisting the Republican Party and Donald Trump’s radical right-wing legacy.” He asked “Would folks have been just fine with the judge staying on the case if he had donated a couple bucks to “Re-elect Donald Trump, MAGA forever!”? “Absolutely not.”
What is equally disturbing is the failure of Merchan to protect the rights of the defendant and what even critics admit were distinctly pro-prosecution rulings in the trial. It is not just the appearance of a conflict with Judge Merchan but a record of highly biased decisions. In watching Merchan in the courtroom, I was shocked by his rulings as at times incomprehensible and conflicted.
The Charges
A leading threshold issue will be the decision to allow Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to effectively try Trump for violations of federal law. The Justice Department declined any criminal charges against Trump under federal election law over the alleged “hush money” payments. The Federal Election Commission likewise found no basis for a civil fine. With no federal prosecution, Bragg decided to use an unprecedented criminal theory not only to zap a dead misdemeanor into life (after the expiration of the statute of limitation) but to allow him to try violations of not only federal election law but also federal taxation violations. In other words, the Justice Department would not prosecute federal violations, so Bragg effectively did it in state court.
Even when closing arguments were given, analysts on various networks admitted that they were unclear about what Bragg was alleging. The indictment claimed a violation under New York’s election law 17-152 that the falsification of business records were committed to further another crime as an unlawful means to influence the election. However, in a maddeningly circular theory, that other crime could be the falsification of business records. It could also be violations of federal election and taxation laws, which Trump was never charged with, let alone convicted of.
The Evidence
Judge Merchan allowed a torrent of immaterial and prejudicial evidence to be introduced into the trial by the prosecution. That included testimony from porn actress Stormy Daniels that went into details about having sex with Trump. She included a clear suggestion that Trump raped her. After this utterly disgraceful testimony, Merchan expressed regret but actually blamed the defense counsel, despite their prior objections to the testimony. He had previously chastised counsel for making continued objections, but now he criticized them for not continuing to make objections.
Merchan was equally conflicted in his other orders. For example, he allowed the prosecutors to introduce the plea agreement of Michael Cohen to federal election violations as well as the non-prosecution agreement of David Pecker on such violations. However, it was allowed only for the purposes of credibility and context. He issued an instruction that the jury could not consider the plea or the agreement to establish or impute the guilt of Trump.
The prosecutors then proceeded to expressly state that it was “a fact” that federal election violations occurred in this case and that Trump ordered those violations. They also solicited such statements from witnesses like Cohen. Merchan overruled the objections that the prosecutors were eviscerating his instruction. Merchan also barred the use of a legal expert, former FEC Chair Brad Smith, who was prepared to testify that such payments cannot be viewed as federal election violations and would not affect the election even if they were considered contributions, since they would not even have had to be reported until after the election.
Merchan is likely to be upheld in denying the expert, since the court retains the authority to state what the law is to the jury. The problem is that Merchan failed to do so. Worse still, he allowed the jury to hear the opposite in the repeated false claim that these payments were campaign contributions.
The Instructions
Even with all of the reversible errors, some of us held out hope that there might be a hung jury. That hope was largely smashed by Merchan in his instructions to the jury. The court largely used standard instructions in a case that was anything but standard. However, the instruction also allowed for doubt as to what the jury would ultimately find. When the verdict came in, we were still unsure what Trump was convicted of.
Merchan allowed the jury to find that the secondary offense was any of the three vaguely defined options. Even on the jury form, they did not have to specify which of the crimes were found. Under Merchan’s instruction, the jury could have split 4-4-4 on what occurred in the case. They could have seen a conspiracy to conceal a federal election violation, falsification of business records or taxation violations. We will never know. Worse yet, Trump will never know.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly emphasized that the requirement of unanimity in criminal convictions is sacrosanct in our system. While there was unanimity that the business records were falsified to hide or further a second crime, there was no express finding of what that crime may have been. In some ways, Trump may have been fortunate by Merchan’s cavalier approach. Given that the jury convicted Trump across the board, they might have found all of three secondary crimes. The verdict form never asked for such specificity.
These are just a few of the appellate issues. There are other challenges, including but not limited to due process violations on the lack of specificity in the indictment, vagueness of the underlying state law and the lack of evidentiary foundation for key defenses like “the legitimate press function.” They are the reason why many of us view this case is likely to be reversed in either the state or federal systems. None of that is likely to dampen the thrill in this kill in Manhattan.
But if Biden wins the election before this conviction is overturned, history’s judgment will be deafening.
END
The world is going absolutely nuts
(zerohedge)
“Oppression Olympics”: ‘Queers For Palestine’ Protestors Interrupt, Clash With Pride Parade In Streets Of Philadelphia
MONDAY, JUN 03, 2024 – 03:20 PM
What does it look like when the woke snake starts eating its own tail? This weekend in Philadelphia may have offered up a glimpse..
Pro-Palestine protestors clashed with a Pride Parade in the city’s “Gayborhood” area on Sunday. And to think, it’s only 3 days into “Pride Month”.
In a video shared online, Pride participants in leather and lace were stopped by pro-Palestinian LGBTQ+ members, some wearing keffiyehs, who disrupted the parade to confront fellow community members, as the Daily Mail detailed.
The protest, led by Queers4Palestine, highlighted the perceived parallels between Palestinian oppression and historical prejudice against LGBTQ+ people.
During the disrupted Philadelphia parade, they chanted “The more you try to silence us, the louder we will be!” along with “From the River to the Sea.”
NEW: LGBTQers and pro-Palestine protesters have a standoff at the Philly Pride Parade. Remarkable. Pro-Palestine protesters were seen blocking the path of the LGBTQ pride parade. “Tense moments as Palestine Protesters block Philly Pride Parade as it heads towards Gayborhood,” reported
The Daily Mail added that one protest leader, dressed in a crop top, cargo pants, and a keffiyeh, declared that Pride has become a tool of public relations, inseparable from the political and economic context.
Critics often question the support LGBTQ+ protesters show for a culture that largely opposes their lifestyle, noting that in places like Gaza, LGBTQ+ activities and relationships remain criminalized.
This has sparked debates about the rationale behind LGBTQ+ support for the Palestinian cause, especially when it seems to divide the community.
‘You should march in Gaza,’ one X user wrote in response to the protest. Conservative commentator Clay Travis added: “Pro Palestine protesters blocking the Philly pride parade from continuing is a perfect distillation of left wing politics. This is where it inevitably ends: with two left wing interest groups colliding in an oppression Olympics standoff.”
Disheartened by the protesting chaos? Don’t be. “Even though it feels like there’s nothing to look forward to, I will say this,” Zero Hedge contributor Quoth the Raven wrote last week. “There will be no crueler or more deserved irony than the day that today’s self-absorbed, traffic-blocking, soup-throwing activists realize they’re not revolutionaries — but rather the same authoritarian, censorship-wielding, group-thinking, malleable automatons they once thought they were fighting against.”
KING REPORT
The King Report June 3, 2024 Issue 7255
Independent View of the News
Fangs got hammered again on Friday as Snowflake continued to sink. Broadcom, Amazon, Netflix, Meta, and Tesla were all down more than 2% at some point. Nvidia was -2.15% near 12:10 ET.
April PCE data was in line: PCE 0.3% m/m & 2.7% y/y; PCE Core 0.2% m/m & 2.8% y/y. Personal Income grew the expected 0.3%; but Spending was +0.2%; +0.3% was expected. Real Spending fell 0.1%; +0.1% was expected.
@jasonfurman: Real disposable personal income per capita fell in April. It is up 0.5% from a year ago and below what you would have expected from CBO’s pre-pandemic forecast for personal income. https://x.com/jasonfurman/status/1796532164219334811
GDP vs GDI Why the Huge Discrepancy and Which Is the Better Measure of the Economy? Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross Domestic Income (GDI) are two measures of the same thing. But the difference is now over two percentage points, the third largest in history… Last quarter the discrepancy was 2.3 percentage points and this quarter 2.2 percentage points. Only twice in history has the discrepancy been higher… There is a strong tendency to revery to the mean… https://mishtalk.com/economics/gdp-vs-gdi-why-the-huge-discrepancy-and-which-is-the-better-measure-of-the-economy/
The Chicago PMI was an abysmal 35.4 for May; 41.6 was expected, 37.9 prior.
ESMs traded negatively and sideways from the Nikkei opening until they broke lower near 6 ET. After falling to 5231.00 at 6:53 ET, ESMs commenced a rally that accelerated on the release of the PCE data. ESMs hit a daily high of 5272.25 at 8:42 ET and then commenced a decline that took ESMs to a daily low of 5205.50 at 12:23 ET.
The media and Street ‘experts’ heralded the inline PCE data, which induced numbskulls to aggressively buy stuff. But, as we noted in Friday’s missive, the Street ‘Whisper Number’ for PCE was 0.2%. Wise guys and ‘smart money’ dumped stuff into the ‘dump money’ buying.
ESMs then rallied on May performance gaming. Initially the rally was methodical; after 15:37 ET, ESMs went vertical on brazen manipulation. ESMs surged 60.25 to a daily high of 5307.00 at 16:00 ET.
Positive aspects of previous session Bonds rallied moderately on the soft consumer spending. Brazen & illegal manipulation took ESM 60.25 higher during the final 23 minutes of NYSE trading.
Negative aspects of previous session Fangs got hammered again due to Salesforce and Nvidia. ESMs tumbled after an ill-advised rally on a tad worse than what was really expected for PCE.
Ambiguous aspects of previous session Bogus econ data, brazen market manipulation, show trials, Dem privilege – What isn’t corrupt?
First Hour/Last Hour Action [S&P 500 Index]: 1st Hour from NYSE Open: Down;Last Hour: Up
Pivot Point for S&P 500 Index [above/below indicates daily trend to traders]: 5239.26 Previous session S&P 500 Index High/Low: 5280.33 5222.10
We regularly note that while stocks and bonds usually rally on performance gaming, gold sinks. You can Google ‘gold fixing scandals/violations’ to understand why. Gold sank 17.90 on Friday.
The Truth About Gold Price Manipulation August 10th, 2022: Gregg Smith and Michael Nowak, two former gold traders for JPMorgan, are convicted of fraud… According to the U.S. Department of Justice, JPMorgan’s scheme “spanned over eight years and involved thousands of unlawful trading sequences.” June 21, 2021: James Vorley, a former precious metals trader for Deutsche Bank, is sentenced to one year in prison for “manipulative trading in precious metals futures.” September 29th, 2020: JPMorgan agrees to pay $920 million for illegal trading practices in the precious metals futures market. January 29th, 2018: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) orders Deutsche Bank to pay a $30 million civil monetary penalty for manipulating precious metals prices… The CFTC also files anti-spoofing actions against UBS Group, HSBC, and six individual traders… (How much manipulation did the CFTC miss?)https://vaulted.com/nuggets/gold-price-manipulation/
@AFP: The Israeli army said its troops have pushed into central Rafah… despite international objections over an offensive in the southern Gaza city. https://u.afp.com/5sHk
@ShelleyGldschmt: Biden says Israel’s goal of a “total victory against Hamas” is an illusion.
@_StephanieMyers: Biden says the first phase would last for six weeks and would include a full and complete ceasefire, withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas of Gaza, release a number of hostages… It would also include a surge of humanitarian aid with 600 trucks of aid into Gaza every day. – Israel and Hamas would negotiate “the necessary arrangements” to get to phase 2… – The proposal says if the negotiations take longer than six weeks, the ceasefire will still continue. Phase 2: – Exchange for the release of all remaining hostages – Israeli forces will withdraw from Gaza – As long as Hamas lives up to its commitments, a temporary ceasefire would become a “cessation of hostilities, permanently.” Phase 3: – Major reconstruction plan for Gaza – remains of hostages… returned to their families.
Reportedly, and to no one’s surprise, The Big Guy fibbed about the prosed Israel peace plan and made-up stuff, including that Hamas can remain in power. Bibi’s office quickly debunked The Big Guy.
@DrEliDavid: Biden just laid out a peace plan for Gaza, where Israel retreats, and H×mas continues to rule over Gaza indefinitely. You can’t make this up. (Obamaites are desperate to save Hamas/Iran!)
Netanyahu’s office: “The war will not end until all its goals are achieved, including the release of all our abductees and the elimination of Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities.” https://x.com/jncatron/status/1796644043125826012/photo/1
@wajacobson: Confirmed, Biden flat out lied. Said it was new Israeli proposal then Obama spilled the beans that it was Biden’s. Did it at start of Sabbath in Israel to gain int’l support for saving Hamas in quiet period. Serious enough fabrication that @IsraeliPM felt need to tweet to rebut. This has all the appearances of Team Biden trying to box Israel into something it did not propose and does not agree to – and dropping it just before the Sabbath so we can’t get a full Israeli response for 24 hrs as Biden continues to build pressure.
@BarackObama: Today, President Biden put forward a clear, realistic and just plan to establish an immediate ceasefire and end the war in Gaza…
Hamas said it has “positive views” on Biden’s proposal. What else do you need to know about it?
@gary_weiss: A key player in the boxing mechanism is (Axios’) @BarakRavid, who went on CNN to gaslight that there was no pushback from Israel. Toward the end here, Barak lies that Netanyahu confirmed that the Biden plan was Israel’s when he did the exact OPPOSITE on Twitter.
@RNCResearch: Biden, confused and slurring, says Israel defending itself against Hamas terrorists “will not bring Israel, will not bring down, bog down, will only bog down Israel.” https://x.com/RNCResearch/status/1796597619747160144
@wajacobson: 73% of Israelis Say Military Response to Hamas Was Correct or Not Strong Enough– If Israel agrees to Biden plan which WILL allow Hamas to reconstitute, govt deserves to fall, let Israeli voters decide, not the leftist media and activists. (Obama is chagrined!) https://t.co/chglcCI3vV
OPEC+ Extends Cuts but Lays Out Play to Bring Barrels Back – BBG Sunday The accord prolongs roughly 2 million barrels a day of cuts… The curbs will continue in full in the third quarter then be gradually phased out over the following 12 months… https://finance.yahoo.com/news/opec-outline-deal-extending-key-093323429.html
@DonMiami3: The European Circus Bank easing this week will be a possible tell as well. (CPI still 2.6%, haven’t hit target in 4 years) – have to see how yields react if Canada and Europe adopt the ‘let’s see what happens’. Canada’s labor market is very weak.
Today – The usual suspects will play for the Monday Rally and the upward bias of start-of-the-month buying. It will be very interesting to see if the brazen manipulators during the final 23 minutes of trading on Friday will be able to unload their holdings on patsies today.
This suggests that the first hour of NYSE trading could be volatile. But the real show will be the last hour. This is when traders will try to dump stuff into market-on-close or market-near-close buyers.
Expected economic data: May S&P Global US Mfg PMI 50.9; May ISM Mfg. 49.7, Prices Paid 60; Apr Construction Spending 0.2% m/m; May Wards Vehicle Sales 15.82m; Fed in Blackout Period (6/12)
NQMs are +42.25; ESMs are +12.50; USMs are +10/32 at 20:20 ET. Traders are extremely bullish for the reasons mentioned, and on expectations of an ECB rate cut on Thursday.
S&P Index 50-day MA: 5181; 100-day MA: 5086; 150-day MA: 4908; 200-day MA: 4774 DJIA 50-day MA: 38,862; 100-day MA: 38,675; 150-day MA: 37,694; 200-day MA: 36,784 (Green is positive slope; Red is negative slope)
S&P 500 Index (5277.51 close) – BBG trading model Trender and MACD for key time frames Monthly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 4670.23 triggers a sell signal Weekly: Trender is positive; MACD is negative – a close below 5071.73 triggers a sell signal Daily: Trender is positive; MACD is negative – a close below 5232.86 triggers a sell signal Hourly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 5246.20 triggers a sell signal
Biden Justice Department Admits Special Counsel Transcript of Biden Interviews Is Inaccurate “Wow. Judicial Watch’s FOIA lawsuit forced the Biden team to admit what everyone suspected – that the transcript is not accurate and was changed in a way to help Biden,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “There is nothing ordinary about this, and the transcript inaccuracy issues seem to help Biden’s political campaign needs. We today initiated a new FOIA request on this Biden’s Nixonian tape scandal.” https://www.judicialwatch.org/counsel-transcript-inaccurate/?source=46
GOP Rep. @RepMTG: The WH doctored the Biden transcript with Special Counsel Hur about his classified docs!!! They just convicted Trump for fake crimes. Does everyone see what is happening??!!! We control the HOUSE. We have to act. No more pathetic excuses.
@RealPatrickWebb: The Justice Department alleges that releasing the audio tapes of President Joe Biden’s interview with former special counsel Robert Hur could spawn AI deepfakes, resulting in manipulated audio, in a last-ditch attempt to circumvent FOIA lawsuit requests. (They are scared!) (If so, this would apply to all evidentiary documents, pictures, video, and audio!)
@JoeBiden on Thursday: The Supreme Court tried to block me from relieving student debt. But they didn’t stop me… @JoeBiden on Friday: “No one is above the law.” (What about illegal immigrants?)
Trump on Thursday: “This is the final battle. With you at my side, we will demolish the deep state. We will expel the war mongers from our government. We will drive out the globalists.” “We will cast out the communists, Marxists, and fascists. We will throw off the sick political class that hates our country. We will route the fake news media, and we will liberate America from these villains once and for all.”
@Rothbard1776: What’s happening to Trump was entirely predictable based on the patterns we’ve seen over the past 9 years. When I step back and look at everything in totality, one thought really stands out to me: That those in power are willing to burn the entire system to the ground for someone who merely presented the slightest inconvenience to their uni-party rule. Imagine if Trump had actually been a legitimate conservative and tried to dismantle or radically reform the CIA, FBI, DOJ, NSA, FDA, CDC, Department of Education, enact entitlement reform, supported an audit of the Federal Reserve, brought the troops home, closed some of our military bases overseas, vetoed corporate bailouts, vetoed bank bailouts, pardoned Julian Assange and Edward Snowden, or used the justice system to legally prosecute rampant government corruption on both sides of the aisle. I think we all know what would happen to such a person…
@joelpollak: The Trump verdict is actually a threat to national security because it is so divisive and so obviously unjust. In a country that relies on a volunteer military, who would sign up to defend this system? We are already having trouble recruiting because of woke ideology. Now this.
@spectatorindex: Eric Trump says ‘small dollar’ donations are at $70 million since Donald Trump’s guilty verdict, and at $200 million with large donations included.
@hpmcd1: Hillary and the DNC paid $113k in civil fines to settle an FEC investigation over their recording of payments to Perkins Coie for the Steele dossier as “legal expenses” rather than campaign expenditures.
@simonateba:The Obama campaign was fined for failing to properly report millions of dollars in campaign contributions and donations, and for accepting contributions that exceeded legal limits during the 2008 presidential run. How did it end? In 2013, the Obama campaign AGREED to pay the FEC a $375,000 fine, one of the largest fines in the agency’s history. NOTE: There was no indictment or conviction.
@JoelWBerry: Does the Left know that a huge chunk of Trump’s voters doesn’t even really like him that much and are only voting for him because the Left has become so overwhelmingly evil that these people don’t see any other option?
Emerson College polling, which Biden ahead of Trump by only 7 points in NY, historically greatly underestimated Trump’s strength.
@FoxNews: ‘HE IS SO INSULTING’: Black voters react to Biden losing grip on their support as recent polls show many are ditching the Democrats. One “Blexit” activist explains that the president’s appeals have even been racist. https://trib.al/7iYUxZx
Megyn Kelly Issues MASSIVE Warning to Democrats After Guilty Trump Verdict “You just wait, and it won’t be Hunter Biden the next time,” she declared. “It’s going to be Joe Biden. It could potentially still be Barack Obama. It could still potentially be Hillary Clinton. We’re going to have to look at what the statutes of limitations are on the various crimes they surely committed. We’re going to have to look at passing laws to revive those dead crimes, felonies, or misdemeanors so that those cases can be brought out of time… The only way to save the Republic now is to give them a taste of their own medicine.”… https://vigilantnews.com/post/megyn-kelly-issues-massive-warning-to-democrats-after-guilty-trump-verdict/
@johnddavidson: If Republican AGs and DAs don’t start criminally prosecuting Dems with the full support of GOP leadership at every level and start giving the left their own medicine good and hard, then Democrats will NEVER regret what they’ve done to Trump.
@PhilipWegmann: One source in regular contact with Trump told RCP that these days he “sincerely believes” divine providence guides his steps and “that he has been chosen for a time such as this.”
Trump held an event at 11:00 ET in NYC on Friday.
@charliekirk11: President Trump just now: “We have a conflicted judge, but he’s a crooked judge. And I say that knowing it’s very dangerous for me to say that. And I don’t mind. Because I’m willing to do whatever I have to do to save our country and to save our Constitution. I don’t mind.”
@bennyjohnson: TRUMP: “It’s a very sad thing that’s happening in our country…in a way, I’m honored .. because somebody has to do it, and I might as well keep going and be the one.” https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1796569041861013982
@cspan: President Biden on Trump Verdict: “It is reckless, it’s dangerous and it’s irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don’t like the verdict…The justice system should be respected and we should never allow anyone to tear it down.” (Just days earlier, Biden attacked the Supreme Court, saying Trump’s appointees had no brains.)
@greg_price11: No it’s just a total coincidence that Biden’s #3 official at the DOJ went to work in Bragg’s office, that the judge donated to him, and that the charges made no sense.
@seanmdav: Joe Biden secretly met with the key witness in the federal criminal trial against his son just days before the start of the trial.The entire criminal justice system is rigged by Democrats to protect their friends and terrorize their enemies. It’s time to turn the tables and give them a taste of their own medicine.
@RNCResearch: “Donald Trump refers to himself as a political prisoner and blames you directly. What’s your response to that, sir?” BIDEN (CONFUSED): *stops* *smirks* *shuffles away* https://x.com/RNCResearch/status/1796598852780253233
Biden mocked for ‘disturbing’ smile after ignoring question about Trump being ‘political prisoner’ Critics blast Biden for apparent glee over Trump verdict: ‘Not even trying to hide it anymore’ https://t.co/0SWij6QA1x
Biden’s Guilty Smile Reveals the Malevolent Creature Within By John Kass One glaring feature of President Joe Biden’s raging dementia is this: Despite the best efforts of puppet master Barack Obama and other handlers to obscure his condition, Biden keeps revealing the malevolent creature within. The truth flashed uncontrollably the other day at the White House. Any American who saw Biden’s long, weird smirk celebrating the criminal conviction of his rival–former President Donald Trump–won’t forget it. If you care about this country, you won’t forget it… Biden crossed the Rubicon to tear up our American understanding of impartial justice and the rule of law and replaced it with the political left’s operating theory that is common to all authoritarian regimes: The ends justify the means… This is your president. He doesn’t “run” the country, he is too feeble minded to run anything. Obama and the Obama crew let him pretend and talk of ice cream. He is the front man. And the American people know him for what he is: A liar. His lies are well-known yet ignored or glossed over by his allies in the leftist corporate media who protect him… https://johnkassnews.com/bidens-show-trial-of-trump-kills-rule-of-law/?s=02
@JackPosobiec: This is Gary Gensler. He was the Hillary official who oversaw filing payments for the fake Steele Dossier as ‘legal expenses.’ He is now the Chairman of the SEChttps://t.co/RwT6eT5f6V
@TheBabylonBee: Hillary Clinton Condemns Trump for Paying Hush Money to Political Liabilities Instead of Just Killing Themhttps://buff.ly/3UmdcSh
No matter how much you hate the regime media, it isn’t enough.
A Trump Win Is Seen as a Risk to Fed Independence: BBG MLIV Plus – BBG Sunday Forty-four percent of respondents said they expect Trump to seek to politicize the central bank or limit its power if he returns to the White House. Overall, they put a probability of 40% on the Fed losing its autonomy under a second Trump administration… (Like Obama didn’t politicize the Fed!)
And death is not an option: Would you rather have a Trump-controlled Fed or an Obama-controlled Fed?
GREG HUNTER INTERVIEWING KAREN KINGSTON
China & Globalists at War with America – Karen Kingston
Karen Kingston is a biotech analyst and former Pfizer employee who has been reporting on the nightmare of the CV19 mRNA nanoparticle vax. Kingston has not had to correct or retract a single statement in nearly 3 years and 19 interviews on USAWatchdog.com—NOT ONE. Now, she is taking her research and analysis up to a new level by warning America the Chinese are engaged in high level warfare against the US to take the country down. The Chinese have teamed up with the globalists and treasonous Americans in high places from the state house to the White House and to the board room. Also, let’s not forget the World Economic Forum and the Bilderberg Group who met this weekend in Spain. There is no place in America China has not infiltrated. Kingston goes on to say, “I have written a number of articles on the nearly 600 page 2020 US/China Economic and security document, which very clearly articulates that China’s goal is to not just have countries around the world adopt their authoritarian regime, that people do not have individual human rights and your rights come from the authoritarian regime. . . . They (CCP) not only want us to accept that, but they want us to embrace it. What does it mean not to have individual human rights? It means you are dispensable.”
It gets worse. There was a new national security law enacted this past March in China. Kingston explains, “Now, Xi Jinping says China’s laws are international laws. If you say anything that could harm Xi Jinping and the CCP’s ultimate rise to power, China has the authority to come get you. You are not safe anywhere. This was repeated by a former Chinese national, who is now a US citizen along with another colleague from Hong Kong . . . They gave testimony (in Congress) in the CCP House Committee in May. They said nobody is safe from China’s regime. The government will put out bounties on activists’ heads . . . . You can be subject to kidnappings, attacks. . . . What Xi Jinping did was he decided to become the mob boss. There were articles just last week on the Mexican drug cartels. China is now the preferred country and is their business partner when it comes to laundering their money as well as for the fentanyl and cocaine supplies. China became the mob boss.”
Kingston says America is under attack from China in ways never seen before. CV19 got so-called “Gain of Function” (to make it more deadly) accomplished in China. The CV19 vax was largely manufactured in China and more than a dozen locations. The CV19 vax is responsible for millions of deaths and injuries and is, in fact, a bioweapon. The Chinese had partners around the world in the form of CEOs, heads of state and heads of state government. These deaths and injuries are not decreasing. It is just the opposite. Kingston says, “The CCP is very clear about what they want to do. They want to genetically edit and digitize all life forms, including human beings for the ‘sustainable development of human beings.’ That’s eugenics. So, the ‘sustainable development of human beings’ means we are going to deploy genetically edited food, air, water supply, products, supplements and injections. So, some human beings are going to live and they are going to be modified, and some are going to be exterminated. That’s what sustainable development is. I have been reading the China Daily News, The Global Times and a number of Chinese newspapers since 2021, and they do not make any mistake about being at war with America. The Pentagon and Secretary of State Blinken says their defense strategy or military strategy against China is ‘invest, align, compete.’ That’s not a military strategy, that’s an investment strategy. . . . These people are working on behalf of China to destroy America because they believe humanity does not deserve democracy and does not deserve human rights. . . . This is the belief of Xi Jinping, and that is the belief of certain individuals who are leading our intelligence community. . . .”
Kingston says the 34 count Trump felony convictions that happened this past week will help dramatically wake people up to the fact we are at war and should be fighting for our freedoms before it is too late. In closing, Kingston says, “We should be fighting this tooth and nail. . . . Xi Jinping has declared war on America and most of humanity. He says it in his documents. It is very, very clear.”
There is more in the 1-hour and 1-minute in-depth interview.
Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog.com as he goes One-on-One with renowned biotech analyst Karen Kingston as she gives groundbreaking analysis on the 5th generation warfare by China and their globalist partners against America for 6.1.24.
(Tech Note: If you do not see the video, know it is there. Unplug your modem and plug it back in after 30 sec. This will clear codes that may be blocking you from seeing it. In addition, try different browsers. Also, turn off all ad blockers if you have them. Finally, clear your cache and that might help too. https://its.uiowa.edu/support/article/719 All the above is a way Big Tech tries to censor people like USAWatchdog.com.)
More factless Pro Trump bullshit on Harvey’s site, this time it’s Jim Ricards repeating the Fox News lines about poor persecuted Donald. He’s never in his life lied or broken any laws, Trump is a cancer who thrives on eating America’s soul. Harvey facts will catch more views than lies and bull shit..try it.
harveyorganblog.com 
More factless Pro Trump bullshit on Harvey’s site, this time it’s Jim Ricards repeating the Fox News lines about poor persecuted Donald. He’s never in his life lied or broken any laws, Trump is a cancer who thrives on eating America’s soul. Harvey facts will catch more views than lies and bull shit..try it.
LikeLike