DEC 24/GOLD CLOSED UP $6.10 TO $2617.10//SILVER WAS UP $0.02 TO $29.66//PLATINUM WAS UP $0.85 TO $945.20 WHILE PALLADIUM WAS UP $14.25 TO $951.10//ONE GOLD COMMENTARY TONIGHT FROM CHRIS POWELL OF GATA//CHINA DECIDES TO THROW A BAZOOKA AT THE MARKET WITH A 3 TRILLION YUAN BOND ISSUANCE TRYING TO KICKSTART ITS MORIBUND ECONOMY///EUROPE: ELECTRICITY TAXES AND RATES KILLING EUROPE//ISRAEL VS SYRIA/ISRAEL VS HOUTHIS //ISRAEL VS HAMAS ALL UPDATES// RUSSIAN SHIP WITH ENGINE TROUBLE NOW SINKS: SABOTAGE?/COVID UPDATES//VACCINE UPDATES//VACCINE INJURY REPORTS/SLAY NEWS ETC//PAKISTAN DEVELOPING LONG RANGE NUKES AND THAT WORRIES THE USA//AMERICAN BANKS SET TO SUE THE FED IN A SURPRISE MOVE?//SWAMP STORIES FOR YOU TONIGHT//

December 24, 2024 · by · in Uncategorized · 1 Comment

GOLD PRICE GOLD $6.60 TO $2617.10

SILVER PRICE UP $0.02 TO $29.66

Gold ACCESS CLOSED $2616.60

Silver ACCESS CLOSED: $29.60

Bitcoin morning price:$95,180 UP 2670 DOLLARS.

Bitcoin: afternoon price: $99251 UP 6741 DOLLARS

Platinum price closing UP $0.85 TO $945.20

Palladium price; UP 14.25 TO $951.10

END

*CANADIAN GOLD: $3759.60 UP 8.60 CDN dollars per oz( * NEW ALL TIME HIGH 3,872.51 CDN DOLLARS PER OZ//OCT 30 2024)

*BRITISH GOLD: 2087.50 UP 5.90 Pounds per oz// *(NEW ALL TIME HIGH//CLOSING///2161.00 BRITISH POUNDS/OZ) NOV 22/2024

*EURO GOLD: 2,518.05 UP 10.10 Euros per oz //* (ALL TIME CLOSING HIGH: 2600.25 EUROS PER OZ//NOV 22 //.2024)

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EXCHANGE;

EXCHANGE: COMEX
CONTRACT: DECEMBER 2024 COMEX 100 GOLD FUTURES
SETTLEMENT: 2,612.300000000 USD
INTENT DATE: 12/23/2024 DELIVERY DATE: 12/26/2024
FIRM ORG FIRM NAME ISSUED STOPPED

323 C HSBC 42
357 C WEDBUSH 9
363 H WELLS FARGO SEC 66
523 H INTERACTIVE BRO 1
686 C STONEX FINANCIA 26 2
686 H STONEX FINANCIA 227
690 C ABN AMRO 10
737 C ADVANTAGE 18
905 C ADM 27
991 H CME 290

TOTAL: 359 359

JPMorgan stopped 0/359

GOLD: NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR DEC/2024. CONTRACT: 359 NOTICES FOR 35,900 OZ  1.1161 TONNES

total notices so far: 25,672 contracts for 2,567,200 Oz (79.757 tonnes)


FOR  DEC

SILVER NOTICES: 28 NOTICE(S) FILED FOR 0.140 MILLION OZ/

total number of notices filed so far this month : 9066 for 45.33 million oz

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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 DOWN $6.10 INVESTORS SWITCHING TO SPROTT PHYSICAL  (PHYS) INSTEAD OF THE FRAUDULENT GLD:

HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A HUGE 3.45 TONNES OF GOLD WITHDRAWAL OUT OF THE GLD//

INVENTORY RESTS AT 873.95 TONNES

SLV/

WITH NO SILVER AROUND AND SILVER UP $0.02 AT THE SLV: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:

INVESTORS ARE SWITCHING SLV TO SPROTT’S PSLV.

CLOSING INVENTORY: 463.747 MILLION OZ

Let us have a look at the data for today

SILVER//OUTLINE

SILVER COMEX OI ROSE BY A TINY SIZED 114 CONTRACTS TO 145,628 AND CONTINUING ITS MARCH TO THE RECORD HIGH OI OF 244,710, SET FEB 25/2020, AND THIS TINY SIZED GAIN IN COMEX OI WAS ACCOMPLISHED DESPITE OUR STRONG GAIN OF $0,19 IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX WITH RESPECT TO MONDAY’S TRADING. WE HAD A TINY GAIN OF 114 TOTAL CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES DESPITE OUR STRONG GAIN IN PRICE//MONDAY’S TRADING.. WE HAD CONSIDERABLE LIQUIDATION OF T.A.S. CONTRACTS ON MONDAY COMEX TRADING AS THEY DESPERATELY TRIED TO CONTAIN SILVER’S PRICE RISE FOR THE PAST 2 WEEKS WHERE THE RAIDS WERE CALLED UPON AGAIN TO QUELL MASSIVE DERIVATIVE LOSSES BY OUR BULLION BANKS. THEY FAILED QUITE A BIT WITH //MONDAY PRICING AS ZERO LONGS WERE KNOCKED OFF BUT DERIVATIVE LOSSES ACTUALLY INCREASED.

WE HAD A 0 CONTRACT EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE ACCOMPANIED BY A GOOD 474 CONTRACT T.A.S ISSUANCE WHICH WILL BE USED IN MONDAY;S TRADING AS THEY PLAY AN INTEGRAL PART IN OUR COMEX TRADING TRYING TO CONTAIN ANY SILVER PRICE RISE. IN ESSENCE WE GAINED A TINY SIZED 114 CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES DESPITE OUR STRONG GAIN IN PRICE. WE HAD CONSIDERABLE TAS LIQUIDATION THROUGHOUT MONDAY’S COMEX SESSION AND ACCESS TRADING. THREE WEEKS AGO, WE RECEIVED NOTICE OF .5000 MILLION OZ ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK/ THIS WILL BE ADDED TO THE PREVIOUS EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE OF .66 MILLION OZ/NEW EXCHANGE FOR RISK TOTALS FOR THE MONTH: 1.16 MILLION OZ.

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 AS WHAT HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES LAST MONTH AND AGAIN YESTERDAY.

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 MONDAY NIGHT: A GOOD 474 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 NOW SEEMS THAT THE OCC HAS ORDERED THE BANKS TO REDUCE ITS NEW LEVEL OF 1 TRILLION DOLLARS IN GOLD/SILVER DERIVATIVES AND THUS THE REASON FOR CONSTANT RAIDS ESPECIALLY WITH YESTERDAY’S TRADING. IT ALSO LOOKS LIKE THE FED (GOV’T) IS BEHIND EVERY DAY TRADING.

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 UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING THE PRICE OF SILVER DOWN (IT ROSE BY $0.19) AND WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING OFF ANY APPRECIABLE NET SILVER LONGS FROM THEIR PERCH AS WE HAD A STRONG GAIN IN PRICE.

WE HAD A 0 CONTRACT ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS) iiii) AN  INITIAL SILVER STANDING FOR COMEX SILVER MEASURING AT 40.435 MILLION OZ (FIRST DAY NOTICE) TO WHICH WE MUST ADD THOSE STUPID “DELIVERIES” CALLED EXCHANGE FOR RISK , TOTALLING 1.16 MILLION OZ. WE ALSO HAD A GOOD 27 CONTRACT QUEUE JUMP FOR 0.135 MILLION OZ AS THESE BOYS WILL TRY THEIR LUCK IN TAKING DELIVERY OVER ON THIS SIDE OF THE PLANET.

// STANDING FOR SILVER//DEC INCREASES TO 45.405 MILLION OZ + .1.16 MILLION OZ EX FOR RISK = 46.565 MILLION OZ

WE HAD:

/ TINY SIZED COMEX OI GAIN +// 0 SIZED EFP ISSUANCE/ VI)  GOOD SIZED NUMBER OF  T.A.S. CONTRACT ISSUANCE 474 CONTRACTS)/ TO WHICH WE ADD 1.16 MILLION OZ EX. FOR RISK //

 I AM NOW RECORDING THE DIFFERENTIAL IN OI FROM PRELIMINARY TO FINAL: added 95 CONTRACTS.

HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS NOV. ACCUMULATION FOR EFP’S SILVER/JPMORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES/STARTING FROM FIRST DAY/MONTH OF DEC

TOTAL CONTRACTS for 17 DAYS, total 25,870 contracts:   OR 129.350 MILLION OZ  (1522 CONTRACTS PER DAY)

TOTAL EFP’S FOR THE MONTH SO FAR:  129.350 MILLION OZ

LAST 24 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 BE A WHOPPER OF ISSUANCE OF EFPS//3RD HIGHEST EVER RECORDED FOR A MONTH)

MAY: 135.995 MILLION OZ  //WILL BE A STRONG MONTH FOR EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE

JUNE 110.575 MILLION OZ ( WILL BE ANOTHER STRONG MONTH ISSUANCE)

JULY: 108.870 MILLION OZ (WILL BE A STRONG ISSUANCE MONTH/ A TOUCH OVER 100 MILLION OZ/)

AUGUST; 99.740 MILLION OZ//THIS MONTH WILL BE STRONG FOR ISSUANCE BUT LESS THAN JULY.

SEPT: 112.415 MILLION OZ//WILL BE A HUGE MONTH FOR EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE

OCT; 97.485 MILLION OZ (WILL BE SMALLER ISSUANCE THIS MONTH )

NOV. 115.970 MILLION OZ ( HUGE THIS MONTH)

DEC: 129.350 MILLION OZ (THIS MONTH WILL BE A HUMDINGER FOR ISSUANCE/ WILL NOT EXCEED MARCH 2022 RECORD OF 209 MILLION OZ)

RESULT: WE HAD AN TINY SIZED INCREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF 114  CONTRACTS DESPITE OUR STRONG GAIN IN PRICE OF SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX//MONDAY.,.  THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A 0 EFP ISSUANCE  CONTRACTS: 0 ISSUED FOR DEC 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 DEC OF  40.435 MILLION  OZ ON FIRST DAY NOTICE, FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 135,000 OZ QUEUE JUMP TO WHICH WE ADD 1.16 MILLION OZ OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK/PRIOR EQUALS 46.565 MILLION OZ

//NEW TOTAL STANDING FOR DEC AT 46.565 MILLION OZ 

WE HAVE A TINY SIZED GAIN OF 114 OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES DESPITE OUR GAIN IN  PRICE…..THE TOTAL OF TAS INITIATED CONTRACTS TODAY: A GOOD 474 CONTRACTS TRYING DESPERATELY TO CONTAIN SILVER’S PRICE RISE,//CONSIDERABLE FRONT END OF THE TAS CONTRACTS WERE LIQUIDATED DURING THE MONDAY COMEX SESSION + ACCESS. BUT THEY STILL NEED THESE ISSUANCE FOR REPLENISHMENT FOR FUTURE TRADING /THE STRONG TA.S. ISSUANCE//LIQUIDATION DISTORTS THE TOTAL OI CONTRACTS STANDING AT THE COMEX. NO NET LONG SPECULATORS WERE BURNED ON FRIDAY WITH THE GAIN IN PRICE. ALSO SOME OF OUR LONGS EXERCISED THEIR RIGHT AND TENDERED FOR PHYSICAL SILVER MUCH TO THE ANGER OF OUR BANKERS. SILVER IS NOT BASEL III COMPLIANT SO THE BANKERS CAN TAKE THEIR TIME WITH THE DELIVERY OF SILVER.

THE NEW TAS ISSUANCE MONDAY NIGHT   (474) WILL BE PUT INTO “THE BANK” TO BE COLLUSIVELY USED AT A LATER DATE, AND PROBABLY NOT TODAY.

WE HAD 28 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 0.140 MILLION OZ

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

GOLD//OUTLINE

IN GOLD, THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST FELL BY A FAIR SIZED 3086 OI CONTRACTS  TO 455,558 AND CLOSER TO THE RECORD (SET JAN 24/2020) AT 799,733  AND  PREVIOUS TO THAT: (SET JAN 6/2020) AT 797,110, BUT WE ARE NOW MUCH FURTHER FROM OUR ALL TIME LOW OF 390,000 CONTRACTS.

THE DIFFERENTIAL FROM PRELIMINARY OI TO FINAL OI IN GOLD TODAY:  REMOVED A HUGE SIZED 1332 CONTRACTS//

WE HAD A FAIR SIZED DECREASE  IN COMEX OI (3086 CONTRACTS) OCCURRED WITH OUR LOSS OF $13.75 IN PRICE MONDAY. THE FRBNY SUPPLIED THE NECESSARY SHORT PAPER.. WE ALSO HAD A GOOD INITIAL STANDING IN GOLD TONNAGE FOR DEC AT 57.284 TONNES ON FIRST DAY NOTICE. FOLLOWED BY A 33 CONTRACT QUEUE JUMP FOR 3300 OZ ( 0.1026 TONNES). WE MUST NOW ADD 14.6836 TONNES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUED ON 6 OCCASIONS IN THIS ACTIVE DECEMBER CONTRACT MONTH.

/NEW STANDING 94.5156 TONNES

/ ALL OF THIS HAPPENED WITH OUR  $13.75 LOSS IN PRICE  WITH RESPECT TO TUESDAY’S COMEX ///. WE HAD A SMALL LOSS OF 778 OI CONTRACTS (2.419 PAPER TONNES) ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES, WITH MANY LONGS, REMAINING AT THE END OF THE DAY, TENDERING FOR PHYSICAL GOLD VIA THE EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ROUTE, MUCH TO THE ANGER AND HORROR EXHIBITED BY OUR MAJOR BANKER, THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF NEW YORK. THE HORROR INTENSIFIED ONCE LONDON STARTED TO TRADE LAST WEEK, AND THROUGHOUT THE WEEK WITH MAJOR TENDERING FOR PHYSICAL VIA THE EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ROUTE! YOU CAN VISUALIZE THIS WITH THE VIOLENT ACTION AT THE COMEX WITH RESPECT TO 33 CONTRACT QUEUE JUMP TODAY (3300 OZ)  ALONG WITH THE 14.6836 EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE THIS MONTH //NEW TOTAL TONNES OF DELIVERY: 94.5156 TONNES

E.F.P. ISSUANCE

THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A FAIR SIZED 2308 CONTRACTS:

The NEW COMEX OI FOR THE GOLD COMPLEX RESTS AT 456,890

IN ESSENCE WE HAVE A SMALL SIZED DECREASE IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 778 CONTRACTS  WITH 3086 CONTRACTS DECREASED AT THE COMEX// AND A FAIR SIZED 2308 EFP OI CONTRACT ISSUANCE WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS TOTAL OI LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 778 CONTRACTS.. WE HAD THE FOLLOWING TAS CONTRACTS INITIATED (ISSUED): A STRONG SIZED BUT CRIMINAL 1298 CONTRACTS ISSUED. WE HAD A STRONG LIQUIDATION OF T.A.S CONTRACTS DESPITE OUR LOSS IN PRICE MONDAY AS THE NEED FOR REPLENISHMENT WAS STILL IN ORDER TO CARRY OUT ITS PRICE CONTAINMENT STRATEGY IN FUTURE TRADING.

CALCULATIONS ON GAIN/LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES

WE HAD A FAIR SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (2308 CONTRACTS) ACCOMPANYING THE FAIR SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI OF 3086 CONTRACTS/TOTAL LOSS FOR OUR THE TWO EXCHANGES: 778 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 DEC 55.117 TONNES FOLLOWED BY TODAY.S 3300 OZ QUEUE JUMP TO WHICH WE ADD THOSE CRAZY EXCHANGE FOR RISK ON 6 PRIOR OCCASIONS OF 14.6836 TONNES//NEW STANDING 94.565 TONNES

//NEW STANDING DECEMBER: 94.565 TONNES

 / 3) STRONG T.A.S. LIQUIDATION TRYING TO LOWER GOLD’S PRICE MONDAY LITTLE SUCCESS IN REMOVING SPECULATOR LONGS, AS WE HAD A 1) STRONG $13.75 PRICE LOSS, AND THUS 2) SOME NET LONG SPECS BEING CLIPPED. HOWEVER, 3)STICKY GOLD’S LONGS ARE NOT FOOLED BY THE RAID IN PRICE AS THEY WERE REWARDED MONDAY EVENING AS THEY EXERCISED EFP’S FROM LONDON TO TAKE DELIVERY OF BADLY NEEDED PHYSICAL.

  4) FAIR SIZED COMEX OPEN INTEREST INCREASE 5)  HUGE ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL PAPER///STRONG T.A.S.  ISSUANCE: 1754 T.A.S.CONTRACTS// 6.) 33 CONTRACT QUEUE JUMP OR AN ADDITIONAL 3300 OZ WILL STAND FOR DELIVERY AT THE COMEX.

HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS IN 2023-2024 INCLUDING TODAY

DEC

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

TOTAL EFP CONTRACTS ISSUED: 110,670 CONTRACTS OF 11,067,000 OZ OR 344.23 TONNES IN 17 TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 6510 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE  SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS :  THIS MONTH IN 17 TRADING DAY(S) IN  TONNES  344.23 TONNES

TOTAL ANNUAL GOLD PRODUCTION, 2023, THROUGHOUT THE WORLD EX CHINA EX RUSSIA: 3555 TONNES

THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS  344.23 DIVIDED BY 3550 x 100% TONNES = 9.69% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL PRODUCTION

ACCUMULATION OF GOLD EFP’S YEAR 2021 TO 2023

JANUARY/2021: 265.26 TONNES (RAPIDLY INCREASING AGAIN)

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

MARCH:.   276.50 TONNES (STRONG AGAIN/

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

MAY:        250.15 TONNES  (NOW DRAMATICALLY INCREASING AGAIN)

JUNE:      247.54 TONNES (FINAL)

JULY:        188.73 TONNES FINAL

AUGUST:   217.89 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE.

SEPT          142.12 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE ( LOW ISSUANCE)_

OCT:           141.13 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE (LOW ISSUANCE)

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

DEC.           175.62 TONNES//FINAL ISSUANCE//

TOTALS: 2,578.08 TONNES/2021

JAN:2022   247.25 TONNES //FINAL

FEB:           196.04 TONNES//FINAL

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

APRIL:  169.55 TONNES (FINAL VERY  LOW ISSUANCE MONTH)

MAY:  247.44 TONNES FINAL//

JUNE: 238.13 TONNES  FINAL

JULY: 378.43 TONNES FINAL/SECOND HIGHEST ON RECORD

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 175.11 tonnes HEADING FOR A WEAKER MONTH AND MUCH LESS THAN THE THREE PREVIOUS MONTHS

JULY: 351. 65 TONNES (3RD HIGHEST EVER RECORDED EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL AND THE HIGHEST EVER RECORDED POST BASEL III) 

AUGUST: 274.79 TONNES//THIS MONTH WILL NO DOUBT BE A STRONG ISSUANCE OF EFP’S BUT MUCH LESS THAN LAST MONTH.

SEPT: 335 .104 TONNES//IF THIS CONTINUES WE WILL HAVE A HUMDINGER OF AN EFP ISSUANCE. WE WILL PROBABLY END JUST SHORT OF THE 3RD HIGHEST ISSUANCE EVER RECORDED.

OCT. 277.71 TONNES (THIS WILL BE A GOOD ISSUANCE THIS MONTH)

NOV: 393.875 TONNES ( A HUGE MONTH////NOW SURPASSED THE PREVIOUS 3RD AND 2ND HIGHEST EVER RECORDED EX FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE TO BECOME THE 2ND HIGHEST EVER RECORDED

DEC 344.23 TONNES (we will also have a humdinger of an exchange for physical issuance for this month/maybe this time we will surpass March 2022 record of 409 tonnes for the month)

SPREADING OPERATIONS

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

SPREADING LIQUIDATION HAS NOW COMMENCED   AS WE HEAD TOWARDS THE  NEW  ACTIVE FRONT MONTH OF FEB. WE ARE NOW INTO THE SPREADING OPERATION OF  GOLD

HERE IS A BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF HOW THE CROOKS FLEECE UNSUSPECTING LONGS IN THE SPREADING ENDEAVOUR ;MODUS OPERANDI OF THE CORRUPT BANKERS AS TO HOW THEY HANDLE THEIR SPREAD OPEN INTERESTS:HERE IS HOW THE CROOKS USED SPREADING AS WE ARE NOW INTO THE  NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF NOV HEADING TOWARDS THE  ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF FEB., FOR  GOLD: AND MARCH FOR SILVER

YOU WILL ALSO NOTICE THAT THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST  STARTS TO RISE BUT SO IS THE OPEN INTEREST OF SPREADERS. THE OPEN INTEREST IN WILL CONTINUE TO RISE UNTIL ONE WEEK BEFORE FIRST DAY NOTICE OF AN UPCOMING  ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH (OCT), AND THAT IS WHEN THE CROOKS SELL THEIR SPREAD POSITIONS BUT NOT AT THE SAME TIME OF THE DAY.  THEY WILL USE THE SELL SIDE OF THE EQUATION TO CREATE THE CASCADE (ALONG WITH THEIR COLLUSIVE FRIENDS) AND THEN COVER ON THE BUY SIDE OF THE SPREAD SITUATION AT THE END  OF THE DAY. THEY DO THIS TO AVOID POSITION LIMIT DETECTION. THE LIQUIDATION OF THE SPREADING FORMATION CONTINUES FOR EXACTLY ONE WEEK AND ENDS ON FIRST DAY NOTICE.”

WHAT IS ALARMING TO ME, ACCORDING TO OUR LONDON EXPERT ANDREW MAGUIRE IS THAT THESE EFP’S ARE BEING TRANSFERRED TO WHAT ARE CALLED SERIAL FORWARD CONTRACT OBLIGATIONS AND THESE CONTRACTS ARE LESS THAN 14 DAYS.  ANYTHING GREATER THAN 14 DAYS, THESE MUST BE RECORDED AND SENT TO THE COMPTROLLER, GREAT BRITAIN TO MONITOR RISK TO THE BANKING SYSTEM.  IF THIS IS INDEED TRUE, THEN THIS IS A MASSIVE CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD AS WE NOW WITNESS A MONSTROUS TOTAL EFP’S ISSUANCE AS IT HEADS INTO THE STRATOSPHERE.

The crooks also use the spread in the TAS  account  (trade at settlement).  They buy the spot TAS (e.g. June) and sell the future TAS two months out (e.g. August). Then they unload the front month (i.e. unload the buy side first so the price of gold/silver falls. This occurs in the middle  of the  front delivery month cycle. They unload the sell side of the equation, two months down the road.  The crooks violate position limits as the OCC refuse to hear our complaints.

First, here is an outline of what will be discussed tonight:

1.TODAY WE HAD THE OPEN INTEREST AT THE COMEX IN SILVER ROSE BY A TINY SIZED 114 CONTRACTS OI  TO 145,628 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  7 YEARS AGO.  HOWEVER WE HAVE NOW SET A NEW RECORD LOW OF 114,102 CONTRACTS JULY 3.2023

EFP ISSUANCE 0 CONTRACTS

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

DEC 0 and ALL OTHER MONTHS: ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 0 CONTRACTS. EFP’S GIVE OUR COMEX LONGS A FIAT BONUS PLUS A DELIVERABLE PRODUCT OVER IN LONDON.  IF WE TAKE THE COMEX OI GAIN OF 114   CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 0 E.FP. ISSUED

WE OBTAIN A TINY SIZED GAIN OF OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 114 CONTRACTS

THUS IN OUNCES, THE GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES  TOTALS A TINY 0.570 MILLION OZ OCCURRED WITH OUR $0.19 GAIN  IN PRICE  

OUTLINE FOR TODAY’S COMMENTARY

1a/COMEX GOLD AND SILVER REPORT

(report Harvey)

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

(Peter Schiff)

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

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

b. Other gold/silver commentaries

c. Commodity commentaries//

d)/CRYPTOCURRENCIES/BITCOIN ETC

2.ASIAN AFFAIRS/TUESDAY MORNING MONDAY  NIGHT

ASIA TRADING TUESDAY MORNING/MONDAY  NIGHT

SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 42.27 PTS OR 1.26%

//Hang Seng CLOSED UP 215.16 PTS OR 1.08%

// Nikkei CLOSED DOWN 124.49 OR 0.32%//Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP 0.22%///Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) CLOSED UP TO 7.3007 CHINESE YUAN OFFSHORE CLOSED UP TO 7.3015// Oil UP TO 69.76 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT UP AT 73.24 Stocks in Europe OPENED ALL MIXED

ONSHORE USA/ YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN  TRADING STRONGER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE YUAN STRONGER

A)NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA

outline

b) REPORT ON JAPAN/
OUTLINE

3  CHINA
OUTLINE

4/EUROPEAN AFFAIRS
OUTLINE

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS
OUTLINE

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

7. OIL ISSUES
OUTLINE

8 EMERGING MARKET ISSUES
9. USA

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

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

GOLD

 LET US BEGIN:

THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST FELL BY A FAIR SIZED 3086 CONTRACTS TO 455,578 WITH OUR LOSS IN PRICE OF $13.75 WITH RESPECT TO MONDAY’S TRADING. WE LOST LITTLE NET LONGS WITH OUR PRICE LOSS FOR GOLD AS WE HAD, AS YOU WILL SEE BELOW, A FAIR NUMBER OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUED (2308). THUS WE HAD A SMALL LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 778 CONTRACTS WITH OUR  LOSS IN PRICE. OUR FRIENDLY PHYSICAL LONDON BOYS HAD ANOTHER FIELD DAY AGAIN ON FRIDAY NIGHT AS THEY WERE READY FOR THE FRBNY.S CONTINUED ORCHESTRATED MONSTER RAID AS THEY ABSORBED EVERYTHING IN SIGHT FROM THE WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY’S ATTACK AND AGAIN ON FRIDAY AS THEY OFFERED A THANK YOU NOTE TO THE FED FOR THEIR WONDERFUL LARGESSE. THE LONDONERS EXERCISED THEIR BOUGHT CONTRACTS FOR PHYSICAL GOLD VIA THE EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ROUTE.

THE LIQUIDATION OF T.A.S. CONTRACTS THROUGHOUT LAST MONTH CONTINUES TO DISTORT OPEN INTEREST NUMBERS GREATLY AND IT SURELY WAS ON DISPLAY THIS ENTIRE PAST WEEK. WE HAD CONTINUED WITH CONSIDERABLE T.A.S. LIQUIDATION THIS WEEK INCLUDING FRIDAY..

THE FED IS THE MAJOR SHORT OF AROUND 82+ TONNES OF GOLD OWING TO THE B.I.S. THE FED NEEDS TO COVER AS THEY ARE VERY WORRIED ABOUT WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO GOLD PRICES ONCE THE BRICS BEGIN THEIR INITIATIVE AND ABANDON THE US DOLLAR. THIS IS SCHEDULED TO HAPPEN LATE OCT 2024/(AS OUTLINED IN OUR GOLD PHYSICAL COMMENTARIES//VIEW ANDREW MAGUIRE LATEST LIVE FROM VAULT PODCAST 197 , 199, 2001,AND FRIDAY NIGHTS  202,

203 AND 204 AS HE TACKLES THIS IMPORTANT TOPIC). THE FOUR OR FIVE BANKS ARE ALSO WORRIED ABOUT THEIR HUGE PRECIOUS METAL DERIVATIVE EXPOSURE (NORTH OF ONE TRILLION DOLLARS) AND THIS IS PROBABLY THE MAJOR REASON FOR GOLD/SILVER’S RISE THESE PAST TWO MONTHS. THEY ARE TOTALLY TRAPPED., AND THEIR FAILURE TO STOP CENTRAL BANK PURCHASES OF PHYSICAL GOLD IS THE MAJOR ISSUE OF THE DAY! ACTUALLY THE FED HAS COAXED THE SPECULATORS TO GO MASSIVELY SHORT WHILE THEY TAKE THE LONG SIDE AFTER THEY COMMENCE THE AVALANCHE IN LOWERING THE PRICE OF GOLD LIKE THESE PAST 4 DAYS OF RAIDS.

OUR PHYSICAL LONDONERS BOUGHT NEW MASSIVE QUANTITIES OF LONGS AT ANY PRICE AND THIS GOLD BOUGHT WILL BE TENDERED FOR PHYSICAL ON A T + 1 BASIS. BECAUSE GOLD IS BASEL III COMPLIANT, GOLD MUST BE DELIVERED IN A VERY TIMELY ONE DAY. CENTRAL BANKS AROUND THE WORLD, BEING REPRESENTED BY OUR LONDONERS, ARE THE REAL PURCHASERS OF THIS GOLD.

THE PROBLEM FOR THOSE PROVIDING THE SHORT PAPER IS THE SHOCK TO THEM ON RECEIVING NOTICE THAT THE LONGS WANT THE PHYSICAL GOLD AS THEY TENDER FOR THAT SHINY YELLOW METAL. THE HIGH LIQUIDATION OF THE SPREADERS // T.A.S DURING LAST WEEK IS SURELY DISTORTING COMEX OPEN INTEREST BUT THAT DOES NOT STOP LONDON’S ACCUMULATION OF PHYSICAL! YOU CAN ALSO VISUALIZE THAT PERFECTLY WITH THE HUGE AMOUNTS OF QUEUE JUMPING ORCHESTRATED BY CENTRAL BANKERS BOLTING AHEAD OF ORDINARY LONGS AS THEIR NEED FOR PHYSICAL IS GREAT AS THEY SCOUR THE PLANET LOOKING FOR GOLD

EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE

WE ARE NOW DEEP INTO THE ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF DECEMBER.…  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 FAIR SIZED 2308 EFP CONTRACTS WERE ISSUED: :  /DEC  2308 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:

TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 2308 CONTRACTS. THESE EFP;S CIRCLE AROUND LONDON ON A 13 DAY BASIS AND ARE NOW USED BY GLOBAL CENTRAL BANKS TO EXERCISE FOR PHYSICAL GOLD WITH THE OBLIGATION TO DELIVER BEING FORCED ONTO COMEX BANKS. THE GOLD DELIVERED COMES FROM LONDON.

ON A NET BASIS IN OPEN INTEREST WE LOST THE FOLLOWING TODAY ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES: A SMALL SIZED TOTAL OF 778 CONTRACTS IN THAT 2308 CONTRACT LONGS WERE TRANSFERRED AS EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS TO LONDON AND WE HAD A FAIR LOSS OF 3086 COMEX  CONTRACTS..AND THIS SMALL GAIN  ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES HAPPENED WITH OUR  LOSS IN PRICE OF $13.75 MONDAY// COMEX. THE EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS WILL BE USED BY CENTRAL BANKS, TO EXERCISE FOR PHYSICAL GOLD AT THE COMEX AS MENTIONED  ABOVE.

AS PER OUR NEWBIE TRADE AT SETTLEMENT (TAS) MANIPULATION OPERATION (WHICH CRAIG HEMKE HAS POINTED OUT HAPPENS USUALLY DURING MID MONTH IN THE DELIVERY CYCLE), BUT NOW ON A DAILY BASIS, THE CME REPORTS THAT THE TOTAL T.A.S. ISSUANCE FOR MONDAY NIGHT WAS A FAIR SIZED SIZED 1298 CONTRACTS, AND THESE WILL BE USED TO REPLENISH SUPPLIES.. ALMOST ALL 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 (T.A.S.) 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 ORCHESTRATED, ON MONDAY NOV 25, THEIR HUGE RAID TO LOWER THE PRICE OF GOLD TO MAKE THEIR COMEX BETS WHOLE ON OPTIONS EXPIRY WEEK AND THUS THE NEED FOR CONTINUAL STRONG T.A.S. ISSUANCE AND THEN LIQUIDATION (COUPLED WITH THE LIQUIDATION OF CALENDAR SPREADERS ). THE USE OF OUR TWO SPREADER MECHANISMS WERE OF EXTREME IMPORTANCE TO OUR CROOKS IN LATE NOVEMBER’S OPTIONS EXPIRY TRADING. WE HAD CONTINUAL T.A.S. AND FINAL MONTH END SPREADER LIQUIDATION ESPECIALLY ON FRIDAY NOV 29 .THE LIQUIDATION OF T.A.S. SUBSIDED QUITE DRAMATICALLY DURING THE FIRST WEEK AND A HALF OF DECEMBER BUT THAT DRAMATICALLY CHANGED THIS WEEK WITH CONSIDERABLE LIQUIDATION ALL WEEK

// WE HAVE A STRONG AMOUNT OF GOLD TONNAGE STANDING:   DEC (94.5156 TONNES) WHICH IS HUGE FOR OUR  ACTIVE DEC DELIVERY MONTH.

HERE ARE THE AMOUNTS THAT STOOD FOR DELIVERY IN THE PRECEDING 48 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

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

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

TOTAL 2023 YEAR : 436.546 TONNES

2024

JAN ’24.      22.706 TONNES

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

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

APRIL: 2024: 53.673TONNES FINAL

MAY/ 2024 8.5536 TONNES + 3.3716 TONNES EX FOR RISK/= 11.9325

JUNE; 95.578 TONNES. + 1.045 TONNES EXCHANGE FOR RISK =96.623 THIS IS THE HIGHEST RECORDED GOLD STANDING SINCE AUGUST 2022

JULY: 11.692 TONNES

AUGUST 69.602 TONNES//FINAL STANDING

SEPT. 13.164 TONNES.

OCT 39.474 TONNES + + 20.917 TONNES EXCHANGE FOR RISK =60.391 TONNES

NOV . 11.265 TONNES +4.665 TONNES EXCHANGE FOR RISK/TUESDAY + 3.11 TONNES OF EX. FOR RISK/PRIOR = 19.0425 TONNES

DEC: 79.832 TONNES PLUS DEC MONTH EXCHANGE FOR RISK TOTAL 14.6836 TONNES EQUALS 94.5156 TONNES

THE SPECS/HFT WERE SUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE( IT FELL BY $13.75/)//BUT WERE SUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING OFF SOME NET SPECULATOR LONGS AS WE DID HAVE A SMALL LOSS IN OUR TWO EXCHANGES. AS EXPLAINED ABOVE WE HAD CONSIDERABLE T.A.S. SPREADER LIQUIDATION MONDAY. WE ALSO HAD A FAIR T.A.S. ISSUANCE MONDAY NIGHT (TUESDAY MORNING), AS THE NEED FOR REPLENISHMENT WAS STILL EVER PRESENT. THIS COULD NOT STOP CENTRAL BANK LONGS, SEIZING THE MOMENT, EXERCISED AGAIN FOR PHYSICAL IN A BIG WAY TENDERING FOR PHYSICAL MONDAY EVENING.

EXCHANGE FOR RISK

19 DAYS AGO, FRIDAY NIGHT (EARLY SATURDAY MORNING NOV 30) THE CME ANNOUNCED ANOTHER OF THOSE CRAZY DELIVERIES: THE ISSUANCE OF 250 EXCHANGE FOR RISK CONTRACTS WHICH TOTAL 25000 OZ (.7776 TONNES. HERE THE BUYER ASSUMES THE RISK THAT HE WILL BE DELIVERED UPON IN PHYSICAL METAL. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY INSANE AND A HUGE VIOLATION OF THE TRUE DISCOVERY PRICE MECHANISM WHICH IS THE COMEX MANTRA!. AND THEN GUESS WHAT? THE CME ANNOUNCED ANOTHER EXCHANGE FOR RISK, LATE TUESDAY EVENING/ EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING, (DEC 5) OF 617 CONTRACTS FOR 61,700 OZ OR GOLD (1.919 TONNES). THEN MUCH TO MY ANGER, THE CME ANNOUNCED A THIRD ISSUANCE FRIDAY NIGHT DEC 7 FOR A MONSTROUS 2254 EXCHANGE FOR RISK CONTRACTS OR 225,400 OZ OR 7.0108 TONNES. NOT TO BE UNDONE, THE CROOKS CONTINUED WITH THEIR NONSENSE WITH ANOTHER 50 CONTRACT EXCHANGE FOR RISK THE MORNING OF DEC 12 FOR 5000 OZ OR .1555 TONNES. AND THIS BRINGS US TO THIS EARLY FRIDAY MORNING (DEC 13) WHERE I WAS SHOCKED TO SEE FOR THE FIFTH TIME THIS MONTH AN ENTRY FOR 250 CONTRACTS OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK FOR 25000 OZ OR .7776 TONNES.THUS ALL FIVE OF THESE ISSUANCES WILL BE ADDED TO THE TOTAL GOLD BEING “DELIVERED UPON”. THIS BRINGS US TO EARLY SATURDAY MORNING DEC 21 WHERE TO MY SHOCK AGAIN WE HAD OUR 6TH ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK TOTALLING 1300 CONTRACTS FOR AN ASTOUNDING 4.043 TONNES. THIS BRINGS THE TOTAL ISSUANCE FOR THE MONTH TO 14.6836 TONNES. THE COMEX IS TOTALLY SHATTERED TO PIECES.

TOTAL DELIVERIES

WE HAVE LOST A TOTAL OF 2.41 PAPER TONNES FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES, ACCOMPANYING OUR INITIAL  GOLD TONNAGE STANDING FOR DEC (55.167TONNES) ON FIRST DAY NOTICE FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S QUEUE JUMP OF 3300 OZ OR 0.1026 TONNES, TO WHICH WE MUST ADD OUR 6 ISSUANCES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK FOR A TOTAL OF 14.6836 TONNES. THUS TAKEN TOGETHER,, THE TOTAL GOLD STANDING FOR THIS VERY ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF DECEMBER IS:

79.832 TONNES (NORMAL DELIVERY) +

14.6836 TONNES (EX FOR RISK)

EQUALS: 94.5156 TONNES

/ STANDING FOR DEC INCREASES TO 94.5156 TONNES

NEW STANDING FOR DECEMBER: 94.5156 TONNES (WHICH IS HUGE FOR OUR VERY ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH)

ALL OF THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR LOSS IN PRICE  TO THE TUNE OF $13.75

WE HAD 1332 CONTRACTS REMOVED TO THE  COMEX TRADES TO OPEN INTEREST (CROOKS)//PRELIMINARY TO FINAL.

NET LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 778 CONTRACTS OR 77800 (2.4199 TONNES)

confirmed volume MONDAY 111,395 contracts: very weak ////

//speculators have left the gold arena

END

/ /// THE DEC 2024 GOLD CONTRACT

DEC 24

GoldOunces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory in oz
 nil
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory in oz










32.15 oz

one kilobar/Delaware






















































































































 




















   






 







 




.

 








 









 
Deposit to the Dealer Inventory in oz












3,182.949 OZ BRINKS
99 KILOBARS


total deposit 3182.949 oz
















 
Deposits to the Customer Inventory, in oz

a)into Brinks: 32.151 oz (one kilobar)

b)Into HSBC: 35,269.647 oz (1097 kilobars)



c)Into Manfra 510,544.0000 (15,880 kilobars)


total deposit customer 545,845.798 oz
16.97 tonnes

No of oz served (contracts) today359 notice(s)
35900 OZ
1.112 TONNES
No of oz to be served (notices) 24 contracts 
  2400 OZ
0.07465 TONNES

 
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month25,642 notices
2,564,200 oz
78.752 TONNES
Total accumulative withdrawals of gold from the Dealers inventory this monthNIL oz
Total accumulative withdrawal of gold from the Customer inventory this monthx

dealer deposits: 1

i) Into dealer Brinks: 3182.940 oz (99 kilobars)

total dealer deposits: 3182.940 oz 99 kilobars

we have 3 customer deposit

a)into Brinks: 32.151 oz (one kilobar)

b)Into HSBC: 35,269.647 oz (1097 kilobars)



c)Into Manfra 510,544.0000 (15,880 kilobars)


total deposit customer 545,845.798 oz 16,978 kilobars
16.978 tonnes

strictly a paper gold entry.

withdrawals: 1

i) Out of Delaware 32.15 oz (one kilobar)

adjustments: 1//Manfra customer to dealer: 4166.681 oz

CALCULATIONS FOR THE AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR DEC.

For the front month of DEC: we have an oi of 383 contracts having LOST 626 contracts. We had 659 contracts served on MONDAY, so we GAINED a SMALL 33 contracts or 3300 oz (0.1026 TONNES) underwent a queue jump bolting ahead of others to take delivery of gold over on this side of the planet.

JANUARY LOST 20 CONTRACT(S) TO STAND AT 4032

FEBRUARY LOST 2970 CONTRACTS TO 337,378 .

We had 659 contracts filed for today representing 65,900 oz  

This is a huge 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 issued from their client or customer account. The total of all issuance by all participants equate to 359 contract(s) of which 0  notices were stopped (received) by  j.P. Morgan dealer and 0 notice(s) was (were) stopped  (received) by J.P.Morgan//customer account   

To calculate the INITIAL total number of gold ounces standing for DEC /2024. contract month, we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (25,642 x 100 oz ) to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of  DEC(383 CONTRACTS)  minus the number of notices served upon today  (359 x 100 oz per contract( equals  2,563,300 OZ  OR 79.729 TONNES. to which we add 14.6836 tonnes of exchange for risk WHICH EQUALS 94.413 TONNES

thus the INITIAL standings for gold for the DEC contract month:  No of notices filed so far (25,642 x 100 oz +we add the difference for front month of DEC  (383 OI} minus the number of notices served upon today (359 x 100 oz which equals  2,566.600 oz (79.832 TONNES)  + 14.6836 tonnes of ex. for risk MONTH OF DEC //new total GOLD STANDING 94.6156 TONNES

TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING FOR DEC.: 94.5156 TONNES WHICH IS HUGE FOR THIS  ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH IN THE CALENDAR. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

COMEX GOLD INVENTORIES/CLASSIFICATION

NEW PLEDGED GOLD:

241,794.285 oz NOW PLEDGED /HSBC  5.94 TONNES

204,937.290 OZ PLEDGED  MANFRA 3.08 TONNES

83,657.582 PLEDGED JPMorgan no 1  1.690 tonnes

265,999.054, oz  JPM No 2 

1,152,376.639 oz pledged  Brinks/

Manfra:  33,758.550 oz

Delaware: 193.721 oz

International Delaware::  11,188.542 oz

total pledged gold: 2,101,424.137  oz 65.36 tonnes

TOTAL OF ALL GOLD ELIGIBLE AND REGISTERED GOLD: 20,583.108.291 OZ  

TOTAL REGISTERED GOLD 8,687,165.908/// 270.20 tonnes). 

TOTAL OF ALL ELIGIBLE GOLD: 11,895,942,387 OZ  

REGISTERED GOLD THAT CAN BE SERVED UPON: 6,585,741 oz (REG GOLD- PLEDGED GOLD)= 204.84 tonnes //

JPMorgan enhanced inventory is 3.592 million oz/1,877,000 oz = 19.15% of entire inventory..

END

SILVER/COMEX

DEC 24. 2024

INITIAL

//2024// THE DEC 2024  SILVER CONTRACT//INITIAL

SilverOunces
Withdrawals from Dealers InventoryNIL oz
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory











nil





































































































































































































.














































 










 
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory






NIL


















 
Deposits to the Customer Inventory








1,486,388.605 oz

Brinks
Delaware

























































































 












































 












 
No of oz served today (contracts)28 CONTRACT(S)  
 (140,000 OZ)
No of oz to be served (notices)15 contracts 
(0.075 MILLION oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)9066 Contracts
 (45.330 MILLION oz)
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Dealers inventory this monthNIL 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 customer deposits

a) Into Brinks: 1,486/388.605 oz

b) Into Delaware 1817.700 oz

total customer deposit 1,488,260.305oz

We had 0 withdrawals

total withdrawal nil oz

JPMorgan has a total silver weight: 135.207million oz/314.826million  or 42.94%

adjustments 6 all dealer to customer (this silver is leaving)

a) 48,788.600 oz Brinks

b) 935,499.794 oz CNT

c) 1098,231.455 oz HSBC

d) 63,129.670 oz (Int. Delaware)

e) 353,916.320 oz (JPMorgan

f) 956,555.514 oz (Manfra)

total: 3,455,790.853 adjusted dealer to customer.

TOTAL REGISTERED SILVER: 74.623MILLION OZ//.TOTAL REG + ELIGIBLE. 314.826 million oz

CALCULATIONS FOR THE NEW STANDING FOR SILVER FOR DEC

silver open interest data:

FRONT MONTH OF DEC /2024 OI: 43 OPEN INTEREST FOR A GAIN OF 1 CONTRACT(S). WE HAD

26 CONTRACTS ISSUED ON MONDAY SO WE HAD A GOOD 27 CONTRACT QUEUE JUMP I.E. 135,000 ADDITIONAL OZ WILL STAND AT THE COMEX WHERE THESE BOYS WILL TRY THEIR LUCK AND TAKE DELIVERY OF PHYSICAL SILVER OVER HERE.

JANUARY SAW A LOSS OF 66 CONTRACTS DOWN TO 2102

FEBRUARY SAW A GAIN 0F 56 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 410

MARCH SAW A LOSS OF 61 CONTRACTS DOWN TO 116,752

TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR TODAY: 28 for 140,000 oz

CONFIRMED volume; ON MONDAY 36,091 good//

To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in DEC we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at 9066x 5,000 oz = 45.330 MILLION oz 

to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of DEC (43) and the number of notices served upon today (28)x (5000 oz)

Thus the  standings for silver for the DEC 2024 contract month:  9066 Notices served so far) x 5000 oz + OI for the front month of DEC(43) minus number of notices served upon today (28)x 5000 oz equals silver standing for the DEC contract month equating to 45.406 MILLION OZ. + to which we add 1.16 million oz of exchange for risk PRIOR////new total 46.565 MILLION OIOZ

 New total standing: 46.565 million oz.

There are 78.078 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

BOTH GLD AND SLV ARE MASSIVE FRAUDS!

GLD AND SLV INVENTORY LEVELS//

DEC  24  WITH GOLD UP $6.10 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.45 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD. / // : .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 873.95 TONNES

 DEC  23  WITH GOLD DOWN $13,75 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:A DEPOSIT OF 16.66 TONNES OF GOLD VAPOUR GOLD INTO THE GLD. / // : .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 877.40 TONNES

DEC  20  WITH GOLD UP $29,75 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.16 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD. / // : .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 860.74 TONNES

 DEC  19  WITH GOLD DOWN $45.00 ON THE DAY; SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:A WITHDRAWAL OF .29 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD. / // : .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 863.90 TONNES

DEC  18  WITH GOLD DOWN $8.40 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: / // : .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 864.19 TONNES

DEC  17  WITH GOLD DOWN $6.85 ON THE DAY; SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 0.23 TONNES INTO THE GLD / // : .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 864.19 TONNES

DEC  16  WITH GOLD DOWN $2.80 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.70 TONNES INTO THE GLD / // : .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 863.90 TONNES

 DEC  13  WITH GOLD DOWN $24.55 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.78 TONNES INTO THE GLD / // : .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 868.60 TONNES

DEC  12  WITH GOLD DOWN $34.00 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 2.59 TONNES INTO THE GLD / // : .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 873.38 TONNES

 DEC  11  WITH GOLD UP $29.75 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: // : .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 870.79 TONNES

 DEC  9  WITH GOLD UP $31.10 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD. // : .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 871.94 TONNES

DEC 6 WITH GOLD UP $6.60 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD. A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.71 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD// : .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 871.94 TONNES

DEC 5 WITH GOLD DOWN $26.80 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD./ : .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 873.65 TONNES

DEC 4 WITH GOLD UP $6.15 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.31 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD./ : .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 873.65 TONNES

DEC 3 WITH GOLD UP $10.30 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.59 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD./ : .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 875.96 TONNES

DEC 2 WITH GOLD DOWN $20.20 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD : .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 878.55 TONNES

NOV 29 WITH GOLD UP $16.00 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD : Z WITHDRAWAL OF .86 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD . .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 878.55 TONNES

 NOV 27 WITH GOLD UP $18.05 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD : . .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 879.41 TONNE

 NOV 26 WITH GOLD UP $3.80 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD : A DEPOSIT OF 1.44 TONNES OF GOLDINTO THE GLD. .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 879.41 TONNES

NOV 25 WITH GOLD DOWN $91.60 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD :. .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 877.97 TONNES

NOV 21 WITH GOLD UP $23.85 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD A DEPOSIT OF 3.16 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/:. .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 875,39 TONNES

NOV 20 WITH GOLD UP $22.10 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD A DEPOSIT OF 0.58 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/:. .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 872.23 TONNES

NOV 19 WITH GOLD UP $13.00 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD A DEPOSIT OF 1.72 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/:. .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 871.65 TONNES

NOV 18 WITH GOLD UP $44.20 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD A DEPOSIT OF 2.56 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/:. .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 869.93 TONNES

NOV 15 WITH GOLD DOWN $1.90 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.25 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/:. .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 867.37 TONNES

NOV 14 WITH GOLD DOWN $12.90 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.91 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/:. .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 868.62 TONNES

NOV 13 WITH GOLD DOWN $19.30 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.44 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/:. .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 870.63 TONNES

NOV 12 WITH GOLD DOWN $11.40 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.88 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/:. .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 871,97 TONNE

NOV 11 WITH GOLD DOWN $75.35 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.74 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/:. .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 876.85 TONNES

NOV 8 WITH GOLD DOWN $11.85 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.87 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/:. .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 883.46 TONNES

NOV 7 WITH GOLD UP $30.50 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.45 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/:. .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 883.46 TONNES

NOV 6 WITH GOLD DOWN $72.80 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.72 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/:. .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 886.91 TONNES

NOV 5 WITH GOLD UP $4.05 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:.// . // .///INVENTORY RESTS AT 888.63 TONNES

GLD INVENTORY: 873.95 TONNES, TONIGHTS TOTAL

SILVER

DEC 24 WITH SILVER UP 2 CENTS //NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 463.747 MILLION OZ

DEC 23 WITH SILVER UP 19 CENTS //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/////A DEPOSIT OF 6.15 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 463.747 MILLION OZ

DEC 20 WITH SILVER UP 43 CENTS //SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/////A DEPOSIT OF 183,000 OZ INTO THE SLV //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 457.597 MILLION OZ

DEC 19 WITH SILVER DOWN 25 CENTS //NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV///// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 457.414 MILLION OZ

DEC 18 WITH SILVER DOWN 19 CENTS //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.094 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV/// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 457.414 MILLION OZ

DEC 17 WITH SILVER DOWN 12 CENTS //SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A DEPOSIT OF 0.456 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV/// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 458.052 MILLION OZ

DEC 16 WITH SILVER DOWN 0 CENTS //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.84 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV/// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 458.052 MILLION OZ

DEC 13 WITH SILVER DOWN 46 CENTS //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A WITHDRAWAL OF .536 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV/// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 462.892 MILLION OZ

DEC 12 WITH SILVER DOWN 94 CENTS //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 5.787 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV/// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 463.428 MILLION OZ

DEC 11 WITH SILVER UP 10 CENTS //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 2.597 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV/// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 469.215 MILLION OZ

DEC 10 WITH SILVER DOWN 8 CENTS //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 1.868 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV/// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 471.812 MILLION OZ

DEC 9 WITH SILVER UP $0.91 //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 1.367 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV/// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 473.680 MILLION OZ

DEC 6 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.00 //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A MASSIVE DEPOSIT OF 4.329 MILLION OZ/// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 475.047 MILLION OZ

DEC 5 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.23 //NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV” /// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 470.718 MILLION OZ

DEC 4 WITH SILVER UP 26 CENTS //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV”: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.206 MILLION OZ FORM THE SLV. /// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 470.718 MILLION OZ

DEC 3 WITH SILVER UP 59 CENTS //NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV /// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 472.924 MILLION OZ

DEC 2 WITH SILVER DOWN 19 CENTS //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV. A WITHDRAWAL OF 1,458,000 OZ FROM THE SLV. /// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 472.924 MILLION OZ

NOV 29 WITH SILVER UP 51 CENTS //SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV. A WITHDRAWAL OF 365,000 OZ FROM THE SLV. /// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 474.382 MILLION OZ

NOV 27 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.25 //NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV.. /// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 474.747 MILLION OZ

NOV 26 WITH SILVER UP $0.10 //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:.A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.094 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV./.. /// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 474.747 MILLION OZ

NOV 25 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.96 //NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:. . /// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 475.841 MILLION OZ

NOV 22 WITH SILVER UP $0.40 //NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:. . /// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 475.841 MILLION OZ

NOV 21 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.06 //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.729 MILLION OZ FORM THE SLV. . /// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 475.841 MILLION OZ

NOV 20 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.22 //NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: . /// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 477.572 MILLION OZ

NOV 19 WITH SILVER UP $0.10 //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A DEPOSIT OF 5,742,000 OZ INTO THE SLV. /// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 477..572 MILLION OZ

NOV 18 WITH SILVER UP $0.68 //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A DEPOSIT OF 1,277,000 OZ INTO THE SLV. /// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 471,830 MILLION OZ

NOV 15 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.09 //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 3,100,000 OZ OUT OF THE SLV. /// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 471,830 MILLION OZ 

NOV 14 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.07 //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 1,504,000 OZ OUT OF THE SLV. /// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 473.653 MILLION OZ

NOV 13 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.16 //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 1,274,000 OZ OUT OF THE SLV. /// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 475.157 MILLION OZ

NOV 12 WITH SILVER UP $0.16 //SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 576,000 OZ INTO THE SLV. /// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 476.000 MILLION OZ

NOV 11 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.79 //SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 374,000 OZ INTO THE SLV. /// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 477.527 MILLION OZ

NOV 8 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.43 //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A DEPOSIT OF 2.005 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV. /// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 477.846 MILLION OZ

NOV 7 WITH SILVER UP $0.11 //NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: /// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 475.841 MILLION OZ

NOV 6 WITH SILVER DOWN $1.41 //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.692 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV/.//// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 475.841 MILLION OZ

NOV 5 WITH SILVER UP 0.18 :SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.109 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV/.//// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 479,533 MILLION OZ

CLOSING INVENTORY 463.747 MILLION OZ//

PHYSICAL GOLD/SILVER COMMENTARIES

1/ PETER SCHIFF/SCHIFF GOLD/MIKE MAHARRY

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

Alasdair Macleod

3. CHRIS POWELL AND GATA DISPATCHES

El Salvador lawmakers overturn mining ban

Submitted by admin on Mon, 2024-12-23 17:21 Section: Daily Dispatches

By Thomas Graham
Financial Times, London
Monday, December 23, 2024

El Salvador’s congress overturned a blanket ban on metal mining in a bid to find new sources of economic growth, handing a win to President Nayib Bukele despite criticism over the measure from environmental and religious groups.

The ban, which was the first of its kind in the world, was introduced in 2017 to protect the country’s water resources. Bukele, who came to power in 2019, described it as “absurd.”

Bukele’s party and its allies hold 57 of 60 seats in the legislature, and all 57 voted to overturn the ban while giving the Salvadoran government sole authority over mining activities.

In his second term, Bukele — one of the region’s most popular, if controversial, leaders — has focused on reviving El Salvador’s economy and seeking foreign investment. He has claimed that El Salvador sits on gold reserves potentially worth $3 trillion, citing an undisclosed study, although that has been treated with skepticism by experts. …

… For the remainder of the report:

https://www.ft.com/content/ce1e23de-de49-4754-9111-e54d5a71940

4. OTHER GOLD COMMENTARIES/

END

ANDREW MAGUIRE AND ALASDAIR MACLEOD//LIVE FROM THE VAULT 204

end

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

6 CRYPTOCURRENCY NEWS

Operation Choke Point 2.0: How The Feds Are Seeking To ‘Debank’ Targeted Industries

Tyler Durden's Photo

by Tyler Durden

Tuesday, Dec 24, 2024 – 02:30 PM

Via American Greatness,

A federal initiative that began during the Obama administration with the goal of debanking certain industries disfavored by federal officials has apparently been resurrected and is taking aim at cryptocurrencies.

Operation Choke Point was started by the U.S. Dept. of Justice in 2013 as a way to put pressure on banks to sever their ties, without due process, with legal businesses like gun dealers, cannabis dispensaries and payday lenders which the administration found objectionable.

That initiative was ended by President Trump in 2017 but under the Biden administration, it appears that Operation Choke Point 2.0 has begun with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) sending letters to U.S. banks in 2022, urging them to “pause all crypto-related activity.”

Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) told Fox Business that the regulatory abuse is real and that President-elect Trump will put an end to this type of regulatory abuse.

Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen recently described the practice of debanking as “a privatized sanctions regime” on The Joe Rogan Experience, saying, “There’s no rules, there’s no court, there’s no decision process, there’s no appeal. Who do you go to to get your bank account back?”

And if the tune of Operation Choke Point 2.0 sounds familiar, there are also familiar faces as well.

Palmetto State News reports that Michael Eakes is the founder of the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) and Self-Help Credit Union, which operates five credit unions in South Carolina and was also an inaugural member of the FDIC’s Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion when it was started in 2006.

Another member of the advisory committee is Michael Calhoun who is president of the Center for Responsible Lending and a former employee of Self-Help Credit Union.

According to the Washington Free Beacon:

“The FDIC’s efforts are part of a larger initiative involving the Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau called Operation Choke Point. The effort seeks to eliminate the ability of businesses that federal regulators deem distasteful, exploitative, or dangerous to obtain financing from major American banks.”

Former FDIC Chairman William Isaac told The Hill that Operation Choke Point, “is one of the most dangerous programs I have experienced in my 45 years of service as a bank regulator, bank attorney and consultant, and bank board member.”

A lawsuit filed by Coinbase uncovered letters sent by the FDIC in 2022 and 2023 urging financial institutions to “pause” crypto-related activities has revealed that Operation Choke Point 2.0 is being used to sidestep constitutional limits on the government’s power to exert direct political control over the crypto sector.

END

ASIA TRADING TUESDAY MORNING/MONDAY  NIGHT

SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 42.27 PTS OR 1.26%

//Hang Seng CLOSED UP 215.16 PTS OR 1.08%

// Nikkei CLOSED DOWN 124.49 OR 0.32%//Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP 0.22%///Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) CLOSED UP TO 7.3007 CHINESE YUAN OFFSHORE CLOSED UP TO 7.3015// Oil UP TO 69.76 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT UP AT 73.24 Stocks in Europe OPENED ALL MIXED

ONSHORE USA/ YUAN TRADING ABOVE LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN  TRADING STRONGER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE YUAN STRONGER

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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

ONSHORE YUAN:   CLOSED UP AT 7.3007

OFFSHORE YUAN: UP TO 7.3015

SHANGHAI CLOSED CLOSED UP 42.27 PTS OR 1.26%

HANG SENG CLOSED CLOSED UP 215.66 PTS OR 1.08%

2. Nikkei closed DOWN 124.49 PTS OR 0.32%

3. Europe stocks   SO FAR:  ALL MIXED

USA dollar INDEX UP TO  107.93 EURO FALLS TO 1.0390 DOWN 8 BASIS PTS

3b Japan 10 YR bond yield: RISES TO. +1.063 Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese YEN vs USA cross now at 157.16…… JAPANESE YEN NOW FALLING AS WE HAVE NOW REACHED THE RE EMERGING OF THE YEN CARRY TRADE AGAIN AFTER DISASTROUS POLICY ISSUED BY UEDA

3c Nikkei now  ABOVE 17,000

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

3e Gold DOWN /JAPANESE Yen UP CHINESE ONSHORE YUAN: UP OFFSHORE: UP

3f Japan is to buy INFINITE  TRILLION YEN worth of BONDS. Japan’s GDP equals 5 trillion USA

Japan to buy 100% of all new Japanese debt and NOW they will have OVER 50% of all Japanese debt.

3g Oil UP for WTI and DOWN FOR UP this morning

3h European bond buying continues to push yields lower on all fronts in the EMU. German 10yr bund YIELD UP TO +2.3210 Italian 10 Yr bond yield UP to 3.494 //SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD UP TO 3.002

3i Greek 10 year bond yield UP TO 3.194

3j Gold at $2613.75/Silver at: 29.65  1 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $50.00//AFTER 28.40

3k USA vs Russian rouble;// Russian rouble UP 0 AND 22/100  roubles/dollar; ROUBLE AT 99.99

3m oil into the 69 dollar handle for WTI and  73 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 157.16  10 YEAR YIELD AFTER FIRST BREAKING .54% LAST YEAR NOW EXCEEDS THAT LEVEL TO 1.063% STILL ON CENTRAL BANK (JAPAN) INTERVENTION//YEN CARRY TRADE IS NOW UNWINDING.

30 SNB (Swiss National Bank) still intervening again in the markets driving down the FRANC. It is not working: USA/SF this 0.9001 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF:   0.9357  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: 4.619 UP 2 BASIS PTS…

USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 4.800 UP 2 BASIS PTS/

USA 2 YR BOND YIELD:  4.353 UP 1 BASIS PTS

USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 35.25…

10 YR UK BOND YIELD: 4.6485 UP 7 PTS

10 YR CANADA BOND YIELD: 3.334 UP 4 BASIS PTS

5 YR CANADA BOND YIELD: 3.087 UP 3 PTS.

2a New York OPENING REPORT

Futures Flat With Many Markets Around The World Closed

Tuesday, Dec 24, 2024 – 08:26 AM

US equity futures traded flat in muted pre-holiday trading, signaling another subdued open on Wall Street after Monday’s tech-led rally. As of 8:00am, contracts on the S&P 500 gained about 0.1% and those on the Nasdaq 100 were 0.2% higher. American Airlines shares fell as much as 5.5% in premarket trading after the company grounded all flights nationwide, however the stock then rebounded after the grounding was promptly lifted. European bourses, at least those that are open, and Asian markets both gained. 10Y yields rose 2 basis points to trade above 4.60% for the first time since May, while the US dollar also gained. Oil was flat and bitcoin reversed some of yesterday’s losses. It’s a quiet calendar with just the Richmond Fed mfg index and the Philadelphia Fed non-mfg activity update.

In premarket trading, American Airlines shares fall 3.1% after the company grounded all flights nationwide, according to an FAA advisory. Arcadium Lithium shares gain 4% after the chemicals company said it obtained all shareholder approvals for a proposed acquisition by Rio Tinto. Chip stocks also rose following a strong session for the sector on Monday, and as US President Joe Biden’s administration launched a probe into Chinese-made chips. NeueHealth shares surged 61% after news of the health clinic company’s acquisition by New Enterprise Associates and other investors.

With just a few sessions left in 2024, the S&P 500 is on its way to record a stellar annual return and back-to-back years of more than 20% gains. The index has risen about 25% since the end of 2023 with the top seven biggest technology stocks accounting for more than half of the advance.

European stocks, by contrast, have lagged amid lackluster economic growth and political upheaval in France and Germany. The Stoxx 600 has dropped more than 4% since a September high, heading for its biggest quarterly loss in two years.

“The year is ending with a renewed strength in the US market, thanks to an increase in breadth,” said Alberto Tocchio, a portfolio manager at Kairos Partners. “The reality is that US growth has surprised everybody as it’s been very resilient, while unfortunately Europe is closing very downbeat as it still struggles to get some growth.”

European stocks follow Asian shares higher in subdued pre-holiday trading after a Wall Street rally fueled by megacap tech shares. All subindexes are up, with energy and travel and leisure leading the ascent. The Stoxx 600 added 0.3%, with many major markets closed including Germany, Switzerland and Italy; London, Amsterdam and Paris close early. France’s CAC40 is up 0.47%, and outperforming as investors seem to be taking well to the appointment of Eric Lombard as finance minister. Lombard is tasked with passing a 2025 budget and lowering the deficit. Prime Minister Bayrou said he aimed to reduce the country’s budget deficit to near 5%; he also provided a little relief in an interview following the appointment of the new cabinet saying the biggest companies shouldn’t take on all the burden of the deficit. China proxies in Europe are also finding a bit of support reports China plans more treasury issuances in 2025 with an emphasis on supporting the Chinese consumer. Among individual movers in Europe, Vistry Group plunged as much as 20% after the UK homebuilder lowered its earnings guidance for the third time in as many months. Renault shares rose as much as 1.9%. Oddo says the agreement between Nissan and Honda for a joint holding company is a positive for the French automaker, which is Nissan’s largest shareholder.

Earlier in the session, Asian stocks rose, with shares in Mainland China and Hong Kong among the best performers, while those in Japan were mixed. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose as much as 0.4%, with Alibaba and Samsung among the biggest boosts while Taiwan Semiconductor touched a new record high. Chinese stocks bounced after Reuters reported that policymakers are planning to sell 3 trillion yuan ($411 billion) in special treasury bonds in 2025, an increase from 1 trillion yuan this year. Honda Motor climbed as much as 14% after saying it will buy back as much as ¥1.1 trillion ($7 billion) of its stock. Nissan Motor shares slid as much as 7.3% in Tokyo after the company confirmed it’s in talks with Honda over a possible business integration. MSCI’s Asian equity benchmark is still headed for its first quarterly loss since September 2023, losing 6.8% over the period, even as the S&P 500 has risen 3.7%. Sentiment has soured in Asia in recent months due to concerns over higher global tariffs threatened by US President-elect Donald Trump, a stronger dollar and China’s lackluster economic recovery. Australian stocks edged higher after minutes from the central bank’s latest policy meeting showed it is more confident that inflation is moving toward its target, but will await additional data before making a decision on interest rates. Most Asian markets will be closed Wednesday except mainland China and Japan.

In Fx, Bloomberg’s gauge of the dollar was steady. The yen fluctuated amid meager volumes as Japanese finance minister Katsunobu Kato warned about excessive foreign-exchange moves.

In rates, treasuries extended Monday’s bear steepening move with yields cheaper by up to 2bp across the long-end, steepening 2s10s spread by an additional 1bp on the day and adding to Monday’s 3.5bp widening move. 10-year yields traded around 4.60%, cheaper by 1.5bp on the day with gilts lagging by an additional 4bp in the sector. Treasury spreads wider on the day, with the 2s10s topping at 26bp and just inside last week’s multi-month highs at 27.6bp. The US session includes early 11:30am New York 5-year note auction, which follows a decent 2-year result seen Monday. SIFMA recommend early 2pm New York close for the cash Treasuries market.

In commodities, oil climbed in subdued trading ahead of the holidays after a three-day selloff, with focus on a strengthening dollar and President-elect Donald Trump’s roiling of international politics. Gold edged higher.

Bitcoin is on the backfoot and holds around the USD 94k mark, whilst Ethereum edges higher after a run of losses this week.

US economic data calendar includes December Philadelphia Fed non-manufacturing activity (8:30am) and Richmond Fed manufacturing index (10am)

Market Snapshot

  • S&P 500 futures up 0.1% to 6,043.25
  • STOXX Europe 600 up 0.3% to 504.17
  • MXAP up 0.3% to 181.57
  • MXAPJ up 0.3% to 574.84
  • Nikkei down 0.3% to 39,036.85
  • Topix little changed at 2,727.26
  • Hang Seng Index up 1.1% to 20,098.29
  • Shanghai Composite up 1.3% to 3,393.53
  • Sensex down 0.1% to 78,458.10
  • Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 0.2% to 8,220.86
  • Kospi little changed at 2,440.52
  • Euro little changed at $1.0396
  • Brent Futures up 0.6% to $73.09/bbl
  • Gold spot up 0.1% to $2,615.21
  • US Dollar Index up 0.11% to 108.16

Top Overnight News

  • Fed announced it would soon seek comment on changes to bank stress tests to improve transparency and reduce volatility, a decision made due to the changing legal landscape, according to Reuters.
  • Japan Rolls Out More Yen Warnings as Market Liquidity Thins
  • Iran Oil Tycoon ‘Hector’ Plays Key Role in Arms Sales to Russia
  • China Mulls Record $411 Billion Special Bonds, Reuters Says
  • China Abruptly Changes Army General Overseeing Political Loyalty
  • Biden to Decide on US Steel Acquisition After Panel Deadlocks
  • Biden Team to Probe Chinese Chips, Setting Up Trump for Tariffs
  • Bill Clinton Admitted to DC Hospital After Developing a Fever
  • Fed Seeks to Smooth Capital Changes in Bank Stress Tests
  • Tesla cuts the price of Model Y in China by CNY 10k

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

APAC stocks traded mostly firmer in choppy trade following a similar session on Wall Street, where stocks experienced volatility with low volumes amid the Christmas period. ASX 200 swung between modest gains and losses with earlier downside led by gold miners. The ASX showed little reaction to RBA minutes, which offered no significant new information. Nikkei 225 was initially supported by recent JPY weakening, but gains were shortlived as USD/JPY slipped back to session lows and eventually under 157.00. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were firmer and outperformed regionally despite a lack of significant macro newsflow, although China convened a national fiscal work conference in Beijing, according to the Ministry of Finance, and said they will step up fiscal spending and accelerate spending speed in 2025.

Top Asian News

  • China’s video game regulator approves 122 (prev. 112 M/M) domestic online games in December; approves 13 imported online games.
  • Japanese PM Ishiba says will step up measures for increasing minimum wages. Adds that cabinet to approve fiscal 2025 budget on December 27.
  • Japan’s PM Ishiba will work to eliminate the public’s uncertainty about the future in order to “boost private consumption”
  • China is issuing a plan to encourage local gov’ts to introduce policies to bolster whole grain consumption, via State Media.
  • China and Japan’s Foreign Ministers will meet on Dec 25th, according to China’s Foreign Ministry.
  • South Korean Opposition Party is to propose the impeachment of acting President Han on Tuesday, via Yonhap.
  • South Korean Opposition Party lawmaker says will wait until later this week to decide whether to submit bill to impeach acting President Han.
  • China convened a national fiscal work conference in Beijing, according to the Ministry of Finance, and said they will step up fiscal spending and accelerate spending speed in 2025. Fiscal spending will focus more on people’s livelihood and boosting consumption. The government will arrange a larger scale of government bonds to provide more support for stabilising growth and will make efforts to fend off risks in key areas. Additionally, it will further increase transfer payments to local governments to strengthen their financial capacity and support the expansion of domestic demand. Plans include appropriately increasing the basic pensions for retirees and raising the basic pensions for urban and rural residents. Furthermore, China will improve tariff policies and deepen cooperation with ‘Belt and Road’ countries.
  • Chinese authorities agreed to issue CNY 3tln in special bonds in 2025 (vs CNY 1tln in 2024), according to Reuters sources; part of proceeds will be use to recapitalise some large state-owned banks. Plans to use proceeds for consumer goods and industrial equipment trade-in schemes among others.
  • Japanese Finance Minister Kato said it is important for currencies to move in a stable manner reflecting fundamentals, noting that there have recently been one-sided, sharp FX moves and expressing concern about recent FX moves. He stated that Japan will continue to coordinate with overseas authorities on forex policies and will take appropriate action against excessive moves, according to Reuters.
  • High-level government review board has told White House it is unable to reach consensus on national security risks involved in Nippon Steel’s (5401 JT) acquisition of US Steel (X), according to WaPo. White House spokesperson then said they received the CFIUS evaluation and the President will review it, according to Reuters.
  • BoK said it would deploy market stabilising measures should FX volatility increase and noted that the pace of household debt might rise with the easing of policy rates, according to Reuters.

European bourses, Stoxx 600 +0.3% are slightly firmer today, in holiday-thinned conditions and with newsflow light. European sectors hold a strong positive bias, in-fitting with the sentiment seen in Europe. Travel & Leisure takes the top spot, paring some of the hefty losses seen in the prior session. Insurance is found at the bottom of the pile, joined closely by Consumer Products and Services. US equity futures are mixed and lack any firm direction, ultimately trading on either side of the unchanged mark.

Top European News

  • Vistry Shares Plunge on Third Profit Warning From Homebuilder
  • Turkish Officials To Examine Syria’s Energy Infrastructure: Govt
  • UK, French Stocks Rise in Thin Christmas Eve Trade; Vistry Sinks
  • Germany Set For Wind Lull This Week With Low Holiday Demand

Central banks

  • RBA Minutes (December meeting): Policy needed to be “sufficiently restrictive” until confidence on inflation was achieved. The Board had gained confidence on inflation since the prior meeting, but risks remained. Members noted that the Board had minimal tolerance for inflation remaining above target for too long. They stated that future data in line with or weaker than forecasts would give more confidence on inflation, at which point it would be appropriate to begin relaxing the degree of policy tightness. However, if data proved stronger than expected, it could indicate a longer period before easing policy. The Board observed signs that policy was not as restrictive as the current cash rate level would suggest. The labour market was resilient, while service inflation remained more persistent. Wages had slowed more than expected, potentially indicating that the labour market was not as tight as previously thought. Monthly CPI data suggested a modest downside risk to Q4 inflation forecasts. Additionally, upside inflation risks had diminished, while downside risks to economic activity had grown. The Board noted that more data and updated forecasts would be available by the February meeting. Members also stated that it was not possible to judge the impact of Trump’s policies on Australia until more details were known.
  • BoJ October meeting minutes (two meetings ago): A few members said they must scrutinise the impact of the past interest rate hike on the economy and prices when deciding policy. One member said they must take time and be cautious when deciding on the timing of the next rate hike. Members shared the view that the BoJ would keep raising rates if the economy and prices moved in line with its forecast. Additionally, one member noted that it was desirable to gradually raise rates if underlying inflation accelerated as projected. Another member pointed out that market rates could be lower than levels considered appropriate based on the BoJ’s economic and price projections, as well as its guidance on monetary policy. Meanwhile, one member stated that it was hard to indicate with confidence the BoJ’s medium- to long-term rate hike path due to uncertainty over Japan’s neutral rate level and the transmission mechanism of monetary policy.

FX

  • DXY is essentially flat and trading towards the upper end of a very tight 108.05-20 range, amid holiday-thinned conditions and ahead of Richmond Fed Index and US supply.
  • EUR is incrementally on the backfoot and dipped just below the 1.04 mark in early European trade; confines for today at 1.0389-1.0410.
  • GBP/USD has traded sideways in a very tight 1.2526-45 range, showing little momentum after reaching a broader 1.2526-1.2575 range earlier in the week.
  • JPY is incrementally firmer thus far, but has traded sideways in the EU session. Overnight markets digested jawboning from Finance Minister Kato, which led the USD/JPY below 157.00; a level which has since been reclaimed. Japanese PM Ishiba said he will step up measures for increasing minimum wages; comments which sparked little move in the pair.
  • Antipodeans are ever so slightly on the backfoot, with the Aussie unresponsive to RBA minutes. The minutes expressed confidence in inflation but cautioned that stronger-than-expected data could prolong the period before easing. AUD/USD and NZD/USD are tucked within yesterday’s respective 0.6218-46 and 0.5632-66 ranges.
  • PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1876 vs exp. 7.3031 (prev. 7.1870)
  • RBI likely sold USD to limit INR fall, according to traders cited by Reuters.

Fixed Income

  • Gilts opened lower by two ticks but has since slipped slightly to a 92.19 trough in thin conditions with newsflow essentially non-existent for the UK. In a 92.07-46 band, which takes Gilts below the 92.18 base from last Friday and below that the 91.87 contract trough from last Thursday as Gilts reacted to the FOMC from the night before.
  • USTs are essentially flat in an extremely narrow 108-16 to 108-19+ band while the curve is, at the margin, steepening. As above, catalysts are light though the docket ahead includes a 2yr FRN and a 5yr Note auction. Ahead, it remains to be seen if any concession emerges into the US supply.

Commodities

  • WTI and Brent began the European morning on a firmer footing and continued to inch a little higher; recent geopolitical updates suggest an Israel-Hamas deal may not be as imminent as previously anticipated. Additionally, Israeli press floated the possibility of troops remaining in Southern Lebanon longer than agreed under a separate deal. Brent’Feb 25 at the top end of the day’s range at around USD 73.20/bbl.
  • Spot gold is on a slightly firmer footing and holds at the upper end of a tight USD 2612-2621/oz range; price action thus far has been very rangebound.
  • 3M LME copper is on a firmer footing today, but still somewhat off the USD 9K mark (currently USD 8,972), in-fitting with the risk-tone and versus mostly subdued overnight price action.

US Event Calendar

  • 08:30: Dec. Philadelphia Fed Non-Manufactu, prior -5.9
  • 10:00: Dec. Richmond Fed Index, est. -10, prior -14
  • 10:00: Dec. Richmond Fed Business Condition, prior 10

END

2B) EUROPEAN REPORT

US futures modestly higher, USTs edge lower ahead of supply – Newsquawk US Market Open

Newsquawk Logo

Tuesday, Dec 24, 2024 – 04:05 AM

  • Stoxx 600 edges a little higher, US futures trade either side of the unchanged mark.
  • DXY is essentially flat with price action ultimately rangebound in quiet newsflow.
  • USTs are slightly softer ahead of US supply; Bunds are closed for trade.
  • Crude oil holds an upward bias, base metals are modestly firmer.
  • Looking ahead, Richmond Fed Index and supply from the US.

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EUROPEAN TRADE

EQUITIES

  • European bourses, Stoxx 600 +0.3% are slightly firmer today, in holiday-thinned conditions and with newsflow light.
  • European sectors hold a strong positive bias, in-fitting with the sentiment seen in Europe. Travel & Leisure takes the top spot, paring some of the hefty losses seen in the prior session. Insurance is found at the bottom of the pile, joined closely by Consumer Products and Services.
  • US equity futures are mixed and lack any firm direction, ultimately trading on either side of the unchanged mark.
  • Click for the sessions European pre-market equity newsflow
  • Click for the additional news
  • Click for a detailed summary

FX

  • DXY is essentially flat and trading towards the upper end of a very tight 108.05-20 range, amid holiday-thinned conditions and ahead of Richmond Fed Index and US supply.
  • EUR is incrementally on the backfoot and dipped just below the 1.04 mark in early European trade; confines for today at 1.0389-1.0410.
  • GBP/USD has traded sideways in a very tight 1.2526-45 range, showing little momentum after reaching a broader 1.2526-1.2575 range earlier in the week.
  • JPY is incrementally firmer thus far, but has traded sideways in the EU session. Overnight markets digested jawboning from Finance Minister Kato, which led the USD/JPY below 157.00; a level which has since been reclaimed. Japanese PM Ishiba said he will step up measures for increasing minimum wages; comments which sparked little move in the pair.
  • Antipodeans are ever so slightly on the backfoot, with the Aussie unresponsive to RBA minutes. The minutes expressed confidence in inflation but cautioned that stronger-than-expected data could prolong the period before easing. AUD/USD and NZD/USD are tucked within yesterday’s respective 0.6218-46 and 0.5632-66 ranges.
  • PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1876 vs exp. 7.3031 (prev. 7.1870)
  • RBI likely sold USD to limit INR fall, according to traders cited by Reuters.
  • Click for a detailed summary
  • Click for NY OpEx Details

FIXED INCOME

  • Gilts opened lower by two ticks but has since slipped slightly to a 92.19 trough in thin conditions with newsflow essentially non-existent for the UK. In a 92.07-46 band, which takes Gilts below the 92.18 base from last Friday and below that the 91.87 contract trough from last Thursday as Gilts reacted to the FOMC from the night before.
  • USTs are essentially flat in an extremely narrow 108-16 to 108-19+ band while the curve is, at the margin, steepening. As above, catalysts are light though the docket ahead includes a 2yr FRN and a 5yr Note auction. Ahead, it remains to be seen if any concession emerges into the US supply.
  • Click for a detailed summary

COMMODITIES

  • WTI and Brent began the European morning on a firmer footing and continued to inch a little higher; recent geopolitical updates suggest an Israel-Hamas deal may not be as imminent as previously anticipated. Additionally, Israeli press floated the possibility of troops remaining in Southern Lebanon longer than agreed under a separate deal. Brent’Feb 25 at the top end of the day’s range at around USD 73.20/bbl.
  • Spot gold is on a slightly firmer footing and holds at the upper end of a tight USD 2612-2621/oz range; price action thus far has been very rangebound.
  • 3M LME copper is on a firmer footing today, but still somewhat off the USD 9K mark (currently USD 8,972), in-fitting with the risk-tone and versus mostly subdued overnight price action.
  • Click for a detailed summary

NOTABLE US HEADLINES

  • Fed announced it would soon seek comment on changes to bank stress tests to improve transparency and reduce volatility, a decision made due to the changing legal landscape, according to Reuters.
  • Tesla (TSLA) cuts the price of Model Y in China by CNY 10k

GEOPOLITICS

MIDDLE EAST

  • “Jerusalem Post: The slow deployment of the Lebanese army in the south may push the Israeli army to remain in southern Lebanon after the end of the 60-day period”, according to Sky News Arabia.
  • “Israeli source: There is no real progress in negotiations with Hamas, but they continue”, according to Sky News Arabia.
  • US military said it conducted an airstrike in Syria, killing two ISIS operatives and wounding one, according to Reuters.

CRYPTO

  • Bitcoin is on the backfoot and holds around the USD 94k mark, whilst Ethereum edges higher after a run of losses this week.

CENTRAL BANKS

  • RBA Minutes (December meeting): Policy needed to be “sufficiently restrictive” until confidence on inflation was achieved. The Board had gained confidence on inflation since the prior meeting, but risks remained. Members noted that the Board had minimal tolerance for inflation remaining above target for too long. They stated that future data in line with or weaker than forecasts would give more confidence on inflation, at which point it would be appropriate to begin relaxing the degree of policy tightness. However, if data proved stronger than expected, it could indicate a longer period before easing policy. The Board observed signs that policy was not as restrictive as the current cash rate level would suggest. The labour market was resilient, while service inflation remained more persistent. Wages had slowed more than expected, potentially indicating that the labour market was not as tight as previously thought. Monthly CPI data suggested a modest downside risk to Q4 inflation forecasts. Additionally, upside inflation risks had diminished, while downside risks to economic activity had grown. The Board noted that more data and updated forecasts would be available by the February meeting. Members also stated that it was not possible to judge the impact of Trump’s policies on Australia until more details were known.
  • BoJ October meeting minutes (two meetings ago): A few members said they must scrutinise the impact of the past interest rate hike on the economy and prices when deciding policy. One member said they must take time and be cautious when deciding on the timing of the next rate hike. Members shared the view that the BoJ would keep raising rates if the economy and prices moved in line with its forecast. Additionally, one member noted that it was desirable to gradually raise rates if underlying inflation accelerated as projected. Another member pointed out that market rates could be lower than levels considered appropriate based on the BoJ’s economic and price projections, as well as its guidance on monetary policy. Meanwhile, one member stated that it was hard to indicate with confidence the BoJ’s medium- to long-term rate hike path due to uncertainty over Japan’s neutral rate level and the transmission mechanism of monetary policy.

LATAM

  • El Salvador’s congress passed the President’s bill to overturn a ban on metals mining, granting the government the sole authorisation to explore, exploit, extract, and process mining resources, according to Reuters.
  • BCB announced a spot dollar auction of up to USD 3bln for December 26th, according to a statement.

APAC TRADE

  • APAC stocks traded mostly firmer in choppy trade following a similar session on Wall Street, where stocks experienced volatility with low volumes amid the Christmas period.
  • ASX 200 swung between modest gains and losses with earlier downside led by gold miners. The ASX showed little reaction to RBA minutes, which offered no significant new information.
  • Nikkei 225 was initially supported by recent JPY weakening, but gains were shortlived as USD/JPY slipped back to session lows and eventually under 157.00.
  • Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were firmer and outperformed regionally despite a lack of significant macro newsflow, although China convened a national fiscal work conference in Beijing, according to the Ministry of Finance, and said they will step up fiscal spending and accelerate spending speed in 2025.

NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES

  • China’s video game regulator approves 122 (prev. 112 M/M) domestic online games in December; approves 13 imported online games.
  • Japanese PM Ishiba says will step up measures for increasing minimum wages. Adds that cabinet to approve fiscal 2025 budget on December 27.
  • Japan’s PM Ishiba will work to eliminate the public’s uncertainty about the future in order to “boost private consumption”
  • China is issuing a plan to encourage local gov’ts to introduce policies to bolster whole grain consumption, via State Media.
  • China and Japan’s Foreign Ministers will meet on Dec 25th, according to China’s Foreign Ministry.
  • South Korean Opposition Party is to propose the impeachment of acting President Han on Tuesday, via Yonhap.
  • South Korean Opposition Party lawmaker says will wait until later this week to decide whether to submit bill to impeach acting President Han.
  • China convened a national fiscal work conference in Beijing, according to the Ministry of Finance, and said they will step up fiscal spending and accelerate spending speed in 2025. Fiscal spending will focus more on people’s livelihood and boosting consumption. The government will arrange a larger scale of government bonds to provide more support for stabilising growth and will make efforts to fend off risks in key areas. Additionally, it will further increase transfer payments to local governments to strengthen their financial capacity and support the expansion of domestic demand. Plans include appropriately increasing the basic pensions for retirees and raising the basic pensions for urban and rural residents. Furthermore, China will improve tariff policies and deepen cooperation with ‘Belt and Road’ countries.
  • Chinese authorities agreed to issue CNY 3tln in special bonds in 2025 (vs CNY 1tln in 2024), according to Reuters sources; part of proceeds will be use to recapitalise some large state-owned banks. Plans to use proceeds for consumer goods and industrial equipment trade-in schemes among others.
  • Japanese Finance Minister Kato said it is important for currencies to move in a stable manner reflecting fundamentals, noting that there have recently been one-sided, sharp FX moves and expressing concern about recent FX moves. He stated that Japan will continue to coordinate with overseas authorities on forex policies and will take appropriate action against excessive moves, according to Reuters.
  • High-level government review board has told White House it is unable to reach consensus on national security risks involved in Nippon Steel’s (5401 JT) acquisition of US Steel (X), according to WaPo. White House spokesperson then said they received the CFIUS evaluation and the President will review it, according to Reuters.
  • BoK said it would deploy market stabilising measures should FX volatility increase and noted that the pace of household debt might rise with the easing of policy rates, according to Reuters.

DATA RECAP

  • South Korean Consumer Sentiment Ind (Dec) 88.4 (Prev. 100.7).

Futures Flat With Many Markets Around The World Closed

Tuesday, Dec 24, 2024 – 08:26 AM

US equity futures traded flat in muted pre-holiday trading, signaling another subdued open on Wall Street after Monday’s tech-led rally. As of 8:00am, contracts on the S&P 500 gained about 0.1% and those on the Nasdaq 100 were 0.2% higher. American Airlines shares fell as much as 5.5% in premarket trading after the company grounded all flights nationwide, however the stock then rebounded after the grounding was promptly lifted. European bourses, at least those that are open, and Asian markets both gained. 10Y yields rose 2 basis points to trade above 4.60% for the first time since May, while the US dollar also gained. Oil was flat and bitcoin reversed some of yesterday’s losses. It’s a quiet calendar with just the Richmond Fed mfg index and the Philadelphia Fed non-mfg activity update.

In premarket trading, American Airlines shares fall 3.1% after the company grounded all flights nationwide, according to an FAA advisory. Arcadium Lithium shares gain 4% after the chemicals company said it obtained all shareholder approvals for a proposed acquisition by Rio Tinto. Chip stocks also rose following a strong session for the sector on Monday, and as US President Joe Biden’s administration launched a probe into Chinese-made chips. NeueHealth shares surged 61% after news of the health clinic company’s acquisition by New Enterprise Associates and other investors.

With just a few sessions left in 2024, the S&P 500 is on its way to record a stellar annual return and back-to-back years of more than 20% gains. The index has risen about 25% since the end of 2023 with the top seven biggest technology stocks accounting for more than half of the advance.

European stocks, by contrast, have lagged amid lackluster economic growth and political upheaval in France and Germany. The Stoxx 600 has dropped more than 4% since a September high, heading for its biggest quarterly loss in two years.

“The year is ending with a renewed strength in the US market, thanks to an increase in breadth,” said Alberto Tocchio, a portfolio manager at Kairos Partners. “The reality is that US growth has surprised everybody as it’s been very resilient, while unfortunately Europe is closing very downbeat as it still struggles to get some growth.”

European stocks follow Asian shares higher in subdued pre-holiday trading after a Wall Street rally fueled by megacap tech shares. All subindexes are up, with energy and travel and leisure leading the ascent. The Stoxx 600 added 0.3%, with many major markets closed including Germany, Switzerland and Italy; London, Amsterdam and Paris close early. France’s CAC40 is up 0.47%, and outperforming as investors seem to be taking well to the appointment of Eric Lombard as finance minister. Lombard is tasked with passing a 2025 budget and lowering the deficit. Prime Minister Bayrou said he aimed to reduce the country’s budget deficit to near 5%; he also provided a little relief in an interview following the appointment of the new cabinet saying the biggest companies shouldn’t take on all the burden of the deficit. China proxies in Europe are also finding a bit of support reports China plans more treasury issuances in 2025 with an emphasis on supporting the Chinese consumer. Among individual movers in Europe, Vistry Group plunged as much as 20% after the UK homebuilder lowered its earnings guidance for the third time in as many months. Renault shares rose as much as 1.9%. Oddo says the agreement between Nissan and Honda for a joint holding company is a positive for the French automaker, which is Nissan’s largest shareholder.

Earlier in the session, Asian stocks rose, with shares in Mainland China and Hong Kong among the best performers, while those in Japan were mixed. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose as much as 0.4%, with Alibaba and Samsung among the biggest boosts while Taiwan Semiconductor touched a new record high. Chinese stocks bounced after Reuters reported that policymakers are planning to sell 3 trillion yuan ($411 billion) in special treasury bonds in 2025, an increase from 1 trillion yuan this year. Honda Motor climbed as much as 14% after saying it will buy back as much as ¥1.1 trillion ($7 billion) of its stock. Nissan Motor shares slid as much as 7.3% in Tokyo after the company confirmed it’s in talks with Honda over a possible business integration. MSCI’s Asian equity benchmark is still headed for its first quarterly loss since September 2023, losing 6.8% over the period, even as the S&P 500 has risen 3.7%. Sentiment has soured in Asia in recent months due to concerns over higher global tariffs threatened by US President-elect Donald Trump, a stronger dollar and China’s lackluster economic recovery. Australian stocks edged higher after minutes from the central bank’s latest policy meeting showed it is more confident that inflation is moving toward its target, but will await additional data before making a decision on interest rates. Most Asian markets will be closed Wednesday except mainland China and Japan.

In Fx, Bloomberg’s gauge of the dollar was steady. The yen fluctuated amid meager volumes as Japanese finance minister Katsunobu Kato warned about excessive foreign-exchange moves.

In rates, treasuries extended Monday’s bear steepening move with yields cheaper by up to 2bp across the long-end, steepening 2s10s spread by an additional 1bp on the day and adding to Monday’s 3.5bp widening move. 10-year yields traded around 4.60%, cheaper by 1.5bp on the day with gilts lagging by an additional 4bp in the sector. Treasury spreads wider on the day, with the 2s10s topping at 26bp and just inside last week’s multi-month highs at 27.6bp. The US session includes early 11:30am New York 5-year note auction, which follows a decent 2-year result seen Monday. SIFMA recommend early 2pm New York close for the cash Treasuries market.

In commodities, oil climbed in subdued trading ahead of the holidays after a three-day selloff, with focus on a strengthening dollar and President-elect Donald Trump’s roiling of international politics. Gold edged higher.

Bitcoin is on the backfoot and holds around the USD 94k mark, whilst Ethereum edges higher after a run of losses this week.

US economic data calendar includes December Philadelphia Fed non-manufacturing activity (8:30am) and Richmond Fed manufacturing index (10am)

Market Snapshot

  • S&P 500 futures up 0.1% to 6,043.25
  • STOXX Europe 600 up 0.3% to 504.17
  • MXAP up 0.3% to 181.57
  • MXAPJ up 0.3% to 574.84
  • Nikkei down 0.3% to 39,036.85
  • Topix little changed at 2,727.26
  • Hang Seng Index up 1.1% to 20,098.29
  • Shanghai Composite up 1.3% to 3,393.53
  • Sensex down 0.1% to 78,458.10
  • Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 0.2% to 8,220.86
  • Kospi little changed at 2,440.52
  • Euro little changed at $1.0396
  • Brent Futures up 0.6% to $73.09/bbl
  • Gold spot up 0.1% to $2,615.21
  • US Dollar Index up 0.11% to 108.16

Top Overnight News

  • Fed announced it would soon seek comment on changes to bank stress tests to improve transparency and reduce volatility, a decision made due to the changing legal landscape, according to Reuters.
  • Japan Rolls Out More Yen Warnings as Market Liquidity Thins
  • Iran Oil Tycoon ‘Hector’ Plays Key Role in Arms Sales to Russia
  • China Mulls Record $411 Billion Special Bonds, Reuters Says
  • China Abruptly Changes Army General Overseeing Political Loyalty
  • Biden to Decide on US Steel Acquisition After Panel Deadlocks
  • Biden Team to Probe Chinese Chips, Setting Up Trump for Tariffs
  • Bill Clinton Admitted to DC Hospital After Developing a Fever
  • Fed Seeks to Smooth Capital Changes in Bank Stress Tests
  • Tesla cuts the price of Model Y in China by CNY 10k

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

APAC stocks traded mostly firmer in choppy trade following a similar session on Wall Street, where stocks experienced volatility with low volumes amid the Christmas period. ASX 200 swung between modest gains and losses with earlier downside led by gold miners. The ASX showed little reaction to RBA minutes, which offered no significant new information. Nikkei 225 was initially supported by recent JPY weakening, but gains were shortlived as USD/JPY slipped back to session lows and eventually under 157.00. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were firmer and outperformed regionally despite a lack of significant macro newsflow, although China convened a national fiscal work conference in Beijing, according to the Ministry of Finance, and said they will step up fiscal spending and accelerate spending speed in 2025.

Top Asian News

  • China’s video game regulator approves 122 (prev. 112 M/M) domestic online games in December; approves 13 imported online games.
  • Japanese PM Ishiba says will step up measures for increasing minimum wages. Adds that cabinet to approve fiscal 2025 budget on December 27.
  • Japan’s PM Ishiba will work to eliminate the public’s uncertainty about the future in order to “boost private consumption”
  • China is issuing a plan to encourage local gov’ts to introduce policies to bolster whole grain consumption, via State Media.
  • China and Japan’s Foreign Ministers will meet on Dec 25th, according to China’s Foreign Ministry.
  • South Korean Opposition Party is to propose the impeachment of acting President Han on Tuesday, via Yonhap.
  • South Korean Opposition Party lawmaker says will wait until later this week to decide whether to submit bill to impeach acting President Han.
  • China convened a national fiscal work conference in Beijing, according to the Ministry of Finance, and said they will step up fiscal spending and accelerate spending speed in 2025. Fiscal spending will focus more on people’s livelihood and boosting consumption. The government will arrange a larger scale of government bonds to provide more support for stabilising growth and will make efforts to fend off risks in key areas. Additionally, it will further increase transfer payments to local governments to strengthen their financial capacity and support the expansion of domestic demand. Plans include appropriately increasing the basic pensions for retirees and raising the basic pensions for urban and rural residents. Furthermore, China will improve tariff policies and deepen cooperation with ‘Belt and Road’ countries.
  • Chinese authorities agreed to issue CNY 3tln in special bonds in 2025 (vs CNY 1tln in 2024), according to Reuters sources; part of proceeds will be use to recapitalise some large state-owned banks. Plans to use proceeds for consumer goods and industrial equipment trade-in schemes among others.
  • Japanese Finance Minister Kato said it is important for currencies to move in a stable manner reflecting fundamentals, noting that there have recently been one-sided, sharp FX moves and expressing concern about recent FX moves. He stated that Japan will continue to coordinate with overseas authorities on forex policies and will take appropriate action against excessive moves, according to Reuters.
  • High-level government review board has told White House it is unable to reach consensus on national security risks involved in Nippon Steel’s (5401 JT) acquisition of US Steel (X), according to WaPo. White House spokesperson then said they received the CFIUS evaluation and the President will review it, according to Reuters.
  • BoK said it would deploy market stabilising measures should FX volatility increase and noted that the pace of household debt might rise with the easing of policy rates, according to Reuters.

European bourses, Stoxx 600 +0.3% are slightly firmer today, in holiday-thinned conditions and with newsflow light. European sectors hold a strong positive bias, in-fitting with the sentiment seen in Europe. Travel & Leisure takes the top spot, paring some of the hefty losses seen in the prior session. Insurance is found at the bottom of the pile, joined closely by Consumer Products and Services. US equity futures are mixed and lack any firm direction, ultimately trading on either side of the unchanged mark.

Top European News

  • Vistry Shares Plunge on Third Profit Warning From Homebuilder
  • Turkish Officials To Examine Syria’s Energy Infrastructure: Govt
  • UK, French Stocks Rise in Thin Christmas Eve Trade; Vistry Sinks
  • Germany Set For Wind Lull This Week With Low Holiday Demand

Central banks

  • RBA Minutes (December meeting): Policy needed to be “sufficiently restrictive” until confidence on inflation was achieved. The Board had gained confidence on inflation since the prior meeting, but risks remained. Members noted that the Board had minimal tolerance for inflation remaining above target for too long. They stated that future data in line with or weaker than forecasts would give more confidence on inflation, at which point it would be appropriate to begin relaxing the degree of policy tightness. However, if data proved stronger than expected, it could indicate a longer period before easing policy. The Board observed signs that policy was not as restrictive as the current cash rate level would suggest. The labour market was resilient, while service inflation remained more persistent. Wages had slowed more than expected, potentially indicating that the labour market was not as tight as previously thought. Monthly CPI data suggested a modest downside risk to Q4 inflation forecasts. Additionally, upside inflation risks had diminished, while downside risks to economic activity had grown. The Board noted that more data and updated forecasts would be available by the February meeting. Members also stated that it was not possible to judge the impact of Trump’s policies on Australia until more details were known.
  • BoJ October meeting minutes (two meetings ago): A few members said they must scrutinise the impact of the past interest rate hike on the economy and prices when deciding policy. One member said they must take time and be cautious when deciding on the timing of the next rate hike. Members shared the view that the BoJ would keep raising rates if the economy and prices moved in line with its forecast. Additionally, one member noted that it was desirable to gradually raise rates if underlying inflation accelerated as projected. Another member pointed out that market rates could be lower than levels considered appropriate based on the BoJ’s economic and price projections, as well as its guidance on monetary policy. Meanwhile, one member stated that it was hard to indicate with confidence the BoJ’s medium- to long-term rate hike path due to uncertainty over Japan’s neutral rate level and the transmission mechanism of monetary policy.

FX

  • DXY is essentially flat and trading towards the upper end of a very tight 108.05-20 range, amid holiday-thinned conditions and ahead of Richmond Fed Index and US supply.
  • EUR is incrementally on the backfoot and dipped just below the 1.04 mark in early European trade; confines for today at 1.0389-1.0410.
  • GBP/USD has traded sideways in a very tight 1.2526-45 range, showing little momentum after reaching a broader 1.2526-1.2575 range earlier in the week.
  • JPY is incrementally firmer thus far, but has traded sideways in the EU session. Overnight markets digested jawboning from Finance Minister Kato, which led the USD/JPY below 157.00; a level which has since been reclaimed. Japanese PM Ishiba said he will step up measures for increasing minimum wages; comments which sparked little move in the pair.
  • Antipodeans are ever so slightly on the backfoot, with the Aussie unresponsive to RBA minutes. The minutes expressed confidence in inflation but cautioned that stronger-than-expected data could prolong the period before easing. AUD/USD and NZD/USD are tucked within yesterday’s respective 0.6218-46 and 0.5632-66 ranges.
  • PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1876 vs exp. 7.3031 (prev. 7.1870)
  • RBI likely sold USD to limit INR fall, according to traders cited by Reuters.

Fixed Income

  • Gilts opened lower by two ticks but has since slipped slightly to a 92.19 trough in thin conditions with newsflow essentially non-existent for the UK. In a 92.07-46 band, which takes Gilts below the 92.18 base from last Friday and below that the 91.87 contract trough from last Thursday as Gilts reacted to the FOMC from the night before.
  • USTs are essentially flat in an extremely narrow 108-16 to 108-19+ band while the curve is, at the margin, steepening. As above, catalysts are light though the docket ahead includes a 2yr FRN and a 5yr Note auction. Ahead, it remains to be seen if any concession emerges into the US supply.

Commodities

  • WTI and Brent began the European morning on a firmer footing and continued to inch a little higher; recent geopolitical updates suggest an Israel-Hamas deal may not be as imminent as previously anticipated. Additionally, Israeli press floated the possibility of troops remaining in Southern Lebanon longer than agreed under a separate deal. Brent’Feb 25 at the top end of the day’s range at around USD 73.20/bbl.
  • Spot gold is on a slightly firmer footing and holds at the upper end of a tight USD 2612-2621/oz range; price action thus far has been very rangebound.
  • 3M LME copper is on a firmer footing today, but still somewhat off the USD 9K mark (currently USD 8,972), in-fitting with the risk-tone and versus mostly subdued overnight price action.

US Event Calendar

  • 08:30: Dec. Philadelphia Fed Non-Manufactu, prior -5.9
  • 10:00: Dec. Richmond Fed Index, est. -10, prior -14
  • 10:00: Dec. Richmond Fed Business Condition, prior 10

2C ASIAN REPORT

Yen modestly firmer following comments from Japan’s Kato – Newsquawk Europe Market Open

Newsquawk Logo

Tuesday, Dec 24, 2024 – 01:40 AM

  • APAC stocks traded mostly firmer in choppy trade following a similar session on Wall Street, where stocks experienced volatility with low volumes amid the Christmas period.
  • China convened a national fiscal work conference in Beijing, according to the Ministry of Finance, and said they will step up fiscal spending and accelerate spending speed in 2025.
  • Japanese Finance Minister Kato expressed concern about recent FX moves. USD/JPY gradually dipped under 157.00.
  • Eurex is closed for trading and clearing in all derivatives on December 24th, 25th, and 26th.
  • Looking ahead, highlights include US Richmond Fed Index, and Supply from US Christmas Eve (Recommend Early Close).
  • NOTE: Newsquawk Desk will run until 18:00GMT/13:00EST on Tuesday December 24th.

SNAPSHOT

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US TRADE

EQUITIES

  • US stocks were choppy in thin conditions ahead of the Christmas period with indices ultimately closing mixed but with a bias to the upside with only the Russell in the red. There was notable outperformance in the Nasdaq with upside in Nvidia (NVDA) supporting the move with reports suggesting the company has resolved production issues with its Blackwell chip. The Russell and equal weighted S&P lagged while sectors were mixed.
  • Outperformance was seen in Communication Services, Technology and Health Care, while underperformance was seen in Consumer Staples, Materials and Industrials. There were little fresh macro drivers on Monday with liquidity/vol thinning out ahead of the Christmas period.
  • SPX +0.73% at 5,974, NDX +1.01% at 21,503, DJI +0.16% at 42,907, RUT -0.22% at 2,237.
  • Click here for a detailed summary.

NOTABLE HEADLINES

  • Fed announced it would soon seek comment on changes to bank stress tests to improve transparency and reduce volatility, a decision made due to the changing legal landscape, according to Reuters.
  • Tesla (TSLA) cuts the price of Model Y in China by CNY 10k

CENTRAL BANKS

  • BoC Minutes: The decision to cut by 50bps on 11th Dec was a close call, as members discussed arguments for both a 25 and 50bps reduction. Those in favour of a 50bps cut acknowledged that not all data called for such a reduction; however, this group said it seemed unlikely that a cut of 50bps would take rates lower than they needed to go over the next couple of meetings. Conversely, those in favour of a 25bps cut suggested that policy could be patient while the full effects of past cuts became clearer. Moreover, there was a range of views on how much further the policy rate would need to be reduced and over what period that should happen. Ultimately, the decision to cut by 50bps reflected the weaker-than-expected growth outlook and the fact that monetary policy no longer needed to be clearly restrictive. Members agreed they would likely be considering further reductions in the policy rate at future meetings, emphasising that they would take each decision one meeting at a time.
  • RBA Minutes (December meeting): Policy needed to be “sufficiently restrictive” until confidence on inflation was achieved. The Board had gained confidence on inflation since the prior meeting, but risks remained. Members noted that the Board had minimal tolerance for inflation remaining above target for too long. They stated that future data in line with or weaker than forecasts would give more confidence on inflation, at which point it would be appropriate to begin relaxing the degree of policy tightness. However, if data proved stronger than expected, it could indicate a longer period before easing policy. The Board observed signs that policy was not as restrictive as the current cash rate level would suggest. The labour market was resilient, while service inflation remained more persistent. Wages had slowed more than expected, potentially indicating that the labour market was not as tight as previously thought. Monthly CPI data suggested a modest downside risk to Q4 inflation forecasts. Additionally, upside inflation risks had diminished, while downside risks to economic activity had grown. The Board noted that more data and updated forecasts would be available by the February meeting. Members also stated that it was not possible to judge the impact of Trump’s policies on Australia until more details were known.
  • BoJ October meeting minutes (two meetings ago): A few members said they must scrutinise the impact of the past interest rate hike on the economy and prices when deciding policy. One member said they must take time and be cautious when deciding on the timing of the next rate hike. Members shared the view that the BoJ would keep raising rates if the economy and prices moved in line with its forecast. Additionally, one member noted that it was desirable to gradually raise rates if underlying inflation accelerated as projected. Another member pointed out that market rates could be lower than levels considered appropriate based on the BoJ’s economic and price projections, as well as its guidance on monetary policy. Meanwhile, one member stated that it was hard to indicate with confidence the BoJ’s medium- to long-term rate hike path due to uncertainty over Japan’s neutral rate level and the transmission mechanism of monetary policy.

APAC TRADE

EQUITIES

  • APAC stocks traded mostly firmer in choppy trade following a similar session on Wall Street, where stocks experienced volatility with low volumes amid the Christmas period.
  • ASX 200 swung between modest gains and losses with earlier downside led by gold miners. The ASX showed little reaction to RBA minutes, which offered no significant new information.
  • Nikkei 225 was initially supported by recent JPY weakening, but gains were shortlived as USD/JPY slipped back to session lows and eventually under 157.00.
  • Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were firmer and outperformed regionally despite a lack of significant macro newsflow, although China convened a national fiscal work conference in Beijing, according to the Ministry of Finance, and said they will step up fiscal spending and accelerate spending speed in 2025.
  • US equity futures saw flat across the board with a downward bias amid the tentative risk tone in Asia.
  • European equity futures are not trading as Eurex is closed for trading and clearing in all derivatives on December 24th, 25th, and 26th.

FX

  • DXY traded uneventfully in holiday-thinned conditions, remaining within a narrow 108.05-20 range after Monday’s broader 107.68-108.28 parameters.
  • EUR/USD hovered flat on either side of 1.0400, staying within Monday’s 1.0382-1.0445 range. Some potential resistance was noted around 1.0445-47, corresponding to Monday and Friday’s highs
  • GBP/USD traded sideways in a tight 1.2526-42 range, showing little momentum after reaching a broader 1.2526-1.2575 range earlier in the week.
  • USD/JPY initially rose as APAC traders reacted to rising US bond yields. However, the pair later pulled back and dipped under 157.00, with Japanese Finance Minister Kato jawboning the currency overnight.
  • Antipodeans remained subdued, with the Aussie unresponsive to RBA minutes. The minutes expressed confidence in inflation but cautioned that stronger-than-expected data could prolong the period before easing.
  • PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1876 vs exp. 7.3031 (prev. 7.1870)
  • RBI likely sold USD to limit INR fall, according to traders cited by Reuters.

FIXED INCOME

  • 10yr UST futures tilted modestly higher as futures took a breather following a 16-tick settlement lower yesterday, with the complex also experiencing bear steepening into the holiday period.
  • Bund futures did not trade as Eurex is closed for trading and clearing in all derivatives on December 24, 25, and 26th.
  • 10yr JGB futures were softer as traders caught up with price action seen in Western counterparts.
  • US sells USD 69bln in 2yr notes; stop-through 0.1bps. High Yield: 4.335% (prev. 4.274%, six-auction average 4.156%). WI: 4.336%. Tail: -0.1bps (prev. -1.8bps, six-auction avg. -0.6bps) id-to-Cover: 2.73x (prev. 2.77x, six-auction avg. 2.68x). Dealers: 11.3% (prev. 9.2%, six-auction avg. 12.4%). Directs: 6.7% (prev. 19.2%, six-auction avg. 19.5%). Indirects: 82.1% (prev. 71.6%, six-auction avg. 68.1%)

COMMODITIES

  • Crude futures showed mild upward biases, with recent geopolitical updates suggesting an Israel-Hamas deal may not be as imminent as previously anticipated. Additionally, Israeli press floated the possibility of troops remaining in Southern Lebanon longer than agreed under a separate deal.
  • Spot gold consolidated from the prior day’s action, holding above the USD 2,600/oz level, possibly underpinned by ongoing geopolitical concerns.
  • Copper futures were initially subdued but then rebounded from their worst levels after 3M LME copper found support near USD 8,900/t.

CRYPTO

  • Bitcoin was weaker overnight but clambered off worst levels to reclaimed USD 94k+ status after falling under USD 93k yesterday.

NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES

  • China convened a national fiscal work conference in Beijing, according to the Ministry of Finance, and said they will step up fiscal spending and accelerate spending speed in 2025. Fiscal spending will focus more on people’s livelihood and boosting consumption. The government will arrange a larger scale of government bonds to provide more support for stabilising growth and will make efforts to fend off risks in key areas. Additionally, it will further increase transfer payments to local governments to strengthen their financial capacity and support the expansion of domestic demand. Plans include appropriately increasing the basic pensions for retirees and raising the basic pensions for urban and rural residents. Furthermore, China will improve tariff policies and deepen cooperation with ‘Belt and Road’ countries.
  • Chinese authorities agreed to issue CNY 3tln in special bonds in 2025 (vs CNY 1tln in 2024), according to Reuters sources; part of proceeds will be use to recapitalise some large state-owned banks. Plans to use proceeds for consumer goods and industrial equipment trade-in schemes among others.
  • Japanese Finance Minister Kato said it is important for currencies to move in a stable manner reflecting fundamentals, noting that there have recently been one-sided, sharp FX moves and expressing concern about recent FX moves. He stated that Japan will continue to coordinate with overseas authorities on forex policies and will take appropriate action against excessive moves, according to Reuters.
  • High-level government review board has told White House it is unable to reach consensus on national security risks involved in Nippon Steel’s (5401 JT) acquisition of US Steel (X), according to WaPo. White House spokesperson then said they received the CFIUS evaluation and the President will review it, according to Reuters.
  • BoK said it would deploy market stabilising measures should FX volatility increase and noted that the pace of household debt might rise with the easing of policy rates, according to Reuters.

DATA RECAP

  • South Korean Consumer Sentiment Ind (Dec) 88.4 (Prev. 100.7).

GEOPOLITICS

MIDDLE EAST

  • Israeli officials have begun debating the question: Should Israel fully withdraw from Southern Lebanon by day 60 even if the Lebanese army is not fully deployed in the South, according to Amichai Stein.
  • “Jerusalem Post: The slow deployment of the Lebanese army in the south may push the Israeli army to remain in southern Lebanon after the end of the 60-day period”, according to Sky News Arabia.
  • “Israeli source: There is no real progress in negotiations with Hamas, but they continue”, according to Sky News Arabia.
  • Hamas’s armed wing spokesman said the fate of Israeli hostages depended on advances made by the Israeli military in certain areas experiencing aggression, according to Reuters.
  • Israeli Defence Minister claimed responsibility for the first time for Hamas leader Haniyeh’s killing in Tehran, according to Reuters.
  • US military said it conducted an airstrike in Syria, killing two ISIS operatives and wounding one, according to Reuters.

EU/UK

NOTABLE HEADLINES

  • Amelie de Montchalin is to be named French budget minister, via RTL. Retailleau has been re-appointed French interior minister and Lombard named finance and economy minister, according to Reuters.

LATAM

  • El Salvador’s congress passed the President’s bill to overturn a ban on metals mining, granting the government the sole authorisation to explore, exploit, extract, and process mining resources, according to Reuters.
  • Chile’s environmental regulator filed four charges against Anglo American (AAL LN) Sur’s Los Bronces copper mine, according to Reuters.
  • BCB announced a spot dollar auction of up to USD 3bln for December 26th, according to a statement.

3B NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA

I

end

3C JAPAN

end

3D. CHINA/

China’s GDP Growth Is Now Lagging The Rest Of Asia

Monday, Dec 23, 2024 – 10:10 PM

China’s economy is facing a series of significant challenges, including a property crisis and high youth unemployment.

After decades of rapid growth, the country is now expected to experience less economic growth than other Asian nations.

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti, illustrates the projected growth of per-capita GDP for selected Asian nations between 2023 and 2026, based on data compiled by HSBC as of November 2024.

Chinese Economy Lagging

India and Southeast Asian nations are projected to achieve an average per-capita GDP growth of 6.5% over the 2023–2026 period.

Most of these economies are expected to thrive, bolstered by youthful demographics, a rising middle class, strong foreign and domestic private investment flows, and a booming technology sector.

China, however, is forecasted to experience an average per-capita GDP growth of just 3.9%. To address these economic challenges, China’s top leaders have signaled plans for stronger stimulus measures to help fill gaps in consumer demand.

Senior Chinese officials have also indicated plans for increased government spending and further interest rate cuts.

The ruling Communist Party faces a “long, long battle” to reflate the economy, according to Robin Xing, chief China economist at Morgan Stanley, who told Bloomberg Television that 2025 will “be the year of trying.”

“Maybe by 2026, they will finally find the right dose of policies — a combination of consumption-centric stimulus plus social safety net reform,” Xing added.

If you enjoyed this graphic, make sure check out The G7 is Looking More and More American, that shows the U.S. alone accounts for more than half of the combined G7 output in PPP-adjusted terms.

END

CHINA/

huge stimulus announced

China To Issue Record 3 Trillion Yuan In Special Treasury Bonds To Boost Economy

Tuesday, Dec 24, 2024 – 12:25 PM

It may not be the bazooka, but it’s a start.

Less than a week after we showed the historic collapse in Chinese interest rates, which sent China’s 1Y yield below 1% for the first time since the Global Financial Crisis, in a move that signaled the bond market is convinced Beijing will unleash the mother of all stimulus…

… overnight, Reuters reported that Chinese authorities have agreed to issue 3 trillion yuan ($411 billion) worth of special treasury bonds next year, which would be the highest on record, as Beijing ramps up fiscal stimulus to revive its faltering economy.

The plan for 2025 sovereign debt issuance would be a 200% increase from this year’s 1 trillion yuan and comes as Beijing moves to soften the blow from an expected increase in U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports when Donald Trump takes office in January.

The proceeds will be targeted at boosting consumption via subsidy programs, equipment upgrades by businesses and funding investments in innovation-driven advanced sectors, among other initiatives.

Showing just how much capacity China – which has been gripped in a deflationary vortex for the past year – has for new debt, the country’s 10-year and 30-year treasury yields rose 1 basis point (bp) and 2 bps, respectively, after the news but remained near record lows.

The planned special treasury bond issuance next year would be the largest on record and underscores Beijing’s willingness to go even deeper into debt to counter deflationary forces in the world’s second-largest economy.

The issuance “exceeded market expectations,” said Tommy Xie, head of Asia Macro research at OCBC Bank. “Furthermore, as the central government is the only entity with meaningful capacity for additional leverage, any bond issuance at the central level is perceived as a positive development, likely providing incremental support for growth.”

The “new” initiatives consist of a subsidy program for durable goods, allowing consumers to trade in old cars or appliances and buy new ones at a discount, and a separate one that subsidizes large-scale equipment upgrades for businesses.  The “major” programmes refer to projects that implement national strategies such as construction of railways, airports and farmland and build security capacity in key areas, according to official documents.

China does not generally include ultra-long special bonds in annual budget plans, as it sees the instruments as an extraordinary measure to raise proceeds for specific projects or policy goals as needed. As part of next year’s plan, about 1.3 trillion yuan to be raised through long-term special treasury bonds would fund “two major” and “two new” programs.

The state planner NDRC said on Dec. 13 Beijing had fully allocated all proceeds from this year’s 1 trillion yuan in ultra-long special treasury bonds, with about 70% of proceeds financing the “two major” projects and the remainder going towards the “two new” schemes.

Another big portion of the planned proceeds for next year would be for investments in “new productive forces”, Beijing’s shorthand for advanced manufacturing, such as electric vehicles, robotics, semiconductors and green energy. More than 1 trillion yuan would be earmarked for that initiative.

The rest would go to recapitalize large state banks, said the sources, as top lenders struggle with shrinking margins, faltering profits and rising bad loans.

The issuance of new special treasury debt next year would equate to 2.4% of 2023 China’s GDP. By comparison, Beijing raised 1.55 trillion yuan via such bonds in 2007, or 5.7% of economic output at that time.

President Xi Jinping gathered with top officials for the annual Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC) on Dec. 11 and 12 to chart the economic course for 2025. A state media summary of the meeting said it was “necessary to maintain steady economic growth”, raise the fiscal deficit ratio and issue more government debt next year, but did not give specifics.

Last week Reuters reported that China plans to raise the budget deficit to a record 4% of GDP next year and maintain an economic growth target of bout 5%.

At the CEWC, Beijing sets targets for economic growth, the budget deficit, debt issuance and other areas in the year ahead. Though usually agreed by top officials, such targets are not officially unveiled until an annual parliament meet in March and could still change before then.

China’s economy has struggled this year due to a severe property crisis, high local government debt and weak consumer demand. Exports, one of the few bright spots, could soon face U.S. tariffs in excess of 60% if Trump delivers on campaign pledges.

While the risks to exports mean China will need to rely on domestic sources of growth, consumers are feeling less wealthy due to falling property prices and minimal social welfare. Weak household demand also poses a key risk. Last week, officials said Beijing plans to expand the consumer goods and industrial equipment trade-in programs.

end

4.EUROPEAN AFFAIRS//UK /SCANDINAVIAN AFFAIRS

END

EUROPE

High Electricity Taxes Are Crippling European Industry

Tuesday, Dec 24, 2024 – 03:30 AM

Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,

European countries need to work out ways to lower taxes on electricity to revive the competiveness of Europe’s energy-intensive industries, Leonhard Birnbaum, president of electricity lobby Eurelectric, told Reuters in an interview published on Monday. 

Power prices in the EU are up to three times higher than in the United States, for example, which further erodes the competitiveness of energy-intensive industries including aluminum, steel making, chemicals, and cement production. 

Europe is losing and will continue to lose competitiveness and jobs if it doesn’t tackle its high energy costs compared to other regions, Morten Wierod, chief executive of Switzerland-based engineering giant ABB, told Bloomberg last month. 

To restore competitiveness for European companies which have been suffering from high energy costs, the EU governments should look to lower the high energy taxes, according to Eurelectric’s Birnbaum. 

“We appreciate that states always need more money, but if you really want to electrify then you can’t have, for example, an over-proportional tax burden on electricity compared to the tax burden on gas,” said Birnbaum, who is also chief executive of German utility giant E.ON. 

The problem with these taxes lies in the fact that part of the levies and fees on electricity are individually set by the single EU countries, where the EU has no jurisdiction. 

Earlier this month, Eurelectric and energy intensive representatives CEFIC and European Aluminium discussed how to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness and electrify industry. 

The group proposed six actions to ease the pressure on energy-intensive industries, which include “level out electricity taxes and levies.”

“Fixing Europe’s perverse energy taxation” is a way to lower energy prices and support electrification, said Eurelectric and the lobbies of the energy-intensive industries.

Taxes on electricity in the EU as a share of the final bill are respectively three and three and a half times higher for household and industrial consumers compared to natural gas, the industry said. 

“A well-functioning market with long-term investment signals, incentives to reinforce infrastructure and lower taxes on electricity are no-regret solutions that can be implemented immediately,” said Eurelectric’s Secretary General Kristian Ruby.

END 

END

      

5 RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

END

ISRAEL///USA/YEMEN TUESDAY MORNING

Houthis fire another missile and it was intercepted

(JerusalemPost)

IDF intercepts Yemen missile fired toward central Israel, triggering wave of sirens

Houthi official Hezam al-Asad vowed to continue attacks on Israel in a post made approximately 15 minutes after the incident.

By KESHET NEEVDECEMBER 24, 2024 01:52Updated: DECEMBER 24, 2024 03:27

The IDF intercepted a projectile fired from Yemen toward central Israel during the early hours of Tuesday morning, Israel’s military said shortly after the incident.

The projectile triggered a wave of sirens throughout central and southern Israel.

There were no reports of casualties from the incident. However, Magen David Adom (MDA) said that paramedics were providing medical care to over 20 people who were injured while seeking shelter during the sirens or who required treatment due to anxiety. 

MDA later added that a 60-year-old woman was in severe condition after suffering from a head injury on her way to a shelter. Paramedics evacuated her to Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv for treatment.

Houthi official Hezam al-Asad vowed to continue attacks on Israel in an X/Twitter post made approximately 15 minutes after the projectile was launched. 

“We will not stop until the aggression against our people in Gaza stops,” he wrote.

MDA personnel at the scene of a rocket strike on the Tel Aviv area. December 21, 2024. (credit: MDA Operational Unit)
MDA personnel at the scene of a rocket strike on the Tel Aviv area. December 21, 2024. (credit: MDA Operational Unit)

“[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu will know that the dreams of the new Middle East are nothing but a curse for him and his imported entity,” the post continued. 

Rising tensions with the Houthis

This comes after previous Houthi missiles targeted Israel this past week.

On Saturday, sixteen people in Tel Aviv were lightly wounded by glass shards after a Houthi rocket fired from Yemen slammed into Jaffa. 

Prior to that, during the early hours of Thursday morning, Yemen fired a missile toward central Israel. Israel Air Force (IAF) fighter jets struck Houthi targets in the capital of Sana’a in Yemen afterward.

Additionally, the US began conducting strikes on Iran-backed Houthi missile storage and command facilities in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, on Saturday night.

This is a developing story.

END

Israel vows to start targeting Houthis leaders

(times of Israel)

Israel vows to start targeting Houthi leaders, ratcheting up threat after missile fire

Defense minister also warns Iran will pay price for attacks from Yemen * President redoubles call for state Oct. 7 inquiry as bereaved families spar with IDF over audio


Katz says Houthi heads will roll after latest missile attack

By Lazar Berman

Defense Minister Israel Katz, center, visiting an IDF air defense operations center on December 24, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/ Defense Ministry)

Israel will begin targeting leaders of Yemen’s Houthi rebel group, Defense Minister Israel Katz says, vowing that Israel will not allow missile and drone fire on Israel to continue unchecked.

Firing at Houthi leaders would seem to mark an escalation by Israel, which has so far targeted port infrastructure and military sites in a handful of sorties in response to repeated launches of drones and ballistic missiles from Yemen. A missile fired early Tuesday was shot down, but sirens in the Tel Aviv area caused widespread panic and a rush to shelter left one woman seriously injured.

“Just as we took care of Sinwar in Gaza, Haniyeh in Tehran and Nasrallah in Beirut, we will deal with the heads of the Houthis in Sana’a or anywhere in Yemen,” Katz says, referring to the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah.

“We will act both against their infrastructure and against them to remove the threat,” he adds while visiting an Arrow air defense system battery used to shoot down the Houthi missile overnight.

He also levels a threat at the Houthis’ Iranian backers, vowing that “whoever sponsors the Houthi terror in Hodeida or Sana’a will pay the full price.”

Katz also receives a briefing from Lt. Col. Eyal Frenkel, commander of the 136th Herev Magen Battalion of the IAF’s Air Defense Corps, responsible for intercepting long-range missiles.

END

Israel Vows Escalation In Yemen, Will Target Houthi Leaders

by Tyler Durden

Tuesday, Dec 24, 2024 – 11:40 AM

After several major Houthi rocket attacks out of Yemen of late, Israeli leaders are vowing to step up military reprisals directly on Houthi leadership and its military infrastructure.

Saturday saw one of the biggest Houthi strikes to date, coming in the form of a reported hypersonic ballistic missile which hit Tel Aviv, leaving 16 people injured. And Tuesday morning saw another Houthi missile launch on Israel, which marks the third such attack in less than a week. The Houthis, which are linked to Iran, have vowed to not stop until Israel’s military withdraws from Gaza.

Defense Minister Israel Katz now says the leaders of the Yemeni group have made themselves targets. Taking them out will now be a top priority for the Israeli military.

“Just as we took care of Sinwar in Gaza, Haniyeh in Tehran and Nasrallah in Beirut, we will deal with the heads of the Houthis in Sana’a or anywhere in Yemen,” Katz has said in the Tuesday comments, making reference to the slain leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas.

“We will act both against their infrastructure and against them to remove the threat,” he pledged while inspecting an Arrow air defense system battery which just intercepted the latest Houthi missile attack.

He also again called out Iran, warning that “whoever sponsors the Houthi terror in Hodeida or Sana’a will pay the full price.” Washington has for years documented Tehran’s support to the group, which has included advanced missiles and drone technology. This has allowed the threat out of Yemen to grow significantly.

The past days and weeks has already seen Israel launch intermittent aerial strikes against the Houthis, but targeting individual leaders will mark new territory in the campaign.

“Firing at Houthi leaders would seem to mark an escalation by Israel, which has so far targeted port infrastructure and military sites in a handful of sorties in response to repeated launches of drones and ballistic missiles from Yemen,” Times of Israelnotes.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stressed that Israel sees the Houthis as the “terrorist arm” of Iran and won’t stand idly by while they attack.

“The US, and also other countries, like us, see the Houthis as a threat, not only to world shipping, but also to world order,” he said Sunday, after the destructive Saturday attack.

“Just as we acted forcefully against the terrorist arms of Iran’s evil axis, so we will act against the Houthis…with force, determination and sophistication,” Netanyahu added.

ISRAEL/LEBANON

Israel will probably stay longer in Lebanon as the Lebanese are slow in their deployment

(times of Israel)

Slow Lebanese deployment may force IDF soldiers to stay in Lebanon, Israeli officials say

Officials explained that the slow deployment raises the question of how Israel should act on day 60 of the ceasefire at northern border.

By AMICHAI STEINDECEMBER 23, 2024 20:12Updated: DECEMBER 23, 2024 22:58

IDF soldiers operate near Khiam, in southern Lebanon, December 15, 2024 (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
IDF soldiers operate near Khiam, in southern Lebanon, December 15, 2024(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)

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The IDF’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon could be carried out at a slower pace than expected due to the Lebanese military’s slow deployment in the area, Israeli officials told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.

The officials explained that the slow deployment raises the question of how Israel should act on day 60 of the ceasefire along the northern border.

“The Lebanese army is deploying in southern Lebanon – but at a much slower pace than agreed. And the question is: what to do on day 60,” the officials said.

Lebanon ceasefire

On November 27, at 4 a.m., a ceasefire was signed between Israel and Hezbollah, and a 60-day test period began – after which the ceasefire will become permanent.

The agreement stipulated that during those 60 days, the Lebanese army would deploy in southern Lebanon, operate against Hezbollah – and ultimately lead to a full Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

IDF soldiers operate in southern Lebanon, November 29, 2024. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON UNIT)
IDF soldiers operate in southern Lebanon, November 29, 2024. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON UNIT)

Officials told the Post that both the political and defense echelons have held discussions on Israel’s course of action if the Lebanese Armed Forces are not fully deployed in all of southern Lebanon by the end of the 60-day ceasefire test period.

Discussions were also held on whether Israel should completely withdraw from southern Lebanon, even in a situation where the deployment has not been completed.

A senior US official told reporters on the day the agreement was ratified in Beirut and Jerusalem, “We believe that by the 50th day, the deployment of the Lebanese army will be complete, and Israel will be able to withdraw from the area.”

However, as mentioned, Israeli officials say that though the Lebanese military has been deploying in the area and there are already signs of activity against Hezbollah, the pace of activity is slower than agreed.

END

Syria’s new leadership to consolidate all armed rebel factions into defense ministry

Ahmed al-Sharaa says no weapons to be allowed in Syria outside of state control, including among Kurdish groups in north; US said encouraging Israel to develop ties with new leaders

By Agencies and ToI StaffToday, 4:36 pm

Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known by nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Julani, speaks at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, December 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam, File)

DAMASCUS, Syria – Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa reached an agreement on Tuesday with former rebel faction chiefs to dissolve all groups and consolidate them under the defense ministry, according to a statement from the new administration.

Photos published by the state-run SANA news agency showed Sharaa, also known by nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Julani, surrounded by the heads of several armed factions — but not representatives of the Kurdish-led forces in Syria’s northeast.

Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir had said last week that the ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Bashar al-Assad’s army.

Sharaa will face the daunting task of trying to avoid clashes between the myriad groups.

On Sunday, Sharaa had said the new authorities would “absolutely not allow there to be weapons in the country outside state control.”

That also applied to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, he said.

Syrian opposition fighters celebrate after the government of Bashar Assad collapses in Damascus, Syria, on December 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki, File)

The military chief of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that led the insurgency told AFP last week that Kurdish-held areas would be integrated under the new leadership, and that “Syria will not be divided.”

The country’s new rulers appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency that toppled Assad, as defense minister in the interim government.

Syria’s historic ethnic and religious minorities include Muslim Kurds and Shiites – who feared during the civil war that any future Sunni Islamist rule would imperil their way of life — as well as Syriac, Greek and Armenian Orthodox Christians, and the Druze community.

Sharaa has told Western officials visiting him that HTS, which he heads, a former al-Qaeda affiliate, will neither seek revenge against the former regime nor repress any religious minority.

Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on December 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.

US said urging Israel to nurture ties

Meanwhile, Israel’s Channel 12 reported Monday that senior American officials have urged their Israeli counterparts to nurture ties with Syria’s new leader.

“Cooperation and communication channels of yours with al-Julani will bolster Israel’s influence in the entire area,” the report quoted US officials as saying. “We are talking about a pragmatic leader who wants to develop strategic relations with the nations of the region.”

Israel was said to be listening to what the Americans are saying, but also suspects that al-Julani is playing the US and international community, and trying to stabilize his control, but has not truly changed his spots.

END

ISRAEL/SYRIA/ IRAN

Jolani orders all forces to disarm including the USDA backed Kurds in the North east sector

of Syria where all the oil is located.. He also orders the PKK militants to disarm which will be interesting.

Probably what will happen is that Israel will control the southern sector and Turkey the northern sector

with Israel going after the PKK which is an enemy to Israel]

(zerohedge)

Syria’s Jolani Vows To Disarm The Pentagon-Backed Kurds

The career jihadist and leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Damascus on Sunday, in a first since the overthrow of Assad earlier this month.

Jolani, who now goes by his birth name of Ahmed al-Sharaa, was sporting a suit and tie for the first time as the PR effort to convince the world of his supposed ‘moderation’ continues. One of the more interesting moments from Sunday’s presser came when Jolani put the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on notice.

Jolani emphasized that all weapons in Syria will come under state control. He declared that all armed “factions will begin to announce their dissolution and enter the army.” Given that Assad’s former Syrian Arab Army (SAA) is no longer in existence, this means HTS is working on establishing a national military under its command.

In the remarks alongside the top Turkish diplomat, Jolani directly called out the Kurdish-dominated SDF, which has for years been trained and armed by the Pentagon:

“We will absolutely not allow there to be weapons in the country outside state control, whether from the revolutionary factions or the factions present in the SDF area,” he added, referring to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Turkey views the main component of the US-backed force, which controls swathes of north and northeast Syria, as being linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), its outlawed domestic foe.

The “SDF area” of control is in reference to the Deir Ezzor and Hasakeh regions (east of the Euphrates) in the country’s northeast, where the country’s oil and gas fields are located. Currently the SDF is battling a Turkish offensive near the northern border area.

The Turkish FM of course responded favorably to Jolani’s talk of disarming and disbanding the Kurdish factions: “Türkiye’s foreign minister said after meeting Syria’s de facto leader in Damascus on Sunday that there was no room for Kurdish militants in Syria’s future, calling for the YPG militia to disband,” a regional source said.

It was obvious from the start that Turkish intelligence was a main player backing the HTS blitz across Syria which quickly led to the collapse of the Assad government, and now it’s clear that Jolani will in turn do Turkey’s bidding.

A main goal of Erdogan’s policy in Syria has remained to squeeze out US forces, so that Turkey can eventually stomp out the Syrian Kurds in the process.

Jolani’s provocative pledge of disarming the Syrian Kurds while standing next to the Turkish FM sends a clear message of what the agenda is concerning the near future northeast battle theatre. 

It is also important to note that the Syrian Kurds (YPG/SDF) have long battled the jihadists of al-Nusra Front/HTS and other hardline Islamic factions throughout the war. 

END

ISRAEL//HAMAS

(TIMES OF ISRAEL)

Three soldiers killed fighting in northern Gaza, airstrike hits Hamas security chief

Kfir Brigade’s Cpt. Ilay Gavriel Atedgi, 22, Staff Sgt. Netanel Pessach, 21, and Sgt. First Class (res.) Hillel Diener, 21, killed by explosion during operation in Beit Hanoun area

By Emanuel Fabian Follow
and ToI Staff23 December 2024, 10:22 pm

Soldiers killed in the northern Gaza Strip on December 23, 2024: (L-R) Cpt. Ilay Gavriel Atedgi, Staff Sgt. Netanel Pessach, and Sgt. First Class (res.) Hillel Diener. (Israel Defense Forces)

Three Israeli soldiers were killed during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, the military announced, as operations to combat the Hamas terror group’s regrouping efforts in the area continued.

The slain troops were named as: Cpt. Ilay Gavriel Atedgi, 22, from Kiryat Motzkin; Staff Sgt. Netanel Pessach, 21, from Elazar; and Sgt. First Class (res.) Hillel Diener, 21, from Talmon.

They all served in the Kfir Brigade’s Shimshon Battalion.

According to an initial Israel Defense Forces probe, the soldiers were killed by an explosive device in the Beit Hanoun area.

Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 391. The toll includes a police officer killed in a hostage rescue mission and a Defense Ministry civilian contractor.

The Kfir Brigade had just wrapped up an operation against Hamas in nearby Beit Lahiya earlier this week.

Troops advanced to the Beit Hanoun area “following intelligence information about the presence of terrorists and terror infrastructure in the area,” the IDF said on Sunday.

Troops of the Kfir Brigade operate in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya, in a handout photo issued on December 20, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The military and Shin Bet also announced Monday that a senior member of Hamas’s general security forces had been killed in a Sunday airstrike in Gaza City.

According to the military, the target of the strike, Tharwat Muhammad Ahmad al-Bayk, served as the head of the security directorate in Hamas’s General Security Service.

Al-Bayk was targeted while at a Hamas command center embedded within the Musa Ibn Nusayr school, in Gaza City’s Daraj neighborhood, the IDF said.

The school was serving as a shelter for displaced Gazans, and Palestinian media reported at least eight dead in the strike.

The IDF and Shin Bet said that the security directorate in the General Security Service is a Hamas body that is tasked with building an intelligence picture to help the terror group make decisions.

The unit is also responsible for the protection of Hamas’s top officials, and has the job of providing shelters for the senior commanders and leaders to enable them to continue their military activity, the joint statement said.

People carry a man injured in an Israeli strike on the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on December 22, 2024. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

“Al-Bayk was considered one of the main links in the mechanism, and a significant factor in [Hamas’s] decision-making,” the statement continued.

The IDF said it took steps to mitigate civilian harm in the strike, including by using a precision munition and aerial surveillance.

Meanwhile, organized looting is increasingly threatening aid delivery in war-torn Gaza, with armed groups taking advantage of the chaos and lack of governance to steal basic items, The New York Times reported Monday.

The paper said the phenomenon, which was once limited to desperate individuals, has now blossomed into systematic practices by armed groups in the enclave.

The growing threat has led the UN and other aid groups to halt operations, contributing to rising hunger and leaving tens of thousands of people without critical supplies, the report said.

The report said the Israeli military has tried to find alternate routes for aid that will bypass looters, but success has been only partial.

It added that the IDF appears to increasingly be targeting armed looters with airstrikes to deter the practice.

Tents sheltering displaced Palestinians are seen near destroyed buildings near the Hamad Residential City complex in the north of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, as Israel battles the Hamas terror group, December 22, 2024. (Bashar Taleb/AFP)

Also on Monday, Channel 12 aired satellite footage from Hebrew University GIS specialist Adi Ben Nun that it said showed 100 percent of the 19,000 buildings in the northern Gaza city of Jabalia had been destroyed.

Similar footage from July — before the IDF launched its third counter-terrorism operation in the city since the start of the war — showed 54% of Jabalia’s buildings destroyed, the network said.

Israel says much of the destruction in Gaza is a result of Hamas using the Strip’s infrastructure for terror purposes, but the widespread destruction has fueled accusations of excessive force and collective punishment.

The satellite footage also indicated that the IDF has completed demolishing all 4,000 buildings in Gaza that were within one kilometer of the border with Israel. Channel 12 said the military believes it has completed its goal of creating a buffer zone in that border area.

The Netzarim Corridor bisecting northern and southern Gaza has also been flattened of almost every building that once existed there and has been expanded to nearly 32 square kilometers as the IDF has reportedly built dozens of military complexes there. There have been mounting reports that the IDF has turned the corridor into a de facto kill zone, shooting anyone who approaches it.

Israel has been at war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, when the terror group invaded southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages, amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.

Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 391. The toll includes a police officer killed in a hostage rescue mission and a Defense Ministry civilian contractor.

It is believed that 96 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.

END

ISRAEL/HAMAS

Israeli jets strike Hamas rocket launcher next to UN building in north Gaza, says IDF

By Emanuel Fabian

A Hamas rocket launcher positioned next to a United Nations building in Gaza City’s Shati camp was struck by Israeli fighter jets a short while ago, the IDF says.

The military says the strike was carried out after calling on civilians in the area to evacuate.

Footage released by the IDF shows a rocket flying out of the site following the strike.

ISRAEL/WEST BANK

IDF says it carried out drone strike on Palestinian gunmen near Tulkarem

BY EMANUEL FABIAN

A convoy of Israeli military armored vehicles is seen during a raid in the Tulkarem refugee camp near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, Dec. 24, 2024. (AP/Majdi Mohammed)

The IDF says it carried out a drone strike against a group of Palestinian gunmen in the Nur Shams camp near the West Bank city of Tulkarem a short while ago.

The strike comes amid an ongoing IDF operation in the area, the military says.

No further details are given.

end

RUSSIA/UKRAINE/SYRIA

Cargo Ship Hauling Russian Weapons Paralyzed By Engine Failure Near Portugal, Ukraine’s Intel Claims 

Tuesday, Dec 24, 2024 – 02:45 AM

In a Telegram post on Monday, Ukraine’s main intelligence directorate reported that a cargo ship, sent to Syria to retrieve Russian military equipment, experienced an engine failure while transiting near the Strait of Gibraltar, a narrow waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.

“The cargo ship Sparta, sent by Russia to retrieve its weapons and equipment from Syria, broke down off the coast of Portugal due to a malfunction in the fuel pipe of its main engine,” Ukrainian intelligence wrote in the update. 

The ship tracking website Marine Traffic shows the Vladivostok-bound cargo ship, Ursa Major, previously registered as Sparta III, drifting on the high seas near Portugal. A tug vessel appears to be approaching Sparta. 

Another view of the vessel…

The Kyiv Independent noted that it could not verify the intel agency’s claim whether Sparta was part of a withdrawal operation from Syria.  

Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime earlier this month, two Russian military bases in the country—the Hmeimim Air Base and the Tartus Naval Base—have faced constant threats from the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, also known as HTS.

Last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “there are no final decisions” about Russia’s bases in Syria. Moscow said diplomatic staff were evacuated from the country.

Satellite images from Maxar show that Russian military personnel have been winding down operations at Khmeimim Air Base. 

Russia continues evacuation from Syria. Satellite images from Maxar show military equipment concentrated at Russian bases in Tartus and Khmeimim, withdrawn from multiple outposts across Syria.

The big question for the Sparta vessel is whether any US Navy submarines with special forces units lurk beneath.

END

RUSSIA/UPDATE ON THE ABOVE STORY:

Russian Cargo Ship Sinks In Mediterranean After Engine Room Explosion

Tuesday, Dec 24, 2024 – 06:50 AM

Update 0650(ET):

The plot thickens as officials in Moscow confirm that a Russian cargo ship named “Ursa Major” sank in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria following an engine room explosion.

Reuters cited the Russian Foreign Ministry, which said Ursa Major was transiting near the Strait of Gibraltar to the Russian far-eastern port of Vladivostok when the engine room blast occurred. It indicated that 14 of the ship’s 16 crew members had been rescued, with two sailors missing.

Unverified video footage posted on X shows the vessel listing to its starboard side with the stern partially below the waterline. 

On Monday, Ukraine’s main intelligence directorate first reported Ursa Major had been sent to Syria to retrieve military weapons after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime earlier this month. It noted an engine room issue occurred. 

What caused the engine room explosion remains a mystery. 

END

SYRIA//ISRAEL/

how Israel destroyed Syria’s navy

(Jerusalempost)

Historic operation: IDF ship Cmdr. speaks about attack on Syrian Navy

“We managed to keep the mission a tight secret, even the soldiers didn’t know what mission they were embarking on,” Lt.-Col.Tomer said.

By AVI ASHKENAZIDECEMBER 24, 2024 10:25Updated: DECEMBER 24, 2024 10:53

View of the remains of vessels in Syria's Latakia port. December 11, 2024. (photo credit: REUTERS/Salaah Jeaar)
View of the remains of vessels in Syria’s Latakia port. December 11, 2024.(photo credit: REUTERS/Salaah Jeaar)

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“The achievement was tremendous, and the attack was historic,” Lt.-Col. Tomer, commander of the INS Herev, a Sa’ar 4.5-class missile boat that carried out naval attacks in Syria earlier this month, shared of the strike.

As the ship departed from its home port in Haifa, the soldiers thought they were heading to a live-fire training exercise at sea.

 “I realized that we managed to keep the mission such a tight secret that even the soldiers didn’t know what mission they were embarking on,” said the Lt.-Col.

“I told them that the ship was now sailing deep into Syrian waters, and the mission was to destroy the missile boat fleet of the Syrian Navy,” added Lt.-Col. Tomer. The soldiers were stunned. For a moment, they couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

“We trained and prepared for combat against the Syrian Navy during our service, though not necessarily in the context of this war,” he said.

View of the remains of vessels in Syria's Latakia port. December 11, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Salaah Jeaar)
View of the remains of vessels in Syria’s Latakia port. December 11, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Salaah Jeaar)

While driving to base, Tomer received a call from his commander requesting him to take a call from a private direct line. Upon receiving the plan for the attack, the Lt.-Col. expressed surprise, noting, “We couldn’t believe for a moment that this [operation] would happen during our watch.”

“We were instructed to head out to sea that same day. By that night, we were ready to strike,” he added.

Minutes after the commander’s announcement to the soldiers, everyone was already at their stations. The ship sailed northward, passing the Lebanese coast and advancing toward the port of Latakia, the home base of the Syrian Navy.

After hours of sailing, INS Herev was ready for the attack. However, prior to the strike, the ship was redirected to assist the Air Force in destroying several anti-aircraft missile batteries that could jeopardize the Air Force’s superiority.

Within minutes, the ship began its precise strikes on the missile batteries. 

“INS Herev is fully capable of conducting all types of operations—offensive, defensive, and maneuver support missions,” the Lt-Col. noted, further stating the ship operated “in defense missions, offensive operations in Gaza and Lebanon, and strikes in Syria.”

He added, “In Lebanon, we worked closely with Division 146 to support their maneuvers. We conducted precise strikes, providing firepower from the sea. We’re in a completely different place now regarding interoperability and cooperation.”

He asserted the maneuver was challenging because troops had “to simultaneously conduct both defense and offensive operations. We found ourselves in situations where, while preparing for an attack, a UAV would approach, and we had to intercept it. The team managed everything in parallel with outstanding synchronization and professionalism. This was the overall experience of the maneuver in Lebanon.”

Retreating from the Syrian coast

After the strike on the Syrian anti-aircraft batteries, the missile ship retreated from the Syrian coast and moved into open waters. The plan to attack Latakia was postponed by nearly 24 hours and rescheduled for late afternoon, just before sunset.

The mission was to execute precise missile strikes on 15 missile boats, which represented the bulk of the Syrian Navy’s maritime force. All 15 missile boats were hit within minutes. “They sank and were rendered out of service,” the Lt.-Col. said.

“The mission wasn’t truly over until we docked at the Haifa port. There, we were greeted by the Navy commander, Vice Admiral David Saar Salama, who personally thanked every soldier,” he added.

When asked about the Houthi threat and whether the missile ship crews are preparing for potential conflict in the Gulf, Lt. Col. Tomer replied firmly, “It’s not my role to plan or dictate such missions. As commanders and a crew, we’re ready to execute any mission. The ship is prepared for anything required.”

RUSSIA/UKRAINE

END

RUSSIA/UKRAINE

END

6.GLOBAL ISSUES//COVID ISSUES/VACCINE ISSUES/HEALTH ISSUES

Important for all to read:

The Cure For Vaccine Skepticism

Monday, Dec 23, 2024 – 08:55 PM

Authored by Martin Kulldorff via RealClearPolitics.com,

The only way to restore public trust in vaccination – which has taken a big hit since the lies attending the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine – is to put a well-known vaccine skeptic in charge of the vaccine research agenda. The ideal person for this is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

At the same time, we must put rigorous scientists with a proven track record of evidence-based medicine in charge of determining the type of study designs to use. Two ideal scientists for this are Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and Dr. Marty Makary, who have been nominated to lead the NIH and FDA, respectively.

Vaccines are – along with antibiotics, anesthesia, and sanitation – one of the most significant health inventions in history. First conceived in 1774 by Benjamin Jesty, a farmer in Dorsetshire, England, the smallpox vaccine alone has saved millions of lives. Operation Warp Speed, which rapidly developed the COVID vaccines, saved many older Americans. Despite this, we have seen a sharp increase in general vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine scientists and public health officials who did not conduct properly randomized trials made false claims about vaccine efficacy and safety and established vaccine mandates for people who did not need the vaccines, sowing suspicion and damaging public trust in vaccination.

What went wrong? The purpose of the COVID vaccines was to reduce mortality and hospitalization, but the randomized trials were only designed to demonstrate short-term reduction in COVID symptoms, which is not of great public health importance. Since the placebo groups were promptly vaccinated after the emergency approval, they also failed to provide reliable information about adverse reactions. Despite these flaws, it was falsely claimed that vaccine-induced immunity is superior to natural infection-acquired immunity and that the vaccines would prevent infection and transmission.

Governments and universities then mandated the vaccines for people with superior natural immunity and for young people with very low mortality risk. These mandates were not only unscientific but with a limited vaccine supply, it was unethical to vaccinate low-mortality-risk people when the vaccines were needed by older high-risk people around the world.

Since government and pharmaceutical companies lied about the COVID vaccine, are they also lying about other vaccines? Skepticism has now spread to tried-and-true vaccines that are proven to work.

And there are real, unanswered vaccine safety questions. Seminal work from Denmark has shown that vaccines can have both positive and negative non-specific effects on non-targeted diseases, and that is something that must be explored in greater depth. Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) scientists studying asthma and aluminum-containing vaccines concluded that while their “findings do not constitute strong evidence for questioning the safety of aluminum in vaccines … additional examination of this hypothesis appears warranted.”

While VSD and other scientists should continue to do observational studies, we should also conduct randomized placebo-controlled vaccine trials, as RFK has advocated. Since we have herd immunity for many diseases, such as measles, trials can be ethically conducted by randomizing the age of vaccination to, for example, one versus three years old, while spreading the trial over a large geographical area so that the unvaccinated are not all living close to each other.

I am confident that most vaccines will continue to be found safe and effective. While some problems may be found, that is more likely to increase rather than decrease vaccine confidence. For instance, it was found that the measles-mumps-rubella-varicella (MMRV) vaccine causes excess febrile seizures in 12- to 23-month-old children. MMRV is now only given as a second dose to older children, while the younger kids get separate MMR and varicella vaccines, resulting in fewer vaccine-induced seizures that scare parents. Although safety studies were inconclusive, it was also wise to remove mercury from vaccines. Even if we end up with fewer vaccines in the recommended vaccine schedule, that’s not necessarily a terrible thing. Scandinavia has a very healthy population with fewer vaccines in their schedules.

We won’t restore vaccine confidence by preaching to the choir.

After the COVID debacle, Kennedy’s stated goal is to return to evidence-based medicine free from conflicts of interest. Letting him do that is the only way that skeptics will trust vaccines again, and those of us who trust vaccines have no reason to be afraid of that.

Attempts by the public health and pharma establishments to derail the nominations of RFK, Bhattacharya, and Makary are the surest way to further increase vaccine hesitancy in America.

The choice is stark.

We cannot let lopsided “pro-vaccine scientists” who clamp their hands over their ears at the mildest questions do any more harm to vaccine confidence. As a pro-vaccine scientist, and in fact, the only person ever being fired by the CDC for being too pro-vaccine, the choice is clear in my mind.

To restore vaccine confidence to previous levels, we must support the nominations of Kennedy, Bhattacharya, and Makary.

END

GLOBAL ISSUES//BRANDON SMITH..

Leftists Hate Santa Claus And It’s Not Only Because He’s White

Monday, Dec 23, 2024 – 10:35 PM

Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us

It happens every year around December, a predictable flurry of pseudo-psychology articles from low-IQ progressives expounding on the negatives of Christmas. On top of that, there’s been a pipeline of anti-Christmas films coming out of Hollywood the past decade, including some real woke bombs depicting Santa as a corporatist, a racist and a woman hater.

It’s been going on so long that in the early 2000s conservatives dubbed the annual practice the “War on Christmas”. However, at that time people on the political right assumed the vitriol was aimed at Christianity in general. What many didn’t realize is that the hatred wasn’t only about religious differences.

Around 70% of atheists identify as Democrats according to surveys, with 15% identifying as Republican and another 15% having no party affiliation. It makes sense that the majority of Christmas critics are on the political left and that their distaste of the holiday season is driven by their anti-Christian views.

After all, the political left is so obsessed with destroying Christianity that they continue to repeat the false narrative that Christmas is a “pagan holiday” and that all the traditions are stolen and repurposed. This claim is debunked every year and yet every year they keep trying to bring it back.

The pagan celebration of “Yule” often associated with Christmas by ignorant academics has always been a completely separate tradition with separate practices. As Christianity became the dominant religion in Europe, pagan groups would meld elements of their previous traditions with newly introduced Christian holidays. Every serious study of Yule admits the distinct separation between the pagan celebration and Christmas.

The Christmas tree is also a purely Christian idea, based on the stories surrounding Saint Boniface. Boniface sought to convert the pagan tribes of Germany in 725 AD and chopped down what was known as “Odin’s Sacred Oak”, a tree used by the pagans as a site for human sacrifice. A small fir tree grew in its place and was dubbed the “Tree of Christ”.

By extension Santa Claus is often wrongly associated with pagan characters; he is in fact based on the very real Saint Nicholas, a monk who traveled the known world around 280 AD, giving away his wealth and helping children in need. His good deeds became legendary and by the Renaissance he was the most popular saint in Europe. His feast day was celebrated on the day of his death (December 6th), and it was common practice to buy large gifts or get married around this time every year.

The name “Santa Claus” comes from the Dutch, who first brought the celebration of Nicholas over to the American colonies in the 1700s. They called him “Sinter Klaas”, short for Saint Nicholas. And, if you look at some of the very old fresco paintings of Saint Nicholas you’ll find he looks rather similar to the modern day folk character version of Santa Claus.

When the claims of pagan co-option failed to yield any results, leftists turned to more woke methods to undermine the Christmas holiday. Going beyond religion, progressives have even sought to take down Santa Claus.

You would think a guy that goes around giving away his wealth and helping the poor would immediately appeal to socialist leftists who claim to be the guardians of the underclass, but that’s not really the case. They say the biggest problem is that Santa is “white” and that he represents the western world’s habit of making white people the “default”. I would argue that this is a smokescreen for other problems the leftists don’t want to fully admit to, but let’s start with race…

Black Santa Claus

The leftist trend in recent years has been to hijack Santa Claus and make him non-white (as they have tried to do with almost every other icon of the west). They pushed hard to make “Black Santa” a thing over the past few years and it’s not working out for them.

This is not to say that black people can’t dress up as Santa Claus; they can do as they please. However, the idea of taking a centuries old western figure based on a real person and then co-opting their image and pretending like this doesn’t matter – Isn’t this the evil practice of cultural appropriation that leftists accuse white people of doing all the time?

Let’s be clear, the default of western culture IS white. White people created it and built it and so most of our celebrated figures are going to be white people also. Leftists are never going to successfully sell Black Santa as a cultural norm, just as it would be impossible to steal African folk heroes and turn them white.

Santa Takes Credit Away From Parents?

Another common argument I hear against the idea of Santa Claus is that parents are pressured to purchase gifts for their children on Christmas while telling them that those toys are coming from a fantasy figure (and a white fantasy figure, too! Oh, the horror!). Progressives want their children to give THEM credit for the money spend on gifts, not a magical white guy in a red suit.

Not surprisingly, these people have missed the point of gift giving on Christmas, though it is funny to see leftists essentially arguing in favor of meritocracy and individual recognition.

I see the idea of Santa Claus as very useful, not only as a way to bring a little wonder into the tradition for children, but also as a way to keep adult egos in check. Giving Santa credit for a gift is a valuable exercise in humility that every parent needs. The gift should not be about you, it’s about the happiness that the gift inspires.

Gift giving is not a trade for adoration, but that’s exactly how narcissists see it. And since the political left is absolutely infected with narcissism these days it’s not surprising that they hate Santa Claus for taking attention away from them at Christmastime.

Santa Has A Naughty List, But What If You’re A Moral Relativist?

Keep in mind that a lot of progressive academics that write criticisms of the holidays don’t have any kids. They are childless cat ladies and beta males with no experience in creating and caring for a family. Their opinions are worthless when it comes to child rearing (and most other things). That said, this doesn’t seem to stop them from giving advice on the trappings of teaching kids the value of morality and the consequences of their actions.

It might be a fading tradition but for the longest time parents have told children to be on their best behavior around Christmas because if they don’t they could end up on Santa’s naughty list and get coal in their stockings. Leftists argue that this punishment and rewards system should not be a part of Christmas.

Firstly, people without kids don’t understand that when the youngsters are on a school break for two weeks straight and everyone is stuck together in close quarters in a house in winter there is a need sometimes for extra policing. You use whatever tools are at your disposal because reasoning with children only works half the time. Their brains aren’t fully formed yet (like woke activists), and they tend to act out wildly based on impulse and emotion.

I really don’t think that lefties are particularly upset by the idea of Santa having a naughty list (I’ve never met a well adjusted parent that went beyond the threat and didn’t have presents for their sons and daughters on Christmas). I think they are upset by the idea of moral compass and discipline. They seem to think that children simply raise themselves and that the parents never need to do anything to mold them into proper adults.

This is exactly why our society is in a death spiral today; because progressives have convinced so many parents to stop parenting.

Santa (Like Christ) Represents Individual And Voluntary Charity

Leftists are socialists (or communists) – It’s the foundation of almost all their beliefs, and the root of socialism is the sacrifice of the individual for the sake of the collective. Meaning, the government in the name of the majority must intervene in the affairs of individuals in order to force them to serve the interests of the group.

In other words, leftists believe that the environment determines everything and people will not do good for society unless they are extorted into it by the system. In a way they fulfill their own prophecy by making it almost impossible through the legal environment to do good for others unless you have permission from the authorities.

Over the years I have noticed that one highly destructive side effect of socialism is the exponential decline in personal charity. If the government handles everything, why should the average person take action to help others? Why even care? And if you do still care, it doesn’t matter because the system will punish you for acting on your own accord.

There’s a reason why socialist and communist regimes are mostly atheist and seek to eliminate Christianity through history; the government must become god and they can’t allow any alternatives to exist. When you see progressive governments ban private charity activities or prosecute people who go out on their own to help the homeless, you might be confused and wonder what the motivation could possibly be?

It makes perfect sense when you realize that leftists see voluntary charity as competition with their own god (government). In the past they have even tried to misrepresent Jesus as an early socialist figure, when in fact Jesus promoted individual acts of compassion, not deferring to a government authority.

The underlying impetus for socialism is forced wealth redistribution, but in a world of voluntary charity there is no need for governments to control wealth or property. That is to say, socialists exploit the existence of poverty as an excuse to take control of all personal wealth (and thus control the population). They can’t do that when Christianity, Christmas and symbols like Santa Claus show people there’s a better way.

MARK CRISPIN MILLER

DR PAUL ALEXANDER

FDA and Pfizer (Bourla et al.) conspired to hide the deaths of two (2) women who took the Pfizer Malone Bourla Bancel et al. mRNA transfection LNP vaccine in their trial! Lioness of Judah Ministry

(author Johnson); ‘Experts argue that Pfizer and the FDA acted unethically and that the vaccine may have caused more deaths than it prevented.’ Pfizer delayed reporting; so tell me, who do we hang?

Dr. Paul AlexanderDec 24
 
READ IN APP
 

Excellent stack by LIONESS and I appeal to you to support LIONESS’s scholarship.

‘Pfizer delayed mandatory reporting of the autopsies by 37 days’

Pfizer Failed to Disclose the Deaths of Two Women From Their Covid-19 Vaccine Clinical Trials

Alexander News Network (ANN): Trump’s War 2.0 for America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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‘By Lance D Johnson December 16, 2024

  • Pfizer failed to disclose the deaths of two women who participated in the clinical trials for their COVID-19 vaccine.
  • Dr. Jeyanthi Kunadhasan is demanding transparency and an investigation into these deaths.
  • Pfizer violated the required protocol by delaying the reporting of the autopsy results.
  • These undisclosed deaths could have altered the FDA’s decision to grant EUA for the vaccine.
  • Experts argue that Pfizer and the FDA acted unethically and that the vaccine may have caused more deaths than it prevented.

Covering up homicide

Pfizer, the pharmaceutical giant behind one of the most widely used COVID-19 vaccines, has been caught in a web of lies and deception that threatens to unravel the very fabric of trust between the public and the medical establishment.

Pfizer-BioNTech, under the guise of noble intentions, launched a clinical trial for their mRNA vaccine. But behind closed doors, this trial was marred by deaths that Pfizer chose to suppress. Two women, one from Kansas and another from Georgia, died not long after receiving their second dose. Yet, Pfizer made sure these deaths remained hidden from the public and regulatory bodies, including the FDA.

The magnitude of Pfizer’s deceitful actions cannot be overstated. According to Dr. Jeyanthi Kunadhasan, an anesthesiologist and one of the researchers analyzing the Pfizer documents, the company had ample time to disclose these deaths before the FDA’s December 2020 meeting but chose to keep this information under wraps. The FDA granted emergency use authorization for the Pfizer vaccine on December 10th, 2020, based on incomplete and misleading data.

Dr. Kunadhasan’s findings have sparked a firestorm of controversy, with Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach even filing a lawsuit against Pfizer for marketing their vaccine as “safe and effective” while concealing critical data on its risks. The omission of these two deaths could have altered the FDA’s decision, raising serious questions about the validity of the vaccine’s safety and efficacy claims.

Pfizer delayed mandatory reporting of the autopsies by 37 days

What makes Pfizer’s duplicity all the more egregious is the delay in reporting the results of the autopsy. The Kansas woman’s death was not disclosed to the FDA for an astounding 37 days, a period far longer than the clinical trial protocol’s 24-hour limit for reporting such events. This brazen violation of medical ethics underscores the lengths to which Pfizer will go to maintain its corporate image and profit margins.

The implications of this scandal cast an even darker shadow over the vaccine’s safety profile. Both women died of cardiac arrest, a detail that becomes particularly alarming when considering the growing evidence of myocarditis and pericarditis among vaccine recipients, especially among young men. The fact that Pfizer did not report these deaths as part of the clinical trial data is a clear attempt to manipulate public perception and regulatory approval.

Kunadhasan’s analysis of Pfizer’s documents also revealed that the lack of disclosure of these deaths would have prevented the FDA from issuing a reduction in overall deaths from the vaccine. In other words, the Pfizer vaccine may have increased the number of deaths rather than preventing them.

FDA conspired to hide the deaths, too

The revelations do not stop there. The FDA, which is supposed to be the guardian of public health, appears complicit in this deception. The agency did not release the pertinent documents until September 2023, nearly three years after the vaccines had been authorized for use. This staggering delay in transparency raises serious questions about the integrity of the FDA.

As the dust settles on this scandal, it becomes clear that the trust between doctors, pharmaceutical companies, and the public has been irreparably damaged. Experts are calling for an immediate investigation into the safety of mRNA vaccines, and a moratorium on their use until the full extent of the damage is understood.

The consequences of Pfizer’s actions go beyond legal and regulatory implications. They touch on the very heart of medical ethics and public trust. As Dr. Naomi Wolf, CEO of Daily Clout, put it, the hidden deaths are symptoms of a larger disease in the medical-pharmaceutical complex, one that values profit over people’s lives.

The hope now lies in the hands of courageous doctors and researchers who refuse to remain silent. It is time for a full and impartial investigation into Pfizer’s vaccine trials, and for the full light of truth to shine upon the hidden dangers of these supposedly life-saving drugs.’

___

You must not wait for another catastrophic crisis (at times manufactured but we are prevented from making our own basic personal decisions or accessing needed drugs and response tools) to catch you off-guard. We must take charge and be prepared today so that we can enjoy peace of mind tomorrow.

Enter the Wellness Company as a solution and a willing participant in the health care conversation. From telemedicine, prescriptions, memberships, and supplements, TWC is leading America with alternative choices to the traditional health care model.

EVOLS NEWS

Mother and four children deported by ICE, including U.S. citizen newborn twins – EVOLREAD MORE… 
LATEST NEWS:
Coast guards call out Biden admin for ‘making sh-t up’ after vessel tailed by fleet of unidentified drones – EVOLRead more…Sen. John Fetterman dismantles suggestions from ABC host that Trump may be a Fascist – EVOLRead more…Politico Oped Urges Federal Workers to Resist Trump from Inside Administration – EVOLRead more…Dr. Jordan Peterson Officially Moved to the US, Left Woke Canada Behind – EVOLRead more…Fetterman: Kash Patel said he wouldn’t go after Trump’s enemies – EVOLRead more…Lara Trump withdraws name from consideration to replace Rubio – EVOLRead more…At AmericaFest, Trump Quells Rumors Musk is Shadow President – EVOLRead more…Liz Cheney Predicted the Jan 6 Bomb Threat – EVOLRead more…

SLAY NEWS

Covid ‘Vaccines’ Cause Cancer in Healthy Young People, Study ConfirmsResearchers are raising the alarm after discovering that Covid mRNA “vaccines” trigger a deadly blood-based cancer in healthy, young, athletic women.READ MORE
Doctors Told to Cut Back on Prescribing Inhalers to Asthma Patients to Fight ‘Climate Change’Doctors in Europe are now being told they must “consider the climate impact” when prescribing asthma inhalers for patients.READ MORE
Canadian Cancer Patient Pressured to Choose Euthanasia Over TreatmentA Canadian cancer patient has revealed that she was aggressively pressured by doctors to choose euthanasia instead of seeking expensive treatments.READ MORE
Bill Gates Calls for Crackdown on Meat Consumption to Fight ‘Climate Change’Billionaire Bill Gates is calling on governments to crack down on the general public’s meat consumption in order to allegedly tackle “climate change.”READ MORE
Major Study Finds Universal Basic Income Would Be a Disaster for SocietyA new study has found that the social scheme to introduce Universal Basic Income (UBI) would be a disaster for society.READ MORE
UK Government to Begin Testing Digital IDs on VeteransThe UK’s socialist government is planning to begin testing new global digital IDs on veterans before expanding the system to the rest of the population.READ MORE
Mining Industry Needs $2.1 Trillion in New Investments to Comply with ‘Net Zero’The cost of the globalist green agenda is continuing to skyrocket, with taxpayers around the world expected to pick up the bill.READ MORE

NEWS ADDICTS

LATEST REPORTS FOR NEWS JUNKIESHouthis claim they caused FA-18 to be shot down in Red Sea but US says it was friendly fire…Late last night the US announced they had accidently shot down one of their own FA-18 fighter jets in the Red Sea but that both of the fighter pilots were able to eject and are okay. This happened as the US was bombing Houthi missile warehouses and defending itself from Houthi attacks. Here’s more via USNI: Two U.S. Navy aviators …READ THE FULL REPORTLara Trump withdraws name from consideration to replace RubioLara Trump announced tonight that she is withdrawing her name from consideration as a replacement for Marco Rubio in the Senate. Here’s what she wrote: After an incredible amount of thought, contemplation, and encouragement from so many, I have decided to remove my name from consideration for the United States Senate. I could not have been more honored to serve …READ THE FULL REPORTLara Trump Drops Out of Running for the Senate, Teases ‘Big Announcement’Lara Trump, President-elect Trump’s daughter-in-law, said Saturday she is removing herself from consideration for Florida Republican Marco Rubio’s seat in the U.S. Senate. “After an incredible amount of thought, contemplation, and encouragement from so many, I have decided to remove my name from consideration for the United States Senate,” she wrote on X Saturday. The president-elect has nominated Rubio to …READ THE FULL REPORTSuspect Shot and Killed After Driving Truck Into Mall, Leaving at Least 5 InjuredAt least five people were injured, and a suspect was killed, after a man drove his pickup truck through the glass doors of a J.C. Penney in a mall in Texas, police said. The incident happened on Saturday evening, just days before Christmas, at the Killeen Mall in Killeen, Texas – which is about 70 miles north of Austin. In …READ THE FULL REPORTTrump Puts Panama on Notice and Suggests US May Reclaim CanalPresident-elect Trump unleashed a tirade against Panama Canal tolls Saturday, claiming the U.S. is being ripped off by high prices. In a Truth Social post Saturday, Trump complained at length about the fees levied on U.S. ships going through the Big Ditch. The Panama Canal’s tolls can range from three to six figures depending on how large a vessel is …READ THE FULL REPORT

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

7.OIL AND NATURAL GAS ISSUES/GLOBAL

Chris Wright Is Perfect Pick To Lead Trump’s Department Of Energy

Monday, Dec 23, 2024 – 09:45 PM

Authored by James Taylor via RealClearPolicy,

How do you restore a bloated and misdirected U.S. Department of Energy to its originally intended purpose of assuring affordable and reliable American energy? The answer is to appoint a highly knowledgeable and successful energy producer to the position of Energy Secretary. Donald Trump made the perfect pick in Chris Wright.

A mechanical and electrical engineer by training, Chris Wright is one of the people most responsible for the fracking revolution that freed America from the whims of hostile oil producers like Iran and Venezuela. He is currently the CEO of Liberty Energy, an oil and natural gas servicing company at the forefront of American oil and natural gas production. He also sits on the board of directors of Oklo Inc., an advanced nuclear technology company.

In other words, Wright possesses impressive knowledge and experience regarding a broad array of energy sources and technologies, and he has a track record of successfully bringing those energy options into the marketplace.

Perhaps most appealing about Wright is his refusal to give in to pressure tactics from leftist climate and environment activist groups. “There is no climate crisis, and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition, either,” said Wright on his LinkedIn page. Countering leftist fearmongering, Wright has visually illustrated that fracking fluid is not dangerous by drinking it in public. 

What Chris Wright affirmatively stands for is an America that dictates energy policy to the rest of the world rather than being held captive by it. America has more oil, coal, and natural gas resources than any other nation on Earth, but we rarely act like it. Under presidents Obama and Biden, government policy was to restrict American energy production under climate change rationale and then beg nations like Venezuela and Saudi Arabia to export more oil to us. Under Trump and Chris Wright, American energy policy will return to holding our energy destiny in our own hands.

The beauty of abundant domestic energy production is that if there is a Middle East crisis, or if OPEC decides to tighten its oil production, America is the nation that most benefits from the rising prices, rather than Russia, Iran, and Venezuela. More American energy production means prices are likely to return to Trump-era lows – but any foreign events that put pressure on energy markets will benefit America rather than other nations.

Under Chris Wright, the U.S. Department of Energy will focus on spurring affordable and reliable American energy, not creating massive and ineffective boondoggles for climate change virtue-signaling. This is in stark contrast to the Department of Energy under the Biden administration and current Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. 

Granholm is a career politician and a partisan Democrat best known for giving overcaffeinated speeches at the 2012 and 2016 Democratic National Conventions. The Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate in 2021 approved Granholm as Energy Secretary despite Granholm having absolutely no specialized experience or knowledge regarding energy issues. The result was predictable. 

The Biden-Granholm DOE website lists climate change as a “top priority” of the DOE and boasts about all the DOE programs and DOE money being spent on climate change – instead of assuring affordable and reliable American energy. Yes, the percentage of wind and solar power in the American electricity mix rose from 11 percent in 2020 to 15 percent in 2024. The result of adding such expensive and unreliable energy to our electricity mix is that electricity prices rose a staggering 23 percent under Biden-Granholm, after rising less than 1 percent per year in the decade before Biden-Granholm.

Biden-Granholm’s effect on gasoline prices is even worse. Gasoline prices averaged just $2.48 under the Trump administration. They are averaging $3.45 under Biden-Granholm, which is 39 percent higher than under Trump.

Americans gave Donald Trump a mandate to halt runaway energy inflation. Americans want affordable and reliable energy rather than climate change virtue signaling. With a Department of Energy under the vision and leadership of Chris Wright, America will once again return to energy affordability and energy dominance. Wright is the perfect man for the job. 

James Taylor (JTaylor@heartland.org) is President of The Heartland Institute. 

end

Saudi Arabia Becomes Top Buyer Of Russian Fuel Oil

Tuesday, Dec 24, 2024 – 12:00 PM

Authored by Alex Kimani via OilPrice.com,

  • Saudi Arabia was the leading buyer of Russian seaborne fuel oil in November.
  • Asian countries have become top buyers of Russia’s fuel oil and VGO ever since the European Union imposed a full embargo on Russian oil products in February 2023.
  • India is no longer the biggest buyer of Russian crude.

Saudi Arabia was the leading buyer of Russian seaborne fuel oil and vacuum gasoil (VGO) exports in November, LSEG data has revealed. According to Reuters calculations based on LSEG data, Russian fuel oil and VGO exports grew  6% month-on-month in November to about 4.26 million metric tons. Asian countries have become top buyers of Russia’s fuel oil and VGO ever since the European Union imposed a full embargo on Russian oil products in February 2023.

India is no longer the biggest buyer of Russian crude. According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), India’s imports of Russian crude fell a massive 55% in November–the lowest figure since June 2022–despite Russia continuing to sell its oil at a discount.

India has lately been trying to diversify its oil supplies: Last month, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during a visit to Guyana that his government views the South American country as key to India’s energy security.

Modi told a special sitting of Parliament that he views Guyana as an important energy source and that he will encourage large Indian businesses to invest in the country.

Guyana did not immediately grant Modi’s wish, with India’s External Affairs Minister Jaideep Mazumdar saying talks will continue and that such a deal would ensure “greater predictability.”

Guyanese Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat told reporters that Guyana is willing to supply India with a large amount of crude, if Exxon Mobil, the main operator in Guyana’s offshore oil production, agrees to such an arrangement.

“We know Exxon has to do some amount of changes to their lifting schedule and logistics because their preference is for the very large vessels that can accommodate two million barrels mainly because of distance and cost,” Bharrat said.

Meanwhile, CREA estimates that there was a 17% month-on-month increase in the discount on Urals grade crude oil to an average of $6.01 per barrel compared to Brent crude oil. Russia has lost an estimated EUR 14.6 bn in revenues from Urals grade crude exports due to sanctions.

8. EMERGING MARKETS//AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND ISSUES//

PAKISTAN

White House Says Pakistan Developing Long-Range Nuke-Capable Missile Which Can Reach US

Monday, Dec 23, 2024 – 04:40 PM

Last week the United States imposed rare sanctions on Pakistan while condemning its nuclear-armed long-range ballistic-missile program. This despite Islamabad long being an uneasy ally of Washington.

The fresh sanctions on the missile sector were imposed under an executive order that “targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery,” according to the State Department’s Matthew Miller. The measures specifically punish Pakistan’s National Development Complex and three defense firms.

In follow up this week, the Biden administration is warning that Pakistan is on the verge of achieving a long-range ballistic missile which is capable of striking the US mainland.

According to a Monday report in The Wall Street Journal:

Weeks before it leaves office, the Biden administration said that Pakistan is developing a long-range ballistic missile that could eventually provide nuclear-armed Islamabad with a weapon capable of striking the U.S.

The administration disclosed the intelligence about Pakistan’s secret missile activities and imposed sanctions against a state-owned entity involved in the work after repeated efforts to press its concerns in confidential channels fell short, U.S. officials said. 

Pakistan’s foreign ministry has rejected Washington’s allegations, blasting them as “unfounded” and “devoid of rationality”. Islamabad has further warned that this threatens the health of the “overall relationship” with the US.

American officials say that Pakistan’s production of such a long-range ballistic missile is not necessarily imminent, but likely remains years away, or possibly up to a decade.

Still, Washington has launched a pressure campaign against a country which only twenty years ago was considered a ‘major non-NATO ally’.

“We’re trying to build this pressure to get ahead of this problem because we don’t want Pakistan to go down this road so far that we are dealing with something that is more imminent,” a Biden admin official was quoted in WSJ as saying.

Deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said last week “candidly, it is hard for us to see Pakistan’s actions as anything other than an emerging threat to the United States.”

The irony in all of this is that ever since Pakistan achieved status as a nuclear-armed power in the 1980s, Washington’s chief concern has been its political and military stability, for which it has handed out billions in foreign aid to Islamabad over the many years.

But starting in 2018, then President Trump began cutting all military aid to the country. Relations have remained rocky and strained ever since. The Pentagon still says it cooperates with Pakistan’s armed forces on the military level, however.

END

YOUR EARLY CURRENCY/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN CLOSING MARKETS AND EUROPEAN BOURSE OPENING AND CLOSING/ INTEREST RATE SETTINGS TUESDAY MORNING 6;30AM//OPENING AND CLOSING

EURO VS USA DOLLAR:  1.0396 DOWN 8 BASIS PTS

USA/ YEN 157.16 DOWN 0.013 NOW TARGETS INTEREST RATE AT 1.00% AS IT WILL BUY UNLIMITED BONDS TO GETS TO THAT LEVEL…//YEN  STILL FALLS//END OF YEN CARRY TRADE BEGINS AGAIN OCT 2024/Bank of Japan raises rates by .15% to 1.15..UEDA ENDS HIKING RATES AND NOW CARRY TRADES RE INVENTS ITSELF//

GBP/USA 1.2557 UP .0025

USA/CAN DOLLAR:  1.4394 UP 0.0025 (CDN DOLLAR DOWN 25 BASIS PTS)

 Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE CLOSED UP 42.27 PTS OR 1.26%

 Hang Seng CLOSED UP 215.16 OR 1.08%

AUSTRALIA CLOSED UP 0.22%

 // EUROPEAN BOURSE:     ALL MIXED

Trading from Europe and ASIA

I) EUROPEAN BOURSES:  ALL MIXED

2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang SENG CLOSED UP 215.16 PTS OR 1.08%

/SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 42.27 PTS OR 1.26%

AUSTRALIA BOURSE CLOSED UP 0.22%

(Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED DOWN 124.49 PTS OR 0.32%

INDIA’S SENSEX  IN THE RED

Gold very early morning trading: 2613.05

silver:$29.61

USA dollar index early TUESDAY  morning: 107.93 UP 12 BASIS POINTS FROM  MONDAY’s CLOSE.

TUESDAY  MORNING NUMBERS ENDS

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And now your closing  TUESDAY NUMBERS 1: 30 AM

Portuguese 10 year bond yield: 2.798% DOWN 1 in basis point(s) yield

JAPANESE BOND YIELD: +1.062% UP 0 AND 2/ 10   BASIS POINTS /JAPAN losing control of its yield curve/

SPANISH 10 YR BOND YIELD: 3.022 UP 1 in basis points yield

ITALIAN 10 YR BOND YIELD 3.494 UP 0 points in basis points yield ./ THE ECB IS QE’ ING ITALIAN BONDS (BUYING ITALIAN BONDS/SELLING GERMAN BUNDS)

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD: 2.3205 UP 1 BASIS PTS

IMPORTANT CURRENCY CLOSES :  TUESDAY  

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

Euro/USA 1.0405 DOWN .0008 OR 8 basis points

USA/Japan: 157.26 UP 0.070 OR YEN IS DOWN 7 BASIS PTS//

Great Britain 10 YR RATE 4.6485 UP 4 BASIS POINTS //

Canadian dollar DOWN .0009 OR 9 BASIS pts  to 1.4393

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The USA/Yuan,  CNY ON SHORE CLOSED UP 7.3034 (ON SHORE)  

THE USA/YUAN OFFSHORE:    (YUAN CLOSED (UP)…. (7.3028)

TURKISH LIRA:  35.26 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LEVEL/DEATH WATCH/HYPERINFLATION TO BEGIN.//

the 10 yr Japanese bond yield  at +1.0620

Your closing 10 yr US bond yield UP 2 in basis points from MONDAY at  4.623% //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%)

 USA 30 yr bond yield  4.811 UP 3 in basis points  /11:00 AM

USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.351 UP 0  BASIS PTS.

GOLD AT 11;00 AM 2611.90

SILVER AT 11;00: 29.59

Your  11:00 AM bourses for Europe and the Dow along with the USA dollar index closing and interest rates: TUESDAY CLOSING TIME 11:00 AM//

London: CLOSED UP 34.27 PTS OR 0.42%

German Dax :  CLOSED DOWN 35.99 OR 0.18%

Paris CAC CLOSED UP 1,.37 PTS OR 0.14%

Spain IBEX CLOSED

Italian MIB: CLOSED DOWN

WTI Oil price  70.18 12 EST/

Brent Oil:  73.62 12:00 EST

USA /RUSSIAN ROUBLE ///   AT:  100.14 ROUBLE UP 0 AND  77/100      

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD; +2.3205 UP 1 BASIS PTS.

UK 10 YR YIELD: 4.6485 UP 4 BASIS POINTS

CDN 10 YEAR RATE: 3.343 UP 5 BASIS PTS.

CDN 5 YEAR RATE: 3.085 UP 1 BASIS PTS

CLOSING NUMBERS: 1 PM

Euro vs USA 1.0392 DOWN 0.0013 OR 13 BASIS POINTS

British Pound: 1.2523 DOWN 0.0009 OR 9 basis pts

BRITISH 10 YR GILT BOND YIELD:  4.6485 UP 4 BASIS PTS//

JAPAN 10 YR YIELD: 1.065 UP ONE BASIS PT

USA dollar vs Japanese Yen: 157.27 UP 0.091 BASIS PTS// HEADING FOR 160 TO THE DOLLAR

USA dollar vs Canadian dollar: 1.4366 DOWN.0008 CDN DOLLAR DOWN 8 BASIS PTS

West Texas intermediate oil: 70.03

Brent OIL:  73.37

USA 10 yr bond yield DOWN 4 BASIS pts to 4.543

USA 30 yr bond yield DOWN 2 BASIS PTS to 4.763%

USA 2 YR BOND: DOWN 1 PTS AT  4.3337

CDN 10 YR RATE 3.320 UP 1 BASIS PTS

CDN 5 YEAR RATE: 3.080 UP 2 BASIS PTS

USA dollar index: 108.01 UP 18 BASIS POINTS

USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 35.20 GETTING QUITE CLOSE TO BLOWING UP/

USA DOLLAR VS RUSSIA//// ROUBLE:  99.99 UP 1 AND  22/100 roubles

GOLD  2,616.85 3:30 PM

SILVER: 29.68 3:30 PM

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: UP 390.08 PTS OR 0.91%

NASDAQ UP 294.48 PTS OR 1.37%

VOLATILITY INDEX: 14.78 DOWN 2.00 PTS OR 11.19%

GLD: $241.44 UP 0.48 OR 0.20%

SLV/ $27.02 UP 0.03 OR 0.11%

TORONTO STOCK INDEX// TSX INDEX: UP 67.20 PTS OR 0.27%

end

USA AFFAIRS

ZEROHEDGE HEADLINE

Bitcoin, Banks, & Big-Tech Bid Before Santa’s Big Night

II USA DATA

III USA ECONOMIC NEWS

SUING THEIR REGULATOR?

California banks are already insolvent.

very interesting!!

America’s Biggest Banks To Sue Fed Over Annual Stress Tests: Report

Tuesday, Dec 24, 2024 – 10:20 AM

The nation’s largest banks are planning to sue the Federal Reserve over their required annual stress tests, CNBC reports, noting that the lawsuit is expected this week and could come as soon as Tuesday morning.

The tests determine how much capital banks must set aside to meet their obligations, as well as dictate the scope of stock buybacks and dividend payouts.

The report comes one day after the Fed announced that it’s mulling major changes to stress tests and will be seeking public comment on “significant changes to improve the transparency of its bank stress tests and to reduce the volatility of resulting capital buffer requirements.”

According to the Fed, it’s changing the tests because of “the evolving legal landscape” related to changes in administrative laws in recent years.

Greg Baer, CEO of the Bank Policy Institute (BPI) which represents big banks such as Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, welcomed the Fed announcement, saying in a statement “The Board’s announcement today is a first step towards transparency and accountability.”

That said, it may be too little too late for the banks. “We are reviewing it closely and considering additional options to ensure timely reforms that are both good law and good policy,” Baer continued.

Groups like the BPI and the American Bankers Association have raised concerns about the stress test process in the past, claiming that it is opaque, and has resulted in higher capital rules that hurt bank lending and economic growth. -CNBC

In July, the BPI accused the Fed of being in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act after failing to seek public comment on its stress scenarios, as well as for keeping its supervisory models a secret.

.com/SaraEisen/status/1871404067341107532

end

11 Signs That The Slow-Motion Collapse Of The US Economy Is Far More Advanced Than Most People Think

Tuesday, Dec 24, 2024 – 07:45 AM

Authored by Michael Snyder via TheMostImportantNews.com,

The fact that economic conditions are getting worse is certainly not good news, but it is better to know in advance what is coming.  After four years under Joe Biden, the U.S. economy is a giant mess.  We have been witnessing a slow-motion collapse right in front of our eyes, and those at the bottom levels of the economic food chain have been experiencing more pain than anyone else.  Of course this is one of the biggest reasons why Donald Trump won the election.  

Large numbers of poor and working class Americans are desperate for change.  Unfortunately, economic conditions have continued to deteriorate since early November.

The following are 11 signs that the slow-motion collapse of the U.S. economy is far more advanced than most people think…

#1 When the economy is in good shape, holiday spending increases each year.  In 2024, only 16 percent of Americans say that they are going to spend more than last year and 35 percent of Americans say that they are going to spend less…

Americans this holiday season say they are seeing a ghost of Christmas past: inflation.

The CNBC All-America Economic Survey finds inflation is still haunting the buying public, leading to what’s shaping up to be just an average season for retailers. Just 16% of respondents say they will spend more, down two points compared to last year. Forty-eight percent said that they’ll lay out the same amount for holiday gifts, up five points. At the same time, 35% say they’ll spend less, down two points as well.

#2 The number of job openings in the U.S. is now the lowest it has been since January 2021, but unlike January 2021 we don’t have a pandemic to blame our poor performance on…

US job openings tumbled last month to their lowest level since January 2021, a sign that the labor market is losing some momentum. Still, posted vacancies remain well above pre-pandemic levels.

The Labor Department reported Tuesday that the number of job openings dropped to 7.4 million in September from 7.9 million in August.

Economists had expected the level of openings to be virtually unchanged. Job openings fell in particular at healthcare companies and at government agencies at the federal, state and local levels.

#3 The manufacturing numbers that we are getting are extremely dismal.  For example, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Manufacturing Index just experienced an extremely sharp decline…

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Manufacturing Index, a critical gauge of the general business conditions in Philadelphia, has reported a significant drop. The actual figure stands at -16.4, a sharp decline that suggests worsening conditions for manufacturers in the region.

This figure starkly contrasts with the forecasted number of 2.9, highlighting a more severe downturn than initially predicted. Analysts had anticipated a positive shift, indicating improving conditions, but the actual data presents a different, more concerning situation.

Moreover, when compared to the previous index value of -5.5, the current reading of -16.4 further emphasizes the severity of the decline. This continuous drop indicates a concerning trend for manufacturers within the Philadelphia Federal Reserve district.

#4 Thanks to rapidly rising mortgage rates, the average U.S. homebuyer just lost $33,250 in purchasing power in just six weeks…

Mortgage rates hit 7% on October 28, the highest level since the start of summer and up nearly one percentage point from the 18-month low they dropped to in mid-September.

A homebuyer on a $3,000 monthly budget can afford a $442,500 home with a 7% mortgage rate, the daily average 30-year fixed rate on October 28. That buyer has lost $33,250 in purchasing power over the last six weeks; they could have purchased a $475,750 home with the 6.11% average rate on September 17. That was the lowest level since February 2023.

#5 Our cost of living crisis is officially out of control.  According to Bank of America, almost a third of all households “spend more than 95% of their disposable income on necessities such as housing costs, groceries and utility bills”…

Many Americans are still in a tough spot: Nearly 30% of all US households this year said they spend more than 95% of their disposable income on necessities such as housing costs, groceries and utility bills, according to a Bank of America Institute report, up from 2019 levels.

#6 A recent Lending Tree survey discovered that nearly a quarter of all households couldn’t pay their entire power bill at some point within the past year…

LendingTree’s findings about electricity bill costs comes as it reported 23.4% of Americans experienced an inability to cover their entire energy bill or portions of it in the last year, based on Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey data.

#7 The same Lending Tree survey found that about a third of all households had to reduce spending “on necessary things” within the past year in order to pay utility costs…

Needing to cover utility bills prompted 34.3% of Americans to curb their spending on necessary things – or eliminate some altogether – in at least one instance in the prior year, LendingTree said.

#8 As I discussed last week, demand is at record levels at food banks all over the nation…

Why is demand at food banks all over the country higher than it has ever been before?  The media keeps insisting that economic conditions are just fine, but it has become quite obvious to everyone that this is not true.  In particular, the rising cost of living has been absolutely crushing households from coast to coast.  In the old days, most of the people that would show up at food banks were unemployed.  But now food banks are serving large numbers of people that actually do have jobs but that don’t make enough to pay for all of the basics.  The ranks of the “working poor” are growing very rapidly, and this is creating an unprecedented crisis all over America.

#9 During normal times, troubled retailers would at least wait until after the holiday season to throw in the towel.  But we haven’t even reached Christmas and Party City has already announced that it will be closing all stores…

Party City is closing down all of its stores, ending nearly 40 years in business, CNN has learned.

CEO Barry Litwin told corporate employees Friday in a meeting viewed by CNN that Party City is “winding down” operations immediately and that today will be their last day of employment. Staff were told they will not receive severance pay, and they were told their benefits would end as the company goes out of business.

#10 Not to be outdone, Big Lots has announced that all 936 of their remaining stores will be shutting down on a permanent basis…

Big Lots is beginning ‘going out of business’ sales at all its stores across the US, as it prepares to close its remaining locations.

The discount retail chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September, and has already shut hundreds of stores nationwide.

In a press release Thursday, the company said it would begin the sales at its 963 remaining locations, after a sale to a private equity firm fell through.

#11 As of the end of November, more than 7,000 store closings had been announced in the United States.  That is a 69 percent increase from last year…

According to a report from CoreSight Research, U.S. retailers had announced more than 7,100 store closures through the end of November 2024, which represents a 69% increase compared to the same time in 2023. These closures are spread across numerous different sectors of retail from auto parts to restaurants to pharmacies, leaving many consumers wondering which companies will survive. This brings us to GameStop, the beloved retail gaming store, which has not only been closing hundreds of retail store locations since 2020, but also appears to be on track to close hundreds more of its locations in the very near future.

This is what a failing economy looks like.

Last week, a prominent mall in downtown San Francisco was empty of shoppers in the middle of the afternoon…

Look at all of these beautiful Christmas decorations at the Crocker Galleria mall in San Francisco. It’s 4:47 PM and everybody should be shopping and buying Christmas presents for their family, but nobody is in this mall.

There are only three stores left that are open here. The escalators hum on inside this beautiful but empty decorated mall.

Outside on Market Street the fentanyl addicts lay folded over while a street performer sings Last Christmas to an empty Street.

Of course the lack of shoppers at that particular mall is just the tip of the iceberg.

Unfortunately, the truth is that downtown areas all over California “are crumbling under the weight of homelessness and drug addiction”…

California’s biggest downtown areas are crumbling under the weight of homelessness and drug addiction, causing a vital part of its economy to dry out.

Cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco have made countless headlines since the pandemic about their drug-infested streets where businesses are quickly pulling out due to high crime rates and low consumer passage.

The number of drug addicts in America is at the highest level ever.

The number of homeless people in America is at the highest level ever.

They are victims of our slow-motion economic collapse, and the holidays will not be very happy for them.

So if you still have food on the table and a warm home to sleep in, you should consider yourself to be incredibly blessed.

Sadly, more Americans are being forced out into the streets with each passing day as the slow-motion collapse of our economy accelerates.

* end

Migrant Accused Of Setting Woman On Fire In NYC Subway Car Is Here Illegally, ICE Confirms

Monday, Dec 23, 2024 – 02:20 PM

A Guatemalan migrant has been arrested for allegedly lighting a woman on fire while she was asleep in a subway car in Brooklyn.


A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed that the migrant suspect is Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, a 33-year-old foreign national living in the U.S. unlawfully.

“Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, 33, is an unlawfully present Guatemalan citizen who entered the United States without admission by an immigration official,” ICE spokesperson Jeff Carter said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“U.S. Border Patrol in Sonoita, Arizona, encountered Zapeta June 1, 2018, and served him with an order of expedited removal and Enforcement and Removal Operations removed Zapeta from the U.S. to Guatemala June 7, 2018.”

The victim burned to her death while the suspect allegedly sat on a bench “calmly” watching the fire consume her body. 

The New York Post reports the disturbing crime was one of the most savage to take an innocent life in the city of New York.

The immigrants are evil people with no civilization?

While this women slowly burned down to a painful death as fellow Americans were busy recording videos in Coney Island Brooklyn at NewYork Subway#NewYork #ConeyIsland #Subway#Guatemala #Train #Fire #NYC pic.twitter.com/ccpE4PcMbX— 𝗦𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗚𝗨𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗡 (@Censored_Locks) December 23, 2024

The immigrants are evil people with no civilization?

As AP reports, Transit police apprehended the suspect after receiving a report from three high school students who had recognized the man.

They had seen images of the suspect taken from surveillance and police body cam video and widely distributed by police.

“New Yorkers came through again,” said New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who described the case as “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being.”

After the train came to a stop, surveillance video from the subway car showed the man “calmly” walk up to the victim, who was seated motionless, possibly sleeping, and set her clothing on fire with what appeared to be a lighter.

The woman’s clothing then “became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds,” Tisch said.

Unbeknownst to the officers, the suspect had remained at the scene and was seated on a bench on the subway platform, just outside the train car, Tisch said.

Body cameras worn by the officers caught a “very clear, detailed look” at the suspect and those images were publicly disseminated.

Officials said the 33-year-old suspect came to the US in 2018 from Guatemala.

He was detained by border patrol agents in Arizona in June of that year, sources said. His legal status wasn’t immediately clear Sunday night.

He received a transit summons in May 2023, but his criminal record in New York City was largely clean otherwise, sources said. He was living at a shelter on Randall’s Island at the time of the infraction.

The police reportedly do not believe the migrant and the victim he burned to death knew each other before the disturbing killing. The woman had not yet been identified as of Sunday night.

END

Rand Paul’s Annual Festivus List Highlights Over One Trillion Dollars In Government Waste

by Tyler Durden

Tuesday, Dec 24, 2024 – 10:00 AM

Authored by ‘Grateful Calvin’ via Twitchy.com,

One of the wonderful features of Christmas is how different cultures have different ways of celebrating the holiday. If you are Irish, for example, you might go to Midnight Mass or take a plunge for a Christmas Swim. Italians traditionally celebrate Christmas Eve with the insanely delicious Feast of the Seven Fishes (La Vigilia in Italian). Germans are generally recognized as the culture that first brought us advent calendars and the Tannenbaum or Christmas tree (thank you, Martin Luther), but they also brought Krampus Nacht for the naughty children. 

If you are an American small government conservative, however, one Christmas tradition you always look forward to is the annual Festivus airing of grievances from Senator Rand Paul. Each year, Paul publishes a report of some of the worst examples of federal government waste … and calls out his colleagues on both sides of the aisle while doing so. 

But Senator Paul may have outdone himself this year. For the first time ever, his Festivus list contains over $1 TRILLION in government waste.

That’s ‘trillion’ with a T. 

Are you listening, Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, and DOGE? 

Paul’s full report is available here, but his introduction lets everyone know that, as usual, he is pulling no punches. 

Last Festivus, we bemoaned the national debt nearing $34 trillion. In just a year, Washington’s career politicians and bureaucrats have managed to push it beyond $36 trillion—unsurprisingly, with hardly a second thought.

Who’s to blame for our crushing national debt? Everybody. This year, members of both political parties in Congress voted for massive spending bills, filled with subsidies for underperforming industries, continued military aid to Ukraine, and controversial climate initiatives. As Congress spends to reward its favored pet projects, the American taxpayers are forced to pay through high prices and crippling interest rates.

The same big spenders teamed up, yet again, to continue sending Americans’ hard-earned money to foreign countries, funding endless wars, all while STILL ignoring our wide-open southern border.

And our mountain of debt will continue to pile even higher. The Congressional Budget Office predicts we will add an average of $2.1 trillion in debt annually for the next decade. According to a July House Budget Committee Report, the U.S. government will add over $6.4 billion of debt every single day for the next ten years, borrowing over $268 million every hour, $4.5 million every minute, and over $74,401 every second.

This year, I am highlighting a whopping $1,008,313,329,626.12. That’s over $1 trillion in government waste, including things like ice-skating drag queens, a $12 Million Las Vegas pickleball complex, $4,840,082 on Ukrainian influencers, and more! No matter how much money the government has wasted, politicians keep demanding even more.

As always, taking the path to fiscal responsibility is often a lonely journey, but I’ve been fighting government waste like DOGE before DOGE was cool. And I will continue my fight against government waste this holiday season.

Paul noted some of the highlights — or lowlights, to be more precise — above, but Eric Daugherty was kind enough to summarize some of the ridiculous spending contained in the report. 

Oh, you can bet that tweet continues: 

Highlights of INSANE, useless spending: 

  • $3M for “Girl-Centered Climate Action” in Brazil 
  • $20M for a new Sesame Street show 
  • $10K for the “Bearded Ladies Cabaret” for a climate change-focused ice skates show 
  • $365K for circuses in city parks 
  • $32.5K for “breakdancing” 
  • $330K for censoring conservative media 
  • $720K for conservation of ducks in Mexico 

@RandPaul is going to get major backup from DOGE in just a few weeks.

Yikes. Look at all of that. Maybe the Germans need to send Krampus after the naughty adults in Washington, DC. 

Speaking of DOGE, Paul didn’t back away from telling Musk and Ramaswamy that he would hold them to their pledge.

Paul concludes that tweet with some light ribbing, saying, ‘Now, they don’t have to work too hard to find what I’ve already found.’

He then listed some of his favorites from the list and took the time to throw some shade at Senator Joni Ernst while he was at it. 

OOF. As if Ernst wasn’t already in hot water with conservatives. But as we said, Paul does not hold anything back just because someone might have an (R) after their name. 

Here are more big-ticket wasteful items Paul released in his report:

– The federal government spent $10 billion on maintaining, leasing, and furnishing almost entirely empty buildings.
– The Department of Energy (DOE) spent $15.5 billion to push Americans toward electric vehicles they don’t want.
–  The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is spending $20 million on the Fertilize Right Initiative to advance fertilizer use in Pakistan, Vietnam, Colombia, and Brazil.
– The U.S. Navy is set to waste almost $90 billion on ineffective Navy vessels.

Some more of the smaller, silliest items include nearly $1 million from the State Department to produce films in Jordan, $300,000 from the National Science Foundation for ‘affinity group’ safe spaces for bird watchers, $7 million across the federal government for magic projects (yes, magic, as in ‘Abracadabra,’ your tax money is gone), $10 million from the Department of Defense for cat experiments, another $250,000 from the State Department to fight ‘misinformation’ in Bosnia, and the list goes on for far too long. 

The huge dollar figure in Paul’s list each year comes from interest on the national debt, which this year accounted for $890 billion in taxpayer money out the window. 

Paul’s airing of grievances isn’t limited to just spending, however. He says every year that he uses Festivus to make enemies and this year was no exception. 

Embrace the power of ‘AND,’ Dr. Paul. 

The rest of America has.

END

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

end

iiiC USA COVID //VACCINE ISSUES/IMPORTANT MEDICAL ISSUES

END

FREIGHT ISSUES/USA/

END

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON OR NEWT GINGRICH/TUCKER CARLSON

TUCKER CARLSON INTERVIEWING

KING REPORT

The King Report December 24, 2024, Issue 7397Independent View of the News
ESHs rallied from the Nikkei opening until they hit their daily high of 6033.00 seventeen minutes after the 1:00 ET Nikkei close.  The usual suspects were doing the usual buying for the usual Monday Rally.
 
Bah humbug!  After a slow rollover, ESHs broke lower after the 3 ET European opening.  The decline accelerated at 5:22 ET.  After hitting 5992.50 at 6:46 ET, ESHs rebounded to 6009.50 at 7:56 ET.  Alas, selling resumed; ESHs sank to 5983.00 at 8:42 ET.  Then, traders got long for the NYSE opening and expected Monday Rally (plus the Santa Rally).  ESHs jumped to 6008.25 at 9:27 ET.
 
The dump began on the NYSE opening; ESHs tumbled to a daily low of 5965.00 at 10:09 ET. 
 
@MichaelMOTTCM: this is some breadth day. 418 down only 83 up 9:58 AM · Dec 23, 2024
https://x.com/MichaelMOTTCM/status/1871208705863352696
 
The usual suspects then got busy and drove ESHs to a daily high of 6033.50 at 14:17 ET.  There was only one modest respite, at the start of midday, during the manic buying.  Fangs/Mag 7, of course, led the rally.
 
Near 14:30 ET, the DJIA was down 30+ points; the DJTA was +1.43 points but the NY Fang+ Index was +1.5%!  Traders historically and dangerously are concentrated in a handful of stocks.
 
ESHs declined to 6012.00 at 15:17 ET.  The late manipulation took ESHs to 6043.00 at 15:52 ET.
 
USHs declined; the dollar rallied sharply, which pushed commodities lower.  Silver and platinum rallied modestly while gold declined moderately.
 
December Conference Board Consumer Confidence unexpectedly dropped to 104.7 from 112.8; 113.2 was consensus.  Current Conditions: 140.2, 141.4 prior; Expectations 81.1, 93.07 prior
 
November Durable Goods -1.1% m/m, -0.3% expected prior revised to 0.8% from 0.3%; Ex-Transportation -0.1%, +0.3%; Nondef Ex-Air 0.7%, 0.7%, 0.1% expected; Shipment 0.5%, 0.1% exp.
 
November New Home Sales 664k, 669k expected; Permits 1.493m, prior 1.505m
 
Positive aspects of previous session
Fangs/Mag 7 soared, which drove Nasdaq and the Naz 100 sharply higher
 
Negative aspects of previous session
USHs were -25/32 at the NYSE close.
The DJIA was negative most of the session; the DJTA rallied only modestly.
Fangs/Mag 7 peaked at 14:17 ET.
The US stock market continues to be driven by a handful of stocks.
 
Ambiguous aspects of previous session
Now long can Fangs keep US stocks buoyant?
 
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]: 5951.63
Previous session S&P 500 Index High/Low: 5978.25; 5902.57
 
‘SNL’ Audience Cheers for Man Charged With Murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO
https://www.dailywire.com/news/snl-audience-cheers-for-man-charged-with-murdering-unitedhealthcare-ceo
 
BoJ Minutes: If inflation trends align with expectations, gradual rate hikes possible
https://www.fxstreet.com/news/boj-minutes-if-inflation-trends-align-with-expectations-gradual-rate-hikes-possible-202412240004
 
Today – The Santa Rally window opens and runs through January 3.  Absenteeism will be significant.  NYSE trading ends at 13:00 ET.  Monday’s action demonstrated that the usual suspects are determined to play for the Santa Rally and Fangs/Mag 7 will continue to be the favored trading sardines.
 
ESHs hit 6042.50 (+6.50) at 18:17 but dropped to 6030.00 (-6.00) after the hawkish BoJ Minutes were released. ESHs are -3.00; NQHs -27.75; and USHs +8/32 at 20:12 ET.
 
Expected Economic Data: Dec Richmond Fed Mfg. Index -11
 
S&P Index 50-day MA: 5930; 100-day MA: 5757; 150-day MA: 5654; 200-day MA: 5531
DJIA 50-day MA: 43,463; 100-day MA: 42,300; 150-day MA: 41,355; 200-day MA: 40,732
(Green is positive slope; Red is negative slope)
 
S&P 500 Index (5930.85 close) – BBG trading model Trender and MACD for key time frames
Monthly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 5304.59 triggers a sell signal
Weekly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 5735.66 triggers a sell signal
Daily: Trender and MACD are negative – a close above 6129.70 triggers a buy signal
Hourly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 5903.69 triggers a sell signal
 
Biden commutes death sentences of child killers and mass murderers 2 days before Christmas https://trib.al/OHbXjyo
     @willchamberlain: This is the most flagrant abuse of the pardon power in American history.
 
@libsoftiktok: Meet Kaboni Savage, a violent gang leader who was convicted for his involvement in the deaths of 12 people including a firebombing that k*lled a 15-month-old baby and 3 other children.
Biden just took this evil person off death row.
    Jorge Torrez is a serial kiIIer, chiId r*pist, and a kidnapper who r*ped and kiIIed 2 girIs and a United States Navy sailor. Biden commuted his sentence.
    Political commentator @GuntherEagleman: Joe Biden is an evil POS…
 
Ex-Clinton advisor @Mark_Penn: 7 murders are spared the death sentence in yet another desperate act of outgoing president Joe Biden trying to get some media and left-wing approval.  They include some of the most heinous of double and triple murders.
    Would he have done this with an election pending? Of course not. He had four years to do this if believed it was the right thing to do as crime and murders spiked from before Covid. And he could have been applauded for taking political risk and arguing his case.  But instead, freed from the will of the people, Biden in effect nullifies our will and our laws not by pardoning worthy individuals wrongly convicted but instead commuting the sentences of our worst miscreants.
 
@BillAckman: How can a president with cognitive issues be allowed to abuse the pardon  power?   This is the danger of not using the 25th amendment.  Who and why is choosing these candidates to pardon? It can’t be Biden. The public has the right to know the logic for these pardons.
 
Critics say bystanders stood by while illegal migrant burned woman to death on NYC subway: ‘Daniel Penny effect’ https://trib.al/4xhshfl
 
CIA docs claim life did exist on Mars… and it was a population of ‘very large people’ who built pyramids: Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14179243/cia-docs-reveal-life-mars-pyramids.html
 
The Hidden Truth Behind a 1960s Nuclear Test: A Non-Human Craft Fell Down To Earth
https://www.liberationtimes.com/home/the-hidden-truth-behind-a-1960s-nuclear-test-a-non-human-craft-fell-down-to-earth
 
Advisor to 4 POTUS @Halsrethink: I want to thank @ChrisUKSharp for publishing Geoff Cruickshank’s deep dive into the events around one missile test in 1962 that I worked on in my capacity as an advisor to The Joint Chief’s. He has done an excellent job of explaining the significance of the test. It helps us understand why JFK, LBJ and soon after, I myself, all rushed to visit @LosAlamosNatLab soon afterwards.
    @UFOCollage: Did you know at that time a ufo was brought down?
         @Halsrethink: As soon as I received the report from Los Alamos in early November, at the same time as that report was made to JFK.
 
Merry Christmas!

SWAMP STORIES FOR YOU TONIGHT

GREG HUNTER INTERVIEWING

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND TO ALL OUR JEWISH FRIENDS OUT THERE

A VERY HAPPY HANNUKAH FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS CELEBRATION

I WISH EVERYONE TO HAVE A SAFE HOLIDAY AND PLEASE COME BACK IN ONE PIECE

SEE YOU ON   THURSDAY

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    RJ · · Reply→

    Leftists hate Santa, In fact I hear they love scrooge. Thanks for this valuable financial news!

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