DEC 26/GOLD CLOSED UP $17.55 TOO $2634.65//SILVER CLOSED UP 6 CENTS TO $2972///PLATINUM CLOSED DOWN $6.70 TO $938.45 WHILE PALLADIUM CLOSED DOWN $26.20 TO $924.90//ALL OF EUROPE AND CANADA WERE CLOSED//GOOD COMMENTARY TONIGHT FROM PETER SCHIFF ON INFLATION AND INTEREST RATES//CHINA FLEXES ITS MUSCLES WITH ITS NEW 6TH GENERATION FIGHTER JET//SABOTAGE IN TWO PLACES: BETWEEN FINLAND AND ESTONIA CABLE LINES CUTS BY RUSSIAN FORCES AND AZERBAIJAN JET CRASHES DUE TO MORTAR FIRE//ISRAEL VS HAMAS, ISRAEL VS HOUTHIS: ISRAEL STRIKES BACK WITH A MAJOR ATTACK ON SAN’AA AND ITS MAJOR PORTS//ISRAEL AND THE WEST BANK// UPDATES ON SYRIA//RUSSIA LAUNCHES A HUGE OFFENSIVE AGAINST UKRAINE ON CHRISTMAS DAY//COVID UPDATES/VACCINE INJURY REPORTS//DR PAUL ALEXANDER/SLAY NEWS ETC//USA NEWS; CONTINUED INCREASE IN JOBLESS EVEN THOUGH INITIAL JOBLESS AT LOWER ENDS//SWAMP STORIES FOR YOU TONIGHT
363 H WELLS FARGO SEC 18 726 C PLUS500US FINAN 1 737 C ADVANTAGE 11 878 C PHILLIP CAPITAL 5 905 C ADM 11 991 H CME 10
TOTAL: 28 28
JPMorgan stopped 0/28
GOLD: NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR DEC/2024. CONTRACT: 28 NOTICES FOR 2800 OZ 0.0870 TONNES
total notices so far: 25,670 contracts for 2,567,000 Oz (79.744 tonnes)
FOR DEC
SILVER NOTICES: 10 NOTICE(S) FILED FOR 50,000 OZ/
total number of notices filed so far this month : 9076 for 45.380 million oz
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END
GLD/
BOTH GLD AND SLV ARE FRAUDULENT VEHICLES//THEY ARE NOW RAIDING GLD AND SLV FOR PHYSICAL
THE CROOKS ARE STEALING GOLD AND SILVER FROM THE GLD/SLV AND REPLACING THE PHYSICAL WITH PAPER DOLLARS.
WITH GOLD UP $17.55 INVESTORS SWITCHING TO SPROTT PHYSICAL (PHYS) INSTEAD OF THE FRAUDULENT GLD:
NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:
INVENTORY RESTS AT 873.95 TONNES
SLV/
WITH NO SILVER AROUND AND SILVER UP $0.06 AT THE SLV: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.096 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV//
INVESTORS ARE SWITCHING SLV TO SPROTT’S PSLV.
CLOSING INVENTORY: 461.651 MILLION OZ
Let us have a look at the data for today
SILVER//OUTLINE
SILVER COMEX OI FELL BY A TINY SIZED10CONTRACTS TO 145,618 AND STALLING ON ITS MARCH TO THE RECORD HIGH OI OF 244,710, SET FEB 25/2020, AND THIS TINY SIZED LOSS IN COMEX OI WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR TINY GAIN OF $0,02 IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX WITH RESPECT TO TUESDAY’S TRADING. WE HAD A FAIR GAIN OF 90 TOTAL CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES WITH OUR SMALL GAIN IN PRICE//TUESDAY’S TRADING.. WE HAD CONSIDERABLE LIQUIDATION OF T.A.S. CONTRACTS ON TUESDAY 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 A BIT WITH //TUESDAY PRICING AS ZERO LONGS WERE KNOCKED OFF BUT DERIVATIVE LOSSES CONTINUE TO MOUNT.
WE HAD A 122 CONTRACT EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE ACCOMPANIED BY A FAIR 268 CONTRACT T.A.S ISSUANCE WHICH WILL BE USED IN THURSDAY;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 90 CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES WITH OUR TINY GAIN IN PRICE. WE HAD CONSIDERABLE TAS LIQUIDATION THROUGHOUT TUESDAY’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 TUESDAY NIGHT: A FAIR 268 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 $0.02) AND WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING OFF ANY APPRECIABLE NET SILVER LONGS FROM THEIR PERCH AS WE HAD A SMALL GAIN IN PRICE AND A TINY GAIN IN OI.
WE HAD A 122 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 64 CONTRACT QUEUE JUMP FOR 0.320 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 45.725 MILLION OZ + 1.16 MILLION OZ EX FOR RISK = 46.885 MILLION OZ
WE HAD:
/ TINY SIZED COMEX OI GAIN +// SMALL SIZED EFP ISSUANCE/ VI) FAIR SIZED NUMBER OF T.A.S. CONTRACT ISSUANCE 268 CONTRACTS)/ TO WHICH WE ADD 1.16 MILLION OZ EX. FOR RISK //
I AM NOW RECORDING THE DIFFERENTIAL IN OI FROM PRELIMINARY TO FINAL: REMOVED 132 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 18DAYS, total 25,970 contracts: OR 129.850 MILLION OZ (1442 CONTRACTS PER DAY)
TOTAL EFP’S FOR THE MONTH SO FAR: 129.850 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: 129.850 MILLION OZ (THIS MONTH WILL BE A HUMDINGER FOR ISSUANCE BUT ISSUANCED SLOWED DRAMATICALLY THESE PAST TWO DAYS/// WILL NOT EXCEED MARCH 2022 RECORD OF 209 MILLION OZ)
RESULT: WE HAD AN TINY SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF 10 CONTRACTS DESPITE OUR TINY GAIN IN PRICE OF SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX//TUESDAY.,. THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A 100 EFP ISSUANCE CONTRACTS: 100 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 320,000 OZ QUEUE JUMP TO WHICH WE ADD 1.16 MILLION OZ OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK/PRIOR EQUALS 46.885 MILLION OZ
//NEW TOTAL STANDING FOR DEC AT 46.885 MILLION OZ
WE HAVE A TINY SIZED GAIN OF 90 OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE…..THE TOTAL OF TAS INITIATED CONTRACTS TODAY: A FAIR 268 CONTRACTS TRYING DESPERATELY TO CONTAIN SILVER’S PRICE RISE,//CONSIDERABLE FRONT END OF THE TAS CONTRACTS WERE LIQUIDATED DURING THE TUESDAY 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 TUESDAY NIGHT (268) WILL BE PUT INTO “THE BANK” TO BE COLLUSIVELY USED AT A LATER DATE, AND PROBABLY NOT TODAY.
WE HAD 10 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 50,000 OZ
THE SILVER COMEX IS NOW BEING ATTACKED FOR METAL BY LONDONERS ET AL.
GOLD//OUTLINE
IN GOLD, THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST FELL BY A SMALL SIZED 912 OI CONTRACTS TO 454,646 AND FURTHER FROM THE RECORD (SET JAN 24/2020) AT 799,733 AND PREVIOUS TO THAT: (SET JAN 6/2020) AT 797,110, BUT WE ARE NOW MUCH FURTHER FROM OUR ALL TIME LOW OF 390,000 CONTRACTS.
THE DIFFERENTIAL FROM PRELIMINARY OI TO FINAL OI IN GOLD TODAY: ADDED A HUGE SIZED 414 CONTRACTS//
WE HAD A SMALL SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI (912 CONTRACTS) OCCURRED DESPITE OUR GAIN OF $6.60 IN PRICE TUESDAY. 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 17 CONTRACT QUEUE JUMP FOR 1700 OZ ( 0.05287 TONNES). WE MUST NOW ADD 14.6836 TONNES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUED ON 6 OCCASIONS IN THIS ACTIVE DECEMBER CONTRACT MONTH.
/NEW STANDING 94.5716 TONNES
/ ALL OF THIS HAPPENED WITH OUR $6.60 GAIN IN PRICE WITH RESPECT TO TUESDAY’S COMEX ///. WE HAD A SMALL LOSS OF 587 OI CONTRACTS (3.113 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 A 17 CONTRACT QUEUE JUMP TODAY (1700 OZ) ALONG WITH THE 14.6836 EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE THIS MONTH //NEW TOTAL TONNES OF DELIVERY: 94.5716 TONNES
E.F.P. ISSUANCE
THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A SMALL SIZED 325 CONTRACTS:
The NEW COMEX OI FOR THE GOLD COMPLEX RESTS AT 454,646
IN ESSENCE WE HAVE A SMALL SIZED DECREASE IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 587 CONTRACTS WITH 912 CONTRACTS DECREASED AT THE COMEX// AND A SMALL SIZED 325 EFP OI CONTRACT ISSUANCE WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS TOTAL OI LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 587 CONTRACTS.. WE HAD THE FOLLOWING TAS CONTRACTS INITIATED (ISSUED): A FAIR SIZED BUT CRIMINAL 787 CONTRACTS ISSUED. WE HAD A STRONG LIQUIDATION OF T.A.S CONTRACTS DESPITE OUR GAIN IN PRICE TUESDAY 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 SMALL SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (325 CONTRACTS) ACCOMPANYING THE SMALL SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI OF 912 CONTRACTS/TOTAL LOSS FOR OUR THE TWO EXCHANGES: 587 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 1700 OZ QUEUE JUMP TO WHICH WE ADD THOSE CRAZY EXCHANGE FOR RISK ON 6 PRIOR OCCASIONS OF 14.6836 TONNES//NEW STANDING 94.5716 TONNES
//NEW STANDING DECEMBER: 94.5716 TONNES
/ 3) STRONG T.A.S. LIQUIDATION TRYING TO LOWER GOLD’S PRICE TUESDAY WITH LITTLE SUCCESS IN REMOVING SPECULATOR LONGS, AS WE HAD A 1) $6.60 PRICE GAIN, 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 TUESDAY EVENING AS THEY EXERCISED EFP’S FROM LONDON TO TAKE DELIVERY OF BADLY NEEDED PHYSICAL.
4) FAIR SIZED COMEX OPEN INTEREST DECREASE 5) SMALL ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL PAPER///FAIR T.A.S. ISSUANCE: 787 T.A.S.CONTRACTS// 6.) 17 CONTRACT QUEUE JUMP OR AN ADDITIONAL 1700 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: 110,995 CONTRACTS OF 11,099,500 OZ OR 345.24 TONNES IN 18 TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 6166 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY
TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS : THIS MONTH IN 18 TRADING DAY(S) IN TONNES 345.24 TONNES
TOTAL ANNUAL GOLD PRODUCTION, 2023, THROUGHOUT THE WORLD EX CHINA EX RUSSIA: 3555 TONNES
THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 345.24 DIVIDED BY 3550 x 100% TONNES = 9.71% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL PRODUCTION
SEPT 142.12 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE ( LOW ISSUANCE)_
OCT: 141.13 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE (LOW ISSUANCE)
NOV: 312.46 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE//NEW RECORD!! (INCREASING DRAMATICALLY)//SIGN OF REAL STRESS//SURPASSING THE MARCH 2021 RECORD OF 276.50 TONNES OF EFP
DEC. 175.62 TONNES//FINAL ISSUANCE//
TOTALS: 2,578.08 TONNES/2021
JAN:2022 247.25 TONNES //FINAL
FEB: 196.04 TONNES//FINAL
MARCH/2022: 409.30 TONNES //FINAL( THIS IS NOW A RECORD EFP ISSUANCE FOR MARCH AND FOR ANY MONTH.
APRIL: 169.55 TONNES (FINAL VERY LOW ISSUANCE MONTH)
MAY: 247.44 TONNES FINAL//
JUNE: 238.13 TONNES FINAL
JULY: 378.43 TONNES FINAL/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 345.24 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 FELL BY A TINY SIZED 10 CONTRACTS OI TO 145,618 AND CLOSER TO THE COMEX HIGH RECORD //244,710( SET FEB 25/2020). THE LAST RECORDS WERE SET IN AUG.2018 AT 244,196 WITH A SILVER PRICE OF $14.78/(AUGUST 22/2018)..THE PREVIOUS RECORD TO THAT WAS SET ON APRIL 9/2018 AT 243,411 OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS WITH THE SILVER PRICE AT THAT DAY: $16.53). AND PREVIOUS TO THAT, THE RECORD WAS ESTABLISHED AT: 234,787 CONTRACTS, SET ON APRIL 21.2017 OVER 7 YEARS AGO. HOWEVER WE HAVE NOW SET A NEW RECORD LOW OF 114,102 CONTRACTS JULY 3.2023
EFP ISSUANCE 100 CONTRACTS
OUR CUSTOMARY MIGRATION OF COMEX LONGS CONTINUE TO MORPH INTO LONDON FORWARDS AS OUR BANKERS USED THEIR EMERGENCY PROCEDURE TO ISSUE:
DEC 100 and ALL OTHER MONTHS: ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 100 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 122 CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 100 E.FP. ISSUED
WE OBTAIN A FAIR SIZED GAIN OF OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 90 CONTRACTS
THUS IN OUNCES, THE GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES TOTALS A FAIR 1.110 MILLION OZ OCCURRED WITH OUR TINY $0.02 GAIN IN PRICE
c) Commentaries from: Egon von Greyerz///Matthew Piepenburg via GoldSwitzerland.com, Pam and Russ Martens
ii a) Chris Powell of GATA provides to us very important physical commentaries
b. Other gold/silver commentaries
c. Commodity commentaries//
d)/CRYPTOCURRENCIES/BITCOIN ETC
2.ASIAN AFFAIRS/THURSDAY MORNING TUESDAY NIGHT
ASIA TRADING THURSDAY MORNING/TUESDAY NIGHT
SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 4.73 PTS OR 0.14%
//Hang Seng CLOSED
// Nikkei CLOSED UP 474.63 OR 1.12%//Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED
//Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) CLOSED DOWN TO 7.3041 CHINESE YUAN OFFSHORE CLOSED DOWN TO 7.3040// Oil UP TO 70.54 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT UP AT 73.98 Stocks in Europe OPENED ALL MIXED
ONSHORE USA/ YUAN TRADING AT LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE YUAN WEAKER
1. COMEX DATA//AMOUNTS STANDING//VOLUME OF TRADING/INVENTORY MOVEMENTS
GOLD
LET US BEGIN:
THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST FELL BY A SMALL SIZED912 CONTRACTS TO 454,646 DESPITE OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF $6.60 WITH RESPECT TO TUESDAY’S TRADING. WE LOST VERY LITTLE NET LONGS WITH OUR PRICE GAIN FOR GOLD. WE HAD, AS YOU WILL SEE BELOW, A SMALL NUMBER OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUED (325). THUS WE HAD A FAIR LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 587 CONTRACTS DESPITE OUR GAIN IN PRICE. OUR FRIENDLY PHYSICAL LONDON BOYS HAD ANOTHER FIELD DAY AGAIN ON TUESDAY NIGHT AS THEY WERE READY FOR THE FRBNY.S CONTINUED ORCHESTRATED RAID AS THEY ABSORBED EVERYTHING IN SIGHT FROM THE DAILY ATTACKS WITH THE CONTINUAL LIQUIDATION OF T.A.S. CONTRACTS. LONDONERS EXERCISED THEIR BOUGHT CONTRACTS FOR PHYSICAL GOLD VIA THE EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ROUTE AND THANKED THE FRBNY FOR THE THOUGHTFULLNESS.
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 ESPECIALLY WITH TUESDAY’S TRADING. WE HAD CONTINUED WITH CONSIDERABLE T.A.S. LIQUIDATION THIS WEEK INCLUDING TUESDAY..
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 5 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 SMALL SIZED TRANSFER THROUGH THE EFP ROUTE AS THESE LONGS RECEIVED A DELIVERABLE LONDON FORWARD TOGETHER WITH A FIAT BONUS.,
THAT IS A SMALL SIZED 325 EFP CONTRACTS WERE ISSUED: : /DEC 325 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:
TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 325 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 FAIR SIZED TOTAL OF 587 CONTRACTS IN THAT 325 CONTRACT LONGS WERE TRANSFERRED AS EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS TO LONDON AND WE HAD A SMALL LOSS OF 912 COMEX CONTRACTS..AND THIS FAIR LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES HAPPENED WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF $6.60 TUESDAY// 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 TUESDAY NIGHT WAS A SMALL SIZED SIZED 787 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 (94.5716 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
DEC. 47.073 + 4.634 TONNES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK = 51.707 TONNES
TOTAL 2023 YEAR : 436.546 TONNES
2024
JAN ’24. 22.706 TONNES
FEB. ’24: 66.276TONNES (INCLUDES 1.723 TONNES EX. FOR RISK)
MARCH: 18.8398 TONNES + 1.1695 EX FOR RISK = 20.093 TONNES
APRIL: 2024: 53.673TONNES FINAL
MAY/ 2024 8.5536 TONNES + 3.3716 TONNES EX FOR RISK/= 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: 79.888 TONNES PLUS DEC MONTH EXCHANGE FOR RISK TOTAL 14.6836 TONNES EQUALS 94.5776 TONNES
THE SPECS/HFT WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE( IT ROSE BY $6.60/)//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 TUESDAY. WE ALSO HAD A SMALL T.A.S. ISSUANCE TUESDAY NIGHT (WEDNESDAY 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 TUESDAY 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 2.925 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 1700 OZ OR 0.0587 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:
79.888 TONNES (NORMAL DELIVERY) +
14.6836 TONNES (EX FOR RISK)
EQUALS: 94.5716 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 GAIN IN PRICE TO THE TUNE OF $6.60
WE HAD 414 CONTRACTS ADDED TO THE COMEX TRADES TO OPEN INTEREST (CROOKS)//PRELIMINARY TO FINAL.
NET GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 587 CONTRACTS OR 58700 OZ (2.935 TONNES)
total deposit customer 629,862.37 oz 19,591 kilobars 16.591 tonnes
No of oz served (contracts) today
359 notice(s) 35900 OZ 1.112 TONNES
No of oz to be served (notices)
14 contracts 1400 OZ 0.04354 TONNES
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month
25,670 notices 2,567,000 oz 79.844 TONNES
Total accumulative withdrawals of gold from the Dealers inventory this month
NIL oz
Total accumulative withdrawal of gold from the Customer inventory this month
x
dealer deposits: 0
total dealer deposits: nil kilobars
we have 3 customer deposit
a)into Brinks: 372,650.370 oz (11,591 kilobar)
b)Into HSBC: 32,151.000 oz (1000 kilobars)
c)Into JPMorgan 225,061.000 oz (7,000 kilobars)
total deposit customer 629,862.37 oz 19,591 kilobars 19.591 tonnes
strictly a paper gold entry.
withdrawals: 0
adjustments: nil
CALCULATIONS FOR THE AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR DEC.
For the front month of DEC: we have an oi of 42 contracts having LOST 341 contracts. We had 359 contracts served on TUESDAY, so we GAINED a SMALL 17 contracts or 1700 oz (0.05287 TONNES) underwent a queue jump bolting ahead of others to take delivery of gold over on this side of the planet.
JANUARY LOST 28 CONTRACT(S) TO STAND AT 4004
FEBRUARY LOST 1551 CONTRACTS TO 335,827 .
We had 28 contracts filed for today representing 2800 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 0 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 (25,670 x 100 oz ) to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of DEC(42 CONTRACTS) minus the number of notices served upon today (28 x 100 oz per contract( equals 2,568,400 OZ OR 79.888 TONNES. to which we add 14.6836 tonnes of exchange for risk WHICH EQUALS 94.5716 TONNES
thus the INITIAL standings for gold for the DEC contract month: No of notices filed so far (25,670 x 100 oz +we add the difference for front month of DEC (42 OI} minus the number of notices served upon today (28 x 100 oz which equals 2,568.400 oz (79.888 TONNES) + 14.6836 tonnes of ex. for risk MONTH OF DEC //new total GOLD STANDING 94.5716 TONNES
TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING FOR DEC.: 94.5716 TONNES WHICH IS HUGE FOR THIS ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH IN THE CALENDAR.
TOTAL OF ALL GOLD ELIGIBLE AND REGISTERED GOLD: 21,212,970.661 OZ
TOTAL REGISTERED GOLD 8,687,165.908/// 270.20 tonnes).
TOTAL OF ALL ELIGIBLE GOLD: 12,595.804.756 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 26. 2024
INITIAL
//2024// THE DEC 2024 SILVER CONTRACT//INITIAL
Silver
Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory
NIL oz
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory
1025,100 oz Delaware
.
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory
NIL
Deposits to the Customer Inventory
1,334,420,618 oz
Brinks JPMorgan Manfra
No of oz served today (contracts)
10 CONTRACT(S) (50,000 OZ)
No of oz to be served (notices)
69 contracts (0.345 MILLION oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)
9076 Contracts (45.380 MILLION oz)
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Dealers inventory this month
NIL oz
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Customer inventory this month
i) 0 dealer deposit/
total dealer deposit : nil oz
i) We had 0 dealer withdrawal
total dealer withdrawals: 0 oz
We had 3 customer deposits
a) Into Brinks: 449,210.510 oz
b) Into JPMorgan 324,214.700 oz
c) Into Manfra 560,995.398 oz
total customer deposit 1,334,420.618oz
We had 1 withdrawals
a) Out of Delaware 1025.100 oz
total withdrawal 1025.100 oz
JPMorgan has a total silver weight: 135.532million oz/316.160million or 42.86%
0
TOTAL REGISTERED SILVER: 74.623MILLION OZ//.TOTAL REG + ELIGIBLE. 316.160 million oz
CALCULATIONS FOR THE NEW STANDING FOR SILVER FOR DEC
silver open interest data:
FRONT MONTH OF DEC /2024 OI: 79 OPEN INTEREST FOR A GAIN OF 36 CONTRACT(S). WE HAD
28 CONTRACTS ISSUED ON TUESDAY SO WE HAD A HUGE GAIN OF 64 CONTRACTS AND THIS QUEUE JUMP I.E. 320,000 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 36 CONTRACTS DOWN TO 2066
FEBRUARY SAW A GAIN 0F 25 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 435
MARCH SAW A LOSS OF 232 CONTRACTS DOWN TO 116,520
TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR TODAY: 28 for 140,000 oz
CONFIRMED volume; ON TUESDAY 18,146 awful//
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 9076x 5,000 oz = 45.380 MILLION oz
to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of DEC (79) and the number of notices served upon today (10)x (5000 oz)
Thus the standings for silver for the DEC 2024 contract month: 9076 Notices served so far) x 5000 oz + OI for the front month of DEC(79) minus number of notices served upon today (10
)x 5000 oz equals silver standing for the DEC contract month equating to 45.725 MILLION OZ. + to which we add 1.16 million oz of exchange for risk PRIOR////new total 46.885 MILLION OIOZ
New total standing: 46.885 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 26 WITH GOLD UP $17.55 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: : ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 873.95 TONNES
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
GLD INVENTORY: 873.95 TONNES, TONIGHTS TOTAL
SILVER
DEC 26 WITH SILVER UP 6 CENTS //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WIHTDRAWAL OF 2.096 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV.// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 461.651 MILLION OZ
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
CLOSING INVENTORY 461.651 MILLION OZ//
PHYSICAL GOLD/SILVER COMMENTARIES
1/ PETER SCHIFF/SCHIFF GOLD/MIKE MAHARRY
a very important read.
(Peter Schiff)
The Fed Is Cutting… So, Why Are Mortgage Rates Going Up?
Powell is admitting that inflation is still too high, but the Fed still plans to cut interest rates by .25%. So why are mortgage rates going up?
The Fed has turned hawkish relative to its recent rhetoric, resisting to slash interest rates as low as it had envisioned. Although it’s continuing to cut, the Fed’s actions primarily influence short-term interest rates, such as the federal funds rate. This is the rate at which banks lend to one another overnight. These short-term rates affect a wide range of borrowing costs including those on credit cards, car loans, and adjustable-rate mortgages.
However, most mortgage rates, particularly those for fixed-rate loans, are more closely tied to long-term bond yields such as the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds. And right now, 10-year Treasury yields are soaring.
While both short-term rates and long-term bond yields are influenced by the broader economic climate, they don’t move in lockstep. When the Fed cuts interest rates, it doesn’t directly control long-term bond yields, so mortgage rates can behave differently from the federal funds rate. This disconnect can lead to situations where mortgage rates rise, even though the Fed is trying to lower borrowing costs for the broader economy.
Mortgage rates are sensitive to inflation expectations. If investors believe that the Fed’s rate cut signals future inflationary pressure, they may demand higher yields on long-term bonds to compensate for the eroding value of money over time. When inflation expectations rise, long-term bond yields go up, which can push mortgage rates higher along with them.
And now the Fed itself has admitted that it hasn’t been able to control inflation. But even as Powell admits defeat and says it could be two years before inflation is back down to Fed targets, he still paints a picture much rosier than the reality.
“Inflation won’t be anywhere near 2% in two years, it’s going to be higher than it is right now. Powell is still wrong about inflation and the economy…I think it’s stagflation that we have, and I think it’s going to get worse.”
If bond investors see the rate cut as a sign of weakening economic conditions, they might sell off bonds, driving yields higher. As bond yields rise, mortgage rates tend to follow suit, even if the Fed’s action aims to make borrowing cheaper. If investors believe that economic conditions are deteriorating, they might demand higher premiums for taking on long-term risk. This can lead to rising mortgage rates as lenders pass that risk onto borrowers. Anticipating higher inflation, they’ll demand higher and higher yields.
People hoping to buy homes are delaying their plans as mortgages become more expensive, along with home insurance premiums, materials for home improvement projects, and plenty of other costs that are part of the collective burden of home ownership. Commercial real estate is on the brink as well. With borrowing costs for properties continuing to creep upward, and other costs moving up as well, the Fed is trapped by its simultaneous need to lower borrowing costs and ease inflationary pressures at the same time.
It can’t do both. With a stagnant economy and high inflation, expect mortgage rates to rise further as the 10-year yield keeps surging closer back toward 5%. At that point, the Fed would be forced to take drastic action to push borrowing costs lower and prevent an all-out meltdown, possibly being forced into a round of QE which will ultimately solve nothing, ripping the inflation wound open even wider.
10-Year Bond Yields
The Fed may have no choice. Just as 2024 was a fitting demonstration of their hubris, declaring victory over inflation only to later admit defeat, 2025 may be the year that some of those chickens come home to roost. While the Fed and the government have an extraordinary ability to keep pumping bubbles bigger and kicking cans down the road, all bubbles are bound to pop eventually.
And the Fed is trapped in a prison of a deteriorating economy, high deficits, soaring debt, and high inflation that it has no way to escape.
END
2/ Commentaries from: Egon von Greyerz///Matthew Piepenburg via GoldSwitzerland.com, Pam and Russ Martens
Alasdair Macleod
3. CHRIS POWELL AND GATA DISPATCHES
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
END
ASIA TRADING THURSDAY MORNING/TUESDAY NIGHT
SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 4.73 PTS OR 0.14%
//Hang Seng CLOSED
// Nikkei CLOSED UP 474.63 OR 1.12%//Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED
//Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) CLOSED DOWN TO 7.3041 CHINESE YUAN OFFSHORE CLOSED DOWN TO 7.3040// Oil UP TO 70.54 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT UP AT 73.98 Stocks in Europe OPENED ALL MIXED
ONSHORE USA/ YUAN TRADING AT LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST US DOLLAR/OFFSHORE YUAN WEAKER
1.YOUR EARLY CURRENCY VALUES/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN AND EUROPEAN BOURSE MOVEMENTS/AND INTEREST RATE SETTINGS THURSDAY MORNING.7:30 AM
ONSHORE YUAN: CLOSED DOWN AT 7.3041
OFFSHORE YUAN: DOWN TO 7.3040
SHANGHAI CLOSED CLOSED UP 4.73 PTS OR 0.14%
HANG SENG CLOSED CLOSED
2. Nikkei closed UP 474.63 PTS OR 1.12%
3. Europe stocks SO FAR: ALL MIXED
USA dollar INDEX DOWN TO 107.95 EURO RISES TO 1.0404 UP 5 BASIS PTS
3b Japan 10 YR bond yield: RISES TO. +1.082 Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese YEN vs USA cross now at 157.61…… 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 UP /JAPANESE Yen DOWN CHINESE ONSHORE YUAN: DOWN OFFSHORE: DOWN
3f Japan is to buy INFINITE TRILLION YEN worth of BONDS. Japan’s GDP equals 5 trillion USA
Japan to buy 100% of all new Japanese debt and NOW they will have OVER 50% of all Japanese debt.
3g Oil 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 DOWN TO +2.3205 Italian 10 Yr bond yield DOWN to 3.485 //SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD UP TO 3.021
3i Greek 10 year bond yield DOWN TO 3.184
3j Gold at $2625.60/Silver at: 29.75 1 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $50.00//AFTER 28.40
3k USA vs Russian rouble;// Russian rouble UP 0 AND 3/100 roubles/dollar; ROUBLE AT 99.94
3m oil into the 70 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 157.61 10 YEAR YIELD AFTER FIRST BREAKING .54% LAST YEAR NOW EXCEEDS THAT LEVEL TO 1.082% 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 0.9000 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF: 0.9364 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: 4.632 UP 4 BASIS PTS…
USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 4.814 UP 5 BASIS PTS/
USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.361 UP 3 BASIS PTS
USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 35.24…
10 YR UK BOND YIELD: 4.594 DOWN 5 PTS
10 YR CANADA BOND YIELD: 3.294 DOWN 4 BASIS PTS
5 YR CANADA BOND YIELD: 3.058 DOWN 3 PTS.
2a New York OPENING REPORT
Futures Slide As Bond Yields Jump To 6 Month High
Thursday, Dec 26, 2024 – 08:14 AM
US stock futures and Treasuries dropped as muted trading resumed after the Christmas holiday, with investors looking to initial jobless claims data and a government bond auction later on Thursday. At 8:00am, S&P futures fell 0.3%; the index closed 1.1% higher on Tuesday, extending this year’s advance to 27%, and on pace for the best full-year return this century. Nasdaq futures slipped 0.4% after adding 1.4% on Tuesday, as a bout of selling started after the Europe open. Most major markets in Europe are still shut for holidays. Treasuries extended their selloff, pushing 10Y yields to a fresh 6 month high of 4.63%, a level which will start denting the Christmas rally meltup. The dollar also gained as the Bloomberg Dollar Index hit a new two year high. The only even on today’s calendar is jobless claims at 8:30am.
In premarket trading, cryptocurrency-tied stocks like MicroStrategy Inc. and Riot Platforms Inc. declined, tracking a drop in Bitcoin. Here are some other notable premarket movers:
Alibaba Group Holding agreed to merge its South Korean operations with E-Mart Inc.’s e-commerce platform to better compete in the country’s fast-paced online retail sector.
Rapt Therapeutics shares are up 0.6% in premarket trading, after HC Wainwright & Co. LLC upgraded the biotech company to buy from neutral.
Apple’s price target is being raised to a Street-high of $325 from $300 at Wedbush, which writes that the company is “heading into a multi-year AI-driven iPhone upgrade cycle.”
Progressive is upgraded to outperform from market perform at Raymond James, which writes that the company’s “long-term record of growth and value creation makes it a core holding for large cap growth investors.”
With US stocks on pace for another blowout year, bulls are pinning their hopes on the “Santa Claus rally” in which stocks rise during the final five trading sessions of a year and the first two of the new one. Separately, with Trump’s inauguration slated for Jan. 20, investors are awaiting insights on his proposed policies, including tax cuts and tariffs which is set to keep the rally going. Driven by optimism about the strength of the US economy and developments in artificial intelligence, the S&P 500 is set for its largest jump relative to the rest of the world since 1997.
European markets were mostly closed while in Asia, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed for a fourth day, the longest winning streak since September, led by Japan and Taiwan. Japanese shares also rose after central bank governor Kazuo Ueda on Wednesday avoided giving any clues about a possible interest-rate hike. Japanese retail shares also gained after the country agreed with China to introduce more measures to promote tourist visits. The two nations also agreed that Beijing’s top diplomat should visit Japan in 2025, adding to signs the two nations are repairing ties that have been strained in recent years. Shares of Chinese computing-equipment makers advanced after the nation said it planned to include the sector into the investment scope of local government special bonds. Kingsignal Technology surged as much as 20% as did Broadex Technologies.
The dollar was broadly steady against its Group-of-10 peers, while the yen extended its losses after BOJ head Ueda refused to offer any hawkish hints about an imminent rate hike. “Weakness in the yen on the back of recent Fed-BOJ policy divergence has offered some support for Japanese equities in today’s session, coupled with the year-end positive seasonality around the Santa Claus rally,” said Jun Rong Yeap, a market strategist at IG Asia Pte in Singapore.
In rates, treasuries are under pressure as US trading gets under way following Wednesday’s US holiday. 10-year yields climbed four basis points to 4.63% before the US auctions $44 billion of seven-year notes on Thursday. The year’s final coupon auction at 1pm New York time, a $44 billion 7-year note sale. Demand was firm for 2- and 5-year note auctions Monday and during Tuesday’s holiday-shortened session, halting a selloff in which 5- to 30-year yields reached highest levels in months.
In commodities, oil held gains after an advance before the Christmas break, with China’s stimulus measures and the outlook for US stockpiles in focus.
Looking at today’s calendar, US economic data calendar includes only weekly jobless claims at 8:30am. The Fed speaker slate is blank for the rest of the week.
Market Snapshot
S&P 500 futures down 0.2% to 6,083.50
MXAP up 0.3% to 182.31
MXAPJ down 0.1% to 574.63
Nikkei up 1.1% to 39,568.06
Topix up 1.2% to 2,766.78
Hang Seng Index up 1.1% to 20,098.29
Shanghai Composite up 0.1% to 3,398.08
Sensex little changed at 78,460.42
Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 0.2% to 8,220.86
Kospi down 0.4% to 2,429.67
Brent Futures up 0.5% to $73.96/bbl
Gold spot up 0.4% to $2,626.75
US Dollar Index little changed at 108.20
Top Overnight News
China is allowing local officials to invest in more areas with a key government bond while also simplifying its approval process in a bid to make better use of an important source of public funding to drive the economy
Japan’s auction of two-year government notes Thursday showed solid demand as expectations recede for an interest-rate hike by the BOJ soon. The bid-to-cover ratio rose to 3.95 from 3.63 at last month’s sale
Bitcoin rose on Thursday after the digital asset’s stockpiler MicroStrategy announced a plan to issue more shares, a move that would allow it to buy even more tokens.
China abruptly ousted two military lawmakers from its national parliament without explanation, as a purge of key personnel in the upper echelons of the nation’s defense establishment shows no sign of easing
Market players widely expect Japan’s benchmark 10-year government bond yield to continue to gradually rise next year, but the extent of the increase will depend on whether the central bank is able to lift interest rates smoothly
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s cabinet is expected to approve a record initial budget Friday for the next fiscal year that will ramp up spending on defense and support for local economies
END
2B) EUROPEAN REPORT
2C ASIAN REPORT
3B NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA
end
3C JAPAN
end
3D. CHINA/
CHINA/new warfare!
China Drone Swarms And US Lasers: The Coming Revolutions In Warfare
Given the coming technological revolutions in warfare, it is important that the United States and our allies get out in front early, keep the lead, and degrade the adversary’s capabilities.
China’s “loyal wingman” fighter drones get a lot of attention these days. The wingman is a force multiplier, meant to fly in numbers alongside its crewed jet fighters or to lead a fleet of smaller drones. If deployed in a swarm, the wingmen and smaller drones could quickly overwhelm a fleet of manned fighter jets and air defenses. They are jet-powered but far less expensive than a regular fighter jet to fly, in part because they do not require a trained pilot. Some simulated dogfights between human pilots and artificial intelligence (AI) pilots who learn on the fly have resulted in AI wins as far back as 2020.
The latest iteration of the Chinese wingman drone—called the Feihong FH-97A—appears to be a vast improvement over the earlier versions unveiled in 2022 and 2023. The FH-97A is reportedly faster than its U.S. counterpart, the XQ-58A Valkyrie. The range of the FH-97A is about 620 miles. The current range is more than enough to reach anywhere in Taiwan, plus sea lanes on the eastern side of the island that would be critical for provisioning Taiwan in case of a war or naval blockade. From Chinese possessions, the FH-97A can range all of South Korea, the East China Sea, parts of Japan and the Philippines, and all of the South China Sea through island hopping on China’s airfields and artificial islands.
Moreover, the FH-97A could, in the future, be used to attack any part of the United States or Europe, given that it can catapult launch from aircraft carriers and because the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has plans to give it aerial refueling capabilities. The drones will add to the power of the PLA Air Force’s other recent innovations (and thefts from the United States), including stealth fighter jets and stealth bombers. The drones can be used for air- and land-attack missions, electronic warfare, reconnaissance, and bomber escort.
While the United States has long had better-trained fighter pilots and more advanced planes, giving it air superiority over China, those tables could be turning. Without the need for pilots but rather the utilization of AI programs that have demonstrated superiority, China’s age of high technology and mass industrial production could far outproduce the United States and shift air superiority decisively to the PLA.
This would have immediate and dire consequences for countries already under military pressure from Beijing, namely Taiwan, the Philippines, Japan, and India.
One promising defense against Chinese drones is laser-based weapons; for example, the HELIOS system deployed on a U.S. naval destroyer in 2022 and the DragonFire system tested by the United Kingdom in January.
The DragonFire laser can destroy targets with pinpoint accuracy in its line of sight with shots that would cut through the drone’s mechanics or explode its warheads. Each shot costs less than £10 ($12.61) to fire for 10 seconds, suggesting they could be used to cheaply slice into an enemy system with repeated passes. Compare that to the cost of a missile interceptor at a million dollars or more, which can be a waste of money against some of the cheapest Iranian military drones, for example, that cost at most $2,000 each. The British system is planned for deployment on the country’s naval ships by 2027, with the British army also considering a deployment. Scientists in China are also developing laser weapons, including for use from space.
Laser weapons could eventually negate the power of intercontinental ballistic missiles and hypersonic missiles and force surface and air combatants underwater, where lasers are ineffective.
Subsurface combatants could become relatively useless against land targets except perhaps those closest to the coast. In the case of Ukraine, for example, the widespread adoption of laser weapons could create a stalemate for years to come.
The United States is now the world’s strongest superpower, considered economically and militarily. Many have come before, and none lasted forever. One mistake that results in the loss of the technological lead to China or Russia, for example, could be the end of the United States as we know it. Now is our chance to avoid that disaster.
end
CHINA
China’s 6th-Gen Fighter “White Emperor” Takes To Skies Ahead Of Trump’s Second Term
Thursday, Dec 26, 2024 – 09:30 AM
Footage circulating on social media appears to show the maiden flight of China’s next-generation tactical fighter-bomber, which is expected to replace the Xi’an JH-7, according to Defense Blog.
Footage first appeared on the Chinese social media platform Weibo on Thursday of a new stealth bomber with a “diamond-shaped wing design” flying at low altitude in an unspecified region of China.
So far one of the clearest images of that new CHinese fighter and indeed it seems to be powered by three engines!
“The new design signals a shift in China’s emphasis toward a more stealth, precision-strike capability,” a military analyst told the Defense Blog, adding, “Its low-observability features align with the need for platforms capable of operating in contested environments.”
China’s sixth-generation fighter ‘White Emperor’ has made its maiden flight, accompanied by a fifth-gen J-20. pic.twitter.com/Tf2LRJ24SI
China’s decision to advance a next-generation fighter-bomber highlights its strategic focus on modernizing tactical aviation. The aircraft is expected to replace the aging fleet of JH-7 bombers, which have been in service since the 1990s. Analysts also point out that the new platform could serve as China’s answer to Russia’s Su-34 Fullback, a proven tactical strike aircraft currently deployed in Ukrainian war.
While specifics about the aircraft’s capabilities remain classified, its development underscores China’s intention to bolster its tactical airpower. The design’s low-observability focus, combined with the platform’s apparent size, suggests it may be equipped for carrying advanced guided missiles, including anti-ship and air-to-ground weapons.
The new aircraft’s emphasis on stealth and survivability positions it as a potential key player in China’s effort to counterbalance adversarial air defenses, particularly in scenarios involving Taiwan or the South China Sea.
“Wow… I’m still flashed but at first sight, this type seems to be huge in comparison to even a J-20S and indeed features three engines with two bottom and one air-intake on top of the fuselage for the center engine,” one China military aviation researcher wrote on X.
Wow😯… I‘m still flashed but at first sight, this type seems to be huge in comparison to even a J-20S and indeed features three engines with two bottom and one air-intake on top of the fuselage for the center engine. pic.twitter.com/d42NhZmdPv
Zhao DaShuai, a member of the People’s Armed Police Propaganda Bureau, wrote on X, “This is the world’s first 6th generation fighter. We have moved ahead of the United States in air dominance.”
Meanwhile, in the US, Defense News recently said the US Air Force “struggled for much of 2024 to figure out how — and even whether — to proceed with its planned sixth-generation fighter, known as Next Generation Air Dominance.”
The unveiling of China’s next-gen stealth fighter bomb comes ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next month.
We suspect it’s only a matter of time before Trump begins boasting about America’s plans for its 6th generation fighter.
Who has the bigger sixth-generation jet?
END
4.EUROPEAN AFFAIRS//UK /SCANDINAVIAN AFFAIRS
ESTONIA/FINLAND
ANOTHER SABOTAGE?
Finland-Estonia Undersea Power Cable Goes Dark As Russian Shadow Fleet Tanker Investigated
Thursday, Dec 26, 2024 – 08:28 AM
Update (0828ET):
Bloomberg reports that Finnish authorities boarded the crude oil tanker named Eagle S. after a 658-megawatt Estlink 2 power interconnector and several data cables were disrupted.
* * *
The Estlink 2 electricity cable connecting Finland and Estonia was disrupted on Christmas Day, sparking concerns of another potential undersea cable sabotage incident in the Baltic region.
The Financial Times reports that Finnish authorities are investigating a crude oil tanker named Eagle S. The tanker flies the Cook Islands flag and is reportedly part of Russia’s so-called “dark fleet.”
Data from the ship-tracking website MarineTraffic shows the vessel slowed down at the time the 658 megawatt (MW) Estlink 2 power interconnector was disrupted. The tanker was transiting the Baltics on its way from St. Petersburg to Egypt.
The sources also indicated that Eagle S is under investigation for its possible role in severing three communications cables in the Gulf of Finland.
The vessel movement of Eagle S is very irregular and corresponds with the location and time of the damage to the Estlink 2 cables. pic.twitter.com/IpEUq13n3k
MarineTraffic data also shows the Finnish Border Guard’s patrol vessel Turva escorted the tanker to waters off Porkkalaniemi, a peninsula on the Gulf of Finland, on Wednesday night.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo wrote on X that authorities were investigating the incident.
Orpo noted, “The interruption of the transmission connection will not affect the electricity supply of Finns.”
Estonian public broadcaster ERR noted no power losses to citizens in either Estonia or Finland. The outlet cited local power officials who said enough spare capacity was on the grid to meet demand and avoid blackouts.
The Baltic Sea area has been on high alert for potential sabotage. Last month, a Chinese vessel was suspected of sabotaging the C-Lion 1 submarine cable connecting Helsinki and the German port of Rostock.
Other headlines…
On Wednseday, Russian news agency RIA said the owners of the Russian cargo ship that sank in the Mediterranean Sea said the explosions in the vessel’s engine room were an “act of terrorism.”
Also, Azerbaijan Airlines flight J28243 crashed in the Kazakhstani city of Aktau on Christmas Day. There’s speculation the Embraer ERJ-190’s vertical stabilizer, horizontal stabilizer, and elevators were possibly damaged by “shrapnel” before the crash.
END
5 RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS
END
ISRAEL///USA/YEMEN WEDNESDAY MORNING
Houthis fire on Israel for the 4th consecutive night
(Times of Israel)
Houthis fire missile at central Israel for 4th night in past week; IDF intercepts it
Millions scramble to bomb shelters, with alerts activated in wider areas as part of new policy; UN Security Council to hold emergency meeting on attacks
EMANUEL FABIAN AND STUART WINER;
TIMES OF ISRAEL
Footage posted to social media shows Israeli air defenses intercepting a missile fired from Yemen at central Israel, December 25, 2024. (X; Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
A ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthis was intercepted by Israeli air defenses early Wednesday morning, the military said, marking the second night in a row — and the fourth in less than a week — that the Iran-backed terror group has fired at the country’s center in what has recently become a near-nightly occurrence.
The incoming missile set off sirens over a wide swath of central Israel, sending millions of people scrambling to reach bomb shelters. The sirens were activated as a precaution against falling fragments from the interception.
The alerts were issued in a wider area than usual as part of a new policy implemented by the Home Front Command, following delayed alerts in a previous attack.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service reported that nine people were injured as they ran to bomb shelters and another two were treated for acute anxiety. There have been similar injuries in previous attacks.
Senior Houthi official Hezam al-Asad later posted on X (formerly Twitter), in Hebrew: “How long can four million people be in shelters.”
Al-Asad, who often posts messages mocking Israel, further wrote: “Run to the shelters, we repeatedly warned you to stop killing Gaza’s children.”
It was the fourth time in less than a week that the Houthis have fired a missile at Israel, following attacks last Thursday, Saturday and Tuesday.
In the past 10 days, the Houthis have launched five ballistic missiles and at least four drones at Israel, in what the terror group says is a campaign in support of Gaza amid the ongoing war there against the Hamas terror group.
A large fragment from an Israeli interceptor missile landed early Wednesday morning next to a home in the central city of Be’er Ya’akov, causing slight damage to the yard but no injuries, according to the municipality.
Israel Police said other fragments were also found in the Shfela region and in Modi’in, but without causing damage or injuries.
Be’er Ya’akov resident Mor Steinberg-Golan said that when the sirens went off, she and her family sought refuge in their home’s safe room and stayed there for a few minutes, as recommended by the IDF, in case of falling debris.
“We had doubts if it [the interception] was near us,” she told the Walla news site.
When the family eventually emerged, “we saw bits of the interception, as big as me, waiting in the yard. It was very frightening because we didn’t know exactly what had happened.”
Steinberg-Golan said the fragments landed near a window and ripped an air-conditioning unit from its wall mount.
“If we hadn’t gone into the safe room it could have ended in disaster,” she said. “It demonstrates the importance of staying in a protected space, especially during the small hours of the night when everyone wants to go back to sleep.”
Steinberg-Golan said she alerted the police who came and removed the fragment.
Her cousin, Meital Merhav, who arrived in Israel from New Jersey just five days ago to stay with the family, has already experienced three missile attacks.
“It is a shock. This whole missile thing is new to me,” she said.
בהמשך לאזעקה בבאר יעקב, שברי יירוט נפלו בחצר בית במרכז העיר, ללא נזק משמעותי. צוות השיטור העירוני מטפל במקרה.
The United Nations Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting Monday about the Houthi attacks on Israel.
“It seems that the Houthis have still not understood what happens to those who try to harm Israel,” UN envoy Danny Danon said in a statement. “I expect the UN Security Council to support Israel and to condemn the attacks against us.”
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar asked the council to hold a meeting to condemn the attacks.
His request came hours after the Houthis fired another early-morning missile at Israel that was successfully intercepted.
On Saturday, attempted interceptions failed to stop a Houthi missile that struck a park in Jaffa, south of Tel Aviv, lightly injuring 16 people in surrounding buildings.
A crater next to a childs’ play area in a park in a residential area of Jaffa, south Tel Aviv, caused by a missile fired from Yemen early on December 21, 2024. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)
And on Thursday in the early morning, a Houthi missile was intercepted but the warhead still fell in Ramat Gan, collapsing a multistory school building but causing no injuries as the site was closed at that hour.
Another missile attack targeted central Israel in the afternoon of December 16, and was intercepted.
The Houthis also claimed a drone attack on Monday. The IDF said it shot down one threat before it reached the country.
Delayed sirens
An IDF Home Front Command investigation into Saturday’s Houthi missile strike in Jaffa found that there was a delay in activating sirens.
“The investigation revealed that the warning was activated late for reasons that cannot be detailed,” the military said, adding that conclusions and lessons were drawn from the incident.
The IDF said that following the investigation, which also looked into other incidents of impacts of missile and interceptor fragments in Israel, it was decided to “adjust the warning areas.”
“From now on during similar events, warnings will be issued in wider areas,” the military said.
Emergency services personnel inspect the rubble of a destroyed school building in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, on December 19, 2024, after the campus was struck in a missile attack from Yemen. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)
Israel and the US have carried out strikes against Houthi targets throughout Yemen in recent days, but they don’t seem to have deterred the rebel group.
The Houthis have vowed to keep attacking Israel until the end of the war in the Gaza Strip that started on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian terror group Hamas led a devastating cross-border attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. The thousands of terrorists who burst into the country also abducted 251 people who were taken as hostages to Gaza. Israel is aiming to destroy Hamas in Gaza and bring home the 100 hostages still there.
The Houthis have launched more than 200 missiles and 170 drones at Israel in the past year. According to the IDF, the vast majority did not reach Israel or were intercepted by the military and Israeli allies in the region.
Israel has carried out airstrikes against Houthi targets three times in response to the group’s attacks, the latest last Thursday.
On Tuesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened that security forces will begin targeting Houthis leaders as well.
The Iran-backed group has also carried out repeated missile and drone attacks on some 100 merchant vessels attempting to traverse the Red Sea, forcing many carriers to avoid the key waterway and hamstringing global shipping. The Houthis initially said they were going to attack Israel-linked ships, but few of the vessels targeted had ties to Israel.
END
ISRAEL/USA/HOUTHIS//YEMEN/opinion
TIMES OF ISRAEL
what Israel needs to do to knock out this world wide threat
(Times of Israel)
Israel shifts focus to Houthis, but it needs partners to defeat distant foe
After hundreds of missiles fired at Israel, PM says Yemeni rebels will meet same fate as Hamas and Hezbollah; so far, Saudi and US campaigns haven’t deterred Iran-backed force
Houthi supporters raise a poster of late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during a rally to commemorate the one-year anniversary of war in the Gaza Strip, in Sana’a, Yemen, October 7, 2024. (AP/Osamah Abdulrahman)
Over the past year, Israel has methodically — and at times spectacularly — hammered Iran and its regional allies, cutting off tentacles of the proverbial “octopus of terror,” as former prime minister Naftali Bennett awkwardly put it.
Hamas’s military is a shadow of the force that poured across Israel’s border from Gaza on October 7 of last year. Hezbollah threw in the towel in Lebanon and agreed to a ceasefire after losing its leadership and much of its arsenal, jettisoning its pledge to keep firing at Israel until it pulls out of Gaza.
The Assad regime in Syria, a key hub in Iran’s network, crumpled in days after rebels swept southward out of their stronghold, encouraged by Israel’s successes against Tehran and its proxies.
And on Monday, Shiite militias in Iraq reportedly decided to stop attacking Israel.
Yet one distant Iranian ally remains stubbornly in the fight.
Early Wednesday, the Houthi rebels in Yemen fired another ballistic missile at Israel, the fourth such overnight attack in less than a week and the fifth targeting central Israel since December 16.
Emergency services personnel inspect the rubble of a destroyed school building in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, on December 19, 2024, after the campus was struck in a missile attack from Yemen. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)
The attacks were only the latest in a campaign in which the Houthis have launched more than 200 missiles and 170 drones at Israel over the past year.
Israeli leaders are promising to address the threat. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel would act against the Houthis with the same force it used against Iran’s other “terrorist arms.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes a video statement announcing a stepped-up campaign against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, December 22, 2024. (Screenshot/GPO)
Israel will begin targeting Houthi leaders, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday.
“The Houthis are making a big mistake when they continue to attack Israel,” an Israeli official told The Times of Israel.
“Today, when we have a ceasefire in Lebanon and less intense fighting in Gaza,” continued the official, “we now have the opportunity to shift our attention and resources toward the Yemeni front, the Houthi front. This is what we are doing these days, and we are also formulating a response alongside our allies led by the United States, and when the time comes, we will make sure that the Houthi forces pay.”
The threats are not empty pledges. As a Houthi attack hit a school in Ramat Gan last week, the IDF carried out a wave of intense airstrikes against Houthi targets. Israeli military sources said the strikes, aimed at paralyzing all three ports used by the group, targeted fuel depots, power stations and tugboats used at the Houthi-controlled ports.
A man walks near to a raging fire at oil storage tanks a day after Israeli strikes on Yemen’s Houthi-held Hodeida port on July 21, 2024. (AFP)
Yet the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, continue firing.
Israel will have to do more than carry out occasional airstrikes. It faces a determined enemy, well-adapted to withstand bombing campaigns. Only by working for a more muscular American and Arab coalition against the Houthis will Israel succeed in confronting the threat — and potentially moving toward closer ties with its natural allies in the region.
A newfound popularity
The Houthis have many reasons to keep firing.
Violence against Israel and the US is central to the Houthi ideology. As the group’s slogan goes: “God Is the Greatest, Death to America, Death to Israel, A Curse Upon the Jews, Victory to Islam.”
Houthi supporters hold posters showing Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader assassinated in Tehran, during an anti-Israel and anti-American rally in Sana’a, Yemen, August 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
In addition to the launches at Israel, the Iran-backed group has also carried out missile and drone attacks on some 100 merchant vessels attempting to traverse the Red Sea, forcing many carriers to avoid the key waterway and hamstringing global shipping.
The attacks also elevate the Houthis within the Iranian axis and the broader Muslim world.
“You see Hezbollah in a ceasefire,” said Danny Citrinowicz, research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies. “Iraqi militias hardly attack. The Iranians hesitate to respond, and the Houthis are the only ones pulling the ‘resistance’ forward.”
A clip from Houthi propaganda footage showing a raid on an “Israeli base” and a “soldier” being taken captive, which aired February 4, 2024. (Screen capture: X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
A poor tribal group in the desert that almost no one had heard of 15 years ago, the Houthis are now enjoying unprecedented popularity across the Muslim world as the vanguard of the fight against Israel.
There are also pressing domestic reasons for the Houthis to fire at Israel. The country is now home to the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with 80 percent of the population relying on aid, per the United Nations. Almost half of Yemen’s children under 5 are moderately to severely stunted.
“Being in constant conflict is actually strengthening their domestic cohesion,” said Wolf-Christian Paes, senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, “because people are not asking so much about service delivery and the economy and all of that when you’re in war.”
In this January 24, 2016, photo, a malnourished child lies in a bed waiting to receive treatment at a therapeutic feeding center in a hospital in Sana’a, Yemen. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)
Houthi attacks in the Red Sea are far more popular than the group itself. An October poll found that only 8% of respondents in Houthi-controlled areas viewed the group favorably, while 35% approved of the attacks.
Not exactly a proxy
Though their animus toward Israel and the West aligns neatly with Iran’s worldview, the Houthis are not proxies in the mold of Hezbollah or Shiite militias in Iraq.
“They consider themselves to be part of the Axis of Resistance,” said Paes. “But this does not mean that they take their orders from Tehran.”
Iranians burn and stomp on Israeli and American flags during a demonstration against the Saudi-led coalition’s Operation Decisive Storm against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, outside the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, April 13, 2015. (AFP/Atta Kenare)
Unlike many proxies, they don’t rely on Iran for money, instead raising funds from taxes and smuggling networks. The Houthis also practice a different strain of Shiite Islam from Iran, and make decisions independently of Iran and its Revolutionary Guards. For example, Iran reportedly urged the Houthis not to take the capital of Sana’a in 2014, advice the group promptly ignored.
Ties between Iran and the Houthis expanded markedly in 2011, when they led a revolution that toppled Yemen’s pro-Saudi president Ali Abdullah Saleh. When the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia — regional rivals of Tehran — launched a military campaign against the Houthis in 2015, Iran began shipping advanced drones and missiles to the group.
In February, the US Central Command announced that a Coast Guard team intercepted a vessel from Iran to the Houthis that contained “medium-range ballistic missile components, explosives, unmanned underwater/surface vehicle components, military-grade communication and network equipment, anti-tank guided missile launcher assemblies, and other military components.”
In this August 24, 2017, photo, supporters of former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh attend a ceremony to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Popular Conference Party, in Sana’a, Yemen. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)
The sides could draw even closer together in light of Israel’s recent achievements.
The relationship “will grow closer now that Hezbollah has stood down and Assad has lost power,” said Kenneth Katzman, senior fellow at The Soufan Center. “The Houthis are now almost all that remains of Iran’s ‘axis of resistance’ strategy.”
At the same time, the weakening of Iran’s axis could lead to a more independent and assertive Houthi movement.
“If tomorrow you had, say, a regime change in Tehran or the government in Tehran would decide to stop this, it doesn’t mean that necessarily the Houthis would stop,” said Paes.
Reactive half-measures
Against powerful foes, the Houthis have proven resilient. As in Afghanistan, Yemen’s mountainous terrain is a valuable asset to guerrilla groups facing aerial attacks.
And over the years, they have learned how to adapt to aerial campaigns.
In this February 1, 2018, photo, a Saudi soldier guards an aid flight at an air base in Marib, Yemen. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)
The Saudis led a Sunni coalition that started bombing attacks in 2015, along with the deployment of tens of thousands of ground troops. That effort has failed to dislodge the Houthis from the capital or reinstate the coalition’s preferred leader.
In January, the US and UK launched Operation Poseidon Archer to strike the Houthis. However, said Brian Carter of the American Enterprise Institute, “a series of reactive half-measures has not achieved decisive effects or meaningfully degraded Houthi military capabilities.”
“The Houthis are not deterred, and have also collected significant insight into the operation of US defenses against their attack systems,” he continued.
In this February 24, 2024, image released by the US Central Command, a US fighter plane launches from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower in the Red Sea during operations against Houthi targets. (CENTCOM/ AFP)
“Are they stopping the Houthis? No,” said US President Joe Biden of the airstrikes. “Are they going to continue? Yes.”
The Houthis have moved weapons manufacturing underground, and still enjoy access to ports and weapons shipments.
US-led attacks “didn’t eliminate the leadership at all,” said Citrinowicz. “They didn’t touch the Iranian mission in Yemen, they didn’t touch the chief of staff, they didn’t touch any of the senior officials.”
This photo issued by the British Ministry of Defence (MOD) on February 4, 2024, shows a RAF Typhoon FGR4 aircraft back at the base, following strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. (AS1 Jake Green/RAF via AP)
Can Israel do better?
If the Saudis and UAE, and more recently the US and UK, have failed to stop Houthi attacks, why should Israel expect better results?
Even though Israeli leaders boast about images of the Hodeida port in flames after Israeli operations, sporadic airstrikes aren’t going to scare the Houthis. They might even strengthen them in the region.
For Israel to have success, it can’t go it alone, like it did in the neighboring Gaza and Lebanon. It will have to quietly join or lead a renewed, aggressive coalition against the Houthis.
Republican presidential nominee, former US president Donald Trump arrives to speak during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center on November 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida. (CHIP SOMODEVILLA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
“We need to pause,” said Citrinowicz. “Sit with the Americans and wait for the Trump administration. Set as a strategic goal a fatal blow to the leadership and the stability of production, work together with the countries of the region, and certainly the Saudis.”
A more assertive coalition could keep up a high-tempo bombing campaign, similar to what Israel did to Hezbollah. It could go after Houthi leaders, driving the survivors underground and seriously disrupting the organization’s command and control.
Israel could also urge allies to go after the Houthis’ ability to smuggle weapons. Until now, efforts have focused on protecting ships and striking large sites, while keeping naval vessels far from Houthi missiles. But enforcing a blockade to stem the flow of Iranian weapons would have significant effects.
Members of the Yemeni Coast Guard affiliated with the Houthi group patrol the sea as demonstrators march through the Red Sea port city of Hodeida in solidarity with the people of Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war, on January 4, 2024 (AFP)
“Every missile that doesn’t make it to the Houthis doesn’t need to be defended against,” noted Paes. “Smuggling a ballistic missile is not easy, certainly not on a dhow.”
Carter suggested pushing for the removal of Houthi-controlled banks from the international SWIFT system, making it much harder for the group to receive financial support and pay salaries.
And if the coalition were really serious, it would enhance its support for Yemeni government forces, to create a credible ground threat to push the Houthis back from the capital and their ports.
That may be starting to unfold. This week, Saudi Arabia and their local allies have opened attacks on Houthi forces in two provinces.
Israeli F-35 fighter jets return to the Nevatim Airbase after carrying out an airstrike in Yemen, July 20, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Israeli leadership in a confident, effective regional coalition against the Houthis — after years of failed and expensive operations — would further cement Israel’s place as the undisputed leader of the regional anti-Iran coalition, and would increase incentives to deepen ties with the Jewish state.
On the other hand, if Israel and its regional partners fail to address the threat posed by the Houthis, it will only grow.
“Even if the war ends tomorrow in Gaza, the genie is out of the bottle,” said Citrinowicz. “They’ll attack the Saudis tomorrow, and the next day they will attack Israel again over something that happens in the West Bank. They will do it again and again.”
Members of staff walk next to the control tower as the first Yemen Airways flight in six years prepares to take off from Sanaa airport in the Yemeni capital, on May 16, 2022.(photo credit: Mohammed Huwais/AFP via Getty Images)
In the middle of a speech by Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, Israeli airstrikes hit Sana’a and Hodeidah on Thursday.
The strikes targeted the main airport runway, control tower, and aircraft in Sana’a International Airport. Images broadcast by Sky News Arabia show fires and damage to the airport.
Strikes also hit the Haziz powerplant and the Hodeidah port, powerplant, and oil refineries, according to Al Hadath.
Around seven strikes were reported in Sana’a and three in Hodeidah, with dozens of aircraft being spotted in the air.
Sources confirmed to the Jerusalem Post that the IDF carried out the strike with the United States knowledge.
A Houthi follower wears a vest portraying the Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi during a parade held as part of a ‘popular army’ mobilization campaign by the movement, in Sanaa, Yemen February 7, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/KHALED ABDULLAH)
Ramping up the attack
These strikes come after persistent missile attacks on Tel Aviv, during which one missile impacted, causing damage and injuries to over 30 people.
Both the United States and Israel vowed to ramp up attacks on the Houthis, who began launching raids on trade flowing through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea in “solidarity” with Hamas.
Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi has ordered the Air Force to begin preparation for possible attacks, either from ballistic missiles or drones, through the upgrading of early detection and warning systems.
The attacks against the Houthis will continue as long as necessary, and each time, they will pay a heavier price – Israeli official tells the Jerusalem Post, the official added, “This is much more significant than the previous strikes.”
END
After IDF strikes on Yemen, Katz says Israel will ‘hunt down all the Houthi leaders’
EMANUEL FABIAN
(TIMES OF ISRAEL)
IDF chief Herzi Halevi (L to R), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and IAF chief of staff Omer Tischler at the IAF’s underground command center at the military headquarters in Tel Aviv. on December 26, 2024. (Elad Malka/Defense Ministry)
Following the Israeli airstrikes on Yemen, Defense Minister Israel Katz says Israel will “hunt down” all the leaders of the Houthis.
“We saw precise action by the Israeli Air Force, hitting strategic Houthi targets in Yemen, at the airport and at the port,” Katz says in a video from the IAF’s underground command center at the military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
“As we said, whoever strikes Israel, we will strike them. We will also hunt down all the Houthi leaders, hit them as we have done elsewhere,” he says. “No one will be able to evade Israel’s long arm.”
END
Israel Conducts Huge Airstrikes Targeting Houthis At International Airport & Across Yemen
Thursday, Dec 26, 2024 – 12:00 PM
Israel has launched major aerial attacks on Yemen on Thursday, just on heels of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatening to destroy Houthi infrastructure and hunt down its leaders. “I have instructed our forces to destroy the infrastructure of Houthis because anyone who tries to harm us will be struck with full force,” Netanyahu told parliament, following a Houthi ballistic missile strike on Tel Aviv Saturday.
“We will continue to crush the forces of evil with strength and ingenuity, even if it takes time,” Netanyahu has said of the new offensive over the skies of Yemen. The Saturday attack incident had wounded 16 Israelis.
YEMEN UNDER ATTACK 🇾🇪🇮🇱 Viral footage allegedly from Hodaydah of today's Israeli attack on Yemen.
According to early reports from Arabic media, various sites have been hit including civilian infrastructure such as ports, power stations and Sanaa's airport. pic.twitter.com/4NxVO5T34r
“A short time ago, the Air Force attacked targets of the Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen, both on the coastline and in Sana’a,” Netanyahu continued.
He directly called out Iran in the new remarks, given the Iranian have long supplied the Shia Houthi rebels. “We are determined to cut off this terror arm of the Iranian axis of evil. We will persist in this until we complete the job,” the Israeli leader said. This strongly suggests more such attacks to come in the next days.
The new Israeli air strikes have hit the international airport in Yemen’s capital Sanaa as well as the Red Sea port of Hudaydah, which has been a frequent focus on the Western coalition’s own intermittent air campaign.
An IDF statement has claimed the new operation hit only “military infrastructure” at Sanaa International Airport, the Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations, as well as military targets at Al-Hudaydah, Salif, and Ras Kanatib ports on the country’s west coast.
“These infrastructures were used by the Houthi terror regime to transfer Iranian weapons to the region and for the entry of senior Iranian officials,” the IDF has additionally said.
An Al Jazeera correspondent in the region speculates this will only lead to stepped up attacks on Israel out of Yemen:
Yemeni journalist Hussain al-Bukhaiti told Al Jazeera the attack on the airport in the capital Sanaa targeted one of its control towers, disrupting operations.
“All Israeli attacks … whether its against Yemen or Gaza, they [Yemeni forces] will treat as an escalation. And I believe … the Yemeni army may conduct a major attack against Israel,” he added.
⚡️🚨 Israel airstrikes in #Yemen target #Sanaa Airport, Hodeidah Port, and oil facilities during the speech of Sayed Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi:
Israel is still operating in Gaza, but with the Hezbollah ceasefire holding in Lebanon, and with Syria unable to pose a threat given Assad’s ouster, it looks like Netanyahu is indeed ready to take a full-force fight to the Houthis. He is vowing also to ‘hunt’ down Houthi leadership.
It remains that after over a year of the Western naval coalition unable to restore safety to the Red Sea shipping corridor, Israel is going to have an uphill battle trying to stop the Houthi threat with mere aerial power.
Regional war correspondent Elijah Magnier observes the following of these new attacks: “Israel has so far lacked a military bank of targets in Yemen, as evidenced by the bombing of Saada, Sanaa airport, Hodeida and civilian infrastructure, mainly ports and power stations.”
“Non-confirmed information about NATO ships participated or/and coordinated the attack with Israel. Israel has no problem killing civilians because of its immoral and unethical ideology,” Magnier continues. “However, in the coming weeks, all of Yemen’s old and current enemies will be sharing intelligence with Israel for future attacks.”
People walk past a poster of slain Palestinian Hamas terror group leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran’s capital Tehran on August 10, 2024. (Atta Kenare/AFP)
Following Israel’s confirmation yesterday that it was behind the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, Iran sends a letter to the UN secretary-general calling on it to condemn the act and claiming that it justifies Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel in October.
Defense Minister Israel Katz “publicly and shamelessly acknowledged that the Israeli regime was responsible for the assassination of Mr. Ismail Haniyeh while he was visiting Tehran,” writes the Iranian envoy to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, to Antonio Guterres.
The letter says that Israel’s “audacious and shameless confession… reaffirms the legitimacy and legality of Iran’s defensive response on 1 October 2024.” During that attack, Iran fired around 200 ballistic missiles at Israel, sending millions of citizens into shelters across the country. The IDF says the majority of the missiles were shot down outside of the country, but some damage was caused to military bases.
Iran claims that the UN Security Council “must not allow the continued impunity of a regime that flagrantly defies international law, destabilizes the region, and threatens and endangers international peace and security. The continued silence of the Security Council, entrusted with the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, would not only embolden this terrorist regime commission of more atrocious crimes but also undermine the core principles upon which the United Nations was founded.”
END
ISRAEL//HAMAS/WEST BANK
Terror threats in northern West Bank is growing
(JerusalemPost)
‘Gazafication’: The terror threat in northern West Bank is growing – analysis
Weapons are flowing to the West Bank and enabling the growing terrorist threat, the building blocks of a kind of “Gazafication” are now in place.
Gunmen stand during the funeral of Palestinian Ribhi Shalabi, who was killed in clashes with Palestinian Authority forces, in Jenin camp in the West Bank, December 10, 2024.(photo credit: REUTERS/RANEEN SAWAFTA)
Israel and the Palestinian Authority are facing growing terror threats in the northern West Bank. This has been the case for the last two years; however, several recent incidents have pointed to a disturbing trend.
The PA has attempted to carry out an operation in Jenin to clear the Jenin camp of terrorists. Israeli troops have clashed with Palestinians in Nur Shams Camp in Tulkarm. Taken as a whole, the operations in the northern West Bank illustrate how the terror threat is growing and shifting.
First of all, the threat requires Israel to use more drone strikes in the West Bank. This has also become a new phenomenon in the last two years.
Overall, it means that the threat on the ground is growing so much that it is preferable to use drones and airstrikes rather than send troops into areas. It also speaks to a decision to rely on air assets and surveillance functions they bring in order to neutralize threats.
While this can work, history has shown that precision air strikes and drones don’t usually win conflicts. What drones can do is reduce some friction or keep enemies in check. They are not a substitute for boots on the ground.
A man walks with a weapon, amid clashes between Palestinian security forces and terrorists, in Jenin camp in the West Bank, December 15, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/RANEEN SAWAFTA)
A report at Maariv overnight noted that, according to the IDF, “an Air Force aircraft recently attacked a terrorist cell in Tamun, in the Jordan Valley, who had planted explosives against the forces operating in the area.”
Tamun is a Palestinian village 10 miles northeast of Nablus in the Tubas governorate of the West Bank. It is near the top of the Wadi al-Faria, a large valley that flows down to the Jordan River. Terrorists have tried to infiltrate this area over the last year, resulting in clashes in the summer with the IDF in this area and in Tubas.
In addition, there have been clashes in Fara camp, which is not far from here. This area should be seen as a belt of villages that are now being used by terrorists, from Balata in Nablus north via Fara to Tubas, Tamun, and other villages on the line of hills overlooking the Jordan Valley.
Concerning developments
More concerning is a report from the IDF overnight that “during an IDF counterterrorism operation in the area of Tukaram, a David APC was hit by an explosive device. The Commanding Officer of the Judea and Samaria Division, Brig. Gen. Yaki Dolf and the Commander of the Menashe Regional Brigade, Col. Ayub Kayouf, were in the vehicle.” The report goes on to note that “the Commander of the Menashe Regional Brigade was moderately injured and was evacuated to receive medical treatment. His family has been notified.”
The battles in Tulkarm included airstrikes on terrorist cells and the discovery of explosives. Ynet reported that six terrorists were eliminated. Al-Quds Palestinian media claims eight people were killed in Tulkarm. However, the fact that a vehicle was hit with an improvised explosive device is concerning.
It is a reminder that three IDF soldiers were killed in Beit Hanoun in Gaza by an IED this week as well. It appears the terrorists are shifting tactics. This has also been a slow process going back two years in the northern West Bank. The enemy appears to be maturing in their capabilities.
The overall picture emerging in the West Bank is concerning. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are seeking to inflame local populist sentiment against the Palestinian Authority. They may hope that the recent victory by the opposition in Syria could pave the way to a new kind of Arab Spring.
In essence, they want populist rage to grow against the PA. It appears that Doha-linked media, such as Al-Jazeera, may also be fanning the flames. In addition, UNRWA in Jenin has not helped the matter by waiting days to mention that terrorists took over a medical facility and refusing to condemn or name the “armed groups” that are responsible for the growing chaos. The building blocks of a kind of “Gazafication” are now in place in Jenin and other areas in the northern West Bank.
Hamas is likely biding its time in Gaza, refusing to do a hostage deal, hoping that it can utilize the West Bank clashes for its benefit. These are concerning signs. The IDF raid in Tulkarm, the use of IEDs by terrorists, and the attempt by Hamas and PIJ to exploit the PA raid in Jenin are all part of a growing trend that should be seen as more than the sum of its parts.
In addition, the frequent images of young men, including teens, with M-4 and M-16 type rifles is also a major concern. Many of the rifles have modern sights and accessories, indicating they have been recently smuggled. The weapons are flowing to the West Bank and enabling the growing terrorist threat.
END
ISRAEL/HAMAS
state of affairs inside Gaza Thursday morning.
(JerusalemPost)
IDF clears roads in northern Gaza, pressure on Hamas continues
Report: IDF building corridor in northern Gaza •IDF fighting continues in Gaza • Israel buys more Arrow air defense missiles.
A banner depicting U.S. and Israeli flags is burned, as protesters, mainly Houthi supporters, rally to show support to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in Sanaa, Yemen December 13, 2024.(photo credit: REUTERS/KHALED ABDULLAH)
The IDF leverage pressuring Hamas to advance a hostage deal – analysis
Consistent eliminations have damaged the morale of Hamas operatives and disrupted the command-and-control capabilities of the terror group.
IDF soldiers in northern Gaza Strip conducting operation in the area of the Indonesian Hospital, where a Hamas launch site was located.(photo credit: IDF SPOKESMAN’S UNIT)
The defense establishment assesses that 15 months of fighting in the Gaza Strip have conveyed a clear message to Hamas that the IDF will continue the war as long as necessary, and certain elements are pressuring Hamas to advance talks for a hostage deal.
According to data presented to Defense Minister Israel Katz, the Shin Bet’s increased presence in the Gaza Strip over recent months, combined with intelligence officers embedded in brigade combat teams, has generated high-quality and precise intelligence.
This intelligence enables targeted strikes on buildings harboring Hamas operatives and field commanders. The data indicates a weekly average of 30–40 Hamas operatives being eliminated by the Southern Command, the Air Force, and the Shin Bet.
These consistent eliminations have reportedly damaged the morale of Hamas operatives and disrupted the command-and-control capabilities of Mohammed Sinwar, former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s brother, and the two remaining brigade commanders in the Gaza Strip.
One element that Hamas reportedly finds particularly alarming is the so-called “Generals’ Plan.” This plan involves evacuating civilians from northern Gaza—a process already underway in areas like Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia, and Jabalya for combat purposes—and taking control of humanitarian aid distribution to prevent Hamas from exercising governance over the population.
A rally calling for the release of the Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas in Gaza, at the Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, December 14, 2024 (credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/FLASH90)
Despite the IDF’s official and unequivocal denials of adopting or implementing such a plan, Hamas remains convinced that it will be carried out.
Closing off Hamas
Another significant concern for Hamas is the increasing proximity of the Netzarim Corridor, where Division 99 forces are advancing, pushing Hamas operatives deeper into Gaza City while simultaneously nearing Division 162 units operating in Jabalya, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahia. These locations are now within an aerial distance of roughly 10 kilometers. The simultaneous progress in these two areas has heightened Hamas’s fear of further territorial losses to the IDF.
The distribution of humanitarian aid throughout the Gaza Strip is another critical issue under weekly discussion by the IDF and the Shin Bet. Efforts to improve aid delivery have heightened Hamas’s concern that IDF forces or a civilian company might soon assume full responsibility for this task.
Such a shift would strip Hamas of authority and reduce its influence over the remaining areas of the Gaza Strip. The IDF is acutely aware that Hamas’s role in food distribution is a key tool for maintaining control over the Palestinian public
END
HAMAS/ISRAELI HOSTAGES
Thursday report
(JerusalemPost)
Women slaves, children starved: Israel to submit UN hostage abuse report – report
Along with highlighting the abuse suffered by hostages in Hamas captivity, the report also outlined hostages’ struggles after their release and return home.
Families of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza standing outside a tunnel installation at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on January 13, 2024(photo credit: TOMER NEUBERG/FLASH90)
Israel has drafted an official report to be submitted to the United Nations that details the abuse inflicted upon former hostages who survived Hamas captivity, N12 reported on Wednesday.
The report specifically outlines the conditions of hostages released in the November 2023 deal, the Israeli media outlet noted.
“These testimonies serve as a wake-up call to the international community,” JFeed cited Health Minister Uriel Busso, whose ministry led the efforts in compiling the report, as saying on Wednesday. “The world needs to see the reality of what hostages endured – and what those still in captivity continue to face.”
N12 stated that the report includes extensive testimonies from released hostages who were deliberately separated from their family members who were also taken hostage on October 7.
Hostage women turned into slaves by terrorists, N12 reports
Children taken hostage were forced to watch videos of the October 7 massacre, hostages underwent surgeries without anesthesia or proper medication, others were forced to soil themselves, and female hostages were turned into slaves, N12 stated, citing the report.
A woman casts a shadow as she walks past a banner calling for the release of the hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, December 5, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)
According to the report, shortly prior to the hostages’ release, Hamas increased food portions to create the impression that hostages were kept in good condition. Additionally, children reportedly lost between 11-22 lbs. in weight, while adults lost around 33 lbs.
Along with highlighting the abuse suffered by hostages in Hamas captivity, the report also outlined hostages’ struggles after their release and return home.
The report noted that released hostages suffer from severe trauma, with many rarely leaving their homes, struggling to return to routines, and being afraid to sleep alone. Many still suffer from physical pain and released children struggle with food, either hoarding food or eating less
END
ISRAEL HAMAS
(Times OF Israel)
PM says Israel can’t make a deal without getting list of hostages from Hamas — report
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem on September 27, 2023.(Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told aides this week that he will not agree to a hostage deal with Hamas without receiving a list of the names of living abductees, Walla reports, citing two sources familiar with the details.
The report says Netanyahu told a meeting this week — following the return of negotiators from talks in Qatar — that “we can’t get any names out of Hamas and I’m not prepared to enter a deal without knowing what I’m making a deal over and who I’m getting in return.”
According to the Hebrew-language outlet, Netanyahu also said in meetings after the return of negotiators from Doha on Tuesday night that he won’t move forward without knowing who exactly the terror group will release in the first phase of a deal.
Hamas says it cannot provide a comprehensive list before a ceasefire is in place, since some of the hostages are being held by other groups in Gaza.
END
New leader of Hamas: Khalil al Hayaa
(JerusalemPost)
Khalil al-Hayya takes helm of Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades as talks near ‘finish line’ – report
The al-Qassam Brigades field leadership has committed to providing Hayya with its full support, Al Araby Al Jadeed cited the Hamas official as saying.
As hostage deal and ceasefire negotiations approach “the finish line,” Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya has taken the helm of the terror group’s military wing, the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, a senior Hamas official told the UK-based Qatari news organization, Al Araby AlJadeed, on Wednesday.
Hayya is Hamas’s top negotiator in the talks and serves as the organization’s senior leader in Gaza.
The al-Qassam Brigades field leadership has committed to providing Hayya with its full support, Al Araby Al Jadeed cited the Hamas official as saying.
Additionally, the Hamas official denied reports that the terror group hadn’t provided a list of living hostages held in Gaza captivity, emphasizing that the group had done so for those hostages it was able to locate via the groups charged with holding them.
The official reportedly said that the leadership of the Gazan groups holding hostages italicized that communication between the various armed factions in Gaza was difficult due to the ongoing war.
Hamas officials, Khalil Al-Hayya and Osama Hamdan, attend a press conference in Beirut, Lebanon, November 21, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/ESA ALEXANDER)
The Hamas official added that the terror group would be prepared to provide a complete list of living hostages after a ceasefire and “stabilization of the security situation,” Al Araby Al Jadeed reported.
‘A few steps away from the finish line’
Meanwhile, ceasefire negotiations are “a few steps away from the finish line,” Egyptian sources told the Qatari paper.
Further, the last couple of days have seen the completion of compromise formulas for subjects that marked points of disagreement during the previous round of negotiations, Al Araby Al Jadeed added.
According to the outlet, this most recent breakthrough would entail Israel postponing the release of ten high-profile Palestinian prisoners until the final phase of the deal.
These ten would reportedly include Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Secretary-General Ahmad Sa’adat, Abbas al-Sayed, Abdullah Barghouti, Ibrahim Hamed, and Hassan Salameh as well as two senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad leaders.
Al Araby Al Jadeed noted that the compromise came after Hamas conceded to Israeli demands that soldiers be released from captivity.
Among the soldiers are five women, two men holding American citizenship, and two more holding Russian citizenship, the Qatari paper added.
END
GAZA/ISRAEL
More terrorists eliminated posing as journalists!
(Jerusalempost)
Five Al Quds Today TV journalists among PIJ terrorists eliminated in Nuseirat strike
This came after Arab media claimed otherwise, saying that five journalists killed worked for the Al-Quds Today television channel.
By KESHET NEEVDECEMBER 26, 2024 05:13Updated: DECEMBER 26, 2024 14:50
PIJ terror cell eliminated in Nuseirat. December 26, 2024.(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)
Five Al Quds Today TV journalists who doubled as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists were killed in a targeted strike carried out by the Israel Air Force near the Nuesirat area of Gaza overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, the IDF said on Thursday afternoon.
The IDF statement confirming the event came after Arab media outlets reported that five journalists working for the Palestinian news outlet were killed. The reports did not note their PIJ affiliations.
One of the sources the IDF said it used to confirm the identity of the terrorists it struck was taken from a list of PIJ operatives discovered by Israel’s military during previous operations in the Gaza Strip.
The IDF listed the names of the terrorists and what their roles in the terror group were.
Who were the terrorists killed in the strike?
The IDF said Ibrahim Jamal Ibrahim Al-Sheikh Ali was a PIJ operation and combat propaganda operative.
List of PIJ operatives, including four terrorists who were eliminated overnight in Nuseirat. December 26, 2024. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)
Faisal Abdallah Muhammad Abu Qamsan was the Head of Security for the Islamic Jihad in Nuseirat.
Mohammed Ayad Khamis al-Lada’a was an Islamic Jihad combat propagandist.
Ayman Nihad Abd Alrahman Jadi is an Islamic Jihad combat propagandist and former Islamic Jihad naval operative.
Fadi Ihab Muhammad Ramadan Hassouna, Islamic Jihad combat propagandist in Nuseirat.
Reuters reported that Gaza health authorities said at least ten people, including the five journalists, were killed during both of Israel’s strikes.
The health authorities in Gaza, such as the Health Ministry and the civil services in the Strip, are operated by Hamas.
Reports on the strikes
The Reuters report added that the deaths occurred in two separate incidents, with the first killing five and wounding 20 in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood.
The second incident reportedly killed the five journalists when their vehicle was struck in the Nuesirat area.
The report also added that the van the journalists were in was allegedly marked as a media van.
The IDF has yet to comment on reports the journalists were hit in a strike.
Additional IDF action in Gaza
The IAF conducted additional strikes in Gaza, killing senior Hamas terrorists, Israel’s military said on Thursday morning.
Among the Hamas terrorists killed were Muhammad Jamil Salman Basous and Muhammad Kamal Muhammad Al-Haj.
The IDF said that Basous was a senior commander in the engineering unit of Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade and was “responsible for supplying explosives to terrorist operatives and stored explosive materials inside his house.”
It added that Al-Haj served as a Nukhba company commander in the Zeitoun Battalion and carried out sniper attacks for Hamas against IDF troops.
Additionally, the terrorist Mahmoud Jamil Salman Basous was killed in the strikes. Mahmoud was a platoon commander in Hamas’s Shejaiya Battalion and the brother of the aformentioned Muhammad Jamil Salman Basous.
Furthermore, on Wednesday, IDF and IAF artillery reportedly struck Hamas terrorists in the area of Gaza City.
The military noted that the terrorists it hit exploited the area to “plan and execute an explosive drone attack against IDF troops in an imminent time frame” but that, prior to the strike, “numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians.”
end
ISRAEL/HAMAS
OPINION
Removing Hamas from central Gaza is the key to removing its leverage – analysis
Despite IDF operating in Gaza for more than a year, Hamas believes it is winning the war with its control of central Gaza.
By SETH J. FRANTZMANDECEMBER 26, 2024 14:00Updated: DECEMBER 26, 2024 16:35
A Palestinian inspects the damage at the site of an Israeli strike, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, December 13, 2024.(photo credit: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)
Recent reports indicate that Hamas has once again made a hostage deal impossible. This is because it continues to believe it is winning the war. This would seem impossible, given that the IDF has operated in Gaza for 14 months and cleared many areas of Hamas. However, the terrorist group is still in control of central Gaza, and this gives it leverage over Israel in relation to the various hostage talks.
There are two reasons for this. The first is that Hamas believes Israel will not enter central Gaza; the second is that it is under the impression that it can continue to run this area as a kind of ministate.
Central Gaza consists of four urban areas: Nuseirat, the Maghazi refugee camp, Bureij, and Deir el-Balah. It is a swath of territory south of the IDF-controlled Netzarim corridor. It borders the Mawasi humanitarian area and Khan Yunis.
This provides Hamas an easy way to control aid going into Mawasi and to infiltrate back into Khan Yunis and threaten Rafah. The terrorist group uses the central camps as its main base of operations.
Palestinians search for their belongings at the site of an Israeli raid on a house, amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, December 16, 2024. (credit: Ali Hassan/Flash90)
Early in the war, it was estimated that Hamas had 24 battalions of fighters in Gaza. The IDF has assessed over the last year that many of these battalions were defeated. However, Hamas has reconstituted some of them.
The most prominent example of this was Jabalya. Hamas’s units there were supposed to have been defeated in the first months of the war. Yet, when the IDF went back into the area in early October, they found thousands of Hamas terrorists. In fact, the Hamas cells in Beit Hanun and other areas of northern Gaza continue to be active, killing IDF soldiers.
Hamas continues to control Gaza City itself, as well as neighborhoods such as Durraj, Tuffah, Sheikh Radwan, and parts of the Shati refugee camp.
The terrorist organization has not been defeated in these areas or central Gaza. Also, in many of them, it has not been put under military pressure.
Hamas thrives, hiding in the rubble and in various buildings and exploiting hospitals. This is why the IDF once again had to clear areas near the Kamal Adwan Hospital and the Indonesia Hospital in northern Gaza.
No matter how often the IDF comes and goes, the enemy returns.
The clear problem in central Gaza
IN CENTRAL Gaza, the problem is clear. Hamas uses this as an area to base its operations. It likely believes the IDF does not want to enter the area for fear Hamas will kill hostages.
However, Hamas has already killed many hostages. The fact is that leaving them in the hands of Hamas endangers them as much as trying to rescue them or pressuring Hamas to have them released.
Leaving people for years in the hands of the enemy is unacceptable. There are severe repercussions health-wise. Former Hamas hostage Hannah Katzir died this week at the age of 78. Reports said her health declined when she was held hostage.
This is an example of why it is not better to leave people in the hands of Hamas, allowing it to drag out the deal talks forever.
Even before the October 7 massacre, Hamas was holding four hostages in Gaza – two live Israelis and the bodies of two soldiers. The terrorist group also held Gilad Schalit captive for five years.
It is clear in retrospect that the policy of always leaving hostages in Gaza for years does not work. This empowers Hamas. The terrorist organization doesn’t care about the health of the hostages. Neither does the international community; none of the major NGOs involved in health in Gaza have ever sought to visit them.
Israel used to understand that it was important to free people quickly. The 1976 Entebbe rescue operation showcases that the Jewish state didn’t choose to leave hostages in Uganda for years. Instead, it went and rescued them.
In the past, this was Israel’s policy. Enemies were not allowed to take Israelis hostage and then relax for years. They were eliminated and neutralized.
But now, Hamas feels empowered in central Gaza because it does not feel military pressure there. At the talks in Cairo and Doha, it feels it can dictate to Israel. Hamas has done this for a year.
It has refused to supply even a list of hostages during the negotiations. This should have been the first thing supplied.
One cannot negotiate with a group that refuses to even hand over a list and wants to use this as part of the process of traumatizing Israel and controlling the process.
The threat from central Gaza is also a military and terror threat.
An IDF soldier from the 551st Brigade that controls the Netzarim corridor was killed in combat in central Gaza, the IDF said on Thursday.
Hamas is rebuilding terrorist infrastructure in areas such as Nuseirat. It will continue to try to fire rockets and mortars from these areas.
The group will construct IEDs (improvised explosive devices) from areas it controls in northern Gaza. Hamas has done this before and recovered many times.
It is true that Israeli control of Netzarim and Rafah will somewhat weaken Hamas and “mow the grass” to some extent.
Still, Hamas was able to gain power in Gaza decades ago, even when the IDF controlled Gaza up until 2005. Hamas laid the foundations for running Gaza as a terrorist empire back then. It is important to comprehend this in order to understand that removing Hamas from central Gaza is key to defeating the group.
ISRAEL/WEST BANK/WEDNESDAY
PA health ministry says 3 killed in IDF drone strike in West Bank
EMANUEL FABIAN: TIMES OF ISRAEL
The Palestinian Authority health ministry reports three dead and six wounded in the IDF drone strike in the West Bank city of Tulkarem earlier today.
The military said it had targeted a group of Palestinian gunmen.
end
ISRAEL WEST BANK/THURSDAY
Israel eliminates senior West Bank terrorists in two-day operation
The IDF, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), and Israel Border Police completed a two-day joint counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank, the military said on Thursday morning.
During the operation, an Israel Air Force aircraft struck a number of armed terrorist cells on several occasions, the IDF added.
The military identified the terrorists it killed as Qusai Amin Ibrahim Oqasha, a senior terrorist in the Tulkarm terrorist network. Oqasha replaced the terrorist Tarek Doush, who was eliminated last week in a joint IDF and Shin Bet aerial strike.
Along with Oqasha, the terrorists Jomaa Salam Ubaid and Imran Harun, another senior terrorist in the network, were reportedly killed.
The IDF added that its soldiers killed two additional terrorists during “close-quarter encounters.” The forces also “dismantled dozens of improvised explosive devices hidden beneath roads, apprehended a number of suspects, and confiscated weapons.”
END
RUSSIA/UKRAINE/
massive assault on Christmas day launched by Russia on Ukraine
(zerohedge)
Russia Launches Christmas Assault On Ukraine, Targeting Power Grid
Wednesday, Dec 25, 2024 – 09:20 AM
Russia unleashed a massive aerial attack using missiles and drones on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the Christmas Day assault “inhuman.”
“Today, Putin deliberately chose Christmas to attack. What could be more inhuman? More than 70 missiles, including ballistic missiles, and more than a hundred attack drones,” the Ukrainian president wrote on Telegram.
Bloomberg cited Ukraine’s power grid operator, Ukrenergo, as saying the attack left 500,000 customers in the Kharkiv region without heating, while blackouts were triggered in parts of Kyiv and elsewhere.
Russia’s Defence Ministry confirmed the Christmas Day aerial strike on Ukraine as a “massive” one and said energy infrastructure near Kyiv’s “military-industrial complex” was targeted.
“The aim of the strike was achieved. All facilities have been hit,” the ministry wrote in a statement, as quoted by Reuters.
Nearly three years into the war and marking the second Christmas, Free Press’ Jay Solomon recently asked: “Is World War III Already Here?”
Meanwhile, US President-elect Donald Trump recently described the war in Ukraine as total “carnage,” unprecedented since World War II, and emphasized the urgent need for peace.
Gen Zers aspiring to become social media influencers or OnlyFans models should realize they could be the ones shipped off if World War III erupts. This generation’s lack of anti-war advocacy might stem from ignorance, as their faces remain glued to their devices.
END
RUSSIA/USA/BIDEN
BIDEN THE IDIOT..
Biden Pledges More Arms To Ukraine After Christmas Strikes
President Joe Biden on Christmas Day said he has directed the Pentagon to continue its “surge of weapons deliveries to Ukraine,” following a wave of Russian air attacks on Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure early Christmas morning.
“The purpose of this outrageous attack was to cut off the Ukrainian people’s access to heat and electricity during winter and to jeopardize the safety of its grid,” Biden said in a statement.
“Let me be clear: the Ukrainian people deserve to live in peace and safety, and the United States and the international community must continue to stand with Ukraine until it triumphs over Russia’s aggression.”
The president said that the United States will “continue to work tirelessly” to back Ukraine against Russian forces in the ongoing war.
Ukraine’s air force said that the early morning attack by Russia using 78 air and ground missiles and 106 Shahed drones damaged critical equipment in Ukraine’s power grid, causing outages on Christmas Day.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy decried the deliberate attack on Christmas day as “inhumane.”
Ukraine shot down “more than 50 missiles and a significant number of drones” and was still hit as there are power outages in a number of regions as engineers are trying to restore power, Zelenskyy said.
“Russian evil will not break Ukraine and will not spoil Christmas,” Zelenskyy said.
The strikes wounded at least six people in the northeastern city of Kharkiv and killed one in the region of Dnipropetrovsk, the governors there said.
Christmas in Ukraine, where most of its people are Christian Orthodox, used to be celebrated on Jan. 7, as is the case in Russia, but that changed in 2023 to Dec. 25, the date used in Western countries.
Nearly three years into the war, Washington has committed $175 billion in aid for Ukraine.
President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office on Jan. 20, has said he wants to bring the war to a swift end.
Trump’s choice for special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, has condemned the Christmas Day attack.
“Christmas should be a time of peace, yet Ukraine was brutally attacked on Christmas Day,” Kellogg wrote on the social platform X.
“Launching large-scale missile and drone attacks on the day of the Lord’s birth is wrong. The world is closely watching actions on both sides. The U.S. is more resolved than ever to bring peace to the region.”
END
RUSSIA/THE WEST
Owners Of Russian Ship Ursa Major Declare Sinking An “Act Of Terrorism”
Wednesday, Dec 25, 2024 – 01:30 PM
The Russian cargo ship that sank on Tuesday in the Mediterranean Sea following a mysterious explosion in its engine room was described as an “act of terrorism,” according to the vessel’s owner.
Reuters cites the Russian news agency RIA, which reported on Christmas Day that Oboronlogistika, the ship’s owner and a subsidiary of the Russian Defense Ministry’s military construction operations, stated that the cargo ship, named Ursa Major, had been targeted in “a terrorist act.”
On Monday, Ukraine’s main intelligence directorate reported the cargo vessel was “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.”
The ship tracking website Marine Traffic shows Ursa Major’s last location was drifting on the high seas near Portugal before sinking on Tuesday.
Neither RIA nor Russian authorities have provided additional color about the claimed terrorist attack on the cargo vessel or who they suspect is responsible.
We asked earlier this week: “The big question for the Ursa Major is whether any US Navy submarines with special forces units lurk beneath.”
If the terrorist attack claim is confirmed, the fear is that the battlefield in Eastern Europe is broadening outside the region.
Nearly three years into the Russia-Ukraine war and marking the second Christmas, Free Press’ Jay Solomon recently asked: “Is World War III Already Here?”
END
RUSSIA//UKRAINE/USA
Russia Says It Has Shot Down A US-Made F-16 Over Ukraine
Thursday, Dec 26, 2024 – 02:30 PM
Moscow is claiming that its forces have downed a US-made F-16 aircraft given to Ukraine just as the warplane was preparing to launch a missile strike from over a southeast region of the country.
“The F-16 aircraft was in position to launch a missile strike on the region, and it was shot down,” TASS reports Thursday. The alleged downing has not been acknowledged by Ukraine, the Pentagon, or any outside entity.
State-run RT has also described that “One of the F-16 jets donated to Ukraine by NATO has reportedly been downed while attempting to launch missiles at Russia’s Zaporozhye Region.”
“Preliminary information from the front line was reported on Thursday by Vladimir Rogov, the co-chair of Russia’s Coordinating Council for the Integration of New Regions,” the same report adds.
Despite these big claims being made in Russian media, the story has been slow to appear in Western mainstream press accounts as of Thursday afternoon.
If true it would be the second US-donated F-16 to go down over Ukraine during the war, after a reported incident last August.
The August downing had come only days following an initial delivery of the fighter jets to Kiev, and was the result of a ‘friendly fire’ incident, based on the description of the crash by a Ukrainian member of parliament at the time.
“The pilot, Oleksiy Mes, died while helping to repel a massive Russian missile attack on Monday, the officials said,” WSJ wrote of that first downing. “Initial reports indicate the jet wasn’t shot down by enemy fire, U.S. officials said.” Accounts have remained conflicting.
As for this purported second downing, little details have been revealed. Ukraine is expected to keep mum about it even if the claims of a shootdown are accurate. If Russia starts shooting down Western-provided warplanes out of the skies at a higher rate, this would certainly help dissuade Ukraine’s allies from sending more.
The Zelensky government has been complaining about a slow-down and delays in arrivals of major weapons systems, including jets, from Western partners.
Some European countries have meanwhile been reluctant to commit too much military hardware at a time Ukraine forces are being bested by Russia along the frontlines in the east.
END
RUSSIA/AZERBAIJAN
Azerbaijan Airlines Flight Reportedly Hit By Russian Missile On Christmas Day
Thursday, Dec 26, 2024 – 08:40 AM
Azerbaijani government sources told Euronews on Thursday that a Russian surface-to-air missile hit Azerbaijan Airlines Flight J28243, ultimately causing the plane to crash during an emergency landing attempt in the Kazakhstani city of Aktau shortly thereafter.
A Russian SAM was fired at the Embraer ERJ-190 during a drone swarm above Grozny, the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The SAM detonated near the commercial jet and unleashed a spray formation of shrapnel that damaged the plane’s rear fuselage and flight controls.
Government sources have told Euronews that the damaged aircraft was not allowed to land at any Russian airports despite the pilots’ requests for an emergency landing, and it was ordered to fly across the Caspian Sea towards Aktau in Kazakhstan.
According to data, the plane’s GPS navigation systems were jammed throughout the flight path above the sea.
Shortly after the Embraer ERJ-190 crashed in Aktau on Christmas Day, footage of the wreckage emerged on X, and that’s when internet sleuths began to notice “traces of shrapnel on the rear fuselage section of the aircraft.”
The flight-tracking website Flightradar24 posted altitude and vertical speed data indicating the plane “struggled to maintain altitude for more than an hour.“
It is suspected that the SAM’s shrapnel spray pattern damaged the Embraer ERJ-190’s vertical stabilizer, horizontal stabilizer, and elevators—possibly explaining why the normal landing configuration might not have been achieved.
This resulted in an aggressive landing approach, contributing to a steep glide slope that led to the hard landing and eventual crash.
Dramatic Video Shows Azerbaijan Airlines Passenger Jet Crash In Kazakhstan
Thursday, Dec 26, 2024 – 05:35 AM
Update (1035ET):
“There is no official statement that Azerbaijan Airlines flight J28243 was shot down, or shots fired at it, following a video shared on social media showing traces of shrapnel on the rear fuselage section of the aircraft,” Breaking Aviation News & Videos wrote on X.
Breaking Aviation News & Videos provided a first-hand account of the mid-air incident from one passenger:
“Passenger Kristina from Vladivostok has told the Mash telegram channel that the plane circled over Aktau for about an hour before falling. During the descent, a dull thud was heard, similar to a collision.”
Passenger Kristina from Vladivostok has told the Mash telegram channel that the plane circled over Aktau for about an hour before falling. During the descent, a dull thud was heard, similar to a collision.
Another passenger, Zaur Mammadov, said that he was flying from his…
What is this unexplained damage on the Embraer ERJ-190’s vertical stabilizer, horizontal stabilizer, and elevators?
* * *
An Azerbaijan Airlines commercial jet carrying 62 passengers and five crew members crashed in the Kazakhstani city of Aktau. The Embraer ERJ-190 attempted an emergency landing following initial reports of a “bird strike.” Early reports indicate there are 28 survivors.
“Flight #J28243 that crashed near Aktau Airport in Kazakhstan is an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer ERJ-190 with registration 4K-AZ65,” flight tracking website Flightradar24 wrote on X.
Flightradar24 said, “J28243 took off from Baku at 03:55 UTC time and was flying to Grozny. The aircraft was exposed to strong GPS jamming which made the aircraft transmit bad ADS-B data. At 04:40 UTC we lost the ADS-B signal. At 06:07 UTC we picked up the ADS-B signal again before it crashed at 06:28 UTC.”
“The aircraft was struggling to maintain altitude for more than 1 hour,” Flightradar24 noted.
The flight-tracking website also noted: “The aircraft was exposed to GPS jamming and spoofing near Grozny.”
Russian media outlet RIA News said the loss of partial flight controls was due to a “collision with birds,” forcing the pilot to declare an emergency and attempt a landing at Aktau.
Dramatic videos of the landing approach and crash were posted on X.
“Stabilizer changes position downwards in the last seconds, reminds me of the cases of the 737max,” one X user said.
Were the flight controls locked up?
Perhaps one way to crush altitude with loss of flaps…
Bird strike? Or…
end
RUSSIA/ISRAEL EL
El Al suspends flights to Moscow following downing of Azerbaijani plane
A new assessment of the situation will be conducted next week, and a decision will be made as to whether operations on the route will resume.
By UDI ETZION, JERUSALEM POST STAFFDECEMBER 26, 2024 18:41Updated: DECEMBER 26, 2024 21:10
An El-Al Boeing 767 lands in Moscow, Russia, October 23, 2012(photo credit: SHUTTERSTOCK)
El Al is suspending its operations on the Tel Aviv-Moscow route for the coming week in light of developments in Russian airspace, the airline announced on Thursday.
The crash claimed the lives of 38 of the 69 passengers on board.
A new assessment of the situation will be conducted next week, and a decision will be made as to whether operations on the route will resume.
A drone view shows emergency specialists working at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan December 25, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Azamat Sarsenbayev)
Details of the crash
The Embraer passenger jet crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, after diverting from an area of Russia in which Moscow has used air defense systems against Ukrainian drone strikes in recent months.
The aircraft was en route from Baku, Azerbaijan to Grozny, in Russian Chechnya.
According to videos of the incident circulated on social media, the plane appears to have attempted to make an emergency landing before crashing.
END
SYRIA///
Syrian Christians protest to demand greater protections after Christmas tree burned
Christian Syrians lift crosses as they rally in the Duweilaah area of Damascus on December 24, 2024, to protest the burning of a Christmas tree near Hama in central Syria. (Louai Beshara / AFP)
DAMASCUS — Scores of Syrian Christians protest in the capital Damascus demanding greater protections for their religious minority after a Christmas tree was set on fire in the city of Hama a day earlier.
Many of the insurgents who now rule Syria are jihadis, although Ahmad al-Sharaa, the leader of the main rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has renounced longtime ties to al-Qaida and spent years depicting himself as a champion of pluralism and tolerance.
It remains unclear who set the Christmas tree on fire yesterday, which was condemned by a representative of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham who visited the town and addressed the community.
“This act was committed by people who are not Syrian, and they will be punished beyond your expectations,” the HTS representative said in a video widely shared on social media. “The Christmas tree will be fully restored by this evening.”
Protesters march through the streets of Bab Touma in Damascus, shouting slogans against foreign fighters and carrying large wooden crosses.
“We demand that Syria be for all Syrians. We want a voice in the future of our country,” says Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II of the Syriac Orthodox Church as he addressed the crowd in a church courtyard, assuring them of Christians’ rights in Syria.
end
SYRIA
Selective moral outrage causes double standard across Middle East – opinion
If social justice warriors truly care about justice, they must broaden their focus beyond selective targets and confront the realities of regimes like Assad’s. Anything less is moral bankruptcy.
Let’s talk about selective moral outrage – that peculiar phenomenon where the world’s loudest advocates for justice are suddenly silent when confronted with atrocities that don’t fit their preferred narrative.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the global response to the horrors of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria. As the details of Assad’s atrocities come to light, it becomes painfully clear how indifferent the so-called social justice warriors on American college campuses are to the mass killings of innocent people – so long as those atrocities cannot be blamed on Jews.
While the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza is a legitimate concern, anyone with a moral compass can discern the difference between a war initiated by a terror organization and crimes against humanity like those we are now uncovering in Syria.
Yet, there are zero college protests, zero arrest warrants for Assad, and zero street campaigns against him. The absence of outrage over the industrialized violence and mass killings perpetrated by Assad is striking. The question is: Why?
We have long known that Assad used chemical weapons on his own people, but now that his regime has been toppled, we are learning even more about the horrors of Sednaya Prison.
PEOPLE LOOKING for their relatives at Sednaya Prison, where thousands of people were said to be detained and tortured by the Assad regime in Damascus, Syria, in December 2024. (credit: Asaad Syria/Flash90)
The horrors of Sednaya
Dubbed Assad’s “butcher room,” this infamous facility, located about 30 kilometers north of Damascus, wasn’t just a prison. It was a meticulously designed system of humiliation, torture, and murder.
Former detainees recount unimaginable atrocities: torture, extrajudicial killings, the dismemberment and dissolution of bodies in acid, the use of an iron press to crush victims and obliterate evidence, and the calculated starvation of prisoners as a means of dehumanization.
Investigations have uncovered piles of corpses and disturbing footage from the prison’s underground chambers, capturing the true cruelty of Assad’s regime. One survivor explained that “one to three people would die inside every day.” Yet, Sednaya is only a fraction of the widespread and systemic brutality that defined Assad’s governance.
Beyond Sednaya, a vast network of mass graves, torture sites, and execution chambers dots Syria’s landscape, each telling its own story of systematic violence. Near Damascus alone, mass graves like Al-Qutayfah and Najha reveal the scale of the slaughter – tens of thousands of bodies buried in attempts to erase evidence of genocide. Over 150,000 Syrians remain missing, with 66 unverified mass graves suspected across the country.
This isn’t random violence; it’s a calculated, industrialized apparatus of repression and extermination.
For over a year now, the international community, Western media, human rights groups, the United Nations, and international courts have been preoccupied with criticizing Israel, scrambling to label its military campaign as “genocide.” Ireland even proposed changing the definition of genocide to justify such charges.
Meanwhile, the atrocities in Syria have been largely ignored. Assad’s regime represents dehumanization on a mass scale, yet the global response has been indifferent at best. Those who claim to champion human rights on the world stage remain conspicuously quiet.
Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in March 2011, over 500,000 people have been killed, the overwhelming majority of whom were civilians targeted by the Syrian regime.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights reports that, as of July 2020, at least 3,196 Palestinian refugees were killed by regime forces. Other estimates place the number of Palestinian refugees who have died due to war-related incidents in Syria at over 4,022. A UNRWA spokesperson highlighted the dire situation, stating, “Palestinians are among those worst affected by the Syrian conflict.”
Yet, the pro-Hamas rallies and encampments express no outrage on behalf of Syrian Palestinians. The intensity of protests we now witness for Gaza is unprecedented compared to reactions to other conflicts, even those with far greater casualties and destruction over much longer durations, such as the Syrian civil war.
Jewish communities worldwide have become all too accustomed to the double standards and antisemitism driving many “social justice movements.” But the selective moral outrage and indifference to the atrocities in Syria reveal a new level of hypocrisy. The disproportionate focus on criticizing Israel, while ignoring Assad’s crimes – even when his regime murdered Palestinians – lays bare the antisemitism at the core of these movements.
The crimes of the Assad regime demand accountability. Sednaya Prison and the broader network of atrocities have exposed a brutal chapter in Syria’s history, one that the international community has largely chosen to ignore.
If social justice warriors truly care about justice, they must broaden their focus beyond selective targets and confront the brutal realities of regimes like Assad’s. Anything less is moral bankruptcy.
Actors Brian Press (Beauty and the Beast), David Murphy (90 Day Fiancé), Waymond Lee (Workaholics); comic Terry Ree; singer-songwriter David Mallett; baseballer Rickey Henderson; 39 infants; & more
Brian Press, Original ‘Chip’ In Beauty and the Beast, Has Passed Away
December 20, 2024
Brian Press, an actor and musician best known to Broadway fans as the original ‘Chip’ in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast [1994], has passed away. His family, while grieving this suddenloss, has expressed their gratitude for the outpouring of love and support from the community.
Researcher’s Note – He was probably only 40 or so as photos from the 1994 play show him to be about 10 years old: Link
‘90 Day Fiancé’ Star David Murphy Dead at 66 After Suffering Several Years of ‘Health Issues,’ Family Confirms
December 18, 2024
90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days star David Murphy died at 66 years old. On Wednesday, December 18, his family confirmed he passed awayat his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, after “experiencing health issues over the last several years. David was a veteran, small business owner, and software engineer. He had recently retired from the Clark County Treasurer’s office in Nevada, having also worked for H&R Block and IGT,” the statement read. “He was also well known for his time as a cast member on 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days.”
Waymond Lee dead: Comedy Central ‘Workaholics’ star dies aged 72 after ALS battle
December 22, 2024
Waymond Lee has died following a battle with ALS. TMZ reported that the actor, who is best known for his role in Comedy Central show “Workaholics”, died following complications from ALS at the age of 72. The outlet reported that Waymond’s sister Norine Lee and his wife Diane told them that he passed away on Wednesday, Dec. 18. TMZ reported that Waymond was first diagnosed with a degenerative braindisease back in October but after further testing this month, it was revealed he had ALS. The actor was reportedly hospitalized after he was struggling to breathe and swallow. Waymond was reportedly in hospital for just over a week before he passed away. He reportedly died with his wife by his side.
Terry Ree, “The Indian” in Williams and Ree Comedy Team, Dies at 75
December 23, 2024
Terry Ree, half of the Williams and Ree comedy and music duo along with Bruce Williams, has died. He was 75. Ree died Saturday from unspecified causes, Williams’ wife, Sharon Hallingdal Williams, said on her Facebook page. Ree and Williams described their comedy and music act as “The Indian and the White Guy” as they were regulars on the North American country music concert circuit, including clubs and casinos and the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Their country and music performances featured politically incorrect comedy routines.
Francis J. Conway Dies: Longtime Unit Production Manager On ‘Baywatch’, ‘Criminal Minds’, Other Shows Was 70
December 20, 2024
Francis J. Conway of West Los Angeles, a longtime production manager who worked on shows like Baywatch and Criminal Minds, died December 17 of natural causes at UCLA Medical Center. He was 70.
Shawshank Redemption star William Sadler’s wife dies after cancer battle as he shares pic of wedding day 46 years ago
December 20, 2024
Shawshank Redemption star William Sadler has announced the death of his wife Marni Joan Bakst after 46 years of marriage. Sadler, 74, shared the news to his Facebook , alongside a heartwarming photo of him and Bakst on the morning of their wedding in 1978. In the message accompanied with the photo, Sadler said Bakst tragically died on Wednesday after a two-year battle with cancer.
Ryan LeVert, Daughter of Eddie LeVert, Passes Away at 22
December 23, 2024
The music world is mourning alongside legendary soul singer Eddie Levert, co-founder of The O’Jays, as he faces the devastating loss of his youngest daughter, Ryan Levert, who passed away at just 22 years old. Ryan bravely battled lupus, a chronic autoimmunedisease that causes the immune system to attack healthy tissues, leading to severe inflammation and potential damage to organs.
Jeopardy! player reveals ‘unexpected’ death of her husband just weeks after giving him a shoutout on ‘bittersweet’ debut
December 20, 2024
Jeopardy! Contestant Maria Lauro has revealed the suddendeath of her husband just three weeks ago after giving him a ‘huge shoutout’ on today’s episode. Maria, a contract specialist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, made her game show debut on today’s episode. Tragically, Maria shared online that her husband passed away between the time of filming and today’s episode airing. “And, as you’ll see when you watch, I gave him a huge shout-out in my interview, which I was keeping a secret. But he’s never going to see it because he unexpectedlydied three weeks ago. (He did know how I did.)” According to an online obituary , Maria’s husband, Leo, passed away on Friday, November 29 at the age of 61 [Pittsburgh, PA].
David Mallett, iconic Maine singer-songwriter, dies at 73
December 19, 2024
With a career spanning 4 decades, his songs were performed by artists like Pete Seeger, Emmylou Harris and John Denver and his ‘Garden Song’ became a folk standard. Friends and fans of Maine singer-songwriter David Mallett remembered him Wednesday for inspiring other musicians and writing songs that convey messages of hope and love. Mallett died late Tuesday night, according to his son, Luke Mallett. He was 73.
Danny Bacher remembered as multi-talented musician and comedian after sudden passing
December 17, 2024
Cliffside Park, NJ – Danny Bacher, a versatile musician, stage actor, comedian, and singer, has passed awayunexpectedly. The 48-year-old artist, known for his dynamic talent and warm spirit, died on Monday, December 16. The sudden news has left his friends, family, and fans grappling with disbelief.
Researcher’s Note - Bacher passed away shockingly on Monday, December 16th, 2024, mere days after advertising show for that very day: Link 3 N.J. arts centers to require COVID vaccine or negative test for fall shows: Link The order also says that events with 250 people or more are required to have attendees provide proof of vaccination [sic] or a negative COVID-19 test to enter: Link
Ruth McArdle, former vocalist of Lords of Acid, passes away
December 17, 2024
San Antonio, Texas – Ruth McArdle, known by her stage names Lady Galore and Cherrie Blue, has passed away, leaving a lasting legacy in the electronic music world. The former vocalist of the Belgian band Lords of Acid, McArdle’s death was confirmed through heartfelt tributes on social media from the band and other artists.
Researcher’s Note - McArdle passed away on December 14, 2024, at the age of 53. The news of Ruth’s passing has shocked the music world, and tributes have poured in from artists and fans alike. Link
Casey Chaos, the fiery frontman of the controversial punk outfit Amen, has passed away. The news broke today (December 21st) via a heartfelt announcement from Cleopatra Records founder and CEO Brian Perera, and was later confirmed by close friends and collaborators, including musician Skum Love and photographer Dean Karr. Born Karim Chmielinski in 1970 in New York, Casey Chaos was a force of nature in both music and attitude. Beyond Amen, he worked with a murderer’s row of heavy hitters including System of a Down’s Daron Malakian and Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, as well as bands such as black-metal supergroup Scum (featuring members of Emperor) and goth-rock pioneers Christian Death. Amen was formed in Los Angeles in 1994, and while the band never quite broke through in the U.S., they made waves across the pond in the U.K.
Alfa Anderson, Chic Lead Vocalist Who Sang ‘Good Times’ and ‘Le Freak,’ Dead at 78
December 21, 2024
Alfa Anderson, an early lead vocalist for Chic who sang on hits including “Good Times” and “Le Freak,” died on Dec. 17 at age 78. Chic bandmate Nile Rodgers confirmed the news. “Thank you for everything,” Rodgers wrote on Tuesday, Dec. 17 on Instagram, sharing a montage of photos of him and Anderson, and the band. “RIP Alfa Anderson. CHIC organization,” it reads over the montage. “Forever loved.” No further details about her death were given.
Dualtone Music Group President Paul Roper Dies Following Cancer Battle
December 19, 2024
Nashville, Tennessee – Dualtone Music Group president and partner Paul Roper died on Tuesday (Dec. 17) following a battle with cancer. Roper was 45. Roper, a graduate of Sewanee: The University of the South, joined Dualtone Music Group in 2002 as an intern and rose through the ranks to become president and partner. He also played an essential role in signing artists and overseeing the release of more than 200 albums, championing projects by The Lumineers, Gregory Alan Isakov, Mt. Joy, Shakey Graves, Shovels & Rope, Brett Dennen, Wilder Woods, Guy Clark, June Carter Cash and others. Many of those albums and artists would earn Americana Music Awards wins as well as Grammy Awards nominations and trophies.
Baseball’s “Man of Steal,” Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson is dead after a bout with pneumonia, TMZ has learned. Sources with direct knowledge tell us Henderson passed away Friday in the Oakland area, and had been getting treatment at a hospital for a brief period. The MLB legend holds the record for stolen bases, and played left field for 9 teams from 1979 to 2003. Rickey was 65.
Researcher’s Note – Teammates, friends, and fellow Baseball Hall of Famers reacted in mourning Saturday to the shocking news of Rickey Henderson’s death at age 65. Link
technology & mRNA vaccine to the deadly mistreatment & abuse by the medical system that killed the vast majority (isolation, sedation (propofol, midazolam, lorazepam), Remdesivir, ventilator
Diamond Princess, aircraft carriers USS Theodore Roosevelt, French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, told us this.
COVID, the entirety of it, is and was the greatest public health lie and disaster along with the lockdown lunacy (Operation Warp Speed, OWS) and the deadly Malone, Bourla, Weissman, Sahin et al. mRNA technology and resulting mRNA vaccine.
Alexander COVID News-Dr. Paul Elias Alexander’s substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Nothing historically compares to the devastation of the OWS lockdowns and the COVID injection deadly failed outcome. Had we done NOTHING, just protect our vulnerable, we would have most persons alive today. We killed the vast majority of people in COVID by the deadly medical response.
Our medical doctors (a group we trusted entirely yet failed us catastrophically), the hospitals, CEOs, our governments, our health officials at those alphabet agencies, USA, Canada, UK etc. These are murderers, planned it, this is murder in the first. This is not pure ineptness, cannot be. This was malfeasance. People with proper legal processes, courts and juries, must hang for what they did in COVID, even your friends.
We were lied to about asymptomatic transmission, about inferior natural immunity, about the fraud false-positive overcycled PCR process, about equal risk for severe outcome despite age and background risk. All lies. Despite it being clear 2 weeks out mid March 2020 that COVID was amenable to risk stratification and that baseline risk was prognostic on severity of outcome.
Report Accuses Former Rep Gaetz of Engaging in Illegal Activity While in OfficeFormer Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., allegedly paid multiple women for sex, including a 17-year-old high school girl, and used illicit drugs like cocaine and ecstasy, according to a House Ethics Committee report.The 37-page report released Monday morning concluded that Gaetz violated multiple Florida state laws related to sexual misconduct while in office.“The Committee concluded there was substantial evidence that Representative …READ THE FULL REPORTGuatemalan Migrant Burns Woman to Death on NYC Subway TrainUpdate: Authorities have arrested Sebastian Zapeta for allegedly lighting a sleeping woman on fire aboard a Coney Island F train. The New York Post describes Zapeta as a “Guatemalan migrant.”: “The suspect entered the country and was detained by border patrol agents in Arizona in June 2018 — and so far authorities have not found a past criminal record for …READ THE FULL REPORTGuatemalan national who set woman on fire and watched her burn to death is an illegalThe Guatemalan national who set a woman on fire while she was sleeping on the subway and then watched her burn to death is an illegal immigrant. According to what we know, this monster first came into the country in 2018 and was quickly deported. He then reentered the US at an unknown date and has been living in New …READ THE FULL REPORTUNBELIEVABLE: Georgia woman ends up in jail after calling police to remove squatter living inside her house [VIDEO]This is truly unbelievable, especially in the state of Georgia. A woman was put in jail for literally trying to live in her own home after a squatter took up residence there. Georgia even passed a Squatter Reform Act after what we saw in New York and this still happened: A homeowner is jailed and told to check her privilege …READ THE FULL REPORTSaudi Man Who Mowed Down 200+ People Was Reportedly Mad at Refugee Treatment in GermanyGerman law enforcement officials were repeatedly warned by Saudi Arabia that a man who drove into 200+ people at a Christmas event in Germany on Friday night was dangerous — warnings that Germany’s leftist government ignored. CNN reported that the chief of the Magdeburg Public Prosecutor’s office, Horst Walter Nopens, said that 50-year-old doctor Taleb al-Abdulmohsen may have been “disgruntlement …READ THE FULL REPORT
President Trump RESPONDS to Biden’s horrible pardonsPresident-elect Trump responded this morning, Christmas Eve, to the horrible pardons issued by Joe Biden of the men on death row who committed heinous crimes. Here’s what he said: “Joe Biden just commuted the Death Sentence on 37 of the worst killers in our Country. When you hear the acts of each, you won’t believe that he did this. Makes …READ THE FULL REPORT
AOC Accuses Conservative Journalist of Assault, But He Has the Incident on VideoNew York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claimed that conservative journalist Nick Sortor touched her in the United States Capitol while he filmed a video confronting her over the illegal immigration crisis.The video, posted on the social media platform X on Sunday evening, showed Sortor questioning Ocasio-Cortez about the effects of the southern border crisis on her district, while her staff …READ THE FULL REPORT
Trump Responds to Biden’s Decision to Commute Sentences of 37 Prisoners on Federal Death RowPresident Trump responded to Joe Biden’s decision to commute the sentences of nearly all prisoners on federal death row including child rapists and killers.Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 federal death row inmates after pressure from more than 130 human and ‘civil rights’ groups.I am commuting the sentences of 37 individuals on federal death row to …READ THE FULL REPORT
Biden Vetoes Bipartisan Bill in Order to Block Trump from Making Additional Judicial AppointmentsPresident Joe Biden on Monday vetoed a once-bipartisan effort to add 66 federal district judgeships, saying “hurried action” by the House left important questions unanswered about the life-tenured positions.The legislation would have spread the establishment of the new trial court judgeships over more than a decade to give three presidential administrations and six Congresses the chance to appoint the new …READ THE FULL REPORT
MICHAEL EVERY/PHIL MAREY/OR OTHER EXECS //RABOBANK/
7.OIL AND NATURAL GAS ISSUES/GLOBAL
this will hurt Russia badly
(zerohedge)
Sanctioned Russian LNG Shipment Travels Around World, Finds No Buyers
Thursday, Dec 26, 2024 – 11:10 AM
The shadow fleet of liquefied natural gas carriers transporting blacklisted Russian LNG has encountered a major setback, with at least one ship’s cargo traveling around the world, finding no buyers as the cargo was deemed too risky.
Bloomberg reports that an LNG carrier called “Pioneer,” carrying a sanctioned shipment of Russian LNG, circumnavigated the world for four months, failing to find a buyer willing to breach US restrictions.
“This vessel (called Pioneer) was spotted on satellite images picking up the first shipment from the Arctic LNG 2 facility in early August — despite camouflaging the move with misleading location information — but then spent well over four months hunting for a customer,” Bloomberg’s Stephen Stapczynski wrote on X.
Regarding global LNG trading – buyers, sellers, charterers, financing banks, and insurers must be extra vigilant when running compliance checks to ensure their ships do not engage in Western-sanctioned activities, and this is likely why Pioneer could not find a buyer.
END
8. EMERGING MARKETS//AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND ISSUES//
PAKISTAN
END
YOUR EARLY CURRENCY/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN CLOSING MARKETS AND EUROPEAN BOURSE OPENING AND CLOSING/ INTEREST RATE SETTINGS THURSDAY MORNING 6;30AM//OPENING AND CLOSING
EURO VS USA DOLLAR: 1.0404 UP 5 BASIS PTS
USA/ YEN 157.61 UP 0.485 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 1.2528 DOWN .0016
USA/CAN DOLLAR: 1.4388 UP 0.0035 (CDN DOLLAR DOWN 35 BASIS PTS)
Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE CLOSED UP 4.73 PTS OR 0.14%
Hang Seng CLOSED
AUSTRALIA CLOSED
// EUROPEAN BOURSE: ALL MIXED
Trading from Europe and ASIA
I) EUROPEAN BOURSES: ALL MIXED
2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang SENG CLOSED
/SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 4.73 PTS OR 0.14%
AUSTRALIA BOURSE CLOSED
(Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED UP 474.63 PTS OR 1.12%
INDIA’S SENSEX IN THE GREEN
Gold very early morning trading: 2629.75
silver:$29.82
USA dollar index early THURSDAY morning: 107.95 DOWN 8 BASIS POINTS FROM TUESDAY’s CLOSE.
President-elect Donald Trump said on Dec. 24 that he plans to direct the Department of Justice (DOJ) to pursue the death penalty against the worst violent offenders.
His remarks came a day after outgoing President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 death row prisoners to life in prison, including several mass murderers and child killers.
Trump first criticized Biden’s decision to grant the commutations—in all cases to murder convicts—writing in a post on Truth Social that relatives and friends of the victims are “further devastated” by the move. The president-elect then declared in a separate post his intention to prioritize justice for victims of violent crime and broaden the use of capital punishment.
“As soon as I am inaugurated, I will direct the Justice Department to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters,” Trump wrote in the post.
“We will be a Nation of Law and Order again!”
Besides generally signaling a tough-on-crime approach for his administration, Trump’s message suggests he intends to pursue legal reform that would restore the use of the death penalty as a punishment in cases of rape.
A 1977 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Coker v. Georgia, however, rendered the death penalty for rape unconstitutional in cases where adult victims survived the assault, further narrowed to include surviving child victims by a ruling in Kennedy v. Louisiana in 2008.
This is not the first time Trump has signaled his intention to expand the use of capital punishment and reverse the moratorium on federal executions imposed by Biden. Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump signaled he would undo the moratorium and make more categories of criminals eligible for capital punishment, including child rapists and drug and human traffickers.
During Trump’s first term in office, the federal government carried out 13 executions after resuming federal executions in 2020, following a 17-year hiatus. This marked the highest number of federal executions carried out under a single president since the 1950s and reflected Trump’s long-standing pledge to get tough on crime.
The Biden administration, by contrast, has prioritized a shift away from the death penalty in favor of life sentences without parole for nearly all crimes.
Biden, in a Monday statement explaining his actions, said his commutation decision was driven by a commitment to ending the federal death penalty, which he believes is inconsistent with a just and effective legal system.
“These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my Administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder,” Biden said.
“Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss. But guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Vice President, and now President, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.
“In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.”
Biden’s decision to commute the sentences of convicted killers sparked outrage among many conservatives, while the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) celebrated the move, pointing out that it aligned with calls from more than 130 civil and human rights organizations, faith leaders, exonerees, victims’ family members, and law enforcement officials urging Biden to act on federal death row cases.
“President Biden has reaffirmed the power of redemption over retribution and reminds us that state-sanctioned killing does not make us safer,“ Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, said in a statement.
”The ACLU has long advocated against the death penalty and shed light on its fundamental flaws: it is error prone, racially biased, and a drain on public resources.”
Critics of the death penalty, including the ACLU, argue that the punishment does not serve as a significant deterrent to violent crime and that the high costs associated with capital trials and prolonged appeals could be better spent on crime prevention and victim support.
Supporters of capital punishment argue that it serves as ultimate justice for heinous crimes, provides closure to victims’ families, and that the financial burden of executions is a necessary cost to uphold justice and deter would-be offenders.
In his Dec. 23 decision, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 death row inmates. The three federal inmates who continue to face execution are 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; Dylann Roof, who fatally shot nine people at a church in South Carolina in 2015; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018.
END
Trump Will “Un-California” US Energy Policy On Day One
Overly stringent emissions targets ignore American consumers’ preferences and block economic growth. They’re also restrictive, costly and unachievable for U.S. manufacturers based on current market trends.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s electric-vehicle mandate also must go. The mandate would effectively require automakers to shift at least 54% of production to EVs and 16% hybrids to meet the 2032 requirements, an unrealistic target.
The Trump administration also should rein in California’s regulatory excesses. The Biden EPA last week greenlighted California’s aggressive electric-vehicle mandate by granting the state a waiver allowing it to set stricter environmental regulations than the federal government’s. The Trump administration should move immediately to revoke this waiver, an action likely to be challenged in court.
This matters for Americans across the U.S. That’s because other states are allowed to adopt California’s climate policies and impose those regulations on residents. New York, Maryland and Virginia are among several states that have adopted California’s zero-emission mandate.
We need a course correction. America doesn’t have access to the volume of critical minerals needed to produce that many EV batteries. It also doesn’t have the necessary electricity generation capacity or charging infrastructure.
America can and should lead the world in automotive innovation, but domestic automakers won’t survive if California-style, zero-emission vehicle mandates become the rules of the road.
The author of the above post is Andrew Wheeler.
He served as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 2018-21 and is currently a partner and head of federal affairs at Holland & Hart.
Time to “un-California” US Energy Policy Is Now
The Journal says Trump “can” change energy policy. I am confident Trump “will” do so.
And whereas I think Trump will get some things wrong, energy policy isn’t one of them. I can’t think of anything Harris would have gotten right.
MPW stands for AEI authors Mantus, Pang, and Warshawsky.
CMS stands for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which has every incentive to understate costs.
The AEI projections start on page 24.
Base Model Projections
As shown in Figure 11, the projected ratio of national health expenditures to GDP increases from around 18 percent in 2021 to 20.8 percent in 2032, 26.2 percent in 2052, and 41.5 percent at the end of the horizon.
The total government share of health care spending (not shown) is projected to increase from 61 percent to 65 percent, largely as a function of the larger role of public spending in the health care provision for the aged, holding current policy constant. CMS has a lower share of health spending in GDP in the out-years, even without government price controls (illustrative alternative).
Federal Debt as a Ratio to GDP
Figure 12 shows projected federal debt as a ratio to GDP. It increases from about 100 percent currently to 135 percent in 2032, 268 percent in 2052, and 785 percent at the end of the projection period; the Financial Report (FR) reports a projected level of debt of around 570 percent of GDP in 2095.
These levels are unprecedented for the US and even for other large countries with currently high ratios, such as Italy, at around 150 percent, and Japan, at around 250 percent. It is also worth noting that Japan has an exceptionally high domestic savings rate. Whether the bond market and foreign and domestic investors would support such high federal debt for the US, rising steadily over time, even with no financial crises, is unlikely in our opinion, but it is unknowable in advance when break points will occur. According to our model, these debt levels increase interest rates and thus depress investment and capital stock formation and, as we will see below, consumer welfare. Although there is assumed to be an increase in private savings, that is not enough to offset the effect of deficits.
Ratio of Government Health Spending to GDP
Official projections include the impact of an assumed relative price increase, but it is smaller than produced by our model and trends downward, whereas we find the relative price increases, on average, at 1.2 percent per year with this annual rate of growth increasing from about 1 percent to 1.5 percent, as shown in Figure 18.
The underlying low productivity growth in the health care sector plays a role in this trend. The main driving factor, however, is the increasing scarcity of labor. Future demographic conditions lead to both a slowdown in the growth of the labor force and an increase in the demand for health care. With the lack of substitution of capital for labor, on top of low productivity growth, the health care sector takes a larger and larger share of the economy’s labor, drawing from the “all other” sector where labor could have been substituted for capital, whose stock is being starved by the growing deficit. The labor share for health care services rises from just under 10 percent in our base year to 27 percent by the end of the period. This absorption of labor increases the rate of growth in the relative price of health care. This is a prime example of Baumol’s cost disease but with a vicious dynamic twist given future demographic conditions.
Comparison of Official Projections
CBO is the Congressional Budget Office. OECD stands for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
CBO does short-term (10 year) and medium-term (30 year) projections of the budget (revenues and outlays and debt) of the federal government. In its annual projections of May (short-term) and July (medium-term) 2022, CBO notes that the projected deficit in 2022, at 3.9 percent of GDP, was smaller than the record amounts in 2020 and 2021, and projected it would decline again to 3.7 percent in 2023. (Note, however, that these projections assumed continued low interest rates and high asset prices – assumptions clearly belied by experience in the past year.)
Subsequently, deficits increase, so that deficits average 5.1 percent of GDP over the 2023-2032 decade. They further increase to 7.4 percent of GDP in the 2033-2043 decade and to 10 percent in the 2043-2052 decade; in 2052, the deficit is projected to be 11 percent. The projected growth in total deficits is driven in part by increases in interest costs, as net interest outlays more than quadruple, rising from 1.6 percent of GDP in 2022 to 7.2 percent in 2052. Social Security and Medicare are part of the cause too – Social Security’s spending increases from 4.9 percent in 2022 to 5.9 percent in 2032 to 6.4 percent in 2052 and its contribution to the deficit increases from – 1.0 to -1.5 to -1.8 percent of GDP over the three decades of the CBO horizon. Medicare’s contribution to deficits is even larger, increasing from -2.3 to -3.4 to -4.1 percent of GDP over the projection periods. Note that CBO has a more pessimistic view of the finances of Social Security and Medicare and the overall economy than the Trustees.
The growing importance of services has led to significant structural change in advanced economies, with the service sector now accounting for the largest share of employment in developed countries. In his seminal model of the so-called cost disease of services, William Baumol noted that the prices of services, especially in health, education, arts and culture, tend to rise faster than the prices of material goods. Central to his model is the disparity in labour productivity growth rates between stagnant and progressive sectors. Baumol’s model sheds light on the reasons behind the rising cost of services and provides a deeper understanding of its economic consequences. This article argues that Baumol’s model of the cost disease of services retains its explanatory power and relevance today. It refutes criticisms that productivity growth in services is mismeasured and underestimated and that the increasing importance of services as inputs in manufacturing renders Baumol’s model irrelevant. Instead, the article argues that Baumol’s model can highlight the overlooked consequences of rising income inequality, particularly the severe impact of the cost disease, which disproportionately affects the poorer segments of the population.
Simpler Explanation
Forget Baumol’s Disease. I have a much simpler explanation. Government and labor unions both add costs and inefficacies to anything they touch.
Look no further than the costs of education vs the cost of a chicken or round steak. When I started college in 1971, the cost of tuition at the university of Illinois was $250 per semester.
I worked at a grocery store at the time. Round steak on sale was a loss leader at $1.00 per pound. I bought it on sale a few weeks ago for $2.99 per pound.
Tuition is now $9,090 per semester.
The government has no idea how to run Medicare or Medicaid. The programs are rife with fraud.
The Corruption and Incompetence of Chicago’s Mayor Has No Bounds
Trump’s own proposals would add trillions of dollars to the deficit. Democrats may go along with some of them. But they won’t go along with social budget cuts.
It is going to be very difficult to reduce the deficit, when Trump’s own proposals would add to it and Democrats are screaming “Medicare for All”.
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 26, 2024 Issue 7398
Independent View of the News
In the abbreviated Christmas Eve session, bonds declined; Fangs/Mag 7 rallied sharply; the DJIA and DJTA rallied moderately; commodities rallied smartly; and the dollar rose modestly.
ESHs traded modestly higher in early Nikkei trading on Tuesday but turned modestly negative after 18:30 ET on the hawkish BoJ Minutes. Except for one spike higher, ESHs were negative but sideways until the rally for the 3 ET European opening commenced at 1:45 ET. ESHs eventually rallied to 6045.00 at 5:19 ET. They then traded sideways, in a tight band, until the rally for the NYSE opening began at 9:00 ET.
At 9:13 ET, the dump began; ESHs dropped 9 handles into the NYSE opening. The usual suspects eagerly bought; ESHS zoomed to daily high of 6085.50 at 11:44 ET. After a retreat to 6075.00 at 12:00 ET, the last-hour manipulation began. ESHs jumped to a new daily high of 6099.50 at 12:59 ET.
@Barchart: 0DTE (Zero days to expiration)options volume recently hit an all-time high 56% of total S&P 500 options volume – Probably Finehttps://t.co/0JZfzUdOUy
@elerianm: Per the @FT: “US companies are defaulting on junk loans at the fastest rate in four years, as they struggle to refinance a wave of cheap borrowing that followed the Covid pandemic.” This is not about weak demand. Rather, it’s the consequence of excessive borrowing by companies, and risk taking by creditors, during what many thought at the time would be “QE infinity” with artificially low interest rates for as long as it mattered. https://x.com/elerianm/status/1871553662947836139/photo/1
Positive aspects of previous session Fangs/Mag 7 soared, which drove Nasdaq and the Naz 100 sharply higher. The DJIA rallied moderately; the DJTA rallied smartly; the Russell 2k rallied modestly USHs fell as much 12/32 and were +9/32 at the NYSE close.
Negative aspects of previous session USHs fell as much 12/32 The DJIA and DJTA continue to lag Fangs/Mag 7
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: Up; Last Hour: Up
Pivot Point for S&P 500 Index [above/below indicates daily trend to traders]: 6020.53 Previous session S&P 500 Index High/Low: 6040.10; 5981.44
Markets on Christmas Day Nikkei +0.24%, Hang Seng +1.08%, CSI 300 +0.05%, Shanghai Comp -0.01%, Shenzhen Comp -1.19%
@SpencerHakimian: The United States has $10T of debt maturing in 2025 with a weighted average coupon of 2.50%. This will be refinanced with new debt with a weighted average coupon of around 4.50%. This refinancing alone will add $200B to the deficit in 2025. And that’s before any mandatory entitlement spending hikes, the 8% increase in the Pentagon’s budget that was already approved, the COLA hike for Social Security recipients, and the upcoming tax cut from the new administration…
“No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth.” – Plato
Today – The Santa Rally window is open and runs through January 3. Absenteeism will be high. The usual suspects are determined to play for the Santa Rally; and Fangs/Mag 7 stocks will continue to be the favored vehicle for traders, speculators, operators, and portfolio managers.
ESHs are -7.00; NQHs +28,00; and USHs -5/32 at 20:17 ET.
S&P Index 50-day MA: 5934; 100-day MA: 5764; 150-day MA: 5659; 200-day MA: 5536 DJIA 50-day MA: 43,468; 100-day MA: 42,336; 150-day MA: 41,378; 200-day MA: 40,755 (Green is positive slope; Red is negative slope)
S&P 500 Index (6040.04 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 5974.32 triggers a sell signal
Newly released photos show Hunter and Joe Biden with Chinese officials in 2013 Images take on added significance in light of the full pardon President Biden granted his son on Dec. 1.
Speaker Johnson Denies Blocking Rep. Barry Loudermilk Subcommittee’s Subpoena of Cassidy Hutchinson – The House subcommittee investigating former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) partisan January 6 Special Committee “interviewed hundreds of witnesses,” but testimony from the most notorious star of Pelosi’s hearings is conspicuously absent from its report… But despite the subcommittee “interview[ing] hundreds of witnesses,” the committee’s report makes no reference to bringing in Hutchinson for questioning – despite mentioning her by name 268 times.,, According to a source, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) personally intervened to block the subcommittee from issuing a subpoena to Hutchinson. Johnson, in a statement to Breitbart News, called that claim “clearly false.”… https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/12/23/exclusive-speaker-johnson-denies-blocking-rep-barry-loudermilk-subcommittees-subpoena-cassidy-hutchinson/
The Growing Mental Health Crisis in NYC’s Subway System Every winter, as temperatures plummet, the subway becomes a sanctuary for those without homes. This migration underground leads to overcrowded trains and platforms, where untreated mental health and drug addiction exacerbate tensions and create a volatile environment. Commuters, officers, and outreach workers navigate this fallout…The mental health crisis in NYC’s subway system demands immediate action… https://x.com/ViralNewsNYC/status/1871988791340384641
Ben Roethlisberger rips NFL for Christmas schedule’s’ ‘miserable’ impact on players: ‘A shame’ “It’s miserable,” Roethlisberger said on his “Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger” podcast. “… It’s a shame that the league does this. It just shows that it’s all about money and this is a way that they can make more money and figure this thing out because it’s not fair for the players.”… https://t.co/oUwdiwzzQA
@NicAtNigh: Last night (Monday), two people were stabbed (one dead), and a third person assaulted on a southbound 7-train in Queens, NY. Police arrested 3 suspects. All illegal aliens. This comes just hours after the NYPD apprehended the illegal who set the woman on fire on the F train in Brooklyn.
@josh_hammer: Today is just the third time in the past century that Christmas and Chanukah fall on the same day…
@AdamSandler: Happy Chanukah! (Hanukkah is the most widely used spelling, while Chanukah is more traditional. – Britanica) Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! And Happy Gilmore (Sequel) to all!!!!!!https://x.com/AdamSandler/status/1871954922436239716
The Lesson of Chanukah Is Deeply Relevant In 2019. Here’s Why. What most American Jews do not realize about the story of Chanukah is that it was more than just a story of the Jewish people fighting against the oppressive Seleucid Empire. It was also a story of a civil war between two camps of Jews: One who believed that the Jewish people should maintain their Halachic [Jewish law] traditions and the other who wished to assimilate with their oppressors… https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-the-lesson-of-chanukah-is-deeply-relevant-in-2019-heres-why?s=02
Happy Chanukah!
SWAMP STORIES FOR YOU TONIGHT
Speaker Johnson Shielded Dishonest J6 Committee ‘Star Witness’ From GOP Subpoena; Report
Over the last two years, the Republican-controlled House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight found numerous inconsistencies and outright lies in the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, who was the Democrat-controlled January 6th Commission’s “star witness” in the wake of Jan. 6, 2021.
The Oversight Subcommittee apparently wanted to subpoena Hutchinson about her testimony. But according to a Tuesday report from Breitbart, House Speaker Mike Johnson blocked that from moving forward.
Breitbart noted that the Oversight Subcommittee’s recent final report on Jan. 6 mentions Hutchinson by name 268 times, but didn’t reference bringing her in for questioning.
“Johnson (R-LA) personally intervened to block the subcommittee from issuing a subpoena to Hutchinson,” Breitbart reported, citing an unnamed source. “Johnson, in a statement to Breitbart News, called that claim ‘clearly false.’”
The House Administration Subcommittee’s findings against Hutchinson are related to her June 28, 2022, testimony, when she said that she personally wrote a proposed Tweet on Jan. 6, 2021, for President Donald Trump to send advising rioters to leave the Capitol. The text of that proposed Tweet said, “ANYONE WHO ENTERED THE CAPITOL ILLEGALLY WITHOUT PROPER AUTHORITY SHOULD LEAVE IMMEDIATELY”—with the word ILLEGALLY scratched out.
This report confirms what my own Congressional sources have said: Johnson blocked a subpoena for Cassidy Hutchinson, who appears to have committed perjury and perhaps at the direction of Liz Cheney. Johnson denied this is true. So the best way to come clean is to publicly demand a congressional subpoena for Hutchinson and perhaps Liz Cheney herself. Further, Johnson’s claim that he will elevate the J6 investigation to the full committee level is welcome news unless that gives
‘s gavel to current House Adm Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, who my sources also say has been unsupportive of the subcommittee’s efforts. You’d be hard pressed to find Steil amplifying the important work of his own subcommittee. I believe he has only attended one subcommittee hearing on the investigation into J6 and the J6 committee. The American people demand the truth about the events of Jan 6 and a full accounting of the lies told by chief propagandists including
At the time, Hutchinson testified that she wrote the note as dictated by then-Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows and Eric Herschmann, one of the President’s attorneys. However, Herschmann alleged that Hutchinson was lying, and that he was the one who wrote the note.
The House Administration Subcommittee said in October that it hired a handwriting analyst to review the note and determine who wrote it.
“After a thorough analysis, their certified handwriting analyst stated in the report that ‘the evidence supports my opinion that the handwriting that appears on the Questioned Document was written in the same hand as the exemplars [Herschmann],’” the House Administration Subcommittee said at the time.
“This new evidence provided by an independent, Certified Questioned Document Examiner, not only contradicts Ms. Hutchinson’s numerous claims that she penned the note, but also exposes the Select Committee’s willingness to accept all her testimonies without corroboration or further investigation,” Subcommittee on Oversight Chair Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., said in a press release.
The subcommittee also found that then-January 6th Commission Vice Chair Liz Cheney secretly communicated with Hutchinson, and may have pressured her to fire her attorney.
Additionally, Hutchinson was caught changing her testimony during the course of the Jan. 6 Committee hearings, as has been widely documented.
Specifically, Hutchinson testified on June 28, 2022, that Trump tried to control the steering wheel while being driven to the White House following his Jan. 6 speech. Additionally, she claimed that the former president lunged at another agent.
However, in her previous three transcribed interviews on February 23, 2022, March 7, 2022, and May 17, 2022, she did not mention that interaction, according to a later investigation from Loudermilk’s committee.
The Oversight Subcommittee has recommended that the FBI investigate Cheney for potential witness-tampering charges.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
harveyorganblog.com 
