GOLD PRICE GOLD UP $29.40 TO $2655.30

SILVER PRICE UP $0.45 TO $29.40

Gold ACCESS CLOSED $2659.20

Silver ACCESS CLOSED: $29

Bitcoin morning price:$96,719 UP 2790 DOLLARS.

Bitcoin: afternoon price: $97,784 UP 3855 DOLLARS

Platinum price closing UP $14.65 TO $922.30

Palladium price; DOWN 1.40 TO $913.90

END

*CANADIAN GOLD: $3829.28 UP 81.38 CDN dollars per oz( * NEW ALL TIME HIGH 3,872.51 CDN DOLLARS PER OZ//OCT 30 2024)

*BRITISH GOLD: 2148.23 UP 70.38 Pounds per oz// *(NEW ALL TIME HIGH//CLOSING///2161.00 BRITISH POUNDS/OZ) NOV 22/2024

*EURO GOLD: 2,590.95 UP 84.25 Euros per oz //* (ALL TIME CLOSING HIGH: 2600.25 EUROS PER OZ//NOV 22 //.2024)

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END

EXCHANGE;

JPMorgan stopped 0/103

GOLD: NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR JANUARY/2024. CONTRACT: 1659 NOTICES FOR 165,900 OZ  5.160 TONNES

total notices so far: 1659 contracts for 165,900 Oz (5.160 tonnes)

FOR  JANUARY

SILVER NOTICES: 978 NOTICE(S) FILED FOR 4,890,000 OZ/

total number of notices filed so far this month : 978 for 4.890 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 $29.40 INVESTORS SWITCHING TO SPROTT PHYSICAL  (PHYS) INSTEAD OF THE FRAUDULENT GLD:

NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD:

INVENTORY RESTS AT 872.52 TONNES

SLV/

WITH NO SILVER AROUND AND SILVER UP $0.45 AT THE SLV: HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 1.616 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV

INVESTORS ARE SWITCHING SLV TO SPROTT’S PSLV.

CLOSING INVENTORY: 462.128 MILLION OZ

Let us have a look at the data for today

SILVER//OUTLINE

SILVER COMEX OI ROSE BY A HUGE SIZED 2500 CONTRACTS TO 151,013 AND CONTINUING ON ITS MARCH TO THE RECORD HIGH OI OF 244,710, SET FEB 25/2020, AND THIS STRONG SIZED GAIN IN COMEX OI WAS ACCOMPLISHED DESPITE OUR LOSS OF $0,14  IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX WITH RESPECT TO TUESDAY’S TRADING. WE HAD A HUGE GAIN OF 3300 TOTAL CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES DESPITE OUR LOSS 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 SUCCEEDED A BIT WITH //MONDAY PRICING BUT ZERO LONGS WERE KNOCKED OFF. DERIVATIVE LOSSES CONTINUE TO MOUNT. AWE HAD CONSIDERABLE T.A.S. LIQUIDATION AND MONTH END SPREADER LIQUIDATION MONDAY AS THE CROOKS EXCITED THESE MANIPULATIVE TRADES.

WE HAD A 800 CONTRACT EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE ACCOMPANIED BY A HUGE 952 CONTRACT T.A.S ISSUANCE WHICH WILL BE USED IN TUESDAY;S TRADING AS THEY PLAY AN INTEGRAL PART IN OUR COMEX TRADING TRYING TO CONTAIN ANY SILVER PRICE RISE. IN ESSENCE WE GAINED A HUGE SIZED 3300 CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES DESPITE OUR LOSS IN PRICE. WE HAD CONSIDERABLE TAS LIQUIDATION THROUGHOUT FRIDAY’S COMEX SESSION COUPLED WITH MONTH END SPREADER LIQUIDATION. 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  FOR DEC TRADING.

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 HUGE 952 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 SUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING THE PRICE OF SILVER DOWN (IT FELL BY $0.39) AND WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING OFF ANY APPRECIABLE NET SILVER LONGS FROM THEIR PERCH AS WE HAD A HUGE GAIN IN PRICE DESPITE MASSIVE SPREADER/TAS LIQUIDATION.

WE HAD A 800 CONTRACT ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS) iiii) AN  INITIAL SILVER STANDING FOR COMEX SILVER MEASURING AT 8.110 MILLION OZ (FIRST DAY NOTICE)

// STANDING FOR SILVER//JAN TO 8.110 MILLION OZ 

WE HAD:

/ HUGE SIZED COMEX OI GAIN +// 528 SIZED EFP ISSUANCE/ VI)  HUGE SIZED NUMBER OF  T.A.S. CONTRACT ISSUANCE 952 CONTRACTS)/

 I AM NOW RECORDING THE DIFFERENTIAL IN OI FROM PRELIMINARY TO FINAL: REMOVED 104 CONTRACTS.

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

TOTAL CONTRACTS for 1 DAYS, total 26,508 contracts:   OR 132.54 MILLION OZ  (1219 CONTRACTS PER DAY)

TOTAL EFP’S FOR THE MONTH SO FAR:  132.54 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: 132.54 MILLION OZ (THIS MONTH WILL BE A HUMDINGER FOR ISSUANCE BUT ISSUANCE SLOWED DRAMATICALLY THESE PAST FIVE DAYS/// WILL NOT EXCEED MARCH 2022 RECORD OF 209 MILLION OZ

YEAR 2024 TOTAL: 1363.84 MILLION OR 1.363 BILLION OZ

RESULT: WE HAD AN HUGE SIZED INCREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF 2396  CONTRACTS DESPITE OUR  LOSS IN PRICE OF SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX//TUESDAY.,.  THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A 528 EFP ISSUANCE  CONTRACTS: 528 ISSUED FOR MARCH AND 528 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  8.110 MILLION  OZ ON FIRST DAY NOTICE, 

//NEW TOTAL STANDING FOR JAN AT 8.110 MILLION OZ 

WE HAVE A HUGE SIZED GAIN OF 3300 OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES DESPITE OUR LOSS IN  PRICE…..THE TOTAL OF TAS INITIATED CONTRACTS TODAY: A HUGE 952 CONTRACTS TRYING DESPERATELY TO CONTAIN SILVER’S PRICE RISE,//CONSIDERABLE FRONT END OF THE TAS CONTRACTS WERE LIQUIDATED DURING THE TUESDAY COMEX SESSION ALONG WITH MONTH END SPREADER LIQUIDATION// . BUT THEY STILL NEED THESE ISSUANCE FOR REPLENISHMENT FOR FUTURE TRADING /THE HUGE TA.S. ISSUANCE// STRONG LIQUIDATION DISTORTS THE TOTAL OI CONTRACTS STANDING AT THE COMEX. NO NET LONG SPECULATORS WERE BURNED ON MONDAY 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   (952) WILL BE PUT INTO “THE BANK” TO BE COLLUSIVELY USED AT A LATER DATE, AND PROBABLY NOT TODAY.

WE HAD 978 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 4,890,000 OZ

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

GOLD//OUTLINE

IN GOLD, THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY A FAIR SIZED 7614 OI CONTRACTS  TO 458,584 AND CLOSER TO THE RECORD (SET JAN 24/2020) AT 799,733  AND  PREVIOUS TO THAT: (SET JAN 6/2020) AT 797,110, BUT WE ARE NOW MUCH FURTHER FROM OUR ALL TIME LOW OF 390,000 CONTRACTS.

THE DIFFERENTIAL FROM PRELIMINARY OI TO FINAL OI IN GOLD TODAY:  ADDED A HUGE SIZED 5198 CONTRACTS//

WE HAD A STRONG SIZED INCREASE  IN COMEX OI (7614 CONTRACTS) OCCURRED DESPITE OUR GAIN OF $20.60 IN PRICE TUESDAY. THE FRBNY SUPPLIED THE NECESSARY SHORT PAPER.. WE ALSO HAD A GOOD INITIAL STANDING IN GOLD TONNAGE FOR JAN AT 10.1331 TONNES 

/NEW STANDING 10.1331 TONNES

/ ALL OF THIS HAPPENED WITH OUR  $20.80 GAIN IN PRICE  WITH RESPECT TO TUESDAY’S COMEX ///. WE HAD A STRONG GAIN OF 7614 OI CONTRACTS (23.68 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 QUEUE JUMPING WHICH WILL CONTINUE WITH THURSDAY’S TRADING

E.F.P. ISSUANCE

THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A STRONG SIZED 1475 CONTRACTS:

The NEW COMEX OI FOR THE GOLD COMPLEX RESTS AT 458,584

IN ESSENCE WE HAVE A STRONG SIZED INCREASE IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 9089 CONTRACTS  WITH 7614 CONTRACTS INCREASED AT THE COMEX// AND A STRONG SIZED 1475 EFP OI CONTRACT ISSUANCE WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS TOTAL OI GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 9089 CONTRACTS.. WE HAD THE FOLLOWING TAS CONTRACTS INITIATED (ISSUED): A STRONG SIZED BUT CRIMINAL 1945 CONTRACTS ISSUED. WE HAD A STRONG LIQUIDATION OF T.A.S CONTRACTS WITH OUR LOSS IN PRICE MONDAY AS THE NEED FOR REPLENISHMENT WAS STILL IN ORDER TO CARRY OUT ITS PRICE CONTAINMENT STRATEGY IN FUTURE TRADING. WE ALSO HAD STRONG MONTH END SPREADER LIQUIDATION FINALIZING THIS CRIMINAL OPERATION .

CALCULATIONS ON GAIN/LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES

WE HAD A STRONG SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (1475 CONTRACTS) ACCOMPANYING THE FAIR SIZED INCREASE IN COMEX OI OF 2416 CONTRACTS/TOTAL GAIN FOR OUR THE TWO EXCHANGES: 9089 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 JAN 10.1331 TONNES 

//NEW STANDING JAN: 10.1331 TONNES

 / 3) STRONG T.A.S. LIQUIDATION TRYING TO LOWER GOLD’S PRICE MONDAY WITH NO SUCCESS IN REMOVING SPECULATOR LONGS, AS WE HAD A 1)  $20.60 PRICE LOSS, BUT 2) ZERO NET LONG SPECS BEING CLIPPED WITH OUR TOTAL GAIN OF 6394 CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES. WE ALSO HAD STRONG MONTH END SPREADER LIQUIDATION AS WELL AS TAS LIQUIDATION.. 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 INCREASE 5)  STRONG ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL PAPER///STRONG T.A.S.  ISSUANCE: 1945 T.A.S.CONTRACTS//

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

JAN

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: 115,752 CONTRACTS OF 11,572,000 OZ OR 348.466 TONNES IN 21 TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 5858 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE  SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS :  THIS MONTH IN 21  TRADING DAY(S) IN  TONNES  360.03TONNES

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

THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS  360.03 DIVIDED BY 3550 x 100% TONNES = 10.14% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL PRODUCTION

ACCUMULATION OF GOLD EFP’S YEAR 2021 TO 2023

JANUARY/2021: 265.26 TONNES (RAPIDLY INCREASING AGAIN)

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

MARCH:.   276.50 TONNES (STRONG AGAIN/

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

MAY:        250.15 TONNES  (NOW DRAMATICALLY INCREASING AGAIN)

JUNE:      247.54 TONNES (FINAL)

JULY:        188.73 TONNES FINAL

AUGUST:   217.89 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE.

SEPT          142.12 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE ( LOW ISSUANCE)_

OCT:           141.13 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE (LOW ISSUANCE)

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

DEC.           175.62 TONNES//FINAL ISSUANCE//

TOTALS: 2,578.08 TONNES/2021

JAN:2022   247.25 TONNES //FINAL

FEB:           196.04 TONNES//FINAL

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

APRIL:  169.55 TONNES (FINAL VERY  LOW ISSUANCE MONTH)

MAY:  247.44 TONNES FINAL//

JUNE: 238.13 TONNES  FINAL

JULY: 378.43 TONNES FINAL/SECOND HIGHEST ON RECORD

AUGUST: 180.81 TONNES FINAL

SEPT. 193.16 TONNES FINAL

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

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

DEC:  185.59 tonnes // FINAL

TOTAL: 2,847,25 TONNES/2022

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

FEB: 151.61 TONNES/FINAL

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

APRIL: 197.42 TONNES

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

JUNE: 172.667 TONNES (WEAKER ISSUANCE THIS MONTH)

JULY:  151.69 TONNES (WEAKER THAN LAST MONTH)

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

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

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

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

DEC. 213.704 TONNES. A STRONG MONTH//

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

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

FEB’24: 201.947 TONNES

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

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

MAY; 316.606 TONNES (WILL BE ANOTHER STRONG MONTH// 3RD HIGHEST RECORDED EFP ISSUANCE )// NOTICE THE HUGE INCREASES IN EX FOR PHYSICAL THESE PAST FEW MONTHS. THESE CONTRACTS ARE CIRCLED BACK FROM LONDON WHEREBY METAL IS REMOVED FROM THE COMEX.

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

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

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

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

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

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

DEC 360.03 TONNES THIRD HIGHEST EVER RECORDED FOR EFP ISSUANCE

TOTAL 2024 YEAR.3,597.846

JAN

SPREADING OPERATIONS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1.TODAY WE HAD THE OPEN INTEREST AT THE COMEX IN SILVER ROSE BY A STRONG SIZED 7614 CONTRACTS OI  TO 151,013 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 529 CONTRACTS

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

MAR 529 and ALL OTHER MONTHS: ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 529 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 2500  CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 800 E.FP. ISSUED

WE OBTAIN A STRONG SIZED GAIN OF OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 3300 CONTRACTS

THUS IN OUNCES, THE GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES  TOTALS A  HUGE 15.15 MILLION OZ OCCURRED DESPITE OUR $0.14 LOSS  IN PRICE  

OUTLINE FOR TODAY’S COMMENTARY

1a/COMEX GOLD AND SILVER REPORT

(report Harvey)

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

(Peter Schiff)

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

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

b. Other gold/silver commentaries

c. Commodity commentaries//

d)/CRYPTOCURRENCIES/BITCOIN ETC

2.ASIAN AFFAIRS/THURSDAY MORNING TUESDAY  NIGHT

ASIA TRADING THURSDAY MORNING/TUESDAY  NIGHT

SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 89.20 PTS OR 2.66%

//Hang Seng CLOSED DOWN 436.63 PTS OR 2.18%

// Nikkei CLOSED HOLIDAY%//Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP 0.53%

//Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) CLOSED UP TO 7.3360 CHINESE YUAN OFFSHORE CLOSED UP TO 7.3359// Oil UP TO 72.78 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT DOWN AT 75.72 Stocks in Europe OPENED MOSTLY RED

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

A)NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA

outline

b) REPORT ON JAPAN/
OUTLINE

3  CHINA
OUTLINE

4/EUROPEAN AFFAIRS
OUTLINE

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS
OUTLINE

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

7. OIL ISSUES
OUTLINE

8 EMERGING MARKET ISSUES
9. USA

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

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

GOLD

 LET US BEGIN:

THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY A FAIR SIZED 7614 CONTRACTS TO 458,584 DESPITE OUR GAIN  IN PRICE OF $20.60 WITH RESPECT TO TUESDAY’S TRADING. WE LOST ZERO NET LONGS WITH OUR PRICE LOSS FOR GOLD. WE HAD, AS YOU WILL SEE BELOW, A STRONG NUMBER OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUED (1475). THUS WE HAD A STRONG GAIN ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 9089 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 THOUGHTFULNESS.

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 FRIDAY’S TRADING. WE HAD CONSIDERABLE T.A.S. LIQUIDATION ALL THIS WEEK AT THE COMEX AND THIS WAS COUPLED WITH MONTH END SPREADER LIQUIDATION.

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 NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF JANUARY.…  THE CME REPORTS THAT THE BANKERS ISSUED A STRONG SIZED TRANSFER THROUGH THE EFP ROUTE AS THESE LONGS RECEIVED A DELIVERABLE LONDON FORWARD TOGETHER WITH A FIAT BONUS.,

THAT IS A STRONG SIZED 1475 EFP CONTRACTS WERE ISSUED: :  /FEB  1475 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:

TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 3720 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 GAINED THE FOLLOWING TODAY ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES: A STRONG SIZED TOTAL OF 9089 CONTRACTS IN THAT 1475 CONTRACT LONGS WERE TRANSFERRED AS EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS TO LONDON AND WE HAD A STRONG GAIN OF 7614 COMEX  CONTRACTS..AND THIS STRONG GAIN  ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES HAPPENED DESPITE OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF $20.60 THURSDAY// 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 FAIR SIZED SIZED 1945 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 COUPLED WITH MONTH END SPREADER LIQUIDATION.

// WE HAVE A STRONG AMOUNT OF GOLD TONNAGE STANDING:   DEC (95.1066 TONNES) WHICH IS HUGE FOR OUR  ACTIVE DEC DELIVERY MONTH.

JANUARY” 10.1331 TONNES

HERE ARE THE AMOUNTS THAT STOOD FOR DELIVERY IN THE PRECEDING 48 MONTHS OF 2021-2024:

DEC 2021: 112.217 TONNES

NOV.  8.074 TONNES

OCT.    57.707 TONNES

SEPT: 11.9160 TONNES

AUGUST: 80.489 TONNES

JULY 7.2814 TONNES

JUNE:  72.289 TONNES

MAY 5.77 TONNES

APRIL  95.331 TONNES

MARCH 30.205 TONNES

FEB ’21. 113.424 TONNES

JAN ’21: 6.500 TONNES.

TOTAL  YEAR  2021 (JAN- DEC): 601.213 TONNES

YEAR 2022:

JANUARY 2022  17.79 TONNES

FEB 2022: 59.023 TONNES

MARCH: 36.678 TONNES

APRIL: 85.340 TONNES FINAL.

MAY: 20.11 TONNES FINAL

JUNE: 74.933 TONNES FINAL

JULY 29.987 TONNES FINAL

AUGUST:104.979 TONNES//FINAL

SEPT.  38.1158 TONNES

OCT:  77.390 TONNES/ FINAL

NOV 27.110 TONNES/FINAL

Dec. 64.000 tonnes

(TOTAL  YEAR 656.076 TONNES)

2023:

JAN/2023:    20.559 tonnes

FEB 2023: 47.744 tonnes

MAR:  19.0637 TONNES

APRIL: 75.676  tonnes

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

JUNE: 64.354 TONNES

JULY: 10.2861 TONNES

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

SEPT: 15.281 TONNES FINAL

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

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

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

TOTAL 2023 YEAR : 436.546 TONNES

2024

JAN ’24.      22.706 TONNES

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

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

APRIL: 2024: 53.673TONNES FINAL

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

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

JULY: 11.692 TONNES

AUGUST 69.602 TONNES//FINAL STANDING

SEPT. 13.164 TONNES.

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

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

DEC: 80.4230 TONNES PLUS DEC MONTH EXCHANGE FOR RISK TOTAL 14.6836 TONNES  EQUALS 95.1066 TONNES

total year: 540.30 tonnes

January 2025: 10.1331 tonnes

THE SPECS/HFT WERE SUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE( IT FELL BY $20.60/)//AND WERE SUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING OFF A FEW NET SPECULATOR LONGS AS WE DID HAVE A FAIR GAIN IN OUR TWO EXCHANGES. AS EXPLAINED ABOVE WE HAD CONSIDERABLE T.A.S. SPREADER LIQUIDATION MONDAY COUPLED WITH MONTH END SPREADER LIQUIDATION. WE ALSO HAD A FAIR T.A.S. ISSUANCE MONDAY NIGHT (TUESDAY MORNING), AS THE NEED FOR REPLENISHMENT WAS STILL EVER PRESENT. THIS COULD NOT STOP CENTRAL BANK LONGS, SEIZING THE MOMENT, EXERCISED AGAIN FOR PHYSICAL IN A BIG WAY TENDERING FOR PHYSICAL 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 GAINED A TOTAL OF 28.27 PAPER TONNES FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES, ACCOMPANYING OUR INITIAL  GOLD TONNAGE STANDING FOR JAN (10.133TONNES) ON FIRST DAY NOTICE

The total for January which is a non delivery month is as follows:

3258 notices for January at 100 oz per notice = 325800 oz or

10.1131 TONNES (NORMAL DELIVERY) +

/ STANDING FOR JAN 10.1331 TONNES

NEW STANDING FOR JAN: 10.1331 TONNES (WHICH IS HUGE FOR OUR VERY ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH)

ALL OF THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED DESPITE OUR LOSS IN PRICE  TO THE TUNE OF $11.95

WE HAD 5198 CONTRACTS ADDED TO THE  COMEX TRADES TO OPEN INTEREST (CROOKS)//PRELIMINARY TO FINAL.

NET GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 9089 CONTRACTS OR 908,900 OZ (28.27 TONNES)

confirmed volume TUESDAY 111,837 contracts: extremely weak ////

//speculators have left the gold arena

END

/ /// THE JAN 2024 GOLD CONTRACT

JAN 2

INITIAL

dealer deposits: 0

total dealer deposits: end

we have 1 customer deposit

a) into Brinks enhanced: 8028.629 oz

these are 20 London good delivery bars stored in London.

total deposit 8028.629 oz

strictly a paper gold entry.

withdrawals: 0

adjustments:

0

CALCULATIONS FOR THE AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR DEC.

For the front month of JAN: we have an oi of 3258 contracts having LOST 524 contracts.

Thus by definition the initial amount of gold that is

3251 contracts x 100 oz per contract = 325800 oz or 10.1331 tonnes

FEBRUARY LOST 332 CONTRACTS TO 327,365 .

We had 1659 contracts filed for today representing 165,900 oz  

FEBRUARY had a GAIN of 995 contracts down to 328,437 contracts

March gained 28 contracts up to 28 contracts

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 382 notices issued from their client or customer account. The total of all issuance by all participants equate to 1659 contract(s) of which 0  notices were stopped (received) by  j.P. Morgan dealer and 12 notice(s) was (were) stopped  (received) by J.P.Morgan//customer account   

To calculate the INITIAL total number of gold ounces standing for JAN /2025. contract month, we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (1659 x 100 oz ) to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of  JAN(3258 CONTRACTS)  minus the number of notices served upon today  (1659 x 100 oz per contract( equals  325,800 OZ  OR 10.1331 TONNES.

thus the INITIAL standings for gold for the JAN contract month:  No of notices filed so far (1659 x 100 oz +we add the difference for front month of JAN (3258 OI} minus the number of notices served upon today (1659 x 100 oz which equals  325,800 oz (10.1331 TONNES) 

TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING FOR JAN.: 10.1331 TONNES WHICH IS HUGE FOR THIS  NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH IN THE CALENDAR. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

COMEX GOLD INVENTORIES/CLASSIFICATION

NEW PLEDGED GOLD:

241,794.285 oz NOW PLEDGED /HSBC  5.94 TONNES

204,937.290 OZ PLEDGED  MANFRA 3.08 TONNES

83,657.582 PLEDGED JPMorgan no 1  1.690 tonnes

265,999.054, oz  JPM No 2 

1,152,376.639 oz pledged  Brinks/

Manfra:  33,758.550 oz

Delaware: 193.721 oz

International Delaware::  11,188.542 oz

total pledged gold: 2,122,692.639  oz 66.02 tonnes

TOTAL OF ALL GOLD ELIGIBLE AND REGISTERED GOLD: 21,908,776.250 OZ  

TOTAL REGISTERED GOLD 8,946,828.167/// 278.288 tonnes). 

TOTAL OF ALL ELIGIBLE GOLD: 12,961,948.091 OZ  

REGISTERED GOLD THAT CAN BE SERVED UPON: 6,824,136 oz (REG GOLD- PLEDGED GOLD)= 212.25 tonnes //

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

END

SILVER/COMEX

JAN 2. 2024

INITIAL

//2024// THE JAN 2025  SILVER CONTRACT//INITIAL

i)  0 dealer  deposit/

total dealer deposit : nil oz

i) We had  0 dealer withdrawal

total dealer withdrawals: 0 oz

We had  1 customer deposits

a) Into Loomis 277081.300 oz

total customer deposit 277,081.300 oz

We had 0 withdrawals

total withdrawal nil oz

JPMorgan has a total silver weight: 135.532million oz/318.895million  or 42.50%

adjustments:0

TOTAL REGISTERED SILVER: 72.365MILLION OZ//.TOTAL REG + ELIGIBLE. 318.895 million oz

CALCULATIONS FOR THE NEW STANDING FOR SILVER FOR JANUARY

silver open interest data:

FRONT MONTH OF JAN /2024 OI: 1622 OPEN INTEREST FOR A LOSS OF 148 CONTRACT(S).

THUS BE DEFINITION THE INITIAL AMOUNT OF SILVER STANDING FOR JANUARY EQUALS

1622 CONTRACTS X 5000 OZ PER CONTRACT = 8.110 MILLION OZ

FEBRUARY SAW A GAIN 0F 15 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 6353

MARCH SAW A LOSS OF1762 CONTRACTS UP TO 120,369

TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR TODAY: 978 for 4,890,000 oz

CONFIRMED volume; ON MONDAY 40,729 awful//

To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in JAN we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at 978x 5,000 oz = 4.890 MILLION oz 

to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of JAN (1622) and the number of notices served upon today (978)x (5000 oz)

Thus the  standings for silver for the JAN 2024 contract month:  978 Notices served so far) x 5000 oz + OI for the front month of JAN(1672) minus number of notices served upon today (978)x 5000 oz equals silver standing for the JAN contract month equating to 8.110 MILLION OZ. 

 New total standing: 46.990 million oz.

There are 72.365 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//

JAN 2  WITH GOLD UP $29.40 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:: ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 872.52 TONNES

 DEC  31  WITH GOLD UP $20.60 ON THE DAY; NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:: ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 872.52 TONNES

DEC  30  WITH GOLD DOWN $11.95 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.28 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD : ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 872.52 TONNES

DEC  27  WITH GOLD DOWN $17.10 ON THE DAY; HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.15 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD : ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 872.80 TONNES

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: 872.52 TONNES, TONIGHTS TOTAL

SILVER

JAN 2 WITH SILVER UP 45 CENTS //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 1.616 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV//INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 462.128 MILLION OZ

DEC 31 WITH SILVER DOWN 14 CENTS //NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 460.512 MILLION OZ

DEC 30 WITH SILVER DOWN 39 CENTS //HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: // A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.13 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV//INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 460.512 MILLION OZ

 DEC 27 WITH SILVER DOWN 24 CENTS //NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT 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 462.128 MILLION OZ//

PHYSICAL GOLD/SILVER COMMENTARIES

1/ PETER SCHIFF/SCHIFF GOLD/MIKE MAHARRY

END

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

Alasdair Macleod

Mathew Piepenburg…..

Gold In 2025? Tragically Predictable

Wednesday, Jan 01, 2025 – 11:40 AM

Authored by Matthew Piepenburg via VonGreyerz.gold,

Another year is ending, which means it’s time to look back in order to better look forward.

For 2025, I see no other realistic option or scenario ahead other than a weaker dollar and rising gold.

This is not “selling my book,” it’s just a common-sense approach to the realities of history, debt markets and the signals of my often-repeated mantra that can’t be repeated enough, namely: “The bond market is the thing.”

Below, we see why.

To some, of course, the bond market is boring, but let’s keep it simple, because if you understand government debt, you see things with an almost eerie clarity.

So, let’s start with a brief, debt-based look back.

Looking Back

In my year-end report for 2023, we saw the coming events of 2024 fairly clearly.

This was not the result of genius or tarot cards, but just a blunt understanding of debt.

Predictable Rate Cuts

I said Powell would cut rates in 2024. He did precisely that. How did I know? Did Powell tell me so?

No, the bond market did.

Predictably Failed War on Inflation

Powell cut rates in 2024 because Uncle Sam (then at $34T in debt) would not and could not afford his failed yet admittedly dis-inflationary “higher for longer” rate policy to “beat” inflation—which I said he would never beat, and he never did.

Period.

Instead, Powell just took the CPI down in 2023 by gutting the middle class with a rate-hike-driven and hence demand-killing (dis-inflationary) recession that he then refused to call a recession.

Predictable Recession Forces

But I said the US would not be entering a recession in 2024, because it was ALREADY in a recession—and gave every proof of the same—from the blunt math of the Conference Board of Leading Indicators to the Oliver Anthony Indicator.

Predictable Bond Dumping

As for US government bonds, I said the world would dump rather than buy them, which is precisely what they’ve been doing all year—with its traditional best buyers (China and Japan) leading the way.

Again, was this psychic genius?

Hardly.

It was just accepting the fact that the rest of the world no longer loves a weaponized IOU from an indebted issuer of bonds with a finite duration yet infinite supply.

Predictable Gold Spike

Instead, I said the smart investors, nations and central banks of 2024 would choose gold (a finite asset of infinite duration) as a far superior reserve asset than the UST (in infinite asset of finite duration).

This, I said, would send gold (“the brightest star on the tree”) much higher.

And that’s precisely what gold did in 2024—hitting record nominal highs in all currencies, including the USD.

Predictable Stock Bubble

I also said the unavoidable rate cuts to come would take the already grossly over-valued S&P higher in 2024, which is, again precisely what followed.

I saw this not because of “insider knowledge” or brilliant market instincts, but sadly (and simply) because I knew that today’s pathetically centralized markets are as predictable as Pavlov’s dogs: They go up when the Fed is dovish (2024) and down when the Fed is hawkish (2022).

In short, in that year-end article as well as subsequent early-year interviews, I had to plug my nose while simultaneously announcing “Risk on!”

So, there we/you have it, when looking ahead into 2024 at the end of 2023, we could see with a common-sense understanding of debt and bond market forces that: 1) the Fed would cut rates, 2) the inflation war would be lost, 3) a recession was in hand, 4) nations would dump unloved USTs, and 5) gold would rise on central bank buying and 6) the stock bubble would fatten.

Again, see this date-stamped “psychic power” for yourselves.

Looking Forward

Which brings us now to the year ahead. 2025.

Once again, we need no crystal balls, direct lines to Wall Street insiders or romantic dinners with Jerome Powell to see the direction of market forces, economic realities or gold’s now secular direction.

Instead, we only need to understand the debt market, because, and I’ll say it again: The bond market is the thing.

Debt Rising, As Predicted…

When I wrote last year’s “year-ahead” report, US public debt was $34T.

As of now (and as expected), this appalling number is comfortably racing past $37T as Uncle Sam continues its fantasy (debt addiction) of spending far more than it takes in via tax receipts or GDP.

Such debt numbers, in the backdrop of an embarrassingly fat $130T global bond market, makes things, well, predictable…

History Rhymes—Weaker Dollar Predictable…

History, I say over and over, is far more instructive and honest than politicos, pundits, bankers and market makers.

And history confirms, without exception, that all debt-soaked nations (and power-hungry leaders) inevitably face a moment of reckoning when the only way to “solve” its self-created debt crisis (usually by excessive spending and grotesque military over-reach) is via the frog-boil debasement of the currency by which its citizens otherwise measure their wealth.

This, of course, is bad for long-term bond holders, paper currency savers and those who misunderstand the difference between nominal and real (inflation-adjusted) returns—i.e., those who refuse to see what history makes clear, namely: Debt Destroys Nations.

On the other hand, history is very kind to gold, and regardless of whether its spot price goes up or down in a period of months or quarters, it’s longer-term direction will go higher, much, much higher.

Why?

Let’s dig in…

The Fed’s Real Mandate: The Bond Market

When an unconstitutional central bank (created by a cabal of global bankers with a penchant for just embarrassing self-interest) becomes the unofficial fourth branch of government, you can be sure its real motives are not “employment and inflation” efficiency.

The Fed’s real motive is banks, bankers, power and credit management.

Or stated even more simply, the Fed’s real mandate is making sure the bond market, the rotten debt wind beneath our economic wings, does not die.

The Fed’s Real Poison: Currency Debasement

But how does a central bank keep its sovereign bond market alive, if less and less nations and investors trust or want those bonds, given the nation’s embarrassing bar tab?

Well, it’s simple: The central bank can mouse-click its own inflationary money out of thin air to pay for its debt sins.

It does this by magically printing trillions to buy its own unwanted bonds in order to keep bond yields down, because rising bond yields are the actual rates by which Uncle Sam must otherwise pay his criminally negligent debt.

If you understand this, you understand more than most.

And at current (fatal and unsustainable) debt levels, it is literally a matter of national survival to keep those yields compressed, which means it’s literally a matter of national survival to expand (i.e. debase) the M2 money supply to “inflate away” a now undeniable debt crisis.

In other words, the bond market is “saved” at the expense of the purchasing power of the currency.

Or even more to the point, those in power stay in power at the expense of their citizens’ wealth, as inflation is nothing more than an invisible tax.

In short, and regardless of the DXY’s “relative strength,” 2025 will see a weaker dollar in order to monetize its debts and make a slow but needed dent in its 125% debt/GDP ratio.

It’s just that, well predictable…

And since gold is nature’s physical money rather than Powell’s paper money, its natural direction north is equally predictable.

Trump: Making the Dollar Weak Again

Trump wants a weaker dollar. Jake Sullivan wants a weaker dollar. Heck, Yellen has been wanting a weaker dollar even while Powell was taking it higher during his failed 2022-23 “higher for longer” ruse-war against inflation.

Yet the DXY has been climbing since his election.

Can the dollar be saved? Is the dollar stronger than the Fed, the US Treasury Department or the White House?

Well, yes and no.

Realpolitik & Who’s Really in Charge in DC?

If one starts with what I believe is the correct premise that a currency will always be sacrificed to save the politically essential debt market, then its fairly safe to assume the USD will be no exception.

The only question today is who really has the power in DC to sacrifice the greenback?

Even the most true-blue democrat has to at least wonder out loud if Biden was ever really in charge of any policy or decision in the last four years.

The fatal decision, for example, to weaponize the UST/USD during the Putin sanctions (love or hate him) was undoubtedly a decision directed by the Department of Defense and the ever more powerful, bloated and centralized (but not so intelligent) intel circles of the “swamp.”

As Eisenhower so wisely warned in hisfarewell address, the military industrial complex has become more powerful than the democratic principles of our founding fathers, and thus it’s hard to imagine any significant cuts in military spending or military “freedom spreading.”

But as I recently wrote at some length, when a nation’s interest expense exceeds its military budget, that nation is ipso facto in open decline.

Given that debt levels and deficit spending are skyrocketing at the same time war drums and military spending is doing the same, it doesn’t require psychic powers to predict more war spending ahead, and hence more currency debasement to pay for it.

What About DOGE?

Whatever one thinks about Vivek, Trump or Musk, they are quite unlikely to ignore their promise to pink-slip large swaths of government jobs and bureaucratic over-spending in DC, ushering in possibly as much as $2T in otherwise needed spending cuts in the next 2 years.

Ok, fine. Spending cuts help reduce the deficit to GDP cancer.

But let’s not forget that 25% of US GDP comes from the Federal government.

If DOGE starts killing jobs in DC, that’s a bullet to the head of GDP and a lot of unemployed workers with mortgages and car loans sliding into an over-levered nation.

The Only Option is a Weaker Dollar

In other words, spending cuts are gonna be expensive.

They’re also gonna be inflationary. And more to the point, they’re gonna kill GDP, which means deficits will go up rather than down if DOGE gets into full gear with too strong a dollar.

Stated more simply: The risks and costs associated, ironically, with cutting spending, will only succeed if the USD is weaker rather than stronger when the pink slips start flying.

And what better way to weaken the USD then stapling interest rates to zero while simultaneously printing money to the moon?

That, as I see it today, is the only card DOGE and the new administration has to play going forward.

Anything less than a weaker dollar will kill any chance of Trump avoiding a lame duck status within his first 2 years, and Trump hates to be, well lame…

But regardless of who is in the White House, the Fed, the Department of Treasury or the dark halls of the Department of Defense, the realities of math and history tell us all we need to know.

Tragic Lessons, Tragic Predictions

Again, and without exception, EVERY debt-soaked nation, empire and regime throughout history has been forced to debase its money and gut-punch its people in order to save its crown.

Oh, and go to war…

And that is where the USA and USD stands today: Out of options other than a debased currency.

DC can cut spending, yes, but it can’t cut enough to put a dent that matters without expanding its money supply and debasing its purchasing power.

It’s as tragically simple now as “inflate or die,” and sadly, gold therefore has nowhere to go but up simply because paper money has no choice but to go down.

end

3. CHRIS POWELL AND GATA DISPATCHES

Why a tense world is betting on gold

Submitted by admin on Tue, 2024-12-31 10:10 Section: Daily Dispatches

By Carlo Boffa and Ben Munster
Politico, Washington
Tuesday, December 31, 2024

The days of navigating treacherous paths through the Rocky Mountains in search of a rich vein of the glittery good stuff might be over. But gold rushes still occur — and we’re in one right now.

As war, ideology, and protectionism divide the world into distinct blocs, developing countries in particular are hoarding bullion to prepare for the day when a global financial system dominated by the U.S. and Europe collapses, and a new one can take its place.

That secular trend, which began a decade ago, has been turbocharged this year by more short-term factors, particularly the downward turn in world interest rates. 

As a result, prices have marched from one record high to another, closing above $2,800 an ounce for the first time ever last week. This year alone, gold is up 35%, well ahead of the 20% rise in U.S. stocks and more than double what any European stock index can boast.

Goldman Sachs’ Lina Thomas sees it breaching $3,000 by the end of next year. …

… For the remainder of the report:

end

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/rare earth

China dominates followed by Viet Nam, Brazil and Russia

(OilPrice.com)

Beyond China: Which Countries Hold The Key To Future Rare Earth Supplies?

Thursday, Jan 02, 2025 – 03:30 AM

Authored by Haley Zaremba via OilPrice.com,

• Rare earth elements are crucial for clean energy, advanced technology, and modern warfare, making them a new axis of geopolitical power.
• China currently dominates the global rare earth market due to its near-monopoly on refining capacities.
• Western powers are concerned about China’s control over rare earth supply chains and are seeking to diversify sources and develop their own refining capabilities.

Rare earth elements are the new oil. This group of 17 metallic elements has become indispensable for the clean energy transition and for modern manufacturing in general. These elements have unique characteristics that make them essential ingredients for the future of technology.

“[Rare earths] just change everything about automobiles; about green technology; about the accuracy of weapons systems. And so they’ve just become essential.” said Jim Kennedy, the president of ThREE Consulting, a rare earths consultancy.

“You want a Prius? You need rare earths. You want a long-range Tesla? You need rare earths. You want a cruise missile that is accurate to 1 meter? You need rare earths.”

The particular utility of rare earth elements primarily comes from their uses as catalysts and magnets in traditional and low-carbon technologies. Other important uses of rare earth elements are in the production of special metal alloys, glass, and high-performance electronics. Rare earth elements “have remarkable physical and chemical properties that make them arguably the superheroes of the periodic table,” Ryan Castilloux, the managing director of minerals consultancy Adamas Intelligence, told Foreign Policy.

Rare earths aren’t really as ‘rare’ as the name would lead you to believe. These minerals are naturally occurring all over the world – but the key lies in finding them in great enough concentrations to make their extraction worth the time and money required. 

All of this serves to make rare earths the new axis of geopolitical power on a global scale. The nations that have naturally occurring reserves of these elements and the capacities and resources to extract and refine them will find themselves wielding enormous financial and political leverage in the coming years.

So which countries are at the top of this new geopolitical totem pole?

China is far and away the largest producer of rare earth elements. After China, which provides about 38 percent of the world’s raw rare earth minerals, Vietnam has the next biggest rare earth reserves, accounting for about 19 percent. Then there is Brazil with 18.1 percent, Russia with 10.4 percent, India with 6 percent, Australia with 3.5 percent, and finally a tie between the United States and Greenland, accounting for 1.3 percent each. No other country has more than one percent of rare earth reserves. 

However, out of all these countries, only one really has geopolitical control of rare earth supply chains and all of the secondary markets that rely on those materials, and that country is China.

China supplies about 85–95 percent of the world’s refined rare earth minerals and has dominated the global market since the late 1990s. This is because Beijing has a near-monopoly on rare earth refining capacities. As we know, a handful of other countries also have significant reserves of critical rare earth elements, but lack the established infrastructure necessary to process them for use in an efficient or cost-effective manner.

China alone accounts for 85-90 percent of the world’s rare earth mine-to-metal refining. What’s more, Chinese refineries supply 68 percent of the world’s cobalt, 65 percent of nickel, and 60 percent of EV-battery-grade lithium. As a result, a whopping 75 percent of all EV batteries are made in China.

There is significant concern that if other nations rich in rare earths don’t step up to compete with China, this is giving Beijing entirely too much leverage and creating a market that is anything but free. So far, however, some experts contend that such worries are overblown. But it’s no secret that rare earths are the new oil, and Western powers are scrambling to regain control. Global tensions around rare earth are certain to heat up in coming years, and mitigating such lopsided control of the market will be critical to maintaining balanced trade mechanisms.

end

6 CRYPTOCURRENCY NEWS

END

ASIA TRADING THURSDAY MORNING  TUESDAY  NIGHT

SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 89.20 PTS OR 2.66%

//Hang Seng CLOSED DOWN 436.63 PTS OR 2.18%

// Nikkei CLOSED HOLIDAY%//Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP 0.53%

//Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) CLOSED UP TO 7.3360 CHINESE YUAN OFFSHORE CLOSED UP TO 7.3359// Oil UP TO 72.78 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT DOWN AT 75.72 Stocks in Europe OPENED MOSTLY RED

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

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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

ONSHORE YUAN:   CLOSED UP AT 7.3360

OFFSHORE YUAN: DOWN TO 7.3359

SHANGHAI CLOSED CLOSED DOWN 89.20 PTS OR 2.66%

HANG SENG CLOSED CLOSED DOWN 436.63 PTS OR 2.68%

2. Nikkei closed HOLIDAY

3. Europe stocks   SO FAR:  ALL MOSTLY RED

USA dollar INDEX UP TO  108.56 EURO FALLS TO 1.0324 DOWN 27 BASIS PTS

3b Japan 10 YR bond yield: FALLS TO. +1.070 Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese YEN vs USA cross now at 157.05…… 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 UP CHINESE ONSHORE YUAN: UP OFFSHORE: UP

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

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

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

3h European bond buying continues to push yields lower on all fronts in the EMU. German 10yr bund YIELD DOWN TO +2.31657 Italian 10 Yr bond yield DOWN to 3.475 //SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD DOWN TO 3.001

3i Greek 10 year bond yield DOWN TO 3.165

3j Gold at $2644.95/Silver at: 29.41  1 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $50.00//AFTER 28.40

3k USA vs Russian rouble;// Russian rouble DOWN 1 AND 22/100  roubles/dollar; ROUBLE AT 112.50

3m oil into the 72 dollar handle for WTI and  75 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 157.05  10 YEAR YIELD AFTER FIRST BREAKING .54% LAST YEAR NOW EXCEEDS THAT LEVEL TO 1.070% 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 0.9070 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF:   0.9371  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: 4.523 DOWN 5 BASIS PTS…

USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 4.732 DOWN 5 BASIS PTS/

USA 2 YR BOND YIELD:  4.217 DOWN 4 BASIS PTS

USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 35.32…

10 YR UK BOND YIELD: 4.5745 DOWN 5 PTS

10 YR CANADA BOND YIELD: 3.211 DOWN 5 BASIS PTS

5 YR CANADA BOND YIELD: 2.948 DOWN 4 PTS.

2a New York OPENING REPORT

US Futures Rebound To Start 2025 Even As China Crashes

Thursday, Jan 02, 2025 – 08:20 AM

US equity futures rebounded strongly on the first trading day of 2025 after 4 straight days of losses, ending 2024 on a soggy note, thanks to – what else – a bounce in tech stocks, even as China suffered its worst start to a new year since 2016. Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 contracts rallied by at least 1%, although gains eased modestly by 8:00am ET. All the Mag7 names traded higher (Nvidia (NVDA) +1.7%, Microsoft (MSFT) +1%, Alphabet (GOOGL) +1%, Amazon (AMZN) +1.4%, Meta Platforms (META) +1% and Tesla (TSLA) +1%). European energy shares outperformed after a sharp increase in natural gas prices. The euro fell to the weakest against the dollar in over two years. Treasuries and European government bonds gained. Bitcoin extended its rally to a third day. Macro data today includes initial and continuing jobless claims, as well as the Mfg PMI and construction spending.

In premarket trading, Mag7 names all gained pushing the Nasdaq more than 1% higher: Apple (AAPL) is little changed, Nvidia (NVDA) +1.7%, Microsoft (MSFT) +1%, Alphabet (GOOGL) +1%, Amazon (AMZN) +1.4%, Meta Platforms (META) +1% and Tesla (TSLA) +1%. Here are some other notable premarket movers:

• CACI International (CACI) rises 1% and Maximus (MMS) climbs 2% as Raymond James turns bullish on both, noting opportunities in the government services industry after stock weakness driven by news around President-elect Donald Trump’s spending-cut commission, known as the Department of Government Efficiency.
• MicroStrategy (MSTR) rises 4%, up with other cryptocurrency-exposed stocks, as Bitcoin gained ground after a bumper year; Coinbase (COIN) +3, Riot Platforms (RIOT) +4%
• Neumora Therapeutics (NMRA) sinks 79% after saying Phase 3 KOASTAL-1 study of navacaprant for treatment of major depressive disorder didn’t show statistically significant improvement on primary or key secondary endpoint.
• Topgolf Callaway (MODG) rises 8% as Jefferies upgrades to buy, saying the stock appears to be oversold at a time when the golf market is supported by robust tailwinds.
• Unity Software (U) climbs 9% as a block of 1.32 million shares in the video-game tool maker was traded at a market value of $29.7 million on Tuesday night.

US stocks are poised to snap a losing streak that took some shine off the S&P 500’s best two-year run dating back to the days of the Clinton administration. The index has surged more than 50% since the start of 2023, driven by the Mag7 tech megacaps amid enthusiasm about the boost to profits from artificial intelligence.

“At the beginning of the year, analysts tend to be pretty optimistic — you have pretty robust year-on-year earnings forecasts,” Daniel Morris, chief market strategist at BNP Paribas Asset Management, said on Bloomberg TV. “Even if we don’t quite get say 20% earnings growth for Nasdaq, the way analysts might suggest, if it’s only 15, likely markets will do well.”

Meanwhile, an attack on revelers celebrating New Year’s in New Orleans thrust US domestic security back into the spotlight less than a month before Donald Trump is sworn in as president. The FBI is probing that incident as well as the deadly explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside of Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas.

Going back to markets, investors will have some early 2025 economic data to process Thursday, including US jobless claims. In the months to come, the growth outlook in Europe and China, the Federal Reserve’s policy path and Trump’s agenda will be among the most pressing items on traders’ radars.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 fell 0.2%, reversing earlier gains as auto and bank shares dragged. Energy stocks outperformed, tracking gas prices which rose to the highest since October 2023 as the transit deal between Russia and Ukraine expired on New Year’s Day, with no alternative in place.and as the region braced for freezing winter temperatures without Russian supplies delivered via Ukraine.

In Asia, sentiment was subdued, with Chinese equities leading declines as data pointed to a slowing economy and traders looked ahead to potentially higher tariffs. The MSCI Asia Pacific index fell as much as 0.6%, sliding for the 3rd day in the past four, and posting the biggest decline in nearly two weeks as key markets reopened after the New Year holiday, with TSMC, China Construction Bank and ICBC contributing the most to the drop. Chinese stocks had their worst start to the year since 2016, with the CSI 300 index closing 2.9% lower. The country’s manufacturing activity slowed in December, further raising concerns about a recovery for the continent’s largest economy. Stock benchmarks also fell in Taiwan and Hong Kong, while Australia’s climbed. Japanese markets are closed through Jan. 6 and New Zealand remains on holiday.

“As we position our funds into 1Q 2025, it just seems far more likely that downside risk is far greater than upside for China,” said Xin-Yao Ng, an investment director at abrdn Plc.

In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%, trading at session highs as the Euro plunged. The Aussie dollar is the best performer among the G-10’s, rising 0.5% against the greenback, while the pound fell 0.4%. However, all eyes are on the euro which tumbled to 1.031, the lowest since 2023. The euro’s slump against the greenback reflects concerns about European growth and monetary policy divergence with the US. There are concerns export-orientated European economies will be hit by US trade tariffs and expectations the European Central Bank will cut rates more aggressively than the Fed. Many strategists are forecasting a slide to parity with the dollar or even lower this year.

In rates, treasuries climbed, with US 10-year yields falling 5 bps to 4.52%, following similar moves across core European rates ahead of weekly jobless claims data at 8:30am New York time. Treasury yields are lower by 3bp to 4.5bp across maturities with gains led by intermediates, richening the 2s10s30s fly by around 2bp. Focal points include an expected raft of corporate bond issuance during January, with up to $200 billion of offerings expected. Bunds also rise, albeit to a lesser extent with German 10-year borrowing costs falling 3 bps.

In commodities, oil prices advanced, with WTI rising 1.4% to $72.70 after an industry report signaled US crude stockpiles continued to shrink. A report from the American Petroleum Institute showed inventories fell by 1.4 million barrels last week, which would be a sixth straight drop. Gold rose. Spot gold climbs $21 to $2,646/oz. Bitcoin rises above $96,000.

The US economic data calendar includes jobless claims (8:30am), December final S&P Global US manufacturing PMI (9:45am) and November construction spending (10am). December ISM manufacturing is ahead Friday. No Fed speakers are scheduled for Thursday. Barkin is scheduled to speak Friday at an event hosted by the Maryland Bankers Association

Market Snapshot

• S&P 500 futures up 0.6% to 5,970.50
• STOXX Europe 600 little changed at 507.19
• MXAP down 0.2% to 181.30
• MXAPJ down 0.4% to 567.31
• Nikkei down 1.0% to 39,894.54
• Topix down 0.6% to 2,784.92
• Hang Seng Index down 2.2% to 19,623.32
• Shanghai Composite down 2.7% to 3,262.56
• Sensex up 1.8% to 79,933.12
• Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 0.5% to 8,201.24
• Kospi little changed at 2,398.94
• German 10Y yield little changed at 2.35%
• Euro little changed at $1.0360
• Brent Futures up 0.6% to $75.08/bbl
• Gold spot up 0.5% to $2,637.93
• US Dollar Index little changed at 108.42

Top Overnight News

• Joe Biden said authorities are investigating if there’s a possible connection between the New Orleans truck attack — which left at least 15 people dead — and the Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas. The FBI said an ISIS flag was recovered from the vehicle in New Orleans. The suspect, US Army vet Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was killed at the scene and may not have acted alone, the FBI warned. The Sugar Bowl in New Orleans was rescheduled to today. Elon Musk suggested the truck blast outside Donald Trump’s hotel was an act of terrorism. BBG
• US dockworkers and port employers are poised to restart negotiations on January 7th, according to Bloomberg
• China’s Caixin manufacturing PMI for Dec falls short of expectations at 50.5 (down from 51.5 in Nov and below the consensus forecast of 51.7). Also, Hong Kong’s retail sales for Nov fall short of expectations, coming in -7.3% Y/Y (vs. the Street -3.4%).  BBG
• Apple is offering discounts of up to CNY 500 on its iPhone models in China from January 4-7th. The promotion, aimed at defending its market share against local competitors like Huawei, applies to several models, including the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, Reuters reports. Separately, UBS lowered its iPhone unit and revenue estimates for December, citing weak iPhone sell-through. It’s analysts revised its revenue forecast to USD 120.8bln and EPS to USD 2.25, both below consensus. Apple Services’ revenue forecast was slightly raised, however, and UBS maintains a Neutral rating on Apple, with a USD 236 price target.
• ECB’s Lagarde expresses optimism about hitting the central bank’s 2% inflation target in 2025. BBG
• Gaza ceasefire deal unlikely to happen before the end of Biden’s administration as negotiations between the two sides have hit an impasse in recent days. WSJ
• Deutsche Bank is targeting the Americas to boost its fixed income trading business, as part of a plan to expand its investment bank and rebuild its operations in the region. FT
• Oil rose after US crude inventories fell by 1.4 million barrels last week, the API is said to have reported. That would be the sixth weekly draw and bring total holdings to the lowest in more than three months if confirmed by the EIA today. Distillate inventory jumped the most in a year. BBG
• TSLA is set to report Q4 deliveries on Thurs and anything north of 500K is likely to be “good enough” (the company needs to hit 515K+ in order to have growth in deliveries for the full year 2024). Barron’s
• Nvidia will likely enjoy another year of robust performance as the CPU-to-GPU transition accelerates and competition (including from AMD and custom chips) takes only a small sliver of share. Barron’s

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

ASX 200 +0.5%; CSI 300 -3.1%; Hang Seng -2.2%; Nikkei 225 closed overnight. China’s manufacturing PMI slowed to 50.5 in December from 51.5 in November, missing expectations. Capital Economics said that while the Caixin manufacturing PMI suggests that factory activity softened in December, wider economic momentum still looks to have improved thanks to faster growth in services and construction, and adds that increased fiscal support should continue to lift growth in the near-term given that deficit spending is likely to be front-loaded at the start of 2025. Ahead, Bloomberg writes that investors are anticipating further economic stimulus, especially amid concerns over potential tariffs from President-elect Trump’s return to the White House.

Top Asian News

• China’s MOFCOM says it added 28 US entities on list of export controls; firms on the list include Lockheed Martin (LMT), Raytheon Missiles & Defence (RTX), and General Dynamics (GD). Bans exporting dual-use items to firms to safeguard China’s national security. Adds 10 US firms to unreliable entity list for involvement in arms sales to Taiwan.

European bourses began the European session on a firmer footing, in contrast to a mostly negative APAC session; China considerably underperformed after the region’s poor Manufacturing PMI figures. Soon after the cash open, equities then gradually dipped lower with Europe now displaying a mostly negative picture, but without a clear catalyst. EZ Manufacturing PMI were revised a bit lower, but ultimately sparked little move in the complex. European sectors initially opened with a positive bias, but now display a mixed picture. Energy is the clear outperformer today, for two reasons; firstly, crude oil prices are a touch higher today, helping to prop up the likes of Shell and BP. Secondly, gas companies such as Saipem, and Eni both benefit from the strength in gas prices after Gazprom halted natgas supplies via Ukraine. Banks are found at the foot of the pile today, joined closely by Consumer Products; the latter weighed on by Luxury names, which is being hit following the poor Chinese Manufacturing PMI metrics overnight.

Top European News

• Comments on 31st Dec: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde expressed optimism that the ECB will reach its 2% inflation target in 2025. She noted significant progress in 2024 and confirmed that efforts would continue to stabilise inflation sustainably at the target level.
• Riksbank Minutes: Deputy Governor Jansson believes the 2025 cut needs to come quite early in the year, in January or possibly at the meeting after that in March. 

FX

• The USD has kicked 2025 off on a modestly weaker footing vs. most peers with newsflow relatively light around the US ahead of tomorrow’s House speaker vote; in recent trade, the Dollar has pared earlier losses to trade flat on the session. DXY remains on a 108 handle and was granted some mild reprieve following a pullback in European stocks. DXY currently sits towards the top end of the 31st December range of 107.86-108.58.
• EUR a touch firmer vs. the USD with fresh macro drivers from the Eurozone on the light side aside from a minor downward revision to December’s EZ manufacturing data and recent comments from ECB President Lagarde who noted that the Bank aims to hit its inflation target this year.
• JPY is flat vs. the USD after USD/JPY slipped below 157 in early European trade with no clear driver behind the move and Japanese markets closed overnight. For now, the pair is contained within the 31st December range of 156.01-157.54 with potential interim resistance coming via the 21DMA at 157.16.
• GBP lagging vs. the USD in quiet trade with not much in the way of fresh fundamentals for the UK aside from a downward revision to the UK December PMI print. Cable has delved as low as 1.2487 with the next target coming via the December 2024 low at 1.2474 and the May 2024 low at 1.2446.
• Antipodeans are both firmer vs. the USD and top of the G10 leaderboard with no follow-through from disappointing Chinese manufacturing PMI data overnight. AUD/USD is currently caged within the Dec 31st range of 0.6189-0.6231; the lower bound of which was the 2024 low. NZD/USD is also within the 31st December range at 0.5587-0.5646.

Fixed Income

• USTs are in the green as the region awaits its own data prints which include weekly jobless claims before the Final Manufacturing PMI for December and then the US Treasury will announce sizes for next week’s 3yr, 10yr reopening, and 30yr reopening sales; no changes to the auction sizes are anticipated. Currently at the top-end of a 108-18+ to 109-03 band, though it remains shy of 109-06 from the end of 2024. Benchmarks are perhaps deriving impetus from the soft China data (more below) and the relatively tepid European tone.
• A slightly softer start to the session for EGBs, though the benchmarks have been picking up in recent trade with the risk tone tepid. Bunds to a 133.76 high. Earlier, saw some modest two-way action seen around the morning’s Final Manufacturing PMIs which saw the EZ revised down slightly, Germany and France unrevised and Italy revised higher.
• Gilts are in-fitting with EGBs; the region’s own Manufacturing PMI figures were revised a touch lower but sparked no real reaction. Similarly to Bunds, Gilts initially in the red but are lifting into the green and at the upper-end of 92.18-43 parameters, resistance at 92.64 from the last trading day of 2024.

Commodities

• WTI and Brent hold an upward bias, despite the lack of fresh fundamentals, but with gains coming alongside strength in natgas after the Ukraine/Gazprom transit deal expired without renewal (details in the bullet below). Brent Mar sits at the upper end of a USD 74.72-75.71/bbl parameter thus far.
• Dutch TTF prices gapped higher this morning with the front-month hitting EUR 51/MWh before wiping out gains to sub-EUR 49/MWh (vs EUR 48.889/MWh prior close on Dec 31st). Russian gas via Ukraine stopped after a 2019 transit agreement expired on January 1st, 2025, with Ukraine refusing to renew the contract due to ongoing hostilities with Russia.
• Precious metals in general hold an upward bias as the Dollar kicks the year off on the backfoot. Newsflow for the complex has been light. Spot gold resides in a USD 2,622-2,639.90/oz range thus far as it reapproaches levels closed to its 50 DMA (2,659.07/oz).
• Overall, a mixed and tentative mood in the base metals complex with prices failing to garner much traction from the softer Dollar amid the overhang of downbeat Chinese PMI data. 3M LME copper currently resides in a USD 8,782.50-8,878.50/t range.
• Weekly API energy inventory data reportedly showed headline crude stocks drawing down by -1.4mln bbls (exp. -2.8mln), gasoline stocks built by +2.2mln bbls (exp. +0.3mln), while distillate inventories built by 5.7mln bbls (exp. -0.1mln); the more widely followed DoE weekly energy inventory report will be published later today.
• Gazprom has halted natural gas supplies through Ukraine following the expiration of five-year transit agreements on January 1st. Gazprom said that Ukraine’s refusal to extend the agreements left it without the technical and legal means to continue the gas transit.
• UAE’s ADNOC sets Feb Murban crude OSP at USD 73.28/bbl vs prev. USD 72.81/bbl.
• Oman sets 2025 budget on an avg. oil price of USD 60/bbl, according to State news.
• China is to raise retail fuel prices from January 3rd, according to NDRC; to raise gas and diesel prices by CNY 70/t respectively from Jan 2nd 2025

Geopolitics

• US President-elect Trump is reportedly preparing to increase activity against the Houthis, according to journalist Stein. “Trump and his people are interested in increasing their activity against the Houthis. Among other things, the administration is expected to turn to the Gulf states to upgrade the regional coalition.”. “It is possible that if Trump agrees to give the capabilities to defend themselves against the Houthis to the UAE and other Gulf states, such as Saudi Arabia, they will agree to join actively.”

US Event Calendar

• 07:00: Dec. MBA Mortgage Applications, prior -0.7%
• 07:00: Dec. MBA Mortgage Applications
• 08:30: Dec. Continuing Claims, est. 1.89m, prior 1.91m
• 08:30: Dec. Initial Jobless Claims, est. 221,000, prior 219,000
• 09:45: Dec. S&P Global US Manufacturing PM, est. 48.3, prior 48.3
• 10:00: Nov. Construction Spending MoM, est. 0.3%, prior 0.4%

DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

Welcome back, hope you all had a relaxing break, and Happy New Year. As it’s the start of the new year, we’ve just published our annual performance review for 2024 (link here), looking at how different assets performed over the year just gone. Overall, 2024 was another strong year for asset returns, with economic growth surprising on the upside and central banks finally beginning to cut rates. That meant the S&P 500 posted a total return of +25%, marking the first time since the late-1990s that we’ve had back-to-back annual returns above 20%. However, with rate cuts taking longer than expected, bonds struggled to gain traction. Indeed, the 10yr Treasury yield moved up for a 4th consecutive year for the first time since the 1980s. And with several lingering concerns around inflation and geopolitics, gold prices saw their biggest gain since 2010. See the report for a full recap of the year just gone.

So with 2024 out of the way, obviously all minds are now thinking about what’s going to happen in 2025. But don’t expect to get many clues today from the first trading day of the year. In fact, for the last 4 years, the first trading day has been a contrarian indicator, with the S&P 500 ending the year in the opposite direction it moved on the first day. For example, we began 2024 with three consecutive daily declines, before the index ended the year up more than +20%. By contrast, 2022 saw an all-time high on day one, before we then witnessed the S&P’s worst annual performance since 2008.

As we look forward to the year ahead, it’s also worth remembering that none of the last 5 years have exactly gone to plan or consensus in the macro sphere. 2020 was the best example of that, with the pandemic making the 2020 outlooks redundant by the end of Q1. And since then, the surprises have kept on coming. After all, the surge of inflation in 2021 surprised virtually everyone if you look back at consensus forecasts. Then in 2022, markets were caught completely off guard by the most aggressive rate-hiking cycle since the 1980s. By 2023, the consensus was then expecting a US recession that didn’t happen. And in 2024, the upside growth surprises continued, and the S&P 500 has just seen its strongest two-year performance since the late-1990s. For some thoughts on potential curveballs that could happen this year, Jim and I put out a chartbook last month looking at some positive and negative tail risks for 2025 (link here).

In terms of what the year ahead might bring, Q1 is set to bring several political events, including the inauguration of Donald Trump for a second term as US President on January 20. In addition, tomorrow will see the new session of Congress begin, where the Republicans will have a majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. So for markets and the economy, a big question will be how the new administration moves on new tariffs, and which countries they’re focused on.

Thus far, we’ve already seen markets react in response to Trump’s social media posts, having discussed new tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico. But it’s still an open question as to whether various deals might be reached with other countries to avoid higher tariffs, or whether they’ll get imposed, which in turn opens up the risk of retaliatory tariffs in response. So there’s the potential for a significant shift in global trade patterns, and we know from Trump’s first term that markets can be very reactive to any tariff news.

Staying on politics, on February 23 we’ve then got the German federal election taking place, which has been brought forward by several months following the collapse of the federal coalition last year. For investors, a key focus is on whether there might be any changes to the constitutional debt brake after the election, which in turn could enable a more expansive fiscal stance with more borrowing. But in economic terms, even if there is a change, any easing in the debt brake would more likely be a 2026 story, given that it normally takes a few months for a government to be formed after coalition negotiations, and it would then take time for those policies to be implemented. For more information, see our economist’s Germany outlook here.

In the meantime, central banks are set to stay in the spotlight in 2025. Over the course of 2024, most of the major central banks finally began to ease policy, with both the Fed and the ECB cutting rates by 100bps. Moreover, they’ve signalled that further rate cuts are ahead, with the Fed’s dot plot pointing to another 50bps of cuts this calendar year. But for both the Fed and the ECB, headline and core inflation rates are still lingering slightly above the 2% target, and we know that there are potential price pressures in the pipeline, not least from any new tariffs. So it’s going to be interesting to see if we do get the additional rate cuts that markets are pricing in, or whether this will be another year (as with the last three) where market expectations prove to be too dovish.

Elsewhere, the Bank of Japan are still moving the other way and normalising policy, with markets pricing in further rate hikes for this year. The BoJ was a big focus for markets in 2024, particularly around the summer, when their rate hike was a contributing factor to the unwinding of the yen carry trade and the significant turmoil in early August. So that’s an important story to keep an eye on, and whilst we’ve been away the 10yr JGB yield closed at its highest level since 2011 on December 27.

Otherwise, geopolitics will remain in focus, and another key story over the break has been that Russian gas has stopped flowing via Ukraine to Europe following the expiry of a transit deal. So this is a potential issue for central European countries in particular, who’ll have to find alternative supplies. Moreover, European natural gas futures closed at a one-year high on New Year’s Eve of €48.89/MWh. Now it’s worth bearing in mind that prices are still well beneath their levels seen throughout the entirety of 2022, but European gas storage ended 2024 at its lowest year-end level in three years, and the recent increase in prices is set to add further to inflationary pressures.

Overnight in Asia, 2025 hasn’t got off to a particularly good start in trading so far. Weak data hasn’t helped matters with China’s Caixin manufacturing PMI coming in softer than expected in December, at 50.5 (vs. 51.7 expected). Against that backdrop, the CSI 300 (11.56%), the Shanghai Comp (-1.21%) and the Hang Seng (-1.51%) have all seen clear declines this morning, whilst South Korea’s KOSPI (-0.22%) has also lost ground. Japanese markets remain closed until next week.

Those declines overnight come on the back of a clear risk-off move since Christmas. Indeed, the S&P 500 has lost ground for 4 consecutive sessions for the first time since September, falling -2.62% over that time. That’s been driven by losses among tech stocks, with the Magnificent 7 down by a larger -5.30%, which took some of the shine off a very strong overall performance last year. That said, futures are pointing towards a recovery this morning, with those on the S&P 500 (+0.41%) and the NASDAQ 100 (+0.58%) both advancing. Meanwhile in Europe, futures on the Euro STOXX 50 are up +0.53% this morning.

To the day ahead now, and data releases include the US weekly initial jobless claims, along with the December manufacturing PMIs from around the world. There’s also the Euro Area M3 money supply for November.

2B) EUROPEAN REPORT

US equity futures gain & USD flat; sub-par China Manufacturing PMIs hit sentiment in the region – Newsquawk US Market Open

Thursday, Jan 02, 2025 – 05:33 AM

• European bourses give back early morning strength; US futures gain with modest outperformance in the NQ.
• USD began the session on a weaker footing but is now flat.
• USTs firmer after China Manufacturing PMI and ahead of their own metrics
• Crude on a firmer footing while base metals are capped by sub-par Chinese PMIs.
• Looking ahead, US Jobless Claims, Manufacturing PMI, Refunding Announcement.

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EUROPEAN TRADE

EQUITIES

• European bourses began the European session on a firmer footing, in contrast to a mostly negative APAC session; China considerably underperformed after the region’s poor Manufacturing PMI figures. Soon after the cash open, equities then gradually dipped lower with Europe now displaying a mostly negative picture, but without a clear catalyst. EZ Manufacturing PMI were revised a bit lower, but ultimately sparked little move in the complex.
• European sectors initially opened with a positive bias, but now display a mixed picture. Energy is the clear outperformer today, for two reasons; firstly, crude oil prices are a touch higher today, helping to prop up the likes of Shell and BP. Secondly, gas companies such as Saipem, and Eni both benefit from the strength in gas prices after Gazprom halted natgas supplies via Ukraine. Banks are found at the foot of the pile today, joined closely by Consumer Products; the latter weighed on by Luxury names, which is being hit following the poor Chinese Manufacturing PMI metrics overnight.
• US equity futures are on a firmer footing, despite a mostly negative Europe session thus far; the NQ marginally outperforms.
• Click for the sessions European pre-market equity newsflow
• Click for the additional news
• Click for a detailed summary

FX

• The USD has kicked 2025 off on a modestly weaker footing vs. most peers with newsflow relatively light around the US ahead of tomorrow’s House speaker vote; in recent trade, the Dollar has pared earlier losses to trade flat on the session. DXY remains on a 108 handle and was granted some mild reprieve following a pullback in European stocks. DXY currently sits towards the top end of the 31st December range of 107.86-108.58.
• EUR a touch firmer vs. the USD with fresh macro drivers from the Eurozone on the light side aside from a minor downward revision to December’s EZ manufacturing data and recent comments from ECB President Lagarde who noted that the Bank aims to hit its inflation target this year.
• JPY is flat vs. the USD after USD/JPY slipped below 157 in early European trade with no clear driver behind the move and Japanese markets closed overnight. For now, the pair is contained within the 31st December range of 156.01-157.54 with potential interim resistance coming via the 21DMA at 157.16.
• GBP lagging vs. the USD in quiet trade with not much in the way of fresh fundamentals for the UK aside from a downward revision to the UK December PMI print. Cable has delved as low as 1.2487 with the next target coming via the December 2024 low at 1.2474 and the May 2024 low at 1.2446.
• Antipodeans are both firmer vs. the USD and top of the G10 leaderboard with no follow-through from disappointing Chinese manufacturing PMI data overnight. AUD/USD is currently caged within the Dec 31st range of 0.6189-0.6231; the lower bound of which was the 2024 low. NZD/USD is also within the 31st December range at 0.5587-0.5646.
• Click for a detailed summary
• Click for NY OpEx Details

FIXED INCOME

• USTs are in the green as the region awaits its own data prints which include weekly jobless claims before the Final Manufacturing PMI for December and then the US Treasury will announce sizes for next week’s 3yr, 10yr reopening, and 30yr reopening sales; no changes to the auction sizes are anticipated. Currently at the top-end of a 108-18+ to 109-03 band, though it remains shy of 109-06 from the end of 2024. Benchmarks are perhaps deriving impetus from the soft China data (more below) and the relatively tepid European tone.
• A slightly softer start to the session for EGBs, though the benchmarks have been picking up in recent trade with the risk tone tepid. Bunds to a 133.76 high. Earlier, saw some modest two-way action seen around the morning’s Final Manufacturing PMIs which saw the EZ revised down slightly, Germany and France unrevised and Italy revised higher.
• Gilts are in-fitting with EGBs; the region’s own Manufacturing PMI figures were revised a touch lower but sparked no real reaction. Similarly to Bunds, Gilts initially in the red but are lifting into the green and at the upper-end of 92.18-43 parameters, resistance at 92.64 from the last trading day of 2024.
• Click for a detailed summary

COMMODITIES

• WTI and Brent hold an upward bias, despite the lack of fresh fundamentals, but with gains coming alongside strength in natgas after the Ukraine/Gazprom transit deal expired without renewal (details in the bullet below). Brent Mar sits at the upper end of a USD 74.72-75.71/bbl parameter thus far.
• Dutch TTF prices gapped higher this morning with the front-month hitting EUR 51/MWh before wiping out gains to sub-EUR 49/MWh (vs EUR 48.889/MWh prior close on Dec 31st). Russian gas via Ukraine stopped after a 2019 transit agreement expired on January 1st, 2025, with Ukraine refusing to renew the contract due to ongoing hostilities with Russia.
• Precious metals in general hold an upward bias as the Dollar kicks the year off on the backfoot. Newsflow for the complex has been light. Spot gold resides in a USD 2,622-2,639.90/oz range thus far as it reapproaches levels closed to its 50 DMA (2,659.07/oz).
• Overall, a mixed and tentative mood in the base metals complex with prices failing to garner much traction from the softer Dollar amid the overhang of downbeat Chinese PMI data. 3M LME copper currently resides in a USD 8,782.50-8,878.50/t range.
• Weekly API energy inventory data reportedly showed headline crude stocks drawing down by -1.4mln bbls (exp. -2.8mln), gasoline stocks built by +2.2mln bbls (exp. +0.3mln), while distillate inventories built by 5.7mln bbls (exp. -0.1mln); the more widely followed DoE weekly energy inventory report will be published later today.
• Gazprom has halted natural gas supplies through Ukraine following the expiration of five-year transit agreements on January 1st. Gazprom said that Ukraine’s refusal to extend the agreements left it without the technical and legal means to continue the gas transit. Click for a brief Newsquawk analysis.
• UAE’s ADNOC sets Feb Murban crude OSP at USD 73.28/bbl vs prev. USD 72.81/bbl.
• Oman sets 2025 budget on an avg. oil price of USD 60/bbl, according to State news.
• China is to raise retail fuel prices from January 3rd, according to NDRC; to raise gas and diesel prices by CNY 70/t respectively from Jan 2nd 2025
• Click for a detailed summary

NOTABLE DATA RECAP

• UK Nationwide house price MM (Dec) 0.7% vs. Exp. 0.1% (Prev. 1.2%); YY (Dec) 4.7% vs. Exp. 3.8% (Prev. 3.7%); Nationwide’s Chief Economist says, “Upcoming changes to stamp duty are likely to generate volatility, as buyers bring forward their purchases to avoid the additional tax. This will lead to a jump in transactions in the first three months of 2025 (especially in March) and a corresponding period of weakness in the following three to six months, as occurred in the wake of previous stamp duty changes. This will make it more difficult to discern the underlying strength of the market. (Nationwide)
• UK S&P Global Manufacturing PMI (Dec) 47.0 vs. Exp. 47.3 (Prev. 47.3)
• Spanish HCOB Manufacturing PMI (Dec) 53.3 vs. Exp. 53.5 (Prev. 53.1)
• Italian HCOB Manufacturing PMI (Dec) 46.2 vs. Exp. 44.8 (Prev. 44.5)
• French HCOB Manufacturing PMI (Dec) 41.9 vs. Exp. 41.9 (Prev. 41.9)
• German HCOB Manufacturing PMI (Dec) 42.5 vs. Exp. 42.5 (Prev. 42.5)
• EU HCOB Manufacturing Final PMI (Dec) 45.1 vs. Exp. 45.2 (Prev. 45.2)
• EU Money-M3 Annual Growth (Nov) 3.8% vs. Exp. 3.5% (Prev. 3.4%); Loans to Non-Fin (Nov) 1.0% (Prev. 1.2%); Loans to Households (Nov) 0.9% (Prev. 0.8%)
• Swedish PMI Manufacturing Sector (Dec) 52.4 (Prev. 53.8)

NOTABLE EUROPEAN HEADLINES

• Comments on 31st Dec: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde expressed optimism that the ECB will reach its 2% inflation target in 2025. She noted significant progress in 2024 and confirmed that efforts would continue to stabilise inflation sustainably at the target level.
• Riksbank Minutes: Deputy Governor Jansson believes the 2025 cut needs to come quite early in the year, in January or possibly at the meeting after that in March. Click for full details.

NOTABLE US HEADLINES

• US dockworkers and port employers are poised to restart negotiations on January 7th, according to Bloomberg
• Apple is offering discounts of up to CNY 500 on its iPhone models in China from January 4-7th. The promotion, aimed at defending its market share against local competitors like Huawei, applies to several models, including the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, Reuters reports. Separately, UBS lowered its iPhone unit and revenue estimates for December, citing weak iPhone sell-through. It’s analysts revised its revenue forecast to USD 120.8bln and EPS to USD 2.25, both below consensus. Apple Services’ revenue forecast was slightly raised, however, and UBS maintains a Neutral rating on Apple, with a USD 236 price target.

GEOPOLITICS

• US President-elect Trump is reportedly preparing to increase activity against the Houthis, according to journalist Stein. “Trump and his people are interested in increasing their activity against the Houthis. Among other things, the administration is expected to turn to the Gulf states to upgrade the regional coalition.”. “It is possible that if Trump agrees to give the capabilities to defend themselves against the Houthis to the UAE and other Gulf states, such as Saudi Arabia, they will agree to join actively.”

CRYPTO

• Bitcoin is back on a firmer footing and sits above USD 96k.

APAC TRADE

• ASX 200 +0.5%
• CSI 300 -3.1%; Hang Seng -2.2%
• Nikkei 225 closed overnight.

NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES

• China’s MOFCOM says it added 28 US entities on list of export controls; firms on the list include Lockheed Martin (LMT), Raytheon Missiles & Defence (RTX), and General Dynamics (GD). Bans exporting dual-use items to firms to safeguard China’s national security. Adds 10 US firms to unreliable entity list for involvement in arms sales to Taiwan.

DATA RECAP

• CHINA PMI: China’s manufacturing PMI slowed to 50.5 in December from 51.5 in November, missing expectations. Capital Economics said that while the Caixin manufacturing PMI suggests that factory activity softened in December, wider economic momentum still looks to have improved thanks to faster growth in services and construction, and adds that increased fiscal support should continue to lift growth in the near-term given that deficit spending is likely to be front-loaded at the start of 2025. Ahead, Bloomberg writes that investors are anticipating further economic stimulus, especially amid concerns over potential tariffs from President-elect Trump’s return to the White House.

2C ASIAN REPORT

3B NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA

end

3C JAPAN

end

3D. CHINA/

China is in big trouble economically due to their real estate bubble burst. They have no choice but to revalue gold

(zerohedge)

“A Bit Troubling” – Chinese Stocks Suffer Worst Start To A Year Since 2016 As ‘Trump Effect’ Looms

Thursday, Jan 02, 2025 – 08:29 AM

China’s market turmoiled overnight after the Caixin Manufacturing PMI fell to 50.5 from 51.5 in November (significantly worse than the median forecast of 51.7 by economists).

The findings reflect uncertainties facing Chinese exports, which have powered the $18 trillion economy’s uneven recovery but may take a hit when Trump takes office later this month.

“Exports dragged on demand amid mounting uncertainties stemming from the overseas economic environment and global trade,” Wang Zhe, senior economist at Caixin Insight Group, said in a statement accompanying the release.

Chinese President Xi Jinping acknowledged new challenges from the external environment in a New Year’s Eve speech on Tuesday.

China’s 10-year government bond yields slid three basis points to 1.64%, a fresh record low. The offshore yuan gained 0.2% after the Chinese central bank set a strong fixing to support the currency.

But it was stocks that felt the brunt of the weakness, with Chinese stocks suffering the worst start to a year in nearly a decade.

“It’s a bit troubling that investors are starting the new year in a cautious mode as this is happening after clearer stimulus signals from Beijing during its December policy meetings,” said Homin Lee, senior macro strategist at Lombard Odier.

“The underlying momentum for China remains quite fragile, and it will take some efforts from the authorities to change the conversation on the country’s medium-term deflationary dangers.”

The CSI 300 Index closed down 2.9% on Thursday, its steepest drop on a year’s first day of trading since 2016. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index slid as much as 3.1%. 

The bloodbath in Beijing spread across most of Asia with MSCI AsiaPac down 0.6% with Taiwan and Hong Kong suffering most.

“As we position our funds into 1Q 2025, it just seems far more likely that downside risk is far greater than upside for China,” said Xin-Yao Ng, an investment director at abrdn Plc.

The biggest freefallers were the big Chinese banks led by major declines in AgBank, ICBC and CCB

“Financials in HK going ex-dividend contributed to the fall, but sentiment is fragile as we begin the new year,” says Kok Hoong Wong, head of institutional equities sales trading at Maybank Securities

Which leads us to ask, as Christopher Balding questions at The Epoch Times, just how dire is the situation of Chinese banks?

Lost amid all the different announcements of stimulus and busy work made to appear like stimulus is the regularity with which Chinese officials announce the funding of bank recapitalizations. Beijing rolled out small programs to boost consumption and help local governments start investing again, but the biggest funding items prop up bad banks.

All this funding for a sector supposedly with low levels of bad loans forces the question: how bad are Chinese banks?

Banks depend on capital and reserves to cover bad loans and remain liquid to cover daily cash demands from businesses and consumers. Because banks make money by investing that money in low-risk ways, such as lending cash to other banks or homes and businesses, banks do not hold all deposits in the form of cash. Banks hold cash and reserves to engage in their own business and serve the needs of their clients.

Chinese banks, by all official measures, claim to be doing very well. In the past year, most major Chinese banks reported higher levels of capital. Since the pandemic, China reports that official non-performing loan levels dropped from 1.73 percent in January 2022 to 1.56 percent in September of this year, down from 1.59 percent in September 2023. Officially, these numbers should be the picture of health for a banking system.

However, recent funding behavior by Beijing paints a more worrisome picture. In October, Beijing had a 1 trillion yuan bank recapitalization funding in 2024 by selling Chinese government bonds to provide the capital. Though details remain a little murky, China has announced sovereign debt funding amounting to 3 trillion yuan in 2025, with approximately 1–2 trillion yuan designated for additional bank recapitalization. Put another way, within the past three months, Beijing announced a potential bank recapitalization totaling as much as $415 billion, or 2–3 trillion yuan. This seems rather puzzling for a banking sector that is supposedly the picture of health.

The Chinese banking sector is under incredible strain despite the official cheery proclamations. Larger banks are rapidly swallowing small and mid-size banks. Though there is no official word on why these banks have been disappearing quickly, given their known precarious position, the primary suspicion is their risk to the larger system. City and county-wide banks have had to be rescued despite reporting safe and stable financial positions, leading to skepticism about rosy public proclamations.

Chinese banks have stated in their initial public offering documents that their accounting standards do not match those of banks in other countries, even though they use the same words and terms. One bank noted that it classifies a loan as doubtful if the business has not been operational for more than 12 months. Personally, that seems more than doubtful, but I am not a Chinese bank regulator.

As a simple example, in 2016, a Chinese steel company facing financial difficulty reported that a major subsidiary had not paid interest on loans since 2011. Evergrande, the failed mega developer, alone accounted for more than 50 percent of the Chinese economy’s officially counted bad loan reserves. Investors have good reason to be skeptical of official financial statements.

Though no official reason is given for why China has been spending large sums of money regularly on shoring up banks, the official whisper campaign is that in 2025, Beijing will unleash stimulus forces to get the economy going again. While anything is possible, it seems much more likely that Beijing is simply trying to fend off deep financial problems in the banks that keep funding everything they are told to fund.

Beijing has already announced it will start releasing restrictions on local government debt levels with heightened expectations for stimulus in 2025. At the recent Central Economic Work Conference, they shifted from prudent to ease, harkening back to language not seen since the global financial crisis in 2008. This may be true, but bank lending in November and December is below trend. While this may be storing up the ammunition for a 2025 rollout, it seems entirely possible the banks are just in bad shape, and the regular market expectations of Beijing stimulus will once again prove unfounded.

If China unleashes enormous fiscal stimulus in 2025, then there is some logic to the recapitalization splurge. Otherwise, this seems more about quietly staving off a financial crisis. Given the regularity with which Beijing has disappointed the hopes of investors calling for stimulus, it seems like the better bet is not to put your money in a Chinese bank.

END

4.EUROPEAN AFFAIRS//UK /SCANDINAVIAN AFFAIRS

FINLAND/CHINA

this ought to be fun!

Finland Imposes Travel Ban On Crew Of Cable-Cutting Tanker, Prepares To Inspect

Thursday, Jan 02, 2025 – 08:45 AM

Following the seizure of the Eagle S, an oil tanker that departed from the Russian port of Ust-Luga on Christmas Day and is suspected of intentionally dragging its anchor in the Baltic Sea, causing damage to submarine cables—including the Estlink 2 power cable and four telecommunications cables—Finnish authorities have imposed a travel ban on the tanker’s crew and plan to inspect the vessel.

“On January 2, 2025, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom will start a control inspection” of Eagle S tanker, Sanna Sonninen, the director of the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency, said in a statement, quoted by AFP News.

Sonninen said, “We are carrying out the inspection in a way that does not interfere with the police operations and the investigation.”

The Eagle S tanker, suspected of belonging to Russia’s “shadow fleet,” is believed to have been involved in a gray-zone operation/ hybrid warfare by dragging its anchor for several miles. This caused the severing of the Estlink 2 power cable and four telecommunications cables.

On Tuesday, the National Bureau of Investigation Detective Chief Inspector Elina Katajamäki placed a travel ban on the crew members of Eagle S to ensure questioning can continue.

“A travel ban is a less severe coercive measure limiting personal freedom than apprehension and arrest, and it is imposed to ensure that the criminal investigation is not compromised and that the parties can be reached during the investigation,” Katajamäki said, adding, “However, further information is gathered as the investigation goes on, so it is possible that the number of those subjected to a travel ban will change.”

In November, the Yi Peng 3, a Chinese-registered bulk carrier, was suspected of damaging two fiber-optic data cables beneath the Baltic Sea, which connect Finland, Germany, Sweden, and Lithuania.

Here’s our reporting on the Yi Peng incident:

• Baltic Undersea Data Cable ‘Disruption’ May Take Two Weeks To Repair
• Danish Navy Hunts Down Chinese Ship Suspected Of ‘Sabotaging’ Baltic Sea Cables
• NATO Flotilla Surrounds Chinese Ship Suspected Of Sabotaging EU Undersea Baltic Cables
• Swedish Police Board Chinese Bulk Carrier Suspected Of Undersea Cable Sabotage
• Chinese Ship Suspected Of Undersea Baltic Cable Sabotage Sails Off

Subsea energy and telecommunications cables have increasingly been severed across the Baltics this year, with some military experts and government officials warnings that this is a form of “hybrid warfare” by Russia and or China against the West. 

Last week, Russian news agency RIA reported that the owners of the Russian cargo ship that sank in the Mediterranean Sea claimed the explosions in the vessel’s engine room were an “act of terrorism.” 

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?”

5 RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

END

ISRAEL/USA/HOUTHIS//YEMEN Tuesday night

USA strikes several Houthis targets in Yemen

(JerusalemPost)

US strikes several Houthis targets in Yemen

CENTCOM said it struck a Houthi command center as well as storage facilities for missiles and UAVs.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFFDECEMBER 31, 2024 14:08Updated: DECEMBER 31, 2024 17:14

https://trinitymedia.ai/player/trinity-player.php?language=en&pageURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jpost.com%2Fbreaking-news%2Farticle-835551&unitId=2900003088&userId=1938e01a-2e38-4f76-9d42-6dd0304d8a0a&isLegacyBrowser=false&isPartitioningSupport=1&version=20241230_a06cac7f5f0f5dd1a272229e3fc351b678f1266f&useBunnyCDN=0&themeId=140&unitType=tts-player

The US struck several targets in Sana’a and on Yemen’s coast in Houthi-controlled territory Monday and Tuesday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a press release on Tuesday.

“On December 30 and 31, US Navy ships and aircraft targeted a Houthi command and control facility and advanced conventional weapon (ACW) production and storage facilities that included missiles and uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV),” the statement said.

CENTCOM asserted that the facilities were used in Houthi operations “such as attacks against US Navy warships and merchant vessels in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.” 

The organization also reported that the US Navy and Air Force destroyed a Houthi coastal radar site, in addition to seven cruise missiles and one-way attack UAVs over the Red Sea.

Earlier reports and Houthi statements

CENTCOM’s announcement came after explosions in Sana’a were reported by Israeli media, citing reports from Yemen.

This confirms earlier reporting from The Jerusalem Post that the explosions were not due to an Israeli strike.

Yemen’s Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdul Salam said that the country would continue to defend itself after several US strikes targeted facilities in the capital Sana’a on Tuesday.

The US military’s strikes come after nightly attacks from the Houthis. On Tuesday, the terror group claimed responsibility for a missile that alerted sirens in central Israel. The IDF intercepted it outside of Israeli territory, and reported that sirens were triggered to protect civilians from interception fallout.

The Houthis have been attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea for more than a year to try to enforce a naval blockade on Israel, claiming that they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war.

Reuters contributed to this report.

end

ISRAEL HAMAS /Wednesday

Two rockets from Gaza’s Beit Hanoun

(Zerohedge)

As new year begins: Two rockets fired from Gaza at Israel

The IDF said it had intercepted one rocket while an additional rocket had crashed in an open area. 

By JERUSALEM POST STAFFJANUARY 1, 2025 00:03Updated: JANUARY 1, 2025 01:48

https://trinitymedia.ai/player/trinity-player.php?language=en&pageURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jpost.com%2Fbreaking-news%2Farticle-835626&unitId=2900003088&userId=1938e01a-2e38-4f76-9d42-6dd0304d8a0a&isLegacyBrowser=false&isPartitioningSupport=1&version=20241230_a06cac7f5f0f5dd1a272229e3fc351b678f1266f&useBunnyCDN=0&themeId=140&unitType=tts-player

Two rockets were fired at Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, the military said shortly after midnight, after rocket sirens sounded in Netivot and the Gaza border area, starting at 12:00 a.m. local time.

The IDF added that it had intercepted one rocket while an additional rocket had crashed in an open area.

Israel’s emergency medical response service, Magen David Adom, said that it had received no reports of injuries following the alerts.

Later on Wednesday, IDF Spokesperson in Arabic, Col. Avichay Adraee, issued evacuation warnings for residents of al-Bureij in central Gaza in a post on X/Twitter.

“Terrorist organizations are once again firing rockets from this area that has been warned several times in the past,” the post read, adding, “For your own safety, move immediately to the humanitarian zone.”

X.com/AvichayAdraee/status/1874230679648780348

Similar barrage last year

On New Year’s Eve of last year, shortly after midnight, a barrage of rockets was fired at Israel, triggering rocket alarms in the Gaza border area and central Israel.

This is a developing story. 

END

HAMAS/ISRAEL/

A key figure in the Oct 7 raid in Israel a Nukhba commander was killed

(JerusalemPost)

IAF eliminates Nukhba commander who infiltrated Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7

Abd al-Hadi Sabah was one of the terrorist leaders who infiltrated Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 and led other attacks against IDF soldiers.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFFDECEMBER 31, 2024 19:38Updated: DECEMBER 31, 2024 19:52

https://trinitymedia.ai/player/trinity-player.php?language=en&pageURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jpost.com%2Fbreaking-news%2Farticle-835608&unitId=2900003088&userId=1938e01a-2e38-4f76-9d42-6dd0304d8a0a&isLegacyBrowser=false&isPartitioningSupport=1&version=20241230_a06cac7f5f0f5dd1a272229e3fc351b678f1266f&useBunnyCDN=0&themeId=140&unitType=tts-player

The Israel Air Force (IAF) eliminated Nukhba Platoon Commander Abd al-Hadi Sabah of the Western Khan Yunis Brigade, the military said on Tuesday.

The strike was conducted based on intelligence from the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency). 

Abd al-Hadi Sabah was one of the terrorist leaders who infiltrated Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 and, throughout the war, led numerous terror attacks against IDF soldiers, the IDF noted.

Nukhba, PIJ terrorists eliminated on Tuesday 

Earlier on Tuesday, the IDF and Shin Bet killed Anas Muhammad Saadi Masri, the commander of the northern sector of the rocket unit of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the IDF confirmed. 

Masri was described as “a significant figure responsible for executing numerous terrorist operations, managing and directing actions by the organization that targeted Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers.”

Since October 7, Masri had been actively commanding rocket fire from northern Gaza into Israeli border communities. He also oversaw several operatives involved in launching rockets into Israeli territory.

END

ISRAEL HAMAS/opinion piece

Hamas forces are making a substantial comeback in the Gaza Strip

New estimates gauge that Hamas’s forces are up to between 12,000-23,000.

By YONAH JEREMY BOBJANUARY 1, 2025 21:37Updated: JANUARY 1, 2025 21:40

https://trinitymedia.ai/player/trinity-player.php?language=en&pageURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jpost.com%2Fmiddle-east%2Farticle-835754&unitId=2900003088&userId=1938e01a-2e38-4f76-9d42-6dd0304d8a0a&isLegacyBrowser=false&isPartitioningSupport=1&version=20241230_a06cac7f5f0f5dd1a272229e3fc351b678f1266f&useBunnyCDN=0&themeId=140&unitType=tts-player

Both The Jerusalem Post and Channel 12 have received information indicating that Hamas is making a substantial comeback by recruiting new forces.

Along with Islamic Jihad together, Channel 12 said on Wednesday night that Hamas was up to between 20,000-23,000 fighters.

Information received by The Post in the recent period indicated numbers closer to around 12,000.

The wild fluctuation in numbers becomes even more stark when compared to previous numbers put out by the IDF or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The latest numbers publicized were that the IDF has killed between 17,000-20,000 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists over the course of the war.

There has been a gulf of a few thousand between the IDF and Netanyahu throughout the war, drawing some of the estimates into question.

In June, the IDF said that already between 14,000-16,000 Hamas fighters had been wounded.

Further, The Post has learned that over 6,000 Gazans have been detained by the IDF during the war, with at least 4,300 remaining in custody and at most 2,200 being returned to Gaza as less dangerous.

Numbers don’t add up

Given that at the start of the war, the IDF said Hamas’s full forces were 25,000, the numbers do not come close to adding up unless one takes into account that Hamas has recruited almost an entirely new force, fully replacing its old force.

Another alternative is that despite IDF estimates at the start of the war of a Hamas force of 25,000, earlier estimates before the war started estimated numbers of 30,000 or even up to 40,000

The Post was told Wednesday night that the 40,000 number was more accurate.

This could suggest that a majority of the Hamas fighters are still from their original force, while they have undoubtedly added thousands of new recruits.

June heralded the first reports of a large Hamas comeback on the heels of the IDF having withdrawn from northern Gaza in January-February and having withdrawn from Khan Yunis on April 7.

If the Channel 12 reporting is correct, that report said that around 9,000 Hamas forces are split between northern and southern Gaza, that Islamic Jihad has another 4,000 fighters, and that there are another 7,000-10,000 disorganized, more local clan-style fighters spread out throughout the Strip.

These numbers would seem to contradict recent iDF briefings to the Post and others indicating that much of northern Gaza has been cleared of fighters.

Alternatively, the Hamas numbers are closer to 12,000, with more fighters in southern Gaza than in northern Gaza.

However, sources on Wednesday night backed up Channel 12’s numbers.

Still, even Channel 12’s numbers had a significant gap and spectrum, such that IDF estimates may simply be more limited in a time period when most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are shoved together in a few small humanitarian areas, with little ability to distinguish between terrorists and civilians.

Another source told The Post that the total numbers were unclear but that the quality of new Hamas fighters who the terror group is giving weapons to was far inferior to earlier in the war, given that many of them are untrained minors.

END

iSRAEL/HAMAS

Israel strikes Hamas police chief Salah in Khan Younis

(JerusalemPost)

IDF strike on Khan Yunis kills Hamas police chief Mahmoud Salah

In total, 10 people were killed, and 15 were wounded in the strike, Reuters reported, citing Gazan medics. 

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF, REUTERSJANUARY 2, 2025 07:28Updated: JANUARY 2, 2025 14:14

https://trinitymedia.ai/player/trinity-player.php?language=en&pageURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jpost.com%2Fbreaking-news%2Farticle-835791&unitId=2900003088&userId=0825748c-83eb-4fa6-9d99-5d5781551d74&isLegacyBrowser=false&isPartitioningSupport=1&version=20241230_a06cac7f5f0f5dd1a272229e3fc351b678f1266f&useBunnyCDN=0&themeId=140&unitType=tts-player

Hamas’s police chief, Mahmoud Salah, and his aide, Hassam Shahwan, were killed in a strike in the al-Mawasi area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported on Thursday, citing Palestinian reports. 

The IDF confirmed later on Thursday that the Israel Air Force had eliminated Shahwan, whom it said was the chief of Hamas’s internal security apparatus in southern Gaza. 

Hamas’s internal security apparatus “conducted violent interrogations against residents of the Gaza Strip, severely violating human rights and suppressing opposition to the organization,” the IDF noted. 

The military added that Shahwan, who had been hiding within the civilian population in the al-Mawasi area, was responsible for forming an intelligence base against IDF forces operating in Gaza. 

Prior to the strike, the IDF said it used tools such as aerial surveillance, additional intelligence information, and precise munitions to mitigate civilian harm.

In total, 10 people were killed, and 15 were wounded in the strike, Reuters reported, citing Gazan medics. 

Later on Thursday, the IDF said it had carried out an additional strike in Khan Yunis, targeting a Hamas command and control center in which terrorists were embedded. 

The terrorists had used the center to carry out attacks against IDF troops positioned in the area and against the State of Israel. 

The military further added that in this strike too it had taken steps to avoid harming civilians.

Six people in total were reportedly killed in this airstrike, which occurred at the Hamas-run interior ministry headquarters, according to Reuters, citing Gazan medics.

Additional strikes on Hamas security apparatus members

In early December, Osama Ghanim, a senior official in the internal security apparatus of Hamas, was killed in a strike conducted by the Israel Air Force, also in Khan Yunis. 

According to the IDF, Ghanim played a central role in Hamas’s incrimination system, which included “violent interrogations of Gazan residents, severe violations of human rights, suppression of Hamas opponents, and persecution of LGBTQ+ individuals in the region.”

end

ISRAEL/HAMAS/

Hamas official says hostage deal talks have ‘great chance of succeeding’ – report

By JERUSALEM POST STAFFJANUARY 2, 2025 14:39Updated: JANUARY 2, 2025 15:43

https://trinitymedia.ai/player/trinity-player.php?language=en&pageURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jpost.com%2Fbreaking-news%2Farticle-835860&unitId=2900003088&userId=0825748c-83eb-4fa6-9d99-5d5781551d74&isLegacyBrowser=false&isPartitioningSupport=1&version=20250102_62c4f63f128aad39946dbab122b870e6a34aab2d&useBunnyCDN=0&themeId=140&unitType=tts-player

Hostage deal and Gaza ceasefire negotiations expected to take place in Cairo on Friday have a high chance of being successful, senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzook told London-based Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed on Thursday. 

“There is a great chance for the negotiations to succeed this time,” he told the publication. 

According to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, a Hamas delegation arrived in the Egyptian capital on Wednesday and is set to travel to Doha, Qatar on Thursday for continued negotiations reportedly scheduled to pick up on Friday.

Hamas spokesperson Jihad Taha told the Qatari newspaper that the delegation in Cairo was set to meet with Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediators in order to complete previous negotiations.

The Hamas delegation aims to “to overcome the obstacles and conditions that the Israeli side has recently set with the aim of continuing the aggression against our people,” Taha said.

“Hamas is dealing positively and openly with all issues in a way that serves the issues of all our people, and will spare no effort to stop the aggression and the series of massacres, killings and displacement, and we hope that there will be an agreement unless the occupation backs down from the conditions it recently set in order to continue the aggression,” Al-Araby Al-Jadeed quoted Taha asa saying.

According to the Qatari outlet, the Hamas delegation met with Egyptian negotiator, Major-General Ahmed Abdel Khaleq, and, in meetings with Egyptian officials, agreed upon a proposal to postpone talks on issues on which there is disagreement until after the first phase of a deal is implemented.

The effort to implement the first phase of the deal is reportedly part of an effort to achieve an agreement in accordance with the January 20 deadline US President-elect Donald Trump set forth. Trump has warned Hamas to release the hostages held in Gaza before his inauguration on that date.

END

HAMAS/ISRAEL HOSTAGE

Palestinian Islamic Jihad claims Israeli hostage tried to take own life

Palestinian Islamic Jihad spokesman Abu Hamza said the hostage had tried to take his own life three days ago.

By REUTERSJANUARY 2, 2025 13:19Updated: JANUARY 2, 2025 14:55

https://trinitymedia.ai/player/trinity-player.php?language=en&pageURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jpost.com%2Fisrael-news%2Farticle-835845&unitId=2900003088&userId=0825748c-83eb-4fa6-9d99-5d5781551d74&isLegacyBrowser=false&isPartitioningSupport=1&version=20241230_a06cac7f5f0f5dd1a272229e3fc351b678f1266f&useBunnyCDN=0&themeId=140&unitType=tts-player

An Israeli hostage held by Gaza’s Islamic Jihad terrorist group has tried to take his own life, the spokesperson for the terror group’s armed wing claimed in a video posted on Telegram on Thursday.

One of the group’s medical teams intervened and prevented him from dying, the Al Quds Brigades spokesperson added, without going into any more detail on the hostage’s identity or current condition.

Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Islamic Jihad spokesman Abu Hamza said the hostage had tried to take his own life three days ago due to his psychological state, without going into more details.

Abu Hamza accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s government of setting new conditions that had led to “the failure and delay” of negotiations for the hostage’s release.

Hostage scheduled to be released, Abu Hamza claims

The man had been scheduled to be released with other hostages under the conditions of the first stage of an exchange deal with Israel, Abu Hamza said. He did not specify when the man had been scheduled to be released or under which deal.

Islamic Jihad’s armed wing had issued a decision to tighten the security and safety measures for the hostages, Abu Hamza added.

In July, Islamic Jihad’s armed wing said some Israeli hostages had tried to kill themselves after it started treating them in what it said was the same way that Israel treated Palestinian prisoners.

END

ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY

Economic strains force PA to cut ‘pay-for-slay’ payment to terrorists, study finds

The study named economic pressure and material and bureaucratic hurdles in Gaza among reasons for decrease in pay-for-slay funding.

By OHAD MERLINJANUARY 2, 2025 18:49Updated: JANUARY 2, 2025 20:28

https://trinitymedia.ai/player/trinity-player.php?language=en&pageURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jpost.com%2Fisrael-news%2Farticle-835922&unitId=2900003088&userId=1938e01a-2e38-4f76-9d42-6dd0304d8a0a&isLegacyBrowser=false&isPartitioningSupport=1&version=20250102_62c4f63f128aad39946dbab122b870e6a34aab2d&useBunnyCDN=0&themeId=140&unitType=tts-player

The scope of the PA’s pay-for-slay payments to terrorists has decreased by 30-40% in 2024, despite expectations of increased payments following the October 7 massacre, according to a study.

“Surprisingly, we’re seeing a trend opposite to what we expected,” explained Lt.-Col. (res.) Adv. Maurice Hirsch, a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs. 

“While we should have seen a sharp increase in payments following the PA’s policy and the high number of arrests and casualties among terrorists, in practice we’re witnessing a significant decline.” 

Three main factors have been identified as responsible for the surprising decrease in terrorist funding. 

“First, the decision to prevent Red Cross representatives from visiting prisons created significant bureaucratic difficulties,” said Hirsch. “Second, the economic pressure on the Palestinian Authority reached an unprecedented peak: new data from the Finance Ministry shows that Israel deducted about NIS 3 billion from PA funds through November 2024.”

The senior researcher emphasized that the third factor can be attributed to the disruptions in Gaza. 

“The ongoing fighting in the Strip has caused significant difficulties in transferring payments and producing required documents. Terrorists’ families are struggling to submit necessary forms and even receive the funds themselves.”

Hirsch, who previously served as chief military prosecutor in the West Bank, highlighted that this is not an ideological shift led by the PA, but rather a direct result of measures taken by Israel.

For the first time in history, Israel’s actions and the material circumstances forced the PA to include terrorists’ salaries in economic cuts, something that hadn’t happened before, even in the most severe crises, according to him.

Looking ahead to 2025, the JCFA report offered several practical recommendations to continue fighting the pay-for-slay policy, including increasing economic pressure, preventing cooperation with external entities that assist with payments, and creating additional bureaucratic obstacles.

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Hirsch clarified the importance of maintaining pressure.

“2024 provides clear evidence that terrorist payments can be reduced through the right combination of economic, legal, and operational measures. If we continue this approach, we might see a further reduction in terror compensation next year as well.”

‘Pay-for-slay’ and counter-legislation

In an earlier interview with The Jerusalem Post, Hirsch reminded that, as part of the Oslo Accords, Israel pledged to transfer sums dubbed “tax money” to the PA in several categories, including goods intended for the PA that were unloaded in Israeli ports, a measure not practiced in other countries.

However, in light of the increasing phenomenon of the PA’s pay-for-slay system, Israel passed legislation in 2018 to freeze or deduct some of the said “tax money” that was being transferred to Ramallah.

Likewise, in his interview, Hirsch suggested that some of these funds would be deduced from the Palestinian Authority to fund the legal defense of terrorists who participated in the October 7 massacre, instead of drawing them from public funds.

However, despite the Knesset legislation, it appears that some of the funds still found their way to the PA. For example, in 2020-2021 alone, Israel transferred approximately NIS 2.2b. to the PA for containers destined for the PA, though formal Tax Authority data showed that, in the past five years, most of these containers never made it to their destination.

Despite this, Israel continued transferring sums of “tax money’ to the authority regardless.In this context, only this week the High Court of Justice issued a conditional order against Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for it they deemed “transferring taxes estimated at billions of shekels to the Palestinian Authority, without any justification.”

The judges demanded that Smotrich, the Tax Authority, and the Attorney-General’s Office explain why Israel continues to transfer these funds from public funding while avoiding compliance with the law.

END

SYRIA/

senior Jihadists appointed to posts in new Syrian military

(DeCamp)

Foreign Jihadists Appointed To Senior Positions In New Syrian Military

Wednesday, Jan 01, 2025 – 09:20 AM

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

Foreign jihadists have been appointed in senior positions in the new Syrian military, which is now led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an offshoot of al-Qaeda that led the offensive that ousted former President Bashar al-Assad.

Syrian sources told Reuters that the foreign fighters appointed to the military include Uyghurs, a Jordanian, a Turk, and an Albanian. “This is a small token of recognition for the sacrifices Islamist jihadists gave to our struggle for freedom from Assad’s oppression,” an HTS source told the media outlet.

Among the Uyghurs is Abdulaziz Dawood Khudaberdi, the commander of the Turkistan Islamic Party’s (TIP) forces in Syria. The TIP’s stated goal is to create an Islamic State in China’s western Xinjiang region.

Khudaberdi was named a brigadier general in the Syrian military, and two other Uyghur fighters were appointed colonels.

Sources told Reuters that Turkish citizen Omar Mohammed Jaftashi and Jordanian citizen Abdul Rahman Hussein al-Khatib were also made brigadier-generals.

Abdul Jashari, an Albanian fighter who was designated a terrorist by the US Treasury Department, was made a colonel.

HTS is still designated by the US as a foreign terrorist organization, but the Biden administration has celebrated its takeover of Syria. The US has also made clear it’s willing to work with the new government and its de facto leader, Abu Mohammad al-Julani, who has been going by his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Earlier this month, Barbara Leaf, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, met with Julani and announced the US was removing a $10 million bounty on his head.

Julani, a former al-Qaeda leader, appointed other HTS members in senior positions of the “transitional government” and has said elections in Syria probably won’t happen for at least four years.

END

SYRIA/FRANCE

France Launches First Air Raids Over Syria Since Assad’s Overthrow

Wednesday, Jan 01, 2025 – 07:35 AM

Now France is getting in on the Syria action in the wake of President Bashar al-Assad’s overthrow on December 8. Currently the hardline Islamist movement Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS) holds Damascus and major cities across southern, central, and coastal Syria.

The Turks hold parts of the north near the border (and Turkey’s proxies, particularly the the Syrian National Army, or SNA), while the United States still occupies the northeast (also through its proxy the Kurkish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF). The Israeli military holds an expanse out of the Golan Heights in the south.

France’s defense ministry announced Tuesday that its warplanes launched airstrikes against Islamic State (ISIS) over the weekend.

This marks the first such French strikes in Syria since HTS took over Damascus:

“On Sunday, French air assets carried out targeted strikes against Daesh sites on Syrian soil,” the minister said in a statement on social platform X, using an Arab acronym for ISIS. He also published a video showing the military operation. “Our armies remain engaged in the fight against terrorism” in the region, Lecornu said.

French Rafale fighter jets and American Reaper drones “dropped a total of seven bombs on two military targets belonging to Daesh in central Syria,” the statement specified.

The ‘ISIS threat’ has also been cited by the Pentagon as ongoing justification for keeping some 2,000 or more American troops in Syria. The rationale for occupying Syria’s oil and gas fields has also been the ‘counter Iran’ mission, according to US officials.

But we should note the fact that ISIS has been relatively quiet since the HTS Jolani takeover of the country. Where are the big ISIS terror bombings of prior years when Assad held the country?

The reality is that ISIS terrorists are actually embedded with HTS and its foreign fighter affiliates, as recent American television footage has demonstrated.

The French government released footage of preparations for its weekend strikes on ISIS targets:

ISIS is the threat that keeps on giving: Western allies will stay in Syria for the time being while continually claiming that the coalition (Operation Inherent Resolve) must battle terrorists, even while giving tacit support to HTS in Damascus.

US-designated terrorist Abu Mohammad al-Julani of course began his jihadist career in Syria as a high-ranking member of ISIS and later al-Nusra Front (Al-Qaeda in Syria). As we highlighted previously, this is putting lipstick on a pig.

END

SYRIA/ISRAEL

explosions heard in Damascus as Israel is targeting military and ammunition sites

(JerusalemPost)

Explosions heard in Damascus Syria during strike targeting military site – report

By JERUSALEM POST STAFFJANUARY 2, 2025 15:44

https://trinitymedia.ai/player/trinity-player.php?language=en&pageURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jpost.com%2Fbreaking-news%2Farticle-835880&unitId=2900003088&userId=0825748c-83eb-4fa6-9d99-5d5781551d74&isLegacyBrowser=false&isPartitioningSupport=1&version=20241230_a06cac7f5f0f5dd1a272229e3fc351b678f1266f&useBunnyCDN=0&themeId=140&unitType=tts-player

Explosions were heard in western Damascus, Syria, on Thursday afternoon during strikes that allegedly targeted the Tel al-Shaham military site, the Hezbollah-run channel Al-Manar subsequently reported. 

It added that the strikes were attributed to Israel. 

END

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

This is good!

Court Upholds $7.8 Million Verdict For Transit Workers Fired For Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine

Thursday, Jan 02, 2025 – 11:20 AM

Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A federal judge in California has rejected an effort by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to overturn a jury verdict that awarded $7.8 million to six former employees who were fired for refusing to comply with the agency’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate on religious grounds.

In a Dec. 30 order, Judge William A. Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California acknowledged minor “imperfections” in the jury trial—including flawed instructions to the jurors—and determined they were not severe enough to invalidate the jury’s October decision requiring BART to pay each of the six former workers between $1.2 million and $1.5 million.

Alsup denied BART’s post-trial motions to overturn the verdict and seek a new trial, saying that the agency failed to demonstrate that accommodating the employees’ religious objections would have posed an undue hardship.

“Simply put, on the instructions given and evidence received, a reasonable jury could have found that BART had not carried its burden of proving its affirmative defense,” Alsup wrote, referring to the fact that, in order to prevail in the case, BART had to prove that granting accommodations such as masking, testing, or remote work in lieu of vaccination would have imposed an undue burden on the agency.

BART’s defense relied heavily on expert testimony to argue that no alternative measures were as effective as vaccination against COVID-19, with the judge noting that the agency claimed it had presented “‘unrebutted’ scientific expert testimony” to that effect. However, Alsup noted that the jury was entitled to weigh the credibility of the experts, particularly given their financial ties to the agency.

“In light of the large sums paid to the experts by BART, our jury was entitled to find that they were ‘bought and paid for,’ were merely parroting the ‘company line,’ and were not credible in light of their bias, common sense, and other evidence,” the judge wrote. “An expert witness is like any other witness, and it is up to the jury to decide how much weight their testimony deserves.”

Alsup also highlighted inconsistencies in BART’s evidence. For instance, he pointed to one BART supervisor’s admission under cross-examination that pre-vaccine precautions such as masking and social distancing had been effective, contradicting the testimony of BART’s own experts. Additionally, BART failed to present clear documentation of the evidence it relied upon when implementing its vaccine mandate.

“Curiously, BART presented zero evidence of the information actually relied upon by the BART board in adopting its mandatory vaccine requirement,” the judge wrote. “We saw no decision memorandum presented to the board. We saw no resolution adopted by the board reciting any evidence. We heard no testimony from anyone who presented scientific evidence to the BART board or who made the decision.”

Despite rejecting BART’s motions to overturn the verdict and seek a new trial, the judge acknowledged minor flaws in the trial. One issue involved a gap in the jury instructions, which failed to explicitly rule out unpaid leave as a legally acceptable accommodation. However, the judge noted that BART had ample opportunity to address this issue during the trial but failed to do so.

Another issue noted by the judge was when the plaintiffs’ counsel violated a pretrial order by referencing other employees’ denied religious exemptions. Alsup described the violation as intentional but noted that it occurred during the second phase of the trial, after the jury had already ruled on BART’s undue hardship defense. The judge concluded that the misconduct did not prejudice the verdict.

“The judge regrets these flaws but they, even in combination, did not result in a miscarriage of justice,” Alsup wrote. “The trial was still fair enough to stand.”

Alsup’s ruling upholds the jury trial’s finding that BART had failed to prove that it would have suffered undue hardship by granting the vaccine exemptions, and that the six former employees met the burden of showing that there was a conflict between their religious beliefs and the vaccine mandate. This means that the jury’s award of $7,825,859 in damages to the six former employees stands.

BART spokesman James Allison told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement that the agency had no comment on the verdict.

END

GLOBAL ISSUES//

MARK CRISPIN MILLER

Bill Clinton in the hospital with “flu”; Tom Hanks “visibly shaky” on SNL; Phil Collins can’t play drums (“a shock”); Isiah Thomas has Bell’s palsy; Kelly Chase fights “new battle with leukemia”

Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich “steps away” on “leave of absence”; rocker Doug Aldrich does six weeks of radiation; Aussie TV star Jason Chambers has skin cancer; & more

UNITED STATES

Bill Clinton’s Health: About the Former President’s Heart Surgery & Hospitalizations

December 24, 2024

Bill Clintonwas hospitalized in December 2024, shortly before Christmas, sparking widespread concern regarding the former U.S. president’s health. Initially, it was unclear why Clinton was brought to a hospital, but his deputy chief of staff explained the news in a statement that he shared to social media. “President Clinton was admitted to MedStar Georgetown University Hospital this afternoon for testing and observation after developing a fever,” Angel Ureña tweeted on Clinton’s behalf. “He remains in good spirits and deeply appreciates the excellent care he is receiving.” According to his deputy chief of staff, Clinton was hospitalized at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington D.C. on December 23, 2024 because of a fever. It was later confirmed that he had the flu. At the time, the Democrat was treated with antibiotics at a hospital. On December 24, 2024, Ureña updated Clinton’s supporters following his hospitalization, noting that he had been discharged. “President Clinton was discharged earlier today after being treated for the flu,” the chief of staff tweeted. “He and his family are deeply grateful for the exceptional care provided by the team at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and are touched by the kind messages and well wishes he received. He sends his warmest wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season to all.”

Link

Upgrade to paid

Tom Hanks sparks health concerns after shaky Saturday Night Live appearance

December 25, 2024

Tom Hanks worried some fans after he appeared a bit shaky during his recent Saturday Night Live appearance. The 68-year-old Forrest Gump star and five-time SNL host made a surprise cameo during the latest episode of NBC’s hit sketch comedy series to celebrate the holidays as well as Martin Short’s fifth time hosting the show. During the cold open sketch, SNL cast member Bowen Yang brought out a tray of cocktails. As Hanks picks up one of the drinks to hand to Short, who’s standing beside Fey, he quips: “May I offer you our signature cocktail, the Marty Tina.” While holding the drink, Hanks’ hand appears visibly shaky. Numerous people pointed out his trembles on social media, with one tweeting: “Did anyone notice Tom Hanks’ hands shaking unnaturally in this sketch?” The Independent has contacted Hanks’s representative for comment.

Link

Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson to donate blood for coronavirus vaccine research

Apr 26 2020

Los Angeles: Hollywood couple Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, who recently recovered from the coronavirus, are doing their bit to help in the fight against the deadly disease.

The actors have volunteered to donate blood and plasma for COVID-19 research, Hanks revealed on NPR’s “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” podcast via MSN.

“A lot of the questions (are) what now? What do we do now? Is there something we can do? And, in fact, we just found out that we do carry the antibodies,” he said.

“We have not only been approached, we have said, ‘Do you want our blood? Can we give plasma?’ And, in fact, we will be giving it now to the places that hope to work on what I would like to call the ‘Hank-ccine’,” the actor quipped.

The first Hollywood personalities to have COVID-19 infection, Hanks and Wilson revealed their diagnosis on March 11.

They returned home to Los Angeles at the end of March after quarantining and recovering from their symptoms.

Link

Two cases of Bell’s palsy:

NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas Reveals Bell’s Palsy Diagnosis

December 27, 2024

Basketball Hall of Famer and legendary Detroit Pistons point guard Isiah Thomas announced this week that he has been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy. Bell’s palsy is a neurological condition that causes temporary paralysis of muscles in the face, often leading to drooping of the eyes and mouth on one side of the face. Several other prominent figures in the sports world have experienced Bell’s palsy over the years, including Hall of Fame pro wrestling announcer Jim Ross, Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez and late Hall of Fame NBA guard “Pistol” Pete Maravich. Most recently, Philadelphia 76ers superstar center Joel Embiid divulged during last season’s NBA playoffs that he was dealing with Bell’s palsy. Thomas, 63, is widely regarded as one of the greatest guards in NBA history, and he has the résumé to back it up.

Link

Fred Sirieix’s fiancée reveals heartbreaking health diagnosis after being rushed to hospital

December 19, 2024

The fiancée of First Dates maître d’ Fred Sirieix, Fruitcake [50], has offered an insight into her shocking health struggles. Sirieix has been in a relationship with his partner, who he lovingly calls Fruitcake, for 10 years and the iconic duo share a number of loved-up snaps across social media. Fruitcake has shared a number of photos to Instagram which reveal she has been diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy. She included the following statement: “I’ve been away for the past couple of months due to a diagnosis of Bell’s Palsy. “For those who may not know this condition causes sudden, temporary weakness or paralysis of the muscles on one side of the face.

Link

Update from our September 2024 report:

Doug Aldrich Opens Up About His Cancer Battle: I Just Got Done With Six Weeks Of Radiation

December 17, 2024

During an appearance on the December 16 episode of SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk”, former Whitesnake and Dio and current The Dead Daisies guitarist Doug Aldrich has offered an update on his health, three months after he underwent a “very successful” surgery following a throat cancer diagnosis. “So to answer your earlier question [about whether I have been given the ‘all clear’], I’m basically done with the treatment and the surgery and all that stuff,” he continued. “Now I’ve gotta wait three months and they’re gonna do a PET scan again and see if there’s anything left. Chances are they got it all. If not, then I’ll just deal with it, whatever it is.”

Link

Kelly Chase talks with FOX 2 about new battle with leukemia

December 17, 2024

St. Louis, MO – Kelly Chase [57] is once again battling leukemia. The former Blues player and broadcaster received a clean bill of health last spring, but the cancer has returned. Fox 2 Sports Director Martin Kilcoyne sits down with “Chaser” as he takes on this new challenge. After staring down cancer one year ago, Chase faces a new battle with leukemia. Chase’s latest diagnosis has sent him back to St. Louis’ Siteman Cancer Center for chemo treatments. Chase says he has completed seven rounds of chemo in recent weeks and he currently has a white blood cell count of zero. “I’d bet on me [on beating this diagnosis] as opposed to playing in the NHL. I have full faith in Siteman’s. I have full faith in the process here.”

Link

Update from our November report:

Legendary NBA Coach Gregg Popovich Breaks Silence Amid Health Battle

December 16, 2024

On Nov. 2, San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich [75] experienced a then-unexplained health issue that would require him to step away from the team on a leave of absence. About a week later, it was revealed that Popovich suffered a mild stroke. After six weeks away from the team to recover, Popovich released a statement through the Spurs that he is continuing to rehabilitate and shared a message of gratitude with fans for their support, per NBA insider Shams Charania.

Link

GoFundMe launched for medical costs for Hagerstown-area media personality after crash

December 19, 2024

A GoFundMe has been launched to help with medical costs for a well-known Hagerstown-area [MD] media personality who was in a recent car crash. Crystal Schelle, who grew up in the Clear Spring area and has lived in Hagerstown for many years, has worked for various media outlets in the Tri-State area, including The Herald-Mail and WJEJ radio. Hagerstown Police confirmed on Wednesday that Schelle, 52, was the driver in a motor vehicle crash during the late afternoon of Monday, Dec. 9, near the intersection of East Lee and South Locust streets. No one else was injured in the crash, Lt. Rebecca Fetchu said. Responding on Dec. 10 to a Herald-Mail inquiry about the crash, Fetchu wrote that the vehicle hit a parked car and flipped. Regarding the possible cause of the crash, Fetchu said the driver may have had a medical emergency. Schelle has been in Meritus Medical Center’s intensive care unit. Her family is working to move her to a long-term care facility, according to the GoFundMe. “Crystal has been a mainstay in the Tri-State community as a journalist and public relations professional for more than 30 years. After interviewing actors, playwrights, comedians, musicians, festival organizers and more, there would a good chance you would see her at the same event she wrote about in the paper that week.”

Link

UNITED KINGDOM

Phil Collins, 73, Shares Heartbreaking Health Update After Retiring From Playing the Drums in 2022: ‘To Not Be Able to Do That Is a Shock’

December 19, 2024

Phil Collins, who joined the band Genesis in the 1970s and retired from playing the drums in March 2022, is giving fans a rare glimpse inside his life at 73 years old. “It’s still kind of sinking in a bit…” the musician said in the documentary Phil Collins: Drummer First, which was released on Wednesday, December 18, and filmed in 2022. “I’ve spent all my life playing drums. To suddenly not be able to do that is a shock.” The “You’ll Be in My Heart” crooner , who has been playing drums since he was 5 years old, said playing the instrument “has taken its toll on my hands, legs. If I can’t do what I did as well as I did it, I’d rather relax and not do anything,” the Tarzan composer continued. “If I wake up one day and I can hold a pair of drumsticks, then I’ll have a crack at it. But I just feel like I’ve used up my air miles.” Phil hasn’t released a new album since 2010’s covers album, Going Back . When he toured solo from 2017 to 2019 and with Genesis from 2021 to 2022, he was unable to play the drums, which is why his son Nic filled in for him.

Lily Allen admits she has “stopped eating” and is “not in a good place mentally”

December 17, 2024

Lily Allen [39] has said that she is “not in a good place mentally” and “stopped eating” at the moment. The singer and actor opened up about her current battles during a new episode of her Miss Me? Podcast, which she hosts alongside close friend Miquita Oliver. During the episode, Allen got candid about her wellbeing, and revealed she has been going through a hard time. The ‘Smile’ singer continued, debating whether her ADHD diagnosis could be playing a role, as it means her body and mind don’t link together properly at times. “I’m really not in a great place mentally at the moment, and I’m not eating. I’m not hungry. I obviously am hungry, but my body and brain are so disconnected from each other that my body… the messages of hunger are not going through my body to my brain,” she added.

Researcher’s Note – Allen on Facebook in 2021: “vaccine fear, is it mainly Facebook? I don’t know what to say to vaccine skeptics anymore.”  Link

Link

AUSTRALIA

Below Deck Down Under star Jason Chambers, 52, diagnosed with skin cancer

December 17, 2024

Below Deck Down Under star Jason Chambers has been diagnosed with skin cancer. The reality star and ship captain, 52, took to Instagram on Monday to reveal his melanoma diagnosis and admitted he had spent years forgoing sunscreen. The Australian doctors, which are fantastic in Australia, they weren’t happy with what the indications told them to go to the stage two which would be to cut out a bigger section and test the glands. Treatment includes removing the entire section of the tumor or by the surgeon removing the skin layer by layer, immunotherapy, radiation treatment or chemotherapy.

Link

END

In memory of those who “died suddenly” in the United States and worldwide, December 23-30, 2024

Actress Linda Lavin; Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons; filmmaker Kieran Turner (56, C); boxing champ Paul Bamba (35); wrestler Jax Dane; footballer Dontae Walker; CBS broadcaster Greg Gumbel; & more

Linda Lavin, Busy Broadway Actress and Star of TV’s ‘Alice,’ Dies at 87

December 30, 2024

Linda Lavin, the Tony-winning actress who spent nine seasons serving up meals with a side order of sass as the waitress Alice Hyatt on the hit CBS sitcom Alice, died Sunday. She was 87. Lavin died unexpectedly in Los Angeles of complications from recently discovered lung cancer, her rep told The Hollywood Reporter.

Researcher’s note - Linda Lavin looked happy and healthy at friend Sarah Paulson’s birthday bash just 2 weeks before her sudden death:

https://share.newsbreak.com/amsludrx

Link

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Richard Parsons, First Black CEO of Time Warner, Has Sadly Passed Away at Age 76

December 30, 2024

Richard Parsons, the former CEO of Time Warner and Chairman of Citigroup, has died at the age of 76 at his Manhattan home, following a long battle with multiple myeloma. Parsons was a highly respected African American business leader known for guiding major companies through turbulent times. Parsons was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2015 and had to reduce his work commitments in recent years due to health complications. Parsons retired from several high-profile roles, including his positions at Lazard and Estée Lauder, in December 2023.

Link

Kieran Turner, Documentary Filmmaker Best Known for ‘Jobriath A.D.,’ Dies at 56

December 29, 2024

Kieran Turner, a documentary filmmaker best known for producing and directing 2012’s Jobriath A.D., has died after a battle with cancer. He was 56. Turner died Dec. 23 in West Hollywood. Through his shingle, Eight Track Tape Productions, Turner worked in both film and TV. In addition, Turner was a 2021 CNN Docuseries Fellow. His screenplay Black Dogs made the 2022 Black List and is currently in development with Star Thrower Entertainment.

Link

Oscar-Nominated Writer-Director Charles Shyer Dies: ‘Private Benjamin’, ‘Father Of The Bride’ Filmmaker Was 83

December 27, 2024

Oscar-nominated screenwriter, director and producer Charles Shyer, whose films include Private Benjamin, Baby Boom and the 1991 remake of Father of the Bride and its 1995 sequel, died Friday. No cause of death was given. He was 83.

Link

Puerto Rican boxer Bamba dies aged 35

December 29, 2024

Paul Bamba, a name that motivated many in the boxing world, died unexpectedly. He was only 35 years old and was in the ring only six days ago. There he defeated Rogelio Medina Luna and took the WBA Gold Cruiserweight world title. What makes the situation extra striking is that Bamba’s agent was none other than the singer Ne-Yo. Although he may have had good intentions, many doubt that he had sufficient knowledge of the boxing world. Experts emphasize that managers and coaches should be better trained, especially when it comes to the risks of brain trauma. “Not everyone can just guide a fighter, ” says a representative of the ABC Fighter Voice Committee. That organization is now working on new guidelines to better protect boxers.

No cause of death reported.

Link

Former NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Jax Dane Passes Away At 43 Years Old

December 26, 2024

We are very sad to report that Former NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Jax Dane has passed away at the age of 48. This is a big loss for the pro wrestling world as we lost a seasoned veteran of the squared circle. The National Wrestling Alliance announced his passing on December 25. His cause of death was said to be due to complications from a heart attack suffered in late November. Sadly, he died on Christmas Day. His last match took place in October at NWA Samhain 2.

Link

MSU announces death of former running back Dontae Walker

December 28, 2024

Starkville, Miss. — Mississippi State announced the death of former football standout Dontae Walker, 44. The university announced his death on Saturday, Dec. 28 but did not announce the cause of death. Walker played running back for the Bulldogs in the early 2000s under head coach Jackie Sherrill.

Link

Longtime CBS Sports broadcaster Greg Gumbel dies at 78 after battle with cancer

December 27, 2024

Longtime CBS Sports broadcaster Greg Gumbel has died. He was 78. “It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of our beloved husband and father, Greg Gumbel,” Gumbel’s wife Marcy and daughter Michelle announced in a statement to CBS Sports, where Gumbel has served as a broadcaster and host for decades. The legendary broadcaster first started with CBS Sports in 1989, where he pulled double duty as an NFL play-by-play announcer and an in-studio host for college basketball, including the NCAA Tournament. Gumbel was not part of the 2024 men’s NCAA Tournament coverage earlier this year due to a “family health issues,” CBS announced at the time. CBS Sports celebrated Gumbel’s 50^th anniversary in broadcasting in 2022 and signed Gumbel to a contract extension in March 2023 to allow him to continue March Madness coverage while stepping away from NFL duties.

Researcher’s note - ESPN and CBS both mandated that workers covering games and events get a vaccine [sic] booster shot by Jan 24, 2021:

https://www.thewrap.com/viacomcbs-delays-office-return-mandates-masks-alongside-vaccines/

Link

Thomas Seabron Jr., Former University of Michigan and NFL Player, Dies at 67

December 27, 2024

Thomas H. Seabron Jr., a Cass Tech High School graduate who played for the University of Michigan football team from 1975-78, and went on to have a brief career in the NFL, died Thursday from an apparent heart attack at his West Bloomfield [MI] home. He was 67. Seabron went on to work for major investment banks as a finacial advisor and eventually ended up as a vice president and financial advisor with Morgan Stanley in Farmington Hills [MI].

Researcher’s note - Morgan Stanley will require employees to prove vaccination to prove vaccination [sic] status: 

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/morgan-stanley-will-require-employees-prove-vaccination-status-2021-08-17/

Link

Eagles Hall of Fame linebacker Bill Bergey dies after battle with cancer, son says

December 25, 2024

Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame linebacker Bill Bergey [79] has died after battling cancer for three years, his son announced on social media. “After a long hard 3 year battle, Dad lost his fight with Cancer,” Jake Bergey posted on Christmas Day. Bergey said his dentist first detected a problem in his jaw, and after going to the Penn Center in Philadelphia, learned it was cancer. He had several operations to treat the cancer and urged people to see a doctor as soon as something doesn’t feel right.

Link

Casey Chaos Cause Of Death Revealed As Heart Attack

December 26, 2024

According to blabbermouth.net, Dean Karr, who is a Los Angeles-based photographer and video director, has shared the official obituary for his close friend Casey Chaos, who died less than a week ago at the age of 59 years old. “Hardcore Punk singer Casey Chaos (Karim Chmielinski) of the band Amen passed away on December 20, 2024, at roughly 10:20 p.m. in his Laurel Canyon home.” Karr adds: “He was excited for his mother’s arrival from Melbourne, Florida, to spend Christmas with him and had sent a limousine to retrieve her from LAX airport. The mother arrived at 10:45 p.m. and after no response to her knocking on the door, she let herself in with a spare key. Upon opening the door, she discovered Casey sitting on the floor with his back against the sofa and head tilted back. He had suffered a massive heart attack,” said Karr.

Link

Update from our report in November:

Legendary West Coast Rapper Saafir’s Cause Of Death Revealed

December 27, 2024

Veteran Oakland rapper Saafir passed away at the age of 54 back in November, and the now cause of his death has been revealed. According to TMZ, Saafir died from septic shock and an infection of the small intestine called enterocolitis. The death certificate also lists sacral decubitus as a contributing factor, which is an enlarged bedsore caused by too much pressure on the bottom of the spine. On November 19, Xzibit, a longtime friend and groupmate (in The Golden State Project, along with Ras Kass) of Saafir’s, announced the rapper’s passing in a joint Instagram post with Saafir’s son, a rapper known as Lil Saafir.

Link

Producer Jay David Saks Dies at 79

December 26, 2024

Record producer Jay David Saks, who died last month, left behind a rich and unique legacy, one that spanned the worlds of classical music and Broadway cast albums. But it all began a member of a “one-hit-wonder” group which had a top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Saks died on Nov. 16 of Parkinsonism-related causes. He was 79. News of his death was confirmed by Peter Gelb of The Metropolitan Opera. Saks won 13 Grammys between 1983 and 2014, eight for classical music and five for his work on Broadway cast albums. Born in New York City, Saks grew up in The Bronx. An avid runner, Saks completed one of the earliest New York City marathons.

Link

‘Everybody knew him’: Former journalist, public relations executive Pat Crowley dies

December 28, 2024

Any politician, journalist or business leader who ever got a phone call from Pat Crowley knew two things were likely to happen when they answered. First, Crowley was going to work hard to convince them to do something or to say something they hadn’t considered doing or saying just moments before that call. Second, they would be laughing before the call was over. Crowley’s family and many friends lost him Saturday when he died unexpectedly at his home in Fort Thomas [KY]. The cause of death was not immediately known. He was 63.

Link

Gordon Mah Ung, PCWorld editor and renowned hardware journalist, dies at 58

DR PAUL ALEXANDER

SAME APP USED TO RENT VEHICLES IN BOTH ATTACKS, New Orleans & Elon’s cybertruck explosion outside Trump hotel, what is connection? Stop the bullshit, this is radical ISIS jihadist terror Bataclan

style more to come, this is islamist terror on US soil courtesy Biden Harris et al., they let these feral medieval barbarians into USA to rape and kill; it has started, be warned, get your legal guns

Stop the games you media whores, this is islamism, pure and simple and much more to come…Wahabi, Salafi…we warned you…Bataclan style terror attacks coming, where the jihadists stabbed women in their vaginas, sliced up their genitals, cut off men’s balls, stuffed into their mouths, disemboweled persons alive…so we must be prepared and as Americans, handle our business once life is threatened. Yes, 47, it is over to you now to get them all out!

END

EVOLS NEWS

SLAY NEWS

NEWS ADDICTS

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

7.OIL AND NATURAL GAS ISSUES/GLOBAL

End Of An Era: Ukraine Halts Transit Of Russian Gas To Europe

Wednesday, Jan 01, 2025 – 12:15 PM

An era came to a close in Europe on the first day of 2025.

Russian gas exports via Soviet-era pipelines running through Ukraine came to a halt on New Year’s Day, marking the end of five decades of Moscow’s dominance over Europe’s energy markets, as well as cheap gas that kept Germany’s economy humming.

The gas had kept flowing despite nearly three years of war, but Russia’s gas firm Gazprom said it had stopped at 0500 GMT after Ukraine refused to renew a transit agreement as we previously noted.

According to Reuters, the widely expected stoppage is unlikely to impact prices for consumers in the European Union – unlike in 2022, when falling supplies from Russia sent prices to record highs, worsened a cost-of-living crisis and hit the bloc’s competitiveness – however, that is a rather naive statement since European nat gas prices have been rising all year and closed 2024 more than doubling from their February lows. They will only keep rising now.

The last few European buyers of Russian gas via Ukraine, such as Slovakia and Austria, had already arranged alternative (and far more expensive) supply, while Hungary will keep receiving Russian gas via the TurkStream pipeline under the Black Sea. But Transdniestria, a breakaway pro-Russian region of Ukraine’s neighbor Moldova also reliant on the transit flows, cut off heating and hot water supplies to households early on Wednesday. Local energy company Tirasteploenergo urged residents to dress warmly, hang blankets or thick curtains over windows and balcony doors, and use electric heaters.

The European Commission said the EU had prepared for the cut-off.

Russia and the former Soviet Union spent half a century building up a major share of the European gas market, which at its peak stood at around 35%.

But the EU has slashed its dependence on Russian energy since the start of the war in Ukraine by buying more piped gas from Norway and LNG from Qatar and the United States.

“The European gas infrastructure is flexible enough to provide gas of non-Russian origin,” a spokesperson for the Commission said. “It has been reinforced with significant new LNG (liquefied natural gas) import capacities since 2022.”

The biggest beneficiary of said LNG imports is, of course, the US which has seen its LNG exports to Europe soar since the Ukraine war and since the US blew up the Nordstream pipeline, making (expensive) US sourced LNG one of the few realistic alternatives for Europe. In other words, Europe has gone from relying entirely on cheap Russian gas to relying entirely on expensive US LNG.

Ukraine, which refused to extend the transit deal under pressure from the vegetable in the White House (whose son was recently pardoned for any crimes starting around the time Hunter Biden was appointed to the board of Ukraine’s energy giant Burisma), said Europe had already made the decision to abandon Russian gas.

Combined pipeline routes from Russia delivered a record high 201 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas to Europe in 2018. The number however ground to a halt after the Ukraine war; the Nord Stream route across the Baltic Sea to Germany was blown up by the US in 2022 and the Yamal-Europe pipeline via Belarus has also shut. Russia shipped about 15 bcm of gas via Ukraine in 2023, down from 65 bcm when the last five-year contract began in 2020.

“We stopped the transit of Russian gas. This is a historic event. Russia is losing its markets, it will suffer financial losses,” Ukraine’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko said in a statement.

While Ukraine’s propaganda is understandable – Russia long ago found alternative end markets – nobody will suffer as much as Germany.

As Bloomberg’s Stephen Stapczynski wrote, “Cheap Russian gas was the backbone of some European economies for essentially half a century. That’s now ending. And Europe is set to face higher-for-longer gas prices.” One needs only to look at the ongoing collapse of Germany’s economy to observe this in real time.

And some more context from the Bloomberg analyst who writes that Russia provided half of Germany’s gas in 2021. It’s now zero, and so “due in part to the loss of Russian energy and other factors, Germany’s economy is 5% smaller than it would have been if the pre-pandemic growth trend had been maintained.”

Ukraine, of course, is also a loser: the country that has become a deep state testing bed for World War 3, will lose up to $1 billion a year in transit fees from Russia. To help offset the impact, it will quadruple gas transmission tariffs for domestic consumers from Wednesday, which could cost the country’s industry more than 1.6 billion hryvnias ($38.2 million) a year.

The company halted supply to Austria’s OMV in mid-November over a contractual dispute but in recent weeks Russian gas has been reaching Austria via Slovakia at a rate of around 200 gigawatt hours (GWh) per day. For Jan. 1, only about 7 GWh per day is expected to flow from Slovakia to Austria, Austrian energy regulator E-Control said.

Slovakia’s main gas buyer SPP said it would supply its customers mainly via pipelines from Germany and also Hungary, but would face additional transit costs.

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

END

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

EURO VS USA DOLLAR:  1.0324 DOWN 27 BASIS PTS

USA/ YEN 157.05 DOWN 0.649 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 1.2424 DOWN .0094 OR 94 PTS

USA/CAN DOLLAR:  1.4419 UP 0.0044 (CDN DOLLAR DOWN 44 BASIS PTS)

 Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE CLOSED DOWN 89.20 PTS OR 2.66%

 Hang Seng CLOSED DOWN 436.63 PTS OR 2.18%

AUSTRALIA CLOSED UP 0.53%

 // EUROPEAN BOURSE:     ALL MOSTLY RED

Trading from Europe and ASIA

I) EUROPEAN BOURSES:  ALL MOSTLY RED

2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang SENG CLOSED DOWN 436.63 PTS OR 2.18%

/SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 89.,20 PTS OR 2.66%

AUSTRALIA BOURSE CLOSED UP 0.53%

(Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED HOLIDAY

INDIA’S SENSEX  IN THE GREEN

Gold very early morning trading: 2644.95

silver:$29.41

USA dollar index early THURSDAY  morning: 108.56UP 27 BASIS POINTS FROM  TUESDAY’s CLOSE.

THURSDAY  MORNING NUMBERS ENDS

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

And now your closing THURSDAY NUMBERS 1: 30 AM

Portuguese 10 year bond yield: 2.819% DOWN 2 in basis point(s) yield

JAPANESE BOND YIELD: +1.070% DOWN 0 AND 0/ 10   BASIS POINTS /JAPAN losing control of its yield curve/

SPANISH 10 YR BOND YIELD: 3.035 DOWN 3 in basis points yield

ITALIAN 10 YR BOND YIELD 3.507 DOWN 2 points in basis points yield ./ THE ECB IS QE’ ING ITALIAN BONDS (BUYING ITALIAN BONDS/SELLING GERMAN BUNDS)

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD: 2.3435 DOWN 2 BASIS PTS

IMPORTANT CURRENCY CLOSES :  THURSDAY  

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

Euro/USA 1.0302 DOWN .0048 OR 48 basis points

USA/Japan: 157.05 DOWN 0.615 OR YEN IS UP 62 BASIS PTS//

Great Britain 10 YR RATE 4.6035 DOWN 2 BASIS POINTS //

Canadian dollar DOWN .0056 OR 56 BASIS pts  to 1.4431

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The USA/Yuan,  CNY ON SHORE CLOSED DOWN 7.3369 (ON SHORE)  

THE USA/YUAN OFFSHORE:    (YUAN CLOSED (DOWN)…. (7.3370)

TURKISH LIRA:  35.32 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LEVEL/DEATH WATCH/HYPERINFLATION TO BEGIN.//

the 10 yr Japanese bond yield  at +1.070

Your closing 10 yr US bond yield DOWN 2 in basis points from FRIDAY at  4.553% //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%)

 USA 30 yr bond yield  4.779 DOWN 1 in basis points  /11:00 AM

USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 4.233 DOWN 1  BASIS PTS.

GOLD AT 11;00 AM 2648.15

SILVER AT 11;00: 29.41

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

London: CLOSED UP 87.07 pts or 1.07%

German Dax : UP 115.52 pts or .58% 

Paris CAC CLOSED UP 13.02 pts or 0.18%

Spain IBEX CLOSED UP 81.90 PTS OR .71%

Italian MIB: CLOSED UP 188.59 PTS OR 0.55%

WTI Oil price  73.15 11 EST/

Brent Oil:  76.20 11:00 EST

USA /RUSSIAN ROUBLE ///   AT:  111.50 ROUBLE UP 2 AND  12/100      

GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD; +2.3435 DOWN 2 BASIS PTS.

UK 10 YR YIELD: 4.6035 DOWN 2 BASIS POINTS

CDN 10 YEAR RATE: 3.247 UP 2 BASIS PTS.

CDN 5 YEAR RATE: 2.971 UP 1 BASIS PTS

CLOSING NUMBERS: 4 PM

Euro vs USA 1.0257 DOWN 0.0094 OR 94 BASIS POINTS//HEADING TO PARITY WITH THE DOLLAR

British Pound: 1.2378 DOWN 0.01414 OR 141 basis pts

BRITISH 10 YR GILT BOND YIELD:  4.6385 UP 7 BASIS PTS//

JAPAN 10 YR YIELD: 1.070

USA dollar vs Japanese Yen: 157.62 DOWN 0.084 BASIS PTS// HEADING FOR 160 TO THE DOLLAR

USA dollar vs Canadian dollar: 1.4399 UP 0025 BASIS PTS CDN DOLLAR DOWN 25 BASIS PTS

West Texas intermediate oil: 73.21

Brent OIL:  75.98

USA 10 yr bond yield DOWN 1 BASIS pts to 4.567

USA 30 yr bond yield UP 1 BASIS PTS to 4.792%

USA 2 YR BOND: UP 1 PTS AT  4.248

CDN 10 YR RATE 3.255 UP 1 BASIS PTS

CDN 5 YEAR RATE: 2.984 DOWN 0 BASIS PTS

USA dollar index: 109.12 UP 83 BASIS POINTS

USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 35.34 GETTING QUITE CLOSE TO BLOWING UP/

USA DOLLAR VS RUSSIA//// ROUBLE:  111.00 DOWN 6 AND  8/100 roubles

GOLD  2,657.95 3:30 PM

SILVER: 29.50 3:30 PM

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: DOWN 151.95 PTS OR 0.36%

NASDAQ DOWN 32.14 PTS OR 0.15%

VOLATILITY INDEX: 17.98 UP 0.63 PTS OR 3.63%

GLD: $245.42 UP 3.29 OR 1.36%

SLV/ $26.93 UP .60 OR 2.28%

TORONTO STOCK INDEX// TSX INDEX: CLOSED UP 163.58 PTS OR 0.66%

end

USA AFFAIRS

Crappy New Year For Mega-Cap Tech But Bitcoin, Bullion, & Black Gold Bid

ZEROHEDGE HEADLINE/TODAY’S TRADING

II USA DATA

this data is always contrived. do not read anything into this

(zerohedge)

Initial Jobless Claims Tumble To 8-Month Lows To End The Year

Thursday, Jan 02, 2025 – 08:37 AM

The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the first time tumbled to 211k in the last week of 2024 (down from 220k the prior week and well below the 221k exp). That is the lowest claims print since April…

Source: Bloomberg

Notably, unadjusted claims rose for the second week in a row.

California and Texas saw the biggest declines in claims last week, while Michigan saw the biggest increase…

Continuing claims also tumbled back below the 1.9 million Maginot Line (to 1.844mm vs 1.89mm exp). That is the lowest since September…

Source: Bloomberg

Seems like Powell and his pals will be struggling to come up with reasons to cut rates on Jan 29th if this first data point of the year starts a trend.

III USA ECONOMIC NEWS

Worst Homelessness Crisis Ever!

Tuesday, Dec 31, 2024 – 03:00 PM

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

All over America, our core urban areas are teeming with tent cities, hordes of homeless drug addicts, and vast throngs of newly arrived migrants that don’t have anywhere to go.  When I wrote about this topic one year ago, homelessness in the U.S. was at an all-time record high, and it was increasing at the fastest pace ever recorded.  It was going to be hard to top that, but somehow we did.  Fast forward to today, and homelessness in the U.S. has reached another all-time record high, and it is increasing at an even faster pace.  We are literally in the midst of the worst homelessness crisis that our federal government has ever measured, and there is no end in sight.

When the rest of us discuss the economic pain that we are experiencing, many on the high end of the economic spectrum wonder what all the fuss is about because things still seem pretty good to them.

But for many of those on the low end of the economic spectrum, it feels like a full-blown economic collapse has already begun.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development revealed that the homeless population in the U.S. jumped 18 percent in just one year…

Homelessness in the United States soared to the highest level on record, according to government data released Friday.

More than 770,000 people experienced homelessness in 2024, an 18% increase from 2023, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development reported. It was the largest annual increase since HUD began collecting the data in 2007 (excluding the jump from 2021 to 2022, when the agency didn’t conduct a full count due to the Covid-19 pandemic).

If homelessness is at the highest level ever and it is rising at the fastest rate ever, your economy is not okay.

Let’s just be real for a moment.

I am so sick and tired of the Biden administration and the mainstream media telling us that everything is just fine.

More than three-quarters of a million Americans are homeless, and that is just the ones that they are able to find and count.

The true number is certainly far higher.

We are being told that the spike in homelessness is happening because we don’t have enough affordable housing and because we are not able to absorb all of the migrants that have been pouring over our borders.

In fact, in 13 communities that have been heavily impacted by migration, “family homelessness more than doubled”…

Migration had a particularly notable impact on family homelessness, which rose 39% from 2023 to 2024, according to the report. In the 13 communities that reported being affected by migration, family homelessness more than doubled.

When we think of the homeless, we tend to think of older men with addiction problems.

But the truth is that approximately 150,000 children are living in the streets at this point…

Massively concerning is that 150,000 children experienced homelessness, a 33% jump in 2024 when compared to the prior year.

What is wrong with us?

Why can’t we get this crisis under control?

Our politicians like to give speeches about affordable housing, but housing just continues to become more unaffordable…

Rents have continued climbing since briefly dipping lower during the pandemic, as well. As of 2023, nearly half of renters spend more than 30% of their income on housing, qualifying them as cost-burdened, according to the US Census Bureau.

Every day, more precious people on the low end of the economic spectrum are being evicted from their homes.

Every day, the homeless population in this country just gets even bigger.

And now we have entered a time when finding a decent job is going to be quite a bit more difficult…

US private sector full-time jobs have DROPPED by nearly 2 MILLION over the past year.

Such a drop has never happened outside of recessions.

The only gain in full-time jobs has been in the government sector.

We aren’t buying the propaganda any longer.

They keep trying to convince us that everything is just fine, but that clearly isn’t the truth.

When Don Lemon tried to convince a random man that he was interviewing that the economy “is actually better under Biden”, the man responded with a “hearty laugh”…

“Four years ago it was a lot better. I made a lot more money than I do now,” the man said.

Incredibly, rather than try to understand the man’s perspective, Lemon argued with him.

“I know you feel that way, but that’s not actually what the record shows,” Lemon said. “The economy is actually better under Biden.”

That prompted a hearty laugh from the interviewee.

We can see the tent cities that are popping up like mushrooms all over our major cities.

We can see the hordes of people that are sleeping in their vehicles in retail parking lots at night.

And we can see that prices at the grocery store are far, far higher than they used to be.

According to a national survey that was just released, approximately 70 percent of U.S. adults believe that the U.S. economy is in poor condition right now…

About 7 in 10 U.S. adults rate the country’s economic state as very or somewhat poor, up slightly from about 6 in 10 in October. Self-identified Democrats are primarily driving the recent negativity. About 6 in 10 Democrats described the U.S. economy as “good” in October. With Republicans on the verge of controlling the executive and legislative branches, only about half of Democrats say that now.

That same survey also discovered that about a third of all U.S. adults are either “extremely” or “very” concerned about being able to “afford groceries over the next few months”…

The new AP-NORC poll shows about one-third of Americans say they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about their ability to afford groceries over the next few months. About 3 in 10 are highly worried about being able to afford holiday gifts, gas or electricity.

There are tens of millions of Americans that are barely holding on from month to month.

Next month, more of them will lose their grip.

We really are in the midst of a slow-motion economic collapse, and poverty and hunger really are growing all around us.

But for now, those on the high end of the economic spectrum are still living the high life, but it is just a matter of time before they experience severe economic pain too.

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

END

Unbelievable! Massacre on Bourbon Street New Orleans by uSA Muslim former army soldier.

New Orleans Mayor Calls Bourbon Street Massacre A “Terrorist Attack”

Wednesday, Jan 01, 2025 – 07:50 AM

Watch Live:

*   *   * 

Update (0750ET):

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell confirmed that the truck ramming attack on Bourbon Street was a “terrorist attack.”

“First of all, the city of New Orleans was impacted by a terrorist attack. I’ve been in direct contact with the White House, Governor Landry, and the unified command here.”   

Police killed the terror attack suspect when he exited the truck with an assault rifle, per ABC News report. 

Let’s not forget…

Two weeks ago… 

Update (0730ET):

Local media outlets have published an image of the truck involved in the mass casualty incident on Bourbon Street.

The Ford F-150 Lightning truck has a Texas license plate reading “LZ 1575.” A flagpole hitch holder is visible with what appears to be a flag, although it seems covered. Additionally, there are four bullet holes in the rear cabin window of the truck.

*   *   * 

Update (0700ET):

The New Orleans Police Department told ABC News that “the strike appeared to be intentional” and “the driver has not been taken into custody.”

Witness tells CNN:

Update (0640ET):

The City of New Orleans has confirmed ten dead and 30 injured after a vehicle plowed into a large crowd on Canal and Bourbon Street.

The New Orleans Police Department has yet to confirm whether the mass casualty incident was intentional. No details about the driver have been released. 

A press conference is expected shortly.

*   *   * 

The New Orleans Police Department told local media outlet WGNO that multiple people are dead after a vehicle plowed into a crowd on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. The area, a bar and restaurant district popular with tourists, was still very active just hours after New Year’s Eve celebrations.

NOPD said the vehicle struck a group of people around 3:15 a.m. local time at the intersection of Bourbon Street and Iberville

Witnesses told CBS News reporter Kati Weis that a truck crashed into the crowd at “high speeds,” adding that the driver exited the vehicle and started discharging a weapon, prompting police officers to return fire.

END

UPDATE

Vegas Police Say “Very Strange Similarities” Between Cybertruck Bombing & Bourbon Street Massacre

Thursday, Jan 02, 2025 – 03:18 PM

Welcome to the second day of 2025.

*   *   *

Update (1518ET): 

In Vegas, Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill told reporters that the Cybertruck bomber, Matthew Livelsberger, shot himself in the head before the vehicle exploded.

McMahill stated that a handgun was found at Livelsberger’s feet. However, this is not definitive evidence about the timing of the death. Remember, the Cybertruck has Full Self-Driving… 

More headlines from the press conference: 

• LAS VEGAS POLICE: FOUND SEMI-AUTOMATIC WEAPON IN CYBERTRUCK
• LAS VEGAS POLICE: ALSO FOUND MILITARY ID IN CYBERTRUCK
• LVMPD: SUBJECT WENT TO SEVERAL PLACES ALONG LAS VEGAS BOULEVARD
• ATF: GUNS WERE LAWFULLY PURCHASED BY LIVELSBERGER; GUNS WERE PURCHASED ON DEC. 30
• FBI: NO IDEOLOGY LEADING TO TRUMP, TESLA IN CYBERTRUCK BLAST

Here’s where things get interesting… 

At an earlier press conference in New Orleans: 

• FBI: NO ‘DEFINITIVE LINK’ BETWEEN ATTACK IN NOLA AND LAS VEGAS

Now: 

• LAS VEGAS POLICE: ‘VERY STRANGE SIMILARITIES’ WITH NOLA CASE

It’s always after the fact, but a CNN report stated the Department of Homeland Security warned about ‘lone wolf’ attacks last month.

“Lone offenders have historically used simple tactics, such as edged weapons, firearms, or vehicle ramming, due to their ease of access, ability to inflict mass casualties, and lack of required training,” the DHS bulletin read.

According to a federal source close to the counter-terrorism community, another intelligence briefing released last summer indicated that pre-trained al-Qaeda terrorists had entered the US through the Biden-Harris administration’s open southern border.

In a recent discussion on the Shawn Ryan Show, former CIA targeting officer Sarah Adams warned of a potentially devastating attack planned by Al-Qaeda terrorists on American soil.

Investigations into the Cybertruck bomber and New Orleans terrorist are only just beginning. More details are coming..

end

Michael Snyder….

10 Questions We Should All Be Asking About The New Year’s Day Terror Attacks

Thursday, Jan 02, 2025 – 03:40 PM

While we are slowly getting some answers from law enforcement today, there are still a number of bigger picture questions that need to be addressed.

As Michael Snyder highlights, via The Economic Collapse blog, our “new” golden era of “peace and safety” has been very rudely interrupted by the “old” problem of Islamic terror.

 Of course the truth is that it is a problem that never went away.  

There were dozens of major terror attacks in 2024, but most of the population is not going to pay attention unless something happens within our own borders.  Sadly, everyone is paying attention now.

Very early on New Year’s Day, a 42-year-old nut named Shamsud-Din Jabbar rammed a truck into a large crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.  We are being told that 15 people are dead and dozens more are injured…

A man intentionally drove a pickup truck into a crowd of revelers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans’ French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens of others, officials said.

A black ISIS flag was flying from the truck’s rear bumper, and the attack is being investigated as an act of terrorism, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said.

The man driving the vehicle has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, a U.S. citizen from Texas, the FBI said.

So was this the end, or is this just the beginning?

The following are 10 questions that we should all be asking about the chaotic New Year’s Day terror attacks…

#1 Why did an FBI special agent initially tell us that the attack in New Orleans “was not a terrorist event”?  Something about all this does not smell right…

Multiple sources are reporting that the attacker in the deadly New Orleans attack that killed 10 people and injured dozens more was carrying an ISIS flag at the time of the attack, leading many to question how and why an FBI special agent confidently declared that the attack was “not a terrorist event” early on in the investigation.

Witnesses indicated that the attacker was flying a “large black flag” from his truck at the time of the attack, which would be consistent with a description of the ISIS flag. The FBI has since confirmed that the flag was, indeed, an ISIS flag, leading many to harshly criticize the FBI’s initial response to the attack, which flatly denied any connection to terrorism.

#2 What happened to the other “potential IEDs” that law enforcement found in the French Quarter?  The following is an excerpt from an official statement by the FBI…

Weapons and a potential IED were located in the subject’s vehicle. Other potential IEDs were also located in the French Quarter. The FBI’s special agent bomb technicians are working with our law enforcement partners to determine if any of these devices are viable, and they will work to render those devices safe.

#3 Shamsud-Din Jabbar had threatened to kill his own family before joining ISIS with the intention of committing terrorism on U.S. soil.  Did law enforcement know about any of this beforehand?  If so, why was nothing done?…

In a series of videos, the suspect in the deadly New Year’s attack in New Orleans discussed planning to kill his family and having dreams that helped inspire him to join ISIS, according to multiple officials briefed on the investigation.

Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the 42-year-old man who police suspect drove a pickup truck into a crowd of revelers on Bourbon Street, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens more, made the chilling recordings while driving from his home in Texas to Louisiana, authorities believe.

Jabbar, a US citizen and Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, made reference in the videos to his divorce and how he had at first planned to gather his family for a “celebration” with the intention of killing them, two officials who had been briefed on the recordings said. But Jabbar said in the videos that he changed his plans and joined ISIS, and referenced several dreams that he had about why he should be joining the terrorist group, according to the officials.

#4 Did Shamsud-Din Jabbar act alone?  From the evidence that we have at this hour, it appears that he probably was not…

From the first news of the attack, Islamic State websites have been echoing with sick celebrations of the attack. This alone suggests that it was not the work of a lone wolf claiming to be an agent of IS, but was in fact organised from abroad by its underground HQ in the Middle East.

The fact that investigators found guns and concealed pipe bombs wired for remote detonation – as well as a corresponding remote control device inside the truck – was enough for the FBI to declare it does not believe the driver was acting alone.

#5 A Tesla Cybertruck exploded in front of Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Wednesday morning.  Was this attack linked to the attack in New Orleans?…

A Tesla Cybertruck burst into flames Wednesday morning just outside the entrance of Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, killing one person and injuring several other people, local officials said.

The explosion is now being investigated as a possible terrorist attack, three senior members of law enforcement briefed on the matter told NBC News. A motive has yet to be established.

#6 Who made the “makeshift explosives” that caused the Tesla Cybertruck to explode?…

Police have released a series of photographs from inside the Cybertruck which blew up outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, revealing an arsenal of makeshift explosives.

The driver of the Elon Musk-owned Tesla Cybertruck, who has not yet been formally identified, died in the explosion and seven members of the public were injured.

Charred fireworks, gas cannisters and camping fuel were found in the bed of the truck when authorities were finally able to put out the fire.

#7 The Ford truck used in the New Orleans attack and the Cybertruck used in the Las Vegas attack were both rented from Turo.  Is this an important clue?…

Musk claimed the Cybertruck and the Ford used in the New Orleans attack had both been rented by the same company.

He posted on his X platform: “Appears likely to be an act of terrorism.

“Both this Cybertruck and the F-150 suicide bomb in New Orleans were rented from Turo. Perhaps they are linked in some way.”

#8 Why are vehicles being used in so many Islamic terror attacks now?  According to USA Today, vehicle attacks have been “killing and injuring thousands of people internationally”…

Cheap and simple vehicle-based attacks have rapidly become one of the deadliest forms of terror assaults worldwide, killing and injuring thousands of people internationally since they began becoming more frequent after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Experts say a combination of factors have increased the number of vehicle attacks in recent years, notably the increased focus on outdoor events after the pandemic, ease of access to trucks or cars, and the uncomplicated nature of the approach itself.

#9 What policies will the incoming Trump administration enact in response to these attacks?  On Truth Social, Trump sounded very angry following the attack in New Orleans…

When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true. The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before. Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department. The Trump Administration will fully support the City of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil!

#10 Are more terror attacks coming?  Thanks to years of very foolish policies, we now have vast numbers of people living in the U.S. that are supportive of terror organizations.  For example, just 12 hours after the attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas, a “massive crowd of Hamas supporters” conducted a very large protest in Manhattan…

A massive crowd of Hamas supporters has taken over downtown Manhattan, NYC calling for a global intifada.

12 hours from the tragedy in New Orleans and Las Vegas and these people are doing this.

Do they have no shame?

As I alluded to in my headline, we were warned that this was coming.

Now it is here.

I am entirely convinced that a lot more chaos and a lot more violence are on the way.

We are far more vulnerable than most people realize, and the next time you find yourself in a crowded place I would recommend being in a constant state of high alert.

end

LAS Vegas terror attack:

Musk Confirms “Large Fireworks &/Or Bomb” Exploded Cybertruck At Trump Vegas Hotel

Wednesday, Jan 01, 2025 – 07:41 PM

Update (1941ET):

“The evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards. Not even the glass doors of the lobby were broken,” Elon Muks wrote on X. 

*   *   * 

Update (1901ET):

Update (1723ET):

“We have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself,” Tesla’s Elon Musk wrote on X, “All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion.” 

Update (1534ET):

Government officials told ABC News that the Tesla Cybertruck explosion on Wednesday outside the Trump Las Vegas hotel in Nevada is being investigated as a “possible act of terror.”

Here’s more from ABC:

Investigators do not know what caused the blast, such as whether something was wrong with the vehicle or whether something external prompted it. Determining what was behind the explosion is the key focus of the probe.

An official briefed on the probe told ABC News that the Tesla Cybertruck had a load of fireworks-style mortars onboard. Investigators are urgently working to determine a motive and whether the driver intended to set off an explosion and why.

Until a motive is determined and other possibilities are ruled out, police are treating the explosion like a possible criminal act and a possible act of terror. Evidence collection and investigation are ongoing.

Tesla’s Elon Musk responded:

With everyone on edge after the New Orleans ‘terrorist attack‘ on Bourbon Street early this morning, reports flooded X moments ago of a ‘boom’ and/or a ‘vehicle fire’ in Las Vegas. 

It turns out the ‘boom’ was caused by a Tesla Cybertruck ablaze in front of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, possibly due to a lithium battery fire.

Wow. 

What are the odds?

END

Feds Probe Possible Military Link Between Suspects In Bourbon Street Massacre & Trump Hotel Cybertruck Blast

Thursday, Jan 02, 2025 – 08:05 AM

Welcome to the second day of 2025.

Federal authorities and investigative teams are probing a potential military connection between a US Army veteran who displayed an Islamic State (IS) flag and was described as “hellbent” on causing maximum damage by steering a Ford F-150 Lightning (EV) into a crowd on Bourbon Street, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens, and another US Army veteran who drove an explosives-filled Tesla Cybertruck that detonated almost like a VBIED outside Trump’s Las Vegas hotel just hours after the Bourbon Street massacre.

Two law enforcement sources familiar with the New Orleans truck-terror-ramming attack and the Las Vegas incident told NBC News that federal investigative teams are probing a potential military connection between the two individuals involved in both attacks.

New Orleans terror suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, who died in a subsequent close-range firefight with police after the ramming attack, was a US national and Texas resident. He worked in the US Army’s human resources and information technology departments between 2006 and 2020, including a deployment to Afghanistan in 2009. 

The suspect in the Cybertruck explosion at Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas has been identified as “Matthew Livelsberger,” according to Newsweek. 

Denver-based station ABC7 reported that Livelsberger once served at the same base as Shamsud-Din Jabbar. However, no evidence yet confirms whether they had direct links of any sort. 

However, both vehicles used in New Orleans and Las Vegas were rented from San Francisco-based Turo.

Turo wrote in a statement, “We do not believe that either renter had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat, and we are not currently aware of any information that indicates the two incidents are related.”

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill told NBC earlier that investigators believe multiple people were involved in the Bourbon Street massacre. She said authorities believe explosive devices were made in an Airbnb rental in the New Orleans metro area.

“We know that these individuals had rented the house were using it for that purpose,” Murrill said.

Murrill also said she wanted to postpone the Sugar Bowl at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans for another day. The football game is currently scheduled for tonight after it was postponed following the attack.

Murrill noted that “the community is safe” because of the increased law enforcement presence in the city. However, the delay of the Sugar Bowl may only suggest that something larger is unfolding. 

Here we go. 

In a recent discussion on the Shawn Ryan Show, former CIA targeting officer Sarah Adams warned of a potentially devastating attack planned by Al-Qaeda terrorists on American soil.

Finally, with just a few days left until Trump is inaugurated, we can’t help but wonder at the timing of this sudden chaos.

end

UPDATED

“Act Of Terror”: FBI Says Bourbon Street Attacker Lone Wolf, No “Definitive Link” To Vegas Cybertruck Bomber

Thursday, Jan 02, 2025 – 02:07 PM

Update (1407ET): 

Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia of the FBI Counterterrorism Division told reporters on Thursday afternoon that the New Orleans massacre “was an act of terrorism” (14 dead, dozens injured) and stated, “My goal is to be as forthcoming as possible with you about what we’ve uncovered so far.”

Remember, hours after the terror incident on Bourbon Street, the FBI lied to the American people: “This was not a terrorist event.” 

Sigh, FBI! Public trust continues to crumble. 

Also, the FBI announced a complete reversal from a statement on Wednseday, in which Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan said, “We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible. We are aggressively running down every lead, including those of his known associates.”

Once again, given the FBI’s ongoing trust issues, the public remains uncertain about what to believe.

Back to Raia’s press conference, he said there had not been a “definitive link” between the Bourbon Street attack and the Tesla Cybertruck explosion at Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas. 

“As you know, there’s also an FBI investigation in Las Vegas. We are following up on all potential leads and not ruling everything out. However, at this point, there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas. And again, I’ll preface as I close, I’ll preface everything with what I started with in the beginning, which was this is very early in an investigation like this,” Raia told reporters. 

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said Bourbon Street will reopen this afternoon ahead of the Sugar Bowl game this evening. 

Meanwhile, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said the Bourbon Street massacre can happen anywhere, and “you have to crush” evil to protect America. 

Under the Biden-Harris regime, the Feds facilitated the greatest migrant invasion this nation has ever seen by opening the floodgates on the southern border to millions of illegal aliens, some of which were pre-trained terrorists. In other words, our own government willfully compromised national security through globalist border policies.

Raia also said Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the Bourbon Street terrorist, was “100% inspired by ISIS…” 

“So what I can tell you right now is that he was 100% inspired by ISIS. And so we’re digging — we’re digging through more of the social media, more interviews, working with some of our other partners to-to ascertain just how to ascertain a little bit more about that connection,” he noted. 

However, we must note that Jabbar and Matthew Livelsberger’s (Cybertruck suicide bomber) were both US Army veterans. 

From a ramming attack on Bourbon Street to a VBIED-like explosion at Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas, occurring on the same day just hours apart, it seems suspicious and raises concerns that there might be more incidents to come.

*   *   *

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

—

SWAMP STORIES FOR YOU TONIGHT

Next on Hindenburg’s List: Carvana

Hindenburg Research Latest In A Long Line Of Short Sellers Critical On Carvana

Thursday, Jan 02, 2025 – 10:40 AM

Shares of Carvana are on watch after short seller Hindenburg Research joins what can only be described as a long line of critics who have pointed out irregularities with the company’s accounting.

Calling the company a “father-son accounting grift for the ages”, the firm led by Nate Anderson says after “extensive document review and 49 interviews with industry experts, former Carvana employees, competitors and related parties of the company” they’re convinced the company’s turnaround is a “mirage”. 

“Our research uncovered $800 million in loan sales to a suspected undisclosed related party, along with details on how accounting manipulation and lax underwriting have fueled temporary reported income growth – all while insiders cash out billions in stock,” the firm wrote. 

“Even before considering the findings of our investigation, Carvana is exorbitantly valued, trading at an 845% higher sales multiple relative to online car peers CarMax and AutoNation, and a 754% premium on a forward earnings basis. The company has ~$4.8 billion in junk-rated debt. Carvana’s business already faces major headwinds. Used vehicle prices have declined 20.3% in the past 2 years, according to the Manheim Price Index. Subprime auto loan delinquencies are now higher than during the Global Financial Crisis, per Fitch,” the firm concluded.

The firm raised questions about Carvana’s partners, stating: “Carvana has relied on a purchase commitment agreement with Ally Financial, to which it sold $3.6 billion of vehicle loans in 2023, ~60% of its total originations. Carvana has told investors for at least 6 years that it is seeking to diversify outside of its relationship with Ally, but thus far has not announced new financing partners.”

“Over the last 2 years, Ally’s loan book has become increasingly concentrated, with Carvana loans rising from 5% of its consumer auto portfolio to 8.4%. In September 2024, Ally’s stock fell 20% after warning investors that ‘on the retail auto side, our credit challenges have intensified'”.

Hindenburg writes that: “Sales to Ally have scaled back year to date through September 2024. Carvana sold $2.15 billion of loans to Ally in the period (~$2.86 billion on an annualized basis), only 35% of total originations. This compares to $3.6 billion in loans or 60% of total originations in 2023.”

Anderson’s firm now raises questions about who is buying Carvana’s loans, stating: “With Ally pulling back, a new, unnamed buyer has quietly emerged exactly when Carvana needed it. In the past two quarters, Carvana sold $800 million in loans to an ‘unrelated third party.’ The mystery buyer made up 18.3% and 16.3% of total loan sales in Q2 and Q3 2024.”

“Lien filings reveal the buyer is likely a trust affiliated with Cerberus Capital, where Carvana Director Dan Quayle is Chairman of Global Investments, indicating the new buyer is an undisclosed related-party, contrary to the company’s claims.”

Hindenburg continues: “Previously, Carvana CEO Ernie Garcia III’s father, Ernest Garcia II, sold $3.6 billion in stock between August 2020 and August 2021. In the year after he stopped selling, Carvana’s stock plunged 99% and faced bankruptcy concerns shortly thereafter. Since 2023 we see the same trend: Carvana has touted a bright future and posted three consecutive quarters of modest positive net income, an aggregate of $245 million, despite stress in the used auto market.”

The report continues: “For every $1 in net income it reported, the company has added $139 in market cap – a $34 billion market cap increase. With Carvana shares up ~42x, father Ernest Garcia II has sold another $1.4 billion in Carvana stock. As insiders unload stock, the company’s solvency risks remain. Almost 26% of Carvana’s gross profit consisted of sales of customer auto loans to third parties, largely in the risky subprime and deep subprime space. Gain on loan sales represented 2.2x Carvana’s net income in the past 9 months.”

Anderson’s Hindenburg is best known for its scathing criticism of one of Asia’s richest men, Gautam Adani, who the short seller accused of running the “largest corporate con in history”. Since then, Adani, along with multiple associates, has been indicted in the U.S. on unrelated charges of bribery. 

end

They are back!

Guardian Angels To Return To NYC Subways After Multiple Assaults And Murders

Thursday, Jan 02, 2025 – 02:20 PM

In 1979-1980 at the height of the decade-long stagflationary crisis wrought by Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter, New York City was reeling from a growing crime wave.  The mayor was Edward Irving Koch, a lifelong Democrat who described himself as a “liberal with sanity”.   

During that same period the federal government passed the Refugee Act, which led to the infamous Mariel Boatlift in 1980 and a surge of 125,000 Cubans into the US.  A large number of these refugees were criminals from Cuban prisons, set loose by Fidel Castro and shipped off to Florida to relieve the Cuban prison system. 

Many of these same violent criminals ended up in NYC, welcomed by the US immigration system with open arms.

City residents were hit with a crippling crime wave, then New York State and NYC passed stringent gun laws in 1980, making it nearly impossible for law abiding citizens to carry and protect themselves.  New York subways in particular were considered far too dangerous for the average person, though many were too poor to afford alternative transportation. 

The situation was so bad that muggers were even getting robbed by other muggers, yet, city officials tried to diminish the threat as a matter of people using the subways at “the wrong time of day”.  

When the Democrat controlled state government disarmed the population and then refused to provide practical protection for them, people took matters into their own hands and formed citizen security groups.  The most famous of these groups was the Guardian Angels.  The organization set out to train common New Yorkers for hand-to-hand self defense and deter violent crime, especially in the subways and in Central Park. 

The Guardian Angels operated in NY for years and proved effective in preventing crime and intervening to stop crimes in progress.  They were accused of being “vigilantes”, but because they did not carry weapons their presence was mostly tolerated by the city government.  Their operations faded by the end of the 1990s, then made a short comeback around 2020.  Founder Curtis Sliwa says that he believes the Guardian Angels are needed again in 2025. 

New Yorkers seem to agree.  One grateful New Yorker even planted a kiss on Sliwa as his red-beret-wearing crew poked around the darkest corners of Bronx and Manhattan stations looking for trouble.  “It’s good to see ya’ll back,” Bronx resident Tammy Benson, 60, told Sliwa after giving him a kiss at the 125th Street station in Harlem. “You and them need to come back. I’m grateful to see it. I feel really blessed when I see [Sliwa]. It’s been like 40 years and he’s really sweet and kind.”

Another Manhattanite, Natalie Lora, says the Angels are a welcome sight.

“We need them,” said Lora, 40. “It’s that time: We need them again. We’re happy to see them. If you’re a native New Yorker then you know.”

Today, New York is run by a more extreme breed of liberal.  They have become increasingly hostile towards the idea of citizen anti-crime efforts and “vigilantes” while violent assaults are on the rise. 

In fact, taking matters into your own hands in NYC almost guarantees prosecution even if you don’t use a weapon.  The case of Daniel Penny proved that the progressive court system is intent on pursuing jail time for anyone caught physically impeding criminal activity. 

Penny was acquitted on all charges by a jury, but the people who went after him are still in power and are still as malicious as ever.  Why do they hate people like Penny?  Because leftist governments seek to control resources, and they see security as a resource.  If people provide that resource for themselves then the population might realize that they don’t need the leftist government.

Curtis Sliwa is ready to bring back regular patrols of Guardian Angels despite likely city opposition.  Sliwa ran for Mayor of NYC in 2021 as a Republican but lost the election to Democrat Eric Adams; a decision New York voters should be ashamed of in the face of Adams’ long list of failures.  

The hostility to citizen action plays as a backdrop to some horrific criminal activity.  Right after an illegal immigrant from Guatemala named Sebastion Zapeta set a sleeping woman on fire and then fanned the flames while transit police stood by and did nothing, Governor Kathy Hochul came out on social media to reassure New Yorkers and the country that the subways were safe. 

Multiple attacks have happened since, including a man being shoved in front of an oncoming train by a 23-year-old assailant for no apparent reason. 

Not surprisingly, 27 of the top 30 most violent cities in America are run by Democrats and their weak crime policies have led to disaster.  New York is a larger symbol of a systemic problem that can only be solved two ways – Citizen intervention, or the removal of leftist politicians from office. 

GREG HUNTER

Trump Admin: Fight Between Freedom & Deep State Control – Catherine Austin Fitts

By Greg Hunter On January 1, 2025 In Political Analysis6 Comments

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

Catherine Austin Fitts (CAF), Publisher of The Solari Report, says the real work for the Trump Administration is happening now.  CAF is a financial expert and former Assistant Secretary of Housing (Bush 41 Admin.) who managed hundreds of billions of dollars in her career.  CAF says this is a fight within the Trump Administration that is summed up by those who will fight for freedom and sovereignty and those who want America under Deep State control.  CAF explains, “You had a lot of people who voted for Trump that wanted to see him protect freedoms.  You also have a lot of people voting and donating for Trump because they think he can get them the control grid.  The centralization and decentralization are both hoping Trump will give them what they want. . . . Trump has to do something that works economically.  The first day, Trump will be asked to fill the top 10 or 20 positions.  Ultimately, after you fill the cabinet and the other top positions, then there are another 10,000 positions to be filled.  The President does 1,000 positions, and those thousand do the rest of about 10,000 positions.  The guys who want the control grid are trying to get their people in place.  The guys who want freedom are trying to get their people in place. . . . After you get the people in place, it’s going to have to be battled out one policy at a time. . . . So, this is trench warfare, and it’s not going to be decided by the election.  It’s going to be decided by the staffing and the policy debate that happens day after day.

The corruption that has to be cleaned up is huge.  Take the recent announcement of royalties being paid to a government health agency — the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  CAF says, “The NIH is receiving $1.1 billion from Pfizer–BioNTech for the Covid vaccine shots.”

Ed Dowd says we just added a fresh 800,000 disabled people to the 4 million disabled since the CV19 shots were introduced.  The total amount of disabled people in the US from the CV19 vax now stands at 4.8 million.

CAF points out Dr. Mark Skidmore (Michigan State) just published a study that says if we could go back to the disability numbers of 2010 and before, the US could reduce the federal deficit by $500 billion a year!! 

CAF says, “If you connect the dots with Ed Dowd, Dr. Skidmore’s study and the announcement of Pfizer paying royalties to NIH, we are paying NIH a billion dollars to poison the American people and bankrupting the country.”

There is no wonder why Big Pharma and the NIH are very nervous of Bobby Kennedy Jr.  Keep in mind, this is just one broken piece of corrupt government.

CAF says look who DOGE is auditing first.  It’s the IRS.  CAF says, “If you knew the government was missing $21 trillion (and it is), you would go to the Fed and audit them. . . . We are going to go over to the New York Fed and the Treasury and look at the bank accounts and find out where that money went and get it back—right?  Why would they audit the IRS?  Because Janet Yellen (Treasury Secretary) says the American people owe $7 trillion in unpaid taxes.  There is only one reason you audit the IRS, and that’s because you want to collect the $7 trillion.  So, you are not trying to find the $21 trillion that has disappeared out the back door? You are trying to find the people who Janet Yellen says owe the US Treasury.

CAF says look out for the push for a digital ID.  It equals slavery.  It’s being pushed by the Deep State control team.  CAF says the freedom team will push to keep cash alive.  Everyone can do that by using cash more.  CAF says, “The big danger in 2025 is going to be rising inflation. . . .The real inflation rate is around 10%.”  CAF also says there is a big market correction coming because the stock market is in a bubble.  CAF says there will be gruesome news coming out of Syria in 2025 because her sources say, “The genocide and slaughter are off the charts in Syria.”

In closing, CAF says there are many ways the Deep State control team wants to separate you from your wealth, and the freedom team will be proposing ways to stop that along with protecting freedom of speech.  2025 will be trench warfare between the Deep State control team and the freedom and sovereignty team.

There is much more in the 1-hour & 28-minute interview.

Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog.com as he goes One-on-One with the Publisher of The Solari Report, Catherine Austin Fitts, as she looks ahead for what’s coming in 2025 for 1.1.25.

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After the Interview:

There is a lot of free information on Solari.com.

Be on the lookout for new groundbreaking new material coming out in early 2025 on Solari.com

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