GOLD CLOSED UP $37.50 TO $3,339.40
SILVER CLOSED UP $0.31 TO $32.75
GOLD ACCESS CLOSED $3327.00
Silver ACCESS CLOSED: $32.77
Bitcoin morning price:$103,040 UP 1534 DOLLARS.
Bitcoin: afternoon price: $101,146 up 3428 DOLLARS
Platinum price closing UP $17.80 TO $1001.40
Palladium price; UP $4.95 TO $978.70
END
*CANADIAN GOLD: $4,635.83 UP 40.80 CDN dollars per oz( * NEW ALL TIME HIGH $4735.70 CDN DOLLARS PER OZ//APRIL 21 2025)
*BRITISH GOLD: 2500.30 UP 3.00 Pounds per oz// *(NEW ALL TIME HIGH//CLOSING//2,566.50 BRITISH POUNDS/OZ) MAY 6/2025
*EURO GOLD: 2956.55 UP 2.80 Euros per oz //* (ALL TIME CLOSING HIGH: 3018.80 EUROS PER OZ/ APRIL 21 //2025)
DONATE
Click here if you wish to send a donation. I sincerely appreciate it as this site takes a lot of preparation
EXCHANGE: COMEX
EXCHANGE: COMEX
CONTRACT: MAY 2025 COMEX 100 GOLD FUTURES
SETTLEMENT: 3,296.600000000 USD
INTENT DATE: 05/08/2025 DELIVERY DATE: 05/12/2025
FIRM ORG FIRM NAME ISSUED STOPPED
190 H BMO CAPITAL MARKETS 7
363 H WELLS FARGO SECURITI 1
661 C JP MORGAN SECURITIES 3
661 H JP MORGAN SECURITIES 1
690 C ABN AMRO CLR USA LLC 5
737 C ADVANTAGE FUTURES 5
TOTAL: 11 11
MONTH TO DATE: 15,962
JPMORGAN STOPPED 3/11
MAY
GOLD: NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR MAY/2024. CONTRACT: 11 NOTICES FOR 1100 OZ 0.0342 TONNES
total notices so far: 15,962 contracts for 1,596,200 OR 49.648 tonnes)
FOR MAY
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
SILVER NOTICES: 118 NOTICE(S) FILED FOR 0.590 MILLION OZ/
total number of notices filed so far this month : 13,699 CONTRACTS (NOTICES) for 68.495 million oz
Click here if you wish to send a donation. I sincerely appreciate it as this site takes a lot of preparation
END
GLD/
BOTH GLD AND SLV ARE FRAUDULENT VEHICLES//THEY ARE NOW RAIDING GLD AND SLV FOR PHYSICAL
THE CROOKS ARE STEALING GOLD AND SILVER FROM THE GLD/SLV AND REPLACING THE PHYSICAL WITH PAPER DOLLARS.
WITH GOLD UP $37.50 INVESTORS SWITCHING TO SPROTT PHYSICAL (PHYS) INSTEAD OF THE FRAUDULENT GLD:
HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 2.01 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD//
INVENTORY RESTS AT 939.68 TONNES
SLV/
WITH NO SILVER AROUND AND SILVER UP $0.31 AT THE SLV: NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: //
CLOSING INVENTORY RESTS AT:
CLOSING INVENTORY: 448.783 MILLION OZ
Let us have a look at the data for today
SILVER//OUTLINE
SILVER COMEX OI FELL BY A HUMONGOUS SIZED 2047 CONTRACTS TO 136,887 AND CONTINUING ON ITS MARCH TO THE RECORD HIGH OI OF 244,710, SET FEB 25/2020, AND THIS HUGE SIZED LOSS IN COMEX OI WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR SMALL LOSS OF $0.16 IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX WITH RESPECT TO THURSDAY’S TRADING. WE HAD A HUGE SIZED LOSS OF 1747 TOTAL CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES AS THE CME NOTIFIED US OF A GOOD 300 CONTRACT EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE.. WE HAD HUGE LIQUIDATION OF T.A.S. CONTRACTS COMEX TRADING THURSDAY AS THEY DESPERATELY AGAIN TRIED TO CONTAIN SILVER’S PRICE RISE FOR THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS (WHERE RAIDS ARE CALLED UPON AGAIN AND AGAIN TRYING TO STOP THE RISE IN SILVER’S PRICE TO ABOVE $34.40 AND TO QUELL ADDITIONAL DERIVATIVE LOSSES TO OUR BANKERS’ MASSIVE TOTALS). THEY SUCCEEDED ON THURSDAY WITH SILVER’S SMALL LOSS IN PRICE AND THE PRICE IS STILL WELL BELOW THE MAGIC NUMBER OF $34.40 SILVER SPOT PRICE. . BUT THIS WAS COUPLED WITH ANOTHER HUGE T.A.S. ISSUANCE OF 737 CONTRACTS ISSUED BY THE CME AND THAT SIGNALS DEEP CODE RED THAT THE CROOKS ARE DESPERATE TO STOP SILVER BREAKING OVER THE 34.40 DOLLAR MARK. THUS OUR RAIDS ON OUR PRECIOUS SILVER METAL WILL CONTINUE UNTIL SILVER BREAKS $34.40. WE HAD A GOOD 300 CONTRACT EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE ACCOMPANIED BY OUR HUGE 737 CONTRACT T.A.S ISSUANCE WHICH WILL BE USED IN FRIDAY’S TRADING/ AS THEY PLAY AN INTEGRAL PART IN OUR COMEX TRADING TRYING TO CONTAIN ANY SILVER PRICE RISE. IN ESSENCE, SURPRISINGLY WE LOST A A MEGA HUGE SIZED 1747 CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES DESPITE OUR LOSS IN PRICE OF $0.16.
THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT FOR THE FIRST TWO DAYS OF THE MONTH OF MAY, WE HAD TWO CONSECUTIVE ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK CONTRACTS OF 12.93 MILLION OZ. THESE EXCHANGE FOR RISKS MUST NOW BE ADDED TO OUR NORMAL DELIVERY SCHEDULE. THE RECIPIENT OF THIS LARGESS IS WITHOUT A DOUBT THE CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA. LOGICALLY ONLY A CENTRAL BANK WOULD ACCEPT THIS CRAZY CONTRACT WHEREBY THE CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA TAKES THE RISK OF DELIVERY FROM A BULLION BANK WHO CANNOT GUARANTEE DELIVERY OF PHYSICAL SILVER TO THEM.
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 ESPECIALLY SILVER IS NOW USED TO TEMPER OUR SILVER PRICE RISE OR INITIATE A RAID AS WHAT HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES LAST MONTH AND AGAIN WITH THIS WEEK’S TRADING ON SILVER AND NOW TODAY TRYING TO KEEP THE SILVER PRICE BELOW $34.40 . THE KEY PRICE TO WATCH IS $34.40. IF IT BREAKS THAT PRICE, THEN WE HEAD FOR $50.00 SILVER.
CRAIG HEMKE HAS POINTED OUT THAT THE CROOKS USE THE MID MONTH FOR MANIPULATION AS THEY SELL THEIR BUY SIDE OF THE CALENDAR SPREAD FIRST AND THEN KEEP THE SELL SIDE TO LIQUIDATE AT A LATER DATE. THUS WE HAVE TWO VEHICLES THE CROOKS USE FOR MANIPULATION AND BOTH ARE SPREADERS: 1) AT MONTH’S END/SPREADERS COMEX AND 2/ TAS SPREADERS, MID MONTH. TOTAL TAS ISSUED ON THURSDAY NIGHT/FRIDAY MORNING: A HUGE 737 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
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 $0.16) AND WERE SUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING OFF SOME NET SILVER LONGS FROM THEIR PERCH
WE HAD A GOOD 300 CONTRACT ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS) iiii) AN INITIAL SILVER STANDING FOR COMEX SILVER MEASURING AT 67.830 MILLION OZ TO WHICH WE ADD OUR 219 CONTRACT QUEUE JUMP OF 2.420 MILLION OZ AND THEN WE MUST ADD THOSE CRAZY CONTRACT EXCHANGE FOR RISK FOR 12.93 MILLION OZ:
THUS:
INITIAL STANDING FOR MAY: 74.110 MILLION OZ WHICH INCLUDES TODAY’S 2.420 MILLION QUEUE JUMP + 12.93 MILLION OZ (EX FOR RISK) EQUALS 87.04 MILLION OZ./
WE HAD:
/ MEGA MEGA COMEX OI LOSS+// A GOOD SIZED EFP ISSUANCE (300 CONTRACTS)/ VI) HUGE SIZED NUMBER OF T.A.S. CONTRACT ISSUANCE 737 CONTRACTS)
I AM NOW RECORDING THE DIFFERENTIAL IN OI FROM PRELIMINARY TO FINAL: REMOVED A MONSTROUS 2327 CONTRACTS.
HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS APRIL. ACCUMULATION FOR EFP’S SILVER/JPMORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES/STARTING FROM FIRST DAY/MONTH OF MAY
TOTAL CONTRACTS for 7 DAYS, total 2149 contracts: OR 10.745 MILLION OZ (307 CONTRACTS PER DAY)
TOTAL EFP’S FOR THE MONTH SO FAR: 10.745 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
JANUARY 2025: 67.230 MILLION OZ///(THIS MONTH’S ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL WILL BE SMALL)
FEB. 58.260 MILLION OZ//EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE/FINAL
MARCH: 67.020 MILLION OZ///QUITE SMALL AND BECOMING SMALLER EACH AND EVERY MONTH.
APRIL: 100.895 MILLION OZ///AVERAGE SIZE ISSUANCE
MAY: 10.745 MILLION OZ (ISSUANCE WILL BE QUITE SMALL THIS MONTH)
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
RESULT: WE HAD A HUGE SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF 1747 CONTRACTS WITH OUR LOSS IN PRICE OF $0.16 IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX// THURSDAY.,. . THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A GOOD 300 CONTRACT EFP ISSUANCE CONTRACTS: 300 ISSUED FOR JULY AND 0 CONTRACTS ISSUED FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS) WHICH EXITED OUT OF THE SILVER COMEX TO LONDON AS FORWARDS.
WE FINISHED APRIL WITH A STRONG SILVER OZ STANDING OF 15.965 MILLION OZ NORMAL DELIVERY , PLUS OUR 4.00 MILLION EX FOR RISK
FINAL STANDING APRIL: 19.965 MILLION OZ
AND NOW MAY:
NEW STANDING FOR MAY: 74.110 MILLION OZ. (INCLUDES 2.420 MILLION OZ QUEUE JUMP + 12.93 MILLION OZ EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE/PRIOR.//NEW TOTAL STANDING 87.04 MILLION OZ
THE NEW TAS ISSUANCE THURSDAY NIGHT (737 ) WILL BE PUT INTO “THE BANK” TO BE COLLUSIVELY USED AT A LATER DATE AND FOR SURE TODAY’S TRADING (FRIDAY TRADING) AND BEYOND.
WE HAD 118 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 0.590 million OZ
THE SILVER COMEX IS NOW BEING ATTACKED FOR METAL BY LONDONERS ET AL. IT IS NOW TIME FOR THE FBI TO ENTER THE COMEX AND ARREST THESE CROOKS EVEN THOUGH THE MAJORITY OF THE TRADING IS GOVERNMENT. THE BANKERS ARE COMPLICIT
GOLD//OUTLINE
IN GOLD, THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST FELL BY A STRONG SIZED 5401 OI CONTRACTS TO 438,421 AND CLOSER TO TO THE RECORD (SET JAN 24/2020) AT 799,105 AND PREVIOUS TO THAT: (SET JAN 6/2020) AT 797,110. (ALL TIME LOW OF 390,000 CONTRACTS.) THUS WE HAVE A PRETTY LOW OI IN COMEX WITH AN EXTREMELY HIGH PRICE OF GOLD. THE SHORT RATS ARE ABANDONING THE SHIP.
THE DIFFERENTIAL FROM PRELIMINARY OI TO FINAL OI IN GOLD TODAY: REMOVED A STRONG 1241 CONTRACTS //.
WE HAD A STRONG SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI (5401 CONTRACTS) . THIS OCCURRED DESPITE OUR HUGE LOSS OF $82.50 IN PRICE THURSDAY. ON WEDNESDAY/APRIL 17 WE HAD THE HIGHEST EVER SINGLE NOMINAL GAIN IN COMEX GOLD PRICING HISTORY AT $106.35 GAIN.. THE FRBNY SUPPLIED THE NECESSARY SHORT PAPER..
WE ALSO HAD A HUMONGOUS INITIAL STANDING IN GOLD TONNAGE FOR APRIL AT 164.7185 TONNES/) TO WHICH WE ADDED + 8.3571 TONNES EX FOR RISK = 209.953 TONNES
FINAL STANDING FOR APRIL; 201.443 TONNES + 8.3571 TONNES EX FOR RISK = 209.953 TONNES
INITIAL STANDING FOR MAY: 50.358 TONNES OF GOLD!
/ ALL OF THIS HAPPENED WITH OUR $82.50 LOSS IN PRICE WITH RESPECT TO THURSDAY’S COMEX ///. WE HAD A FAIR SIZED LOSS OF 2821 OI CONTRACTS (8.774 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! THE RESULT: A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR DELIVERY FOR THE MARCH CONTRACT MONTH AS WELL AS THE SAME FOR APRIL AND NOW MAY….. A MONSTROUS 50.358 TONNES DESPITE IT BEING AN OFF MONTH. CENTRAL BANKERS ARE NOW WAITING PATIENTLY FOR THEIR DELIVERY OF GOLD VIA SLOW MOVING SHIPS.
E.F.P. ISSUANCE
THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A STRONG SIZED 2580 CONTRACT:
The NEW COMEX OI FOR THE GOLD COMPLEX RESTS AT 438,431/NOW AT THE LOW END OF THE SCALE DESPITE THE HIGH PRICE OF GOLD!!
SILVER ALSO HAS A LOW COMEX OI OF 136,887 CONTRACTS!!
IN ESSENCE WE HAVE A FAIR SIZED DECREASE IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 2821 CONTRACTS WITH 5401 CONTRACTS DECREASED AT THE COMEX// AND A STRONG SIZED 2580 EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL OI CONTRACT ISSUANCE WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS TOTAL OI LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 2821 CONTRACTS.. WE HAD THE FOLLOWING TAS CONTRACTS INITIATED (ISSUED): A MEGA MEGA HUGE SIZED AND CRIMINAL 45,706 CONTRACTS ISSUED, THE 2ND HIGHEST AMOUNT EVER IN COMEX HISTORY. WE HAD HUGE T.A.S. LIQUIDATION DURING THE COMEX SESSION THURSDAY
CALCULATIONS ON GAIN/LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES
WE HAD A STRONG SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS (2580 CONTRACT) ACCOMPANYING THE STRONG SIZED DECREASE IN COMEX OI OF 5401 CONTRACTS/TOTAL LOSS FOR OUR THE TWO EXCHANGES: 8167 CONTRACTS..WE HAVE 1) NOW RETURNED TO OUR FORMER FORMAT OF BANKERS GOING LONG AND SPECULATORS GOING SHORT ,2.) STRONG STANDING FOR GOLD FOR MAY AT 50.358 TONNES ( WHICH WHICH INCLUDES OUR 0.534 TONNES QUEUE JUMP)
NEW STANDING FOR GOLD, MAY CONTRACT ADVANCES TO: 50.358 TONNES OF GOLD.
.
/ 3) HUGE T.A.S. LIQUIDATION IN REMOVING SOME NET SPECULATOR LONGS, AS WE HAD 1)A $82.50 COMEX PRICE LOSS.. WE HAD 2) SOME NET LONG SPECS BEING CLIPPED WITH OUR FAIR LOSS OF 2821 CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES// /./ ALSO, 3)STICKY GOLD’S LONGS WERE REWARDED THURSDAY EVENING AS THEY EXERCISED EFP’S FROM LONDON TO TAKE DELIVERY OF BADLY NEEDED PHYSICAL AND THUS OUR HUGE TONNAGE STANDING FOR GOLD FOR MAY.
4) GOOD SIZED COMEX OI LOSS// 5) STRONG SIZED ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL PAPER (1218 CONTRACTS)/// MEGA MEGA HUGE T.A.S. ISSUANCE: 45,706 T.A.S.CONTRACTS//
HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS IN 2023-2025 INCLUDING TODAY
MAY INITIAL
ACCUMULATION OF EFP’S GOLD AT J.P. MORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES: (EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL) FOR THE MONTH OF MAY :
TOTAL EFP CONTRACTS ISSUED: 7010 CONTRACTS OR 701,000 OZ OR 21.804 TONNES IN 7 TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 1001 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY
TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS : THIS MONTH IN 7 TRADING DAY(S) IN TONNES 21.804 TONNES
TOTAL ANNUAL GOLD PRODUCTION, 2024, THROUGHOUT THE WORLD EX CHINA EX RUSSIA: 3555 TONNES
THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 21.804 TONNES DIVIDED BY 3550 x 100% TONNES = 0.619% 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
2024 AND 2025:
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 TONNES
JAN. 2025: 257.919 TONNES (ISSUANCE WILL BE PRETTY GOOD THIS MONTH BUT MUCH LOWER THAN LAST MONTH)
FEB: 207.21 TONNES//EX FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE (WILL BE A FAIR SIZED ISSUANCE THIS MONTH)
MARCH 130.84 TONNES//QUITE SMALL THIS MONTH.
APRIL; 208.57 TONNES. STILL A SMALL TO FAIR ISSUANCE FOR THE MONTH.
MAY: 21.804 TONNES OF GOLD EFP ISSUANCE
SPREADING OPERATIONS
(/NOW SWITCHING TO GOLD) FOR NEWCOMERS, HERE ARE THE DETAILS
SPREADING LIQUIDATION HAS NOW COMMENCED AS WE HEAD TOWARDS THE NEW ACTIVE FRONT MONTH OF APRIL. WE ARE NOW INTO THE SPREADING OPERATION OF GOLD
HERE IS A BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF HOW THE CROOKS FLEECE UNSUSPECTING LONGS IN THE SPREADING ENDEAVOUR ;MODUS OPERANDI OF THE CORRUPT BANKERS AS TO HOW THEY HANDLE THEIR SPREAD OPEN INTERESTS:HERE IS HOW THE CROOKS USED SPREADING AS WE ARE NOW INTO THE NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF NOV HEADING TOWARDS THE ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF FEB., FOR GOLD: AND MARCH FOR SILVER
YOU WILL ALSO NOTICE THAT THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST STARTS TO RISE BUT SO IS THE OPEN INTEREST OF SPREADERS. THE OPEN INTEREST IN WILL CONTINUE TO RISE UNTIL ONE WEEK BEFORE FIRST DAY NOTICE OF AN UPCOMING ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH (OCT), AND THAT IS WHEN THE CROOKS SELL THEIR SPREAD POSITIONS BUT NOT AT THE SAME TIME OF THE DAY. THEY WILL USE THE SELL SIDE OF THE EQUATION TO CREATE THE CASCADE (ALONG WITH THEIR COLLUSIVE FRIENDS) AND THEN COVER ON THE BUY SIDE OF THE SPREAD SITUATION AT THE END OF THE DAY. THEY DO THIS TO AVOID POSITION LIMIT DETECTION. THE LIQUIDATION OF THE SPREADING FORMATION CONTINUES FOR EXACTLY ONE WEEK AND ENDS ON FIRST DAY NOTICE.”
WHAT IS ALARMING TO ME, ACCORDING TO OUR LONDON EXPERT ANDREW MAGUIRE IS THAT THESE EFP’S ARE BEING TRANSFERRED TO WHAT ARE CALLED SERIAL FORWARD CONTRACT OBLIGATIONS AND THESE CONTRACTS ARE LESS THAN 14 DAYS. ANYTHING GREATER THAN 14 DAYS, THESE MUST BE RECORDED AND SENT TO THE COMPTROLLER, GREAT BRITAIN TO MONITOR RISK TO THE BANKING SYSTEM. IF THIS IS INDEED TRUE, THEN THIS IS A MASSIVE CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD AS WE NOW WITNESS A MONSTROUS TOTAL EFP’S ISSUANCE AS IT HEADS INTO THE STRATOSPHERE.
The crooks also use the spread in the TAS account (trade at settlement). They buy the spot TAS (e.g. June) and sell the future TAS two months out (e.g. August). Then they unload the front month (i.e. unload the buy side first so the price of gold/silver falls. This occurs in the middle of the front delivery month cycle. They unload the sell side of the equation, two months down the road. The crooks violate position limits as the OCC refuse to hear our complaints.
First, here is an outline of what will be discussed tonight:
1.TODAY WE HAD THE OPEN INTEREST AT THE COMEX IN SILVER FELL BY A MEGA HUGE SIZED 2047 CONTRACTS OI TO 136,887 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 300 CONTRACTS
OUR CUSTOMARY MIGRATION OF COMEX LONGS CONTINUE TO MORPH INTO LONDON FORWARDS AS OUR BANKERS USED THEIR EMERGENCY PROCEDURE TO ISSUE:
JULY 300 and 0 ALL OTHER MONTHS: ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 300 CONTRACTS. EFP’S GIVE OUR COMEX LONGS A FIAT BONUS PLUS A DELIVERABLE PRODUCT OVER IN LONDON. IF WE TAKE THE COMEX OI LOSS OF 2047 CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 300 E.FP. ISSUED
WE OBTAIN A HUGE SIZED LOSS OF OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 1747 CONTRACTS DESPITE THE LOSS IN PRICE OF $0.16 THE RATS ARE FLEEING THE ARENA.
THUS IN OUNCES, THE LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES TOTALS 8.735 MILLION PAPER OZ
OCCURRED WITH OUR $0.16 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 FRIDAY MORNING//THURSDAY NIGHT
SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 10.00 PTS OR 0.30%
//Hang Seng CLOSED UP 91.82 PTS OR .43%
// Nikkei CLOSED UP 574.70 PTS OR 1.56% //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP .49%
//Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) CLOSED DOWN AT 7.2441 OFFSHORE CLOSED DOWN AT 7.2431 / Oil UP TO 60.74 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT UP TO 63.72 Stocks in Europe OPENED ALL GREEN
ONSHORE USA/ YUAN TRADING BELOW LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN TRADING :/ONSHORE YUAN DOWN TRADING AT 7.2441 AND WEAKER//OFF SHORE YUAN TRADING DOWN 7.2431 AGAINST US DOLLAR/ AND THUS WEAKER
END
ASIA TRADING FRIDAY MORNING/THURSDAY NIGHT
A)NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA
outline
b) REPORT ON JAPAN/
OUTLINE
3 CHINA
OUTLINE
4/EUROPEAN AFFAIRS
OUTLINE
5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS
OUTLINE
6.Global Issues//COVID ISSUES/VACCINE ISSUES
OUTLINE
7. OIL ISSUES
OUTLINE
8 EMERGING MARKET ISSUES
9. USA
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
1. COMEX DATA//AMOUNTS STANDING//VOLUME OF TRADING/INVENTORY MOVEMENTS
GOLD
LET US BEGIN:
THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST FELL BY A STRONG SIZED 5401 CONTRACTS TO 438,431 WITH OUR HUGE LOSS IN PRICE OF $82.50 WITH RESPECT TO THURSDAY’S // TRADING. WE LOST SOME NUMBER OF NET LONGS WITH THAT PRICE LOSS FOR GOLD. AND AS YOU WILL SEE BELOW, OUR LOSS IN PRICE ALSO HAD A FAIR NUMBER OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUED (2580 ).
THE CME ANNOUNCED THURSDAY NIGHT, A 0 EXCHANGE FOR RISK CONTRACT ISSUANCE FOR 0 OZ OR 0.0 TONNES. TOTAL ISSUANCE FOR MAY IS ZERO. IN THE MONTH OF APRIL WE HAD RECORDED A NEW RECORD 7 ISSUANCES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK AS THE BANK OF ENGLAND IS GETTING VERY ANTSY ABOUT GETTING ITS GOLD BACK. THUS OUR TOTAL EXCHANGE FOR RISK FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL STOOD AT 8.3571 TONNES OF GOLD WHICH WERE ADDED TO OUR NORMAL APRIL GOLD DELVERIES.
HISTORY: LAST THREE PRIOR MONTH’S EXCHANGE FOR RISK
IN MARCH:
THE TOTAL NO. OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH (3 NOTICES) EQUALED: 7.6179 TONNES OF GOLD WHICH WAS ADDED TO OUR MARCH DELIVERY TOTALS.
IN FEBRUARY:
WE HAD A HUGE FIVE EXCHANGE FOR RISKS ISSUANCES FOR GOLD, TOTALLING 18.4527 TONNES!.
THE RECIPIENT OF ALL OF THESE EXCHANGE FOR RISK CONTRACTS IS THE BANK OF ENGLAND WHO DESPERATELY WANT THEIR LEASED GOLD BACK. THUS WE HAVE TWO SEPARATE ENTITIES (CENTRAL BANKS) DEMANDING THEIR GOLD BACK:
- THE BANK OF ENGLAND
- THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF NEW YORK (NEED TO RETRIEVE THEIR LEASED GOLD FROM THE BIS)
THE COUNTERPARTY TO THE BANK OF ENGLAND’S EXCHANGE FOR RISK ARE BULLION BANKS THAT CANNOT VERIFY THAT THEIR GOLD IS UNENCUMBERED AND THUS THE BUYER, THE CENTRAL BANK OF ENGLAND, ASSUMES THE RISK OF THAT DELIVERY. THIS IS THE 5TH CONSECUTIVE MONTH FOR ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK !!.(DEC THROUGH APRIL)
IN APRIL:
AND NOW WE CONCLUDED APRIL WITH 7 ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK FOR A TOTAL TONNAGE OF 8.3571 TONNES.
MAY: 0 ISSUED SO FAR…
DETAILS ON MAY COMEX MONTH//INITIAL
IN TOTAL WE HAD A FAIR SIZED LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 2821 CONTRACTS DESPITE OUR HUGE LOSS IN PRICE. HOWEVER, OUR FRIENDLY PHYSICAL LONDON BOYS HAD ANOTHER FIELD DAY AGAIN ON THURSDAY NIGHT AS THEY WERE READY FOR THE FRBNY.S CONTINUED ORCHESTRATED ATTEMPTED AND FAILED RAID VERY EARLY IN THE COMEX SESSION AS THEY TRIED TO ABSORB 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. LONDON ANNOUNCED LATE (JAN 30) THAT THEY WERE OUT OF GOLD. WRONGLY IT WAS ATTRIBUTED TO THEIR SHIPPING PHYSICAL GOLD TO COMEX FOR STORAGE DUE TO TRUMP’S INITIATION OF TARIFFS. THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS THAT THIS GOLD LEFT LONDON TO CENTRAL BANKS, AND COMEX BANKS HAVE BEEN PAPERING THEIR LOSSES (DERIVATIVE) WITH KILOBAR ENTRIES. DELIVERY OF GOLD CONTRACTS ARE NOW TAKING SEVERAL WEEKS. NO DEFAULT HAS BEEN INITIATED AS DEALERS ARE AFRAID OF LOSS OF THEIR JOBS. SO THIS FRAUD CONTINUES. THE LEASE RATES IN LONDON HAVE NOW REVERTED BACK TO 1% BUT GOLD IN LONDON IS STILL EXTREMELY SCARCE. WE CAN NOW SAFELY SAY THAT THERE IS A RUN ON A BANK AND THAT BANK IS THE BANK OF ENGLAND!!!
THE LIQUIDATION OF T.A.S. CONTRACTS THROUGHOUT LAST MONTH OF APRIL AND ONTO MAY, CONTINUED TO DISTORT OPEN INTEREST NUMBERS GREATLY ALTHOUGH THE T.A.S. ISSUANCES IN GOLD HAVE GENERALLY BEEN ON THE LOW SIDE COMPARED TO SILVER WHICH HAVE BEEN HUGE. HOWEVER TODAY’S NUMBER IS ANOTHER HUMDINGER AS THE CME NOTIFIES US THAT THEY HAVE ISSUED 45,706 T.A.S. FOLLOWING THURSDAY”S HUGE 54,145 CONTRACT ISSUANCE. YESTERDAY’S ISSUANCE WAS THE HIGHEST NUMBER BY FAR IN COMEX HISTORY WITH TODAY’S BEING THE 2ND HIGHEST EVER RECORDED! NATURALLY THAT SIGNALS THAT WE WILL WITNESS CONTINUAL RAIDS AND FOR THE NEXT 4 DAYS IF HISTORY SERVES US WELL ANOTHER 3 MEGA MEGA ISSUANCE… (FROM JANUARY 2025 THROUGH TO MARCH 2025 WE HAD THESE 5 MEGA MEGA 30,000+ ISSUANCES WHICH DISTORTED OPEN INTEREST GREATLY. NOW THE ISSUANCES ARE 40,000+ AS THE CROOKS NEED MORE AMMUNITION TO CARRY OUT THEIR NEFARIOUS DEED RAIDS.
THE T.A.S. LIQUIDATION OF THESE T.AS. CONTRACTS IS WHY WE ARE HAVING DISTORTED COMEX OPEN INTEREST GAINS AND LOSSES IN OI BUT THIS IS COUPLED WITH MEGA HUGE AMOUNTS OF GOLD STANDING FOR DELIVERY TO CONFUSE THE ISSUE!!!!! AND THIS WAS SURELY ON DISPLAY WITH FIRST DAY NOTICE TOTALS WITH GOLD TONNES STANDING FOR APRIL AT 209 + TONNES INCLUDING MANY MASSIVE QUEUE JUMPS AND THIS CONTINUED INTO MAY AS YOU WILL SEE BELOW ANOTHER STRONG QUEUE JUMP OCCURRED ON MAY’S DELIVERY CYCLE// THURSDAY NIGHT AT 0.534 TONNES, THIS MONTH WE HAVE RECORDED THE HIGHEST EVER QUEUE JUMP RECORDED IN COMEX GOLD HISTORY AT 6.4 TONNES.
THE TONNAGE STANDING FOR GOLD FOR MAY IS NOW 50.358 TONNES (WHICH INCLUDES TODAY’S STRONG QUEUE JUMP)
THE FED IS THE OTHER MAJOR SHORT OF AROUND 22+ 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 NOW THAT THEY MUST BECOME COMPLIANT TO BASEL III RULES JULY 1/2023 AS OUTLINED IN ANDREW MAGUIRE’S LATEST LIVE FROM THE VAULT 221 EPISODE. 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 THREE MONTHS. THEY ARE TOTALLY TRAPPED., AND THEIR FAILURE TO STOP CENTRAL BANK PURCHASES OF PHYSICAL GOLD IS THE MAJOR ISSUE OF THE DAY!IT SURE LOOKS LIKE THE BIS HAS GIVEN THE FED ITS MARCHING ORDERS TO COVER ITS PHYSICAL GOLD SHORT. TRUMP WILL PROBABLY BE FURIOUS WITH THE FED IF IT FINDS OUT THAT THEY (FRBNY) HAS BEEN MANIPULATING THE GOLD MARKET FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS.
OUR PHYSICAL LONDONERS BOUGHT NEW MASSIVE QUANTITIES OF LONGS AT ANY PRICE AND THIS GOLD BOUGHT WILL BE TENDERED FOR PHYSICAL ON A T + ???? BASIS. BECAUSE GOLD IS BASEL III COMPLIANT, GOLD IS SUPPOSED 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.
EUROPE IS NOW BASEL III COMPLIANT. THE WEST (FED AND COMEX) MUST BE COMPLIANT BY JULY 1//2025.
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 OUR TWO SPREADERS: 1) THE MONTH END SPREADERS AND 2. T.A.S DURING THESE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS 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, AND THE MASSIVE AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING EACH AND EVERY MONTH INCLUDING FIRST DAY NOTICE OF GOLD TONNAGE STANDING.
EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE
THE CME REPORTS THAT THE BANKERS ISSUED A FAIR SIZED TRANSFER THROUGH THE EFP ROUTE AS THESE LONGS RECEIVED A DELIVERABLE LONDON FORWARD TOGETHER WITH A FIAT BONUS.,
THAT IS A FAIR SIZED 2580 EFP CONTRACT WAS ISSUED: : /JUNE 2580 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:
TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 2580 CONTRACT. 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 GENERALLY DELIVERED COMES FROM LONDON BUT THEY ARE OUT!! THUS COMEX BECOMES THE MAJOR SOURCE FOR OUR CENTRAL BANKERS.
ON A NET BASIS IN OPEN INTEREST WE LOST THE FOLLOWING TODAY ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES: A FAIR SIZED TOTAL OF 2821 CONTRACTS IN THAT 2580 CONTRACT LONG WAS TRANSFERRED AS EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS TO LONDON AND WE HAD A STRONG SIZED LOSS OF 5401 COMEX CONTRACTS..AND THIS FAIR LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES HAPPENED DESPITE OUR HUMONGOUS LOSS IN PRICE OF $82.50 /// THURSDAY/ COMEX. THE EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS WILL BE USED BY CENTRAL BANKS, TO EXERCISE FOR PHYSICAL GOLD AT THE COMEX AS MENTIONED ABOVE. LOOKS LIKE THE SHORT RATS ARE FLEEING THE ARENA AS EVIDENCED BY THE LOWER OPEN INTEREST AT THE COMEX!
WE HAD :
- HUGE LIQUIDATION OF OUR T.A.S. SPREADERS
- SOME SPEC LIQUIDATION WITH THAT HUGE LOSS IN PRICE
T.A.S.SPREADER ISSUANCE
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 THURSDAY NIGHT/FRIDAY MORNING WAS A MEGA MEGA HUGE SIZED 45,706 CONTRACTS AND AS MENTIONED ABOVE, THE SECOND HIGHEST EVER ISSUANCE IN COMEX HISTORY.
THE RAIDS WHETHER ON OPTIONS EXPIRY MONTH OR OTHERWISE LIKE TODAY, ACCOMPLISHES TWO IMPORTANT ASPECTS FOR OUR CROOKS:
- STALLS THE ADVANCE IN PRICE
- LOWERS THEIR ADVANCING DERIVATIVE LOSSES.
MECHANICS OF T.A.S CONTRACTS/DECEMBER THROUGH MARCH, APRIL AND MAY
THROUGHOUT THE FEW YEARS, 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
FINAL STANDING FOR GOLD APRIL
// WE HAD A HUGE AMOUNT OF GOLD TONNAGE STANDING: APRIL (209.573 TONNES//.CME CORRECTED//) WHICH IS HUGE FOR OUR ACTIVE APRIL DELIVERY MONTH. FEB HAD THE HIGHEST STANDING FOR GOLD EVER RECORDED FOR ANY MONTH AT 256.607 TONNES
AND NOW LAST 5 MONTHS OF 2025: STANDING FOR GOLD
YEAR 2025:
JAN 2025:
113.30 TONNES (WHICH INCLUDES 43.408 TONNES EX FOR RISK)
FEB: 2025:
256.607 TONNES (WHICH INCLUDES 18.4567 TONNES OF EX FOR RISK)
MARCH:
STANDING FOR GOLD : 60.33 TONNES + 7.6179 TONNES EX FOR RISK = 67.9479 TONNES WHICH IS EXTREMELY HIGH FOR A NON DELIVERY MONTH.
APRIL:
FINAL STANDING FOR GOLD: 201.573 TONNES + 8.3571 TONNES EX FOR RISK = 209.953 TONNES
MAY:
INITIAL STANDING AT 28.945 INITAL GOLD TONNES STANDING FIRST DAY NOTICE PLUS 6.4634 TONNES QUEUE JUMP MAY 7 (A RECORD) + ANOTHER HUGE QUEUE JUMP MAY 9 OF 0.534 TONNES = 50.358 TONNES
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
HERE ARE THE AMOUNTS THAT STOOD FOR DELIVERY IN THE PRECEDING 52 MONTHS OF 2021-2025:
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: STANDING FOR GOLD/COMEX
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:STANDING FOR GOLD/COMEX
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/STANDING FOR GOLD/COMEX
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 2024: 540.30 tonnes
2025 STANDING FOR GOLD/COMEX
January 2025: 70.102 TONNES + 43.208 EXCHANGE FOR RISK= 113.310 TONNES
FEBRUARY:/NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 238.153TONNES +18.4527 EX FOR RISK
= 256.607 TONNES. THIS IS THE HIGHEST EVER MONTH FOR GOLD STANDING IN COMEX HISTORY
MARCH: 67.9479 TONNES (INCLUDES 7.6179 TONNES EX FOR RISK)
APRIL: 209.953 TONNES (INCLUDES 8.3571 TONNES EX FOR RISK/AND ALL MONTHLY QUEUE JUMPING)
MAY: STANDING NOW 50.358 TONNES (INCLUDES ALL QUEUE JUMPING)
COMEX GOLD TRADING/MAY CONTRACT MONTH
THE SPECS/HFT WERE SUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE( IT FELL BY A HUGE $82.50/ /)AND THEY WERE A SUCCESSFUL IN KNOCKING OFF SOME APPRECIABLE NET SPECULATOR LONGS AS WE DID HAVE A FAIR SIZED LOSS IN OI FROM TWO EXCHANGES. AND AS EXPLAINED ABOVE WE HAD HUGE T.A.S. SPREADER LIQUIDATION THURSDAY AS THEY ARE STILL TRYING TO QUELL GOLD’S ATTEMPT AT FURTHER INCREASES ABOVE THE MAGIC $3,400 BARRIER AND STOP HUGE COMEX/OTC DERIVATIVE LOSSES FROM EXPLODING AS IT LOOKS LIKE THEY ARE NOW SUCCEEDING AS GOLD ATTEMPTED TO BREACH THAT 3400 DOLLAR BARRIER AGAIN THURSDAY TRADING. IT IS NOW TRADING EARLY FRIDAY MORNING WELL BELOW TO THAT LEVEL AT $3,337.00
THURSDAY NIGHT/FRIDAY MORNING
THE CROOKS HOWEVER COULD NOT STOP CENTRAL BANK LONGS, SEIZING THE MOMENT, THEY EXERCISED AGAIN FOR PHYSICAL IN A BIG WAY TENDERING FOR PHYSICAL THURSDAY EVENING/FRIDAY MORNING AND THUS OUR HUGE NUMBER OF GOLD CONTRACTS STANDING FOR DELIVERY AT THE COMEX. CENTRAL BANKERS WAIT PATIENTLY FOR THE GOLD TO ARRIVE BY BOAT. IT IS NOW TAKING SEVERAL WEEKS TO DELIVER
EXCHANGE FOR RISK EXPLANATION/FEB THROUGH /MAY TRADING
EXCHANGE FOR RISK CONTRACTS/MONTH FOR FEBRUARY://FINISHES AT 4 ISSUANCES
THE CME ANNOUNCED TO THE WORLD THAT ON FEB 4 THEY ISSUED 100 CONTRACTS OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK TO THE BANK OF ENGLAND.THEN ,FEB 4 THEY ISSUED THEIR SECOND CONSECUTIVE EXCHANGE FOR RISK OF 500 CONTRACTS FOR 50,000 OZ (1.555 TONNES OF GOLD. FEB 6 WAS THE THIRD ISSUANCE FOR A HUGE 2400 CONTRACTS, 240,000 OZ OR 7.465 TONNES. AND THEN FINALLY FRIDAY NIGHT, THE 4TH EXCHANGE FOR RISK WAS ISSUED REPRESENTED BY 2834 CONTRACTS OR 283400 OZ OR 8.8149 TONNES OF GOLD WITH THE OWNER OF THOSE CONTRACTS BEING THE BANK OF ENGLAND. THE BANK OF ENGLAND WANTS THEIR GOLD BACK. THIS NEW EXCHANGE FOR RISK WAS ADDED TO PREVIOUS EXCHANGE FOR RISK OF 9.3264 TONNES TO A NEW TOTAL EXCHANGE FOR RISK = 18.1413 TONNES. IN MID WEEK WE HAD ANOTHER .3114 TONNES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCED//NEW TOTAL 18,4527 TONNES!..FINALLY THIS TOTAL WAS ADDED TO OUR REGULAR DELIVERIES THROUGH THE MONTH.
EXCHANGE FOR RISK CONTRACTS/MONTH FOR MARCH
EARLY IN THE DELIVERY CYCLE THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD OUR FIRST EXCHANGE FOR RISK CONTRACT ISSUANCE IN MARCH FOR 150 CONTRACTS REPRESENTING 15,000 OZ OF GOLD OR .46656 TONNES. THE BANK OF ENGLAND WAS STILL NOT SATISFIED AS THEY NEED TO RETRIEVE ALL OF ITS LOST GOLD THROUGH LEASING! THE 15,000 OZ WAS ADDED TO OUR NORMAL DELIVERY TOTAL.
MARCH ISSUES IT’S THIRD EXCHANGE FOR RISK: TOTAL FOR THE MONTH FINISHED AT 3
TOTAL ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK MARCH 28 TOTALS 2200 CONTRACTS FOR 6.8429 TONNES OF GOLD. PRIOR ISSUANCE: .7775 TONNES. THUS TOTAL EXCHANGE FOR RISK FOR MARCH : 7.6179 TONNES OF GOLD. MARCH BECOMES THE 4TH CONSECUTIVE MONTH FOR EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE.
APRIL, ISSUED ITS 7TH EXCHANGE FOR RISK: 187 CONTRACTS OR 18,700 OZ OR 0.5816 TONNES
SUMMARY EXCHANGE FOR RISK FOR THE MONTH OFAPRIL//TOTAL ISSUANCES 7 FOR 8.3571 TONNES OF GOLD!:
ISSUANCE FOR EXCHANGE FOR RISK ON FIRST DAY NOTICE//APRILL MONTH// WAS 700 CONTRACTS FOR 70,000 OZ OR 2.177 TONNES OF GOLD TO WHICH WE ADD (APRIL 4) : 250 CONTRACTS FOR 25,000 OZ OR .777 TONNES, APRIL 7 ISSUANCE OF 280 CONTRACTS FOR 28,000 OZ OR .8709 TONNES THEN APRIL 9 484 CONTRACTS FOR 48400 OZ OR 1.5054 TONNES AND FINALLY MONDAY MORNING APRIL 14 AT 200 CONTRACTS FOR 20,000 OZ OR .5816 TONNES AND NOW APRIL 24: 600 CONTRACTS FOR 60,000 OZ OR 1.866 TONNES AND NOW APRIL 25 187 CONTRACTS FOR 18700 OZ OR .5816 TONNES//NEW FINAL TOTAL ISSUANCE FOR APRIL: 8.3571 TONNES!!. APRIL ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK MEANS WE NOW HAVE 5 CONSECUTIVE MONTHS FOR EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE. THESE DELIVERIES WERE ADDED TO OUR NORMAL DELIVERY CYCLE.
MAY ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK = ZERO SO FAR!
HERE IS WHAT HAPPENED LAST MONTH; FINAL GOLD STANDING FOR APRIL:
APRIL: 201.573 TONNES +(8.3571 EX FOR RISK// FOR APRIL DELIVERY MONTH =209.953 TONNES OF THE GOLD. THIS IS THE 2ND HIGHEST AMOUNT OF DELIVERY GOLD WHICH FOLLOWS THE HIGHEST EVER ON AN ACTIVE MONTH GOLD DELIVERY BEING FEB 2025 AT 256.607 TONNES..
ANALYSIS MAY DELIVERY MONTH GOING FROM FIRST DAY NOTICE// MAY COMEX CONTRACT
WE HAVE LOST A FAIR SIZED TOTAL OF 8.774 PAPER TONNES FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES, ACCOMPANYING OUR INITIAL GOLD TONNAGE STANDING FOR MAY FIRST RECORDED AT 28.945 TONNES ON FIRST DAY NOTICE. WE HAD A STRONG 172 CONTRACT QUEUE JUMP FOR 17,200 OZ OR 0.534 TONNES. THIS QUEUE JUMP IS CENTRAL BANKS JUMPING AHEAD OF US SIMPLE MORTALS DEMANDING GOLD FOR THEIR RESERVES. THUS NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 50.358 TONNES OF GOLD.
THUS MAY STANDING FOR GOLD SO FAR: 50.358 TONNES
ALL OF THIS HUGE STANDING WAS ACCOMPLISHED DESPITE OUR LOSS IN PRICE TO THE TUNE OF $82.50
WE HAD A HUGE 1241 CONTRACTS REMOVED FROM THE COMEX TRADES TO OPEN INTEREST (CROOKS)//PRELIMINARY TO FINAL. AND THIS IS TOTALLY INSANE AS WELL.
NET LOSS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES 2821 CONTRACTS OR 282100 0Z (8.774 TONNES)
confirmed volume THURSDAY 405,478. contracts: huge volume////t.a.s. induced
//speculators have left the gold arena
END
MAY
// THE MAY 2025 GOLD CONTRACT
MAY 9
INITIAL
| Gold | Ounces |
| Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory in oz | nil |
| Withdrawals from Customer Inventory in oz | . withdrawals:0 |
| Deposit to the Dealer Inventory in oz | 0 ENTRIES |
| Deposits to the Customer Inventory, in oz | DEPOSITS/CUSTOMER we have 1 customer entry i)Into JPMorgan: 22,864.132 oz weight in tonnes: .711 tonnes xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxI |
| No of oz served (contracts) today | 11 notice(s) 1100 OZ 0.0342 TONNES |
| No of oz to be served (notices) | 228 contracts 22,800 OZ 0.7091 TONNES |
| Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month | 15,962 notices 1,596,200 oz 49.648 TONNES |
| Total accumulative withdrawals of gold from the Dealers inventory this month | NIL oz |
| Total accumulative withdrawal of gold from the Customer inventory this month |
dealer deposits: 0 entry
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
DEPOSITS/CUSTOMER
we have 1 customer entry
i)Into JPMorgan: 22,864.132 oz
weight in tonnes: .711 tonnes
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
withdrawals/ customer (eligible category)
withdrawals: 0
adjustments: 3//
a) Brinks dealer to customer: 7137.522 oz 222 kilopbars
b) JPMorgan: 289.35 oz dealer to customer 9 kilobars
c) Malca; dealer to customer 13,050.653 oz
AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR MAY
THE FRONT MONTH OF MAY STANDS AT 239 CONTRACTS FOR A LOSS OF 833 CONTRACTS. WE HAD 1005 CONTRACTS SERVED ON THURSDAY SO WE GAINED A HUGE 172 CONTRACTS AND THUS WE WITNESS A STRONG 17,200 OZ QUEUE JUMP FOR 0.5340 TONNES.
JUNE LOST A HUMDINGER OF 22,398 CONTRACTS TO 261,155. JUNE BECOMES OUR NEW FRONT MONTH AND THIS MONTH WILL BE A WHOPPER OF A DELIVERY MONTH. THE FRBNY IS QUITE NERVOUS LOOKING AT JUNE OI.
JULY GAINED 176 CONTRACTS TO STAND AT 1376
We had 1005 contracts filed for today representing 100,500 oz
This is a huge major assault on the comex for gold and this time it is physical that will be requested.
Today, 0 notice(s) were issued from J.P.Morgan dealer and 1 notices issued from their client or customer account. The total of all issuance by all participants equate to 11 contract(s) of which 0 notices were stopped (received) by j.P. Morgan dealer and 3 notice(s) was (were) stopped (received) by J.P.Morgan//customer account
To calculate the INITIAL total number of gold ounces standing for MAY /2025. contract month, we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (15,962 X 100 oz ) to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of MAY (239 CONTRACTS) minus the number of notices served upon today (11 x 100 oz per contract) equals 1,619,000 OZ OR 50.358 TONNES
thus the INITIAL standings for gold for the MAY contract month: No of notices filed so far (15,962 x 100 oz +we add the difference for front month of MAY (239 OI} minus the number of notices served upon today (11 x 100 oz) which equals 1,619,000 OZ OR 50.358 TONNES
TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING FOR MAY.: 50.358 TONNES WHICH IS HUGE FOR THIS NON ACTIVE ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH IN THE CALENDAR. FEBRUARY HAD THE HIGHEST DELIVERY FOR ANY MONTH AND APRIL WAS SECOND..
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: 2,183,199.736 oz 67.90 tonnes
TOTAL OF ALL GOLD ELIGIBLE AND REGISTERED GOLD 39,154,146.819 oz
TOTAL REGISTERED GOLD 21,699,737.264: or 674.01 tonnes
TOTAL OF ALL ELIGIBLE GOLD: 17,484,409.555 OZ
REGISTERED GOLD THAT CAN BE SERVED UPON: 18,516.538oz (REG GOLD- PLEDGED GOLD)= 607.04tonnes //
END
SILVER/COMEX
// THE APRIL 2025 SILVER CONTRACT//INITIAL
MAY 9
INITIAL
| Silver | Ounces |
| Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory | NIL oz |
| Withdrawals from Customer Inventory | 4 withdrawal entries i) Brinks 238,831.400 oz ii) CNT 600,214.633 oz iii)Delaware 994.900 oz iv) Loomis: 617,124.550 oz total withdrawal 1,457,165.513 oz |
| Deposits to the Dealer Inventory | 1 entries/dealer i) Into Stonex: 248,701.10 oz total dealer deposit: 248,701.10 oz |
| Deposits to the Customer Inventory | 3 deposit entry//customer side/eligible i) Into HSBC 38,745.150 oz ii)Into JPMorgan 1942,330.600 oz iii) Into Stonex 8639.000 oz total deposit weight: 1,939,714.0000 oz |
| No of oz served today (contracts) | 118 CONTRACT(S) (0.590 MILLION OZ |
| No of oz to be served (notices) | 1123 contract (5.615 MILLION oz) |
| Total monthly oz silver served (contracts) | 13,699 Contracts (68.495million oz) |
| Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Dealers inventory this month | NIL oz |
| Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Customer inventory this month |
1 entries/dealer
i) Into Stonex: 248,701.10 oz
total dealer deposit: 248,701.10 oz
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
3 deposit entry//customer side/eligible
i) Into HSBC 38,745.150 oz
ii)Into JPMorgan 1942,330.600 oz
iii) Into Stonex 8,639.000 oz
total deposit weight: 1,939,714.0000 oz
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
4 withdrawal entries
i) Brinks 238,831.400 oz
ii) CNT 600,214.633 oz
iii)Delaware 994.900 oz
iv) Loomis: 617,124.550 oz
total withdrawal 1,457,165.513 oz
ADJUSTMENTs 2
a) JPMorgan: 315,293.310 oz
b) CNT 594,572,808 oz
JPMorgan has a total silver weight: 215.960million oz/503.581 oz million or 42.74%
TOTAL REGISTERED SILVER: 167.509 MILLION OZ//.TOTAL REG + ELIGIBLE. 503,581Million oz
CALCULATIONS FOR THE NEW STANDING FOR SILVER FOR MAY
silver open interest data:
FRONT MONTH OF MAY /2025 OI: 1241 OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FOR A GAIN OF 254 CONTRACTS. WE HAD 230 NOTICES FILED ON THURSDAY SO WE GAINED 484 CONTRACTS WHICH UNDERWENT A MASSIVE QUEUE JUMP OF 2.420 MILLION OZ WHERE THESE BOYS HAVE DECIDED TO TAKE DELIVERY OVER HERE. I MUST REPORT WE HAD 0 EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE. THUS THE NEW TOTAL REMAINS AT TWO ISSUANCES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK IS 12.93 MILLION OZ.
JUNE SAW A GAIN OF 13 CONTRACTS UP TO 3196 CONTRACTS. JUNE OI REFUSES TO LIQUIDATE
AS IT IS NOW THE FRONT MONTH.
JULY LOST 2991 CONTRACTS DOWN TO 106,229
TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR TODAY: 118 or 0.590 MILLION oz
CONFIRMED volume; ON THURSDAY 54,023 fair//
AND NOW MAY DELIVERIES:
To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in MAY. we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at 13,699 X5,000 oz = 68.495 MILLION oz
to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of MAY (1241) AND the number of notices served upon today (118 )x (5000 oz)
Thus the standings for silver for the MAY 2025 contract month: (13,699) Notices served so far) x 5000 oz + OI for the front month of MAY(1241) minus number of notices served upon today (118)x 5000 oz equals silver standing for the MAY contract month equating to 74.110 MILLION OZ . THEN WE MUST ADD OUR NEW 12.93 TONNES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK. NEW TOTAL STANDING FOR SILVER: 87.04 MILLION OZ
New total standing: 87.04 million oz which is huge for this active delivery month of MAY.
We must also keep in mind that there is considerable silver standing in London coming from our longs in New York that underwent EFP transfers.
There are 167.609million 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
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
MAY 9 WITH GOLD UP $37.50 TODAY// HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:A DEPOSIT OF 2.01 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/ ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 939.68 TONNES
MAY 8 WITH GOLD DOWN $82.60 TODAY// SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.23 TONNES OF GOLD WITHDRAWN FROM THE GLD/ ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 937.67 TONNES
MAY 7 WITH GOLD DOWN $30.30 TODAY// NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 937.96 TONNES
MAY 6 WITH GOLD UP $101.55 TODAY// HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 6.32 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 937.96 TONNES
MAY 5 WITH GOLD UP $77.95 TODAY// HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.13 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 944.28 TONNES
MAY 2 WITH GOLD UP $ 18.40 TODAY// HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 1.15 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 945.41 TONNES
MAY 1 WITH GOLD DOWN $ 92,45 TODAY// HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.87 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 944.26 TONNES
APRIL30 WITH GOLD DOWN $14.05 TODAY// NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 0.86 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 947.13 TONNES
APRIL29 WITH GOLD DOWN $13.45 TODAY// NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.27 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 946.27 TONNES
APRIL28 WITH GOLD UP $50.20 TODAY// HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.27 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 946.27 TONNES
APRIL25 WITH GOLD DOWN $49.95 TODAY// HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A MASSIVEV WITHDRAWAL OF 3.911 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 948.56 TONNES
APRIL24 WITH GOLD UP $54.90 TODAY// HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A MASSIVE DEPOSIT OF 1.44 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 952.471 TONNES
APRIL23 WITH GOLD DOWN $124.55 TODAY// HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 9.47 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 949.70 TONNES
APRIL22 WITH GOLD DOWN $7,75 TODAY// HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A MASSIVE DEPOSIT OF 6.89 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 957.17 TONNES
APRIL21 WITH GOLD UP $98.70 TODAY// HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.88 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 952.28 TONNES
APRIL17 WITH GOLD DOWN $14.85 TODAY// HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 4.02 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 957.17 TONNES
APRIL16 WITH GOLD UP $12.90 TODAY// NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 953.15 TONNES
APRIL15 WITH GOLD UP $106.35 TODAY// NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 953.15 TONNES
APRIL14 WITH GOLD DOWN $16.90 TODAY// HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 3.44 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD. ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 953.15 TONNES
APRIL11 WITH GOLD UP $67.70 TODAY// HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 13.48 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD. ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 949.71 TONNES
/APRIL10 WITH GOLD UP $100.00 TODAY// HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.86 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD. ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 937.09 TONNES
APRIL9 WITH GOLD UP $83.50 TODAY// MEGA HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A MASSIVE DEPOSIT OF 11.171 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD. ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 936.23 TONNES
APRIL8 WITH GOLD UP $17.50 TODAY// HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 6.02 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD. ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 926.78 TONNES
APRIL3 WITH GOLD DOWN $27.85 TODAY// SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 0.57 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD. ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 931.94 TONNES
APRIL2 WITH GOLD UP $10.00 TODAY// HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.01 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD. ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 931.37 TONNES
APRIL1 WITH GOLD DOWN $3.55 TODAY// HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 1.44 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD. ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 933.38 TONNES
MARCH 31 WITH GOLD UP $31.60 TODAY// HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 2.29 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD. ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 931.94 TONNES
MARCH 28 WITH GOLD UP $31.60 TODAY// SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF .29 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD. ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 929.65 TONNES
MARCH 27 WITH GOLD UP $31.60 TODAY// SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF .29 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD. ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 929.65 TONNES
MARCH 26 WITH GOLD UP $31.60 TODAY// NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 929.36 TONNES
MARCH 25 WITH GOLD UP $13.90 TODAY// HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.44 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/ ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 929.07 TONNES
MARCH 24 WITH GOLD DOWN $6.10 TODAY// HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 20.08 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD///INVENTORY RESTS AT 930.51 TONNES
GLD INVENTORY: 939.68 TONNES, TONIGHTS TOTAL
SILVER
MAY 9 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.16/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:NO CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV ////: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 448.783 MILLION OZ
MAY 8 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.16/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:NO CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV ////: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 448.783 MILLION OZ
MAY 7 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.54/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: ////: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 448.783 MILLION OZ
MAY 6 WITH SILVER UP $0.92 /SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A HUG WITHDRAWAL OF 2.818 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV ////: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 448.783 MILLION OZ
MAY 5 WITH SILVER UP $0.08 /SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A SMALL DEPOSIT OF 0.117 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV ////: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 450.602 MILLION OZ
MAY 2 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.19 /MASSIVE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 4.545 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV ////: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 450.424 MILLION OZ
MAY 1 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.43 /SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A DEPOSIT OF 0.683 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV ////: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 454.972 MILLION OZ
APRIL30 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.65 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A DEPOSIT OF 2.364 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV ////: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 454.289 MILLION OZ
APRIL29 WITH SILVER UP $0.30 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A DEPOSIT OF 3.229 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV ////: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 451.925 MILLION OZ
APRIL28 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.03 /SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.136 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV ////: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 448.696 MILLION OZ
APRIL25 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.44 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A MASSSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 3.639 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV ////: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 448.832 MILLION OZ
APRIL24 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.01 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A MASSSIVE DEPOSIT OF 4.771 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV ////: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 452.471 MILLION OZ
APRIL23 WITH SILVER UP $0.65 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:A MASSSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 6.27 MILLIO9N OZ FROM THE SLV ////: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 447.70 MILLION OZ
APRIL22 WITH SILVER UP $0.15 /NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: ////: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 453.426 MILLION
APRIL22 WITH SILVER UP $0.30 /SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 0.545 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV////: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 453.426 MILLION
APRIL21 WITH SILVER UP $0.15 /SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 0.545 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV////: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 453.426 MILLION
APRIL17 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.56 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 1.183 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV////: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 453.426 MILLION
APRIL16 WITH SILVER UP $0.70 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A MASSIVE DEPOSIT OF 3.002 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV////: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 452.243 MILLION
APRIL15 WITH SILVER UP $0.07 /NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 449.241 MILLION
APRIL14 WITH SILVER UP $0/23 /SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.273 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV//: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 449.241 MILLION
APRIL11 WITH SILVER UP $1.18 /BIG CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A DEPOSIT OF 1.911 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV//: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 449.71 MILLION
APRIL10 WITH SILVER UP $0.18 /SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A WITHDDRAWAL OF 0.501 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV//: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 447.603 MILLION
APRIL9 WITH SILVER UP $0.96 /SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A DEPOSIT OF 0.683 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV//: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 448.104 MILLION
APRIL8 WITH SILVER UP $0.35 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A DEPOSIT OF 1.137 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV//: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 447,421 MILLION
APRIL3 WITH SILVER DOWN $1.84 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.138 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV//: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 446.830 MILLION
APRIL2 WITH SILVER UP 0.15 /SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV A WITHDRAWAL OF .364 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV//: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 447.968 MILLION
APRIL1 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.36 /NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 448.332 MILLION
MARCH 31 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.28 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A STRONG DEPOSIT OF 0.91000 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV//// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 448.332 MILLION
MARCH 28 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.21 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV” A STRONG WITHDRAWAL OF 1.092 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV//// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 447.422 MILLION
MARCH 27 WITH SILVER UP $.60 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV” A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 6.369 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV//// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 448.514 MILLION
MARCH 26 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.21 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV” A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 6.369 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV//// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 448.514 MILLION
MARCH 25 WITH SILVER UP $0.63 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A MASSIVE DEPOSIT OF 13.649 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 454.883 MILLION
MARCH 24 WITH SILVER UP $0.04 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.728 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV// //INVENTORY AT SLV RESTS AT 441.234 MILLION
CLOSING INVENTORY 448.783 MILLION OZ//
PHYSICAL GOLD/SILVER COMMENTARIES
1/ PETER SCHIFF/SCHIFF GOLD/MIKE MAHARRY
PETER SCHIFF
VINCE LANCI
Gold Reconsidered: A Strategy To Facilitate 21st Century United States Excellence
Thursday, May 08, 2025 – 10:35 PM
By Vincent Lanci
Summary: This report explores gold’s reemergence not merely as a store of value, but as a strategic monetary tool for circumventing sanctions, supporting trade diplomacy, and conducting debt management. Drawing upon historical precedent, contemporary developments, and theoretical frameworks such as Stephen Miran’s Mar-a-Lago Accord, this essay proposes that the United States is positioned to reengage in a sovereign-level gold trading for purposes of reducing debt, rewarding trade partners, and restoring the US manufacture-export base. This mechanism, once dominated by bullion banks and now emulated by sanctioned states, enables the monetization of gold without outright liquidation. Gold-forward hedges provide the United States with an opportunity to strategically weaken the dollar as a component of its need to remain competitive in export driven global economies, reduce debt obligations, and support trade-partner allies through targeted currency support. This report argues that gold’s transformation under Basel III, coupled with a shift in U.S. monetary strategy, marks a return to gold’s core geopolitical function.
I. Introduction. Gold is a store of value; it is money. With its immutable physical properties, universal recognition, and lack of counterparty risk, gold serves as a uniquely effective asset in sovereign monetary operations. This paper explores how the U.S. can operationalize gold as a monetary instrument to manage debt, influence foreign exchange dynamics, and pursue geopolitical leverage in a deglobalizing world.
II. Historical Foundation: The Bullion Bank Carry Trade. Beginning in the 1990s, bullion banks employed a gold carry trade model that enabled monetization without sale. This involved:
- Holding physical gold owned or on loan from another party (spot position)
- Selling that gold forward (creating a future potential liability)
- Investing the proceeds in higher-yielding assets (e.g., Treasuries, stocks, or foreign bonds)
This trade structure provided income while keeping physical reserves intact and suppressed upward pressure on gold prices. It became a cornerstone of central bank expectation management strategy and a projection tool of a stable, reliable USD.
III. The Mar-a-Lago Accord. Stephen Miran’s Mar-a-Lago Accord offered a blueprint for leveraging gold to manage U.S. debt and trade imbalances. That proposal involved:
- Selling U.S. gold reserves
- Using proceeds to purchase foreign currencies with higher yields
- Reducing the effective interest burden on U.S. liabilities
Though politically toxic, the ESF and similar tools had already historically been used in currency stabilization crises. While Miran’s Accord was publicly shelved, some of its core mechanisms remain feasible.
IV. Gold and Sanctions Evasion. The Russia-Iran Model Sanctioned states such as Russia and Iran have leveraged gold to access dollar liquidity via trusted counterparties. By holding and hedging gold through countries like China, they generate liquid proceeds in local or global currencies that are ultimately converted to dollars. This allows them to fund operations while avoiding SWIFT and U.S. financial enforcement.
The oil-for-gold arrangement between Russia and China first described by this paper’s author in 2017. set a precedent. Initially dismissed as rumor, it gained traction when later acknowledged by credible banking analysts. Most recently, an offshoot of its success was announced between China and Saudi Arabia in which the Saudis would receive payment for their oil in RMB with gold optionality attached. The gold would be held by China as it had been for Russian deals. This shows that gold can function as a sanctions-neutral reserve and transfer mechanism while simultaneously being a monetary bridge (mBridge) to the USD or other currencies if needed.
V. Structural Shifts in the Gold Market: The macro and regulatory backdrop has shifted:
- Basel III reclassifies gold as a Tier 1 asset
- Recent OCC Gold derivative reclassification at Banks
- These banks held over 90% of U.S. gold derivative exposure
- BRICS countries now prioritize gold over Treasuries for trade reserves
Together, these changes signal a revaluation of gold within both private and sovereign balance sheets.
VI. A New U.S. Strategy: Gold-Backed Trade Diplomacy. The U.S. can now pursue a sovereign gold carry trade:
- Forward-sale gold to trusted banks
- Use proceeds to buy foreign currencies or EM debt
- Prop up allied currencies, reduce dollar strength
- Execute monetary stimulus while avoiding inflation mismanagement
This framework allows integration of trade and monetary policy. As part of bilateral trade negotiations, the U.S. can offer to stabilize emerging-market currencies, reducing resistance to tariff reform and strengthening political ties.
VII. Conclusion. Gold is returning to center stage as a versatile tool for 21st-century financial statecraft. By adopting carry trade mechanisms pioneered by bullion banks and mirrored by adversarial regimes, the U.S. has the opportunity to align debt management, currency strategy, and trade diplomacy. The convergence of regulatory changes, gold repatriation, and geopolitical fragmentation makes this moment uniquely ripe for gold’s strategic reintegration.
2, EGON VON GREYERZ
ALASDAIR MACLEOD
Healthy consolidation in gold and silver
After the post-liberation day volatility, all markets seek direction. However, the signs are that the negative trend for equities and bonds, and positive trend for PMs will continue in time.
| Alasdair MacleodMay 9∙Paid |
This week, consolidation has continued for gold and silver. In early European trading this morning, gold was $2321, up $83 from last Friday’s close after hitting a high of $3438 on Tuesday. Silver was $32.58, up 60 cents over the same timescale. Trade on Comex was light to moderate, with the price action being increasingly driven in Shanghai.
Gold having risen strongly this year so far (up 26%) and particularly over the last month, it appears that Chinese speculators on the Shanghai Futures Exchange are suffering mild market indigestion. This sets the scene for Comex shorts, still trying to close their positions encouraging the longs to sell by marking down prices to trigger stop-losses.
But Open Interest in both contracts is at the low end, indicating that weak holders have already left the Comex scene. This is shown in the next chart for gold:
Note how open interest is now below 450,000 contracts — on preliminary figures last night they were 439,672. Despite the collapse in this metric, the price remains close to all-time highs. Call this the China effect: it illustrates that the influence brought to bear on gold in Western paper markets is now not the real game.
So we must look to China. And here, a pause in gold’s upwards momentum is justified by confirmation that Trump’s tariffs are being eroded, in China’s case through back-channel negotiations. Yesterday, new tariffs were agreed between the UK and the US, confirming that the US is tending to back down. It gives comfort to US investors as well, who believe that the Art of the Deal is alive and well. The dollar’s trade-weighted index reflects this accordingly:
Currently at 100.5, the $TWI has rallied into overhead supply. This is likely to be seen by foreign holders as an opportunity to reduce their exposure. By way of confirmation, the Fed kept its funds rate unchanged, as expected. The Fed will be very much aware that to have trimmed the rate would have increased selling pressure, not just on the dollar, but on Treasuries as well.
Meanwhile, China is still easing its monetary policy, which can only stimulate household demand for gold accumulation accounts, with some $2.5 trillion equivalent of new money to invest annually. That’s what tells us gold’s consolidation is just that, prior to new Chinese investing in physical set to push prices significantly higher.
Silver is also showing a steadier tone. Again, Comex open interest is at the low end, illustrated next.
Open interest (arrowed) shows that all else being equal it could go slightly lower. Ideally one would like to see it below 130,000 contracts (139,214 preliminary numbers yesterday). But does this really matter?
The technical chart suggests not. This is next.
This is very bullish, which suggests that Comex Open Interest should be on a rising trend: that is to say selloffs become less extreme as time goes on. Undoubtedly, it is this chart and similar technical representations which make the silver bugs so bullish. Bear in mind that silver bugs are far from being the mainstream opinion, vociferous though they may be.
The mainstream dismisses reports of excess demand over supply, pointing out that there are large stocks of silver classified as “investment”. In the past, this has often been the source of marginal supply.
Maybe. But silver investors are unlikely to let their silver go if they see prices rising. And that’s what the technical chart is screaming at us.
end
3. C Powell and Gata dispatches
4. ANDREW MAGUIRE PODCAST 222
5B GLOBAL COMMODITY ISSUES/FOOD IN GENERAL//FREIGHT/COMMODITIES:COMMODITY//RARE EARTHS
6 CRYPTOCURRENCY NEWS
ASIA TRADING FRIDAY MORNING THURSDAY NIGHT
SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 10.00 PTS OR 0.30%
//Hang Seng CLOSED UP 91.82 PTS OR .43%
// Nikkei CLOSED UP 574.70 PTS OR 1.56% //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP .49%
//Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) CLOSED DOWN AT 7.2441 OFFSHORE CLOSED DOWN AT 7.2431 / Oil UP TO 60.74 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT UP TO 63.72 Stocks in Europe OPENED ALL GREEN
ONSHORE USA/ YUAN TRADING BELOW LEVEL OF OFFSHORE YUAN TRADING :/ONSHORE YUAN DOWN TRADING AT 7.2441 AND WEAKER//OFF SHORE YUAN TRADING DOWN 7.2431 AGAINST US DOLLAR/ AND THUS WEAKER
END
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
1.YOUR EARLY CURRENCY VALUES/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN AND EUROPEAN BOURSE MOVEMENTS/AND INTEREST RATE SETTINGS /FRIDAY MORNING.7:30 AM
ONSHORE YUAN: CLOSED DOWN TO 7.2441 (CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY MANIPULATED)
OFFSHORE YUAN: DOWN TO 7.2431 (CCP MANIPULATED)
SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 10.00 PTS OR 0.30%
HANG SENG CLOSED UP 91.82 PTS OR .43%
2. Nikkei closed UP 574.70 PTS OR 1.56%
3. Europe stocks SO FAR: ALL GREEN
USA dollar INDEX UP TO 100.24// EURO RISES TO 1.1252 UP 25 BASIS PTS
3b Japan 10 YR bond yield: RISES TO. +1.364//Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese YEN vs USA cross now at 145.23…… JAPANESE YEN NOW FALLING AS WE HAVE NOW REACHED THE RE EMERGING OF THE YEN CARRY TRADE AGAIN AFTER DISASTROUS POLICY ISSUED BY UEDA
3c Nikkei now ABOVE 17,000
3d USA/Yen rate now well ABOVE the important 120 barrier this morning
3e Gold UP /JAPANESE Yen DOWN CHINESE ONSHORE YUAN: DOWN OFFSHORE: DOWN
3f Japan is to buy INFINITE TRILLION YEN worth of BONDS. Japan’s GDP equals 5 trillion USA
Japan to buy 100% of all new Japanese debt and NOW they will have OVER 50% of all Japanese debt.
3g Oil UP for WTI and DOWN FOR UP this morning
3h European bond buying continues to push yields lower on all fronts in the EMU. German 10yr bund YIELD UP TO +2.5820/Italian 10 Yr bond yield UP to 3.646 SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD UP TO 3.230%
3i Greek 10 year bond yield UP TO 3.395
3j Gold at $3326.65 Silver at: 32.57 1 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $50.00//AFTER 28.40
3k USA vs Russian rouble;// Russian rouble DOWN 1 AND 36 /100 roubles/dollar; ROUBLE AT 83.75
3m oil into the 60 dollar handle for WTI and 63 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 145.23// 10 YEAR YIELD AFTER FIRST BREAKING .54% LAST YEAR NOW EXCEEDS THAT LEVEL TO 1.364% 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 0.8309 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF: 0.9349 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: 4.374 UP 0 BASIS PTS…
USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 4.844 UP 1 BASIS PTS/
USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 3.860 DOWN 4 BASIS PTS
USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 38.61
10 YR UK BOND YIELD: 4.6410 UP 10 PTS
10 YR CANADA BOND YIELD: 3.202 UP 4 BASIS PTS
5 YR CANADA BOND YIELD: 2.804 UP 4 PTS
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
2a New York OPENING REPORT
Futures Gain Ahead Of US-China Trade Talks
Friday, May 09, 2025 – 08:32 AM
US equity futures traded modestly higher pointing to a third day of gains, until just before 730am ET when Trump decided to play bad cop to Scott Bessent’s good cop and posted on Truth Social that “80% Tariff on China seems right!” but then added that the final tariff rate is “Up to Scott B.”
That comment promptly hit futures, erasing the market’s modest gains, but upon reflection and realization that Trump was probably just in one of his moods, futures resumed their ascent after yesterday’s trade deal with the UK and Trump’s comments to buy the market. The focus is on the start of China trade talks this weekend, but if we use the US/UK deal as a template, it is light on details with a seemingly minimal economic impact. As of 8:00am ET, S&P futures are up 0.2% and Nasdaq futures gain 0.3%. Pre-market, all Mag7 names are higher with cyclicals mixed but with a bias to Quality names. Markets also benefited from a slew of positive earnings, with Microchip Technology, Lyft, and Pinterest surging while Expedia plunged after it cut bookings growth forecasts. Bond yields are flat as the yield curve bull steepens and the USD sells off after its strongest day since Nov 6 (day after the US Pres. Election). In commodities, energy continues to see a bid with WTI now above $60/bbl, Ags are higher, and precious metals are outperforming base. There is nothing on the macro data calendar, and earnings are light today so today’s session will likely be investors trying to position for outcomes after this weekend’s US/China summit.
In premarket trading, most Mag 7 stocks were green (Tesla +0.75%, Apple +0.2%, Amazon +0.03%, Meta +0.8%, Nvidia +0.1%, Alphabet +0.07%, Microsoft +0.03%). Affirm Holdings fell 6% after the buy-now-pay-later company gave a revenue forecast for the current quarter with the midpoint trailing the avearge analyst estimate. Expedia tumbled 9% after the travel services company cut its gross bookings growth forecast for 2025.
- Figs Inc. (FIGS) drops 16% postmarket after the seller of medical scrubs reduced its year outlook for adjusted Ebitda margin.
- Globus Medical (GMED) drops 14% after the medical device company’s earnings missed estimates, with analysts pointing to weakness in its US spine business and the challenges of integrating recent deals.
- Gogo (GOGO) soars 21% after the in-flight broadband company reaffirmed its adjusted Ebitda guidance for the full year.
- Green Dot (GDOT) rises 18% after the payments companyboosted its adjusted earnings per share forecast for the full year.
- HubSpot (HUBS) declines 4% after the software company gave an outlook for adjusted earnings that is weaker than expected and said Brian Halligan resigned as executive chairperson.
- Iovance Biotherapeutics (IOVA) plunges 34% after the biotech’s first-quarter revenue fell short of estimates and the company cut its full-year forecast.
- Lyft (LYFT) jumps 11% after reporting better-than-expected gross bookings in the first quarter, drawing a sharp contrast with the disappointing results issued by its much-larger ride-hailing rival Uber Technologies a day earlier.
- Microchip Technology (MCHP) climbs 11% after the chipmaker reported fourth-quarter results and said the period “marks the bottom of this prolonged industry down cycle.”
- Pinterest (PINS) climbs 12% after its second-quarter revenue guidance came in ahead of estimates at the midpoint.
- Trade Desk (TTD) is up 14% after the ad-tech company’s forecast for second quarter adjusted Ebitda exceeded the average analyst estimate.
- Wolfspeed (WOLF) tumbles 19% after posting quarterly results. Management said the company continues to work closely with lenders on ways to address Wolfspeed’s capital structure.
Investors are focused on the possibility of easing tensions with China, though Trump’s comments on Friday were a reality check to anyone expecting a quick solution. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are set to begin talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Switzerland this weekend, the first public discussions between the world’s two largest economies.
President Trump said an 80% tariff on China “seems right!”. He added, however, that it is “up to Scott B”, a reference to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent who is due to meet with Chinese government officials this weekend to try to deescalate the trade tensions. Raising the 80% level clearly puts Bessent under pressure not to ease the 145% tariff level too far. It’s not clear how China would react to that proposal as it’s a level that still effectively impedes trade between the two countries, and there’s a risk China would walk away from the talks. One potential way out could be the agreement between the UK and US, which maintained the headline 10% on UK imports to the US but added key exemptions for critical sectors including cars and steel.
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 index rose 0.5%, on track for a fourth weekly advance, led by energy and basic resources while Germany’s DAX Index became the first major European gauge to surpass its March record high, recouping all losses sparked by Trump’s trade war, and rising as much as 0.8% to 23,528.88, exceeding the previous record set on March 18. Here are the biggest movers Friday:
- Bavarian Nordic shares jump as much as 14%, the most since August, after the vaccine maker reported first-quarter revenue that beat expectations and kept its 2025 financial outlook
- EDP rises as much as 6.3% in Lisbon after reporting net income for the first quarter that beat the average analyst estimate
- Enel shares gain as much as 2.2% after the Italian utility reported a solid set of results, with first-quarter adjusted net income beating estimates
- Mol rose as much as 1.6% after first-quarter earnings beat estimates, though analysts at Citigroup noted the effect of one-off items and key risks for the next quarter’s outlook
- Sonova shares surge as much as 6.9% after the Swiss hearing aid company reported a sales and margin beat, overshadowing the impact of currency headwinds on its outlook
- BE Semiconductor shares rise as much as 3.6% after JPMorgan initiates coverage with an overweight rating, saying the chip-equipment company is bound for substantial revenue growth if adoption of the hybrid bonding technology takes off in 2026 and 2027
- IAG shares rise as much as 2.7% after fluctuating in early trading. The British Airways owner reported first-quarter results that exceeded expectations, but also noted various cost headwinds and some softness in the US economy
- Cellnex shares fall as much as 5.2% after the tower operator reported revenue and free cash flow that missed estimates
- Campari shares fall as much as 4.6% after the Italian spirits maker’s first-quarter results missed expectations, showing that the backdrop continues to be tough with analysts flagging an uncertain outlook due to trade tensions
- Logista shares declined as much as 7.2% as the Spanish company reported net income for the first half that fell 5.4% from a year earlier and said it sees FY adjusted operating profit excluding the impact on inventory values as “slightly below” 2024 levels.
Earlier in the session, Asia’s MSCI’s benchmark gauge rose 0.7%, putting it line for a fourth straight week of gains with Taiwan and Japan leading gains in the region. TSMC, Alibaba and Mitsubishi UFJ were the biggest boosts to the Asia gauge, which is on course to cap its fourth week of advance. Shares got a boost after a trade agreement between the US and UK spurred hopes for similar deals to rollback high tariffs for other US allies. The Taiwanese stock index climbed 1.8% on Friday, taking gains from an April 9 low to over 20%. Chinese equities edged lower as investors reassess bets before trade talks the weekend. President Donald Trump has said he may consider cutting punishing tariffs on Chinese imports if the talks go well. Meanwhile, Indian stocks and bonds extended their slide as hostilities with Pakistan escalated.
In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar spot index falls 0.2%, erasing a similar move higher to snap a two-day winning streak; despite its fall, the greenback is on track for its biggest weekly gain in six weeks. NZD is the weakest performer in G-10 FX, JPY and SEK outperform. “The positive risk sentiment from the UK/US trade framework may face a reality check this weekend in Switzerland. If the first talks between China and US do not give a hint of an off ramp from sky-high tariffs, USD will likely resume its decline,” said Eugenia Fabon Victorino, a head of Asia strategy at Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB
In rates, the 10-year Treasury yield was flat at 4.38%, while the two-year yield slipped 1bp to 3.86% as the Treasury curve bull steepens as front-end yields drop and the long end holds steady. In Europe, Bunds bear steepen, with long-end yields up nearly 5bps; the UK gilt curve also bear steepens, with 2s10s widening ~4.3bps as longer yields lead the move higher.
In commodities, oil futures advance again as WTI drifts 1.5% higher to trade near $60.78. Most base metals trade in the green; LME lead rises 1.5%, outperforming peers. Spot gold rises roughly $22 to trade near $3,328/oz.
There are no macro events on today’s calendar but we have a busy Fed speaker slate which includes Kugler (7:45am), Williams (8:30am, 9:15am and 11:30am), Barkin (8:30am), Goolsbee (10am), Waller (11:30am panel with Williams) and Musalem, Hammack and Cook (7:45pm panel).
Market Snapshot
- S&P 500 mini +0.2%
- Nasdaq 100 mini +0.3%
- Russell 2000 mini -0.1%
- Stoxx Europe 600 +0.4%
- DAX +0.6%
- CAC 40 +0.6%
- 10-year Treasury yield little changed at 4.37%
- VIX -0.1 points at 22.4
- Bloomberg Dollar Index -0.2% at 1227.78
- euro +0.2% at $1.1253
- WTI crude +1.3% at $60.85/barrel
Top Overnight News
- Chinese officials have grown “alarmed” in private about the impact to the domestic economy from Trump’s trade war, which is why they were eager to engage with the US. RTRS
- Trump says on his Truth Social account that 80% tariff on China “seems right” ahead of weekend trade talks
- The US hopes to cut its China tariffs to less than 60% if trade talks go well this weekend, people familiar said, in an attempt to de-escalate tensions. Donald Trump signaled tariffs may fall but a spokesman said talk of “targets” was speculation. BBG
- Trump said on his Truth Social account that he is OK if Republcans increase taxes on the rich, although they should probably not do it.
- House Leaders will warn Trump that some of the White House’s tax ambitions will need to be dialed back as Republicans struggle to agree on spending cuts. Politico
- US President Trump posted on Truth that he spoke with Commerce Secretary Lutnick and agreed the “Digital Equity Act” is unconstitutional, which he is ending immediately and there will be no more woke handouts based on race, saving taxpayers billions of dollars.
- Chinese exporters are preparing for a resumption of shipments to the US (part of this preparation involves reserving shipping capacity) in anticipation of both sides dialing back tariffs. RTRS
- China’s trade numbers for April come in ahead of expectations overall, including exports (+8.1% vs. the Street +2%) and imports (-0.2% vs. the Street -0.6%), but exports to the US plunged 21%. WSJ
- Big countries are the focus for future trade deals, especially from Asia, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox. But he said Japan, South Korea and India would require enormous time and effort. BBG
- Silicon Valley wants to disrupt the defense industry — and the Pentagon’s $1 trillion budget. Palantir and Anduril are key players developing autonomous weapons systems that aim to reimagine modern warfare and the companies that dominate it. BBG
- Republicans in Congress are opposed to Trump’s “most favored nation” idea for Medicaid drug purchases (a positive for the industry), although the reconciliation could eliminate a tax deduction for pharma advertising. BBG
- Stablecoin legislation fails to advance in the Senate after Dems blocked the initiative due to opposition over how the Trump family was capitalizing on the crypto industry. NYT
Tariffs/Trade
- US Commerce Secretary Lutnick said deals will be used as templates for other deals and that they will have dozens of deals announced by July 8th. Lutnick stated that as you get to bigger economies and more work, it takes time and economies such as India, Japan and South Korea are huge and take a lot of work, while he added that de-escalation with China is US Treasury Secretary Bessent’s goal in talks and that as countries open their markets, the best any country can do is a 10% tariff.
- Detroit Three trade group said the Trump trade deal with the UK “hurts American automakers, suppliers and auto workers”.
- China’s Vice Foreign Minister Hua said the US cannot sustain what it is doing in trade policy and that China has full confidence in its ability to manage US trade issues. Hua added that China does not want a war of any kind with any other country and has full capability to overcome difficulties amid the trade war, as well as noted that ordinary people in China do not want a trade war but are confident and said they have no fear if they have to face up to reality regarding trade talks.
- China signed a letter of intent with exporters in Argentina to buy about USD 900mln of soybeans, corn and vegetable oil – in turn shifting from the US, according to Bloomberg.
A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk
APAC stocks traded with a positive bias as the region took impetus from the gains stateside, where sentiment was underpinned by trade optimism following the announcement of a UK-US trade agreement framework and President Trump’s rhetoric regarding China tariffs. ASX 200 gained as outperformance in tech, financials and energy more than atoned for the slack in mining stocks, while earnings also provided a tailwind after an increase in profits for Macquarie Group. Nikkei 225 returned to above the USD 37,000 level for the first time since late March with the index propelled by recent currency weakness, while the data was mixed as Household Spending topped forecasts but Labour Cash earnings softened. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were cautious amid the latest Chinese trade data which topped forecast but showed a slowdown in export growth, although downside was limited ahead of US-China talks on Saturday and after recent comments from President Trump who expects tariffs to go down, while the US was also reportedly weighing a plan to slash China tariffs to as low as 50% as soon as next week.
Top Asian News
- China’s Vice Foreign Minister Hua said the US cannot sustain what it is doing in trade policy and that China has full confidence in its ability to manage US trade issues. Hua added that China does not want a war of any kind with any other country and has full capability to overcome difficulties amid the trade war, as well as noted that ordinary people in China do not want a trade war but are confident and said they have no fear if they have to face up to reality regarding trade talks.
- China signed a letter of intent with exporters in Argentina to buy about USD 900mln of soybeans, corn and vegetable oil – in turn shifting from the US, according to Bloomberg.
European bourses (STOXX 600 +0.4%) opened modestly firmer across the board, and have traded sideways throughout the morning thus far. European sectors hold a positive bias; there is some clear outperformance in Energy, while other sectoral gainers are relatively similar in magnitude. Travel & Leisure and Media sit at the foot of the pile – holding modest losses.
Top European News
- Morgan Stanley now expect the BoE to hold rates in June (prev. forecast 25bps cut); now expects rate cut in December, maintains year-end Bank Rate forecast at 3.25%.
- BoE’s Bailey says commitment to the 2% inflation target is unwavering. Scenarios have helped us not only to explore what would happen in case a particular shock, or constellation of shocks, should hit the economy, but also how any given set of shocks could affect the economy and inflation depending on the strengths of different economic mechanisms. Good there is a diversity of view on the MPC. UK-US trade deal will leave effective tariff rate higher than they were when they started.
- ECB’s Simkus says geopolitics since the start of the year is bad news for the economy, via Bloomberg TV; there is downward pressure on inflation Euro-area inflation depends on EU retaliation to the US. ECB June projections may be a little bit worse. June ECB rate cut is needed. It is unclear if a post-June rate cut will be in July or September. “We are more or less there on inflation”. There is no central scenario for ECB rates. “Quite high chances we’ll be undershooting on inflation”.
- ECB’s Rehn says disinflation is on track, and the growth outlook is weakening.
- New German Economy Minister Reiche says “we need a combination of renewable energies and gas, we tended to focus almost too much in climate protection”.
- German Chancellor Merz says will not change previous German government’s position of joint EU debt. Mutual debt “must remain exceptional”, cannot be used for every crisis.
FX
- The recent recovery in the USD has paused for breath with the greenback having gained in the past two sessions on account of the post-FOMC reaction and ongoing trade optimism. On the latter, Thursday saw the unveiling of a UK-US trade agreement. However, of greater importance was Thursday’s remarks from US President Trump that tariffs on China can’t get any higher than 145% and knows they will be coming down. This was followed up by a report in the New York Post that the US is weighing a plan to slash China tariffs to as low as 50% as soon as next week. Today sees a busy Fed speaker slate with Barr, Kugler, Perli, Williams, Goolsbee & Waller all due on deck. DXY currently trading around 100.40.
- EUR/USD is a touch firmer after being weighed on in the past two sessions amid ongoing trade optimism. This is a reversal of the pattern we saw in April as trade tensions ratcheted higher and the EUR benefitted as a liquid alternative to the Greenback. EZ docket is lacking and ECB speak thus far has proved non-incremental with ECB’s Simkus noting ECB June projections may be a little bit worse and a cut next month is needed. EUR/USD briefly slipped onto a 1.11 handle overnight with a low at 1.1197.
- JPY is attempting to claw back some of its recent losses vs. the USD which has seen USD/JPY pick up from a WTD low on Tuesday at 142.35 to a 146.18 peak. Japanese-specific newsflow remains on the light side as market participants await progress on the trade front between Japan and the US. USD/JPY has returned to a 145 handle with a session low at 145.08.
- GBP was unable to benefit vs. the USD and only marginally gained vs. the EUR despite a “hawkish cut from the BoE and news of a UK-US trade agreement. Overnight, Cable hit a new low for the week at 1.3213, whilst EUR/GBP is contained within Thursday’s 0.8457-0.8523 range; lower bound of which coincides with the 50DMA. Commentary from BoE’s Bailey today proved to be a non-event; the Governor highlighted the unwavering commitment to the 2% target.
- Antipodeans have been choppy after the recent dollar strength and as participants digested the latest Chinese trade data, while Westpac adjusted its RBNZ call and now sees two 25bps rate cuts by July instead of its prior view for just one cut.
- PBoC injected CNY 77bln via 7-day reverse repos with the rate at 1.40% for a net weekly drain of CNY 781.7bln, which was the most in two months.
Fixed Income
- USTs are essentially unchanged as newsflow since Thursday’s flurry of trade updates, which weighed on the benchmark into/after settlement, has been a little lighter. USTs at the bottom-end of a 110-25 to 110-30 band and by extension towards Thursday’s 110-24 base. We await anything fresh on the trade front and confirmation/rebuttal from the administration on the piece in the NY Post (and other vendors since) that China tariffs could be cut to as low as 50% next week. Today’s docket is light on the data front but will see a slew of Fed speakers throughout the day.
- Lower by 70 ticks at worst as Bunds, and EGBs broadly, react in full to Thursday’s trade developments, developments that are providing some modest support to the European risk tone this morning. European-specific tariff/trade updates have been light aside from commentary from German Chancellor Merz who said that Trump agreed with him in a phone call on the need to resolve the trade situation quickly. Currently holding just off today’s 130.38 WTD low.
- Gilts are in-fitting with Bunds but with the pressure of an even greater magnitude as the UK benchmark had more of the trade developments to catch up on. Lower by 78 ticks at most to a 92.07 base; support at the figure and then 91.96 from late April and 91.59 from early April. Bailey this morning didn’t add much for specific policy, discussing scenario analysis and similar points in the context of the BoE’s forecasting process. Potentially more pertinently, Chief Economist Pill is due and will hopefully provide insight into his dissent.
Commodities
- Crude futures edge higher in early European morning amid the ongoing trade optimism heading into this weekend’s US-Sino trade talks in Switzerland. Elsewhere, US President Trump said they are trying to work on Iran without getting into bombing, while it was separately reported that US President Trump had a private meeting with Israeli PM Netanyahu’s advisor ahead of his Middle East trip, according to Axios. WTI Jun trades near session highs between USD 59.89-60.74/bbl while Brent Jul resides in a USD 62.84-63.65/bbl parameter.
- Modest gains across the precious metals complex, underpinned by the current intraday weakness of the Dollar. Spot gold initially dipped beneath the prior day’s lows before recovering to above the USD 3,300/oz level. Currently in a USD 3,274.81-3,332.35/oz range at the time of writing.
- Copper futures, in APAC hours, extended on mid-week pullback with selling exacerbated as Chinese markets got underway and with the PBoC’s open market operations resulting in the largest weekly net drain in two months, while participants also reflected on the latest Chinese trade data. Copper futures saw a brief spike higher in European trade, albeit in the absence of pertinent newsflow. The move swiftly pared back shortly after. 3M LME copper resides in a USD 9,342.00-9,465.55/t range.
- Iran’s oil minister has ordered resumption of exploratory drilling in the Caspian Sea, via Shana.
- China’s MOFCOM is to tighten export controls on Gallium, to prevent the smuggling and export of strategic minerals.
- Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister says cannot confirm whether Russia and US are discussing the resumption of gas supplies to Europe, via Ifax.
Russia-Ukraine
- US President Trump posted on Truth that talks with Russia and Ukraine continue, while he called for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire and said that hopefully, an acceptable ceasefire will be observed, and both countries will be held accountable for respecting the sanctity of these direct negotiations. Furthermore, he warned if a ceasefire is not respected, the US and its partners will impose further sanctions.
- Ukrainian President Zelensky said Ukraine is ready for an immediate 30-day ceasefire and that a 30-day ceasefire will be a real indicator of movement towards peace.
- Ukrainian official said Russia struck eight settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region with drones and artillery 220 times during the ceasefire.
- UK PM Starmer is to announce the largest ever sanctions package targeting shadow fleet as UK ramps up pressure on Russia, according to the UK government.
OTHER
- North Korea said it tested a Hwasong-11 missile and multiple launch rockets on Thursday and the test was conducted under the nuclear weapons defence system, while North Korean leader Kim stressed the combat readiness of nuclear forces, according to KCNA.
- China and Russia’s joint statement vowed to strengthen cooperation to safeguard the authority of international law and they both strongly opposed unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction, while they also opposed the practice of double standards or imposition by some states of their will on other states.
US Event Calendar
- Nothing scheduled
Central Bank Speakers
- 5:55 am: Fed’s Barr Gives Speech on AI and the Labor Market
- 6:45 am: Fed’s Kugler Gives Speech on Maximum Employment
- 7:45 am: Fed’s Kugler Appears on Bloomberg TV
- 8:30 am: Fed’s Williams Gives Keynote Address in Reykjavik
- 8:30 am: Fed’s Barkin to Take Part in Fireside Chat in Virginia
- 9:15 am: Fed’s Williams Appears on Bloomberg TV
- 10:00 am: Fed’s Goolsbee Gives Remarks at Fed Listens Event
- 11:30 am: Fed’s Williams, Waller on Panel at Hoover
- May 10 7:45 pm: Fed’s Musalem, Hammack, Cook on Panel at Hoover
DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap
The most important words yesterday seemed to be Trump’s comments when talking about Congress passing his tax bill. He said “If that happens, on top of all of these trade deals that we’re doing, this country will hit a point – you better go out and buy stocks now”. On cue, the market bought stocks and extended a rally that began 30 minutes earlier amid the announcement of a US-UK trade deal and Trump’s more conciliatory comments towards China. The rally lost some of its luster late on after reporting that Trump is pushing for a tax hike on very high earners with the S&P 500 (+0.58%) closing 1pp below its intra-days highs, while 2 and 10yr USTs spiked +9.7bps and +10.9bps on the day respectively. So as per usual, there is a lot going on at the moment ahead of the weekend US/China trade talks in Geneva.
The US-UK trade deal stuck to the 10% initial tariff baseline but with carve outs from even higher tariffs for certain sectors like autos (now 10% tariff rate) and steel (0% tariff rate), which would bring the effective tariff rate to slightly below 10%. While details are still being ironed out, in return, the UK has agreed to fast track American goods through customs, purchase $10bn worth of Boeing planes, and lower barriers to American agricultural, chemical, and energy exports. The deal still puts the UK in a worse position than it was before Liberation Day even with Prime Minister Starmer touting it as a “historic victory” between the two countries. The FTSE (-0.32%) hardly moved in the closing 30 mins after the deal was announced with Sterling falling -0.35% on the announcement, giving up earlier gains after the hawkish BoE cut.
This framework agreement is interesting considering the UK is not running a big trade deficit with the US nor was it facing much higher tariffs post Liberation Day anyway. As the first agreement with any country since Trump’s reciprocal tariff announcement, it previews what other “deals” might look like. Other countries may seek to replicate the UK’s exemptions from sectoral tariffs, and accept 10% minimum tariffs in return for US concessions. However, this may be on the optimistic end of outcomes and there is some concern that countries that saw larger reciprocal tariffs announced on April 2 (e.g., Japan and Korea) seem to be making limited progress in trade negotiations. Trump even said at his press conference yesterday that the 10% with the UK is a “low number” and that “others will be higher.”
Probably more important for markets than the UK “deal” itself were Trump’s comments on China, saying that he expects “substantive” talks that could then yield tariff cuts. This comes ahead of Treasury Secretary Bessent’s planned talks with Chinese trade officials in Switzerland this weekend, so we will be keeping our eyes peeled.
These various comments from Trump at the White House saw the S&P 500 move from flattish on the day to around +1.5% higher. But it then fell back to +0.58% by the close as Bloomberg reported that Trump is pushing Congressional Republicans to create a new 39.6% tax bracket for individuals earning at least $2.5m, as a means to offset other tax cuts. Still, it was a positive day overall for equities, with cyclical stocks outperforming and the small cap Russell 2000 rising +1.85%. Other risk assets also gained, with Bitcoin (+6.02%) spiking above the $100,000 level for the first time since early February.
By contrast Treasuries sold off, with 2yr yields (+9.7bps) rising to their highest level in four weeks at 3.88%, while 10yr yields rose +10.9bps to 4.38%. Also contributing to the bond sell off was a slightly weak 30yr auction that followed a strong 10yr auction the previous day. The combination of higher US yields and stronger US risk assets saw the dollar index (+1.03%) post its best day since November 6, the day after Trump’s election win. This morning in Asia, 2yr ( -1.2bps) and 10yr USTs (-2.0bps) yields are reversing a little of yesterday’s move.
The drama of the trade deal rather overshadowed the BOE’s rate cut decision yesterday, which saw more hawkish messaging than markets expected. Although the BOE cut interest rates by a quarter point to 4.25% as DB expected, the vote split went three ways, with five members voting for a 25bp cut, two voting for a 50bps cut, and two voting for no change to the bank rate. The last bit was the surprising element. Overall, BOE governor Bailey said there was a need for a “gradual and careful” approach, citing tariff shocks as a factor to both higher inflation and a weaker growth outlook.
Two-year gilts (+12.2bps to 3.93%) and the pound both rose in response (before the pound fell later after the trade deal) as investors priced in the hawkish undertones. DB retains its call for three more rate cuts this year, with one more rate cut in early 2026 leading to a terminal rate of 3.25%. See our UK economist’s takeaways here. In other Central Bank news, Norway and Sweden both left their policy rate unchanged as expected.
Elsewhere in European markets, the STOXX 600 (+0.40%) moved higher, with the DAX (+1.02%), CAC 40 (+0.89%) and FTSE MIB (+1.71%) all posting strong gains. Beyond the general risk-on tone, this rally was supported by solid data, including stronger-than-expected German industrial production for March (+3.0% mom vs +1.0% expected). Eurozone bonds saw a more moderate sell off than the US and UK, with 10yr bund yields +5.9bps higher to 2.53%, while OATs (+4.3bps) and BTPs (+3.4bps) outperformed. The narrowing in sovereign spreads saw the 10yr BTP-Bund spread fall to 105bps, its lowest level since October 2021.
The risk-on mood was also visible in the commodity space, with Brent crude oil rising +2.81% to $62.84/bbl, also supported by EIA data showing consecutive weekly declines in US crude inventories for the first time since January. By contrast, gold (-1.75%) fell for a second day running after reaching an all-time high on Monday.
Turning to US data, yesterday saw the weekly initial jobless claims decline 13k to 228k (vs 230k estimates) for the week ending in May 2, erasing what appeared to be an Easter-driven spike the previous week. So that was another sign that the labour market is still “solid” despite the tariffs. Meanwhile, the NY Fed’s consumer survey saw 1yr ahead inflation expectations stable at 3.6%, but with 3yr ahead expectations rising 0.2pp to 3.2%, their highest since July 2022, marking the latest in a string of survey data pointing towards pro-inflationary risks.
Asian equity markets are mostly stronger this morning but with Chinese risk subdued. The Nikkei (+1.43%) is leading the gains, with the Topix (+1.31%) also rising, marking its 11th consecutive day of increases, the longest streak since October 2017. The S&P/ASX 200 (+0.58%) is also higher. Chinese stocks are lagging, with the CSI (-0.23%) and the Shanghai Composite (-0.26%) both declining, while the Hang Seng (-0.01%) is flat after reversing its initial gains. The KOSPI (+0.01%) is struggling to gain momentum following comments from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who suggested that trade agreements with South Korea may require significantly more time. S&P (+0.11%) and NASDAQ 100 (+0.16%) futures are both showing small increases.
Early morning data revealed that China’s exports demonstrated resilience in April, growing by +8.1% year-on-year, surpassing the expected +2.0%, thus defying predictions that the trade war with the US would begin to have a detrimental impact. However, this growth represents a slowdown from the +12.4% increase recorded in March. Exports to the US fell -21% so the beat reflected increased trade with the rest of Asia and Europe.
Meanwhile, imports contracted by -0.2% year-on-year last month, compared to the anticipated -6.0%, but still marking the third consecutive month of declines. The trade surplus decreased to $96.18 billion from $102.64 billion in March, falling short of the projected $93.09 billion.
To the day ahead now, data releases to expect include Italy’s March industrial production, Canada’s April Jobs report, and Norway’s April CPI. Earnings include Recruit Holdings, Commerzbank and Cellnex.
2b European opening report
US equity futures trade cautiously & DXY a little lower ahead of a slew of Fed speak & looming US-China talks – Newsquawk US Market Open
Friday, May 09, 2025 – 05:35 AM
- European stocks are firmer across the board, whilst US equity futures trade cautiously ahead of US-China talks on the weekend.
- USD recovery pauses for breath, JPY outperforms whilst the Kiwi lags a touch.
- Marked divergence as EGBs & Gilts react in full to trade updates. USTs await a barrage of Fed speak.
- Softer intraday Dollar keeps commodities afloat for now.
- Looking ahead, Canadian Jobs, Speakers including BoE’s Pill, Fed’s Barr, Kugler, Perli, Williams, Goolsbee & Waller.
More Newsquawk in 3 steps:
1. Subscribe to the free premarket movers reports
2. Listen to this report in the market open podcast (available on Apple and Spotify)
3. Trial Newsquawk’s premium real-time audio news squawk box for 7 days
TARIFFS/TRADE
- US Commerce Secretary Lutnick said deals will be used as templates for other deals and that they will have dozens of deals announced by July 8th. Lutnick stated that as you get to bigger economies and more work, it takes time and economies such as India, Japan and South Korea are huge and take a lot of work, while he added that de-escalation with China is US Treasury Secretary Bessent’s goal in talks and that as countries open their markets, the best any country can do is a 10% tariff.
- Detroit Three trade group said the Trump trade deal with the UK “hurts American automakers, suppliers and auto workers”.
- China’s Vice Foreign Minister Hua said the US cannot sustain what it is doing in trade policy and that China has full confidence in its ability to manage US trade issues. Hua added that China does not want a war of any kind with any other country and has full capability to overcome difficulties amid the trade war, as well as noted that ordinary people in China do not want a trade war but are confident and said they have no fear if they have to face up to reality regarding trade talks.
- China signed a letter of intent with exporters in Argentina to buy about USD 900mln of soybeans, corn and vegetable oil – in turn shifting from the US, according to Bloomberg.
EUROPEAN TRADE
EQUITIES
- European bourses (STOXX 600 +0.4%) opened modestly firmer across the board, and have traded sideways throughout the morning thus far.
- European sectors hold a positive bias; there is some clear outperformance in Energy, while other sectoral gainers are relatively similar in magnitude. Travel & Leisure and Media sit at the foot of the pile – holding modest losses.
- US equity futures are mixed (ES +0.1% NQ +0.2% RTY -0.2%), with the ES and NQ attempting to hold onto some of the strength seen on Thursday, whilst the RTY dips lower. Traders will keep a keen eye out for a slew of Fed speakers
- Click for the sessions European pre-market equity newsflow
- Click for the additional news
- Click for a detailed summary
FX
- The recent recovery in the USD has paused for breath with the greenback having gained in the past two sessions on account of the post-FOMC reaction and ongoing trade optimism. On the latter, Thursday saw the unveiling of a UK-US trade agreement. However, of greater importance was Thursday’s remarks from US President Trump that tariffs on China can’t get any higher than 145% and knows they will be coming down. This was followed up by a report in the New York Post that the US is weighing a plan to slash China tariffs to as low as 50% as soon as next week. Today sees a busy Fed speaker slate with Barr, Kugler, Perli, Williams, Goolsbee & Waller all due on deck. DXY currently trading around 100.40.
- EUR/USD is a touch firmer after being weighed on in the past two sessions amid ongoing trade optimism. This is a reversal of the pattern we saw in April as trade tensions ratcheted higher and the EUR benefitted as a liquid alternative to the Greenback. EZ docket is lacking and ECB speak thus far has proved non-incremental with ECB’s Simkus noting ECB June projections may be a little bit worse and a cut next month is needed. EUR/USD briefly slipped onto a 1.11 handle overnight with a low at 1.1197.
- JPY is attempting to claw back some of its recent losses vs. the USD which has seen USD/JPY pick up from a WTD low on Tuesday at 142.35 to a 146.18 peak. Japanese-specific newsflow remains on the light side as market participants await progress on the trade front between Japan and the US. USD/JPY has returned to a 145 handle with a session low at 145.08.
- GBP was unable to benefit vs. the USD and only marginally gained vs. the EUR despite a “hawkish cut from the BoE and news of a UK-US trade agreement. Overnight, Cable hit a new low for the week at 1.3213, whilst EUR/GBP is contained within Thursday’s 0.8457-0.8523 range; lower bound of which coincides with the 50DMA. Commentary from BoE’s Bailey today proved to be a non-event; the Governor highlighted the unwavering commitment to the 2% target.
- Antipodeans have been choppy after the recent dollar strength and as participants digested the latest Chinese trade data, while Westpac adjusted its RBNZ call and now sees two 25bps rate cuts by July instead of its prior view for just one cut.
- PBoC injected CNY 77bln via 7-day reverse repos with the rate at 1.40% for a net weekly drain of CNY 781.7bln, which was the most in two months.
- Click for a detailed summary
- Click for NY OpEx Details
FIXED INCOME
- USTs are essentially unchanged as newsflow since Thursday’s flurry of trade updates, which weighed on the benchmark into/after settlement, has been a little lighter. USTs at the bottom-end of a 110-25 to 110-30 band and by extension towards Thursday’s 110-24 base. We await anything fresh on the trade front and confirmation/rebuttal from the administration on the piece in the NY Post (and other vendors since) that China tariffs could be cut to as low as 50% next week. Today’s docket is light on the data front but will see a slew of Fed speakers throughout the day.
- Lower by 70 ticks at worst as Bunds, and EGBs broadly, react in full to Thursday’s trade developments, developments that are providing some modest support to the European risk tone this morning. European-specific tariff/trade updates have been light aside from commentary from German Chancellor Merz who said that Trump agreed with him in a phone call on the need to resolve the trade situation quickly. Currently holding just off today’s 130.38 WTD low.
- Gilts are in-fitting with Bunds but with the pressure of an even greater magnitude as the UK benchmark had more of the trade developments to catch up on. Lower by 78 ticks at most to a 92.07 base; support at the figure and then 91.96 from late April and 91.59 from early April. Bailey this morning didn’t add much for specific policy, discussing scenario analysis and similar points in the context of the BoE’s forecasting process. Potentially more pertinently, Chief Economist Pill is due and will hopefully provide insight into his dissent.
- UK DMO intends to sell by programmatic Gilt tender up to GBP 2bln of 0.125% 2028 Gilt on May 15th.
- Click for a detailed summary
COMMODITIES
- Crude futures edge higher in early European morning amid the ongoing trade optimism heading into this weekend’s US-Sino trade talks in Switzerland. Elsewhere, US President Trump said they are trying to work on Iran without getting into bombing, while it was separately reported that US President Trump had a private meeting with Israeli PM Netanyahu’s advisor ahead of his Middle East trip, according to Axios. WTI Jun trades near session highs between USD 59.89-60.74/bbl while Brent Jul resides in a USD 62.84-63.65/bbl parameter.
- Modest gains across the precious metals complex, underpinned by the current intraday weakness of the Dollar. Spot gold initially dipped beneath the prior day’s lows before recovering to above the USD 3,300/oz level. Currently in a USD 3,274.81-3,332.35/oz range at the time of writing.
- Copper futures, in APAC hours, extended on mid-week pullback with selling exacerbated as Chinese markets got underway and with the PBoC’s open market operations resulting in the largest weekly net drain in two months, while participants also reflected on the latest Chinese trade data. Copper futures saw a brief spike higher in European trade, albeit in the absence of pertinent newsflow. The move swiftly pared back shortly after. 3M LME copper resides in a USD 9,342.00-9,465.55/t range.
- Iran’s oil minister has ordered resumption of exploratory drilling in the Caspian Sea, via Shana.
- China’s MOFCOM is to tighten export controls on Gallium, to prevent the smuggling and export of strategic minerals.
- Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister says cannot confirm whether Russia and US are discussing the resumption of gas supplies to Europe, via Ifax.
- Click for a detailed summary
NOTABLE DATA RECAP
- Norwegian Consumer Price Index YY (Apr) 2.5% vs. Exp. 2.5% (Prev. 2.6%); Core 3.0% vs. Exp. 3.2% (Prev. 3.4%)
- Norwegian Consumer Price Index MM (Apr) 0.7% vs. Exp. 0.6% (Prev. -0.7%); Core 0.5% vs. Exp. 0.5% (Prev. 0.2%)
- Italian Industrial Output MM SA (Mar) 0.1% vs. Exp. 0.5% (Prev. -0.9%); Industrial Output YY WDA (Mar) -1.8% (Prev. -2.7%, Rev. -2.6%)
NOTABLE EUROPEAN HEADLINES
- Morgan Stanley now expect the BoE to hold rates in June (prev. forecast 25bps cut); now expects rate cut in December, maintains year-end Bank Rate forecast at 3.25%.
- BoE’s Bailey says commitment to the 2% inflation target is unwavering. Scenarios have helped us not only to explore what would happen in case a particular shock, or constellation of shocks, should hit the economy, but also how any given set of shocks could affect the economy and inflation depending on the strengths of different economic mechanisms. Good there is a diversity of view on the MPC. UK-US trade deal will leave effective tariff rate higher than they were when they started.
- ECB’s Simkus says geopolitics since the start of the year is bad news for the economy, via Bloomberg TV; there is downward pressure on inflation Euro-area inflation depends on EU retaliation to the US. ECB June projections may be a little bit worse. June ECB rate cut is needed. It is unclear if a post-June rate cut will be in July or September. “We are more or less there on inflation”. There is no central scenario for ECB rates. “Quite high chances we’ll be undershooting on inflation”.
- ECB’s Rehn says disinflation is on track, and the growth outlook is weakening.
- New German Economy Minister Reiche says “we need a combination of renewable energies and gas, we tended to focus almost too much in climate protection”.
- German Chancellor Merz says will not change previous German government’s position of joint EU debt. Mutual debt “must remain exceptional”, cannot be used for every crisis.
NOTABLE US HEADLINES
- US President Trump posted on Truth that he spoke with Commerce Secretary Lutnick and agreed the “Digital Equity Act” is unconstitutional, which he is ending immediately and there will be no more woke handouts based on race, saving taxpayers billions of dollars.
GEOPOLITICS
RUSSIA-UKRAINE
- US President Trump posted on Truth that talks with Russia and Ukraine continue, while he called for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire and said that hopefully, an acceptable ceasefire will be observed, and both countries will be held accountable for respecting the sanctity of these direct negotiations. Furthermore, he warned if a ceasefire is not respected, the US and its partners will impose further sanctions.
- Ukrainian President Zelensky said Ukraine is ready for an immediate 30-day ceasefire and that a 30-day ceasefire will be a real indicator of movement towards peace.
- Ukrainian official said Russia struck eight settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region with drones and artillery 220 times during the ceasefire.
- UK PM Starmer is to announce the largest ever sanctions package targeting shadow fleet as UK ramps up pressure on Russia, according to the UK government.
OTHER
- North Korea said it tested a Hwasong-11 missile and multiple launch rockets on Thursday and the test was conducted under the nuclear weapons defence system, while North Korean leader Kim stressed the combat readiness of nuclear forces, according to KCNA.
- China and Russia’s joint statement vowed to strengthen cooperation to safeguard the authority of international law and they both strongly opposed unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction, while they also opposed the practice of double standards or imposition by some states of their will on other states.
CRYPTO
- Bitcoin is on a stronger footing and has topped USD 103k; Ethereum is soaring and now looks to test USD 2.5k to the upside.
APAC TRADE
- APAC stocks traded with a positive bias as the region took impetus from the gains stateside, where sentiment was underpinned by trade optimism following the announcement of a UK-US trade agreement framework and President Trump’s rhetoric regarding China tariffs.
- ASX 200 gained as outperformance in tech, financials and energy more than atoned for the slack in mining stocks, while earnings also provided a tailwind after an increase in profits for Macquarie Group.
- Nikkei 225 returned to above the USD 37,000 level for the first time since late March with the index propelled by recent currency weakness, while the data was mixed as Household Spending topped forecasts but Labour Cash earnings softened.
- Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were cautious amid the latest Chinese trade data which topped forecast but showed a slowdown in export growth, although downside was limited ahead of US-China talks on Saturday and after recent comments from President Trump who expects tariffs to go down, while the US was also reportedly weighing a plan to slash China tariffs to as low as 50% as soon as next week.
DATA RECAP
- Chinese Trade Balance USD (Apr) 96.18B vs. Exp. 89.0B (Prev. 102.64B).
- Chinese Exports YY (USD)(Apr) 8.1% vs. Exp. 1.9% (Prev. 12.4%); Imports YY (USD)(Apr) -0.2% vs. Exp. -5.9% (Prev. -4.3%)
- Chinese Trade Balance (CNY)(Apr) 690.0B (Prev. 736.7B)
- Chinese Exports (CNY)(Apr) 9.3% (Prev. 13.5%); Imports (CNY)(Apr) 0.8% (Prev. -3.5%)
- Japanese Overall Labour Cash Earnings (Mar) 2.10% vs. Exp. 2.40% (Prev. 3.10%, Rev. 2.70%)
- Japanese All Household Spending MM (Mar) 0.4% vs. Exp. -0.5% (Prev. 3.5%); YY (Mar) 2.1% vs. Exp. 0.2% (Prev. -0.5%)
2c) Asian opening report
US reportedly considering plans to cut China tariffs, Trump “buy stocks now” – Newsquawk Europe Market Open
Friday, May 09, 2025 – 01:40 AM
- US weighs a plan to slash China tariffs to as low as 50% from 145% as soon as next week, according to the New York Post citing sources. US President Trump said China tariffs can’t get any higher than 145% and know it’s coming down.
- US President Trump said, “Better go out and buy stocks now” and commented that the stock market will really rally now.
- US stocks closed off today’s best levels amid reports that President Trump is pushing for a new top tax rate on the highest earners.
- APAC stocks traded with a positive bias as the region took impetus from the gains stateside, where sentiment was underpinned by trade optimism following the announcement of a UK-US trade agreement framework and President Trump’s rhetoric regarding China tariffs.
- European equity futures indicate a marginally positive cash market open with Euro Stoxx 50 futures up 0.2% after the cash market closed with gains of 1.1% on Thursday.
- Looking ahead, highlights include Canadian Jobs, Speakers including BoE’s Bailey & Pill, Fed’s Barr, Kugler, Perli, Williams, Goolsbee & Waller, Earnings from IAG, Rightmove, Bechtle & Commerzbank.
Newsquawk in 3 steps:
1. Subscribe to the free premarket movers reports
2. Listen to this report in the market open podcast (available on Apple and Spotify)
3. Trial Newsquawk’s premium real-time audio news squawk box for 7 days
US TRADE
EQUITIES
- US stocks gained with sentiment underpinned by trade-related optimism after US President Trump confirmed a US-UK trade framework agreement and commented that China tariffs cannot go higher and will come down, which provided some encouragement ahead of US-China trade talks this weekend in Switzerland.
- Furthermore, the NY Post also reported that the US is weighing lowering China tariffs to as low as 50% from 145% as an olive branch for negotiations with China, although stocks closed off today’s best levels amid reports that President Trump is pushing for a new top tax rate on the highest earners.
- SPX +0.58% at 5,664, NDX +0.98% at 20,064, DJI +0.62% at 41,368, RUT +1.85% at 2,026.
- Click here for a detailed summary.
TARIFFS/TRADE
- US President Trump said China tariffs can’t get any higher than 145% and know it’s coming down. Trump also said they are going to have a large share of the chipmaking market, and noted that China talks will be substantive and China wants to do something. Furthermore, he wants to compete in China and wants China to let US businesses in, while he reiterated that China wants to make a deal and he would not be surprised if a trade deal is reached with China
- US President Trump thinks the 10% baseline is set and is not a template for future deals, while he added that 10% is a low number and others will be higher. Furthermore, he said a template of 10% is probably the lower-end and that he won’t do a similar deal with cars.
- US weighs a plan to slash China tariffs to as low as 50% from 145% as soon as next week, according to the New York Post citing sources. The report noted that sources close to the negotiations said US officials are discussing a proposal to lower President Trump’s punishing levy on China goods to between 50% and 54% as they begin what promise to be lengthy talks to hammer out a trade agreement, while trade taxes on neighbouring south Asian countries would be cut to 25%. Furthermore, a source said they are going to be bringing it down to 50% while the negotiations are ongoing regarding tariffs on China.
- US Commerce Department said the US-UK deal removes UK market barriers for US exports of products including ethanol, beef, fruits, vegetables, animal feed and tobacco, while it noted that UK car manufacturers are limited to a 100k per year vehicle quota at a reciprocal rate of 10%, and thereafter will pay 25%.
- US Commerce Secretary Lutnick said deals will be used as templates for other deals and that they will have dozens of deals announced by July 8th. Lutnck stated that as you get to bigger economies and more work, it takes time and economies such as India, Japan and South Korea are huge and take a lot of work, while he added that de-escalation with China is US Treasury Secretary Bessent’s goal in talks and that as countries open their markets, the best any country can do is a 10% tariff.
- USTR Greer said this is the framework, when asked about UK trade deal and that other countries should look to this as a model. Greer said they will have more deals in the weeks and months to come and when 90-days are up, they will see other deals, according to CNBC.
- Detroit Three trade group said the Trump trade deal with the UK “hurts American automakers, suppliers and auto workers”.
- UK Trade Secretary Reynolds said cutting 10% US base tariffs is subject to further talks, and beef imports from the US would comply with UK rules. It was also reported that a UK official said they’ve got more serious work to do and got some reassurance on movie tariffs. The official also noted there is a commitment to bring down or totally liberalise a large number of tariff lines and on the sectoral front, there are vital wins for the UK on steel, autos, pharma, and aerospace.
- German Chancellor Merz and US President Trump agreed on the need to quickly resolve trade disputes during a phone call.
- China’s Vice Foreign Minister Hua said the US cannot sustain what it is doing in trade policy and that China has full confidence in its ability to manage US trade issues. Hua added that China does not want a war of any kind with any other country and has full capability to overcome difficulties amid the trade war, as well as noted that ordinary people in China do not want a trade war but are confident and said they have no fear if they have to face up to reality regarding trade talks.
- China signed a letter of intent with exporters in Argentina to buy about USD 900mln of soybeans, corn and vegetable oil – in turn shifting from the US, according to Bloomberg.
NOTABLE HEADLINES
- US President Trump reportedly privately urged House Speaker Johnson to raise the top tax rate and close the carried interest loophole, while Trump is pushing for a new tax bracket in which individuals making USD 2.5mln or USD 5mln jointly would go to 39.6%, according to Punchbowl’s Sherman.
- US President Trump said “Better go out and buy stocks now” and commented that the stock market will really rally now.
- US President Trump posted on Truth that he spoke with Commerce Secretary Lutnick and agreed the “Digital Equity Act” is unconstitutional, which he is ending immediately and there will be no more woke handouts based on race, saving taxpayers billions of dollars.
- US VP Vance said President Trump is right about Fed Chair Powell and that the latter is ‘way too late’ in helping fight back against some trade deals.
APAC TRADE
EQUITIES
- APAC stocks traded with a positive bias as the region took impetus from the gains stateside, where sentiment was underpinned by trade optimism following the announcement of a UK-US trade agreement framework and President Trump’s rhetoric regarding China tariffs.
- ASX 200 gained as outperformance in tech, financials and energy more than atoned for the slack in mining stocks, while earnings also provided a tailwind after an increase in profits for Macquarie Group.
- Nikkei 225 returned to above the USD 37,000 level for the first time since late March with the index propelled by recent currency weakness, while the data was mixed as Household Spending topped forecasts but Labour Cash earnings softened.
- Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were cautious amid the latest Chinese trade data which topped forecast but showed a slowdown in export growth, although downside was limited ahead of US-China talks on Saturday and after recent comments from President Trump who expects tariffs to go down, while the US was also reportedly weighing a plan to slash China tariffs to as low as 50% as soon as next week.
- US equity futures were rangebound with recent choppy price action due to trade optimism and reports that President Trump is pushing for a new tax bracket in which the rate for individuals making USD 2.5mln or would rise to 39.6%.
- European equity futures indicate a marginally positive cash market open with Euro Stoxx 50 futures up 0.2% after the cash market closed with gains of 1.1% on Thursday.
FX
- DXY attempted to build on its post-FOMC gains with a firm footing above the 100.00 level as confidence in the US economy gradually returned owing to trade-related optimism, while recent data releases were mixed, although Initial Jobless Claims fell and Unit Labour Costs accelerated.
- EUR/USD initially gave way to the firmer buck and tested the 1.1200 level to the downside before rebounding off lows, while the single currency had previously lost ground to GBP in the aftermath of the BoE’s rate decision and surprise vote split.
- GBP/USD continued to trickle lower after having wiped out the initial gains from yesterday’s BoE rate decision and despite the announcement of a US-UK trade agreement framework, as the recent strength in the dollar dominated the FX space.
- USD/JPY took a breather after coat-tailing on sentiment and higher US yields which has briefly lifted the pair above 146.00.
- Antipodeans were somewhat choppy after the recent dollar strength and as participants digested the latest Chinese trade data, while Westpac adjusted its RBNZ call and now sees two 25bps rate cuts by July instead of its prior view for just one cut.
FIXED INCOME
- 10yr UST futures lingered near this week’s trough following recent upside in yield, trade optimism, and a weak 30yr auction.
- Bund futures were subdued after slumping yesterday amid the risk-on mood and stronger-than-expected German data.
- 10yr JGB futures tracked the losses in global counterparts but were off lows as participants also digested mixed data in which Household Spending topped forecasts but Labour Cash Earnings printed softer-than-expected.
COMMODITIES
- Crude futures took a breather after rallying yesterday amid the heightened risk appetite and trade optimism.
- Spot gold initially dipped beneath the prior day’s lows before recovering to above the USD 3,300/oz level.
- Copper futures extended on its mid-week pullback with selling exacerbated as Chinese markets got underway and with the PBoC’s open market operations resulting in the largest weekly net drain in two months, while participants also reflected on the latest Chinese trade data.
- Chile’s Codelco copper production rose 14.8% Y/Y in March to 123,200 metric tons, while Escondida copper production rose 18.9% to 120,600 metric tons and Collahuasi copper production fell 29.3% Y/Y to 35,200 metric tons.
CRYPTO
- Bitcoin pulled back overnight after recently rallying to briefly above the USD 103k level to print its highest in three months.
- US Treasury Secretary Bessent said the world needs American leadership for stablecoins and other digital assets to thrive globally, while he added the Senate missed an opportunity to provide that leadership by failing to advance the GENIUS Act.
NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES
- PBoC injected CNY 77bln via 7-day reverse repos with the rate at 1.40% for a net weekly drain of CNY 781.7bln, which was the most in two months.
DATA RECAP
- Chinese Trade Balance USD (Apr) 96.18B vs. Exp. 89.0B (Prev. 102.64B)
- Chinese Exports YY (USD)(Apr) 8.1% vs. Exp. 1.9% (Prev. 12.4%)
- Chinese Imports YY (USD)(Apr) -0.2% vs. Exp. -5.9% (Prev. -4.3%)
- Chinese Trade Balance (CNY)(Apr) 690.0B (Prev. 736.7B)
- Chinese Exports (CNY)(Apr) 9.3% (Prev. 13.5%)
- Chinese Imports (CNY)(Apr) 0.8% (Prev. -3.5%)
- Japanese Overall Labour Cash Earnings (Mar) 2.10% vs. Exp. 2.40% (Prev. 3.10%, Rev. 2.70%)
- Japanese All Household Spending MM (Mar) 0.4% vs. Exp. -0.5% (Prev. 3.5%)
- Japanese All Household Spending YY (Mar) 2.1% vs. Exp. 0.2% (Prev. -0.5%)
GEOPOLITICS
MIDDLE EAST
- US President Trump said they are trying to work on Iran without getting into bombing, while it was separately reported that US President Trump had a private meeting with Israeli PM Netanyahu’s advisor ahead of his Middle East trip, according to Axios.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE
- US President Trump posted on Truth that talks with Russia and Ukraine continue, while he called for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire and said that hopefully, an acceptable ceasefire will be observed, and both countries will be held accountable for respecting the sanctity of these direct negotiations. Furthermore, he warned if a ceasefire is not respected, the US and its partners will impose further sanctions.
- Ukrainian President Zelensky said Ukraine is ready for an immediate 30-day ceasefire and that a 30-day ceasefire will be a real indicator of movement towards peace.
- Ukrainian official said Russia struck eight settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region with drones and artillery 220 times during the ceasefire.
- US VP Vance said the US would walk away from Russia and Ukraine talks if it concludes Russia is not engaging in ‘good faith’, according to a Fox News interview.
- Russian President Putin aide Ushakov said Russia and the US are approaching a possible meeting between Russian President Putin and US President Trump, according to RIA.
- German spokesperson said Chancellor Merz spoke with US President Trump by phone and agreed to cooperate on ending the war in Ukraine.
- UK PM Starmer is to announce the largest ever sanctions package targeting shadow fleet as UK ramps up pressure on Russia, according to the UK government.
OTHER
- North Korea said it tested a Hwasong-11 missile and multiple launch rockets on Thursday and the test was conducted under the nuclear weapons defence system, while North Korean leader Kim stressed the combat readiness of nuclear forces, according to KCNA.
- China and Russia’s joint statement vowed to strengthen cooperation to safeguard the authority of international law and they both strongly opposed unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction, while they also opposed the practice of double standards or imposition by some states of their will on other states.
3 .ASIA
3A NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA
3B JAPAN
3C CHINA
THREE important commentaries on China tariffs ahead of this weekend’s meeting:
(Tucker/EpochTimes)
China Panics Ahead Of Trade-Talks, Shuts Down Its Economic Data
Thursday, May 08, 2025 – 11:25 PM
Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times,
There is a social contract of sorts among all governments of the world to share economic data on prevailing conditions. Behind that practice is a collegial contest to see which nation has the healthiest system, which in turn serves the capital markets by helping to direct resources where they are needed.
Sometimes the data is inaccurate. Sometimes there are lies. But in general, there is at least an attempt to play along with the expectation. This allows agencies and investors to make better assessments and prognostications, plus assist policy makers and central bankers in particular to make better judgments.
There is a general rule in operation. The more transparent governments are with the data they collect, and the more freedom of speech that is permitted to interpret the data in different ways, the more credible it is. It is also likely that governments which share and discuss also have numbers of which they can feel pride.
Rarely do nations go entirely silent on the market, as in turning off the switches and making the data rooms go dark. It is an ominous sign.
This is precisely what has happened in China.
Starting the last several months, and, in some cases, dating back several years, China has gone dark in reporting the following: land sales, foreign investment, unemployment numbers, business confidence, numbers of investors in financial markets, real estate valuation, retail sales, and even vital data on cremations so that health authorities have no idea what is going on. The bureaus have simply stopped reporting.
With the second largest economy, and widespread doubt about the country’s economic health, this is gravely concerning.
Close watchers have long raised doubts about China’s GDP data. We are told that the economy grew 5 percent last year, which would be extremely impressive. But such huge measures are subject to manipulation in every country but especially in one that has made the promise of extreme economic growth central to the power and permanent control by the CCP. Experts have suggested that growth rates have been exaggerated by 2 to 3 percentage points.
This past December, a highly regarded Chinese economist, Gao Shanwen, was visiting Washington, D.C. colleagues at the Peterson Institute and sat on an expert panel. Thinking that perhaps he should speak his mind, he said very plainly that no one knows for sure what the growth rates in China are. He speculated that they might be about 2 percent.
“My own speculation is that in the past two to three years,” he said, “the real GDP number on average might be around 2 percent even though the official number is close to 5 percent.”
No one in the room thought anything about it. The speaker seems to have temporarily forgotten that he is not an independent actor and was in no position to offer his objective assessment.
But word got out immediately in Beijing. He was immediately disciplined and silenced. He no longer holds a job in his old securities firm. His comments have been scrubbed from any sites accessible within China. He has lost his license to speak about economic affairs. Meanwhile, the Securities Association of China has instructed all people who speak about China’s economic health only to say nice things.
We can gather from the above that the data that was once routinely reported is not saying nice things. It’s one thing to silence the economists but to silence the underlying data only ends in raising alarm bells.
And those alarms have been rung, and now observers are considering the worst. There might be a hidden real estate crisis, and a major problem with unemployment added to it. Investment might be collapsing and government finances might be in major trouble.
For decades, China has developed a stable system for economic growth that relied on five main pillars:
- Lower-cost manufacturing to compete and ultimately displace manufacturing in the West;
- U.S. consumers hungry to get ahead of their own falling wages and salaries with cheaper consumer products and intermediate goods;
- Central bank credits for business development built on large holdings of U.S. denominated debt;
- A domestic currency trading far below the trade-weighted average of the U.S. dollar, the world reserve currency, thus favoring exports over imports;
- State-directed and funded infrastructure development that calibrated investment based on national goals.
It was never the free market that pundits imagined that it would become in the 1990s and beyond. But it was also helped by a loose regulatory environment that minimized the litigation overhang that vexes Western economies, and its agency impositions were tolerant of enterprise insofar as it never threatened political priorities.
Crucially, China was able to benefit from the presumption that the global system of trade would never raise foundational questions about low tariffs and cross-border investment.
That last presumption has dramatically changed. The first Trump administration began the process of reevaluation. This was in 2018 and the result was a documented decline in U.S. imports from China. This was reversed two years later with the pandemic onset that called upon China to provide vast goods back into the United States. Mass numbers of Americans found themselves mandated to wear masks, for example, most of which were imports from China.
Five years later, the push to decouple the United States from dependence on China’s manufacturing sector is back on. The second Trump administration has wholesale reversed 80 years of U.S. precedent in trade policy with a turn toward tariffs. The hope is that these will help settle accounts, boost U.S. manufacturing, and provide a revenue stream to reduce reliance on high income taxation.
Whether and to what extent this dramatic shift has this effect domestically in the United States, it has likely had a major impact on China’s economic prospects, simply because it challenges a long-running assumption that the U.S. would forever serve as China’s consumer marketplace.
We should pause to consider the great irony of this whole situation. For centuries, businessmen have fantasized about the sheer size of China as a consumer, and imagined ways to invent products and services to sell.
“A pair of shoes for every Chinese foot;” “China’s market will make us rich;” “A market of 400 million customers”—these slogans were bandied about for a century.
But when it came right down to it, and herein we find the essence of the unpredictability of economic affairs, it was not China as consumer but China as manufacturer that dominated the landscape for decades following its opening.
Only now do we see full consciousness dawn in the United States concerning the implications for U.S. manufacturing.
What is to be done? A better path than protectionism is mass deregulation, a dollar more powerful at home and more competitive abroad, and lower costs of doing business through a renewal of the American entrepreneurial spirit. This will need to come one way or another. Trade barriers alone cannot hold back the tide.
Meanwhile, China suddenly faces its own grave economic challenges, which could grow so substantially as to threaten even the political stability of the country. Right now, outside observers have been largely blinded as to how serious the situation has become. We just don’t have the data.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.
END
CHINA/USA
U.S. May Lower China Tariffs As Soon As Next Week, NYPost Reports
Friday, May 09, 2025 – 07:20 AM
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and his Chinese counterpart are set to begin the first round of trade talks in Switzerland on Saturday. Traders and analysts are looking to yesterday’s “breakthrough” U.S.-U.K. trade deal as a potential preview of what may be announced over the weekend or early next week—possibly signaling a peak in the ongoing trade war.
According to a source familiar with the discussions, the New York Post reports that the Trump administration is weighing a plan to slash tariffs on Chinese imports from 145% to between 50% and 54%. The same source said levies on neighboring South Asian countries would also be reduced to 25%.
“They are going to be bringing it down to 50% while the negotiations are ongoing,” the source said, referring to tariffs on China.
Here’s more color from NYPost:
Insiders said the 50%-to-54% range — down from the triple-digit level that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this week “isn’t sustainable” this week — is in keeping with rates that were discussed last month when President Trump met with the bosses of the three biggest retailers in the U.S.
Market participants are considering Thursday’s U.S.-U.K. trade framework as a potential preview of what to expect in upcoming trade announcements—not just with China but with dozens of other countries. The deal hints at broad tariff reductions and expanded market access for American exports, particularly in agriculture, energy, and industrial goods. However, as with the U.K. framework, a baseline 10% tariff appears likely to remain in place.
Last week, Goldman offered some good news: peak trade war.
Earlier this week, Goldman chief economist Jan Hatzius told clients, “The mood music with China has improved, and we expect the U.S. tariff rate on China to drop from around 160% to around 60% relatively soon. (China is likely to reduce tariffs on the U.S. by a similar amount.)”
Plus, the Milken Institute Global Conference attendees in Beverly Hills on Monday “warmed up” to the tariff environment.
Jay Foreman, CEO of Basic Fun—which manufactures retro toys like Tonka Trucks, Care Bears, and My Little Pony in China—told NYPost that “there will be an adjustment” in tariff policy “by the end of this week or next,” adding that it could begin a surge in orders from China.
“We are hearing China at 50% to 54% and [other] Asian countries at 25%,” said Lawrence Rosen, chairman of New Jersey-based arts-and-crafts distributor Cra-Z-Art.
During the US-UK trade deal, Trump told investors, “Better buy stocks now.”
END
Trump Says “80% Tariffs On China Seems Right” Ahead Of Weekend Trade Talks
Friday, May 09, 2025 – 07:45 AM
Update (0745ET):
President Trump posted on Truth Social, “80% Tariff on China seems right!” while noting that the final decision rests with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The comment lends credibility to an earlier New York Post report suggesting the administration is considering cutting tariffs on Chinese imports from 145% to a significantly lower baseline.
Trump also said:
“CHINA SHOULD OPEN UP ITS MARKET TO USA — WOULD BE SO GOOD FOR THEM!!! CLOSED MARKETS DON’T WORK ANYMORE!!!”
In markets, S&P 500 futures puked, then recovered some losses. Most of the overnight gains have been erased.
Perhaps traders were expecting a higher percentage of tariffs to be removed ahead of after Bessent’s meeting on Saturday with his Chinese counterpart.
END
4..EUROPEAN AFFAIRS//UK /SCANDINAVIAN AFFAIRS
EU
they are nuts to enforce digital currency on EU countries
(zerohedge)
Brussels Sues Five EU Countries For Failing To Enforce Digital Censorship
Friday, May 09, 2025 – 03:30 AM
Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix news,
The European Commission announced on Wednesday that it is referring five member states to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for failing to properly implement the Digital Services Act (DSA), Brussels’ flagship legislation aimed at regulating online platforms.
The countries facing legal action are Czechia, Spain, Cyprus, Poland, and Portugal. According to the Commission, these member states either failed to appoint a national Digital Services Coordinator (DSC) or failed to empower those bodies with the authority required to enforce the DSA.
Additionally, none of the five countries has established penalties for violations of the regulation, as mandated by Brussels.
“The DSA required member states to designate one or more competent authorities for the supervision and enforcement of the DSA, and to designate one of them as their national DSC by Feb. 17, 2024,” the Commission said in its press release.
“Member states are also required to empower their DSCs to enable them to carry out their tasks under the DSA.”
Poland is singled out for not appointing or authorizing a national coordinator at all, while Czechia, Spain, Cyprus, and Portugal appointed such bodies but did not grant them the legal powers necessary to fulfill their responsibilities.
The European Commission insists the DSA, which came into force in 2022, is designed to create a safer and more transparent online environment by requiring large platforms and search engines to combat illegal content, protect user privacy, and address public safety risks.
Critics, however, argue that it risks overreach by incentivizing platforms to over-remove content, potentially stifling free speech; imposes disproportionate burdens on smaller platforms, reinforcing the dominance of Big Tech; and compromises user privacy through mandated data access for regulators.
Disapproval of the regulation has been met by both libertarian politicians in Europe and by Republicans in Washington, DC.
In February, United States House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan sent a letter to the European Commissioner for Technology Henna Virkkunen expressing his “serious concerns with how the DSA’s censorship provisions affect free speech in the United States.”
He argued that overregulation from Brussels would effectively create a “de facto global censorship standard” as social media platforms generally use one set of content moderation policies for consistent implementation worldwide.
X owner Elon Musk has also weighed in on the bureaucratic nature of the DSA and its overzealous approach to content moderation, while U.S. President Donald Trump himself also called fines imposed on U.S. tech companies by Brussels for failing to adhere to the DSA a “form of taxation.”
In Europe, Alternative for Germany (AfD) MP Maximilian Krah has argued that the DSA is designed to suppress dissenting viewpoints, claiming the legislation “is intended to prevent unorthodox and creative ideas from being shared on the internet,” while Sweden Democrats MEP Jessica Stegrud claimed an overfocus on combating disinformation and “harmful content” could undermine freedom of speech.
The Commission first launched infringement proceedings against the five countries in 2024. Letters of formal notice were sent to Czechia, Cyprus, Poland, and Portugal in April, and to Spain in July. After the member states failed to comply, the Commission escalated the matter to the EU’s highest court.
If the Court of Justice rules against them, the countries could face financial penalties and be required to act swiftly to meet their legal obligations.
ECB
5 RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS
ISRAEL/HOUTHIS
Behind the cockpit: Inside the IAF’s precision strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen
The missions aimed to disrupt the Houthis’ weapons supply chain and degrade their ability to operate through strategic maritime and aerial routes.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFMAY 9, 2025 02:34
Less than 24 hours between two Israeli Air Force (IAF) strikes that hit deep into Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen, marking a significant escalation in Israel’s aerial operations against regional threats.
The attack, carried out by Squadron 69 – nicknamed “The Hammers” – targeted key terror infrastructure in the port city of Hudaydah and the capital, Sanaa. According to the IDF, the missions aimed to disrupt the Houthis’ weapons supply chain and degrade their ability to operate through strategic maritime and aerial routes.
The first operation took place earlier this week, with dozens of F-151 “Ra’am” fighter jets departing from Hatzerim Airbase. Preparations unfolded inside the squadron’s subterranean facilities, where technical crews moved swiftly between aircraft, and pilots engaged in briefings focused on terrain analysis and real-time intelligence.
The primary targets included Houthi assets at the Hudayah seaport and a concrete plant allegedly used for constructing underground bunkers. Aircraft were dispatched on separate flight paths – some aimed at inland infrastructure, others at coastal military sites.
“When they return, my first look is at the empty weapons racks,” said an armorer from the squadron. “It’s very satisfying to know you built that—and now it was used in a historic mission.”
Within hours, preparations began for second strike
Within hours of the jets returning from the Hudayah operation, preparations began for a second strike – this time focused on the Houthi-controlled airport in Sanaa, several power stations, and an additional concrete production facility linked to a tunnel network.
A fighter pilot from Squadron 69 participated in both missions. In the first, he led the planning team. Less than a day later, he was back in the air for the second sortie.
Despite his operational experience, the pilot said the mission stood out for its pace and precision. “When flying to a new location, you’re always struck by how similar the view from above is to the maps you studied. That’s when you know the preparation was done right.”
According to the IDF, the Sanaa airport served as a conduit for weapons and financial transfers. The attack, combined with strikes on power stations, aimed to disrupt the Houthis’ logistics chain and deliver a message: no area used for terror is immune.
Upon returning to base, the pilot described a moment of quiet satisfaction. “When I landed back from Sana’a,” the pilot said. “I took a breath, embraced the ground crew and fellow pilots. Knowing the mission succeeded brought immense satisfaction.”
END
WATCH: Does Israel have the military ability to defeat the Houthis?
Senior Middle East analyst Seth J. Frantzman discusses what military capabilities the Houthis have after US strikes against them, and why they are so hard to fight.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFMAY 5, 2025 17:3
The Houthis in Yemen said on Sunday night that they are working on imposing a “comprehensive air blockade” on Israel by repeatedly targeting the country’s airports. This followed a strike from a missile fired by the group that injured three near the airport, and repeated previous attempts to strike Israel.
In an update from The Jerusalem Post Studio, senior Middle East analyst Seth J. Frantzman discusses what military capabilities the Houthis have after US strikes against them, and why they are so hard to fight.
He will also explain whether the Houthi threat to Israeli airspace is one that should concern Israelis, discuss how it can deter airlines from flying to the country, and break down Israel’s abilities to fight back against the organization.
end
ISRAEL HAMAS
Vast majority of Israelis believe victory in Gaza not possible without returning hostages – poll
The survey was based on the answers of 500 Israeli Jewish participants and was conducted by the Midgam Institute last month.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFMAY 9, 2025 01:5
84% of Israelis believe that a victory in the Gaza Strip is impossible without the return of the remaining 59 hostages still held captive, according to a new survey released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
Meanwhile, 12.7% said that victory against Hamas is possible without the return of the hostages.
The survey was based on the answers of 500 Israeli Jewish participants and was conducted by the Midgam Institute last month.
57% believe, however, that the Hamas terrorist organization cannot be defeated without bringing the abductees back to Israel. 28% of participants disagreed with that assessment and said that it is possible to defeat Hamas without releasing the captives. Just over 14% of participants said that they weren’t sure.
Poll decides that hostages take priority over fighting Hamas
Of the participants, over 6 of 10 Israelis believe that returning all those hostages should be of the utmost priority, even if it means ceasing all combat operations in the Palestinian enclave. Only just over a quarter of Israelis (26.3%) answered that defeating Hamas takes priority, even if it means the hostages are not brought back home. 11.4% of participants said that they are unsure of what the most important objective in the war is.
“All surveys and data clearly show the will of the people – they choose the hostages above all else,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said. “The return of the hostages is a necessary condition for an Israeli victory. Without it, there can be no national revival or healing. Israeli society is united on the issue of the hostages and agrees that their return is the most urgent national mission.”
end
ISRAEL HAMAS
Huckabee: Gaza in desperate need for aid, but Israel will not be part of distribution
Private security will be responsible for ensuring the safety of workers and in distributing the food.
By REUTERSMAY 9, 2025 12:13Updated: MAY 9, 2025 13:2
Israel will not be part of distributing aid in Gaza, US Ambassador Mike Huckabee said on Friday morning.
Israel will be involved in security in the Gaza Strip, he added. Huckabee said, “President Trump wants food distributed in Gaza safely and efficiently.”
Huckabee spoke about the need to transfer humanitarian aid to Gaza, stating, “There is a desperate need for humanitarian aid in Gaza, but Hamas is not capable or willing to provide it.”
Several partners have agreed to a mechanism to distribute aid to Gaza, the ambassador said, without naming the partners, adding that they have committed funding but do not want to be identified yet. However, he confirmed that Israel will not be involved.
This new mechanism is not dependent on military action, and it will hopefully start soon, Huckabee said.
Private security will be responsible for ensuring safety, distributing aid
Private security will be responsible for ensuring the safety of workers and for distributing the food, he clarified, adding that everything will be in line with rules of international humanitarian law vis-a-vis rules of engagement due to the private security’s involvement.
ISRAEL/HAMAS/USA
Arab media reports US open to dropping demand for Hamas disarmament pre-ceasefire
According to the report, US negotiators conveyed this position during recent conversations with Egyptian mediators.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFMAY 9, 2025 20:05Updated: MAY 9, 2025 20:29
Trump administration officials reportedly signaled openness in talks with Egypt to delaying the issue of Hamas’ disarmament until after a ceasefire agreement is reached, an Egyptian source told Qatari-backed Al-Araby Al-Jadeed on Friday.
The source also said US officials believe deporting thousands of Palestinian terrorists from Gaza is unrealistic, due to concerns from potential host countries and the large number—between 3,000 and 5,000 people—proposed by Israel.
According to the report, US negotiators conveyed this position during recent conversations with Egyptian mediators.
Rather than insisting on immediate disarmament—particularly of Hamas—the American side is reportedly open to addressing this issue at a later stage in the implementation process.
The same source also noted that US officials believe deporting Hamas military leaders or fighters from Gaza is not a viable option.
Securing the release of all Israeli hostages
In exchange for flexibility on these points, the US side reportedly emphasized its commitment to securing the release of all Israeli hostages still held in Gaza and retrieving the bodies of those who have died in captivity.
Arab media suggests that internal discussions within the US administration have led to a reassessment of the effectiveness of Israel’s current military strategy. Intelligence reportedly shared with American officials indicated that renewed Israeli operations since mid-March have increased risks to remaining hostages.
According to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, there is growing optimism among mediators about reaching a broader agreement.
The Egyptian source cited terror group Hamas’s stated willingness to release all hostages simultaneously and potential flexibility on post-ceasefire arrangements involving weapons and personnel movement.
IRAN
IRGC commander says Iran will open the ‘gates of hell’ if the US, Israel attack
“If you make a mistake, we’ll act on you in a way that you forget the True Promise 1 and 2,” Salami told Iranian media.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFMAY 8, 2025 18:16Updated: MAY 8, 2025 18:3
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps chief Hossein Salami said that Iran would seriously retaliate against Israel and the US if the two countries struck Iran.
“I’m issuing a serious warning: if you make one wrong move, we will open up the gates of hell on you,” he said.
“Sit down and stay in your place … we have made extensive preparations. These are serious warnings to Zionist officials, to US officials. The criminal prime minister of the Zionist regime talks a lot these days, threatens Iran,” he said, according to Iran International.
“If you make a mistake, we’ll act on you in a way that you forget the True Promise 1 and 2,” he said in reference to the attacks the Islamic Republic launched on Israel last year.
Iran claims that ‘True Promise’ October attack was successful
Both attacks led to minimal damage to Israel and killed a total of three Israeli citizens combined.
The IRGC commander claimed that the October attack was successful.
“The Zionist entity is wrong, and the ‘True Promise 2’ operation proved the failure of its defense systems. The THAAD system will not succeed in protecting it,” he said.
“Don’t count on THAAD. Every time you fire a projectile, we will fire more than you,” Salami reportedly said.
Salami’s comments come after The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel had considered attacking Iran’s nuclear program, but had held back at America’s directive.
END
SAUDI ARABIA/USA
Trump drops Israel ties as condition for Saudi nuclear talks
Under former President Joe Biden, nuclear talks were an element of a wider US-Saudi deal tied to normalization and to Riyadh’s goal of a defense treaty with Washington.
By REUTERSMAY 8, 2025 18:40Updated: MAY 8, 2025 19:54
The United States is no longer demanding Saudi Arabia normalize ties with Israel as a condition for progress on civil nuclear cooperation talks, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit next week.
Dropping the demand that Saudi Arabia establish diplomatic relations with Israel would be a major concession by Washington.
Under former President Joe Biden, nuclear talks were an element of a wider US-Saudi deal tied to normalization and to Riyadh’s goal of a defense treaty with Washington.
The kingdom has repeatedly said it would not recognize Israel without a Palestinian state, frustrating Biden administration attempts to expand the Abraham Accords signed during Trump’s first term.
Under those accords the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco normalized relations with Israel. Progress towards Saudi recognition of Israel has been halted by fury in Arab countries over the war raging in Gaza. The nuclear talks had also stumbled over Washington’s non-proliferation concerns.
In a possible sign of a new approach, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that Saudi Arabia and the United States were on a “pathway” to a civil nuclear agreement when he visited the kingdom in April.
“When we have something to announce, you will hear it from the President. Any reports on this are speculative,” US National Security Council spokesman James Hewitt told Reuters in response to a request for comment.
Saudi Arabia’s government media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Even without the normalization requirement for civil nuclear talks to progress, and despite unpacking the issue from a wider defense treaty, a deal is not yet in close reach, one of the sources said.
One sticking point is Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act, which allows cooperation with other countries to develop civil nuclear capabilities but specifies nonproliferation criteria, including limiting uranium enrichment.
Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, has said that the kingdom would seek to enrich uranium and sell the product.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said that he has “been warning for years about a Saudi deal involving uranium enrichment. It is inconceivable that Netanyahu is silent while a deal is being crafted that will cause a nuclear arms race in the Middle East and could result in nuclear capabilities falling into the wrong hands.”
One of the sources said the kingdom was still not willing to sign a so-called 123 agreement, which would prevent enrichment or reprocessing of plutonium made in reactors – two routes that have the potential to culminate in nuclear weapons.
Secretary Wright previously told Reuters that a 123 agreement would be a prerequisite to any deal.
However, Wright has said there are several ways to structure a deal to achieve both countries’ objectives.
One solution being discussed is a “black box” arrangement where only US personnel would have access to a uranium enrichment facility on Saudi soil, the same source said.
Sell more oil
Riyadh wants to build nuclear generation capacity as it seeks to diversify its economy away from oil. Nuclear power could also help free up more crude barrels for export.
Arms control advocates have previously expressed concern about a Saudi nuclear program because de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said the kingdom would seek to quickly develop nuclear weapons should its regional rival Iran do so.
The US and Iran are currently holding talks over Tehran’s nuclear program, which Washington and Western allies say is geared towards producing weapons. Iran insists it is purely for civil purposes.
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Wednesday described the talks with Iran as “so far, so good” and said there was a deal to be made that would reintegrate Iran into the global economy while preventing it from getting a nuclear weapon.
Saudi Arabia and the United States are set to discuss a number of blockbuster economic deals during Trump’s visit next week, with the US poised to offer Saudi Arabia an arms package worth well over $100 billion, sources have told Reuters.
Trump has said Riyadh should “round up” a planned investment package in the US to $1 trillion from an initial $600 billion.
The trip is Trump’s second visit abroad, after a short trip to Rome for the pope’s funeral, since he returned to office in January. In his first term, a lavish trip to Saudi Arabia marked his first overseas stop.
Trump fostered close ties with Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, during his first term.
The country invested $2 billion in a firm formed by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and former aide, after Trump left office, and there are plans to build two Trump towers in Jeddah and Riyadh.
Amichai Stein contributed to this report.
RUSSIA VS UKRAINE/USA
Ukraine’s Parliament Ratifies US Minerals Deal In Hopes Of Securing Future Arms
Friday, May 09, 2025 – 02:45 AM
The minerals deal is now official and legally binding for Ukraine as on Thursday Ukraine’s parliament voted in favor of ratifying the controversial resources agreement with the United States. This was a final key step in its adoption.
The Zelensky government is hoping this will more firmly secure future military assistance from Washington. The vote was unanimous: 338 Ukrainian lawmakers approved of ratifying it, and none opposed.
“The Ukrainian Parliament has ratified the historic Economic Partnership Agreement between Ukraine and the United States,” First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced on X.
“This document is not merely a legal construct — it is the foundation of a new model of interaction with a key strategic partner,” Svyrydenko added.
Critics have warned that this could be a big resource grab by the United States, but since it’s signing was accomplished in Washington last month, Trump administration rhetoric toward Kiev has softened. For example, Trump is no longer demanding that Ukraine quickly move toward holding new presidential and parliamentary elections.
Meanwhile, Moon of Alabama has highlighted that there’s still a fight on as well as confusion over some suppressed details of the deal, citing Strana, which reported (machine translation)…
The opposition already accuses the authorities of concealing the main points about the deal. The fact is that the agreement on the creation of the fund, signed last week and already made public, is being submitted for ratification, and there are very few specifics in it. This is essentially a framework agreement. For all the main points in the text of the agreement, there are references to another document – the Limited Partnership Agreement. There is also a third document – the Foundation’s charter.
A number of deputies claim that all three documents have actually been signed (or agreed upon). But they showed only one-the least important and most abstract of them, from which it is not even clear what the Foundation will do in general.
The government denies this, saying that only one document has been signed, and the rest will still be discussed.
Trump has indicated the US could just walk away from efforts to mediate peace, if neither side is a willing partner. The White House has not said whether this means it would halt arms for Ukraine’s military, or intelligence-sharing.
But the minerals deal means the US is indeed very likely to continue arming Kiev. After all, the White House now has more of an interest in protecting US ‘investment’ now and into the future.
Still, it is a very long-haul agreement: “Two supplements would spell out the details and would be published at a later date, officials have said about the deal which might not see a payoff for a decade or longer,” France24 notes.
END
RUSSIA/UKRAINE/USA
Trump Calls For 30-Day Cease-Fire In Russia-Ukraine
Friday, May 09, 2025 – 09:25 AM
Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,
President Donald Trump on May 8 urged Russia and Ukraine to enter into a 30-day unconditional cease-fire while U.S.-led peace negotiations are ongoing.
Trump stated that the temporary cease-fire must “ultimately build toward a peace agreement” between the two nations and warned that the United States would impose sanctions if the cease-fire wasn’t respected.
“Talks with Russia/Ukraine continue,” he stated in a Truth Social post.
“Hopefully, an acceptable ceasefire will be observed, and both countries will be held accountable for respecting the sanctity of these direct negotiations.”
Trump also said that he would “stay committed” to ending the war in Ukraine, despite his administration officials having previously indicated that the United States may abandon mediation efforts if there are no clear signs of progress toward a peace agreement.
“It can all be done very quickly, and I will be available on a moment’s notice if my services are needed,” the president stated.
“Thousands of young soldiers are dying on a weekly basis, and everybody should want it to STOP. I do, and the United States of America does, also.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Trump during a May 8 phone call that Ukraine is ready to enter into a temporary cease-fire with Russia and is willing to “engage in talks in any format.”
However, Zelenskyy said that Russia must first demonstrate its readiness to end the war, “starting with a full, unconditional ceasefire.” This would involve ending missile and drone strikes and halting offensive assaults along the front lines.
“Ukraine is ready for a full ceasefire starting right now, from this very moment—a 30-day silence. But it must be real,” he said in a video address.
“Thirty days that could become the beginning of years of peace.”
On April 30, the Kremlin said that Russian President Vladimir Putin remains open to a cease-fire and eventual peaceful settlement to the conflict, but there are still issues need to be resolved.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has previously warned that the U.S. government may abandon efforts to mediate an end to the three-year-long war if Russia and Ukraine fail to make a peace agreement.
“I think they’re closer in general than they’ve been any time in the last three years but it’s still not there,” Rubio said in an interview with NBC News on April 27.
Rubio said that the United States may opt to take measures against those resisting efforts to end the war, but emphasized that it would “prefer not to get to that stage yet because we think it closes the door to diplomacy.”
The war in Ukraine has been ongoing since Putin sent thousands of troops for a full invasion in February 2022. Putin declared an “Easter truce” with Ukraine on April 19, directing his forces to halt all military operations until midnight of April 20.
Both sides later accused each other of violating the truce. The Russian military eventually resumed the “special military operation” after the truce ended.
On April 28, Putin unilaterally declared a three-day ceasefire from May 8–May 10 to mark the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. Zelenskyy later dismissed the move as yet “another attempt at manipulation” by Russia.
“The cease-fire should not be just for a few days, only to return to killing afterward,” Zelenskyy said in an April 28 address.
“It must be immediate, full, and unconditional, for at least 30 days, to ensure it is secure and guaranteed. This is the foundation that could lead to real diplomacy.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha alleged that Russia violated the three-day cease-fire 734 times between midnight and midday on May 8, including 464 attacks involving heavy weapons and 176 drone strikes.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that Ukraine, in turn, had carried out 488 attacks on Russian targets and twice tried to break through the border in the Kursk region.
6. GLOBAL ISSUES//COVID ISSUES/VACCINE ISSUES/HEALTH ISSUE
WOW!!!
Robert H to us:
Canada’s Top Doctor Signed Oath to Withhold Covid Info That Could ‘Embarrass’ Trudeau’s Cabinet: Records
If this is true, there needs to be an independent inquiry with impeccable credentials. Otherwise people will question the legitimacy of Liberal Government. And this is not limited to just the Liberals.
MARK CRISPIN MILLER
DR PAUL ALEXANDER
SLAY NEWS
NEWS ADDICTS
| The latest reports from Slay NewsDenmark Sounds Alarm as Emergency Room Visits Surge Among Covid-Vaccinated TeensDenmark has issued a chilling warning about the long-term impact of the mass Covid “vaccination” campaign after recording a surge in hospital emergency room visits among teenagers who received mRNA injections.READ MOREScientists Develop Deadly Weaponized Strain of ‘Bird Flu’ Using Gain-of-Function ResearchA group of scientists has used gain-of-function research to engineer a deadly mutated strain of “bird flu” that has been weaponized to spread among humans.READ MOREMultiple Maine Schools Side with Trump by Banning Transgender Athletes, Defying Democrat GovernorIn a major show of defiance against the state’s Democrat leadership, several schools in Maine have announced that they are siding with President Donald Trump and banning male athletes from competing in female sports.READ MORETaxpayers May Be Forced to Pay for Letitia James’ Legal Defense as NY AG Faces Federal ProbeTaxpayers may end up paying the huge cost of New York Attorney General Letitia James’s legal defense as she faces a federal investigation for fraud.READ MORESenate Repeals Biden’s Tire Manufacturing RestrictionsThe United States Senate has voted to repeal the Biden-era regulations that placed restrictions on tire manufacturing.READ MOREDemocrat Senator Who Lied About Serving in Vietnam Calls for Pete Hegseth’s ImpeachmentTop Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) has called for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to be impeached for his “dangerous” policies at the Pentagon.READ MORETrump Cracks Down Biden’s Program Targeting Household AppliancesPresident Donald Trump is planning to dismantle the Energy Star program that certifies household appliances as energy efficient.READ MOREActivist Judge Orders Trump to Resettle 12,000 ‘Refugees’A Joe Biden-appointed activist judge has ordered the President of the United States to resettle 12,000 “refugees” in America.READ MORERoyal Family Crisis Advisor Drops Bombshell: Prince Andrew Was Raping ‘Underage Girls’The British Royal Family’s long-time crisis advisor has been caught on undercover video making explosive revelations about Prince Andrew and his ties to child trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.READ MORETyson Foods Agrees to Comply with Trump Admin’s News Rules to ‘Make America Healthy Again’America’s largest meat company, Tyson Foods, has announced that it making changes to the ingredients of its products to comply with the policies of President Donald Trump’s administration.READ MOREDOJ Announces Major Bust: Over 200 Child Predators Arrested, 115 Children RescuedThe Department of Justice (DOJ) has just announced the results of a massive operation that led to over 200 child predators being arrested by the FBI.READ MOREIllinois’ Democrat Governor Vows ‘Resistance’ to Trump’s Deportation PoliciesIllinois’ Democrat Governor J.B. Pritzker has vowed that President Donald Trump’s efforts to deport criminal illegal aliens from the state will face “resistance.”READ MOREBiden Claims It Was ‘Difficult to Walk Away’ from 2024 Race Because Presidency Was ‘So Successful’Former President Joe Biden has claimed his decision to drop out of the 2024 election was “difficult” because his presidency was “so successful.”READ MORE |
EVOL NEWS
MICHAEL EVERY/PHIL MAREY/OR OTHER EXECS //RABOBANK
Rabobank: The Foreign Film Tax Reads Like A Tax On Wealthy Democrats
Monday, May 05, 2025 – 10:00 AM
By Benjamin Picton, Senior strategist at Rabobank
Australia’s ruling Labor Party was returned to government in emphatic fashion over the weekend, becoming the only first-term government in Australian history to actually increase its numbers in the House of Representatives at its first bid for re-election. The Australian result echoes what we saw a week earlier in Canada, where a centre-left party that had been chronically trailing in the polls just a few months ago suddenly surged to victory. In Australia, as in Canada, the leader of the main centre-right opposition party not only lost the election, he lost his own seat in the parliament.
The return of Donald Trump to the White House looms large in both results and seems to have flipped last year’s dynamic of incumbency being a curse to a new environment where stability is favored and any hints of Trumpian instincts are punished by electors. Nevertheless, while it might be tempting to read this as a uniform embrace of bigger government and globalized trade across the Anglosphere (ex-USA), that might be over-interpreting the signal as there are confounding signs elsewhere.
In England, for instance, things look quite different. Council elections held late last week saw both the ruling Labour Party and the main opposition Conservatives decimated by the right-wing populist Reform party. Reform won 677 out of around 1,600 seats, cementing the party’s position as a genuine third-force in British politics and an existential threat to the Conservative Party in particular. Labour lost control of Doncaster council and was displaced as the largest party bloc in Durham, while areas that have reliably voted Conservative for aeons flipped to Reform.
What to make of these results? Perhaps the most we can say is that a volatile external environment is upending established political norms and, in some cases, established political parties as frustration with politics-as-usual vies against popular revulsion of the leader of the Free World. Local voter profiles will also be a factor here as England particularly tends to lean further to the right than much of the rest of the UK while in Canada the emphatic result papers over rumbling discontent in resource-rich Western Provinces.
Nevertheless, markets are back into risk-on mode with the S&P500 and the NASDAQ closing up ~1.5% on Friday and US 10-year yields poking higher to 4.31%. The Dollar spot index closed above 100 on Friday, but has edged back below that key level this morning following a better than expected US payrolls report on Friday, comments by Trump that tariffs on China would be lowered “at some point” and assurances that he wouldn’t be firing “too slow” Jerome Powell (probably because he can’t).
Crude oil prices have fallen by more than 3% in early trade this morning to see benchmark Brent prices back below $60/bbl. The falls were precipitated by reports that Saudi Arabia could look to increase output even further in response to other OPEC+ producers (particularly Iraq and Kazakhstan) exceeding agreed production levels.
The falls in oil prices are interesting given that tensions in the Middle East have only increased over the last few days. A Houthi missile managed to elude Israel’s Iron Dome to strike just outside the Ben Gurion Airport in Jerusalem, injuring a number of bystanders. Prime Minister Netanyahu said that Israel will respond to the Houthi attack and, critically, to the Houthis’ “Iranian terror masters” at a time and place of Israel’s choosing. Netanyahu’s threat against Iran follows rumours that US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz was fired (at least in part) for coordinating with Israel on plans to attack Iran’s nuclear program even while Trump’s Middle East Envoy, Steve Witkoff, was trying to reach a deal with Iran over the same.
Will Israel unilaterally attack Iranian nuclear assets? Might they attack the oil facilities on Kharg Island that ultimately bankrolls the Iranian nuclear program? These are non-zero probabilities, but any risk premium for crude is MIA while the market continues to stare down the barrel of substantial oversupply.
Still, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will be pleased to see lower energy prices coinciding with the recent strengthening of the DXY and bond yields that show no real signs of threatening the 2023 highs. This happy combination might take the edge off of the price impacts of tariffs, which is timely given an announcement by Donald Trump this morning that foreign films will be subject to a 100% tariff rate.
Considerable uncertainty over price pass-through from tariffs still exists. Bessent and Trump tell us that exporters will “eat” the cost, but Amazon has conspicuously passed costs through to consumers and there are plenty of anecdotes to be found about purchasing managers halting new orders. In reality the burden will be shared between exporters (via lower prices), importers (via lower margins) and consumers (via higher prices) with a little bit of deadweight loss tacked on just to upset economists. The price elasticity of demand for each product is going to be the critical factor, which makes the foreign film tariff read like an indirect tax on wealthy Democrats.
How price sensitive are US consumers of French arthouse cinema likely to be?
7.OIL AND NATURAL GAS ISSUES/GLOBAL/ENERGY/
8. EMERGING MARKETS//AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND ISSUE
INDIA
INDIA PAKISTAN
Israeli-Made Suicide Drones Launched By India Against Pakistan, Some Intercepted
Thursday, May 08, 2025 – 09:45 PM
Pakistan shot down Israeli-made drones launched by India into its airspace on Thursday, following a series of Indian strikes across the country on Wednesday. Pakistan’s military said it had shot down 25 Israeli Harop drones on Thursday, including in Karachi and Lahore. An Indian government source confirmed that at least one Israeli drone had been downed by Pakistan. Both sides view the military claims made by the other as propaganda.
The Indian source told Middle East Eye the drones were made in Israel and supplied to the Indian military by the Adani Group, a multinational company founded by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, who has been close to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for decades.
The Adani group shares a production line with Israeli military company Elbit, from which India provided Israel with Hermes 900 drones after the start of the war in Gaza.
Over the last decade, India has imported military hardware worth $2.9 billion from Israel, including radars, surveillance and combat drones, and missiles.
The Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Harop drone launched by India into Pakistan is an unmanned “suicide” or “kamikaze” aircraft, also known as a loitering munition. It is 2.5 meters long and has a three-meter wingspan.
The drone has been used in the Syrian war, by Israel, India and by Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh war with Armenia.
Pakistan’s military spokesperson, Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, said that aside from the drones shot down above Lahore and Karachi, Pakistan’s largest cities, one drone had been downed over the garrison city of Rawalpindi, home to the army’s headquarters.
One drone hit a military target near Lahore and four Pakistani army personnel were injured in this attack, Chaudhry said. “Indian drones continue to be sent into Pakistani airspace… [India] will continue to pay dearly for this naked aggression,” he said.
This latest round of hostility between the nuclear-armed neighbors comes after India said it had hit “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan in the early hours of Wednesday, two weeks after it accused Pakistan of involvement in an attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir in which 26 people were killed.
The Indian defence ministry said Pakistan had attempted to engage military targets in northern and western India on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, and that they were “neutralized” by Indian air defense systems.
While fears of an all-out war between Pakistan and India are growing, sources on both sides described the current situation as a “rhetoric war” that would not escalate further.
END
CANADA
This is good!
Ontario To Debut World’s First Small Modular Reactor, GE Predicts
Thursday, May 08, 2025 – 06:50 PM
The world of nuclear energy and small modular reactors – which we believe is the next obvious secular bull market in energy – keeps moving forward.
Ontario officials have granted final approval for the construction of a small modular reactor (SMR) developed by GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy, according to new reporting from Axios.
This reactor, known as the BWRX-300, is anticipated to be the first SMR to become operational in the Western world. The 300-megawatt unit will be located next to the existing Darlington Nuclear Station, operated by Ontario Power Generation. Once completed, it will generate enough electricity to power approximately 300,000 homes.
The successful implementation of this reactor at the Darlington site is expected to serve as a model for the feasibility and benefits of SMR technology.
Ontario’s energy ministry emphasized the significance of the project, noting that it will be the first SMR of its kind among G7 nations. GE has stated that early site preparations have been completed and full construction will commence soon, with the reactor projected to begin operations by 2030, the report says.
The Darlington site is planned to host a total of four SMR units, all of which are expected to be operational by 2035. The entire project is estimated to cost 20.9 billion Canadian dollars, which is about 15.06 billion USD. According to Stephen Lecce, Ontario’s energy minister, this initiative is a crucial part of the province’s strategy to meet an anticipated 75% increase in electricity demand by 2050.
“Ensuring that we have reliable, affordable energy is essential to the economic sovereignty of our province and country,” Lecce said.
Recall just days ago nuclear names popped on news that The White House is poised to issue executive orders aimed at accelerating the deployment of nuclear reactors across the United States.
The White House actions are expected to leverage the Departments of Defense and Energy to expedite reactor deployment, potentially circumventing delays from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
This initiative aligns with the administration’s strategy to meet the surging energy demands driven by sectors like artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.
Publicly traded companies positioned to benefit from this nuclear expansion include our favorite, Oklo, formerly backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The company is among eight companies selected to provide microreactors for U.S. military bases, aiming to supply 100% of critical energy needs at these sites.
The ADVANCE Act of 2024, signed into law in July, aims to streamline the licensing process for advanced nuclear technologies, reduce regulatory costs, and promote the development of next-generation reactors.
Additionally, in a rare show of bipartisan agreement, the Biden administration had formerly expressed intentions to triple the nation’s nuclear power capacity by 2050, recognizing nuclear energy’s role in achieving carbon-free electricity goals.
For those who missed it, in our note “The Next AI Trade” from April 2024, more than one year ago, we outlined various investment opportunities for powering up America, most of which have dramatically outperformed the market since then.
end
YOUR EARLY CURRENCY/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN CLOSING MARKETS AND EUROPEAN BOURSE OPENING AND CLOSING/ INTEREST RATE SETTINGS FRIDAY MORNING 6;30AM//OPENING AND CLOSING
EURO/USA: 1.1252 UP 0.0025 PTS OR 25 BASIS POINTS
USA/ YEN 145.23 DOWN 0.714 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 1.3263 UP .0024 OR 24 BASIS PTS
USA/CAN DOLLAR: 1.3916 DOWN 0.0006 (CDN DOLLAR UP 6 BASIS PTS)
Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE DOWN 10.00 PTS OR 0.30%
Hang Seng CLOSED UP 91.82 PTS OR .43%
AUSTRALIA CLOSED UP .49%
// EUROPEAN BOURSE: ALL GREEN
Trading from Europe and ASIA
I) EUROPEAN BOURSES: ALL GREEN
2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang SENG CLOSED UP 91.82 PTS OR .43%
/SHANGHAI CLOSED DOWN 10.00 PTS OR 0.30%
AUSTRALIA BOURSE CLOSED UP 0.49%
(Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED UP 574.70 PTS OR .43%
INDIA’S SENSEX IN THE RED
Gold very early morning trading: 3327.50
silver:$32.60
USA dollar index early FRIDAY morning: 100.24 DOWN .26 BASIS POINTS FROM THURSDAY’s CLOSE.
FRIDAY MORNING NUMBERS ENDS
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
And now your closing FRIDAY NUMBERS 1: 30 AM
Portuguese 10 year bond yield: 3.084% UP 7 in basis point(s) yield
JAPANESE BOND YIELD: +1.369% UP 2 FULL POINTS AND 0/100 BASIS POINTS /JAPAN losing control of its yield curve/
SPANISH 10 YR BOND YIELD: 3.210 UP 7 in basis points yield
ITALIAN 10 YR BOND YIELD 3.618 UP 5 points in basis points yield ./ THE ECB IS QE’ ING ITALIAN BONDS (BUYING ITALIAN BONDS/SELLING GERMAN BUNDS)
GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD: 2.5610 UP 5 BASIS PTS
IMPORTANT CURRENCY CLOSES : MID DAY FRIDAY
Closing currency crosses for day /USA DOLLAR INDEX/USA 10 YR BOND YIELD/1:00 PM
Euro/USA 1.1263 UP .0037 OR 37 basis points
USA/Japan: 145.03 DOWN 0.917 OR YEN IS UP 92 BASIS PTS//
Great Britain 10 YR RATE 4.6270 UP 9 BASIS POINTS //
Canadian dollar UP 0.0002 OR 2 BASIS pts to 1.3920
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The USA/Yuan CNY DOWN AT 7.2401, CNY ON SHORE ..CHINA MUST DEVALUE TO GOLD
THE USA/YUAN OFFSHORE DOWN TO 7.2369:
TURKISH LIRA: 38.63 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LEVEL/DEATH WATCH/HYPERINFLATION TO BEGIN.//
the 10 yr Japanese bond yield at +1.369
Your closing 10 yr US bond yield DOWN 1 in basis points from THURSDAY at 4.367% //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%)
USA 30 yr bond yield 4.839 DOWN 0 in basis points /11:00 AM
USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 3.856 UP 2 BASIS PTS.
GOLD AT 11;00 AM 3336.00
SILVER AT 11;00: 32.65
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 23.19 PTS OR 0.27%
GERMAN DAX: CLOSED UP 146.63 pts or 0.63%
FRANCE: CLOSED UP 49.31 pts or 0.64%
Spain IBEX CLOSED UP 65.21 pts or 0.48 %
Italian MIB: CLOSED UP 395.69or 1.12%
WTI Oil price 60.51 11 EST/
Brent Oil: 63.33 11:00 EST
USA /RUSSIAN ROUBLE /// AT: 83.28 ROUBLE DOWN 1 AND 27/ 100
GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD; +2.561 UP 7 BASIS PTS.
UK 10 YR YIELD: 4.6270 UP 8 BASIS POINTS
CDN 10 YEAR RATE: 3.208 UP 3 BASIS PTS.
CDN 5 YEAR RATE: 2.794 DOWN 2 BASIS PTS
CLOSING NUMBERS: 4 PM
Euro vs USA 1.1250 UP 0.0023 OR 23 BASIS POINTS//
British Pound: 1.3303 UP .0065 OR 65 basis pts/
BRITISH 10 YR GILT BOND YIELD: 4.6230 UP 2 FULL BASIS PTS//
JAPAN 10 YR YIELD: 1.360
USA dollar vs Japanese Yen: 145.82 DOWN .632 BASIS PTS
USA dollar vs Canadian dollar: 1.3934 UP 0.0011 BASIS PTS CDN DOLLAR DOWN 11 BASIS PTS
West Texas intermediate oil: 61.92
Brent OIL: 63.88
USA 10 yr bond yield UP 0 BASIS pts to 4.380
USA 30 yr bond yield UP 0 PTS to 4.840%
USA 2 YR BOND: UP 10 PTS AT 3.897%
CDN 10 YR RATE 3.184 DOWN 4 BASIS PTS
CDN 5 YEAR RATE: 2.772 DOWN 5 BASIS PTS
USA dollar index: 100.23 DOWN 0.26 BASIS POINTS
USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 38.75 GETTING QUITE CLOSE TO BLOWING UP/
USA DOLLAR VS RUSSIA//// ROUBLE: 82.60 DOWN 0 AND 10/100 roubles
GOLD $3227.80 (3:30 PM)
SILVER: 32.77(3:30 PM)
DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: DOWN 119.47 OR 0.29%
NASDAQ 100 DOWN 2.12 PTS OR 0.01%
VOLATILITY INDEX: 22.06 DOWN 0.42 PTS OR 1.07%
GLD: $ 306.84 UP 2.20 PTS OR 0.73%
SLV/ $29.80 UP 0.34 PTS OR OR .115%
TORONTO STOCK INDEX// TSX INDEX: CLOSED UP 57.67 OR 0.23%
end
TRADING today ZEROHEDGE 4 PM: HEADLINE NEWS
Crypto Soars, Stocks Snore, Rate-Hawks Roar As Trade War Tension Floors
AFTERNOON BIG NEWS
OUT OF CHINA:
THIS IS A MUST READ: CHINA CAPITULATES AND FENTANYL BLOCKAGE IS ON THE TABLE
(reuters)
Fear Of Economic Collapse Forced China To Negotiate With Trump, Quietly Reach Out First: Reuters Report
Friday, May 09, 2025 – 02:25 PM
Three weeks ago, when we first reported that as a result of the ongoing Trump trade war with China, “chinese factories are shutting down, laying off workers“, we said that as a result of this war of attrition in which the outcome of every incremental clash and battle will be used just as aggressively for media propaganda, “the fact that any marginal pain will be amplified as trade war weakness will mean that Beijing will do everything in its power to prevent the full extent of the shutdowns from being revealed.”
Sure enough, last week the WSJ reported that whereas “not long ago, anyone could comb through a wide range of official data from China… then it started to disappear.”
We detailed the unprecedented disappearance of Chinese “data”, fake as it traditionally may have been, earlier this week. But while we had our theories why China quietly vaporized hundreds of data sets – naturally one wouldn’t be deleting the data if it was good, or could at least be massaged in a credible way – it was not until today when a Reuters report confirmed what we said from day one, namely that in the long run China’s economy has more to lose than the US, where the hit would be faster but would focus primarily on the market, and once the initial selloff shock wears off leverage would swing to benefit the White House.
And just as we supposed, Beijing’s unprecedented propaganda campaign, it was the cracks in the economy that forced Xi to the negotiating. According to the Reuters report, “since U.S. President Donald Trump imposed steep tariffs on China last month, Beijing had responded in kind. On state and social media, it posted images of Mao Zedong, lambasted “imperialists,” and sent a message: capitulation to bullies is dangerous, and it wouldn’t back down.”
But behind closed doors, China was quietly preparing to do just that, and Reuters reports that according three sources, officials had grown “increasingly alarmed about tariffs’ impact on the economy and the risk of isolation as China’s trading partners have started negotiating deals with Washington.”
China’s reasons for deciding to negotiate, Washington’s letter on fentanyl, U.S. diplomatic challenges in Beijing, and the early outreach between the two sides are reported by Reuters for the first time, based on interviews with nearly a dozen government officials and experts on both sides.
As usual, China’s diplomatic efforts had two faces, one for popular domestic consumption, and one for private engagement with the adversary, in this case the US.
Sure enough, China’s foreign ministry said in a statement to Reuters that it reiterated that “China’s firm opposition to the U.S. abuse of tariffs is consistent and clear, and there is no change.” It added that “the U.S. has ignored China’s goodwill and unreasonably imposed tariffs on China under the pretext of fentanyl. This is a typical act of bullying, which seriously undermines dialogue and cooperation between the two sides in the field of drug control.”
In retrospect, the pretext may have been “fentanyl” but as we learn in a follow up report today from the WSJ, it was anything but a facade: according to the Journal, Xi Jinping is sending his top public-security aide to Switzerland as part of Beijing’s trade talks with Washington, signaling the importance of the fentanyl issue to bilateral relations.
Wang Xiaohong, who is the minister of public security and a senior leader within the State Council, China’s cabinet, will be part of the Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng, a trusted aide to Xi and a gatekeeper to the world’s second-largest economy…. Xi has designated Wang, a close lieutenant, as the point person in Beijing’s recent discussions with Washington over how to address President Trump’s concerns about China’s role in the fentanyl trade, The Wall Street Journal has reported, helping pave the way for the weekend trade talks.
So no, the US had not “ignored China’s goodwill”, and judging by Xi’s response, clearly the issue of fentanyl is a very serious one, and more importantly, one which will allow Trump to score a quick and easy victory over the weekend, one which will further demonstrate the Trump admin’s growing leverage in the ongoing negotiations.
But back to the Reuters report, according to which China’s Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying said on Friday that China has full confidence in its ability to manage U.S. trade issues, adding that “the Trump administration’s approach cannot be sustained.” Once again, however, we learn that it was China’s approach which was far more unsustainable.
The trade war between the world’s two largest economies, combined with Trump’s decision last month to impose duties on dozens of other countries, has disrupted supply chains, unsettled financial markets and stoked fears of a sharp downturn in global growth.
After Trump’s tariff salvo last month, China took a hard line in its public messaging. Beijing posted footage on its official social media feeds of a Chinese MiG-15 fighter shooting down a U.S. jet in the Korean War, with commentary: “China won’t kneel down, because we know standing up for ourselves keeps the possibility of cooperation alive, while compromise snuffs it out.” The tone began to shift on April 30, when a state media-affiliated blog said the U.S. had “proactively reached out to China through multiple channels, hoping to discuss tariffs”, commentary which according to the White House was a lie. Meanwhile, China was adamantly denying that there were any discussions taking place about trade talks, which was also a lie as just a day later we learned that discussions were in fact taking place ahead of this weekend’s trade talks.
CSIS’s Kennedy said contacts between Chinese agencies, Beijing’s embassy in Washington and the Trump administration had been increasing in frequency in recent weeks. Some in-person interactions took place at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in late April, including with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, which paved the way for the Swiss meeting, said Kennedy, confirming what we reported two weeks ago ( see “Chinese Delegation Spotted Entering Treasury Department, Demands Photos Be Deleted: Report“.)
More importantly, we also learn today that it was China that first reached out, more than a month ago.
After Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, Reuters reports that Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao quietly reached out to his U.S. counterpart, Howard Lutnick, but was rebuffed as not senior enough, according to one official familiar with the exchanges. While Trump has been pushing for direct talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, China had originally rejected that idea as not in keeping with its traditional approach of working out the details first before the leaders sign any deal, according to public statements by both sides. Which is why after the original Chinese overture was shut down, both sides engaged in unprecedented diplomatic jingoism to deflect attention from the failure to pursue a diplomatic solution.
There’s more: another significant factor for China was Trump’s public berating of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in February, said one of the sources, adding that any unscripted hostile interaction between the U.S. and Chinese leaders would represent an unacceptable loss of face for Xi.
But as messaging on both sides grew more conciliatory, China decided to put forward its vice premier and Xi confidant He Lifeng, whose direct predecessor struck the “Phase One” trade deal with the U.S. in 2019.
The move satisfied Washington’s demands for substantive talks with a senior official with direct access to Xi, but avoided exposing the Chinese leader to potential embarrassment, said one of the sources.
As for the choice of venue, the Swiss foreign ministry said that “during its recent contacts in Washington and Beijing, Switzerland expressed to the U.S. and Chinese authorities its willingness to organize a meeting between the two parties in Geneva.”
And while that addresses the how and where, the big question is why? And what is key about the Reuters report is that it confirms what we had reported all throughout the first month of the trade war, namely that “the main drivers of Beijing’s climb-down were internal signals that Chinese companies were struggling to avoid bankruptcies and to replace the U.S. market, three people familiar with the Chinese government’s thinking said.”
Some segments feeling immediate impact were furniture and toy makers, as well as textiles, one of the officials told Reuters. US diplomats in China had also been closely monitoring factory closures, strikes, and job losses in the industrial heartland in southern China, all of which were deteriorating rapidly, and confirming that Trump’s gambit had worked.
Many analysts have downgraded their 2025 economic growth forecasts for China, and Goldman and Nomura warned the trade war could cost it up to 16 million jobs. Earlier this week, admitting just how bad the local economy had gotten, China’s central bank this week announced fresh monetary stimulus (while the Fed did nothing).
One of the officials said Chinese companies were struggling to replace the U.S. market because developing nations cannot buy as many items, and that for many firms “this was an existential threat that needed to be resolved in days or weeks.”
In addition, Beijing – which had made loud noises warning its “allies” not to engage in negotiations with the US – was worried it was left without a place at the negotiating table while its major trading partners, such as Vietnam, India and Japan, began talks with Washington, said two officials familiar with Beijing’s thinking.
In a warning to the countries negotiating with the U.S., China’s commerce ministry said in a statement this week that “appeasement cannot bring peace, compromise cannot be respected, and adhering to principled positions and upholding fairness and justice is the right way to safeguard one’s own interests.” The statement did nothing to change the direction of negotiations.
In Geneva, Beijing appears to have modest expectations, and certainly now after a report confirming that Trump indeed has the upper hand.
Internally, China has downgraded the talks from a higher level to merely a meeting, reflecting its view that the discussions will be mostly about finding out Washington’s demands and red lines after weeks of contradictory messages by Trump and other senior U.S. officials, according to a person familiar with the matter. Still, one official said China could draw on its extensive toolbox and follow Asian neighbors in offering to buy more American liquefied natural gas, a step which could be seen as capitulation – and thus devastating to Xi’s reputation – unless it is offset by some action by Trump.
On the table may also be purchases of agricultural goods, similar to the 2019 “Phase One” deal during Trump’s first term. At the time, Beijing said it would increase purchases of U.S. agricultural products by $32 billion over two years. While other matters like the U.S.’s axing of the “de minimis” exemption for packages under $800 from China and the sale of TikTok are also likely to play a part in the broader talks, Chinese officials said they do not expect them to play a central role this weekend.
Even before triggering the broader trade war, Trump imposed a 20% tariff on Chinese goods, saying Beijing wasn’t doing enough to counter the flow of chemicals used to produce the deadly drug fentanyl. One of the moves that complicated the rapprochement, according to two officials, was a letter sent by the U.S. to China in late April that outlined the steps Trump wanted Beijing to take on fentanyl.
The document, reviewed by Reuters, caused friction with Beijing because it referenced a congressional report that asserted China, through value-added tax rebates for exporters, directly subsidizes production of fentanyl precursors for sale abroad. China denies it does so, although following the WSJ report, it appears that it actually does so.
The letter, sent to the ministries of foreign affairs, commerce, and public security, called on Beijing to publicize the crackdown on fentanyl precursors on the front page of the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily; send a similar message through “internal party channels” to party members; tighten regulation of some specified chemicals; and deepen law-enforcement cooperation.
Two officials familiar with China’s reaction said it found especially the first two points “arrogant” because Beijing saw it as the U.S. dictating what China should do within its ruling apparatus.
Of course, we now know that fentanyl would feature prominently in the Geneva talks and that the U.S. government’s opening position would be to present the four points to China. A U.S. official familiar with the letter said the Trump administration simply wanted China to curb the flow of fentanyl precursors to drug cartels, in a move that would allow Xi to save some face.
Which is not to say that the US approach in the negotiations has been seamless. Complicating the negotiations, Trump’s Washington team has frozen out many U.S. embassy officials responsible for earlier contacts with Chinese counterparts, two people familiar with the matter said. Trump’s new ambassador to China, David Perdue, is slated to arrive in Beijing next week, but Deputy Chief of Mission Sarah Beran, who served as a senior official on China in the Biden administration’s National Security Council, was removed from her post this week, the two officials said.
The turmoil has resulted in lack of internal consultations on demands put forward by the American side, the officials said. An official familiar with Chinese thinking said there had been minimal contact with the U.S. embassy ahead of the Geneva talks.
In the end, however, both sides are about to sit down, and now that it is clear just how more powerful the economic hit to China has been – bizarrely receiving virtually no coverage by the anti-Trump American press which has been acting as if it works on behalf of Beijing for the past month – and how big the imbalance in political leverage between the US and China is, expect Trump to push for a quick, easy win and proceed from there with detailed negotiations that will likely take much of the next 2-3 years, and where every modest victory will be used to wash out any and all incremental market shorts, just as we saw during the first Trade War of 2018-2019.
USA DATA
USA ECONOMIC NEWS
“Devastating Attack”: Wall Street Dramatically Responds To Trump’s Proposed Tariffs On Foreign Films
Monday, May 05, 2025 – 10:35 AM
Update (1035ET):
Media stocks slumped in the early US cash session in New York after President Trump announced Sunday that he plans to slap 100% tariffs on films produced overseas.
Among the movers:
- Netflix -2.5%
- Warner Bros Discovery -2.7%
- Walt Disney -1%
- Paramount Global -2%
- Roku -2.25%
- FuboTV -3%
Here’s Wall Street’s response (courtesy of Bloomberg):
Barclays
- “There are literally no details available at this point other than a social media post from President Trump and therefore it is not clear how this will be implemented”
- However, “if this is deployed on a wide scale, it may end up harming the very industry it is supposed to help, especially given that the US exports 3x the amount of content that it imports”
- Media stocks like Netflix “had been seen as defensive due to lack of exposure to tariff-related threats”
Benchmark Co.
- This “would be devastating attack on the U.S. entertainment industry,” and the headlines “injects further noise into sentiment for essentially every entertainment stock”
- Trump has “a clear desire for vengeance against many participants” in the entertainment industry
Wedbush
- “Tariffs on foreign-produced content could cause pressure on shares across the media landscape in the near term,” but details are sparse and “ultimately, we think the theaters will be somewhat insulated, as major studios producing the bulk of major exhibitor-bound content can move production back to the US”
National Bank Financial
- The news was unanticipated, and “it’s not clear if this tariff would hit all movies produced abroad or just non-U.S. productions”; it also “remains to be seen if such a tariff would be immediately imposed on product coming to the multiplex in 2025 or yet to be made”
- The firm expects “a pushback from Hollywood and lawsuits”
Additional color from Rabobank: The Foreign Film Tax Reads Like A Tax On Wealthy Democrats.
* * *
Think Trump’s tariffs are only for products, think again. On Sunday evening, President Donald Trump announced that he plans to impose a 100% tariff on films produced overseas, extending his restrictive trade policies on US imports to the entertainment sector for the first time.
In a post on Truth Social, the American leader said he was directing the Commerce Department and his trade representative to “immediately begin the process of instituting” the levy on foreign movies. “WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!” Trump continued.
Films made by American studios are often shot in the United Kingdom and Canada, including this year’s highest-grossing film, “A Minecraft Movie.” Some of summer’s biggest productions including “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” and “Jurassic World Rebirth” were also made primarily or entirely outside the U.S.
As Bloomberg notes, it was not clear how such a tariff would work, nor how foreign movies would be valued for tariff collection purposes. Many films from Hollywood studios involve global production, including shooting locations in foreign countries and post-production work that can be done anywhere in the world.
As WSJ notes, Hollywood studio executives – were given no prior warning about the tariff plan and no information about how it might work – scrambled Sunday night to determine what the announcement would mean for their business.
If other countries imposed reciprocal tariffs, it could devastate Hollywood studios, since most big-budget event films earn the majority of their revenue overseas, and especially China.
“We’re on it,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick posted on X on Sunday.
It is unclear how such a tariff would work because movies aren’t physical goods that move through ports like most items subject to tariffs. The Trump administration would need to determine how to value a movie in order to apply the tariffs, as well as what the threshold would be to classify it as an import.
The action may be a retaliation for China’s decision last month to “moderately reduce” the number of Hollywood films allowed in the country, which in turn was retaliation for Trump’s aggressive tariffs. The China Film Administration said in April that the restrictions would “inevitably further reduce the domestic audience’s favorability toward American films”, an outcome which Trump – who has a very unfavorable view of Hollywood himself – seems to appreciate at the time.
While the US film industry is the most influential in the world, foreign films have seen a rise in popularity in recent years, drawing award-winning acclaim. The South-Korean thriller Parasite, for instance, won four Academy Awards, including the coveted Best Picture category in 2020. The film and TV industry supported some 2.3 million jobs in the US in 2023, according to the Motion Picture Association trade group. The association didn’t respond to a request for comment on Trump’s tariffs made outside of regular working hours.
London in particular has become a thriving hub for Hollywood productions, because of its tax incentives, extensive infrastructure including large soundstages, and English-speaking crews. Disney’s Marvel Studios is shooting a pair of upcoming Avengers sequels there.
Film and TV work in the US has contracted in recent years for a number of reasons. Media companies have cut back on spending in an attempt to boost their profits as they shifted from traditional TV to streaming services. Those streaming services are expanding globally and looking to produce more films for foreign markets.
Spending on film and TV production in the US fell 28% between 2021 and 2024, according to data from the research firm ProdPro, although a large part of that has to do with the backlash among normal Americans against Hollywood’s fake wokeness. Meanwhile, pther countries, such as Canada, Australia, and the UK, are seeing an increase in film and TV production, due in part to attractive tax incentives and lower production costs.
Movie and TV filming in the greater Los Angeles area declined 22% in the first quarter, reflecting California’s continued loss of business to other areas.
In January, Trump appointed actors Mel Gibson, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone to be special ambassadors to Hollywood with the goal of boosting US jobs. Voight is expected to introduce some ideas shortly, including incentives for businesses.
“These three very talented people will be my eyes and ears, and I will get done what they suggest,” he said.
It wasn’t immediately clear which companies would be hurt the most from Trump’s decision, however names such as Netflix will likely be closely scrutinized as a growing number of movies made by the world’s largest streaming service are now produced offshore to lower costs.
Netflix has been the best performing megatech names (a founding member of the now defunct FAANG acronym), although a sharp spike in production costs could results in a sizable drop in the stock.
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON
Victor Davis Hanson Shatters The Media’s Favorite Lie About Trump
Friday, May 09, 2025 – 12:40 PM
For years, the media have used fake polls to manipulate public opinion and crush Trump’s momentum.
But Victor Davis Hanson just revealed that the polls are not only wrong—he showed they were rigged, by design.
Polling is now just a weapon, used to suppress Trump’s base and supercharge Democrat fundraising.
And once you hear the evidence, you’ll never trust another mainstream poll again.
Lately, the media’s been pushing a familiar narrative: Trump is tanking in the polls.
But Victor Davis Hanson says that story doesn’t hold up—and once you see what’s behind the numbers, it starts to look a lot more like propaganda than polling.
So where did it all come from?
“We’ve touched on polls before,” Hanson said, “but I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite as egregious in pollsters’ bias as recently when they… purportedly surveyed the first 100 days of Donald Trump and the public reaction.”
Headlines immediately screamed: Worst first 100 days in history.
Trump’s approval supposedly dropped from 52 to 41 percent.
But as Hanson pointed out, none of that lined up with reality.
“The economic news was pretty good,” he explained.
Trump has been racking up the wins:
“Job growth was just spectacular—over 170,000 jobs. Inflation was down. Energy prices were down. Corporate profits were up. There was a movement on the trade question. Ukraine, still—there was no bad news except the controversy and chaos of a counterrevolution.”
So why were the polls painting such a grim picture?
Hanson believes the goal wasn’t to reflect public opinion—it was to steer it.
“What were the pollsters trying to tell us,” he asked, “or were they trying to manipulate us? I think it’s the latter.”
He pointed to analysis from Larry Kudlow, who found that top polls—like those from The New York Times and The Washington Post—deliberately underrepresented Trump voters.
“They were deliberately not counting people who surveyed that they were Trump voters in 2024,” Hanson said.
“That was half the country.”
Even worse:
“They were only polling about a third,”
“Think of that. A third of the people that said they voted for Trump, they polled—not half. So of course the results were going to be disputed or suspect.”
And this isn’t the first time.
Hanson reminded us that pollsters have repeatedly missed the mark—in 2016, 2020, and again in 2024.
“They said they had learned their lessons. And they were way off in 2024.”
It all comes down to artificial leads.
Hanson doesn’t chalk this up to sloppy methods or innocent mistakes. He believes it’s deliberate.
“Liberal pollsters—and that’s the majority—believe that if they create artificial leads for their Democratic candidates, it creates greater fundraising and momentum.”
It’s a psychological game.
“Kind of the herd mentality,”
“‘Oh. Trump is down by six. I don’t want to vote for him then. He won’t win.’ That’s the type of thing that they want to create.”
h
One poll in particular stood out as the worst offender.
Hanson explained:
“The most egregious of all these polls was the NPR, PBS, Marist poll,” Hanson said.
“They have Donald Trump just very unpopular after 100 days.”
He reminded viewers that this same poll—funded by the now-defunded Corporation for Public Broadcasting—was the one that came out the night before the 2024 election.
It claimed Kamala Harris would win by four points.
“They said it was beyond the margin of error.”
“And one of the pollsters said it’s her race to lose.”
“She lost by a point and a half,”
“They were five and a half points off. Did they apologize? No.”
Even worse, he said, the Harris campaign knew the public polling was wrong.
“David Plouffe… just recently came out and said, ‘We had all these inside polls we never disclosed, but not one of them—not one of them—had Harris ever ahead of Trump.’”
And that’s because internal polls don’t lie.
“Nothing will get you fired and lose income quicker than to lie about a poll so that your candidate will be happy and rely on your false information.”
“They knew the whole time——that 15 of those 20 polls, 19 polls that all had Harris winning the election, they were all false.”
And here’s where it all comes together.
According to Hanson, the only polls that got it right were the ones with nothing to prove—just data to report.
“Mark Penn was very accurate,” he said.
“He’s a Democratic pollster. But especially the Rasmussen poll, Insider Advantage, and the Trafalgar poll—they joined together and they had a 100-day survey.”
“Rasmussen, each day of the 100-day period—had Trump ahead by anywhere from two to three points. And they were the most accurate.”
Yet the media ignored those numbers and declared Trump’s presidency a disaster.
“No—he’s polling very well.”
“Because the pollsters that indicate that people support him are the only pollsters that have any reputation after this decade-long polling disaster.”
In the end, Hanson said, the story wasn’t about public opinion at all. It was about power.
“They were effectively in league with the Democratic candidate to create momentum,” he said, “rather than adhere to a spirit of professionalism and honor.”
X.com/DailySignal/status/1920222025349804432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1920296950559117677%7Ctwgr%5Ebe07c900e03d49955d9e
USA/ANTISEMITISM//HAMAS// REPORT
KING NEWS
| The King Report May 9, 2025 Issue 7489 | Independent View of the News |
| Trump on Thursday morning: “The agreement with the United Kingdom is a full and comprehensive one that will cement the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom for many years to come. Because of our long-time history and allegiance together, it is a great honor to have the United Kingdom as our FIRST announcement. Many other deals, which are in serious stages of negotiation, to follow!” https://x.com/charliekirk11/status/1920496307841478965/photo/1 https://x.com/trump_repost/status/1920494021342101568 @WesternLensman: Two nights ago (on CNN): “The UK and other countries are wheeling and dealing with each other to protect themselves from the US.” https://x.com/WesternLensman/status/1920466722231865764 ESMs opened moderately lower on Wednesday night but quickly rallied to a small gain by 20:02 ET. After a modest retrenchment, ESMs exploded higher on reports that the US & UK had made a trade deal. ESMs soared to 5684.50 at 21:19 ET. After a retreat to 5670.25 at 21:58 ET, a second rally leg took ESMs to 5700.50 near 1:00 ET. After a retrenchment to 5683.00 at 2:34 ET, the third rally leg took ESMs to the daily high of 5717.50 at 7:00 ET. EU to Target US Cars, Planes, Bourbon (€95B of goods) if Trump Won’t Do a Deal – BBG 8:00 ET In a 218-page document, the EU listed all the products it could target including US-made aircraft, cars, human hair, nuts and fruit, plastics, chemicals and electrical equipment. The list also included bourbon whiskey… https://www.yahoo.com/news/eu-threatens-target-us-cars-124511613.html Of course, DJT can always play the ultimate Trump Card on the EU: Pull the US out of NATO and force EU lords to pay for their own defense. The financial media, chagrined that a pact was struck, quickly panned the deal. ‘They’ said the deal is limited, with a 10% baseline tariff that will focus on specific sectors. Aggressive selling materialized; ESMs sank to 5659.00 at 10:09 ET. After ESMs surged to 5688.00 by 10:34 ET, Trump said the final details of the UK-US pact will be written up in coming weeks. ESMs tumbled to 5653.00 at 10:55 ET on fear that the deal was art, not fact. The decline halted when Trump said ‘the UK will fast track US goods through customs; things will move quickly both ways… The US-UK deal increases market access for US exports and increases access for US beef and ethanol, and will reduce non-tariff barriers… The UK will reduce non-tariff barriers… The UK is one our most cherished allies… UK agrees to $10B Boeing deal…’ UK Says US tariffs on Steel and Aluminum Reduced to Zero – BBG 11:14 ET ESMs jumped to 5681.25 at 11:14 ET. After Trump said, “You better go out and buy stocks now. Let me tell you. This country will be like a rocket ship that goes straight up” and we’re close to more trade deals,’ ESMs zoomed to 5708.00 at the 11:30 ET European close. After Trump urged investors to buy ‘stock’ now before the China talks, ESMs spiked to a daily high of 5733.59 at 11:46 ET. ESMs then formed a classical “Three Little Indians” top (3 modestly higher probes). Seasoned traders knew what to do. ESMs fell to 511.24 at 14:04 ET. After an A-B-C rally to 5731.25 at 15:26 ET, ESMs tumbled (another late fall) to 5683.00 at 15:57 ET. The late ESM/stock/bond tumble was due to: Trump Seeks Tax Hike on Wealthy Who Earn $2.5 Million or More (and repeal of PE and hedge fund loophole ‘carried interest’) – BBG Satellite images reveal alleged secret Iranian nuclear weapons facility https://www.foxnews.com/world/satellite-images-reveal-alleged-secret-iranian-nuclear-weapons-facility Positive aspects of previous session Trump and the UK tariff deal propelled stocks higher. Gold declined sharply. Negative aspects of previous session USMs were -1 5/32 at the NYSE close. ESMs had another late tumble. The odds of a strike against Iran are increasing. Ambiguous aspects of previous session What other tariff deals are looming? First Hour/Last Hour Action [S&P 500 Index]: 1st Hour from NYSE Open: Down; Last Hour: Down Pivot Point for S&P 500 Index [above/below indicates daily trend to traders]: 5673.14 Previous session S&P 500 Index High/Low: 5720.10; 5635.38 In 1996, Bill Clinton signed: Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act The Act was designed to improve border control by imposing criminal penalties for racketeering, alien smuggling and the use or creation of fraudulent immigration-related documents and increasing interior enforcement by agencies charged with monitoring visa applications and visa abusers. The Act also allows for the deportation of undocumented immigrants who commit a misdemeanor or a felony. The Act mandates that immigrants who are unlawfully present in the U.S. for 180 days but under 365 days must remain outside the United States for three years unless pardoned. If they remain in the United States for 365 days or more, they must stay outside the United States for ten years unless they obtain a waiver. However, if they return to the U.S. without the pardon, they must wait 10 years until they may apply for a waiver. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/illegal_immigration_reform_and_immigration_responsibility_act @EricLDaugh: The Senate has REJECTED advancing pro-crypto legislation that’s supported by Trump Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, 48-49. Pathetic. Bessent: “Senators who voted to stonewall U.S. ingenuity today face a simple choice: Either step up and lead or watch digital asset innovation move offshore.”… https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/1920553634775118283 Fed Balance Sheet: +$1.612B; Reserves: -$578m @SJosephBurns: Pros vs. Retail Investors: Individual investors have been net buyers of equities for 21 consecutive weeks, the longest streak on record, according to BofA. On the other hand, hedge funds have sold a record ~$1.5 billion. https://x.com/SJosephBurns/status/1920624584119722231 Today – Normally traders play for Friday rallies. The China-US trade talks this weekend present the markets with a ‘lady or tiger’ dilemma. If talks go well, stocks zoom; if talks fail, stocks tank. Ergo, prudent investors and traders will get down to sleeping levels by the NYSE close. This suggests that day traders will dictate action, and the usual intraday pattern should appear. ESMs are -8.50; NQMs are -22.50; and USMs are -3/32 at 20:10 ET. Beaucoup Fed speakers: Gov Barr 5:55 ET, Gov Kugler 6:45 ET, Richmond Pres Barking and NY Pres Williams 8:30 ET, Obama stooge and Chicago Pres Goolsbee, NY Pres Williams & Gov Waller 11:30 ET S&P Index 50-day MA: 5556; 100-day MA: 5780; 150-day MA: 5818; 200-day MA: 5748 DJIA 50-day MA: 41,100; 100-day MA: 42,384; 150-day MA: 42,698; 200-day MA: 42,232 (Green is positive slope; Red is negative slope) S&P 500 Index (5663.94 close) – BBG trading model Trender and MACD for key time frames Monthly: Trender is positive; MACD is negative – a close below 5447.29 triggers a buy signal Weekly: Trender and MACD are negative – a close above 5987.57 triggers a buy signal Daily: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 5465.85 triggers a sell signal Hourly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 5635/39 triggers a sell signal Chief Justice John Roberts believes he and the SCOTUS are supreme beings. Chief Justice Roberts says courts ‘check the excesses of Congress or the executive’: Reports – https://t.co/w3qDM8Ewnj (Who checks the excesses of the courts, John?) Harvard Law’s @Vermeullarmine: The idea that it is “the job [of the judiciary] to check the excesses” of Congress or the President is a dangerous half-truth. It’s just as much their “job” to affirm the legal authority of the other branches when the law, rightly understood, so requires. @mrddmia: Dear Chief Justice John Roberts: 1. When a federal judge illegally opens his courtroom on a Saturday, exposes an ongoing military operation, and endangers American and allied lives, that’s impeachable. 2. Impeachment is a political question for the political branches. Zip it. @BuckSexton: Yes, there’s white smoke from the Vatican, but how long before a Biden-appointed judge reverses the conclave’s decision? Bernie Sanders makes ‘no apologies’ for private jet travel on ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ tour “You run a campaign, and you do three or four or five rallies in a week. [It is] the only way you can get around to talk to 30,000 people. You think I’m gonna be sitting on a waiting line at United…while 30, 000 people are waiting?” Sanders said on “Special Report.” (Rules & laws are for the little people!) “That’s the only way to get around. No apologies for that. That’s what campaign travel is about. We’ve done it in the past. We’re gonna do it in future.”… (Liberal privilege/hypocrisy!) https://www.foxnews.com/media/bernie-sanders-makes-no-apologies-private-jet-travel-fight-oligarchy-tour Short version of Bernie’s hypocrisy: ‘Everyone except me must sacrifice; I’m too important.’ Biden enlists veteran Democratic operative to help defend his reputation The Trump administration, meanwhile, is eying the release of Biden’s interview with Robert Hur. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/08/biden-defend-reputation-operative-00334233 @charliespiering: Biden on The View says he is trying to find out where he fits in the current political conversation… says he still thinks he could have beat Donald Trump, recalling his vote totals from 2020. @ShadowofEzra: Joe Biden has officially denied experiencing any cognitive decline during his presidency, despite growing claims from Democratic insiders. He insists there’s no evidence behind the allegations and says his focus was on leading the nation through its first insurrection since the Civil War and a deadly pandemic. While defending himself, Biden appeared to lose his train of thought mid-sentence. Jill Biden quickly stepped in, clarifying that the people making such claims didn’t even work in the White House. https://x.com/ShadowofEzra/status/1920508040479990042 The Dunning-Kruger effect occurs when a person’s lack of knowledge and skill in a certain area causes them to overestimate their own competence... https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/dunning-kruger-effect US Catholics’ (including us) euphoria over the first US-born (Chicago) pope, dissipated quickly when his writings showed he is a leftist like his mentor, and he allegedly sheltered pedophilia-accused priests in Chicago southern suburbs and in Peru where he was sent in 2014. “If he saw and stayed silent—he’s not a good priest;” Activist says inaction over Providence H.S. sex abuse disqualifies Pope hopeful Prevost – Lopez de Casas says Prevost, a Dolton native who directly oversaw New Lenox Providence Catholic in leadership roles for the Midwest Augustinians from 1998 to 2014, covered up for McGrath, allowing him to prey on students for more than a decade before his ouster in 2017… “Cardinal Prevost endangered the safety of the children attending St. Thomas the Apostle”… In March, SNAP sent a letter to Vatican leadership detailing the conduct of Prevost in two separate incidents of priest sexual abuse… The letter details accusations of “inaction” during his time both as an Augustinian provincial in the U.S. and as Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru, where Prevost served from 2014 to 2023. The letter alleged that Prevost allowed known sex abusers to remain in ministry, and failed to investigate serious claims brought by victims, including three Peruvian minor girls who said their reports were ignored and mishandled… https://willcountygazette.com/stories/671124585-if-he-saw-and-stayed-silent-he-s-not-a?s=02 The US media has NOT yet commented on the above story that ran in a local newspaper. The horror for the Catholic Church is if more accusers come forward. Chicago Sun-Times: Pope Leo XIV’s religious order still mired in secrecy over child sex abuse Given Prevost’s oversight of the group for years, Kaczmarz (alleged victim) says of his elevation to pope, “I’m shaking I’m so upset, it’s clearly obvious that they didn’t [care] about that guy’s history.” A Chicago area priest who asked not to be named says of Prevost: “What really bothers me about this new pope is that no matter what his theological background, just like other priests and bishops, he housed predators near a school.”… https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2025/05/08/pope-leo-cardinal-robert-prevost-augustinians-chicago Pope Francis, a Jesuit, and liberation theologist, appointed 108 of 133 cardinals that voted for pope. Pope Francis elevated Prevost to cardinal in 2023 and made him head of bishop selection and management. Going from cardinal to pope in only two years is astounding! @Peoples_Pundit: People are happy because he’s American. But this is the Chicago native Cardinal who Francis trusted and dispatched to choose FAR leftist Bishops… @FT: The Chicago native was close to Pope Francis, who called him to the Vatican in 2023, and asked him to lead the curia’s influential department for the appointment of bishops. Analysts say the assignment probably helped Prevost become pope. New Pope Leo XIV spent years retweeting criticism of Trump policies https://t.co/B6PVzDE8mw @OliLondonTV: The last post on X by Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, was a retweet calling the deportation of illegal migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia an “illicit deportation of a U.S. resident.” The retweet also said: “do you now see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed?” https://t.co/1B3pYcTqV4 New Pope Leo XIV, Robert Prevost, retweeted a post praising VACCINES and encouraging people to get vaccinated. https://t.co/2BTleVxdS9 @charliespiering: As a Cardinal, Robert Provost shared on X two articles critical of JD Vance’s Catholic defense of immigration enforcement https://t.co/GJ28XNbFjw @JackPosobiec: The new Pope attacked JD Vance just a few months ago https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1920538696048103589?s=02 @Peoples_Pundit: I’m wondering why they (Vatican) are just now trying to scrub social media and search engines. Was this not planned better? @LifeNewsHQ: Cardinal Robert Prevost is who Pope Francis met with right before outspokenly pro-life Texas Bishop Joseph Strickland was removed from his duties. Strickland had called Joe Biden a “fake Catholic.” https://t.co/6ertwKWLGt Remember: “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar and unto God the things that are God?” @Timcast: Lol the pope is getting praised by woke atheists and criticized by Catholics Catholics Frantically Google New Pope to See if He’s Catholic https://t.co/w2IFPbQFoT @libsoftiktok: 6 Texas officials were indicted on VOTER FRAUD charges including a Democrat JUDGE, City Council members, and a school board member: Rochelle Lozano Camacho- Frio County Judge, Ramiro Trevino- Pearsall City Council member, Adriann Ramirez- Pearsall Independent School District board member, Carlos Segura- Former Frio County Elections Administrator, Racheal Garza- Pearsall City Council member, Rosa Rodriguez- campaign worker https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1920478753525727656 They’ve destroyed jobs and opportunity for black Chicagoans Taxes, as a result, have become increasingly punitive. Pile on top of that failing schools and crime, and that’s chased out people and businesses, driving down job creation and investment… At 12.3%, Chicago’s black unemployment rate was the highest among the nation’s 15 biggest cities… The median income for black households in Chicago is just $44,413 after adjusting for cost of living. That’s the third-lowest amount among big cities…. Chicago’s black poverty rate also leads among the nation’s 15 biggest cities. Over 26% of black Chicagoans are below the poverty line – nearly 200,000 people… Nearly 57% of black Chicagoans are enrolled in the food stamp program SNAP – the 3rd-highest percentage among America’s 15 big cities… The problem is that our current leaders wear as a badge of pride how many people they can get on Medicaid and food stamps… https://wirepoints.org/theyve-destroyed-jobs-and-opportunity-for-black-chicagoans-wirepoints/ With a handful of RINO senators opposed to Ed Martin as US Attorney for DC, Trump appointed Judge Jeanine Pirro to be interim USAG for DC. She can hold the position for 120 days. If RINO Senators oppose Trump’s new nominee, DJT can appoint another interim USAG, and the clock starts over. For a maximum troll, Trump should threaten that his next interim USAG for DC will be Ann Coulter. Trump: Ed Martin… will be moving to the Department of Justice as the new Director of the Weaponization Working Group, Associate Deputy Attorney General, and Pardon Attorney… Ed will make sure we finally investigate the Weaponization of our Government under the Biden Regime, and provide much needed Justice for its victims… Reuters: @idreesali114: U.S. Vice President Vance says Washington wants the situation between Pakistan and India to de-escalate but “we’re not going to get involved in the middle of a war that’s fundamentally none of our business.” | |
SWAMP STORIES
They are feeling the pinch!
Columbia University Lays Off Nearly 180 Staff After Federal Grant Revocations
by Tyler Durden
Thursday, May 08, 2025 – 08:30 PM
Authored by Rudy Blalock via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Columbia University announced on Tuesday that it will lay off nearly 180 staff members after the Trump administration revoked more than $400 million in federal research funding, Columbia’s Office of the President said in a May 6 statement.
The layoffs, which represent about 20 percent of university employees who were funded by the now-terminated federal grants, come as Columbia grapples with the fallout from the U.S. Department of Education’s decision to cancel hundreds of millions in grants and contracts.
The department cited the university’s alleged failure to adequately address persistent anti-Semitism on campus as the reason for the funding withdrawal.
In a message to the Columbia community, acting President Claire Shipman, Provost Angela V. Olinto, Executive Vice President for Finance Anne Sullivan, and Executive Vice President for Research Jeannette Wing described the decision as “deeply challenging” and said it was made after a thorough review of the university’s research activity and financial outlook.
“Across the research portfolio, we have had to make difficult choices and unfortunately, today, nearly 180 of our colleagues who have been working, in whole or in part, on impacted federal grants, will receive notices of non-renewal or termination,” the statement read.
The university said it has been engaged in a two-pronged effort in response to the funding crisis. First, it is working to restore partnerships with federal agencies that support critical research. Second, it has asked deans and principal investigators to prioritize research activities and develop plans for managing projects affected by the loss of federal support.
During the review period, Columbia continued to pay salaries and stipends for those whose compensation had been covered by the terminated grants, according to the press release.
Columbia’s leadership said they are continuing discussions with federal officials in hopes of resuming activity on the canceled research awards and other projects that remain active but unpaid.
They said the financial strain is “intense,” and the university has been forced to reduce expenditures and scale back research infrastructure in some areas. Some departments are winding down activity but are prepared to reestablish capabilities if funding is restored, according to the university.
The funding revocation follows President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14188, signed on Jan. 29, which directs federal agencies to use all available legal tools to prosecute and hold accountable those accused of anti-Semitic harassment and violence on college campuses.
The Department of Education launched investigations into several universities, including Columbia, where “widespread antisemitic harassment has been reported.”
“Universities must comply with all federal anti-discrimination laws if they are going to receive federal funding. For too long, Columbia has abandoned that obligation to Jewish students studying on its campus,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement.
The Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, which includes the departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, Education, and the General Services Administration, has been reviewing Columbia’s compliance with federal regulations, particularly under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in federally funded programs.
In response to the crisis, Columbia has established a Research Stabilization Fund to help mitigate future funding risks and support its scientific community. The fund will provide internal grants to scientists seeking alternate sources of funding or completing research for publication. The university will also contribute funds to support graduate students and postdoctoral fellows affected by the loss of federal training grants, according to the press release.
“We are grateful for the exceptional leadership and professionalism of our deans, chairs, and senior management who have come together to navigate this critical moment with care and integrity, while upholding and advancing Columbia’s mission, values, and the unique qualities that make this a vital, extraordinary place,” the statement said.
The university warned that further actions may be necessary in the coming months to preserve financial flexibility and invest in key areas.
From NTD News
end
GREG HUNTER
SEE YOU ON MONDAY
harveyorganblog.com 
