DEC 18/GOLD CLOSED DOWN $9.05 TO $4341.25 WHILE SILVER ALSO FELL BY $1.13 DOWN TO $65.26/PLATINUM WAS UP $25.35 TO $1921.95 AT A 15 YR HIGH// PALLADIUM CONTINUES ON A TEAR RISING $60.95 TO $1700.85 A TWO YEAR HIGH////GOLD COMMENTARY TONIGHT COURTESY OF ALASDAIR MACLEOD//COMMODITY COMMENTARY TONIGHT ON SILVER AND COPPER//IN DEPTH LOOK AT SPAIN AND HOW THE MIGRANTS DECIMATED THEIR ECONOMY//ISRAEL VS HAMAS UPDATES/ISRAEL TBN// MORE FALLOUT FROM THE BONDI/AUSTRALIA MASSACRE//COVID INJURY REPORT: MARK CRISPIN MILLER/DR PAUL ALEXANDER//VENEZUELA UPDATES/USA DATA RELEASES; JOBLESS CLAIMS AND THE CPI WHICH CAME IN QUITE TAME//SWAMP STORIES FOR YOU TONIGHT//
099 H DEUTSCHE BANK AG 1 118 C MACQUARIE FUTURES US 80 118 H MACQUARIE FUTURES US 116 132 C SG AMERICAS 7 332 H STANDARD CHARTERED B 31 435 H SCOTIA CAPITAL (USA) 18 657 C MORGAN STANLEY 50 46 657 H MORGAN STANLEY 533 661 C JP MORGAN SECURITIES 87 1107 709 C BARCLAYS 580 880 C CITIGROUP 70 880 H CITIGROUP 1000 905 C ADM 72
TOTAL: 1,899 1,899 MONTH TO DATE: 33,655
JPMORGAN STOPPED 590/1899
DECEMBER
GOLD: NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR DEC/2025: 1899 CONTRACTs NOTICES FOR 189,900 OZ or 5.9066 TONNES
total notices so far: 33,655 contracts for 3,365,500 OR 104.682 tonnes)
FOR DEC
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SILVER NOTICES:254 NOTICE(S) FILED FOR 1.220 MILLION OZ/
total number of notices filed so far this month : 12,374 CONTRACTS (NOTICES) for 61.870 million oz
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END
GLD/
BOTH GLD AND SLV ARE FRAUDULENT VEHICLES//THEY ARE NOW RAIDING GLD AND SLV FOR PHYSICAL
THE CROOKS ARE STEALING GOLD AND SILVER FROM THE GLD/SLV AND REPLACING THE PHYSICAL WITH PAPER DOLLARS.
WITH GOLD DOWN $9.05 INVESTORS SWITCHING TO SPROTT PHYSICAL (PHYS) INSTEAD OF THE FRAUDULENT GLD
HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF .850 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD//
INVENTORY RESTS AT 1052.54 TONNES
SLV/
WITH NO SILVER AROUND AND SILVER DOWN $1.13 AT THE SLV:
NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV:/ //
OUT OF THE SLV//
CLOSING INVENTORY RESTS AT:
CLOSING INVENTORY: 515.000. MILLION OZ
Let us have a look at the data for today
SILVER//OUTLINE
SILVER COMEX OI ROSE BY A HUMONGOUS SIZED 1567 CONTRACTS TO 154,478 AND CONTINUING ON ITS MARCH TO THE RECORD HIGH OI OF 244,710, SET FEB 25/2020, AND THIS HUGE SIZED GAIN IN COMEX OI WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR MAMMOTH $2.93 GAIN IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX WITH RESPECT TO WEDNESDAY’S // TRADING. I BELIEVE THAT THIS GAIN OF $2.93 IS THE HIGHEST GAIN IN COMEX HISTORY. THE LONG SPECULATORS ARE STILL QUITE RELENTLESS AS THEY POUR INTO THE OPEN INTEREST AT THE COMEX AS YOU WILL WITNESS WITH TODAY’S TRADING. THE FRBNY CONTINUES TO SUPPLY THE NECESSARY PAPER AS THEY TRY TO DRIVE THE PRICE SOUTHBOUND WITH THE HELP OF HIGH FREQUENCY TRADERS AND T.A.S. SPREADERS BUT WITH A NO SUCCESS ON WEDNESDAY. THEN EARLY MONDAY MORNING WE RECEIVED NOTICE OF OUR FIRST HUGE 170 CONTRACT EXCHANGE FOR RISK AND THEN TO TOP OFF YESTERDAY’S DATA WE RECEIVED NOTICE OF A SECOND EXCHANGE FOR RISK OF 97 CONTRACTS FOR .485 MILLION OZ AND NOW I HAVE A LITTLE DOUBT OF THE RECIPIENT OF THIS ISSUANCE. THE CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA IS THE LOGICAL CHOICE BUT COULD IT BE THE CENTRAL BANK OF CHINA? THE TOTAL IN OZ FOR THIS EXCHANGE FOR RISK ON TWO OCCASIONS IS 1.335 MILLION OZ AND THIS WILL BE ADDED TO OUR NORMAL DELIVERY SCHEDULE TO GIVE US THE EXACT AMOUNT OF SILVER STANDING FOR DECEMBER.
WE HAVE REVERTED BACK TO NORMAL WITH THE SPECS NOW GOING ON THE LONG SIDE AND THE BANKER (FRBNY) ON THE SHORT SIDE AND PROVIDING THE NECESSARY SHORT PAPER. IT IS OUR SILVER SPECULATORS THAT WERE PILING INTO THE SILVER COMEX. WE FINALLY ARE MOVING TO A MUCH HIGHER BASE SURPASSING THE $34.40 SILVER PRICE BARRIER TO A HIGH DEGREE, AND NOW SURPASSING SURPASS OUR LAST MAJOR HURDLE OF $50.00 SILVER AGAIN. WE HAD A HUMONGOUS SIZED GAIN OF 1647 TOTAL CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES AS THE CME NOTIFIED US OF A SMALL SIZED 110 CONTRACT EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE.. WE HAD ZERO LIQUIDATION OF T.A.S. CONTRACTS IN COMEX TRADING WITH RESPECT TO WEDNESDAY TRADING WITH OUR HUGE GAIN IN PRICE /// THEY DESPERATELY AGAIN TODAY 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 $50.00 AND TO QUELL ADDITIONAL DERIVATIVE LOSSES TO OUR BANKERS’ MASSIVE TOTALS). THEY FAILED ON WEDNESDAY WITH SILVER’S GAIN IN PRICE AS THE SPECS PILED INTO THE SILVER ARENA. . THE PRICE FINISHED HUGELY ABOVE THE MAGIC NUMBER OF $50.00 SILVER SPOT PRICE CLOSING AT $66.39 UP $2.93 . WE ARE NOW WITNESSING HAVING MANY HUGE T.A.S ISSUANCES // TODAY’S WAS AT A STRONG SIZED 1603 T.A.S. CONTRACTS (BUT STILL DOWN FROM THE MEGA MEGA HUGE SIZED 5,000 PLUS CONTRACT ISSUANCE DURING NOVEMBER)!!. THE CROOKS ARE BECOMING MORE DESPERATE TO STOP SILVER BREAKING AGAIN THE 50.00 DOLLAR MARK!!. THERE IS NO NEXT LINE IN THE SAND ONCE THE 50.00 DOLLAR SILVER IS PIERCED AGAIN. WE HAD A SMALL SIZED 110 CONTRACT EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE ACCOMPANIED BY OUR HUMONGOUS SIZED 1603 CONTRACT T.A.S ISSUANCE WHICH WILL BE USED IN FUTURE TRADING//RAID AS THEY PLAY AN INTEGRAL PART IN OUR COMEX TRADING TRYING TO CONTAIN ANY SILVER PRICE RISE. IN ESSENCE WE HAD A HUMONGOUS SIZED GAIN OF 1647 CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES WITH OUR HUGE GAIN IN PRICE OF $2.93. WE HAD HUGE GOVERNMENT (FRBY) COMEX CONTRACTS TRADING ALL WEEK AND A MAJOR PORTION AND NO DOUBT REMOVED BY DAYS END. (I RECORD THIS FOR YOU ON A DAILY BASIS). THE SPECULATOR LONGS REMAIN STOIC EVEN ON PRICE FALLS. EASTERN CENTRAL BANKER WENT TO THE LONG SIDE. THEY WILL TENDER FOR THE BADLY NEEDED PHYSICAL SILVER. THUS ON A NET BASIS WE LOST NO SPECULATORS
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 WEDNESDAY NIGHT//THURSDAY MORNING: A HUMONGOUS SIZED 1603 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 FRBNY 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 NOW ORDERED THE BANKS TO REDUCE ITS NEW LEVEL OF 1.1 TRILLION DOLLARS IN GOLD/SILVER DERIVATIVES.
THUS:
INITIAL STANDING FOR DEC: 49.33 MILLION OZ FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 795,000 OZ QUEUE JUMP _ PLUS ..850 MILLION OZ EXCHANGE FOR RISK MONDAY AND TUESDAY’S .485 MILLION OZ/ (TOTAL EX. FOR RISK = 1.335 MILLION OZ)///STANDING ADVANCES TO 63.790 MILLION OZ//
WE HAD:
/ HUMONGOUS SIZED COMEX OI GAIN+// A SMALL 110 EFP ISSUANCE CONTRACTS (/ VI) A HUMONGOUS NUMBER OF T.A.S. CONTRACT ISSUANCE 1603 CONTRACTS)/VII: DECEMBER ISSUED ITS FIRST EXCHANGE FOR RISK OF 0.850 MILLION OZ MONDAY AND TUESDAY ANOTHER ONE WAS ISSUED FOR 97 CONTRACTS OR .485 MILLION OZ!! TOTAL EXCHANGE FOR RISK DEC: 1.335 MILLION OZ
I AM NOW RECORDING THE DIFFERENTIAL IN OI FROM PRELIMINARY TO FINAL: REMOVED 835 CONTRACTS!!!!! T
HISTORICAL ACCUMULATION OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS DEC.. ACCUMULATION FOR EFP’S SILVER/JPMORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES/STARTING FROM FIRST DAY/MONTH OF DEC.
TOTAL CONTRACTS for 15 DAY(S), total 6414 contracts: OR 32.070 MILLION OZ (427 CONTRACTS PER DAY)
TOTAL EFP’S FOR THE MONTH SO FAR: 32.070 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: 28.975 MILLION OZ (ISSUANCE WILL BE QUITE SMALL THIS MONTH)
JUNE: 81.065 MILLION OZ
JULY: 50.925 MILLION OZ (QUITE SMALL)
AUGUST: 59.455 MILLION OZ (QUITE SMALL)
SEPT. 50.510 MILLION OZ.(QUITE SMALL)
OCT; 82.020 MILLION OZ (WILL BE STRONG THIS MONTH)/ OCC WANTS TO REIN IN THESE ISSUANCES!
NOVEMBER: 36.425 MILLION OZ
DEC: 32.070 MILLION OZ
RESULT: WE HAD A HUMONGOUS SIZED INCREASE IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX CONTRACTS OF 1567 CONTRACTS WITH OUR HUGE GAIN IN PRICE OF $2.93 IN SILVER PRICING AT THE COMEX// WEDNESDAY.,. . THE CME NOTIFIED US THAT WE HAD A SMALL SIZED CONTRACT EFP ISSUANCE : 110 ISSUED FOR MARCH, AND 0 CONTRACTS ISSUED FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS) WHICH EXITED OUT OF THE SILVER COMEX TO LONDON AS FORWARDS.
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LAST 9 MONTHS OF SILVER DELIVERIES:
WE FINISHED APRIL WITH A STRONG SILVER OZ STANDING OF 16.050 MILLION OZ NORMAL DELIVERY , PLUS OUR 4.00 MILLION EX FOR RISK
FINAL STANDING APRIL: 19.965 MILLION OZ
AND MAY:
NEW STANDING FOR MAY FINISHES AT: 75.615 MILLION OZ. (INCLUDES 5,000 OZ EFP TRANSFER TO LONDON + 12.93 MILLION OZ EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE/PRIOR.//NEW TOTAL STANDING 88.540 MILLION OZ
AND JUNE: FINAL 16.995 MILLION OZ
AND JULY: 46.720 MILLION OZ//
AUGUST: 4.70 MILLION OZ INITIAL STANDING PLUS TODAY;S 5,000 OZ QUEUE JUMP //NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 10.960 MILLION OZ
SEPTEMBER: 68.040 MILLION OZ NORMAL DELIVERY(INCLUDES ALL QUEUE JUMPING AND EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL TRANSFERS) PLUS 3.0 MILLION OZ EX FOR RISK = 71.040 MILLION OZ. (THIS IS THE FIRST AND ONLY ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK FOR SILVER SINCE MAY.)
OCTOBER: 39.565 MILLION OZ OF NORMAL DELIVERY INCLUDES ALL QUEUE JUMPING
PLUS
2.110 MILLION OZ EXCHANGE FOR RISK//TOTAL OZ STANDING IN OCT ADVANCES TO 41.675 MILLION OZ
NOVEMBER: INITIAL STANDING AT 11.575 MILLION OZ FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 195,000 OZ QUEUE JUMP WHICH FOLLOWS ALL OTHER QUEUE JUMPS OF 9.155 MILLION OZ//STANDING ADVANCES TO 19.670 MILLION OZ/
DECEMBER: INITIAL AMOUNT STANDING FOR DELIVERY: 49.33 MILLION OZ// FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER HUGE 795,000 OZ QUEUE JUMP+ DEC. FIRST EXCHANGE FOR RISK 0F .850 MILLION OZ + YESTERDAY’S 495,000 OZ EXCHANGE FOR RISK // STANDING ADVANCES TO 63.790 MILLION OZ//
THE NEW TAS ISSUANCE TUESDAY NIGHT (1603) WILL BE PUT INTO “THE BANK” TO BE COLLUSIVELY USED NO DOUBT WITH FUTURE TRADING!!
WE HAD 254 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR 1.220 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. THE SILVER COMEX IS NOW ON A MASSIVE SIEGE LOOKING FOR PHYSICAL SILVER!!
GOLD//OUTLINE
IN GOLD, THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY A STRONG SIZED 7095 OI CONTRACTS UP TO 478,188 OI AND CLOSER 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 STILL A RELATIVELY LOWISH 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 HUGE AND CRIMINAL 1356 CONTRACTS // MEGA HUGE GOVERNMENT REMOVALS//
WE HAD A STRONG GAIN IN COMEX OI (7095 CONTRACTS) . THIS OCCURRED DESPITE OUR GAIN OF $39.45 IN PRICE// WEDNESDAY///.
LAST 8 MONTHS OF GOLD DELIVERIES: (MAY THROUGH TO NOVEMBER/DECEMBER)
MAY: SUMMARY FOR MAY TONNES WHICH STOOD FOR DELIVERY:
FINAL STANDING FOR MAY: 70.174 TONNES OF GOLD TO WHICH WE ADD 1. MONDAY’S (MAY 19) 6.221 TONNES EXCHANGE FOR RISK , 2. THEN WE ADD: 1.35 TONNES TO LAST WEEK”S. THEN WE ADD 3. 1.55 TONNES TO EQUAL 9.591 TONNES// NEW EXCHANGE FOR RISK = 9.591 TONNES WHICH MUST BE ADDED TO OUR NORMAL DELIVERY SCHEDULE OF 80.644 TONNES. THUS STANDING FOR MAY INCREASES TO 90.235 TONNES OF GOLD
2 JUNE CONTRACT MONTH: 93.085 TONNES OF GOLD (WHICH INCLUDES ALL QUEUE JUMPING AND 0 EX FOR RISK)
3.JULY INITIIAL STANDING FIRST DAY NOTICE: 17.847 TONNES. PLUS TODAY’S 0 TONNES QUEUE JUMP + 1.555 TONNES EX FOR RISK + 2.195 TONNES EX FOR RISK TODAY = 41.106 TONNES STANDING
4. AUGUST: 60.547 TONNES OF INITIAL GOLD FIRST DAY NOTICE FOLLOWED BY THE NET MONTH’S QUEUE JUMP OF 47.2312 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD THE FOLLOWING EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE RECEIVED FOR THE MONTH: 5.4432 TONNES EX FOR RISK/AUG 7 , AUG 11: 2.413 TONNES EX FOR RISK AND AUG. 12 OF 2.637 TONNES EX FOR RISK//AUG 25: 9.107 TONNES , AUGUST 26: 9.1010 TONNES AND NOW AUGUST 27: 9.0699 TONNES//NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 107.5117 TONNES OF GOLD NORMAL STANDING (INCLUDES ALL MONTHLY QUEUE JUMPS/EX FOR PHYSICAL TRANSFERS//) +44.696 TONNES EX.FOR RISK = 152.208 TONNES
5.SEPT: INITIAL 8.093 TONNES OF GOLD PLUS TODAY’S QUEUE JUMP OF 0.4883 TONNES PLUS 2.2827 TONNES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK TODAY//NEW TOTAL EX. FOR RISK/MONTH = 22.923//NEW TOTAL STANDING FOR GOLD SEPT ADVANCES TO = 48.801 TONNES!!
6.OCTOBER: 90.012 TONNES OF INITIAL GOLD STANDING WITH TODAY’S TINY 0.00311 TONNES QUEUE JUMP WHICH FOLLOWS ALL OTHER QUEUE JUMPS DURING OCT OF 76.1656 TONNES
THEN WE MUST ADD OUR 14.553 TONNES OF OUR ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK/6 OCCASIONS//NEW TOTAL OF GOLD STANDING ADVANCES TO 197.5141 TONNES OF GOLD.
7.NOVEMBER BEGINS WITH 15.651 TONNES INITIALLY STANDING FOR DELIVERY FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S QUEUE JUMP OF 2.323 TONNES FOLLOWED BY ALL PREVIOUS QUEUE JUMPS IN OF OF 21.3775 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR TWO EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE OF 4.5596 TONNES//NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 43.9716 TONNES OF GOLD.
8. DECEMBER BEGINS WITH INITIAL STANDING OF 83.813 TONNES OF GOLD FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 6.3608 TONNE QUEUE JUMP WHICH FOLLOWS ALL OTHER QUEUE JUMPS OF: 23.322 TONNES//NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 107.073 TONNES/
E.F.P. ISSUANCE/FOR OPENING DECEMBER GOLD CONTRACT
THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED A HUGE SIZED 4592 CONTRACTS:
The NEW COMEX OI FOR THE GOLD COMPLEX RESTS AT 478,188 AND WE NOW WITNESSING A NOW BIGGER COMEX OI BUT WITH AN EXTREMELY HIGH PRICE OF GOLD.//NOW EASIER TO FLEECE SPECS.
SILVER ALSO HAS A SMALL SIZED COMEX OI OF 154,313 CONTRACTS//BUT STILL DIFFICULT TO FLEECE SPEC LONGS. AND YET THIS SMALLISH OI IN COMEX IS ACCOMPANIED BY A HUGE GAIN IN PRICE IN SILVER!!
IN ESSENCE WE HAVE A STRONG SIZED GAIN IN TOTAL CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 11,687 CONTRACTS WITH 8451 CONTRACTS INCREASED AT THE COMEX// AND A STRONG SIZED 4592 EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL OI CONTRACT ISSUANCE WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON. THUS TOTAL OI GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES OF 11,687 CONTRACTS.. WE HAD THE FOLLOWING TAS CONTRACTS INITIATED (ISSUED): A FAIR SIZED AND CRIMINAL 1392 CONTRACTS AND THESE ISSUANCES ARE GENERALLY USED TO INITIATE A RAID WHEN CALLED UPON.
GOLD PRICE ON TUESDAY ROSE BY $39.45
CALCULATIONS ON GAIN/LOSS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES
WE HAD A STRONG SIZED ISSUANCE IN EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICALS CONTRACT(4592) ACCOMPANYING THE STRONG GAIN IN COMEX OI OF 7095 CONTRACTS/TOTAL GAIN FOR OUR THE TWO EXCHANGES: 11,687 CONTRACTS..WE HAVE 1) NOW RETURNED TO OUR NORMAL FORMAT OF BANKER (FRBNY) GOING ON THE SHORT SIDE AND NEWBIE SPECULATORS GOING TO THE LONG SIDE AND POURING IT ON WITH RECKLASS ABANDON!! . ,2.) STRONG INITIAL STANDING FOR GOLD FOR DEC AT 83.813 TONNES OF NORMAL DELIVERY FOLLOWED BY OUR 6.3608 TONNES OF QUEUE JUMP WHICH FOLLOWS ALL OTHER QUEUE JUMPING OF 23.325 TONNES//NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 107.073 TONNES
NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 107.073 TONNES.
NEW STANDING FOR GOLD, DEC CONTRACT AT 107.073 TONNES OF GOLD
3) ZERO T.A.S. LIQUIDATION (BUT CONSIDERABLE GOVT LIQUIDATION // AND SMALL GAIN OF EQUITY SHARES/DEC 17) AS WE HAD 1)A $39.45 COMEX PRICE GAIN AND WE HAD 2) NEWBIE SPEC SHORTS GETTING LIQUIFIED AND ON A NET BASIS, THE SPECS GAINED HUGELY IN NUMBERS + EASTERN CENTRAL BANKERS WERE PILING INTO THE LONG SIDE AS WE HAD A HUGE SIZED GAIN OF 13,043 CONTRACTS ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES AND AS WELL A HUGE AMOUNT OF GOLD WILL STAND FOR DELIVERY IN DECEMBER (107.073 TONNES). //, CENTRAL BANKERS TENDERED FOR PHYSICAL WITH THEIR PURCHASES OF CONTRACTS../ ALSO, 3)STICKY GOLD’S LONGS WERE REWARDED WEDNESDAY EVENING AS THEY EXERCISED EFP’S FROM LONDON TO TAKE DELIVERY OF BADLY NEEDED PHYSICAL WITH THE RISE IN PRICE YESTERDAY
4) STRONG SIZED COMEX OI GAIN/ 5) V) HUGE SIZED ISSUANCE OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL GOLD (4300) AND A FAIR T.A.S. ISSUANCE 1392 FOR RAID PURPOSES
ACCUMULATION OF EFP’S GOLD AT J.P. MORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES: (EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL) FOR THE MONTH OF DEC :
TOTAL EFP CONTRACTS ISSUED: 42,542 CONTRACTS OR 4,254,200 OZ OR 132.32 TONNES IN 15 TRADING DAY(S) AND THUS AVERAGING: 2836 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY
TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS : THIS MONTH IN15 TRADING DAY(S) IN TONNES: 132.32 TONNES
TOTAL ANNUAL GOLD PRODUCTION, 2024, THROUGHOUT THE WORLD EX CHINA EX RUSSIA: 3555 TONNES
THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 132.32 TONNES DIVIDED BY 3550 x 100% TONNES = 3.74% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL PRODUCTION
SEPT 142.12 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE ( LOW ISSUANCE)_
OCT: 141.13 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE (LOW ISSUANCE)
NOV: 312.46 TONNES FINAL ISSUANCE//NEW RECORD!! (INCREASING DRAMATICALLY)//SIGN OF REAL STRESS//SURPASSING THE MARCH 2021 RECORD OF 276.50 TONNES OF EFP
DEC. 175.62 TONNES//FINAL ISSUANCE//
TOTALS: 2,578.08 TONNES/2021
JAN:2022 247.25 TONNES //FINAL
FEB: 196.04 TONNES//FINAL
MARCH/2022: 409.30 TONNES //FINAL( THIS IS NOW A RECORD EFP ISSUANCE FOR MARCH AND FOR ANY MONTH.
APRIL: 169.55 TONNES (FINAL VERY LOW ISSUANCE MONTH)
MAY: 247.44 TONNES FINAL//
JUNE: 238.13 TONNES FINAL
JULY: 378.43 TONNES FINAL/SECOND HIGHEST ON RECORD
AUGUST: 180.81 TONNES FINAL
SEPT. 193.16 TONNES FINAL
OCT: 177.57 TONNES FINAL ( MUCH SMALLER THAN LAST MONTH)
NOV. 223.98 TONNES//FINAL ( MUCH LARGER THAN PREVIOUS MONTHS//comex running out of physical)
DEC: 185.59 tonnes // FINAL
TOTAL: 2,847,25 TONNES/2022
JAN 2023: 228.49 TONNES FINAL//HUGE AMOUNT OF EFP’S ISSUED THIS MONTH!!
FEB: 151.61 TONNES/FINAL
MARCH: 280.09 TONNES/INITIAL (ANOTHER STRONG MONTH FOR EFP ISSUANCE)
APRIL: 197.42 TONNES
MAY: 236.67 TONNES (A VERY STRONG ISSUANCE FOR THIS MONTH)
JUNE: 172.667 TONNES (WEAKER ISSUANCE THIS MONTH)
JULY: 151.69 TONNES (WEAKER THAN LAST MONTH)
AUGUST: 195.28 TONNES (A STRONGER MONTH)//FINAL
SEPT: 254.709 TONNES (WILL BE LARGER THAN LAST MONTH AND A STRONG MONTH)
OCT. 248.09 TONNES. LIKE SILVER, THIS MONTH IS GOING TO BE A STRONG E.F.P. ISSUANCE.
NOV. 239.16 TONNES//WILL BE STRONG THIS MONTH,
DEC. 213.704 TONNES. A STRONG MONTH//
TOTAL FOR YEAR 2023: 2,569.57 TONNES VS 2578 TONNES LAST YEAR
2024 AND 2025:
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. STRONG THIS MONTH
MAY: 113.499 TONNES OF GOLD EFP ISSUANCE//QUITE SMALL THIS MONTH
JUNE: 97.79 TONNES OF GOLD EFP ISSUANCE/EXTREMELY SMALL
JULY : 150.877 TONNES// QUITE SMALL
AUGUST: 175.86 TONNES A LOT LARGER THIS MONTH.
SEPT. 116.13 TONNES VERY SMALL
OCT. 252.72 TONNES//CERTAINLY MUCH LARGER THIS MONTH/VERY STRONG
NOV: 124.74 TONNES
DEC: 132.32 TONNES//VERY SMALL THIS MONTH.
SPREADING OPERATION
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 OCT. WE ARE NOW INTO THE SPREADING OPERATION OF GOLD
HERE IS A BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF HOW THE CROOKS FLEECE UNSUSPECTING LONGS IN THE SPREADING ENDEAVOUR ;MODUS OPERANDI OF THE CORRUPT BANKERS AS TO HOW THEY HANDLE THEIR SPREAD OPEN INTERESTS:HERE IS HOW THE CROOKS USED SPREADING AS WE ARE NOW INTO THE NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF NOV HEADING TOWARDS THE ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF FEB., FOR GOLD: AND MARCH FOR SILVER
YOU WILL ALSO NOTICE THAT THE COMEX OPEN INTEREST STARTS TO RISE BUT SO IS THE OPEN INTEREST OF SPREADERS. THE OPEN INTEREST IN WILL CONTINUE TO RISE UNTIL ONE WEEK BEFORE FIRST DAY NOTICE OF AN UPCOMING ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH (OCT), AND THAT IS WHEN THE CROOKS SELL THEIR SPREAD POSITIONS BUT NOT AT THE SAME TIME OF THE DAY. THEY WILL USE THE SELL SIDE OF THE EQUATION TO CREATE THE CASCADE (ALONG WITH THEIR COLLUSIVE FRIENDS) AND THEN COVER ON THE BUY SIDE OF THE SPREAD SITUATION AT THE END OF THE DAY. THEY DO THIS TO AVOID POSITION LIMIT DETECTION. THE LIQUIDATION OF THE SPREADING FORMATION CONTINUES FOR EXACTLY ONE WEEK AND ENDS ON FIRST DAY NOTICE.”
WHAT IS ALARMING TO ME, ACCORDING TO OUR LONDON EXPERT ANDREW MAGUIRE IS THAT THESE EFP’S ARE BEING TRANSFERRED TO WHAT ARE CALLED SERIAL FORWARD CONTRACT OBLIGATIONS AND THESE CONTRACTS ARE LESS THAN 14 DAYS. ANYTHING GREATER THAN 14 DAYS, THESE MUST BE RECORDED AND SENT TO THE COMPTROLLER, GREAT BRITAIN TO MONITOR RISK TO THE BANKING SYSTEM. IF THIS IS INDEED TRUE, THEN THIS IS A MASSIVE CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD AS WE NOW WITNESS A MONSTROUS TOTAL EFP’S ISSUANCE AS IT HEADS INTO THE STRATOSPHERE.
The crooks also use the spread in the TAS account (trade at settlement). They buy the spot TAS (e.g. June) and sell the future TAS two months out (e.g. August). Then they unload the front month (i.e. unload the buy side first so the price of gold/silver falls. This occurs in the middle of the front delivery month cycle. They unload the sell side of the equation, two months down the road. The crooks violate position limits as the OCC refuse to hear our complaints.
First, here is an outline of what will be discussed tonight:
1.TODAY WE HAD THE OPEN INTEREST AT THE COMEX IN SILVER ROSE BY A HUMONGOUS SIZED 1557 CONTRACTS OI TO 154,478 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 110 CONTRACTS
OUR CUSTOMARY MIGRATION OF COMEX LONGS CONTINUE TO MORPH INTO LONDON FORWARDS AS OUR BANKERS USED THEIR EMERGENCY PROCEDURE TO ISSUE:
MAR 110 CONTRACTS and 0 ALL OTHER MONTHS: ZERO. TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 0 CONTRACTS. EFP’S GIVE OUR COMEX LONGS A FIAT BONUS PLUS A DELIVERABLE PRODUCT OVER IN LONDON. IF WE TAKE THE COMEX OI GAIN OF 1557 CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 110 E.FP. ISSUED
WE OBTAIN A HUMONGOUS SIZED GAIN OF 1647 OF OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES WITH OUR HUGE GAIN OF $2.93 THE RATS ARE FLEEING THE ARENA.
THUS IN OUNCES, THE GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES TOTALS 8.335 MILLION PAPER OZ
c) Commentaries from: Egon von Greyerz///Matthew Piepenburg via GoldSwitzerland.com, Pam and Russ Martens
ii a) Chris Powell of GATA provides to us very important physical commentaries
b. Other gold/silver commentaries
c. Commodity commentaries//
d)/CRYPTOCURRENCIES/BITCOIN ETC
2.ASIAN AFFAIRS
YOUR EARLY CURRENCY VALUES/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN AND EUROPEAN BOURSE MOVEMENTS/AND INTEREST RATE SETTINGS THURSDAY MORNING.7:30 AM
ASIA RESULTS; THURSDAY DEC 17
SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 6.09 POINTS OR 0.16%
//Hang Seng CLOSED UP 5.72 PTS OR 0.02%
// Nikkei CLOSED DOWN 433.28 PTS OR 0.88% //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP 0.33%
//Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) CLOSED UP TO 7.0417
/ OFFSHORE CLOSED UP AT 7.0358/ Oil UP TO 56.28 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT UP TO 60.10 Stocks in Europe OPENED ALL MIXED
ONSHORE USA/ YUAN TRADING UP TO 7.0417 OFFSHORE YUAN TRADING UP TO 7.0358:/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING BELOW OFF SHORE AND UP ON THE DOLLAR// / AND THUS STRONGER//OFF SHORE YUAN TRADING DOWN AGAINST US DOLLAR/ AND THUS STRONGER
1. COMEX DATA//AMOUNTS STANDING//VOLUME OF TRADING/INVENTORY MOVEMENTS
GOLD
LET US BEGIN:
THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY A STRONG SIZED 7095 CONTRACTS TO 478.188 OI WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE OF $39.45 WITH RESPECT TO WEDNESDAY’S // TRADING/ //COMEX CLOSING TIME:… WE LOST ZERO NET LONGS, WITH THAT PRICE GAIN FOR GOLD. AND AS YOU WILL SEE BELOW, OUR GAIN IN PRICE ALSO HAD A HUGE NUMBER OF EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUED (4592). WE HAD ZERO T.A.S. LIQUIDATION WEDNESDAY (WITH MONTH END SPREADER LIQUIDATIONS FINISHED ON NOV 30). . IT SEEMS THAT THE SPECULATORS WENT MASSIVELY HUGE TO THE LONG SIDE WITH OUR FRBNY PROVIDING STILL THE NECESSARY PAPER AND OTHER CENTRAL BANKERS CONTINUING ON THE LONG SIDE .
YOU WILL NOTICE THAT THE COMEX OI IS NOW GAINING FROM ITS LOW OI OF AROUND 418,000 TO NOW 478,188 AND NOW SOME OF THESE GUYS ARE NOT VERY STICKY AND THUS VULNERABLE TO A RAID.
WE THUS HAD A TOTAL GAIN IN OI ON BOTH OF OUR EXCHANGES, THE COMEX AND LONDON’S EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL EQUATING TO 11,687 CONTRACTS (OR 36.35 TONNES). THEN WE WERE NOTIFIED OF A 0 CONTRACT EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE IN GOLD CONTRACTS ISSUED FOR 0 OZ OR NIL TONNES OF GOLD. IF YOU NEED A HISTORY OF ALL EXCHANGE FOR RISK FOR GOLD, I HAVE ARCHIVED ALL MY COMMENTARIES AND YOU CAN VIEW IT AT ANY TIME.
DETAILS ON OUR NEW DECEMBER COMEX CONTRACT MONTH//
IN TOTAL WE HAD A STRONG SIZED GAIN ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 11,687 CONTRACTS WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE. HOWEVER, OUR FRIENDLY PHYSICAL LONDON BOYS HAD ANOTHER FIELD DAY AGAIN THROUGHOUT OF THE WEEK AS THEY WERE READY FOR THE FRBNY.S CONTINUED ORCHESTRATED ATTACKS VERY EARLY IN THE COMEX SESSIONS AS THEY TRIED TO ABSORB EVERYTHING IN SIGHT FROM THEIR DAILY ATTACKS. LONDONERS EXERCISED THEIR BOUGHT CONTRACTS FOR PHYSICAL GOLD VIA THE EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ROUTE AND THANKED THE FRBNY AND OUR SHORT SPECULATORS FOR THE THOUGHTFULNESS. LONDON ANNOUNCED EARLY IN THE YEAR (AND SCARCITY CONTINUES TO THIS DAY) 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 OTHER CENTRAL BANKS, AND COMEX BANKS HAVE BEEN PAPERING THEIR LOSSES (DERIVATIVE) WITH KILOBAR ENTRIES.
THE LIQUIDATION OF T.A.S. CONTRACTS THROUGHOUT THE MONTHS OF JUNE THROUGH DECEMBER/ CONTINUES 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. TODAY’S NUMBER HOWEVER IS A FAIR T.A.S ISSUANCE CONTRACTS. THE CME NOTIFIES US THAT THEY HAVE ISSUED 1392 T.A.S CONTRACTS AND WILL BE USED FOR RAID PURPOSES TO STOP GOLD’S RISE AND TO TEMPER HUGE LOSSES IN OTC DERIVATIVE BETS AND IT WAS IN FULL FORCE DURING LAST WEEK AND CONTINUING ON THIS WEEK. IT SURE LOOKS LIKE THE BIS HAS GIVEN THE FRBNY ITS MARCHING ORDERS TO COVER AND THAT MAY EXPLAIN THE HUGE NUMBER OF T.A.S. ISSUANCES IN EARLY DECEMBER.
HERE IS A SUMMARY OF GOLD STANDING FOR DELIVERY ON OUR LAST 9 MONTHS:
FOR APRIL AT 209 TONNES
2. AND THIS CONTINUED INTO MAY WITH FINAL STANDING AT 90.23 TONNES.
3. JUNE WHICH IS A HUGE DELIVERY MONTH , FINAL STANDING WAS RECORDED AT A STRONG 93.085 TONNES. //(TOTAL NET QUEUE JUMPING FOR THE JUNE MONTH: 31.027 TONNES.)
4. IN JULY WE HAD HUGE DELIVERY NOTICES ESPECIALLY FOR A NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH WITH INITIAL STANDING AT 17.947 TONNES PLUS MANY QUEUE JUMPS + 3.75 TONNES EX FOR RISK = 41.106 TONNES OF GOLD // FINAL TOTAL TONNES STANDING JULY: 41.106 TONNES
5. FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST:
INITIAL AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR AUGUST: 60.547 TONNES PLUS THE MONTHS HUGE QUEUE JUMPS OF 47.2312 TONNES +44.696 TONNES EX FOR RISK (7 ISSUANCES) //NEW STANDING 152.208 TONNES WHICH IS MONSTROUS!!!
6. FINAL AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR SEPT; INITIAL STANDING; 2,602 CONTRACTS OR 260,200 OZ FOR 8.093 TONNES OF GOLD FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 0.4883 TONNES QUEUE JUMP TO GO ALONG WITH TODAY’S 0.0 TONNES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE TODAY AND // TOTAL EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE SEPT: 22.923 TONNES//NEW TOTALS STANDING ADVANCES TO 48.801 TONNES OF GOLD!!!
7. OCTOBER:
OCTOBER: INITIAL STANDING FOR GOLD: 90.164 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR LATEST OCT 30 QUEUE JUMP OF 0.00311 TONNES WHICH FOLLOWS OCT 29 QUEUE JUMP OF .4096 WHICH FOLLOWS; OCT 28 QUEUE JUMP OF .5069 TONNES WHICH FOLLOWS OCT 27 OF 0.3048 TONNES WHICH FOLLOWS: OCT 24 OF 0.8615 TONNES, FOLLOWING OCT 23 QUEUE JUMP OF 1.695 TONNES OCT 22 JUMP OF 8.622 TONNES WHICH FOLLOWS OCT 21: 3.8600 TONNES TO OCT 20 QUEUE JUMP OF 7.695 TONNES WHICH FOLLOWED OCT 17 RECORD SETTING: 12.031 TONNE QUEUE JUMP WHICH FOLLOWED THURSDAY’S QUEUE JUMP OF 8.326 TONNES WHICH FOLLOWED WEDNESDAY;S 6.469 WHICH FOLLOWED ALL PREVIOUS QUEUE JUMPS OF 42.549 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR TOTAL 4679 EXCHANGE FOR RISK CONTRACTS ON 6 OCCASIONS FOR 467,900 OZ OR 14.553 TONNES.! TOTAL STANDING ADVANCES TO 197.511 TONNES OF GOLD
SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER STANDING:
THAT IS;
a) INITIAL STANDING 90.164 TONNES
b) INITIAL EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE OF 500 CONTRACTS FOR 50,000 OZ OR 1.555 TONNES
c) ANOTHER 3 CONSECUTIVE EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCES OF 2150 CONTRACTS FOR 215000 OZ OR 6.687 TONNES
D) AFTER A ONE DAY HIATUS, A 5TH ISSUANCE FOR 1000 CONTRACTS //100,000 OZ OR 3.1104 TONNES
E) AFTER A TWO WEEK HIATUS: ITS 6TH ISSUANCE FOR 1029 CONTRACTS/102,900 OZ OR 3.200 TONNES
TOTAL EXCHANGE FOR RISK OCT 6 OCCASIONS: 14.553 TONNES
TO WHICH WE ADD ALL OUR QUEUE JUMPING IN OCT: TOTAL MONTH;: 92.7648 TONNES
(ALL OF THESE QUEUE JUMPS ARE REPRESENTED BY CENTRAL BANKS DESPERATELY ADDING TO THEIR OFFICIAL RESERVES)
EQUALS
197.5141 TONNES OF GOLD!!
END
8. NOVEMBER:TOTAL TONNES STANDING INCLUDING ALL QUEUE JUMPS AND EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE:
INITIAL GOLD STANDING AT THE COMEX IS 5032 CONTRACTS OR 503,200 OZ (15.651 TONNES) FOLLOWED BY ITS TODAY’S QUEUE JUMP OF 2.323 TONNES/ FOLLOWED BY ALL NOVEMBER QUEUE JUMPS OF 21.3775 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR SECOND EXCHANGE FOR RISK OF 1016 CONTRACTS FOR 101600 OZ OR 3.165 TONNES TO OUR FIRST EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE OF 1.3966 TONNES/// NEW EXCHANGE FOR RISK: 4.5595 TONNES//NEW TOTAL GOLD STANDING IN NOVEMBER ADVANCES TO 43.9716 TONNES
9. DECEMBER: INITIAL AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR DELIVERY: 83.813 TONNES OF GOLD FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 6.3608 TONNES OF QUEUE JUMP WHICH FOLLOWS ALL OTHER NET QUEUE JUMPING OF 23.325 TONNES//STANDING ADVANCES TO 107.073 TONNES.
THE FED IS THE OTHER MAJOR SHORT OF AROUND 39+ TONNES OF GOLD OWING TO THE B.I.S. THE OCC ORDERED THE BANKS TO COVER THEIR GOLD LOSSES FROM OCC BETS. THIS IS SUCH A SMALL FRACTION OF WHAT IS OWED!!! THE FRBNY BORROWED GOLD FROM THE BIS TO COVER THOSE HUGE LOSSES OF AROUND 39 TONNES OF GOLD.. THE FED IS VERY WORRIED ABOUT WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO GOLD PRICES IF THEY DO NOT BORROW THIS GOLD.
THE MAJOR FOUR OR FIVE BANKS ARE ALSO WORRIED ABOUT THEIR HUGE PRECIOUS METAL DERIVATIVE SHORT EXPOSURE (NORTH OF ONE TRILLION DOLLARS) AND THIS IS PROBABLY THE MAJOR REASON FOR GOLD/SILVER’S RISE THESE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS. THEY ARE TOTALLY TRAPPED., AND THEIR FAILURE TO STOP OTHER CENTRAL BANK PURCHASES OF PHYSICAL GOLD IS THE MAJOR ISSUE OF THE DAY. IT SURE DOES LOOK LIKE THE BIS HAS NOW GIVEN THE FED ITS MARCHING ORDERS TO COVER ITS PHYSICAL GOLD SHORT AS THEIR OUTSTANDING LOAN OF 39 TONNES REMAIN ON THE BOOKS OF THE BIS AND THE END OF THE YEAR IS APPROACHING.
THE FRBNY IS STILL NON COMPLIANT WITH RESPECT TO BASEL III BUT IT IS NOT NECESSARY FOR THEM TO BE COMPLIANT ONLY COMMERCIAL BANKERS MUST BE.
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 ( COMEX) IS NOW COMPLIANT EFFECTIVE 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
EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE/DEC.//BORROWINGS FROM THE FRBNY:
THE CME REPORTS THAT THE BANKERS ISSUED A HUGE SIZED EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL OF 4592 CONTRACTS.
THAT IS A HUGE SIZED 4592 EFP CONTRACT WAS ISSUED: : /FEB 4592 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:
TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 4592 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. THE REGULATORY BODY THAT IS SUPPOSE TO CONTROL THESE EFP’S IS THE O.C.C. HEADQUARTERED IN BOTH LONDON AND WASHINGTON. SEEMS NOW THAT THE OCC IS CLAMPING DOWN ON THIS EFP’S CIRCLING AROUND IN LONDON AS THEY ORDERED THE BULLION BANKS TO COVER MUCH OF THEIR DERIVATIVE BETS ON THESE CONTRACTS!! THUS THE FRBNY SAVED OUR BULLION BANKS FROM EXTINCTION WITH THIS BORROWED GOLD FROM THE BIS OF 39 TONNES
WE HAD :
ZERO LIQUIDATION OF OUR T.A.S. SPREADERS DURING THE COMEX SESSION + BUT DID HAVE CONSIDERABLE GOVERNMENT LIQUIDATION
MONTH END SPREADERS HAVE NOW FINISHED
T.A.S.SPREADER ISSUANCE//DECEMBER
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 WEDNESDAY NIGHT//THURSDAY MORNING WAS A FAIR SIZED 1392 CONTRACTS
THE RAIDS WHETHER ON OPTIONS EXPIRY MONTH OR T.A.S. DRIVEN, ACCOMPLISHES TWO IMPORTANT ASPECTS FOR OUR CROOKS:
STALLS THE ADVANCE IN PRICE
LOWERS THEIR ADVANCING DERIVATIVE LOSSES.
THAT SET UP WEDNESDAY’S GAIN IN PRICE IN GOLD WITH A CORRESPONDING GAIN OF COMEX OI AND A HUGE EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUANCE..ENOUGH FODDER FOR THE COMMENCEMENT OF A RAID WHICH WILL NOT HAPPEN TODAY AS SILVER ROSE HUGELY PULLING UP GOLD.
THE COMEX IS IN TOTAL TURMOIL ESPECIALLY THESE PAST 6 MONTHS WITH THE FOLLOWING;
WITH JULY’S RARE TWO ISSUANCES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK (LATE IN JULY)
AND THIS WAS FOLLOWED WITH AUGUST’S 7 ISSUANCES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK FOR 44.696 TONNES
TO BE FOLLOWED BY SEPTEMBER’S 7 ISSUANCES FOR EXCHANGE FOR RISK FOR 22.923 TONNES.
TO BE FOLLOWED BY OCTOBER’S 6 ISSUANCES FOR 14.553 TONNES
TO BE FOLLOWED BY NOVEMBER’S TWO ISSUANCES FOR 4.5575 TONNES
THE LONDON BANKING AUDITORS HAVE SO FAR REFUSED TO GIVE CERTIFICATION ON THE BANK OF ENGLAND’S SISTER HOLDING OPERATION, THE E.E.A. ON ITS GOLD AND OTHER ASSETS HELD UNDER THE E.E.A.(SEE ROBERT LAMBOURNE’S LETTER OCT 8/
FRBNY BORROWS ANOTHER 24 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE BIS IN OCT TO SAVE THE BULLION BANKS FROM EXTINCTION AFTER THE O.C.C ORDERED THE BULLION BANKS TO BE ONSIDE WITH THEIR DERIVATIVES. THE FRBNY IS NOW SHORT 54+ TONNES OF GOLD.
MASSIVE REMOVAL OF COMEX CONTRACTS FROM PRELIMINARY OI TO FINAL OI//RECORD 33,000 CONTRACTS REMOVED FRIDAY NOV 21//
MASSIVE T.A.S. CONTRACTS ISSUED FOR 5 CONSECUTIVE DAYS/SIGNALLING A MASSIVE RAID TO BE!
MASSIVE RAIDS AT THE COMEX CALLED UPON EVERY OTHER DAY LAST WEEK
GOLD STANDING AT THE COMEX FOR GOLD LAST 12 MONTHS OF 2025
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: FINAL STANDING 90.235 TONNES WHICH INCLUDES QUEUE JUMPING AND 9.591 TONNES EX FOR RISK.
JUNE: FINAL STANDING 62.534 TONNES PLUS 0.1493TONNES OF QUEUE JUMP EQUALS 93.085 TONNES
JULY: 17.947 TONNES INITIAL STANDING FIRST DAY NOTICE PLUS TODAY’S 0 TONNES QUEUE JUMP + 1.555 TONNES EX FOR RISK/PRIOR + 2.195 EX FOR RISK TODAY = = 41.106 TONNES
AUGUST:INITIAL AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING: 60.547 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR 7 MONTHLY ISSUANCES OF: EXCHANGE FOR RISK TOTALLING 44.696 TONNES//NEW STANDING ADVANCES AS FOLLOWS:
107.5117 TONNES NORMAL DELIVERIES (INCLUDES ALL QUEUE JUMPS /EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL TRANSFERS) +
5.4432 TONNES EXCHANGE FOR RISK/PRIOR/AUGUST 7
2.413 TONNES EXCHANGE FOR RISK AUGUST 11
PLUS 2.637 TONNES EX FOR RISK AUGUST 12
PLUS: 9.107 TONNES EX FOR RISK AUGUST 25
PLUS 9.1010 TONNES EX FOR RISK AUGUST 26!!
PLUS 9.0699 TONNES EX FOR RISK AUGUST 27
PLUS 6.923 TONNES EX. FOR RISK/AUGUST 28
MONTHLY TOTAL 44.696 TONNES EXCHANGE FOR RISK!MONTH OF AUGUST.
EQUALS
152.208 TONNES TONNES OF GOLD.
SEPT:
SEPT: 25.878 TONNES OF GOLD INITIAL GOLD STANDING TO WHICH WE ADD OUR 22.923 TONNES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUED 7 TIMES DURING THE MONTH:
TOTAL EX FOR RISK// FOR MONTH = 22.923//NEW TOTALS FOR GOLD STANDING SEPT ADVANCES TO 48.801 TONNES
THIS IS HUGE FOR A GENERALLY WEAK SEPTEMBER DELIVERY MONTH.
OCTOBER: INITIAL AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING: 90.164 TONNES OF GOLD FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S TINY 0.00311 TONNES QUEUE JUMP WHICH FOLLOWS ALL PREVIOUS QUEUE JUMPS OF 76.1656 TONNES WHICH MUST BE ADDED TO OUR 6 ISSUANCES OF 14.553 TONNES EXCHANGE FOR RISK//TOTAL NEW STANDING FOR GOLD IN THIS ACTIVE OCTOBER DELIVERY MONTH ADVANCES TO 197.5141 TONNNES.
NOVEMBER WHERE INITIAL AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING IS REGISTERED AT 15.651 TONNES OF GOLD FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S QUEUE JUMP OF 2 TONNES AND FOLLOWED BY ALL OTHER NOV QUEUE JUMPS OF 21.3775 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR TWO EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE FOR 4.5596 TONNES.
DECEMBER: INITIAL AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR DELIVERY IN THIS ACTIVE MONTH IS 83.813 TONNES FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 6.3608 TONNES QUEUE JUMP. THIS FOLLOWS ALL OTHER QUEUE JUMPING: 23.325 TONNES//NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 107.073 TONNES
HERE ARE THE AMOUNTS THAT STOOD FOR DELIVERY IN THE PRECEDING 48 MONTHS 2021-2024
DEC 2021: 112.217 TONNES
NOV. 8.074 TONNES
OCT. 57.707 TONNES
SEPT: 11.9160 TONNES
AUGUST: 80.489 TONNES
JULY 7.2814 TONNES
JUNE: 72.289 TONNES
MAY 5.77 TONNES
APRIL 95.331 TONNES
MARCH 30.205 TONNES
FEB ’21. 113.424 TONNES
JAN ’21: 6.500 TONNES.
TOTAL YEAR 2021 (JAN- DEC): 601.213 TONNES
YEAR 2022: 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
AN/2023: 20.559 tonnes
FEB 2023: 47.744 tonnes
MAR: 19.0637 TONNES
APRIL: 75.676 tonnes
MAY: 19.094 TONNES + 1.244 tonnes of exchange for risk = 20.338
JUNE: 64.354 TONNES
JULY: 10.2861 TONNES
AUGUST: 38.855 TONNES(INCLUDING .6842 EXCHANGE FOR RISK)
SEPT: 15.281 TONNES FINAL
OCT. 35.869 TONNES + 1.665 EXCHANGE FOR RISK =37.0355 tonnes
DEC. 47.073 + 4.634 TONNES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK = 51.707 TONNES
TOTAL 2023 YEAR : 436.546 TONNES
2024/STANDING FOR GOLD/COMEX
JAN ’24. 22.706 TONNES
FEB. ’24: 66.276TONNES (INCLUDES 1.723 TONNES EX. FOR RISK)
MARCH: 18.8398 TONNES + 1.1695 EX FOR RISK = 20.093 TONNES
APRIL: 2024: 53.673TONNES FINAL
MAY/ 2024 8.5536 TONNES + 3.3716 TONNES EX FOR RISK/= 11.9325
JUNE; 95.578 TONNES. + 1.045 TONNES EXCHANGE FOR RISK =96.623 THIS IS THE HIGHEST RECORDED GOLD STANDING SINCE AUGUST 2022
JULY: 11.692 TONNES
AUGUST 69.602 TONNES//FINAL STANDING
SEPT. 13.164 TONNES.
OCT 39.474 TONNES + + 20.917 TONNES EXCHANGE FOR RISK =60.391 TONNES
NOV . 11.265 TONNES +4.665 TONNES EXCHANGE FOR RISK/TUESDAY + 3.11 TONNES OF EX. FOR RISK/PRIOR = 19.0425 TONNES
DEC: 80.4230 TONNES PLUS DEC MONTH EXCHANGE FOR RISK TOTAL 14.6836 TONNES EQUALS 95.1066 TONNES
total year 2024: 540.30 tonnes
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COMEX GOLD TRADING BEGINNING DECEMBER,. CONTRACT;
THE SPECS/HFT WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE( IT ROSE BY $39.45/ /)
WE HAD ZERO T.A.S. SPREADER LIQUIDATION WEDNESDAY // COMEX SESSION WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE ////.. BUT OUR SPECULATORS REMAIN RELENTLESS POURING INTO THE COMEX// WITH OTHER EASTERN CENTRAL BANKS TENDERING FOR PHYSICAL TUESDAY NIGHT WHICH ALSO EXPLAINS THE HUGE NUMBER OF TONNES OF GOLD STANDING FOR DECEMBER. THE COMEX IS ONE BIG MESS!! THIS WEEK,
WEDNESDAY NIGHT//THURSDAY MORNING
THE CROOKS HOWEVER COULD NOT STOP OTHER CENTRAL BANK LONGS, SEIZING THE MOMENT, THEY EXERCISED AGAIN FOR PHYSICAL IN A BIG WAY TENDERING FOR PHYSICAL WEDNESDAY EVENING/ THURSDAY MORNING AND THUS OUR HUGE NUMBER OF GOLD CONTRACTS STANDING FOR DELIVERY AT THE COMEX. CENTRAL BANKERS WAIT PATIENTLY FOR THE GOLD
A LITTLE REVIEW OF GOLD STANDING THESE PAST 3 MONTHS:
STANDING FOR GOLD OCT THROUGH TO DECEMBER:
ANALYSIS// OCT DELIVERY MONTH GOING FROM FIRST DAY NOTICE// OCT COMEX CONTRACT TO FINALIZATION OCT 31:
OCT AT 90.164 TONNES TO BE FOLLOWED BY ALL PREVIOUS QUEUE JUMPS OF 75.696 TONNES WHICH WE ADD OUR 14.553 TONNES EX FOR RISK/6 OCCASIONS:
/ TOTAL STANDING 197.551 TONNE/OCTOBER FINAL//ABSOLUTELY A MONSTER DELIVERY FOR A NORMALLY QUIET OCT MONTH
2. AND NOW NOVEMBER:
NOVEMBER BEGINS WITH A HUGE 15.651 TONNES INITIALLY STANDING FOR DELIVERY FOLLOWED BY OUR TODAY’S QUEUE JUMP OF 2.323 TONNES WHICH FOLLOWED ALL OTHER NOVEMBER QUEUE JUMPS OF 21.3775 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR TWO ISSUANCES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK OF 4.5596 TONNES..
NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 43.9716 ONNES OF GOLD.
3. AND NOW DECEMBER:
3. DECEMBER: INITIAL AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR DELIVERY: 83.813 TONNES FOLLOWED BY A 2045 CONTRACT QUEUE JUMP FOR 204,500 OZ OR 6.3608 TONNES WHICH FOLLOWS OTHER DEC QUEUE JUMPS OF: 23.325 TONNES///STANDING ADVANCES TO 107.073 TONNES.
ALL OF THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE TO THE TUNE OF $39.45
WE HAD A HUGE 1356 CONTRACTS REMOVED TO THE COMEX TRADES TO OPEN INTEREST (CROOKS)//PRELIMINARY TO FINAL. AND THIS IS TOTALLY INSANE .
NET GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES : 11,687 CONTRACTS OR 1,168,700 OZ OR 36.35 TONNES
i))Into Brinks 4932.151 oz ii) Into Manfra: 22,473.549 oz (699 kilobars)
total deposit 27,405.700 oz
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No of oz served (contracts) today
1899 notice(s) 189,900 OZ
5.9066 TONNES OF GOLD
No of oz to be served (notices)
769 contracts 76,900 OZ 2.3919 TONNES
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month
33,655 notices 3,365,500 0z 104.682TONNES
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: 1
i) Into the dealer Brinks 51,409.449 oz
(1599 kilobars)
total deposit: 51,409.449 oz
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DEPOSITS/CUSTOMER
DEPOSITS/CUSTOMER
2 ENTRIES
i)Into Brinks 4932.151 oz
ii) Into Manfra: 22,473.549 oz (699 KILOBARS)
total deposit 27,405.700 oz
customer withdrawals:
0 ENTRIES
they are draining the comex of gold
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ADJUSTMENTs 0//
chaos inside the comex
AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR DECEMBER
THE FRONT MONTH OF DECEMBER STANDS AT 2668 CONTRACTS FOR A LOSS OF 602 CONTRACTS. WE HAD 2647 CONTRACTS FILED ON WEDNESDAY SO WE GAINED A WHOPPING 2045 CONTRACTS FOR A QUEUE JUMP OF 204,500 OZ OR 6.3608 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD TO OUR PREVIOUS QUEUE JUMPS .THUS STANDING FOR GOLD IN DECEMBER INCREASES HUGELY TO 107.073 TONNES
JANUARY GAINED 187 CONTRACTS UP TO 3703
FEB GAINED 6132 CONTRACTS UP TO 346,701 CONTRACTS
We had 1899 contracts filed for today representing 189,900 oz
Today, 0 notice(s) were issued from J.P.Morgan dealer and 0 notices issued from their client or customer account. The total of all issuance by all participants equate to 1899 contract(s) of which 0 notices were stopped (received) by j.P. Morgan dealer and 580 notice(s) was (were) stopped (received) by J.P.Morgan//customer account
To calculate the INITIAL total number of gold ounces standing for DEC /2025. contract month, we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (33,655 ) to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of DEC ( 2668 CONTRACTS) minus the number of notices served upon today (1899 x 100 oz per contract) equals 3,442,400 OZ OR 107.073 Tonnes of gold
thus the INITIAL standings for gold for the DEC contract month: No of notices filed so far (33,655 x 100 oz +we add the difference for front month of DEC (2668 OI} minus the number of notices served upon today (1899)x 100 oz) which equals 3,442,400 OR 108.073 TONNES
new total of gold standing in DECEMBER is 107.073 tonnes
TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING FOR DEC ..: 107.073 TONNES TONNES WHICH IS STRONG FOR THIS NORMALLY VERY ACTIVE ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF DECEMBER.
volume WEDNESDAY confirmed 232,327 fair
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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: 1,969,701.020 oz 61.26 tonnes pledged gold lowers
TOTAL OF ALL GOLD ELIGIBLE AND REGISTERED GOLD 36,070,160.045 oz
TOTAL REGISTERED GOLD 19,276,088.382 or 599.56 Tonnes
TOTAL OF ALL ELIGIBLE GOLD 16,794,071.663 OZ
REGISTERED GOLD THAT CAN BE SERVED UPON 17,306387oz ((REG GOLD- PLEDGED GOLD)=
538.30 Tonnes // (declining rapidly)
total inventories in gold declining rapidly
SILVER/COMEX
THE DEC. 2025 SILVER CONTRACTS
DEC 18 2025
INITIAL/
Silver
Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory
NIL oz
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory
1 entries
i) Out of JPMorgan: 987,379.380 oz totally removed from customer acct.
total withdrawal: 987,379.380 oz
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory
1 ENTRY
i) Into Stonex; 717,539.940 oz
total deposit 717,539.940 oz
Deposits to the Customer Inventory
1 entries
i) Into CNT 495,269.350 oz
total deposit: 495,269.350 oz
No of oz served today (contracts)
254 CONTRACT(S) ( 1.220 million OZ
No of oz to be served (notices)
117 contracts (0.585 MILLION oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)
12,374 Contracts (61.870 MILLION oz)
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Dealers inventory this month
NIL oz
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Customer inventory this month
DEPOSITS INTO DEALER ACCOUNTS
1 ENTRY
1 ENTRY
i) Into Stonex; 717,539.940 oz
total deposit 717,539.940 oz
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DEPOSIT ENTRIES/CUSTOMER ACCOUNT
i) Into CNT 495,269.350 oz
total deposit: 495,269.350 oz
withdrawals: customer side/eligible
1 entries
1 entries
i) Out of JPMorgan: 987,379.380 oz totally removed from customer acct.
total withdrawal: 987,379.380 oz
adjustments: 4
i) dealer to customer acct Asahi 928,030.370 oz
ii) dealer to customer acct Stonex: 352,349.000 oz
iiiP customer to dealer Brinks 9783.400 oz
iv) customer to dealer CNT 332,349.00 oz
TOTAL REGISTERED SILVER: 130.324MILLION OZ//.TOTAL REG + ELIGIBLE. 453,176Million oz
registered silver dropping in numbers
CALCULATIONS FOR THE NEW STANDING FOR SILVER FOR DEC.
silver open interest data:
FRONT MONTH OF DECEMBER /2025 OI: 371 OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FOR A LOSS OF 299 CONTRACTS. WE HAD 458 CONTRACTS FILED ON WEDNESDAY SO WE ACTUALLY HAD ANOTHER QUEUE JUMP OF 159 CONTRACTS OR 795,000 OZ
JANUARY GAINED 141 CONTRACTS UP TO 4167 CONTRACTS AS JANUARY BECOMES THE FRONT MONTH
FEB LOST 19 CONTRACTS DOWN TO 1353 CONTRACTS
TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR TODAY: 254 or 1.220 MILLION oz
CONFIRMED volume; ON WEDNESDAY 161,536 huge//
AND NOW DECEMBER. DELIVERIES:
To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in DEC. we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at 12,374 X5,000 oz = 61.870 MILLION oz
to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of DEC (371) AND the number of notices served upon today (384 )x (5000 oz)
Thus the standings for silver for the DECEMBER 2025 contract month: (12,374) Notices served so far) x 5000 oz + OI for the front month of DEC(371) minus number of notices served upon today (254)x 5000 oz equals silver standing for the DEC.contract month equating to 62.455 MILLION OZ + 850 MILLION OZ FOR DEC ‘S FIRST EXCHANGE FOR RISK AND THEN TODAY’S SECOND EXCHANGE FOR RISK OF .485 MILLION OZ//NEW TOTAL EXCHANGE FOR RISK; 1.335 MILLION OZ: THUS WE HAVE THE FOLLOWING:
NORMAL STANDING: 62.455 MILLION OZ
PLUS 1.335 MILLION OZ EXCHANGE FOR RISK/2 OCCASIONS
New total standing: 63.790 million oz. THE SILVER COMEX IS NOW UNDER MASSIVE SIEGE!! AND THIS IS HAPPENING WITH THE MASSIVE SIEGE ON GOLD AS WELL.
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 130.324. million oz of registered silver
JPMorgan as a percentage of total silver: 190.780/453.176million. 42.10%
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
DEC 18/WITH GOLD DOWN $9.05 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF .85 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1052.54 TONNES
DEC 17/WITH GOLD UP $39.45 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1051.69 TONNES
DEC 16/WITH GOLD DOWN $3.95 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.43 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1051.69 TONNES
DEC 15/WITH GOLD UP $10.15 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 2.29 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 105.12 TONNES
DEC 12/WITH GOLD UP $14.20 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 4.01 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1050.83 TONNES
DEC 11/WITH GOLD UP $85.00 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.15 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1046.82 TONNES
DEC 10/WITH GOLD UP $85.00 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.15 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1046.82 TONNES
DEC 9/WITH GOLD UP $18.50 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.14 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1049.11 TONNES
DEC 8/WITH GOLD DOWN $23.40 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.33 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1050.25 TONNES
DEC 5/WITH GOLD UP $9.30 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A FRAUDULENT DEPOSIT OF 4.00 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1050.58 TONNES
DEC 4/WITH GOLD UP $9.95 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.72 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1046.58 TONNES
DEC 3/WITH GOLD UP $14.25 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.71 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1048.30 TONNES
DEC 2/WITH GOLD DOWN $53.35 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 4.58 TONNES OF GOLD VAPOUR INTO THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1050.01TONNES
DEC 1/WITH GOLD UP $22.75 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 1.14 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1045.43TONNES
NOV 28/WITH GOLD UP $51.85 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 1.14 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1045.43 TONNES
NOV 26/WITH GOLD UP $25.40 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A FRAUDULENT PAPER DEPOSIT OF 4.57 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1040.57 TONNES
NOV 25/WITH GOLD UP $46.60 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 1.14 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1040.57 TONNES
NOV 24/WITH GOLD UP $16.95 TODAY/SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 0.29 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1040.86 TONNES
NOV 21/WITH GOLD UP $18.55 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.00 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1039.43 TONNES
NOV 20/WITH GOLD DOWN $20.45 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1041.43 TONNES
NOV 19/WITH GOLD UP $14.55 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1041.43 TONNES
NOV 18/WITH GOLD DOWN $6.30 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.57 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1041.43 TONNES
NOV 17/WITH GOLD DOWN $20.40 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.93 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1044.000 TONNES
NOV 14/WITH GOLD DOWN $97.55TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 2.29 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1048.93 TONNES
NOV 13/WITH GOLD DOWN $17.80.TODAY/SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 0.28 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1064.64 TONNES
NOV 12/WITH GOLD UP $97.70.TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 4.30 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT XXX TONNES
NOV 11/WITH GOLD DOWN $3.80TODAY/NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: . /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1042.06 TONNES
NOV 10/WITH GOLD UP $114.40TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT 0F 3.43 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD . /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1042.06 TONNES
NOV 7/WITH GOLD UP $18.55 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 3.43 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD . /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT1042.06TONNES
NOV 6//WITH GOLD UP $0.30TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL 0F 3.15 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD . /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT1038,63TONNES
NOV 5//WITH GOLD UP $32.50TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL 0F 3.15 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD . /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT1038,63TONNES
NOV 4 WITH GOLD DOWN $50.00 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT 0F 2.58 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD . /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1041.78TONNES
GLD INVENTORY: 1052.50 TONNES, TONIGHTS TOTAL
SILVER
DEC 18/WITH SILVER DOWN $1.13/NO CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: . ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 515.000 MILLION OZ //
DEC 17/WITH SILVER UP $2.93/HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 1.36 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 515.000 MILLION OZ //
DEC 16/WITH SILVER DOWN $.07/HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 1.36 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 56.360 MILLION OZ //
DEC 15/WITH SILVER UP $1.62/SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A SMALL DEPOSIT OF 635,000 INTO THE SLV. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 517.720 MILLION OZ //
DEC 12/WITH SILVER DOWN $2.30/NO CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 517.085 MILLION OZ //
DEC 11/WITH SILVER UP $3.52/HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A HUGE DEPOSIT OF 3.537 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 517.085 MILLION OZ //
DEC 9/WITH SILVER UP $2.41/HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 1.179 MILLION OZ OUT THE SLV./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 510.828 MILLION OZ //
DEC 8/WITH SILVER DOWN $0.48/HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 5.497 MILLION OZ OUT THE SLV./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 512.007 MILLION OZ //
DEC 5/WITH SILVER UP 0.39/HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A HUGE DEPOSIT OF 3.083 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 517.448 MILLION OZ //
DEC 4/WITH SILVER DOWN $1.12/HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A HUGE DEPOSIT OF 4383 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 514.365 MILLION OZ //
DEC 3/WITH SILVER UP $0.23/HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A HUGE DEPOSIT OF 1.956 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 510.012 MILLION OZ //
DEC 2/WITH SILVER DOWN $0.65 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A MASSIVE AND FRAUDLUENT PAPER DEPOSIT OF 6.167 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 508.057 MILLION OZ //
DEC 1/WITH SILVER UP $2.21 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 907,000 OZ INTO THE SLV./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 501.890 MILLION OZ //
NOV28/WITH SILVER UP $3.28 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV:/ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 500.983 MILLION OZ //
NOV26/WITH SILVER UP $1.86 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A MAMMOTH DEPOSIT OF 2.267 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV/ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 500.983 MILLION OZ //
NOV25/WITH SILVER UP $0.69 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A MAMMOTH DEPOSIT OF 8.163 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV/ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 498.716 MILLION OZ //THIS IS A FRAUDULENT TRANSACTION
NOV24/WITH SILVER UP $0.43 TODAY/SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 277,000, OZ OUT OF THE SLV/ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 490.553 MILLION OZ MILLION OZ
NOV21/WITH SILVER DOWN $0.53 TODAY/SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 635,000 OZ INTO THE SLV/ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 490.190 MILLION OZ MILLION OZ
NOV20/WITH SILVER DOWN $0.53 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: :INVENTORY RESTS AT 489.555 MILLION OZ MILLION OZ
NOV 19/WITH SILVER UP $0.36 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: :INVENTORY RESTS AT 489.283 MILLION OZ MILLION OZ
NOV 18/WITH SILVER DOWN $0.13 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: :INVENTORY RESTS AT 489..283 MILLION OZ MILLION OZ
NOV 17/WITH SILVER DOWN $0.07 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 1.451 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV:INVENTORY RESTS AT 489.283 MILLION OZ MILLION OZ
NOV 14/WITH SILVER DOWN $2.08 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 2.722 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV:
INVENTORY RESTS AT 487.832 MILLION OZ MILLION OZ
NOV 13/WITH SILVER DOWN $0.58 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: . /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 485.110 MILLION OZ
NOV 12/WITH SILVER UP $2.59 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: . /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 485.110 MILLION OZ
NOV 11/WITH SILVER UP $0.63 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: . /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 485.110 TONNES
NOV 10/WITH SILVER UP $2.05 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE SLV: . /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 485.110 TONNES
NOV 7 WITH SILVER UP $0.22 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.54 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV / ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 485.110 MILLION OZ
NOV 6 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.12 TODAY/SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 713,000 OZ FROM THE SLV / ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 487,650 MILLION OZ
NOV 5 WITH SILVER UP $0.67TODAY/SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 713,000 OZ FROM THE SLV / ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 487,650 MILLION OZ
The Romans created the system of money and credit upon which our laws today are based. This article charts the history of gold in common law and why it is still relevant.
It is a mistake to underestimate modern disinformation and ignorance on the topics of money and credit. It will seem extraordinary to those not versed in finance that even economists of the various schools of thought with their PhDs are utterly clueless on this vital topic, an ignorance which extends even into staff economists at central banks. Few of them understand the role of commercial banks in creating bank credit, assuming that either they are simply agents deploying deposits into loans, or that they operate on a fractional reserve system. Neither is true.
This article is not here to debate modern banking, but to describe the evolution of money and credit throughout history, and how they came to be defined in every nation’s common law. It started with the Romans. The first system of Roman law was the Twelve Tables of 448 BC, which established methodical habits of business.
The legal distinctions of money and credit
What interests us in this topic is the system of recording transactions, which following the Twelve Tables were divided into two classes, res mancipi, and res nec mancipi. The former refered to a small list of physical property transferred by a formal ceremony of mancipation, or transfer: bronze-copper ingots (the physical form of money at that time), lands and houses on Roman soil, beasts of burden, slaves, agricultural rights, and other rights over land were res mancipi. By this definition only a bronze-copper ingot weighing a Roman pound, the aes, was corporeal money and the final payment for discharging debt obligations. It was conveyed formally in the presence of five witnesses of full age and the aes would be weighed on scales in front of the witnesses and handed to the seller in payment.
Everything else were termed res nec mancipi, including incorporeal debt obligations, which were always entered in to be finally settled in aes in due course. The relationship between money and credit, always the other side of a debt obligation being the future final payment, was thereby defined in Roman law.
At the time of the Twelve Tables very few Romans were literate, agriculture dominated, and settlement practices reflected this. The strict formalities of a property transfer in res mancipi were abolished by Emperor Leo in 469AD, reflecting the economic and social advances in the eight centuries since the Twelve Tables. Other forms of money, principally the silver denarius and gold aureus coins entered into use during that time, replacing the earlier aes. The distinction between items confined to res mancipi and res nec mancipi was finally abolished in Justinian’s Pandects in 520AD. But reflecting the rulings of jurors Ulpian and Paulus in the second and third centuries AD the relationship between money and credit was crystalised in their original relationship.
Out of the Roman Empire evolved the colonising nations whose common laws were based on Justinian’s Pandects and the later Basilica translation of them in Greek (AD892). Following the fifteenth and sixteenth centurys’ global discoveries by Spain and Portugal, their colonies and those of the colonising nations that followed them all adopted Justinian’s legal distinction between money and credit in their common laws. Spain’s discoveries in the New World brought gold and silver into greater circulation, as did Britain’s guinea from West African gold introduced in 1663.
Following independence, the USA adopted UK common law through Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England, including the inherited relationship between money and credit crystalised in Justinian’s Pandects. And when in evidence to Congress in 1912, John Pierpont Morgan the greatest banker at that time said that “Credit is evidence of banking but it is not the money itself. Money is gold, and nothing else”, he was stating correctly the legal position defined in common law from Roman times.
Credit today
As well as defining the difference between money and credit in law, the Romans invented banking. Sweden invented central banking, which was closely followed by the establishment of the Bank of England. Central banks have the mandate to act for their governments and to issue currency. Currency is a debt of its issuer to discharge that obligation for money on demand and is clearly credit. And so long as that promise is adhered to, a currency as well as deposits held at the issuing bank have their value tied to that of gold.
This is why to this day banknotes issued by the Bank of England bear the legend, “I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of [the face value of the note]” signed by the chief cashier. It requires the issuer to maintain sufficient stocks of gold in the form of coin or bullion to meet public demand for redemptions of currency and deposits. To suspend conversion of currency and deposits into gold is fraudulent in common law.
In the twentieth century, governments began to bend the law, starting with European combatants suspending convertibility of currencies into gold at the outbreak of the First World War. In 1933, America’s President Roosevelt transgressed common law by executive order commanding citizens to submit their gold and gold notes in return for dollars, which he then devalued by 40% the following year. The selective return to international convertibility under the Bretton Woods Agreement was in 1944, which was finally suspended in 1971. Since then, the US Treasury and its central bank embarked on a propaganda campaign to describe dollars as money in place of gold and for all other currencies to regard it as such for international settlements.
But the dollar is never money in common law. It is a broken promise to pay the bearer his right to final settlement in legal money.
For fifty-four years, the dollar has been a fiat currency, fiat meaning it owes its status to the laws of the country and not to a common law right for final settlement in gold. The consequence is that the dollar has lost purchasing power against gold so that its value in real money has declined since Bretton Woods was “suspended” to only 0.8% of one cent — so far.
Fiat currencies never survive
Fiat currencies come into existence because states require funds beyond what they can raise from their citizens through taxation. For a while, currency debasement succeeds without creating undue alarm in the public. But prices of goods begin to rise reflecting its dilution of value, usually wrongly attributed to other factors. Consequently, the state has to accelerate the rate of debasement to cover rising costs as their future liabilities come due. This is reflected in the widening gulf between money, which is gold, and its value expressed in depreciating currency. The chart below illustrates this:
Since the year 2000, the dollar has lost 93.4% of its value measured in gold (since the suspension of Bretton Woods that loss has been over 99% as noted above). Alarmingly, the rate of the dollar’s depreciation is accelerating, indicating that the end of its existence as a fiat currency is approaching. Yet, there appears to be very little recognition of this fact in the Federal Government, its central bank, and worryingly among all those economics PhDs in state institutions and universities.
It is already too late to stop the end of the fiat dollar, which can only be achieved by taking the necessary steps to halt its debasement and reinstate the promise to tie all credit to final settlement in gold. But the monetary establishment is so committed to not tying the value of the dollar to gold and so ignorant of the universal common law setting out the relationship between money and credit that the implementation of the necessary stabilisation policies is inconceivable.
Unless, in the highly unlikely event that there is a Damascene conversion in the political class which can be sold to the electorate, we must assume that the dollar will never be a gold substitute and is doomed to lose all its purchasing power — and probably soon at that.
end
3. CHRIS POWELL AND HIS GATA DISPATCHES:
4. ANDREW MAGUIRE/LIVE FROM THE VAULT KINESIS / AND TODAY;S 253
5. COMMODITY REPORT//SILVER
end
COPPER
Goldman Upgrades Copper Price Forecast Weeks After Warning About “Circular Melt-Up”
Goldman Sachs recently upgraded its 2026 copper price forecast just weeks after cautioning about a speculative “circular melt-up” in the market.In early December 2025, Goldman analysts described the rapid copper price surge as a “circular melt-up,” driven by self-reinforcing dynamics: tightening LME inventories and backwardation encouraging US stockpiling ahead of potential tariffs, which further squeezes ex-US supply and pushes prices higher in a feedback loop.However, on December 15, 2025, Goldman raised its average 2026 copper price forecast to $11,400 per metric ton (from $10,650 previously). This upgrade reflects lowered odds of near-term US refined copper tariffs in the first half of 2026, due to concerns over affordability and inflation. A delayed tariff (likely announced in H1 2026 but implemented in 2027) would prolong US hoarding, exacerbating supply tightness outside the US and supporting higher prices in 2026.Goldman kept its 2027 forecast unchanged at $10,750 per ton, expecting prices to retreat once tariffs take effect and global markets rebalance into surplus.As of mid-December 2025, copper prices have pulled back slightly from record highs above $11,950/ton but remain elevated around $11,700/ton (or roughly $5.30–$5.35/lb on COMEX), up over 33% year-to-date. The rally has been fueled by mine disruptions, AI/green energy demand optimism, and tariff-related trade flow distortions—despite Goldman viewing much of the move as speculative rather than fundamentally driven in the short term.Longer-term, Goldman remains structurally bullish, projecting prices rising toward $15,000/ton by 2035 (in nominal terms) due to electrification and infrastructure demand.
ASIA RESULTS; THURSDAY DEC 18
SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 6.09 POINTS OR 0.16%
//Hang Seng CLOSED UP 5.72 PTS OR 0.02%
// Nikkei CLOSED DOWN 433.28 PTS OR 0.88% //Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED UP 0.33%
//Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) CLOSED UP TO 7.0417
/ OFFSHORE CLOSED UP AT 7.0358/ Oil UP TO 56.28 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT UP TO 60.10 Stocks in Europe OPENED ALL MIXED
ONSHORE USA/ YUAN TRADING UP TO 7.0417 OFFSHORE YUAN TRADING UP TO 7.0358:/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING BELOW OFF SHORE AND UP ON THE DOLLAR// / AND THUS STRONGER//OFF SHORE YUAN TRADING DOWN AGAINST US DOLLAR/ AND THUS STRONGER
YOUR EARLY CURRENCY VALUES/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN AND EUROPEAN BOURSE MOVEMENTS/AND INTEREST RATE SETTINGS THURSDAY MORNING.7:30 AM
ONSHORE YUAN: CLOSED UP AT 7.0417
OFFSHORE YUAN: UP TO 7.0358
HANG SENG CLOSED UP 5.72 PTS OR 0.02%
2. Nikkei closed DOWN 433.28 PTS OR 0.88%
3. Europe stocks SO FAR: ALL MIXED
USA dollar INDEX UP TO 98.10 /// EURO FALLS TO 1.1730 DOWN 11 BASIS PTS
3b Japan 10 YR bond yield: FALLS TO. +1.962 // DOWN 2 FULL BASIS PTS/ VERY TROUBLESOME//Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese YEN vs USA cross now at 155.82…… JAPANESE YEN NOW FALLING AS WE HAVE NOW REACHED THE ENDING OF THE YEN CARRY TRADE AGAIN AND THE REPATRIATION OF YEN DENOMINATED BONDS TRADING IN THE USA/EUROPE. JAPAN 30 YR BOND YIELD: 3.381 UP 3 FULL BASIS PTS. AND STILL VERY TROUBLESOME
3c Nikkei now ABOVE 17,000
3d USA/Yen rate now well ABOVE the important 120 barrier this morning
3e Gold DOWN/JAPANESE Yen DOWN CHINESE ONSHORE YUAN: UP OFFSHORE: UP
3f Japan is to buy INFINITE TRILLION YEN worth of BONDS. Japan’s GDP equals 5 trillion USA
Japan to buy 100% of all new Japanese debt and NOW they will have OVER 50% of all Japanese debt.
3g Oil UP for WTI and DOWN FOR UP this morning
3h European bond buying continues to push yields LOWER on all fronts in the EMU. German 10yr bund YIELD UP TO +2.8457/ Italian 10 Yr bond yield DOWN to 3.502 SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD DOWN TO 3.275
3i Greek 10 year bond yield UP TO 3.451
3j Gold at $4327.50 Silver at: 66.04 1 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $54.00//AFTER 50.00
3k USA vs Russian rouble;// Russian rouble DOWN 1 AND 33/100 roubles/dollar; ROUBLE AT 80.38
3m oil (WTI) into the 56 dollar handle for WTI and 60 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 155.50 10 YEAR YIELD AFTER FIRST BREAKING .54% LAST YEAR NOW EXCEEDS THAT LEVEL TO 1.982% STILL ON CENTRAL BANK (JAPAN) INTERVENTION//YEN CARRY TRADE IS NOW UNWINDING//YEN BOND TRADING OVERSEAS REPATRIATED.//JAPAN 30 YR: 3.351 UP 2 BASIS PTS.
30 SNB (Swiss National Bank) still intervening again in the markets driving down the FRANC. It is not working: USA/SF this 0.7955 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF: 0.9331 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: 4.133 DOWN 2 BASIS PTS…
USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 4.819 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS/
USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 3.466 DOWN 2 BASIS PTS
USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 42.74 UP 2 BASIS PTS/LIRA GETTING KILLED
10 YR UK BOND YIELD: 4.4610 DOWN 1 PTS
30 YR UK BOND YIELD: 5.209 DOWN 2 BASIS PTS
10 YR CANADA BOND YIELD: 3.436DOWN 0 BASIS PTS
5 YR CANADA BOND YIELD: 2,985 DOWN 0 BASIS PTS.
1a New York OPENING REPORT
Futures Rise After 4-Days Of Declines Ahead Of CPI, Central Bank Bonanza
Thursday, Dec 18, 2025 – 06:58 AM
Stocks rebounded from Wednesday’s tech-led rout after an upbeat forecast from Micron helped put the brakes on a tech-driven selloff on a busy day for data and central bank meetings. As of 7:15am ET, S&P and Nasdaq futures rose 0.6% following four down days. In premarket trading, Micron shares soared 11% after reporting blowout earnings. Europe’s Stoxx 600 index rose 0.2%, while Asian shares slid. The tech slide, combined with dovish comments from a Federal Reserve official, helped boost Treasuries. The yield on the 10-year was down two basis points at 4.13% even as the BBG dollar index recovered from an earlier loss to trade 0.05% higher. Oil rose modestly to trade +0.4% at $56.18/barrel. Among key events for financial markets Thursday are the release of US inflation data for November, along with monetary policy decisions from the European Central Bank and Bank of England.
In premarket trading Mag 7 stocks are mostly higher (Tesla +1.4%, Nvidia +1.4%, Alphabet +1.1%, Amazon +0.8%, Meta +0.7%, Microsoft +0.7%, Apple -0.2%).
Insmed (INSM) falls 20% after the biotech said its Phase 2b BiRCh study of brensocatib in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps failed to meet primary or secondary efficacy goals, prompting immediate discontinuation of the CRSsNP program.
Instacart (CART) is down 6.6% after Reuters reported that the Federal Trade Commission has sent the grocery delivery company a civil investigative demand.
Lululemon (LULU) rises +6.2% after Elliott is said to build a $BN+ stake.
Micron (MU) jumps 11% after guiding current quarter earnings to be some 80% higher than consensus estimates, as the firm benefits from the relentless demand for memory chips used in data centers, and the sharp price increase that goes with it. Among memory peers, Sandisk (SNDK) 6.1%, Western Digital (WDC) +3.6% and Seagate (STX) +3.4%.
PayPal (PYPL) drops 1.7% as Morgan Stanley downgrades the digital payments company to underweight and sets its price target to a new Street-low, citing slow progress on key strategic imperatives.
Sable Offshore Corp. (SOC) jumps 41% after the company said the US Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration determined the pipeline connecting the Santa Ynez Unit to Pentland Station terminal in California constitutes an interstate pipeline.
Today’s Micron-driven bounce follows Nasdaq’s nearly 2% slide on Wednesday when investors again questioned whether companies at the vanguard of the AI boom can keep justifying their nosebleed valuations amid record spending.
“Investors still see limited disclosure of AI-driven revenues, profits or cash flows,” said Frank Thormann, a fund manager at Schroders Investment Management. “The result is a growing concern that AI may not be delivering returns commensurate with the enthusiasm.”
A mini-Santa rally to end the year likely hinges on whether inflation data confirms Powell’s expectation that core goods prices are nearly at a peak. Longer-term, inflation coming down while jobs remain subdued “should weaken FOMC hawks’ resistance to rate cuts,” according to Bloomberg Economics.
Still, investors remain nervous about AI. About 57% of participants in a Deutsche Bank survey said a potential plunge in AI valuations is the biggest risk to market stability in 2026. And there’s a long list of other things that could go wrong, suggesting drawdowns and volatility spikes are likely, especially given an investor base that is so determined to chase the market higher.
Traders are now waiting for Thursday’s US inflation reading for pointers on the path for interest rates, though the data run the risk of being less reliable than usual due to government-shutdown disruptions. The November CPI report will offer only a partial snapshot of inflation, without monthly changes for most of the price categories. Much of the October price information was unable to be collected and November data gathering was also delayed by the government closure.
Data aside, Trump said he plans to announce the new Fed chair soon, and that it will be “someone who believes in lower interest rates.” He also used his address to the nation to talk about housing reforms, which he said are coming in the new year.
European stocks edged upwards as investors awaited rate decisions from the European Central Bank and Bank of England. Retailers outperform, led by H&M, which is on track to close at more than a year-high, while automakers lag. Stoxx 600 rose 0.2% to 580.70 with 214 members down, 366 up, and 20 little changed. Here are some of the biggest movers on Thursday:
Rational shares gain as much as 4.9%, hitting a five-week high, after UBS analysts said the maker of food appliances and kitchen accessories is “back on the menu,” predicting a return to high single-digit organic growth in FY26 can support a re-rating in the shares.
Whitbread shares rise as much as 5.2% after stakeholder Corvex Management called for a strategic review of the company’s direction and capital allocation.
Rentokil Initial shares rise as much as 3.9% as BofA Global Research raises its recommendation to buy from neutral and names it one of the bank’s “25 stocks for 2026” on its US growth.
H&M shares rise as much as 2.6% to trade at their highest level since September 2024, after being upgraded by Oddo BHF, with analysts raising estimates and attaching a higher multiple on the fashion retailer.
Currys shares climb as much as 15%, the most since September, after the electronics retailer reported earnings ahead of analysts’ expectations, driven by stronger performance in the Nordics as the UK business grapples with increases in staffing costs.
Aeroports de Paris shares fall as much as 8.6% as the French Transport Regulatory Authority rejects the firm’s proposed airport charges, leading Oddo BHF to downgrade to underperform.
Hemnet shares slide as much as 8.7%, pulling back from a five-week high, after analysts at Nordea cut their price target on the Swedish property advertising platform to a Street-low.
Evolution shares drop as much as 3.1% following a double-downgrade to underweight from overweight at Barclays, which sees continued pressure on the Swedish gambling operator’s earnings.
Earlier in the session, Asian stocks dropped with momentum kamikaze-central, South Korea, leading a broad selloff on concerns over the artificial intelligence sector. Hang Seng nurses a modest loss after tech stocks fall, and ChiNext drops more than 1%. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.4%, tracking a US tech selloff and declining for a third time in four days. LG Chem and LG Energy were among the biggest drags. South Korea’s Kospi slumped 1.5%, while benchmarks in Tokyo and Taiwan were also in the red.
In FX, the dollar is mixed against FX majors. Kiwi dollar slips despite a small GDP beat. The yen hovers around 155.80/USD and offshore yuan is marginally stronger.
In rates, treasury 10-year yields drop 2bps to 4.13%. Australian 3-year yields drop 3 bps after the AOFM cuts bond issuance plans for fiscal year 2026. JGB futures grind modestly higher ahead of Friday’s widely expected BOJ rate hike
In commodities, WTI crude futures inch lower, trading around $55 a barrel. Spot gold falls roughly $12 to ~$4,327/oz, while Bitcoin is up 1.3% .
Looking to the day ahead now, and the highlights will be the ECB and Bank of England policy decisions. Over in the US, we’ll also get the CPI report for November, and the weekly initial jobless claims. Speakers include ECB’s Lagarde & BoE’s Bailey, Supply from US, Earnings from Carnival, Nike & FedEx.
Market Snapshot
S&P 500 mini +0.6%
Nasdaq 100 mini +0.6%
Russell 2000 mini +0.3%
Stoxx Europe 600 +0.3%
DAX +0.1%
CAC 40 +0.3%
10-year Treasury yield -2 basis points at 4.13%
VIX -0.2 points at 17.38
Bloomberg Dollar Index little changed at 1208.22,
euro -0.2% at $1.1723
WTI crude +0.4% at $56.18/barrel
Top Overnight News
Trump Defends Handling of Economy, Announces Military Dividend: WSJ
How China reverse engineered chipbuilding giant ASML and built its ‘Manhattan Project’ to rival the West in AI chips: RTRS
White House official said Trump is expected to address marijuana rescheduling on Thursday.
Trump said he will soon announce the next Fed chair and that the new Fed chair will believe in lowering interest rates by a lot, while Trump also stated that he will announce aggressive housing reforms in the new year and said more than a million service members will get a special dividend of USD 1,776 before Christmas.
Trump Told by Alan Dershowitz Constitutionality of Third Term Is Unclear: WSJ
The House voted 216-211 to pass the Republican health care bill without an extension of the ACA subsidy, which now goes to the Senate. It was separately reported that the Senate voted 77-22 to pass the USD 901bln bill setting defence policy and spending for the 2026 fiscal year, which goes to President Trump for signing
US approves $11.1 billion arms package for Taiwan, largest ever: RTRS
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino Says He Will Leave in January
Elliott Said to Build a $1 Billion-Plus Stake in Lululemon: BBG
Warner Demands Larry Ellison’s Personal Guarantee in Paramount Bid: WSJ
ECB to Hold With Economy on Sturdier Footing: BBG
Sweden Holds Rate at 1.75% as Growth Builds, Inflation Cools: BBG
BP Appoints First Outsider as CEO After Ousting Auchincloss: BBG
All That Cheap Chinese Stuff Is Now Europe’s Problem: WSJ
Fed’s Bostic (2027 voter, retiring) said GDP growth is solid and expects that trend to continue into next year, while he added it is less clear what will happen on the employment side.
America’s Largest Landowner Bets It Can Replace Met Coal With Pine Trees: WSJ
Frustration Grows as Hunt for Brown Shooter Drags On: WSJ
Trade/Tariffs
French President Macron said numbers on Mercosur trade deal does not add up right now and talks are not yet over.
Chinese Commerce Ministry, on talks with the EU on EV tariffs, said they are still being negotiated.
Chinese Commerce Ministry, on EU rare earth export licenses, said some Chinese licence applications have been approved.
Chinese Commerce Ministry, on EU’s FRS (Foreign Subsidies Regulation) Investigation, said it has severely impacted Chinese firms business and investment operations in the EU.
China’s Commerce Ministry, on steel licences, said it involves some 300 products; designed to strengthen monitoring and tracking of exports.
US President Trump said they used to have the worst trade deals anywhere in the world and were laughed at, but they’re not laughing anymore. said:. Much of the success has been due to tariffs. One year ago, the country was dead and ready to fail, and now its the hottest anywhere in the world.
Japan government said consultation committee for the USD 550bln US-bound investment package held its meeting on Thursday.
A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk
European bourses are broadly in the green, in contrast to a mostly subdued APAC session as markets await policy decisions from the BoE an the ECB. European sectors are trading mixed. Retail (+1.0%), Financial Services (+0.4%) and Real Estate (+0.4%) lead. Retail has been underpinned by gains in Curry’s (+8.6%) after Co. posted strong half year growth. At the other end of the spectrum, Autos (-0.6%), Banks (-0.5%) and Travel & Leisure (-0.3%) lag.
APAC stocks were mostly lower following on from the tech-led selling stateside and ahead of US inflation data and a slew of upcoming central bank decisions. ASX 200 was flat with the index constrained by weakness in energy, gold miners and industrials. Nikkei 225 briefly dipped beneath the 49,000 level amid tech woes and anticipation of a BoJ rate hike when the central bank concludes its 2-day policy meeting tomorrow. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were mixed as tech-related headwinds dampened risk sentiment in Hong Kong, although the mainland kept afloat after the PBoC’s open market operations, in which it opted to utilise both 7- and 14-day reverse repos.
Top Asian News
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara said watching market moves, including long-term rates closely.
South Korea’s Finance Minister said concerned of FX volatility widening, adds closely monitoring impacts from diverging monetary policies abroad on local markets.
South Korea Vice Finance Minister sees herd behaviour in markets, adds KRW declines seem more excessive compared to the economy’s fundamentals.
Central Banks
Norges Bank maintains its Key Policy Rate at 4.00% as expected; if the economy evolves broadly as currently projected, the policy rate will be reduced further in the course of the coming year. If the policy rate is lowered too quickly, inflation could remain above target for too long. With a gradual decline in wage growth ahead, inflation is projected to move down and be close to 2 percent in 2028. Sees 2026 Key Policy Rate at 3.9% (prev. forecast 3.9%). Sees 2027 Key Policy Rate at 3.4% (prev. forecast 3.5%).
Norges Bank’s Bache said NOK is weaker than previously assumed, raising inflation prospects slightly.
Riksbank maintains its rate at 1.75% as expected; reiterates rate is expected to remain at this level for some time to come. Although inflation has varied somewhat from month to month, it has overall developed in line with the Riksbank’s forecast in September and approached 2 per cent. Indicators continue to support the view of inflationary pressures in line with the target going forward.
Riksbank’s Thedeen said policy rate will stay at this level at some time going forward, with this view covering the horizon for the Bank’s rate path.
China Securities Times reported PBoC rate cut room shrinks amid shift of focus to policy mix, and noted aggressive RRR cuts are less needed.
FX
DXY traded little changed with price action contained ahead of US CPI data due later today and following comments from a couple of Fed speakers, including Waller who stated that the Fed is 50bps-100bps over neutral and there is no rush to cut rates given the outlook, but added that they can continue to bring the rate down. Furthermore, the attention overnight turned to US President Trump’s primetime address, where he announced more than a million service members will get a special dividend of USD 1,776 before Christmas and flagged aggressive housing reforms in the new year, but which had little impact on the currency.
EUR/USD traded sideways beneath the 1.1750 level with a lack of catalysts as participants awaited the ECB meeting.
GBP/USD struggled for direction after weakening yesterday on the softer-than-expected UK CPI data, which solidified the bets for a 25bps BoE rate cut later today.
USD/JPY remained afloat after reversing the declines seen earlier in the week, despite the expectations of a looming BoJ rate hike as the central bank begins its 2-day conclave.
Antipodeans marginally softened amid the lacklustre risk appetite and quiet overnight data calendar, while there was very little support seen following mixed New Zealand GDP data.
PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.0583 vs exp. 7.0403 (Prev. 7.0573)
Fixed Income
10yr UST futures kept afloat but with the upside limited following yesterday’s choppy performance amid commentary from Fed’s Waller and an average 20-year bond auction, while participants await the incoming US inflation data.
Bund futures rebounded off the prior day’s trough in rangebound trade with few catalysts ahead of the ECB meeting.
10yr JGB futures edged higher amid the downbeat mood in risk assets, although gains were capped as the BoJ kick-started its 2-day policy meeting.
Commodities
Crude futures were initially boosted amid the US blockade against Venezuela and recent reports of potential new US energy sanctions on Russia, although futures later pared much of the gains alongside US President Trump’s primetime address to the nation, given that there was no mention of the blockade or Russian sanctions.
Qatar lowered the February term price for Al Shaheen oil to USD 0.53/bbl above Dubai.
Dubai set official crude differential to GME Oman for March at USD 0.10/bbl discount.
Venezuela is running out of oil storage space amid tanker curbs, with its main oil storage and tankers sitting at terminals quickly filling up and may be at maximum capacity in about 10 days, which could force state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela SA, whose production is close to 1mln bpd a day, to shut-in wells, according to Bloomberg.
Israeli PM Netanyahu said he has approved the country’s largest ever gas deal with Egypt valued at USD 35bln.
Spot gold was lacklustre amid a steady dollar and with early weakness in other metal prices, including silver, which pulled back from record levels, before paring its losses.
Copper futures saw early pressure amid the subdued risk appetite but has since bounced off intraday lows.
Geopolitics
Ukrainian President Zelensky said Moscow clearly shows it is ready for war in 2026, and the US says Russia wants to end the war, but Moscow is sending opposite signals. Furthermore, he said the summit in Brussels should show there is no point for Russia to continue the war because Ukraine will have the financial means to defend itself.
US and Russia are to hold talks on the Ukraine war in Miami this weekend, according to Politico. US Envoy Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law Kushner are to represent the US, while the plans remain in flux, but if they go ahead this weekend, the administration will present the outcome of the most recent round of discussions to Russian officials, who have not shifted much on their demands.
Ukrainian attack damaged a ship in the southern Russian port of Rostov-on-Don, while there were deaths among the crew, according to the regional governor.
OTHER
US military said it conducted a strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific, which killed four men.
Venezuela requested a UN Security Council meeting to discuss ongoing US aggression. It was separately reported that Venezuela’s Navy were escorting vessels following the blockade threat, while Washington was aware of escorts and mulls course of action, according to NYT.
Taiwan’s Defence Ministry announced that the US government initiated a congressional notification procedure for arms sales to Taiwan totalling USD 11.1bln, while the Taiwan Presidential Office said they express sincere gratitude for the new US arms sale package and noted that Taiwan will continue to promote defence reforms, as well as demonstrate its determination to defend itself and safeguard peace through strength.
DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap
Markets failed to see much Christmas cheer yesterday, with the S&P 500 (-1.16%) posting a fourth consecutive decline from its record high last week. The selloff had multiple drivers, but doubts about AI valuations were top of mind, with Oracle (-5.40%) falling to a six-month low after the FT reported that Blue Owl Capital wouldn’t back a $10bn deal for Oracle’s data centre in Michigan.Moreover, fixed income mostly struggled as inflation concerns crept back in, with 10yr Treasury yields (+0.8bps) inching higher, whilst 10yr bund yields (+1.9bps) reached their highest since the fiscal stimulus announcement in March, at 2.86%. So it was a rough day across the board, and the major equity indices in Asia have also lost ground overnight.
Interestingly, it had appeared yesterday as though markets might finally stabilise. But the first loss of momentum came after that FT report, which heightened concerns around a potential AI bubble, and meant that Oracle’s 5yr credit default swaps climbed to 156bps, their highest since the GFC. The other problem is the AI fears are interacting with growing concerns around the US outlook, particularly after we found out the unemployment rate hit a 4-year high in November. So tech stocks led yesterday’s declines, with the Mag 7 (-2.12%) having its worst day in over a month, led by a -3.81% slump for Nvidia, and other cyclical sectors also struggled. Defensive stocks fared relatively better, with energy (+2.21%) the best performing sector after Brent crude (+1.29%) recovered to $59.68/bbl following Trump’s blockade of sanctioned tankers for Venezuela.
Looking forward, the focus will be back on US data today, as the delayed CPI report for November is out at 13:30 London time, which will be important for whether the Fed have the space to keep cutting rates in 2026. This is going to be a slightly unusual report, as the government shutdown meant the October data wasn’t collected, so we won’t get the usual monthly change that we normally focus on with US inflation. That means the focus will instead be on the year-on-year rates, and how those compare to the previous print in September. In terms of what to expect, our US economists think that headline CPI had an average increase of +0.24% over October and November, which would keep the year-on-year rate at +3.0%. Then for core CPI, they expect a similar average increase of +0.26% over the last two months, which would also keep the year-on-year rate at +3.0%. See their preview here for more details.
In the meantime, investors are still looking at who might become the next Fed Chair, with Trump saying in his latest address that it would be announced in the new year and would be “someone who believes in lower interest rates”. Over the last 48 hours, speculation around Governor Chris Waller has rise significantly, with the initial catalyst being a WSJ report on Tuesday that Waller would be interviewed. Indeed, Waller even briefly moved into second place on Polymarket yesterday, overtaking former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh. However, that reversed later on and as we go to press this morning, NEC Director Kevin Hassett (52%) is still in the lead, followed by Warsh (25%) and then Waller (14%). We actually heard from Waller as well yesterday, who said that the US labour market was “very soft”, and that rates were probably 50-100bps from neutral. So those comments meant US Treasury yields pared back some of their initial increase, only closing up +0.8bps at 4.15%, having peaked at 4.18% shortly before the US open.
Meanwhile in Europe, central banks are also in the spotlight as we have the ECB’s latest decision today. They’re widely expected to keep their deposit rate at 2%, where it’s been since June. However, last week saw growing speculation about a potential hike next year, as Isabel Schnabel of the Executive Board said that “I’m rather comfortable” with expectations that the next move would be a hike. So talk about a hike has risen up the agenda, and on Wednesday last week, pricing for a 2026 hike moved as high as 50% on an intraday basis. For now, however, our European economists interpret the recent data and ECB commentary as consistent with an extension of the current pause. Their view is it implies a lower chance of more cuts, rather than a greater chance of imminent hikes. For more info, see their full preview here, where they also discuss what would be needed to hike rates next year, and what could push the ECB into cutting again.
Staying on central banks, the Bank of England are also announcing their latest decision today, where a 25bp cut to 3.75% is widely expected. In fact, there was further momentum behind that yesterday after the UK CPI print was beneath every economist’s estimate on Bloomberg, at +3.2% in November (vs. +3.5% expected). Moreover, core CPI also fell back to +3.2% (vs. +3.4% expected). So investors dialled up the likelihood of a cut today to 98% by last night’s close, and there was a big rally in gilts too, with the 2yr yield (-6.0bps) falling to 3.69% , its lowest since August 2024. Meanwhile, the pound weakened by -0.35% against the US dollar, which supported the FTSE 100 (+0.92%) given the multinationals in the index benefit from the weaker pound. For more info on the BoE’s decision, see our UK economist’s preview here.
Despite the gains for UK equities, the mood was more downbeat across the rest of Europe, with the STOXX 600 (-0.002%) posting an incredibly small decline. Sentiment wasn’t helped by the latest German data, as the Ifo’s business climate indicator unexpectedly fell to a 7-month low of 87.6 in December (vs. 88.2 expected). In addition, yields moved higher across the continent, with 10yr bund yields (+1.9bps) rising to 2.86%, their highest level since March, right after plans to relax the debt brake were announced.
Overnight in Asia, the downbeat mood from the US session has mostly continued, with losses for the Nikkei (-0.86%), the KOSPI (-1.32%), the Hang Seng (-0.22%) and the CSI 300 (-0.24%). By contrast, the Shanghai Comp (+0.42%) is one of the few to be advancing this morning. Meanwhile, we have seen US equity futures begin to stabilise, with those on the S&P 500 (+0.13%) and the NASDAQ 100 (+0.35%) rising after chipmaker Micron gave an upbeat forecast for this quarter.
To the day ahead now, and the highlights will be the ECB and Bank of England policy decisions. Over in the US, we’ll also get the CPI report for November, and the weekly initial jobless claims
1 b) European opening report
1c Asian opening report
European equities futures point to an uneventful open ahead of a flurry of rate decisions, which include the BoE and ECB – Newsquawk EU Market Open
Thursday, Dec 18, 2025 – 12:54 AM
APAC stocks were mostly lower following on from the tech-led selling stateside and ahead of US inflation data and a slew of upcoming central bank decisions.
US President Trump’s primetime address to the nation made no mention of a US blockade against Venezuela or Russian sanctions.
US President Trump said he will soon announce the next Fed chair and that the new Fed chair will believe in lowering interest rates by a lot.
US equity futures traded rangebound with little reaction seen following President Trump’s primetime address and as participants awaited US CPI data.
European equity futures indicate an uneventful cash market open with Euro Stoxx 50 futures U/C after the cash market closed with losses of 0.6% on Wednesday.
Looking ahead, highlights include US CPI (Nov), Jobless Claims (w/e 13 Dec), Philly Fed (Dec), Japanese CPI (Nov), NZ Trade Balance (Nov), ECB Announcement, BoE Announcement, Norges Bank Announcement, Riksbank Announcement, CNB Announcement, Banxico Announcement. Speakers include Norges Bank’s Bache, Riksbank’s Thedeen, ECB’s Lagarde & BoE’s Bailey, Supply from US, Earnings from Carnival, Nike & FedEx.
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US TRADE
EQUITIES
US stocks were hit on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq underperforming as the tech sector was sold following reports that Oracle’s (ORCL) USD 10bln Michigan data centre deal is in limbo after funding talks with Blue Owl (OWL) stalled, and although Oracle said the equity deal is still on schedule, its shares still slid c. 5%. Meanwhile, chip names were weighed on (NVDA -3.9%, AMD -5.3%) by reports that Chinese researchers completed a working EUV prototype in early 2025 and are targeting 2028 for working chips, adding more competition in the tech space and reducing the need for chips from US companies in China. Furthermore, Google (GOOGL) was reportedly set to collaborate with Meta (META) to expand software support for AI chips, with the project aiming to make TPU run well on PyTorch as an alternative to NVIDIA (NVDA).
SPX -1.16% at 6,721, NDX -1.93% at 24,648, DJI -0.47% at 47,886, RUT -1.07% at 2,492.
US President Trump said they used to have the worst trade deals anywhere in the world and were laughed at, but they’re not laughing anymore, while he added that much of the success has been due to tariffs and that one year ago, the country was dead and ready to fail, but now it’s the hottest anywhere in the world.
NOTABLE HEADLINES
Fed’s Bostic (2027 voter, retiring) said GDP growth is solid and expects that trend to continue into next year, while he added it is less clear what will happen on the employment side.
US President Trump said he will soon announce the next Fed chair and that the new Fed chair will believe in lowering interest rates by a lot, while Trump also stated that he will announce aggressive housing reforms in the new year and said more than a million service members will get a special dividend of USD 1,776 before Christmas.
US President Trump was told by his former lawyer that the Constitution is ambiguous regarding the question of a third term, according to WSJ.
US House voted 216-211 to pass the Republican health care bill without an extension of the ACA subsidy, which now goes to the Senate. It was separately reported that the Senate voted 77-22 to pass the USD 901bln bill setting defence policy and spending for the 2026 fiscal year, which goes to President Trump for signing.
White House official said US President Trump is expected to address marijuana rescheduling on Thursday.
APAC TRADE
EQUITIES
APAC stocks were mostly lower following on from the tech-led selling stateside and ahead of US inflation data and a slew of upcoming central bank decisions.
ASX 200 was flat with the index constrained by weakness in energy, gold miners and industrials.
Nikkei 225 briefly dipped beneath the 49,000 level amid tech woes and anticipation of a BoJ rate hike when the central bank concludes its 2-day policy meeting tomorrow.
Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were mixed as tech-related headwinds dampened risk sentiment in Hong Kong, although the mainland kept afloat after the PBoC’s open market operations, in which it opted to utilise both 7- and 14-day reverse repos.
US equity futures traded rangebound with little reaction seen following President Trump’s primetime address and as participants awaited US CPI data, while the Emini Nasdaq 100 was marginally supported following Micron’s earnings beat and strong outlook.
European equity futures indicate an uneventful cash market open with Euro Stoxx 50 futures U/C after the cash market closed with losses of 0.6% on Wednesday.
FX
DXY traded little changed with price action contained ahead of US CPI data due later today and following comments from a couple of Fed speakers, including Waller who stated that the Fed is 50bps-100bps over neutral and there is no rush to cut rates given the outlook, but added that they can continue to bring the rate down. Furthermore, the attention overnight turned to US President Trump’s primetime address, where he announced more than a million service members will get a special dividend of USD 1,776 before Christmas and flagged aggressive housing reforms in the new year, but which had little impact on the currency.
EUR/USD traded sideways beneath the 1.1750 level with a lack of catalysts as participants awaited the ECB meeting.
GBP/USD struggled for direction after weakening yesterday on the softer-than-expected UK CPI data, which solidified the bets for a 25bps BoE rate cut later today.
USD/JPY remained afloat after reversing the declines seen earlier in the week, despite the expectations of a looming BoJ rate hike as the central bank begins its 2-day conclave.
Antipodeans marginally softened amid the lacklustre risk appetite and quiet overnight data calendar, while there was very little support seen following mixed New Zealand GDP data.
PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.0583 vs exp. 7.0403 (Prev. 7.0573)
FIXED INCOME
10yr UST futures kept afloat but with the upside limited following yesterday’s choppy performance amid commentary from Fed’s Waller and an average 20-year bond auction, while participants await the incoming US inflation data.
Bund futures rebounded off the prior day’s trough in rangebound trade with few catalysts ahead of the ECB meeting.
10yr JGB futures edged higher amid the downbeat mood in risk assets, although gains were capped as the BoJ kick-started its 2-day policy meeting.
COMMODITIES
Crude futures were initially boosted amid the US blockade against Venezuela and recent reports of potential new US energy sanctions on Russia, although futures later pared much of the gains alongside US President Trump’s primetime address to the nation, given that there was no mention of the blockade or Russian sanctions.
Qatar lowered the February term price for Al Shaheen oil to USD 0.53/bbl above Dubai.
Dubai set official crude differential to GME Oman for March at USD 0.10/bbl discount.
Venezuela is running out of oil storage space amid tanker curbs, with its main oil storage and tankers sitting at terminals quickly filling up and may be at maximum capacity in about 10 days, which could force state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela SA, whose production is close to 1mln bpd a day, to shut-in wells, according to Bloomberg.
Israeli PM Netanyahu said he has approved the country’s largest ever gas deal with Egypt valued at USD 35bln.
Spot gold was lacklustre amid a steady dollar and with early weakness in other metal prices, including silver, which pulled back from record levels, before paring its losses.
Copper futures saw early pressure amid the subdued risk appetite but has since bounced off intraday lows.
CRYPTO
Bitcoin gradually edged higher after rebounding from a brief dip beneath the USD 86,000 level.
NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES
PBoC injected CNY 88.3bln via 7-day reverse repos and CNY 100bln via 14-day reverse repos.
China Securities Times wrote PBoC’s rate cut room shrinks amid a shift of focus to policy mix, and that aggressive RRR cuts are less needed.
DATA RECAP
New Zealand GDP Prod Based QQ SA (Q3) 1.1% vs. Exp. 0.9% (Prev. -0.9%, Rev. -1.0%)
New Zealand GDP Prod Based YY SA (Q3) 1.3% vs. Exp. 1.3% (Prev. -0.6%, Rev. -1.1%)
GEOPOLITICS
RUSSIA-UKRAINE
Ukrainian President Zelensky said Moscow clearly shows it is ready for war in 2026, and the US says Russia wants to end the war, but Moscow is sending opposite signals. Furthermore, he said the summit in Brussels should show there is no point for Russia to continue the war because Ukraine will have the financial means to defend itself.
US and Russia are to hold talks on the Ukraine war in Miami this weekend, according to Politico. US Envoy Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law Kushner are to represent the US, while the plans remain in flux, but if they go ahead this weekend, the administration will present the outcome of the most recent round of discussions to Russian officials, who have not shifted much on their demands.
Ukrainian attack damaged a ship in the southern Russian port of Rostov-on-Don, while there were deaths among the crew, according to the regional governor.
OTHER
US military said it conducted a strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific, which killed four men.
Venezuela requested a UN Security Council meeting to discuss ongoing US aggression. It was separately reported that Venezuela’s Navy were escorting vessels following the blockade threat, while Washington was aware of escorts and mulls course of action, according to NYT.
Taiwan’s Defence Ministry announced that the US government initiated a congressional notification procedure for arms sales to Taiwan totalling USD 11.1bln, while the Taiwan Presidential Office said they express sincere gratitude for the new US arms sale package and noted that Taiwan will continue to promote defence reforms, as well as demonstrate its determination to defend itself and safeguard peace through strength.
EU/UK
NOTABLE HEADLINES
UK is to water down rules for financial benchmarks with most index providers to be exempt from UK regulations under a scaled-back regime, according to FT.
2.a NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA
b. JAPAN
3. CHINA/
4 EUROPEAN/NATO AFFAIRS/SCANDINAVIA
EUROPE
Cold, Green Europe: What Happens When Ideology Trumps Physics
Europe stands as the self-proclaimed cathedral of the “green” transition.
Bureaucrats in Brussels and politicians in Berlin have spent decades lecturing the world on the moral necessity to abandon hydrocarbons.
They have constructed a narrative of the European Union as a shining city powered by the breeze and sun, modeling a net-zero utopia.
Yet, when the first real chill of winter settled over the continent this fall, that facade collapsed under the weight of physical reality.
Europe depends on fossil fuels for approximately 70% of its total energy consumption. This figure has remained stubbornly consistent over the years despite billions of euros spent on solar and wind infrastructure. The much-celebrated growth in those technologies masks a fundamental truth about energy systems that European policymakers refuse to acknowledge in public: Electricity accounts for only a fraction of total energy demand.
Transportation, heating, industrial processes and manufacturing continue to run overwhelmingly on oil, natural gas and coal. Highlighting additions in renewable power generation while ignoring the broader energy picture is like taking pride in a new front door while the rest of the house is in shambles
In late November, the fragility of a weather-dependent energy system went on display as temperatures dropped and the demand for space heating surged. This is a predictable feature of life in the Northern Hemisphere, yet European energy policy seems perpetually surprised by it.
Right when families needed heat the most, the wind refused to blow. This is the “Dunkelflaute” – the dark doldrums – about which engineers have warned for years. Wind generation plummeted by 20%.
Operators of the power grid, needing a backup source to avoid blackouts, turned not to batteries, which remain woefully inadequate for the job. Instead, they harnessed a workhorse of today’s energy systems: natural gas. Gas-fired generation surged by more than 40% to fill the void left by stalled wind turbines.
In the Netherlands, heating-degree days – a measure of demand for warmth – were 35% above the five-year average. Data from mid-November paints a damning picture of the failure of so-called renewables. Between November 14 – 21, as the first cold spell gripped the region, European gas demand skyrocketed by 45%.
In absolute terms, daily gas demand leaped by 0.6 billion cubic meters per day. This was not a gradual uptick. It was the panic-induced spike of a 75% increase in residential and commercial heating needs.
Gas storage sites were the unsung heroes of this drama, meeting approximately 90% of the jump in daily demand during a critical week. Withdrawals from storage facilities surged by nearly 450%.
The magnitude of this intervention by natural gas is difficult to overstate. To put the 0.6 billion cubic meters of gas into perspective, consider that the energy equivalent of that amount of gas is the daily output of 220 nuclear power plants – a number nearly five times the size of France’s entire nuclear fleet.
Imagine the catastrophe if Europe had achieved its net-zero goals and eliminated its gas infrastructure. There is no battery system on Earth, existing or planned, that could deploy the equivalent of 220 nuclear reactors.
Despite this frantic consumption of gas, prices have remained relatively stable. This was not due to European foresight. It was due to the “peace dividend” of potentially resolving the Ukraine conflict and, more importantly, a flood of liquefied natural gas from the United States.
Herein lies the supreme irony of the story: An anti-fossil fuel, anti-drilling European Union is keeping its population alive only because of a pro-fossil fuel, pro-human administration across the Atlantic.
The United States, by encouraging hydrocarbon production, has created the surplus that now warms European homes.
Fossil fuels are the lifeblood of daily life, especially in advanced societies, which cannot run on the wishful thinking of wind and sun worshipers. The stability of European society today rests on the shoulders of American drillers of gas wells.
The European Union serves as a warning of what happens when ideology trumps physics. Climate mandates cannot make the wind blow. The “green” emperor has no clothes, and, baby, it’s cold outside.
END
SPAIN
In Spain Foreigners Commit 5X More Rapes, 4X More Murders Than Spaniards; New Study Finds
A new study highlights the outsized role of foreigners in serious crimes in Spain, which has seen worrying growth in rapes, attempted murders, and other serious crimes in just the last five to six years. The CEU-CEFAS Demographic Observatory report, titled “Demography of Crime in Spain,” examines the evolution of crime across various demographic groups and geographical areas in the country, and the researchers are warning about “imported crime” due to mass immigration.
While confirming Spain’s status as one of the safest countries globally regarding severe crimes against persons, the study highlights several trends concerning the involvement of foreigners in criminal activities.
Murder and rape
Some of the key findings indicate that foreigners, who make up 31 percent of Spain’s prison population, commit per capita 500 percent more rapes and 414 percent more murders than Spanish citizens. The highest rates are seen among Arabs and Latinos, with many of them hailing from countries in South America known for their extremely high crime rates.
🇪🇸‼️ In Barcelona, North African migrants were caught on camera trying to bundle an 11-year-old girl into a car while she was on the way to the shop opposite her home.
Her mother speaks out, "She burst into the house in tears, trembling. That night, she couldn't sleep or eat. It… pic.twitter.com/9LL7lxHQUL
While the murder numbers are stable in Spain at 300 per year, there has been explosive growth in attempted murders. Between 2019 and 2023, a matter of four years, attempted murder cases nearly doubled, going from 836 to 1,507.
In just five years, penetrative rape cases also soared 143 percent, going from 2,2143 in 2019 to 5,206 in 2024.
As Remix News has reported on in the past, in many Spanish states, the crime statistics show massive overrepresentation of foreigners in serious crimes like sexual assault, including in the Basque region.
Illegal occupation
Spain is also dealing with a serious crisis involving illegal property occupation, with 170,000 cases recorded between 2010 and 2024.
Of those arrested, 51.8 percent were foreigners, which is 610 percent more than Spaniards.
A North African migrant robs an 80-year-old woman of her gold chain as she returns home with shopping in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat.
This is happening multiple times a day in crime-ridden Catalonia — mainland Spain's migrant hub. Only this time, it was caught on camera. pic.twitter.com/wpCiTphE9q
In cases of robbery with violence, foreigners are 440 percent more likely to commit such a crime.
Many such cases have made headlines in the Spanish media.
Crime should be decreasing
The study heads indicate that Spain’s aging population should have led to a decrease in crime rates, but the influx of migrants, amounting to 3.8 million per decade, has led to an “imported crime” problem.
The report confirms a consistent pattern that violent crime is predominantly committed by young men. Specifically concerning nationality, the study indicates that foreigners have much higher crime rates than Spaniards, particularly for the most serious offenses against persons, such as homicide, rape, and robbery. This overrepresentation is noted to be especially pronounced among individuals of African and Latin American origin.
Data on the prison population supports this finding: in 2024, 31 percent of the prison population was foreign-born (excluding naturalized or second-generation immigrants). This proportion is more than double their share of the general population in the 20-69 age group, with North Africans and Latin Americans showing significant overrepresentation.
‘Imported Crime’ and Migration
The report introduces the concept of “imported crime,” which includes violent offenses, property crimes, jihadism, Latin gangs, and drug trafficking networks. The study specifically analyzes two types of crimes.
Jihadist terrorism has been linked with Muslim immigration, predominantly Moroccan.
At the same time, Latin Gangs are a growing menace. These are associated with first- and second-generation young Hispanic immigrants, with a strong presence observed in Madrid.
The study points out that the increase in the immigrant population—a net gain of 3.8 million people in the last decade—has influenced the rise in many serious crime categories.
The report concludes by calling for the regulation of migration flows in Spain and Europe, citing public safety as a compelling reason. It also advocates for increased police and judicial resources and harsher penalties for rising crimes to preserve Spain’s overall low crime rates.
In the latest insane case of free speech being utterly dead in the UK, a socially isolated man has been slapped with an 18-month prison sentence for two anti-immigration tweets that barely anyone saw—viewed a pathetic 33 times combined.
Luke Yarwood, 36, let loose on X after a deadly car attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, last December. His posts called to burn migrant hotels and take to the streets in force – ugly stuff, sure, but in a free society, should that land you behind bars when it reached fewer eyes than a bad cat video?
Even more disturbing, Yarwood’s own brother-in-law, locked in a family feud, ratted him out to the authorities. It’s straight out of Orwell’s 1984, where family members turn on each other for “Wrongthink.”
Prosecutors at Bournemouth Crown Court painted Yarwood as a threat, claiming his “extremely unpleasant posts” could spark disorder near local migrant hotels. Never mind the tiny audience—his defense called them the “impotent rantings of a socially isolated man” with no real-world impact.
But Judge Jonathan Fuller wasn’t buying it, slamming the tweets as “odious in the extreme” and designed to stir racial hatred.
Yarwood’s first tweet responded to Germans fed up with immigration, reading “Head for the hotels housing them and burn them to the ground.” The second, replying to a GB News post, stated “I think it’s time for the British to gang together, hit the streets and start the slaughter. Violence and murder is the only way now. Start off burning every migrant hotel then head off to MPs’ houses and Parliament, we need to take over by FORCE.”
Clearly the rantings of an unstable individual, other posts from Yarwood griped about not hearing English in Bournemouth and asylum seekers eyeing local girls – hardly incitement, but part of a month-long pattern prosecutors used to nail him. There was, of course, zero evidence of any actual violence sparked.
This insanity echoes the case of Lucy Connolly, jailed for 31 months over a single tweet venting about asylum hotels after the Southport murders. Now free, Connolly has claimed her 13-year-old daughter was subsequently barred from a new school because the headteacher sniffed out mom’s “racist” conviction, calling it too “difficult.”
As the Free Speech Union has noted, this is outright discrimination, punishing kids for parents’ views—yet another tentacle of Britain’s speech crackdown.
And it’s not isolated. Recent findings reveal how UK police have arrested nearly 10,000 for “offensive” online content in 2024 alone—30 a day—while practically ignoring knife crime and burglaries.
To make matters worse, Judge Fuller, who threw the book at Yarwood, reportedly let a man caught with child abuse images off with just 40 days of community service last year. If true, it reeks of skewed priorities: harsh on words, soft on real predators.
5. RUSSIA AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS
ISRAEL VS HAMAS
TBN ISRAEL/LAST 24 HR
ISRAEL VS HAMAS
Flooding in Gaza Strip hampers search for remains of final hostage Ran Gvili – report
The source told Ynet that “efforts to locate Ran are continuing through other means.”
Displaced Palestinians walk through floodwaters near their tents following heavy rains in Gaza City on December 15, 2025.(photo credit: Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP via Getty Images)ByJERUSALEM POST STAFFDECEMBER 18, 2025 09:05
Flooding across the Gaza Strip has impeded search efforts for the remains of Ran Gvili, the final hostage to remain in Gaza captivity, Israeli sources told Ynet on Thursday.
“The team for hostages and missing persons is in continuous contact with the mediators,” a source told Ynet. “Gal Hirsch has discussed the issue with senior Egyptian and American officials. In addition to waiting for improved weather conditions, efforts to locate Ran are continuing through other means.”
“We are monitoring developments and emphasize the agreed commitment to make a 100% effort to return all fallen hostages,” the source added. “This is not an event of tactical significance; his return has implications for the implementation of the agreement, and we will not relent on this issue.”
IRAN/USA
Israel examining possibility Iran involved in murder of nuclear scientist in US – report
This is an assessment that has not yet been verified and is not supported at this stage by official findings from the investigative authorities in the United States.
Israeli officials are examining intelligence from recent days that suggests an Iranian connection to the murder of Prof. Nuno Loureiro, a senior nuclear scientist at MIT, who was shot dead in his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, on Monday evening.
This is an assessment that has not yet been verified and is not supported at this stage by official findings from the investigative authorities in the United States.
Prof. Loureiro, who had previously spoken out in favor of Israel, was a 47-year-old Portuguese-born world-renowned plasma and nuclear fusion researcher.
After being found wounded in his home, he was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition, where he was pronounced dead hours later. Brookline police and the Massachusetts District Attorney’s Office have opened a murder investigation, but so far no suspects have been arrested, and no motive has been released.
Members of the IRGC step on US and Israeli flags during the 46th anniversary of the U.S. expulsion from Iran, in Tehran, November 4, 2025. (credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)
Israel’s investigation into murder of US nuclear scientist
The Israeli investigation is being conducted against the backdrop of Loureiro’s sensitive field of research. He was considered one of the world’s leading researchers in energy and nuclear physics and has served in key roles at research centers related to the development of future technologies.
However, informed sources have emphasized that at this stage, there is no unequivocal determination or evidence linking the murder to a state or intelligence operation.
In the United States, authorities are maintaining ambiguity. According to official statements, all avenues of investigation, criminal and otherwise, are being examined, and evidence is being collected from the shooting scene and the immediate vicinity.
So far, no signs of a break-in have been reported, and investigators are refraining from addressing speculation about a political, ideological, or security motive.
Loureiro’s death shocked the international academic community. MIT’s administration issued a statement of condolence, noting his extraordinary scientific contributions and his status as a “brilliant researcher and dedicated teacher.”
Colleagues and students described a man who was at the forefront of global research and worked to advance advanced energy solutions.
In parallel with the official investigation, various speculations regarding the background to the murder have been circulating on social media and in some media outlets, including claims of political or national affiliation.
Law enforcement officials in the United States and Israel emphasized that, at this stage, there are no findings to substantiate these claims.
END
ISRAEL VS HAMAS/AUSTRALIA BONDI BEACH
NSW police intercept cars en route to Bondi Beach, arrest seven to stop ‘violent act’
The men were en route to Bondi Beach, but police noted that they had not yet connected the arrests to Sunday’s terrorist attack.
Suspects are arrested in connection with a planned violent act, in southern Sydney, Australia, December 12, 2025.(photo credit: SCREENSHOT/X, SECTION 27A COPYRIGHT ACT)ByMICHAEL STARRDECEMBER 18, 2025 12:46Updated: DECEMBER 18, 2025 13:21
Two vehicles were intercepted in southern Sydney on Thursday in connection with a planned violent act, with New South Wales Police noting that at this point no connection to the Bondi Beach massacre was identified.
Seven men were detained by police in Liverpool, acting on a tip about a violent act being planned.
Unconfirmed reports circulating online suggest heavily armed police units acted on intelligence about several men travelling from Melbourne, Vic and heading towards the Bondi area in NSW. They were intercepted in Liverpool, NSW. pic.twitter.com/u2GZDU7TA7
Sky News Australia and other local outlets reported that the men were on their way from Victoria to Bondi Beach, but police said that they had not yet connected the investigation to the Sunday terrorist attack on a Hanukkah party.
A suspect sits after being arrested by Australian tactical police units on December 18, 2025. (credit: screenshot, SECTION 27A COPYRIGHT ACT)
“At this point in time, police have not identified any connection to the current police investigation of the Bondi terror attack,” said NSW police.
Fifteen people were murdered, and 40 were wounded in the massacre conducted by a father-son terrorist team.
END
SAME STORY/ZEROHEDGE
Australian Counterterrorism Unit Rams Car, Arrests Five Men Suspected Of Planning Violence
Thursday, Dec 18, 2025 – 06:55 AM
Four days after the Bondi Beach terror attack in Australia, a counterterrorism unit stopped what appeared to be a vehicle carrying five Middle Eastern men in Liverpool, Sydney, who were allegedly heading toward the Bondi Beach area.
BREAKING:
Australian police ram a car with 5 Islamists travelling to Bondi Beach.
Seems like they had info that another attack might have been imminent. The West is full of dangerous Islamists. pic.twitter.com/jbUGtBaC53
Local media 7NEWS Sydney reported, “Counter terrorism police have deliberately rammed a car in Liverpool to arrest those inside, shocking onlookers on Campbell Street.”
Counter terrorism police have deliberately rammed a car in Liverpool to arrest those inside, shocking onlookers on Campbell Street. pic.twitter.com/9nexWyDwZp
Sky News said NSW Police acted on intelligence given the heightened security environment following the Bondi Beach terror attack four days ago, which left 15 people dead and more than 40 injured at a Hanukkah celebration. The victims ranged in age from children to elderly adults, and the attack has been widely described as an antisemitic terrorist act by radical Islamists.
“Tactical Operations police responded to information received that a violent act was possibly being planned,” NSW Police wrote in a statement.
“It’s understood police took a cautious approach to the intelligence, given the climate in the wake of the Bondi terror attack on Sunday evening,” the outlet noted, adding, “It’s unclear what the intention of the men was in travelling to Bondi.”
UK tabloid Daily Star …
Is anyone going to tell the liberals that mass migration was perhaps a bad idea?
END
Trump is nuts: there is not peace in the Middle East
President Trump had kicked off this week by saying that there is “legitimate peace in the Middle East for the first time in 3,000 years,” comments that came after three Americans, including two National Guard members and a civilian interpreter, were killed in Syria.
The president made the remark when asked why the US has troops in Syria. “Because we’re trying to make sure that there’s going to be and remain peace in the Middle East, and Syria is a big part of it,” he said.
“The new leader is a strong person, and that’s what you need,” Trump said, referring to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former al-Qaeda commander who took power in Damascus after the ousting of Bashar al-Assad.
“It’s been amazing what — what’s taken place in Syria. We got rid of Assad,” Trump said, acknowledging a US role in the regime change that put Sharaa’s group of jihadists, known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, in power.
The three Americans were killed on Saturday by a member of Syria’s security forces — though the US has claimed in the face of Damascus’ own admissions that it was an ‘ISIS attacker’.
“We got rid of other people that were really bad people and that were in the way of peace in the Middle East. You know, we have legitimate peace in the Middle East, first time in 3,000 years, and we have 59 countries backing it, and we’ll see what happens with Hamas,” Trump said, referring to the Gaza ceasefire deal, which Israel has continued to violate by killing nearly 400 Palestinians since it went into effect.
Israel has also continued to violate a ceasefire deal in Lebanon signed in November 2024 with near-daily strikes, surveillance flights, and ground incursions. “Hezbollah in Lebanon has been a problem. We’ll see what happens there,” Trump said.
The president appeared to be arguing that it was necessary for the US to be involved in the Middle East to maintain “peace,” and also referenced the 12-day US-Israel war on Iran, which killed over 1,000 Iranians, as an example of US action in the region.
Trump on Syria:
It has been amazing what has taken place in Syria.
We got rid of Assad, we got rid of other people that were really bad people.
“If we didn’t knock out there nuclear capability, we would have never had peace,” he followed with.
RUSSIA VS UKRAINE
RUSSIA
Russia Deploys Entire Fleet Of Nuclear Icebreakers To Arctic
Thursday, Dec 18, 2025 – 04:15 AM
Russia has deployed all eight of its nuclear icebreakers simultaneously in an unprecedented move. The fleet is being used to keep critical winter shipping lanes in the Gulf of Ob and the Yenisei Gulf open, ensuring continued access to key export terminals. The deployment sends a clear signal to the West that Russia can sustain year-round Arctic shipping and maintain its natural resource export revenues.
Ship tracking website MarineTraffic reported earlier this week:
Russia deploys all eight nuclear icebreakers to keep Arctic export routes open.
Russia has, for the first time, deployed its entire fleet of eight nuclear-powered icebreakers simultaneously to maintain winter navigation in the Gulf of Ob and the Yenisei Gulf. #MarineTraffic data shows that the nuclear icebreakers Taymyr, Yamal, Arktika, Yakutiya, Sibir, and 50 Let Pobedy have been operating in the Gulf of Ob since December 14, supporting traffic linked to Arctic Gate, Yamal LNG, and other terminals. Meanwhile, Ural and Vaygach are deployed in the Yenisei Gulf, enabling access to ports and industrial sites deep inside Siberia.
Russia deploys all eight nuclear icebreakers to keep Arctic export routes open
Russia has, for the first time, deployed its entire fleet of eight nuclear-powered icebreakers simultaneously to maintain winter navigation in the Gulf of Ob and the Yenisei Gulf. #MarineTraffic data… pic.twitter.com/mjBE03RKYl
Maritime news website gCaptain added more color to this unprecedented move by Russia:
For the first time, all four of Russia’s new Project 22220 Arktika-class nuclear icebreakers are deployed simultaneously. Arktika, Ural, Sibir, and Yakutiya represent the future of Russia’s nuclear icebreaking capability, offering greater power, improved efficiency, and the ability to operate both in deep Arctic seas and, with adjustable draft, in shallower coastal waters.
Looking ahead, Russia has three additional nuclear icebreakers of the new Arktika class under construction. Chukotka, Leningrad, and Stalingrad are expected to enter service in 2026, 2028, and 2030, respectively, bringing the new Arktika class to a total of seven vessels, though western sanctions against Rosatomflot have slowed construction.
In parallel, the massive Leader-class icebreaker Rossiya is intended to enable year-round navigation along the Northern Sea Route by around 2030, but its completion timeline has been pushed back multiple times. It is currently around 30 percent complete based on progress updates.
To sum up, Russia’s export system has come under intense Western sanctions, with the threat of another round if Moscow does not agree to a near-term peace deal with Ukraine. The deployment of the icebreakers sends a clear message to Brussels and Washington that Arctic energy will continue to flow, whether they like it or not.
END
RUSSIA UKRAINE
EU Will Look ‘Weak’ If It Doesn’t Confiscate Russian Funds, Zelensky Tells Crunch Summit
Thursday, Dec 18, 2025 – 12:00 PM
“We have to find a solution today,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “We won’t leave the European Council without a solution for the funding for Ukraine for the next two years.”
The 27 leaders of the European Union are gathered in Brussels Thursday, trying to figure out a way forward on raising at least €90 billion to meet Ukraine’s financial and military needs for the next two years. Central to this is an expected decision on confiscating Russian assets, but major hurdles remain – especially the fact that Belgium is dead set against it, and this is where the bulk of these assets are held.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Brussels too, and he’s laying the guilt-trip and emotions on thick. He warned on Thursday that Europe will be seen as “weak” if it doesn’t confiscate the funds.
“I know that Russia is threatening different countries over this decision. But we shouldn’t be scared of these threats – we should be scared that Europe will be weak,” he said. He’s also said that painful sacrifices will be needed to protect Europe.
There have been no breakthroughs reported following the morning session, however, also as the threat of major Russian legal action, including lawsuits, hangs over Belgium:
There is no breakthrough in the discussions yet. The main sticking point remains the financial guarantees that Belgium is asking from the other 26 EU member states. This “reparations loan” – that is what the European Commission calls it – is Russian money that is frozen here in the EU.
This will be the backup for a loan to Ukraine, which in theory will have to be paid back by Russia after the war in terms of reparations. But this is all in theory, because maybe Russia is never going to pay reparations, and that’s why Belgium is asking for guarantees.
The total amount of these assets is 210 billion euros ($247bn) across countries in Europe, but the European Commission has proposed starting with a 90-billion-euro ($106bn) loan for the next two years, so Belgium wants guarantees for at least this amount.
The Kremlin has decried all of this as making plans for outright theft, and that it would respond accordingly, placing Belgium most directly in its crosshairs.
While the EU argues that there is no “theft” as “the right of the Russian Central Bank to make a claim on its money and Euroclear’s duty to repay will remain in tact,” Belgian leadership has remained resistant to EU leaderships’ scheming.
Prime Minister of Belgium, Bart De Wever recently voiced the following: “The European states pushing for the confiscation of Russian assets in Belgium are mostly those bordering Russia, which have experienced Soviet tyranny and are psychologically at war. But we are not at war with Russia. And we do not wish to be at war with Russia. We must negotiate based on reality, not fantasy. In reality, you dyou don’t steal money from a foreign central bank. Stealing from a central bank is like robbing an embassy.”
6. GLOBAL ISSUES//COVID ISSUES/VACCINE ISSUES/HEALTH ISSUE
Actor Peter Greene (Pulp Fiction); TV director Josh Becker; film exec Brad Luff; singer Camryn Magness (26); country star Raul Malo (60, C); composer Gordon Goodwin; footballer Steve Taneyhill; & more
Pulp Fiction actor Peter Greene found dead in New York apartment
December 13, 2025
Peter Greene, the actor known for his roles in Pulp Fiction and The Mask, has died at the age of 60. He was found dead at his New York City apartment on Friday, his manager said, and the cause of death has not been disclosed. Police told the New York Post that no foul play was suspected. Greene drew praise for the various villains he played during his career including his portrayal of Zed, a rapist security guard in Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 film Pulp Fiction, and Dorian in the Jim Carrey movie The Mask in the same year.
TV Director and ‘Evil Dead’ Crew Member Dies Suddenly: Family Announces Death of Josh Becker
December 13, 2025
Josh Becker, a filmmaker and crew member on the original Evil Dead film who frequently collaborated with director Sam Raimi, has passed away. Becker’s sister, Pamela, announced the sad news of his death in a Facebook post. “I am in a state of disbelief and profoundly heartbroken to share the loss of my Brother Josh Becker. Literally, NO WORDS,” she wrote alongside a candid snapshot of the two. The filmmaker’s online obituary stated that he passed away on December 7 but did not mention the cause of death. He was 67 years old. Becker began making Super 8 films in junior high alongside fellow Detroit natives Sam Raimi and Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell. He contributed to 1981’s The Evil Dead by handling lighting, sound, and other tasks. During production, he kept a detailed journal, which is available to read in full on Evil Dead Archives.
Brad Luff, Film Executive and ‘Saving Silverman’ Producer, Dies at 60
December 12, 2025
Brad Luff, a veteran film executive known for producing “Saving Silverman,” has died, TheWrap has learned. He was 60. The former executive, who worked at a number of prominent studios and production companies, including Original Film, Morgan Creek, Sony, Dimension Films, Universal and Warner Bros., passed away at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Friday afternoon following various health struggles. Word of Luff’s health issues broke this summer, after a GoFundMe was launched days after he suffered a “sudden and serious stroke.” At the time, organizers for the GoFundMe shared that Luff was left “unable to speak” and “paralyzed” on the right side of his body. However, in September, a positive update was shared regarding his health battle, with friends revealing that Luff had made “encouraging progress with his mobility.” “The road ahead remains quite uncertain, but Brad is surrounded by excellent care and the support of family and friends,” the statement read at the time. On Friday, his friend, David Kingsdale, confirmed to TheWrap that the producer had passed away that afternoon. A graduate of UCLA’s class of ’85, Luff started out as a banker at Wells Fargo, where he worked on entertainment deals before making a full move into the industry.
Singer Camryn Magness, who opened for One Direction, dies at 26
December 11, 2025
Singer Camryn Magness, best known for performing alongside pop superstars One Direction and Fifth Harmony, has died. She was 26. Magness’ death was revealed in an emotional post on the singer’s social media pages Tuesday, Dec. 9. A cause of death was not disclosed. The tribute included a brief clip of Magness scuba diving. The Denver native showed an early penchant for music, signing with the record label 5280 Media in 2008 at the age of 9. Her debut single, “Wait and See,” was featured in the 2011 children’s comedy “Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer,” as well as her songs “Summer” and “So What Oh Well.”
Raul Malo, lead singer of The Mavericks, died Monday, Dec. 8, following a battle with cancer. He was 60. The Grammy Award-winning musician’s wife, Betty Malo, confirmed his death on social media. Malo was diagnosed with coloncancer in 2024 and disclosed in September that he was also fighting leptomeningealdisease (LMD), a rare condition where cancerspreads to the tissues surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
Award-winning musical composer Gordon Goodwin—perhaps best known for his work on Pixar’s The Incredibles—has died at the age of 70. Goodwin’s wife, Vangie Gunn-Goodwin, shared the tragic news via Facebook on Monday, December 8. “It is with the heaviest of hearts that I share that my beloved, brilliant, sweet, beautiful, kind, gentle and most wonderful of all people, my husband, Gordon Goodwin, has passed away this afternoon December 8 from complications of pancreaticcancer,” she wrote.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Legendary South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback Steve Taneyhill, one of the all-time leading passers in school history who led the team to its first-ever bowl win, has passed away. Sources confirmed to News19 Monday morning Taneyhill had died. He was 52 years old. Taneyhill played for the Gamecocks from 1992-95 and was known for his trademark mullet hairstyle. As a freshman, he was named SEC Offensive Freshman off the Year, was named Freshman of the Year by Sports Illustrated, and was picked by the Football News to be on their Freshman All-American Team.
Super Bowl champ suffers death of daughter years after losing younger child Faulk’s other daughter died in 2021
December 10, 2025
Lafayette, Louisiana – Super Bowl champion running back Kevin Faulk suffered a tragic death in his family for the second time. The former New England Patriots and LSU star’s 30-year-old daughter, Tanasha Faulk, has died, according to an obituary in The Advocate. She is the second daughter of the former football player who has died. Kevione Faulk died in 2021 at the age of 19. Tanasha Faulk, who died at a hospital in Lafayette, Louisiana, is survived by her three daughters. No official cause of death was listed but there was no sign of foul play, according to the outlet.
Former Tennessee House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick, a Chattanooga Republican who balanced a fierce temper with an ability to forge bonds across the political spectrum, died Thursday after a battle with ALS. He was 63. McCormick had left the Legislature to embark on a lobbying career when he noticed a persistent limp in his right leg in 2021. The Gulf War veteran was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, a progressive, neurodegenerativedisease.
ALBUQUERQUE, NM – Brianna Louis Ishimwe, a precious soul, was born on December 1, 2025, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She graced the world for just a brief moment before passingaway on December 2, 2025, also in Albuquerque. Though her time with us was fleeting, her presence will forever be cherished in the hearts of her family and friends.
6-year-old dies in Times Square hotel after mystery illness during NYC holiday trip
December 10, 2025
New York, NY – A 6-year-old Maryland boy was found dead Tuesday morning inside a Times Square hotel after suddenly becoming violently ill while visiting the Big Apple with his family, cops and sources said. Police found the boy unconscious and unresponsive when they responded to the Hampton Inn on Seventh Avenue near West 41st Street around 9:40 a.m., authorities said. The boy’s parents told cops their son was sick Monday night and had been vomiting during the trip in the thick of the holiday season, the sources said. The child was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His body did not show any physical signs of trauma, cops said. The city’s medical examiner’s office will officially confirm how he died.
Passaic Boy Who Enlisted In Marines With Dreams Of Becoming Pilot Dies At 17
December 9, 2025
According to his obituary on the Alvarez Funeraria website, Jose was born in Bogotá, Colombia. He was an honor roll student at Passaic [NJ] High School and had already enlisted in the Marine Corps with hopes of becoming a pilot, according to a GoFundMe launched by Brooke Lynn Valoy. He was remembered as a hardworking student who was known for his kindness and the support he showed to others. The GoFundMe described him as someone who put people first and carried big dreams that inspired those around him.
NC A&T State University honoring senior who passed away from rare cancer: ‘A great loss’
December 14, 2025
GREENSBORO, N.C. — North Carolina A&T State University leaders will honor a student who passed away from a rare form of cancer this weekend during a commencement ceremony. Walking through campus and retracing the steps of her daughter, Lakeisha Reynolds visited Barnes Hall at NC A&T. It’s a place where her daughter, Ceyani Pratt, once took classes. “She was an academic. She was a big sister to all of her siblings. She was the oldest child,” Reynolds said. Reynolds says that while majoring in biology, her daughter became sick. “She had a rarecancer called rhabdomyosarcoma. Her cancer attacked her organs, her bone marrow, her pelvic area,” Reynolds said. She passed away in August 2025.
Researcher’s note: NC A&T “will require fans to provide proof of vaccination [sic] against COVID-19 for all home football games this fall or provide negative COVID-19 test results 72 hours prior to gain entry”: Link
Cause Of Death Announced For ‘Beloved’ 19-Year-Old College Soccer Player
December 14, 2025
A cause of death has officially been announced for 19-year-old college soccer player Claire Tracy. The Rice University soccer player died suddenly at her apartment. She was found dead by authorities last week. The 19-year-old college soccer player was found dead from an apparent suicide. The official cause of death was announced as “asphyxia due to oxygen displacement by helium,” which means that her lungs were rid of oxygen and replaced with helium. The manner of death was ruled as a suicide by authorities.
Researcher’s note: Rice U.’s covid “vaccination” policy for students: Students enrolled on campus for the 2022-2023 academic year are expected (but not required) to have completed a full vaccination [sic] series for COVID-19 (currently defined as full course COVID-19 Vaccine (typically two shots of a WHO approved COVID-19 Vaccine [sic] or one J&J) and a COVID-19 booster. Attaching a copy of these vaccines [sic] to your health form is optional.
‘the massive effort on flu vaccination in the general population is a waste of time and effort; the frail and elderly get no overall reduction death, hospitalization (see McCullough also); take NO flu
shot, it cannot work, has never worked, and actually predisposes you to actual flu, influenza infection. Original antigenic sin also for then the recall is to the prime and you are left vulnerable to any emerging circulating pathogen…it is a complete disaster, the flu vaccine campaign, a LIE! See Japanese study below…
read this:
Until the emergence of COVID-19, influenza had for many decades been the deadliest vaccine-preventable viral respiratory disease, one for which only less than suboptimal vaccines are available. Over the years, influenza vaccines have never been able to elicit durable protective immunity against seasonal influenza virus strains, even against non-drifted strains…their effectiveness against clinically apparent infection is decidedly suboptimal, ranging from 14% to 60% over the past 15 influenza seasons.
What do you think about them apples? Fauci himself just stated that…not too long ago…
Key finding:
‘study identified moderate vaccine effectiveness in preventing the incidence of influenza in the Japanese elderly. Vaccine effectiveness showed a trend of gradual attenuation. Clinicians should suspect influenza infection even in those vaccinated, especially in elderly individuals who had received vaccination more than 4 or 5 months previously.’
NEWSWIZE
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MICHAEL EVERY/OR OR PICTON/GIFFIN OR RABOBANK EXECUTIVE/COMMENTARY ON WORLDLY AFFAIRS
7. OIL ISSUES/NATURAL GAS/ENERGY ISSUES/GLOBAL\
8. EMERGING MARKETS//AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND ISSUES
VENEZUELA
ROBERT H TO US: A MUST READ!!
Reclaiming Venezuela for Her People Benefits the United States | The Epoch Times
Reclaiming Venezuela for Her People Benefits the United States
The fight is against an unholy international coalition.
12/16/2025
Colombian soldiers patrol an illegal trail on the Colombia-Venezuela border, near Cucuta, Norte de Santander Department, Colombia, on Dec. 12, 2025. Schneyder Mendoza/AFP via Getty Images
Commentary
Venezuela’s authoritarian socialist regime has left a narco-dictatorship and metastasized throughout the region. Encroachment into the United States, especially via the Tren de Aragua paramilitary network, has brought the issue to a head. Revelations regarding electoral meddling have also made clear that the Chavistas are not content to sit at home and rest on their dictatorial laurels.
The prospect of U.S. intervention has divided Americans who advocate for limited government. There is little appetite for what many perceive to be a discretionary war, and this would be a more costly endeavor than the Panama incursion of 1989–1990.
Enemies Within the Gates
However, the problem is no longer over there; it is here. Without staunch resistance, the Chavista regime—AKA the Soles Cartel and its minions, proxies, and benefactors—will march forward and entrench itself in the United States. That includes entrenching itself within U.S. intelligence agencies and the foreign-policy apparatus, as the Cubans have done for decades.
Yes, the situation compels regime change, but not in the way it has been maligned. Amid the accusatory language and retail politics, there has been an absence of plain reality regarding the situation’s severity. While diplomatic solutions have failed so far, and military action may be necessary, any approach must consider long-term stability.
If there is one lesson from the past quarter century in Venezuela, it is that peaceful protests, targeted sanctions, and diplomatic negotiations are laughable to the regime. Unless confronted kinetically, it will dig in its heels and remain in power.
The Imperialism Red Herring
The way observers throughout the Western Hemisphere have stood idly by and watched Venezuela has been systematically plundered is a vergüenza—a profound disgrace. Posturing about nonintervention might make one feel moral, but it does nothing to halt the violation. Neighbors such as Brazil and Colombia could have taken the initiative earlier, but now they have neither the will nor the wherewithal.
After so much time, only U.S. leadership can bring Venezuelans any semblance of democracy. The opposition have made many valiant attempts to reclaim their country, but they are up against a powerful, sophisticated, and vicious alliance the likes of which the world has never seen.
Ecuador, Panama, and the Dominican Republic can provide coalition support. They, along with Paraguay, have declared the Soles Cartel a terrorist organization. However, only U.S. firepower can get the job done. Even then, it will not be a walk in the park, given the decentralized, determined, messy, and transnational enemy.
Those who recognize this and want to take action face accusations of imperialism or colonialism and of violating national sovereignty. It is difficult to take these pejoratives seriously, and kowtowing to them is a fool’s errand. However, they resonate with self-conscious Americans who do not wish to be seen as domineering or intruding in other people’s territories.
While some fear this would be seen as imperialism, the regime’s openness to foreign influence from hostile powers challenges traditional notions of sovereignty. Otherwise, it would be on a mission to oust Colombian, Chinese, Cuban, Iranian, and Russian agents from Venezuela. These bad actors violate Venezuelan sovereignty with abandon and have filled the power vacuum left by U.S. disinterest.
Venezuela lost sovereignty many years ago. Those stuck there are ruled as much from Havana as from Caracas. Thousands of Cuban agents remain in and profit from Venezuela, assisting with citizen surveillance, restructuring the military, and replicating the island’s tyranny. Fidel Castro worked with Hugo Chávez for years before his election in 1998, and their socialist dream (read: nightmare) has come true.
In addition to the Cubans, dictator Nicolás Maduro partners with the Chinese Communist Party, Bolivarian Alliance nations such as Nicaragua, Colombia’s National Liberation Army, FARC-dissident guerrillas, and even Islamic terrorists. There are also Cuban-trained paramilitary colectivos that intimidate anyone who gets out of line.
Working with the democratic opposition, therefore, is restoring Venezuelan sovereignty.
The Right Option, Not the Easy Option
Leaving Venezuela to fester is the easy option. However, the price will be paid at a later date and at a high rate of interest. The longer this goes on, the more difficult the cleanup will be. All manner of problems—from human trafficking and electoral dark money to socialist alliances and Latin America’s law of the jungle—will plague the United States. Between 20 and 25 percent of Venezuelans have fled since 1999, and the exodus will continue in the absence of decisive action.
Turning a blind eye to Cuba spawned the Chavista regime, and you can expect more aligned nations to come. Honduras appears to have avoided that fate this year, by rejecting the Libre party, but Cuba and Venezuela are cultivating allies, with their sights set on Guatemala.
There have been opportune times for U.S. engagement, especially in 2002 and the mid-2010s. The United States left those on the table, perhaps because leftists dominated the State Department. Meanwhile, the Venezuelan diaspora has continued to swell and put down roots elsewhere. With each year that passes, fewer members of the aristocracy are likely to return. Their support will be crucial to establishing the necessary institutions for a free society.
The right option, albeit difficult for paleo-conservatives to accept, is clear: use limited military engagement to restore Venezuelan governance. Ideally, this will proceed from an open debate and constitutional declaration of war from Congress. The endeavor would benefit Venezuelans immeasurably, as it would benefit Americans and Venezuela’s neighbors.
In Line With National Security Strategy
The good news is that there is an overwhelming democratic mandate for Edmundo González and María Corina Machado. That means there will not be grassroots resistance to U.S. support for their leadership. Rather, the resistance will come from the Soles Cartel, the transnational crime network disguised as a state.
The path forward fits well into the recently released National Security Strategy, which cites a reinvigorated Monroe Doctrine from the 19th century. That has two tenets for the Americas: (1) keeping out hostile foreign powers, chiefly the Chinese Communist Party, and (2) asserting U.S. leadership and values. The document explains that “Not every country, region, issue, or cause—however worthy—can be the focus of American strategy. The purpose of foreign policy is the protection of core national interests.”
Cuban exile scholar José Azel further explains that President Donald Trump’s foreign policy is U.S.-centric: “It will not be a foreign policy that will put fear in the minds of oppressive regimes as some had hoped. Dictatorships offend our values, but not necessarily our national interests. However, the equation changes when U.S. national interests are threatened.”
Venezuela’s problems have already undermined U.S. interests. Restoring democracy in Venezuela is not a utopian nation-building exercise on the other side of the world. Rather, it is a win-win endeavor pivotal to establishing Pax Americana in the Western Hemisphere—to pushing back against neofeudalism and making the region stable for trade and economic development.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
end
CANADA
67% Of Canadians Say Cost Of Living In Their Region Is Worst They’ve Seen
Nearly seven in every 10 Canadians are identifying the cost of living in their area as a major issue, according to a newly released survey.
An Abacus Data poll found that 67 percent of the 1,500 people surveyed earlier this month said the cost of living in their area is the worst they can ever remember it being. Another 21 percent say the cost of living is bad where they live, although they can recall periods when it was even more challenging.
Only 11 percent say the cost of living is not bad, the survey said.
A recent poll in the United States found that 46 percent of Americans say the cost of living is the most challenging they can recall, which suggests that Canadians are experiencing this pressure even more intensely, Abacus Data CEO David Coletto said in the survey report.
Canadians polled also said the cost of living should be the federal government’s top priority. Sixty-two percent of people polled identified it as one of their top three issues compared to health care at 40 percent, and economic growth at 34 percent.
Housing affordability was fourth on the list at 25 percent, followed by immigration and the Canada-U.S. trade relationship at 24 percent.
Food and Housing Prices Top Concerns
The cost of groceries play a major role in the cost of living and Canadians largely cited food prices as a contributing factor to the rising cost of living, Coletto said.
“The most widely cited concern is grocery prices, selected by 81 percent of Canadians,” he wrote. “Food prices are the most universal and emotionally resonant cost because they are unavoidable and visible every week.”
He noted that the concern rises sharply with age, from 61 percent of those in the 18 to 29 age group to 93 percent of those who are 60 and older.
The survey results were released the same day as new data from Statistics Canada indicated an increase in food prices in November, following a similar rise in October.
Food prices from stores experienced a year-over-year increase of 4.7 percent in November following a rise of 3.4 percent the previous month, StatCan said.
Housing expenses, such as rent, mortgage payments, and property prices, was the second most-frequently cited cost-of-living issue, accounting for 50 percent overall.
“Here the generational divide is clearer,” Coletto said. “Six in 10 Canadians under 30 cite housing as a major pressure, compared with fewer than four in 10 among those aged 60 and over.”
While other costs were mentioned as a concern by those surveyed, they held less significance than food or housing costs. Still, utility bills, household item prices, health-care costs, transportation costs, insurance bills, and debt repayments are all on Canadians’ radar, the poll found.
“While affordability is a shared concern, what people mean by affordability varies by life stage,” Coletto said. “Messages that treat the cost of living as a single problem risk missing the specific pressure points that different audiences feel most acutely.”
Political Impact
The increasing cost of living has been identified as the primary concern nationwide; however, this issue is especially pronounced in Atlantic Canada and Ontario, according to the poll’s findings.
A significant majority across all age demographics said affordability should be a primary focus for the federal government, Coletto said. Younger Canadians tend to associate this issue with housing affordability, whereas older Canadians are more inclined to connect it with health care and Canada’s trade relationship with the United States.
Many Canadians see affordability as a structural and global issue rather than merely the consequence of a single government’s choices, which mitigates blame, despite ongoing high levels of frustration, Coletto said. But he warned that could change over time.
“For now, the cost of living remains a warning light rather than a red light for the Carney government,” he wrote. “But the intensity of feeling, combined with seasonal pressures and fragile household finances, means the issue is unlikely to fade quietly into the background.”
END
YOUR EARLY CURRENCY/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN CLOSING MARKETS AND EUROPEAN BOURSE OPENING AND CLOSING/ INTEREST RATE SETTINGS THURSDAY MORNING 6;30AM//OPENING AND CLOSING
EURO/USA: 1.1730 DOWN 0.0011 PTS OR 11 BASIS POINTS/WITH STOCKS IN EUROPE ALL MIXED
USA/ YEN 155.82 UP 0.333 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..TAKAICHI NEW PM AS YIELDS RISE//JAPAN DEEPLY IN TROUBLE WITH RISING RATES
GBP/USA 1.3320 DOWN .0096 OR 96 BASIS PTS
USA/CAN DOLLAR: 1.3774 UP 0.0019 CDN DOLLAR DOWN 19 BASIS PTS//CDN DOLLAR STILL GETTING KILLED)
Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE CLOSED UP 6.09 PTS OR 0.16%
Hang Seng CLOSED UP 5.72 PTS OR 0.02%
AUSTRALIA CLOSED UP 0.33%
// EUROPEAN BOURSE: ALL MIXED
Trading from Europe and ASIA
I) EUROPEAN BOURSES: ALL MIXED
2/ CHINESE BOURSES / :Hang SENG CLOSED UP 5.72 PTS OR 0.02%
/SHANGHAI CLOSED UP 6.09 POINTS OR 0.16%
AUSTRALIA BOURSE CLOSED UP 0.33 %
(Nikkei (Japan) CLOSED DOWN 433.28 PTS OR 0.88%
INDIA’S SENSEX IN THE RED
Gold very early morning trading: 4327.25
silver:$66.20
USA dollar index early THURSDAY morning: 98.10 UP 10 BASIS POINTS FROM WEDNESDAY’s CLOSE
THURSDAY MORNING NUMBERS ENDS
And now your closing THURSDAY NUMBERS 11: 30 AM
Portuguese 10 year bond yield: 3.151 % DOWN 2 in basis point(s) yield
JAPANESE BOND 10 yr YIELD: +1.963% DOWN 2 FULL POINTS AND 0/100 BASIS POINTS /JAPAN losing control of its yield curve/
JAPAN 30 YR: 3.378 UP 3 BASIS PTS//DEADLY
SPANISH 10 YR BOND YIELD: 3.287 DOWN 2 in basis points yield
ITALIAN 10 YR BOND YIELD 3.5111 DOWN 2 points in basis points yield ./ THE ECB IS QE’ ING ITALIAN BONDS (BUYING ITALIAN BONDS/SELLING GERMAN BUNDS)
GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD: 2.8575 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS
IMPORTANT CURRENCY CLOSES : MID DAY THURDAY
Closing currency crosses for day /USA DOLLAR INDEX/USA 10 YR BOND YIELD/1:00 PM
Euro/USA 1.1738 DOWN 0.0005 OR 5 basis points
USA/Japan: 155.40 DOWN 0.096 OR YEN IS UP 10 BASIS PTS// HIGHLY INFLATIONARY TO JAPAN
Great Britain 10 YR RATE 4.4870 UP 1 BASIS POINTS //
GREAT BRITAIN 30 YR BOND; 5.213 DOWN 2 BASIS POINTS.
Canadian dollar DOWN 0.009 OR 9 BASIS pts to 1.3778
Bonds Bid Amid Market Mayhem Ahead Of Biggest OpEx In History
WRAP UP;
DATA RELEASES
Initial Jobless Claims Show No Signs Of Labor Market Distress
Thursday, Dec 18, 2025 – 08:51 AM
After the Thanksgiving Week debacle, the number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the first time remains back in the same – very low – range it has been in for the last four years at 224k…
Source: Bloomberg
After the shutdown, we have seen an uptick in initial jobless claims in the ‘Deep TriState’…
Source: Bloomberg
Continuing jobless claims bounced back a little from the big Thanksgiving week plunge but remain well off recent highs…
Source: Bloomberg
So despite the uptick in the BLS-derived unemployment rate, jobless claims data show no signs of acute distress anywhere.
end
CPI
quite tame! tumbles more than expected
(zerohedge)
Fed Inflation Target Nears As US CPI Tumbles More Than Expected In November
Fed Inflation Target Nears As US CPI Tumbles More Than Expected In November
Thursday, Dec 18, 2025 – 08:36 AM
‘A grain of salt’ is how many have described their position on this morning’s government shutdown-delayed release of October and November Consumer Price Inflation data.
Headline CPI slowed to 2.7% YoY in November (dramatically below the 3.1% YoY expected)
Core CPI fell to 2.6% YoY in November (well below the 3.0% YoY expected) and the lowest since March 2021…
There is very little additional data for now with Core Goods and Services down modestly while Energy prices were higher…
…but will drop notably as oil prices have plunged…
Shelter and Rent inflation also continues to slow dramatically…
SuperCore CPI also plunged…
3m annualized CPI tumbled to 2.08% YoY… very close to The Fed’s target…
Finally, we end with three words from Goldman’s Delta-One desk-head with regard this morning’s data: ‘beware the noise’.
Disinflation remains a key pillar of the equity bull case, and these levels still imply inflation hovering closer to 3% so not quite there yet (but heading in the right direction… a lot faster than many expected).
USA ECONOMIC COMMENTARIES
First Brown University Shooting, Then MIT Professor Murder, Police Investigate Possible Link
by Tyler Durden
Thursday, Dec 18, 2025 – 03:40 PM
Authorities on Thursday continued the search for the killer of a world-renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor and fusion energy physicist who was shot and killed inside his home near Boston earlier this week – a suspicious attack that occurred just days after the deadly shooting at Brown University.
MIT professor and fusion energy physicist Nuno F. Gomes Loureiro, 47, was pronounced dead at a local area hospital on Tuesday after being shot multiple times at his Brookline home on Monday night. The Norfolk district attorney’s office and local authorities said they had launched a homicide investigation.
“It’s not hyperbole to say MIT is where you go to find solutions to humanity’s biggest problems,” Loureiro recently said when he was named the new head of MIT’s Plasma Science Lab. “Fusion energy will change the course of human history.”
The murder of Loureiro occurred two days after the Brown University shooting, which took place fewer than 50 miles away.
Local media WPRI Rhode Island reports that investigators are now searching for a possible link between the two shootings.
Senior law enforcement sources say federal, state, and local authorities have uncovered evidence suggesting the two incidents may be connected, marking a major shift in the investigation. This contrasts with earlier statements from the FBI’s Boston field office, which said there appeared to be no connection.
At Brown, the gunman killed Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov. Cook served as vice president of the Ivy League school’s College Republicans. In both cases, the shooting suspects remain at large.
“Nuno was not only a brilliant scientist, he was a brilliant person,” Dennis Whyte, a fellow MIT professor, wrote in an obituary posted by the university.
Whyte noted, “He shone a bright light as a mentor, friend, teacher, colleague and leader and was universally admired for his articulate, compassionate manner. His loss is immeasurable to our community at the PSFC, NSE and MIT, and around the entire fusion and plasma research world.”
By midweek, Israeli news publication The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli officials were examining intelligence suggesting a possible Iranian connection to Loureiro’s shooting death. The outlet cautioned that the assessment has not been verified and is not supported at this stage by official findings from U.S. investigative authorities.
Separately, The Times of Israel published a blog post by journalist Rafael Baptista, who wrote:
Imagine having unlimited energy. Cheap, clean energy. What would that do to entrenched interests and powerful monopolies? Think of the hole it would blow in the fossil fuel industry. And national security? If I were a Putin or a Khamenei, I wouldn’t be happy about a technological leap coming from his research. Even Israeli authorities haven’t ruled out Iranian involvement. A breakthrough like this would leave such regimes permanently behind. It would redraw the balance of global power.
The strange shooting deaths occurred just days apart and less than an hour away from each other at two of America’s leading Ivy League schools.
The claim that JPMorgan is “behind” a current repo crisis and forcing the Fed to launch “QE Lite again” echoes conspiracy-style narratives from the 2019 repo market turmoil, but it doesn’t align with recent developments as of December 2025.
2019 Repo Crisis Context
In September 2019, overnight repo rates spiked dramatically (briefly hitting 10%), prompting the Fed to intervene with emergency repo operations and eventual asset purchases (often called “QE4” or “not QE” by critics). Some analysts and outlets (e.g., ZeroHedge, Wall Street on Parade) blamed JPMorgan, arguing it reduced its reserves at the Fed by ~$158 billion earlier that year and withheld lending due to post-2008 regulations like the Supplementary Leverage Ratio (SLR) and G-SIB surcharges. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon later confirmed the bank couldn’t freely lend reserves needed for liquidity stress tests. Mainstream views (e.g., Reuters, Fed analyses) attributed the spike to broader factors: QT draining reserves, quarter-end balance sheet window-dressing, corporate tax payments, and Treasury settlement strains. JPMorgan was an outlier in reserve reduction but not the sole cause.
Current Situation (Late 2025)
No acute “repo crisis” comparable to 2019 exists today. The repo market has faced periodic strains:
Tightening from QT (balance sheet runoff since 2022, reducing ~$2 trillion).
Quarter-end volatility (e.g., record Standing Repo Facility usage in October 2025).
Elevated SOFR rates signaling funding pressures.
These are managed via existing tools like the Standing Repo Facility (SRF), with no widespread panic or rate spikes to 10%.Recent JPMorgan Actions: In 2025, JPMorgan has withdrawn ~$350 billion from Fed reserve accounts since 2023, shifting into U.S. Treasuries to lock in higher fixed yields ahead of rate cuts. This reduces floating-rate exposure at the Fed (earning declining IORB) but drains system reserves, potentially exacerbating tightness—similar to 2019 criticisms. However, this is a profit-driven move amid falling rates, not evidence of deliberately “breaking” the market.Fed’s “QE Lite” Response: The Fed ended QT in late 2025 and began “Reserve Management Purchases” (RMPs) of short-term Treasuries (e.g., T-bills, ~$40 billion initially) to maintain ample reserves and prevent liquidity scares. The Fed explicitly states this is not QE—it’s technical balance sheet management focused on reserves, not broad stimulus or long-term bond buying to lower yields. Analysts (e.g., Wolf Street, Business Insider) note market effects resemble mild QE (added liquidity boosting stocks/bonds), but it’s precautionary after QT brought reserves near “ample” lows, not a bailout triggered by one bank.In summary, while JPMorgan’s reserve shifts contribute to broader liquidity dynamics (as in 2019), there’s no evidence it’s singly “behind” a crisis or directly forcing Fed action. Strains stem from multi-year QT, rising Treasury issuance, and regulatory constraints on bank intermediation. The Fed’s RMPs are proactive reserve maintenance, not emergency QE revival. For real-time repo data, rates have stabilized post-volatility, with the market ~$12-13 trillion in size and functioning via tools like SRF.
The Treasury cash-futures basis trade involves hedge funds (often domiciled in places like the Cayman Islands) buying cash U.S. Treasury securities while shorting equivalent Treasury futures contracts, profiting from the small pricing discrepancy (the “basis”) that converges at futures expiration. This trade is highly leveraged—sometimes 50-100x or more—and financed primarily through the overnight repo market, making it extremely sensitive to funding conditions (e.g., repo rates and overall liquidity).Why It’s “At the Mercy” of the FedThe trade’s stability hinges on cheap, abundant repo funding and stable reserves in the financial system. Disruptions—like rising repo rates or liquidity drains—can trigger margin calls, forced unwinds, and amplified Treasury market volatility (as seen in March 2020 during the COVID crisis). The Fed controls this environment through:
Its balance sheet (reserves supply).
Tools like the Standing Repo Facility.
Rate policy.
In 2025, the basis trade grew massively (estimated $1-2 trillion notional exposure), absorbing much of the Treasury supply during quantitative tightening (QT). Tightening liquidity in late 2025 (e.g., high Treasury bill issuance, rising repo rates above the fed funds target) strained funding and raised concerns about potential fragility.Recent Fed Actions (as of December 18, 2025)The Fed ended QT in late 2025 and, on December 10, announced reserve management purchases (RMPs) of Treasury bills—starting with ~$40 billion initially—to maintain “ample” reserves and ease money market pressures. This directly supports cheaper repo funding, providing a favorable backdrop for basis trades by preventing spikes in borrowing costs. Analysts note this helps sustain arbitrage activity that enhances Treasury market liquidity.The “Mutiny at the Fed” AngleRecent FOMC meetings (October and December 2025) saw unusual dissents—multiple members voting against the majority on rate cuts—reflecting internal divisions over inflation risks (e.g., from tariffs), labor market strength, and the pace of easing. Some hawks pushed back against further cuts, while doves wanted faster action. This discord signals potential policy uncertainty ahead: if hawks prevail and easing slows/stops, liquidity could tighten again, stressing basis trade funding. Conversely, the Fed’s proactive RMPs show willingness to intervene for stability, acting as a backstop.In short, the trade thrives under accommodative Fed liquidity but remains vulnerable to any “mutiny”-driven pivot toward tighter policy. As of now, the Fed’s actions are supportive, reducing immediate risks compared to earlier 2025 stresses (e.g., April tariff volatility, where the trade held stable)
END
Bessent Forecasts ‘Substantial’ Tax Refunds, Real Wage Increases Next Year
Confirming President Trump’s triumphant comments last night, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this week that an increase in Americans’ tax refunds would enable the United States to “go back to the kind of economy that we had.”
While speaking to Fox Business, Bessent said that “substantial refunds” are coming to Americans after they submit their taxes in the first quarter.
“They will get an increase in real incomes. So I am very optimistic for working Americans, for job growth, for capital formation,” the secretary said.
Later in the interview, the secretary said that after larger increases in tax refunds, some workers will be able to keep “more of their paychecks” and predicted the United States would “go back to the kind of non-inflationary growth where working Americans do better than supervised workers.”
He added that the government shutdown that lasted for a month and a half “was a hit to GDP [and] slowed things down.”
“We’re still going to finish the year probably [with] 3.5 percent GDP growth, which is incredible,” he said.
Regarding inflation, which has been relatively elevated since the COVID-19 pandemic years, Bessent forecast a “substantial drop” in prices during the first six months of 2026, adding that “rents are down” due to a drop in mass illegal immigration.
“President Trump, by enforcing the border, sending home more than 2 million illegals, we’re now seeing … rents coming down substantially,” he said.
However, he warned that a possible government shutdown could be coming at the end of January.
The previous stopgap measure to fund the government will last only until Jan. 30.
“If they try to shut down the government, I believe that the Senate Republicans should immediately forgo the filibuster, keep the government open, and let the economy do its thing,” Bessent said.
His comments come as the Trump administration has sought to push back on relatively lower consumer and small business sentiment, and after Democrats were able to win several key elections in November.
The November job gains were higher than the 40,000 economists had forecast. The October job losses were caused by a 162,000 drop in federal workers, many of whom resigned at the end of fiscal year 2025 on Sept. 30.
A report released on Dec. 16 shows that the United States gained 64,000 jobs in November but lost 105,000 in October as federal workers departed after cutbacks in the federal government. The unemployment rate rose to 4.6 percent last month, the highest since 2021.
Some Democrats, such as Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, have said that Trump administration policies, such as tariffs, have harmed the economy. They are emphasizing a message of affordability.
Trump has been “doing nothing” to lower grocery or energy prices, Pritzker told Pod Save America earlier this week, adding that “he’s doing the opposite” with tariffs.
Responding to the affordability narrative, President Donald Trump said at an event in Pennsylvania this past week that he has made it a priority to lower costs and accused Democrats of pushing inflationary policies.
“They always have a hoax—the new word is affordability,” he said, adding, “They gave you the highest inflation in history.”
END
KING NEWS
The King Report December 18, 2025 Issue 7642
Independent View of the News
The FT: JPMorgan pulls $350bn from Federal Reserve to buy up Treasuries The scale of JPMorgan’s withdrawals was so large as to offset the movement of cash in and out of the Fed by all of the rest of America’s 4,000-plus banks. Since the end of 2023, the total amount of cash banks have on deposit at the Fed fell from $1.9tn to about $1.6tn… https://www.ft.com/content/15b52695-3b3f-4e98-b321-47680dee6c4a
The FT story claims JPM did the huge withdrawals to lock in higher rates. Not bloody likely!
@shanaka86: Wall Street’s oldest warning system just triggered. The Shiller PE ratio crossed 40.16 this week. In 154 years of recorded market history, this threshold has been breached only three times. The first was December 1999. The second was November 2021. The third is now. What followed the first: a 49% collapse. What followed the second: a 25% drawdown within ten months. What follows the third: you are living it. Consider what 40 means. The market now trades at 2.3 times its 154 year average valuation. Stocks have been cheaper than today 98.9% of all recorded history. The only comparable moments preceded the two most devastating corrections of the modern era… https://x.com/shanaka86/status/2001182224050499736
@GlobalMktObserv: Has the US economy fallen into A RECESSION? US Leading Economic Index (LEI) to Coincident Economic Index (CEI) ratio fell to the lowest since the FINANCIAL CRISIS low. The LEI/CEI ratio has fallen for 4 years now. https://t.co/8kAngXUBN9
@BLaw: Four Republican lawmakers have signed onto House Democrats’ effort to force a vote on a three-year clean extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies, an act of defiance against GOP leaders as moderates grow frustrated over health care.
CNN’s @sarahnferris: This comes days after GOP leaders tried to muzzle centrists on their own discharge petition in a rule. That did NOT go over well – mods threatened to vote against it so leadership had to change course. Lots of drama, plenty more to come.
@Barchart: Oil is now underperforming Gold by the largest margin in history (excluding Covid) https://t.co/pl8yV7AuGF
The yield on Japan’s 10-yr (JGB) hit 1.98%, an 18-year high (6/07); and the yen fell sharply on a report that Japan’s total spending for FY 2026 will exceed ¥120 trillion ($774B). The BoJ will probably hike rates on Friday to a three-decade high. Japan’s 2-yr hit 1.07%; the 5-yr hit 1.445%, the 30 hit 3.355%.
Fangs got hammered on Wednesday. The DJIA and DJTA fell moderately. USZs were modestly lower. Precious metals rallied smartly. Copper soared; oil and gasoline jumped on the Venezuela blockade. Cryptos were sharply lower. The dollar was moderately higher.
The NY Fang+ Index was -1.47% at 11:51 ET. Broadcom was -5.43%, NVDA -3.92%, CrowdStrike was 2.64%, Google -2.46%. Here is the AI-related problem:
Amazon in Talks over $10 Billion OpenAI Move: Report. That’s Bad for Nvidia, Broadcom – BBG Deal would reduce OpenAI’s spending on chips from Nvidia and Tensor Processing Units developed by Broadcom and Google…
ESHs (March ‘H’ is now the front month for financial futures; Dec ‘Z’ expires on Friday) vacillated between flat and modestly lower from the Nikkei opening on Wednesday until they broke higher at 1:10 ET. ESHs plodded to a high of 6882.50 at 6:08 ET. They traded in a 6-handle range until they broke down at 8:10 ET. ESHs fell to 6842.00 at 9:48 ET. Conditioned buying pushed ESHs to 6862.25 at 10:06 ET. Then, the bottom fell out; ESHs tumbled to a daily low of 6794.50 at 11:51 ET.
After a labored rebound to 6815.00 at 12:33 ET, ESHs rolled over and fell to a daily low of 6775.50 at 15:56 ET. A very late manipulation pushed ESHs to 6788.50 at 16:00 ET.
@jsblokland: What was that? Bitcoin price up > 3% within 30 minutes. Bitcoin price down > 4% within 60 minuteshttps://t.co/stgoKvQvYg
Kevin O’Leary aka Mr. Wonderful @kevinolearytv: AI isn’t limited by ideas right now, it’s limited by electricity. I’m actively developing data centers and the power requirements have exploded. What used to take a few hundred megawatts now takes over a gig of reliable, nonstop power, and in many parts of North America that capacity simply doesn’t exist on today’s grid. That’s why permits and grid connections are getting delayed, because tying a massive data center into the system forces costly infrastructure upgrades that ripple across local utilities. Energy is now the real competitive advantage in AI. The fastest path forward is dispatchable power like natural gas, especially in regions where supply already exists. While we debate permits and timelines, China is rapidly expanding generation to support AI and data center growth at scale. This isn’t about politics, it’s about speed and capacity. If we want to lead in AI, we have to lead in energy, invest in infrastructure, and move faster than we are today.
Positive aspects of previous session It’s only one week to Christmas!
Negative aspects of previous session The NY Fang+ Index sank 1.93% and closed below its 126-DMA for the 1st time since 4/30/25. The AI Bubble is deflating, as is the Crypto Bubble. The DJIA declined 228.29; the DJIA fell 90.74; Nasdaq cratered 418.14. The S&P 500 Index close 89 handles below the key 6800 support. Precious metals rallied robustly; USHs were -4/32 at the NYSE close. Oil and gasoline soared on the US-Venezuela conflict and blockade. The yen/$ was 1 point higher at the NYSE close.
Ambiguous aspects of previous session How far will Fangs and AI-related stocks fall/
First Hour/Last Hour Action [S&P 500 Index]: 1st Hour from NYSE Open: Flat; Last Hour: Down
Pivot Point for S&P 500 Index [above/below indicates daily trend to traders]: 6751.37 Previous session S&P 500 Index High/Low: 6812.26; 6720.43
Trump reportedly will brag about his tariffs and Golden Age Economy. However, US manufacturing jobs continue to fall. It takes time to build and procure new plants. More importantly, few companies want to spend the time and money on new plants if the SCOTUS or a Dem president in 2028 kills tariffs.
@ChinaSelect: New investigation reveals the CCP exploited the Department of Energy to access taxpayer-funded research—fueling China’s military and technological rise. U.S. research and science should strengthen America, not our top adversary. https://t.co/eeUlj8XfLv
Today – This has been a very bad Expiry Week, particularly Fangs and trading sardines, which typically lead the Expiry Week Rally and Manipulation. Barring news, traders will try to manipulate stuff higher to salvage as much money as possible on their expiry December options.
The Fang+ Index has broken down significantly. The S&P 500 Index closed below its 50-DMA (6765), is on a BBG Trender Sell Signal; and weekly MACD has turned negative.
Expected Economic Data: Nov CPI 3.1% y/y; Core CPI 3.0% y/y; Initial Jobless Claims 225k, Continuing Claims 1.922m; Dec Phil Fed Biz Outlook 2.3; Dec KC Fed Mfg. Activity 6
ESHs are +10.50; NQHs are +70.75; Dec AU is -13.20; and USHs are +6/32 at 20:18 ET.
S&P Index 50-day MA: 6765; 100-day MA: 6638; 150-day MA: 6458; 200-day MA: 6232 DJIA 50-day MA: 47,160; 100-day MA: 46,284; 150-day MA: 45,293; 200-day MA: 44,300 (Green is positive slope; Red is negative slope)
CBS’s @JenniferJJacobs: Trump said Congress “is becoming antisemitic.” “You have AOC plus three. You have those people, Ilhan Omar — she hates Jewish people. And you have to be very careful, because there’s been a big change,” he said at the White House Hannukah gathering. “You have a lot of people that don’t want to help Israel.”
@ Liz_Wheeler: The only parts of the Vanity Fair piece that I find remotely interesting are these two excerpts about the Epstein files: 1) “Wiles told me she underestimated the potency of the scandal: ‘Whether he was an American CIA asset, a Mossad asset, whether all these rich, important men went to that nasty island and did unforgivable things to young girls,’ she said, ‘I mean, I kind of knew it, but it’s never anything I paid a bit of attention to.'” 2) “The Epstein files debacle poses a dire political threat to Trump and the future of the GOP. ‘The people that are inordinately interested in Epstein are the new members of the Trump coalition, the people that I think about all the time—because I want to make sure that they are not Trump voters, they’re Republican voters,’ Wiles said. ‘It’s the Joe Rogan listeners. It’s the people that are sort of new to our world. It’s not the MAGA base.'” It now makes total sense as to why President Trump has—at times—dismissed the Epstein scandal and even called it a “hoax.” … it would seem Susie Wiles was the one misinforming Trump about the MAGA base’s concerns…
Trump-appointed judge argues US Constitution’s rights do not extend to non-citizens “Criminal entry into the United States doesn’t entitle illegal aliens to the constitutional rights of Americans,” Thapar wrote. https://t.co/e05rPy7cmW
@EWess92: “Since illegal aliens are not citizens, they cannot lay claim to the right to bear arms reserved for ‘We, the People.’” Judge Thapar dissenting in part. An important opinion explaining why illegal aliens are not “the People” for Second Amendment purposes. https://x.com/EWess92/status/2001014879214600569
Police now looking for a SECOND person in connection with Brown University shooting as bungled investigation enters fifth dayhttps://t.co/fyRUZlGLyM
Fox’s @JesseBWatters: Another RIDICULOUS news conference on the Brown University shooting. We STILL don’t know what the shooter yelled, eyewitness accounts DON’T LINE UP, and the “random attack” claim is looking VERY shaky. One witness says he looked the shooter DIRECTLY in the EYE — and the shooter didn’t fire. If this was random… why spare the one person he locked eyes with? Reports say the VP of the Brown Republicans may have been shot MULTIPLE times — yet officials refuse to say whether this was TARGETED… https://x.com/JesseBWatters/status/2001078922537017775
@LauraLoomer: What happens if it turns out the shooter is a They/Them in addition to being a Muslim? There’s a reason why @BrownUniversity is freaking out right now… there’s a reason why students aren’t doing interviews and there’s a reason why Brown won’t release the footage from their many cameras on campus. And there’s a reason why the DEI hire Hispanic Chief of Police in Rhode Island won’t tell us what the shooter yelled… Was the Muslim shooter a student or employee at Brown University? The shooter Yelled Allahu Akbar. Watch as the Chief of Police refuses to say it. https://x.com/LauraLoomer/status/2001017156461351300
@ginamilan_: Rhode Island Corruption Alert – Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez’s nephew, Jasdrual “Josh” Perez, was sentenced to 22.5 years in federal prison for running one of the largest fentanyl rings in the region—flooding RI & beyond with millions of deadly pills. Feds called his uncle (Sgt. Andres Perez) a ‘knowing or unwitting participant,’ yet no local PPD investigation ever occurred. How did this massive operation thrive under the nose of family in command? Rhode Island’s deep-rooted corruption protected a drug kingpin while fentanyl ravaged communities… https://x.com/ginamilan_/status/2001052179923145181
@JordanSchachtel: Still trying to figure out why Rhode Island authorities first arrested a physically fit caucasian service member (and leaked his name to the press) after having evidence of an obese guy who yelled allahu akbar before shooting 2 students. What exactly happened there?
@EricLDaugh: Reporters are now CALLING OUT officials to their face about not having footage of the shooter at Brown University.“Some people would think a multi-million dollar school with a huge endowment can afford new cameras in an old building.” “Cameras in the hallway, but they don’t show the suspect? Or Brown is not releasing them, or are you not releasing them to us? How does a multi-million dollar school not have cameras in the hallway?” Brutal. This is a mess. https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/2001063184250118511
@Dapper_Det: *Should* the Brown University mass shooter be identified a successful prosecution is near impossible. The $#*ttiest defense lawyer would be successful in introducing enough Brady material just from the incompetent DEI Providence Police Chief’s press conferences. Rodney Chatman is in charge of Public Safety at Brown University, hired in 2021 “to address bias in policing”, a supporter of BLM and DEI. Two Unions unanimously issued “No Confidence” votes this year on Chatman for lack of campus safety and a toxic workplace. DEI Providence Police Chief reveals that 5-days after the Brown University mass shooting with a killer on the loose and they have not interviewed the student eye-witnesses for a description of the shooter. Just a spectacular display of incompetence. https://x.com/Dapper_Det/status/2001407180952530960
Bondi Beach shooter renewed gun license even after son was probed for ISIS terror links, police sayhttps://t.co/ZdHg0RF7yl
@Saul_Sadka: Bondi survivor Vanessa Miller was separated from her three-year-old daughter and pinned down by gunfire. She told @Erin_Molan that she tried to grab the gun of a critically injured officer to suppress the terrorists, but other officers—rather than returning fire—held her back. “These police officers were hiding behind a car… I tried to grab one of their guns. Another one grabbed me and said ‘no.’ I hope they are hearing this. You are weak. You could have saved so many more people’s lives. They were just watching this all happen, holding me back.” https://t.co/CfVdR8fvAj
The war on saturated fat, never based on good science, can now end For more than half a century, Americans have been urged to shy away from saturated fats, found mainly in animal products. We have been told to cook with canola oil instead of butter, select skim instead of whole milk, and to fill our plates with pasta instead of steak. Paradoxically, decades of adherence to this advice has coincided with rising levels of chronic disease. As people cut more saturated fat from their diets, the nation grew heavier and sicker — not healthier… In fact, a large and growing body of evidence reveals that saturated fats aren’t a menace but a key part of a healthy diet. And they should be recognized as such in national nutrition policy… The misguided crusade against fat began in the 1950s, when researcher Ancel Keys proposed a connection between saturated fat and heart disease. But in his seminal Seven Countries Study on the subject, Keys cherry-picked the countries that supported his claim and ignored others — like France and Germany — where people consumed plenty of butter and meat yet had low rates of heart disease… https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/5649677-the-war-on-saturated-fat-never-based-on-good-science-can-now-end/?s=02
The Chicago Bears have been trying to get infrastructure commitments and property tax certainty to build a new stadium at the old Arlington Heights Racetrack site. Gov. Pritzker and IL pols won’t help. Obviously pampering illegal immigrants and the CTU are their priorities. So, the Bears might bolt to IN!
Chicago Bears’ President Kevin Warren: We have been told directly by State leadership, our project will not be a priority in 2026, despite the benefits it will bring to Illinois. Consequently, in addition to Arlington Park, we need to expand our search and critically evaluate opportunities throughout the wider Chicagoland region, including Northwest Indiana… We spent years trying to build a new home in Cook County. We invested significant time and resources evaluating multiple sites and rationally decided on Arlington Heights… https://www.chicagobears.com/news/an-open-letter-from-president-ceo-kevin-warren-regarding-the-chicago-bears-stadium-project
CHGO Sports’ @GBraggsJr23: Indiana already has a blueprint for building a stadium without all the posturing. See: Colts stadium. The state of Indiana has one of the of the strongest financial standings of any state in the U.S. Hammond (the likely interested destination) has plenty of space and opportunity. Take a drive down the toll road sometime. Hammond also has casinos already in place. Hammond also has a Mayor in Thomas McDermott who is always thinking outside the box and I’m sure would be willing to be a much more willing participant in a negotiation than any politician in Illinois. Taxes are much cheaper in Indiana which is why all of you in Illinois keep moving to the Region. I can see the Bears and Indiana coming to the outlines of an agreement. And at that point Illinois and the Bears will figure it out because no one wants to see the Bears in Indiana or Wisconsin for that matter. Could you imagine? I think that might actually make George McCaskey curse.
Sports Mockery’s Erik Lambert: “The politics are on a level of corruption and greed (in Chicago & IL) unseen almost anywhere else in the country. There is no way the Chicago Bears would have been able to get a stadium proposal through without greasing every palm imaginable… Illinois also has the second highest property taxes among every state… Indiana ranks 31st” https://www.sportsmockery.com/chicago-bears/chicago-bears-postpone-new-stadium-again-but-this-time-it-makes-sense/
WSJ: The NFL Has an Officiating Problem—and a Battle to Fix It From increasing officials’ offseason training to making sure that the best ones areactually on the field in the playoffs. But before any change can be implemented, the union of officials has to agree to them first. That’s where things get tricky. The collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the union is due to expire after this season, with talks for a new one in progress. According to a memo from the league to teams, however, “those discussions have been unsuccessful.” The sticking points are the NFL’s desire to have greater access to officials and the ability to implement a performance-based model—along with the financial cost to get what it wants from the union…A key element of the NFL’s plan involves rewarding performance. That includes reducing the year-end bonus pool to only the best-graded officials, increasing the league’s power to remove underperforming officials, and determining postseason assignments based purely on merit. It might seem surprising that this isn’t the case already… https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/nfl-officiating-referees-dde594e6?st=UJubKc
Trump told by Alan Dershowitz constitutionality of third term is unclear If Trump were to be declared the winner of another election, Dershowitz proposes that the members of the electoral college could abstain their vote when they meet to cast their ballots. Once they abstain, Dershowitz argues, the election would be decided by Congress. “They then select, and not elect, the president,” Dershowitz said in describing his idea… “The one scenario about which I think there is quasi-credible concern is a scenario in which two allies—perhaps JD Vance and Donald Trump Jr. or whomever, run with a plan not to serve; resign upon taking office; and because the speaker of the House is not required to be a Member of Congress, Trump is elected Speaker, with the aim of succession,” Sample said in an email to the Journal… https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-told-by-alan-dershowitz-constitutionality-of-third-term-is-unclear/ar-AA1Sy9wR
SWAMP STORIES FOR YOU TONIGHT
my goodness! fraud to the highest degree in Minnesota
(zerohedge)
“It’s Unbelievable”: Taxpayers’ Money Still Flowing To Indicted Fraud Suspect: Minnesota Lawmaker
A Minnesota lawmaker alleged on Dec. 17 that a man awaiting trial on federal charges that he laundered $1.1 million in taxpayer dollars and his wife continue to collect payments from other government programs, a state lawmaker said Dec. 17.
That’s concerning, state Rep. Kristin Robbins told the fraud-fighting committee that she chairs.
“This is just one example of how potential fraudulent activity is being allowed to continue in Minnesota,” she said during a hearing at the state Capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota. Later, she alleged on social media that the state government “continued to pay a fraudster who was indicted.”
With the help of whistleblowers, a public-records researcher uncovered an intertwined web of people and entities allegedly tied to the man. Those connections are still receiving taxpayer dollars for assisted-living facilities and adult day services despite multiple “red flags” indicating possible fraud, Robbins said.
These revelations show that state agencies are failing to employ “the most basic checks and balances” to prevent and detect fraud despite state agencies promising reforms, Robbins told fellow members of the Fraud Prevention and State Agency Policy Committee.
The committee—five Republicans and three Democrats—has met regularly since February, trying to get a handle on the state’s burgeoning fraud scandals. In recent weeks, Minnesota fraud cases have drawn national attention and multiple federal investigations. The scandals mostly involve federal programs that state programs administer, with matching state contributions in some instances.
The defendant, whom Robbins dubbed Person One, allegedly received $49 million from state-run programs from 2019 to 2024 on top of the $1.1 million he is accused of laundering, she said.
He is among 78 people charged since 2022 in the Feeding Our Future (FOF) scandal. Fraudsters connected to that now-defunct nonprofit agency reaped a total of nearly $250 million from the Federal Child Nutrition Program after falsely claiming to provide 91 million meals to needy children.
Robbins alleged that Person One “changed his name months before he was indicted” for FOF, and used his new name to purchase two homes that are operating as an assisted-living facility that receives government money.
One of those homes, Robbins alleged, was bought under the same business name tied to alleged money laundering in the FOF case.
“It is unbelievable,” she said.
A chart that Minnesota Rep. Kristin Robbins presented at a hearing shows how an indicted fraud suspect is allegedly tied to other people, businesses, and taxpayer-funded government programs. Screenshot via The Epoch Times/Minnesota Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee
What’s more, Robbins said, the defendant’s wife “just recently purchased a fourth home” that will become part of an assisted-living facility that she operates—and for which she was granted a temporary license in September.
Homes that the accused man purchased or owned were still enrolled in state programs as recently as this October, Robbins said, noting that the wife has run the sites for two years after her husband’s FOF indictment.
One of the assisted-living facilities that Person One administers has four beds. “Despite this limited capacity,” the facility was paid $826,000 in 2024 and was “on pace to double that” this year, Robbins said.
“We need to be concerned about that,” she said, adding, “This home was purchased with cash, which is a red flag because there’s a lot of money laundering going on in these spaces.”
Minnesota law allows the state to stop government program payments based on “credible allegations of fraud,” Robbins said. “And, my friends, if someone has been indicted in Feeding Our Future, that’s a credible allegation of fraud, and they should not be getting state money for any other program.”
Robbins urged state agency leaders: “At a minimum, any business with ties to Feeding Our Future indictments should receive higher scrutiny,” especially if involved parties are also seeking money from other government programs.
“Any business owner should be checked to see if the owner has a history of other violations,” she said.
State Rep. Kristin Robbins, a Republican, speaks at a committee meeting in St. Paul, Minn., on Dec. 17, 2025. Screenshot via The Epoch Times/house.mn.gov
State agency officials who testified at the hearing included Dr. Brooke Cunningham, the state health commissioner. She testified about the “large and growing” assisted-living industry, acknowledging a “need for oversight.”
But Cunningham noted that health care professionals who are involved in licensing and on-site reviews do not process billing claims. Therefore, they would not be privy to financial matters.
However, Cunningham said those staffers do pass along any concerns they notice “to our partners who do handle the billing for those services and who do investigate any sort of criminal activity.”
James Clark, inspector general for the Department of Human Services, said the department is putting a two-year “pause” on licensing new adult day centers.
“We’re shifting staff … so that they can squarely focus on existing adult day businesses,” he said.
Thus, he said, they can be more vigilant for signs of fraud.
In addition, he said, “we are aggressively suspending payments” whenever investigators are seriously concerned about fraud.
“I am sick of Medicaid fraud. I want to shut off payments to any provider that is stealing from us,” Clark said, adding that he would welcome information from the committee.
Robbins replied that the committee has not shared whistleblowers’ disclosures with Clark’s office because “this fraud has been perpetuated on your watch,” and the whistleblowers insist on confidentiality. They report being “terrified,” Robbins said, because many of them allege they were subjected to retaliation or surveillance when they previously tried to sound alarms about fraud.
Committee members interviewed whistleblowers and relayed information to federal prosecutors, the FBI, and the Office of Legislative Auditor, all of whom have access to bank, health, and payment records that legislators cannot obtain, Robbins said.
Robbins also said the Department of Human Services so far has responded to only one of her recent requests for data; six such requests remain unfulfilled.
The Epoch Times sought a response from Clark’s office and received no reply prior to publication.
harveyorganblog.com 
