GOLD CLOSED CLOSED UP $148.25 TO $5206.50
ACCESS MARKET
GOLD $5226.30 3:30 PM)
SILVER: 88.17 3;30 PM)
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EXCHANGE: COMEX
NO NOTICES FILED
MONTH TO DATE: 36,578
JPMORGAN STOPPED 0/0
GOLD: NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR FEBRUARY/2026: 0 CONTRACTs NOTICES FOR 0 OZ or 0.0000 TONNES
total notices so far: 36,578 contracts for 3,657,800 OR 113.773 tonnes)
SILVER NOTICES: 6 NOTICE(S) FILED FOR 30,000 OZ /
total number of notices filed so far this month : 4,695 CONTRACTS (NOTICES) for 23.475 million oz
SILVER//OUTLINE
INITIAL STANDING FOR JANUARY: 22.915 MILLION OZ FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 1.185 MILLION OZ QUEUE JUMP//NEW NORMAL STANDING ADVANCES TO 49.445 MILLION OZ// TO WHICH WE ADD OUR FIRST EXCHANGE FOR RISK FOR .100 MILLION OZ//NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 49.545 MILLION OZ!!
INTIAL STANDING FOR FEBRUARY/SILVER: 13.505 MILLION OZ FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 0.040 MILLION OZ QUEUE JUMP / : NEW STANDING FOR SILVER AT THE COMEX ADVANCES TO 24.185 MILLION OZ. BUT WE MUST ADD OUR FIRST EXCHANGE FOR RISK OF 25 CONTRACTS FOR .125 MILLION OZ AND THEN OUR SECOND EXCHANGE FOR RISK OF .0600 MILLION OZ//
NEW TOTALS FOR SILVER OZ STANDING IS AS FOLLOWS
NORMAL STANDING 24.185 MILLION OZ
PLUS OUR 2 EXCHANGE FOR RISK: 185,000 OZ
EQUALS
24.370 MILLION OZ!! HUGE FOR A FEBRUARY
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: 45.765 MILLION OZ
JANUARY 2026: 134.270 MILLION OZ (WILL BE A VERY STRONG MONTH FOR EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL!)
FEB : 56.940 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 STRONG 835,000OZ QUEUE JUMP+ DEC. FIRST EXCHANGE FOR RISK 0F .850 MILLION OZ + LAST WEEK.S 495,000 OZ EXCHANGE FOR RISK AND THEN A 3RD ISSUANCE IF 1.00MILLION OZ THEN FINALLY DEC 249ISSUANCE OF 1.35 MILLION OZ EXCHANGE FOR RISK//NEW TOTAL EX FOR RIS IS 3.685 MILLION OZ // STANDING ADVANCES TO 68.415 MILLION OZ//
JANUARY: INITIAL STANDING 22.915 MILLION OZ FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 1.185 MILLION OZ QUEUE JUMP//NORMAL STANDING ADVANCES TO 49.445 MILLION OZ// TO WHICH WE ADD OUR FIRST EXCHANGE FOR RISK OF 0.100 MILLLION OZ//NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 49.545 MILLION OZ
FEB: 13.399 MILLION OZ IS OUR INITIAL STANDING FOR SILVER! TO WHICH WE ADD OUR NEXT QUEUE JUMP FOR 40,000 OZ AND THEN ADD OUR 2 EXCHANGE FOR RISK FOR .185 MILLION OZ STANDING REDUCES TO 24.370 MILLION OZ!!
- MAY: SUMMARY FOR MAY TONNES WHICH STOOD FOR DELIVERY:
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 0.0TONNE QUEUE JUMP WHICH FOLLOWS ALL OTHER QUEUE JUMPS OF: 37.163 TONNES//NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 115.390 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR 4 EXCHANGE FOR RISK FOR DECEMBER OF 6.587 TONNES/NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 121.977 TONNES
9. JANUARY: INITITAL STANDING: 13.785 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR FIRST EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL TRANSFER OF 0.08709 TONNES WHICH FOLLOWS ALL OTHER QUEUE JUMPS OF 30.7117TONNES //NEW TOTAL QUEUE JUMPS 30.7117//NORMAL DELIVERY OF GOLD ADVANCES TO 36.8958 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR SIX EXCHANGE FOR RISK OF 22.315 TONNES//NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 59.2108 TONNES.
FEB; INITIAL AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR DELIVERY: 93.567 TONNES OF GOLD TO WHICH WE SUBTRACT OUR NEXT EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL TRANSFER OF 0.0809 TONNES TO OTHER OF 41.9386 TONNES/ NEW QUEUE JUMP TOTAL:41891 TONNES// AND THEN WE ADD OUR FIVE EXCHANGE FOR RISK: 9596 CONTRACTS OR 29.746 TONNES//NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 157.096 TONNES
FINAL STANDING FOR GOLD, JANUARY CONTRACT AT 59.2108 TONNES OF GOLD
AND NOW FEBRUARY: INITIAL STANDING FOR GOLD: 157.096 TONNES!! WHICH INCLUDES ALL QUEUE JUMPING, ONE EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL TRANSFER TO LONDON AND OUR FIVE ISSUANCES EXCHANGE FOR RISK!!
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: 190.04 TONNES//GOOD SIZED THIS MONTH FINAL.
TOTAL EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL ISSUED FOR YEAR 2025: 2,026.20 TONNES (LOWER THAN LAST YR 2,569.00 TONNES
JANUARY: 209.08 TONNES ( (WILL BE A STRONG MONTH FOR EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL)
FEB. 143.608 TONNES (WHICH WILL BE SMALLER THAN OTHER MONTHS)
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SPREADERS:
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:
SILVER:
1.TODAY WE HAD THE OPEN INTEREST AT THE COMEX IN SILVER ROSE BY A MEGA HUGE SIZED 1542 CONTRACTS OI TO 131,993 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 1202 CONTRACTS
OUR CUSTOMARY MIGRATION OF COMEX LONGS CONTINUE TO MORPH INTO LONDON FORWARDS AS OUR BANKERS USED THEIR EMERGENCY PROCEDURE TO ISSUE:
MAR 666 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 1542 CONTRACTS AND ADD TO THE 1202 E.FP. ISSUED
WE OBTAIN A MEGA HUGE SIZED GAIN OF 2764 OF OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES WITH OUR GAIN OF $4.85
THUS IN OUNCES, THE GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES TOTALS 16.460 MILLION PAPER OZ
OCCURRED WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE.OF $4.85
2.ASIAN AFFAIRS FEB 23/2025
SHANGHAI CLOSED
HANG SENG CLOSED
Nikkei CLOSED DOWN 642.13 PTS OR 1.12%
//Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED DOWN 0.43%
//Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) CLOSED XXXX
/ OFFSHORE CLOSED UP AT 6.8889 Oil UP TO 66.52 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT UP TO 71.88 Stocks in Europe OPENED ALL GREEN
ONSHORE USA/ YUAN TRADING XXXX OFFSHORE YUAN TRADING UP TO 6.8889 ONSHORE YUAN TRADING BELOW OFF SHORE AND XXX ON THE DOLLAR// / AND THUS XXXXX//OFF SHORE YUAN TRADING UP AGAINST US DOLLAR/ AND THUS STRONGER
ONSHORE USA/ YUAN TRADING XXXX OFFSHORE YUAN TRADING DOWN TO 6.9023 ONSHORE YUAN TRADING BELOW OFF SHORE AND XXX ON THE DOLLAR// / AND THUS XXXXX//OFF SHORE YUAN TRADING DOWN AGAINST US DOLLAR/ AND THUS WEAKER
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1. COMEX DATA//AMOUNTS STANDING//VOLUME OF TRADING/INVENTORY MOVEMENTS
LET US BEGIN:
THE TOTAL COMEX GOLD OPEN INTEREST ROSE BY A STRONG SIZED 6605 CONTRACTS UP TO 416,190 OI WITH OUR HUGE GAIN IN PRICE OF $79.85 WITH RESPECT TO FRIDAY’S // TRADING/ //COMEX CLOSING TIME:… WE LOST NO 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 (6210).
WE HAD NO T.A.S. LIQUIDATION DURING THURSDAY’S TRADING. IT SEEMS THAT THE SPECULATORS STARTED AGAIN TO GO MASSIVELY LONG THIS WEEK AFTER A BRIEF PERIOD OF GOING NET SHORT. HOWEVER SOME OF THOSE LONG SPECULATORS WERE ANNHILATED DURING THIS PAST TUESDAY RAID AND OTHERS WAITED UNTIL THE CONCLUSION OF TRADING ALL WEEK AND TENDERED FOR BADLY NEEDED PHYSICAL
CENTRAL BANKS ALSO TENDERED THEIR NEW LONG CONTRACTS AT THE END OF THE DAY FOR PHYSICAL GOLD. YOU CAN VISUALIZE THIS WITH THE MASSIVE AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING AT THE COMEX FOR THIS FEBRUARY CONTRACT MONTH!!
YOU WILL NOTICE THAT THE COMEX OI IS NOW MOVING NORTHBOUND TO NOW 416,190 AND NOW AMPLE ENOUGH TO GROW AND FROM THIS POINT FORTH IT WILL BE A LITTLE EASIER FOR THE CROOKS TO FLEECE OR NEWBIE SPEC LONGS. THE ALL TIME LOW OF COMEX OI IS 390,000 CONTRACTS WHICH OCCURRED IN 2001 WITH GOLD AROUND $260. FROM CHINA WE LEARN THAT TODAY, THE GOLD LEASE RATE IS NOW AROUND 5 %
WE THUS HAD A TOTAL GAIN IN OI ON BOTH OF OUR EXCHANGES, THE COMEX AND LONDON’S EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL EQUATING TO 12,815 CONTRACTS (OR 39.86TONNES) WITH THE GAIN IN PRICE, FRIDAY.
THEN WE WERE NOTIFIED OF A ZERO CONTRACT EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE IN GOLD CONTRACTS FOR 0 OZ OR 0 TONNES OF GOLD. THIS PAST WEEK WE HAVE HAD TWO IDENTICAL MONSTER 3,000 CONTRACT ISSUED FOR THE SAME 9.33 TONNES OF GOLD, AND THESE ARE THE HIGHEST EVER IN TONNAGE EVER ISSUED BY THE COMEX. ALTOGETHER THE TOTAL ISSUANCE THUS FAR FOR FEB NOW REMAINS AT FIVE.(29.746 TONNES)
A LITTLE HISTORY OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK DECEMBER THROUGH TO FEBRUARY:
IN DECEMBER WE HAVE RECORDED 5 ISSUANCES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK/4 FOR DEC AND THE LAST ONE ON DEC 31 FOR JANUARY. WE NOW HAVE 3 CHOICES FOR THE RECIPIENT OF THIS ISSUANCE AND IT MUST BE A CENTRAL BANK. YOU WILL RECALL THAT THE BUYER ASSUMES THE RISK OF THAT DELIVERY. (THUS TOTAL EXCHANGE FOR RISK FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER IS 6.56 TONNES/4 OCCASIONS.
MONTH OF JANUARY/EXCHANGE FOR RISK
IN JANUARY THEY HAVE 6 TOTAL ISSUANCE : 3.446 TONNES EARLY, THEN JAN 9 ISSUANCE OF 9,331 TONNES AND THEN JAN 16: 0.1996 TONNES JAN 26: 1.499 TONNES, JAN 27: 3.160 AND FINALLY JAN 29: 4.659 TONNES TONNES//TOTAL EXCHANGE FOR RISK JANUARY 22.315 TONNES WHICH WAS ADDED TO OUR NORMAL DELVERIES.
AND NOW FEBRUARY:
FEB EXCHANGE FOR RISK: NOW 5 ISSUANCES: 9596 CONTRACTS FOR 959,600 OZ OR 29.746 TONNES!
HERE ARE THE CHOICES FOR THE RECIPIENT OF THOSE ISSUANCES:
1 THE CENTRAL BANK OF ENGLAND. BUT THEY RECEIVED CLEARANCE THAT THEIR GOLD IS BACK SO IT IS NOT LIKELY THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO ADD TO THEIR RESERVES.
2. THE CENTRAL BANK OF THE USA: THE FED. LOGICAL CHOICE AS THEY CLAMOUR TRYING TO REDUCE THEIR 106+ TONNES OF SHORTAGE. HOWEVER THEY SEEM NOT TO BE IN A HURRY TO COVER THEIR HUGE SHORTFALL
3. THE CENTRAL BANK OF CHINA AS THEY BATTLE WITS WITH THE USA.
TOTAL EXCHANGE FOR RISK FOR DECEMBER IS 6.56 TONNES AND THIS WAS ADDED TO OUR NORMAL DELIVERY TOTALS..
THE JANUARY ISSUANCE OF 17.656 TONNES WAS ADDED TO OUR DAILY TOTALS!!
FEBRUAY ISSUANCES 5 FOR; 29.746 TONNES SO FAR!!
DETAILS ON OUR NEW FEBRUARY COMEX CONTRACT MONTH//
IN TOTAL WE HAD A MEGA HUGE SIZED GAIN ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES OF 12,815 CONTRACTS WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE. HOWEVER, OUR FRIENDLY PHYSICAL LONDON BOYS HAD ANOTHER FIELD DAY AGAIN THROUGHOUT THIS 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. BOTH COMEX AND LBMA ARE WITNESSING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF GOLD LEAVING THEIR VAULTS.
THE LIQUIDATION OF T.A.S. CONTRACTS THROUGHOUT THE MONTHS OF JUNE THROUGH FEBRUARY/ 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 IS A FAIR SIZED T.A.S ISSUANCE CONTRACTS (1439 CONTRACTS).THE CME NOTIFIES US THAT THEY HAVE ISSUED 1002 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 ALL THIS WEEK. IT SURE LOOKS LIKE THE BIS HAS SOMEHOW LOOKED THE OTHER WAY WITH ITS GOLD SWAPS WITH THE FRBNY AS THIS ENTITY FOR THE FED REFUSES THE BIS MARCHING ORDERS TO COVER AND THAT MAY EXPLAIN THE STRONG NUMBER OF T.A.S. ISSUANCES IN DECEMBER , JANUARY AND THROUGHOUT FEBRUARY TO GO ALONG WITH OUR HUGE NUMBER OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUED DURING THESE MONTHS INCLUDING FEBRUARY’S 5 EXCHANGE FOR RISK WHICH ALSO INCLUDED TWO MONSTER 9.3312 TONNE ISSUANCE (FEB 10 AND FEB 12). TOTAL EXCHANGE FOR RISK/FEB EQUALS 29.746 TONNES!! OTHER CENTRAL BANKS ARE PAYING ATTENTION AS THEY TAKE DELIVERY OF HUGE AMOUNTS OF PHYSICAL GOLD.
FOR EXAMPLE:
HERE IS A SUMMARY OF GOLD STANDING FOR DELIVERY ON OUR LAST 11 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 1.244 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 0.1337 TONNES OF QUEUE JUMP WHICH FOLLOWS ALL OTHER NET QUEUE JUMPING OF 37.163 TONNES//STANDING ADVANCES TO 115.257 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR FOUR ISSUANCES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK OF 6.559 TONNES/NEW STANDING IS THUS: 121.977 TONNES.
10. JANUARY: INITITAL STANDING: 13.785 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR NEXT QUEUE JUMP OF 0,000 TONNES WHICH FOLLOWS ALL OTHER QUEUE JUMPS OF 30.7117TONNES //NEW TOTAL QUEUE JUMPS 30.7117//NORMAL DELIVERY OF GOLD ADVANCES TO 36.8958 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR SIX EXCHANGE FOR RISK OF 22.315 TONNES//NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 59.2108 TONNES.
11.FEB; 0. FEBRUARY: INITIAL STANDING: 93.566 TONNES TO WHICH WE HAD OUR FIRST EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL TRANSFER OF 0.08709 TONNES SUBTRACTING FROM ALL OTHER QUEUE JUMPS OF 41.9386 TONNNES//NEW TOTAL QUEUE JUMP: 41.8515/ STANDING ADVANCES TO 127.234 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR FIVE EXCHANGE FOR RISK OF 29.746 TONNES/NEW STANDING LOWERS TO TO 157.096 TONNES!!
THE FED IS THE OTHER MAJOR SHORT IN GOLD OF AROUND 106+ TONNES OF GOLD OWING TO THE B.I.S. THE OCC ORDERED ALL BANKS TO COVER THEIR GOLD LOSSES FROM OCC BETS. THE 106 TONNES IS SUCH A SMALL FRACTION OF WHAT IS OWED!!! THE FRBNY BORROWED GOLD TO KEEP THE GOLD SUPPRESSION GAME ALIVE!! .. THE FED IS VERY WORRIED ABOUT WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO GOLD PRICES IF THEY DO NOT BORROW THIS GOLD. A MUCH HIGHER GOLD PRICE BLOWS UP THE DERIVATIVE APPARATUS OF THE BULLION BANKS.
BUT IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE/ THAT THE FED WAS THE BUYER OF 10.006 TONNES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK/DECEMBER,(LATEST BIS DATA SHOWS AN INCREASE IN GOLD BORROWING BY THE FRBNY// AND IT WAS NOT THE BUYER IN JANUARY OF 22.315 TONNES TOTAL IN JANUARY/6 EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCES AS WE NOW HAVE THE BIS DATA FOR GOLD SWAPS FOR JANUARY 2025 AND HERE WE FIND THAT THE FED ACTUALLY INCREASED THEIR GOLD SWAP LOANS WITH THE BIS TO THE 106 TONNES WHICH I NOW RECORD FOR YOU.!!THEN MUCH TO OUR ANGER WE RECEIVED NOTICE ON FRIDAY OF OUR 5TH EXCHANGE FOR RISK OF 6.871 TONNES//TOTAL EXCHANGE FOR RISK FEB OF 5 ISSUANCES EQUATES TO 29.746 TONNES OF GOLD WHICH WE ADD TO OUR NORMAL DELIVERY TOTALS.
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.
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/FEB.//BORROWINGS FROM THE FRBNY:
THE CME REPORTS THAT THE BANKERS ISSUED A HUGE SIZED EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL OF 6210 CONTRACTS.
THAT IS A HUGE SIZED 6210 EFP CONTRACT WAS ISSUED: : /APRIL 6210 & ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS:
TOTAL EFP ISSUANCE: 6210 CONTRACTS. THESE EFP;S CIRCLE AROUND LONDON ON A 13 DAY BASIS AND ARE NOW USED BY GLOBAL CENTRAL BANKS TO EXERCISE FOR PHYSICAL GOLD WITH THE OBLIGATION TO DELIVER BEING FORCED ONTO COMEX BANKS. THE GOLD 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 106+ TONNES
WE HAD :
- NO LIQUIDATION OF OUR T.A.S. SPREADERS DURING THE COMEX SESSION + BUT DID HAVE SOME GOVERNMENT LIQUIDATION
- LITTLE MONTH END SPREADERS LIQUIDATION AS THEY HAVE COMMENCED THEIR OPERATION
T.A.S.SPREADER ISSUANCE//FEBRUARY
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 FRIDAY NIGHT/SATURDAY MORNING WAS A FAIR SIZED 1002 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 FRIDAY’S HUGE GAIN IN PRICE IN GOLD YET WITH A CORRESPONDING HUGE SIZED GAIN OF OI ON OUR TWO EXCHANGES..
.
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
- AND NOW FOLLOWED BY DECEMBER’S 3 ISSANCES FOR 12.997 TONNES
- JANUARY’S 6 ISSUANCE FOR 22.215 TONNES
- AND NOW FEB’S FIVE ISSUANCES FOR A MONSTER 29.746 TONNES.
- THE LONDON BANKING AUDITORS DID REFUSE 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/HOWEVER THEY DID GIVE THEIR OK NOV 30.
- FRBNY BORROWS ANOTHER 30 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 106+ 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 RAIDS TO BE!GENERALLY HAPPENS ONCE EVERY TWO MONTHS
- MASSIVE RAIDS AT THE COMEX CALLED UPON EVERY OPTIONS EXPIRY MONTH INCLUDING JANUARY’S OTC/LBMA DRIVE BY SHOOTING! ALONG WITH RAIDS IN EARLY FEBRUARY LIKE WE EXPERIENCED FEB 10 AND LAST TUESDAY..
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.
/STANDING ADVANCES TO 43.9716 TONNES OF GOLD.
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DECEMBER: INITIAL AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR DELIVERY IN THIS ACTIVE MONTH IS 83.813 TONNES FOLLOWED BY TODAY’S 0.XXXX TONNES QUEUE JUMP. THIS FOLLOWS ALL OTHER QUEUE JUMPING: 37.163 TONNES//NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 115.390 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR FOUR EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE OF 6.559 TONNES//NEW STANDING THUS INCREASES TO 121.977 TONNES
JANUARY: INITITAL STANDING: 13.785 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR QUEUE JUMP OF 0.000 TONNES WHICH FOLLOWS ALL OTHER QUEUE JUMPS OF 30.7117TONNES //NEW TOTAL QUEUE JUMPS 30.7117//NORMAL DELIVERY OF GOLD ADVANCES TO 36.8958 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR SIX EXCHANGE FOR RISK OF 22.315 TONNES//NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 59.2108 TONNES.
FEBRUARY: . FEBRUARY: INITIAL STANDING: 93.566 TONNES TO WHICH WE HAD OUR FIRST EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL TRANSFER OF 0.08709 TONNES WHICH MUST BE SUBTRACTED FROM ALL OTHER QUEUE JUMPS OF 41.9386 TO TONNES QUEUE JUMP//TOTAL QUEUE JUMP FOR FEB:: 41.8515 TONNES///STANDING REDUCES TO 127.350 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR FIVE EXCHANGE FOR RISK OF 29.746 TONNES/NEW STANDING LOWERS TO 157.096 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)
JAN/2023: 20.559 tonnes
FEB 2023: 47.744 tonnes
MAR: 19.0637 TONNES
APRIL: 75.676 tonnes
MAY: 19.094 TONNES + 1.244 tonnes of exchange for risk = 20.338
JUNE: 64.354 TONNES
JULY: 10.2861 TONNES
AUGUST: 38.855 TONNES(INCLUDING .6842 EXCHANGE FOR RISK)
SEPT: 15.281 TONNES FINAL
OCT. 35.869 TONNES + 1.665 EXCHANGE FOR RISK =37.0355 tonnes
NOV: 18.7122 TONNES + 16.2505 EX. FOR RISK = 34.9627 TONNES
DEC. 47.073 + 4.634 TONNES OF EXCHANGE FOR RISK = 51.707 TONNES
TOTAL 2023 YEAR : 436.546 TONNES
2024/STANDING FOR GOLD/COMEX
JAN ’24. 22.706 TONNES
FEB. ’24: 66.276 TONNES (INCLUDES 1.723 TONNES EX. FOR RISK)
MARCH: 18.8398 TONNES + 1.1695 EX FOR RISK = 20.093 TONNES
APRIL: 2024: 53.673TONNES FINAL
MAY/ 2024 8.5536 TONNES + 3.3716 TONNES EX FOR RISK/= 11.9325
JUNE; 95.578 TONNES. + 1.045 TONNES EXCHANGE FOR RISK =96.623 THIS IS THE HIGHEST RECORDED GOLD STANDING SINCE AUGUST 2022
JULY: 11.692 TONNES
AUGUST 69.602 TONNES//FINAL STANDING
SEPT. 13.164 TONNES.
OCT 39.474 TONNES + + 20.917 TONNES EXCHANGE FOR RISK =60.391 TONNES
NOV . 11.265 TONNES +4.665 TONNES EXCHANGE FOR RISK/TUESDAY + 3.11 TONNES OF EX. FOR RISK/PRIOR = 19.0425 TONNES
DEC: 80.4230 TONNES PLUS DEC MONTH EXCHANGE FOR RISK TOTAL 14.6836 TONNES EQUALS 95.1066 TONNES
total year 2024: 540.30 tonnes
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COMEX GOLD TRADING BEGINNING FEBRUARY,. CONTRACT;
THE SPECS/HFT WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN LOWERING GOLD’S PRICE( IT ROSE BY A HUGE $79.85 )
WE HAD NO T.A.S. SPREADER LIQUIDATION FRIDAY // COMEX SESSION// WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE ////.. BUT OUR SPECULATORS REMAIN RELENTLESS POURING INTO THE COMEX STARTING TO BUILD ON ITS OI // BUT WITH OTHER EASTERN CENTRAL BANKS TENDERING FOR PHYSICAL FRIDAY NIGHT WHICH ALSO EXPLAINS THE HUGE NUMBER OF TONNES OF GOLD STANDING FOR FEBRUARY. THE COMEX IS ONE BIG MESS!!
FRIDAY NIGHT//SATURDAY MORNING
THE CROOKS COULD NOT STOP OTHER CENTRAL BANK LONGS, SEIZING THE MOMENT, THEY EXERCISED AGAIN FOR PHYSICAL IN A BIG WAY TENDERING FOR PHYSICAL THURSDAY EVENING/FRIDAY MORNING AND THUS OUR HUGE NUMBER OF GOLD CONTRACTS STANDING FOR DELIVERY AT THE COMEX. CENTRAL BANKERS WAIT PATIENTLY FOR THE GOLD
A LITTLE REVIEW OF GOLD STANDING THESE PAST 4 MONTHS:
STANDING FOR GOLD OCT THROUGH TO JANUARY:
- 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 0 CONTRACT QUEUE JUMP FOR NIL OZ OR 0.000 TONNES WHICH FOLLOWS OTHER DEC QUEUE JUMPS OF: 0 TONNES///STANDING ADVANCES TO 115.390 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR FOUR EXCHANGE FOR RISK ISSUANCE OF 6.559TONNES/NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 121.977TONNES
4. JANUARY:
9. JANUARY: INITITAL STANDING: 13.785 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR QUEUE JUMP OF 0.000 TONNES WHICH FOLLOWS ALL OTHER QUEUE JUMPS OF 30.7117TONNES //NEW TOTAL QUEUE JUMPS 30.7117//NORMAL DELIVERY OF GOLD ADVANCES TO 36.8958 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR SIX EXCHANGE FOR RISK OF 22.315 TONNES//NEW STANDING ADVANCES TO 59.2108 TONNES.
10. FEBRUARY: INITIAL STANDING: 93.566 TONNES TO WHICH WE HAD OUR FIRST EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL TRANSFER OF 0.08709 TONNES TO WHICH THIS IS SUBTRACTED FROM ALL OTHER QUEUE JUMPS OF 41.9386 / NEW QUEUE JUMP TOTALS: 41,8515 TONNES//STANDING REDUCES TO: 127.350 TONNES TO WHICH WE ADD OUR FIVE EXCHANGE FOR RISK OF 9596 CONTRACTS FOR 959,600 OZ OR 29.746 TONNES/NEW STANDING 157.096 TONNES
ALL OF THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH OUR GAIN IN PRICE TO THE TUNE OF $79.85
WE HAD A HUGE 8059 CONTRACTS REMOVED TO THE COMEX TRADES TO OPEN INTEREST (CROOKS)//PRELIMINARY TO FINAL. AND THIS IS TOTALLY INSANE .(AND I BELIEVE A RECORD REMOVAL PRELIMINARY TO FINAL
INITIAL GOLD COMEX
FEB 23
| Gold | Ounces |
| Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory in oz | nil |
| Withdrawals from Customer Inventory in oz | 1 ENTRY i) Out of HSBC: 145,728.158 oz total withdrawal: 145,728.158 oz or 4.532 tonnes |
| Deposit to the Dealer Inventory in oz | 0 |
| Deposits to the Customer Inventory, in oz | DEPOSITS/CUSTOMER 0 entry xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxI |
| No of oz served (contracts) today | 0 notice(s) 0 OZ 0.0000 TONNES TONNES OF GOLD |
| No of oz to be served (notices) | 4366 contracts 436,600 OZ 13.580 TONNES |
| Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month | 36,578 notices 3,657,800 oz 113.773 TONNES |
| Total accumulative withdrawals of gold from the Dealers inventory this month | NIL oz |
| Total accumulative withdrawal of gold from the Customer inventory this month |
dealer deposits: 0
0 ENTRY
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DEPOSITS/CUSTOMER
0 entry
customer withdrawals:
customer withdrawals:
1 ENTRY
i) Out of HSBC: 145,728.158 oz
total withdrawal: 145,728.158 oz or 4.532 tonnes
they are draining the comex of gold
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ADJUSTMENTs 3
ALL DEALER TO CUSTOMER:
adjustments all dealer to customer account;
i) HSBC: 5,316.446 oz
ii) JPMorgan: 4243.932 oz
ii) Loomis 23,340.628 oz
total adjusted out of dealer (reg) to customer (elig) = 33,577.112 oz
or 1.04 tonnes tonnes
leaving registered acct and landing in eligible accts.
they are draining the comex of gold
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chaos inside the comex
AMOUNT OF GOLD STANDING FOR FEBRUARY
THE FRONT MONTH OF FEBRUARY STANDS AT 4366 CONTRACTS FOR A LOSS OF 37 CONTRACTS.
WE HAD 9 CONTRACTS SERVED ON FRIDAY, SO WE LOST 28 CONTRACTS OR WE ADD A 2800 OZ EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL TRANSFER TO LONDON WHERE THEY WILL TAKE DELIVERY OVER ON THAT SIDE OF THE POND. THE TONNAGE EQUATES TO 0.0870 TONNES
MARCH SAW A LOSS OF 677 CONTRACTS DOWN TO 4366 CONTRACT OI AS MARCH BECOMES THE NEW FRONT MONTH FOR GOLD AND EXPECT TO HAVE A HUGE STANDING OF AROUND 13.5+ TONNES FO GOLD. MARCH IS AN OFF MONTH FOR GOLD. SIXTEEN TONNES IS ABNORMALLY HIGH FOR MARCH!!
APRIL IS THE NEXT LARGEST DELIVERY MONTH AND IT GAINED 5771 CONTRACTS UP TO 286,627 CONTRACTS
We had 0 contracts filed for today representing 0 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 0 contract(s) of which 0 notices were stopped (received) by j.P. Morgan dealer and 0 notice(s) was (were) stopped (received) by J.P.Morgan//customer account
To calculate the INITIAL total number of gold ounces standing for FEB /2026. contract month, we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (36,578) to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of FEB (4366 CONTRACTS) minus the number of notices served upon today (0 x 100 oz per contract) equals 4,094,400 OZ OR (127.250 Tonnes of gold) to which we add February’s 5 exchange for risk of 9596 contracts or 959,600 oz or 29.746 tonnes//new total gold standing in Feb skyrockets to 157.096 tonnes.
thus the INITIAL standings for gold for the FEB contract month: No of notices filed so far (36,578 x 100 oz +we add the difference for front month of FEB (4366 OI} minus the number of notices served upon today (0 x 100 oz) which equals 4,094,400 OR 127.350 TONNES// to which we add our FIVE exchange for risk//959,600 oz or 29.746 tonnes//new standing rockets to 157.096 tonnes!!!
new total of gold standing in FEB is 157.096 TONNES//
TOTAL COMEX GOLD STANDING FOR FEB 157.096 TONNES TONNES WHICH IS HUGE FOR THIS NORMALLY VERY NON ACTIVE ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF FEBRUARY.
confirmed volume FRIDAY confirmed 151,822 poor/
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: 1,752,068.027 oz 54.58 tonnes pledged gold lowers
TOTAL OF ALL GOLD ELIGIBLE AND REGISTERED GOLD 33,724,506.555 oz (draining huge of gold)
TOTAL REGISTERED GOLD 17,143,288.613. or 533.228 Tonnes
TOTAL OF ALL ELIGIBLE GOLD 16,631,217.942 oz//eligible gold leaving hand over fist
REGISTERED GOLD THAT CAN BE SERVED UPON 15,391,220 oz ((REG GOLD- PLEDGED GOLD)=
478.73 Tonnes // (declining rapidly)
total inventories in gold declining rapidly
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SILVER/COMEX
FEB 23 2026
INITIAL/
| Silver | Ounces |
| Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory | NIL oz |
| Withdrawals from Customer Inventory | 4 entries i) Out of CNT 162,211.605 oz ii) Out of Delaware: 500,751.800 oz iii) Out of HSBC: 627,200.000 oa iv) Out of JPMorgan 963,742.100 oz total withdrawal: 2,253,006.610 oz the comex is being drained of silver |
| Deposits to the Dealer Inventory | 0 ENTRY 0 entries xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx |
| Deposits to the Customer Inventory | DEPOSIT ENTRIES/CUSTOMER ACCOUNT ENTRIES: 0 |
| No of oz served today (contracts) | 6 CONTRACT(S) ( 30,000 OZ |
| No of oz to be served (notices) | 142 Contracts (0.710 MILLION oz) |
| Total monthly oz silver served (contracts) | 4695 contracts 23.475 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
0 ENTRIES
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DEPOSIT ENTRIES/CUSTOMER ACCOUNT
withdrawals: customer side/eligible
4 entries
i) Out of CNT 162,211.605 oz
ii) Out of Delaware: 500,751.800 oz
iii) Out of HSBC: 627,200.000 oa
iv) Out of JPMorgan 963,742.100 oz
total withdrawal: 2,253,006.610 oz
the comex is being drained of silver
the comex is being drained of silver
adjustments: / / 0
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TOTAL REGISTERED SILVER: 88.191MILLION OZ//.TOTAL REG + ELIGIBLE. 364.003 Million oz
registered silver dropping in numbers
CALCULATIONS FOR THE NEW STANDING FOR SILVER FOR FEBRUARY
silver open interest data:
FRONT MONTH OF FEB /2026 OI: 148 OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS FOR A LOSS OF 42 CONTRACTS.
WE HAD 50 NOTICES FILED ON FRIDAY SO WE GAINED 8 CONTRACTS OR WE ENTERTAINED A SMALL 40,000 OZ QUEUE JUMP WHERE THESE BOYS DECIDED TO TRY THEIR LUCK AND TAKE DELIVERY OF SILVER ON THIS SIDE OF THE POND.
MARCH LOST A SHOCKINGLY LOW 3,876 CONTRACTS DOWN TO 43,971. THIS BECOMES THE FRONT MONTH FOR SILVER DELIVERY AND WE SHOULD HAVE A DANDY OF A MARCH DELIVERY MONTH!!! WE HAVE ONLY 4 MORE READING DAYS BEFORE FIRST DAY NOTICE FEB 27. THE ROLLOVERS TO FUTURE MONTHS HAVE BEEN ON THE LOW SIDE AS IT SEEMS MANY WILL STAND FOR DELIVERY (MAYBE NORTH OF 100 MILLION OZ) AND THAT MAY EVEN BREAK THE BANK!!
APRIL GAINED 101 CONTRACTS TO AN OI 962 CONTRACTS.
TOTAL NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED FOR TODAY: 6 or 30,000 oz
CONFIRMED volume; ON FRIDAY 88,800 strong+++//
AND NOW FEB. DELIVERIES:
To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in FEBRUARY. we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at 4695 X5,000 oz = 23.475 MILLION oz
to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of FEBRUARY (148) AND the number of notices served upon today (6)x (5000 oz)
Thus the standings for silver for the FEBRUARY 2026 contract month: (4695)Notices served so far) x 5000 oz + OI for the front month of FEB(148) minus number of notices served upon today (6 )x 5000 oz equals silver standing for the FEB..contract month equating to 24.185 MILLION OZ. THEN WE MUST ADD OUR FIRST EXCHANGE FOR RISK TOTALS OF 25 CONTRACTS FOR .125 MILLION OZ TO FRIDAY’S 12 CONTRACT ISSUANCE//NEW TOTAL EXCHANGE FOR RISK 37 CONTRACTS FOR .185 MILLION OZ//NEW STANDING REDUCES TO 24.370 MILLION OZ
NEW STANDING: 24.370 MILLION OZ WHICH IS HUGE FOR A GENERALLY SMALL DELIVERY MONTH OF FEBRUARY.
New total standing: 24.370 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 88.191 million oz of registered silver
JPMorgan as a percentage of total silver: 154.891/364,003.million: 42.58%
THERE IS NOW A RUN ON THE COMEX SILVER
The record level of silver open interest is 234,787 contracts set on April 21./2017 with the price on that day at $18.42. The previous record was 224,540 contracts with the price at that time of $20.44.
END
BOTH GLD AND SLV ARE MASSIVE FRAUD
FEB 23/2026/WITH GOLD UP $148.25 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1078.75 TONNES
FEB 20/2026/WITH GOLD UP $79.75 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:A DEPOSIT OF 3.14 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1078.75 TONNES
FEB 19/2026/WITH GOLD DOWN $9.00 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1075.61 TONNES
FEB 18/2026/WITH GOLD UP $102.60 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.43 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD/ /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1075.61 TONNES
FEB 17/2026/WITH GOLD DOWN $136.55 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:A DEPOSIT OF 0.86 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/ /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1077..04 TONNES
FEB 13/2026/WITH GOLD UP $94.30 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:A WITHDRAWAL OF 5.140 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/ /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1076.18 TONNES
FEB 12/2026/WITH GOLD DOWN $143.65 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:A DEPOSIT OF 2.000 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/ /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1081.32 TONNES
FEB 11/2026/WITH GOLD UP $63.65 TODAY/SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.34 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/ /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1079.32 TONNES
FEB 10/2026/WITH GOLD DOWN $46.80 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:A DEPOSIT OF 3.43 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/ /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1079.66 TONNES
FEB 9/2026/WITH GOLD UP $100,00 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.72 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/ /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1076.23 TONNES
FEB 6/2026/WITH GOLD UP $86.55 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.00 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/ /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1077.95 TONNES
FEB 5/2026/WITH GOLD DOWN $57.30 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.43 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/ /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1081.95 TONNES
FEB 4/2026/WITH GOLD UP $17.20 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.72 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/ /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1083.38 TONNES
FEB 3/2026/WITH GOLD UP $270.80 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1087.10 TONNES
FEB 2/2026/WITH GOLD DOWN $100.15 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 0.57 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1087.10 TONNES
JAN 30/2026/WITH GOLD DOWN $590.55 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.43 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1086.63 TONNES
JAN 30/2026/WITH GOLD DOWN $590.55 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.43 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1086.63 TONNES
JAN 29/2026/WITH GOLD UP $23.65 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 2.58 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1089.96 TONNES
JAN 28/2026/WITH GOLD UP $218.00 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 0.85 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1087.38 TONNES
JAN 27/2026/WITH GOLD UP $2.55 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1086.53 TONNES
JAN 26/2026/WITH GOLD UP $106.10 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 6.89 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1086.53 TONNES
JAN 23/2026/WITH GOLD UP $69.05 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSUT OF 2.000 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1079.66 TONNES
JAN 22/2026/WITH GOLD UP $75.20 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A FRAUDULENT WITHDRAWAL OF 4.000 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1077.66 TONNES
JAN 21/2026/WITH GOLD UP $74.30 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD:/// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1081.66 TONNES
JAN 20/2026/WITH GOLD UP $142.90 TODAY/BIG CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 6.86 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1081.66 TONNES
JAN 16/2026/WITH GOLD DOWN $27.80 TODAY/BIG CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF .57 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1074.807TONNES
JAN 15/2026/WITH GOLD DOWN $9.85 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD/// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1074.737TONNES
JAN 14/2026/WITH GOLD UP $34.35 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD/// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1074.737TONNES
JAN 13/2026/WITH GOLD DOWN$11.00 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A MASSIVE DEPOSIT OF 3.43 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1074.737TONNES
JAN 12/2026/WITH GOLD UP $104.90 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A MASSIVE DEPOSIT OF 6.25 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1070,80TONNES
JAN 9/2026/WITH GOLD UP $49.30 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.58 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1064.55 TONNES
JAN 8/2026/WITH GOLD DOWN $0.80 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 2.00 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1067.13 TONNES
JAN 7/2026/WITH GOLD DOWN $38.50 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 2.00 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD/// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1067.13 TONNES
JAN 6/2026/WITH GOLD UP $47.00 TODAY/BIG CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 5.43 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1065.13 TONNES
JAN 5/2026/WITH GOLD UP $122.80 TODAY/BIG CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 5.43 TONNES OF GOLD OUT OF THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1065.13 TONNES
JAN 2/2026/WITH GOLD DOWN $10.10 TODAY/BIG CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.43 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1070.56 TONNES
DEC 31/WITH GOLD DOWN $42.50 TODAY/SMALL CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 0.86 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1071,99 TONNES
DEC 30/WITH GOLD UP $41.50 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 0.86 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1071,99 TONNES
DEC 29/WITH GOLD DOWN $190.70 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 2.86 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1071,13 TONNES
DEC 26/WITH GOLD UP $39.15 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A DEPOSIT OF 3.61 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1068.27 TONNES
DEC 24/WITH GOLD UP $2.15 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1064.66 TONNES
DEC 23/WITH GOLD UP $52.85 TODAY/HUGE CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: A FRAUDULENT DEPOSIT OF 12.12 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/// /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1064.66 TONNES
DEC 22/WITH GOLD UP $80,25 TODAY/NO CHANGES IN GOLD AT THE GLD: // /// ///INVENTORY RESTS AT 1052.54 TONNES
GLD INVENTORY: 1075.61 TONNES, TONIGHTS TOTAL
SILVER
FEB 23 WITH SILVER UP $4.89 HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV// A FRAUDULENT WITHDRAWAL OF 0.951 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 498.902 MILLION OZ
FEB 20 WITH SILVER UP $4.85 HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV// A MASSIVE AND FRAUDULENT WITHDRAWAL OF 3.035 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 499.853 MILLION OZ
FEB 19 WITH SILVER DOWN $0.23 HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV// A MASSIVE AND FRAUDULENT WITHDRAWAL OF 5.798 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 502.888 MILLION OZ
FEB 18 WITH SILVER UP $4.02 HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV// A MASSIVE AND FRAUDULENT WITHDRAWAL OF 11.325 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 508.686 MILLION OZ
FEB 17 WITH SILVER DOWN $4.39 HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV// A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.253 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 515.753 MILLION OZ
FEB 13 WITH SILVER UP $2.35 HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV// A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.994 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 520.011 MILLION OZ
FEB 12 WITH SILVER DOWN $8.78 SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV// A DEPOSIT OF 635,000 OZ INTO THE SLV. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 522.005 MILLION OZ
FEB 11 WITH SILVER UP $3.89 HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV// A DEPOSIT OF 815,000 OZ INTO THE SLV. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 521.370 MILLION OZ
FEB 10 WITH SILVER DOWN $2.21 NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV//. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 520.555 MILLION OZ
FEB 9 WITH SILVER UP $5,24 A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 3.942 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV://. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 520.555 MILLION OZ
FEB 6 WITH SILVER UP 0.08 A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 3.942 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV://. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 522.367 MILLION OZ
FEB 5 WITH SILVER DOWN $7.87 A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 2.175 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV://. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 526.309 MILLION OZ
FEB 4 WITH SILVER UP $2.02 A HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 3.551 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV://. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 528.484 MILLION OZ
FEB 3 WITH SILVER UP $6.11 A MASSIVE MASSIVE PAPER AND FRAUUDULENT 32.898 CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV://. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 531.985 MILLION OZ
FEB 2 WITH SILVER DOWN $1.32 NO CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV://. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 499.087 MILLION OZ /
JAN 30 WITH SILVER DOWN $37.04 HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV:A FRAUDULENT WITHDRAWAL OF 3.625 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV////. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 499.087 MILLION OZ /
JAN 29 WITH SILVER UP $2.80 HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV:A FRAUDULENT WITHDRAWAL OF 6,798 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV////. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 502.712 MILLION OZ /
JAN 28 WITH SILVER UP $5.60 HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.078 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV////. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 509.510 MILLION OZ /
JAN 27 WITH SILVER DOWN $7.00 HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 4.17 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV////. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 513.598 MILLION OZ /
JAN 26 WITH SILVER UP $12.92 HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.454 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV////. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 517.758 MILLION OZ /
JAN 23 WITH SILVER UP $4.91 HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.998 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV////. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 517.758 MILLION OZ /
JAN 22 WITH SILVER UP $3.20 HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV:A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.812 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV////. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 519.752 MILLION OZ /
JAN 21 WITH SILVER DOWN $1.44 NO CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV://. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 521.564MILLION OZ /
JAN 20 WITH SILVER DOWN $4.24 HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A MASSIVE AND CRIMINAL DEPOSIT OF 5.166 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV///. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 521.564MILLION OZ /
JAN 16 WITH SILVER DOWN $4.24 HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A MASSIVE AND CRIMINAL WITHDRAWAL OF 5.401 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV///. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 516.298MILLION OZ //
JAN 15 WITH SILVER UP $1.00 HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.538 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV///. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 522.199MILLION OZ //
JAN 14 WITH SILVER UP $4.64 NO CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: /. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 524,737MILLION OZ //
JAN 13 WITH SILVER UP $1.70 HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 0.816MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV OZ INTO THE SLV. /. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 524,737MILLION OZ //
JAN 12 WITH SILVER UP $5.50 HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 1.229MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV OZ INTO THE SLV. /. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 525,598MILLION OZ //
JAN 9 WITH SILVER UP $4.15 HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 6.119 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV OZ FROM THE SLV. /. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 524.329MILLION OZ //
JAN 8/WITH SILVER DOWN $2.40/HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 10.481 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV OZ FROM THE SLV. /. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 518.210MILLION OZ //
JAN 7/WITH SILVER DOWN $2.78/HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 10.481 MILLION OZ OUT OF THE SLV OZ FROM THE SLV. /. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 525.730 MILLION OZ //
JAN 6/WITH SILVER UP $4.93 /SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 363,000 OZ FORM THE SLV. /. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 528.691 MILLION OZ //
JAN 6/WITH SILVER UP $4.93 /SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 363,000 OZ FORM THE SLV. /. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 528.691 MILLION OZ //
JAN 5/WITH SILVER UP $5.90 /SMALL CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 363,000 OZ FORM THE SLV. /. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 528.691 MILLION OZ //
JAN 2/WITH SILVER UP $0.22 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A SMALL WITHDRAWAL OF 0.363 MILLION OZ OUT THE SLV/. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 529.054 MILLION OZ //
DEC 31/WITH SILVER DOWN $6.41 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A MASSIVE DEPOSIT OF 4.806 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV/. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 529.054 MILLION OZ //
DEC 30/WITH SILVER UP $6.89 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 2.72 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV/. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 524.248 MILLION OZ //
DEC 29/WITH SILVER DOWN $5.88 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.814 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV/. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 526,968 MILLION OZ //
DEC 26/WITH SILVER UP $4.88 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 1.813 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV/. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 528.782 MILLION OZ //
DEC 24/WITH SILVER UP $0.95 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A WITHDRAWAL OF 3.083 MILLION OZ FROM THE SLV/. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 530.595MILLION OZ //
DEC 23/WITH SILVER UP $2.40 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A FRAUDULENT DEPOSIT OF 17.13 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV/. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 533.678 MILLION OZ //
DEC 22/WITH SILVER UP $1.28 /HUGE CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: A DEPOSIT OF 1.541 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV/. ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 516.541 MILLION OZ //
DEC 19/WITH SILVER UP $2.06 /NO CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: . ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 515.000 MILLION OZ //
DEC 18/WITH SILVER DOWN $1.13/NO CHANGES IN SILVER AT THE SLV: . ./ :INVENTORY RESTS AT 515.000 MILLION OZ //
CLOSING INVENTORY 498.902 MILLION OZ OF SILVER…
PHYSICAL GOLD/SILVER
1/PETER SCHIFF
JOHN RUBINO
MATHEW PIEPENBERG/EGON VON GREYERZ
ALASDAIR MACLEOD
Gold and silver: bull or bear?
Having topped out above current levels before crashing lower, opinions are divided over whether prices are now going higher or lower. We examine the evidence…
| Alasdair MacleodFeb 21∙Paid |
The primary bull market is gold. Or rather, the primary bear market is fiat currencies. This is why central banks, Asian governments, and now wider Asian populations particularly in China and India are buying gold.
Unbeknown to US and European investors, gold, not the dollar, is legally money in everyone’s common law. The dollar is a fiat currency and as such is credit unanchored to any value. The fact that gold’s exchange rate against the dollar and other fiat currencies has been rising strongly is only partly due to gold rising, but mainly due to the dollar and other currencies declining. Asians and others in the global south have not bought into the US’s longstanding propaganda war against gold.
To be fair, investors in the West do understand that the dollar’s purchasing power is declining, but at the rate of the CPI index. They also learned the difference between unlimited and restricted credit creation from bitcoin.
However, investors seem unclear about gold’s true role beyond it being some sort of fear trade. Because they account in dollars, they think it is gold rising and they treat it like any other financial asset. They think in cycles, because that’s their experience of other financial assets. Furthermore, in the last 55 years there have been two gold bull markets followed by two bear markets, cycles by any definition.
No one can define future price relationships accurately. But we can examine the evidence that drives them. And this time, we are entering a financial war between the US and China, where it is becoming obvious that the dollar will be the casualty.
China is now actively undermining the dollar
Since 1983, China embarked on a policy of mining, refining, buying, and standardising gold which she has accumulated in very large quantities. We don’t know how much, but it is clear from 1983’s Regulations of the Peoples Republic of China on the Control of Gold and Silver that this was the intention. Between 1983 and 2002, by examining the PBOC’s foreign currency flows I estimated that in those nineteen years she would have accumulated approximately 20,000 tonnes if 10% of those flows were diverted into gold. Only a small fraction of China’s gold is held as monetary reserves, the rest spread among various national entities, such as the army and the youth wing of the CCP.
Until 2002, the public were banned from owning gold. Then the state obviously decided it had accumulated enough and opened the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE), allowing the general public to buy. Since 2002, the public has taken delivery of about 28,000 tonnes gross of scrap, mostly turned into jewellery alongside coin and small bars.
While China’s public can buy gold, they cannot export it. China is Hotel California for gold. In addition to the state and the public’s gold withdrawn from the vaulting system, there are unknown quantities of bullion stored in the SGE’s vaults backing gold accumulation accounts offered by banks alongside their yuan deposit accounts and ETF gold. So, both the state and its general public have accumulated vast amounts of gold in the 43 years since 1983.
Against this background, the US has made various attempts over the years to disrupt China’s trade and technological development. All these attempts have failed and China’s stature as a hegemonic rival has grown. The Chinese had a policy of not responding to US provocation.
This changed last April, when for the first time, China took deliberate steps to protect herself and her currency in the wake of Trump’s 2 April Liberation Day. Xi did a quick tour of the major ASEAN nations to reassure and secure a free trade area, followed up with plans to establish SGE vaults in Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia, where gold could be exchanged exclusively for yuan. And her CIPS trade settlement system was made widely available where foreign exchange transactions would bypass the dollar completely.
The signal was clear. The mechanism was now in place for the offshore yuan to be put on a gold standard, and an efficient payment facility was established. China and those who trade with her were insulated from a dollar collapse.
The second stage of her new approach was restrictions on rare earth exports, particularly to the US in late September. Unannounced at the time, the rare earths policy appears to have been extended to silver as a critical mineral, because on 9th October a severe physical shortage developed in the West, driving silver’s lease rate to as high as 40% in London.
The shortage continues. Surprisingly, perhaps, there is very little speculative interest in the west. The silver price is being driven by a bear squeeze on the paper shorts. Commentators make a mistake by attributing the rise to trend chasing speculators. It is the inevitable consequence of China no longer exporting silver.
We know this, not because of the new export licensing system introduced in January, but silver prices in Shanghai are consistently higher than in London and New York. In other words, it is domestic Chinese demand which sets the price and silver is flowing out of Comex and London to China.
The idea that prices are being driven by retail trade in the West misses the point: It is demand in China and other Asian centres that sets the pace. And the Chinese authorities seem happy to permit, even encouraging the squeeze on the West’s derivative markets.
You may ask what silver has to do with China deliberately undermining the US dollar. The US has recently named silver as a critical mineral, and it is clear that it has none. It’s not the only metal being driven higher either. You can add copper, tin, platinum group metals, aluminium, lithium, cobalt, neodymium, indium, and uranium. In all these metals, the dollar’s purchasing power is weakening, reflected in other commodity groups as well.
China sees this as evidence that the dollar is sinking. The fiat dollar is on course for total failure, the eventual fate of every fiat currency. Furthermore, earlier in the month China instructed insurance companies, other investment institutions, and the banks to reduce their holdings of US treasuries. The signalling is unmistakeable: the gloves are off. China is now waging a full-on financial war against the US at a time when the US’s international credibility is hitting all-time lows.
As the dollar goes down, gold, silver, and all commodities rise. The Commodity Research Bureau (CRB) index illustrates the point:
These are the points that commentators miss. It’s not just gold and commodities rising, but their unit of account is falling — failing is a better description.
The dollar is now staggering from crisis to crisis. Over the weekend, the US Supreme Court ruled Trump’s tariffs illegal. Petulantly, Trump said the judges should be “absolutely ashamed” and lacked the courage “to do the right thing”— extraordinary statements by a president disregarding the law. He then announced a new global 10% tariff, quickly raised to 15%.
Trump is also mounting military pressure on Iran, from which he either backs down or starts a war likely to collapse the dollar against oil ($300pb has been mentioned by Goldman Sachs). US bases in the region will then be targeted by Iran, and Tel Aviv attacked by hypersonic missiles. He appears to have boxed himself in.
And there’s the USG’s debt trap, made worse by illegal tariffs having to be refunded. So China has a point with her timing, and it would be unwise to bet against her.
The one shoe yet to drop is China revealing the extent of her physical gold accumulation. But she knows that the moment she reveals her true gold position, the dollar is finished. She will announce this in a time of her own choosing.
Lebanon considers sale of gold reserves to rescue its banks and economy
Submitted by admin on Mon, 2026-02-23 00:20 Section: Daily Dispatches
By Malaika Kanaaneh Tapper
Financial Times, London
Monday, February 23, 2026
BEIRUT — Lebanese bankers and politicians are eyeing the controversial sale or lease of part of the central bank’s large gold reserves — whose value has soared along with the gold price — as a way of rescuing the country from a devastating economic crisis.
Lebanon has struggled to agree on a solution for the economic collapse that has stricken the country since 2019, but the sale of the nation’s accumulated gold reserves is an unpopular solution for citizens who see it as a fix for the few at the expense of the many. …
Lebanon’s central bank has an unusually large reserve of gold for such a small country — the more than 280 tonnes it holds is second only to Saudi Arabia in the Middle East. The bank began building up gold reserves in the 1940s and 1950s to underpin the value of the Lebanese pound.
That means the recent unprecedented global rise in the price of gold has had an outsized benefit. The price of gold has risen 70% over the past year to about $5,000 per ounce.
The value of Lebanon’s gold reserves has tripled from the start of the crisis to reach about $45 billion now — equivalent to more than half the financial losses.
… For the remainder of the report:
END
On LFTV, Maguire and Macleod discuss silver squeeze and fiat collapse
Submitted by admin on Sat, 2026-02-21 20:28 Section: Daily Dispatches
8:27p ET Saturday, February 21, 2026
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
On this week’s installment of Kinesis Money’s “Live from the Vault” program, London metals trader Andrew Maguire and economist Alasdair Macleod discuss the squeeze on silver and the accelerating collapse of the Western fiat currency system. The program is 58 minutes long and can be viewed at the Kinesis Money channel at YouTube here:
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
CPowell@GATA.org
END
Bitcoin’s $1 trillion identity crisis hits from every direction
Submitted by admin on Sat, 2026-02-21 15:19 Section: Daily Dispatches
By Isabelle Lee and Vildana Hajric
Bloomberg News
Saturday, February 21, 2026
It wouldn’t have seemed possible a year ago. But Bitcoin has gotten caught in one of its deepest struggles yet, with no obvious way out.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency has plunged more than 40% from its peak, and the usual playbook isn’t working — dip buyers have vanished, and the forces that would normally fuel a rebound are now working against it. Gold is winning the macro-hedge argument. Stablecoins are winning payments. Prediction markets are winning speculation.
The strange part: None of this is happening because the system failed Bitcoin. Washington has never been more accommodating. Institutional adoption has never been deeper. Wall Street has never been more bought in. Bitcoin got everything it wanted — and it wasn’t enough.
That means the defining struggle of this crypto era isn’t about price. It’s about purpose. And this selloff is forcing a question Bitcoin hasn’t needed to answer when prices were rising: If it isn’t the best hedge, the best payment rail or the best speculation — what, exactly, is it for? …
… For the remainder of the report:
END
Russia sold 300,000 ounces of gold as prices hit record
Submitted by admin on Fri, 2026-02-20 23:11 Section: Daily Dispatches
But the country’s gold holdings still increased in value
* * *
From Bloomberg News
Friday, February 18, 2026
Russia’s central bank sold gold from its reserves in January, taking advantage of prices that had climbed to record highs.
The country’s bullion holdings fell by 300,000 ounces to 74.5 million ounces, according to data published today by the Bank of Russia. The sale marked the first decrease in gold reserves since October. …
Despite the sale, the value of Russia’s gold reserves rose 23% in January to $402.7 billion, buoyed by the rally in prices. …
… For the remainder of the report:
END
Who needs to visit the Bank of England’s gold vault? How about answers to critical questions?
Submitted by admin on Fri, 2026-02-20 21:17 Section: Daily Dispatches
10:16p ET Friday, February 20, 2026
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
Today Great Britain’s Sky News breathlessly broadcast a report about a visit its economics reporter, Ed Conway, recently was allowed to make to the Bank of England’s basement gold vault in London.
As might have been expected, the report was mostly gush and “gee-whiz” stuff as Conway marveled at all the shiny metal bars. While Sky News touted the visit as “rare,” it was hardly exclusive.
Fourteen years ago the bank invited practically everyone in British journalism to take a look, as well as Queen Elizabeth, an invitation that produced many dazzling photographs:
But now, as then, the visit didn’t produce much critical journalism.
The Sky News report acknowledged the controversy over the bank’s disputed custody of Venezuela’s national gold reserves, along with the trouble the bank had last year arranging timely removal and shipment of customer gold, delays attributed to “logistical” problems arising from the bank’s discovery that gold bars are a lot heavier and bulkier than the paper claims to them that are traded by bullion banks in the financial district upstairs.
The report also noted the controversial sale of much of the United Kingdom’s gold reserves between 1999 and 2002 at the direction of Chancellor Gordon Brown, which, the video segment of the report admitted, now seems “unwise,” gold’s price having soared in the 25 years since.
Actually, the sale of the UK gold might have been wise in a sense that few people understand because the truth about gold is so seldom reported. That is, the UK gold sales back then well might have been necessary to rescue bullion banks in London that had been caught ridiculously short of gold as its price bounced up violently, with central banks having decided to stop selling their reserves down.
But the report failed to exploit the opportunity to question the bank’s governor, Andrew Bailey, about what the bank actually does in the gold market these days besides act as a custodian for foreign government reserves and bullion bank holdings. Sky News apparently considered such questions to be impolite in the context of a “rare” visit.
— Does the Bank of England still lend, lease, or swap gold? How much did it lend, lease, and swap over recent decades? How recently has it lent, leased, or swapped gold, and with whom and for what purposes?
— Does the bank coordinate its activity in the gold market with the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, the command center for surreptitious central bank interventions, and with other governments and central banks?
— Now that many governments and central banks are starting to shun U.S. dollars and Treasury bonds as reserve assets, since they can be seized, frozen, or sanctioned by the United States, what does the bank see as the future of gold as a reserve asset and, indeed, as an international currency?
— Has the bank acquired any gold lately on behalf of the UK government, and does the bank think the pound might benefit from a larger UK gold reserve?
Since mainstream financial journalism won’t pursue answers to these questions, GATA would be grateful for a few minutes of Governor Bailey’s time to do so. We wouldn’t need a tour of the gold vault. The photographs already published will do.
The text and video of the Sky News report, the latter running 9 minutes and 45 seconds, can be found at the Sky News internet site here:
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
CPowell@GATA.org
END
Mali and Barrick reset ties over $900 million gold asset with 10-year deal
Submitted by admin on Mon, 2026-02-16 19:39 Section: Daily Dispatches
By Segun Adeyemi
Business Insider Africa, New York
Monday, February 16, 2026
Mali’s military-led government has approved a draft decree extending the operating permit for Barrick Mining’s Loulo-Gounkoto gold complex by a further 10 years, marking a decisive end to a prolonged dispute that unsettled one of Africa’s most important gold assets.
The renewal follows a November agreement that resolved tensions triggered by Mali’s 2023 mining code, which increased taxes and expanded state participation in extractive projects.
Under the settlement, Canadian-based Barrick Mining withdrew its arbitration case at the World Bank dispute tribunal while Mali dropped legal charges against the company and its affiliates, released detained staff, and restored operational control of the mine.
Mali’s leader said the agreement “restores stability and clarity” to a sector that underpins national revenues, reinforcing the government’s message that reforms will be enforced but negotiated outcomes remain possible. …
… For the remainder of the report:
4.LIVE FROM THE VAULT YOU TUBE: 260 and 259
7
5. COMMODITY REPORT/URANIUM
2.ASIAN AFFAIRS FEB 23/2026
YOUR EARLY CURRENCY VALUES/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN AND EUROPEAN BOURSE MOVEMENTS/AND INTEREST RATE SETTINGS MONDAY MORNING.7:30 AM
SHANGHAI CLOSED
HANG SENG CLOSED
Nikkei CLOSED DOWN 642.13 PTS OR 1.12%
//Australia’s all ordinaries CLOSED DOWN 0.43%
//Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) CLOSED XXXX
/ OFFSHORE CLOSED UP AT 6.8889 Oil UP TO 66.52 dollars per barrel for WTI and BRENT UP TO 71.88 Stocks in Europe OPENED ALL GREEN
ONSHORE USA/ YUAN TRADING XXXX OFFSHORE YUAN TRADING UP TO 6.8889 ONSHORE YUAN TRADING BELOW OFF SHORE AND XXX ON THE DOLLAR// / AND THUS XXXXX//OFF SHORE YUAN TRADING UP AGAINST US DOLLAR/ AND THUS STRONGER
YOUR EARLY CURRENCY VALUES/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN AND EUROPEAN BOURSE MOVEMENTS/AND INTEREST RATE SETTINGS MONDAY MORNING.7:30 AM
ONSHORE YUAN: CLOSED XXXX
OFFSHORE YUAN: UP TO 6.8889
HANG SENG CLOSED
2. Nikkei closed DOWN 642.13 PTS OR 1.12%
WEST TEXAS INTERMEDIATE OIL UP 66.52
BRENT; 71.88
3. Europe stocks SO FAR: ALL GREEN
USA dollar INDEX UP TO 97.76 /// EURO FALLS TO 1.1765 DOWN 6 BASIS PTS
3b Japan 10 YR bond yield: FALLS TO. +2.101/ DOWN 1 FULL BASIS PTS/ VERY TROUBLESOME//Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese YEN vs USA cross now at 154.98… 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: 3.302 DOWN 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 UP /JAPANESE Yen UP CHINESE ONSHORE YUAN: XXX 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 BRENT UP this morning
3h European bond buying continues to push yields LOWER on all fronts in the EMU. German 10yr bund YIELD DOWN TO +2.7368 Italian 10 Yr bond yield UP to 3.351 SPAIN 10 YR BOND YIELD DOWN TO 3.152
3i Greek 10 year bond yield DOWN TO 3.353
3j Gold at $5063.20 Silver at: 86.89 1 am est) SILVER NEXT RESISTANCE LEVEL AT $100.00
3k USA vs Russian rouble;// Russian rouble DOWN 0 AND 28/100 roubles/dollar; ROUBLE AT 77.00
3m oil (WTI) into the 66 dollar handle for WTI and 71 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 154.98 10 YEAR YIELD AFTER FIRST BREAKING .54% LAST YEAR NOW EXCEEDS THAT LEVEL TO 2.101% DOWN 2 BASIS PTS STILL ON CENTRAL BANK (JAPAN) INTERVENTION//YEN CARRY TRADE IS NOW UNWINDING//YEN BOND TRADING OVERSEAS REPATRIATED.//JAPAN 30 YR: 3.302 DOWN 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 0.7768 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF: 0.9126 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: 4.077 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS…
USA 30 YR BOND YIELD: 4.7210 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS/
USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 3.480 UP 0 BASIS PTS
USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 43.84 UP 0 BASIS PTS/LIRA GETTING KILLED
10 YR UK BOND YIELD: 4.351 DOWN 2 PTS
30 YR UK BOND YIELD: 5.151 DOWN 0 BASIS PTS
10 YR CANADA BOND YIELD: 3.210 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS
5 YR CANADA BOND YIELD: 2.745 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS.
1a New York Opening report
Futures Slide As Renewed Tariff Turmoil Shakes Global Markets
Monday, Feb 23, 2026 – 08:37 AM
Stock futures slumped after Trump’s weekend tariff tantrum added uncertainty to American trade policy and was another blow to bullish outlooks for 2026. The Supreme Court’s tariff ruling means a big source of fiscal revenue from 2025 may have to be refunded (although if it is refunded to US consumers, who bore the brunt of tariffs as most liberals analysts concluded, it would represent a huge pre-midterm stimulus). As of 8:00am ET, S&P futures were 0.5% lower, giving up almost all Friday gains, while Nasdaq 100 contracts sliding -0.6%. In pre-market trading, there is a defensive tone as Mag7 names are mostly lower, Semis are coming for sale (NVDA flat ahead of earnings on Wednesday); and, most sectors are seeing weakness with pockets of positive performance in HC, Aero/Def, Materials, and Utilities. “We started 2026 with a bullish outlook — but not even two months into the year, many of our assumptions are being challenged,” wrote the Bloomberg Economics team led by Anna Wong. The risk of war in Iran and the AI scare are also denting optimism. The dollar recouped losses while bond yields are flat-to-down 1bp after spiking on Friday on fears the SCOTUS ruling will unleash much more debt issuance. Commodities are seeing weakness in Energy with WTI down 60bp, Ags being sold perhaps on lower tariffs, and precious metals maintain their incessant bid. Today we get factory orders and the final December durable goods report. Key events this week include Trump’s State of the Union Address tomorrow, Nvidia earnings on Wednesday and PPI data on Friday.
In premarket trading, Magnificent Seven are mostly lower, with the lone exception being GOOGL which rises 0.3% as Wells Fargo upgrades to overweight, calling the search giant an “AI winner.” Others are all down (Nvidia -0.2%, Microsoft -0.5%, Apple -0.5%, Meta Platforms -0.7%, Amazon -0.9%, Tesla -0.9%)
- Arcellx Inc. (ACLX) soars 78% after Gilead Sciences Inc. agreed to buy the biotech in a deal with an equity value of up to $7.8 billion.
- Domino’s Pizza Inc. (DPZ) climbs 4% after the company reported a larger-than-expected rise in comparable sales, as consumers were drawn to the pizza chain’s budget-friendly pies.
- International Paper (IP) falls 6% and Smurfit (SW) drops 6% as analysts note that a surprise price drop in domestic containerboard is negative for packaging companies.
- MoonLake Immunotherapeutics (MLTX) rises 4% after the drug developer gave topline results from a mid-stage trial of its experimental therapy for patients with an inflammatory disease that mainly affects the spine.
- Vanda Pharmaceuticals (VNDA) climbs 40% after the FDA approved the firm’s oral medication for treating manic or mixed episodes in bipolar I disorder and schizophrenia in adults.
- Veris Residential (VRE) rises 12% after agreeing to be acquired by an investor consortium led by Affinius Capital in partnership with Vista Hill Partners, in an all-cash transaction for $19 per share.
- VF Corp. (VFC) declines 3% as JPMorgan cuts its rating on the apparel and shoe company to underweight and trims profit estimates for upcoming years.
In corporate news, Honeywell slashed its price to acquire Johnson Matthey’s Catalyst Technologies business in a move to save the deal from falling apart. OpenAI is projecting that its revenue will grow at a fast clip in the next few years and exceed $280 billion in 2030, according to a person familiar. Hynix pledged to boost output of AI memory chips to meet a surge in demand.
The latest questions over tariffs following the SCOTUS rejection of Trump’s signature trade policy are giving traders another focal point in markets that have been grappling with concerns about artificial intelligence and tensions in the Middle East. Investors will also closely follow Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday and Nvidia Corp.’s earnings the following day.
“Markets quickly realized that the ruling might not change much in the near term and will rather increase uncertainties,” said Stephan Kemper, chief investment strategist at BNP Paribas Wealth Management. “Donald Trump is not known to avoid a fight or give up easily.”
Trump responded to the ruling by imposing a new 10% global levy, vowing to use other powers to maintain his signature trade policies. He upped that to 15% the next day. US Trade Rep Jamieson Greer said the tariff-policy defeat won’t unravel individual deals the administration has sealed with trading partners. Still, the EU is poised to freeze the ratification process of its deal with the US and is seeking more details from the Trump administration. However, senior US officials, including Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, signaled over the weekend that the court decision wouldn’t unravel agreements already negotiated.
“The question is about the benefit of the rebates versus the extra uncertainty that the trade issues are causing, and for me the latter wins,” JPMorgan Asset Management Global Market Strategist Hugh Gimber told Bloomberg TV. “That for me risks putting business activity on hold, because companies simply don’t know what’s to come further down the line.”
For JPMorgan strategists, an equity-market pullback driven by global tariff policies or an escalation in Iran could create dip-buying opportunities as long as the macro backdrop remains positive. “Adverse geopolitical headlines” could lead to de-risking given the recent rally and stretched technicals, wrote the team led by Mislav Matejka. “But we believe that these will not be long-lasting, and should be seen as buying opportunities.”
Meanwhile, the hunt for AI losers (and winners) continues in both public and private markets. Today’s Big Take looks at the fallout in private credit after Blue Owl, a prominent software lender, permanently shut the gates on one of its funds. The biggest AI event this week comes in the form of Nvidia results. Still, the chip giant’s stock is stuck in a range and even blowout earnings may not lift it according to Bloomberg.
“We started 2026 with a bullish outlook — but not even two months into the year, many of our assumptions are being challenged,” wrote the Bloomberg Economics team led by Anna Wong. The Supreme Court’s tariff ruling means a big source of fiscal revenue from 2025 may have to be refunded. The risk of war in Iran and the AI scare are also denting optimism.
European indices are mixed, Stoxx 600 is down 0.4%. Trade uncertainty dominates the macro conversation with the EU set to halt its trade deal with the US. Technology and health care shares led declines, while banks and utilities were the biggest outperformers. Here are the biggest movers Monday:
- Novo Nordisk shares fall 11% after the firm said its Cagrisema product fell short of Lilly’s Zepbound in a trial
- Enel shares rise as much as 6.1%, the most since March 2022, after the Italian energy company forecast higher-than-expected dividends and EPS growth, and announced a €1 billion share buyback
- ABN Amro Bank shares rise as much as 3.7%, the most since November, after BofA Global Research raises its recommendation on the lender to buy from neutral
- JD Sports shares climb as much as 6.5% after the sportswear retailer said it plans to return £200 million to shareholders through buybacks in its 2027 fiscal year
- Quilter shares rise as much as 3.9% after being placed on JP Morgan’s Positive Catalyst Watch ahead of its results for the full year of 2025 as analysts see upside risk due to the British wealth manager’s expected share buyback
- Johnson Matthey shares fall as much as 17%, most since 2021, after Honeywell cut the price it’s paying for the UK company’s Catalyst Technologies business
- Belimo shares fall as much as 12% after analysts expressed concerns over the heating and cooling equipment maker’s guidance for 2026 and the delayed impact of tariff decisions
- Pernod Ricard shares drop as much as 4% after being downgraded at Deutsche Bank, with analysts pointing to the stock’s year-to-date outperformance and uncertainty about the alcoholic beverage maker’s growth
- EQT falls as much as 4.5% on Monday as Citi trims its price target, while maintaining its buy rating on the Stockholm-based investment firm, amid concerns that AI-driven volatility could slow private-markets activity
Earlier in the session, Asia’s equities rose to hover near record highs, driven by gains in tech, while investors weigh the impact of US President Donald Trump’s latest slate of tariffs on the region. The MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan Index advanced as much as 1.3%, with Tencent and Alibaba among the biggest boosts to the gauge. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 2.8%, while tech-heavy benchmarks in Taiwan and South Korea rose as well. After the US Supreme Court ruled Friday that Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose duties was illegal, China and India now stand to gain from lower tariff rates on exports to the US. Investors across the region are eyeing more economic turbulence after Trump’s latest vow to hike his global levy to 15%, from the 10% announced just a day earlier. The markets have largely looked past concerns over tariffs and are more focused on other factors such as the broader economic landscape and the AI trade, she said. Trading in Japan and onshore China is shut today and will resume tomorrow
In FX, the dollar kicked the session off on the backfoot versus most majors but has since turned positive. Trade sensitive currencies such as Aussie dollar, Swedish krona and Norwegian krone underperform.
In rates, treasuries were marginally higher, with the 10-year yield falling one basis point to 4.07%. US natural gas prices rose as a winter storm swept the northeastern region.
In commodities, spot gold and silver have benefited from the risk aversion, up 1% and 2.6% respectively. Oil has pared the bulk of its declines, with US and Iran discussions set to resume this week. US natural gas prices jumped as powerful winter storms swept the northeastern region. Bitcoin briefly slid below $65,000 on Monday for the second time this month. Bitcoin is down 2% but recovering after a brief foray below $65,000.
The US economic calendar slate includes January Chicago Fed national activity index (8:30am), December factory orders (10am) and February Dallas Fed manufacturing activity (11am). Fed speaker slate includes Waller, speaking on the economic outlook at 8am
Market Snapshot
- &P 500 mini -0.5%
- Nasdaq 100 mini -0.6%
- Russell 2000 mini -0.6%
- Stoxx Europe 600 -0.3%
- DAX -0.6%
- CAC 40 +0.1%
- 10-year Treasury yield -1 basis point at 4.08%
- VIX +0.8 points at 19.92
- Bloomberg Dollar Index little changed at 1187.86
- euro +0.1% at $1.1798
- WTI crude -0.6% at $66.06/barrel
Top Overnight News
- Iran has indicated it is prepared to make concessions on its nuclear program in talks with the U.S. in return for the lifting of sanctions and recognition of its right to enrich uranium, as it seeks to avert a U.S. attack. RTRS
- Mexico Takes On Cartels as Killing of Drug Kingpin Sparks Violence… Gunmen Wreak Chaos in Mexican Coastal Retreat After Cartel Killing: WSJ
- The European Union is poised to freeze the ratification process of its trade deal with the US and is seeking more details from President Donald Trump’s administration on its new tariff program: BBG
- India is studying the implications for its bilateral trade deal with Washington after the US Supreme Court scrapped President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs: BBG
- German business confidence brightened more than anticipated in February, with an expectations index increasing to 90.5 from a revised 89.6 in January. BBG
- India postponed talks on an interim trade deal with the US. China and Brazil are top winners from the Supreme Court decision, while the UK risks emerging as the main loser, according to Global Trade Alert. BBG
- UK job vacancies dropped to their lowest in five years and graduate posts fell to a record low in January. BBG
- The European Central Bank is asking individual lenders for details on their lending to areas including data centers amid concern over hidden credit exposures and financial-sector disruption: BBG
- Blue Owl’s selloff is deepening fears about liquidity risks and excesses in the $1.8 trillion private credit market. Private equity returned fewer profits to investors for a fourth year as firms sit on $3.8 trillion of unsold assets. BBG
- South Korea’s exports climbed 47.3% year on year in the first 20 days of February, fueled by AI-driven chip demand. The BOK said the country’s 2026 growth outlook improved on strong chip demand. BBG
- U.S. Elite Troops Hardened by War on Terror Retrain for Arctic Combat: WSJ
- Novo Nordisk Shares Plunge After Obesity Drug Fails to Beat Zepbound: WSJ
- Singapore’s core CPI fell short of expectations in Jan, coming in at +1% (vs. the Street +1.5%) while the headline number was inline at +1.4%. BBG
- Venezuela’s Leaders Killed the Economy. They Are Still In Charge.: WSJ
- US natural gas futures jumped as the East Coast storm spiked heating demand and LNG exports climbed. BBG
Trade/Tarfiffs
- US President Trump said on Saturday that he will increase the global tariff that was announced on Friday from 10% to 15% with immediate effect. Trump also stated that the 15% level is the maximum allowed by law and is still temporary, as Section 122 tariffs, and they will use the 150 days that the temporary tariff allows to work on issuing other legally permissible tariffs.
- EU is set to freeze trade deal approval over US President Trump’s tariff risk, Bloomberg reports.
- US officials said that tariff deal partners should honour their agreements, while USTR Greer said he sought to separate the tariff agreements from the 15% global tariff that US President Trump recently announced.
- White House clarified that goods shipped under the USMCA will be exempt from the new global tariff that US President Trump announced on Friday, although risks regarding the future of the USMCA loom.
- German Chancellor Merz said expect the tariff burden on the German economy to be reduced following the US Supreme Court decision, while he added that they will have a very clear European position on this, as tariff policy is a matter for the EU, not individual member states, and he will go to Washington with a coordinated European position.
- US to cease collecting duties under IEEPA from 00:01EST/05:01GMT on February 24th, according to the Customs Agency.
- Goldman Sachs analysts indicate most Asian economies will experience slightly lower US tariffs after the Supreme Court ruling on IEEPA tariffs, with China expected to see the largest decline.
- China’s MOFCOM said it is assessing the US Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs and urges the US to lift unilateral tariffs on trading partners. US tariffs on reciprocal goods and fentanyl breach trade rules and US law, and are not in the interest of any party.
- South Korea’s Industry Minister said chips are not subject to Trump’s new tariffs and noted uncertainty regarding US tariffs refund and that consultations with the US on tariffs and trade agreements will continue.
- South Korea’s Finance Minister said the trade deal with the US is still valid.
- Japanese ruling LDP tax chief Onodera said the US tariff situation was a real mess following the SCOTUS tariff ruling.
- US Treasury Secretary Bessent said nothing has changed on tariff revenue and trade deals; The tariff collection is closer to USD 130bln, probably not USD 175bln. Will get back to same tariff level for countries, and it will be less direct. Thinks that every country will honour the trade deals. Would call on all countries to honour their agreements and move forward.
- All countries with trade agreements now drop to a 10% tariff, and the 10% rate applies until new authorities and processes kick in, according to CNBC citing a White House official.
A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk
APAC stocks were mixed amid trade uncertainty as the region digested the latest tariff developments after the US Supreme Court ruled against IEEPA tariffs on Friday, prompting President Trump to impose a global 10% flat-rate tariff, which he later raised to 15% over the weekend, while there were a couple of key market closures in the region with mainland China and Japan observing holidays. ASX 200 was dragged lower with underperformance seen in tech, healthcare and real estate, while participants also reflected on a deluge of earnings releases and the recent Trump 15% global tariff rate announcement, which would increase the levies on Australia from the previously agreed 10%. KOSPI initially benefitted from the tech strength amid gains in the likes of industry heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, while South Korea’s Industry Minister also noted that chips were not subject to Trump’s new tariffs. However, the index then gradually gave back all its gains. Hang Seng rallied with tech stocks dominating the list of best performers in Hong Kong and with the local benchmark underpinned as a proxy to China, which is seen as the likely biggest winner from the US Supreme Court tariff ruling.
Top Asian News
- China reportedly experienced robust consumer activity across sectors during the Spring Festival holiday, according to China Daily.
- South Korea’s Vice Finance Minister said to closely watch financial markets.
European bourses (STOXX 600 -0.3%) show a mixed picture following the shifting tariff environment in recent days. The IBEX 35 (+0.8%) and FTSE MIB (+0.7%) outperform their peers, while the AEX (-0.3%) and DAX 40 (-0.5%) lag. European sectors are mixed. Consumer Products and Services (+1.1%), Banks (+0.8%) and Utilities (+0.9%) gain at the start of the week, aided by multiple broker upgrades for banks while Enel (+5.9%) supports the Utilities sector. The Co. updated its 2026-28 strategic plan, raising its planned investment to EUR 53bln from EUR 43bln, seeing cuts of up to EUR 700mln by 2028 and approved the execution of a new tranche of its share buyback programme. On the other hand, Technology (-1.4%) and Health Care (-1.6%) underperform. European tech giant ASML (-1.9%) seems to have been hit on OpenAI planning USD 600bln in compute spending by 2030 (prev. cited USD 1.4tln).
Top European News
- German Ifo Business Climate (Feb) 88.6 vs. Exp. 88.4 (Prev. 87.6).
- German Ifo Expectations (Feb) 90.5 vs. Exp. 90.3 (Prev. 89.5).
- German Ifo Current Conditions (Feb) 86.7 vs. Exp. 86.3 (Prev. 85.7).
- Italian Inflation Rate MoM Final (Jan) M/M 0.4% vs. Exp. 0.4% (Prev. 0.2%).
FX
- DXY is slightly lower this morning and trades within a 97.35 to 97.70 range. Further pressure could see a test of its 21 DMA at 97.15. All focus today on Trump’s latest decision to impose a sweeping 15% Section 122 import tariff, following the SCOTUS decision to rule IEEPA tariffs as unlawful. The implications of the decision are mixed, with the likes of the UK and Australia now worse off, whilst the likes of Brazil and China benefit from the lower rates. SEB writes that the preliminary estimate of the global average tariff rate is now marginally lower at 12%, which is 1-2 percentage points lower than the prior rate. The Budget Lab also sees the effective tariff rate at 13.7% (prev. 16% under IEEPA taxes).
- As it stands, there is some near-term certainty regarding Section 122 tariffs, which can be implemented for a maximum of 150 days. Thereafter, any extension would need to be passed through Congress. Therefore, uncertainty stems from several points; a) how the US aims to “make-up” for lost tariff revenue, b) how trade partners react to the latest levies, c) the potential use of other trade-related policies (Section 301, Section 338, Section 232).
- G10s are broadly firmer against the USD; the GBP and EUR leads, whilst the Aussie lags a touch. The latter is slightly underperforming, given Australia no longer benefits from its previously negotiated 10% rate, under IEEPA.
- For the EUR specifically, European Parliament’s trade chief is to propose freezing the ratification of the EU’s trade agreement with the US until they receive details from the Trump administration regarding its trade policy. On data, the German Ifo report improved from the prior and surpassed expectations, suggesting the region’s recovery is underway. Elsewhere, Japan’s ruling LDP tax chief Onodera, described the US tariff situation as a real mess. USD/JPY currently trades shy of the 155.00 mark, with the high of the day at 154.90, a touch above its 100 DMA at 154.90.
Central Banks
- Fed’s Hammack (2026 voter) said inflation has made amazing progress, but is still a problem, and the Fed can be very patient in considering future rate cuts. Hammack said monetary policy is only modestly restrictive and the economy was stronger than anticipated by December, while she added that tariffs have the potential to further complicate the inflation outlook.
- ECB’s Lagarde receives around EUR 140k a year as Bank for International Settlements board member, despite the ECB ban on third-party payments to staff, according to FT.
- BoK Governor Rhee said FX market conditions have improved but still need to be stabilised.
Fixed Income
- A relatively contained start for fixed income as markets continue to digest the latest tariff measures, and with APAC conditions thin on account of Japan’s holiday for the Emperor’s Birthday.
- USTs are firmer by a few ticks in thin 112-27+ to 113-02+ parameters, within but at the top end of Friday’s 112-23+ to 112-03+ confine; as a reminder, last week’s peak was 113-14. Focus is primarily on the tariff situation, as the latest POTUS measures in response to the SCOTUS ruling have effectively lowered the global rate by a pp or two. However, we of course remain attentive to any further updates by President Trump and/or his administration in the near term. Additionally, we await remarks from Fed’s Waller (voter), commentary that will be scrutinised for his tariff take. Thus far, Logan (2026) said the SCOTUS decision has led to more uncertainty and upside inflation risks remain, but noted that policy is well-positioned. Musalem (2028) stated that if the new tariffs are one-for-one, the outlook would be unchanged, but added that the ruling could introduce uncertainty. Note, the remarks were made before the weekend’s move to 15%.
- Bunds are contained, but at the lower end of c. 20 ticks parameters. The benchmark has found itself under modest pressure this morning as European cash bourses trade mixed and with futures attempting a move into the green. Ahead, supply from the bloc is scheduled, but the main focus will be on how the Hungarian block on Ukraine-related policies/sanctions by the EU shakes out.
- Gilts gapped higher by 11 ticks and then climbed a handful further to a 92.51 peak. Upside that comes as the 15% global effective tariff lifts the UK above the 10% it used to be subject to, and thus skews the bias towards a March vs April cut by the BoE. The main input into that debate this week will be the appearance of Governor Bailey at the TSC.
Commodities
- Crude benchmarks are more subdued in the early European session as the market continued to digest Trump’s 15% tariff decision in response to SCOTUS’ striking down his IEEPA tariffs. It’s worth noting that crude benchmarks have had their best year thus far since 2022 (the same year Russia invaded Ukraine), and as geopolitical tension continues to persist, US-Iran talks are set to resume this week.
- Precious metals have kicked off the week glowing amid uncertainties from tariffs and geopolitical tension with Iran, increasing their prospect as a haven. Following the SCOTUS decision, US President Trump raised global tariffs to 15% over the weekend, fuelling market uncertainty. Following the tariff updates, the USD weakened, consequently aiding precious metals. Focus also remains on the US and Iran, with a NYT report that US President Trump is reportedly considering a targeted strike on Iran, followed by a larger attack on Iran. Iran also responded, saying that any US attacks, including limited strikes, will be considered an act of aggression. Any further escalation after both countries are set to meet on Thursday will further elevate the precious metals. XAU and XAG are trading at the upper range of USD 5117.815-5146.990/oz and USD 84.227-87.663/oz, respectively.
- Copper appears to be paring some of its recent gains as markets digested the latest tariff developments, with US President Trump’s 15% flat-rate tariff seen as benefiting countries such as China and Brazil the most, while weighing on longer-term allies. Activity for the red metal has also picked up this morning, whilst mainland Chinese markets are due to reopen tomorrow. 3M LME copper trades in a tight range of USD 12,928-13,063/t. In other news, JPMorgan forecasts a copper deficit of 130k tonnes in 2026 and a 230k in the aluminium market in 2026
- JPMorgan forecasts a copper deficit of 130k tonnes in 2026.
- Lebanese bankers and politicians are eyeing a sale or lease of part of the central bank’s large gold reserves to rescue banks and the economy, according to FT.
- Japan is mining for deep sea rare earths to combat China’s chokehold, according to FT.
- Goldman Sachs raises its 2026 Q4 Brent oil forecast by USD 6 to USD 60/bbl.
- Morgan Stanley raises its near-term Brent forecasts as geopolitical risk premium likely persists for a period, still expects prices to soften to USD 60/bbl later in 2026.
- Chevron (CVX) announces an agreement for Iraq’s West Qurna 2 oil field.
Geopolitics – Middle East
- US President Trump reportedly considers a targeted strike on Iran, followed by a larger attack and is open to deposing the Supreme Leader by force if Iran is stubborn, according to NYT.
- US officials warned that if US President Trump orders strikes on Iran, Tehran could retaliate through proxies such as Hezbollah or Al-Qaeda, against American targets abroad.
- US-Iran talks are set to resume in Geneva on Thursday, according to Omani mediators, while Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi expects to meet with US Special Envoy Witkoff for discussions and reiterated that Iran will not be pressured by the military buildup in the region.
- Iran said any US attack, including limited strikes, will be considered an act of aggression.
- Iran Foreign Ministry spokesperson said there are discussions about the presence of IAEA’s Grossi in the third round of negotiations, Iran International reported; adds that Iran is working on a draft for any possible understanding.
- Iran’s Foreign Ministry said they hope to have another round of talks with the US in the coming days. Regarding IAEA Grossi’s view that there cannot be an agreement unless the inspection of bombed nuclear facilities is allowed, Iran said it does not accept that precondition.
- South Korean Embassy in Iran advised Korean nationals to leave Iran amid increasing tensions over a possible US military strike on Tehran, according to Yonhap.
- Palestinian media reported that Israeli artillery shelling is targeting areas in northeast Gaza City, according to Sky News Arabia.
- US officials warned if US President Trump orders strikes on Iran, Tehran could retaliate through proxies such as Hezbollah or Al-Qaeda against American targets abroad.
- Palestinian media reported Israeli warplanes launched two raids on Khan Yunus in the southern Gaza Strip, according to Sky News Arabia.
- US forces begin withdrawing their troops from Syria to Iraqi Kurdistan, according to Al Jazeera.
Geopolitics – Ukraine
- Russian Defence Ministry said Russian forces struck Ukrainian transport, energy and fuel infrastructure.
- EU Foreign Representative Kallas said she is not optimistic regarding potential progress in peace talks with Russia. Strong statements from Hungary indicate they will not change their stance on Russian sanctions today.
- Hungarian Foreign Minister said they will block EU decisions in relation to Ukraine until flows to the nation resume through the Druzhba pipeline.
US Event Calendar
- 8:30 am: United States Jan Chicago Fed Nat Activity Index, est. -0.08, prior -0.04
- 10:00 am: United States Dec Factory Orders, est. -0.6%, prior 2.7%
- 10:00 am: United States Dec F Durable Goods Orders, est. -1.4%, prior -1.4%
- 10:00 am: United States Dec F Durables Ex Transportation, est. 0.9%, prior 0.9%
- 10:30 am: United States Feb Dallas Fed Manf. Activity, est. -0.75, prior -1.2
1b European Opening report
US equity futures are lower; President Trump raises the blanket tariff rate to 15% from 10% over the weekend – Newsquawk US Opening News
Monday, Feb 23, 2026 – 06:26 AM
- President Trump raised the blanket tariff rate to 15% from 10% over the weekend, following SCOTUS ruling against IEEPA tariffs on Friday; EU is set to freeze trade deal approval over US President Trump’s tariff risk, Bloomberg reports.
- European equities mixed; Defence names hit as Hungary blocks further funding.
- DXY pressured on renewed uncertainty after Trump increases global tariffs to 15%.
- Fixed income relatively contained and awaiting further tariff updates.
- WTI and Brent rangebound ahead of US-Iran talks this week; Spot XAU regains USD 5k/oz handle.
- US President Trump reportedly considers a targeted strike on Iran, followed by a larger attack and is open to deposing the Supreme Leader by force if Iran is stubborn, according to the NYT.
- Looking ahead, highlights include Chicago Fed National Activity Index (Dec/Jan). Speakers include BoE’s Taylor, Fed’s Waller & ECB’s Lagarde. Earnings from Hims & Hers.
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TRADE/TARIFFS
- US President Trump said on Saturday that he will increase the global tariff that was announced on Friday from 10% to 15% with immediate effect. Trump also stated that the 15% level is the maximum allowed by law and is still temporary, as Section 122 tariffs, and they will use the 150 days that the temporary tariff allows to work on issuing other legally permissible tariffs.
- EU is set to freeze trade deal approval over US President Trump’s tariff risk, Bloomberg reports.
- US officials said that tariff deal partners should honour their agreements, while USTR Greer said he sought to separate the tariff agreements from the 15% global tariff that US President Trump recently announced.
- White House clarified that goods shipped under the USMCA will be exempt from the new global tariff that US President Trump announced on Friday, although risks regarding the future of the USMCA loom.
- German Chancellor Merz said expect the tariff burden on the German economy to be reduced following the US Supreme Court decision, while he added that they will have a very clear European position on this, as tariff policy is a matter for the EU, not individual member states, and he will go to Washington with a coordinated European position.
- US to cease collecting duties under IEEPA from 00:01EST/05:01GMT on February 24th, according to the Customs Agency.
- Goldman Sachs analysts indicate most Asian economies will experience slightly lower US tariffs after the Supreme Court ruling on IEEPA tariffs, with China expected to see the largest decline.
- China’s MOFCOM said it is assessing the US Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs and urges the US to lift unilateral tariffs on trading partners. US tariffs on reciprocal goods and fentanyl breach trade rules and US law, and are not in the interest of any party.
- South Korea’s Industry Minister said chips are not subject to Trump’s new tariffs and noted uncertainty regarding US tariffs refund and that consultations with the US on tariffs and trade agreements will continue.
- South Korea’s Finance Minister said the trade deal with the US is still valid.
- Japanese ruling LDP tax chief Onodera said the US tariff situation was a real mess following the SCOTUS tariff ruling.
- US Treasury Secretary Bessent said nothing has changed on tariff revenue and trade deals; The tariff collection is closer to USD 130bln, probably not USD 175bln. Will get back to same tariff level for countries, and it will be less direct. Thinks that every country will honour the trade deals. Would call on all countries to honour their agreements and move forward.
- All countries with trade agreements now drop to a 10% tariff, and the 10% rate applies until new authorities and processes kick in, according to CNBC citing a White House official.
EUROPEAN TRADE
EQUITIES
- European bourses (STOXX 600 -0.3%) show a mixed picture following the shifting tariff environment in recent days. The IBEX 35 (+0.8%) and FTSE MIB (+0.7%) outperform their peers, while the AEX (-0.3%) and DAX 40 (-0.5%) lag.
- European sectors are mixed. Consumer Products and Services (+1.1%), Banks (+0.8%) and Utilities (+0.9%) gain at the start of the week, aided by multiple broker upgrades for banks while Enel (+5.9%) supports the Utilities sector. The Co. updated its 2026-28 strategic plan, raising its planned investment to EUR 53bln from EUR 43bln, seeing cuts of up to EUR 700mln by 2028 and approved the execution of a new tranche of its share buyback programme. On the other hand, Technology (-1.4%) and Health Care (-1.6%) underperform. European tech giant ASML (-1.9%) seems to have been hit on OpenAI planning USD 600bln in compute spending by 2030 (prev. cited USD 1.4tln).
- US equity futures (ES -0.2%, NQ -0.4%, RTY -0.5%) were initially hit at the start of the APAC session, as President Trump raised the tariff rate from 10% to 15%, but have since rebounded slightly as the pre-cash session continues.
- Novo Nordisk’s (NOVOB DC) CagriSema 2.4 did not meet the primary endpoint of showing non-inferiority on weight loss vs tirzepatide 15mg at 84 weeks.
- OpenAI provided a more modest spending expectation and a more defined timeline in which it is now targeting around USD 600bln in total compute spending by 2030 instead of the USD 1.4tln in infrastructure commitments that CEO Altman previously claimed.
- Click for the sessions European pre-market equity newsflow
- Click for the additional news
FX
- DXY is slightly lower this morning and trades within a 97.35 to 97.70 range. Further pressure could see a test of its 21 DMA at 97.15. All focus today on Trump’s latest decision to impose a sweeping 15% Section 122 import tariff, following the SCOTUS decision to rule IEEPA tariffs as unlawful. The implications of the decision are mixed, with the likes of the UK and Australia now worse off, whilst the likes of Brazil and China benefit from the lower rates. SEB writes that the preliminary estimate of the global average tariff rate is now marginally lower at 12%, which is 1-2 percentage points lower than the prior rate. The Budget Lab also sees the effective tariff rate at 13.7% (prev. 16% under IEEPA taxes).
- As it stands, there is some near-term certainty regarding Section 122 tariffs, which can be implemented for a maximum of 150 days. Thereafter, any extension would need to be passed through Congress. Therefore, uncertainty stems from several points; a) how the US aims to “make-up” for lost tariff revenue, b) how trade partners react to the latest levies, c) the potential use of other trade-related policies (Section 301, Section 338, Section 232).
- G10s are broadly firmer against the USD; the GBP and EUR leads, whilst the Aussie lags a touch. The latter is slightly underperforming, given Australia no longer benefits from its previously negotiated 10% rate, under IEEPA.
- For the EUR specifically, European Parliament’s trade chief is to propose freezing the ratification of the EU’s trade agreement with the US until they receive details from the Trump administration regarding its trade policy. On data, the German Ifo report improved from the prior and surpassed expectations, suggesting the region’s recovery is underway. Elsewhere, Japan’s ruling LDP tax chief Onodera, described the US tariff situation as a real mess. USD/JPY currently trades shy of the 155.00 mark, with the high of the day at 154.90, a touch above its 100 DMA at 154.90.
FIXED INCOME
- A relatively contained start for fixed income as markets continue to digest the latest tariff measures, and with APAC conditions thin on account of Japan’s holiday for the Emperor’s Birthday.
- USTs are firmer by a few ticks in thin 112-27+ to 113-02+ parameters, within but at the top end of Friday’s 112-23+ to 112-03+ confine; as a reminder, last week’s peak was 113-14. Focus is primarily on the tariff situation, as the latest POTUS measures in response to the SCOTUS ruling have effectively lowered the global rate by a pp or two. However, we of course remain attentive to any further updates by President Trump and/or his administration in the near term. Additionally, we await remarks from Fed’s Waller (voter), commentary that will be scrutinised for his tariff take. Thus far, Logan (2026) said the SCOTUS decision has led to more uncertainty and upside inflation risks remain, but noted that policy is well-positioned. Musalem (2028) stated that if the new tariffs are one-for-one, the outlook would be unchanged, but added that the ruling could introduce uncertainty. Note, the remarks were made before the weekend’s move to 15%.
- Bunds are contained, but at the lower end of c. 20 ticks parameters. The benchmark has found itself under modest pressure this morning as European cash bourses trade mixed and with futures attempting a move into the green. Ahead, supply from the bloc is scheduled, but the main focus will be on how the Hungarian block on Ukraine-related policies/sanctions by the EU shakes out.
- Gilts gapped higher by 11 ticks and then climbed a handful further to a 92.51 peak. Upside that comes as the 15% global effective tariff lifts the UK above the 10% it used to be subject to, and thus skews the bias towards a March vs April cut by the BoE. The main input into that debate this week will be the appearance of Governor Bailey at the TSC.
COMMODITIES
- Crude benchmarks are more subdued in the early European session as the market continued to digest Trump’s 15% tariff decision in response to SCOTUS’ striking down his IEEPA tariffs. It’s worth noting that crude benchmarks have had their best year thus far since 2022 (the same year Russia invaded Ukraine), and as geopolitical tension continues to persist, US-Iran talks are set to resume this week.
- Precious metals have kicked off the week glowing amid uncertainties from tariffs and geopolitical tension with Iran, increasing their prospect as a haven. Following the SCOTUS decision, US President Trump raised global tariffs to 15% over the weekend, fuelling market uncertainty. Following the tariff updates, the USD weakened, consequently aiding precious metals. Focus also remains on the US and Iran, with a NYT report that US President Trump is reportedly considering a targeted strike on Iran, followed by a larger attack on Iran. Iran also responded, saying that any US attacks, including limited strikes, will be considered an act of aggression. Any further escalation after both countries are set to meet on Thursday will further elevate the precious metals. XAU and XAG are trading at the upper range of USD 5117.815-5146.990/oz and USD 84.227-87.663/oz, respectively.
- Copper appears to be paring some of its recent gains as markets digested the latest tariff developments, with US President Trump’s 15% flat-rate tariff seen as benefiting countries such as China and Brazil the most, while weighing on longer-term allies. Activity for the red metal has also picked up this morning, whilst mainland Chinese markets are due to reopen tomorrow. 3M LME copper trades in a tight range of USD 12,928-13,063/t. In other news, JPMorgan forecasts a copper deficit of 130k tonnes in 2026 and a 230k in the aluminium market in 2026
- JPMorgan forecasts a copper deficit of 130k tonnes in 2026.
- Lebanese bankers and politicians are eyeing a sale or lease of part of the central bank’s large gold reserves to rescue banks and the economy, according to FT.
- Japan is mining for deep sea rare earths to combat China’s chokehold, according to FT.
- Goldman Sachs raises its 2026 Q4 Brent oil forecast by USD 6 to USD 60/bbl.
- Morgan Stanley raises its near-term Brent forecasts as geopolitical risk premium likely persists for a period, still expects prices to soften to USD 60/bbl later in 2026.
- Chevron (CVX) announces an agreement for Iraq’s West Qurna 2 oil field.
NOTABLE EUROPEAN DATA RECAP
- German Ifo Business Climate (Feb) 88.6 vs. Exp. 88.4 (Prev. 87.6).
- German Ifo Expectations (Feb) 90.5 vs. Exp. 90.3 (Prev. 89.5).
- German Ifo Current Conditions (Feb) 86.7 vs. Exp. 86.3 (Prev. 85.7).
- Italian Inflation Rate MoM Final (Jan) M/M 0.4% vs. Exp. 0.4% (Prev. 0.2%).
- Italian Inflation Rate YoY Final (Jan) Y/Y 1.0% vs. Exp. 1% (Prev. 1.2%).
- Swiss Sight Deposits (w/e Feb 22). Domestic Banks CHF 440.6bln (prev. 437bln), Total CHF 457.6bln (prev. 452.7bln).
CENTRAL BANKS
- Fed’s Hammack (2026 voter) said inflation has made amazing progress, but is still a problem, and the Fed can be very patient in considering future rate cuts. Hammack said monetary policy is only modestly restrictive and the economy was stronger than anticipated by December, while she added that tariffs have the potential to further complicate the inflation outlook.
- ECB’s Lagarde receives around EUR 140k a year as Bank for International Settlements board member, despite the ECB ban on third-party payments to staff, according to FT.
- BoK Governor Rhee said FX market conditions have improved but still need to be stabilised.
NOTABLE US HEADLINES
- US Treasury Secretary Bessent said inflation is still too high, but is moving toward the Fed’s target. Believe can grow 3.5% this year.
GEOPOLITICS
MIDDLE EAST
- US President Trump reportedly considers a targeted strike on Iran, followed by a larger attack and is open to deposing the Supreme Leader by force if Iran is stubborn, according to NYT.
- US officials warned that if US President Trump orders strikes on Iran, Tehran could retaliate through proxies such as Hezbollah or Al-Qaeda, against American targets abroad.
- US-Iran talks are set to resume in Geneva on Thursday, according to Omani mediators, while Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi expects to meet with US Special Envoy Witkoff for discussions and reiterated that Iran will not be pressured by the military buildup in the region.
- Iran said any US attack, including limited strikes, will be considered an act of aggression.
- Iran Foreign Ministry spokesperson said there are discussions about the presence of IAEA’s Grossi in the third round of negotiations, Iran International reported; adds that Iran is working on a draft for any possible understanding.
- Iran’s Foreign Ministry said they hope to have another round of talks with the US in the coming days. Regarding IAEA Grossi’s view that there cannot be an agreement unless the inspection of bombed nuclear facilities is allowed, Iran said it does not accept that precondition.
- South Korean Embassy in Iran advised Korean nationals to leave Iran amid increasing tensions over a possible US military strike on Tehran, according to Yonhap.
- Palestinian media reported that Israeli artillery shelling is targeting areas in northeast Gaza City, according to Sky News Arabia.
- US officials warned if US President Trump orders strikes on Iran, Tehran could retaliate through proxies such as Hezbollah or Al-Qaeda against American targets abroad.
- Palestinian media reported Israeli warplanes launched two raids on Khan Yunus in the southern Gaza Strip, according to Sky News Arabia.
- US forces begin withdrawing their troops from Syria to Iraqi Kurdistan, according to Al Jazeera.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE
- Russian Defence Ministry said Russian forces struck Ukrainian transport, energy and fuel infrastructure.
- EU Foreign Representative Kallas said she is not optimistic regarding potential progress in peace talks with Russia. Strong statements from Hungary indicate they will not change their stance on Russian sanctions today.
- Hungarian Foreign Minister said they will block EU decisions in relation to Ukraine until flows to the nation resume through the Druzhba pipeline.
CRYPTO
- Bitcoin slips below USD 67,000 as risk sentiment weakens, Ethereum regains USD 1,900.
APAC TRADE
- APAC stocks were mixed amid trade uncertainty as the region digested the latest tariff developments after the US Supreme Court ruled against IEEPA tariffs on Friday, prompting President Trump to impose a global 10% flat-rate tariff, which he later raised to 15% over the weekend, while there were a couple of key market closures in the region with mainland China and Japan observing holidays.
- ASX 200 was dragged lower with underperformance seen in tech, healthcare and real estate, while participants also reflected on a deluge of earnings releases and the recent Trump 15% global tariff rate announcement, which would increase the levies on Australia from the previously agreed 10%.
- KOSPI initially benefitted from the tech strength amid gains in the likes of industry heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, while South Korea’s Industry Minister also noted that chips were not subject to Trump’s new tariffs. However, the index then gradually gave back all its gains.
- Hang Seng rallied with tech stocks dominating the list of best performers in Hong Kong and with the local benchmark underpinned as a proxy to China, which is seen as the likely biggest winner from the US Supreme Court tariff ruling.
NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES
- China reportedly experienced robust consumer activity across sectors during the Spring Festival holiday, according to China Daily.
- South Korea’s Vice Finance Minister said to closely watch financial markets.
NOTABLE APAC DATA RECAP
- New Zealand Credit Card Spending YoY (Jan) Y/Y 1.0% (Prev. -0.2%, Rev. From -0.3%).
- New Zealand Retail Sales QoQ (Q4) Q/Q 0.9% vs. Exp. 0.6% (Prev. 1.9%).
1c) Asian opening report
Trump lifts global tariff rate to 15%; EU proposes freezing US trade agreement – Newsquawk EU Market Open
Monday, Feb 23, 2026 – 01:48 AM
- APAC stocks were mixed amid trade uncertainty as the region digested the latest tariff developments after the US Supreme Court ruled against IEEPA tariffs on Friday, prompting President Trump to impose a global 10% flat-rate tariff, which he later raised to 15% over the weekend.
- US officials said that tariff deal partners should honour their agreements, while USTR Greer said he sought to separate the tariff agreements from the 15% global tariff that US President Trump announced.
- European Parliament’s trade chief is to propose freezing the ratification of the EU’s trade agreement with the US until they receive details from the Trump administration regarding its trade policy.
- Goldman Sachs analysts indicate that most Asian economies will experience slightly lower US tariffs after the Supreme Court ruling on IEEPA tariffs, with China expected to see the largest decline.
- US President Trump reportedly considers a targeted strike on Iran, followed by a larger attack and is open to deposing the Supreme Leader by force if Iran is stubborn, according to the NYT.
- Looking ahead, highlights include German Ifo (Feb), Chicago Fed National Activity Index (Dec/Jan). Speakers include BoE’s Taylor & Fed’s Waller. Supply from the EU, Earnings from Hims & Hers.
SNAPSHOT
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US TRADE
EQUITIES
- US stocks ultimately closed mostly in the green on Friday with upside ensuing after the SCOTUS struck down Trump’s IEEPA tariffs, although Trump responded by implementing a global 10% tariff rate under Section 122 (which can legally be in place for a maximum of 150 days), while Section 232 and 301 tariffs will remain as they are, and the US will also conduct Section 301 probes on nations over the span of five months (150 days). Once the probes are complete, the US will enforce a “fair” 301 tariff rate. Overall, it seems the measures taken by Trump will offset the lost revenue from IEEPA tariffs. The Treasury expects tariff revenue in 2026 to be unchanged from prior estimates. In response to the ruling, T-notes were sold on the prospects of a lack of income and potential tariff refunds, but swiftly pared on the expectation that Trump would enforce tariffs through other means, which was later confirmed, while the reaction in FX was to sell the dollar, but it later rebounded from worst levels and ended the session only slightly lower.
- SPX +0.71% at 6,911, NDX +0.87% at 25,013, DJI +0.44% at 49,613, RUT -0.01% at 2,665.
- Click here for a detailed summary.
TARIFFS/TRADE
- US President Trump said on Saturday that he will increase the global tariff that was announced on Friday from 10% to 15% with immediate effect. Trump also stated that the 15% level is the maximum allowed by law and is still temporary, as Section 122 tariffs, and they will use the 150 days that the temporary tariff allows to work on issuing other legally permissible tariffs.
- US officials said that tariff deal partners should honour their agreements, while USTR Greer said he sought to separate the tariff agreements from the 15% global tariff that US President Trump recently announced.
- White House clarified that goods shipped under the USMCA will be exempt from the new global tariff that US President Trump announced on Friday, although risks regarding the future of the USMCA loom.
- European Parliament’s trade chief is to propose freezing the ratification of the EU’s trade agreement with the US until they receive details from the Trump administration regarding its trade policy.
- French Trade Minister Forissier said he is in talks with EU counterparts regarding US President Trump’s tariffs and stated that the EU has the tools to retaliate against the tariffs, according to FT.
- German Chancellor Merz said expect the tariff burden on the German economy to be reduced following the US Supreme Court decision, while he added that they will have a very clear European position on this, as tariff policy is a matter for the EU, not individual member states, and he will go to Washington with a coordinated European position.
- ECB President Lagarde said the latest US tariff move risks upsetting the previously negotiated “equilibrium” between the US and EU, while she added that it risks posing a new headwind for the economy. There were also separate comments from ECB’s Panetta, who said tariffs have done more damage to the US than others.
- UK said it is seeking the best deal possible for UK firms over US tariffs.
- Indian trade officials will postpone a trip to the US this week aimed at finalising an interim trade agreement with the US, following the US Supreme Court’s ruling against US President Trump’s tariffs.
- China’s MOFCOM said it is assessing the US Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs and urges the US to lift unilateral tariffs on trading partners, while it added that US tariffs on reciprocal goods and fentanyl breach trade rules and US law, and are not in the interest of any party.
- Hong Kong’s Financial Services Secretary Hui said the additional tariff imposed by US President Trump is a fiasco.
- Japanese ruling LDP tax chief Onodera said the US tariff situation was a real mess following the SCOTUS tariff ruling.
- South Korea’s Industry Ministry said chips are not subject to Trump’s new tariffs and noted uncertainty regarding US tariff refunds, while he separately commented that consultation with the US on the trade deal implementation will continue in a favourable manner
- US President Trump’s new 15% flat-rate tariff is seen to most greatly benefit countries he has singled out for heavy criticism such as China and Brazil, while allies such as the UK, EU and Japan will suffer the largest hit from the new levy, according to data analysis cited by FT.
- Goldman Sachs analysts indicate that most Asian economies will experience slightly lower US tariffs after the Supreme Court ruling on IEEPA tariffs, with China expected to see the largest decline.
NOTABLE HEADLINES
- Fed’s Hammack (2026 voter) said inflation has made amazing progress, but is still a problem, and the Fed can be very patient in considering future rate cuts. Hammack said monetary policy is only modestly restrictive and the economy was stronger than anticipated by December, while she added that tariffs have the potential to further complicate the inflation outlook.
- Fed’s Logan (2026 voter) said on Friday that uncertainty in the economy continues and that one of the biggest uncertainties is from the tech sector, while he stated that he supported the January decision to hold amid a stabilising job market and is not fully convinced they are on a path to 2% inflation. Furthermore, Logan said the Supreme Court decision has led to more uncertainty and upside inflation risks remain, but added that policy is well-positioned to deal with risks to the mandate.
- Fed’s Musalem (2028 voter) said on Friday that Warsh is a very good pick for the Fed chair, while he also commented that if the new Trump tariffs are one-for-one, it would not change the outlook. Furthermore, he said the Supreme Court ruling could introduce a period of uncertainty and noted that he views policy as well-positioned, as well as stated that the real FFR is at or below the neutral rate and that a neutral real rate is important, according to a Fox Business interview.
- Blizzard warnings were issued for New York and the northeast amid a powerful storm, which has already grounded over 1,000 flights, while New York City is enacting a travel ban and cancelling school classes due to the winter storm.
- OpenAI provided a more modest spending expectation and a more defined timeline in which it is now targeting around USD 600bln in total compute spending by 2030 instead of the USD 1.4tln in infrastructure commitments that CEO Altman previously claimed. Furthermore, it now aims to reach USD 280bln in revenue in 2030 and said FY25 revenue reached USD 13.1bln, which was above its USD 10bln target.
APAC TRADE
EQUITIES
- APAC stocks were mixed amid trade uncertainty as the region digested the latest tariff developments after the US Supreme Court ruled against IEEPA tariffs on Friday, prompting President Trump to impose a global 10% flat-rate tariff, which he later raised to 15% over the weekend, while there were a couple of key market closures in the region with mainland China and Japan observing holidays.
- ASX 200 was dragged lower with underperformance seen in tech, healthcare and real estate, while participants also reflected on a deluge of earnings releases and the recent Trump 15% global tariff rate announcement, which would increase the levies on Australia from the previously agreed 10%.
- KOSPI initially benefitted from the tech strength amid gains in the likes of industry heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, while South Korea’s Industry Minister also noted that chips were not subject to Trump’s new tariffs. However, the index then gradually gave back all its gains.
- Hang Seng rallied with tech stocks dominating the list of best performers in Hong Kong and with the local benchmark underpinned as a proxy to China, which is seen as the likely biggest winner from the US Supreme Court tariff ruling.
- US equity futures retreated amid trade-related uncertainty owing to the SCOTUS ruling, which is a major blow to the Trump agenda and clouds the Fed’s rate path, while it was also reported that OpenAI provided a more modest spending expectation in which it is now targeting around USD 600bln in total compute spending by 2030 instead of the previous infrastructure commitment of USD 1.4tln.
- European equity futures indicate a lower cash market open with Euro Stoxx 50 futures down 0.5% after the cash market closed with gains of 1.2% on Friday.
FX
- DXY declined at the start of the week after the US Supreme Court struck down IEEPA tariffs on Friday and as participants reflected on Trump’s response to impose a global flat-rate tariff, which has since been increased to 15% from an initial 10% announcement, while uncertainty also surrounds potential tariff refunds, which Trump said may face years of litigation.
- EUR/USD reclaimed the 1.1800 status amid the softer dollar and with German Chancellor Merz anticipating the SCOTUS ruling to lower the tariff burden on the German economy, while France’s Trade Minister is in talks with EU counterparts regarding US tariffs and noted the EU has tools to retaliate.
- GBP/USD gradually edged higher after returning to 1.3500 territory, but with further upside limited as the UK is seen to potentially be among the countries negatively impacted by recent US tariff developments, given that it had previously negotiated a 10% tariff deal with the US.
- USD/JPY retreated beneath the 155.00 level amid the softer dollar and with a lack of support due to the absence of Japanese participants for the Emperor’s Birthday, while there were also recent comments from Japan’s ruling LDP tax chief Onodera, who described the US tariff situation as a real mess.
- Antipodeans mildly diverged in range-bound trade amid the mixed price action in commodities and as markets reflected on tariff developments.
FIXED INCOME
- 10yr UST futures edged higher amid trade uncertainty following the Supreme Court decision on IEEPA tariffs and after US President Trump responded by announcing a global 10% flat-rate tariff, later raising it to 15% over the weekend. Price action remained contained amid the closure of overnight cash Treasury trade due to the Tokyo holiday and after recent Fed rhetoric signalled little urgency to adjust policy.
- Bund futures edged modestly higher after the US Supreme Court’s tariff ruling, which German Chancellor Merz expects to ease the tariff burden on the German economy, while participants now await German Ifo data.
COMMODITIES
- Crude futures declined amid trade uncertainty after President Trump raised global tariffs to 15% from the initial 10% that he announced on Friday in response to the SCOTUS decision striking down his IEEPA tariffs. Focus also remains on geopolitics with US-Iran talks set to resume this week, while an Iranian official noted the possibility of an interim agreement exists and that US companies can participate as contractors in Iran’s oil and gas fields.
- Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry condemned “ultimatums and blackmail” by Hungary and Slovakia on Saturday, after they threatened to stop electricity supplies to Ukraine unless Kyiv restarts flows of Russian oil.
- Spot gold gained a firm footing above USD 5,100/oz as trade-related uncertainty boosted haven demand, and with silver leading the advances in precious metals.
- Copper futures pared some of its recent gains as markets digested the latest tariff developments, with US President Trump’s 15% flat-rate tariff seen as benefiting countries such as China and Brazil the most, while weighing on longer-term allies.
CRYPTO
- Bitcoin was pressured with prices falling to beneath the USD 65,000 level amid trade uncertainty and touted ‘whale selling’, with reports also noting recent heavy ETF withdrawals.
NOTABLE ASIA-PAC HEADLINES
- US President Trump said an Indo-Pacific energy meeting will be held in Tokyo in March.
GEOPOLITICS
MIDDLE EAST
- US President Trump reportedly considers a targeted strike on Iran, followed by a larger attack and is open to deposing the Supreme Leader by force if Iran is stubborn, according to NYT.
- US officials warned that if US President Trump orders strikes on Iran, Tehran could retaliate through proxies such as Hezbollah or Al-Qaeda, against American targets abroad.
- US-Iran talks are set to resume in Geneva on Thursday, according to Omani mediators, while Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi expects to meet with US Special Envoy Witkoff for discussions and reiterated that Iran will not be pressured by the military buildup in the region.
- Senior Iranian official said Iran and the US have differing views regarding the scope and mechanism of sanctions relief, while the official stated that indirect Iran-US talks will occur in early March, and the possibility of reaching an interim agreement exists. Furthermore, the official said Iran will not hand over control of its oil and mineral resources to the US, but added that US companies can always participate as contractors in Iran’s oil and gas fields.
- Iran reportedly agreed a secret shoulder-fired missile deal with Russia, according to FT.
- Israeli warplanes launched two raids on Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, while it was also reported that Israeli artillery shelling targeted areas in northeast Gaza City, according to Sky News Arabia.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE
- Ukrainian authorities are investigating a “terrorist attack” in Lviv where an explosion in a shop killed one person and injured at least 25 people, which they believe is linked to Russian special services.
- Russian forces conducted a missile and drone attack on Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv and other targets on Saturday night.
EU/UK
NOTABLE HEADLINES
- French President Macron appointed civil service minister David Amiel as the new budget minister in a reshuffle of senior positions. It was separately reported that Macron wrote to US President Trump requesting that he lift sanctions that were placed on former EU Commissioner Breton and other European officials, which were placed in December for trying to police online hate speech.
- German Chancellor Merz’s CDU called for restrictions to ban minors in Germany from using social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
- ECB President Lagarde said she walked out during a speech by US Commerce Secretary Lutnick during the World Economic Forum in Davos because she thought his anti-European rhetoric was ‘just too much and just unnecessarily offensive’.
- Fitch affirmed the UK at AA-; Outlook Stable, while Moody’s affirmed Sweden at Aaa; Outlook Stable.
2.a NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA/JAPAN
SOUTH KOREA/USA
2b JAPAN
3. CHINA
CHINA/USA
KORYBKO
Trump 2.0’s Grand Strategy Against China Is Slowly But Surely Coming Together
Sunday, Feb 22, 2026 – 11:35 PM
Casual observers are convinced that Trump is a madman with no method behind his madness, but the reality is that he and his team – collectively known as Trump 2.0 – are slowly but surely implementing their grand strategy against China.
Every one of their moves abroad should be seen as a means to this end.
They want to comprehensively contain China and then coerce it into a lopsided trade deal that “rebalance[s] China’s economy toward household consumption” per the National Security Strategy.
Trump 2.0 doesn’t want to go to war over this, however, which is why they’re careful to avoid replicating the Imperial Japanese precedent.
Piling too much economic-structural pressure on China at once could spook it into lashing out in desperation before the window of opportunity closes. They therefore decided to gradually deprive China of access to markets and resources, ideally through a series of trade deals, in order to imbue the US with the indirect leverage required to peacefully derail China’s superpower rise.
The US’ trade deals with the EU and India could ultimately result in them curtailing China’s access to their markets under pain of punitive tariffs if they refuse. In parallel, the US’ special operation in Venezuela, pressure against Iran, and simultaneous attempts to subordinate Nigeria and other leading energy producers could curtail China’s access to the resources required for fueling its superpower rise. The combined effect thus far is already placing immense pressure upon China to cut a deal with the US.
This is the grand strategic context within which Russia’s talks with the US and Ukraine are taking place.
It too is coming under immense pressure after Trump 2.0 unexpectedly (from their view) perpetuated the proxy war in Ukraine, pioneered a breakthrough to Central Asia through last August’s “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” across the South Caucasus, and got India to curtail its oil imports.
Russia must now decide whether to cut its own deal with the US or become more dependent on China.
- The first scenario could include a resource-centric strategic partnership with the US in exchange for compromising on its maximalist goals in Ukraine, which could deprive China of access to the deposits that the US invests in as explained here.
- As for the second scenario, Russia could continue its special operation indefinitely with growing Chinese support in exchange for China receiving unrestricted access to its resources at bargain-basement prices, thus greatly helping China prepare for war with the US.
Framed in this way, reaching a deal with Russia could facilitate China’s strategic surrender to the US without spiking the risk of war, while failing to do so could spike the risk of war if Russia turns itself into China’s raw materials reserve for the aforesaid reason and with the same outcome vis-à-vis the US.
This imbues Putin with leverage vis-à-vis Trump 2.0, but they’re also not desperate to reach a deal with Putin at any cost, ergo why they haven’t coerced Zelensky into his demanded concessions and might never.
If Trump 2.0 can’t cut a deal with Putin, then they’ll prepare for war with China, which their National Defense Strategy envisages given its explicitly declared World War-like military build-up.
Be that as it may, replicating the Imperial Japanese precedent in that case dangerously risks a 21st-century Pearl Harbor, thus imperiling their planned restoration of unipolarity.
It’s therefore better for Trump 2.0 to coerce Zelensky into giving Putin what he wants in order to continue peacefully containing China instead.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge.
4. EUROPEAN AND SCANDINAVIAN AFFAIRS
UK
No Laughing Matter: John Cleese Declares “I’m Afraid They Are Going To Have To Arrest Me”
Saturday, Feb 21, 2026 – 09:20 AM
In the classic movie comedy, A Fish Called Wanda, John Cleese lamented, “do you have any idea what it’s like being English? Being so correct all the time, being so stifled by this dread of, of doing the wrong thing.”
Now 86, Cleese has a more pressing concern about being English: whether his exercise of free speech will make him a criminal in his own country.
In a recent interview, Cleese observed that the government’s new speech standards would classify many citizens, including himself, as presumptive criminals for criticizing certain policies.
He observed that: ”As I am an Islamosceptic, I’m now worried that the Labour government may categorise me as a terrorist…”
The government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer has continued its headlong plunge into the criminalization of speech. The guidelines include a section on cultural nationalism, stating that such views are now the subject of government crackdowns. To even argue that Western culture is under threat from mass migration or a lack of integration by certain groups is being treated as a dangerous ideology.
Cleese responded by saying, “I’m clearly a terrorist, so I’m afraid they are going to have to arrest me.”
The tragedy is that this is no wicked Monty Python joke. Cleese has every reason to be concerned.
As I discuss in Rage and the Republic, the United Kingdom has eviscerated free speech in the name of social cohesion and order.
For years, I have been writing about the decline of free speech in the United Kingdom and the steady stream of arrests.
A man was convicted of sending a tweet while drunk, referring to dead soldiers. Another was arrested for an anti-police t-shirt. Another was arrested for calling the Irish boyfriend of his ex-girlfriend a “leprechaun.” Yet another was arrested for singing “Kung Fu Fighting.”
A teenager was arrested for protesting outside of a Scientology center with a sign calling the religion a “cult.”
Last year, Nicholas Brock, 52, was convicted of a thought crime in Maidenhead, Berkshire. The neo-Nazi was given a four-year sentence for what the court called his “toxic ideology” based on the contents of the home he shared with his mother in Maidenhead, Berkshire.
While most of us find Brock’s views repellent and hateful, they were confined to his head and his room.
Yet, Judge Peter Lodder QC dismissed free speech or free thought concerns with a truly Orwellian statement:
“I do not sentence you for your political views, but the extremity of those views informs the assessment of dangerousness.”
Lodder lambasted Brock for holding Nazi and other hateful values:
“[i]t is clear that you are a right-wing extremist, your enthusiasm for this repulsive and toxic ideology is demonstrated by the graphic and racist iconography which you have studied and appeared to share with others…”
Even though Lodder agreed that the defendant was older, had limited mobility, and “there was no evidence of disseminating to others,” he still sent him to prison for holding extremist views.
After the sentencing, Detective Chief Superintendent Kath Barnes, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE), warned others that he was going to prison because he “showed a clear right-wing ideology with the evidence seized from his possessions during the investigation….We are committed to tackling all forms of toxic ideology which has the potential to threaten public safety and security.”
“Toxic ideology” also appears to be the target of Ireland’s proposed Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) law.
It covers the possession of material deemed hateful.
The law is a free speech nightmare.
The law makes it a crime to possess “harmful material” as well as “condoning, denying or grossly trivialising genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes against peace.”
The law expressly states the intent to combat “forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law.”
The Brock case proved, as feared, a harbinger of what was to come. Two years ago, the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, vowed to crack down on people “pushing harmful and hateful beliefs.” That includes what she calls extreme misogyny.
Now the UK’s most famous writers and comedians believe that they can be arrested under the country’s draconian speech laws from JK Rowling to John Cleese.
That leaves free speech much like Cleese’s famous parrot.
The British government and its supporters can claim evidence of life or just “resting,” but it is in fact “bleedin’ demised…passed on! … no more! … ceased to be! … expired and gone to meet it’s maker!”
END
FRANCE
“We’ll Be Monitoring This Case”: US State Dept Condemns Far-Left Activists Killing Of French Conservative
Sunday, Feb 22, 2026 – 09:20 AM
Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,
The U.S. government has weighed in on the killing of French conservative student Quentin Deranque by far-left militant activists, warning that “violent radical leftism is on the rise,” and demanding that those responsible be brought to justice.
In a statement posted on X, the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Counterterrorism said, “Reports, corroborated by the French Minister of the Interior, that Quentin Deranque was killed by left-wing militants, should concern us all. Violent radical leftism is on the rise, and its role in Quentin Deranque’s death demonstrates the threat it poses to public safety. We will continue to monitor the situation and expect to see the perpetrators of violence brought to justice.”
Under Secretary of State Sarah B. Rogers also addressed the case, warning about the consequences of pandering to political extremism.
“Democracy rests on a basic bargain: you get to bring any viewpoint to the public square, and nobody gets to kill you for it,” she wrote.
“This is why we treat political violence — terrorism — so harshly. Once you decide to kill people for their opinions instead of persuading them, you’ve opted out of civilization. We will continue to watch this case,” she added.
Deranque, 23, was fatally beaten in Lyon following clashes linked to a far-left demonstration.
French prosecutors have confirmed that 11 individuals have been arrested in connection with the attack.
Those detained include two parliamentary staff members affiliated with the hard-left La France Insoumise (LFI) party led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and a former intern of LFI MP Raphaël Arnault.
One of the parliamentary assistants, Jacques-Élie Favrot, has now been indicted for intentional murder, serious violence, and criminal association, and his role and the roles of others in the far-left party La France Insoumise are leading to calls for a political “firewall,” usually reserved for the right, to be applied to the left in France.
News of the killing has reverberated across Europe, sparking protests, as well as a diplomatic spat between Paris and Rome.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni publicly expressed solidarity following Deranque’s death, warning that “polarizing ideologies” and a climate of hatred were contributing to growing militancy across the continent.
Her remarks prompted a sharp response from French President Emmanuel Macron, who rebuked foreign leaders for commenting on French domestic affairs.
Macron said he was “always struck by the fact that nationalists, who do not want to be disturbed in their own country, are the first to comment on what happens elsewhere,” in comments that were widely interpreted as directed at Meloni.
Meloni hit back on Thursday evening in an interview with Sky TG24, lamenting the fact that Macron “did not understand” the difference between interference and expressing solidarity and concern.
END
BALTIC STATES
KORYBKO
The Baltic States Plan To Form Their Own “Military Schengen”
Monday, Feb 23, 2026 – 03:30 AM
This will one day link with the existing “military Schengen” between the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland, which Belgium and France plan to join, for creating a contiguous zone of free military movement between the Pyrenees and the approach to St. Petersburg.
The Baltic States’ Defense Ministers signed a statement of intent in late January for forming their own “military Schengen”, which refers to the agreement signed two years ago in January 2024 between the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland for expediting the flow of troops and equipment. Belgium and France are also expected to join the original “military Schengen”, whose members aim to slash to 3-5 days the estimated 45 days that it currently takes to send the aforesaid from the Atlantic to the Eastern Flank.
Upon their modernization, both in terms of infrastructure and legal coordination, the two “military Schengens” will form a contiguous zone of free military movement between the Pyrenees and the approach to St. Petersburg. To be sure, this is a work in progress that won’t be completed anytime soon, especially its Baltic portion. Poland only just opened the portion of the “Via Baltica” highway between itself and Lithuania, while the “Rail Baltica” between them and Estonia is even further behind schedule.
Nevertheless, the unmistakable trend is that NATO is optimizing its military logistics, particularly along its Eastern Flank whose members agreed to turbocharge their militarization during mid-December’s inaugural summit. In connection with that, readers also shouldn’t forget that the Baltic States and Poland are building something called the “EU Defense Line”, which combines the first’s “Baltic Defense Line” and the second’s “East Shield” into what’s de facto a new Iron Curtain that’ll include anti-personnel mines.
This Baltic Front of the New Cold War between NATO and Russia relies heavily on Poland, which already has the EU’s largest military and the third-largest in NATO, with plans to expand from 215,000 troops to 300,000 by 2030 then half a million by 2039 (200,000 of whom will be reservists). Both the Via and Rail Baltica megaprojects, which are the regional flagships of the Polish-led “Three Seas Initiative”, will connect Poland to Latvia’s and Estonia’s borders with Russia for rapid force deployment in a crisis.
The involvement of the EU’s largest military in any such NATO-Russian crisis would inevitably drag the rest of those two overlapping blocs in any whatever war might then follow in the worst-case scenario. If the Baltic States hadn’t agreed to form their own “military Schengen”, and if the associated “Baltica” logistical projects weren’t being built, then potential border incidents could be more easily manageable. Instead, they’d likely result in a speedy deployment of Polish troops, thus escalating matters into a crisis.
Moving beyond the military significance of this recent development and into its political significance, Poland is clearly establishing a sphere of influence over the Baltic States, which is actually a return to history.
Casual observers probably aren’t aware, but the Warsaw-led Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth once stretched as far north as southern Estonia and even controlled parts of Latvia for centuries till the Third Partition in 1795. This is part of Poland’s plan to revive its long-lost Great Power status.
The overarching trend is that Poland is preparing to lead Russia’s containment along the Baltic Front, which could also place more pressure upon Kaliningrad (which borders Poland and Lithuania) and Belarus (which borders Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia).
The eventual merger of these two “military Schengens” could embolden Poland to more actively, even aggressively, contain Russia by ensuring that back-up would speedily arrive from the EU hinterland or even the US homeland in the event of a crisis.
END
EU/USA
Looks like the deal with the EU will die after Supreme Court overturns Trump tariffs
(zerohedge(
EU To Freeze Trade Deal With US After Supreme Court Overturns Trump Tariffs
Monday, Feb 23, 2026 – 09:36 AM
In the aftermath of Friday’s SCOTUS decision to reverse Trump’s tariff policy, one lingering question is what happens to the bilateral trade deals Trump struck with various countries (and which supposedly would lead to hundreds of billions of fresh investment into the US). Well, in the case of the EU we no longer have to wonder:
The morning, the European Union said it would freeze the ratification process of its trade deal with the US and was seeking more details from the Trump administration on its new tariff program. Zeljana Zovko, the lead trade negotiator in the European People’s Party group on the US deal, said in an interview with Bloomberg that “we have no other option” but to delay the approval process to seek clarity on the situation.
The main political groups in the European Parliament say they’ll suspend legislative work on approving the trade deal on Monday, days after the US Supreme Court struck down Trump’s use of an emergency-powers law to impose his so-called reciprocal tariffs around the world.
The center-right EPP, which is the largest political bloc in parliament, will be joined by parties including the Socialists & Democrats and the liberal Renew group to back freezing the process.
According to Bloomberg, Bernd Lange – chairman of the parliament’s trade committee – called an emergency meeting later Monday to reassess the EU-US trade accord. He said over the weekend that parliament should delay work on the trade accord until the EU receives more clarity on the new tariffs. EU ambassadors will also meet Monday afternoon to discuss the US trade relationship.
Trump’s announcement following the court decision to impose a 10% global tariff, which he then increased to 15%, left many questions unanswered for American trading partners, stirring up more economic turbulence and uncertainty about the US policy.
As a reminder, the deal struck last summer between Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen would impose a 15% tariff rate on most EU exports to the US while removing tariffs on American industrial goods heading into the bloc. The US would also continue to impose a 50% tariff on European steel and aluminum imports. The bloc agreed to the lopsided deal in the hopes of avoiding a full-blown trade war with Washington and retaining US security backing, particularly with regards to Ukraine. Parliament had been aiming to ratify the agreement in March.
The trade deal had already faced a rocky path to ratification. After the initial agreement, the US expanded its 50% metals tariff to hundreds of additional products, angering EU lawmakers and European officials. Trump’s Greenland threats amplified that frustration, leading some to call for the deal to be canceled.
EU lawmakers froze the approval process once before, after Trump threatened to annex Greenland. After Trump backed down from his push to annex Greenland, a Danish territory, EU lawmakers briefly restarted the trade deal ratification process. But they also introduced changes such as a sunset clause, meaning that even if parliament ultimately approves the agreement, it will have to go back to other EU institutions for further negotiations.
END
UK
Disgraced UK Ambassador Peter Mandelson Arrested Weeks After Resigning Over Epstein
Monday, Feb 23, 2026 – 12:15 PM
Former UK cabinet minister and Ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, has been arrested just weeks after resigning over revelations that he gave Jeffrey Epstein advance notice of a €500bn bailout to save the Euro.
Mandelson was arrested at an address in Camden on Monday and taken to a London police station for an interview in connection with ‘misconduct in public office.’
The arrest follows search warrants at two addresses in Wiltshire and Camden, and comes four days after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, was arrested early Thursday morning on suspicion of misconduct in public office, amid allegations he shared confidential government trade documents with Epstein as well.
As we noted earlier this month;
Documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of the so-called Epstein files appear to show that Mandelson, then business secretary in the Labour government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, forwarded confidential policy discussions and draft plans to the disgraced financier while the government was grappling with the collapse of global credit markets.
As the Guardian notes, emails forwarded to Epstein from the very top of the UK government include:
- A confidential UK government document outlining £20bn in asset sales.
- Mandelson claiming he was “trying hard” to change government policy on bankers’ bonuses.
- An imminent bailout package for the euro the day before it was announced in 2010.
- A suggestion that the JPMorgan boss “mildly threaten” the chancellor.
- Epstein asked Mandelson to confirm a €500bn bailout – which the then business secretary said would be announced that evening. The following day, Mandelson also appeared to give Epstein an early tipoff about Gordon Brown’s resignation.
The revelations have prompted Prime Minister Keir Starmer to order an investigation by the cabinet secretary and to demand that Mandelson resign from the House of Lords. Brown has separately asked the cabinet secretary, Chris Wormald, to investigate the alleged disclosures.
Opposition parties have escalated the matter further. The Scottish National Party and Reform UK have reported Mandelson to police, alleging misconduct in a public office. Emily Thornberry, Labour’s chair of the foreign affairs select committee, said the allegations should be examined as a potential criminal matter.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed it had received several reports relating to alleged misconduct and was assessing whether they meet the threshold for a criminal investigation.
“The reports will all be reviewed to determine if they meet the criminal threshold for investigation,” said Commander Ella Marriott. “As with any matter, if new and relevant information is brought to our attention we will assess it, and investigate as appropriate.”
Sensitive Information Shared
According to the disclosures, emails forwarded to Epstein from senior levels of the British government included a confidential document outlining £20 billion in potential asset sales, discussions about changing policy on bankers’ bonuses, details of an imminent eurozone bailout package ahead of its public announcement in 2010, and references to pressuring the chancellor through senior banking executives.
In one email sent on June 13, 2009, Nick Butler, then a special adviser to Brown, circulated a memo detailing policy measures under consideration and suggesting that the government had £20 billion in saleable assets. Mandelson forwarded the message to Epstein, writing, “Interesting note that’s gone to the PM.”
Epstein replied asking, “what salable (sic) assets?” A response from a redacted email address stated: “Land, property I guess.” Four months later, the government announced plans to sell surplus real estate in a bid to raise £16 billion.
Butler said he was considering reporting the matter to police. “We worked on the basis of trust, which allowed us to float ideas,” he told the Times. “I am disgusted by the breach of trust, presumably intended to give Epstein the chance to make money.”
Another email from May 9, 2010 shows Epstein asking Mandelson to confirm a €500 billion eurozone bailout, which Mandelson indicated would be announced that evening. The following day, Mandelson appeared to give Epstein advance notice of Brown’s impending resignation.
BBC economics editor Faisal Islam said he understood from discussions with Darling that such calls from senior bankers, including Dimon, did subsequently take place.
Financial Ties Under Question
The disclosures have also revived questions about Mandelson’s financial relationship with Epstein. Documents released earlier this week suggest that Epstein paid a total of $75,000 into bank accounts of which Mandelson, then a Labour MP, was believed to be a beneficiary. It is also alleged that Epstein sent £10,000 in September 2009 to Mandelson’s partner—now his husband—Reinaldo Avila da Silva, to help fund an osteopathy course and other expenses.
A former adviser described Mandelson’s conduct to the Guardian as “treacherous,” adding: “You can imagine the sense of betrayal that those of us who worked every hour of the day during that crisis are feeling.”
Brown said he had previously asked the cabinet secretary to investigate potential leaks in September but was told there was insufficient evidence at the time. “This is shocking new information that has come to light,” Brown said Monday, calling for “a wider and more intensive enquiry” into the disclosure of government papers during the crisis.
Political Fallout
Starmer, who has no direct authority to strip Mandelson of his peerage, is facing renewed scrutiny over his decision to appoint Mandelson as U.S. ambassador and his proximity to senior Labour figures, including chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and Health Secretary Wes Streeting. Mandelson resigned his Labour Party membership on Sunday.
Downing Street has written to the House of Lords authorities urging urgent reform of disciplinary procedures to allow for the removal of peers in cases of serious misconduct. A Lords source said there is currently little guidance on how such reforms would be implemented, despite their inclusion in Labour’s manifesto.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones told Parliament that “no government minister of any political party should have, nor ever should behave in this way,” and suggested Mandelson may have misrepresented his interests before taking up his ambassadorial role. “When someone lies in their declaration of interests, there must be a consequence,” Jones said.
There is no modern precedent for removing an individual from the House of Lords, a step that would require primary legislation. The last such action occurred during the First World War, when a group of peers aligned with Britain’s enemies were stripped of their titles.
No timetable has been set for the Cabinet Office review, and Downing Street has not confirmed whether its findings will be made public. The inquiry may involve examining archived government documents and interviewing Mandelson and other senior officials who served in Downing Street during the period in question.
5 RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS
TBN ISRAEL: LAST 24 HOURS
ISRAEL
ISRAEL VS HAMAS
IRAN UPDATES
END
IRAN/USA
Iran Floats Joint Oil Investment, Sanctions Rollback Wish-List Ahead Of Next US Talks
Sunday, Feb 22, 2026 – 08:40 PM
The Trump administration may have finally blinked, also knowing that yet another US-led war in the Middle East remains deeply unpopular among the American people. No attacks have come this weekend, as some were predicting last week, as President Trump appears to be exercising some level of patience and restraint, for now at least.
“Iran has indicated it is prepared to make concessions on its nuclear program in talks with the U.S. in return for the lifting of sanctions and recognition of its right to enrich uranium, as it seeks to avert a U.S. attack,” Reuters is freshly reporting.
Tehran has said from the start of Trump’s military pressure campaign that it’s willing for serious negotiations centered on its nuclear program, but that it cannot ever abandon or limit its formidable ballistic missile arsenal:
However, Reuters is reporting for the first time that Iran is offering fresh concessions since their talks ended last week, when the sides appeared far apart and heading closer to military conflict. Analysts say the move suggests Tehran is trying to keep diplomacy alive and stave off a major U.S. strike.
The official said Tehran would seriously consider a combination of sending half of its most highly enriched uranium abroad, diluting the rest and taking part in creating a regional enrichment consortium – an idea periodically raised in years of Iran-linked diplomacy.
Iran would do this in return for U.S. recognition of Iran’s right to “peaceful nuclear enrichment” under a deal that would also include lifting economic sanctions, the official said.
Russia has already offered to do just this, and China too could potentially play a role in receiving Iran’s enriched uranium.
It looks like a US attack is unlikely even in this coming week as well given that “U.S. and Iranian negotiators are expected to meet in Geneva on Thursday to discuss a detailed Iranian proposal for a nuclear deal. A senior U.S. official told Axios on Sunday morning the Trump administration expects to receive the proposal by Tuesday” – ahead of the next round of planned talks.
Also, Tehran is now floating the prospect of joint US-Iran oil and gas investment as part of the nuclear deal currently under negotiation. Hamid Ghanbari, deputy director for economic diplomacy at Iran’s foreign ministry, said Sunday that shared energy development could anchor a more durable agreement.
“For the sake of an agreement’s durability, it is essential that the U.S. also benefits in areas with high and quick economic returns,” Ghanbari said, according to Fars news agency – effectively pitching hydrocarbons as the glue to hold any deal together.
He added that “the country must be prepared for all scenarios,” while “at the same time seriously pursuing the negotiations.” Beyond oil and gas, Ghanbari floated mining, urban development, and even aircraft purchases as potential areas of cooperation – a shopping list that in reality reads like a sanctions rollback wish list. Many Western analysts are calling it totally unrealistic.
Meanwhile, Washington appears to be hedging its bets. Even as talks continue, the Pentagon is reinforcing its posture in the Persian Gulf, with a second aircraft carrier reportedly en route. Iran in turn has warned its “finger is on the trigger” and that US bases in the region would come under retaliatory attack.
The message from both sides is clear: prepare for a deal, or prepare for escalation – and Washington is keeping the carriers fueled and nearby just in case.
IRAN/USA
ROBERT H TO US:
U.S. Deploys Massive “Electronic and Missile Tsunami” Force to Confront Iranian Air Defenses
Have no illusions the next round of conflict is a weapons test. China has delivered over the horizon radar and more to see how it fares.
China sees this as means to use Iran to inflict damage to America. Otherwise the regime would have already left for Russia. It is China that has said NO we have your back
.
Just like CHina’s factory does and will back up Russia where and when required.
END
Iran Repositions S-300 Air Defenses Around Tehran Ahead of Potential U.S. Strikes
Irans readies …
END
IRAN ET AL
Iran conflict getting closer
Last week it was Poland, Slovakia and Sweden warning their citizens to leave . Today Russia did not warn, it acted. This morning, two IL-76 aircraft belonging to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations — which had arrived earlier in the morning — departed from the United Arab Emirates and set course for Moscow.
The aircraft are carrying family members of Russian diplomats, who are being evacuated from the Middle East ( not just the UAE) amidst the upcoming military escalation involving Iran. There is also rumblings of distance between Russia and the UAE which has become a favored spot to wash Ukrainian war profits. There are reasons the Russians are leaving not said.
America will face untold challenges with Iran this time as it will be no cakewalk. China intends to see to it that this is a proxy fight that really costs America on a world stage in a fight for hegemony dominance. This is well beyond what it was the last time. And both sides no doubt have gamed this out.
The Russians have supplied an updated surface to air missile called Verba which is widely considered the world’s most capable man-portable air defense system, and while far more costly than preceding Russian systems, it has very significant performance advantages. Most notably, it is the only known man-portable system with a three-spectral seeker, giving it a qualitative edge against modern countermeasures. These include ultraviolet, near-infrared and mid-infrared seekers. The system was also designed to have a high capability to discriminate targets from background heat sources, flares, and Directional Infrared Counter Measures (DIRCM). The ability to engage targets at 6.5 kilometre ranges, and at altitudes of up to 4.5 kilometres, is also significant, with its altitude reach surpassing all known handheld air defence systems in service. The sensitivity of its tri-sensor system is key to its particularly long target lock range. While the US and others have had time to study what was taken in Syria and perhaps responded to. The Iranians have the current version. The missiles themselves cost $200,000 US. This is a platform that was first developed and introduced in 2014. This is likely a more deadly defense system than given credit. Thank goodness that the Ukrainians do not have such a system as they would have already sold it to terrorist groups or the Mexican Cartels whose members they have been training in drone warfare. Do not think that some of the violence being seen in Mexico does not have Ukrainian overtones ( Cartel members had active training on the ground in Ukraine to see combat). It is not just the Germans that are being trained.
Not to be outdone the Chinese have supplied their over the horizon radar to Iran and are actively assisting with satellite targeting info on all sea traffic locations of US ships as well as ongoing on ground monitoring. American naval assets do face a dangerous situation unlike anything since WWII. The unspoken question is not whether Iran has nuclear material for a dirty bomb ( it does) it whether Pakistan’s or China has supplied a nuclear warhead to be placed on their ICBM’s. They do have the ability to strike America in reach. Israel faces a real challenge for sure. Meanwhile Tehran has deployed a S300 defense cluster of size around the city.
In the game of hegemony dominance Trump goes to see XI in China at the end of March. What happens in between will cast an outline of how that discussion goes. It is NO question that the US wishes to control the currency and value of oil prices sold to China. Not withstanding the desire for regime change.
Tomorrow could well be the start of hostilities.
END
Khamenei Prepares Secretive Succession Plan In Case He’s Assassinated
by Tyler Durden
Monday, Feb 23, 2026 – 03:05 PM
As US carriers deploy in the Mideast region and with tense nuclear talks inching forward in Geneva, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is reportedly taking Washington threats of assassination very seriously.
According to a Sunday report by The New York Times, Khamenei has quietly established detailed succession plans and emergency chains of command in the event he – or other top regime figures – are killed in potential US or Israeli strikes.
The contingency blueprint, drafted amid escalating threats and last month’s nationwide unrest, is said to ensure continuity of power under wartime conditions. Central to that plan is the elevation of longtime insider Ali Larijani.
The report says that at the height of the protests and amid mounting US military pressure, Khamenei tapped Larijani – a former Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) commander and political heavyweight – to assume a dominant governing role, effectively sidelining President Masoud Pezeshkian and consolidating crisis management under a trusted loyalist.
NY Times writes, “Ayatollah Khamenei has instructed Mr. Larijani and a handful of other close political and military associates to ensure that the Islamic Republic survives not only American and Israeli bombs, but also any assassination attempts on its top leadership, including on Ayatollah Khamenei himself, according to the six senior officials and the Guards members.”
Nasser Imani, a conservative analyst close to the government, told the outlet over the phone: “The supreme leader fully trusts Larijani. He believes Larijani is the man for this sensitive juncture because of his political track record, sharp mind and knowledge.”
Imani added: “He relies on him for reports on the situation and pragmatic advice. Larijani’s role will be very pronounced during war.”
According to more details of the emergency wartime succession planning:
According to the six senior officials and the Guards members, Ayatollah Khamenei has issued a series of directives. He has named four layers of succession for each of the military command and government roles that he personally appoints.
He has also told everyone in leadership roles to name up to four replacements and has delegated responsibilities to a tight circle of confidants to make decisions in case communications with him are disrupted or he is killed.
The Times claims Larijani had overseen the crackdown on demonstrators and coordinated closely with Moscow, and may have even had serious input in how to deal on the diplomatic front with Washington.
“Mr. Larijani comes from an elite political and religious family, and for 12 years, he was the speaker of Parliament,” the publication adds. “In 2021, he was put in charge of negotiating a 25-year comprehensive strategic deal with China worth billions.”
Tehran is justifiably worried given the June war saw several assassinations of top military officials amid the bombing chaos. Also, high on Iranians’ minds remains the Trump-ordered assassination of IRGC Quds force chief Qasem Soleimani, killed by a targeted drone strike on January 3, 2020 outside Baghdad international airport.
SAUDI ARABIA AND ALL ARAB WORLD/ISRAEL
Saudis Lead Arab Fury After Huckabee Floats ‘Greater Israel’ Vision
Monday, Feb 23, 2026 – 02:45 AM
Blowback was swift across the Arab world after US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee declared it would be “fine” if Israel took over the entire Middle East, words featured in a Tucker Carlson interview from Jerusalem published days ago.
Governments from Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman issued statements condemning the comments, joined by both the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League – a rare moment of quick unity for these countries.
In a joint statement they “express[ed] their strong condemnation and profound concern regarding the statements made by the United States Ambassador to Israel, in which he indicated that it would be acceptable for Israel to exercise control over territories belonging to Arab states, including the occupied West Bank.”
Most notably close American ally Saudi Arabia was among the first to blast Huckabee’s provocative statement and perspective. Saudi Arabia called it “reckless” and “irresponsible”.
Jordan too in a rare moment lashed out at Washington:
“The official spokesperson for the ministry, Ambassador Fuad Al-Majali, rejected these absurd and provocative statements, which constitute a violation of diplomatic norms, an assault on the sovereignty of the countries of the region, and a flagrant breach of international law and the Charter of the United Nations,” the ministry said in a sharply worded response.
Asked whether a passage from the Book of Genesis could be read as granting Israel the right to claim all the land between Egypt’s Nile River and Syria’s Euphrates, Huckabee didn’t hedge. He bluntly and without apology said it would be “fine” if Israel and its military took over the whole Middle East.
“It would be fine if they took it all,” Huckabee, a former Southern Baptist Minister and previously the governor of Arkansas made clear. This led to a wide ranging conversation and back and forth over whether the modern nation-state of Israel, officially founded as a sovereign government on May 14, 1948, is synonymous with the Israel written about in the Old Testament, stretching back thousands of years.
Here’s how that contentious segment of the interview unfolded, according to a transcript and commentary:
Huckabee was asked in an interview with US conservative commentator Tucker Carlson about his understanding of a biblical verse suggesting that land including parts of Egypt, Syria and Iraq had been divinely promised to the Jewish people.
Carlson said that according to the Old Testament, the boundaries would be “basically the entire Middle East.”
He continued: “Does Israel have the right to that land?”
“Not sure we’d go that far,” Huckabee said in reply. “It would be a big piece of land.”
Carlson then pressed him: “Does Israel have the right to that land?”
“It would be fine if they took it all,” Huckabee responded, before adding, “I don’t think that’s what we’re talking about here today.”
Carlson asked: “You think it would be fine if the state of Israel took over all of Jordan?”
That’s when Amb. Huckabee must have realized he was entering some hot diplomatic water, which would be sure to outrage Washington’s Arab allies in the region. And indeed condemnation from Middle East leaders has been swift, but it will probably just stop there – though some could pull their support for anti-Iran operations.
RUSSIA VS UKRAINE UPDATES
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| Trump Announces New Global TariffsPresident Donald Trump said Friday he will sign an executive order creating a new 10% “global tariff,” moving swiftly after the Supreme Court struck down his broad “reciprocal” import duties in a stinging setback for a cornerstone of his trade agenda. Speaking at a White House press briefing, Trump said the new tariff would be layered on top of existing …READ THE FULL REPORT |
| Trump Announces ‘Backup Plan’ After Shock Tariff RulingPresident Trump said Friday he has a contingency strategy ready after the Supreme Court blocked his use of emergency powers to impose sweeping global tariffs. “President Trump commented on the Supreme Court ruling striking down his tariffs while inside the White House breakfast with governors this morning, calling it a ‘disgrace,’ I’m told,” CNN’s Kaitlan Collins wrote on X. “He told those gathered that he has a backup plan.” The high court ruled 6–3 that Trump could not rely on emergency legislation to justify broad tariff actions affecting nearly every country. Trump was rightfully incensed when he heard of the ruling, but Fox News quickly shot down a CNN claim that he went on an “expletive-ridden rant.” A source outside the administration told the network, “An aide came in, handed him a note, he called it a disgrace, and then he went on with the remarks.” Chief Justice John Roberts, as well as “conservative” Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch, joined the court’s liberal wing in the majority opinion. “There is no exception to the major questions doctrine for emergency statutes. Nor does the fact that tariffs implicate foreign affairs render the doctrine inapplicable. The Framers gave ‘Congress alone’ the power to impose tariffs during peacetime,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote. READ MORE: Clarence Thomas Scorches Justices’ Tariff Ruling In Fiery Dissent “And the foreign affairs implications of tariffs do not make it any more likely that Congress would relinquish its tariff power through vague language, or without careful limits.” The ruling marks a significant legal setback for a centerpiece of Trump’s economic agenda, which leaned heavily on aggressive tariff policy to reshape trade relationships and pressure foreign governments. Administration officials have signaled for months that alternatives were under consideration. In January, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett outlined fallback authorities that could be deployed quickly if the court rejected the president’s approach. “We’ve got a very, very detailed backup plan. We’re confident that if we were to lose this case, that we can get all of the president’s policies in place almost immediately with alternative authorities,” Hassett said on Fox News. READ MORE: Clarence Thomas Scorches Justices’ Tariff Ruling In Fiery Dissent Hassett later told Fox Business that Section 301 powers were among the mechanisms being examined. Reports have also pointed to possible use of Section 122 of the Trade Act, which permits the president to impose certain duties unilaterally, though with tighter limits than those Trump initially pursued. Any durable fix may ultimately require congressional action. Lawmakers could move to grant the president clearer tariff authority, but that path faces political hurdles. Republicans hold only a narrow House majority, complicating efforts to push through contentious trade legislation. For now, the White House insists the administration is prepared to pivot, framing the court’s decision not as the end of Trump’s tariff push but as a legal detour. Download the FREE Trending Politics App to get the latest news FIRST > >READ THE FULL REPORT |
| Russian Bombers Near Alaska Spark NORAD InterceptNORAD scrambled U.S. fighter jets Thursday after tracking Russian military aircraft operating inside the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone, a strategically sensitive buffer area off the U.S. coast. The North American Aerospace Defense Command said it launched two F-16s, two F-35s, one E-3 and four KC-135s “to intercept, positively identify, and escort the aircraft until they departed the Alaskan ADIZ.” “The Russian military aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace,” NORAD said in a press release. “This Russian activity in the Alaskan ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat.” NORAD said it identified two Russian Tu-95 bombers, two Su-35 fighters and one A-50 aircraft during the operation. The aircraft stayed outside U.S. and Canadian sovereign airspace, the command said. The ADIZ is not sovereign airspace, but it is a designated region where aircraft are expected to identify themselves. It functions as an early-warning zone because of its proximity to Russia and the Bering Strait. “NORAD employs a layered defense network of satellites, ground-based and airborne radars and fighter aircraft to detect and track aircraft and inform appropriate actions. NORAD remains ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North America,” NORAD said in its statement. The intercept came as the U.S. continues to build up military presence overseas, including moving major naval assets toward the Middle East. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged restraint as tensions remain high in the region.   Russia Flies Near Alaska’s AirspaceNORAD confirms monitoring of a Russian formation: 2 Tu-95 bombers, 2 Su-35 fighters and an A-50 AWACS plane.All aircraft stayed in international airspace and were escorted until leaving the area. Is Moscow testing boundaries? #NORAD… pic.twitter.com/88NW4ihigo— The War Journal (@Thewarjurnal_) February 20, 2026 “Russia continues to develop relations with Iran, and in doing so, we call on our Iranian friends and all parties in the region to exercise restraint and caution, and we urge them to prioritize political and diplomatic means in resolving any problems,” Peskov said Thursday, according to Reuters. The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, and its strike group deployed from the Caribbean Sea toward the Middle East in early to mid-February. The carrier was reportedly seen transiting through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea this month. The Ford is joining the USS Abraham Lincoln and three guided-missile destroyers that also arrived in the Middle East in February. Meanwhile, Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the Washington office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said satellite images show the Iranian regime is trying to restore “2 trillion” uranium enrichment capabilities at the Isfahan complex, even as talks continue with the Trump administration. U.S. Air Force and Navy strikes on June 22 targeted the Isfahan complex, along with Fordow and Natanz. Download the FREE Trending Politics App to get the latest news FIRST > >READ THE FULL REPORT |
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| El Mencho Taken Down in Joint Mexican and U.S. RaidMexican forces, backed by U.S. support, killed Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes in Tapalpa, a strike that prompted violent CJNG retaliation and emergency alerts across several Mexican states.READ THE FULL REPORT |
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MEXICO
Mexican Resort Towns Burn As Special Forces Kill Jalisco New Generation Cartel Boss “El Mencho”
Sunday, Feb 22, 2026 – 04:56 PM
Update (1656):
Mexico’s Ministry of Defense announced on X that a military operation targeting the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in the Tapalpa area resulted in the death of cartel leader Nemesio “Mencho” Oseguera.
According to the statement, troops came under attack and returned fire “in defense of their integrity,” leaving four CJNG members dead at the incident area and three others critically wounded. The ministry stated that those three later died during a medevac transfer to Mexico City, including Mencho.
During this operation, military personnel were attacked, so in defense of their integrity they repelled the aggression, resulting in four members of the “CJNG” criminal group dead at the scene and three seriously injured, who lost their lives during their transfer via air to Mexico City; among the latter is Ruben “N” (a) Mencho, however, the corresponding authorities will handle the expert activities for their identification.
The ministry also reported that CJNG members had armored vehicles and rocket launchers.
In addition to the above, two other members of this criminal organization were detained and various weaponry and armored vehicles were seized, including rocket launchers capable of downing aircraft and destroying armored vehicles.
The statement noted that National Guard and Mexican Army units were being deployed into the Jalisco area, where CJNG operates, to “reinforce security” amid retaliatory unrest this afternoon.
Update (1510):
“Due to developing security situations in Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, airlines are canceling flights at those airports,” website tracker Flightrader24 wrote on X.
The situation in Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta, and other areas controlled by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) remains fluid after Mexican security forces killed Nemesio “Mencho” Oseguera, the head of CJNG.
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico has told Americans to “shelter in place” across Jalisco State (including Puerto Vallarta, Chapala, and Guadalajara), Tamaulipas State (including Reynosa and other municipalities), parts of Michoacán State, Guerrero State, and Nuevo León State.
* * *
According to The Wall Street Journal, Mexican security forces killed Nemesio “Mencho” Oseguera, the head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and assessed as one of Mexico’s most powerful cartel leaders; footage on social media shows utter chaos unfolding across Guadalajara and other CJNG strongholds after Mencho’s killing.
WSJ cited a senior Mexican official earlier Sunday who confirmed Oseguera was killed during a military operation against CJNG.
Additional color on CJNG from the outlet:
The cartel also controls vast fuel smuggling schemes and other underworld rackets across Mexico and the U.S., authorities said.
. . .
Oseguera was known for sophisticated paramilitary tactics and the deployment of hundreds of well-equipped and well-trained gunmen. He controlled vast swathes of territory, especially in his home state of Jalisco. He has been expanding his influence and was locked in a bloody struggle for control of Michoacán state in western Mexico.
Following the death of CJNG’s leader, local media and X users have posted footage of chaos unfolding across the Guadalajara area, including reports of chaos at Guadalajara Airport and narco blockades spanning Guadalajara, Zapopan, Tlajomulco, Tapalpa, Puerto Vallarta, Ciudad Guzmán, and Autlán.
Let’s begin with the chaos at Guadalajara Airport:
CJNG blockades across CJNG territories:
Footage from Puerto Vallarta.
Guadalajara is a World Cup Host City…
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico has told all U.S. citizens in Jalisco State (including Puerto Vallarta, Chapala, and Guadalajara), Tamaulipas State (including Reynosa and other municipalities), parts of Michoacán State, Guerrero State, and Nuevo León State to “shelter in place” amid “ongoing security operations in multiple states and related road blockages and criminal activity.”
*Developing…
end
late this morning:
robert h:
US Homeland Security News on X: “
Update: Cartel forces are fighting Mexican Troops and Police with orders from their Drug Lords to kill all soldiers and police they can across Mexico. Fire fights like this are taking place right now across the country, including the border!! https://t.co/J0lwRZAI13″ / X
It is a war zone. Today Afghanistan is safer than Mexico.
YOUR EARLY CURRENCY/GOLD AND SILVER PRICING/ASIAN CLOSING MARKETS AND EUROPEAN BOURSE OPENING AND CLOSING/ INTEREST RATE SETTINGS MONDAY MORNING 6;30AM//OPENING AND CLOSING
USA DOLLAR VS EURO: 1.1775 FOR A LOSS OF .0005 OR 5 BASIS PTS.
USA/ YEN 154.95 DOWN 0.008 NOW TARGETS INTEREST RATE AT 1.75% AS IT WILL BUY UNLIMITED BONDS TO GETS TO THAT LEVEL…//YEN STILL FALLS//END OF YEN CARRY TRADE BEGINS AGAIN DEC 2024/Bank of Japan raises rates by .25% TO 1.75 ..TAKAICHI NEW PM AS YIELDS RISE//JAPAN DEEPLY IN TROUBLE WITH RISING RATES AND A FALLING YEN!!
GBP/USA 1.3476 UP 0.0002 OR 2 BASIS PTS
USA/CAN DOLLAR: 1.3699 UP 0.0010 CDN DOLLAR DOWN 10 BASIS PTS//(DESPITE TRUMP’S TARIFFS)
Last night Shanghai COMPOSITE CLOSED
Hang Seng CLOSED
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Trading from Europe and ASIA
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USA DOLLAR VS TRY (TURKISH LIRA): 43.84
USA DOLLAR VS RUSSIAN ROUBLE: 77.00 ROUBLE// DOWN 28 BASIS PTS
UK 10 YR BOND YIELD: 4.351 DOWN 0 BASIS PTS
UK 30 YR BOND YIELD: 5.153 UP 1 BASIS PTS
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USA dollar index early MONDAY MORNING: 97.76 UP 4 BASIS POINTS FROM THURSDAY’s CLOSE
MONDAY MORNING NUMBERS ENDS
And now your closing MONDAY NUMBERS 10.00 AM
Portuguese 10 year bond yield: 3.076% DOWN 2 in basis point(s) yield
JAPANESE BOND 10 yr YIELD: +2.101% DOWN 1 FULL POINTS BASIS POINTS /JAPAN losing control of its yield curve/
JAPAN 30 YR: 3.312 UP 1 BASIS PTS//DIASTER
SPANISH 10 YR BOND YIELD: 3.141 DOWN 1 in basis points yield
ITALY 10 YR BOND: 3.340 DOWN 1 points in basis points yield ./ THE ECB IS QE’ ING ITALIAN BONDS (
GERMAN 10 YR BOND YIELD: 2.7286 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS
IMPORTANT CURRENCY CLOSES : MID DAY MONDAY
Closing currency crosses for day /USA DOLLAR INDEX/USA 10 YR BOND YIELD/10:00 AM
Euro/USA 1.1798 UP 0.0017 OR 17 basis points
USA/Japan: 154.65 DOWN 0.355 OR YEN IS UP 36 BASIS PTS// HIGHLY INFLATIONARY TO JAPAN
Great Britain 10 YR RATE 4.340 DOWN 1 BASIS POINTS //
GREAT BRITAIN 30 YR BOND; 5.147 DOWN 1 BASIS POINTS.
Canadian dollar DOWN 6 BASIS pts to 1.3678
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The USA/Yuan CNY XXXX TO XX ON SHORE ..
THE USA/YUAN OFFSHORE// CNH UP TO 6.8860
TURKISH LIRA: 43.84 EXTREMELY DANGEROUS LEVEL/DEATH WATCH/HYPERINFLATION TO BEGIN.//
Your closing 10 yr US bond yield DOWN 2 in basis points from FRIDAY at 4.061% //trading well ABOVE the resistance level of 2.27-2.32%)
USA 30 yr bond yield 4.713 DOWN 1 basis points /10:00 AM
USA 2 YR BOND YIELD: 3.476 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS.
GOLD AT 10;00 AM 5058.50
SILVER AT 10;00: 86.80
Your 11:00 AM bourses for Europe and the Dow along with the USA dollar index closing and interest ratesMONDAY CLOSING TIME 10:00 AM//
London: CLOSED DOWN 2.05 PTS OR 0.02%
GERMAN DAX: CLOSED DOWN 268.72 OR 1.06%
FRANCE: CLOSED UP 18.32 PTS OR 0.22%
Spain IBEX CLOSED UP 102.70 PTS OR 0.56%
Italian MIB: CLOSED UP 226.31 PTS OR 0.49%
WTI Oil price 66.85 10.00 EST/
Brent Oil: 72.08 10:00 EST
USA /RUSSIAN ROUBLE /// AT: 76.84 ROUBLE DOWN 0 AND 1 / 100
CDN 10 YEAR RATE: 3.243 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS.
CDN 5 YEAR RATE: 2.743 DOWN 1 BASIS PTS
CLOSING NUMBERS: 4 PM
Euro vs USA 1.1790 UP 0.0010 OR 10 BASIS POINTS//
British Pound: 1.3493 UP 0.0018 OR 18 basis pts/
BRITISH 10 YR GILT BOND YIELD: 4.3170 DOWN 4 FULL BASIS PTS//
BRITISH 30 YR BOND YIELD: 5.118 DOWN 4 IN BASIS PTS.
JAPAN 10 YR YIELD: 2.101 DOWN 0 FULL BASIS PTS (DANGEROUS TO THEIR ECONOMY
JAPANESE 30 YR BOND: 3.312 DOWN 0 PTS AND STILL VERY DANGEROUS TO THEIR ECONOMY
USA dollar vs Japanese Yen: 154.73 DOWN 267 OR YEN UP 27 BASIS PTS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS/YEN FALLING DEEPLY IN VALUE
USA dollar vs Canadian dollar: 1.3699 UP 0.0022 PTS// CDN DOLLAR DOWN 22 BASIS PTS
West Texas intermediate oil: 66.45
Brent OIL: 71.54
USA 10 yr bond yield DOWN 6 BASIS pts to 4.029
USA 30 yr bond yield: DOWN 2 PTS to 4.703%
USA 2 YR BOND 3.440 DOWN 4 PTS
CDN 10 YR RATE 3.185 DOWN 3 BASIS PTS
CDN 5 YEAR RATE: 2.720 DOWN 3 BASIS PTS
USA dollar index: 97.65 DOWN 3 BASIS POINTS
USA DOLLAR VS TURKISH LIRA: 43.84 GETTING QUITE CLOSE TO BLOWING UP/
USA DOLLAR VS RUSSIA//// ROUBLE: 76.67 UP 0 AND 5/100 roubles //
GOLD $5229.45 3:30 PM)
SILVER: 84.53 3;30 PM)
DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE: DOWN 821.91 OR 1.66%
NASDAQ 100 DOWN 303.68 PTS OR 1.21%
VOLATILITY INDEX 21.03 UP 1.94 PTS OR 9.22%
GLD: $ 481.28 UP 12.66PTS OR 2.63%
SLV/ $80.57 UP 3.45 PTS OR OR 4.26 %
TORONTO STOCK INDEX// TSX INDEX: CLOSED DOWN 41.01 PTS OR 0.12%
end
TRADING today ZEROHEDGE 4 PM: HEADLINE NEWS/TRADING
”Stocks, Oil, & Gold Gain Amid Week Of Trump-Tehran Musings, Tariff Mayhem, & Tons Of Macro
WRAP UP
Risk-off trade as AI disruption fears mount while Trump hikes tariffs – Newsquawk US Market Wrap
Monday, Feb 23, 2026 – 04:27 PM
- SNAPSHOT: Equities down, Treasuries up, Crude down, Dollar mixed, Gold up
- REAR VIEW: Research firm raises AI disruption fears; Trump raises Section 122 tariffs to 15% from 10%, threatens even higher tariffs; EU Parliament agrees to postpone vote on EU-US trade deal; Fed’s Waller says March decision is a coin toss; Witkoff and Kushner to meet Iran on Thursday; Pentagon pushing Trump for diplomatic approach; US’s Rubio weekend visit to Israel postponed to Monday; Hungary said it will block EU Ukraine decisions until the Druzhba pipeline flow resumes; Novo Nordisk CargriSema trial disappoints; PYPL reportedly attracts takeover interest.
- COMING UP: Data: US ADP Weekly, House Prices (Dec), Consumer Confidence (Feb), Dallas/Richmond Fed (Feb), Atlanta Fed GDP. Events: PBoC LPR; NBH Policy Announcement. Speakers: BoE’s Lombardelli, Bailey, Greene, Taylor, Pill; Fed’s Goolsbee, Collins, Bostic, Waller, Cook, Barkin; ECB’s Lagarde. Supply: Australia, UK, Italy, US. Earnings: Home Depot, Standard Chartered, Keurig Dr Pepper.
- WEEK AHEAD: Highlights include NVDA earnings, Australian CPI, Tokyo CPI, PBoC LPR, and BoK. Click here for the full report.
- CENTRAL BANK WEEKLY: Previewing PBoC LPR, BoK; Reviewing RBNZ, FOMC Minutes, RBA Minutes, reports on the ECB President Job. Click here for the full report.
- WEEKLY US EARNINGS ESTIMATES: Tech behemoth NVDA is the highlight. Click here for the full report.
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MARKET WRAP
It was a risk-off session on Monday with equities sliding on fears of further AI disruption, while US President Trump hiked tariffs. The AI fears seemingly sparked from a research piece from Citrini Research exploring severe downside risks if AI exceeds expectations. This is not the firm’s base-case scenario, but it highlighted how unemployment could spike to 10% with the SPX down 38% from late-2026 peaks (which it pencilled in at 8,000) with a recession in 2027. It largely highlighted payments, software and private credit stocks as highly exposed to such a scenario. All of which sectors tumbled on Monday, while IBM also took a chunky hit as Anthropic announced that Claude can now automate COBOL modernisation efforts – further adding to the AI disruption fears. Meanwhile, on trade, Trump lifted his Section 122 tariffs to 15% from 10% over the weekend. Nations like Mexico announced they will now be paying less tariffs on non-USMCA-compliant goods, while the EU has frozen trade talks with the US and is not seeking to alter the pre-existing deal at this stage. Trump has warned that those who decide to play games will be met with a higher tariff than what they recently agreed to. The risk-off sentiment around AI disruption and also the lifting of tariffs saw T-notes catch a bid throughout the US session to settle around peaks, with eyes turning to supply in a data-light week. However, several central bank speakers are on the docket for Tuesday. Waller spoke today, noting it is almost a coin toss for a cut or a hold in March. In FX, the Dollar was mixed vs peers while activity currencies lagged in the risk-off trade. Crude prices ultimately settled slightly lower while eyes turn to the US/Iran talks on Thursday. On this, reports suggest the Pentagon has been pushing Trump to go for a diplomatic resolution, warning about the risks of striking Iran. Trump has apparently been leaning towards strikes, but has agreed to give Witkoff and Kushner more time to negotiate for diplomacy. Gold and Silver rallied on the risk conditions, while Bitcoin slumped.
US
FED’S WALLER (voter): The Governor said he would support a 25bps reduction in March if January labour strength is revised away or evaporates, but may be appropriate to hold if downside labour market risks have diminished. On the March meeting, he views the two possible outcomes as close to a coin flip and details that he will need to see the February report due March 6 before forming any judgment on a labour rebound. Following the SCOTUS decision to strike down Trump’s IEEPA tariffs on Friday, Waller said it may have a positive impact on spending and investment, will look through tariffs if they come down, and added that the ruling is unlikely to have a significant impact on his view of the appropriate policy stance. Ahead, he estimates Jan PCE inflation of ~2.8% over the next 12 months, with core at ~3%, but believes underlying inflation without tariff effects is close to 2%. Waller expects real GDP to grow above 2% over the next six months after smoothing shutdown effects. He noted that there are reasons, including AI, to think the hiring may remain weak, and said a weak labour market is likely to continue going forward.
FIXED INCOME
T-NOTE FUTURES (H6) SETTLE 14 TICKS HIGHER AT 113-12
T-notes catch bid as Trump hikes tariffs and as sentiment takes a hit on further AI disruption worries. At settlement, 2-year −4.2bps at 3.438%, 3-year −5.7bps at 3.444%, 5-year −6.9bps at 3.579%, 7-year −6.8bps at 3.780%, 10-year −6.0bps at 4.025%, 20-year −4.1bps at 4.632%, 30-year −3.1bps at 4.694%.
THE DAY: T-notes rose on Monday paring some of the post IEEPA downside with US President Trump upping his Section 122 tariffs to 15% from 10%, bolstering expected government revenues. The upside had started overnight before meandering throughout the European session, but upside really picked up during the US session. There was no tier 1 data to digest but a lot of focus was on further AI disruption which heavily hit sentiment and supporting T-notes through haven demand. T-notes went on to hit a high of 113-14 from the overnight lows of 112-27+. Fed speak saw Governor Waller speak at NABE, where the dovish dissenter said the decision for March is close to a coin flip between a cut and a hold. He is largely data dependent, noting if labour market data for February is consistent with stronger job creation and low unemployment, it may be appropriate to hold, but if the good labour market news in January is revised away, or evaporates in February, he would support a 25bps cut in March. He stressed the decision hinges on the February labour and inflation data.
SUPPLY
Bills
- US sells 3-month bills at high rate 3.590, B/C 3.30x; sells USD 6-month bills at 3.525%, B/C 3.03x
- US to sell USD 90bln of 6-week bills on February 24th; all to settle February 26th
Notes
- US to sell USD 69bln of 2-year notes on February 24th, USD 70bln of 5-year notes on February 25th and USD 44bln of 7-year notes on February 26th; all to settle March 2nd
- US to sell USD 28bln of 2-year FRN’s on February 25th; to settle February 27th
STIRS/OPERATIONS
- Market Implied Fed Rate Cut Pricing: March 0bps (prev. 0bps), April 3.2bps (prev. 3.2bps), June 13.6bps (prev. 12.5bps), December 57.3bps (prev. 53.9bps).
- SOFR at 3.66% (prev. 3.67%), volumes at USD 3.224tln (prev. USD 3.238tln) on February 20th
- EFFR at 3.64% (prev. 3.64%), volumes at USD 101bln (prev. USD 100bln) on February 20th
- NY Fed RRP op demand at USD 0.88bln (prev. 0.5bln), across 7 counterparties (prev. 4) on February 23rd
CRUDE
WTI (J6) SETTLES USD 0.17 LOWER AT 66.31/BBL; BRENT (J6) SETTLES USD 0.27 LOWER AT 71.49/BBL
The crude complex started the week with losses, albeit in a choppy session, as participants continue to digest geopolitical relations. The latest update on US and Iran is that the Pentagon’s General Caine (Joint Chief Chairman) is raising concerns to Trump about an extended military campaign against Iran, advising that war plans being considered carry risks including US and Allied casualties, depleted air defenses and an overtaxed force. Trump is said to have been leaning towards launching a strike for several days, but agreed to give Witkoff and Kushner more time for negotiations. In terms of meetings, US Secretary of State Rubio postponed his Saturday visit to Israel, now scheduled for next Monday, while Witkoff and Kushner are to meet with Iran in Geneva on Thursday. Elsewhere, newsflow was sparse on Monday in a week with a lack of tier 1 US data, as traders await any geopolitical developments, Fed speak, and/or Nvidia earnings on Wednesday. For the record, WTI traded between USD 65.38-67.28/bbl and Brent USD 70.28-72.04/bbl.
EQUITIES
CLOSES: SPX -1.04% at 6,838, NDX -1.21% at 24,709, DJI -1.66% at 48,804, RUT -1.61% at 2621
SECTORS: Materials +2.04%, Health +1.96%, Industrials +1.38%, Consumer Discretionary +0.94%, Technology +0.66%, Real Estate +0.62%, Utilities +0.49%, Financials +0.45%, Consumer Staples +0.13%, Communication Services -0.49%, Energy -2.81%
EUROPEAN CLOSES: Euro Stoxx 50 -0.24% at 6,117, Dax 40 -1.09% at 24,987, FTSE 100 -0.02% at 10,685, CAC 40 -0.22% at 8,497, FTSE MIB +0.49% at 46,699, IBEX 35 +0.57% at 18,290, PSI +1.71% at 9,246, SMI +0.21% at 13,866, AEX -0.12% at 1,016
STOCK SPECIFICS:
- Alphabet (GOOGL) upgraded at Wells Fargo to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Equal Weight’
- Arcellx (ACLX) to be acquired by GILD for $7.8bln or $115/shr; note, ACLX closed Fri. at 64.11.
- Domino’s Pizza (DPZ): Rev. beat w/ 15% increase in Q div.
- General Mills (GIS) downgraded at BofA to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’
- Getty Images (GETY) and Shutterstock (SSTK) received unconditional US antitrust clearance from the DoJ for their merger.
- Novo Nordisk’s (NVO) CagriSema 2.4 did not meet the primary endpoint of showing non-inferiority on weight loss vs. Eli Lilly’s (LLY) tirzepatide 15mg at 84 weeks
- Nvidia (NVDA) laptop chips are set to launch this year in products from Dell (DELL) & Lenovo (LNVGY).
- US President Trump said Netflix (NFLX) should fire Susan Rice “immediately” or “pay the consequences”.
- V.F. Corp (VFC) downgraded at JPM to ‘Underweight’ from ‘Neutral’
- Veris Residential (VRE) to be acquired by Affinius for $3.4bln or $19/shr; note, VRE closed Fri. at 16.77.
- Abbott (ABT) reportedly seeks USD 20bln in US bond sales for Exact Science (EXAS) deal, Bloomberg News.
- PayPal (PYPL) said to attract takeover interest after share slump; filed bank meetings amid unsolicited interest; suitors show early interest for all, part of the company. PayPal interest is preliminary and may not lead to any deals.
- IBM (IBM) hit on update from Anthropic that says Claude code can now automate COBOL modernization efforts.
FX
The Dollar Index was more or less flat to start the week, and mixed against G10 peers, as participants digested the latest tariff updates and comments from Fed Governor Waller. On the former, Trump raised the blanket tariff rate to 15% from 10% over the weekend, and later added that any country that wants to “play games” with the SCOTUS decision, especially those who ripped off the US, will be met with a much higher tariff, and worse, than what they recently agreed to. On Fed speak, Waller sees the March FOMC decision as a “coin-flip” and noted it will all depend on the February jobs and inflation data. Overall, headline newsflow was rather light to start the week ahead of a plethora of Fed speakers on Tuesday, Nvidia earnings on Wednesday, and the ever present focus on geopolitical tensions, tariff updates and AI.
JPY was the G10 gainer, and seemingly buoyed by the risk-off sentiment that was seen throughout the session as AI concerns once again reared their ugly head, weighing on software names and IBM, with the latter hit on a separate update. GBP, EUR, and CHF all saw slight strength vs. the Greenback. Out of Europe, German Ifo was better than expected. In the tariff space, European MP Lange said they have decided to postpone the vote on a US trade deal, which was set for Tuesday and intend to vote eventually, but they need clarity first. That followed earlier reports that the EU is set to freeze trade deal approval over US President Trump’s tariff risk. ECB President Lagarde remarked that inflation and policy are in a good place; ECB will decide policy meeting-by-meeting, must remain agile, and completing the term is her baseline. For the Pound, BoE’s Taylor said they are 2-3 cuts away from neutral.
Antipodeans and the Loonie underperformed and weakened vs. the Dollar as risk sentiment weighed, as opposed to any currency-specific developments. On the Aussie, SocGen quips that a very large (and growing) net AUD long position makes January CPI data important, which is due early Wednesday morning GMT. The market expects a steady trimmed mean rate at 3.3% Y/Y, with eyes on RBA Governor Bullock speaking at a ‘Fireside Chat’ later that morning (UK time).
USA DATA RELEASE
Core US Factory Orders Better Than Expected In December
Monday, Feb 23, 2026 – 10:06 AM
While sentiment is sagging to multi-year lows, ‘hard’ data is helping support growth forecasts (GDPNOW) and holding stocks at record highs.
This morning we get a fresh glimpse at America’s manufacturing segment – hard data – with Orders data (which is expected to drop MoM in December).
After surging higher in November (+2.7% MoM), analysts expected US Factory Orders to drop 0.6% MoM in December but the actual print disappointed, dropping 0.7% MoM
Source: Bloomberg
Interestingly, Core Factory Orders rose 0.4% MoM – better than expected
Source: Bloomberg
The final December prints for Durable Goods Orders fell 1.4% as expected (and in line with the preliminary data).\
New orders non-defense, ex-air – a proxy for spending – rose 0.8% MoM (better than expected).
The bottom line is this data is overall supportive for GDP guesstimates (and earnings).
USA ECONOMIC COMMENTARIES
Travel Chaos Erupts In US East As Blizzard Slams Major Cities
Monday, Feb 23, 2026 – 07:20 AM
Blizzard conditions are expected from Delaware into southern New England, and travel will be “extremely treacherous” to “nearly impossible” today, according to the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center.
Expect travel delays along the I-95 corridor, as well as flight cancellations at airports from the Mid-Atlantic to the Northeast.
Nearly 5,600 flights in, out, or within the US were cancelled at the start of the week, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.
Travel nightmare for Republic Airways, JetBlue, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and United early Monday morning, with the bulk of the cancellations affecting these airlines.
Airports in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, such as John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia, Boston, Newark, and Philadelphia, experienced the highest number of cancellations and delays.
Here’s a map of the flight misery as of 0630 ET.
The heaviest snowfall, as much as two feet in some locations across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast areas, fell in the overnight hours and will continue into the morning, NWS warned in the most recent update.
Besides the unfolding travel chaos, nearly a quarter million customers are without power this morning because of the blizzard conditions, with a large percentage of the outages concentrated from Delaware to New Jersey.
Anyone planning to travel into NYC or out of it, well, forget about it, because Mayor Zohran Mamdani declared a state of emergency and closed streets, highways, and bridges to most traffic from late Sunday through Monday afternoon. His collective army of snow shovelers will save the day.
“These are blizzard conditions. New York City has not faced a storm of this scale in the last decade,” Mamdani said. “We have activated additional high-water rescue teams should flooding grow dire.”
How do the blizzard and winter blast compute in the minds of Mamdani’s followers after years of being brainwashed about the global warming crisis?
Meteorologist Ryan Maue looks ahead:
Winter isn’t over.
END
Shotgun-Wielding Man Killed By Law Enforcement After Breaching Mar-a-Lago’s Security Perimeter
Sunday, Feb 22, 2026 – 10:15 AM
U.S. Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi reported on X that a young male was shot and killed after breaching the security perimeter at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, the private resort owned by President Donald Trump.
Guglielmi said the incident unfolded around 1:30 a.m. ET, when the man, in his early 20s, was shot by Secret Service agents following an unauthorized entry into the secure perimeter at Mar-a-Lago.
“The individual was observed by the north gate of the Mar-a-Lago property carrying what appeared to be a shotgun and a fuel can,” the spokesman said.
Guglielmi continued:
U.S. Secret Service agents and a PBSO deputy confronted the individual, and shots were fired by law enforcement during the encounter. No U.S. Secret Service or PBSO personnel were injured. No Secret Service protectees were present at the location at the time of the incident.
He said the individual, whose identity is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Earlier, Palm Beach County Sheriff Rick Bradshaw told reporters at a press conference that the young man was “ordered to drop the two pieces of equipment he had with him. At that time, he put down the gas can and raised the shotgun to a shooting position.”
Bradshaw said two agents and the deputy “fired their weapons to neutralize the threat.”
He noted that the suspect was from North Carolina and had been reported missing by his family a few days earlier. A preliminary investigation shows he may have acquired a shotgun during his travels, as officers found the box for the gun in his vehicle.
Bradshaw said investigators are compiling a psychological profile of the deceased individual and investigating the motive. When asked whether the individual was known to law enforcement, Bradshaw replied, “Not right now.”
The incident was a few miles from his West Palm Beach golf club, where unhinged leftist Ryan Routh attempted to assassinate Trump during the 2024 election. Routh was recently sentenced to life behind bars.
*Developing…
21-Year-Old Male Identified As Shotgun-Wielding Mar-a-Lago Intruder
Sunday, Feb 22, 2026 – 12:44 PM
Update (1230ET):
AP News reports that the 21-year-old male, armed with a shotgun and a gas canister, who was shot and killed by law enforcement at Mar-a-Lago early Sunday morning after breaching the outer layer of the security perimeter, has been identified as Austin Tucker Martin.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo that the Democratic Party is “normalizing violence” and that “it has got to stop.”
As the day progresses, officials are likely to release more details about Martin.
* * *
U.S. Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi reported on X that a young male was shot and killed after breaching the security perimeter at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, the private resort owned by President Donald Trump.
Guglielmi said the incident unfolded around 1:30 a.m. ET, when the man, in his early 20s, was shot by Secret Service agents following an unauthorized entry into the secure perimeter at Mar-a-Lago.
“The individual was observed by the north gate of the Mar-a-Lago property carrying what appeared to be a shotgun and a fuel can,” the spokesman said.
Guglielmi continued:
U.S. Secret Service agents and a PBSO deputy confronted the individual, and shots were fired by law enforcement during the encounter. No U.S. Secret Service or PBSO personnel were injured. No Secret Service protectees were present at the location at the time of the incident.
He said the individual, whose identity is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Earlier, Palm Beach County Sheriff Rick Bradshaw told reporters at a press conference that the young man was “ordered to drop the two pieces of equipment he had with him. At that time, he put down the gas can and raised the shotgun to a shooting position.”
Bradshaw said two agents and the deputy “fired their weapons to neutralize the threat.”
He noted that the suspect was from North Carolina and had been reported missing by his family a few days earlier. A preliminary investigation shows he may have acquired a shotgun during his travels, as officers found the box for the gun in his vehicle.
Bradshaw said investigators are compiling a psychological profile of the deceased individual and investigating the motive. When asked whether the individual was known to law enforcement, Bradshaw replied, “Not right now.”
The incident was a few miles from his West Palm Beach golf club, where unhinged leftist Ryan Routh attempted to assassinate Trump during the 2024 election. Routh was recently sentenced to life behind bars.
*Developing…
END
NEW YORK CITY
Zohran Mamdani’s Budgetary Buffoonery
Monday, Feb 23, 2026 – 12:00 PM
Submitted by QTR’s Fringe Finance
When Zohran Mamdani ran for mayor, he sold New Yorkers a vision of relief. Free childcare. Free buses. A rent freeze. A city that would finally tilt toward the struggling rather than the secure. What he did not campaign on was a nearly 10% property tax hike affecting more than three million residences and over 100,000 commercial properties. Yet, days after his election, here we are.
The proposal, floated as leverage in a standoff with Kathy Hochul, is being marketed as a reluctant last resort. But for a mayor elected on affordability, threatening one of the broadest tax increases available to City Hall is not just ironic—it’s revealing. When the numbers got tight and Albany didn’t comply, Mamdani’s idiotic grand promises collided with fiscal gravity. And instead of rethinking the scale of the agenda, the answer was to reach for the biggest local tax lever available.
Truly a courageous and brilliant new strategy from the left: raising taxes. How novel.
This is not some clever new framework. Property taxes are the most predictable, blunt instrument in municipal finance. They are also uniquely capable of rippling through the housing market in exactly the way Mamdani claims to oppose. Owners of small apartment buildings do not absorb cost increases out of civic virtue. Co-op boards don’t shrug off higher levies as symbolic gestures. Costs get passed along where they can be. Where they can’t, maintenance gets deferred. Either way, renters feel it.
It is a strange approach for a mayor who built his brand on a rent freeze. Even in regulated markets, rising operating costs create pressure. Insurance goes up. Taxes go up. Financing tightens. The idea that rents will somehow remain untouched while property taxes jump by nearly double digits requires a level of magical thinking that would make even this idiot’s campaign rally blush.
And the politics are riskier than they appear. Many of the people who voted for Mamdani also own property—brownstones in Brooklyn, co-ops in Queens, small multifamily homes in the Bronx. They may support progressive goals in theory. They are probably, however, less enthusiastic about writing materially larger checks to City Hall in practice. The coalition that cheers bold rhetoric can fracture quickly when the bill arrives.
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Meanwhile, the wealthiest residents—the ones progressives often argue should shoulder more of the burden—are the most mobile. Florida and Texas have spent years positioning themselves as lower-tax alternatives. Some migration has already occurred. More importantly, the perception has taken hold that New York’s reflex, when faced with a budget gap, is to tax what it can reach.
That perception matters. Capital is cautious. Businesses consider long-term operating costs. High earners with flexibility do the math. A city that signals fiscal instability or punitive tax swings makes those calculations easier. Wealth doesn’t leave overnight in caravans, but it leaves incrementally. A family here. A fund there. A company’s next expansion somewhere else.
None of this solves the structural problem Mamdani says he is fighting. A nearly 10 percent property tax hike does not reform the inequities in the property tax system. It does not fundamentally restructure spending. It does not magically close a multibillion-dollar gap without consequences. It simply shifts pressure onto homeowners, landlords, and—inevitably—renters.
It’s true that New York City has survived worse than one mayor’s budget gambit. It survived the fiscal crisis of the 1970s. It survived waves of out-migration before. It will survive this. The question is not whether the city endures, but what it looks like after years of governing by threat and tax hike. If the answer to every shortfall is to squeeze the remaining tax base harder, how many people with the means to leave will decide they’ve had enough?
And if that exodus accelerates, who exactly will be left to fund the next round of bullshit socialist promises?
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON
KING NEWS
| The King Report February 23, 2026 – Issue 7685 | Independent View of the News |
| The SCOTUS, as betting markets expected, torpedoed Trump’s Tariffs by a 6-3 vote. Kavanaugh, Thomas, and Alito dissented. The ruling only affects tariffs imposed under IEEPA (~$175B). Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s tariffs under IEEPA (International Emergency Economic Powers Act) “We claim no special competence in matters of economics or foreign affairs. We claim only, as we must, the limited role assigned to us by Article III of the Constitution. Fulfilling that role, we hold that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts… https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/holdscotus-rules-trump-tariffs SCOTUS: “The President asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope… he must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it. IEEPA’s grant of authority to ‘importation’ falls short. IEEPA contains no reference to tariffs or duties. The Government points to no statute in which Congress used the word ‘regulate’ to authorize taxation… We hold that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.” https://x.com/aishahhasnie/status/2024880232612716755 The SCOTUS blog: In a part of the opinion joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Roberts said that Trump’s reliance on IEEPA to impose the tariffs violated the “major questions” doctrine – the idea that if Congress wants to delegate the power to make decisions of vast economic or political significance, it must do so clearly. “When Congress has delegated its tariff powers,” Roberts said, “it has done so in explicit terms, and subject to strict limits,” a test that Trump’s tariffs failed here… https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/02/supreme-court-strikes-down-tariffs/ @AndrewKolvet: The court has concluded that President Trump could BAN all imports from China under the IEEPA, just not tariff them $0.01. This is obviously insane. Fine, use other statutes… @mualphaxi: Gorsuch (1) and Roberts (2, 3) strongly suggesting that if Trump had only done what Nixon did (temporary tariffs at consistent, capped rates) SCOTUS wouldn’t have taken the case. It was his madman routine of making up crazy new tax rates every morning that doomed him. https://x.com/mualphaxi/status/2024871454794244426 The Court punted on tariff refunds. Kavanaugh noted, “The Court says nothing today about whether, and if so how, the Government should go about returning the billions of dollars that it has collected from importers. But that process is likely to be a ‘mess,’ as was acknowledged at oral argument… In 1971, President Nixon imposed 10 percent tariffs on almost all foreign imports. He levied the tariffs under IEEPA’s predecessor statute, the Trading with the Enemy Act, which similarly authorized the President to “regulate . . . importation.” The Nixon tariffs were upheld in court.” Kavanaugh also noted that Trump has other laws (avenues) to impose tariffs: the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (Section 232); the Trade Act of 1974 (Sections 122, 201, and 301); and the Tariff Act of 1930 (Section 338).” https://x.com/MZHemingway/status/2024870986672148921/photo/1 @seanmdav: Given that the mess of a Supreme Court opinion rejecting Trump’s IEEPA tariffs nonetheless leaves the door wide open for Trump to immediately re-implement the tariffs by different means and under different authorities, I think MacBeth has the best description of the Roberts decision: A walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. @ElectionWiz: That’s what’s going to happen bc even if you believe the Court ultimately reached the correct result, the path it took to get there was a disaster. It’s a classic Roberts compromise, narrow on paper, but analytically messy. Even Kagan’s separate writing suggests discomfort w/ the reasoning. @Tyler2Oneil: Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas joined the dissent, which argues that striking down Trump’s tariffs under IEEPA “creates nonsensical textual and practical anomalies.” https://x.com/Tyler2ONeil/status/2024873556790706191 Gorsuch’s concurrence notes the reality that Congress often moves too slow to legislate. “Yes, legislating can be hard and take time… deliberation tempers impulse… if history is any guide, the tables will turn and the day will come when those disappointed by today’s result will appreciate the legislative process…” https://x.com/ATabarrok/status/2024868972584181898 Gorsuch conveniently ignores that FACT that Congress for decades has refused to take action to remedy the US trade problem largely because of the reality of the donor class corrupting Congress. Yes, Virginia, this is “Ivy Tower” reasoning or rationalization. @EricLDaugh: SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas dropped straight TRUTH BOMBS in his dissent on the tariffs… “NEITHER the statutory text nor the Constitution provide a basis for ruling against the President.” “Congress authorized the President to “regulate . . . importation.” Throughout American history, the authority to “regulate importation” has been understood to include the authority to impose duties on imports.” “The meaning of that phrase was beyond doubt by the time that Congress enacted this statute, shortly after President Nixon’s highly publicized duties on imports were UPHELD based on identical language.” “The statute that the President relied on therefore authorized him to impose the duties on imports at issue in these cases.” “Because the Constitution assigns Congress many powers that do not implicate the nondelegation doctrine, Congress may delegate the exercise of many powers to the President.” “Congress has done so repeatedly since the founding, WITH THIS COURT’S BLESSING.” https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/2024871850556133698 @OptimisticCon: Dissent from the SCOTUS ruling on tariffs is by Thomas, Alito, & Kavanaugh. You decide… It seems to revolve around whether a tariff “is considered” a tax (Art I) or is “being used for foreign policy” (Art II). SCOTUS has had a major, questionable ruling on what’s a “tax” recently. Obamacare case Nat’l Fed of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012). Were Ocare’s arbitrary payment/fee mandates “taxes” (Art I) or “mandates” (unconstitutional)? Don’t assume SCOTUS is right on tariffs. @seanmdav: In his dissent, Kavanaugh mocks the Roberts majority for upholding Biden’s lawless vaccine mandate for government employs while arguing that a law giving the president authority to regulate—and even fully ban (equivalent to an infinite tariff)—all imports somehow doesn’t give him authority to levy non-infinite tariffs. https://x.com/seanmdav/status/2024871916113166588/photo/1 Legal pundits excoriated the SCOTUS for taking 6 months to make the ruling. Trump noted this fact and slammed the justices for not ruling on refunding the tariffs. DJT said it will be litigated for years. Reuters’ @JarrettRenshaw: Trump was speaking to a room full of U.S. governors at the WH when he was handed a note from an aide informing him of the Supreme Court decision, a source tells me. Trump was visibly frustrated and told the crowd that he had to do something about the courts, the source said. Trump can now blame any recession that develops on the SCOTUS. CNN reports that Trump told US governors the SCOTUS tariff ruling was a “disgrace.” The SCOTUS Tariff Ruling diverted attention from disappointing US Economic Data.Dec PCE 0.4% m/m & 2.9% y/y; 0.3% m/m & 2.8% expectedDec Core PCE 0.4% m/m & 3.0% y/y; 0.3% m/m & 2.9% y/y expectedUS Q4 GDP 1.4%, 2.8% expected; Consumption 2.4% as expectedGDP Price Index 3.6%, 2.8% expectedCore PCE 2.7% q/q, 2.6% expectedFeb S&P Global US Mfg. PMI 51.2, 52.4 expected and priorFeb S&P Global US Services PMI 52.3, 53 expected, 52.7 priorFeb S&P Global US Composite PMI 52.3, 53.1 expected, 53 priorFeb UM Sentiment 56.6, 57.3 expected and priorCurrent Conditions 56.6, 58 expected, 58.3 priorExpectations 56.6 as expected and prior1-year Inflation 3.4%, 3.5% expected and prior5-10-year Inflation 3.3%, .4% expected and priorDec New Homes Sales 745k (-1.7% m/m), 730k expected, 758k prior Trump immediately blamed the big miss in Q4 GDP on Powell. Precious metals rallied moderately; the dollar declined modestly. Stocks rallied initially on the SCOTUS ruling on trader buying for the Friday Rally. ESHs opened modestly lower on Thursday night but quickly rallied on traders buying for the expected Friday Rally. ESHs hit 6904.75 (+27.75) at 4:16 ET. ESHs then sank to a daily low of 6847.25 (-29.75) at 9:27 ET. The conditioned buying near the NYSE opening propelled ESHs, in a near vertical rally, to a daily high of 6925.00 (+ 48.00) at 9:59 ET. After the tariff ruling, ESHs gyrated violently 38-handle range until they broke lower near 12:15 ET. After falling to 6873.50 at 12:26 ET, ESH jumped to a new daily high of 6931.50 at 13:47 ET. The rally occurred while Trump held a presser about the SCOTUS tariff ruling. Trump announces 10% global tariff, criticizes Supreme Court justices “Today I will sign an order to impose a 10% global tariff under section 122 over and above our normal tariffs already being charged,” Trump said. “And we’re also initiating several section 301 and other investigations to protect our country from unfair trading practices of other countries and companies… I’m ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed, for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country,” the president said. “In actuality, I was very modest in my ask of other countries and businesses because… I wanted to be very well-behaved. I didn’t want to do anything that would affect the decision of the court, because I understand the court. I understand how they are very easily swayed. I want to be a good boy. I have very effectively utilized tariffs over the past year to make America great again,” he said… https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-responds-supreme-court-ruling-rejecting-sweeping-tariffs-powers-disgrace @ShelbyTalcott: Trump declines to say whether he regrets nominating Justices Gorsuch and Barrett after today’s ruling but tells me: “I think it’s an embarrassment to their families, the two of them.” Trump: To show you how ridiculous the opinion is, the Court said that I’m not allowed to charge even $1 DOLLAR to any Country under IEEPA, I assume to protect other Countries, not the United States which they should be interested in protecting — But I am allowed to cut off any and all Trade or Business with that same Country, even imposing a Foreign Country destroying embargo, and do anything else I want to do to them — How nonsensical is that? They are saying that I have the absolute right to license, but not the right to charge a license fee. What license has ever been issued without the right to charge a fee? But now the Court has given me the unquestioned right to ban all sorts of things from coming into our Country, a much more powerful Right than many people thought we had. https://x.com/faststocknewss/status/2024922156073975913 Trump: ‘It’s my opinion that the court has been swayed by foreign interests and a political movement that is far smaller than people would ever think. And I think certain justices are still afraid of that…” https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15578623/Trump-declares-foreign-interests-corrupted-Supreme-Court-justices-struck-tariffs-Theyre-afraid.html @bennyjohnson Q: “What did you mean a moment ago when you said The Supreme court was swayed by foreign interests?” TRUMP: “Foreign interests are represented by people that I believe have undue influence… they have a lot of influence over the Supreme Court whether it’s through fear or respect or friendships. I don’t know. But I know some of the people that were involved on the other side, and I don’t like them… I think they are real slime balls. You’ve got to do what is right for the country… what is right for the Constitution.” https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/2024924761877283121 Chief Justice Roberts Spent Week w/ Anti-Trump Attorney in Czech Republic ‘He stayed when I was ambassador, stayed under my roof, came and spent a week with us…’ https://headlineusa.com/justice-roberts-spent-week-w-anti-trump-attorney-in-czech-republic/ Left-Wing Lawyer (Eisen) Behind Anti-Trump Lawfare Is Running A New Op Against Kash Patel https://thefederalist.com/2025/02/05/left-wing-lawyer-behind-anti-trump-lawfare-is-running-a-new-op-against-kash-patel/ VP Vance: “Today the Supreme Court decided that Congress, despite giving the president the ability to “regulate imports,” didn’t mean it. This is lawlessness from the court. Plain and simple. And its only effect will be to make it harder for the president to protect American industries and supply chain resiliency…” https://x.com/JDVance/status/2024928034667545067 After Trump’s presser, ESHs rolled over and fell to 6908.75 at 14:49 ET. A moderate A-B-C rally took ESHs to 6926.00 at 15:59 ET. On Friday night, Trump, via an EO, placed a 10% tariff on all imports. Late on Saturday morning, Trump hiked the global tariffs to 15%. https://x.com/TrumpDailyPosts/status/2025278637881413702/photo/1 Positive aspects of previous session Stocks rallied moderately on Friday Rally and relief on tariff uncertainty. Oil and gasoline declined modestly despite Iran angst. Negative aspects of previous session USHs were -8/32 at the NYSE close. Precious metals rallied persistently and were up (July AU + 2.48%) sharply at the NYSE close. Ambiguous aspects of previous session Has the S&P 500 Index formed a massive top? First Hour/Last Hour NYSE Action [S&P 500 Index]: 1st Hour: Up; Last Hour: Up Pivot Point for S&P 500 Index [above/below indicates daily trend to traders]: 6887.23 Previous session S&P 500 Index High/Low: 6915.86; 6836.33 The FT: The giant void of nothingness where US financial regulation used to sit ‘There has never been a better time to be a crook’… This predates the Trump administration, but has become even more pernicious under it… https://www.ft.com/content/b5d9920c-25f8-4799-bd32-39f07ae97fee?accessToken=zwAGS0JoDvOYkdO12ZIMJfhHmdO9Mjnweul_7g.MEYCIQD_zl29IVEWPFnGlBHpzOEo4gU4DGL3LuP3jc8A9i8QRwIhAO7PKv3QkLdzzzPdzjU5_dpg95rRJ13LKejV6x6CNk8L&sharetype=gift&token=ec1675e6-b7f0-43b2-a763-c81d3e163367 JPMorgan Chase for the first time confirms it closed Trump’s accounts after Jan. 6th Capitol attack – Trump has sued the bank and its CEO, Jamie Dimon, for $5 billion. https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/jpmorgan-chase-first-time-confirms-it-closed-trumps-accounts-after-jan-6th WSJ: Mexico Kills Powerful Drug Kingpin, Sparking Violent Response Killing of Nemesio ‘Mencho’ Oseguera, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, ramps up government’s war on cartels after pressure from U.S… Mexican cartel faction struck airports, resort towns, at least one Costo, and other targets. Reports say the cartel struck the tourist town of Puerto Vallarta very hard. Mexican Resort Towns Burn As Special Forces Kill Jalisco New Generation Cartel Boss “El Mencho” – The U.S. Embassy in Mexico has told Americans to “shelter in place” across Jalisco State (including Puerto Vallarta, Chapala, and Guadalajara), Tamaulipas State (including Reynosa and other municipalities), parts of Michoacán State, Guerrero State, and Nuevo León State. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/mexican-forces-kill-cjng-kingpin-sparks-cartel-chaos-across-guadalajara A senior US official confirms the Trump administration and Iran may discuss the possibility of an interim agreement before a full nuclear deal is agreed. – Axios (More robe-a-dope by Iran!) @nytimes: President Trump told advisers he would consider a larger attack on Iran if diplomacy or a targeted strike failed to deter its nuclear program. YNET: Israel caught off guard by fresh US-Iran nuclear talks, says move signals weakness Jerusalem frustrated with Witkoff after saying Iran won’t ‘capitulate,’ accusing him of letting Tehran stall; ‘last-chance’ talks may delay strike until after Rubio’s visit; officials assess Iran could activate Hezbollah, Houthis — seen as rare chance to act… https://www.ynetnews.com/article/sjevtgyoze Israel believes Trump is doing another TACO. DJT does so many reversals that the UNO Reverse Card should sport his image! Today – Instead of the usual Sunday night equity futures buying for the expected Monday Rally, there is heavy selling. ESHs are -43.75, NQAs are -209.00; USHs are +1/32; while SI and AU are up sharply at 20:10 ET. Iran is a factor; but the bigger issue is probably Trump’s imposition of a 15% tariff globally. Nvidia reports Q4 results on Wednesday; 1.53 EPS is consensus. Expected Econ Data: Dec Factory Orders 1.0%; Dec Durable Goods -1.4%; Fed Gov Waller 8 ET S&P Index 50-day MA: 6896; 100-day MA: 6822; 150-day MA: 6701; 200-day MA: 6530 DJIA 50-day MA: 49,000;100-day MA: 47,965; 150-day MA: 47,025; 200-day MA: 45,989 (Green is positive slope; Red is negative slope) S&P 500 Index (6909.51 close) – BBG trading model Trender and MACD for key time frames Monthly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 5896.83 triggers a sell signal Weekly: Trender is positive; MACD is negative – a close below 6443.43 triggers a sell signal Daily: Trender and MACD are negative – a close above 6966.44 triggers a buy signal Hourly: Trender and MACD are positive – a close below 6867.31 triggers a sell signal Secret Service kills armed man at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago after he broke through security perimeter https://trib.al/wg7J3mF This is the 3rd REPORTED attempt on Trump’s life. Yet, the whacko left and the media will still foment hate and violence against Trump. Katie Porter curses like a sailor in tiresome anti-Trump Democratic Convention speech Katie Porter’s struggling campaign for California governor is bringing back the whiteboard with a NSFW message to voters. “F— Trump!”… https://trib.al/6JjNfTc Illinois Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton (D) ran a campaign ad (for US Senate) that featured several Illinois Dems, including US Senator Tammy Duckworth, saying, “F Trump.” It was so disgusting even Dem stooges in the Chicago media slammer her. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/illinois-democrat-juliana-stratton-senate-primary-trump-ad-rcna259761 Do Dem female politicians believe incessantly saying the F-word is women’s liberation? New FBI memo confirms 2022 JTN report on Biden involvement in raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property – “This event is dependent upon the timeline of President Biden’s brief, decision and coordination between WH Counsel and DOJ,” reads a new memo obtained by JTN. https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/fbi-memo-confirms-jtn-2022-reporting-biden-involvement-raid-trumps-mar CIA’s historic retraction of intel reports exposes political bias in Obama-Biden spy agencies From Beria to Biden: Pushing DEI to targeting protesting parents, and anti-Catholic bias to pushing the Trump-Russia collusion hoax, the U.S. intelligence community has — in what may be a first — started to back away from politicized stances in the Obama/Biden regime that sounded more like political dictats than intelligence analysis… https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/historic-cia-retraction-intel-reports-exposes-rot-political-bias-obama @LauraLoomer: Netflix Board Member Susan Rice says corporations who took a “knee to Trump” will face an “accountability agenda” from elected Democrats if they win the midterms in 2026 and the 2028 Presidential election. Does Netflix stand by their Board Member threatening half of the country with weaponized government and political retribution for choosing who they wanted to vote for as President? This is as anti-American as it gets, and Netflix is proving everyday they are an anti-American, WOKE company. Rice is basically openly saying that Democrats will go after anyone and everyone who supported President Trump, embracing weaponized lawfare against potentially millions of Americans. Making this more horrifying is the fact that if the Netflix-Warner Bros. merger is approved, positive messaging of the Democrats’ upcoming witch hunts against Trump from Barack Hussein Obama and his anti-White racist wife Michelle would likely be blasted across all streaming services as the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions continues to grow within Netflix… Given Netflix board member Susan Rice’s recent commitment to unleash elected Democrats and Weaponized government to “Get Trump and his supporters,” it’s interesting to note that Spike Lee, who recently showed up to the NBA All-Star game with Barack Hussein Obama in Free Palestine gear, also has a Netflix contract. It’s worth noting, as I have previously reported, that Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos is a mega Obama donor. It’s clear Rice and Obama want Netflix to merge with Warner Bros. to create a streaming empire in order to blast their radical “Get Trump” and pro-Obama propaganda. This is why the Obamas have their own production company. Reporter: “Hakeem Jeffries Democratic leader called you a wannabe king.” Trump: “Low IQ. He doesn’t even know what tariff is.” https://x.com/TheInsiderPaper/status/2024923068595138749 @realDonaldTrump: Netflix should fire racist, Trump Deranged Susan Rice, IMMEDIATELY, or pay the consequences. She’s got no talent or skills – Purely a political hack! HER POWER IS GONE, AND WILL NEVER BE BACK. How much is she being paid, and for what???… Fox’s @BillMelugin_: New York City is requiring multiple forms of ID for anyone who would like to register to be a paid emergency snow shoveler ahead of this weekend’s winter storm. This, as some Dems say requiring ID to vote is akin to “Jim Crow 2.0”. (Everyone knows why Dems oppose IDs to vote.) NYC link: https://www.nyc.gov/site/dsny/careers/civilians/emergency-snow-shovelers.page There’s A Name for The Discomfort You’re Feeling Watching the Olympics Right Now: Huff Post If waving the American flag or chanting “USA!” turns you off right now, you’re not alone. By Monica Torres (What haven’t leftists ruined or tried to ruin? Their hate for the US and patriotism is boundless.) https://www.huffpost.com/entry/theres-a-name-for-the-discomfort-youre-feeling-watching-the-olympics-right-now-goog_l_6997616ce4b012cccb427770 | |
SWAMP STORIES FOR YOU TONIGHT
Jim Snow 2.0: Mamdani Requires Snow-Shovel Volunteers Show Two Forms Of ID, Social Security Card
by Tyler Durden
Sunday, Feb 22, 2026 – 10:05 AM
With 2-3 feet of snow predicted to hit New York City and New Jersey, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has called on New York residents to volunteer as emergency snow shovelers.
“You too can become an emergency snow shoveler. Just show up at your local sanitation garage between 8am and 1pm tomorrow with your paperwork,” he said during a Saturday press conference before the city’s first blizzard warning in nine years.
Except, the Mamdani administration is actively committing a hate crime – by requiring volunteers bring ‘Two small photos, two original forms of ID, plus copies, and a Social Security card’ – the thing Democrats say is “Jim Crow 2.0” when it comes to voting in elections.
The oppressive nature of Mamdani’s hate crime against aspiring-yet-disenfranchised New York City snow shovelers did not go unnoticed.
Also funny, when the snow melted last week it revealed that the sidewalk near Brooklyn’s Sunset Park was covered in shit-cicles from all the dog poo that owners couldn’t be bothered to pick up themselves.
Why can’t leftists keep their cities clean?
END
Obama’s ‘Gift’ Sticks Taxpayers With $200M+ Bill As Chicago Hides True Costs Of Presidential Library
Monday, Feb 23, 2026 – 07:45 AM
When former President Barack Obama announced plans for his presidential center on Chicago’s South Side, he described it as a privately funded investment in the city that would give back to the community that shaped his political career.
And while construction of the brutalist eyesore itself remains privately financed through the Obama Foundation, taxpayers are footing the bill for massive infrastructure costs.
A review by Fox News found that state and city agencies have not produced a unified accounting of total public expenditures tied to the project’s surrounding infrastructure. While individual agencies have disclosed partial figures, no single office has reconciled those totals or clarified how they overlap.
At the time the project was approved in 2018, public infrastructure costs were projected at roughly $350 million, to be split between the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago. Those estimates covered roadway modifications, utility relocations and related improvements necessary to accommodate the 19.3-acre campus in Jackson Park that nobody asked for.
In July, the Illinois Department of Transportation said that approximately $229 million in state-managed infrastructure spending had been committed to the project. That total includes about $19 million for preliminary engineering, $24 million for construction engineering and $186 million for construction activities. A department spokesperson described the earlier $174 million figure as a preliminary 2017 estimate.
Now, Chicago’s most recent 2024–2028 Capital Improvement Plan lists more than $206 million allocated to roadway and utility work associated with the project. However, much of that funding is labeled as “state,” and neither state nor city officials have clarified how the figures relate to one another or whether they represent overlapping commitments.
Fox submitted records requests to several agencies, including the Illinois Department of Transportation, Chicago’s Department of Transportation, the city’s Office of Budget and Management, the mayor’s office and Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration – yet, not one provided a consolidated, up-to-date accounting of total public infrastructure spending. The Illinois Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor is reviewing whether agencies complied with state transparency laws in responding to the requests.
The Obama Foundation defended the project, reiterating that the center’s construction – whose cost has grown from early projections of roughly $330 million to at least $850 million, according to its 2024 tax filings – is being financed by private donations. In a statement to Fox, foundation spox Emily Bittner said the organization is “investing $850 million in private funding to build the Obama Presidential Center and give back to the community that made the Obamas’ story possible,” adding that the project is intended to catalyze economic opportunity on the South Side. Bittner, of course, didn’t address the infrastructure costs – which have been extensive.
Cornell Drive, a four-lane roadway along the eastern edge of Jackson Park, was removed and traffic rerouted farther west. Utilities, including water mains and sewer lines, were relocated, and new drainage systems were installed. City and state officials have said the changes were necessary to manage anticipated traffic and visitor demand.
The center occupies 19 acres of public parkland transferred under a 99-year agreement for $10, a decision that prompted legal challenges arguing that the arrangement was not in the public interest. Courts ultimately dismissed those lawsuits.
Though often described as a presidential library, the Chicago complex will not function as a traditional library operated by the National Archives and Records Administration. Former President Obama’s official records will be maintained by the federal government at a facility in Maryland, while the Chicago site will be operated privately by the Obama Foundation.
The foundation also pledged to establish a $470 million endowment intended to protect taxpayers in the event the project encounters financial difficulty. According to previous reporting by Fox News, that fund has received $1 million in deposits.
Who didn’t see this coming?
END
GREG HUNTER INTERVIEWING H PAYSON
People Building AI are Warning of Job Armageddon – Hajnen Payson
By Greg Hunter On February 21, 2026 In Market Analysis, Political Analysis81 Comments
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com (Saturday Night Post)
Internet search and marketing expert Hajnen Payson is back with more on Artificial Intelligence (AI) sweeping the world. Last time, Payson was on USAW describing an “AI revolution,” but the revolution has turned into a dire warning of an AI job killing Armageddon. You may think Payson is an alarmist, but his deep dive on the coming AI job destruction is coming from the very top people in the AI world. Payson says, “In my opinion, we are facing a job crisis and Armageddon. This is not just my opinion; I am going off the leading experts that are deploying AI. Microsoft’s AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman predicts, ‘all white-collar tasks will be automated by AI within 18 months.’ He also believes ‘AI will reach human level performance in all white collar work.’ . .. There are so many journalists that criticize anything counter to the AI utopia narrative as being an alarmist. . .. This is not what’s going to happen decades from now, this is what is happening now. It’s what is rolling out. This is based on the statements of the top people building, deploying and managing AI systems in corporate America today. When the scientists building AI are warning us, when the CEOs deploying it are warning us and when the CEOs of Americas biggest companies are openly sharing concern, this is a signal we should be paying attention to. Together this forms a convergence that is difficult to dismiss. If structural engineers questioned a bridges load tolerance, we would not accuse them of hysteria because the bridge hasn’t collapsed yet. . .. With AI, you are an alarmist if you are getting information from the AI builders, architects and those that are directly in charge of rolling this out.”
How big of a change is this? Payson says, “This is the largest economic and social transition in modern history. . .. People say this is just an automation wave. It’s not. We’ve never seen this before. This is not the Industrial Revolution that replaced manual labor. In all those scenarios, humans were still involved. Humans still had jobs. . .. This time it’s different. The category being compressed is general cognitive work itself. For the first time in history, we are building systems that are performing broad intellectual tasks that were once thought to require human reasoning. I have been in this business for about two decades. I work in search and digital growth from startups to Fortune 500 companies. The biggest take away I can say is I have never seen anything evolve as fast as AI is evolving.”
So, what have the top AI people been saying? Payson says, “These are the biggest people in the space. These are not fringe people. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said that ‘AI could soon eliminate 50% of all entry-level and white-collar jobs.’ . .. The so-called godfather of AI is Geoffery Hinton. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics and machine learning with artificial neural networks. Hinton is a former professor and Google AI VP. He predicts ‘AI could trigger widespread job losses, fuel social unrest and eventually outsmart humans.’ . .. An article at the World Economic Forum . . . says ‘between 400 million to 800 million jobs could be displaced by AI by 2030.’ . .. Former Google AI leader Jad Tarifi said, ‘Degrees in law and medicine are a waste of time because they take so long to complete that AI will catch up by graduation. . .. Higher education, as we know it, is on the verge of becoming obsolete.’
Dex Hunter-Torricke who worked at Google, SpaceX, the UN and Facebook says that AI ‘will likely lead to mass job losses, geopolitical upheaval and damage to the environment. There is no plan. I do not believe for a second that winging it through the biggest economic and technological transition in human history is a responsible way to do things.. .. We are sleepwalking into disaster.’ Computer scientist Stuart Russell, who wrote one of the top college textbooks on artificial intelligence, says, ‘We are looking at 80% unemployment due to AI.’”
In closing, Payson says, “This could be nightmarish. . .. Where is this going? Nobody really knows. . .. Never in recorded history have we been at a crossroads like this.”
There is much more in the 62-minute interview.
There is an 8-minute video to explain how easy it is to ride out any terror attack or extreme storm. You can get more information on Sat phones and backup battery power at Sat123.com. You can get all the information on Starlink at Starlink.com. You can get all the new Faraday bags and clothing at DarkBags.com. You can also call 855-980-5830 and talk to a real human. Same goes for EscapeZone.com where you can get Faraday bags big and small, and the newest Faraday clothing. You can also talk to a real human at EscapeZone.com by calling 702-825-0005.
Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog as he goes One-on One with internet search and marketing strategist Hajnen Payson of DriveGrowthHQ.com with a new newsletter giving you a free deep dive on the AI Armageddon that is speeding up at an alarming rate.
(To donate to USAW, click here)
SEE YOU ON TUESDAY
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