Tag: finance

A Frenzy Of Speculative Excess

A Frenzy Of Speculative Excess

Authored by Jesse Felder via TheFelderReport.com,

One For The Ages, Part Tres

Last year I started a series of posts titled, “One For The Ages,” (here are Part One and Part Deux) intended to chronicle what I see as a frenzy in speculative activity in the markets that typically comes around only once in a generation (although it seems my generation has had more than its fair share). This is the third in the series.

J.P. Morgan famously said, “Nothing so undermines your financial judgement as the sight of your neighbor getting rich.” And only in the age of social media could we ever have as many neighbors getting so fabulously rich all at the same time as we do today.

We are social creatures. So when those around us begin to behave in a much riskier way, it makes extreme risk taking seem normal.

Today, social media makes it seem like we are surrounded by consummate risk takers and so many of us are taking risks in the markets that would seem utterly deranged outside of the context of the larger social group.

Combine the social proof of widespread risk taking, magnified by social media, with the addictive properties that a platform like Robinhood is built upon, adapted from social media, then throw in free trading and you have a recipe for a speculative mania like we have never seen before.

Oh, yeah. And then give them all free money to play with.

It’s not hard to see exactly where all those “stimmy” checks went.

They went into Robinhood accounts and then into so-called “blank check companies”…

…and if those weren’t speculative enough, they went into meme stocks.

And if those near-bankrupt companies weren’t risky enough, they piled into the penny stocks of delisted names…

…many of which have already filed for bankruptcy, like Blockbuster.

And if bankrupt stocks weren’t risky enough, there’s the case of a blatant hoax garnering enough speculative interest to achieve a valuation equal to the GDP of the Cayman Islands.

Of course, Robinhood also makes it extremely easy for novice traders to get approved for options trading.

Those “stimmy” checks sure do buy a lot more call options (most of which are far out-of-the-money and expire in less than a week) than they do outright shares.

And if you think this new wave of newbie traders isn’t affecting the broad markets, think again.

Of course, it’s not just retail traders; it’s also wannabe George Soroses at large institutions, “adding fuel to the fire.”

And boy have they gone “risk on” lately.

The combination of retail crowding into popular “gamma squeeze” names and institutions following, or more likely front-running them…

…has resulted in an incredible run in the prices of those stocks.

And this phenomenon isn’t relegated to some obscure group. It can also be seen in the largest stocks in the market.

Coming back to Soros, the incredible performance of those mega-cap tech stocks over the past year has reflexively created an unprecedented surge in the expectations for long-term earnings growth.

All told, it appears the current stock market mania has infected everyone from teenagers playing hooky from their zoom classes to day trade options to major institutions trying to piggy back on those trades to analysts tripping over themselves to try to justify the highest valuations in history.

Perhaps it would behoove them to remember another famous J.P. Morgan quote: “I made a fortune getting out too soon.”

Tyler Durden
Mon, 02/22/2021 – 14:37

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/37DzQwG Tyler Durden

NatGas Traders Begged For Cash As Arctic Blast Paralyzed Texas Energy Market

NatGas Traders Begged For Cash As Arctic Blast Paralyzed Texas Energy Market

Stories are emerging from veteran gas traders about the events leading up and during one of the worst energy crises in years. As the polar vortex began to dump frigid air into the central U.S. and Texas, “urgent phone calls came over the holiday weekend: traders of natural gas needed more money, and fast,” said Bloomberg.

As temperatures dove earlier this month and spot prices for natgas skyrocketed 300-fold in a matter of days, traders in the physical gas market realized they had a considerable problem developing: exchanges demanded collateral due to the unprecedented volatility. 

Readers may recall, on Feb.12, natgas prices across the Great Plains erupted as supply froze in pipes due to Arctic conditions produced by the polar vortex split. By Feb. 13, traders had to come up with collateral by Tuesday (Monday was a market holiday (Presidents’ Day/Washington’s Birthday)), or they would be forced out of their positions for massive losses. 

Desperate for cash to meet margin requirements, some traders turned to “European parent companies that could deliver so-called margin payments on their behalf to the exchanges sooner. The cash showed up in different currencies, but it did the trick,” said Bloomberg. 

“I’ve been through a lot: The ’98 and ’99 power spikes in the Midwest, the California crisis” of 2000-2001, said Cody Moore, head of gas and power trading at Mercuria Energy America.

“Nothing was as broadly shocking as this week.”

Source: Bloomberg

With supply frozen in pipes and much of Texas’ power generation produced by natgas, the power and gas markets hit record high spot prices last week. While natgas prices in some locations hit $1,250 per million British thermal units, wholesale power for delivery hit its $9,000-per-megawatt-hour price cap as demand exceeded supply leading to one of the worst controlled blackouts in the nation’s history. 

At one point, Bloomberg calculated that up to 15 million Texans plunged into darkness during the winter blast. 

… and of course, there were winners and losers in the energy space during this entire fiasco. Jerry Jones, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Cowboys, was able to sell natgas for extraordinary high premiums. One of the losers, Atmos Energy Corp., a top supplier of gas in the U.S., is in the process of raising cash after it committed to securing $3.5 billion worth of natgas during the chaos. 

Ahead of the big freeze, natgas trader Paul Phillips of Denver-based Uplift Energy, who also advises gas producers, told clients to prepare. We wrote a very similar note titled “”Overwhelming Signal” – Major Winter Storm Threats For Million Of Americans Within Next Five Days.” 

One energy trader said, “we’ve officially hit the ‘Holy Fucking Shit Levels’ here…” This came as spot prices at the Oneok delivery hub in Oklahoma went from $9 on Feb. 10 to $60 on Feb. 11 to $500 on Feb. 12. 

But the spot gas price spikes now being seen were triggering truly outsized demands: According to one trader, a small market participant with a margin requirement of $100,000 saw that balloon to $1 million. Larger companies had to find tens of millions of dollars. Many spot gas trades are conducted via next-day contracts on Intercontinental Exchange Inc., which boosted its margin requirements.

After the market closed Friday, stunned traders scrambled to work out how much additional funds they would need to set aside for the following week. Some trading houses were extremely nervous. An executive at one said he was worried that some counterparties could go bust and leave his firm with positions to fill on the spot market. – Bloomberg

As natgas supply froze, it became quite clear to ERCOT, Texas’ largest power company, that controlled rolling blackouts would begin. 

Some traders looking to raise more collateral urgently tapped credit lines, while lenders sprang into action. One bank was able to extend credit facilities by $500 million and have them in place when the markets reopened, according to a person working there. Other lenders also took similar action, according to other people with knowledge of the situation. “Nobody wanted to trade a liquidity event, so they stepped up,” one banker said. – Bloomberg

As markets reopened on Feb. 16, natgas prices shot through the roof as weather conditions deteriorated in central U.S. and Texas. Another winter storm resulted in more weather chaos for the state. At one point, Oneok spot prices on Wednesday topped $1,250 while power prices in Texas exceeded the $9,000-per-megawatt-hour price cap. 

Phillips said natgas orders filled in the Western Rockies at prices as high as $350. “I thought maybe the highest we could get was $20 this week, to be honest,” he said.

Uplift’s clients were doing everything they could last week to keep natgas flowing. Some producers used portable heaters to keep pipes from freezing. “Some of our producer clients felt morally obligated that the gas was flowing,” Phillips said.

Chris Bird’s Oklahoma-based Exponent Energy used similar measures to keep gas wells from freezing. They used propane gas torches to keep wellheads from freezing. During the deep freeze, his company made $3 million in revenue, compared with $800k for all of last year.

John Woods, an independent trader, said while the energy crisis unfolded across the central U.S. and Texas, natgas was still flowing to gas export terminals. He said, “disgusting price-gouging that we have not seen since the California energy crisis” was observed. 

By Feb. 16, Texas Gob. Greg Abbott announced a ban on natgas shipment out of the state borders. Even then, more chaos in energy markets unfolded as one energy trader, according to Bloomberg, lost $1 million in minutes, having bet right before Abbott’s ban that gas would continue to flow to the West Coast. 

The gas export ban also spilled over into Mexico, where power plants were unable to get filled. This led to widespread outages for households and factories in Northern Mexico. 

As power generation was restored later in the week and natgas prices normalized on Feb. 18, Oneok spot prices crashed 99% to ‘norms’ around $4 as temperatures rose. 

While many Texans got their first taste of what it was like to live in a third-world country for a week, with blackouts and lack of clean water, the energy fiasco could jeopardize the perception of how reliable natgas supplies are in the U.S. 

Serious financial difficulties may emerge from energy firms who were blindsided by soaring energy and electricity prices. 

“We’ll have to see what kind of defaults come to the surface,” John Kilduff, trader and founding partner at Again Capital, said. “That will dictate who can stay in.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 02/22/2021 – 14:11

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/3bvK8Qt Tyler Durden

Kansas Bill Would Make Gold And Silver Legal Tender In The State

Kansas Bill Would Make Gold And Silver Legal Tender In The State

Authored by Michael Maharrey via SchiffGold.com,

A bill introduced in the Kansas House would recognize gold and silver specie as legal tender and repeal all taxes levied on it. The legislation would pave the way for Kansans to use gold and silver in everyday transactions, a foundational step for the people to undermine the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money.

The Federal Reserve is the engine that drives the most powerful government in the history of the world. Ron Paul popularized the slogan “End the Fed,” but Congress is nowhere near abolishing the central bank.  It can’t even come up with the will to audit the Fed.

Even though state action can’t end the Fed, there are steps states can take that will undermine the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money. By passing laws that encourage and incentivize the use of gold and silver in daily transactions by the general public, policy changes at the state level such as the Kansas Legal Tender Act has the potential to create a wide-reaching impact and set the foundation to nullify the Fed’s monopoly power over the monetary system.

A coalition of four Republicans introduced House Bill 2123 (HB2123) on Jan. 25. The legislation would make gold and silver legal tender in the state, recognizing it as a medium of exchange for the payment of debts and taxes. In effect, gold and silver specie would be treated as money, putting it on par with Federal Reserve notes in Kansas.

Under the proposed law, “Legal tender” means a recognized medium of exchange for the payment of debts and taxes. Specie legal tender would be defined as:

(a) Specie coin issued by the United States government at any time; or

(b) any other specie that a court of competent jurisdiction, by final and unappealable order, rules to be within state authority to make or designate as legal tender

By allowing the court to designate additional specie to be used as legal tender, Kansas could free its citizens from potential supply constraints imposed by the use of only United States minted gold and silver coin. More importantly, the people of the state of Kansas would be able to define what specie is considered constitutional tender, further distancing themselves from potential control of their competing currency by Washington D.C.

Practically speaking, the passage of HB2123 would allow residents to use gold or silver coins to pay taxes and other debts owed to the state. In effect, it would put gold and silver on the same footing as Federal Reserve notes.

HB2123 would also repeal property and capital gains taxes on gold and silver.

“No specie or legal tender shall be characterized as personal property for taxation or regulatory purposes.”

Passage of this bill would build on a foundation set in 2019 when Kansas repealed the sales tax on gold and silver.

Kansas could become the fourth state to recognize gold and silver as legal tender. Utah led the way, reestablishing constitutional money in 2011. Wyoming and Oklahoma have since joined.

KNOCKING DOWN BARRIERS

Taxes on gold and silver erect barriers to using gold and silver as money by raising transaction costs. HB2123 would exempt gold and silver bullion from state capital gains taxes. Passage of this legislation would eliminate a barrier to investing in gold and silver. It would also make it more practical to gold and silver in everyday transactions, a foundational step for people to undermine the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money.

In effect, states that collect taxes on purchases of precious metals act as if gold and silver aren’t money at all.

Imagine if you asked a grocery clerk to break a $5 bill and he charged you a 35 cent tax. Silly, right? After all, you were only exchanging one form of money for another. But that’s essentially what South Carolina’s capital gains tax on gold and silver bullion does. By eliminating this tax on the exchange of gold and silver, South Carolina would treat specie as money instead of a commodity. This represents a small step toward reestablishing gold and silver as legal tender and breaking down the Fed’s monopoly on money.

“We ought not to tax money – and that’s a good idea. It makes no sense to tax money,” former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul said during testimony in support an Arizona bill that repealed capital gains taxes on gold and silver in that state. “Paper is not money, it’s fraud,” he continued.

LEGALIZING THE CONSTITUTION

Passage of HB2123 would effectively legalize the US Constitution in Kansas.

The United States Constitution states in Article I, Section 10, “No State shall…make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.” Currently, all debts and taxes in South Carolina are either paid with Federal Reserve Notes (dollars) which were authorized as legal tender by Congress or with coins issued by the US Treasury — very few of which have gold or silver in them.

The Federal Reserve destroys this constitutional monetary system by creating a monopoly based on its fiat currency. Without the backing of gold or silver, the central bank can easily create money out of thin air. This not only devalues your purchasing power over time; it also allows the federal government to borrow and spend far beyond what would be possible in a sound money system. Without the Fed, the US government wouldn’t be able to maintain all of its unconstitutional wars and programs.

Passage of HB2123 would reestablish gold and silver as legal tender in the state and take a step toward that constitutional requirement, ignored for decades in every state.

It would also begin the process of abolishing the Federal Reserve system by attacking it from the bottom up – pulling the rug out from under it by working to make its functions irrelevant at the state and local levels, and setting the stage to undermine the Federal Reserve monopoly by introducing competition into the monetary system.

Constitutional tender expert Professor William Greene said when people in multiple states actually start using gold and silver instead of Federal Reserve Notes, it would effectively nullify the Federal Reserve and end the federal government’s monopoly on money.

“Over time, as residents of the state use both Federal Reserve notes and silver and gold coins, the fact that the coins hold their value more than Federal Reserve notes do will lead to a “reverse Gresham’s Law” effect, where good money (gold and silver coins) will drive out bad money (Federal Reserve notes). As this happens, a cascade of events can begin to occur, including the flow of real wealth toward the state’s treasury, an influx of banking business from outside of the state – as people in other states carry out their desire to bank with sound money – and an eventual outcry against the use of Federal Reserve notes for any transactions.”

Once things get to that point, Federal Reserve notes would become largely unwanted and irrelevant for ordinary people. Nullifying the Fed on a state-by-state level is what will get us there.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 02/22/2021 – 13:50

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/3aJU8Xj Tyler Durden

Hedge Funds Reverse Course: Turn Most Short On Small Caps In Eight Months

Hedge Funds Reverse Course: Turn Most Short On Small Caps In Eight Months

As Bloomberg’s Elena Popina writes this morning, Hedge funds were among the biggest fans of small-cap companies since late spring, putting money into the group with the consistency other corners of the market could only envy. However, it now appears that “their confidence is starting to wane.”

According to CFTC data, between May and last month, hedge funds bet on gains in the Russell 2000 Index every week but one, a persistence unmatched in their S&P 500 or tech megacap bets. But that bullish sentiment started to shift this month, when hedge funds first turned short on small caps, then widened their bearish bets a week later. As of Friday, their net short exposure, at 9,000 contracts, is the largest in eight months.

As Popina cautions, “whether these negative wagers are here to stay is anyone’s guess, but it does show that hedge funds’ affection toward small caps, intact for most of last year, is starting to wane.” It’s happening at a time when small companies are expected to be the biggest winners from rising inflation, a weaker dollar and better economic growth.

Meanwhile, what hedge funds are actually doing once again contrasts to what they say they are doing. Investor surveys from the likes of Bank of America showed small caps are among the top picks for this year, and the group’s 15% rally so far this year shows the wager has been prescient.

According to last week’s BofA FMS, close to a record 31% of investors continue to think small caps will outperform large caps in the next 12 months…. yet ironically they are now taking the opposite bets at least in futures.

One likely reason for the shift in sentiment: implied volatility in the group remains above 30, the level it’s been at since a market sell-off in October. In the options market, uncertainty about the rally is still high, with the volume of put options outpacing calls by more than three times.

In any case, after some struggles last week when the Russell drifted lower from recent all time highs, the Russell is unchanged on Monday after some initial weakness.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 02/22/2021 – 13:30

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2ZC01Q2 Tyler Durden

Republicans Willing To Ditch GOP For Trump, USA Today Poll

Republicans Willing To Ditch GOP For Trump, USA Today Poll

Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,

A USA Today/Suffolk University poll released Sunday revealed that around half of Republicans are willing to leave the party behind and jump ship to a Trump led third party.

The findings serve as a stark reminder to the party that President Trump is still the preeminent figure in US conservative politics.

The poll reveals that 46% of Republicans would follow Trump to a new party, with only around a quarter (26%) saying they would stay with the GOP. The remaining respondents are undecided.

The poll also found that a majority of Trump voters (54%) are more loyal to the candidate than the GOP (34%).

Only 19% said that they feel voters should ditch Trump and embrace establishment Republicans in the GOP.

The poll also found that the Democrat impeachment show trial made just 4% of Republican voters less supportive of Trump, while 42% say it made them more supportive, and 54% say it didn’t affect their support.

The poll found that Trump voters want him to run again in 2024 by a 2-1 margin, with 85% saying they would vote for him in a general election, after 76% saying they support him for the Republican nomination.

Suffolk University Political Research Center Director David Paleologos also noted that, according to the poll, there has been “a seismic shift in the landscape of trusted news sources for conservatives in the country.”

Just before Trump was elected in 2016, Fox News had a 58% trust rating among conservatives. That is now down to just 34%.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 02/22/2021 – 13:10

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/37C9OtL Tyler Durden

Another Boeing Jet Just Suffered Engine Issues, Dropped Metal Parts Across Dutch Town

Another Boeing Jet Just Suffered Engine Issues, Dropped Metal Parts Across Dutch Town

A Longtail Aviation Boeing 747-400 freighter suffered an inflight engine failure shortly after taking off from Maastricht Airport, a regional airport in Beek in Limburg, Netherland, on Saturday.

The plane was powered by Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines – the same engine that just exploded over Denver –  when one of its engines suffered a failure. 

A spokeswoman for Maastricht Airport, Hella Hendriks, was quoted by The Guardian as saying, “witnesses heard one or two explosions shortly after takeoff and the pilot was informed by air traffic control that an engine was on fire.” 

The Tower log is chilling with the ‘excitement’ starting around 1:00 in: “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday”…

Disturbing photos emerged on social media of engine debris that has scattered across the streets of Meersen. 

“The photos indicate they were parts of engine blade, but that’s being investigated,” Hendriks said. “Several cars were damaged and bits hit several houses. Pieces were found across the residential neighborhood on roofs, gardens, and streets.”

The Guardian noted a woman in Meersen was injured by the falling debris. 

A resident in Meerssen allegedly captured the aircraft experiencing engine issues after takeoff. 

“The aircraft stopped the climb at FL100, entered a hold to dump fuel and diverted to Liege (Belgium) for a safe landing on runway 22L about one hour after departure,” said The Aviation Herald. 

Longtail Aviation told The Guardian it’s “too early to speculate as to what may have been the cause of the problem” and that it was working with Dutch, Belgian, Bermuda, and UK government investigators. 

The incident occurred on the same day a Boeing 777-200 operated by United Airlines experienced an engine failure that resulted in “raining metal” parts showering Denver suburbs. 

People in Europe and the US have been flooded with headlines of another round of Boeing issues. 

In response to weekend incidents on either side of the Atlantic, Boeing shares initially dropped at the cash open but were quickly bought by noon. 

More problems develop at Boeing following more than a year of problems with its 737 MAX jets. 

Tyler Durden
Mon, 02/22/2021 – 12:50

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/3keoNz9 Tyler Durden

Here Are The Stocks WallStreetBets Is Obsessing Over Today

Here Are The Stocks WallStreetBets Is Obsessing Over Today

On Friday we revealed to all those scrambling to find a way to aggregate sentiment on Wall Street Bets (and in some cases paying up to $200,000 for the effort) which has emerged as a surprising marginal price maker across so many US stocks, that there is now a convenient – and free (for now) – aggregator of said data: Swaggy Stocks, which pours through the thousands of comments on the popular financial subreddit and summarizes the result in terms of sentiment, comment volume and various other metrics.

So without further ado, for those curious what are the most popular stocks on Reddit this morning in terms of comment volume and sentiment (as usual overwhelmingly positive except in the case of Boeing) the answer is as follows: PLTR (the recent WSB darling remains the most discussed name), followed by the venerable GME with TSLA and AAPL in slots 4 and 5…

… while curious it appears that the reason behind Boeing’s miraculous rebound today is – you guessed it – WSB, which is now obsessing with the struggling aircraft maker…

… and has succeeded in ramping its stock back to green for the day.

Finally, across the entire reddit, aggregated sentiment remains uniformly bullish and is in fact rising during the day.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 02/22/2021 – 12:30

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/3aKCByl Tyler Durden

Rocket Attack Targets US Embassy In Baghdad A Week After Deadly Erbil Assault

Rocket Attack Targets US Embassy In Baghdad A Week After Deadly Erbil Assault

Regional Mideast news sources are reporting a fresh rocket attack on Baghdad’s Green Zone on Monday. Explosions near the US Embassy have been reported

“At least 3 Rockets target US Embassy area in Baghdad,” according to initial reporting by the AFP. It comes at a sensitive moment that the Biden administration is investigating a major rocket attack on a US base in Erbil, in northern Iraqi Kurdistan one week ago. That prior attack injured multiple US military service members and killed at least one non-American international contractor.

Crucially Monday’s rocket volley, which so far according to early reports doesn’t appear to have caused damage to the embassy, marks the third attack on Western military, diplomatic, or commercial installations in a week. 

US Embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone, via Reuters

Security sources cited in regional media indicated one rocket “landed in the Green Zone and others landing in nearby residential neighborhoods.” Additionally “two rockets landed in the Green Zone, with no casualties reported”. 

Over the span of the past year to year-and-a-half there’s been at least a dozen such instances of rockets fired on the embassy. Most of the time they are either intercepted by the embassy’s high-tech anti-rocket defense system, or they fall into residential neighborhoods, often injuring or killing local civilians. The attacks are typically blamed on pro-Iranian Iraqi militia forces, also already the prime suspect in this latest. 

The Biden administration is now facing its first significant Iraq crisis following the year-long escalation with pro-Iranian Iraqi paramilitary forces in the country on the heels of Trump’s ordered assassination of IRGC Gen. Qassem Soleimani and militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis on Jan.3 of last year.

Black smoke rising over the ‘Green Zone’ in the aftermath of Monday’s rocket attack:

After last week’s Erbil base attack, the White House warned that it has “the right to respond at the time and place of our choosing.” 

Monday’s embassy attack adds to the pressure as the Biden administration mulls its next move in Iraq. While Trump previously announced a major US force reduction in his final months in office, under Biden they likely aren’t going anywhere. 

This also comes as NATO has announced sending an additional 3,500 troops there, in a move that’s broadly being interpreted as possibly allowing for a continued American draw down – but at this point nothing is certain given the lack of clarity on Biden’s Middle East strategy.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 02/22/2021 – 12:15

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/3aHO15O Tyler Durden

Coca Cola Confirms Training Employees To “Try To Be Less White”

Coca Cola Confirms Training Employees To “Try To Be Less White”

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk,

Is Coca Cola sponsoring racism? That’s the claim. You be the judge.

‘Try To Be Less White’

When I first saw this story I was highly skeptical. 

However, the training course is available online and Coca Cola is doing its best to try to back down from the course.

Here’s the course Confronting Racism, with Robin DiAngelo

In this course, Robin DiAngelo, the best-selling author of White Fragility, gives you the vocabulary and practices you need to start confronting racism and unconscious bias at the individual level and throughout your organization. There’s no magic recipe for building an inclusive workplace. It’s a process that needs to involve people of color, and that needs to go on for as long as your company’s in business.

The free into above does not show the ending slide “Try to be less white” but what you can see is galling enough.

The video Tweet by @DrKarlynB shows more of the damning slides.

Coca-Cola Whitewash

Backlash

Late Sunday evening NewsWeek reported Coca-Cola, Facing Backlash, Says ‘Be Less White’ Learning Plan Was About Workplace Inclusion

Coca-Cola, facing mounting backlash from conservatives online, has responded to allegations of anti-white rhetoric after an internal whistleblower leaked screenshots of diversity training materials that encourages staff to “try to be less white.”

A Coca-Cola spokesperson confirmed that the course is “part of a learning plan to help build an inclusive workplace,” but also noted that “the video circulating on social media is from a publicly available LinkedIn Learning series and is not a focus of our company’s curriculum.”

Coca-Cola Logo

The Coca-Cola logo is on training snapshots in the video Tweet.

If Coca-Cola did not authorize and pay for the the training, the slides would not have their logo, Karlyn would be in deep legal trouble, and Twitter would have removed the Tweet.

Who in the hell is reviewing their training materials? 

Candance Owens

Best selling author Candance Owens had this to say. 

Owens is Founder of the @BLEXIT  organization. “Black people don’t have to be Democrats— still.”

Coke Is Racist

The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Salon, and Washington Post have no coverage of this. 

All the top sites plus Coca-Cola all want to sweep this under the rug.

Why Trump Nearly Won

Please recall Politically Correct Educators Vote to Rename 44 SF Schools Including Washington and Lincoln

Also note The Dumbing Down of America is Poised to Accelerate. 

If you are looking for a reason why millions of people voted for Trump, look no further.

I intended to do a post on why Trump nearly won but this post will suffice. 

Every bit of this is a complete outrage. It is why Trump won in 2016. Had he toned things down a bit in 2020 he probably would have been reelected.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 02/22/2021 – 12:06

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/3smjAIv Tyler Durden

Boris Johnson Outlines UK ‘Roadmap’ To End Lockdowns

Boris Johnson Outlines UK ‘Roadmap’ To End Lockdowns

PM Boris Johnson laid out his process for reopening the British economy on Monday morning, releasing a detailed plan that had been in part leaked over the weekend. In the UK, vaccines appear to be working well and infection levels have fallen by 5x since the start of the year.

BoJo started by proclaiming that it’s inevitable that lifting lockdown will lead to more cases.

“We can’t escape that fact,” Johnson said.

And so the government is being extremely cautious, and the plan unveiled by Johnson wouldn’t allow shops to fully reopen until April, while the economy will be set to “fully restart” beginning June 21.

Johnson set out four key steps to move forward with reopening Monday during a statement to Parliament.

Government guidance is asking people to work from home where possible for another four months, and the request will be examined as part of a review of social distancing measures. The relaxation of England’s third national lockdown will begin with schools returning for all pupils on March 8, followed by outdoor gatherings of either six people or two households outdoors from March 29.

The four steps will be implemented with five-week intervals in between. Step one is being unfurled in two parts.

Here’s a summary courtesy of the Telegraph:

Step 1, Part 1: March 8

  • The first step is split into two sections. The focus is on getting schools open again and reuniting families who have spent so long kept apart.

  • All schools in England will open, both primary and secondary. It is possible some schools may initially stagger class returns because of the demand for mass testing.

  • The specifics of mass testing will be worked out over the coming fortnight, with testing both at school and at home likely to feature. Pupils will be expected to wear face masks in the opening weeks.

  • School sports will also return, both indoor and outdoor. So pupils of all ages can get back to playing football and doing PE lessons. Schools can set their own rules.

  • ‘Wraparound’ childcare will be allowed to resume, which means after school sports and extra curricular clubs can take place.

  • March 8 will also see a change in care home rules. Residents will finally be allowed to have a single visitor. That individual can visit repeated times rather than the trip being a one-off.

  • The visitor and care home resident will be allowed to hold hands, but other close contact is not allowed. The visitor must get a Covid-19 test beforehand and wear protective equipment.

  • This date also sees a small change to the rules for when people can meet one-on-one outside in public spaces.

  • Currently that was only allowed for exercise. From March 8, that will be allowed for socialising, so a coffee on a park bench or one-on-one picnic will be allowed.

Step 1, Part 2: March 29

  • The outdoor socialising rules change. Six people from six different households are allowed to meet outside, meaning the so-called ‘rule of six’ returns. Alternatively, two households can meet outside. This means two families, who potentially together total more than six people, will be allowed to meet. This can happen in both outdoor public spaces and in back gardens.

  • The ‘stay at home’ guidance will be dropped. There will also be a significant loosening in how far people can travel to see someone outside.

  • While people will still be encouraged to minimise travel, there will not be punishments for someone who drives a few hours for a meet-up outside, then returns that day.

  • Outdoor organised sports for both adults and children will also return. This is for both socially distanced sports like golf and tennis and team sports like football, so Sunday league and five-a-side will return.

  • Indoor sports will still be off limits. Also the sports must be organised, so a large group of people cannot gather to kick around a football if it breaks the number limits explained above.

Step 2: April 12

  • All non-essential shops will be allowed to open. People may be urged to only go in alone rather than as an entire household.

  • Pubs and restaurants can open again but only outside, so pub gardens and outdoor dining will be back. Groups can gather, but with the same limits as above: either up to six people or two households.

  • There will be no curfews or any requirement to serve a meal with alcohol, removing the scotch egg saga of last year. Pubs will be allowed to serve takeaway pints.

  • Staycations will be allowed, in a limited form. One household will be allowed to stay overnight somewhere in the UK, but not with another household.

  • Self-contained accommodation’ will be available to rent, so for example cottages or Airbnb rentals or campsites. However hotels and B&Bs cannot reopen. Hairdressers and nail salons will be allowed to open. So too museums and libraries.

  • Outdoor hospitality venues like zoos and theme parks can also open. The limit on the maximum number of attendees at weddings and wakes will also rise from six to 15.

  • There will be no change for funerals, to which 30 attendees are already allowed. Gyms can also open but you cannot attend with people outside of your household, because indoor socialising is barred at this point. Gym classes are not yet allowed.

Step 3: May 17

  • Groups of up to six people and two households will be allowed to meet indoors, so people can enter each other’s homes from now. Pubs and restaurants can open indoors. It is unlikely there will be strict requirements on capacity, but it must be table service. Hotels and B&Bs can open in step three. So too can indoor sports and gym classes.

  • Entertainment venues can open too, including cinemas and theatres. New rules will be in place for different sizes of venues. Normal outdoor events can open for up to 4,000 people or 50 per cent of the venue capacity, whichever is smaller.

  • Similarly normal indoor events can open for up to 1,000 people or 50 per cent capacity, again whichever is lower.

  • For huge outdoor seated venues there is a special limit. Up to 10,000 attendees will be allowed or 25 per cent capacity, whichever is lower.

  • This means, for example, Wembley Stadium will be able to open with 10,000 fans attending.

  • Weddings, receptions, wakes, funerals, and other life events like Bar mitzvahs and christenings will be allowed to be attended by up to 30 people.

Step 4: June 21

  • This will be as close to normal as possible.

  • There will be no attendance limits on weddings and funerals.

  • Big venues that were unable to open last year, such as nightclubs, can finally reopen.

  • Many of the details for what can happen now is dependent on a number of reviews.

MPs are still asking questions and making speeches about Monday’s announcement:

Additionally, more data about various UK vaccine projects was released on Monday, as Pfizer announced that data showed even a single jab of the Pfizer vaccine led to a 75% drop in serious injuries and deaths for those over 80. The data were released by Public Health England.

Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunization at PHE, said this was at the “lower end of the estimate” and the drop in hospital admission and death was thought to be even more profound. A separate study found the Pfizer-BioNTech jab also offered a high degree of protection for younger age groups.

Among the over-80s, Covid testing data on more than 12K people found at least 57% protection against coronavirus 28 days after vaccination with a single dose of Pfizer, rising to 88% after a second dose. Another recent study out of Scotland purported to show on Monday that vaccines are working “spectacularly well”.

The data follows another study showing the Pfizer jab is 99% effective at preventing deaths/hospitalizations. Of course, the differential between the results from these studies looks interesting.

Tyler Durden
Mon, 02/22/2021 – 11:50

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/3aI8pUn Tyler Durden