Tag: news

China’s First Domestically-Built Aircraft Carrier Begins Sea-Trials

It is all coming together, and the United States should be terrified.

Late last month, we suggested that Beijing’s first domestically built aircraft carrier would begin sea trials “imminently.” Pictures and video from Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company, located in Dalian, Liaoning province, China, the largest shipbuilding company in the country, showed the aircraft carrier, so far known as Type 001A (CV-17), preparing for its first independently powered foray at sea.

In a new announcement from the Defence Ministry, the still-unnamed vessel (Type 001A) exited the port outside the Dalian shipyard at 5:30 am on Sunday morning — embarking on its first sea trial. A military strategist told the Global Times, “the trial will mainly test basic system functionality and carrier-based aircrafts will participate in combat trials after the carrier is formally delivered to China’s navy.”

Images show China’s first domestically built aircraft carrier setting out for sea performance test on Sunday morning (Source: Global Times) 

Images show China’s first domestically built aircraft carrier setting out for sea performance test on Sunday morning (Source: Global Times) 

The video shows the aircraft carrier preparing to leave the port in Dalian on Sunday morning around 5:30 am. It took five tugboats about two hours to successfully spin the vessel around and head out to sea, as the ship disappeared in the fog at 7:30 am.

The first sea trial will primarily concentrate on testing core systems of the vessel, including power, communication, fire safety, and electro-mechanical, Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times.

“Weapon systems and carrier-based aircrafts are unlikely to participate in the first sea trial, and combat capability tests will be carried out by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy after the carrier is formally delivered to the navy. Before this, its producer may need about six months to finish tests, which means the navy will receive the ship by the end of this year,” Song said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, recently spearheaded an ambitious modernization plan for the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), including stealth bombers and fighter jets, hypersonic vehicles, and anti-satellite missiles, as Beijing increases its presence in the heavily disputed South China Sea and around Taiwan, an island that it still considers its own.

In early April, we described how Beijing assembled a massive show of naval force in the South China Sea — the largest in more than 600-years. Beijing’s maritime expansion comes as no surprise, as President Jinping is pushing for the One Belt One Road Initiative.

The PLAN assembled all of its most advanced warships, aircraft carrier, aircraft, and nuclear submarines for a massive show of force in the South China Sea. State-run Chinese papers said the number of warships assembled “the largest of its kind in 600 years.” This is following the 14th-century fleet admiral Zheng He, whose large expeditions in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Western Asia, and East Africa — helped establish China’s power through expansion of the Maritime Silk Road during the Ming dynasty era.  

The Type 001A is a conventionally-powered vessel and will be able to hold more planes than China’s only other aircraft carrier, called Liaoning.

China’s PLAN has taken an increasingly aggressive role in 2018, with Liaoning and dozens of warships sailing through the South China Sea and around self-ruled Taiwan.

While the United States Navy operates 19 aircraft carriers and plans to build a few more, Chinese state-run media has quoted military experts as saying Beijing needs at least six carriers. There are expectations that the Type 001A will enter the PLAN fleet as early as 2019, or at the latest by 2020.

Washington and Beijing are sleepwalking into a tremendous collision, that ultimately could resort to a military conflict in the South China Sea.

via RSS https://ift.tt/2GbVF5K Tyler Durden

A Beginners Guide To The Conflict In Yemen

Authored by Stucky via The Burning Platform blog,

Don’t have the time to do research on the Yemen conflict? Here ya go, as brief as we can make it…

*  *  *

TWO YEMENS

– Yemen was a divided country for hundreds of years

– North Yemen gained independence from the Ottoman Empire when it collapsed in 1918

– North Yemen was then ruled by a Zaydi Shiite Imam. Zaydi Shiism is a branch of Shiite Islam found almost exclusively in Northern Yemen.

– in 1962 the military staged a coup against the Zaydi monarchy.

– the conflict lasted several years and essentially became a proxy war between Egypt (who supported the military) and Saudi Arabia (who supported the royalists).  The war ended in 1970.   The royalists and Saudis lost.

– Meanwhile, South Yemen gained its independence from British and Saudi rule in 1967.

– South Yemen aligned itself with the Soviets (the only communist country in the Arab world).

– North and South Yemen clashed for the next several decades

 

TWO YEMENS RELIGIOUSLY

ONE YEMEN under Ali Saleh (1990 -2011)

– The Soviet bloc disintegrated which led to the merger of North and South Yemen  in 1990

– The new ruler for unified Yemen was Ali Saleh, who prior was the ruler of North Yemen.

– Civil war broke out in 1994.  South Yemen felt Saleh’s regime was marginalizing them.,  Saleh quickly squashed the opposition.

– Saleh soon ran into more problems, this time right in North Yemen. Sheikh Hussein al-Houthi (1956 -2004) was a political and military leader.  He began a religious revivalist movement in the early 1990s.  His goal was to reassert traditional Zaydi Shiism which was losing ground to the fundamentalist Sunni (particularly Salafism) proselytizing supported by Saudi Arabia.  His followers and movement were called Houthis.

– The Houthi movement eventually shifted from a religious bent to political. From wiki; — “In 2003 the Houthis’ slogan “The God is great, death to the US, death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory for Islam”, became the group’s trademark.”  Between 2004 and 2010, there were six conflicts between Houthi rebels and Saleh’s government.

– In September 2004, the Yemeni government announced that their military killed al-Houthi along with 20 of his followers. The Yemeni government creates a martyr.

REVOLUTION!!  (2011 – 2014)

– Inspired by the protests in Tunisia, tens of thousands of Yemenis took to the streets in January 2011, demanding Saleh’s resignation.  Saleh refused and many were killed.

– But, Saleh is forced to bow to domestic and international pressure and signed an agreement to cede power.  In Feb 2012 his vice president, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, takes over. The agreement was brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Saudi Arabia, and United States.

– The peace did not last long. Hadi lost control quickly.

– There were al-Qaida attacks, the economy was tanking, southern Yemen wanted to secede again, and Houthi rebels were engage in brutal fighting with Hadi’s government. Attempts were made to broker a new constitution, but no one could agree on anything.

– Yemen borrowed money from the IMF.  The IMF as part of the loan agreement demanded austerity measures. So, in 2004, Hadi announced cuts to fuel subsidies. The huge increase in fuel prices hit the mostly poverty stricken population very hard, and served to provoke the Houthi-backed protestors to further destabilize the government. Hadi rescinded the cuts, but the damage was done.

HOUTHI RULE  (2014 – 2015)

– Houthi rebels seize control of most of the capital, Sanaa, in September 2014.

– Hadi signs a U.N.-brokered peace with the Houthis to form a new, more inclusive government within a month.

– By January 2015 the Houthis reject the new government and constitution. They place Hadi under house arrest but, Hadi is able to escape to Aden.

– In February 2015, the Houthis dissolved parliament and formed a new transitional government.

– The GCC, United Nations, and United States quickly denounce the coup.

– In March 2015 Houthis expand their military campaign. They’re able to take over large parts of the country. Hadi flees to Saudi Arabia.

SAUDI INTERVENTION  (2015 – current)

– Saudi Arabia is Sunni.

– Yemen (the Houthi part)  is Shia.

– Iran (Shia) supports Yemen.

– Saudi Arabia hates Iran.

– Yemen (Houthis) / Iran (Shia) were winning.

– This was too much for the Sauds. So, they formed a military coalition with eight other Arab states.  But, the intelligence, arms, and logistical support came from the United States and England. The coalition began their airstrike campaign in March 2015 in order to defeat the Houtis and restore Hadi to power.

– With overwhelming superiority in weapons, fire power, and support from the World’s Lone Superpower the Sauds thought the campaign would be over in a few short months. In over a year of bombing the coalition has made only minimal territorial gains.

YEMENS TODAY

– Yemen is functionally two countries, or governments; the Houthis in Sanaa, and Hadi in Aden.

– all the various brokered peace talks have gotten nowhere

– the Trump administration is siding with the Sauds, and wherever possible blaming the various war atrocities on Iran.  But, it is the coalition with bombs and airplanes, and there is zero doubt, as evidence exists, that coalition armaments have struck schools, hospitals, and civilian areas.

– 75% of Yemenis need some kind of humanitarian assistance to meet basic needs, about 8 million are at risk of starvation, cholera is becoming an epidemic, Riyadh is even preventing fresh bottled water from entering the country  … the country meets every definition of a failed state.

MY CONCLUSION

“He [Esau] will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” —- Genesis 16:12

The 5,000 year long conflict in the Middle East is not just between Jew and Arab.  It is also (and, probably, primarily) between Arab and Arab. Will things suddenly get better in 2018?  Sure, there have been periods of peace. But, it never lasts. Because Esau is a wild ass of a man. That’s not God talk. That’s history talk.

via RSS https://ift.tt/2Kl1EI6 Tyler Durden

Futures Extend Gains On Trump’s Trade-War Retreat, Dollar Sinks

The Dollar and bond yields are lower as Sunday evening trading begins but US equity futures are up around 0.4% following President Trump’s apparent retreat from Chinese trade-wars, supporting the rescue of giant telecoms company ZTE..

The Dollar Index is selling off modestly…

via RSS https://ift.tt/2KkSD1w Tyler Durden

Stormy’s Lawyer Drops Mysterious Tweet Linking Qatari ‘Royalty’, Ice Cube, Cohen, Flynn, Bannon, & Trump

Just when you thought you had seen or heard it all…

Michael Avenatti, porn star Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, likely managed to dominate the more liberal-leaning media’s news cycle on this Sunday evening when he dropped two tweets and three images.

Avenatti – who may face disbarrment – began by tweeting that his “warning [was] ignored” adding “so here it goes…”

Avenatti then shows three images of Cohen, Flynn, and a mysterious bald, bearded gentleman getting into the levators at Trump Tower, allegedly on December 12, 2016 (note – after the election results).

Avenatti gave timestamps of the video watching who was coming in and out of Trump Tower during the transition on C-SPAN:

Stormy’s lawyer then dropped another cryptic tweet trying to explain the images…“Why was Ahmed Al-Rumaihi meeting with Michael Cohen and Michael Flynn in December 2016 and why did Mr. Al-Rumaihi later brag about bribing administration officials according to a sworn declaration filed in court?”

And that is where the fun and games begin.

First things first – who is Ahmed Al-Rahaihi?

He is the former Qatari diplomat, alleged member of the royal family, and current head of a division of Qatar’s massive sovereign wealth fund.

But where it gets even more Alice-in-Wonderland is the fact that he is being sued by hip-hope legend Ice Cube (and his business partner Jeff Kwatinetz) alleging that they were both used (along with their BIG3 basketball league) as pawns by the Qataris in a bid to get sympathy from people in Washington.

NYPost reports that the Middle Eastern investors, instead, chose to use their money and connections with Cube to “get positive public relations for Qatar,” the affidavit says. Their real target was Bannon and other prominent figures in Washington, the affidavit says.

Kwatinetz claims that he was “appalled” by the notion of receiving “a bribe of any kind” — and declined the offer without even telling Bannon about it.

He says that that Al-Rumahi “laughed and then stated to me that I shouldn’t be naive, that so many Washington politicians take our money.” The Qatari investor then allegedly stated, “Do you think [Michael] Flynn turned down our money?”

Throwing a bit more light on his tweet, Avenatti followed up on Twitter:

“And to be clear – by ‘warning ignored’ I am referring to the refusal of various parties to come clean and the failure of various parties and news outlets to stop with the personal attacks on our side. Keep pushing us. #consequences #basta,” he wrote. 

The Daily Mail reports that Dec. 12 was an eventful day at Trump Tower during the hectic transition.

According to information that Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner provided to Congress after failing to initially disclose his Russia contacts, Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak met with Kushner’s assistant on that date.

The following day, Dec. 13, Kushner met with Russian banker Sergei Gorkov, who told Kushner he was close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Social media is now going wild over there connections – which once again amount to nothing but allegations and money and wealthy elites’ circles doing business as usual.

Having got all that out of the way – our question is simple, who is leaking this information to Avenatti? Is a desperate deep state now pushing docs directly from The FBI into the hands of some former Democrat operative? Since Comey did it, we presume it is now reasonable for the rank-and-file to leak documents with the goal of a higher loyalty?

We suspect this rabbit hole runs deep…

Confused yet?

 

via RSS https://ift.tt/2IG7971 Tyler Durden

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Market Euphoria

Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

Fortunately for Bulls, none of this matters.

A relatively reliable measure of complacency/euphoria in the stock market just hit levels last seen in late January, just before stocks reversed in a massive meltdown, surprising all the complacent/euphoric Bulls.

The measure is the put-call ratio in equities. Since this time is different, and the market is guaranteed to roar to new all-time highs, we can ignore this (of course).

Two of the more reliable technical patterns are falling/rising wedges, also known as descending/ascending wedges or triangles. Ascending wedges are bearish, descending wedges are bullish.

The VIX index, one measure of volatility, has been crushed by the recent euphoria/complacency as participants realize that since this time is different, we don’t need no stinkin’ hedges. Unsurprisingly, the VIX has traced out a falling wedge:

But a funny thing happened on the way to market complacency/euphoria this year: every “this time is different” manic rally in the S&P 500 (SPX) formed a bearish rising wedge which promptly reversed once the pattern peaked.

Fortunately for Bulls, none of this matters. Fundamentals trump technicals (heh), and since profits are soaring while wages stagnate (funny how that works, isn’t it?), higher oil prices mean something or other that’s positive (it can’t be higher gasoline prices are good, can it? Must be something else), Facebook has recovered from its temporary swoon and the Fed is easing or tightening or doing whatever it’s doing, so it’s a clean sweep: the fundamentals are all rip-roaring good.

Oh wait a minute–technicals do matter–when they support the Bullish case.The descending trendline from the January highs was just broken to the upside, a clear technical signal that new all-time highs are essentially guaranteed–not later this year, but this month–maybe this week, so buy buy buy, you snooze you lose, don’t fight the Fed, etc. (insert your Bullish aphorism of choice).

Even more compelling (if that’s even possible), the quatloo-bat guano ratio just flashed a huge buy signal, something that only happens on 1.3% of trading days since 1968, so let me repeat: BUY BUY BUY (repeat your Bullish aphorism of choice).

*  *  *

My new book Money and Work Unchained is $9.95 for the Kindle ebook and $20 for the print edition. Read the first section for free in PDF format. If you found value in this content, please join me in seeking solutions by becoming a $1/month patron of my work via patreon.com.

via RSS https://ift.tt/2rGlhm5 Tyler Durden

Former NBA Player Accuses Merrill Lynch of Forged Signatures and “Stealing” $17.4 Million

The list of athletes that the mainstream media has covered going broke over the last couple of decades always seems to chalk up a couple of new victims each year. It doesn’t come as any surprise that just because you are 7 feet tall and highly proficient dunking a basketball that you don’t automatically understand how to manage your money.

The latest victim of either his own actions or a corrupt investment banking system – it remains to be seen – was Kwame Brown, the first overall pick in the 2001 NBA draft, who went on to play for 7 different NBA teams.

Brown is now suing Morgan Stanley, who he alleged “stole” $17.4 million of his money that he left under management. Bloomberg reported last week:

Former professional basketball player Kwame Brown is crying foul on Merrill Lynch, saying the brokerage stole $17.4 million of his investments.

Brown said in a lawsuit that his signature was forged on various authorization forms and agreements, allowing his financial adviser to make investments and stock trades without his consent.

The fact that Brown alleges that his signature was forged on documents changes this story from a “mismanaged money” story to a “possible full on fraud” story. How did Brown find out about this mismanagement? He made a routine request for a list of his investments with Merrill Lynch and instead of being told about the fixed income his $17.4 million was making him in ETFs, he was simply told that he didn’t have any money at all with Merrill Lynch.

When Brown sought an accounting of his investments last year, he was told he had no monies with Merrill Lynch, according to his complaint filed Thursday in Los Angeles.

That must have been an interesting phone call. Complex had more details of the lawsuit, which also alleges his money manager, Michelle Marquez, failed to pay off loans that Brown requested, traded stock without his consent, and opened bank accounts under Brown’s name:

Official documents show that Brown is suing Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, and his financial advisor Michelle Marquez. He claims to have been a client from 2004 and 2017 during which time she handled his income from playing in the NBA, as well as invested and traded stocked under his consent. The problem is that Marquez was allegedly trading and investing Brown’s money into various stocks and projects without being granted permission from the former center. Brown also alleges that Marquez opened various bank accounts under his name as well where she would deposit the money for investing purposes. 

In one specific instance cited, Brown even learned in 2015 that a $1.1 million loan he instructed Marquez to pay in 2006 had never been paid off. Eventually, Brown was unable to get into contact with her and claims his signature was forged on documents that would lead to his accounts with Merrill Lynch and Bank of America being depleted. The lawsuit is seeking the return of Brown’s $17.4 million along with further damages. 

Kwame is just the latest in a long line of actors and entertainers and sports figures who either go belly up trying to manage their own money – or who are duped by those “in the know” in the industry who take liberties with clients who don’t understand how the financial system works. Yet, when “Real Estate and Bitcoin Expos” roll out celebrities like Alex Rodriguez and financial heavyweights like Pitbull – who was at one point on CNBC pumping Bitcoin around $20,000 – they have no problem filling seats. Go figure. 

via RSS https://ift.tt/2Gd15O3 Tyler Durden

NYSE’s Plans For ‘Physical Delivery’ Of Bitcoin Pave Way For Major Crypto Adoption

Authored by Marie Huillet via CoinTelegraph.com,

Analysts Dominic Chu and Bryan Kelly weighed in on recent reports that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) plans to offer Bitcoin (BTC) swap contracts, on CNBC Tuesday, May 8. Both Chu and Kelly argued that the fact that these contracts would be settled with the delivery of BTC itself is an important factor in Bitcoin’s mainstream adoption.

Both commentators were unanimous in considering that the plans of NYSE’s parent company Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) – news of which comes from “multiple reports citing sources familiar,” if true, could be of momentous consequence for the future of crypto.

image courtesy of CoinTelegraph

Whereas the futures contracts currently being offered on CME and CBOE are ultimately settled in fiat, Kelly emphasized that ICE’s suggestion that crypto swap contracts will be settled in BTC is a significant milestone that could herald major Wall Street crypto adoption. Kelly explained:

“[The] physical delivery of Bitcoin…means that ICE has a custody solution. That has been the big hurdle. How do you hold onto these assets? These are generally bearer instruments…and so you have to have a third-party custody person. That’s the big deal, they have come up with a custody solution for institutional holders.”

Cold storage custodian solutions are currently offered by small operators, and ICE has not confirmed whether it plans to build an in-house cold storage solution or to outsource it. Indeed, ICE has so far declined to comment on the reports at all.

Kelly said that if ICE can offer a custodian solution that is SEC-qualified and fits with the SEC’s compliance requirements, this would “open the floodgates” to institutional capital, resulting in some “big price moves” in the crypto markets.

A custody solution would also open the door for pensions and endowments, he said, leading him to conclude that cryptocurrencies now “look to be becoming an emergent asset class…most obviously at the expense of gold.”

Kelly noted that the markets have been slow to respond, suggesting that many are underestimating the significance of the news.

ICE’s plans come just days after investment banking giant Goldman Sachs announced it will be opening a crypto trading desk “within weeks,” as well as recently hiring a cryptocurrency trader as vice president of their digital asset markets. This week, BTC stopped short of breaking the $10,000 resistance, trading around $8.600 currently…

 

However, Goldman Sachs is not quite so positive, suggesting Bitcoin faces considerable downside…

Bitcoin held another ABC corrective target for resistance at 9,719-9,771

The area includes 61.8% retrace of the decline from February as well as an equality target off the Apr. 6th low. Holding below implies that the recent rise is corrective/counter-trend. It also re-instates the impulsive nature of the sell-off in February/March.

This ultimately exposes downside risks to new lows, possibly as far as 4,485; another equality target from Feb. 20th. The next important support is down at 6,514-5,605 where there have been three separate lows since November.

View: Tested/held 9,719-9,771. First in focus 6,514-5,605. Scope to retrace as much as 4,485.

via RSS https://ift.tt/2rAcS4D Tyler Durden

Eric Peters: “This Is How You’ll Know The Cycle Is About To Turn”

Yesterday, we showed that according to Macquarie strategist Viktor Shvets, the biggest danger facing investors in the next 12 months is a sudden, explosive move higher in the dollar, as a result of a quiet shrinkage in global dollar supply and an inability of the US to materially widen its current account deficit, which could precipitate a violent dollar short squeeze, which in turn would result in a sharp, deflationary hit on global asset prices.

24 hours later, we share a somewhat different perspective, this time from One River CIO Eric Peters, whose rationale for why an explosion in dollar vol is imminent we presented earlier; Peters – like Shvets – believes that the dollar is the definitive inflection point catalyst, or perhaps indicator, however unlike Shvets, Peters is more concerned with the dollar losing value over the medium-term as foreign pull capital out of the US – the catalyst for the next downcycle –  rather than a surge in the USD higher as dollar shorts are hit with a barrage of margin calls.

And, at the center of this cycle, is the creation of financial assets by Americans, which is promptly converted into an asset bubble, sold throughout the world, at which point a deflationary crisis follows, and the system is reset, to wit:

“Basically, Americans create financial assets and/or buy them cheaply, pump them up, dump them to Japanese and Germans savers, suffer a crisis, rinse and repeat.” That’s how the system finds its balance.

More importantly, to Peters this transition in confidence, or rather capital flows, marks the cycle inversion point:

“when strains emerge in the US credit markets, and the Japanese and Germans start to pull capital home to park in their domestic bond markets, lowering those yields, you know the cycle is turning.”

And, if Peters is correct, the best indicator of this phase transition is the relative value of the dollar, only unlike Macquarie’s thesis that a sharp spike in the DXY will precipitate the next crisis, to Peters it is the resumption of the dollar’s relentless grind lower that will be the catalyst: “this perpetual dynamic leads to strengthening currencies in Japan and Germany, and the long, inevitable decline in the US dollar.”

* * *

More inside the latest Weekend Notes by Eric Peters:

Anecdote

“Americans are unwilling to save,” said the CIO.

“The Japanese and Germans are unwilling to spend,” he continued. “If the latter two could generate exceptional investment returns on their savings they’d have all the money in the world within two business cycles.” They haven’t, and won’t.

“The US model is credit-driven, with Americans in perpetual search of the sucker, like buyers of Tesla and Netflix bonds.” They look for investors willing to accept very little upside in exchange for a lot of the downside.

“America has a credit driven model. Companies issue junk. And banks make loans, hold onto good ones, securitize bad ones, selling those off. They’re masters at passing losses onto investors.” The more they do this, the more profit they make. This incentive structure ensures America supplies ample credit securities for the world, many of dubious value.

As cycles turn, they blow up.

“The Germans and Japanese have a bank-driven model; lending their nation’s vast savings pools, holding onto both good and bad loans. When they run out of domestic borrowers, they lend abroad.”

European and Japanese banks take losses onto their balance sheets and raise equity capital to pay for them – the equity gets destroyed, diluting shareholders from one cycle to the next.

“Basically, Americans create financial assets and/or buy them cheaply, pump them up, dump them to Japanese and Germans savers, suffer a crisis, rinse and repeat.” That’s how the system finds its balance.

“So when strains emerge in the US credit markets, and the Japanese and Germans start to pull capital home to park in their domestic bond markets, lowering those yields, you know the cycle is turning,” he explained.

“And this perpetual dynamic leads to strengthening currencies in Japan and Germany, and the long, inevitable decline in the US dollar.”

via RSS https://ift.tt/2Iz2m7k Tyler Durden

Iran Threatened To Name Politicians Who Took Bribes To Pass Nuclear Deal

Authored by Joe via ILoveMyFreedom.org,

President Trump announced early this week that the US will withdraw from the deceptive Iranian nuclear deal. President Trump made his position on the terrible Iran deal clear during his 2016 campaign.

This didn’t stop former Secretary of State John Kerry from acting as a rogue government agent against the Trump administration, in order to redeem the lame deal with the oppressive Iranian regime.

Many have referred to this as “Shadow diplomacy,” we prefer to call it treason.

The President was quick to call Kerry out:

During his speech to the NRA, Trump criticized Kerry for his fundamental role in negotiating the Iran deal.

“We have the former administration as represented by John Kerry, not the best negotiator we’ve ever seen,” Trump stated. 

“He never walked away from the table, except to be in that bicycle race where he fell and broke his leg.”

Naturally, the Iranian regime is extremely upset with President Trump and his decision to re-impose a great number of sanctions on Iran.

Here’s where it gets good…

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari has just warned Western politicians that if they do not put pressure on the Trump administration the Iranian regime will leak the names of all officials who accepted bribes to pass the disastrous deal in the first place!

Stay tuned, and grab the popcorn!

We know someone will…

via RSS https://ift.tt/2IAS0DT Tyler Durden

“Exclusive” Soho House Social Club Seeks To Expand By Being Less Exclusive And Less Like A Club

How does a social club business model that relies on exclusivity grow itself quickly? Get a little less exclusive and invite more masses to join and then, pitch to people that your best quality is that you aren’t like a club at all – at least, this is what Soho House is doing. The famed “exclusive” private social club that caters to people in industries like entertainment and media has figured out a not so creative way around the constraints of having a limited membership (and the resultant limited revenues): simply open the doors to more people. 

As the Wall Street Journal reported, this is exactly what Soho House & Co. is doing, and it is paying off for them:

Soho House & Co. Ltd., known for chic, members-only properties catering to those in creative industries such as entertainment and media, is in the midst of a counterintuitive strategy: expanding its limited-entry club model into a global empire.

The 23-year-old London operation says its 19 locations in nine markets around the world currently have 71,000 members, who pay $1,050 to $3,200 each in annual dues for access to the club and its hip events and social networks. (Food and drink not included.)

The company plans to open as many as five new clubs each year in major cities around the world, and is considering a public stock offering in the U.S. as a way to fund that expansion, said founder and Chief Executive Nick Jones. The company’s current locations include London, New York and Istanbul, and new sites are planned in Amsterdam, Hong Kong and Mumbai, among others.

“We really do feel there are some good, long legs here,” said Mr. Jones, who opened the first Soho House in London in 1995. Location No. 20 is set to open later this month in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood. “There is a lot of white space for us. There are a lot of countries, a lot of cities where there could be more clubs.”

Soho House’s core business model isn’t new. Private social clubs have been around for centuries, popularized in British high society in the 19th century and later in university and city clubs initially tailored to elite businessmen in the U.S.

Since the “selective” process of taking in new members isn’t based on any type of formula and reportedly seems to be completely discretionary, simply opening up the doors to those hungry to pay $3,200 a year to congregate with others who think this is a great use of capital is an easy revenue floodgate for the company to open:

Membership in Soho House is selective. Admission requires a lengthy application and interview process, and the waiting list hovers around 27,000, the company said. But unlike elite private clubs of the past, membership isn’t based primarily on wealth or family status.

There’s no set formula for new admissions. Membership committees for each house meet quarterly and decide how many new members to admit, considering factors such as overcrowding. Members include Matthew Rhys, star of the FX series “The Americans,” and actress Jodie Foster.

Soho House has purged its ranks when members don’t fit the image it wants to portray. In New York after the financial crisis, it removed about 100 bankers from its rolls, the company said. Membership committee decisions are final.

Its average member is 36 years old and getting younger, the company said, compared with an average age of above 50 for the typical U.S. private club, according to data from the National Club Association. Executives say Soho House is tapping into a desire for flexible workplace arrangements such as those offered by WeWork Cos.

At the same time the Soho Club is pushing a posh atmosphere for its members, the company itself has been taking on more debt in order to pursue its expansion plans. This debt has led to ratings downgrades and jostling with the company’s bondholders:

Soho House is majority-owned by billionaire investor Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Cos., which took a 60% stake in the company in 2012. London fashion and restaurant impresario Richard Caring has a 30% stake, and Mr. Jones owns the rest.

The company posted $371 million in operating revenue in 2016, up 21% from a year earlier, according to data provided to the U.K. government. Approximately half of revenue comes from food and beverage, 20% from membership and the remainder from hotel rooms and other services, according to the company.

As it has pursued global expansion plans in recent years, Soho House has taken on significant debt that led to ratings downgrades by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s in 2016. Those firms found that the company’s construction and development costs for new properties were quickly eating up its cash.

In early 2017, the company agreed to a consolidation of its debt with one of its bondholders, Permira Debt Managers, according to a person familiar with the matter. The agreement extended the company’s debt maturity to 2022, from 2018, and reduced its average cash cost of debt by 30%, the person said.

But the business model for private clubs – despite the average age and average enrollment of members in the U.S. declining – seems to be in tact.

At least, that’s what someone who is the President of a company who consults for private clubs would argue. Here’s some rock solid logic that should be good enough to help pull off another bond offering with “informed” investors – namely that the best part about the club is that it isn’t like a club at all:

Frank Vain, president of the McMahon Group, which consults for private clubs, said the new generation of urban clubs has found a way to create a mystique around membership without being overtly exclusive or stuffy.

“People always want what they can’t have, and they want something that’s special,” said Mr. Vain. The new clubs “have redefined special. There’s an anticlub aspect to them that is creating a buzz.”

While the idea of a “exclusive” private social club opening its doors to less exclusive members in order to expand its growth seems completely counterintuitive, surprisingly in the day and age of record levels of debt, deficit spending and “companies” like Theranos, it isn’t the worst business model we’ve heard of.

via RSS https://ift.tt/2rCGNcw Tyler Durden