Month: July 2014

One of the bullish themes this earnings season is that of the 223 or so companies reporting so far, a whopping 78% of them have beat EPS and 66% have beat revenue expectations. It remains to be seen just how much of this improvement is merely due to record stock buybacks to goose EPS as well as accounting gimmicks: we will conduct a full breakdown once we know the GAAP vs Non-GAAP data: recall that Q1 Non-GAAP EPS was a 4.6% improvement while GAAP EPS was in fact a 2.2% decline. 

It also remains to be seen how much of the beats are due to companies taking guidance to the woodshed and slashing forecasts as they did back in Q1, when one after another company rushed to lower expectations.

But for now, let’s give US EPS the benefit of the doubt. The result from the earnings season to date is shown on the Deutsche Bank table below:

Yet what is maybe even more interesting than US earnings, are those of Europe. Recall that it is in Europe where unlike the US (massaged or not), EPS has been on a clear, secular decline for the past two years…

… something we and others attributed to a painfully strong Euro currency.

And yet, in a curious turn of events, now that the EUR has been sliding and recently hit 2014 lows, one would expect at least some pick up in Europe’s earnings, especially since 52% of the corporations have allegedly beat revenue and 55% have beat EPS expectations. Goldman itself said as much: “we expect both a slight improvement in European economic growth for the rest of the year as well as the currency depreciation to lead to a stabilisation of earnings.“

One would be wrong.

As the following just released chart from Goldman shows that while non-GAAP EPS in the US have stabilized (and Japan is clearly the upside surprise even as its economy is once again teetering on the edge of recession), and Asia ex Japan is slowly rolling over once more, it is Europe that is the big shocker: as of July, European 2014 EPS forecasts are now the lowest they have been for the entire year, and are down 8% from where they were at the beginning of the year!

Goldman explains: “Whereas earnings were revised down across all markets except Japan at the beginning of the year, they have now stabilised in all regions except Europe, where the downward revisions have continued…. We are concerned about the continued downward revisions in Europe and see this as a key risk to our overweight here.”

Visually:

One wonders how much longer the European corporate lobby will be so focused on whether or not to implement sanctions on Russia (which would further pressure their earnings), instead of realizing that its true foe at this moment is not east, but west, in the form of US corporations who are gaining at Europes’ expense?

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/X4Jt0s Tyler Durden

Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog,

Which appears more likely–a straight-line extension of the past two years' rise in stocks, or another "impossible" decline to complete the megaphone pattern?

There are dozens of charts and data points supporting the case for a continuation of the Bull market in stocks or a reversal into a Bear market. For the sake of brevity I've distilled the two arguments into two charts, one for the Bull case and one for the Bear case.

The Bull case is easy: the economy has reached self-sustaining expansion, a.k.a. escape velocity; hotel occupancy rates are high, home valuations are rising, stocks are fairly valued based on forward earnings, debt has been paid down/written off, and the Fed has tapered its quantitative easing (QE) bond and mortgage buying with no ill effect.

Looking ahead, there is no fundamental or technical reason for stocks to drop significantly; stocks always go up in years ending in 5, and there is nothing magical about 2016 in terms of a decline, either. The market could advance for years.

Bottom line: the advance since early 2012 is founded on solid fundamentals and there's no reason the advance can't continue along with strengthening fundamentals such as corporate profits, rising tax revenues, etc.

The Bear case is based on sentiment, but this reliance on extremes of bullish sentiment is misplaced; the fact that everyone is talking about a bubble in stocks and expecting a correction just goes to show there is no bubble and a correction will simply offer another opportunity to buy the dip, a strategy that has been richly rewarded.

The Fed (and other central banks) have our back: any decline in risk assets will be washed away with another tsunami of near-zero-interest money, liquidity and credit.

The Bear Case is also simple: the supposedly solid fundamentals of earnings, stock buybacks, etc. are all based on an unprecedented expansion of debt, central bank monetary easing, leverage and systemic risk.

Finance trumps economic data, and financial risk has reached a tipping point:shadow banking is unraveling in China, the Fed already owns most of the new home mortgages that have been issued and has to taper lest it own the entire mortgage/Treasury markets, junk bonds have been bid to the moon, etc.

Debt, leverage and risk have reached bubble heights, and simple cause and effect means the stock market has also reached bubble heights.

Faith in the central banks' ability and willingness to push stock markets higher has reached extremes. Volatility and complacency have both reached levels that historically correspond to major highs.

Take away massive buybacks funded by cheap credit and the market's dependence on financial one-offs will be revealed: the Bull market was never about earnings; it was always about cheap credit, central banks pushing investors into risk assets like stocks and corporate buybacks. Bulls claiming hotel bookings, auto sales and profits are "proof" of a self-sustaining economy are looking at the effects, not the causes.

To understand the cycle of credit addiction, please read Are We Addicted to Failure?

Bulls and Bears alike tend to marry their convictions. As we all know, the human mind is uncomfortable with uncertainty, and so once a person chooses the Bull case, recency bias and confirmation bias kick in and the Bull selects recent data that confirms his conviction.

The same tropism toward certainty takes hold of Bears, and those of us without the conviction of marriage watch from the sidelines.

I have long been skeptical of the Bull case based on the unprecedented scale of central bank/state intervention, support and manipulation. If everything's so great, then why does the Fed need to buy trillions of dollars in assets and manipulate markets with reverse repos, etc. and direct purchases via proxies? If a market only rises as a result of such outlandish one-off intervention, how can anyone claim it has any fundamental foundation?

Which appears more likely–a straight-line extension of the past two years' rise in stocks, or another "impossible" decline to complete the megaphone pattern? If stocks continue climbing once the Fed ends its bond-buying in and stock buybacks drop to less frenzied levels, that will be evidence the Bulls are right about the economy's escape velocity.

If the market tanks as soon as the monetary heroin is withdrawn, that will support the Bear's case that financial legerdemain trumps economic data.

Two things favor the Bear case in my view: if volume is the weapon of the Bull (i.e. rising volume drives Bull markets), then the fact that volume has been declining for years is not supportive of the Bulls.

Secondly, I don't see how the economy can reach escape velocity with household income declining in real terms: Five Decades of Middle Class Wages (Doug Short).

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1nzriKy Tyler Durden

Today’s AM fix was USD 1,305.00, EUR 971.20 and GBP 768.55 per ounce.

Friday’s AM fix was USD 1,292.50, EUR 961.18  and GBP  761.64 per ounce.

Gold climbed $15.00 or 1.16% Friday to $1,307.40/oz and silver shot up $0.37 or 1.82% to $20.74/oz. Gold and silver were both down for the week – 0.24% and 0.53% respectively.

Jan Skoyles interviews Mark O’Byrne of GoldCore about silver – see here

Silver for immediate delivery fell 0.4% to $20.68 an ounce in London this morning. Platinum added 0.4% to $1,485 an ounce. Palladium gained another 0.5% to $885.05 an ounce and is a whisker away from new 13 year nominal highs.

Gold and silver were marginally lower last week but both spiked towards the close on Friday which could be a harbinger for further price gains this week. Gold jumped $15.80 to as high as $1,308.20 in the last minutes of trade and silver surged to as high as $20.727.

Gold is marginally lower in London this morning after gold in Singapore ticked lower overnight. Futures trading volume surged from last week’s turgid trading and were 72% above the average for the past 100 days for this time of day, according to Bloomberg data.


Silver in U.S. Dollars – 50, 100, 200 Simple Moving Averages (Thomson Reuters)

Silver was very resilient during last week’s bout of concentrated selling on the COMEX and remains above its key simple moving averages at $19.99, $20.19 and $20.21 -100, 50 and 200 day moving averages respectively (see chart). The technical picture for silver is text book bullish as are silver’s supply demand fundamentals.  



Gold in U.S. Dollars – 50, 100, 200  Simple Moving Averages (Thomson Reuters)

With the move higher late on Friday, gold is back above the 50, 100 and 200 day moving averages (see chart). Options expiration today and geopolitical tension has supported gold at the $1,300/oz level and silver at the $20/oz level.

Once options expiration is out of the way we expect higher prices for both precious metals in August.

Bank Suppression Of Silver  Manipulation To End And Price Surge
Allegations of silver market manipulation went viral overnight with Bloomberg, the BBC, Reuters and media companies throughout the world covering the new lawsuit.

Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) and Bank of Nova Scotia were accused in a lawsuit of rigging the price of billions of dollars in silver to the detriment of investors globally.

The banks unlawfully manipulated silver and its derivatives, an investor claims in a complaint filed yesterday in federal court in Manhattan. The banks abused their position of controlling the daily silver fix to reap illegitimate profit from trading, hurting other investors in the silver market who use the benchmark in billions of dollars of transactions, according to the suit.

The lawsuit is the latest to be brought against banks alleging manipulation of a benchmark. Suits have been filed against Deutsche Bank and Bank of Nova Scotia, HSBC and other banks in federal court in New York over allegations involving the London gold fix.

Manipulation of the silver market was covered in a just released ‘Get REAL’ Special on Silver presented by Jan Skoyles. Mark O’Byrne of Goldcore.com was interviewed and the interview was an in depth look at this silver market today.

Key topics discussed in the interview include

* The supply demand fundamentals of the silver market

* The manipulation of the silver market

* The importance of “joining the dots” and GATA

* CME and Thomson Reuters to manage new gold and silver fix

* The risk of manipulation through HFT, computer trading and ‘dark pools’

* “Meet the new boss; same as the old boss”

* The fix is in: Old boys, pints of beer, big cigars and top hats

* The importance of owning physical rather than paper or digital silver

* The importance of owning allocated and especially segregated silver

* The outlook for the unique industrial and precious metal that silver is

* Silver at over $150/oz in the coming years

‘Get Real: Silver’ can be watched here

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1oBhtvR GoldCore

The Hague is not Vladimir Putin's favorite place today. Following the "war crime" comments earlier, the arbitration court's decision to rule in favor of Yukos shareholders (and thuis against the allegedly "politically motivated" confiscation of the firm's assets by the Russian government) with a $50 billion settlement (half what was sought) has prompted a quick and angry response from the Russian government. Blasting the "one-sided use of evidence," and re-iterating the massive tax evasion that the leadership were involved in, Russia slams "the puzzling unprecedented amount of damages" awarded, claiming the process is "becoming increasingly politicized."

 

As Bloomberg reports,

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague found that Russia is liable to pay just under half of the $114 billion sought, GML Ltd., the holding company for Yukos’s main owners, said today.

 

The decision showed the campaign against Yukos was “politically motivated,” GML head Tim Osborne said in London.

And Russia replies…

Today Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague issued a final judgment rendered in three interrelated arbitration proceedings initiated by the former majority shareholders of JSC "NK" YUKOS ". Decisions were based on the Energy Charter Treaty.

Conclusions of the Arbitration Court shall enter into a direct conflict with the findings of the two Houses of the European Court of Human Rights. The European Court of Human Rights twice concluded that JSC "NK" YUKOS "committed massive tax evasion that the leadership of" NK "YUKOS" aware of violations that additional charge of almost all taxes JSC "NK" YUKOS "was lawful and lawful that JSC "NK" YUKOS "was not subject to discrimination, and that the actions of Russian authorities were not of a political nature.

In the Russian Federation drew attention to other serious flaws in the decision of the arbitral tribunal. Among them:

– One-sided and one-sided use of research evidence;

 

– Completely unacceptable revision challenging the decisions of courts of the Russian Federation, carried out by the Arbitration Court in such a way as if the arbitral tribunal was more authority to challenge acts of the Russian courts;

 

– Speculative and not confirmed by the Court of Arbitration evidence assumptions about the reasons for the actions of state authorities of the Russian Federation, as well as the use of these assumptions, the Arbitration Court to justify its conclusions that are not supported by the facts;

 

– The denial of the validity of the Arbitration Court accrual of JSC "NK" YUKOS "income tax because the arbitral tribunal rejected the fact many acts of courts of the Russian Federation, including the decisions of the Supreme Arbitration Court, which have been handed down for many years before the emergence of the dispute;

 

– Failure of the Arbitration Court properly accommodate them recognized by the fact that several shell trading companies JSC "NK" YUKOS "used a similar scheme of tax evasion and later were reorganized several times and re-registered in places thousands of miles distant from their original location , in an attempt to avoid detection of violations and to prosecute the Russian authorities;

 

– The inability of the Arbitration Court to come to the obvious conclusion that the management of JSC "NK" YUKOS "aware of the permitted violations of tax legislation and acknowledged that used by trading companies JSC" NK "YUKOS" scheme of tax evasion, if disclosed, led to be "essential" for the financial consequences of the JSC "NK" YUKOS "; guide JSC "NK" YUKOS "also understood that performs actions on tax evasion and that his income trading companies with which taxes have not been paid will be treated as income of the JSC" NK "YUKOS";

 

– The denial of the validity of the Arbitration Court accrual of JSC "NK" YUKOS "value added tax on the basis of representations of the Arbitration Court on how to be Russian tax legislation and not on the basis of actual requirements of the tax legislation of the Russian Federation to the fact that the presence of such claims is recognized by the arbitral tribunal;

 

– Failure of the Arbitration Court to pass certain disputes to the competent bodies of the United Kingdom, Cyprus and the Russian Federation, despite the requirement in the Energy Charter Treaty, the transfer for consideration of such issue of whether the tax is an expropriation;

 

– Senseless and extremely speculative attempt to give a hypothetical valuation JSC "NK" YUKOS "after almost ten years after the alleged expropriation.

Of fundamental importance is the fact that the arbitral tribunal does not have jurisdiction to consider questions put before him. The Russian Federation has not ratified the Energy Charter Treaty. In accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 45 of the Treaty the Russian Federation has not applied any provision of the Agreement is temporarily in the extent to which the provisional application of the provisions of the Constitution, the laws and regulations of the Russian Federation.

In addition, the Russian Federation in any of its more than fifty international agreements on the protection of investments did not consent to arbitration of disputes with investors prior to the ratification of an international agreement, as it would contradict the Russian law.

Finally, the puzzling unprecedented amount of damages awarded by the arbitral award that is brought on the basis of the Russian Federation unratified international treaty and that, moreover, come into direct conflict with the earlier decisions of the European Court of Human Rights.

All these facts confirm that the arbitral tribunal was unable to come to the dispute with the prudence that is required of judges in such situations. Instead of objective, impartial consideration of the case the Arbitral Tribunal conquered their actions tactical reasons and eventually adopted politically biased decisions.

Such an approach undermines the authority of the Court of Arbitration and the Energy Charter Treaty, the mechanism for which is becoming increasingly politicized, as in this case, becomes the object of abuse by domestic investors, tax evaders.

For this reason, and also because of the presence in the arbitral award of significant flaws, the Russian Federation will challenge the arbitral award in the courts of the Netherlands and expects to achieve a fair outcome there.

*  *  *

In conclusion, the Russian Federation will challenge the arbitration award in the Dutch courts and expects to achieve a fair outcome there; and we suspect the Yukos shareholders should not hold their breath as last time we checked Putin is not exactly "compliant" with arbitrary western propaganda decisions.

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1qaxMxL Tyler Durden

The Hague is not Vladimir Putin's favorite place today. Following the "war crime" comments earlier, the arbitration court's decision to rule in favor of Yukos shareholders (and thuis against the allegedly "politically motivated" confiscation of the firm's assets by the Russian government) with a $50 billion settlement (half what was sought) has prompted a quick and angry response from the Russian government. Blasting the "one-sided use of evidence," and re-iterating the massive tax evasion that the leadership were involved in, Russia slams "the puzzling unprecedented amount of damages" awarded, claiming the process is "becoming increasingly politicized."

 

As Bloomberg reports,

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague found that Russia is liable to pay just under half of the $114 billion sought, GML Ltd., the holding company for Yukos’s main owners, said today.

 

The decision showed the campaign against Yukos was “politically motivated,” GML head Tim Osborne said in London.

And Russia replies…

Today Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague issued a final judgment rendered in three interrelated arbitration proceedings initiated by the former majority shareholders of JSC "NK" YUKOS ". Decisions were based on the Energy Charter Treaty.

Conclusions of the Arbitration Court shall enter into a direct conflict with the findings of the two Houses of the European Court of Human Rights. The European Court of Human Rights twice concluded that JSC "NK" YUKOS "committed massive tax evasion that the leadership of" NK "YUKOS" aware of violations that additional charge of almost all taxes JSC "NK" YUKOS "was lawful and lawful that JSC "NK" YUKOS "was not subject to discrimination, and that the actions of Russian authorities were not of a political nature.

In the Russian Federation drew attention to other serious flaws in the decision of the arbitral tribunal. Among them:

– One-sided and one-sided use of research evidence;

 

– Completely unacceptable revision challenging the decisions of courts of the Russian Federation, carried out by the Arbitration Court in such a way as if the arbitral tribunal was more authority to challenge acts of the Russian courts;

 

– Speculative and not confirmed by the Court of Arbitration evidence assumptions about the reasons for the actions of state authorities of the Russian Federation, as well as the use of these assumptions, the Arbitration Court to justify its conclusions that are not supported by the facts;

 

– The denial of the validity of the Arbitration Court accrual of JSC "NK" YUKOS "income tax because the arbitral tribunal rejected the fact many acts of courts of the Russian Federation, including the decisions of the Supreme Arbitration Court, which have been handed down for many years before the emergence of the dispute;

 

– Failure of the Arbitration Court properly accommodate them recognized by the fact that several shell trading companies JSC "NK" YUKOS "used a similar scheme of tax evasion and later were reorganized several times and re-registered in places thousands of miles distant from their original location , in an attempt to avoid detection of violations and to prosecute the Russian authorities;

 

– The inability of the Arbitration Court to come to the obvious conclusion that the management of JSC "NK" YUKOS "aware of the permitted violations of tax legislation and acknowledged that used by trading companies JSC" NK "YUKOS" scheme of tax evasion, if disclosed, led to be "essential" for the financial consequences of the JSC "NK" YUKOS "; guide JSC "NK" YUKOS "also understood that performs actions on tax evasion and that his income trading companies with which taxes have not been paid will be treated as income of the JSC" NK "YUKOS";

 

– The denial of the validity of the Arbitration Court accrual of JSC "NK" YUKOS "value added tax on the basis of representations of the Arbitration Court on how to be Russian tax legislation and not on the basis of actual requirements of the tax legislation of the Russian Federation to the fact that the presence of such claims is recognized by the arbitral tribunal;

 

– Failure of the Arbitration Court to pass certain disputes to the competent bodies of the United Kingdom, Cyprus and the Russian Federation, despite the requirement in the Energy Charter Treaty, the transfer for consideration of such issue of whether the tax is an expropriation;

 

– Senseless and extremely speculative attempt to give a hypothetical valuation JSC "NK" YUKOS "after almost ten years after the alleged expropriation.

Of fundamental importance is the fact that the arbitral tribunal does not have jurisdiction to consider questions put before him. The Russian Federation has not ratified the Energy Charter Treaty. In accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 45 of the Treaty the Russian Federation has not applied any provision of the Agreement is temporarily in the extent to which the provisional application of the provisions of the Constitution, the laws and regulations of the Russian Federation.

In addition, the Russian Federation in any of its more than fifty international agreements on the protection of investments did not consent to arbitration of disputes with investors prior to the ratification of an international agreement, as it would contradict the Russian law.

Finally, the puzzling unprecedented amount of damages awarded by the arbitral award that is brought on the basis of the Russian Federation unratified international treaty and that, moreover, come into direct conflict with the earlier decisions of the European Court of Human Rights.

All these facts confirm that the arbitral tribunal was unable to come to the dispute with the prudence that is required of judges in such situations. Instead of objective, impartial consideration of the case the Arbitral Tribunal conquered their actions tactical reasons and eventually adopted politically biased decisions.

Such an approach undermines the authority of the Court of Arbitration and the Energy Charter Treaty, the mechanism for which is becoming increasingly politicized, as in this case, becomes the object of abuse by domestic investors, tax evaders.

For this reason, and also because of the presence in the arbitral award of significant flaws, the Russian Federation will challenge the arbitral award in the courts of the Netherlands and expects to achieve a fair outcome there.

*  *  *

In conclusion, the Russian Federation will challenge the arbitration award in the Dutch courts and expects to achieve a fair outcome there; and we suspect the Yukos shareholders should not hold their breath as last time we checked Putin is not exactly "compliant" with arbitrary western propaganda decisions.

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1qaxMxL Tyler Durden

The latest in the now clearly out of control West African Ebola epidemic from what has become ground zero:

In the wake of the rapid spread of the deadly Ebola virus and the recent untimely death of Mr. Patrick Sawyer, Coordinator of the ECOWAS National Unit at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, having contracted the virus, the Ministry wishes to announce the following measures to ensure public safety and instil confidence in users of services at the Ministry.

At the very highest level of the Ministry, all senior officials coming in direct or indirect contact with Mr. Sawyer have been placed on the prescribed 21 days observatory surveillance period starting July 20th, the day Mr. Sawyer departed the country for Nigeria.

All concerned senior officials have been requested to telecommute up until when certified by the Ministry of Health to return to active duty.

Further to this measure, the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Amara Konneh has requested the Ministry of Health to immediately quarantine and properly sanitize both the former Ministry of Finance and the former Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs buildings including the newly constructed National Authorizing Office of the European Union.

Due to these measures, the Ministry will be temporarily shut down 12: 00 PM on Monday, July 28, 2014 and reopened on Tuesday, July 29th, 2014.

All employees, who made no contact but have been traumatized as a result of the situation in the last few days and would like to take some time off, are free to stay home until when is necessary to return to duty. However, all essential employees still working at the Ministry are asked to observe the following measures strictly:

• Use of the elevator is restricted to only 4 persons per trip;
• Absolutely, no clustering on the stairways;
• No gathering of more than five persons except for meetings in conference spaces or spatial environment;
• Absolutely no handshakes, hugging of other physical bodily contact;
• Please report any suspicious illness or strange conditions amongst employees;
• Only persons with genuine business dealings and transactions would be permitted on the premises;
• All employees are further encouraged to wear long sleeve clothing to minimize any possible risk of exposure;

In addition to these measures, the Ministry has put in place a thorough sanitary program and admonishes all staff to use the hand washer or personalized sanitizers or disposable gloves available at the Ministry’s entrance.

These measures take immediate effect as the MFDP treats this crisis seriously and will work to continue our support to ongoing national response effort. Consistent with the President’s message and pledge, the MFDP, with support from our other partners, is committed to providing the full range of support required to address this situation in coming days.

Notwithstanding, the general public is advised to carry out their normal transactional businesses at the Ministry and follow closely the measures announced in the interest of public health.

Meanwhile the MFPD tax policy unit will review, in conjunction with the Liberia Revenue Authority, a proposal for the relaxation of tariffs and duties on the importation of sanitary materials and other bleach products during the period of this situation.

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1qaxHKq Tyler Durden

The latest in the now clearly out of control West African Ebola epidemic from what has become ground zero:

In the wake of the rapid spread of the deadly Ebola virus and the recent untimely death of Mr. Patrick Sawyer, Coordinator of the ECOWAS National Unit at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, having contracted the virus, the Ministry wishes to announce the following measures to ensure public safety and instil confidence in users of services at the Ministry.

At the very highest level of the Ministry, all senior officials coming in direct or indirect contact with Mr. Sawyer have been placed on the prescribed 21 days observatory surveillance period starting July 20th, the day Mr. Sawyer departed the country for Nigeria.

All concerned senior officials have been requested to telecommute up until when certified by the Ministry of Health to return to active duty.

Further to this measure, the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Amara Konneh has requested the Ministry of Health to immediately quarantine and properly sanitize both the former Ministry of Finance and the former Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs buildings including the newly constructed National Authorizing Office of the European Union.

Due to these measures, the Ministry will be temporarily shut down 12: 00 PM on Monday, July 28, 2014 and reopened on Tuesday, July 29th, 2014.

All employees, who made no contact but have been traumatized as a result of the situation in the last few days and would like to take some time off, are free to stay home until when is necessary to return to duty. However, all essential employees still working at the Ministry are asked to observe the following measures strictly:

• Use of the elevator is restricted to only 4 persons per trip;
• Absolutely, no clustering on the stairways;
• No gathering of more than five persons except for meetings in conference spaces or spatial environment;
• Absolutely no handshakes, hugging of other physical bodily contact;
• Please report any suspicious illness or strange conditions amongst employees;
• Only persons with genuine business dealings and transactions would be permitted on the premises;
• All employees are further encouraged to wear long sleeve clothing to minimize any possible risk of exposure;

In addition to these measures, the Ministry has put in place a thorough sanitary program and admonishes all staff to use the hand washer or personalized sanitizers or disposable gloves available at the Ministry’s entrance.

These measures take immediate effect as the MFDP treats this crisis seriously and will work to continue our support to ongoing national response effort. Consistent with the President’s message and pledge, the MFDP, with support from our other partners, is committed to providing the full range of support required to address this situation in coming days.

Notwithstanding, the general public is advised to carry out their normal transactional businesses at the Ministry and follow closely the measures announced in the interest of public health.

Meanwhile the MFPD tax policy unit will review, in conjunction with the Liberia Revenue Authority, a proposal for the relaxation of tariffs and duties on the importation of sanitary materials and other bleach products during the period of this situation.

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1qaxHKq Tyler Durden