Month: November 2021

Jeffrey Epstein’s former “Lolita Express” pilot detailed several high-profile individuals he recalls among the passengers on Epstein’s numerous flights around the world.

While under oath during the Ghislaine Maxwell trial on Tuesday, pilot Larry Visoski Jr. was asked to describe his experience, to which he said “I certainly remember President Trump, but not many people associated with him,” adding that he also flew Bill Clinton, Kevin Spacey, violinist Itzhak Perlman, former Senator John Glenn and Prince Andrew. He said that while he was tasked with ‘cleaning up’ after one of Clinton’s flights, he ‘never saw any sexual activity’ on the plane.

Everdell: And John Glenn and George Mitchell flew on Epstein’s plane, right?
Visoski: Yes.
Everdell: And Kevin Spacey?
Visoski: Yes.
[Inner City Press coverage of Spacey case @SDNYLIVE: https://t.co/kcgy5yYjUN

— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) November 30, 2021

Trump and Epstein were known to have associated with each other in the 90s as New York City playboys and successful entrepreneurs. As the Daily Mail reports, “It was previously reported that Trump had flown on Epstein’s plane from Palm Beach, where both had homes, to Newark, in 1997.  Epstein is also said to have flown on one of Trump’s private planes.”

Trump is said to have severed his relationship with Epstein and banned him from Mar-a-Lago after the pedophile was reportedly trying to recruit a towel attendant in the early 2000s – prior to his conviction for soliciting child prostitution.

According to the Mail, Visoski spent most of Tuesday talking about girls Epstein brought aboard the plane.

“Mr. Epstein brought her to the cockpit. She had piercing power blue eyes,” he said of one alleged victim – to which Maxwell’s attorney Christian Everdell asked “And beyond the striking blue eyes, you have said she had large breasts, right?”

To which Visosky replied that she was a “mature woman.”

When asked if he remembers Virginia Roberts, Visoski replied, ‘Yes. A shorter woman with dirty blonde hair.‘ 

‘She didn’t look young. I mean, whatever you decipher is the definition of young. But she was a woman in my category,’ he added.  

Maxwell entered the Manhattan courtroom Tuesday morning wearing a cream sweater, black slacks and looked on as Visoski was questioned. 

He said Maxwell ‘was the Number 2’ and that ‘Epstein was the big Number 1’ when asked about their relationship. 

When asked how many other assistants Epstein had in addition to Maxwell, he replied that there were many, identifying Maxwell’s own assistants. 

He specifically named Sarah Kellen – who has been accused of playing a pivotal role in Epstein’s empire: procuring girls, coaching them and acting as a ‘lieutenant’ to Maxwell. -Daily Mail

Visoski also identified parts of Epstein’s 10,000 New Mexico ranch where airplanes were parked – describing how he used to go into the main residence to pick up luggage and help install electronics, a task he said he also performed on Epstein’s private Caribbean island, Little St. James. 

He said that Epstein’s relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell was “more personal than business,” but “I wouldn’t characterize it as romantic.”

Everdell: You saw nothing in 30 years that made you think Mr. Epstein was an abuser, right?
Visoski: I did not.
Everdell: Nothing further.
Judge Nathan: Re-direct.
AUSA Maurene Comey: Did you let your 14 year old daughter massage Mr. Epstein?
Visoski: I did not.

— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) November 30, 2021

Consistent Tesla skeptic Gordon Johnson of GLJ Research is breaking from his usual pessimism about the company and predicting a large Q4 delivery beat for the automaker. Johnson claims that consensus estimates for the quarter are “amusingly low”, but also claims that risks for 2022 are “soaring” for Tesla.

In a note to clients on Tuesday morning, Johnson explained that he thought Tesla could “blow away” the consensus estimate of 262,340 deliveries. Johnson says he think’s Musk’s recent leaked “internal email” was an attempt to lower expectations for Q4 deliveries so he can beat them and eventually dump more stock. He also points out Musk’s consistent complaints about supply chain issues on Twitter to make this case.

But he also claims that while many on the sell side and in the media will claim the numbers to be a success, “the reality is they will represent a decline in incremental cars sold QoQ, despite TSLA producing a lot more cars in 4Q21 (i.e., ~300K) vs. 3Q21 (i.e., 237.823K).”

“This is very bad for a company trading at 23.6x sales,” Johnson writes. 

Johnson then goes on to explain he thinks that the “merde” will hit the fan for Elon Musk in 2022. 

Citing Elon Musk’s recent dumping of shares, Johnson says a number of factors could weigh negatively on Tesla into the new year. He writes:

• (1) TSLA is losing market share in both the EU and China, with acute share losses in NO + NL + SP showing what will likely eventually happen in France, Germany, and the U.K. (which is always last to get new EV models, as a punishment for their RHD regime), and China showing what will happen once competition “truly” arrives in the USA
• (2) TSLA’s lack of new models in 2022, meaning there will be no backlog to rely on as share losses likely accelerate next year
• (3) an inferable severe hit to margins as the Austin and Brandenburg plants come online (due to both low utilization, and expense structures different than those seen at its Shanghai plant where many of the costs were rigorously back-end loaded).

Johnson also points out in his note that NEV market share in China is slipping and that competition in the U.S. will do the same to Tesla domestically, once it “fully arrives” as it has in China.

Johnson predicts Musk will want to continue share sales up until that point and that Musk will cash out everything he can that’ll allow him to “keep the totality of his current margin loans ‘whole'”. 

Finally, Johnson predicts that the accounting around Tesla’s plant in Shanghai “grossly understates” the company’s true costs and overstates the company’s profitability.

Shares of Macau’s largest junket operator were halved Tuesday after being suspended on Monday following the arrest of the company’s gambling boss over links to cross-border gambling and money laundering. 

Alvin Chau, chairman and a controlling shareholder of Suncity Group Holdings Ltd., was among 11 people arrested in Macau on Saturday. He’s accused of money laundering and cross-border gambling in mainland China, the Philippines, and elsewhere.

On Tuesday, Suncity shares reopened for trading in Hong Kong and plunged 48%, the most significant daily plunge since 2008. 

Suncity is the largest junket operator in Macau. They’re responsible for attracting wealthy gamblers into the world’s largest gambling hub by lending them money. In essence, junkets are responsible for a large portion of Macau’s high-roller traffic. 

“We are heading for a junket-free scenario for Macau casinos,” said Angela Hanlee, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence.

Macau authorities (cough, cough, Beijing) have made a clear policy decision to rein in junkets in Macau, especially targeting money laundering out of the country, which now means only cryptos are left to bypass China’s firewall. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on corruption has crushed Macau casino shares this year. Some institutional investors have found Macau casino stocks appealing. For more on that and what Citigroup thinks about buying the dip (read: here). 

Now that even Fed Chair Powell admits that inflation is no longer “transitory”, it’s suddenly safe to report inflation for how high it truly is, and as a result earlier today the Euro area was not at all ashamed to report that inflation in the old continent surged to a record for the common currency era and exceeded all 40 forecasts, adding to the ECB’s challenge before a crucial meeting next month on the future of Europe’s money printing and negative rates.

In today’s flash inflation release for November, Euro area core HICP inflation rose 58bp to 2.63%yoy, sharply above consensus expectations of 2.3% and up from last month’s 2.05% to a new all time high. Meanwhile, headline HICP inflation soared 83bp to 4.88%Y/Y from 4.0%, also well above consensus expectations of a 4.50% print and also a new record high.

The breakdown by main expenditure categories showed that services inflation rose six-tenths of a point to 2.7%, and non-energy industrial goods inflation rose four-tenths of a point to 2.4%. Of the non-core components, energy inflation rose 3.7pp to 27.4%, while food, alcohol and tobacco inflation rose three-tenths of a point to 2.2%.

Commenting on the burst higher in prices, Bloomberg economist Maeva Cousin, said that “while energy costs and statistical effects can explain the bulk of this month’s jump, today’s reading also revealed some stronger than anticipated underlying pressure. That will add to concern over upside risks to the outlook, but the ECB is still likely to see inflation falling below 2% by the end of next year.”

Anticipating the spike in inflation this month, ECB officials had redoubled efforts in recent days to reassure citizens that they are facing a once-in-a-generation cost-of-living squeeze that won’t endure, driven by energy and a series of one-time factors.

While over in the US, Powell is finally admitting the truth that “transitory” inflation is dead, ECB President Christine Lagarde still hasn’t gotten the memo and is sticking to the “transitory” script, even as some colleagues are warning that price pressures might take longer to subside, stoking speculation about the future course of monetary policy. As such, at the ECB’s Dec. 16 meeting, the Governing Council is set to announce the end of its pandemic bond-buying plan and outline how regular purchases and interest rates will develop as the economy continues its recovery.

Updated projections for growth and inflation will guide the ECB’s decision. In September, forecasts showed inflation easing to 1.5% in 2023; expect that number to be much higher now, but just how high is uncertain after the sudden emergence of the omicron coronavirus strain, potentially more infectious than previously known variants, raised the risk of new restrictions.

Pressure for a quick exit is coming from Germany, where inflation hit a whopping 6% this month, the fastest since the early 1990s.  Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, who will step down at the end of the year, has already sounded the alarm, saying it’s possible the euro-area pace will remain above the ECB’s 2% target in the medium term.

His Spanish counterpart Pablo Hernandez de Cos is warning against a premature removal of support however even though data showed that Spanish inflation hit a stunning 5.6% – also the highest in nearly three decades; Despite this crushing blow to consumer wallets, he argued there’s no reason to rush to stop bond purchases given price pressures will ease “very significantly” in the second quarter. He too, appears to not have gotten the memo.

And with the market focusing on what Lagarde whether with or without the Omicron context, even before the new strain arrived, resurgent cases in recent weeks had already prompted the Netherlands and Germany to impose new curbs. Austria and Slovakia went into lockdown. If replicated elsewhere, such measures could weigh on output and amplify already unprecedented supply chain bottlenecks.

It’s probably why Goldman expects November to be the all time high, and looks for both core and headline European inflation to fall going forward as base effects and weight changes wash out.

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

CNN is reviewing material released Monday that showed host Chris Cuomo was not truthful to viewers when he told them in August that he did not speak to fellow media members about the scandal that engulfed his brother Andrew Cuomo.

“The thousands of pages of additional transcripts and exhibits that were released today by the NY Attorney General deserve a thorough review and consideration,” CNN said in a statement.

“We will be having conversations and seeking additional clarity about their significance as they relate to CNN over the next several days,” the news outlet added.

Speaking on his show earlier this year, Chris Cuomo claimed that he “never made calls to the press about my brother’s situation.”

But the newly released material showed Chris Cuomo tapped sources, including some inside rival outlets, to try to ascertain if more women were coming forward to accuse his brother of sexual misconduct.

In one case, Chris Cuomo was tasked by Melissa DeRosa, at the time a top aide to Andrew Cuomo, with gathering “intel” about a looming story by New Yorker reporter Ronan Farrow.

Chris Cuomo was successful, telling DeRosa in a text message on March 15 that Farrow’s story “not ready for tomorrow.”

In another message, Chris Cuomo appeared to signal that he spoke directly with Farrow.

He also checked into rumored stories by other outlets, including Politico.

Other texts showed the CNN host drafted entire statements he hoped the New York gubernatorial office would release and attribute to Andrew Cuomo, who was governor at the time.

Chris Cuomo has not responded to requests for comment.

He told investigators during a deposition that he did not try to affect any reports.

“If I had tried to influence any of the reporting at CNN or anywhere else, I guarantee you, you people would know, and so would a lot of others,” he said.

“So the idea of one reporter calling another to find out about what’s coming down the pipe is completely business-as-usual.”

Experts have told The Epoch Times that Chris Cuomo’s behavior violates journalism standards and questioned CNN’s lack of transparency regarding the situation.

It is unethical for a journalist to use their position, contacts, and influence to help a family member or friend involved in an investigation by law enforcement,” Rebecca Aguilar, president of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), said in an email.

“The SPJ Code of Ethics clarifies the rules: Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived, minimize harm and be accountable and transparent,” she added.

The Powell-Put imploded this morning as The Fed Chair curb-stomped the ‘t’-word (transitory) and warned that “it is appropriate in my view to consider wrapping up the taper of our asset purchases, which we actually announced at the November meeting, perhaps a few months sooner. I expect we will discuss that at our upcoming meeting.”

That sparked rapid and heavy selling pressure in stocks (as well as elsewhere in markets)…

But even before today’s dive, as Omicron anxiety has rippled across markets, Nomura’s Charlie McElligott notes that the CTA Trend model confirmed signal shifts in major Global Equities futs positions, with now the Russell 2000, DAX and Eurostoxx all having pivoted from prior “+100% Long” signals to now both “-37% Short,” while the Hang Seng and Hang Seng CH both now outright “-100% Short” from prior “+38% Long”, with ASX and Kopsi too both now “-37% Short”

Which McElligott notes has meant a monster -$78.3B of Net Exposure reduction from “long to short” across Global Equities futs positions for CTAs over the past week, per our estimates

And these sources of synthetic “negative Gamma” accelerant-flows are now too coinciding with Dealers increasingly nearing actual “short Gamma vs spot” territory in major US Equities index options (QQQ still “long Gamma vs spot,” but SPX “neutral Gamma vs spot” and IWM is extreme “negative Gamma vs spot” location), meaning you’re not getting a lot of “stabilization help” here from Dealer hedging flows (outside of QQQ):

• SPX / SPY $Gamma $0.8B (30.1%ile), barely “short” but effectively “neutral” with spot here ~4610 vs “Gamma flip” at 4618 (while SPX $Delta remains substantial at $297B, 81%ile)

• QQQ $Gamma $355mm (83.3%Ile), still “long” with spot here $397.20 vs “flip” down at $395.77 (while QQQ $Delta stays VERY LONG at $15.3B, 97%ile)

• IWM $Gamma -$127.8mm (29.6%ile), VERY “short” with spot here $219.52 vs “Gamma flip” up at $231.22 (IWM $Delta too VERY short now at -$10.7B, 5.5%ile)

So with this backdrop of vol / risk control selling, CTA signal pivots and Dealers increasingly in “short Gamma vs spot” territory, the Nomura strategist warns that we should then too think about what was discussed here last week, which is the “burned-hands” of discretionary longs who were playing for the bullish risk-asset seasonality of Q4 who have instead been chopped-up over the past few weeks…

…all-in-all alongside the threat of ongoing de-allocation supply from Vol Control, it creates a weakened backdrop for the year-end trade, as the psychology shifts to a “shut it down and protect returns” mentality where fresh risk-capital may in-fact NOT be deployed but instead be taken-off the table, instead of the prior assumed “return chasing” and buying of both highs and / or dips

Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,

University of Oxford Professor Jim Naismith asserts that despite England dropping its mask mandate in July and Scotland keeping its rules in force, official data shows this “has made no meaningful difference” to infection rates.

Naismith goes on to argue that new face mask mandates imposed in England today are “unlikely to have much of an impact” in fighting off the spread of the Omicron variant.

Despite flatlining case numbers and declining deaths, partly achieved because England chose to lift lockdown restrictions in the summer unlike many European countries, mask mandates are once again back in force.

Face coverings are compulsory in shops, on public transport and numerous other venues arbitrarily chosen by the government.

Highlighting the absurdity of the rules, face masks are mandatory in takeaways but not restaurants, meaning you have to wear one if picking up a takeaway but not if you stay inside the restaurant for a sit down meal.

According to Naismith, Director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute and Professor of Structural Biology at the University of Oxford, masks are largely pointless.

“The ONS survey results on prevalence shows that the Scottish and English approach to masking, although formally different since July, has made no meaningful difference to Delta,” writes Naismith.

“In both countries very high levels of prevalence have continued for months. Thus the new changes announced are unlikely to have much of an impact if Omicron does indeed spread rapidly,” he added.

As the graph above illustrates, despite England dropping mask mandates and Scotland keeping them in place after July, infection rates were similar or indeed higher in Scotland.

ONS graphs also validate such assertions.

“You can see the ONS graphs below for yourself, and he’s right,” notes Will Jones.

“Yet the Government has re-imposed masks in schools, shops and on public transport, despite there being no evidence that they make any significant impact on the spread of disease.”

A comparison between case rates in Sweden (which never legally imposed face masks) and the rest of Europe is also very revealing.

Meanwhile, in Sweden… pic.twitter.com/AXbAeCz5jy

— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) November 11, 2021

Naismith’s verdict on face masks is backed up by UK government SAGE adviser Dr Colin Axon, who dismissed masks as “comfort blankets” that do virtually nothing, noting that the COVID-19 virus particle is up to 5,000 times smaller than the holes in the mask.

“The small sizes are not easily understood but an imperfect analogy would be to imagine marbles fired at builders’ scaffolding, some might hit a pole and rebound, but obviously most will fly through,” Axon said.

As the video below illustrates, public health officials like Dr. Hillary Jones (and even Dr. Fauci himself) originally were correct in saying that face masks were pointless.

However, as soon as they ‘got the memo’ that face masks were a tool of population control to keep people scared and compliant, their rhetoric on face coverings did a complete 180.

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