Month: March 2022

India Mulls Russian Offer Of SWIFT Alternative For Ruble Payments As Lavrov Visits

India Mulls Russian Offer Of SWIFT Alternative For Ruble Payments As Lavrov Visits

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

India is considering a proposal from Russia to use a messaging system developed by the Russian central bank for bilateral payments as New Delhi isn’t following the US-led economic campaign against Moscow, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

Sources told Bloomberg that the plan involves using Russia’s messaging system, known as SPFS, for rupee-ruble-denominated payments. The proposal is expected to be discussed as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrives in India for his two-day visit on Thursday.

AFP via Getty Images

The Russian proposal came after the US and its allies imposed sanctions cutting seven Russian banks from SWIFT, the main messaging system used for international financial transactions. Western sanctions also targeted Russia’s use of the dollar and euro, prompting Moscow to demand Europe pay for gas in rubles.

As the West is looking to limit its purchases of Russian energy, India is looking to buy more Russian oil at a discount price despite pressure from Washington to join the campaign against Moscow. India is also a major purchaser of Russian weapons, and the Biden administration is openly considering sanctions on New Delhi over its stockpile of Russian arms.

Last week, Biden said the US’s allies in Europe and Asia have presented a unified front since Russia invaded Ukraine, with the exception of India, which he described as having a “shaky” stance. India has abstained from condemning Russia’s attack on Ukraine at the UN.

India is a member of the Quad and is seen by the US as a counter to China in the region. But if the US goes ahead and sanctions India over its relationship with Russia, it will likely make New Delhi more hesitant about increasing military cooperation with Washington.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 03/31/2022 – 08:25

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Trial Court Focused Too Much on Racial Slurs by Defendant Towards Police Officers

From People v. Araujo, decided Tuesday by the California Court of Appeal (Justice Anthony Kline, joined by Justices James Richman and Therese Stewart):

Rosa Adriana Araujo was convicted in 2008 of three felony counts of attempting to deter or resisting an executive officer in the performance of duty by means of threats or violence. She now appeals from denials of her motions to reduce the convictions to misdemeanors and dismiss them….

Araujo’s offenses occurred … when police officers went to her parents’ house to conduct a probation search on her brother…. [A]ccording to the testimony of officers who were at the scene, Araujo arrived at the house shortly after the search had begun, irate, repeatedly yelling, “get the fuck out of my house, you fucking pigs,” demanding to see a warrant, and saying her brother did not live there and was not on probation.

As Sergeant Peruzzaro tried to explain no warrant was required and warned she would be arrested if she obstructed the investigation, Araujo continued yelling the same things, as well as something like “die you fucking pigs, 187 on a cop,” which officers understood as a reference to the Penal Code section for homicide…. Araujo spit at Peruzzaro, hitting his arm and hand, and continued down the hall, yelling obscenities and “nigger” at Detective Stewart, an African-American officer who was in front of her.

Detectives Stewart and Teixeira attempted to put Araujo’s hands behind her back to handcuff and arrest her and she resisted, trying to twist out of their grasp and saying to Stewart, “Fuck you nigger.” She continued to resist after being handcuffed, turning her body from left to right, squeezing the officers’ fingers, spitting on them, stomping on their feet, and at one point grabbing Stewart’s crotch. She called Stewart “nigger” more than 30 times, called him a “porch monkey” several times, and told him he “needed to go back to Africa.”

As the officers started to move Araujo out of the house, she began yelling that they were raping and sexually assaulting her, as well as continuing to yell “nigger.” She put her hand on the holster of Teixeira’s gun; he slapped it away ….

During the struggle, Araujo’s racial epithets were directed only at Stewart, not at Teixeira. Officer Wong put a spit hood on Araujo because he saw spit “flying everywhere” and hitting the detectives, and she called him a “chink.”

After a trial in 2008, the jury found Araujo guilty of the three charged felony counts of attempting to deter or resisting an executive officer in the performance of duty by means of threats or violence. The jury found not true a hate crime allegation attached to the count involving Officer Stewart.

On January 16, 2009, the trial court suspended imposition of sentence and placed Araujo on three years’ probation, with conditions including that she serve 45 days in county jail…. On May 8, 2009, the probation department alleged that Araujo violated probation by failing to follow reasonable directives of the probation officer to remain still and compliant during a routine probation search. The incident occurred when probation officers attempting to conduct a routine probation search on Araujo and her brother met resistance from Araujo’s mother and brothers. Araujo yelled at the officers, accused them of hurting her mother, and, when an officer grabbed her arm to her lunging at the officers and her mother, continued to move toward them. Araujo ignored repeated directions to stop moving, called the probation officer a “bitch,” and numerous times called the police officers “pigs.” …

Araujo admitted the violation and the court revoked probation, then immediately reinstated it under the previously imposed terms and conditions, with the additional condition that Araujo serve 60 days in county jail with 45 days credit for time served….

Section 17, subdivision (b), governs the circumstances in which “wobbler” offenses such as Araujo’s, which can be treated as either felonies or as misdemeanors, are deemed misdemeanors [including retroactively] …..” A trial court has broad discretion in deciding whether to reduce a wobbler to a misdemeanor. “The relevant criteria in exercising that discretion include the nature and circumstances of the offense, the defendant’s appreciation of and attitude toward the offense, or his traits of character as evidenced by his behavior and demeanor at the trial.” …

Araujo contends the trial court abused its discretion by denying her motions due to the “disgusting language” she used in the commission of her offenses, thereby improperly punishing her for speech that is protected by the First Amendment …. She correctly points out that the caselaw is extremely protective of the right to free expression, even when the speech at issue is highly offensive to others and particularly when it is directed at police officers…. [T]he Supreme Court has recognized that “even the ‘fighting words’ exception … might require a narrower application in cases involving words addressed to a police officer, because ‘a properly trained officer may reasonably be expected to exercise a higher degree of restraint than the average citizen, and thus be less likely to respond belligerently to fighting words.'” [Examples of cases protecting vulgar insults of police officers omitted. -EV] …

Araujo concedes that her conduct in 2008—including struggling, spitting, and hitting officers—was not solely verbal and her physical conduct was not protected by the First Amendment. Araujo was also threatening violence …. [In the decision refusing to retroactively downgrade the offense to a misdemeanor], however, Araujo argues that the prosecutor and court relied solely on her offensive, racially charged words in their portrayal of the seriousness of her offenses, and the consequent denial of her motions resulted in punishment in violation of the First Amendment.

The record supports Araujo’s characterization of the prosecutor’s and court’s focus. The prosecutor’s written opposition argued, “considering that the victim suffered no physical injuries and no one was actually sexually assaulted or harmed, these are some of the most vile facts … this author has had to put into print. The defendant is obviously the type of person who thinks she can use hundreds, if not thousands, of years of people’s collective pain and trauma to her advantage in situations where she is quite obviously in the wrong. She repeatedly and intentionally directed the most abhorrent, racially charged word of our time at black police officer, while perpetrating violence and quite literally spitting on that same police officer, as well as others. This was an escalation from her prior conduct of pointing out African-American college students and staff and screaming racial epithets at them in public.

“But the defendant wasn’t done. She then accused that same black officer and other officers, of rape. There was no misunderstanding of the situation here; this was entirely fabricated, and she knew it. She devalued the experience, pain, and trauma of real sexual assault and rape victims by claiming the officers sexually assaulted and raped her to attempt to gain some advantage in the situation. Furthermore, she falsely accused a black man of rape and sexual assault, a practice with a grim history in this nation. No doubt she was trying to scare and intimidate the officers into releasing her and letting her and her brother go about their felonious business.

“Finally, she attempted to insinuate that her probation officer was assaulted by an ex-boyfriend causing facial scar. She attempted to tap into some trauma that may or may not be there, to hurt her probation officer….”

[Likewise, a]t the hearing, the prosecutor did not refer to Araujo’s physical conduct; her remarks solely addressed Araujo’s words and lack of remorse. As to the former, the prosecutor urged: “[T]he facts of this crime cause a visceral reaction in anyone who hears them. It is some of the most disgusting language …. She wasn’t using it in a hard ‘R’ fashion. [¶] We are in a reckoning in this country when it comes to race and racism and how we treat that. We’re in a time where we’re considering—or actually tearing down statutes [sic] of people who have had … awful records of race from hundreds of years ago. [¶] The passage of time does not forgive or forget Araujo’s actions in this case.”

The trial court, too, focused on Araujo’s words in referring to the offenses. The court’s explanation of its ruling began, “The underlying crime is beyond disgusting. The vile and disgusting language that she used not only against law enforcement officers, but law enforcement officers of color, including African-American and of Asian [descent]. [¶] And this isn’t a one-off. This is someone who went to CSM, College of San Mateo. And any African-American that she saw, she also had the same reaction and disgusting behavior towards.” {The written opposition [had] briefly related two incidents in which Araujo used racial epithets against individuals she encountered at the College of San Mateo (CSM): On January 29, 2008, she became irate at an African-American security guard who asked her to use the proper stairwell and called him a “stupid fucking nigger,” and on February 5, 2008, without provocation, she called an African-American student “Fucking monkey, jiggaboo and nigger.”} …

This focus is troubling. Araujo’s racially charged language was deeply offensive. But this offensive language was not the basis of her criminal conduct except as it defined the circumstances in which the conduct underlying her conviction occurred…. The court’s focus [on this language] thus gives credence to Araujo’s claim that in denying her motions, the trial court in effect punished her speech which has not been shown to be, in itself, outside constitutional protection.

The focus on Araujo’s offensive language is concerning for additional reasons. One of these is the strong indication in the record that some form of mental illness, or at least psychological issues, could have played a role in Araujo’s offenses. [Details omitted. -EV] … The sentencing court saw Araujo as having “a problem controlling her immediate thoughts. Many of her thoughts, when she’s angry or feels under attack, are tinged with racially inappropriate epithets. But she also says all sorts of other very nasty things to other people that are not necessarily racially motivated.” …

Additionally, it is noteworthy that the two incidents at CSM, the offenses for which Araujo was convicted, and her subsequent probation violation in May 2008 all occurred within a span of less than four months. The record reflects no offenses since, perhaps consistent with the psychologist’s suggestion that Araujo was in a particularly extreme state of distress at that time….

[T]he prosecutor’s focus on Araujo’s racial language and explicit and implicit depiction of her as unequivocally racist was [also] plainly at odds with the jury’s and sentencing court’s more nuanced conclusions at trial. Given the extremity of Araujo’s racial language, it would appear the jury’s not true finding [as to the hate crimes charge] means at least some jurors were swayed—at least to the point of finding a reasonable doubt—by Araujo’s defense that her conduct was not due to bias but an expression of anger and attempt to protect herself from what she believed was excessive use of force by the police….

The result is an appearance that Araujo’s motions were denied largely because of the court’s view of her speech as racist. This appearance is bolstered by the court’s statement, in announcing its ruling, “I can’t think of someone who deserves a motion to reduce and dismiss less than Araujo.” The statement is obviously hyperbole: Araujo’s egregious use of racial epithets notwithstanding, [attempts to resist an executive officer by means of threats or violence] involving no weapon and no resulting physical injury are not the most serious offenses a person can commit, and many defendants fail to remain free of further criminal sanction for 10 years. In light of the court’s further remarks— that the underlying crime was “beyond disgusting,” Araujo used “vile and disgusting language” against law enforcement officers of color, and this was consistent with her conduct toward African-Americans she encountered at CSM—it is difficult to escape the conclusion that the trial court’s abhorrence for Araujo’s offenses was due primarily to the language Araujo used and inference of racial animosity the court drew from it.

This conclusion is also supported by the court’s exaggeration of the evidence of prior incidents involving what appeared to be racist speech. Referring to the evidence of the incidents at CSM as demonstrating the February 2008 incident from which the convictions arose was not a “one-off,” the court said, “any African-American that [Araujo] saw” at CSM “she had the same reaction and disgusting behavior towards.” By broadly generalizing evidence showing incidents with two African-American individuals at CSM shortly before the February offenses to “any African-American” Araujo saw, the court expressed a view that Araujo’s use of offensive racial language was part of her character….

To be clear, we are not saying the court was required to ignore Araujo’s language, which was extraordinarily offensive and surely contributed to the tension and volatility of the situation…. We are also not saying the trial court necessarily should have granted Araujo’s motions. Araujo’s offenses were very serious and her performance on probation not exemplary, at least at the beginning….

The trial court was required, however, to impartially exercise its discretion in light of all the relevant circumstances bearing on Araujo’s motions. A court abuses its discretion if its decision is based on impermissible factors or an incorrect legal standard…. [T]he court’s consideration of the motions appears to have been overwhelmingly influenced by its view of the language Araujo used during the offenses and in two incidents a few weeks prior to the offenses, and inferences drawn from that use of language about Araujo’s character 10 years later.

We cannot conclude the trial court exercised its discretion impartially and with full consideration of the relevant circumstances. We therefore reverse the orders and remand for reconsideration of the motions. Because Judge Garratt’s “comments give rise to a reasonable doubt about whether [she] can be impartial in this case,” further proceedings shall be conducted by a different judicial officer.

The post Trial Court Focused Too Much on Racial Slurs by Defendant Towards Police Officers appeared first on Reason.com.

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Futures Flat On Last Day Of Dismal Quarter, Oil Tumbles As Biden Preps Massive SPR Release

Futures Flat On Last Day Of Dismal Quarter, Oil Tumbles As Biden Preps Massive SPR Release

US equity futures were muted and flat on the last trading day of the month and quarter, fading a modest overnight gain as the underlying index headed for its first quarterly decline in two years on worries about surging inflation, hawkish monetary policy and an economic slowdown. Contracts on the S&P 500 were down 0.1% at 730 a.m. ET while Dow futures were little changed and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.2%, while European stocks fell, heading for the first quarterly decline since 2020. Asian equities retreated on lackluster Chinese PMI data and regulatory concerns. Treasuries held gains with the 10Y yield dropping to 2.31% (from 2.50% earlier this week when the 2s10s inverted) and the dollar ticked up against almost all G-10 peers. Fed watchers will be focused on the PCE deflator, which may have sped up in February.

The big overnight action was in oil, which plunged following the news late on Wednesday that the White House was (again) mulling a plan to release roughly a million barrels a day from reserves to combat crashing Democrat approval rating ahead of the midterms as a result of soaring gasoline prices coupled with supply shortages in response to US sanctions of Russia. The proposal, which includes 180 million barrels being freed over several months, may help the market rebalance this year but won’t solve a structural deficit, Goldman said.

The reserve release news came just hours ahead of an OPEC+ supply meeting, where the cartel is expected to stick with its strategy of a modest output boost in May.

Equities globally are poised for their worst quarter since the early days of the pandemic on concerns about tightening monetary policy, red-hot inflation and a looming recession. While stocks remained resilient to the historic rout in bond markets this month, some strategists see little room for them to rally this year, partly as high costs threaten corporate profits. French inflation accelerated more than expected to reach another record, following unexpectedly high readings on Wednesday from Germany and Spain.

“Our base case now is for only modest upside for stocks,” said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, adding that he expects the S&P 500 to end the year at 4,700, about 2% higher than current levels. He also trimmed his estimate for global earnings growth to 8% from 10% for 2022.

“Aside from quarter-end considerations, oil is very much the center of attention,” Simon Ballard, chief economist at First Abu Dhabi Bank, wrote in a note to investors. Still, “all the usual suspects are still in play, keeping the market in check, including the specter of the Fed pursuing an aggressive path of monetary policy normalization over the coming months.”

Elsewhere, officials from Ukraine and Russia are set to resume talks via video conference on Friday, according to a Ukrainian negotiator, though there was no immediate confirmation from Moscow. Friday’s video discussions between Ukraine and Russia would follow in-person talks this week in Turkey that didn’t produce a short-term cease-fire or major progress toward a broader peace deal. Ukraine’s negotiator said the hope was to have enough agreed on paper in another week to be able to move toward a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Going back to the US market, shares in big U.S. energy companies slumped in premarket trading along with crude prices drop (Exxon Mobil -1.9% and Chevron -1.5% premarket, Occidental Petroleum -2.6%, Gran Tierra Energy -3.1%, Imperial Petroleum -3.8%, Camber Energy -4.3%). Bank stocks are also lower putting them on track to fall for a second straight day as the U.S. 10-year yield falls to 2.31%. Goldman Sachs warned that stagflation could make bank stocks less profitable. U.S.-listed Chinese stocks slipped in premarket trading as Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler dialed down prospects of an imminent deal to allow Chinese firms to keep trading on American exchanges. Russian equities advanced as the nation partly lifted the short-selling ban on local stocks on Thursday, removing one of the measures that helped limit the declines in the market after a record long shutdown. Other notable premarket movers include:

  • Vipshop ADRs (VIPS US) rise 8.4% in premarket trading after the Chinese online retailer announces a $1b share buyback plan.
  • Robinhood Markets (HOOD US) shares rise 1.4% in U.S. premarket trading, set to extend the previous day’s 24% gains after the online brokerage announced plans to expand the trading day by four hours, while Morgan Stanley begins coverage of the stock with an equal-weight rating.
  • Energy companies decline in premarket trading as crude prices drop. The U.S. is considering tapping its reserves again in a potentially massive release aimed at managing inflation and supply shortages. Exxon Mobil (XOM US) -1.9%, Chevron -1.5% (CVX US).
  • U.S.-listed Chinese stocks are heading for a lower open after Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler dialed down prospects of an imminent deal to allow Chinese firms to keep trading on American exchanges. Alibaba (BABA US) fell 1.7% in premarket, while its e-commerce rival JD.com (JD US) lost 2.8%.
  • Advanced Micro Devices (AMD US) shares fall 1.3% in U.S. premarket trading, after the semiconductor maker is downgraded to equal- weight from overweight at Barclays, which says that the growth story “needs a pause.”.
  • IZEA Worldwide (IZEA US) shares surge 27% in U.S. premarket trading after the influencer marketing company reported fourth-quarter earnings and saw total revenue increase 62% to a record of $10.3m.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 reversed initial gains and dropped 0.3%, the Euro Stoxx 50 fell 0.2%, and other major indexes trade flat to slightly lower with retailers, telecoms and energy the worst performing sectors. Retail and telecom stocks led declines while utilities and insurance sectors outperformed. Some notable premarket movers:

  • Brewin Dolphin shares rise as much as 62% and trade slightly below the agreed bid for the firm from RBC Wealth Management. The transaction, being carried out at a high premium, highlights the attractiveness of the U.K. wealth sector, analysts say.
  • Orpea shares climb to their highest level in almost 2 months after Societe Generale says that allegations of mistreatment at its facilities are likely to have “limited” financial impact.
  • Fresenius SE shares rise as much as 3.3% on news that the company’s Kabi intravenous drug unit has bought a majority stake in mAbxience SL and acquired Ivenix.
  • Pernod Ricard shares rise as much as 2.6% as Citi says 3Q sales are likely to beat expectations, also lifting its which lifts EPS estimates and PT, as well as opening a positive catalyst watch.
  • Tate & Lyle shares gain as much as 3.7% after saying it would buy Quantum Hi-Tech, a prebiotic dietary fiber business in China. The deal enhances Tate & Lyle’s portfolio, Goodbody says.
  • Pearson shares rise as much as 3.5%, rebounding from Wednesday’s losses after private equity firm Apollo Global Management said it won’t make an offer for the education publisher.

Earlier in the session, Chinese data and regulatory concerns weighed on Asia stocks. China’s NBS manufacturing PMI declined to 49.5 in March from 50.2 in February, missing estimates, likely due to Covid-related restrictions and geopolitical tensions. The output sub-index in the NBS manufacturing PMI survey fell by 0.9 points in March, and the new orders sub-index fell by 1.9 points. The NBS non-manufacturing PMI fell to 48.4 in March from 51.6 in February, also missing expectations, and entirely driven by the decline of services sector due to recent Covid outbreaks in multiple provinces. Separately, Bloomberg reported that Chinese authorities are considering a plan to raise several hundred billion yuan for a new fund to backstop troubled financial firms.

Asian stocks retreated after a two-day advance, as the U.S. securities regulator’s tough stance on a potential delisting of Chinese firms and weak China manufacturing data worried investors.  The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined as much as 0.8%, and was poised to finish its worst quarterly performance in two years, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Tencent among the biggest drags. Benchmarks in Hong Kong and China underperformed regional peers. Japanese equities headed for a second day of declines while Australia stocks retreated after seven straight day of gains in response to a stimulatory federal budget.  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s chief said Chinese firms need to fully comply with audit requirements in order to stay on American exchanges. Meantime, China’s manufacturing contracted in March, underscoring the growing toll of lockdowns. Investors are also watching how a tumble in oil prices can alleviate inflation risks and affect corporate earnings. 

“If you look at the PMIs there’s an obvious explanation for why PMIs are weak, which is China pursuing zero-Covid strategy,” Kieran Calder, head of Asia Equity Research at Union Bancaire Privee, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “The reality of Covid-19 versus the response in China, the mismatch is too strong right now and I think that’s the biggest worry for us.”  For the quarter, Asian stocks were poised for nearly a 7% loss, the worst performance since early 2020 when the emergence of the pandemic shocked investors. Investors had to grapple with a U.S. rate hike, a war in Ukraine and continued regulatory risks out of China, which caused huge volatility

Japanese equities fell for a second day following a rally in the yen. Electronics makers and banks were the biggest drags on the Topix, which fell 1.1%. Recruit and SoftBank were the largest contributors to a 0.7% loss in the Nikkei 225. The yen was little changed after gaining 1.6% against the dollar over the previous two sessions. Both key gauges still capped their first monthly gains of the year. The Nikkei 225 rose 4.9% in March, the most since November 2020, while the Topix climbed 3.2% on the month.

India’s benchmark equity index clocked its best monthly advance since August, as buying by local funds amid war-induced volatility supported sentiment. The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.2% to 58,568.51 in Mumbai, trimming its gain for March to 4.1%. The NSE Nifty 50 Index also slipped 0.2% on Thursday. Stocks swung between gains and losses several times during the day ahead of the expiry of monthly derivative contracts Thursday. Institutional investors in India have bought $5 billion worth of shares this month, while foreign investors are set to extend their selling to a sixth consecutive month. Reliance Industries Ltd. was the biggest drag on the 30-share Sensex, which saw an equal number of shares closing up and down. Twelve of the 19 sectoral indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. gained, led by a gauge of telecom stocks. S&P BSE Healthcare Index was the worst performing sub-index.   “Markets took a breather on a monthly expiry day and ended the last day of the financial year on a flat note,” said Ajit Mishra, vice president of research at Religare Broking Ltd. “We reiterate our positive yet cautious stance citing lingering geopolitical tension between Russia-Ukraine and its impact on the global markets.”

In rates, Treasuries extended this week’s rally with yields richer by up to 5bp across belly of the curve, which continues to outperform vs wings. Wider bull-steepening move grips bunds and gilts, as central-bank rate-hike premium is pared. Oil futures are sharply lower, weighing on energy stocks, following reports that Biden is considering a massive release of crude from U.S. reserves to fight inflation. The 10-year yield was around 2.31%, richer by ~4bp vs Wednesday’s close, underperforming bunds in the sector by ~4bp while keeping pace with gilts. Long-end swap spreads are sharply tighter, with 30- year dropping as low as -19.5bp.

Euro-area, bonds extended their advance as money markets pare central bank tightening wagers. French bonds underperformed bunds as EU-harmonized CPI rose 5.1% from a year ago in March — the most since the data series began in 1997 — and above the 4.9% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists.  The belly of the German curve richened 6-7bps, leading gains. Peripheral spreads are mixed: Italy tightens, Portugal and Spain widen to core. Money markets trim rate hike pricing.

Japanese government bonds extended their advance as the central bank’s aggressive bond purchases this week reassured players that an excessive rise in yields won’t be tolerated. Yen was little changed in choppy trade. Bank of Japan’s offer to buy an unlimited amount of 10-year government bonds at fixed yields recorded no takeup, the central bank said.

In FX, Bloomberg dollar spot index snapped two days of losses after rebounding in early European session; the dollar advanced versus all of its Group-of-10 peers and commodity currencies were the worst performers. The euro gave up earlier gains after earlier touching a four-week high versus the greenback. Norway’s krone slumped by as much as 1.6% versus the greenback after the central bank announced a ramp-up of FX purchases on behalf of the government. The pound declined for a third day against the euro, touching its weakest level versus the common currency since Dec. 23. A report from the British Retail Consortium gave another glimpse into the cost-of-living crisis, showing prices in U.K. shops rose in March at the fastest annual pace since September 2011. Japan’s factory output eked out its first gain in three months in February, offering only a tepid sign of resilience amid fears the economy has slipped back into reverse. Production inched up 0.1% from the previous month. The Australian dollar declined against most of its Group-of-10 peers as oil prices tumbled on news that the Biden administration is weighing a massive release of crude from U.S. reserves. Sales of Aussie back into euro have seen option-related Australian dollar bids attached to large option strikes get filled, according to Asia-based currency traders

In commodities, crude futures hold Asia’s losses triggered by reports that the White House may make an announcement on the U.S. oil reserve release as soon as Thursday. WTI drops over $6.50 near $101.10. European natural gas faded an initial drop after Germany signaled Russia is softening its demand for ruble payments. Precious metals and much of the base metals complex traded heavy.

Looking to the day ahead now, data releases include German retail sales for February and unemployment for March, French and Italian CPI for March, and the Euro Area unemployment rate for February. From the US, there’s also February’s personal income and personal spending, the weekly initial jobless claims, and the MNI Chicago PMI for March. Otherwise, central bank speakers include ECB Vice President de Guindos, Chief Economist Lane, and New York Fed President Williams.

Market Snapshot

  • S&P 500 futures up 0.1% to 4,601.75
  • STOXX Europe 600 down 0.2% to 459.49
  • MXAP down 0.7% to 180.37
  • MXAPJ down 0.6% to 591.98
  • Nikkei down 0.7% to 27,821.43
  • Topix down 1.1% to 1,946.40
  • Hang Seng Index down 1.1% to 21,996.85
  • Shanghai Composite down 0.4% to 3,252.20
  • Sensex down 0.2% to 58,590.32
  • Australia S&P/ASX 200 down 0.2% to 7,499.59
  • Kospi up 0.4% to 2,757.65
  • German 10Y yield little changed at 0.62%
  • Euro down 0.3% to $1.1130
  • Brent Futures down 3.6% to $109.40/bbl
  • Gold spot down 0.4% to $1,924.94
  • U.S. Dollar Index up 0.24% to 98.03

Top Overnight News from Bloomberg

  • The Biden administration is weighing a plan to release roughly a million barrels of oil a day from U.S. reserves, for several months, to combat rising gasoline prices and supply shortages following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to people familiar with the matter
  • Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is determined to stick with targeting long-term bond yields near zero, even as it leaves him increasingly at variance with global peers and propels a depreciating exchange rate
  • The yen has taken a beating in recent weeks but technicals suggest that it may be on the road to a recovery. Japan’s currency may rebound to 116 per dollar in the coming months after sliding as low as 125.09 on Monday, the weakest in almost seven years, an analysis by Bloomberg shows
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin said that European buyers could continue making gas payments in euros, according to a German readout of a call he had with Chancellor Olaf Scholz
  • Russian government bondholders would be left with no viable path to recover their money if the country defaults, according to one of the top global lawyers in sovereign debt litigation
  • Hungary kept its key interest rate unchanged after the forint staged the second-biggest emerging-market currency rally this week, relieving pressure on policy makers to deliver more monetary tightening
  • China’s cabinet vowed to stabilize the economy and called on officials to avoid measures that harm market expectations as the government struggles to control Covid outbreaks across the country including in the financial center of Shanghai
  • For the first time in more than a decade, China’s yield advantage over Treasuries may be erased. The yield spread between the benchmark bonds of the world’s two biggest debt markets has narrowed to around 40 basis points from 150 a year ago, well below the People’s Bank of China’s “comfortable” range
  • Australia will invest more to find new buyers for its exports in an effort to ease trade dependence on China, its treasurer said, in the face of “economic coercion” from Beijing that shows little sign of abating

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

Asia=Pac stocks traded cautiously at month-end following the weak lead from the US due to increased Russia-Ukraine scepticism and as the region digested disappointing Chinese PMI data. ASX 200 was kept afloat by outperformance in the mining and materials industries although upside was capped as the tech sector suffered from profit-taking and with energy hit by a drop in oil prices. Nikkei 225 traded indecisively amid a choppy currency and after Industrial Production data missed forecasts. Hang Seng and were subdued following the weak Chinese PMI data and with the mood inShanghai Comp. stocks not helped by the US SEC chief casting doubt regarding an imminent deal to avert a delisting of Chinese stocks.

Top Asian News

  • Thirteen-Hour Power Cuts Get Sri Lanka to Shorten Stock Trading
  • Effissimo Would Tender Toshiba Shares in Event of Bain Bid
  • BOJ Looks Ready for a Victory Lap With Yields on the Retreat
  • BOJ Boosts Bond Buying in April-to-June Quarter

European equities (Eurostoxx 50 -0.3%) kicked the final trading session of the month off on the front foot before drifting towards the unchanged mark. Sectors in Europe exhibit a mostly positive tilt with airline names cheering the declines in the energy space as the Energy sector suffers. The biggest laggard in the region is the retail section following a disappointing Q1 update from H&M (-8%). Futures in the US are modestly firmer as the NQ (+0.5%) marginally outpaces the ES (+0.1%) with inflation set to continue to remain in focus today, with the release of US PCE metrics for March; core PCE is seen rising to 5.5% Y/Y

Top European News

  • Iron Ore Futures Advance as Outlook for Demand Brightens
  • Sorrell’s S4 Capital Audit Delay No Longer Down to Covid
  • EU Commission Confirms Raids in Germany’s Natural Gas Sector
  • Pearson Shares Rebound; Barclays Sees a ‘Resilient Business’

In FX, Dollar finds its feet as month, quarter and fiscal year end approach, albeit with a helping hand from others – DXY back on the 98.000 handle, narrowly. Commodity currencies reverse course alongside underlying prices, with crude crushed on reports of US SPR and IEA opening reserve taps – Usd-Cad rebounds through 1.2500 after sliding to new y-t-d low sub-1.2450 only yesterday. Yen choppy amidst residual repatriation flows and more BoJ action to cap JGB yields – Usd/Jpy circa 122.00 within a 122.45-121.35 range. Euro fades into 1.1200 vs Buck again as option expiries and tech resistance impinge, but Aussie  may derive traction from expiry interest at 0.7500 – EURUSD now eyeing support at 1.1100 after tripping stops.

In commodities, WTI and Brent remain firmly on the backfoot in the wake of reports suggesting that the Biden administration is considering a ‘massive’ SPR release.

  • The news has sent May’22 WTI and Jun’22 Brent to respective lows of USD 100.53/bbl and USD 107.39/bbl to leave them a few dollars above their weekly lows of USD 98.44/bbl and USD 102.19/bbl respectively.
  • US President Biden’s administration is considering a ‘massive’ release of oil to combat inflation and may release up to 1mln bpd for months from the strategic reserve in which the total release could be 180mln , according to Bloomberg.bbls
  • Goldman Sachs says a potentially large SPR release would ease the situation but wouldn’t resolve the structural deficit in the oil market. Says adjustments for SPR release, Iran supply delays would lower H2 22 Brent forecast by USD 15, to USD 120/bbl – still above market forwards.
  • US President Biden will deliver remarks today at 13:30EDT/18:30BST regarding the administration’s actions to reduce gas prices in the US, according to the White House. It was also reported that the US mulls permitting, according to Reuters sources.summertime sales of higher ethanol blends of gasoline to ease pump prices
  • IEA called an emergency ministerial meeting for Friday, according to the Australian Energy Minister’s office. It was later reported that , according to New Zealand’sIEA countries are to decide on a collective oil release Energy Minister’s office
  • OPEC+ JTC replaced IEA reports with Wood Mackenzie and Rystad Energy as secondary sources to assess crude oil output and conformity, according to sources cited by Reuters.

In fixed income, bonds on track to see out extremely bearish month, quarter and end to FY on a firmer note. Curves more even after wild swings between flattening, inversion and steepening.BoJ ramps efforts to maintain YCC via a mostly larger JGB buying remit for Q2.

US Event Calendar

  • 08:30: March Initial Jobless Claims, est. 196,000, prior 187,000
  • 08:30: Feb. Personal Income, est. 0.5%, prior 0%
  • 08:30: Feb. Personal Spending, est. 0.5%, prior 2.1%; Real Personal Spending, est. -0.2%, prior 1.5%
  • 08:30: Feb. PCE Deflator MoM, est. 0.6%, prior 0.6%; PCE Deflator YoY, est. 6.4%, prior 6.1%
  • 08:30: Feb. PCE Core Deflator MoM, est. 0.4%, prior 0.5%; YoY, est. 5.5%, prior 5.2%
  • 09:45: March MNI Chicago PMI, est. 57.0, prior 56.3

DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

After a great deal of optimism in markets on Tuesday following the Russia-Ukraine negotiations in Turkey, the last 24 hours have proven to be much more negative as investor hopes for a de-escalation in Ukraine were dampened by more gloomy comments on the war from both sides. From Russia, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that they hadn’t seen a breakthrough in the talks, whilst Ukrainian President Zelensky said that “Russia is deploying new forces on our terrain to try to continue destroying us”, and NATO leaders continued to strike a sceptical tone. Indeed, it was reported by Dow Jones that the European Commission was considering new sanctions against additional Russian banks, and UK Prime Minister Johnson said that the UK was “looking at going up a gear” in its support to Ukraine. President Biden expressed similar sentiments, pledging $500 million of additional aid to Ukraine in a call with President Zelensky.

Against this backdrop, oil prices rose again for the first time this week, with Brent Crude up +2.92% to $113.45/bbl, but there’s been a sharp turnaround overnight on the back of news that the US are planning a major release from their reserves, with Bloomberg reporting it would be a million barrels a day over several months. Biden is due to speak about efforts to lower prices at 1:30pm Eastern, so all eyes will be on that, and overnight we’ve seen Brent Crude prices come down by -4.54% to $108.30/bbl, more than reversing their gains from the previous session. However, European natural gas (+9.77%) rose for a third consecutive session to €118.97/MWh, which is its highest closing level in nearly 3 weeks. That occurred amidst a continued dispute about Russian gas payments, which President Putin wants paid for in rubles, but which multiple European countries have rejected as a breach of contract. In response, Germany’s economy minister Robert Habeck activated the “early warning phase” of an emergency law, which could eventually lead to gas rationing if supplies fall short.

With Russia’s invasion having lasted for over 5 weeks now, we’re increasingly seeing the impact reflected in the official inflation numbers, and yesterday’s releases out of Europe gave fresh life to the bond selloff. In terms of the numbers, German inflation rose to +7.6% in March on the EU-harmonised measure, which was up from +5.5% back in February and some way above the +6.8% reading expected by the consensus. It was the same story in Spain, where inflation rose to +9.8% (up from +7.6% in February), which will heighten interest in tomorrow’s flash release for the entire Euro Area. In turn, that’s led to growing expectations of ECB rate hikes this year, with a total of 63bps being priced in by the December meeting, which is the most we’ve seen to date. On top of that, more than 30bps are even being priced in by the September meeting, which surpasses their pre-invasion peak.

Given the strong inflation numbers and the prospect of a more aggressive ECB, European bonds sold off across most of the continent, with yields on 10yr bunds (+1.3bps), OATs (+2.3bps) and BTPs (+1.3bps) all hitting fresh multi-year highs. Furthermore, the 2yr German yield (+5.6bps) closed in positive territory for the first time since 2014, having briefly got there on an intraday basis during the previous session. Unsurprisingly, the latest rise in yields was driven by higher inflation breakevens rather than real rates, and the 10yr German breakeven surged another +6.0bps to 2.71%, its highest level in data available back to 2009, whilst the Italian breakeven rose +4.0bps to 2.53%, its highest level since 2008.

Even as European bonds were selling off once again, it was the reverse story in the United States, where Treasuries recovered somewhat yesterday as we come to the end of one of their worst quarterly performances in decades. Yields on 10yr Treasuries fell -4.6bps to 2.35%, whilst yield curves remained incredibly flat; the 2s10s curve steepened marginally by +1.3bps to 3.6bps, avoiding another inversion, and this morning is up another +0.3bps to 3.9bps.

In terms of other developments this morning, Asian equity markets have followed Wall Street’s lead overnight with the Nikkei (-0.18%), Hang Seng (-0.59%), Shanghai Composite (-0.14%), CSI (-0.26%) all losing ground, though the Kospi (+0.54%) is the exception to this pattern. The weakness in Asian gauges has come amidst declines in the PMI data, with China’s manufacturing PMI down to 49.5, and the non-manufacturing PMI down to 48.4. For reference, that’s the first time that both readings have been below the 50-mark that separates expansion from contraction since February 2020, and comes as multiple cities are undergoing further lockdowns in response to the current Covid outbreak. Additionally, a slide in Chinese tech stocks is weighing on sentiment after the US Securities and Exchange Commission added Hong Kong listed Baidu Inc. to its long list of companies potentially facing delisting from US exchanges. Outside of Asia, stock futures in the US and Europe are pointing to a more positive start, with contracts on the S&P 500 (+0.28%), Nasdaq (+0.56%) and DAX (+0.59%) all trading higher.

Those equity declines overnight in Asia follow a broader decline in risk appetite yesterday given the more negative geopolitical developments, and both the S&P 500 (-0.63%) and Europe’s STOXX 600 (-0.41%) unwound some of their gains from the previous day. More cyclical industries underperformed in general, whilst the German DAX (-1.45%) also put in a weaker performance relative to the other main European indices. The VIX Index of volatility (+0.43pts) also ticked up to 19.33pts, after closing at to its lowest level since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Tuesday.

In France, we’re now just 10 days away from the first round of the presidential election, and there are continued signs of a narrowing in the polls, albeit with President Macron still in the lead. In terms of yesterday’s polls (from Opinionway, Harris, Ipsos, Ifop and Elabe), all of them pointed to a repeat of the second-round contest from 2017, with the first-round polling putting President Macron in first place followed by Marine Le Pen in second. That said, they’re also implying a noticeably tighter result in the second round than Macron’s 66%-34% victory against Le Pen in 2017. Looking through the numbers, the second round estimates ranged from a 55%-45% Macron victory (from Opinionway and Ipsos), to a 52.5%-47.5% Macron victory (from Elabe).

Finally on yesterday’s other data, the ADP’s report of private payrolls from the US showed growth of +455k in March (vs. +450k expected). That comes ahead of tomorrow’s jobs report, where our US economists are expecting nonfarm payrolls to have grown by +400k, with the unemployment rate ticking down to a post-pandemic low of 3.7%.

To the day ahead now, and data releases include German retail sales for February and unemployment for March, French and Italian CPI for March, and the Euro Area unemployment rate for February. From the US, there’s also February’s personal income and personal spending, the weekly initial jobless claims, and the MNI Chicago PMI for March. Otherwise, central bank speakers include ECB Vice President de Guindos, Chief Economist Lane, and New York Fed President Williams.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 03/31/2022 – 07:56

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/hwbrqzm Tyler Durden

Kremlin Warns Poland Over Becoming ‘NATO’s Front Line’

Kremlin Warns Poland Over Becoming ‘NATO’s Front Line’

The Kremlin has warned Poland over its increasingly provocative actions and public stance in support of Ukraine, saying these things are turning the country into ‘NATO’s front line’ – according to new statements by Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman and former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. He suggested this is “dangerous” even for broader European security, in what appears a veiled threat. 

“Polish propaganda is accustomed to pinning all problems on Russia, in this sense it is similar to that of the Baltics and Ukraine,” he told the Solovyov Live show, in statements later translated by state media. “On Polish television, without a twinge of conscience, they have displayed a map of the partition of Ukraine… Its clear that this cannot be done legally. But Warsaw has a long-tried method of justifying its unseemly actions by skillfully using anti-Russian rhetoric,” Medvedev said.

Dmitry Medvedev, Government Pool Photo via AP

Medvedev for more than the past week has leveled consistent criticism that Washington is a “puppeteer” behind modern Poland. 

Earlier in the month The Washington Examiner related Medvedev’s words as posted in an essay to social media channels as follows:

The essay, posted on Medvedev’s Telegram channel, claimed that Poland and Russia have a long and “common history” that destines them to work together but that the Poles had been led astray by the U.S., “their puppeteers from across the ocean with clear signs of senile insanity.”

This had been followed by Russian Ambassador to Poland Sergei Andreev just days ago saying it’s a possibility that Moscow might be forced to shutter its embassy in Warsaw in response to Polish authorities moving to expel 45 Russian diplomats who stand accused of spying, or are at least under suspicion, with the Ukraine war ongoing. 

In particular Medvedev’s newest comments take aim at Poland’s reneging on crucial gas contracts…

“In 2020, Warsaw imported up to 10 billion cubic meters of Russian gas, but now it intends to abandon previous contracts. The volume of gas supplies from Russia to Poland this year has already decreased by 13% compared to last year,” Medvedev  explained. “Reverse supplies of the same Russian gas have been proposed as a replacement from Germany, as well as imports of LNG from Qatar, Norway and the United States. Economic benefits have fallen victim to bad political decisions.”

Polish president Andrzej Duda greeting US troops, via US Army

He identified Poland as among those leading the charge to shut down the Nord Stream 2 natural gas Russia to Germany transit project, but that ultimately blowback will come on the Poles for such ‘bad’ decision-making.

“It won’t likely come to a diplomatic breakdown. We may be forced to close our embassy here for a while. Of course, the Poles would have to close theirs in Moscow,” he said in the interview.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 03/31/2022 – 07:54

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/hWGpdIo Tyler Durden

The Ruble Regains 100% Of Its Loss After Russia Invaded Ukraine, Why?

The Ruble Regains 100% Of Its Loss After Russia Invaded Ukraine, Why?

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Conventional wisdom on why the ruble has rallied is simply wrong. Let’s discuss the theories and what is really happening…

Key Points

  • When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, it took 84 rubles to buy 1 US dollar.

  • On March 7, it took 131.2 rubles to buy 1 US dollar.

  • That’s a 36% decline in the rubble vs the US dollar.

  • The ruble is now back where it started on February 24.

Conventional Wisdom 

Putin and Italy’s Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, have discussed payments for gas in Russian rubles. 

What’s the Difference?

Weiner correctly notes the imagination. 

Oil for Rubles, Who Cares?

Case 1: To get rubles to buy oil, Europe sells Euros to Russia central bank. Europe immediately send the rubles it received straight back to Russia to pay for the the oil. Russia central bank accumulates euros.

Case 2: Russia sells oil for euros. Russia central bank accumulates the exact same number of Euros as in case number one.

The currency exchange takes place in seconds. Europe does not have to hold rubles to buy oil.

This is just more of the “oil priced in euros” stupidity. No one will have to hold rubles to buy Russian oil. Or gas. The Ruble does not become a reserve currency.

There is perhaps some small psychological impact, but there is no real impact unless Europe actually held ruble reserves, and here’s a hint: Europe wouldn’t.

What About European Sanctions?

President Biden

Biden says “Ruble reduced to Rubble because of sanctions.”

It took another three days from that Tweet for the ruble to regain all of its losses. Why? 

In three words: Sanctions Don’t Work. Here are some examples.

Parallel Credit Card Payment System

The Wall Street Journal reports Russia Built Parallel Payments System That Escaped Western Sanctions

Visa and Mastercard pulled the plug on Russia’s credit cards. But following the 2014 war in which Visa and Mastercard did the same, Russia took measures to not let that happen again.

Instead, Putin implemented a National Payment Card System—known by its Russian initials NSPK. Visa and Mastercard went along with it.

In 2015 Russia then forced the use of Mir cards based on NSPK. 

Those cards do not use the US payment system.  

One irony is that instead of Visa and Mastercard getting the fees, Russia’s central bank collected 8.2 billion rubles in net profit, or about $94 million at current exchange rates.

Russia actually profited from Visa and Mastercard sanctions.

Price of Oil and Natural Gas

The price of oil and natural soared after the invasion. 

The US banned Russian oil, and that influenced the price. But trading never totally stopped. Instead, Russia traded oil to China for a discount, but at a price higher than the pre-war price. 

In the hoot of the “We are completely against any kind of blackmailing,” Germany’s Finance Minister Christian Lindner told CNBC Monday.

Gold-Backed Ruble?

Those Tweets are nonsense. There is no gold-backed ruble. 

Russia is offering to buy gold at a discount. It certainly is not selling gold at a discounts. 

The amount of total nonsense generated over those Tweets and payment in rubles is staggering.

What Does Payment in Rubles Really Mean?

Please consider What Would Paying for Natural Gas in Rubles Mean?

The article quotes Eswar Prasad, professor of trade policy at Cornell University and a former official at the International Monetary Fund.

In theory, requiring ruble payments could support demand for the currency and its exchange rate. But not by much, Prasad says. As it stands, euros and dollars are already being used to purchase rubles when Gazprom exchanges its foreign earnings.

Note that last sentence. This is what Weiner implied in his Tweet above.

What Russia actually did is force exporters to trade 80% of its euros and dollars into rubles at a discount. That creates a huge artificial demand for rubles. 

Currency and Stock Market Restrictions

Russia also restricted currency trades. People who wanted out of the ruble could not get out. 

In addition, Russia Banned Foreigners From Selling Russia Stocks. 

Russia’s Real Power

Russia’s real power is to shut off the supply of natural gas, oil, fertilizer, and grain.

List of Companies Still Doing Business in Russia

The list of US companies still doing business in Russia is huge. We hear about meaningless reactions. 

France would not go along, at all. “We are not at war with Russia,” said French President Emanuel Macron.

For discussion, please see After McDonald’s Closed 847 Restaurants in Russia, Russian Government Renamed Them “Uncle Vanya”

Russia seized 847 McDonald’s. Who did that hurt? 

Eight Reasons For Ruble Rebound

  1. Russia escaped Visa and Mastercard

  2. Russia still trades oil and gas with Europe

  3. Russia halted currency trades

  4. Russia enacted stock market restrictions

  5. Of Russian exporters, Russia demanded 80% of euros and dollars be traded for rubles.

  6. Russia threatens to stop exporting key commodities including aluminum, natural gas, fertilizer, rare earth minerals, etc., driving up prices and the need to stockpile.

  7. Sanctions cannot take away Russia’s natural resources. 

  8. The Fed can print dollars, it cannot print commodities. Likewise, the ECB can print euros, it cannot print commodities

Two False Reasons People Key On

  1. Russia demands payment in rubles

  2. Gold-backed ruble

I am surprised Robin Brooks messes this up so badly.

Understanding Threats

Luke Gromen gets that aspect correct, Robin Brooks doesn’t. 

Twelve and Three-Word Summations

A twelve-word synopsis of the above is Misguided Souls Still Do Not Understand This Simple Truth: Sanctions Don’t Work

The last three of those twelve words emphasize the key point.

Meanwhile, Biden Doing Everything Possible to Drive Up the Price of Oil, Some of It’s Illegal

Finally, US Sanction Policy Drives China Into Russia’s Loving Arms.

China is the big winner in global sanction policy.

There is one more key aspect: Weaponizing the US dollar has totally backfired on the US. War views aside, we should all cheer that aspect. Yet, misguided souls want to escalate what is proven not to work.

*  *  *

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Tyler Durden
Thu, 03/31/2022 – 07:25

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/TGJINFo Tyler Durden

Goldman Bankers Threaten To Quit Over Requirement They Report To Office 5 Days A Week

Goldman Bankers Threaten To Quit Over Requirement They Report To Office 5 Days A Week

A lot has apparently changed in the span of a year.

After a group of Goldman junior bankers found themselves at the center of a firestorm of media attention after leaking a presentation to the press expressing their displeasure with the intense burnout from their 100-hour weeks (memorable excerpts included “I’m in a really dark place mentally” and “I went through the foster care system and this is arguably worse”), Goldman’s bottom-of-the-pyramid grunts are back in the news for reportedly threatening to quit over management’s demands that they work a “5-0” schedule – that is, that they show up to work every day at the office.

A report on their complaints (which have been shared on the anonymous corporate messaging board Blind, which uses corporate email addresses to verify employment) was published Wednesday by the New York Post.

Junior bankers at Goldman Sachs are threatening to quit over demands that they show up to the office five days a week as the pandemic wanes — and some gripe that their bosses have been quietly checking attendance.

What’s more, a few of the workers have even bandied about the “b word” – “bullied” – claiming that their bosses have browbeaten them by quietly checking attendance and using these records to penalize employees who don’t do a sufficient job of showing face.

One anonymous source griped that the policy flies in the face of management’s insistence that it has been trying to put its “people first”. Another went even further, lambasting managers armed with attendance spreadsheets as “f***king b*llshit.

“In GS, the top management says it’s employees choice but internally they track which team has most in office attendance,” one Goldman employee wrote on the corporate message board Blind, which verifies users’ place of employment with the help of their company email accounts.

“It’s f**ing bulls**t from top management saying they are people first,” the miffed Goldman underling added. “In our team meeting, manager showed us the excel where the MDs are tracking which department has not met in-office commitments,” the staffer wrote, referring to the high-level managing directors.

Apparently, when managers determine that a junior employees’ attendance hasn’t been sufficiently high enough, they use their unofficial “attendance sheet” to “bully” that employee into showing up.

One employee pinned the blame for the policy on CEO David Solomon (who has made no secret of his distaste for work-from-home culture).

“David Solomon sucks,” one user griped on Blind. “Nobody wants to be in 5-0 and plenty of companies are willing to allow hybrid/remote.”

Goldman called its workers back to the office in February after repeatedly delaying the return. Meanwhile, some of the bank’s rivals – including JP Morgan – have embraced a “hybrid” approach (despite CEO Jamie Dimon’s early misgivings about remote work).

Of course, Goldman’s junior bankers are richly rewarded for their early-career sacrifices, as the bank’s former employees routinely move on to positions of power and influences in governments and corporations around the world.

But if these bankers feel so strongly about their right to work in pajamas they should maybe try to find a job in tech?

Tyler Durden
Thu, 03/31/2022 – 07:00

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/et1vTzm Tyler Durden

The Media Is The Number One Cause Of War Since 1898

The Media Is The Number One Cause Of War Since 1898

Authored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

In 1895, a 32-year old entrepreneur in New York City bought a failing newspaper and hatched a bold plan to turn it around.

The newspaper industry was cutthroat, especially in New York. There were at least 16 other daily newspapers in circulation, and there was fierce competition for readers’ attention.

But the young entrepreneur had an idea: thrill readers with tales of death, destruction, and brutality in the Cuban War for Independence against Spain.

Cuba was a Spanish colony at the time, but revolutionary forces had been fighting for independence for several years. Few people in the US really cared about Cuba. But the new publisher vowed to make them care.

His name was William Randolph Hearst. And his paper, the New York Morning Journal, constantly thrust Cuba in his readers’ faces.

Their stories were full-blown sensationalism. By early 1898, Hearst’s Journal was printing outright fabrications of atrocities committed by Spanish troops in Cuba, in an effort to whip up public support for the United States to join the war.

The government played along. While ‘war crimes’ did not yet exist, US President William McKinley escalated tensions by accusing Spain of atrocities, saying in a speech that “the civilized code of warfare has been disregarded.”

Then, on February 15, 1898, a US naval vessel known as the Maine exploded and sank in Havana Harbor off the coast of Cuba. 268 sailors died.

Several investigations were conducted, and to this day there is still nothing conclusive explaining how the explosion took place. It’s entirely possible that the explosion was caused by the Maine’s on-board fuel.

But Hearst (along with many other papers) jumped to publish stories claiming the Maine was sunk by a Spanish torpedo, and they continued agitating for the US to join the war.

Thanks to the effective media propaganda, most Americans were in favor of war. The newspapers had cast Spain as the evil aggressor, and its commanding general, Valeriano Weyler, was routinely called a “butcher”.

The newspapers told Americans that the fight against Spain was a necessary one… that it was a matter of moral righteousness— a crusade of good against evil.

They finally got their wish in April 1898 when the Spanish-American War broke out.

There are a lot of similarities with the media today.

The level of trust in the media is already laughably low. There was the obvious Hunter Biden laptop coverup, which most mainstream media refused to even mention during the US Presidential election in 2020.

Then there were the outright lies in the Russia collusion hoax, for which the New York Times was even awarded the ‘esteemed’ Pulitzer Prize.

(Coincidentally, the Pulitzer is named after Joseph Pulitzer, a newspaper publisher who also fabricated lies in the late 1800s and agitated for war against Spain.)

Then there’s the case of Biden appointee Tracy Stone-Manning, who was nominated last year to head up the federal government’s Bureau of Land Management.

Stone-Manning is a former eco-terrorist who participated in violent campaigns against forestry workers in her youth.

This isn’t some wild conspiracy theory; Stone-Manning has admitted to wrongdoing, including sending violent threats to the US federal Forestry Service. She ultimately avoided prosecution and saved herself by ratting out her associates.

But a recent Freedom of Information Act request revealed that NBC News colluded with the Biden Administration to go easy on Tracy Stone-Manning during her confirmation hearing, and whitewash over her terrorist history.

This is pretty incredible…

Think about the media circus a few years ago when US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was accused of sexually assaulting someone when he was a teenager.

There was no promise from NBC News (and other mainstream propagandists) to go easy on the allegations against Justice Kavanaugh that went back 30+ years.

Instead, they smeared his name and deemed him guilty.

It’s also noteworthy that, during Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing, several protestors stormed the Capital and physically accosted United States Senators in order to prevent the Constitutional voting process from occurring.

Yet NBC News declined to label those protestors ‘domestic terrorists’, or to claim that democracy was ‘under attack’ because they had criminally trespassed into the Capitol.

This is the same media which acted as the government mouthpiece during COVID, justifying  the public health dictatorship that took over the world.

This is the same media which watched cities burn in 2020 and said the protests were “mostly peaceful”.

And, yes, this is the same media that has routinely pushed America into war. It wasn’t just Spain in 1898.

The United States joined the Vietnam War based on a Gulf of Tonkin skirmish with the North Vietnamese which never actually occurred. But the Johnson administration and intelligence sources said it happened, so the media reported it as fact.

Then there were those supposed Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, which the media dutifully reported without question and helped push the US into war back in 2003.

Today many in the media are calling for an escalation against Russia. They want a no-fly zone. They cheer the President’s dementia-ridden foreign policy and praise him for impromptu comments that only escalate tensions.

Most of all, they force feed the war in Ukraine, 24/7, as if that’s supposed to be our #1 priority.

Forget about the economy, rising prices, and supply chain dysfunction… and forget about conflict anywhere else in the world. We’re only allowed to care about Ukraine and Putin.

Historically speaking, it is not far-fetched to think the media could help push the world into a major war… and one with potential nuclear ramifications.

It’s not inevitable, but we are closer today than any other time since at least 1962— and certainly closer than even a week ago.

That’s why it is more important than ever to be prepared for whatever the world has in store for us.

And that means crafting a rock solid Plan B to make sure you can respond from a position of strength, whatever crisis comes next.

*  *  *

Want to ensure you and your loved ones can survive and thrive, no matter what happens next? Download our FREE Ultimate Plan B Guide now to discover fully actionable strategies you can start putting in place right now… Alternative residency or citizenship generally forms the backbone of any robust Plan B. But there are WAY more things to consider. That’s why we created our 31-page Ultimate Plan B report to help you get to grips with this topic, and you can download the full, unabridged report here – 100% FREE.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 03/31/2022 – 06:30

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/8gE9MpB Tyler Durden

SEC Set To Propose New SPAC Rules, Including Targeting Sponsors Who Embellish Projections

SEC Set To Propose New SPAC Rules, Including Targeting Sponsors Who Embellish Projections

With the collapse of once promising SPAC poster children like Nikola and Buzzfeed, among others, it was pretty safe to assume that the SPAC loophole boom was already on its last legs. New regulations from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission now seem to make certain of it. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission is now threatening SPAC sponsors who “embellish projections about the companies they plan to take public”, according to a new report by Bloomberg this week.

It’s targeted enforcement that would appear to hit at the heart of the SPAC business model: namely, coming up with bullshit projections for pre-profit (and sometimes pre-revenue) companies, and hoping that analysts and the investing public buy into their validity because they’re formatted nicely on a PowerPoint slide. 

Now the SEC is going to propose “curbing the legal protections that some blank-check companies have relied on to make bullish forward-looking statements about the firms they plan to merge with”, Bloomberg reported.

The rules are set to be proposed Wednesday as part of a broader set of SPAC rules. The rules will allow investors to sue over inaccurate forecasts. 

As Bloomberg notes, SEC Chair Gary Gensler has “repeatedly raised concerns” about blank check companies and has been actively looking into ways to solve disclosure inconsistencies and add transparency for investors on SPAC fees. 

The notion of removing SPACs’ safe harbor from legal liability would raise listing via SPAC to the same legal standards as traditional IPOs, effectively taking out one of the major points of appeal to going public via SPAC. 

Only 49 new SPACs have listed this year, compared to 279 throughout the course of last year. Bloomberg noted that the De-SPAC index, which tracks 25 firms that went public via SPAC, is down about 49% in the last year.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 03/31/2022 – 05:45

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/U4Be0ZY Tyler Durden