Month: April 2022

Fresno Bans Journalists—and Everyone Else—From Filming Cops Clearing Out Homeless Camps


homeless encamp sweep REASON

The city of Fresno, California, has been trying to prevent citizens from documenting sweeps of homeless encampments in town. The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU NorCal) is suing to try to stop this violation of First Amendment rights.

The ACLU NorCal complaint takes aim at an amendment to a city ordinance approved on February 28 that allows city officials to construct barriers surrounding homeless encampments when the city comes in and removes the camps. Under this amended ordinance, no person is allowed to cross the barrier without authorization from the city official or the contractor on site. Crossing the barrier without permission can result in a misdemeanor charge or a $250 citation. The ordinance also includes a clause that shields city officials or contractors from personal liability for any damage they do during an abatement.

The lawsuit notes that these encampment sweeps often involve destroying homeless people’s items and can sometimes involve excessive force. City officials sometimes take or destroy tents, clothing, food, identification documents, pets, and other personal belongings during such sweeps, according to the complaint.

Advocates, journalists, and regular citizens simply wishing to document the city’s actions sometimes come to the sweeps. The ACLU NorCal complaint says this ordinance punishes people engaging in “advocacy, speech, expressive conduct, and association” during encampment sweeps and protects the government from liability for wrongdoing.  

Dez Martinez, one of the plaintiffs in the case and founder of homeless advocacy organization We Are Not Invisible, often goes to encampment sweeps and covers them, uploading the recordings online, while also providing assistance to the homeless people involved. In one sweep Martinez went to, city workers began placing homeless people’s belongings in unmarked black bags, promising to either deliver the belongings or store the items for safekeeping. Martinez pleaded for the workers to label the bags, but they did not do so. The belongings were only labeled after Martinez obtained a pen from one of the workers and labeled them herself, according to the complaint. 

The lawsuit argues that public observers like Martinez can compel city officials to act with greater care. One homeless person quoted in the complaint said, “These people would walk all over us without Dez. When she is there, she gets out her camera and they behave.” In addition to that, “people have the right under the First Amendment to film officers conducting official business in public,” Chessie Thacher, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU NorCal, tells Reason. 

Public scrutiny and fear of liability is essential for government accountability, and this new ordinance provides Fresno’s government with a tool to hide their misconduct and avoid liability of wrongdoing, says Thacher.

The plaintiffs ask the court to find the ordinance in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendment and declare it void and unenforceable; to prohibit the city of Fresno from enforcing the ordinance; and to prohibit the city from issuing any administrative citations or prosecuting any criminal sanctions under the ordinance. 

The Fresno City Attorney’s Office did not respond to Reason‘s request for comment.

The post Fresno Bans Journalists—and Everyone Else—From Filming Cops Clearing Out Homeless Camps appeared first on Reason.com.

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Putin Will Collect A $321 Billion Windfall Partially Thanks To Sanctions

Putin Will Collect A $321 Billion Windfall Partially Thanks To Sanctions

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Half-assed sanctions by the US and EU help drive up the cost of oil and natural gas. The oil producers, including Russia are the beneficiaries

Stop Imports Now Idea and Image via Tweet 

Big Windfall 

Bloomberg reports Putin May Collect $321 Billion Windfall If Oil and Gas Keep Flowing

For all the hardships visited on consumers at home and the financial chokehold put on the government from abroad, Bloomberg Economics expects Russia will earn nearly $321 billion from energy exports this year, an increase of more than a third from 2021. It’s also on track for a record current-account surplus that the Institute of International Finance says may reach as high as $240 billion.

“The single biggest driver of Russia’s current account surplus continues to look solid,” IIF economists led by Robin Brooks said in a report. “With current sanctions in place, substantial inflows of hard currency into Russia look set to continue.”

The calculus may change completely, however, in case of an embargo on energy sales. And even without it, Russia’s oil exports and output are already falling, with the International Energy Agency predicting it may lose nearly a quarter of its crude production this month.

U.S, EU to Hit Russian Investments With New Round of Sanctions

Despite the fact that sanctions don’t work, the US and EU keep trying.

In a New Round of Sanctions U.S. will ban Russia investments and the EU proposes a  ban on ships, trucks, and coal.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU is proposing to ban most Russian ships and trucks from entering the bloc, as well as Russian coal imports. The EU will also push ahead with a debate on targeting Russian oil, she said — a sensitive issue in Europe, where many countries are dependent on Russian fuel imports.

Calculus Will Not Change 

The calculus will not change because the proposal is headed nowhere. 

All 27 nations in the EU would have to agree to cut the energy flow from Russia. 

And that’s not going to happen for obvious reasons.

EU Energy Costs Soar

Peanuts

Note that there is no proposal to sanction Gazprom or Gazprombank, the Russian energy supplier and its bank.

Stop Imports Now

Yep go ahead. Drive the EU into an instant economic depression. 

Germany would not agree to halt energy imports. Now would Hungary. I am unsure is any EU nation would in practice. 

Blowhard Politicians

Politicians like Guy Verhofstadt are nothing but hot air blowhards. 

None of this condones what Putin did. He is a war criminal. There are plenty in the US as well if you look at illegal and unjustified actions by the US in Iraq, Libya, Vietnam, etc. 

Biden Supports More Oil From Canada, But No Realistic Option to Get It Here

In the US, Biden Supports More Oil From Canada, But No Realistic Option to Get It Here

Everyone wants an easy solution to Ukraine, energy prices, and inflation. There is none, and sanctions certainly have not helped. 

Meanwhile, De-Globalization an New Supply Chains Are Inefficient and Will Drive Up Inflation.

*  *  *

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Tyler Durden
Wed, 04/06/2022 – 11:45

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The D.C. Public Charter Schools Where Masks Are Still Mandatory


dreamstime_xxl_181736450 (1)

On March 16, Washington, D.C., became one of the very last major metropolitan areas in the country to finally end mask mandates for students. According to Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, kids who attend D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) no longer have to wear masks.

That’s not always what happens in practice, of course. Earlier this week, Vice President Kamala Harris visited Thomas Elementary School, a public school, and posed for photos with kids. Every single child who participated in the photo op wore a mask, but Harris did not.

Thomas Elementary did not respond to a request for comment about its masking policies, so it’s not clear if the school actually requires masks. If so, the school would hardly be alone in keeping a mask mandate in place. In fact, many of the city’s public charter schools—which are overseen by a school board that is separate from DCPS—have kept mask mandates in place. Indeed, several have no plans to ever end the mandate, a source of tremendous frustration for some parents.

“Our principal told us that right now masks are still required indoors for all students,” says Lindsay Elman, a mother of a child at Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School.

Mundo Verde is one of five D.C.-area foreign language immersion charter schools that run from kindergarten through fifth grade. They are feeder schools for District of Columbia International School (DCI), which teaches sixth through 12th grade. And they are, by and large, keeping mask mandates in place.

DCI itself is sticking with an indoor mask mandate. And students only gained the right to go maskless outdoors as recently as March 28—last week.

“They wore them during sports, outdoor track was masked,” says Lauren Peterson, a mother with three kids—twin seventh graders and a 10th grader—at DCI. Her fourth and youngest child attended school at Elsie Whitlow Stokes, another D.C. charter, but Peterson pulled the kid due to uncertainty about the mask mandates ever going away for good.

Yu Ying Charter School, a Chinese-English dual language charter, is waiting until April 25 to end the mask mandate. Yu Ying is also enforcing a travel quarantine: Unvaccinated students—a category which includes virtually all the pre-K students—and their immediate family members are forbidden from leaving the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area. If they do leave, they must abide by a 7–10 day quarantine period.

The fact that these policies are far stricter than what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend is not lost on families with kids in these schools.

“Parents are not really allowed in the building for any reason,” says Paul Fraioli, a parent. “Up until a month ago, they wanted to have the objects people touched sanitized.”

The parents interviewed for this article expressed frustration with school administrators who had pledged to do exactly what CDC guidance and the scientific consensus believed was right, but abandoned this course of action once health experts conceded that de-masking was safe enough.

“For the past two plus years, we followed the science like it’s the bible, and now people’s irrational fears are taking over these policy decisions,” says Elman, the DCI parent.

Fraioli points out that the CDC is moving away from raw case numbers as the relevant COVID-19 metric: What really matters to federal health officials is the hospitalization rate. But Yu Ying is focused on community spread—case counts—to determine its COVID-19 policies. The school’s health and safety plan notes that even the outdoor mask mandate will be brought back if the community spread level increases from low to medium. The plan also includes outdated recommendations that unnecessarily warn students and staff to avoid touching their masks and to wash their hands if they do.

“Be careful when taking off their mask and wash their hands after removing it,” the plan reads. “Store the mask out of anyone’s reach. Use a clean mask if someone touches the one they’re currently wearing.”

Yu Ying declined to offer comment for this article; none of the other schools responded to requests at all. Fraioli, Elman, and Peterson said the strict policies largely reflect the preferences of the staff rather than the parents. Many teachers indicated in surveys that they were only comfortable working in the schools if the mask mandate remain in place—even though virtually all teachers are vaccinated, as are most students. Kids, whether vaccinated or not, are at extremely low risk of severe COVID-19 health outcomes.

It’s true that the point of charter schools is to offer families choices beyond what the traditional public school system provides. In theory, some charters could serve as enclaves of greater COVID-19 enforcement, matching more cautious parents with teachers and educational environments that are aligned with their preferences. If more kids—preferably, all kids—had the option to benefit from school choice programs, then students and parents could sort themselves into the schools that fit their comfort level.

Unfortunately, we are a far cry from that reality. Most kids are obligated to attend a specific public school assigned to their ZIP code, and teachers unions across the country have constituted a powerful interest group in favor of keeping public school students masked—and, until recently, in virtual classrooms. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), has previously stated that she wanted to see “no transmission in schools” at all before she would support the removal of masks.

D.C.’s public charter schools are generally not unionized, though Mundo Verde opted to join AFT two years ago, in the middle of the pandemic. In any case, it’s disappointing that the somewhat different governing structures of DCI, Yu Ying, and other schools in their cohort have not produced better results from the standpoint of mask-and-distancing-weary families.

“I’ve never even seen my son’s kindergarten teacher in person,” says Fraioli.

The post The D.C. Public Charter Schools Where Masks Are Still Mandatory appeared first on Reason.com.

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The D.C. Public Charter Schools Where Masks Are Still Mandatory


dreamstime_xxl_181736450 (1)

On March 16, Washington, D.C., became one of the very last major metropolitan areas in the country to finally end mask mandates for students. According to Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, kids who attend D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) no longer have to wear masks.

That’s not always what happens in practice, of course. Earlier this week, Vice President Kamala Harris visited Thomas Elementary School, a public school, and posed for photos with kids. Every single child who participated in the photo op wore a mask, but Harris did not.

Thomas Elementary did not respond to a request for comment about its masking policies, so it’s not clear if the school actually requires masks. If so, the school would hardly be alone in keeping a mask mandate in place. In fact, many of the city’s public charter schools—which are overseen by a school board that is separate from DCPS—have kept mask mandates in place. Indeed, several have no plans to ever end the mandate, a source of tremendous frustration for some parents.

“Our principal told us that right now masks are still required indoors for all students,” says Lindsay Elman, a mother of a child at Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School.

Mundo Verde is one of five D.C.-area foreign language immersion charter schools that run from kindergarten through fifth grade. They are feeder schools for District of Columbia International School (DCI), which teaches sixth through 12th grade. And they are, by and large, keeping mask mandates in place.

DCI itself is sticking with an indoor mask mandate. And students only gained the right to go maskless outdoors as recently as March 28—last week.

“They wore them during sports, outdoor track was masked,” says Lauren Peterson, a mother with three kids—twin seventh graders and a 10th grader—at DCI. Her fourth and youngest child attended school at Elsie Whitlow Stokes, another D.C. charter, but Peterson pulled the kid due to uncertainty about the mask mandates ever going away for good.

Yu Ying Charter School, a Chinese-English dual language charter, is waiting until April 25 to end the mask mandate. Yu Ying is also enforcing a travel quarantine: Unvaccinated students—a category which includes virtually all the pre-K students—and their immediate family members are forbidden from leaving the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area. If they do leave, they must abide by a 7–10 day quarantine period.

The fact that these policies are far stricter than what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend is not lost on families with kids in these schools.

“Parents are not really allowed in the building for any reason,” says Paul Fraioli, a parent. “Up until a month ago, they wanted to have the objects people touched sanitized.”

The parents interviewed for this article expressed frustration with school administrators who had pledged to do exactly what CDC guidance and the scientific consensus believed was right, but abandoned this course of action once health experts conceded that de-masking was safe enough.

“For the past two plus years, we followed the science like it’s the bible, and now people’s irrational fears are taking over these policy decisions,” says Elman, the DCI parent.

Fraioli points out that the CDC is moving away from raw case numbers as the relevant COVID-19 metric: What really matters to federal health officials is the hospitalization rate. But Yu Ying is focused on community spread—case counts—to determine its COVID-19 policies. The school’s health and safety plan notes that even the outdoor mask mandate will be brought back if the community spread level increases from low to medium. The plan also includes outdated recommendations that unnecessarily warn students and staff to avoid touching their masks and to wash their hands if they do.

“Be careful when taking off their mask and wash their hands after removing it,” the plan reads. “Store the mask out of anyone’s reach. Use a clean mask if someone touches the one they’re currently wearing.”

Yu Ying declined to offer comment for this article; none of the other schools responded to requests at all. Fraioli, Elman, and Peterson said the strict policies largely reflect the preferences of the staff rather than the parents. Many teachers indicated in surveys that they were only comfortable working in the schools if the mask mandate remain in place—even though virtually all teachers are vaccinated, as are most students. Kids, whether vaccinated or not, are at extremely low risk of severe COVID-19 health outcomes.

It’s true that the point of charter schools is to offer families choices beyond what the traditional public school system provides. In theory, some charters could serve as enclaves of greater COVID-19 enforcement, matching more cautious parents with teachers and educational environments that are aligned with their preferences. If more kids—preferably, all kids—had the option to benefit from school choice programs, then students and parents could sort themselves into the schools that fit their comfort level.

Unfortunately, we are a far cry from that reality. Most kids are obligated to attend a specific public school assigned to their ZIP code, and teachers unions across the country have constituted a powerful interest group in favor of keeping public school students masked—and, until recently, in virtual classrooms. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), has previously stated that she wanted to see “no transmission in schools” at all before she would support the removal of masks.

D.C.’s public charter schools are generally not unionized, though Mundo Verde opted to join AFT two years ago, in the middle of the pandemic. In any case, it’s disappointing that the somewhat different governing structures of DCI, Yu Ying, and other schools in their cohort have not produced better results from the standpoint of mask-and-distancing-weary families.

“I’ve never even seen my son’s kindergarten teacher in person,” says Fraioli.

The post The D.C. Public Charter Schools Where Masks Are Still Mandatory appeared first on Reason.com.

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Why The Sharp Selloff In Stocks And Bonds? JPMorgan Trading Desk Explains

Why The Sharp Selloff In Stocks And Bonds? JPMorgan Trading Desk Explains

As JPM desk trader Andrew Tyler writes in his morning market intelligence note, yesterday, the market sold off following hawkish  comment from Brainard even if in reality Brainard offered no new  information, and merely underscored what Powell had already said several times. Today, we receive Minutes from the last Fed meeting where Powell indicated that the market would receive color on QT.

So if this is “nothing new”, why the sharp drops across Equities and Treasuries in the past 48 hours (which JPMorgan’s permabullish stock evangelist, Marko Kolanovic did not expect and instead once again told clients to BTFD as he has every single week this year)?

For the answer we turn to JPM trader Ron Adler who writes that “over the past few weeks, there was a lot of lazy buying of growth stocks as economic concerns pervaded into value/cyclical stock sentiment. It felt like the NDX was due for a pullback following the ~18% rally from the March lows; we saw more profit-taking over the past few days.“

Additionally, with net & gross exposures remaining historically light (and performance challenged) “this move caught investors off guard. It led to some frustrating buying/covering along the way with little conviction. Many convinced themselves of the need to lean longer when the VIX dipped <25, and even longer once it breached <20. The news flow in the coming weeks will remain scant (financials earnings next week, NFLX on 4/19). This dynamic will leave the tape susceptible to more perceived Hawkishness from fed officials as the fears about the pace of shifting monetary policy remain paramount.”

SPX v. NDX v. EXPENSIVE SOFTWARE v. SEMIS v. FANG

Meanwhile, adding to the pain for balanced 60/40 and risk-parity investors, in Rates we saw selling and steepening across the curve “as Rates folks viewed Brainard as being more hawkish than the norm.” The following from JPM trader Allison McNellis gives better context.

Brainard (voter) gave a very hawkish speech today that was largely repeated in moderated Q&A. Recall as a result of her ongoing confirmation she hasn’t had a public engagement since late February. She is considered a dove on the committee and many including myself thought she could possibly be the lowest dot in the plot in 2022. In the speech she confirms QT “as soon as May”, is open to the use of 50s, and in her view policy will be at neutral later this year. She used the word “expeditiously” in regards to rate policy and balance sheet, echoing both George and Powell. She did not mention asset sales but used the word “rapid” 3 times.

For the FOMC Minutes, Brainard expects this on caps: “I expect the balance sheet to shrink considerably more rapidly than in the previous recovery, with significantly larger caps and a much shorter period to phase in the maximum caps compared with 2017–19.”

Tyler Durden
Wed, 04/06/2022 – 11:25

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China Slowdown Risks May Be Bigger Than Fed Hikes

China Slowdown Risks May Be Bigger Than Fed Hikes

By Tomoko Yamazaki, Bloomberg Markets Live reporter and commentator

Policy and liquidity dictate China stock moves more than the global growth outlook but for now, the country’s Covid lockdown appears to be outweighing all other positive policy benefits as seen in stock performances today.

After all, China remains the world’s factory, and a slowdown in the world’s biggest economy could be a bigger risk than the actual Fed hikes (see “China Services PMI Crashes In March As COVID Crisis Worsens“).

Economic prints, including today’s PMI numbers, have been deteriorating due to China’s strict Covid policy. It’s a contrast with other countries that are shiftingto live with the disease. The outbreak worsened in Shanghai, where its large elderly population is under-protected by vaccines. The government just announced another lockdown as it conducts a new round of testing from today.

Supply-chain woes are deepening with the wait times for semiconductor deliveries rising to another high in March, in part, due to China’s restrictions.

While Fed Governor Brainard’s comments rock the global bond and equity markets, the risk of Beijing’s response to rising cases should be kept in the back of one’s mind as a wild card.

Tyler Durden
Wed, 04/06/2022 – 11:05

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Russia Sends $650 Million Bond Payment In Rubles After US Treasury Blocks Dollars

Russia Sends $650 Million Bond Payment In Rubles After US Treasury Blocks Dollars

The Russian Finance Ministry may have avoided technical default on Tuesday by sending $649.2 million in rubles to satisfy bond payments, after the US Treasury on Monday banned them from making dollar debt payments from accounts at US financial institutions.

File photo. Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov (L) speak during a meeting of the Supreme Council of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), in St.Petersburg, Russia, 6 December 2018. [Pool/EPA/EFE]

The ministry said foreign banks had rejected USD bond payments for both April maturities and coupons on notes which come due in April 2042, leaving Russia no choice but to send rubles to the National Settlement Depository. According to ministry officials, Russia “considers it fulfilled its obligations in full.”

That said, neither of the bonds allows Russia the option to pay in rubles, according to Bloomberg, raising concern among investors that a technical default could be declared after a 30-day grace period.

“The default issue is tricky,” said Abdul Kadir Hussain, the head of fixed-income asset management at Dubai-based Arqaam Capital. “Russia can claim we are willing to pay, we have the money to pay, but banks are not letting us pay. I’m not sure how the courts would handle that.”

Earlier this year, rating firms S&P Global and Fitch said they would consider Russia to be in default if they satisfied payments on notes in a different currency than the one agreed upon, leading investors to load up on credit swaps and read the fine print on around $40 billion in contracts.

Russia’s Default Swaps Signal $40 Billion Payday Is Imminent

Credit-default swaps protecting $10 million of the government’s bonds for one year were quoted as high as $7 million upfront and $100,000 annually, according to market participants on Wednesday. That implies around 87% probability of default. -Bloomberg

The last time Russia defaulted on its ruble debt was 1998, two years before Vladimir Putin assumed power. 

One US Treasury insider told Business that bondholders can still get paid if Russia can find a way to send dollars without using immobilized funds in US accounts – however the Russian Finance Ministry’s announcement suggested that they wouldn’t be exploring other avenues, and would continue to pay in rubles.

Tyler Durden
Wed, 04/06/2022 – 10:50

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/rKJoa9c Tyler Durden

WTI Dips After US Crude Production Rise, Inventory Build

WTI Dips After US Crude Production Rise, Inventory Build

Oil prices have been volatile so far today but are higher for now after dropping on headlines  from Bloomberg reporting that the International Energy Agency plans to deploy 60 million barrels of crude on top of the huge stockpile release already announced by the Biden Administration. Overnight saw dismal data from China which reinforced demand anxiety.

“Everything to me points to the market being in a pretty difficult place on the supply side,” said Callum MacPherson, head of commodities at Investec Plc.

“The main bearish point I can see is the China Covid outbreak, everything else looks pretty bullish.”

For now, all eyes on US gasoline demand for any signs of demand destruction…

API

  • Crude +1.08mm (-2.056mm exp)

  • Cushing +1.791mm

  • Gasoline -543k

  • Distillates +593k

DOE

  • Crude +2.42mm (-2.056mm exp)

  • Cushing +1.651mm

  • Gasoline -2.041mm

  • Distillates +771k

The official DOE data confirmed API’s reported build in crude stocks and a sizable rebound in stocks at Cushing…

Source: Bloomberg

Gasoline demand rebounded modestly last week but remains significantly below average…

Source: Bloomberg

US crude production rose for the second straight week, back to its highest since May 2020…

Source: Bloomberg

WTI was hovering around $102.50 ahead of the official data and dipped on the bigger than expected build…

As Bloomberg notes, the possibility of new curbs is offsetting the impact in the global crude market of a vast release from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR,) beginning in May, in a bid to tame prices. Other countries have said they’ll also make drawdowns.

“Many who were long oil got out in the last week or so on the basis that the SPR was just too much for the market to handle without some real evidence of dropping Russian crude exports,” said Scott Shelton, an energy specialist at TP ICAP Group Plc.

That move has reshaped the oil futures curve, keeping a lid on nearby prices but lifting those further into the future.

But who cares about that… it’s after the Midterms! (and the next government will have to deal with the cost of refilling it at higher prices?)

Tyler Durden
Wed, 04/06/2022 – 10:37

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Watch Live: Democrats Interrogate Oil Executives About “America’s Pain At The Pump”

Watch Live: Democrats Interrogate Oil Executives About “America’s Pain At The Pump”

As public opinion poll after public opinion poll has confirmed, surging gas prices is one of the most controversial issues in the US. As President Biden made clear when he announced his plans to release 180 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Democrats are doing everything they can to try and blame rising prices on President Putin and the American energy industry (which Biden accused of greedily holding back on production, even though his own energy policies have made it harder for shale producers to do so).

So, in their latest attempt to blame the spike in prices on evil corporate America, Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations are holding a hearing on Wednesday, where they will interrogate the CEOs of Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP America, Shell USA, Devon Energy Corp and Pioneer about the dynamics driving the surge in prices at the pump. The title of the hearing tells one everything they need to know about the overall tone: “Gouged At The Gas Station: Big Oil And America’s Pain At The Pump”.

In testimony submitted to the subcommittee, the oil executives explained that a combination of labor and supply shortages have stopped their companies from raising output back to pre-pandemic levels, while the price of oil and gas are largely determined by international market conditions beyond their control.

Of course, this reasoning was apparently lost on the Democrats. In an interview with Reuters, Democrat members of the committee are already sharpening their knives.

“We will not sit back and allow the fossil fuel industry to take advantage of the American people and gouge them at the pump,” Diana DeGette, a Democrat and chair of the subcommittee, said about the hearing at which executives from Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP America, Shell USA , Devon Energy and Pioneer will testify.

“We want to know what’s causing these record-high prices and what needs to be done to bring them down immediately,” she said. Many Democrats have complained that oil companies have made record profits while consumers face high prices.

In addition to the executives, former Trump Administration National Security Advisor HR McMaster, now a senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institute, will also participate.

Readers can find the prepared testimony here.

Readers can watch live below:

Tyler Durden
Wed, 04/06/2022 – 10:25

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US Majors Plunge Below Critical Support As Dudley Warns Fed Needs To “Shock Market”

US Majors Plunge Below Critical Support As Dudley Warns Fed Needs To “Shock Market”

The second half of March came to an end and so did the meltup. Building on yesterday’s losses – as we detailed here – this morning’s breakdown has snapped all the major US equity markets below critical technical support levels.

The S&P is back below its 200DMA. The Dow and Russell 2000 are back below their 50DMA, and Nasdaq is rapidly accelerating down towards it 50DMA…

This comes as former NYFed President Bill Dudley issues another post-service op-ed warning that “If Stocks Don’t Fall, the Fed Needs to Force Them”…

It’s hard to know how much the U.S. Federal Reserve will need to do to get inflation under control. But one thing is certain: To be effective, it’ll have to inflict more losses on stock and bond investors than it has so far.

…

Investors should pay closer attention to what Powell has said: Financial conditions need to tighten. If this doesn’t happen on its own (which seems unlikely), the Fed will have to shock markets to achieve the desired response. This would mean hiking the federal funds rate considerably higher than currently anticipated. One way or another, to get inflation under control, the Fed will need to push bond yields higher and stock prices lower.

Sounds familiar?

Tyler Durden
Wed, 04/06/2022 – 10:18

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