Month: March 2024

Washington’s “Problem Bank List” rose again last quarter, capping off a year when US lenders struggled to cope with higher interest rates and more overdue loans for commercial buildings and credit cards.

Bad Banks Rising

The FDICs’ confidential tally of lenders with with financial, operational or managerial weaknesses had grown by eight banks to 52, representing 1.1% of the institutions it oversees. The total assets held by those firms increased by $12.8 billion last quarter to $66.3 billion.

Although the number of firms on the FDIC’s list remains relatively low compared with historical highs, it continues an increasing trend that started early last year.

Always-friendly Senator Liz Warren lambasted Fed Chair Jay Powell today, claiming that “greedy bank executives” were behind bank failures, and the Fed needs to do its job of regulating those institutions.

Powell responded by saying they’ve reached out to banks with high levels of uninsured deposits and high levels of office real estate debt, adding that The Fed is examining whether they are “being truthful” with themselves.

With regard to being “truthful”, as we detailed previously, many of the loans on banks’ books are dramatically mispriced (over-valued):

“The worry now is that such firesales will set an example for other major investors seeking a way out of the turmoil too, forcing a wholesale crash in the Manhattan real estate market which until now had managed to avoid real price discovery.”

Warren responds by exclaiming that Powell has “gone weak-kneed” on bank regulation, concluding with this shot across the bow:

“the American people need a leader at the Fed who has the courage to stand up to these banks.”

Of course, The FDIC’s Quarterly Banking Profile would not be complete without the obligatory comment that ‘Overall, the FDIC said that the sector remains strong and resilient.’

“The banking industry continued to show resilience after a period of liquidity stress in early 2023,” Martin Gruenberg, the head of the agency, said in a statement.

He added that the industry faces significant risks that could affect credit quality, profits and liquidity. The FDIC chief flagged concerns around commercial real estate loans.

Bank Incomes Plummeting

Aggregate net income for the 4,587 FDIC-insured commercial banks and savings institutions declined $30 billion (43.9 percent) from the prior quarter to $38.4 billion.

Higher noninterest expense (up $26.6 billion, or 18.9 percent), lower noninterest income (down $6.5 billion, or 8.8 percent), and higher provision expense (up $5.2 billion, or 26.5 percent) drove the decline in net income in the fourth quarter.

Higher provision expense occurred as the industry built reserves, primarily for credit card and commercial real estate loans.

Charge-Offs Are Accelerating (above pre-pandemic levels)

The industry’s net charge-off rate increased 14 basis points from the prior quarter and 29 basis points from the prior year to 0.65 percent, 17 basis points above its pre-pandemic average.

As an aside, The FDIC now estimates $20.4 billion in losses arising from the failure of both SVB and New York-based Signature Bank, up 25% from its $16.3 billion November estimate.

The industry’s net charge-off rate is 17 basis points above its pre-pandemic average. 

Nonfarm nonresidential commercial real estate loans also contributed to the increase in net charge-offs, particularly among non-owner occupied properties in which the net charge-off rate of 0.51 percent was the highest level since fourth quarter 2012.

CRE Loan delinquencies soaring (highest since 2014)

Late payments on commercial properties that aren’t owner occupied are at the highest level since the first months of 2014, Gruenberg, the FDIC chairman, said in his remarks.

Powell says there will be bank failures from CRE troubles, but not at big banks, repeating an earlier comment that troubled CRE loans are manageable and more an issue for smaller and medium-sized banks.

Credit-card delinquencies also soaring (highest since 2011)…

Credit card loans led the annual increase in net charge-off balances. Delinquent credit cards haven’t been this high since the third quarter of 2011…

The net charge-off rate on credit card loans was 4.15 percent, the highest rate for this portfolio reported by the industry since first quarter 2012.

While credit cards and nonfarm, nonresidential commercial real estate loans drove the quarterly increase in the noncurrent rate, residential mortgages drove the quarterly increase in the share of loans 30-89 days past due.

But, apart from all that, as Powell said in the last two days: ‘the banking system is strong and resilient’.

And how do you think these charts will look as banks face an imminent shift to tougher capital and liquidity regulations.

Authored by Bill Pan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

More than two years after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned in disgrace, a House subcommittee on Tuesday issued a subpoena for him to testify about COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes across the state during his tenure.

In a letter to the former governor, the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic demanded that he testify about his March 2020 directive that ordered long-term care facilities to take in patients infected with COVID.

“This misguided decision effectively admitted thousands of COVID-19 positive patients into nursing homes, causing predictable but deadly consequences for New York’s most vulnerable,” the Republican-led subcommittee told Mr. Cuomo, who was hailed by Democrats and members of the mainstream media for his leadership during the early days of the pandemic.

In addition to the March 2020 order itself, the subcommittee said they have found “troubling evidence” suggesting the Cuomo administration “at best downplayed” the order’s impact and “at worst covered them up.”

Death Numbers

One example the subcommittee cited is a January 2021 report complied by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who recently gained national attention for initiating a civil lawsuit that led to a historic $454 million fine on former President Donald Trump.

In that 76-page report, Ms. James rebuked the Cuomo administration’s official tally of about 8,700 nursing home residents who died from COVID-19, accusing the state of depressing the death toll by only counting those that occurred in the facilities while leaving out anyone who had died after being transferred to a hospital.

Extrapolating from a survey of about 10 percent of New York’s nursing homes, Ms. James estimated that the actual number of COVID deaths related to such facilities “may have been undercounted by as much as 50 percent.” Just hours after the report’s release, the state’s Department of Health (DOH) added some 3,800 hospital deaths, bringing the official number up to 12,473.

In the week following the report, the state DOH website updated the number again, which was then 13,163. A week after that, a group of Senate Democrats released a letter the Cuomo administration gave them. That letter raised the total COVID-19 death toll in nursing homes and other adult-care facilities to 15,049, apparently underscoring Ms. James’ estimate.

‘Unwillingness to Cooperate’

The subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), said they have been contacting Mr. Cuomo to schedule a voluntary interview since last March. However, the former governor “repeatedly and consistently dismissed, deflected, or ignored all questions or requests” from the lawmakers, leaving them no choice but to issue a subpoena compelling his testimony.

“Your unwillingness to seriously cooperate with our requests and to negotiate a reasonable date to participate in a transcribed interview has unjustifiably delayed our investigation,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter. “This is unacceptable.”

Rita Galvin, an attorney for Mr. Cuomo, disputed such characterization, saying that she had previously provided the subcommittee with multiple dates for an August interview but never got any response until Tuesday.

“To be clear, Governor Cuomo has been and remains cooperative,” Ms. Glavin wrote in a letter to the subcommittee, urging the lawmakers to “reconsider issuing a subpoena.”

Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for Mr. Cuomo, called the subpoena an “obvious press charade.” The former governor’s pandemic response, he said, has been reviewed by the Justice Department of both Trump and Biden administrations, as well as Congress and the Manhattan District Attorney, but none resulted in any charges.

“New York followed the guidance put forth by the Trump administration in March of 2020—as did other Democratic and Republican states,” Mr. Azzopardi said in a statement. “If they have a problem with that, they should look in the mirror. Congress knows this, but it’s not about the facts, this is about politics.”

A three-term governor and celebrated Democrat superstar who won an Emmy for his daily COVID briefings, Mr. Cuomo stepped down in August 2021, about a year after he reached the heights of his political career.

Although Mr. Cuomo’s downfall began with the scandal surrounding COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes, it was a series of allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate workplace behavior that dealt a fatal blow to his political future. His resignation announcement came just one week after Ms. James released a separate report that gave credence to his accusers, paying the way for then-Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul to become the first woman to be elected to the Empire State’s top political office.

Shares of Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk A/S soared to a new record high on Thursday after the company reported progress in its pill-based next-generation obesity treatment during an investor event. 

Investors cheered when Novo released the results of a Phase I trial of the amycretin pill version, which showed participants lost about 13.1% after 12 weeks. This compares to a 6% weight loss drop after 12 weeks in the trial for its injectable Wegovy drug. 

Amycretin uses the same GLP-1 hormone as other weight-loss drugs, such as Wegovy and Lilly’s Zepbound. The key is that it also stimulates the hormone amylin, which regulates hunger. 

The study’s results boosted Novo shares in Copenhagen by as much as 8% to 918 krone a share.

The company’s head of research and development, Martin Lange Holst, expects the Phase II trial of amycretin to begin in the second half of this year. Results are expected in early 2026. 

Novo’s next-generation projects are outlined in this slide. 

“Novo has made clear that the amycretin molecule likely will form the foundation of the company’s rapidly growing pipeline,” said Guggenheim analyst Seamus Fernandez.

Last week, Berenberg Bank analysts wrote in a note to clients that nearly half of Novo’s current valuation has been built on the company’s pipeline of new experimental drugs. 

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Weapons shipments that exceed a certain amount require notices to Congress. Biden’s solution is to make the shipments smaller and send hundreds more of them.

The Arms Pipeline to Israel

The Wall Street Journal notes How the U.S. Arms Pipeline to Israel Avoids Public Disclosure

The U.S. has sent tens of thousands of weapons including bombs and precision guided munitions to Israel since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks using procedures that have largely masked the scale of the administration’s military support for its closest Middle East ally, according to current and former U.S. officials.

The administration has organized more than 100 individual transfers of arms to Israel, but has only officially notified Congress of two shipments made under the major foreign weapons sales process, which are usually submitted to lawmakers for review and then publicly disclosed, U.S. officials said. In both cases, the administration used an emergency rule that avoids the review process.

The rest of the transfers have been approved using less public mechanisms available to the White House. Those include drawing from U.S. stockpiles, accelerating previously approved deliveries and sending weapons in smaller batches that fall below a dollar threshold that requires the administration to notify Congress, according to current and former U.S. officials.

“While the State Department has no legal obligation to notify below-threshold arms transfers, using this process to repeatedly end-run Congress—as sales of this quantity suggest—would violate the spirit of the law and undermine Congress’s important oversight role” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.), a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, told The Wall Street Journal.

“This stuff is non-transparent by design,” said Josh Paul, a State Department official handling congressional relations who resigned in October in protest of the Biden administration’s policy on the Gaza war.

Reflections on the Spirit of the Law

Biden openly flouts not of the spirt of laws but actual laws, and brags about that as happened with student aid.

The only people who fully understand any laws are the lobbyists who write them.

In this case the weapons industry likely lobbyists inserted provisions to allow the president to ship weapons at will.

What’s Cookin’?

The U.S.-supplied arms since the beginning of the Gaza war include at least 23,000 precision guided weapons, including Hellfire air-to-ground missiles, drones, and Joint Direct Attack Munition kits, which turn unguided bombs into “smart” bombs, along with other similar weapons, U.S. officials said.

Israel has also received 58,000 155mm artillery shells and munitions for its Iron Dome air defense system, the officials said.

Now guess what. The Pentagon will complain we don’t have enough of a weapons stockpile and will request more “defense” spending.

Republicans and Democrats will be happy to oblige.

West Bank Construction Surging

Also, please note Visual Evidence Shows Illegal Settler Construction in West Bank Surging

A Wall Street Journal investigation found that since Oct. 7, Israeli settlers have been rapidly building illegal roads and outposts across the West Bank. This work is sometimes done under armed guard with funding from the Israeli government.

Normally the Journal has a share button but the accompanying video does not offer one.

There are 15 major roads and 5 settlements underway with military protection. These settlements and roads are illegal under international law.

The pace of construction is surging. Typically it takes years to build a road. Now they are finished in days.

Netanyahu is Really in Trouble

Tensions mount in Israel’s war cabinet as Benny Gantz, the chief political rival to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, plan to visit D.C.

Please note my post Netanyahu is Really in Trouble and There’s No Simple Solution

What’s Biden Doing?

Biden, who opposes the construction as well as Israeli plans in Gaza, sends concealed weapon shipments with no strings attached.

He is lobbying Congress for more Israeli aid, also with no strings attached.

Somehow we are spoon fed the idea these wars are a national security risk to the US.

Actually, it’s our meddling that’s a security risk.

On Thursday morning, electric utility Xcel Energy stated, “Our facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition” of the worst wildfire in Texas history. 

The Smokehouse Creek fire, which started on Feb. 26, has burned over 1.2 million acres and destroyed hundreds of buildings and thousands of cattle in the Texas Panhandle area.  

“Based on currently available information, Xcel Energy acknowledges that its facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse Creek fire,” Xcel wrote in a press release. 

Xcel said it has been cooperating with investigations about the wildfire and has launched its own review of the incident. However, the company denied claims “that it acted negligently in maintaining and operating its infrastructure.” 

Last week, Xcel Energy revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that attorneys asked the company to preserve a splintered power pole near where the fire started. 

Shares of Xcel have plunged 15% since the fire began. 

Meanwhile, BBC News blames “climate change.”

Sigh, BBC. 

 

 

 

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has a right to be a tad confused.  The senator noted the matter-of-fact coverage by The New York Times that Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to send troops to New York City to crack down on crime. Cotton posted a “hmmm” note that simply read: “Sending in the troops to help restore law and order…” His point was that, roughly four years ago, the newspaper publicly denounced him after running his opinion piece calling for the use of national guard troops to quell violent riots in Washington.

The Cotton column led to editors being forced out after public confessions and recriminations. Now, after Democratic politicians actually ordered such a deployment, the Times has offered little more than a journalistic shrug.

Hochul announced she will be deploying 750 members of the National Guard to New York City’s subway system to assist the New York Police Department (NYPD) in the crackdown on crime, including bag searches at the entrances of busy train stations.

I have previously written on the hypocrisy of the Times in how it has handled the Cotton affair. The column itself was historically accurate. Indeed, critics never explained what was historically false (or outside the range of permissible interpretation) in the column. Moreover, writers Taylor Lorenz, Caity Weaver, Sheera Frankel, Jacey Fortin, and others said that such columns put black reporters in danger and condemned publishing Cotton’s viewpoint.

In a breathtaking surrender, the newspaper apologized and not only promised an investigation in how such an opposing view could find itself on its pages but promised to reduce the number of editorials in the future:

“We’ve examined the piece and the process leading up to its publication. This review made clear that a rushed editorial process led to the publication of an Op-Ed that did not meet our standards. As a result, we’re planning to examine both short term and long term changes, to include expanding our fact-checking operation and reduction the number of op-eds we publish.”

The sacking of Bennet had its intended effect. Writers and columnists with opposing or critical views were soon forced off newspapers around the country, including at the New York Times.

Editor Adam Rubenstein was also forced out at the paper and recently wrote a scathing account of the bizarre environment within the paper.

The writers have condemned the “both sideism” of allowing conservative viewpoints in the newspaper and insisted that Cotton and others must be banned as favoring potential violent actions against protesters. Yet, the newspaper has published people with anti-free speech and violent viewpoints in the last year. While the New York Times stands by its declaration that Cotton should never have been published, it had no problem in publishing “Beijing’s enforcer” in Hong Kong as Regina Ip mocked freedom protesters who were being beaten and arrested by the government.

Indeed, just before the anniversary of the Cotton controversy, the New York Times published a column by University of Rhode Island professor  Erik Loomis, who brushed off the murder of a conservative protester and said that he saw “nothing wrong” with such acts of violence.  Loomis’ article on “Why The Amazon Workers Never Stood A Chance” did not include his earlier violent rationalization. It was in my view a worthy and interesting column for publication. So was Cotton’s column.

While many today still claim that the protests around the White House were “entirely peaceful” and there was no “attack on the White House,” that claim is demonstrably false. As I discussed in my testimony to Congress, there was in fact an exceptionally high number of officers injured over the course of days of protests around the White House. In addition to a reported 150 officers injured (including at least 49 Park Police officers around the White House), protesters caused extensive property damage including the torching of a historic structure and the attempted arson of St. John’s.  The threat was so great that Trump had to be moved into the bunker because the Secret Service feared a breach of security around the White House.

Notably, later during the January 6th riot, there were no recriminations for the use of the same fencing and national guard troops to protect the Capitol, albeit too late to have prevented the initial riot.

So now it is a Democratic leader who is not just calling for the use of troops but actually deploying them in New York City. It is part of an effort by many Democrats to change course on crime and immigration before the 2024 election after years of criminal law reforms and sanctuary city policies.

What is clear from the Times coverage is that there is still no sense of compulsion at the newsroom to be consistent or even self-aware. Outrage remains entirely selective and political. There is no hashtag campaign by writers or repeating the same line that “running this put Black @nytimes staff in danger.”

The selective outrage directed at Sen. Cotton and the termination of editors at the newspaper were troubling enough. However, what is even more troubling is the unwillingness of the paper to apologize to Sen. Cotton for this hypocritical and unfair treatment.

The latest round of talks to reach a Gaza ceasefire deal in Cairo has failed. The Hamas delegation has departed the Egyptian capital, with no progress made, and it is accusing Israel of thwarting truce attempts while also charging Tel Aviv with blocking humanitarian aid shipments to the Strip. 

Israel for its part didn’t even send a delegation to Cairo and has only been engaged through intermediaries, after Prime Minister Netanyahu called Hamas’ conditions “delusional” – particularly the request for Israel’s military to withdraw all forces from Gaza. 

A Hamas official was cited in Al Jazeera as charging that Israel has “thwarted” all attempts by mediators to reach an agreement. The situation is growing more desperate by the hour, with local reporters saying that in some instances children are fainting on the streets due to hunger.

According to an Al Jazeera update of some of the latest key developments in the Israel-Hamas war:

• Israel has “consistently and groundlessly” blocked aid operations for Gaza even as the enclave falls deeper into famine, according to a new report based on interviews with government officials, humanitarian workers, and NGO staff.

• South Africa requests additional action, immediate ceasefire order from International Court of Justice to prevent “full-scale famine” in Gaza.

• Houthi-claimed strike on cargo ship causes first deaths since group began attacks on Red Sea shipping in response to Israel’s war on Gaza.

• At least 30,800 Palestinians have been killed and 72,198 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attacks stands at 1,139.

Negotiators who have left Cairo say that talks have ended with ‘no substantial answer or solution’.

The Times of Israel has reported, “An official Egyptian source told the country’s Al-Qahera News state-affiliated TV channel that negotiations over a ceasefire in Gaza have reached an impasse over Hamas’s demand for a phased process culminating in an end to the war, but said talks will resume next week.”

The Biden administration has meanwhile expressed that it hopes to see a legitimate deal reached by the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which starts March 10.

But each major battlefield incident or atrocity puts greater distance between the warring sides, and also increases pressure on each to gain the military upper hand, as mutual condemnations also abound.

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Legislation introduced on March 5 would strip COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers of liability protections, enabling Americans injured by the shots to sue the companies.

The bill, proposed by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), would retroactively remove protections from the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) for COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers.

“No federal law … may make the manufacturer of a COVID-19 vaccine immune from suit or liability, or limit the liability of such a manufacturer, with respect to claims for loss caused by, arising out of, relating to, or resulting from the administration to or the use by an individual of a COVID–19 vaccine,” the bill states.

The PREP Act currently protects manufacturers and people who administer the vaccines from liability, under a 2020 declaration entered by then-Health Secretary Alex Azar during former President Donald Trump’s administration in 2020. President Joe Biden’s administration has since extended the declaration.

The only exception to the PREP Act protection is in cases of death or serious injury caused by “willful misconduct.”

The protection even covers people who “reasonably could have believed” they were protected even if, in actuality, they were not, according to an opinion from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

“Millions of Americans were forced to take a COVID-19 shot out of fear of losing their livelihoods and under false pretenses. Many have faced injury from the vaccine, but few have been afforded little recourse,” Mr. Roy said in a statement.

He said he was introducing the new bill “to empower Americans to remove crony federal liability protections for COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers and empower injured Americans,” adding, “The American people deserve justice for the infringement on their personal medical freedom and those medically harmed deserve restitution.”

As part of the federal vaccine system, people who have suspected or confirmed injuries from COVID-19 vaccines can apply for compensation from the government under a program called the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program. But as of January, just 11 people have been compensated, with the highest payout being just $8,961.

The overwhelming majority of claims that have been processed have been rejected, according to the HHS, which both runs and administers the program. Some of the denials involved people whose doctors diagnosed them with vaccine injuries. A lawsuit has challenged the constitutionality of the program, describing it as a “kangaroo court.”

The new legislation makes clear that it does not affect the ability of people to apply for recompense through the compensation program.

Pfizer and Moderna did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the bill and have not appeared to comment publicly on it.

A spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a trade group for pharmaceutical companies, told Fox News that “by upending the existing liability framework manufacturers rely upon to provide predictable vaccine development, our ability to address future public health threats will be at risk.”

HHS has said the PREP Act declaration “has been a key tool for ensuring that Americans have broad access to critical COVID-19 countermeasures including vaccines, tests, and treatments” and “has provided flexibilities and protections for those individuals and entities who have been involved in providing these critical tools that have helped the United States get to a better place with COVID-19.”

Mr. Roy’s bill already has 19 co-sponsors, including Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Clary Higgins (R-La.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), and Andy Harris (R-Md.).

“Many Americans were wrongly forced to take a COVID-19 vaccine,” Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), another co-sponsor, said in a statement. “Of course, they should be allowed to sue if they become injured by the shot.”

Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit, is among the supporters of the proposal.

“The damages and fatalities caused by the COVID-19 vaccine demand accountability,” Mary Holland, president of the group, said in a statement. “This legislation represents a critical milestone in rectifying these injustices and paving the way for a more accountable future.”

There was notable weakness in Japanese stocks overnight after Japanese wage growth accelerated to the fastest clip since June.

While the basic wage trend unchanged, overall wage growth was lifted by the special wage:

According to monthly wage data released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), nominal cash wage growth accelerated to +2.0% yoy in January, from +0.8% in December. Growth on a reference “same sample” basis (unaffected by changes in the survey sample) was +2.0%, with growth remaining at the same level since November last year.

The special wage rose sharply by +16.2% yoy and lifted overall wage growth by +0.6 pp. The special wage tends to fluctuate sharply and is particularly susceptible to sample bias. Growth in the special wage on a reference “same sample” basis rose only +5.9%.

Source: Goldman Sachs

The picture is not a pretty one for the average Jo-san as ‘real’ wages continue to sink…

Source: Goldman Sachs

…which has prompted labor unions to make the strongest pay demands in three decades.

Rengo, Japan’s largest labor union federation, announced in the afternoon that the average demand made by its unions this year was 5.85%, the biggest figure in three decades, compared with an initial figure of 4.49% a year ago. Stronger demands from unions this year will bode well for the initial results of Rengo wage talks due for release on March 15.

Source: Goldman Sachs

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has personally lobbied executives for large wage increases, as he seeks to mollify consumers frustrated over persistent inflation. His government has implemented a number of measures to that end, including tax breaks for companies that raise wages.

This surprise jump in wage growth prompted speculation that the BoJ will move to hike rates this month for the first time since 2007.

“All of a sudden March looks like it’s live, and just a few weeks ago that was much less clear,” said Michael Metcalfe, global head of macro strategy at State Street Global Markets.

“The BOJ has a history of surprising the market, and it doesn’t seem to do forward guidance like other central banks, so there is going to be volatility around and ahead of the meetings.”

Bets on a hike at the March 18-19 meeting are gaining traction (almost 80%) as Bloomberg reports or rumors emerging that some BOJ officials favor an early move while some government officials also support a rate hike.

Source: Bloomberg

…and smashed USDJPY down 3 handles (yen stronger)…

Source: Bloomberg

“Everything is pointing to yen buying,” said Takeshi Ishida, a strategist at Resona Holdings Inc. in Tokyo.

“After an excessive drop in yen volatility and a buildup of yen shorts, both are susceptible to unwinding.”

Bloomberg reports that BOJ officials are getting more confident over the strength of wage growth, according to people familiar with the matter, a view board member Junko Nakagawa backed on Thursday.

“There are signs of a clear shift in businesses’ behavior for setting wages,” Nakagawa said during a speech in Shimane, western Japan.

“Japan’s economy and inflation are steadily making progress toward meeting the stable 2% inflation target.”

The first stop for USDJPY will be 142 based on inflation-adjusted rate differentials, which would imply an upside of 4% from its current levels. Beyond there, its fortunes will lie in the evolution of the interest-rate outlook in the US.

However, as Ven Ram noted yesterday, just getting to zero-bound won’t do the trick for the yen. With realized inflation still running above 2%, the BOJ’s policy rate needs to get a lot higher for inflation-adjusted rates to start biting – and for the yen to keep climbing from here.

Even so, the next 5% or so is the relatively easy part of the yen to climb against the dollar. But its potential goes far beyond – and a lot of that will come down how far the BOJ is willing to go.

Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Modernity.news,

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough was ridiculed after engaging in a bizarre, performative endorsement of the strength of Joe Biden’s cognitive health.

“That guy’s mental state, I’ve said it for years now, he’s cogent, but I undersold him when I said he was cogent, he’s far beyond cogent,” Scarborough said.

“In fact, I think he’s better than he’s ever been, intellectually, analytically, because he’s been around for 50 years,” he added.

The host then bizarrely stated, “Start your tape right now because I’m about to tell you the truth, and F you if you can’t handle the truth.”

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough: “F you if you can’t handle the truth. This version of Biden, intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever.” pic.twitter.com/xRsLuqpoWf

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) March 6, 2024

“This version of Biden intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever, not a close second and I’ve known him for years, the Brzezinski’s have known him for 50 years, if it weren’t the truth, I wouldn’t say it.”

Scarborough’s remarks were utterly bizarre given that even his biggest supporters would admit Biden has rapidly slowed down cognitively in recent years.

As we highlighted last week, Biden’s recent physical exam did not include a cognitive test despite innumerable examples of Biden getting lost on stage, thinking he had talked to dead political leaders and falling prey to embarrassing verbal gaffes in recent months.

Respondents on X were shocked by the brazen intensity of the propaganda being spewed by the former Congressman.

“Americans are subjected to a level of shameless propaganda that would make a commissar blush,” commented Auron MacIntyre.

Americans are subjected to a level of shameless propaganda that would make a commissar blush https://t.co/z6YTCy12pc

— Auron MacIntyre (@AuronMacintyre) March 7, 2024

It’s a sentiment that was widely shared.

We’re reaching levels of regime propaganda that would shame the worst tinpot communist kakocracies of history. https://t.co/ky5iZFTHGN

— RAW EGG NATIONALIST (@Babygravy9) March 6, 2024

The soviets didn’t produce propaganda this bad

— nic 🌠 carter (@nic__carter) March 6, 2024

Another shining example of how the mainstream media is nothing but a Democrat propaganda machine.

— Adam Johnston (@ConquestTheory) March 6, 2024

This is why no one watches MSM. They can’t be honest about anything. If they thought saying the sky was green would win an election they would all be telling it was green every day.

— Night (@Xisntfeespeech) March 6, 2024

Oh dear leader strong pic.twitter.com/lulnddhLrm

— Richard Nixon (@TheGoldWindow) March 6, 2024

That’s a blatant and intentional lie. He sounds like Tokyo Rose from WWIi. I’ve heard recordings of her.

— ToolMaker (@ToolMakerThinks) March 6, 2024

👆🏽Morning Joe👇🏽😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/rwTBCazgUU

— Mitt🧤Romney is a Hologram (@GlennWhite1) March 6, 2024

pic.twitter.com/NKPp1YscPD

— KJMG 🐸 (@GarrigleKen) March 7, 2024

Man, spreading this, is insulting to the intelligence of the American people, super condescending, irregardless of political affiliation. Don’t believe what you see and hear because he knows better. #gaslighting

— John Wooten (@Wootenjr95) March 7, 2024

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