New York COVID-19 Outbreak Worsens, Hotspots Emerge In Orthodox Jewish Communities: Live Updates Tyler Durden Mon, 09/28/2020 – 14:32 Summary: CDC adds “black Friday shopping” to list of ‘high risk’ activities NY outbreak worsens WHO  partners with Gates Foundation Global deaths just below 1 million UK prepares new lockdown measures Case total tops 33 million Indian cases top 6 million Inovio pauses vaccine trial Russian outbreak worsens New UK fines take effect Australia’s Victoria region posts just 5 new cases * * * Update (1400ET): The same CDC  which ruled that Halloween “trick-or-treating” can largely continue as normal this year has just dealt America’s devastated malls another blow. On Monday, the CDC issued new guidance placing Black Friday shopping sprees in the “high risk” category of activities. After announcing that Halloween … [Read More...]

US Angrily Threatens To Close US Embassy In Baghdad After Near Daily Attacks Tyler Durden Mon, 09/28/2020 – 02:45 Following near daily attacks centered in and around Baghdad’s Green Zone where the sprawling US embassy is located as well as other multiple American and other international institutions, Washington has put the Iraqi government on notice over the breakdown in security, saying it could shutter the US embassy altogether.  The State Department is livid after repeat rocket and mortar attacks on the embassy, and has blamed a failure of Iraq’s security forces and of Iraq’s leaders to respond appropriately, also amid the intensified proxy war with Iran: In a new escalation, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Iraqi President Barham Saleh last week to deliver an ultimatum, Iraqi and foreign … [Read More...]

Armenia Orders ‘Full Troop Mobilization’ Against Azerbaijan As Tanks Clash, Martial Law Declared Tyler Durden Sun, 09/27/2020 – 14:36 Sunday saw huge clashes erupt between the armies of Armenia and Azerbaijan along the already militarized and disputed Nagorno-Karabakh border region. An official state of war in the region has been declared by Yerevan.  “Early in the morning, around 7 a.m. the Azerbaijani forces launched a large-scale aggression, including missile attacks…” Armenia’s Defense Ministry stated Sunday. Armenia has since reportedly declared martial law and a “total military mobilization” in what looks to be the most serious escalation between the two countries in years.  Tank warfare unfolding Sunday. Armenian Defense Ministry produced footage (still frame) of attack on Azeri positions. Air and artillery attacks from both sides ramped up, … [Read More...]

Will A Military Coup Undo The November Elections, Donald Trump, & The Republic Itself? Tyler Durden Sat, 09/26/2020 – 23:45 Authored by Matthew Ehret via The Strategic Culture Foundation, On March 20, I published an article called Why Assume There will be a 2020 Election? where I laid out the existential threat of a new Wall Street military Coup which would not only render elections obsolete, but would impose a new fascist hell onto America and the world. In that article I discussed the importance of General Smedley Butler’s strategic decision to expose the Wall Street plot to overthrow the newly elected president Franklin Roosevelt who was in the midst of waging a war on both Wall Street, the City of London and the chaos these financiers engineered during the great depression. … [Read More...]

President Trump Unveils “Platinum Plan” For Black Americans, Designates Antifa, KKK As “Terrorist Organizations” Tyler Durden Sat, 09/26/2020 – 14:40 President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign released a “Platinum Plan” that outlines promises he is making to black Americans over the next 4 years, if he remains the U.S. president. As The Epoch Times’ Mimi Nguyen Ly details below, the plan seeks to uplift black communities through, in part, an investment of about $500 billion. The Trump campaign announced late Friday: “After years of neglect by Democrat politicians, black Americans have finally found a true advocate in President Trump, who is working tirelessly to deliver greater opportunity, security, prosperity, and fairness to their communities. “While Joe Biden takes black voters for granted—and even questions their blackness if they dare to support … [Read More...]

Pepe Escobar Exposes ‘Sinophobia Inc.’ – The West’s Information-Industrial Hybrid Warfare Complex Tyler Durden Fri, 09/25/2020 – 23:40 Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Saker blog, (Originally posted at The Asia Times), It took one minute for President Trump to introduce a virus at the virtual 75th UN General Assembly, blasting “the nation which unleashed this plague onto the world”. And then it all went downhill. Even as Trump was essentially delivering a campaign speech and could not care less about the multilateral UN, at least the picture was clear enough for all the socially distant “international community” to see. Here is President Xi’s full statement. And here is President Putin’s full statement. And here’s the geopolitical chessboard, once again; it’s the “indispensable nation” versus the Russia-China strategic … [Read More...]

After 30 Years In LA, Canyon Partners Plans Move To Texas Due To “High Taxes, Congestion” Tyler Durden Fri, 09/25/2020 – 14:50 Two months ago, Joe Rogan famously questioned why people pay for the “privilege” to live in places like California; where taxes are sky high, likely heading higher, the government is bloated and intrusive and Democratic leadership seems to have no real interest in either being fiscally responsible or (lately) maintaining law and order. “I’m outta here. I’m gonna go to Texas. I just want to go somewhere in the center of the country, somewhere it’s easier to travel to both places, and somewhere where you have a little bit more freedom.” “Also I think that um, where we live right here in Los Angeles is overcrowded. And I … [Read More...]

French Officials Considering “Absurd” New Tax On Vehicles Based On Weight Tyler Durden Fri, 09/25/2020 – 02:45 Pretty soon, there’s going to be no cars left to drive. Between California looking to phase out internal combustion engines by 2035 and France apparently now considering another tax on vehicles based on how much they weigh, it seems like the world is hell bent on assuring a future that’s replete with Ubers and public transit.  But regardless, the press to “save the planet” much push on. That’s why at the Convention Citoyenne sur le Climat (the Citizens’ Climate Convention) in June 2020, the idea of taxing vehicles by how much they weigh was raised. It is currently being considered by the French government, according to The Connexion. Meanwhile – as is usual with government – the … [Read More...]

Top Republicans Urge FBI, DOJ To Investigate Hunter Biden’s $3.5 Million Moscow Payday Tyler Durden Thu, 09/24/2020 – 15:00 Top Republicans are calling for the FBI and Justice Department to investigate a series of wire transfers from Russian and Chinese businesspeople to Hunter Biden, after Senate Republicans released a Wednesday report detailing the suspicious transactions – including a $3.5 million wire from a Russian billionaire whose late husband was the mayor of Moscow. On Thursday, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray inquiring whether the agency has investigated the wire transfers. The letter follows a Wednesday comment from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who told Fox News that he would be submitting a criminal referral to the Justice Department over the payments, according to the … [Read More...]

Sweden Dominates Drug-Deaths In Europe Tyler Durden Thu, 09/24/2020 – 02:45 As highlighted by the latest edition of the European Drug Report, Sweden is the country with the most drug-induced deaths per million of the population in Europe. In 2018, 81 people died per million inhabitants, ahead of the United Kingdom’s 76 drug-induced deaths per million. Finland and Ireland jointly had the third-highest death rate with 72 deaths per million. You will find more infographics at Statista As tragic as these figures are, Statista’s Niall McCarthy notes that they pale in comparison with the toll of America’s opioid crisis. In 2018, the U.S. experienced 314.5 drug-related deaths per million of its population and it lost more inhabitants to drugs than the next 20 countries combined. [Read More...]

Goldman Expects Treasury Yields To Surge If Democrats Sweep In November Tyler Durden Wed, 09/23/2020 – 15:00 Over the weekend we reported that in its latest “hot take” on possible election outcomes, Goldman’s FX team concluded that a Biden win and Democratic sweep on Nov 3 would “accelerate” dollar weakness, for three reasons: First, Biden’s proposals to raise the US corporate tax rate would make domestic stocks less attractive compared to international markets, all else equal, which could result in Dollar selling if US equities underperform. Regulatory changes, especially anything targeting the technology sector, could have similar effects. Second, a large fiscal stimulus would also likely weaken the Dollar, due to the Fed’s commitment to keep rates low. Normally currencies appreciate after fiscal stimulus, because it lifts rates, and higher rates … [Read More...]

Airbus Reveals Three “Carbon-Free” Commercial Aircraft For 2035 Flight Tyler Durden Wed, 09/23/2020 – 02:45 On Monday, Airbus revealed three visual concepts for “zero-emission” commercial airliners powered by hydrogen, which could enter service by 2035.  The planemaker’s push for the world’s first zero-emission commercial aircraft is part of a much larger ambition for emission-reducing airliners as non-governmental organizations, such as the OECD, are urging industries and countries to begin the transformation to a green economy to power the recovery following the virus-pandemic downturn.  Three carbon-free commercial aircraft were unveiled, including a turbofan design, turboprop design, and “blended-wing body” design. Airbus said it’s “leading the way in the decarbonization of the entire aviation industry.”  “This is a historic moment for the commercial aviation sector … [Read More...]

Budget Office Releases Terrifying Long-Term Debt Forecast Tyler Durden Tue, 09/22/2020 – 14:45 Back in January, when the CBO presented its latest long-term debt forecast, we – and Albert Edwards – said that this was nothing short of a “ticking timebomb”, one which convinced Albert Edwards shortly after that helicopter money was on its way. Just over a month later, this prediction came true when the Fed unleashed unlimited QE with the explicit intention of monetizing all near-term Treasury issuance in collaboration with the Treasury. The reason: the US economy was about to incur $3 trillion in debt to fund the biggest fiscal stimulus in US history, and much more to come after now that Magic Money Tree has been unleashed on the US with wide segments of the … [Read More...]

Tour de France: Too Fast To Be Clean? Tyler Durden Tue, 09/22/2020 – 02:45 Tadej Poga?ar made history on Sunday by becoming the first Slovenian to win the Tour de France. Winning the Tour a day before his 22nd birthday, Poga?ar is now the second-youngest rider ever to win the Tour de France, trailing only Henri Cornet who was just 19 years and 352 days old when he won the second-ever Tour de France in 1904. Poga?ar, who rides for UAE Team Emirates, had only taken the lead on the penultimate day of the Grand Tour after outclassing his compatriot and friend Primoz Roglic in an individual time trial to the top of La Planche des Belles Filles. Flying up the hill in spectacular fashion, Poga?ar had made up his 57-second … [Read More...]

Quant Vs Quant: Storm Erupts At JPMorgan Over Impact Of Month-End Rebalancing Tyler Durden Mon, 09/21/2020 – 14:56 Last Tuesday, JPMorgan’s in-house quant star (and perpetual skeptical foil to the bank’s other far more permabullish strategists such as Marko Kolanovic), Nick Panigirtzoglou – who has far less of a media foot print than Marko – spooked Wall Street when he estimated that quarter and month-end is poised for one of the highest bouts of forced selling in history, as between US pension plans, the Norwegian sov wealth fund and Japan’s pension giant, the GPIF, some $200 billion in quarter-end stock selling was on deck due to negative rebalancing flow. Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou. Panigirtzoglou was not shy about the implications of this massive outflow, stating clearly that “This is the … [Read More...]

UK Unveils Harsh $13,000 Fine For Breaking Quarantine Amid Covid 2nd Wave Tyler Durden Mon, 09/21/2020 – 02:45 The UK witnessed new record coronavirus case numbers reported in a single day since May on Saturday, logging over 4,420 confirmed infections.  And now authorities are getting desperate, threatening severe law enforcement measures and penalties, with the latest being that those who test positive but refuse to self-quarantine can be hit with a fine up to $13,000 (or 10,000 pounds). It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed the country is undergoing an “inevitable” second wave of infections on Friday. Via The Daily Records “Obviously, we’re looking carefully at the spread of the pandemic as it evolves over the last few days, and there’s no question, as I’ve said for several weeks now, … [Read More...]

Morgan Stanley Asks When Emerging Markets Will Get On The Reflation Train Tyler Durden Sun, 09/20/2020 – 15:00 By Chetan Ahya, Morgan Stanley’s Chief Economist and Global Head of Economics When Will EMs Get on the Global Reflation Train? The global economy has been on a strong run since its historic contraction last quarter, and the V-shaped recovery has played out even faster than we initially expected. Since Covid-19 was a common exogenous shock to economies worldwide, its economic impact has tracked the timeline from the start of lockdown measures to the lifting of these restrictions. As all economies are now reopening, economic output is on the road to pre-Covid-19 levels, with some already there but others still lagging. The area where the pace of recovery has remained … [Read More...]

The Possible Limits Of China-Russia Cooperation Tyler Durden Sat, 09/19/2020 – 23:30 Authored by Lawrence Franklin via The Gatestone Institute, China and Russia’s coordinated policies in foreign affairs and economic endeavors belie deep-seated fissures that might well prevent their current period of cooperation from evolving into a sustained alliance. Despite China’s planned participation in Russia’s annual Caucus 2020 exercises on September 21-26, Sino-Russian history is so replete with war, unequal treaties and racism, there seems little probability that their present military cooperation will succeed in developing into a military alliance. The current Russo-Chinese cooperation seems loosely rooted in the notion that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Both countries apparently believe that checking U.S. power is in their national interests. China wants the U…. [Read More...]

“I’m Speechless”: Police Chase Down Tesla On Autopilot Doing 90 MPH With Driver And Passenger Asleep Tyler Durden Sat, 09/19/2020 – 15:00 Another day, another story of a horribly irresponsible Tesla owner “beta testing” the company’s Autopilot software while putting countless other lives at risk. And likely, another day the NHTSA in the U.S. will do nothing about it. Today’s story comes out of Canada, where a 20 year old man is facing charges for sleeping behind the wheel of a Tesla that was doing more than 90 mph. The RCMP was called when witnesses saw “a speeding Tesla electric car heading south of Edmonton, and what appeared to be no one behind the wheel,” according to NBC.  Both front seats were fully reclined and both the driver and the passenger… [Read More...]

China Is Killing The Dollar Tyler Durden Fri, 09/18/2020 – 23:40 Authored by Alasdair Macleod via GoldMoney.com, In the wake of the Fed’s promise of 23 March to print money without limit in order to rescue the covid-stricken US economy, China changed its policy of importing industrial materials to a more aggressive stance. In examining the rationale behind this move, this article concludes that while there are sound geopolitical reasons behind it the monetary effect will be to drive down the dollar’s purchasing power, and that this is already happening. More recently, a veiled threat has emerged that China could dump all her US Treasury and agency bonds if the relationship with America deteriorates further. This appears to be a cover for China to reduce her dollar exposure more … [Read More...]