Today’s News 19th November 2020

• Brandon Smith: Now Is The Time For Americans To Rebel Against Lockdowns, Mask Mandates, & Forced Vaccination
  Brandon Smith: Now Is The Time For Americans To Rebel Against Lockdowns, Mask Mandates, & Forced Vaccination
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Wed, 11/18/2020 – 23:50

  Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

  With the presidential election highly contested and the mainstream media hyping the rising infection numbers, the public is now facing important questions regarding the future of the pandemic response. Some states have decided to unilaterally introduce “executive orders” to restrict citizen movements, business openings and public activities.

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  Anthony Fauci is on the news constantly, calling for families to cancel Thanksgiving and Christmas and telling Americans to just “do what we are told”. The media is generally trying to drum up fear in the minds of the populace and paint images of plague and death everywhere. If Biden does actually end up in the White House, a federalized and national high level lockdown is on the table starting in January.

  In April of this year I published an article titled ‘Waves Of Mutilation: Medical Tyranny And The Cashless Society’, which outlined a social engineering model put forward by globalists at MIT and the Imperial College of London which I called “wave theory”. The model essentially works like this:

  Governments must use the pandemic as a rationale for “waves” of restrictive lockdowns, followed by controlled re-openings of the economy and of normal human activity. Globalists claim that this will “slow” the spread of the coronavirus and save lives. However, they also openly admit that these cycles of closures and openings have other uses.

  Over time, the citizenry becomes acclimated to governmental intrusion in their everyday lives, and they get used to the idea of bureaucracy telling them what they are not allowed to do when it comes to the simplest activities. The system thus bottlenecks all human interactions to the point that we are constantly asking for permission. We become slaves to the Covid response.

  As globalist Gideon Lichfield from MIT stated in his article ‘We’re Not Going Back To Normal’:

  “Ultimately, however, I predict that we’ll restore the ability to socialize safely by developing more sophisticated ways to identify who is a disease risk and who isn’t, and discriminating—legally—against those who are.

  …one can imagine a world in which, to get on a flight, perhaps you’ll have to be signed up to a service that tracks your movements via your phone. The airline wouldn’t be able to see where you’d gone, but it would get an alert if you’d been close to known infected people or disease hot spots. There’d be similar requirements at the entrance to large venues, government buildings, or public transport hubs. There would be temperature scanners everywhere, and your workplace might demand you wear a monitor that tracks your temperature or other vital signs. Where nightclubs ask for proof of age, in future they might ask for proof of immunity—an identity card or some kind of digital verification via your phone, showing you’ve already recovered from or been vaccinated against the latest virus strains.”

  Note that Lichfield suggested that in order to participate in the normal economy you might need to show verification that you have been “vaccinated against the latest virus strains”. In other words, the elites expect there to be many more viral events or mutations AFTER Covid 19 has run its course, and the restrictions and controls we see today are meant to continue, possibly FOREVER.

  The reality is that the wave model is not a very practical plan for stopping viral spread, but it is a perfect method for conditioning people to submit to a high level of control over their personal lives that they never would have accepted otherwise. The Covid response has also been heralded by elites at the World Economic Forum as a perfect “opportunity” to initiate what they call the “Great Reset”. The reset is a plan to deconstruct what’s left of the free market capitalist system, introduce carbon controls in the name of the global warming fraud, institute a global cashless monetary system, and finally, move humanity into what they call a “shared economy” in which the average person is no longer allowed to own private property of any kind and is completely dependent on the system for their basic necessities.

  Of course, such a complex system of “solutions” (dominance) over every individual would need to be managed in a highly centralized way. Meaning, global governance by the elitist establishment would be the end result. Naturally….the globalists would reluctantly take the reins of power for “the greater good”.

  This is the bigger picture, the underlying threat at the core of the lockdowns and Covid laws. That said, there are also numerous arguments based on logic and evidence as to why there is no reason for people to submit to such restrictions. Let’s outline them in a simple list:

  The Coronavirus Kills Less Than 1% Of The People It Infects

  Medical studies in the US indicate that the coronavirus deaths rate for citizens NOT living in nursing homes has been holding well below 1% on average. The largest percentage of deaths by far in the US has been in nursing homes among elderly people with preexisting conditions. People in long term care facilities make up 8% of Covid infection cases but they are 45% of all covid deaths.

  Pneumonia alone kills around 50,000 Americans each year according to the CDC, and that’s with vaccinations, yet, we are supposed to panic and hand over all our freedoms in the name of stopping a disease which affects a tiny percentage of the population? This is why the media and governments have decided to hyperfocus on infection numbers rather than deaths. The death numbers do not warrant the amount of panic the establishment is trying to foment.

  Lockdowns Destroy The Economy

  It’s basic math and finance; the small business sector of the US economy is dying. Small businesses make up around 50% of US employment. The Covid bailout money, handled by international banks like JP Morgan, did not get to the vast majority of small businesses that were supposed to receive it. Those businesses that did get bailouts are still on the verge of closure or bankruptcy. Any further lockdowns will be the final nail in the coffin for the US economy, except for major corporations which are enjoying the lion’s share of stimulus cash.

  How many lives will be damaged or lost due to poverty and economic collapse if the current trend continues? I suspect far more than any lives lost because of Covid.

  Why is no one in the mainstream talking about the most practical solution to the pandemic? The small percentage of people who are most at risk can STAY HOME and take precautions as necessary, while the rest of us get on with our lives. Why are we being ordered to do the exact opposite just to make less than 1% of the population feel safer? How is this logical, reasonable or scientific? The only answer that makes sense is that the lockdown response is about control, not saving lives.

  State Governors Have No Authority To Take Away Your Civil Liberties, And Neither Does The President

  Restrictions based on executive orders have no legal authority under the Constitution. They are color of law, not true law. Laws are debated and passed by state legislatures, not by state governors. Executive orders only apply to state employees and have no bearing on the citizenry.

  Leftists and statists argue that during a national crisis the governor has emergency powers and states can do whatever they want. This is false. Under the constitution and the Bill of Rights, state governors do not get to proclaim a national emergency based on their personal opinion and then declare themselves dictators in response. Any “laws” exerted because of such a process are therefor null and void; they are meaningless.

  If the states have the ability to do whatever they want without oversight, then they would be able to bring back Jim Crow laws (among other things). Do leftists support that idea as well? If the federal government and the president have the power to violate the Bill of Rights during a national emergency, then Donald Trump has the authority to bring in martial law across the country because of leftist riots. Do leftists agree with that outcome?

  It is interesting to me that the political left in particular is so keen on defending the idea of states and governors having the power to unilaterally enforce pandemic restrictions without oversight or checks and balances. Yet, they have been aggressively opposed to state powers in the past when they had a Democratic president like Obama in office. The left has also been staunchly opposed to executive orders applied by Donald Trump, but they applaud the idea of executive orders on lockdowns being instituted by Biden.

  So, leftists support unilateral state power only when it works in favor of their agenda, and they support unilateral federal and presidential power only when it works in favor of their agenda. What a surprise…

  The bottom line is this: State government powers do not supersede the Bill of Rights. Federal government powers do not supersede the Bill of Rights. NO ONE has the legal power to take away your inherent liberties. Those that claim otherwise have something to gain from your enslavement.

  Mask Laws Are Unscientific

  The majority of masks being used by the public today are cloth masks. Not even the CDC recommends the use of cloth masks for their own employees or medical workers. They only recommend N95 masks. They also admit that cloth masks are much less effective at preventing contact with the virus. Yet, the CDC supports the enforcement of cloth masks for the public.

  On top of that, some states and countries with the most stringent mask laws continue to see huge spikes in coronavirus infections. For example, New York has been one of the most tyrannical enforcers of mask laws and lockdowns in the US, but in November the state has witnessed extensive infection increases. California, Michigan and Illinois have also seen dramatic infection spikes this month despite hard enforcement of masks. So, where is the science?

  It would appear that masks are a placebo; if they actually worked, then the states with the most aggressive enforcement should be seeing a dramatic downturn in cases, not exponential increases.

  Furthermore, why are many states and countries trying to force citizens to wear masks outside in open air and sunlight when viruses cannot survive in such conditions? UV light from the sun is nature’s sterilizer, but no one in the mainstream or in government acknowledges this scientific fact. Again, this shows that mask laws are about control, not about science or saving lives.

  Covid Vaccination Is Unnecessary And Potentially Dangerous

  Why should people get vaccinated for a virus that over 99% of them will easily survive anyway? Why not simply attain “herd immunity” through natural infection spread and antibodies? The mainstream will continue to ignore these questions because they are inconvenient to the wider agenda.

  Also, why should anyone trust a vaccine that was rushed out in less than a year’s time? China and the rest of the world spent over a decade trying to develop a vaccine for SARS unsuccessfully, but we are supposed to believe that they created a vaccine for SARS related Covid 19 within months?

  The last time the government rushed out a vaccine for a viral epidemic was the 1976 swine flu scare, and that ended with numerous permanently damaged or dead individuals due to faulty vaccines.

  As I noted in my article ‘Why The Public Should Rebel Against Forced Vaccinations’, published in May, there are numerous examples of vaccine tests and implementation going very wrong, from Bill Gates and the World Health Organization giving people polio in various countries through vaccines, to Novartis and their deadly testing of a Bird Flu vaccine on homeless people in Poland, to GlaxoSmithCline and the deaths of children due to their pneumonia vaccine.

  Again, it’s simply not worth the risk over a virus that over 99% of people will survive. The idea of such risk being forced on the public is completely unacceptable, but many government officials have supported the idea over the past six months. It is important for the public to make it clear now that they will NOT be allowing state or federal governments to make vaccination mandatory.

  Rebellion Is Needed To Put A Stop To The Fear Machine

  In closing, there are endless reasons why we must end the pandemic lockdown agenda once and for all. Most importantly, the lockdowns, mask orders and vaccine plans are a stepping stone to something much worse – Medical tyranny and centralization on an unprecedented scale. I will not personally follow such rules because they are not scientifically or morally sound. They are nonsense designed to frighten the public into complacency and consent.

  A rebellion against such measures would be very easy to win. All we have to do is refuse to follow their mandates. What are they going to do? Lock up millions of people? Shoot us? That would sort of defeat the supposed purpose of the very measures they demand we follow. And, if it comes to violence, so be it. I have no problem fighting to defend my freedoms and the freedoms of future generations. Perhaps it is time for conservatives and moderates that stand against the lockdowns to organize for this possible future.

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• New Details Emerge About China's Super Secret "JH-XX" Stealth Bomber 
  New Details Emerge About China’s Super Secret “JH-XX” Stealth Bomber 
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Wed, 11/18/2020 – 23:30

  Experts from The National Interest shed new light on developments surrounding China’s new fifth-generation warplanes.

  The focus will be on the People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s (PLAAF) new heavy subsonic stealth bomber, with the reported capacity to strike US military assets in Hawaii.

  Called the “JH-XX,” the stealth bomber remains somewhat of a mystery, though The National Interest points out through a recent edition of the Chinese magazine “Aerospace Knowledge,” a possible rendering of the plane was displayed.  

  “The JH-XX may feature an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, but little is known of its avionics package beyond that. The fighter will reportedly have a combat radius of roughly 3,000 kilometers and be capable of supersonic flight.

  “JH-XX appears to fill a regional role—the medium-range bomber is poised to help Beijing deter competitors and contest airspace in the East and South China seas and the Yellow and Japan seas to China’s northeast. 

  “To this end, the JH-XX will likely carry the PLAAF’s latest side-mounted, beyond visual range air-to-air missiles,” The National Interest wrote. 

  Frontpage of Aerospace Knowledge 

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  Previously reported, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) noted in an annual report on Chinese military power about the developments of Chinese stealth bombers.

  “The PLAAF is developing new medium- and long-range stealth bombers to strike regional and global targets. Stealth technology continues to play a key role in the development of these new bombers, which probably will reach initial operational capability no sooner than 2025.”

  The DIA revealed China is working on the Xian H-20, a subsonic stealth bomber design that looks similar to the B-1 Lancer, along with the JH-XX.

  It remains unclear if the JH-XX design concept ever made it into the development phase, let alone pre-production.

  New developments about the JH-XX comes as its first stealth fighter jet, J-20, entered mass production this past summer. It also comes as the US and its allies surround China with stealth fighters, called “F-35 friends circle.” 

  It should be clear by now that stealth fighters and bombers, armed with hypersonic missiles and even laser cannons, will dominate modern battlefields if and when the next major conflict breaks out. 

  

• 'EcoHealth Alliance' Orchestrated Key Scientists' Statement On "Natural Origin" Of SARS-CoV-2
  ‘EcoHealth Alliance’ Orchestrated Key Scientists’ Statement On “Natural Origin” Of SARS-CoV-2
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Wed, 11/18/2020 – 23:10

  Authored by Sainath Suryanarayanan via USRTK.org,

  Emails obtained by U.S. Right to Know show that a statement in The Lancet authored by 27 prominent public health scientists condemning “conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin” was organized by employees of EcoHealth Alliance, a non-profit group that has received millions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer funding to genetically manipulate coronaviruses with scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

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  The emails obtained via public records requests show that EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak drafted the Lancet statement, and that he intended it to “not be identifiable as coming from any one organization or person” but rather to be seen as “simply a letter from leading scientists”.

  Daszak wrote that he wanted “to avoid the appearance of a political statement”.

  The scientists’ letter appeared in The Lancet on February 18, just one week after the World Health Organization announced that the disease caused by the novel coronavirus would be named COVID-19.

  The 27 authors “strongly condemn[ed] conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin,” and reported that scientists from multiple countries “overwhelmingly conclude that this coronavirus originated in wildlife.” The letter included no scientific references to refute a lab-origin theory of the virus.

  One scientist, Linda Saif, asked via email whether it would be useful “to add just one or 2 statements in support of why nCOV is not a lab generated virus and is naturally occuring? Seems critical to scientifically refute such claims!”

  Daszak responded, “I think we should probably stick to a broad statement.”

  Growing calls to investigate the Wuhan Institute of Virology as a potential source of SARS-CoV-2 have led to increased scrutiny of EcoHealth Alliance.

  The emails show how members of EcoHealth Alliance played an early role in framing questions about possible lab origin of SARS-CoV-2 as “crackpot theories that need to be addressed,” as Daszak told The Guardian.

  Although the phrase “EcoHealth Alliance” appeared only once in The Lancet statement, in association with co-author Daszak, several other co-authors also have direct ties to the group that were not disclosed as conflicts of interest. Rita Colwell and James Hughes are members of the Board of Directors of EcoHealth Alliance, William Karesh is the group’s Executive Vice President for Health and Policy, and Hume Field is Science and Policy Advisor.

  The statement’s authors also claimed that the “rapid, open, and transparent sharing of data on this outbreak is now being threatened by rumours and misinformation around its origins.” Today, however, little is known about the origins of SARS-CoV-2, and investigations into its origins by the World Health Organization and The Lancet COVID-19 commission have been shrouded in secrecy and mired by conflicts of interests.

  Peter Daszak, Rita Colwell, and The Lancet Editor Richard Horton did not provide comments in response to our requests for this story.

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  A link to the entire batch of EcoHealth Alliance emails can be found here: EcoHealth Alliance emails: University of Maryland (466 pages)

  U.S. Right to Know is posting documents obtained through public freedom of information (FOI) requests for our Biohazards investigation in our post: FOI documents on origins of SARS-CoV-2, hazards of gain-of-function research and biosafety labs.

  

• "Gen Y Is Out, Gen Z Is In": Why One Bank Thinks Gen Z "Are The New Global Influencers"
  “Gen Y Is Out, Gen Z Is In”: Why One Bank Thinks Gen Z “Are The New Global Influencers”
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Wed, 11/18/2020 – 22:50

  It seems like only yesterday that Wall Street was writing massive research reports how the Millennials were going to “make a difference” in the world as a result of their “pent up” purchasing power which was just waiting to be unleashed. Unfortunately, in retrospect the Millennials were a huge disappointment, having made absolutely no “difference” in the world (the Fed decided to make if it for them) despite having created millions of ingeniously airbrushed Instragram posts. And so, with Wall Street desperate to pin its hopes on someone who will prove to be the spending dynamo that pushes the US economy out of the doldrums – which is Millennials were supposed to be – the street has shifted it attention to those next in line, namely…

  Gen Z (i.e., 20-year-olds).

  In one of its massive “thematic investing” primers which doubles as a paperweight thanks to its hundred + pages of recycled content (copy a chart, replace Millennials with Gen Z, paste) Bank of America writes that “Here come the Zillennials! Gen Y is out, Gen Z is in” (which is oddly reminiscent of a similar primer the bank wrote a few years back when it said virtually the same things about Millennials).

  But we digress: in an intro that will hardly endear Bank of America to the millions of 20-year-olds who are supposed to change the world, now that Gen Y has been cast into the trash bucket of demographics, the bank writes that “despite having an attention span shorter than a goldfish’s (8 seconds) Gen Z is the most disruptive generation ever and sees themselves as ‘citizens of the world’.

  It only gets funnier better: The bank next claims that the generation that was born online and is now entering the workforce “is compelling other generations to adapt to them, not vice versa.” We doubt any Gen Z employers actually agree with that laughable assessment in a labor market where they can hire far more experienced unemployed substitutes from Gen X, and even Boomers (while getting some actual work ethic in the bargain).

  To make its recycled argument that Millennials Gen-Z will change the world, BofA argues that this generation “is set to grow incomes 5x to $33tn by 2030 and will surpass Millennials by 2031.” Right… maybe if the Fed deposits trillions into their digital dollar accounts.

  Sarcasm aside, and while there is much, much more in the full note, a quick recap of the points made by BofA analyst Haim Israel is that the “clicktivist” generation is “socially involved” that spend much of their time online, with 40% preferring to hang out with friends virtually rather than in person.

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  He adds that “having lived through the ’08 Financial Crisis and seeing its impact on their families, they are financially conservative and cautious about credit cards and taking on debt. Sectors that stand to benefit from Gen Z include eCommerce, payments, luxury, media and ESG while those structurally challenged include alcohol, meat, cars, shopping malls and old media.”

  Below we present some of the more notable excerpts from the massive “generational” report:

  Here come the Zillennials! Gen Y is out, Gen Z is in

  They’ve never known a life without Google, 40% prefer hanging out with friends virtually than in real life, they will spend six years of their life on social media and they won’t use credit cards. They’re the ‘clicktivists’: flourishing in a decade of social rights movements, with 4 in 10 in our proprietary BofA seeing themselves as ‘citizens of the world’. The Gen Z revolution is starting, as the first generation born into an online world is now entering the workforce and compelling other generations to adapt to them, not vice versa. Thus, about to become most disruptive to economies, markets and social systems.

  $33tn income by 2030, to pass Millennials by 2031

  Gen Z’s economic power is the fastest-growing across all cohorts. This generation’s income will increase c.5x by 2030 to $33tn as they enter the workplace today, reaching 27% of global income and surpassing Millennials the year after. The growing consumer power of Gen Z will be even more powerful taking into account the ‘Great Wealth Transfer’ down the generations. The Baby Boomer and Silent generation US households alone are sitting on $78tn of wealth today.

  9 in 10 live in EM, while DM suffers from “peak youth”

  Gen Z could be EM’s secret weapon. APAC income already accounts for over a third of Gen Z’s income and will exceed North American and European combined income by 2035. ‘Peak youth’ milestones are being reached across the developed markets – Europe is the first continent to have more over-65s than under-15s, a club North America will join in 2022. In contrast, India stands out as the Gen Z country, accounting for 20% of the global generation, with improved youth literacy rates, urbanisation, and rapid expansion of technological infrastructure. Mexico, the Philippines and Thailand are just a few of the EM countries that we think have what it takes to capitalize on the Gen Z revolution.

  Beneficiaries: eCommerce, payments, luxury, media, ESG

  Gen Z is the online generation: nearly half are online ‘almost constantly’ and a quarter of them will spend 10+ hours a day on their phone. In our survey, over a quarter of Gen Z’s top payment choice was the phone, while credit cards weren’t even in their top 3. This generation is the least likely to pick experiences over goods, and values sustainable luxury – choosing quality over price as their top purchase factor.

  “Peak” generation: alcohol, meat, cars, travel headwinds

  Only half of US teens can drive, while our survey finds that less than half of Gen Z drink alcohol, and more than half have some kind of meat restriction. A third of them would trust a robot to make their financial decisions. Gen Z’s activist focus filters into their interactions with business, too – 80% factor ESG investing into their financial decisions, and they have also driven consumer-facing sustainability campaigns, such as single-use plastics. Harmful consumer sectors, such as fast fashion, may be the next focus.

  When were you born?

  • Silent Generation (born 1928-1945, current age 92-75)
  • Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964, current age 74-56)
  • Generation X (born 1965-80, current age 55-40)
  • Generation Y or Millennials (born 1981-1995, current age 39-25)
  • Generation Z or Centennials (born 1996-2016, current age 4-24)
  • Generation Alpha (born 2017-present, current age 3)

  Generations at a glance

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  10 things you need to know about Gen Z in 10 charts

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  Millennials are old news: Gen Z searches are skyrocketing

  Interest in Gen Z continues to grow, surpassing Millennials, as the new generation of consumers, workers, entrepreneurs and activists start to make their mark. We argue that businesses and investors need to start adjusting their strategies to reflect the growing political, social, and economic influence of this generation.

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  The largest generation: 2.5bn globally

  Gen Z, born between 1996 and 2016, just entering the workforce, is the largest at 2.5bn individuals, accounting for 32% of the global population (source: Euromonitor, UN).

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  Five largest Gen Z countries account for 44% of Gen Z population

  Of the 2.5bn Gen Z worldwide, 89% live in emerging and developing markets vs 72% in 1950. India, China, Nigeria, Indonesia, and the US are the five largest, accounting for 44% of the total Gen Z population. Specifically, India and China make up 19.8% and 13.7% of the global Gen Z population, respectively, while all other countries individually account for less than 4% each (source: UN, Euromonitor).

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  Gen Z 101: The global influencers: a population of 2.5bn and 140% growth in economic power over 5Y

  Gen Z, born between 1996 and 2016, is the largest population at 2.5bn accounting for a third of the global total. Already, Gen Z has $7tn of income. In addition, this influential generation has the fastest-growing income, set to increase 140% in the next five years to $17tn in 2025 and $33tn by 2030. Gen Z is set to overtake Millennials’ total income by the early 2030s. The largest Gen Z markets by income are the US and China at $1.2tn and $1.1tn, respectively, followed by India, Japan, Germany, the UK and France. The influence of this generation is set to grow further as the great wealth transfer from Baby Boomers and Silent generation, who own $78tn in the US alone, is about to begin.

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  Gen Z is not Millennials 2.0: fiscally conservative, socially activist, materialistic

  In contrast to Millennials, Gen Z have grown up in the shadow of the Great Financial Crisis in 2008-09 and during a decade of social activism. Social issues form part of Gen Z’s identity. They are digital dependents rather than Millennial digital pioneers. Also, the generation is more fiscally conservative than Millennials. However, some demographic factors remain similar for the two generations; both are delaying marriage, children, and homeownership, as well as postponing other traditional consumer purchases.

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  What’s Trending

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  Gen Z are not Millennials 2.0

  Gen Z are different from Millennials. They don’t know a life without Google. They grew up in the aftermath of the financial crisis and flourished as social rights for LGBTQ+ and movements such as #metoo came to the fore. Also, they have experienced the brunt of the effects of the pandemic on their prospects as they enter the workforce. These experiences have shaped Gen Z to be a very different generation from Millennials – key activists on climate change, fiscally cautious, valuing luxury/quality over quantity, and better skilled for an automated world. We think financial markets often underestimate these differences, assuming Gen Z to be the same as their predecessors, missing the distinctions that help understand the changing new consumer.

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  The political agenda: Gen Z are social champions

  Activism forms part of Gen Z’s identity. Over 10% of Gen Z and 12% of under 18s surveyed claimed that activism was their priority over all other options, such as family, love, career, etc. This compares with 8% of Millennials and 4% of Baby Boomers. This activism will influence Gen Z’s decisions across sectors, from consumption of goods to education, work choices and financial investments.

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  Gen Z is most concerned about climate change and social unrest

  Gen Z’s passion for social causes directly translates into their major concerns. All generations are concerned about the economy and recession. However, Gen Z are the most concerned when it comes to social unrest and climate change. Even among Millennial and Gen Z Republicans, there is a much greater openness to clean energy and progressive climate change policy. 79% of Millennials and Gen Z that are Republican or Republican leaning think the US should be prioritising alternative energy sources compared with 55% of Baby Boomer Republicans and 91% of Democrats. 49% of young Republicans believe the government is doing too little to reduce the effects of climate change, double the share of Baby Boomer Republicans (source: Pew Research 2020).

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  BofA Generation Survey results

  The BofA Thematic Demographics Survey polled over 14,500 consumers aged 16 and over across the US, UK, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, China, India, Mexico, and Brazil. The survey was undertaken in late August 2020 and was an internet-based survey. A few key results:

  • Gen Z would rather use cash than pay by credit card
  • 45% of Millennials, the ‘cord cutter’ generation, still watch broadcast TV. In contrast, only a third of 18-24 year olds and just a quarter of under 18s do
  • Teetotal generation: Over half of Gen Z does not drink alcohol at all, vs a third of Millennials
  • 40% of 16-17 year olds prefer hanging out with friends virtually than in person
  • c.1 in 3 Gen Z and Millennials would trust a robot to make their financial decisions
  • More than four out of five Gen Zers factor ESG into their investing
  • Four in 10 Gen Zers see themselves as ‘citizens of the world’ vs just two in 10 Baby Boomers
  • “Generation rent”, Gen Z, is the only generation that does not want to move to the suburbs or countryside
  • eSports is watched more often by Gen Z than traditional sports
  • Only 14% of Gen Z expect their banks to have physical branches versus 40% of Baby Boomers

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  Did you know?

  • $10tn of lifecycle earnings could be lost by today’s students due to Covid lockdowns.
  • 9 out of 10 of Gen Z thinks it’s appropriate to use their phone in the bathroom, and 36% think it’s appropriate to use it in a place of worship
  • Gen Z & Millennials have a much weaker handshakes than other generations
  • Gen Z will spend nearly 6 years of their life on social media… that’s more time spent than eating, studying & socializing combined4
  • Young surgeons are losing the dexterity to stitch up patients because they’re spending too much time swiping smartphone screens5
  • Gen Z have a shorter attention span than goldfish, at 8 seconds
  • Millennials are 5x more willing to share their clothes and 2x share their toothbrush than smartphone with their friends
  • 55% of surgeons recently reported having patients mention social media as their primary reason for plastic surgery – up from 42% in 2015
  • Gen Z must emit 8x less carbon than Baby Boomers to stay within 1.5C of warming
  • The majority of US women no longer have children in their 20s10
  • Over half of teenagers admit to sitting in silence on their phones, while hanging out with friends for long stretches of time
  • Clicktivists: 72% of Gen Z believe they can be part of a social movement even if they participate only through social media
  • Gen Z is the first cohort where the majority has some kind of meat restriction in their diet
  • 58% of Gen Z said they can’t be without internet access for more than four hours before becoming uncomfortable
  • 70% of Millennials would consider a lab-grown diamond, when getting married, which costs around a third less than a mined one
  • Americans placed a cannabis order every 8 seconds in 2018…
  • …But it’s a Baby Boomers industry, as they spend on average 53% more than Gen Z on marijuana in the US

  How will Gen Z impact industry?

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  For much more, contact your local BofA sales coverage for the full report.

  

• Deutsche: "There Is Increasing Demand To Use Bitcoin Where Gold Was Used To Hedge Dollar Risk And Inflation"
  Deutsche: “There Is Increasing Demand To Use Bitcoin Where Gold Was Used To Hedge Dollar Risk And Inflation”
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Wed, 11/18/2020 – 22:30

  From Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid

  A divergent world post vaccine news

  There has been some consolidation in the S&P 500 after last week’s vaccine euphoria. The index is ‘only’ 1% above where we closed last Wednesday. However, remember this index has many mega-cap growth stocks that have benefited from the pandemic so it won’t be the best index to track when looking at what the vaccine hope is doing to markets.

  Looking at a broader sweep of selected global assets since the start of last week, just before the initial Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine news, it’s clear there has been a big divergence and bias towards cyclically-exposed assets. The Energy complex has soared along with financials (especially in Europe). European equities have notably out-performed the US.

  One of the worst performers has been tech with the US NYFANG index -3.8% since the vaccine news. This index is up +77.5% YTD in total return terms, so any normalisation could weigh on the overall US indices given their importance. One of the oddities has been the dramatic divergence between Gold (-3.6%) and Silver (-4.4%) on the one hand and Bitcoin (+13.4%) on the other. Bitcoin is up another +3% overnight and seems to be creating momentum of its own. It’s up over 70% over the last six weeks as more and more investors are starting to see it emerge as a credible asset to invest in.

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  There also seems to be an increasing demand to use Bitcoin where Gold used to be used to hedge Dollar risk, inflation and other things.

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• "Surreal Debt Tsunami": IIF Shocked To Forecast Global Debt Hitting $360 Trillion In Ten Years
  “Surreal Debt Tsunami”: IIF Shocked To Forecast Global Debt Hitting $360 Trillion In Ten Years
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Wed, 11/18/2020 – 22:10

  The latest quarterly report from the IIF which among other things, has the unpleasant task of calculating total global debt (which consists of Household, Non-financial corporates, General government and Financial debt), was published today and it’s a whopper because it shows, in no uncertain terms, a world that is careening toward either the spectacular deflationary supernoava of a debt collapse, or a hyperinflationary explosion that will need to sweep away hundreds of trillions in debt in the next few years.

  Here are the findings:

  • Global debt has surged by over $15 trillion since 2019, hitting a new record of over $272 trillion in Q3 2020.
  • As the fiscal response to the pandemic continues, the IIF expects global debt to hit $277 trillion (365% of GDP) by end-2020
  • Debt outside the financial sector on track to hit $210 trillion (274% of GDP) this year—up from $194 trillion (240%) in 2019
  • Emerging market debt (ex-financials) is fast approaching 210% of GDP—up from 185% in 2019 and 140% a decade ago
  • Sharply declining revenues have made debt service much more onerous for EM governments—despite low borrowing costs
  • Some $7 trillion of emerging market bonds and syndicated loans come due through end-2021, 15% of that in U.S. dollars

  And things get really batshit insane after that, but more on that in a moment.

  First, here the details:

  According to IIF calculations, global debt is on track to exceed $277 trillion in 2020: Spurred by a sharp rise in government and corporate borrowing as the COVID-19 pandemic wears on, the global debt load increased by $15 trillion in the first three quarters of 2020 and now stands above $272 trillion. Much if not all of that increase was monetized by central banks who have now activated the disaster contingency plan known as helicopter money. And with little sign of a slowdown in debt issuance, the IIF estimate that global debt will smash through records to hit $277 trillion by the end of the year.

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  Debt-to-GDP ratios has gone parabolic: Following a record surge in global debt-to-GDP (from 320% to around 362% in H1 2020), the IIF is proud to report that the rise in Q3 2020 was “more modest”, at less than 2 percentage points—helped by the strong global recovery. And while the IIF expects that the global debt-to-GDP ratio will reach some 365% of GDP in 2020, should lockdowns accelerated in the coming weeks, we expect a double-dip depression which may push total debt/GDP above 400% in the next two quarters.

  A more granular look reveals that debt in mature markets surpassed a record 432% of GDP in Q3 2020, up by over 50 percentage points from 2019. The U.S. accounted for nearly half of the rise, with total debt on track to hit $80 trillion in 2020—up from $71 trillion in 2019. Most of the rise was in the general government (up $3.7tn) and non-financial corporate sectors (up $1.7tn). In the Euro Area, a $1.5 trillion rise in government debt pushed total debt over $53 trillion in Q3 2020 (though this is still below the all-time high of $55 trillion in Q2 2014). Debt in other mature markets rose by over $3.7 trillion to $65 trillion in the first three quarters of 2020.

  The silver lining, inasmuch as one exists, is that Emerging market debt “only” soared to 250% of GDP: EM debt rose from 222% of GDP in Q4 2019 to over 248% of GDP in Q3 2020. The dollar amount of EM debt now surpasses $76 trillion, with the rise was driven by a surge in non-financial corporate debt in China. Excluding China, the USD value of EM debt declined from $31 trillion in Q4 2019 to $29.3 trillion in Q3 2020, largely reflecting losses in EM currencies against the USD. Of course, excluding China is impossible in a world where China will soon be the dominant superpower.

  At the same time, Debt outside the financial sector hit $206 trillion in Q3 2020, up from $194 trillion in 2019. Governments accounted for 60% of the $12 trillion buildup in the world’s debt pile (ex-financials). Global non-financial corporate debt rose by over $4.3 trillion to a fresh high of near $80 trillion, while household debt rose by $500 billion, to near $50 trillion.

  The catastrophic breakdown is shown in the table below:

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  An in-depth look at the “usual suspects” reveals no surprises: the US, Canada and Japan have seen the biggest increases in non-financial sector debt this year, with the rise in debt-to-GDP ratios varying from 45 percentage points in the U.S. to over 75 percentage points in Canada. Across mature markets, government debt has again been the main driver of the rise, increasing the most in Canada, Japan, the U.S., the UK and Spain. Of note, Ireland is the only country in the IIF sample to see a decline in the total debt ratio, as declines in household and non-financial corporate debt offset the rise in government debt. One wonders why they even bother: at this point it’s far too late to be “fiscally prudent” so may as well issue as much debt as the market will take and enjoy the next few years before it all falls apart.

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  Within EMs, China, Malaysia, Turkey and Lebanon have seen the biggest increases in non-financial sector debt ratios since 2019.

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  While sharp economic contractions drove surging debt ratios in many cases (notably in Lebanon), the USD value of debt also rose sharply in China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, and Turkey over the first three quarters of 2020.

  Most importantly, the rise in non-financial corporate debt in China—from from 150% of GDP in Q3 2019 to over 165% in Q3 2020–has been striking. IIF estimates that China’s total debt-to-GDP topped 335% of GDP—vs 200% of GDP in 2011. This is a staggering amount, and is more than double official Chinese metrics.

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  Here the IIF points out a massive problem: whereas in the past, emerging markets served as a global debt repository thanks to their low leverage, tising debt service burdens have now become a key issue for emerging markets: Largely reflecting the massive monetary policy response to the pandemic, corporate borrowers have been able to lock in lower funding costs at longer-than-average maturities. With short-term debt securities accounting for over 45% of total issuance in mature markets…

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  …  lower policy rates have also slashed borrowing costs for governments—a big benefit given widespread COVID-related revenue losses. In emerging markets, however, these revenue losses have made debt service burden much more onerous—despite the benefit from lower borrowing costs. Indeed, unlike DMs where interest expense miraculously declines the more deb there is, in EMs that’s not the case, and we are approaching the Minsky Moment collapse very, very fast.

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  Finally, the IIF estimates that some $7 trillion of EM debt will come due through end-2021, with USD-denominated debt representing 15% of the total.

  * * *

  Putting it all together, reveals nothing short of an surreal, apocalyptic hellscape where the world either collapses into a debt singularity as global debt to GDP slowly but surely creeps toward 1,000%… or explodes in a hyperinflationary supernova as central banks deposit trillions in digital Fedbux to every citizen instructing them to buy anything and everything they can find, in a last ditch effort to hyperinflate away the debt.

  But don’t take our word for it: as the IIF itself states, “the pace of global debt accumulation has been unprecedented since 2016, increasing by over $52 trillion. While some $15 trillion of this surge has been recorded in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the debt build-up over the past four years has far outstripped the $6 trillion rise over the previous four years and over earlier comparable periods.”

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  As a result, even the IIF admits that “there is significant uncertainty about how the global economy can deleverage in the future without significant adverse implications for economic activity.”

  One alternative – the one which is coming thanks to the digital dollars (and euros, and yen, and yuan) which the Fed and its peers will wire to every citizen – is that the next decade could bring a reflationary fiscal response, in sharp contrast to the austerity bias in the 2010s, according to the IIF. Of course, it would also unleash a monetary tsunami that will in just a few years do away with fiat as we know it… but that’s precisely why we have been pounding the table that the biggest story of 2020 is not covid, not the election, but the “all hands on deck” preparation by central banks to launch digital currencies. We have about 2-3 years before digital currencies are fully adopted.

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  Whether it is a deflationary neutron bomb, or a hyperinflationary supernove, the IIF’s conclusion is quite clear: “if the global debt pile continues to grow at the average pace of the last 15 years, our back-of-the-envelope estimates suggest that global debt could exceed $360 trillion by 2030—over $85 trillion higher than current levels.”

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  That, whether it’s in an inflationary or deflationary context, is best known by two very familiar words: “game over.”

  

• Target Steals More Market Share As Same-Day Channels Grow 217% In Q3
  Target Steals More Market Share As Same-Day Channels Grow 217% In Q3
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Wed, 11/18/2020 – 21:50

  By Ben Unglesbee of RetailDive

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  Target isn’t just growing; it’s eating other retailers’ lunch. On a call with analysts, CEO Brian Cornell said his company made “meaningful share gains across every one of our core categories as guests increasingly rely on Target to reliably and safely serve their wants and needs.”

  Moreover, while the retailer grew, and operated in a volatile pandemic environment, Target added to its bottom line. Its operating income nearly doubled year over year, coming to $1.9 billion in Q3, and net earnings grew by 41.9%. 

  In emailed comments, Moody’s retail analyst Charlie O’Shea said that “[p]ast and continuing strategic investments are paying off in a big way, which combined with Target’s superior execution resulted in significantly improved operating margin.” He added that, “Target has built up sufficient margin cushion such that it can absorb the meaningful levels of promotions which will be necessary to compete effectively with the likes of Walmart and Amazon.”

  Indeed, Target posted stronger growth in Q3 than its larger peer, Walmart, which posted strong but slowing sales gains for the quarter. Notably, while Walmart relied on growing ticket values to make up for traffic declines — a beneficial byproduct for mass merchants as consumers consolidate trips in the pandemic era — Target saw both ticket value and traffic growth during the same period.

  Telsey Advisory Group analysts led by Joseph Feldman attributed Target’s sales and share growth to “the success of its omni-channel strategies, loyal customer base, and superior execution.”

  “Longer term, we believe Target is well positioned to continue to gain market share, supported by ongoing strategies— price investments, private brands, remodels, small format stores (opened 29 stores in 2020 YTD), fulfillment/supply chain enhancements, loyalty programs, and Target+ marketplace — and retail consolidation,” the analysts said in an emailed note. 

  Target’s growth in the quarter, however, did slow compared to the retailer’s blowout Q2, noted GlobalData Retail Managing Director Neil Saunders. He pointed to the end of federal economic stimulus for households; the back-to-school and Halloween seasons, which Saunders described as “muted affairs” amid the pandemic; and to the full reopening of retail stores across the country. 

  Saunders noted the importance of Target’s rising traffic. “This is a testament to the strength of Target’s offer and, in the case of physical destinations, the pleasantness of its stores,” he said, adding that his firm’s data shows 34% of Americans said they visited Target during the pandemic to browse and to get out of the house, the highest percentage in retail.

  Cornell noted that Target’s customers are concerned about store safety with COVID-19 continuing its spread. To that end, the retailer has undertaken numerous safety measures, and recently added digital features to encourage contactless shopping and discourage crowds and lines. “We are committed to being the safest place to shop,” he said.

  Going into the holiday season, executives said on the call that Target has expanded its gifting assortment and unveiled its largest-ever list of hot toys, along with merchandising partnerships such as that with toy brand FAO Schwarz. Cornell said that customers have “reacted very positively” to Target’s efforts to pull Black Friday discounts earlier into the season as well as to closing for Thanksgiving. 

  Saunders said that “Target will be one of the winners” of the the holiday retail blitz. “All our surveys show it is one of the top gifting destinations and is also performing well for holiday home décor,” he said. “In essence, all the fundamentals are aligned for Target to do well.”

  

• Far Deadlier Strain Of Coronavirus Discovered In South Australia
  Far Deadlier Strain Of Coronavirus Discovered In South Australia
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Wed, 11/18/2020 – 21:30

  As researchers struggle to understand what makes infection with COVID-19 so mild in some cases, and so deadly in others, we have kept a close eye out for any new links between symptoms different strains of the virus. And on Wednesday we noticed new comments from South Australia’s top health official who warned that a particularly deadly strain of SARS-CoV-2 is circulating in the state.

  Chief Health Officer Professor Nicola Spurrier explained that the reason for the recently imposed six-day lockdown is the fact that “this particular strain has had certain characteristics” she said.

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  The State of South Australia, which became home to this dramatic scene yesterday, is also bracing for the risk that this new strain could spread more quickly, in addition to being more deadly. Professor Spurrier said a typical generation, or stage, of the virus was only about three days.

  “We also know, because of that characteristic, that what we call a generation, is only about three days and a generation is when one case is passing it on to the next level, and then that (next) level, so if they pass it on to two people, they will pass it on to another lot of people, and that is your third generation,” she said.

  Already, the virus has progressed to the fifth generation, she said.

  “At the moment in SA we have done contact tracing to the fourth generation but the fifth generation is out there in our community and at the moment we are contact tracing to get on to that generation and that is the Woodville pizza bar.”

  Authorities have traced the local outbreak to a pizza shop in Parafield. The cluster began with a worker at Peppers Warmouth, which is being used as a quarantine hotel, was infected with the virus.

  By tracing the spread of certain strains of the virus, researchers in the US have hypothesized that the virus was spread to New York from Europe, before moving to the rest of the country east of the Mississippi, while other strains colonized China and the west.

  Though SA’s infection rate remains muted, officials have reported two new cases today, taking the total to 22, while another 12 people are still under investigation.

  But as residents rush to get tested, we can’t help but wonder if public health officials might be playing up the strain angle to coax people into obeying the state’s six day lockdown.

  

• Trump's "Nuclear Dollar" Option Is Yet To Be Deployed Against China
  Trump’s “Nuclear Dollar” Option Is Yet To Be Deployed Against China
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Wed, 11/18/2020 – 21:10

  By Ye Xie, Bloomberg macro commentator

  The Trump administration seems to be true to its word that it’s not done with China yet.

  Over the past week, the White House has barred American investments in Chinese firms tied to the military and moved to draft regulations that could de-list Chinese companies from U.S. stock exchanges.

  So far, these moves have had only limited ramifications for financial markets. Chinese ADRS performed roughly in line with U.S. stocks, and the yuan has traded near the strongest since 2018. While companies hit by the sanctions, such as China National Chemical, have seen their dollar bonds sold off, the nation’s broader investment-grade index held up well.

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  After all, the affected bonds were relatively small compared with the size of China’s dollar credit market. Including debt from their subsidiaries, about $54 billion of Chinese bonds could be affected by the sanction, or 6% of China’s total foreign-currency bonds outstanding, according to Goldman Sachs’s analyst Kenneth Ho. In addition, their maturity schedule is spread out over the next decade and beyond, which means there’s limited immediate refinancing risks.

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  For Beijing, the bigger concern is that the U.S. could cut off dollar funding to Chinese banks.

  More than half of China’s $675 billion foreign-currency loans were denominated in dollars, and Chinese banks account for two-thirds of that dollar borrowing, according to a Goldman Sachs analysis of Bank for International Settlements’ data. Any restrictions on dollar funding could disproportionately affect Chinese banks, which in turn could hurt their ability to finance the offshore operations of Chinese enterprises.

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  As a net creditor to the world, China could sell off some of its foreign assets to manage the situation, if push comes to shove. Still, should Trump decide to press the “nuclear” button during his remaining time in office, it could be quite messy and mutually disruptive.

  

• Taiwan Grounds Fleet Of US-Made F-16s After Jet Goes Missing 
  Taiwan Grounds Fleet Of US-Made F-16s After Jet Goes Missing 
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Wed, 11/18/2020 – 20:50

  Taiwan grounded its entire fleet of General Dynamics F-16 fighter jets Wednesday after one of the planes went missing shortly after takeoff on Tuesday night, according to a Taiwanese Air Force official who was quoted by Focus Taiwan. 

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  During a press conference, Taiwan Air Force commander Hsieh Jih-sheng said that search and rescue operations were currently underway via the military and coast guard for the F-16, piloted by Colonel Chiang Cheng-Chih.

  On Tuesday evening, the F-16 disappeared from radar screens about two minutes into the flight at about 6,000 feet over eastern Taiwan’s coastal waters. 

  Radar Screen Of Where Plane Went Missing 

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  Jih-sheng said when the incident occurred, “cloud cover was thin at 2,000 feet but thicker from 4,000-7,000 feet.” He said the F-16 was conducting a “scheduled” night drill over coastal waters.

  The grounding involves about 150 F-16s, which have helped deter Chinese warplanes from penetrating deeper into the island’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ). Bloomberg notes Taiwan has scrambled 3,000 jets this year in response to 1,700 Chinese aircraft encroaching on the ADIZ.

  Last month, a Taiwanese F-5 jet crashed into the east coast sea during a training mission. The pilot was killed after he ejected from the plane, prompting a similar grounding.

  “The rescue mission is our top priority now. The air force has grounded all F-16s for checks, and I’ve instructed an investigation into the cause of the incident,” President Tsai Ing-wen told reporters on Wednesday. 

  With F-16s grounded, the Taiwan Air Force must rely on French-built Mirages from the 1990s and F-5s from the 1970s – this could leave the country vulnerable as tensions between the US and China continue to soar. 

  • US Bombers Enter Chinese Air Defence Zone As Beijing Mounts Massive Naval Drills
  • Beijing Sends Biden A Warning

  There’s been no word on the fate of the 66 new F-16s that Taiwan is expected to receive after signing a multi-billion dollar deal with the US. 

  

• Cuomo Unloads On 'Idiot' Reporter For Asking Simple Question About School Closures
  Cuomo Unloads On ‘Idiot’ Reporter For Asking Simple Question About School Closures
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Wed, 11/18/2020 – 20:30

  Gov Andrew Cuomo must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed Wednesday morning, or perhaps he was frustrated from trying to hash out a plan with his political archnemesis, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, to battle the surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

  Whatever the reason, America’s favorite book-slanging, COVID-battling governor started a ruckus during the opening minutes of Wednesday’s Q&A session, after laying out a confusing series of changes to the color-coded status of several zip codes around the state. 

  When a reporter implied that parents in NYC were confused about whether schools would be closing Thursday, or not, Cuomo snapped and started berating the reporter, saying his failure to comprehend the order was either the result of genuine stupidity, or the reporter’s own mendacious spirit.

  🚨 Dictator @NYGovCuomo goes nuts after a reporter asks him a simple question about school closures in NY. pic.twitter.com/C9ekSMF1io

  — Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) November 18, 2020

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  But the whole thing fell apart when another reporter spoke up and pressed the question further, challenging the governor to answer one simple question: Would NYC schools remain open tomorrow?

  After another awkward back-and-forth, Cuomo insisted that NYC schools would, in fact, remain open – for now, at least.

  No sooner were these words spoken than the NYT broke the news: the Chancellor of NYC’s schools had alerted principles that all students would return to remote learning starting tomorrow, the paper said.

  Cuomo was seemingly caught off guard, and as stocks reacted negatively to the news, he moved on to the next question, though the palpable tension in the room lingered.

  One Twitter user’s comment about the unhinged rant was particularly apt.

  If his brother is fredo, he’s sonny.

  — David Blair (@BlairLawOffice) November 18, 2020

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• As Clock Ticks On Election Certifications, Here's Where Trump Legal Challenges Stand
  As Clock Ticks On Election Certifications, Here’s Where Trump Legal Challenges Stand
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Wed, 11/18/2020 – 20:15

  As Joe Biden continues to claiming victory (something he said he wouldn’t do until the election was independently certified), various legal challenges brought by President Trump, the GOP, and allegedly disenfranchised voters are working their way through the courts.

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  And unless the courts intervene – up to and including the US Supreme Court – the clock is running out on Trump’s ability to claim victory in light of alleged fraud, as several states move to certify their results.

  While Georgia is set to certify its election results on Friday, Nevada, Michigan and Pennsylvania are expected to follow next week. Arizona, meanwhile, has until Nov. 30, and Wisconsin until Dec. 1, according to Bloomberg.

  States make their election results official through a certification after what’s known as a canvass to account for every ballot cast and to confirm that every valid vote was counted, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Procedures and deadlines for certifying votes vary by state.

  Certified totals can change if a state allows recounts after certification, which Georgia, Michigan and Nevada do, or if there is a challenge to the election. But certification amounts to a declaration of a winner, and the winning candidate will assume office unless a court intervenes, said Michael Morley, an assistant law professor at Florida State University who’s worked on election emergencies and post-election litigation. –Bloomberg

  “This is going to be a series of dominoes that fall sort of ineluctably toward the conclusion that we already know is true, which is that Biden is the winner of these states and is the president-elect,” said NYU law professor, Richard Pildes, adding: “This will be the formal legal step that cements that.”

  As JPMorgan’s Michael Cembalest notes, however, the US Supreme Court could hear appeals on state challenges, “such as late-arriving absentee ballots in PA (too few to change the outcome); complaints on transparency of vote counting (judicial relief could entail recounting certain counties); illegal acceptance of certain votes (votes in question too small to change the results); and complaints that the voting process suffered from pervasive irregularity and fraud (most of these claims have been rejected by lower courts over the last 2 weeks).”

  Cembalest concludes that “a LOT of very unorthodox things have to happen for Trump to be re-elected,” adding that “Based on the uncertified vote results, Trump would have to reverse or impede results in three states to prevent Biden from reaching 270 electoral votes.“

  That said, he’s not ruling anything out.

  Here’s where things stand with state challenges:

  In Pennsylvania, the Trump campaign continues to seek to block the certification of the results in the state over alleged unfair voting practices in which Democratic-leaning areas were given greater opportunities to correct mistakes on their ballots. A federal suit seeks to challenge over 680,000 mail-in ballots which were counted without proper oversight from GOP poll watchers – who say they weren’t allowed within 20 feet of election counters.

  Trump’s campaign has also accused election officials of violating a judge’s order to allow meaningful access to watchers – at minimum six feet – as long as they adhered to measures implemented to reduce the spread of covid-19.

  Another challenge seeks to disqualify ballots received after election day – which would affect an estimated 10,000 votes, or not enough to overcome Biden’s more than 70,000 vote lead over President Trump.

  In Michigan, where Biden is ahead by approximately 150,000 votes, the Trump campaign is seeking to block certification of results in Wayne County – where the Board of Canvassers just overcame a major controversy in which two Republican members of the four-person body refused to certify the results of the election, only to reverse course three hours later and bend the knee.

  State elections officials will meet on November 23 to confirm the final election results.

  Nevada – also projected to go to Biden by a margin of more than 30,000 votes – has been served with a lawsuit as well, asking that Trump be named the winner or that the results be void with no winner declared and certified. Trump’s team claims that “fraud and abuse renders the purported results of the Nevada election illegitimate,” and alleges that 15,000 people living out of state illegally voted.

  In Georgia, a lawsuit was filed in Chatham County alleging ballot processing issues, while GOP party Chairman David Shafer tweeted that observers saw a woman “mix over 50 ballots into the stack of uncounted absentee ballots.” The lawsuit was dismissed on November 5.

  And in Arizona, the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit on November 7 claiming that legal votes were rejected based on poll watcher affidavits claiming that they had issues with voting machines.

  (h/t BBC.com)

  

• "No One Is Bigger Than The Party": At Crucial Juncture In US/China Relations, Xi Aims To Consolidate Power
  “No One Is Bigger Than The Party”: At Crucial Juncture In US/China Relations, Xi Aims To Consolidate Power
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Wed, 11/18/2020 – 20:10

  We documented just days ago that China was expanding its crackdown on tech billionaires after spoiling the Ant Financial IPO. Now, it looks like part of a larger plan for Beijing to consolidate power at a crucial time in U.S./China relations. 

  President Xi Jinping is openly tightening his grip on China’s Communist Party, as denoted by a series of actions he has taken over the last few weeks. The most obvious of these actions was the shocking suspension of the Ant Financial IPO, which was pulled literally hours before the company, valued at $35 billion, was set to begin trading.

  In addition to that, Xi has also implemented new anti-monopoly rules to rein in companies like Tencent and Alibaba, who may be viewed as long term threats to the party. He has also “moved to further snuff out any opposition in Hong Kong’s legislature,” according to Bloomberg. 

  It is proof positive that the Chinese government is acutely focused on anyone and anything that could grow powerful enough to eventually begin to undermine its power. 

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  George Magnus, research associate at Oxford University’s China Centre told Bloomberg: “Xi Jinping certainly seems to be cracking the whip with a purpose and a force that, if not new, is certainly designed to impress upon the party, entrepreneurs, citizens and the rest of the world his authority and determination. I don’t see much that is pre-emptive or getting ahead the curve here. If there were, Xi would be channeling his inner ‘reform and opening up’ appetite. The point is that he doesn’t really have any.”

  The moves come at a time where the outgoing Trump administration is rumored to be preparing more steps that could further distance the U.S. and China. For the last 4 years, the U.S. has worked with global allies to try and secure itself from China’s tech companies, like Huawei, which has been accused of IP theft. 

  China hopes an incoming Biden administration could help put an end to some of those policies. 

  The change in attitude between the two countries has forced China to a strategy of “greater self-reliance”. Party leaders have focused on domestic growth and less reliance on U.S. industry. Xi has said he wants to double the country’s economy by posting growth of 4.7% to 5% annually. 

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  Part of Xi’s moves to consolidate power have coming from trying to “create a balance” to allow domestic growth to occur. Hong Hao, chief strategist for Bocom International in Hong Kong, said: “It is about how best to share the growing pie of economic development and tech innovation.”

  The anti-monopoly rules being put into place give the government “wide latitude” to rein in billionaires like Jack Ma. Beijing likely saw Ant Financial as a risk because its business model “allowed it to charge higher fees for transactions while state-run banks took on most of the risk,” Bloomberg notes. A banking regulator in Beijing last weekend said FinTech companies “shouldn’t form oligopolies, reap excessive returns and harm public interests.”

  Rebecca Fannin, author of “Tech Titans of China”, stated: “Startups will welcome any decline in their monopolistic power because these huge Chinese companies have stifled them, and used their leverage and size to out-innovate them quickly or buy them out.”

  In addition, the state made a big statement last ween when it let a AAA- rated state owned coal miner default on a bond payment, as we documented at the time. 

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  The main message that Xi appears to want to get across to his country, the U.S. – and really, anybody that wants to listen – is that no one is bigger than the party.

  Rana Mitter, professor of Chinese politics at the University of Oxford, said: “Making it clear that the ultra-rich can be brought to heel is important symbolically. However, it also seems likely that the CCP is concerned that major business figures may have political ideas about power, beyond mere wealth. So the use of regulators is in part to reinforce the message that nobody is bigger than the party.”

  “The party values stability over everything. They value it over competition, over fairness, over money. Maybe the only thing they value more than stability is power, and it’s stability that maintains their power,” she concluded.

  

• New York Sheriffs Refuse To Enforce Cuomo's Thanksgiving COVID Order
  New York Sheriffs Refuse To Enforce Cuomo’s Thanksgiving COVID Order
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Wed, 11/18/2020 – 19:50

  Authored by Rick Moran via PJMedia.com,

  Several county sheriffs in New York State are saying they will not enforce Governor Andrew Cuomo’s executive order that limits Thanksgiving Day gatherings to 10 people or less.

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  Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo summed up the sheriffs’ objections nicely. “I can’t see how devoting our resources to counting cars in citizens’ driveways or investigating how much turkey and dressing they’ve purchased is for the public good,” Zurlo said in a press release.

  This has nothing to do with “virus fatigue,” it’s a common-sense rebellion against insanity.

  New York Post:

  In a scathing Facebook post on Saturday, Fulton County Sheriff Richard Giardino questioned the legality of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s newly instituted 10-person cap on parties and other gatherings in private residences.

  “Frankly, I am not sure it could sustain a Constitutional challenge in Court for several reasons including your house is your castle,” the sheriff wrote in the Saturday post.

  “And as a Sheriff with a law degree I couldn’t in good faith attempt to defend it Court, so I won’t,” he said.

  The time has passed when grasping politicians can use the public health crisis to impose unconstitutional restrictions on citizens. The Great Virus Scare of 2020 is over and if Joe Biden tries to bring it back, he won’t find meek and mild sheep doing everything the experts are telling them to do.

  This, from a Mississippi public health official is typical of the scaremongering that isn’t going to work anymore: “It’s going to happen. You’re going to say hi at Thanksgiving, it’s so nice to see you, and you’re either going to be visiting her by Facetime in the ICU or planning a small funeral by Christmas,” the MSMA president said.

  As for the sheriffs, they’re telling Cuomo that if he wants to keep people apart, he can do it himself.

  Giardino noted his office, with limited resources, has scant legal options to enter private homes other than search warrants, invitations or under an “emergency circumstance.”

  “We have limited resources and we have to set priorities, so obtaining a Search Warrant to enter your home to see how many Turkey or Tofu eaters are present is not a priority,” Giardino wrote.

  This is something Cuomo would know if he weren’t such an arrogant, elitist, snob. Apparently, he thinks that simply by snapping his fingers and issuing a decree, his will becomes law. Sic Semper Tyrannus, baby.

  I have no intention of visiting anyone at Thanksgiving, but that’s my choice. I would suggest that if you do visit relatives that you take simple, common-sense precautions. As far as “planning a small funeral by Christmas” for those who want to visit, Cuomo and other public health dragoons might be surprised at the number of older people with pre-existing conditions who have decided to stay home — all on their own without any help from the government in making the choice.

  Turns out most citizens in America aren’t ten-year-old children who constantly have to be told what to do.

  

• Iran Is Already Warming Up To Biden, Suggesting Cancelling Sanctions And Rejoining The Nuclear Deal
  Iran Is Already Warming Up To Biden, Suggesting Cancelling Sanctions And Rejoining The Nuclear Deal
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Wed, 11/18/2020 – 19:30

  Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, seems to be delighted that President Trump is on his way out and President-elect Joe Biden is on his way in. Go figure.

  The country’s foreign minister has proposed “a return to full compliance” of the Iran nuclear deal if Biden lifts sanctions that have been ordered onto the country by President Trump. He has commented that Biden’s administration can use executive orders to lift the sanctions.

  Zarif told a state owned newspaper this week: “The fact that Mr. Biden wants to return to the nuclear deal is great. We’re ready to hold talks over how the U.S. can re-enter the nuclear deal.”

  Eager to make Biden his lapdog, he continued: “I expect the situation to significantly improve in the next few months. When Mr. Biden decides to fulfill U.S. obligations, we will be ready to quickly return to our commitments. This process is not time-consuming at all.”

  His comments were described by Bloomberg as “the most conciliatory yet since Biden was proclaimed the winner” of the U.S. election. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said Biden’s election could allow Iran to “move away from an environment of threat under the current insurgent U.S. government toward an environment of opportunities.”

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  The country’s eagerness to jump back into the 2015 deal belies the fact that the country’s uranium stockpile has eclipsed limits set by the deal. Since Trump backed out of the deal, Iran’s stockpile has risen by eightfold to over 5,291 pounds. It’s enough “to create three bombs,” Bloomberg notes. 

  The director general of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency said this week that the country is using new high-tech machines to produce nuclear fuel, despite the country denying that it aspires to build bombs. The agency is seeking answers from the country about traces of man-made uranium found at a warehouse in Iran.

  In addition to putting distance between the U.S. and Iran, the Trump administration has also sought to arm Iran’s foes, selling weapons to both Israel and the UAE. Iran will be dealing with a potential political sea change of its own, as it approaches an election in June. The country’s economy has “crumbled” under the U.S. sanctions levied upon it. 

  Biden said back in September: “If Iran returns to strict compliance with the nuclear deal, the United States would rejoin the agreement as a starting point for follow-on negotiations” that would strengthen and extend the deal’s provisions “while also addressing other issues of concern.”

  

• Parler CEO Defends Free Speech: "It's Not Against The Law To Have Those Opinions"
  Parler CEO Defends Free Speech: “It’s Not Against The Law To Have Those Opinions”
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Wed, 11/18/2020 – 19:10

  Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

  The CEO of Parler, which has been described as an alternative to Twitter, defended free speech in an interview on Tuesday in the midst of mainstream media-led criticism of the social media platform.

  “People say crazy things all the time,” and “it’s not against the law to have those opinions,” Parler CEO John Matze told Fox News. He was responding to a question about why establishment media outlets have taken an increasingly critical tone against the platform.

  “I always ask them, ‘What do you think of the First Amendment? Do you believe that we should have somebody in New York, let’s say in the middle of Times Square, telling you what you can and cannot say?’” Matze said.

  “Because that’s what these companies are doing.”

  “I don’t know why they’re so afraid. Maybe it’s because they don’t like that people are getting power again,” he continued. 

  “But it’s not against the law to have those opinions,” Matze added.

  “It’s not against the law to express yourself. And if you like one political candidate or another, or you believe or don’t believe in climate change,” he continued, “you shouldn’t be taken offline because of it.”

  After the Nov. 3 elections, Parler has seen a boost in users and traffic, coming after some conservative pundits and officials moved to the platform from Twitter.

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  The firm in late September posted a message about Election Day, saying it will be “a hub for unfettered, curation-free information before, during, and after the November 3 election.” The firm then took a shot at Facebook, Google, and Twitter for attempting to control the flow of information.

  “Google, Facebook, and Twitter, by contrast, have announced plans to control the dissemination of ‘misinformation,’ which means, in effect: to take it upon themselves to tell their users what information they should trust and, ultimately, what they should think,” it said.

  The three firms have posted disclaimers, fact checks, and have limited the reach on posts that allegedly run afoul of narratives they seek to promote.

  Matze’s comments come as Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg came under fire from Senate Republicans in a Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday.

  “That to me seems like you’re the ultimate editor,” committee chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said during his opening statement to the two CEOs. “The editorial decision by the New York Post to run the story was overridden by Twitter and Facebook in different fashions to prevent its dissemination. Now if that’s not making an editorial decision I don’t know what would be.”

  Some media pundits as well as researchers have complained that Parler allows for the spread of so-called conspiracy theories or disinformation. Bret Schafer, a fellow focusing on disinformation at the Alliance for Securing Democracy, told The Hill:

  “Anytime you take a laissez-faire approach to moderation —you say ‘anything goes’ right up until actual threats of real world violence—that creates a huge space for some really problematic things to happen.”

  He didn’t provide any evidence that showed whether views expressed on Parler have led to violence.

  

• China Used 'Secret Microwave Pulse Weapon' Against Indian Troops In Border Battle
  China Used ‘Secret Microwave Pulse Weapon’ Against Indian Troops In Border Battle
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Wed, 11/18/2020 – 18:50

  A report this week in the UK Times has revealed new information on China’s use of a cutting edge high tech weapon during last summer’s high altitude Himalayan standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in the disputed Ladakh border region.

  Initial claims that a military-grade crowd control sonic pulse weapon capable of causing severe bodily discomfort, including dizziness and nausea, was used by China’s PLA military on Indian soldiers along the Line of Actual Control, were recently made by a notable professor at a Beijing university.

  It would mark the first known instance in history such a controversial weapon was deployed in battle. 

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  “Its forces had turned two strategic hilltops that had been occupied by Indian soldiers ‘into a microwave oven’, forcing them to retreat and allowing the positions to be retaken without an exchange of conventional fire, according to Jin Canrong, a professor of international relations at Beijing-based Renmin University,” the Times reports. 

  Also described as electromagnetic ‘microwave’ weapons, when reportedly turned on the Indian forces they retreated during a standoff after becoming sick and vomiting, the professor claimed:

  Jin told his students that within 15 minutes of the weapons being deployed, ‘those occupying the hilltops all began to vomit’. 

  ‘They couldn’t stand up, so they fled. This was how we retook the ground,’ he explained. 

  China’s forces decided to use the weapons because the altitude was too high to fight against a team of Tibetan mountaineering specialists, Jin said. 

  Gunfire is banned under an old agreement, although there were warning shots in September in an exchange of fire which both sides blamed on each other.

  In June Chinese and Indian patrols along the border broke into hand-to-hand clashes that left at least 20 Indian troops killed. The microwave weapon incident was said to have occurred in late August.

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  China and India have been engaged in military-to-military talks to attempt to return the region to a peaceful status quo amid the border dispute, which reaches back decades. 

  Each side has accused the other of violating prior agreements, but for now that talks appear to have kept the peace even as a military build-up on each side has continued.

  However, as of September both sides were witnessed sending additional troops and supplies to the harsh high-altitude region, strongly suggesting the standoff will continue for the long haul.

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  The US military has recently experimented with such ‘sonic weapons’ which are designed to cause an extreme concentration of heat, capable of causing enough discomfort to disperse crowds, but they have long been deemed ineffective on the battlefield, outside of simple urban crown control situations. 

  Assuming these new claims out of China are true, it would mark the first time such a sonic weapon was used in a live battlefield situation on humans. 

  

• US COVID-19 Deaths Top 250,000 As Mortality Worst Since Spring: Live Updates
  US COVID-19 Deaths Top 250,000 As Mortality Worst Since Spring: Live Updates
  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Wed, 11/18/2020 – 18:42

  Summary:

  • US COVID deaths top 250k
  • Gov Cuomo says Buffalo is worst hit part of the state
  • US suffers most new deaths in months
  • Pfizer vaccine now 95% effective
  • Lucira home test approved
  • Sweden suffers most new deaths in months
  • FDA panel to meet next month to discuss vaccines
  • Tokyo sees record jump in cases
  • PA orders new restrictions
  • India outbreak continues to weaken
  • LA County prepares new curfew orders
  • Sinovac appears to be safe per trial data

  * * *

  Update (1840ET): COVID-19 has killed more than 250,000 people in the US in under than 10 months, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

  * * *

  Update (1345ET): Gov Cuomo is holding his latest COVID briefing from Albany after urging new yorkers via tweet to limit indoor group dinners this Thanksgiving holiday.

  In Albany holding a briefing. Watch on Facebook Live here:https://t.co/zQXTWlUAGv

  — Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) November 18, 2020

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

  Cuomo started by chiding NYers for causing this latest uptick by ignoring the social distancing rules.

  “If you didn’t eat the cheesecake, you wouldn’t have a weight problem,” he said.

  Of course, that ignores the fact that roughly 80% of those infected wear masks.

  Cuomo, who started the Q&A by squabbling with a couple of reporters, started by saying NYC could enter an “orange zone” – which would require schools to close – by tomorrow, though he told reporters that schools wouldn’t be closed tomorrow.

  Under a preexisting law, the Bronx has been designated as a yellow zone. A yellow zone in Queens is also being expanded. This will require additional testing of school teachers and personnel. However, if the city hits the 3% 7-day positivity threshold, Cuomo said, the entire city would become an orange zone, causing schools to close.

  Moving on, Cuomo said during the briefing that Western New York is currently experiencing the “worst situation” in the state of New York, with a positivity rate of 7.3% in Buffalo. Additional restrictions will be imposed in parts of Buffalo too, with one yellow zone becoming an orange zone (which requires schools to go remote).

  * * *

  The biggest COVID-19 related news on Wednesday is the release of the final data from the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine trial, which showed the vaccine to be 95% effective, on par with Moderna’s mRNA vaccine results, which were released earlier in the week. While we await Moderna’s “final” data showing its vaccine to be 96% effective, it’s worth noting that this wasn’t the only new development in the battle against the virus.

  Following the announcement, it was reported that a critical FDA panel will meet on Dec. 8 to discuss the first wave of COVID-19 vaccines, raising the possibility that the first general-use approvals might come around then, or shortly after.

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  Lucira’s rapid home test for the virus was just approved for emergency use by the FDA on Wednesday, granting a powerful new tool that can allow exposed persons to text themselves without potentially putting others at risk. The test is the first that can be fully self-administered, and it can provide results at home in 30 minutes or less. The approval comes at a time when the US is reporting an average of 150,000 new coronavirus cases per day.

  “This new testing option is an important diagnostic advancement to address the pandemic and reduce the public burden of disease transmission,” said FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn in the statement.

  In other news, after announcing early Wednesday (local time) that Tokyo would be placed on the highest new alert level to stop the spread of the virus, daily coronavirus cases in Tokyo hit a new record of 493 on Wednesday, topping the previous record of 472 set on Aug. 1.

  Across the US, 20 states are seeing hospitalizations reach peak levels.

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  Deaths are surging higher in the Midwest to new record levels, though they’re also rising in other regions as well. The US reported more than 1,550 new deaths yesterday, its largest daily tally since the spring.

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  Over in Europe, Sweden just reported 96 deaths in a single day, its highest daily tally in at least three months. The new numbers brought Sweden’s death toll to 6,321. By comparison, Sweden reported 4,007 new cases on Wednesday, vs. 5,990 the day before.

  Here’s more COVID news from Wednesday morning and overnight:

  Yesterday, Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Health announced new targeted efforts to slow the spread of the virus in the state, including strengthening a mandatory mask order, along with a new mandate for those traveling to PA from out of state (Source: WGAL).

  Following this morning’s Pfizer news, the Indian government is reportedly in talks with Pfizer and Moderna for COVID-19 vaccine.

  Los Angeles County plans to implement a curfew from 2200-0600 beginning on Friday night and restaurants with outdoor dining, breweries and wineries will be reduced to 50% capacity (Source: Newswires).

  The US isn’t the only country with some helpful vaccine news: Sinovac’s vaccine CORONAVAC appeared to be safe and well tolerated at all doses according to Phase 1/2 study, while phase 3 will be crucial to determine the immune response according to researchers. Researchers also stated the vaccine is suitable for emergency use during the pandemic and noted that antibody levels induced by the vaccine were lower than those seen in people that have recovered from the virus.

  Tokyo is preparing to raise its coronavirus infection alert status to the highest of level 4. Elsewhere, South Australia’s Premier announced mobility restrictions amid the ongoing outbreak in the state with all schools, universities, takeaway food, pubs and cafes to be shut for 6 days. (Source: Nikkei).

  India reports 38,617 new cases, up from 29,163 the previous day, bringing the total to 8.91 million. The death toll jumped by 474 to 130,993 (Source: Nikkei).

  South Australia Premier Steven Marshall announced a six-day lockdown to stamp out an outbreak that has now expanded to 22 new cases, warning that the strain of coronavirus detected was especially worrying.

  

• Daily Briefing – November 18, 2020
  Daily Briefing – November 18, 2020

  
  Tyler Durden
  
  Wed, 11/18/2020 – 18:25

  Real Vision Managing editor Ed Harrison hosts Tommy Thornton, founder of Hedge Fund Telemetry, to discuss the opportunities and risks on the investment horizon. Tommy explores whether the ongoing rotation into value will continue, sharing his views on sectors such as energy, financials, and retail. He and Ed then investigate whether bonds’ rally is a harbinger of trouble for stocks, and how various asset classes such as gold and bitcoin perform should there be a major selloff in the equity market. Lastly, Tommy discusses why he remains bearish on Tesla despite its significant rally, and shares his fundamental analysis of the electric vehicle maker as well as his framework for managing risk. In the intro, editor Jack Farley looks at oil futures, vaccine progress, and MTA’s woes.

  

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