Today’s News 26th November 2021

• Whitehead: Don't Give Up On The Blessings Of Freedom
  Whitehead: Don’t Give Up On The Blessings Of Freedom

  Authored by John W. Whitehead & Nisha Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute,

  “All we are saying is give peace a chance.”

  – John Lennon

  How do you give thanks for freedoms that are constantly being eroded?

  How do you express gratitude for one’s safety when the perils posed by the American police state grow more treacherous by the day?

  How do you come together as a nation in thanksgiving when the powers-that-be continue to polarize and divide us into warring factions?

  Every year finds us struggling to reconcile our hope for a better, freer, more just world with the soul-sucking reality of a world in which greed, meanness and war continue to triumph.

  

  Fifty years ago, John Lennon released “Imagine” and exhorted us to “Imagine all the people livin’ life in peace.” That same year, Lennon released “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” as part of a major anti-war campaign. Lennon—a musical genius, anti-war activist, and a high-profile example of the lengths to which the Deep State will go to persecute those who dare to challenge its authority—made clear that the only way to achieve an end to hunger, violence, war, and tyranny is to want it badly enough and work towards it.

  Fifty years later, we clearly don’t want those things badly enough.

  Peace remains out of reach. Activists and whistleblowers continue to be prosecuted for challenging the government’s authority. Militarism is on the rise, all the while the governmental war machine continues to wreak havoc on innocent lives.

  For those of us who joined with John Lennon to imagine a world of peace, it’s getting harder to reconcile that dream with the reality of the American police state. And those who do dare to speak up about government corruption (such as Julian Assange) are labeled dissidents, troublemakers, terrorists, lunatics, or mentally ill and tagged for surveillance, censorship or, worse, involuntary detention.

  All the while, people still keep looking to the government to “fix” what’s wrong with this country. You’d think we’d have learned—after 20 years of heavy-handed government authoritarianism that started with the 9/11 attacks and has continued through to the present-day COVID-19 tyranny—that the only thing the government can be trusted to do is make things worse.

  Now we find ourselves approaching that time of year when, as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln proclaimed, we’re supposed to give thanks as a nation and as individuals for our safety and our freedoms.

  It’s not an easy undertaking.

  Thinking good thoughts, being grateful, counting your blessings and adopting a glass-half-full mindset are fine and good, but that’s not enough. This world requires doers, men and women (and children) who will put those good thoughts into action.

  Remember, evil prevails when good men and women do nothing.

  Here’s what I suggest: this year, do yourselves a favor and turn off the talking heads, shut down the screen devices, tune out the politicians, take a deep breath, then do something to pay your blessings forward.

  Refuse to remain silent. Take a stand. Speak up. Speak out. Recognize injustice. Don’t turn away from suffering.

  Find something to be thankful for about the things and people in your community for which you might have the least tolerance or appreciation. Instead of just rattling off a list of things you’re thankful for that sound good, dig a little deeper and acknowledge the good in those you may have underappreciated or feared.

  When it comes time to giving thanks for your good fortune, put your gratitude into action: pay your blessings forward with deeds that spread a little kindness, lighten someone’s burden, and brighten some dark corner.

  Engage in acts of kindness. Smile more. Fight less. Build bridges. Refuse to let toxic politics define your relationships. Focus on the things that unite instead of that which divides.

  Do your part to push back against the meanness of our culture with conscious compassion and humanity. Moods are contagious, the good and the bad. They can be passed from person to person. So can the actions associated with those moods, the good and the bad.

  Be a hero, whether or not anyone ever notices.

  Acts of benevolence, no matter how inconsequential they might seem, can spark a movement.

  All it takes is one person to start a chain reaction.

  For instance, a few years ago in Florida, a family of six—four adults and two young boys—were swept out to sea by a powerful rip current in Panama City Beach. There was no lifeguard on duty. The police were standing by, waiting for a rescue boat. And the few people who had tried to help ended up stranded, as well.

  Those on shore grouped together and formed a human chain. What started with five volunteers grew to 15, then 80 people, some of whom couldn’t swim.

  One by one, they linked hands and stretched as far as their chain would go. The strongest of the volunteers swam out beyond the chain and began passing the stranded victims of the rip current down the chain.

  One by one, they rescued those in trouble and pulled each other in.

  There’s a moral here for what needs to happen in this country if we only can band together and prevail against the riptides that threaten to overwhelm us.

  As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, there may not be much we can do to avoid the dismal reality of the police state in the long term—not so long as the powers-that-be continue to call the shots and allow profit margins to take precedence over the needs of people—but in the short term, there are things we can all do right now to make this world (or at least our small corners of it) a little bit kinder, a lot less hostile and more just.

  It’s never too late to start making things right in the world.

  John Lennon tried to imagine a world in which we all lived in peace. He was a beautiful dreamer whose life ended with an assassin’s bullet on December 8, 1980.

  Still, that doesn’t mean the dream has to die, too.

  There’s something to be said for working to make that dream a reality. As Lennon reminded his listeners, “War is over, if you want it.”

  The choice is ours, if we want it.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/25/2021 – 23:30

• Nickel, Industrial Metals Rise As China Property Optimism Returns 
  Nickel, Industrial Metals Rise As China Property Optimism Returns 

  Base metals are on the rise after a series of positive announcements over the week has brought new optimism to China’s property sector. 

  On Thursday, Nickel paced gains by most industrial metals on the London Metal Exchange, rising 2.5%. As shown below, spot prices for Nickel are moving higher as inventories continue to shrink, pointing to mounting supply tightness. 

  

  “Nickel now looks to be the new game in town with stocks falling daily,” Malcolm Freeman, a director at Kingdom Futures, wrote in a note. “For now the bullish mood persists and there seems little point in going against it in the very short term.”

  As global refined-nickel inventories continue to draw down, prices face volatility, trending toward gains, Huatai Futures Co. wrote in a note. 

  Earlier this week, iron ore futures trading in Singapore bounced back over $100/ton after reports of Chinese regulators dialing back crackdowns on the property market could soon lift steel demand and improve profitability for steelmakers. There’s also chatter the People’s Bank of China could unleash stimulus amid the economic growth slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.  

  “The market has higher expectations for steel production to resume,” Huatai Futures Co. wrote in another note. Property is a leading source of industrial metal demand in the country. 

  Bloomberg Industrial Metals Subindex (BCOMIN) has broken out to an all-time-highs, surpassing 2007 and 2011 highs. 

  

  Positive developments appear on the macro front as the PBoC could be close to easing and Beijing dials back on regulatory crackdowns. Institutional investors are also getting in on the action as China’s high-yield bonds have had a bid this month. 

  

  Suppose the Chinese government continues to offer policy support to heal the ailing property market, which it crushed this year through regulatory crackdowns. In that case, this could mean industrial metals will rise some more, adding to inflation. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/25/2021 – 22:45

• Why The Border Is Such A Problem For Biden… And America
  Why The Border Is Such A Problem For Biden… And America

  Authored by Charles Lipson via RealClearPolitics.com,

  The Biden administration is drowning on issue after issue, and many of the bubbles are coming from the Rio Grande River. The problem, which dare not speak its name, is illegal immigration. The administration, its political party, and the mainstream media refuse to say the very word “illegal.” For a while, they called it “undocumented,” pretending the migrants somehow forgot their papers in the top dresser drawer in Guatemala or Haiti. Now, even that bland phrase is deemed too clear and honest. The new woke term is “irregular immigration.” Anything to minimize the problem, sway public opinion, and avoid plain talk.

  

  The obfuscation goes much further than a few phrases.

  Consider Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas’ testimony to Congress last week, where he faced awkward questions about the administration’s decision to stop building the border wall, including portions that had already been contracted and paid for. Mayorkas’ reply, “We are not going to construct a border wall along the ragged and jagged cliffs along certain parts of the border.”

  He was addressing a fake issue, answering a question that had not been asked so he could avoid answering the one that actually had been. His misdirection was intentional. Even hardline Republicans agree that a wall is not needed for remote, rugged areas. High-tech solutions work well there and cost less. It’s true that Donald Trump once proposed a wall along the entire border. It’s also true that he abandoned that idea long ago. No one is proposing it now. What Mayorkas was asked was why the administration had stopped building the wall in flat, accessible areas where hundreds of thousands of people have been streaming across. He had no answer. So he spewed more bubbles from a drowning administration.

  Mayorkas’ performance illustrates George Orwell’s observations in what is perhaps the best essay ever written about politics and the English language.

  “In our time,” he asserted, “political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible.” What Orwell wrote in 1946 is still true. Some political acts are “too brutal for most people to face, and … do not square with the professed aims of political parties. Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness.”

  Watching its policies fail catastrophically on the U.S.-Mexican border has not nudged the Biden administration into discussing this issue forthrightly. The public isn’t buying either the gobbledygook or the policies. In the latest Rasmussen survey, 57% of likely voters say the government is doing too little to reduce illegal border crossings and visitor overstays. Only 20% rate the level of government action as about right; 65% of independent voters say the government is doing too little.

  Why are the poll numbers so stark?

  The two most compelling reasons are that illegal border crossings have reached record numbers and the public believes that conditions won’t improve without major policy changes. They’re right. According to official data, first obtained by the Washington Post, “U.S. authorities detained more than 1.7 million migrants along the Mexico border during the 2021 fiscal year that ended in September, and arrests by the Border Patrol soared to the highest levels ever recorded.” In October alone, the Border Patrol apprehended over 160,000 people, more than double the number for the previous year and larger than the population of Syracuse, N.Y. That’s in one month. And they keep coming.

  Third, the public fears this surge of illegal migration will harm communities far beyond the Texas border, both because the administration is secretly transferring migrants and because drug cartels are using the open border to transport massive quantities of opioids, heroin, and fake pharmaceuticals. The administration keeps repeating, “The border is closed,” but the cartels, coyotes, and caravans know better.

  Fourth, voters can see the Biden administration has no answers. None. Even worse for Democrats, the best answers are those pursued by his predecessor — the ones Biden junked as soon as he took office. The administration cannot restore those policies without admitting error. To do so would say, in effect, that President Trump’s harsh approach worked better. That would be intolerable to the party’s left wing and many in the center.

  Instead of proposing practical solutions, the administration floated the quixotic idea of fixing the “root causes of emigration” in Central America and the Caribbean. That’s an elusive goal at best, and, in any case, would not help the U.S. for years. It’s hand waving, not serious policy. Since Kamala Harris was handed responsibility for this latest initiative, it’s tempting to blame her. But the failure is not hers. It’s Biden’s. The White House sent her on a fool’s errand. Washington simply doesn’t have the tools needed to reverse the region’s endemic poverty, danger, and corruption. Nor does it have a track record of solving these problems, despite decades of effort.

  It’s hard to imagine the administration could come up with worse policies, but it is trying. The administration’s latest brainchild is to pay massive sums to every family of illegal immigrants separated at the border during the last administration. (They were given the opportunity to return home together but declined.) The idea is so unpopular the White House refuses to defend it at press briefings. So does Mayorkas. All of them say, “Talk to the Department of Justice.” The DoJ’s lips are sealed.

  Finally, the public is starting to connect rampant lawlessness on the southern border with rampant lawlessness in American cities. After all, Democrats control both and defend their policies on the same specious grounds: social justice. Criminals find this new terrain inviting. They have dramatically increased shoplifting, carjacking, armed robberies, and murder. Police see the same pattern. When they see mayors refusing to support them and prosecutors refusing to do their jobs, cops on the beat won’t do theirs, either. Why risk your life and career to arrest someone who won’t face serious jail time? Why chase criminals down mean streets when it’s safer to stay in your patrol car?

  Voters are troubled by these failures and are deeply unhappy with the officials responsible for them. That’s the message from recent elections in New York City, Buffalo, Minneapolis, Virginia, New Jersey, and now Columbia, S.C., where a Democrat lost the mayoralty only a year after Biden carried the city by 40 points.

  The theme here is the same one heard in the movie “Network”: People are “mad as hell and they’re not going to take it anymore.” That’s also the message from the latest poll by YouGov and The Economist, which shows only 27% of Americans think the country is headed in the right direction. Illegal immigration is a big part of that “wrong direction,” along with inflation and COVID.

  The public’s frustration is understandable. Citizens, to use another verboten concept, want to see basic laws enforced and social order restored. Those aren’t unreasonable demands; they are the most basic responsibilities of government. Before Washington takes on even more responsibilities and piles on more taxes to pay for them, as Biden proposes with his social-spending bill, they want it to perform the tasks it already has. Law-abiding citizens — whatever their race, whatever their income — want to go about their lives in peace. They want criminals caught and punished so others will be deterred. They want public servants who understand that responsibility and do their jobs.

  That’s what Americans are saying in poll after poll, vote after vote. They have soundly rejected candidates who justify the chaos in the name of social justice and racial equity. They want is better policing, without prejudice  and without excessive force. They don’t want defunding and dismantling. Their demands are reasonable and realistic. Meeting them is essential for a stable democracy. Politicians ignore them at their peril.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/25/2021 – 22:00

• Vaccine Mandates "Not Necessary" For Domestic Flights, Buttigieg Claims
  Vaccine Mandates “Not Necessary” For Domestic Flights, Buttigieg Claims

  Despite groans from primarily Democrat lawmakers about the need for vaccine mandates for travelers on US domestic flights, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said during an interview over the weekend that the prospects for a mandate are looking increasingly slim.

  Speaking Sunday on NBC’s “Meet The Press”, Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said requirements other than a vaccine mandate for travelers – including requiring masks on flights – are “highly effective” (despite evidence showing masks do little to protect flyers and that airlines actually see them as one more “perk” they can use to encourage some passengers to pay more) at preventing the spread of COVID.

  

  Host Chuck Todd pushed Buttigieg on the issue, questioning whether the former small city mayor an McKinsey Consultant was nervous about putting a policy in place that was politically divisive.

  The back-and-forth coincided with the beginning of the busy Thanksgiving holiday travel season in which TSA expects to screen about 20MM people. At the same time, new daily reported COVID cases in the US have risen 12% over the past week.

  

  Recently, Dr. Anthony Fauci said he doesn’t expect vaccine mandates for domestic air travel any time soon, side stepping the political question. Buttigieg said current practices are already working.

  “Between the masking and the other mitigations, we’re very confident in the safety of air travel and travel generally in this country,” he said.

  After being closed to travel from much of the world since March 2020, the US reopened to foreign travelers earlier this month – so long as they are vaccinated and test negative.

  Despite this, lawmakers continued to push for more restrictions on domestic air travel in a letter to President Joe Biden earlier this month. Signatories include Sen Dianne Feinstein from California and Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia. Feinstein has in particular pushed for more restrictions on domestic flights.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/25/2021 – 21:15

• Futures Tumble Amid Sudden Fears Over "Dramatically" New Covid Strain With "Extremely High Number" Of Mutations
  Futures Tumble Amid Sudden Fears Over “Dramatically” New Covid Strain With “Extremely High Number” Of Mutations

  Futures are sliding on Thursday night when, with most US traders snoring in a tryptophan coma, the world is suddenly freaking out, and algos are hitting bids, amid fears that a new coronavirus strain detected in South Africa, known as B.1.1529, reportedly carries an “extremely high number” of mutations and is “clearly very different” from previous incarnations, which may drive further waves of disease by evading the body’s defenses South African scientists said.

  

  Translation: a new wave of restrictions, more lockdowns, and – eventually – trillions in new stimmies are coming… an outcome so “unexpected”, we rhetorically asked if this was the endgame just one week ago.

  Is this next lockdown going to result in more stimmies?

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 18, 2021

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

  According to the Guardian, only 10 cases in three countries have been confirmed by genomic sequencing (and up to 100 suspected), but that is more than enough for the Pharma-Government complex to set the wheels of widespread social panic and future lockdowns in motion and, according to the liberal outlet, “the variant has sparked serious concern among some researchers because a number of the mutations may help the virus evade immunity.” Which of course is a polite way for Bill Gates to suggest you panic.

  According to reports, the new B.1.1.529 variant has 32 mutations in the spike protein, the part of the virus that most vaccines use to prime the immune system against Covid. Mutations in the spike protein make it harder for immune cells to attack the pathogen, just as so many vaccine skeptics have been warning for the past year when making the point that taking inefficient medications shoved down the population’s throats (such as those from Pfizer and Moderna) that do not serve as real vaccines but merely paliatives, will only lead to more dangerous and weaponized versions of the virus.

  That’s precisely what is happening now.

  The variant was first spotted in Botswana, where three cases have now been sequenced. Six more have been confirmed in South Africa, and one in Hong Kong in a traveller returning from South Africa.

  

  Botswana’s health ministry confirmed in a statement that four cases of the new variant were detected in people who were all fully vaccinated. All four were tested before their planned travel. One sample was also detected in Hong Kong, carried by a traveler from South Africa, South African scientists said.

  With over 1,200 new infections, South Africa’s daily infection rate is much lower than in Germany, where new cases are driving a wave. However, the density of mutations on this new variant raises fears that it could be highly contagious, leading scientists to sound the alarm early.

  “This variant did surprise us, it has a big jump in evolution, many more mutations than we expected, especially after a very severe third wave of Delta,” said Tulio de Oliveira, director of the KwaZulu-Natal Research and Innovation Sequencing Platform.

  The B1.1.529 variant has a “very unusual constellation of mutations,” with more than 30 mutations in the spike protein alone, said Mr. de Oliveira. On the ACE2 receptor — the protein that helps to create an entry point for the coronavirus to infect human cells — the new variant has 10 mutations. In comparison, the Beta variant has three, the Delta variant has two, said Mr. de Oliveira.

  Dr Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London, agrees with Oliveira. Peacock posted details of the new variant on a genome-sharing website, noting that the “incredibly high amount of spike mutations suggest this could be of real concern”.

  In a series of tweets, Peacock said it “very, very much should be monitored due to that horrific spike profile.”

  For those interested this has an NTD insertion at the NTD insertion hotspot (at aa214) which shows high likelihood of being host-derived (from host TMEM245 mRNA) pic.twitter.com/huNZbgEEsv

  — Tom Peacock (@PeacockFlu) November 23, 2021

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

  But, as some cynics pointed out on twitter, “the Strangelove who provided that convenient media clickbait epithet ‘horrifying’ has also admitted it may be LESS not more of a danger” and indeed, the Guardian report notes that it may turn out to be an “odd cluster” that is not very transmissible. “I hope that’s the case,” he wrote.

  That new, scary “#Variant of concern” about which the hype is again building? Well, the Strangelove who provided that convenient media clickabit epithet ‘horrifying’ has also admitted it may be LESS not more of a danger.

  They are SO transparent, aren’t they?#COVID19(33) pic.twitter.com/xlPQwzYiaT

  — Wild Goose #TNCM (@TrueSinews) November 25, 2021

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

  Perhaps even more importantly, it also appears that the Chinese were busy splicing away in the past few months (this time probably without Dr Fauci’s money): according to Peacock, the this variant contains “not one, but two furin cleavage site mutations – P681H (seen in Alpha, Mu, some Gamma, B.1.1.318) combined with N679K (seen in C.1.2 amongst others).” As Peacock notes, “this is the first time I’ve seen two of these mutations in a single variant.”

  Why does this matter? Because as even the reputable Nature mag recently noted, researchers have asked Covid’s “furin cleavage site — a feature that helps it to enter cells — is evidence of engineering, because SARS-CoV-2 has these sites but its closest relatives don’t. The furin cleavage site is important because it’s in the virus’s spike protein, and cleavage of the protein at that site is necessary for the virus to infect cells.”

  Translation: use of the furin cleavage sites is how covid would be genetically-engineered inside, say, a BSL-4 lab in China… of which the only one can be found in Wuhan.

  In any case, while nobody knows yet what the spike protein mutation cluster actually does yet, the speculation that it will lead to another wave of global infections is already in the wild. Sure enough, Ravi Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology at Cambridge University, said work in his lab found that two of the mutations on B.1.1.529 increased infectivity and reduced antibody recognition. “It does certainly look a significant concern based on the mutations present,” he said. “However, a key property of the virus that is unknown is its infectiousness, as that is what appears to have primarily driven the Delta variant. Immune escape is only part of the picture of what may happen.”

  Prof Francois Balloux, the director of the UCL Genetics Institute, said the large number of mutations in the variant apparently accumulated in a “single burst”, suggesting it may have evolved during a chronic infection in a person with a weakened immune system, possibly an untreated HIV/Aids patient.

  “I would definitely expect it to be poorly recognized by neutralizing antibodies relative to Alpha or Delta,” he added. 

  Translation: in terms of vaccines, B.1.1.529 could well represent an entirely new disease, as the existing neutralizing antibodies will have little to no impact on a virus with all these mutations. Which is music to the ears of politicians who have just the catalyst to order a whole new round of lockdowns and, critically, stimmies that keep them in power for another quarter or two.

  Case in point, just as news of the new strain emerged, the U.K. announced it  will temporarily ban flights from South Africa and five neighboring countries (Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswana) over worries about the new covid variant. The travel restrictions go into effect at noon Friday and are a precautionary measure to keep the spread of the new variant in check, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said. The six African countries will be placed on the U.K.’s red list as of Sunday, requiring travelers to quarantine in hotels upon arrival.

  “As part of our close surveillance of variants across the world, we have become aware of the spread of a new potentially concerning variant,” Javid said in a statement, adding that the new strain it’s now under investigation.

  Israel also has banned travel from the six countries, along with Mozambique, another neighbor of South Africa, BNO News said in a tweet, without citing the source of the information.

  The U.K.’s move is a further blow to the airline industry, which was starting to recover from earlier travel restrictions and lockdowns but now faces fresh curbs and a resurgent virus in parts of Europe. The measures announced Thursday mark the biggest change in the U.K.’s Covid travel rules since the so-called traffic light system was overhauled earlier in the autumn to ease border crossings. From 500 to 700 people daily arrive in the U.K. via South Africa on flights, a number that would normally be expected to increase in the next four to six weeks due to seasonal travel.

  Of course, such bans never actually stop the virus from spreading, but they do ramp up the public frenzy about the new strain. And since B.1.1.529 is too long to pronounce, some time tomorrow we will have a new Greek letter to fear: according to the NYT, South African scientists will meet with the World Health Organization technical team on Friday, where authorities will assign a letter of the Greek alphabet to this one. It will take several weeks to see the impact of the new variant on hospitalizations and deaths and to study how it may interact with vaccines.

  “Armed by our experience and understanding of the alpha and delta variants, we know that early action is far better than late action,” Ewan Birney, deputy director general of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, said in a Science Media Centre briefing note. “It may turn out that this variant is not as large a threat as alpha and delta, but the potential consequences of not acting on the possibility it could be are serious.”

  For those who wish to learn more about the new “horrifying” strain and superglue no less than 10 masks to their face, they can do so at this just released article from Nature “Heavily mutated coronavirus variant puts scientists on alert“

  Everything we know so far on the new B.1.1.529 variant, for which there is an emergency @WHO meeting to reviewhttps://t.co/TmxGBi6IEv @nature by @ewencallaway @naturehttps://t.co/r9kHwg2zjWhttps://t.co/tBEct7F8M7 🧵by @jburnmurdoch @FT pic.twitter.com/fe5pkIpqnW

  — Eric Topol (@EricTopol) November 25, 2021

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

  The sudden surge in fears that a new “delta” variant was coming was enough to spark a futures dump late on Thursday, and S&P 500 futures fell 0.6% as of 10:20 a.m. in Tokyo after news of a new coronavirus strain discovered in South Africa. Contracts on the Nasdaq 100 were down 0.3% (tech/growth stocks tend to do much better during lockdowns than value), and the broad MSCI Asia-Pac index was down 1.4% as worries about a new coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa were compounded by thinner liquidity in markets. .

  

  Asia’s stock benchmark was on track for its worst day since Sept. 29, as selling on news about the latest Covid-19 variant detected in South Africa was exacerbated by thin liquidity. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slumped as much as 1.4%, with financials and tech shares dragging the measure the most in a broad-based selloff. Japanese equities declined, leading losses in Asia, and the yen strengthened with some traders away for Thanksgiving celebrations.

  “The fact we have North America off the desks means there’s a wall of buyers missing” at a time when there are “scary” headlines about the new Covid-19 variant, said Kyle Rodda, an analyst at IG Markets. According to Rodda, the virus-related headlines “may have caused a knee jerk reaction,” while “thinner markets make for more pronounced moves.” He added that some weakness through cyclicals, implying markets are also concerned about growth and an aggressive Fed that may slow the global economy.

  Oil, an asset that is extremely sensitive to any future lockdowns, tumbled.

  

  “Even before this news, virus cases were back on the rise in the U.S. and Europe, so investors are now wary of the possibility that with a new variant, infections could spread all at once,” said Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management chief market strategist Masahiro Ichikawa.

  There’s a risk the Nikkei 225 will break below the 29,000 mark; if it breaches that level, there’s a possibility the measure will finish the day in the 28,000-yen-range. “Today would have been a quiet day if not for the news of the variant.”

  Ichikawa is right, only it’s kinda the other way round, because this “heavily mutated variant” is just the deus ex both central bankers and politicians have been desperately hoping for: with Europe already locking down in several countries, expect a uniform global lockdown to follow in weeks, which will serve to reset the supply chain collapse and buy markets, pols and bankers about one or two quarters of time, during which expect several more trillion in stimmies, much more QE (to monetize the debt used to pay for the stimmies) and generally a rerun of the past 18 months only in a much more truncated timeline, which in turn will lead to a burst of inflation that will make the current soaring prices seems like Japan’s deflationary debt trap.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/25/2021 – 21:00

• Nearly 3/4 Of The World's Dictators Receive US Weapons & Military Assistance
  Nearly 3/4 Of The World’s Dictators Receive US Weapons & Military Assistance

  Authored by Matthew Hoh via AntiWar.com,

  The US supports nearly 75% of the world’s dictators, autocracies, monarchies, military regimes, etc., with weapons, military training and money. Please remember this the next time someone tells you the US should do X or Y because such and such a nation is bad…

  Comparing Freedom House’s list of Not Free nations* to FY 2020 US overseas weapons sales, military training and financial assistance**, we find that of the 57 nations considered undemocratic, 42 receive weapons, training and/or money for their military and security services. This means 74% of the non-democratic nations of the world are supported militarily by the US. Interestingly, the remaining 15 nations are nearly all sanctioned.

  

  The world’s countries can be divided into two parts: those who buy/receive weapons from the US and those sanctioned. It seems like it’s a pretty simple arrangement.

  74% is a slight increase from four years ago when Rich Whitney at Truthout utilized the Freedom House list and compared it to FY 2015 military assistance data. It is likely no surprise to anyone that US support for non-democratic governments increased under President Trump, but, to be fair, it was a minor increase. The hypocrisy and dissonance between stated US support for democracy, liberty and freedom, and how the US government conducts itself exists whether a Democrat or Republican is in the White House.

  The list of nations is below. I have listed occupied territories with the nations that are occupying them; so, Gaza and West Bank are under Israel, Western Sahara is under Morocco, Tibet is under China, and Donbas and Crimea are under Russia. Also, please note, this list only includes nations not considered democracies. Nations that are listed as partly free or free by Freedom House, but are clear and gross violators of human rights, and that are recipients of US weapons, military training and military assistance funding, like Columbia, Honduras, India, Pakistan, Philippines, and Ukraine are not included.

  

  Y denotes received weapons, military training or military funding assistance, or a combination.

  Afghanistan Y
  Algeria Y
  Angola Y
  Azerbaijan Y
  Bahrain Y
  Belarus N
  Brunei N
  Burundi Y
  Cambodia Y
  Cameroon Y
  Central African Republic Y
  Chad Y
  China (includes Tibet) N
  Cuba N
  Democratic Republic of the Congo Y
  Djibouti Y
  Egypt Y
  Equatorial Guinea N
  Eritrea N
  Eswatini N
  Ethiopia Y
  Israel Y
  Jordan Y
  Gabon Y
  Iran N
  Iraq Y
  Kazakhstan Y
  Kyrgyzstan Y
  Laos Y
  Libya Y
  Mali Y
  Morocco (Western Sahara) Y
  Myanmar Y
  Nicaragua N
  North Korea N
  Oman Y
  Qatar N
  Republic of the Congo Y
  Russia (includes Crimea and Donbass) N
  Rwanda Y
  Saudi Arabia Y
  Somalia Y
  South Sudan Y
  Sudan N
  Syria N
  Tajikistan Y
  Tanzania Y
  Thailand Y
  Turkey Y
  Turkmenistan Y
  Uganda Y
  United Arab Emirates Y
  Uzbekistan Y
  Venezuela N
  Vietnam Y
  Yemen Y
  Zimbabwe Y

  *This is not an endorsement of Freedom House or its methodology. However, Freedom House is an excellent source for this purpose as no one will accuse Freedom House of being anti-American, pacifist or isolationist in their ideology, leftist or libertarian in their political leanings, non-believers in American Exceptionalism, etc.

  **Information on FY 2020 US weapons sales, training and military assistance provided by Center for International Policy’s Security Assistance Monitor Program.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/25/2021 – 20:30

• "Feels Like A Ruse" – Starlink Customers Angered By Massive Delay, Some Want Money Back
  “Feels Like A Ruse” – Starlink Customers Angered By Massive Delay, Some Want Money Back

  Starlink, Elon Musk’s internet space company, emailed customers late Tuesday night who put down a $100 deposit to secure a dish were being delayed for up to a year or more. Only days ago, Starlink customers reported on the Starlink account portal homepage that their expected order delivery time was late 2021. 

  The delay comes as no surprise. Musk is a notorious salesman who overpromises and underdelivers for some of his companies, especially Tesla. Last month, the world’s richest man told Starlink users, “Should be nationwide rollout by the end of the month.” 

  Should be nationwide rollout by end of month. Note, still limited by peak number of users in same area.

  This will improve as more satellites are launched.

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 7, 2021

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

  Wait. So what exactly changed since early October that Starlink would have to delay orders for up to a year for some? Here’s the email: 

  Thank you for being a supporter of Starlink! Over 14 million people have inquired about Starlink service in their area and today Starlink is available in over 20 countries (and counting).  

  The Starlink team has been working hard to expand service and increase capacity while continuously improving quality of service. We will be able to accommodate more users per area as we increase the number of satellites in orbit.  

  Check delivery timelines in your account  

  Silicon shortages over the last 6 months have slowed our expected production rate and impacted our ability to fulfill many Starlink orders this year. We apologize for the delay and are working hard across our engineering, supply chain, and production teams to improve and streamline our product and factory to increase our production rate.

  You can check estimated delivery times by logging into your account page on Starlink.com. You will still receive an email from the Starlink team when your order is ready to ship, and you may cancel your order at any time for a full refund of your deposit.

  Latest Starlink now in production

  We recently released the latest version of Starlink which was designed for high volume manufacturing. The latest version of Starlink has comparable performance to the previous version and will begin to ship globally next year.

  Expanding to more countries across the world 

  Since our October 2020 launch in the United States we have expanded our service to 20 additional countries: Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Austria, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Switzerland, Portugal, Chile, Poland, Italy, Czech Republic, Mexico, Sweden, and Croatia. Pending regulatory approval, we are planning to launch in an additional 45+ new countries by the end of 2022.  

  More satellites in orbit with newer technology 

  We recently completed our 31st Starlink launch with our latest generation of satellites that are equipped with inter-satellite laser links, which enable our satellites to transfer data between each other. Once fully deployed, inter-satellite laser links will make Starlink one of the fastest options available to transfer data around the world.

  The delay angered many users on the r/Starlink subreddit forum. Some said they wanted a refund.

  “Whole thing is feeling like a ruse. Pre-order money was used to get everyone on the hook. Started at mid 2021, moved to late 2021. Now maybe late 2022. Complete farce. Beyond pissed. Rejected at pre-beta, beta, and now F-me, … So frustrated right now, I almost chucked my phone!!!” one Redditor said. 

  Another Redditor said it could be until mid-2023 until they receive the dish. They said, “Just submitted my refund request. I’m not waiting it out due to T-mobile Home Internet off their nearby 5G tower. $50/mo, no data caps, fast up/down speeds. Verizon has a similar service, just not in my rural area atm.”

  “My pre-order Feb 9 2021 now targeted for 2023. I think I’m out. Why say “mid to late 2021″ if you couldn’t make it happen? I just gave Starlink a free loan for almost a year with no return,” someone said. 

  The list goes on and on of angered Starlink customers who pre-ordered the space internet, waited months, if not more than a year, to only be crushed by a late Tuesday night email about the delay. 

  None of this is surprising, considering it’s a Musk company. We leave you with this, as one Redditor asks: “I wonder how many deposits are going to be refunded?” 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/25/2021 – 19:45

• 'Squid Game' Smuggler To Die By Firing Squad In North Korea: Report
  ‘Squid Game’ Smuggler To Die By Firing Squad In North Korea: Report

  Authored by Isabel von Brugen via The Epoch Times,

  A North Korean man has reportedly been sentenced to death by authorities after he was caught distributing copies of the Netflix series “Squid Game,” which Pyongyang says reflects South Korea’s “beastly” society.

  

  According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), the individual smuggled in copies of the Korean-language Netflix hit via USB flash drives and sold them in North Korea. He was sentenced to death by firing squad after authorities found seven high school students watching the nine-part thriller series in class.

  A North Korean propaganda website last month said that the show exposes the reality of South Korean capitalist culture where “corruption and immoral scoundrels are commonplace” and an “unequal society where moneyless people are treated like chess pieces for the rich.”

  “It is said that it makes people realize the sad reality of the beastly South Korean society in which human beings are driven into extreme competition and their humanity is being wiped out,” North Korea’s Arirang Meari site said.

  A student who purchased a USB flash drive containing the series was handed a life sentence, while six other students have been issued a sentence of five years hard labor, RFA reported, citing sources in North Korea.

  “This all started last week when a high school student secretly bought a USB flash drive containing the South Korean drama ‘Squid Game’ and watched it with one of his best friends in class,” an unnamed law enforcement source in North Korea’s North Hamgyong province told RFA’s Korean Service on Monday.

  “The friend told several other students, who became interested, and they shared the flash drive with them. They were caught by the censors in 109 Sangmu, who had received a tipoff,” the source added.

  RFA reported that North Korea has a government strike force, named Surveillance Bureau Group 109, which targets individuals watching videos that are prohibited in the country.

  North Korea has been imposing stiff fines or prison for anyone caught enjoying South Korean entertainment or copying the way South Koreans speak as leader Kim Jong Un steps up a war on outside influences and calls for better homegrown entertainment.

  A sweeping new “anti-reactionary thought” law was imposed late last year, and carries a maximum penalty of death for watching, obtaining, or distributing media from counties including South Korea and the United States.

  Yeonmi Park, a North Korean defector, described Netflix’s most-watched show as presenting a “very accurate portrayal of North Koreans’ plight in South Korea, and the journey they go through to become free.”

  However, she expressed concern over the show’s apparent demonization of inequality.

  “Inequality is a sign of opportunity,” she said in a video on her YouTube channel in October.

  “When I was in North Korea, everybody was dirt poor. When I came to South Korea and America, I heard that there are trillionaires, billionaires, and these are people who founded companies such as Tesla, SpaceX, and invented new things.”

  “In North Korea everyone is poor because nobody is allowed to invent, and there’s so much demonization and animosity toward wealth. I keep saying to people, inequality doesn’t mean poverty, poverty is something that we need to fight against,” Park continued.

  “In the United States there is opportunity, you earn honest money, feed your children, and get an education, while in North Korea, you cannot do that,” she added. “That’s why I now have concern with the media focusing on inequality, portraying the main [‘Squid Game’] character who isn’t disciplined, is a bad father … as a hero.”

  The director of “Squid Game” has said the popular show is likely to return for a second season.

  “We are in the talks for Season Two,” writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk said in an interview on Nov. 8. “It’s all in my head. I have the basic storyline, the broad plan, so we’re in the brainstorming stages.

  “I’m going to go ahead and say there will be a second season, but as for when, I cannot tell you now,” Hwang added.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/25/2021 – 19:15

• Israel Warns Biden Over Striking Partial Nuclear Deal As Iran Talks To Resume Monday
  Israel Warns Biden Over Striking Partial Nuclear Deal As Iran Talks To Resume Monday

  Nuclear deal talks between Western powers and Iran are hanging by a thread, and are set to resume on Nov.29, but both sides will have cards to play while seeking to gain leverage and concessions from the other, already after severe doubts have been expressed by Biden administration officials that a fully restored JCPOA is possible.

  There’s been talk that the Biden White House could be content to settle on a partial deal which would involve partial sanctions relief if the Islamic Republic agrees to reverse parts of their nuclear development, particularly recent installation of advanced centrifuges and higher enriched uranium levels. 

  

  But as a report in Responsible Statecraft underscores if certain milestones are hit, they would be difficult or impossible to reverse, and critics especially in Tel Aviv allege it’s all part of Tehran’s efforts to obtain a nuke. “Iran has also produced 200 g of uranium metal (UM) from enriched uranium at 19.75 percent level,” the report states. 

  “If the UM is made of uranium enriched at 90 percent, it can be used in making the core of a nuclear weapon,” Responsible Statecraft writes. “But, if the enrichment level is lower, once converted to the UM, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, for Iran to convert it back to regular enriched uranium to increase its level of enrichment.”

  Given this, Israel is now pressing the White House not to all an partial deal to unfold. According to The Wall Street Journal this week: 

  “Israel is very concerned that the U.S. is setting the stage for what they call a ‘less for less’ agreement,” a senior Israeli official told The Wall Street Journal. “Such an agreement would be detrimental and would only benefit the Iranian regime…It would be an enormous gift to Iran’s new, radical and IRGC affiliated regime,” the senior Israel official said, referring to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

  It should be noted, however, that the Iranians themselves have consistently demanded full and up-front sanctions relief as a condition for restoring the 2015 JCPOA, thus for now it appears next weeks resumed Vienna talks will continue with a full deal in mind as the end goal.

  Further the WSJ notes that just such a partial deal had been a precursor to the 2015 deal struck under Obama: “In 2013, the U.S. struck an interim pact with Iran which provided Iran close to $700 million a month in sanctions relief in exchange for freezing production of 20% enriched uranium and shrinking down their stockpile of higher enriched nuclear fuel among other steps,” the report says.

  But again, Israel thinks this will only embolden the Islamic Republic and other bad faith actors:

  “Such an agreement will convince the Iranian public and countries in the region that nuclear blackmail works,” said the senior Israeli official, who said the U.S. was engaging with Iran despite its stalling tactics for the talks and an allied militia’s attack on a U.S. base in Syria. “It looks like the U.S. might be giving Iran a bargain deal.”

  Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a speech days ago that “We hope the world does not blink, but if it does, we do not intend to” – in what appeared yet another veiled reference that military options, including covert sabotage attacks, are still on the table. 

  The constant refrain out of Israel’s leaders has been that it reserves “the right” to act against Iran if it feels the Jewish state is threatened. 

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/25/2021 – 18:45

• What Americans Say About Rising Prices This Thanksgiving
  What Americans Say About Rising Prices This Thanksgiving

  By Cara Ding, Steven Kovac, Jackson Elliott, Michael Sakal, Allan Stein and Jannis Falkenstern of Epoch Times

  

  On the verge of celebrating Thanksgiving with her family, Melissa Ngo wasn’t happy after her grocery shopping trip. The high price of gasoline has cut into her family’s budget for everything, she said.

  She’s now having to shop at three different grocery stores—Giant Eagle, Marc’s, and Aldi—to find the lowest prices.

  

  “It’s everything,” said Ngo, a resident of Lakewood, Ohio, whose husband works as a dye-maker in Cleveland. “Everything has gone up, not just gas. The main thing I’ve noticed at the grocery store that has gone up in price [is] U.S. meat. It’s about double from last year.

  “We’re a one-worker family, and we’re always having to juggle. Now, we’re juggling more.”

  She blames the situation Americans have been facing for more than a year on such things as the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, supply chain issues, and even the president she voted for.

  

  As a resident of the west Cleveland suburb and Democratic stronghold, Ngo is quick to admit that she’s sorry she voted for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election. She usually votes Democrat. She said she may not vote in the next election.

  For Allen van Houten and Kathy Ellison of Lakewood, things have always been tight. Going into the 2021 holiday season, their budget is tighter still.

  

  Van Houten, an Army and Navy veteran on disability, and Ellison, who works as a cook at a local restaurant, had just finished shopping at the Giant Eagle. Because of the skyrocketing price of gasoline and the higher food prices, they hardly go “anywhere” anymore, they said.

  They’re doing without as they prepare to spend Thanksgiving together.

  “We’re penny-pinching a lot more from last year,” Ellison said. “Now, we’re always penny-pinching.

  “Working a 40-hour workweek doesn’t keep your head above water anymore. Everything has gotten higher in price—food, gas, and utilities. And it’s not getting any better.”

  Van Houten noted that the couple have been depending on each other to get through such a difficult time.

  “If we didn’t have each other, we couldn’t survive,” he said.

  In addition to purchasing a smaller turkey this year, they’ve eliminated deviled eggs and potatoes from their Thanksgiving meal.

  

  “We’re going to three different grocery stores because we’re having trouble finding stuff,” Ellison told The Epoch Times. “We’re looking at pies at Giant Eagle that used to be on sale for $3.99. Now, they’re $5.99. We’d like to get a Dutch Apple pie, but those are $13.99. Sometimes, the supplier takes advantage of these situations, too.”

  The couple blames the situation on the high prices of gas and food, the workforce shortage, and the government. Van Houten and Ellison said they don’t vote.

  “The government is going to do whatever they want anyway,” Van Houten said.

  Kathy, also of Lakewood, who didn’t want to give her last name, was more sympathetic toward those facing hard times going into Thanksgiving. She had just loaded a cart full of groceries into her car outside of the Giant Eagle.

  Although she has seen at least a 20-percent increase in her grocery bill from 2020, she said her family won’t have to cut back.

  “We’ve been lucky. We’ve been blessed and have been able to work and stay comfortable through all of this,” Kathy told The Epoch Times.

  Although she said she’s happy with Biden, since she “didn’t like Donald Trump,” she noted that she feels as though the president could be doing more to help ease the situation.

  “I’m not happy with everything Joe Biden has done,” Kathy said. “The U.S. is not tapping into its resources, and we’re having to rely on foreign countries too much for certain goods.

  “I don’t want to have to pay more for everything. Our salaries are not commensurate with inflation. With all the high prices, it does make me and my husband want to give more to charity to help others who are struggling.” 

  

  In Florida, two large grocery chains—Publix and Winn-Dixie—are limiting certain holiday foods during Thanksgiving week.

  Publix Director of Communications Maria Brous released a statement saying that “caps” are being placed on certain food items because of “supply chain issues” and increased demand. Last week, the Lakeland company, which has 1,280 stores across the southeastern United States, placed the restrictions in anticipation of the demand and supply chain crisis, according to Brous.

  Another grocery outlet, Winn-Dixie, has placed a cap of one turkey per customer. Southeastern Grocers, a Jacksonville, Florida, company, owns Winn-Dixie, as well as Fresco y Mas and Harveys Supermarket.

  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis weighed in on the rising cost of food and said he’s concerned about “inflationary pressures,” for which he blames the Biden administration.

  “Inflation that you’re seeing—the White House said it wasn’t real. It’s real,” DeSantis said on Nov. 22. “This is going to be the most expensive Thanksgiving we’ve seen in quite some time. Prices have increased by 20 percent from last year.”

  Since 1986, the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) has conducted a Thanksgiving meal survey. The 2021 survey found that a meal for 10 people was expected to cost $53.31–up 14 percent from the 2020 average.

  The federation checked prices between Oct. 26 and Nov. 8 and noted that stores began selling whole frozen turkeys at a lower price two weeks later. As the meat protein most associated with Thanksgiving, the turkey is going to cost consumers 24 percent more than it did in 2020. The AFBF estimates that a 16-pound turkey will cost $23.99, or roughly $1.50 per pound more than 2020.

  The survey also found that the costs of other holiday goods were up as well, including dinner rolls—a 15 percent increase—while a 30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix is up by 7 percent.

  “Several factors contributed to the increase in average cost of this year’s Thanksgiving dinner,” senior economist Veronica Nigh said in a statement on the AFBF website. “These include dramatic disruptions to the U.S. economy and supply chains over the last 20 months; inflationary pressure throughout the economy; difficulty in predicting demand during the COVID-19 pandemic and high global demand for food, particularly meat. 

  “The trend of consumers cooking and eating at home more often, due to the pandemic, led to increased supermarket demand and higher retail food prices in 2020 and 2021, compared to pre-pandemic prices in 2019.”

  Outside of the Winn-Dixie in Punta Gorda, Florida, Diane Crowi said food prices are definitely going up.

  “Our kids are all grown up, and they live out of the area, so we don’t celebrate like we used to. But, yes, things are more expensive this year than last year,” Crowi said. “We’re retired—I mean, we have Thanksgiving, just on a smaller scale. You just have to absorb the costs.”

  Along with increasing food costs, the price of gasoline has significantly risen as well, she said.

  “Gas prices are ridiculous,” Crowi said. “We just have to shift things around to afford what we have on our fixed income. We just cut down on our trips. We don’t drive as much to save fuel.

  “If I have to blame anyone, it would be our president—but I’m a Trump fan, so …”

  Winn-Dixie shopper Crystal Hunsicker of Punta Gorda said Thanksgiving is “definitely more expensive this year than last year.”

  

  “It affects us, but what are you going to do?” Hunsicker said. “You just deal with it.

  “Yes, gas is expensive, and we were energy independent before Biden took office. It takes $100 just to fill up my tank. There’s nothing I can do to save any money on fuel. I have to work, so I have to have gas.”

  Hunsicker said she voted for Trump in 2020 and identifies as a Republican.

  “I blame Biden for all of this. Trump’s policies were working, and [Biden] gets into office and destroys everything Trump put into place.”

  Charnita West, a single mom, looked cold in the parking lot of the Food City grocery store in Rossville, Georgia, on Nov. 23. In 2021, feeding her three children a Thanksgiving dinner has been more expensive than usual, she said.

  

  Her shopping wasn’t over with, either. The previous night, she had spent three hours at Walmart looking for some items, but couldn’t find everything that she needed.

  “I can’t even find ham. It took a lot of digging to find ham,” West told The Epoch Times.

  For West, spending $80 on groceries is a lot, and rising gas and food prices have hurt her family, she said.

  West said she’s heard that food inflation was caused by the Biden administration, but she admitted that she knows little about politics. She’s currently working on getting her high school diploma.

  “I don’t pay much attention to presidential stuff,” she said. “I’m just trying to do better or get my daughters a better life.”

  Another Thanksgiving shopper, Don Weathers, said that prices on everything have risen.

  

  “I don’t know what it is,” he said. “The beef has gone up. Turkeys and ham, pork, and everything else.”

  Weathers said the situation has affected his family little because his children are adults, but he feels concerned about others.

  “I fear for the other people,” he told The Epoch Times. “They’ve got children and are trying to raise them.”

  Weathers, a Republican who voted for Trump in 2020, said he didn’t want to say whether Trump or Biden was responsible for the inflation. Once a Democrat, he said he left the party because it offered handouts in an irresponsible way.

  “The Democratic Party is not what it was 20 years ago,” he said.

  Political independent Edward Garrett agreed with Weathers and West about the rising prices that were changing his budget.

  “Everything impacts the budget,” he said. “You just got to make it happen. You got to do what you got to do. Just squeeze and tighten what you can.”

  

  Garrett blamed the Trump administration for the inflation issues. He said the effects of a president’s policies usually hit months after the person leaves office.

  “It is what it is,” he told The Epoch Times. “You’ve got to take the bitter with the sweet.”

  Long-time grocer Jeff Durecka, who owns a couple of supermarkets known as Jeff’s Marketplace in the “Thumb Area” of Michigan, said the supply chain issues aren’t affecting him much.

  “If we are short on a certain brand, we have substitutes,” Durecka, a Democrat and a strong supporter of Joe Biden in 2020. “It’s not affecting us much. As you can see, we are pretty well stocked for Thanksgiving.

  “Wholesale prices are going up because of the cost of fuel. It takes fuel to get product to the warehouses and then to the stores. There’s really nothing we can do about it.”

  Durecka speculated that the rise in food and fuel prices may have something to do with the different administration in Washington.

  Shopper Dean Rydock of Port Sanilac, Michigan, had no doubt that Biden was to blame.

  

  “Everything Trump did made our living easier and better,” he said. “Biden is acting like Trump’s policies are the cause of all this and is doing whatever he can to counteract them. Food and gas prices are way up. It looks to me like decisions are being made to deliberately bring our economy down, so we will all eventually look to the government for help.”

  Rydock, a conservative Republican, “most definitely voted for the non-politician Trump and his pro-American agenda.”

  “I’m driving 100 miles to have Thanksgiving with my daughter,” he said. “The high price of gasoline is starting to pinch. And we really have to mind our heating expenses with propane going up. I’m starting to burn wood, and even that is getting costly.”

  Shopper Susie Lentz, a retired resident living in the village of Lexington, Michigan, is a regular customer at Jeff’s.

  

  “Food is definitely more expensive than last year,” she said. “I suppose the pandemic has a lot to do with it. Less stuff being shipped. But I am finding everything I want for Thanksgiving.”

  Lentz, a self-described independent voter, said that if she were still working and having to drive more, the high gas prices would be “putting a dent” in her budget.

  “I think the current political policies are affecting the economy in a negative way,” she told The Epoch Times.

  When asked whether Jeff’s Marketplace had enough meat and turkeys for the Thanksgiving holiday, butcher Jed Matthews said: “The only thing that has been hard to get is turkey gizzards sold separately. People love to add them to their stuffing.”

  

  The Epoch Times also spoke with a number of shoppers at Local Market in the South Shore neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. The neighborhood is predominately African American and has a median household income that is almost half of the city average.

  Ruth Shannon said that she used to help local nonprofit New Life Center give away turkeys during the Thanksgiving holiday every year, but not this time. The center decided to cancel the giveaway in 2021 because of the high prices, she said.

  Shannon said she used to spend less than $100 on gas every month. Now, as prices rise, she spends around $200.

  “I know where I go. I’m more strategic with how I travel for sure,” she told The Epoch Times.

  Shannon said she thinks that inflation is the unintended consequence of massive government spending during the pandemic.

  “It was a lot of money over a fairly short period of time. They could have stretched it out,” she said. “Lawmakers have to be more intentional about the policies they create.”

  A lot of people in her neighborhood received stimulus checks during the pandemic, but they didn’t know how to spend the money in the right way, according to Shannon.

  

  “It is one thing to have money. It’s a whole other thing to know what to do with it,” she said. “Everybody was happy when they got the stimulus checks. Now, the money’s gone and prices are up. What do they do?”

  Shannon hasn’t voted for most of her life. Her community has remained the same whether a Democrat or Republican was in office, she said. “I do whatever I can to volunteer in the community,” she said. “That is my voting.”

  Beverly, who declined to give her last name, was another shopper at Local Market. She said the rising food prices have further limited her grocery shopping because she lives on fixed government aid. She lost her daycare job at the start of the pandemic. She has since gone on food stamps and unemployment aid.

  Because the gas prices are much higher in Illinois, she drives to Indiana whenever she needs to fill up. A few other shoppers told The Epoch Times that they, too, drive to Indiana for gas. And across the United States, gas and diesel prices continue to be on the rise.

  According to the Energy Information Administration, the cost of a gallon of regular gasoline on the East Coast was $3.39 on Nov. 22—up by about $1.29 from the same time in 2020.

  In the Midwest, the average cost of gas at the pumps was $3.19, an increase of $1.28. On the West Coast, however, gas is currently at $4.19, an increase of $1.42 compared to 2020.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/25/2021 – 18:09

• ESPN Hemorrhaging Subscribers, Down To 76 Million As Disney Scrambles To Stem Tide
  ESPN Hemorrhaging Subscribers, Down To 76 Million As Disney Scrambles To Stem Tide

  Disney-owned ESPN subscribers dropped precipitously in the last 12 months, shrinking another 10% to end fiscal 2021 on Oct. 2 with 76 million US households, according to a Friday SEC filing noted by Deadline.

  

  Within ESPN, college sports-oriented ESPNU fell from 62 million homes in 2020 to 51 million over the last year, while ESPN News slipped from 62 million to 50 million over the same period.

  The company said the drop – based on data from Nielsen, includes traditional Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (MVPDs) such as Comcast and DirectTV, as well as most digital Over-The-Top (OTT) streaming packages.

  For reference, ESPN boasted just north of 100 million households almost a decade ago, a significant decay for one of Disney’s longtime cornerstones. As Deadline notes, the drop in subscribers highlights one of the biggest conundrums in the media business – traditional TV networks are shedding subscribers due to cord-cutting.

  Disney and ESPN execs are keeping a close eye on the subscriber declines and have fortified ESPN+ with increasingly robust programming. The billions at stake from traditional distribution and ad revenue, however, mean a wholesale shift to streaming isn’t likely anytime soon. The company firmly denied reports in October that it was considering a spinoff or even a sale of ESPN.

  ESPN was at 84 million households at the end of fiscal 2020. Streaming service ESPN+, meanwhile, ended fiscal 2021 with 17 million subscribers, up 66% from the same time in 2020. It has posted significant growth since being bundled with other Disney offerings.

  Disney is scrambling to right the ship, however, adding both ESPN+ and Disney+ to its Hulu Live TV package (along with a $5 per month increase in price), a move which will automatically boost subscriber levels. Hulu has approximately 4 million subscribers, while Hulu + Live TV is one of the leading pay-TV operators in the US, per the report.

  The company plans to spend “as much as” $33 billion on programming in fiscal 2022, a 32% increase from the $25 billion outlay in FY2021.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/25/2021 – 17:45

• Professor Who Defended Pedophiles Announces Resignation
  Professor Who Defended Pedophiles Announces Resignation

  Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

  A college professor in Virginia has announced plans to resign after defending pedophiles.

  Allyn Walker, a professor at Old Dominion University (ODU), wrote a book that referred to pedophiles as “minor-attracted people” and detailed their “pursuit of dignity.”

  Walker, who identifies as nonbinary, told the Protasia Foundation earlier this month that there are “a lot of misconceptions about attractions toward minors” and claimed that it’s not immoral to be attracted to children, provided people don’t carry out sexual abuse against them.

  The professor has also said the descriptor of “minor-attracted people” is “a less stigmatizing term” than pedophiles.

  

  Walker’s remarks drew widespread criticism but the university initially opted to defend the professor.

  “An academic community plays a valuable role in the quest for knowledge. A vital part of this is being willing to consider scientific and other empirical data that may involve controversial issues and perspectives,” the school said on Nov. 13.

  Following increased pressure to act, though, the university put the professor on leave last week.

  “I want to state in the strongest terms possible that child sexual abuse is morally wrong and has no place in our society,” ODU President Brian Hemphill said in a statement at the time.

  “This is a challenging time for our university, but I am confident that we will come together and move forward as a Monarch family.”

  A new statement on Nov. 24 said Walker decided to resign when the professor’s contract runs out in May 2022.

  Walker will remain on leave until that time, according to the university.

  “We have concluded that this outcome is the best way to move forward,” Hemphill said. “We hope today’s action helps bring closure for our Monarch family. As we move forward, I encourage all members of the Monarch family to continue our efforts toward healing and civil discourse.”

  Walker said in a statement released by the school that the work on pedophiles is aimed at preventing child sexual abuse and alleged it was twisted by outside parties.

  “That research was mischaracterized by some in the media and online, partly on the basis of my trans identity. As a result, multiple threats were made against me and the campus community generally,” Walker said.

  Students had told media outlets they were shocked by what they described as sympathizing with pedophiles.

  “I am baffled and disappointed that an individual with those beliefs would even be allowed to have a job on our campus where children interact frequently,” Grant Rimmer, a junior, told the Daily Mail.

  “It is okay to research, it is okay to find out this information. It is not okay to sympathize and create a term to blanket what pedophilia is,” Geni Piatowski, another student, told WAVY.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/25/2021 – 17:15

• Narrative Shift: Watch As US Health Officials Move Goalposts To Undisclosed Location
  Narrative Shift: Watch As US Health Officials Move Goalposts To Undisclosed Location

  As last year’s ‘just two weeks to stop the spread’ became ‘take an experimental vaccine or lose your job,’ some may find it useful to understand the evolution of pandemic messaging by US health officials.

  

  If anything, one can probably stimulate lively conversation between between diametrically opposed family members at Thanksgiving dinner!

  Watch:

  They are lying scumbags and will do everything in their power to fool you so you give up your human rights!!!

  They are the virus! pic.twitter.com/wdju8pMLFL

  — Luke Rudkowski (@Lukewearechange) November 25, 2021

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

  Now discuss…

  

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/25/2021 – 16:50

• Former Obama Doctor: "White House Is Doing Everything They Can To Hide Biden's Obvious Cognitive Decline"
  Former Obama Doctor: “White House Is Doing Everything They Can To Hide Biden’s Obvious Cognitive Decline”

  Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,

  Congressman Ronny Jackson, who was the former White House physician under Presidents Obama and Trump declared Wednesday that the reason Joe Biden has avoided cognitive exams is because he would have “failed miserably,” and his team “didn’t do it because they know, if they do it, you don’t ask questions that you don’t want the answers to.”

  

  Appearing on Newsmax, Jackson described Biden’s latest health report as “six pages of superficial fluff.”

  “Honestly, there were six pages of stuff that most people just don’t care about,” Jackson said, adding “I mean, you know, Dr. O’Connor spent six pages addressing like an occasional cough and some stiffness and things like that when the elephant in the room was the president’s cognitive ability.”

  Jackson continued, “Over 50% of this country does not believe he’s cognitively fit to be our Commander in Chief and our head of state, yet that wasn’t addressed anywhere in there.”

  “We set the precedent when we did President Trump’s physical. I did,” Jackson explained, further noting “The far-Left and the mainstream media were relentless in their pursuit of me to do something to address not only his physical capabilities, but his mental capabilities, which we did — we did a cognitive test. As far as I’m concerned, we set the precedent. And he should have had one done as well.”

  Why didn’t Biden have a cognitive exam? His “health summary” was 6 pages of NOTHING. Biden’s lost, he’s confused, and this White House is doing everything they can to HIDE his obvious cognitive decline. They can’t keep hiding this forever. The American people aren’t buying it! pic.twitter.com/0mjrXc3sCz

  — Ronny Jackson (@RonnyJacksonTX) November 24, 2021

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

  Jackson added that “if anyone needs a cognitive test, it’s this president that we have right now. And I was really surprised to see there wasn’t any mention of anything like that in there.”

  The Texas Congressman emphasised that Biden’s team “know that if they gave him a cognitive test, that he would have failed miserably, and then they would have had to explain that away somehow.”

  Urging that Biden’s handlers “were doing it just to check a box,” Jackson added “Dr. O’Connor should have done what I had to do whenever I briefed President Trump’s physical, is stand up in front of the press in the press briefing room, and brief the physical. I was up there for an hour and 15 minutes answering every single question that the press had picking his physical apart. And instead what did we get? We just got a six page report and that’s the end of it. We’re supposed to just move on and play like everything’s fine now.”

  *  *  *

  Brand new merch now available! Get it at https://www.pjwshop.com/

  In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch. We need you to sign up for our free newsletter here. Support our sponsor – Turbo Force – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown. Also, we urgently need your financial support here.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/25/2021 – 16:25

• How & Why Americans Celebrate Thanksgiving In 2021
  How & Why Americans Celebrate Thanksgiving In 2021

  For most Americans, Thanksgiving is all about the family. And, as Statista’s Felix Richter notes, after last year’s celebrations were subdued if not canceled due to COVID-19, the anticipation for this year’s celebration resonates throughout the country.

  According to data from Statista’s Global Consumer Survey, 74 percent of Americans plan to celebrate Thanksgiving with family this year, compared to just 18 percent who will cut the Turkey with friends instead.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  When asked what Thanksgiving is all about, spending time with family is also among the most common answers, shortly behind simply being thankful.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/25/2021 – 16:00

• Peeling The Economic Onion Will Bring On The Tears
  Peeling The Economic Onion Will Bring On The Tears

  Authored by Bruce Wilds via Advancing Time blog,

  Unless you have the fortitude of a Greek God, peeling back the layers of our current “economic onion” will very likely bring you to tears. Looking back over the last several years could make a person argue that massive stupidity has been a huge factor in keeping the economy afloat. In short, those pulling the strings have constructed a false economy that is unsustainable and will at some point implode.

  

  In most situations that I research it seems that as the investigation takes me deeper and deeper into the numbers I come upon some rather ugly realities that are difficult to face. In the metaphoric sense, the term peeling peel back the onion is an act someone undertakes in order to understand what lurks below. To expose the various layers of something investigators often find they have to peel away falsehoods and misconceptions to discover just how corrupt the message we are told truly is.

  The area where most people seldom venture is protected by myths and half-truths. An example of this can be seen in America’s relationship with China. For decades China exported deflation as it gladly traded cheap goods for jobs. That has come to an end, no longer is China’s labor market the cheapest in the world. This is now beginning to show up in the cost China charges those buying its products.

  The illusion of a robust economy has been propelled forward by the sheer “quantity” of financial growth and deficit spending rather than anything resembling quality. Poorly crafted and shockingly large spending bills have created a situation encouraging government agencies to spend like drunken sailors. It seems that again Federal agencies as well as state and local governments are flush with cash as the result of another stimulus package. 

  While most politicians would shy away from describing the infrastructure bill as stimulus spending that is exactly what it is. The bill is designed more as a way to create jobs and push the economy forward than improve the country’s infrastructure. Now, state and local governments must rapidly appropriate and assign that money as they find they are now facing a “use it or lose it” situation. Such rapid spending generally does not utilize or allocate money in a way that maximizes results.

  

  The Above Chart From Northmantrader.com Indicates, This Is Not “Normal”

  A lot of things or issues are contained in the layers of our “economic onion.” Things such as, How a huge amount of our so-called economic growth or GDP during the last decade has been in the healthcare sector. All the expensive new hospitals and buildings that line America’s interstates sporting names such as UnitedHealthOne, Aetna, Humana, and Anthem stand as monuments to Obamacare. To be clear, that is not a good thing, all this has not drastically improved healthcare, it has simply driven the cost through the roof. 

  Then we have inflation which recently reached a 31 year high and appears to be heading higher. It is difficult to argue that wage inflation is on a rampage, at least in some sectors of the economy. When you see someone just out of high school with little or no training being offered north of $15 to take a low-level job that two years ago paid around $8 it is clear. Soaring food and energy prices are also adding to the mix.

  Both of these issues dovetail with a massive growth in online retailing driven by companies being forced to compete with Amazon. America has yet to deal with the negative ramifications Amazon is showering upon it as it destroys small businesses in our communities. Yes, these are the same businesses that provide jobs for your neighbors, support local sports teams, and pay property taxes. Of course, Jeff Bezos did not do this alone, he had the help of politicians, our government, and the United States postal service, all of which joined in throwing brick and mortar retailers under the bus.

  Another thing I wish to address here is how miss-leading claims of growing retail sales have squashed concerns the economy is in real trouble. Why would they not be higher, the recession caused by Covid-19 was the first in our history where even while millions of people were not working incomes rose. It should be noted much of the meager 1.7% rise in retail sales was due to inflation people, Yes, we are paying more for less, in some cases, a lot more. 

  

  Only Over Many Years Do We Gain True Perspective

  Throw in the soaring national debt, the soaring trade deficit, soaring inequality, underfunded pensions, and a few other ugly issues, and tears should be streaming down the faces of all who want to leave the world better off for future generations. The distorted nature of our current market becomes apparent when you look closer at the society we are becoming as people walk along with their eyes glued to their cell phones.

  In our rapidly changing world, decades of economic perspective are badly needed to understand today’s financial markets. As a person who cares about and is concerned about the economy, I find it very disturbing that so many people have forgotten or never taken the time to learn recent financial history. By recent, I’m referring to the last fifty to one hundred years.

  The further we look back in history, it could be argued that the relevance and lessons we have learned weaken because the economy and financial landscape of today is considerably different from that of our predecessors. Still, those without a long-term view or outlook of the economy wander about with what might be called “blind spots.” This means, they may be unable to imagine or may miss possible scenarios as to how the world might react to unfolding events. I always marvel when I hear some young expert telling people how to invest by cranking out the wisdom they picked up in school only last year. Remember, if you decide they have all the answers, you may find yourself generating a fresh batch of tears.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/25/2021 – 15:35

• Transitory Is Dead: Goldman Now Expects Fed To Double Pace Of Tapering In December, Hike Three Times In 2022
  Transitory Is Dead: Goldman Now Expects Fed To Double Pace Of Tapering In December, Hike Three Times In 2022

  Less than a month after Goldman capitulated and finally admitted it was dead wrong about its “transitory” inflation thesis – a laughably fragile argument, as just one look at the bank’s linearly rising monthly inflation forecasts would immediately reveal…

  

  … and the bank pulled forward its first rate hike forecast from by one year mid 2023 to July 2022, this morning Goldman has fully thrown in the towel on any pretense that inflation will drop in the next few months (or year).

  As a result, after noting that not only the latest FOMC Minutes released yesterday hinted at faster than expected inflation if not outright stagflation, but that Several FOMC participants have signaled over the last couple of weeks that they are open to accelerating the pace of tapering – including Vice Chair Clarida and most recently San Francisco Fed President Daly …

  

  … the bank concludes that “the increased openness to accelerating the taper pace likely reflects both somewhat higher-than-expected inflation over the last two months and greater comfort among Fed officials that a faster pace would not shock financial markets” – something Goldman’s highly paid economists clearly were unable to express until just weeks ago.

  The increased openness to accelerating the taper pace likely reflects both somewhat higher-than-expected inflation over the last two months and greater comfort among Fed officials that a faster pace would not shock financial markets. Some Fed officials might be persuaded to accelerate the taper by the upside inflation surprises over the last two months, especially on the shelter component. Other Fed officials, especially in the leadership, might have already expected inflation prints to remain high through the winter, but—with market pricing of rate hikes in the first half of 2022 rising—might now feel more confident that accelerating the pace, which is already more than twice as fast as the pace last cycle, will not produce the sort of unexpected market turmoil that reductions in balance sheet accommodation have sometimes caused in the past.

  So with the Fed now also conceding that a faster taper is in the works, Goldman which was dismally wrong in its Fed forecasts until last month, now expects the Fed to announce at its December meeting that it is doubling the pace of tapering to $30bn per month starting in January. 

  In that scenario, “the FOMC would announce the final two tapers at its January meeting and implement the final taper in mid-March, several days before the March FOMC meeting”

  And since the taper will now end in March, it also means that more hikes are coming: according to Goldman, while this faster pace of tapering would allow the FOMC to consider a rate hike as early as March, the bank’s best guess is that it will wait until June. By that point, a few additional employment reports will be available and will – perhaps – show a labor market that Fed officials feel more comfortable characterizing as having reached maximum employment. According to Goldman “The FOMC might say at its March meeting that it is evaluating the impact of tapering and will begin the discussion of rate hikes soon, then hint at its May meeting that a hike is coming soon, before ultimately hiking in June.”

  

  In other words, Goldman now expects hikes in June, September, and December, for a total of three in 2022 (vs. two in July and November previously), followed by two hikes per year starting in 2023 (this is completely laughable as the market will crash long before then but let’s pretend Goldman knows what it is talking about for once).

  

  It gets even funnier, because according to Goldman’s chief economist Jan Jatzius, there is also an alternative path of hikes at the May, July, and November meetings as a realistic possibility too.

  Such an aggressive hawkish view from Goldman – which has been highly bullish on the state of the US economy in 2022 – is understandable, if odd especially when one considers that Morgan Stanley, which has a far more bearish outlook on the US economy in 2022 sees no rate hikes next year whatsoever.

  In other words, 2022 is shaping up as a giant clash between the two most notable economist teams on Wall Street – Goldman, which sees three rate hikes, and Morgan Stanley, which sees zero. That’s also why as Hatzius concedes, the “largest risk to our expectation of an early liftoff is that some participants might find it hard to square a still-large employment gap relative to the pre-pandemic level with the guidance that the FOMC will not hike until the labor market reaches maximum employment… But we expect the unemployment rate to have fallen to 3.7% by June 2022, and we think that most participants, even many of the doves, will conclude that after a prolonged period in which job opportunities have been plentiful, any decline in the participation rate that remains by the middle of next year is likely to be mostly voluntary or structural.”

  Actually there is an even larger risk: a recession next year as the economy collapses under its own weight since no more stimmies are propping up the US consumer. The largest risk, however, is a “catastrophic” 10%+ drop in the market which would put an immediate end to any tightening plans the Fed may have and lead to QE and potentially NIRP over the next 12 months. We will be sure to follow up on this post in 12 months to see who was right.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/25/2021 – 15:10

• Media Tells Americans To Perform COVID Tests, Check Vaccine Status Of Thanksgiving Dinner Guests
  Media Tells Americans To Perform COVID Tests, Check Vaccine Status Of Thanksgiving Dinner Guests

  Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,

  On the eve of Thanksgiving, media outlets urged Americans to perform COVID tests and check the vaccination status of Thanksgiving dinner guests before allowing them into their homes.

  

  Yes, really.

  During a segment on CBS Mornings, psychologist Lisa Damour was asked how nervous Thanksgiving hosts should bring up the subject of vaccination status when welcoming friends and family.

  “It might be a difficult conversation before people step into your house to say, ‘whoa, wait a minute, where’s your card, what’s your status?’ before you walk into my home,” the host of the show said.

  “This is tough because people are all over the map on this,” responded Damour. “They’re also all over the map with their risk tolerance. But the rapid tests have made this a lot easier. Whatever people’s vaccination status is, we can actually confirm safety on the spot.”

  “If the situation feels weird, maybe make it kind of fun,” she added. “And say, ‘we’re going to start with hors d’oeuvres in the garage. You know, we’ll have drinks, we’ll do our rapid tests, and then come on in,’ right?” You can make it playful, make it fun, and then be able to enjoy the holiday because you’re not worried about safety.”

  CBS segment on #Thanksgiving suggests families have drinks and “hors d’oeuvres in the garage” while everyone takes a Covid rapid test and wait for the results before going inside: “You can make it playful, make it fun, and then be able to enjoy the holiday.” pic.twitter.com/U6q0PLPC4E

  — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 24, 2021

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

  Let’s just take a moment to sympathize with people who are attending Thanksgiving dinner today at a relative’s house who is so paranoid about a virus with a 99.9% survival rate, they want to perform medical tests on their own family members before letting them in.

  Good luck to those people.

  Meanwhile, Axios published an article suggesting that hosts should deploy “Thanksgiving bouncers” to deal with people who fail to comply.

  “No one really wants this job, but millions of households may need their own Thanksgiving bouncer. The cover charge is a negative COVID test, done ahead of arrival or outside the front door,” the article states.

  “Normalizing rapid tests is a practical way to help extended families feel a little more normal around the holiday dinner table.”

  The piece went on to encourage hosts to inform guests ahead of time that they will “be testing everyone at the door for their own safety.”

  No thanks, think I’ll be staying home this year.

  Virginia Tech engineering professor Dr. Linsey Marr also told the New York Times that parents should ensure their children are wearing masks and for them to “eat quickly” and separately from adults.

  “As the kids will not be fully vaccinated until two weeks after their second shot, I think some care is warranted, especially because some attendees are 65 and older and thus at greater risk of more serious breakthrough infections,” said Marr.

  “You could have the kids wear masks, eat quickly and stay away from the older adults when eating.”

  Meanwhile, leftists are also trying to divide families at Thanksgiving by performing their annual misery-fest of demanding conservatives be challenged on their political beliefs at the dinner table.

  *  *  *

  Brand new merch now available! Get it at https://www.pjwshop.com/

  In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch. I need you to sign up for my free newsletter here. Support my sponsor – Turbo Force – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown. Get early access, exclusive content and behinds the scenes stuff by following me on Locals.

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/25/2021 – 14:45

• Cathie Wood Claims Investors Selling Now Will Miss The Next Swing Higher
  Cathie Wood Claims Investors Selling Now Will Miss The Next Swing Higher

  While Cathie Wood’s ARKK has plunged about 15% this year – at the same time major market indexes are all up over 20% – the asset manager has doubled down on the strategy of general lunacy and, sounding like a guy standing next to the scratch off lottery ticket dispenser at your local 7-11, is now claiming that she’s “really concerned” that investors leaving her funds now are leaving on “downward momentum” and that they’ll miss the next swing higher. 

  Wood has called this pullback in most ARKK components “one of the best buying periods for her strategy,” Yahoo News/Bloomberg reported this week.

  The “asset manager” said during a webinar organized by Bloomberg Intelligence this week: “Our concern for our clients is so significant that I get really upset when I think that they’re selling at the low or the other way around is buying into the high. At the high late last year and into January and February, I was saying, ‘We’re going to have a correction, keep some powder dry, keep some powder dry.’”

  Now that U.S. listed Chinese names have also collapsed, Wood – who happened to be close to Archegos’ Bill Hwang, and his investments – talked about her foresight to hold off on investing in those names. 

  

  “We don’t think it’s true that China is un-investable. We’re just waiting for the valuation dust to settle and make sure the incentives for growth re-emerge,” she said, calling China a “very innovative nation”. 

  She also reaffirmed her allegiance to Tesla’s Elon Musk, who has peeled off billions of dollars worth of stock over the past two weeks. Wood commented:  “Tesla wants to save us from ourselves – wants to save humanity. Elon Musk is so convinced that we need to change our ways in terms of transportation and the environment that he’s dedicated his life to it.”

  Tesla has been one of the sole saving graces of an otherwise laggard group of companies behind ARKK. 

  Hilariously, Wood also spoke out about funds who are “greenwashing” by claiming to be ESG when they aren’t: “We do not use the acronym ESG with our portfolios, but we will tell you when we’re asked the questions that our portfolios are intrinsically ESG.”

  Wood concluded by claiming that the carbon footprint for her ARKK fund is 10% of the S&P. Sure thing, Cathie. 

  I’m sure that carbon footprint concerns a lot of people when ARKK is underperforming the Nasdaq by 40% YTD. But hey, at least your carbon footprint is great fodder at cocktail parties!

  — Quoth the Raven (@QTRResearch) November 24, 2021

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

   

  Tyler Durden
  Thu, 11/25/2021 – 14:20

Digest powered by RSS Digest