United Pilot Reports 737 Struck By "Red, Shiny" Drone On San Diego Approach

OSINT accounts on X are circulating ATC audio from theATCapp that allegedly captures a United Airlines pilot reporting a drone strike while the Boeing 737 was on base leg for landing at San Diego International Airport.

The pilot of United 1980 told SAN Ground that, at around 3,000 feet, the 737 struck a drone during the base leg, which is right before final approach.

Ground asked the United 1980 pilot, "Do you have an approximate size, or how many engines?"

The pilot responded, "It was so small I couldn't tell. It was red, shiny. I couldn't tell."

United Airlines flight 1980 (Boeing 737) hit a drone over San Diego this morning around 3000 feet.

Audio via @theATCapp pic.twitter.com/EFclpROOlL

— Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) April 29, 2026

"No off-the-shelf consumer drone can get to 3000 feet. I'll be very interested to see how this investigation plays out," one X user stated.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 15:50

Powell's Final FOMC Sees Most Dissents In 34 Years As Fed Keeps Rate Unch (As Expected)

Since the last FOMC meeting (on March 18), gold has been clubbed like a baby seal ("EM piggy bank") while stocks and oil have surged (with the former ignoring the peril of the latter)...

During that time, Fed rate-change expectations have swung violently from a full rate-cut to a full rate-hike and fallen back to no change at all in 2026, notably (hawkishly) rising in the last few days as oil prices surged back to war highs...

On the macro front, The Fed's dual mandate is in play as (surprisingly) inflation has surprised to the downside while growth has surprised to the upside...

Notably, The Fed doesn't need to cut rates today for monetary policy to get easier as inflation expectations are rising so much that ex-ante real rates have fallen to the lowest since November and are close to turning negative...

As we detailed earlier, recent labor data (March jobs, ADP, claims) has shown resilience and potentially some green shoots. To Bank of America, this should reduce the sense of urgency to shore up the labor market among the doves.

But, as a result of latent inflation threats, some of the most prominent doves on the committee have changed their tone of late. In a speech last week, Waller emphasized not only upside risks to inflation from the Iran war.

Nevertheless, with all that behind us, the market is expecting a big fat nothingburger from Fed Chair Powell's last (maybe) FOMC meeting, but is expecting an indication of 'two-sided risks' with a single dissent (from Miran calling for a 25bps cut).

What The Fed Did and Said...

Most divided (8-4) Fed in 34 years votes to hold rates unchanged as expected BUT... With 4 No Votes, Powell's Final Meeting Garners Most Dissents in 34 Years

• *FED: HAMMACK, KASHKARI, LOGAN VOTED AGAINST EASING BIAS, BACKED

• *FED SAYS GOVERNOR STEPHEN MIRAN DISSENTS IN FAVOR OF RATE CUT

Fed officials also changed slightly their characterization of the uncertainty around the conflict in Iran: 

“Developments in the Middle East are contributing to a high level of uncertainty about the economic outlook.”

Back in March they said the implications for the US economy were “uncertain.”

In the spirit of Fed transparency, Powell leaves on a confusing note.

So, three of the dissenters opposed “inclusion of an easing bias.”

And yet the actual language of the statement arguably doesn’t specify such a bias.

It says that the committee would be prepared “to adjust the stance of monetary policy as appropriate.”

That doesn’t specify cutting interest rates.

It’s interesting that the trio of dissenters on the bias basically labeled this language as a bias to ease. Because arguably it’s neutral:

The Committee would be prepared to adjust the stance of monetary policy as appropriate if risks emerge that could impede the attainment of the Committee’s goals.

The “goals” of course are price stability and maximum employment.

But it appears that the trio views this language as mainly attaching to the jobs mandate, it seems to us.

Fed officials said the economy is expanding “at a solid pace” with “low” job gains and the unemployment rate “little changed”. That’s all the same as in March.
 
Their characterization of inflation changed slightly:

“Inflation is elevated, in part reflecting the recent increase in global energy prices.”

However, as Bloomberg notes, in central bank world every word matters, and there has been extensive debate around the characterization of “additional adjustments.” Some Fed watchers deem the wording as signaling most policymakers still see a rate cut as their next likely step, in what’s known as an easing bias. That bias stayed unchanged today:

“In considering the extent and timing of additional adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate, the Committee will carefully assess incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.”

Read the full red-line of The Fed statement below:

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 15:45

Chinese Nationals Among 51 Indicted Over Marijuana Grow Operations In Oklahoma

Authored by Michael Clements via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A Department of Homeland Security investigation has resulted in the indictment of 51 defendants—including 29 Chinese nationals—on 67 counts of conspiracy to manufacture black-market marijuana in Oklahoma for distribution in Texas, Mississippi, Kansas, and North Carolina, among other locales.

Oklahoma drug enforcement agent Mike Garcia looks over rows of marijuana plants at an illegal grow facility in Ponca City, Okla, on Dec. 22, 2025. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times

The defendants are from California, Florida, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Texas. Of the 51 indicted, 23 are fugitives, and 11 of the Chinese defendants have obtained permanent legal residence in the United States.

The April 21 indictment alleges that between March 2025 and April 2026, a network of growers, brokers, transporters, and distributors sent marijuana into the black market in Oklahoma and across the United States.

Mike Garcia, agent in charge of the 8th District Attorney’s Drug Task Force and Major Crime Unit, told The Epoch Times that illicit operators often buy old houses or undeveloped property and add buildings to grow marijuana.

Garcia said it was difficult to stay on top of the operations.

“You have to keep countering the illegal [operations] to balance it out. It’s a hard thing to do,” Garcia said.

According to a Department of Justice news release on April 27, marijuana was allegedly transported from grow operations to stash houses, and then to customers for further distribution.

Defendants reportedly split the proceeds and also concealed those proceeds by transporting large amounts of cash and using businesses to disguise the nature of the funds.

The conspiracy was carried out, in large part, with cell phones, and, as alleged in the indictment, law enforcement intercepted calls of two of the main conspirators, Li Shun Chen, 53, and Ying Wang, 45, both of Oklahoma City, according to the press release.

A federal grand jury handed down the indictment on April 21. The indictment also calls for the forfeiture of properties and assets used to generate or mask proceeds of the black-market transactions, including properties throughout Oklahoma.

A vernal pool polluted with chemicals used for growing illegal marijuana border an agricultural form in Ponca City, Okla., on Dec. 22, 2025. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times

“Since 2021, when our agency created Marijuana Enforcement Teams (MET), we’ve proudly worked alongside our federal and state partners to target criminal organizations operating in Oklahoma,” Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control Director Donnie Anderson said in the release. “These partnerships have resulted in a dramatic drop in illegal marijuana farms within our state.”

Oklahoma legalized medical marijuana on June 26, 2018, in hopes that a 7 percent excise tax and state and local property taxes would finance education and infrastructure while creating new jobs.

Mark Woodward, public information officer for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, said organized criminals used this as an opportunity to get involved. He told The Epoch Times that up to 85 percent of the illegal grow facilities in Oklahoma have ties to Chinese organized crime.

“They used straw owners because so many of them came here during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. “The first thing they wanted to do was try to look legitimate.”

The investigation was led by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control along with multiple federal, state, and local agencies.

The case is being prosecuted in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.

Allan Stein contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 15:30

StarCloud CEO Says Starship Gives SpaceX Launch Monopoly For Near Decade

The CEO of the startup building data centers for eventual low Earth orbit deployment told Molly O'Shea of the Sourcery podcast that he expects Elon Musk's SpaceX to hold a "near monopoly on launches" over the next five to ten years, driven by Starship's scale, launch cadence, and cost advantage.

Starcloud CEO Philip Johnston told O'Shea:

I'm very hopeful that other launch vehicles will be able to compete with SpaceX, but my general hot take is that SpaceX is going to have a near-monopoly on launch for at least the next five years, maybe ten.

I think Starship is way ahead of any other program, and even like Stokes Space—if their rocket works—their payloads are three tonnes versus 150-tonne payload for Starship. Especially with Gigafactory, so yeah, that's it.

O'Shea asked Johnston about Jeff Bezos' rocket company, Blue Origin, and whether it could challenge SpaceX's launch dominance in the years ahead: 

The problem with Blue Origin's rocket is they don't have a reusable upper stage at the moment, and as I understand, they're not even really trying to build a reusable upper stage.

So if they can get it flying, you're talking about launch costs comparable maybe with Falcon 9, although their quotes we've had are way higher than that.

.@Starcloud_ CEO @PhilipJohnston expects SpaceX to have a "near monopoly on launch" for the next 5–10 years:

"Starship is way ahead of any other program."

"The manufacturing that they're ramping up is insane—like building three Starships per day potentially with their… pic.twitter.com/qGCWPJ3cIh

— sourcery (@sourceryy) April 28, 2026

Musk's SpaceX is gearing up for the largest IPO ever, which could value the rocket company at up to $2 trillion. At this valuation, Musk would likely become the first trillionaire.

The latest data from Bloomberg shows Musk's net worth is around $646 billion. Larry Page of Google trails in the No. 2 spot at $297 billion, with Bezos at No. 3 at $278 billion.

In December, we outlined for readers how to profit from space-based data centers, given that ground-based data centers are being delayed or canceled, alarming the tech bros. This suggests that, with limited to no restrictions on space, space-based data centers will be the next big push - all hinging on the commercialization of Starship.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 15:10

Water-Based Method Recovers 65% Of EV Battery Metals In One Minute At Room Temperature

Authored by Neetika Walter via Interesting Engineering,

Researchers at Rice University have developed a water-based method that recovers valuable metals from spent lithium-ion batteries in minutes, offering a faster and lower-energy alternative to conventional recycling systems.

The new process targets key battery materials including lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese, which are in growing demand as electric vehicle and electronics production expands worldwide.

Battery recycling is becoming increasingly important as mineral supply chains tighten and nations seek to reduce dependence on newly mined materials. But many current recovery methods rely on harsh acids, toxic solvents, or long processing times.

Rice researchers say their new class of aqueous “amino chloride” solutions can extract metals quickly while avoiding many of those drawbacks.

Metals back, fast

“Traditional recycling methods often rely on harsh acids or slow, energy-intensive processes,” said study first author Simon M. King. “What we’ve shown is that you can achieve rapid, high-efficiency metal recovery using a much simpler, water-based system.”

The team focused on hydrometallurgical recycling, in which battery metals are dissolved into a liquid and later separated for reuse. It is considered one of the more scalable approaches, but common solvents can create environmental and cost challenges.

To improve the process, the researchers tested several amino chloride salts as alternative leaching agents. One compound, hydroxylammonium chloride, or HACl, delivered the best results.

In testing, the HACl solution extracted about 65 percent of key battery metals in just one minute at room temperature. Recovery rates climbed above 75 percent for several metals with slightly longer treatment times.

That speed is notable because many recycling systems require elevated temperatures or extended reaction periods, both of which increase energy use and operating costs.

Water beats solvents

“We were surprised by just how fast the reaction occurs, especially without the involvement of high temperatures,” King said. “Within the first minute, we’re already seeing the majority of the metal extraction take place.”

Researchers said replacing traditional organic solvents with water lowered viscosity, allowing molecules to move more freely and accelerate reactions. Water-based chemistry also simplifies waste handling and may reduce environmental risks.

The team used experiments and modeling to understand why the solution performed so well. While acidity and chloride ions help dissolve metals, the researchers found that a built-in redox-active nitrogen center in HACl played a major role.

“While the rapid metal dissolution is very interesting, what is most exciting is that this highlights the generic chemical properties that are the major drivers for efficient leaching,” said Sohini Bhattacharyya.

“That redox capability gives it a major advantage over other similar systems we tested.” After extraction, the recovered metals were reprocessed into new battery materials, demonstrating a closed-loop recycling pathway.

The findings could help shape next-generation battery recycling plants by combining low-toxicity solvents with targeted chemistry that boosts speed and efficiency. With EV battery waste expected to rise sharply in the coming years, faster recovery methods may become increasingly valuable.

The study was published in Small.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 14:50

Wall Street Reacts To Powell's Last FOMC Meeting

The kneejerk reaction from Wall Street pundits is that the bar for the Federal Reserve to hike rates is still relatively high and there’s no need for the Fed to change its bias or react in a meaningful way: that's the view voiced by SocGen's US Research Head Subadra Rajappa, who said on BBG TV that the "US is in a very good position overall"

Others, such as Deutsche Bank Chief US Economist Luzzetti, said that "the Fed could adopt a more balanced language" while JPMorgan Head of Global Fixed Income Bob Michele notes that "the US economy looks pretty good and can absorb some inflation" adding that "inflation is passing through the system" and so "need to watch if cost-push inflation passes to prices."

Michele also said that he’s reluctant to say this time the economy will stumble given how the economy managed tariffs last year, and believes that the Fed cold remain on hold until end of this year, even as "the bar to hike got lowered a notch."

Below we summarize several views from across Wall Street:

• Katherine Judge at CIBC Capital markets: "Oddly, the statement noted that three members who supported maintaining the target range did not support including an easing bias in the statement, even though the text they were objecting to was not present in the statement."
• Simon Penn, UBS trader: "Hammack, Kashkari and Logan said they didn't support the easing bias. The easing bias itself is reflected in the following sections: "attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate."
• Maria Capurro, Bloomberg Econ: "We won’t know what really drove the dissenters until they release their public statements, but it is worthy to note this is the committee that Kevin Warsh, Trump’s appointee, will now face: one with growing dissents, where at least some officials do want to make it clear a rate hike is on the table"
• Ian Lyngen at BMO Capital Markets: his take is the forward-guidance language as having been interpreted as an easing bias: The relevant language is “In considering the extent and timing of additional adjustments to the target range” - not clearly biased toward easing, but it has been interpreted as such in the past. 
• Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM: "The dissents could also be about preserving Fed’s independence: One gets the sense that the three dissenters are signaling a willingness to not only protect central bank independence but also the incoming bias towards rate cuts when inflation is clearly heading in the direction that may require rate hikes."
• Nic Puckrin, macro analyst and CEO of Coin Bureau: "The chance that we won’t see a rate cut at all this year has increased to 77%. However, other central banks – notably the BOJ – are already discussing hikes. Most commentators don’t expect hikes from the Fed, yet the central bank could begin running out of options. This doesn’t bode well, because hiking could mean plunging the banking and private credit sectors into crisis. Wall Street banks now hold more US treasuries than at any point since the GFC in 2007 – up 37% from last year to $550bn. If rates rise, this could become a massive liability, while private credit is already under enormous pressure at current rate levels."
• David Russell, Global Head of Market Strategy at TradeStation: "Miran is increasingly a lonesome dove. Today’s dissents show the pendulum is swinging away from rate cuts. Inflation is a growing risk as oil soars and the job market remains tight. March’s durable goods orders also confirm the strong economy and remove the need for easing. The AI datacenter boom is making it easier for policy to be far less necessary. Kevin Warsh could be stepping into a difficult spot if he was hoping to deliver rate cuts."

Developing

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 14:35

Watch Live: Fed Chair Powell's Last Press Conference

With Kevin Warsh having won the backing of the Senate Banking Committee on a 13-11 party-line vote to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve, it's pretty much a done deal that this will be Jerome Powell's final press conference as Fed Chair.

And while The Fed took no action - as 100% expected - the question remains whether Powell will lean hawkish (oil crisis means inflation tsunami) or dovish (higher costs drag on economy and need support) despite the most dissents (3 hawkish-er, 1 dovish-er) since 1992...

“The stink of stagflation is in the air,” Senator Elizabeth Warren warned, adding that confirmation of Warsh would help Trump dominate the Fed’s monetary policy.

The combination of Warsh’s calls for a smaller balance sheet, new ways to think about inflation and communication changes put the onus on Warsh to make clear he’ll defend the Fed’s independence, said EY-Parthenon Chief Economist Gregory Daco.

“Taken together, this points to a more centralized, less transparent and potentially more politically-exposed policy framework,” he said.

But all of that is for another day as today is Powell's big finale where he will likely note both the upside risks to inflation and the downside risks to the labor market and growth.

But which way will he lean?

If Powell's final comments mirror those of Daly ( that if policy were left unchanged all year, “that would be a good restraint on inflation, but not so restrictive to hurt the labor market”), markets would read that as very hawkish.

We shall see... for now, the market is not leaning one way or another with zero rate-changes priced in until at least 2027.

Finally, Powell might get asked whether he has decided how long he will stay on at the Fed as a Governor. He will likely respond that he doesn't have anything to add to his comments from the March press conference.

Watch Fed Chair Powell's final press conference live here (due to start at 1400ET):

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 14:25

Acting AG Blanche Denies Trump Directed James Comey Prosecution

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on April 29 said that President Donald Trump did not order the Department of Justice (DOJ) to file more charges against former FBI Director James Comey over a social media post that he made last year.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche (L) speaks alongside FBI Director Kash Patel during a press conference about the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting, at the Justice Department in Washington on April 27, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

“Of course not, absolutely, positively not,” Blanche told “CBS Mornings” when he asked whether the president directed him to pursue new charges against Comey. “This is something that has been investigated for nearly a year now, and the results of that investigation is that a grand jury returned an indictment.”

On Tuesday, a grand jury returned an indictment against Comey over an Instagram post he made in May 2025 with a photo of seashells arranged on a beach to say “86 47.” Federal prosecutors said it was a threat to assassinate Trump. Comey later deleted the post and said that he thought the sell arrangement was a political message, not a call to violence.

“I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence,” and “I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down,” Comey wrote at the time.

The criminal case is the second in months against Comey. A separate and unrelated indictment against the former FBI director was dismissed in late 2025 after a court ruled that the U.S. attorney who brought the charges was appointed in an unlawful manner.

Prosecutors said in a news release Tuesday of the new charge that it was a message that a “reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret as a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States.”

Comey was charged with threatening the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. He could face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, according to the Department of Justice.

“If anybody in this country thinks—especially given what happened over the past couple of years with respect to President Trump—that it is okay for anybody to threaten the president of the United States ... and then have the media or others say, well that’s not serious, then we have a bigger problem than I even imagined in this country,” Blanche told CBS on April 29.

The acting attorney general added that “anybody who tries to put forward some narrative that this is just about seashells or something to the contrary is missing the point,” stressing, “You cannot threaten the president of the United States.”

Comey was fired by Trump months into the president’s first term, and the two men have openly feuded ever since. Blanche, a former deputy attorney general who previously worked as Trump’s personal attorney, was elevated earlier this month to replace Pam Bondi, the first attorney general of Trump’s second term in office.

Responding to the new indictment, Comey released a video through Substack on April 28 in which he denied any wrongdoing.

“Well, they’re back. This time about a picture of seashells on a North Carolina Beach a year ago, and this won’t be the end of it. But nothing has changed with me. I’m still innocent, I’m still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary. So let’s go,” he said in the video.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 14:20

Your Bank Is Becoming A Casino: River CEO Frames Bitcoin As The Alternative

Authored by Micah Zimmerman via Bitcoin Magazine,

Bitcoin 2026 speaker Alex Leishman used his Nakamoto Stage talk, titled “We’re Not Fixing Money to Build More Casinos,” to deliver a sharp warning that modern finance is drifting toward a gambling model and away from basic banking. 

Leishman, CEO of River, said the American dream feels out of reach for many people as housing costs rise, student debt lingers, and wages lag, and argued that this pressure helps explain why prediction markets and betting features are spreading through mainstream financial apps. 

In his view, a system that once promised stable savings now pushes people toward risk if they want a shot at financial freedom.

Leishman opened by describing a growing belief that “more and more people are coming to the conclusion” that they need to gamble to get ahead. He said finance and entertainment have merged on the phone screen, with products that look like investing tools but function like casinos. 

He pointed to platforms that promote constant trading and outcome bets, and said this environment tells users that the safe path of saving no longer works, only high‑risk wagers do. The result, he argued, is a landscape in which households face a choice between stagnation and speculative bets framed as empowerment.

Leishman contrasted today’s market with an earlier era in which a bank was a place that kept money safe. Banking and gambling were separate activities, he said, governed by different norms and expectations. Prediction markets, he argued, have given financial institutions a rationale to fold sports betting and event wagers into apps that once focused on savings and investing. 

That change, he said, blurs lines for users who open a finance app and find a casino.

Gambling is correlated with stress, debt distress

Leishman linked this trend to research that shows gambling correlates with higher levels of debt distress and personal bankruptcy. He said gambling “isn’t good for society” and argued that the rapid spread of online betting should concern policymakers and industry leaders. 

In the past, a person had to walk into a casino to place a bet; now, he said, anyone with a phone can gamble from the couch or the checkout line. The distance between everyday life and high‑risk wagering has collapsed into a few taps on an app, with push notifications and promotions designed to keep people engaged.

He accused parts of the crypto and fintech sector of not being honest about this direction. The industry “shouldn’t lie” about what it is building, he said, because many products marketed as tools for financial freedom depend on user losses and trading churn. 

He described two futures: one in which traditional banks continue to grow rich off customer deposits while providing little yield or transparency, and another in which fintech firms double down on prediction markets and sports betting as core revenue lines. In both cases, he argued, ordinary customers lose: they either watch their savings erode in low‑yield accounts or face rising odds of financial harm on betting‑style platforms.

Bitcoin banks can grow your money without gambling

As an alternative, Leishman framed bitcoin banking as a third path. He said bitcoin banks can allow wealth generation without gambling by pairing sound money with interest on cash and bitcoin balances.

“50 countries in the last 5 years have increased their regulatory friendliness to Bitcoin,” Leishman said.

In that model, clients can succeed through saving and prudent risk, not through repeated wagers on short‑term events. He pointed to growing institutional and sovereign interest in holding bitcoin as a sign that the asset is maturing into a reserve instrument. 

From his perspective, banks that integrate bitcoin in a conservative, savings‑focused way can oppose both the low‑yield status quo and the casino trend in fintech.

Leishman closed with a prediction that “all institutions will want to become bitcoin banks” as the asset gains broader acceptance. He argued that banks and fintech firms that align with bitcoin, proof‑of‑reserves, and straightforward savings products will stand apart from casino‑like competitors that depend on user losses. 

In his telling, the real promise of a “financial revolution” is not more ways to gamble from a phone, but a system in which money holds its value, deposits are verifiable, and people can pursue financial freedom without turning their lives into a series of bets.

Tyler Durden Wed, 04/29/2026 - 13:50

Peter Schiff: Printing Money Is Not the Cure for Cononavirus



In his most recent podcast, Peter Schiff talked about coronavirus and the impact that it is having on the markets. Earlier this month, Peter said he thought the virus was just an excuse for stock market woes. At the time he believed the market was poised to fall anyway. But as it turns out, coronavirus has actually helped the US stock market because it has led central banks to pump even more liquidity into the world financial system. All this means more liquidity — central banks easing. In fact, that is exactly what has already happened, except the new easing is taking place, for now, outside the United States, particularly in China.” Although the new money is primarily being created in China, it is flowing into dollars — the dollar index is up — and into US stocks. Last week, US stock markets once again made all-time record highs. In fact, I think but for the coronavirus, the US stock market would still be selling off. But because of the central bank stimulus that has been the result of fears over the coronavirus, that actually benefitted not only the US dollar, but the US stock market.” In the midst of all this, Peter raises a really good question. The primary economic concern is that coronavirus will slow down output and ultimately stunt economic growth. Practically speaking, the world would produce less stuff. If the virus continues to spread, there would be fewer goods and services produced in a market that is hunkered down. Why would the Federal Reserve respond, or why would any central bank respond to that by printing money? How does printing more money solve that problem? It doesn’t. In fact, it actually exacerbates it. But you know, everybody looks at central bankers as if they’ve got the solution to every problem. They don’t. They don’t have the magic wand. They just have a printing press. And all that creates is inflation.” Sometimes the illusion inflation creates can look like a magic wand. Printing money can paper over problems. But none of this is going to fundamentally fix the economy. In fact, if central bankers were really going to do the right thing, the appropriate response would be to drain liquidity from the markets, not supply even more.” Peter explained how the Fed was originally intended to create an “elastic” money supply that would expand or contract along with economic output. Today, the money supply only goes in one direction — that’s up. The economy is strong, print money. The economy is weak, print even more money.” Of course, the asset that’s doing the best right now is gold. The yellow metal pushed above $1,600 yesterday. Gold is up 5.5% on the year in dollar terms and has set record highs in other currencies. Because gold is rising even in an environment where the dollar is strengthening against other fiat currencies, that shows you that there is an underlying weakness in the dollar that is right now not being reflected in the Forex markets, but is being reflected in the gold markets. Because after all, why are people buying gold more aggressively than they’re buying dollars or more aggressively than they’re buying US Treasuries? Because they know that things are not as good for the dollar or the US economy as everybody likes to believe. So, more people are seeking out refuge in a better safe-haven and that is gold.” Peter also talked about the debate between Trump and Obama over who gets credit for the booming economy – which of course, is not booming.

We are living in crazy times. I have a hard time believing that most of the general public is not awake, but in reality, they are. We've never seen anything like this; I mean not even under Obama during the worst part of the Great Recession." Now the Fed is desperately trying to keep interest rates from rising. The problem is that it's a much bigger debt bubble this time around , and the Fed is going to have to blow a lot more air into it to keep it inflated. The difference is this time it's not going to work." It looks like the Fed did another $104.15 billion of Not Q.E. in a single day. The Fed claims it's only temporary. But that is precisely what Bernanke claimed when the Fed started QE1. Milton Freedman once said, "Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program." The same applies to Q.E., or whatever the Fed wants to pretend it's doing. Except this is not QE4, according to Powell. Right. Pumping so much money out, and they are accusing China of currency manipulation ? Wow! Seriously! Amazing! Dump the U.S. dollar while you still have a chance. Welcome to The Atlantis Report. And it is even worse than that, In addition to the $104.15 billion of "Not Q.E." this past Thursday; the FED added another $56.65 billion in liquidity to financial markets the next day on Friday. That's $160.8 billion in two days!!!! in just 48 hours. That is more than 2 TIMES the highest amount the FED has ever injected on a monthly basis under a Q.E. program (which was $80 billion per month) Since this isn't QE....it will be really scary on what they are going to call Q.E. Will it twice, three times, four times, five times what this injection per month ! It is going to be explosive since it takes about 60 to 90 days for prices to react to this, January should see significant inflation as prices soak up the excess liquidity. The question is, where will the inflation occur first . The spike in the repo rate might have a technical explanation: a misjudgment was made in the Fed's money market operations. Even so, two conclusions can be drawn: managing the money markets is becoming harder, and from now on, banks will be studying each other's creditworthiness to a greater degree than before. Those people, who struggle with the minutiae of money markets, and that includes most professionals, should focus on the causes and not the symptoms. Financial markets have recovered from each downturn since 1980 because interest rates have been cut to new lows. Post-2008, they were cut to near zero or below zero in all major economies. In response to a new financial crisis, they cannot go any lower. Central banks will look for new ways to replicate or broaden Q.E. (At some point, governments will simply see repression as an easier option). Then there is the problem of 'risk-free' assets becoming risky assets. Financial markets assume that the probability of major governments such as the U.S. or U.K. defaulting is zero. These governments are entering the next downturn with debt roughly twice the levels proportionate to GDP that was seen in 2008. The belief that the policy worked was completely predicated on the fact that it was temporary and that it was reversible, that the Fed was going to be able to normalize interest rates and shrink its balance sheet back down to pre-crisis levels. Well, when the balance sheet is five-trillion, six-trillion, seven-trillion when we're back at zero, when we're back in a recession, nobody is going to believe it is temporary. Nobody is going to believe that the Fed has this under control, that they can reverse this policy. And the dollar is going to crash. And when the dollar crashes, it's going to take the bond market with it, and we're going to have stagflation. We're going to have a deep recession with rising interest rates, and this whole thing is going to come imploding down. everything is temporary with the fed including remaining off the gold standard temporary in the Fed's eyes could mean at least 50 years This liquidity problem is a signal that trading desks are loaded up on inventory and can't get rid of it. Repo is done out of a need for cash. If you own all of your securities (i.e., a long-only, no leverage mutual fund) you have no need to "repo" your securities - you're earning interest every night so why would you want to 'repo' your securities where you are paying interest for that overnight loan (securities lending is another animal). So, it is those that 'lever-up' and need the cash for settlement purposes on securities they've bought with borrowed money that needs to utilize the repo desk. With this in mind, as we continue to see this need to obtain cash (again, needed to settle other securities purchases), it shows these firms don't have the capital to add more inventory to, what appears to be, a bloated inventory. Now comes the fun part: the Treasury is about to auction 3's, 10's, and 30-year bonds. If I am correct (again, I could be wrong), the Fed realizes securities firms don't have the shelf space to take down a good portion of these auctions. If there isn't enough retail/institutional demand, it will lead to not only a crappy sale but major concerns to the street that there is now no backstop, at all, to any sell-off. At which point, everyone will want to be the first one through the door and sell immediately, but to whom? If there isn't enough liquidity in the repo market to finance their positions, the firms would be unable to increase their inventory. We all saw repo shut down on the 2008 crisis. Wall St runs on money. . OVERNIGHT money. They lever up to inventory securities for trading. If they can't get overnight money, they can't purchase securities. And if they can't unload what they have, it means the buy-side isn't taking on more either. Accounts settle overnight. This includes things like payrolls and bill pay settlements. If a bank doesn't have enough cash to payout what its customers need to pay out, it borrows. At least one and probably more than one banks are insolvent. That's what's going on. First, it can't be one or two banks that are short. They'd simply call around until they found someone to lend. But they did that, and even at markedly elevated rates, still, NO ONE would lend them the money. That tells me that it's not a problem of a couple of borrowers, it's a problem of no lenders. And that means that there's no bank in the world left with any real liquidity. They are ALL maxed out. But as bad as that is, and that alone could be catastrophic, what it really signals is even worse. The lending rates are just the flip side of the coin of the value of the assets lent against. If the rates go up, the value goes down. And with rates spiking to 10%, how far does the value fall? Enormously! And if banks had to actually mark down the value of the assets to reflect 10% interest rates, then my god, every bank in the world is insolvent overnight. Everyone's capital ratios are in the toilet, and they'd have to liquidate. We're talking about the simultaneous insolvency of every bank on the planet. Bank runs. No money in ATMs, Branches closed. Safe deposit boxes confiscated. The whole nine yards, It's actually here. The scenario has tended to guide toward for years and years is actually happening RIGHT NOW! And people are still trying to say it's under control. Every bank in the world is currently insolvent. The only thing keeping it going is printing billions of dollars every day. Financial Armageddon isn't some far off future risk. It's here. Prepare accordingly. This fiat system has reached the end of the line, and it's not correct that fiat currencies fail by design. The problem is corruption and manipulation. It is corruption and cheating that erodes trust and faith until the entire system becomes a gigantic fraud. Banks and governments everywhere ARE the problem and simply have to be removed. They have lost all trust and respect, and all they have left is war and mayhem. As long as we continue to have a majority of braindead asleep imbeciles following orders from these psychopaths, nothing will change. Fiat currency is not just thievery. Fiat currency is SLAVERY. Ultimately the most harmful effect of using debt of undefined value as money (i.e., fiat currencies) is the de facto legalization of a caste system based on voluntary slavery. The bankers have a charter, or the legal *right*, to create money out of nothing. You, you don't. Therefore you and the bankers do not have the same standing before the law. The law of the land says that you will go to jail if you do the same thing (creating money out of thin air) that the banker does in full legality. You and the banker are not equal before the law. ALL the countries of the world; Islamic or secular, Jewish or Arab, democracy or dictatorship; all of them place the bankers ABOVE you. And all of you accept that only whining about fiat money going down in exchange value over time (price inflation which is not the same as monetary inflation). Actually, price inflation itself is mainly due to the greed and stupidity of the bankers who could keep fiat money's exchange value reasonably stable, only if they wanted to. Witness the crash of silver and gold prices which the bankers of the world; Russian, American, Chinese, Jewish, Indian, Arab, all of them collaborated to engineer through the suppression and stagnation of precious metals' prices to levels around the metals' production costs, or what it costs to dig gold and silver out of the ground. The bankers of the world could also collaborate to keep nominal prices steady (as they do in the case of the suppression of precious metals prices). After all, the ability to create fiat money and force its usage is a far more excellent source of power and wealth than that which is afforded simply by stealing it through inflation. The bankers' greed and stupidity blind them to this fact. They want it all, and they want it now. In conclusion, The bankers can create money out of nothing and buy your goods and services with this worthless fiat money, effectively for free. You, you can't. You, you have to lead miserable existences for the most of you and WORK in order to obtain that effectively nonexistent, worthless credit money (whose purchasing/exchange value is not even DEFINED thus rendering all contracts based on the null and void!) that the banker effortlessly creates out of thin air with a few strokes of the computer keyboard, and which he doesn't even bother to print on paper anymore, electing to keep it in its pure quantum uncertain form instead, as electrons whizzing about inside computer chips which will become mute and turn silent refusing to tell you how many fiat dollars or euros there are in which account, in the absence of electricity. No electricity, no fiat, nor crypto money. It would appear that trust is deteriorating as it did when Lehman blew up . Something really big happened that set off this chain reaction in the repo markets. Whatever that something is, we aren't be informed. They're trying to cover it up, paper it over with conjured cash injections, play it cool in front of the cameras while sweating profusely under the 5 thousands dollar suits. I'm guessing that the final high-speed plunge into global economic collapse has begun. All we see here is the ripples and whitewater churning the surface, but beneath the surface, there is an enormous beast thrashing desperately in its death throws. Now is probably the time to start tying up loose ends with the long-running prep projects, just saying. In other words, prepare accordingly, and Get your money out of the banks. I don't care if you don't believe me about Bitcoin. Get your money out of the banks. Don't keep any more money in a bank than you need to pay your bills and can afford to lose.











The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free investigative journalists , researchers , Whistelblowers , truthers and many more













The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free investigative journalists , researchers , Whistelblowers , truthers and many more

The FBI released a summary of its file from the Hillary Clinton email investigation on Friday, showing details of Clinton's explanation of her use of a private email server to handle classified communications. The release comes nearly two months after FBI Director James Comey announced that although Clinton's handling of classified information was "extremely careless," it did not rise to the level of a prosecutable offense. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced the next day that she would not pursue charges in the matter. "We are making these materials available to the public in the interest of transparency and in response to numerous Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests," the FBI noted in a statement sent to reporters with links to the documents. The documents include notes from Clinton's July 2 interview with agents, as well as a "factual summary of the FBI's investigation into this matter," according to the FBI release. Throughout her interview with agents, Clinton repeatedly said she relied on the career professionals she worked with to handle classified information correctly. The agents asked about a series of specific emails, and in each case Clinton said she wasn't worried about the particular material being discussed on a nonclassified channel.