tyb
good morning B and all
VENUS42 USAF G5 SAM634 SAM627 USAF C-32A's west from JBA departs
Supreme Court Cancels Arguments on Border Wall, Asylum Policy
The U.S. Supreme Court canceled scheduled arguments over asylum rules and the Mexican border wall after the Biden administration said it is moving to change the Trump administration policies at the center of the disputes.
The court was scheduled to hear arguments Feb. 22 on former President Donald Trump’s use of a national-emergency declaration to spend $2.5 billion on wall construction using money appropriated for other purposes. President Joe Biden ordered construction halted hours after being inaugurated.
The other case, which had been set for argument March 1, concerns a policy that has forced almost 70,000 asylum-seekers to stay in Mexico while their applications are being processed. Under Biden, the Department of Homeland Security has stopped adding new people into the so-called Migrant Protection Protocols program, though the administration hasn’t changed the status of previous asylum applicants or lifted pandemic-related restrictions at the border.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/supreme-court-cancels-arguments-on-border-wall-asylum-policy-1.1558391
82-8000 USAF 747 departed from JBA en
Looks like cert. flight at Atlantic City Int'l
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9219521/Idaho-helicopter-crash-Three-National-Guard-pilots-killed.html
02-4452 USAFSOC C-32B departed JBA north
According to ADS-B data it has been at JBA since 0130
dunno wtf going on with that.
VENUS42 on ground at St. Louis Downtown Airport with SAM634 and 627 C-32A's continue west
Both of these have been used as AF2
634 is secondary AF2 and has also been used by the State Dept. for a number of years.
'U.S. Senate energy committee votes 13-4 to approve nomination of Granholm to head Energy Department
The U.S. Senate Energy Committee voted 13-4 on Wednesday to approve the nomination of former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm to head the Energy Department.
Granholm, 61, wants to steer the department to help the United States compete with China on electric vehicles and green technologies like advanced batteries and solar and wind power. Senator John Barrasso, a Republican from fossil fuel producing Wyoming, expressed concerns that President Joe Biden’s push to curb climate change would threaten thousands of jobs in coal, gas and oil, and voted against Granholm.
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-biden-granholm/u-s-senate-energy-committee-votes-13-4-to-approve-nomination-of-granholm-to-head-energy-department-idUSL1N2K91PK
from Jan 27
Biden’s Energy Nominee Divvied Millions In Taxpayer Funds To Alternative Energy Startups That Went Bankrupt
https://dailycaller.com/2021/01/27/jennifer-granholm-michigan-energy-companies-bankrupt/
SAM650 USAF C-40B departed MacDill AFB after a ground stop-inbound JBA
State Dept. AC
02-5001 USAFSOC C-32B ne from Ft. Bennign Ground stop-origin of Eglin
VENUS42 USAF G5 sw from St. Louis Downtown Airport ground stop
RAF RRR2733 Airbus A330 departed Ft. Hood, TX after an overnight-inbound from RAF Brize Norton
00-9001 USAFSOC C-32B departed Palm Springs after an overnight
These AC's (USAFSOC 757's) have been wayyy moar active for the last two weeks
Daimler to split in two companies, Daimler Truck to focus on EV, self-driving
Germany's Daimler AG DAI, 9.02%, the company behind well-known auto brands such as Mercedes Benz and truck and bus makers Freightliner and Thomas Built, said Wednesday it plans to split into two standalone companies, spinning off Daimler Truck, which will focus on electric vehicles and self-driving. The other part of the business will be renamed Mercedes-Benz "at the appropriate time," the company said, and aim to be the "world's preeminent luxury car business, committed to leading in electric drive and car software," it said. Daimler Truck "will accelerate its path towards zero emissions as the world's largest truck and bus producer and technology leader," Daimler said. The company's board will start preparing for listing Daimler Truck on the Frankfurt stock exchange, with the intention that "a significant majority stake in Daimler Truck will be distributed to Daimler shareholders," it said. The two sides of the business "will be able to operate most effectively as independent entities, equipped with strong net liquidity and free from the constraints of a conglomerate structure," said Ola Källenius, chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler and Mercedes-Benz, in a statement. Daimler stock rose 7% after the news.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/daimler-to-split-in-two-companies-daimler-truck-to-focus-on-ev-self-driving-2021-02-03
02-5001 USAFSOC C-32B on descent for NAS Oceana
82-8000 USAF 747 still over Atlantic City on it's cert flight.
Air Force One Set To Get First Ever Non-American Pilot From RAF
https://www.iatanews.com/2020/11/09/air-force-one-set-to-get-first-ever-non-american-pilot-from-raf/
See cap 2
02-4452 USAFSOC C-32B departed JBA earlier and did some coverage over central PA and back to home base of McGuire
SAM634 USAF C-32A on ground at Denver Int'l from JBA
SAM627 USAF C-32A continues west at 32k/ft
interdasting
SAM627 USAF C-32A on descent for Grand Junction, Colo. from JBA
CLUB22 USAF E-4B Nightwatch ne from Dyess AFB
SAM634 USAF C-32A south from Denver Int'l Airport and on descent for Lubbock, TX Int'l
60-0061 USAF B-52 east over central Tx from Barksdale AFB
00000000 USAF B-52 Stratofortress over MCAGCC 29 Palms from Minot AFB, ND
00-9001 USAFSOC C-32B on descent for McGuire AFB, NJ from Palm Springs (Indio) CA overnight
This AC departed San Juan PR yesterday and had a ground stop at Majors Airport (L-3) prior to Indio arrival
Meet The Hedge Fund That Made A Killing On The Reddit-Fueled Squeeze
The unfortunate reality of Wall Street is that, sooner or later, we knew that hedge fund players would emerge who capitalized on the Reddit-fueled squeezes of the last two weeks.
One such fund was Jason Mudrick’s hedge fund. Mudrick Capital Management made almost $200 million, fueled by stakes in names that squeezed higher during the GameStop frenzy, according to Bloomberg. His fund made 9.8% in January, one of the best months since the fund's inception. Most of its gains came from debt and equity options in AMC and volatility bets in GameStop.
The fund has $3.1 billion under management and booked most of its gains last week. It also sold about $50 million worth of out of the money call options on AMC, the report says. Back in September, AMC had "signed a commitment letter with Mudrick Capital that called for the hedge fund to buy $100 million of new secured bonds that pay 15% cash or 17% deferred interest," the report notes.
Mudrick bought AMC's second-lien bonds for 7 to 20 cents on the dollar, before they rose to about 70 cents on the dollar last week.
His firm specializes in distressed debt investments and is in the process of expanding further into Europe. It recently bought a credit hedge fund run by CVC Credit Partners.
As we have already noted, Silver Lake also saw about $113 million in gains from converting AMC debt it was holding to stock, before selling the stock into the rally.
Many other funds, including several of the "Tiger Cubs" weren't so lucky, Bloomberg noted. Numerous firms with ties to Julian Robertson's Tiger Management racked up losses during the run up:
-Glen Kacher’s Light Street Capital Management lost 13% last month
-Steve Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital dropped 6.4%.
-Coatue Management ended the month little changed
-Chase Coleman’s Tiger Global Management eked out a 1% gain
-Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital Management, a macro-focused fund, jumped 6.5% for the month
-Ricky Sandler’s $7.8 billion Eminence Capital fell 10.5% last month in his hedge fund
-Whale Rock Capital Management sunk almost 11% in its technology, media and telecommunications-focused fund
-Marshall Wace’s $4.4 billion long-short MW Global Opportunities Fund slumped an estimated 7% in January, its worst-ever monthly decline.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/meet-hedge-fund-made-killing-reddit-fueled-squeeze
Record Muni-Bond Sales Surge Fueled by Borrowing for Budget Gaps
The federal government isn’t the only one running up debt to cover its budget deficits.
As states and cities braced for pandemic-related shutdowns to batter tax collections, many turned to the municipal-bond market to soften the hit, contributing to a record-setting surge in debt sales last year. According to an analysis by Municipal Market Analytics, at least one quarter of state and local government debt sales over $100 million included some element of deficit financing in the second half of 2020.
Such deficit borrowing is relatively rare for state and local governments, which are typically required to balance their budgets each year and often need lawmakers’ approval to issue debt to cover everyday bills. But the severity of the economic slowdown last year combined with a steep drop in interest rates made that a more attractive option than cutting spending deeply amid an unprecedented pandemic. Among those who sold debt to plug deficits were New Jersey, which issued $3.7 billion of bonds to ease tax-revenue shortfalls, and Illinois, which tapped the Federal Reserve’s emergency credit line.
Such deficit borrowing may ebb. The budget deficits governments anticipated in the middle of last year haven’t been as severe as initially projected, giving some a temporary surplus of cash. At the same time, the Democrats who control Congress are likely to include aid for local governments in the next economic stimulus package, something Republicans opposed when they held the Senate last year.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/record-muni-bond-sales-surge-fueled-by-borrowing-for-budget-gaps-1.1558548
CLUB22 USF E-4B Nightwatch on descent for JBA from Dyess AFB
THis is the Sec. of Defense AC #75-0125
DROOP13 US Navy E-6B Mercury from MacDill AFB
SAM634 USAF C-32A sw from Lubbock, TX Int'l ground stop
nabby time