tyb
SAM698 USAF G5 on final approach at NAS Norfolk from Scott AFB overnight
QID24 USAF KC-135 tanker out in the Adriatic with 3 F-16's REBEL31 NICKL and NICKEL from Aviano AB on refueling exrecise(s)
REBEL31 on top of NICKL and heading back to Aviano
muh crypto!
JPMorgan Chase taps $30B to advance racial equity
The largest bank in the United States, JPMorgan Chase, unveiled a series of new initiatives Tuesday as part of its recently announced $30 billion commitment to advancing racial equity over the next five years.
The financial institution is pledging support to Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) and diverse-led Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) as part of its program. "We know these crucial institutions create lasting change for Black and Latinx families," JPMorgan Chase's Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion Brian Lamb said in making the announcement, "and we hope our support will help uplift the people and businesses that are the backbone of our local economies." JPMorgan will be launching Empowering Change, a new program supported by a $500 million investment from Google and in partnership with MDIs and CDFIs to provide economic opportunity to underserved communities. The program will introduce a new Empower money market share class, which will be distributed exclusively by MDIs and CDFIs including the Harbor Bank of Maryland, Liberty Bank and Trust, M&F Bank and Unity National Bank.
In addition, the new Empower money market share class will allow for institutional clients and investors to support MDIs and diverse-led CDFIs helping to create a positive social impact.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/jpmorgan-chase-unveils-new-initiatives-as-part-of-30b-commitment-to-advance-racial-equity
02-5001 USAFSOC C-32B departed Eglin AFB ne with 00-9001 USAFSOC C-32B sw from McGuire AFB
NY AG’s $850M Probe of Bitfinex, Tether Ends in an $18.5M Settlement
A closely watched legal case involving Bitfinex and Tether with major implications for the cryptocurrency industry has been resolved.
The New York Attorney General’s office (NYAG) has settled with Bitfinex over a 22-month inquiry into whether the cryptocurrency exchange sought to cover up the loss of $850 million in customer and corporate funds held by a payment processor. The NYAG’s office announced the settlement Tuesday, formally ending the inquiry that kicked off in April 2019. Under the terms of the settlement, Bitfinex and Tether will admit no wrongdoing, but will pay $18.5 million and provide quarterly reports describing the composition of Tether’s reserves for the next two years. More significantly, these reports will match information Tether already provided the NYAG about its reserves. The NYAG will bring no charges as part of the settlement. In a statement, New York Attorney General Letitia James said, “Bitfinex and Tether recklessly and unlawfully covered-up massive financial losses to keep their scheme going and protect their bottom lines. Tether’s claims that its virtual currency was fully backed by U.S. dollars at all times was a lie.”
The settlement may help resolve, one way or another, a question that has long bedeviled the entire $1.6 trillion global cryptocurrency market. By requiring Tether to provide a greater level of transparency than ever about the backing of its USDT stablecoin – a foundational piece of crypto’s plumbing – the arrangement could replace whispers and conjecture with regular data. Depending on the level of detail provided, investors could have better tools to evaluate the claim that the company has been printing unbacked tokens to artificially drive up the price of bitcoin, the market’s bellwether.
According to the settlement, the NYAG claims Bitfinex and Tether held a portion of Tether’s reserves in trust for several months in 2017 and failed to disclose its troubles with Crypto Capital Corp. in a timely manner in its findings of fact. The NYAG also found fault with a blog post Bitfinex published after the inquiry was first announced, where the exchange said the funds held by Crypto Capital have been “seized and safeguarded.”
https://www.coindesk.com/ny-ags-850m-probe-of-bitfinex-tether-ends-in-an-18-5m-settlement
and then they will just allow it to go on like it was
Transparency muh ass.
They never had it (money) and never will
Another C-17 picking up Kamel Toe's equipment at LAX
ANON USAF C-17 Globemaster on ground at LAX from JB Lewis-McChord
AE685D US Navy P-8 Poseiden from Whidbey Island setting up off SoCal
was in LA over weekend and that AC is picking up the "stuff" needed for that visit.
Biden and ~~Castro Jr.~~ Trudope some bullshit later around 1pm too
if anyone thinks that shit next door is gonna stop at any point.
dat about all it's doin'
Not participating in any of that on the other board Tom created unless the hash id's are laid out.
They will never agree to that
Muh hill
GTMO844 US Navy Beech Huron appears off Bahamas nw
RAIDR61 USAF E-8C Joint STARS off Space Coast from Robins, GA
Silver and Natural Gas Scrutinized by CFTC After Price Spikes
U.S. regulators are closely monitoring derivatives markets after silver surged and the crippling Texas storms prompted a spike in spot prices for natural gas, the acting chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said. The CFTC is keeping a particularly close eye on social media after bullish commentary on Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum helped drive silver futures to an almost eight-year high last month, Rostin Behnam told the CFTC’s Market Risk Advisory Committee Tuesday.
The regulator is also monitoring the Texas energy markets for any irregularities in the swaps and futures markets following the “tragic loss of life” caused by last week’s storms, Behnam said, adding that “we remain prepared to do whatever is necessary to protect the integrity of our markets.”
The CFTC has been under pressure to to prevent bubbles in the futures market like the one seen last month in the stock market, when the share price of video game retailer GameStop Corp. skyrocketed following widespread discussion on social media.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/silver-and-natural-gas-scrutinized-by-cftc-after-price-spikes-1.1567513
Sure they will…….
RCH720T USAF C-17 Globemaster departed JBA sw
Where is Fauxtus or Kamel Toe going next?
This AC arrived at LAX yesterday as AF2 departed to pick up equipment
Was briefly ANON on ground like todays example-cap #2
President Joe Biden to visit winter storm-ravaged Texas Friday
President Joe Biden will visit Texas on Friday as the state begins its recovery from a devastating winter storm that caused serious damage to homes and businesses across the state and left many without power or clean water for days.
The White House announced Tuesday that Biden and his wife, Jill, will travel to Houston on Friday. While there, he’ll meet with local leaders to discuss the ongoing recovery from last week’s winter storm, and will visit a COVID-19 health center where vaccines are being distributed.
Millions of Texas residents remain under boil water notices after the freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall caused power outages and burst pipes across the state, prompting local officials to warn Texans about the safety of their tap water. Some Texans have been left cleaning up extensive damage done by heavy snowfall and burst pipes in their homes and businesses, while others have been saddled with thousands of dollars in electricity bills after power grid failures affected production and demand.
https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/ct-aud-nw-biden-texas-winter-storm-20210223-4kyho7bwcra4dpu2ndbog3vuuy-story.html
Tech selloff hits Nasdaq, Powell comments limit declines
The Nasdaq index fell in volatile trading on Tuesday as investors sold off mega-cap growth stocks on valuation concerns, although Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments on the economy helped ease some selling pressure. In his testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, Powell pushed back on suggestions that the U.S. central bank’s support for the economy risked inflating a dangerous asset bubble.
Fears of a potential spike in inflation from a raft of stimulus measures and a rise in bond yields have triggered a selloff in the technology-related stocks, which were at the heart of a stunning rally that drove major indexes to record levels this year.
“What the market has been digesting for the last week or so is what it means when the yield on the U.S. 10-year rises? That clearly suggests that either we are going to get some stronger economic activity or inflation is on the rise,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities in New York.
“And if you made the assumption that inflation is on the rise and sold off some stocks, and then you hear that the Fed plans to stick to lower rates and quantitative easing then it might assuage some of those fears.”
Shares of Netflix Inc, Alphabet Inc, Microsoft Corp, Amazon Inc and Apple Inc slipped between 0.5% and 3.3%, while Treasury yields remained elevated.
“As the economy reopens, rates are going to rise and that’s going to especially hit the high valuation of tech stocks, where earnings and cash flows are much farther out in the future than some of the more economically sensitive areas of the market,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird, in Milwaukee. Six of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were in the red, with consumer discretionary, technology and communication services among the biggest decliners. Value stocks, which are poised to benefit from an economic rebound, have outperformed growth shares in February.
The S&P 500 banks index rose 0.6% to a one-year high, somewhat offseting the tech drag that sent the benchmark index down as much as 1.7% before Powell’s testimony began. A slump in bitcoin hurt shares of Tesla Inc, which had invested $1.5 billion in the cryptocurrency recently. The electric-vehicle maker slid 5.8% and was set to plunge into the red for the year.
Cryptocurrency miners Riot Blockchain Inc and Marathon Patent Group Inc plunged more than 24% each, while bitcoin bank Silvergate Capital Corp slid 22.2%.
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks/us-stocks-tech-selloff-hits-nasdaq-powell-comments-limit-declines-idUSL4N2KT3G5
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/%5EIXIC
>>61625 pb U.S. Treasury's cash drawdown - and why markets care
2Y Auction Prices At Record Low Yield Despite Slump In Direct Demand
Two weeks ago we explained how as a result of the massive decline in Treasury cash held in the TGA account, which would lead to a $1.1 trillion increase in liquidity as a result of a historic drawdown in outstanding Bills, short-term rates would slide and eventually go negative as various market participants scrambled to buy any short-dated TSY paper they could find. This has already been observed in across various Bills maturing between March and April whose rates have turned negative, and judging by today's 2Y auction, it is starting to spill over into coupon auctions.
Moments ago, the US Treasury sold $60 billion in 2Y notes, which was tied with January for an all time high auction size of $60 billion…… and which priced at a high yield of 0.119%, down from 0.125% in January and a new all time low for the tenor. That said, the auction did tail the 0.118% When Issued by 0.1bps.
The Bid to Cover dropped from 2.668 last month to 2.439, which was also subpar, coming well below the recent average of 2.57.
The internals were a bit stronger, with Indirects taking down 57.30%, above the 56.6% last month and also above the six-auction average of 52.4% And since the Direct takedown dropped to 12.0% from 15.7%, the lowest since March 2020, Dealers were left holding 30.7%, above last month's 27.9% but below the 32.3% recent average. Altogether a mediocre, forgettable auction which was only notable for its record big size and record low yield. And with trillions more in liquidity set to enter the market, the question is not whether we will see even lower record yields but how long before the 2Y prints negative.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/2y-auction-prices-record-low-yield-despite-slump-direct-demand
CLUB25 USAF E-4B Nightwatch on final approach at Robins AFB, GA-departed Offutt AFB se
RCH720T USAF C-17 Globemaster continues sw to Texas (dropping off equipment for Fauxtus)
02-5001 USAFSOC C-32B departed Yeager Airport, Charleston WVA after a ground stop-likely heading back to Eglin
82-8000 USAF 747 departed JBA sw
KOMODO4 USAF E-8C joint STARS off Space Coast with 2 US Navy P-8's along the coast heading nw back to Jax
RUDY30 US Navy V-22B Osprey on ground off Baja Norte
Boatfag?
prolly not visible
Amazon SVP Jeff Blackburn is departing the company Tuesday
Amazon Inc Senior Vice President Jeff Blackburn is leaving the company on Tuesday after 22 years, he said in an internal note that the online retailer shared with Reuters. Blackburn, who had overseen mergers and acquisitions, Amazon’s growing advertising business and its television studio, had been on sabbatical in 2020.
His departure further paves the way for incoming Amazon CEO Andy Jassy to reshape the company’s executive ranks when he succeeds founder and current chief Jeff Bezos this summer.
Blackburn, who joined the company after drafting part of its initial public offering prospectus at Deutsche Bank, said in his departure note that he is not retiring, but declined to share his next move.
https://www.reuters.com/article/amazoncom-svp/update-1-amazon-svp-jeff-blackburn-is-departing-the-company-tuesday-idUSL1N2KT2KD
So this guy did not get the top spot so he's 'a bailin'
U.S. bank profits fell 36.5% in 2020 on pandemic concerns - FDIC
U.S. bank profits fell 36.5% in 2020 from the year prior as banks set aside massive amounts to guard against potential losses, but the industry showed signs of strengthening in the fourth quarter as the economy begins to recover from the pandemic, a regulator reported on Tuesday.
the amounts they "set aside"-if not used-goes right back on to the balance sheet as earned income….done this for many years
The industry posted $147.9 billion in profits in 2020, a sharp decline from record 2019 profits, according the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. However, bank profits were up 9.1% in the fourth quarter to $59.9 billion compared to a year prior as firms shrank how much cash they set aside to guard against losses.
FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams said the new data shows, despite falling profits, banks proved their resilience amid the pandemic. “The banking industry maintains strong capital and liquidity levels, which can mitigate potential future losses,” she said in a prepared statement.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
Testifying separately before Congress, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank was still debating whether to reinstate stricter capital requirements on banks. The Fed eased some leverage restrictions for larger banks in April, with that relief set to expire at the end of March. The new data shows the wild swings the banking industry went through in 2020, as firms scrambled to set aside billions of dollars to guard against the economic toll of the pandemic, only to begin digging out from those losses in the second half of the year. The profit growth posted by banks in the fourth quarter was primarily due to shrinking reserves against potential losses. The FDIC said so-called provision losses fell by 76.5% in the end of 2020 compared with the end of 2019 to $11.4 billion, the lowest level since 1995. The FDIC noted a looming challenge for banks is the persistent low-rate environment. Banks have seen their interest income shrink for five straight quarters, and the average net interest margin remain at record lows in the fourth quarter.
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-fdic-results/update-3-u-s-bank-profits-fell-36-5-in-2020-on-pandemic-concerns-fdic-idUSL1N2KT1LT
SAM846 USAF G5 departed Grand Canyon Nat. Park Airport after a ground stop-inbound from Redmond, OR after an overnight
This AC departed JBA yesterday and did several go arounds at Reno Int'l Airport, NV prior to arriving at Redmond, OR
JAIL34 US Navy E-6B Mercury coming back on-shore from off-shore work
Little message for Newsome and Pelosi as it's just west of SF and Newsome and Pelosi's Winery's
Square announced a $170 million purchase in bitcoin
Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) has posted its results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2020 on the Financials section of its Investor Relations website at investors.squareup.com and filed these results with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Square will host a conference call and earnings webcast at 2:00 p.m. Pacific time/5:00 p.m. Eastern time today to discuss these financial results. To register to participate in the conference call, or to listen to the live audio webcast, please visit the Events & Presentations section of Square’s Investor Relations website at investors.squareup.com. A replay will be available on the same website following the call.
Square also announced today that it has purchased approximately 3,318 bitcoins at an aggregate purchase price of $170 million. Combined with Square’s previous purchase of $50 million in bitcoin, this represents approximately five percent of Square’s total cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of December 31, 2020.
Aligned with the company’s purpose, Square believes that cryptocurrency is an instrument of economic empowerment, providing a way for individuals to participate in a global monetary system and secure their own financial future. The investment is part of Square’s ongoing commitment to bitcoin, and the company plans to assess its aggregate investment in bitcoin relative to its other investments on an ongoing basis.
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210223006057/en/
Busy at JBA nao…
82-8000 USAF 747 back to JBA after some fly bys at Piedmont Triad Int'l Greensboro, NC
SAM526 USAF C-40B inbound from Shannon, Ireland ground stop-depart from Abu Dhabi.
SAM726 USAF G5 on descent for JBA from Bloomington, IN after an overnight-inbound from Tyson-McGhee Airport Knoxville, TN
SAM698 USAF G5 east from Scott AFB ground stop back to JBA
SAM845 USAF G5 west from JBA
Some BRRRRRT over Chesapeake Bay