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Anonymous ID: 23a486 March 18, 2021, 6:17 a.m. No.71406   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1408 >>1412 >>1415 >>1430 >>1431 >>1460 >>1486 >>1535 >>1556 >>1567 >>1568

MC8910 USAF C-23A departed Osan AB Seoul SoKo to Anchroage AK

 

This is Sec of State heading to Anchorage for meeting with Chinese

 

'U.S. and China Hold First In-Person Talks-Low Expectations

 

U.S. and Chinese diplomatic heavyweights meet today in Anchorage, Alaska for the first in-person talks between the two countries since U.S. President Joe Biden took office. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, fresh off a four-day Asia tour, is joined by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan as they settle in for roughly 9 hours of talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and high-ranking diplomat Yang Jiechi.

 

The Biden administration has played down any likelihood of a swift improvement in relations as a result of the meeting, and prefigured as much by issuing a new string of sanctions on Wednesday against two dozen Chinese officials deemed to have helped undermine Hong Kong’s partial autonomy. Cui Tiankai, China’s ambassador to the United States, said Beijing is not expecting any breakthroughs either, saying that “we don’t hold overly high hopes.”

https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/03/18/united-states-china-alaska-meeting/

 

morning all

Anonymous ID: 23a486 March 18, 2021, 6:37 a.m. No.71418   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1421 >>1425

Myanmar coup latest: Mobile internet and public Wi-Fi blackout continues

 

Thursday, March 18

5:00 p.m. A mobile internet blackout continues throughout the country, making it difficult for protesters to gather. Public Wi-Fi has also been out of service since the morning.

 

4:00 p.m. The crackdown intensifies in Tamwe Township, Yangon. Witnesses say police have ordered one person from each household to participate in removing barricades on the streets. At least 30 residents and protesters were also arrested.

 

12:30 p.m. Several thousand people marched in the small town of Natmauk, the Democratic Voice of Burma reports. The central town is the birthplace of Aung San, the leader of Myanmar's drive for independence from colonial power Britain and Suu Kyi's father. There were no reports of violence.

 

10:00 a.m. According to witnesses, police and the army are stopping pedestrians and drivers on the streets, ordering them to dismantle barricades set up by protesters in Yangon. A state newspaper reports, on the other hand, that residents doing so voluntarily.

 

9:00 a.m. The number of demonstrations overnight is dwindling as the crackdown has intensified over the past few days.

 

2:15 a.m. A United Nations-backed team of investigators urges people in Myanmar who receive orders to commit acts against international law to come forward with evidence that can be use to prosecute leaders. "The persons most responsible for the most serious international crimes are usually those in high leadership positions," says Nicholas Koumjian, head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, in a statement. "They are not the ones who physically perpetrate the crimes and often are not even present at the locations where the crimes are committed," says Koumjian, who handled cases including senior Khmer Rouge leaders. "To prove their responsibility requires evidence of reports received, orders given and how policies were set." The investigators urge whistleblowers who provide evidence "do so safely and with an abundance of caution," according to the statement. The independent team says it "collecting evidence regarding arbitrary arrests, torture, enforced disappearances and the use of force, including lethal force, against those peacefully opposing the coup."

 

1:00 a.m. Five privately run newspapers in Myanmar are now out of print, the result of a combination of tighter government controls on the flow of information and concerns about the safety of delivery workers. They include The Standard Time Daily, which halted publication on Tuesday, saying it would resume once transportation conditions improved. Its decision comes after martial law was imposed in some areas of Yangon. These newspapers, which also include 7Day News and The Myanmar Times, became a symbol of the country's experiment with democracy in the decade before the Feb. 1 coup.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Myanmar-Coup/Myanmar-coup-latest-Mobile-internet-and-public-Wi-Fi-blackout-continues

Anonymous ID: 23a486 March 18, 2021, 6:45 a.m. No.71420   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1459

Spiking yields steady dollar after post-Fed wobble

 

Spiking U.S. bond yields boosted the dollar on Thursday, helping it to revive from two-week lows, after the Federal Reserve pushed back against speculation over interest rate hikes. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields rose to their highest levels in 13 months early in London trade, climbing above 1.70% for the first time since Jan. 24, 2020. The dollar index, which measures it against a basket of its peers, rose as much as 0.4% to 91.761, off a two-week low of 91.300 hit after Wednesday’s Fed meeting. Fed Chair Jerome Powell dampened speculation the stronger economic outlook could propel the central bank to wind back its stimulus. The Fed sees the U.S. economy growing 6.5% this year, which would be the largest annual jump in gross domestic product since 1984. Inflation is expected to exceed the Fed’s 2% target to 2.4% this year, although officials think it will move back to around 2% in subsequent years. Norway’s crown reached its strongest against the euro in 13 months - 10.0240 crowns per euro - after the country’s central bank left rates unchanged, though it shifted its forward guidance to signal that a rate increase may follow in the second half of this year amid signs of economic recovery.

 

A Nikkei report said the Bank of Japan (BOJ) was expected to slightly widen an implicit band in which it allows long-term interest rates to move around its 0% target. A Reuters poll this month found two-thirds of Japanese firms had expected the BOJ to curb rises in long-term interest rates and keep them steady before its review this week on how to make its stimulus policy more sustainable. The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3937., after the Bank of England left its stimulus programme unchanged on Thursday. The BoE also held its benchmark interest rate at a record low of 0.1%, in line with forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists. The Australian dollar rose to a two-week high of $0.7849 before trimming some gains. Its New Zealand counterpart lost momentum after the country posted a surprise contraction in GDP in the final quarter of last year. The kiwi last traded at $0.7222. Bitcoin held firm at $58,092.28, having bounced from Tuesday’s one-week low of $53,221.

https://www.reuters.com/article/global-forex/forex-spiking-yields-steady-dollar-after-post-fed-wobble-idUSL1N2LG10X

https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/bond/tmubmusd10y

Anonymous ID: 23a486 March 18, 2021, 7:24 a.m. No.71428   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1431 >>1486 >>1535 >>1556 >>1567 >>1568

L Brands founder Leslie Wexner to leave the board

 

Victoria’s Secret-owner L Brands said Thursday that chairman emeritus and former chief executive officer Leslie Wexner will ot stand for reelection to the board at its shareholder meeting in May. Wexner, 83, who bought Victoria’s Secret in 1982 and shaped its image by hiring supermodels to wear jewel-encrusted bras and wings at its annual fashion shows, stepped down as CEO last year after investor pressure.

 

Wexner has been in focus for his association with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was entrusted with managing the billionaire’s personal finances and served as the trustee of his charitable foundation. Wexner has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing. L Brands added Wexner’s wife, Abigail Wexner, would not stand for reelection and the company appointed two other independent members to its board.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/18/l-brands-founder-leslie-wexner-to-not-stand-for-board-re-election.html

Anonymous ID: 23a486 March 18, 2021, 7:42 a.m. No.71430   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1431 >>1460 >>1486 >>1535 >>1556 >>1567 >>1568

>>71406

US Sanctions 24 China & Hong Kong Officials Hours Before "Frosty" Alaska Summit

 

In a move likely to sabotage any potential (however unlikely) diplomatic breakthrough with China, on the eve of the much anticipated Alaska talks which kick off Thursday between delegations headed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China's two top diplomats, the Biden administration slapped sanctions on 24 Chinese and Hong Kong officials. This in response to Beijing's voting through the sweeping Hong Kong election overhaul which effectively ensures the city is run only by pro-mainland "patriots". But more symbolically it's a clear message the US delegation is about to play hardball when it sits down with the Chinese side in Anchorage over a period of two days:

 

The step reflects Washington’s "deep concern" about the erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy following changes to its election system endorsed by China’s ceremonial legislature last week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Wednesday.

 

Foreign financial institutions that deal with the 24 officials would be subject to U.S. sanctions, the State Department said. Given the two sides don't even appear to have reached agreement as to the nature of the Thursday through Friday Alaska meeting, it's sure to be a "frosty" two days, as Politico and others have commented.

 

This is further as the tit-for-tat angry accusations and denunciations have continued, which have remained no less intense from those of the final year of the Trump administration.

 

At the Chinese Foreign Ministry a spokesperson blasted Blinken's announced sanctions even as Chinese diplomats are already in the air traveling to Anchorage:

 

The imposition of new sanctions "fully exposes the U.S. side’s sinister intention to interfere in China’s internal affairs, disrupt Hong Kong and obstruct China’s stability and development," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters at a daily briefing Wednesday. "China will take strong measures as appropriate to resolutely defend national sovereignty, security and development interests," Zhao said. In particular the sanctions at hand target 14 members of China’s legislative council, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, along with other officials seen as responsible for driving through the 'election overhaul' which cedes more control to Beijing.

 

Making tensions worse just before the two sides are set to meet, Blinken while traveling with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Japan released a scathing joint statement with Tokyo earlier this week. They blasted China for what they called "coercion and destabilizing behavior toward others in the region."

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/us-sanctions-24-china-hong-kong-officials-just-hours-frosty-alaska-summit

Anonymous ID: 23a486 March 18, 2021, 8:03 a.m. No.71433   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1448 >>1453 >>1486 >>1535 >>1556 >>1567 >>1568

>>71424

got another one out from JBA after a pick-up and began it's descent to Dobbins over southern TN

RCH745T USAF C-17 Globemaster on approach for Dobbins ARB, GA

RCH752T USAF C-17 behind also from JBA and departed Charleston Int'l earlier and began it's descent for Dobbins over southern TN

 

2 moar out from JBA heading sw

RCH754T and RCH747T USAF C-17 Globemasters departed JBA after a ground stop

747 came direct from McGuire AFB with 754 in from Charleston Int'l Airport SC

Anonymous ID: 23a486 March 18, 2021, 9:04 a.m. No.71448   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1453

>>71433

RCH754T and RCH747T USAF C-17 Globemasters on descent for Dobbins ARB, GA from JBA depart

 

Biden, Harris travel to Georgia with 2022 battle ahead

President Joe Biden wraps up the first week of his “Help is Here” tour to promote pandemic relief Friday by joining Vice President Kamala Harris in Georgia, the state where a pair of Senate runoff wins in January gave Democrats control of Congress.

https://www.rollcall.com/2021/03/18/biden-harris-travel-to-georgia-with-2022-battle-ahead/

pf was off by a day…

Anonymous ID: 23a486 March 18, 2021, 10:20 a.m. No.71459   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1486 >>1535 >>1540 >>1556 >>1567 >>1568

>>71420

10Y Yields Cross The "Tipping Point"

 

As 10-year TSY yields briefly touched 1.75% this morning in the wake of Wednesday's FOMC, an overnight note from Zoltan Pozsar predicting the end of SLR relief, and a report by the Nikkei noting that the BOJ would allow long-term interest rates to move in a slightly larger range of about 0.25%, versus 0.2% now…As a reminder, Bank of America warned that 10-year yields at 1.75% was the level where correlations between risky assets and rates begin to change empirically, and 10-year yields above that level could become a headwind for the equity complex. As BofA strategist Savita Subramanian wrote "history suggests that 1.75% on the 10-yr (the house forecast and ~25bp above current levels) is the tipping point at which asset allocators begin to shift back to bonds" and thus sell stocks in the next wave of aggressive liquidations.

 

Why 1.75%? Because that yield on the 10Y is decisively above the S&P's dividend yield, and where according to BofA “there is an alternative to stocks", or TIAA. Separately, in its fund manager survey, Bank of America found that while few believed that rates at 1.5% would cause an equity correction (which they did as Nomura originally predicted one month ago), the move from 1.5% to 2% is critical as 43% of investors now think 2% is the level of reckoning in the 10-year Treasury that will cause a 10% correction in stocks.

 

Not everyone is apocalyptic: other, more bullish, analysts have said that equities can tolerate a higher yield environment and over the weekend, Goldman Sachs chief equity strategist David Kostin reiterated its view that equity valuations relative to yields are still attractive, noting that markets are pricing a forward p/e of 22x for the S&P 500 (implying earnings yield of around 4.5%). Furthermore, Goldman said that the equity complex should be able to digest 10-year yields rising towards 2.0% (and above), since the gap between 10-year yields and the S&P 500 earnings yield would then be around 250bps, close to its 45-year average.

 

Then again, Goldman has been wrong about virtually everything in recent years so take the bank's optimism with a metric ton of salt.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/10y-yields-cross-tipping-point

Anonymous ID: 23a486 March 18, 2021, 12:37 p.m. No.71488   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1535 >>1556 >>1567 >>1568

Risky Trading Targeted in Democrat Proposal for Financial Transaction Tax

 

Investors would face a 0.1% tax on each sale of stocks, bonds and derivatives under a Democrat-led proposal aimed at curbing risky trading behaviors.

 

The new tax would apply to the fair market value of stocks and bonds, and to payment flows under derivatives contracts. Initial public offerings and short-term debt would be exempt under the bill, which was reintroduced in the Senate Thursday by Hawaii’s Brian Schatz.

 

Progressive lawmakers are increasingly calling for higher taxes as a way to combat inequality. Schatz says a tax on financial transactions would discourage unproductive trading and redirect investment toward more productive areas of the economy. The original bill failed to gain traction in the Republican-controlled Senate in 2019 and still faces long odds in the evenly divided chamber. Co-sponsors of the legislation include Senators Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand, according to a statement.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/risky-trading-targeted-in-democrat-proposal-for-financial-transaction-tax-1.1579108

Anonymous ID: 23a486 March 18, 2021, 5:27 p.m. No.71522   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1535 >>1556 >>1567 >>1568

Italy guaranteed 86 mln euro Greensill loan to Gupta steel arm, filing says

 

The Italian government guaranteed an 86 million euros ($102 million) loan from Greensill Bank, part of the collapsed Greensill Capital group, to one of steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta’s firms, according to accounts filed with the Italian corporate registry in recent weeks.

 

The firm, Liberty Magona SRL, secured a guarantee from SACE SpA, Italy’s state-controlled export credit agency, for the loan under measures to help companies navigate the coronavirus crisis, according to Liberty Magona’s accounts for a period from Jan. 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020 which include information on material post-yearend events. Piombino-based Liberty Magona, which makes galvanized steel, said the three-year loan was taken out in late August last year to strengthen its finances at a time when it was facing weaker demand for its products due to the pandemic. The Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance did not immediately respond to a request for comment. GFG Alliance and Greensill declined to comment on the loan. The German financial regulator has filed a criminal complaint against Bremen-based Greensill Bank.

 

Greensill Capital group filed for bankruptcy protection in Britain and Australia this month, citing a $5 billion exposure to Indian-British businessman Gupta’s GFG Alliance. It said Gupta’s firms had begun to default on its obligations. GFG, an umbrella company for Gupta’s network of steel, aluminium and energy companies, said last week it was looking to secure additional working capital facilities to help it weather challenging market conditions but was also operationally strong and benefiting from buoyant steel markets. GFG Alliance employs 35,000 people across 30 countries, according to its website. In Britain, the opposition Labour Party has said the government should consider nationalising the company if it cannot secure the financial backing it is trying to attract. Italy is not the only country to have provided guarantees to Gupta’s firms. The Scottish government gave a 575 million pound guarantee to the group in 2016, Reuters reported in 2019, citing people familiar with the matter.

 

UK media have reported that the London government has also guaranteed hundreds of millions of loans to GFG Alliance or connected companies under Coronavirus loan schemes.

https://www.reuters.com/article/italy-gfgalliance-guarantee/italy-guaranteed-86-mln-euro-greensill-loan-to-gupta-steel-arm-filing-says-idUSL8N2LG71B