tybs
morning
Tesla, Inc sold by Elon Musk: $4.98B-Nov. 8,9,10
Elon Musk & His Brother Have Sold Over $5 Billion Of Tesla Shares In The Past Week
Just hours after the world's richest person filed to show a 934,000 ($1.1 billion) share sale (on Monday) to cover tax liabilities on the exercise of over 2 million options, a second set of filings (here, here, and here) showed an ever more massive sale of another 3.6 million shares for an average price of about $1,070 in the following two days (or around $3.9 billion).
The interesting thing about the price action this week is that when the sale occurred (Monday and Wednesday), TSLA shares miraculously surged as the wave of Musk selling hit. And yet collapsed on Tuesday - which as far as the filings are concerned saw no Musk sales... Combined, the transactions this week represent about $5 billion, or 3%, of Musk's overall stake. Elon still owns roughly 167 million Tesla shares.
This is only the third time Musk has sold Tesla stock since the company went public on the Nasdaq exchange in 2010—and it's easily his biggest transaction. In July 2010, Musk sold slightly more than 1.4 million shares for $24 million, and in 2016, he sold another 2.7 million shares for about $593 million. Elon's huge sales of TSLA shares this week follow his brother Kimbal Musk - a Tesla board member - sold 15% of his stake on November 5th. That sale of 88,500 shares totalled $109 million. This sale came days before Elon's now infamous tweet about whether he should sell 10% of his own stake. As we detailed earlier, having somewhat hinted at his actions over the weekend - given the tweet poll's comments: “much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock.” And almost 58% of the 3.5 million votes were cast in favor of a sale.
It is now clear that Elon Musk was indeed selling (though not 10% of his holdings) and was thus responsible for Tesla's big tumble early this week after exercising his options and dumping some of the shares to cover his tax liability. In fact, on Monday, Musk exercised his options which were struck at the extraordinarily low price of $6.24, receiving 2,154,572 shares...He then sold a large number of them to cover his tax liability.
As per the Form 4: “The shares of common stock were sold solely to satisfy the reporting person’s tax withholding obligations related to the exercise of stock options to purchase 2,154,572 shares” Therefore he sold 934,081 shares (or 43.4% of the exercised options) - or around $1.1 billion.
Given the price levels from Form 4, the following chart shows when the sells were made. Thanks perhaps to the magic of 'gamma' manipulation, TSLA shares exploded higher during the first hour of trading as Musk's 934k shares were dumped on 'diamond hands'......and in the end, the selling pressure took TSLA stock down 16% in two days (one has to wonder just who or what was holding the stock up all day on Monday, only to let it all come crashing down on Tuesday after the sale was complete)...It’s the billionaire’s first sale since 2016, when he last exercised stock options and liquidated some of his newly acquired shares to cover about $590 million of income taxes.
However, there is one awkward thing. It appears the whole premise of the poll was a lie since Musk has pre-arranged this sale on September 14th: "AUTOMATICALLY EFFECTED PURSUANT TO A RULE 10B5-1 TRADING PLAN PREVIOUSLY ADOPTED ON SEPTEMBER 14, 2021"
The problem that TSLA shareholders have is two-fold - if a 934k lot sparks such a significant drop in the stock... and Musk has 170 million shares left...
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/elon-musk-confirms-his-tax-related-selling-sparked-tuesdays-big-tsla-tumble
https://finviz.com/insidertrading.ashx?oc=1494730&tc=7
wut a surprise.
China's Sixth Plenum Paves Way For Xi Jinping To Become 'Emperor For Life'
China's Communist Party Central Committee concluded its closed-door 6th Plenum in Beijing on Thursday to ensure an unprecedented third term for President Xi Jinping that would extend his rule until 2027.
The official summary of the closed-door meeting read: "Establishing comrade Xi Jinping's position as the core of the central committee as well as of the whole party … was of decisive significance in advancing toward the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation." The summary continued, "many major tasks that weren't finished before and promoted historic achievements and historic changes in the cause of the party and the country." Over 400 party bosses, military leaders, and top policy advisers attended the meeting, which gathered at a heavily guarded hotel in Beijing, lauded Xi for having made "historic achievements" and leading a "historical transformation" of the economy shows he's an uncontested leader of the world's second-largest economy.
"The plenum is about past achievements but it's really about the future," Tony Saich, director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University, told WaPo. "By tracing the continuity of the party over 100 years, it is used to show that it was inevitable for Xi to emerge at this time to be the 'core' of the party," Tony said. Xi's political will to remain in power began as early as 2017 when he announced China had entered a "new era" of its development. He set a new national plan through 2035. One year later, in 2018, a constitutional amendment removed the two-term limit for the President. Xi is widely expected to stay in office for another five-year term. We speculate for life.
"As we expected, even though they haven't used the three words' leader for life,' they have devoted almost half of the communique to Xi Jinping's achievements," Willy Lam, a Hong Kong-based political analyst, told AFP. "I think it is now widely taken for granted that he will remain leader for life, but putting down those three words or four words... could arouse opposition," Lam said.
Next autumn, Xi will lead the 20th Party Congress, which occurs every five years. It's believed, at that time, Xi will secure his third presidential term. The downside, some political scientists point out, is that the longer someone stays in power in regions in Asia, Africa, and South America, decision-making becomes poor and economic deterioration is observed.
Xi has a mission to displace the US as the world's largest economy and become the next military powerhouse. To do this, he needs a third term next year.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/chinas-sixth-plenum-paves-way-xi-jinping-secure-third-term
EU to Lay Out $46 Billion Infrastructure Plan to Counter China
The European Union will unveil next week its strategy for more than 40 billion euros ($45.9 billion) in technology and infrastructure spending that is a key part of the West’s response to China’s Belt and Road program.
The EU’s “Global Gateway” strategy will focus on digital, transport, energy and trade projects, according to a draft seen by Bloomberg. The plan is aimed at boosting Europe’s interests and competitiveness around the world, while also promoting sustainable environmental standards and values such as democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The strategy follows a U.S.-led agreement reached during July’s Group of Seven summit where leaders agreed to launch a global infrastructure initiative called Build Back Better World to help narrow the gaping infrastructure need in the developing world and provide a green rival to China’s ambitious initiatives.
The Global Gateway plan will “provide an umbrella brand for the already extensive EU investment in infrastructure worldwide,” the document says, to allow better coordination between member states, expand cooperation with international and regional partners and make funding go further. The EU will offer 40 billion euros in guarantees from its European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus mechanism, in addition to several billion euros in grants, according to the draft. The document also notes that under the EU’s current budget cycle through 2027, investments in connectivity are expected to rise significantly through its Global Europe development assistance program, which has an overall budget of 79.5 billion euros.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-11/eu-to-lay-out-46-billion-infrastructure-plan-to-counter-china
Turkish lira hits new depths near 10 to the dollar
The Turkish lira continued its dive into uncharted territory on Thursday, touching a new low of 9.975 to the dollar after a jump in U.S. inflation exacerbated worries for a currency already hobbled by the central bank’s unorthodox rate cuts.
The lira was down as much as 1.2% intraday and near the psychological threshold of 10 versus the U.S. currency. It has shed two-thirds of its value in five years, eating into the incomes of Turks along with double-digit inflation. The higher-than-expected U.S. inflation data on Wednesday boosted the dollar due to possible earlier policy tightening by the Federal Reserve. Rising U.S. rates tend to pull funds from emerging economies with high foreign debt, like that of Turkey.
The lira has lost 25% of its value this year mainly due to concerns over monetary policy credibility as President Tayyip Erdogan pushed for lower interest rates to boost growth despite inflation running near 20%.
Since September, the central bank has cut its policy rate by a total of 300 basis points to 16%, arguing that the inflationary pressures are temporary. Deutsche Bank said the central bank’s emphasis on core inflation and the current account suggests it will cut rates by 100 basis points in both November and December, despite the lira depreciation and jump in commodity prices.
“We expect headline inflation to end the year at 19.5%... and it will stay above 20%” in the first half of next year, Deutsche Bank said.
While foreign holdings of Turkish debt have fallen to 5% from above 20% five years ago, local individuals and companies hold near record levels of hard currencies.
Data shows $233 billion in local hard currency holdings last week, down a bit from September when the rate cuts began. Inflation has been in double digits for most of the last five years, with food prices up nearly 30% last month from a year ago. Overall consumer price inflation was 19.9% last month. In a shift in guidance, the bank said last month the current account deficit was the country’s main problem, and narrowing the shortfall was key to tackling price stability and supporting the lira.
Turkey’s current account recorded a surplus of $1.652 billion in September, its second straight month in the black, with a boost in exports and some recovery in tourism revenues.
https://www.reuters.com/article/turkey-currency/update-4-turkish-lira-hits-new-depths-near-10-to-the-dollar-idUSL1N2S20A7
'''Air Force airman dies in ‘apparent suicide’ near Lincoln Memorial in DC, officials say
An Air Force airman died in an “apparent suicide” near the Lincoln Memorial Plaza in Washington, D.C., officials said. Tech. Sgt. Kenneth Santiago, a 31-year-old who was assigned to the 89th Airlift Wing, was found wounded by U.S. Park Police the evening of Nov. 8 and was airlifted to George Washington University Hospital, the Air Force said in a news release provided to McClatchy News. Santiago, a flight attendant assigned to the 1st Airlift Squadron, was pronounced dead after 1 a.m. on Nov. 9 by hospital staff.
“We ask for all to respect his family members and friends’ privacy and express our deepest sympathies to them as they endure through Santiago’s tragic loss,” U.S. Air Force Col. Matthew Jones, the 89th Airlift Wing commander, said. He died after a “self-inflicted gunshot wound,” and his death is being investigated, D.C. Metropolitan Police told McClatchy News in an emailed statement. Police said Santiago was from Southeast D.C. and declined to provide further information. At the time of the incident, witnesses were in the area and one said Santiago was wearing a green shirt with an American flag on it, The Washington Post reported. Witnesses said Santiago was discovered on the steps by the Reflecting Pool, directly in front of the Lincoln Memorial, the outlet reported.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article255730416.
REDEYE8 USAF E-8C Joint STARS done over Lithuania/Poland heading sw
The E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, or Joint STARS, is an airborne battle management, command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platform. Its primary mission is to provide theater ground and air commanders with ground surveillance to support attack operations and targeting that contributes to the delay, disruption and destruction of enemy forces. The E-8C is a modified Boeing 707-300 series commercial airframe extensively remanufactured and modified with the radar, communications, operations and control subsystems required to perform its operational mission. The most prominent external feature is the 27-foot (8 meters) long, canoe-shaped radome under the forward fuselage that houses the 24-foot (7.3 meters) long, side-looking phased array antenna. The radar and computer subsystems on the E-8C can gather and display detailed battlefield information on ground forces. The information is relayed in near-real time to the Army and Marine Corps common ground stations and to other ground command, control, communications, computers and intelligence, or C4I, nodes. The antenna can be tilted to either side of the aircraft where it can develop a 120-degree field of view covering nearly 19,305 square miles (50,000 square kilometers) and is capable of detecting targets at more than 250 kilometers (more than 820,000 feet). The radar also has some limited capability to detect helicopters, rotating antennas and low, slow-moving fixed wing aircraft. As a battle management and command and control asset, the E-8C can support the full spectrum of roles and missions from peacekeeping operations to major theater war.
https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104507/e-8c-joint-stars/
Belarus Could Cut Key Gas Transit Pipeline To Western Europe: "We Deliver Heat & They Threaten Us?"
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday threatened to take the drastic action of cutting off the Yamal-Europe natural gas pipeline at a moment the European Union is both preparing fresh sanctions on Minsk, and mulling closure of the EU border altogether with Belarus. "We deliver heat to Europe, they still threaten us that they will close the border. And what if we cut off natural gas? Therefore, I would recommend that the Polish leadership, Lithuanians and other heedless people think before speaking," Lukashenko told a meeting of his cabinet in Minsk.
Russian energy giant Gazprom operates the Yamal-Europe pipeline which runs across Russia, Belarus, Poland, and into Germany. The 2,600 mile natural gas transit line has significantly increased its volume to Europe in recent days, according to Lukashenko.
Already the EU closure of at least on major crossing into Europe demonstrates what could happen to East European trade and transit if the whole border is shut to the ex-Soviet Republic. Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni was cited in the following Thursday respond to Lukashenko's threats over the ordeal: In addition to another round of EU sanctions, Poland closed one of the main border crossings with Belarus earlier this week. One of the remaining border points is reporting trucks have to wait more than 50 hours to cross. "We should not be intimidated, of course, by Lukashenko's threats," Gentiloni told a news conference presenting the Commission's new economic forecasts. What's essentially a pipeline blackmail threat as a frigid winter is approaching came on the heals of the defense ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania describing "the security crisis unfolding on the Polish-Belarusian and Lithuanian-Belarusian border as very alarming." It said Belarus is deliberately escalating, "which is posing serious threats to European security."
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/lukashenko-floats-cutting-key-gas-transit-pipeline-western-europe-we-deliver-heat-they
Swiss AF SUI002 Pilatus PC-24 heading to Paris-AB Villacoublay from Bern/Belp Airport
Kneepads still dhere
AC is on ground at Orly Airport along with SAM647-cap#2
Still Not AF2
REDEYE8 USAF Joint STARS doin' laps east of Ramstein AFB at 9k ft
BOXER42 USAF C-40C inbound to JBA from Edinburgh Int'l Airport after arriving on 1108
Could be Kerry returning.
kek