tyb
SPAR16 USAF C-40C departed San Francisco Int'l after an overnight
Royal AF RRR9102 went to Nellis with RRR9103 arriving from Bermuda and RRR9101 Went to Charleston, SC from Nellis
SPAR545 USAF Learjet 35 departed Nellis AFB after a ground stop-inbound from Scott AFB earlier
SPAR548 USAF Learjet 35 west from Scott to Nellis most likely
Belgian AF BAF Falcon 7X on ground at Kansas City Int'l from Brussels Int'l depart
This was the AC the had a 60 minute ground stop at MCAS Yuma last weekend
SPAR547 USAF Learjet 35 on ground at JBA from NW Arkansas Airport (Wal-Mart land)
Pakistan AF PAAF391 C-130 inbound to Baltimore from Chateauroux, France
TOLL79 US Navy E-6B Mercury last seen heading off-shore just east of Charleston
EXEC1F USAF C-32A still on ground at Bowling Green, KY
Treasury Yields Jump Toward 2-Year High, Shattering Market Calm
Treasuries wiped out gains posted earlier in the week to resume their decline Friday, amid a renewed focus on the Federal Reserve’s resolve to pare pandemic stimulus as inflation surges at the fastest pace in four decades.
The benchmark 10-year yield climbed 6 basis points to about 1.77%, on track for the highest closing level since January 2020, erasing drops seen earlier in the week. The 2-year note jumped 7 basis points to 0.97%, the highest since February 2020.
The bearish turn came despite weaker-than-expected retail sales figures that briefly supported the market earlier in the day. It also caps what had been a relatively calm week for investors, with prices steadying from the steep selloff that raced through the world’s biggest bond market last week.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon told analysts Friday that he expects the Fed to raise rates more than the market is currently pricing in, saying it may not be as “sweet and gentle” as some might expect. “The late-week grind higher in yields ahead of the long weekend similarly speaks to investors’ collective unwillingness to embrace the consolidation beyond simply a respite in the selling pressure as over-stretched momentum is worked off,” said Ian Lyngen, head of U.S. rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets. “The Treasury market is continuing to trade inflation as justification to push yields up.”
The moves reflect broad market conviction that the Fed will start raising rates in March and begin shrinking its $8.8 trillion balance sheet in the second half of the year. The latter shift which would result from the monetary authority declining to roll over maturing securities has cast considerable uncertainty over the Treasury market and would mark a swifter pullback than the Fed’s approach during the last tightening cycle.
At the same time, there are questions about whether a series of relatively shallow rate hikes would tamp down the steepest inflation in four decades -- or if the Fed could find itself behind the curve, fighting a type of wage-price spiral like the one that gripped the nation in the early 1980s. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said this week the central bank is prepared to crank up the pace of tightening if needed and some officials have been pushing for the bank to shrink its bond holdings at a faster pace.
The Fed’s trajectory is seen justifying a climb in 10-year yields above 2%, an area previously frequented in mid-2019.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/treasury-yields-jump-toward-2-year-high-shattering-market-calm-1.1707905
and "Jamie" can't keep his fugen mouth shut
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon: 6 or 7 interest rate hikes possible this year
https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/jpmorgan-ceo-jamie-dimon-interest-rate-hikes-possible-2022
Citigroup’s Quarterly Profit Falls 26%
Investment banking fees rose, but trading revenue fell. For the full year, Citi’s profit nearly doubled to $22 billion and revenue fell 5% to $71.9 billion.
Under Chief Executive Jane Fraser, Citigroup is spun off several international consumer operations in an effort to simplify its business and boost profitability. Citigroup is withdrawing from consumer operations in 14 countries, including Mexico, one of its largest overseas markets.
The work, specifically a plan to shut down operations in South Korea, drove spending up 18% to $13.5 billion in the quarter. It pulled profits down at the same time as revenue from its market trading operations fell. Wild markets have driven trading revenue and banks’ profits during the pandemic.
Revenue in the Institutional Client group increased 4% to $9.9 billion. Trading revenue fell 17% in the quarter. Investment banking fees from companies advising on mergers, and underwriting stock and debt sales increased 43%.
On the consumer side, revenue fell 6% to $6.9 billion and profit fell 42%, hurt by lower interest rates and restructuring expenses.
Spending on Citigroup credit cards up 20%. But customers continued to pay fees and card debt fell 1%. Customers, with no cash in the pandemic, were paying off their cards every month and had limited borrowing, but officials have said they believe credit will increase in 2022.
Citigroup’s lending profitability slipped again, with its net interest margin down 1.98% from 1.99% last quarter.
If the Federal Reserve raises interest rates as predicted, banks should be able to increase loan profits by charging more for loans even if deposit rates are kept near zero.
The bank released another $1.4 billion from reserves made up for potential loan losses, boosting the bottom line in the quarter. In total for the year, the bank issued nearly $5 billion, after setting aside $17.5 billion in 2020, a swing that powered large gains for the year.
https://businesshala.com/citigroups-quarterly-profit-falls-26/
EXEC1F C-32A departed Nashville Int'l after.....
Jill Biden visits tornado-damaged areas in Bowling Green
https://www.newschannel5.com/news/first-lady-jill-biden-to-visit-tornado-damaged-areas-in-bowling-green
Goes to New Castle Cty Airport, DL cause Not AF1 Joe bails in about 30 minutes to Delaware after his 'tough' day. A full three hours after the lid is called.....
Pretty slow day upstairs from what I've seen except for continued in/outs at Nellis
and the beat goes on....
U.S. accuses Russia of planning 'false-flag operation' in eastern Ukraine
The US has accused Russia of planning covert operations, including sabotage, in eastern Ukraine in an effort to create a "pretext for invasion", after diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis faltered and government websites were hit by a major cyber attack.
A US official said on Friday: "We have information that indicates Russia has already pre-positioned a group of operatives to conduct a false-flag operation in eastern Ukraine. The operatives are trained in urban warfare and in using explosives to carry out acts of sabotage against Russia's own proxy-forces."
False flag operations are designed to hide the true source of a provocative act. The official said such "sabotage activities" and "information operations" would serve to accuse "Ukraine of preparing an imminent attack against Russian forces in eastern Ukraine", adding that this could be a precursor to a military invasion starting "between mid-January and mid-February". Ukraine's army defence intelligence service also warned that "Russian special services are preparing provocations against servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces to accuse Ukraine of this" and, in turn, justify further military aggression against its neighbour.
Earlier on Friday Ukraine said it was the target of a "massive cyber attack" after about 70 government websites ceased functioning. Targets included websites of the ministerial cabinet, a number of ministries, the state treasury and the Diia electronic public services platform, where vaccination certificates and electronic passports are stored. "Ukrainians! All your personal data has been uploaded to the public network," read a message posted on the foreign ministry's website. "All data on your computer is being erased and won't be recoverable. All information about you has become public, fear and expect the worst."
Ukraine's Centre for Strategic Communications, a government agency set up to counter Russia's aggression, accused Moscow of being behind Friday's cyber attacks while noting that official investigators have yet to formally draw such a conclusion. "This is not the first or even the second time that Ukrainian internet resources have been attacked since the beginning of Russia's military aggression ... we assume that the current one is connected with the recent defeat of Russia in the negotiations on the future co-operation of Ukraine with Nato," the agency said.
The attack follows tense negotiations this week between the US, Nato and western allies and Russia, aimed at deterring Russian president Vladimir Putin from deciding on a deeper invasion of Ukraine. Moscow annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014.
Ukrainian officials recently warned that cyber attacks and other efforts to destabilise the country would be a prelude to further aggression. The message left by hackers, posted in Ukrainian, Russian and Polish, added: "This is for your past, present and future. For Volyn, for the OUN UPA [Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists/Ukrainian Insurgent Army], for Halychyna, for Polissya and for historical lands."
Comments at the end of the message referred to Ukrainian insurgent fighters during the second world war and appeared to chastise Ukraine for ethnic clashes and atrocities. Poland and Ukraine accuse each other of committing atrocities during the period in the region, which the countries have jostled over for centuries. The hackers' post also included defaced images of Ukraine's national symbols.
It was not immediately clear if the hackers were Polish or if this was an attempt to incite divisions between Ukraine and Poland, one of Kyiv's strongest European allies.
moar
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/U.S.-accuses-Russia-of-planning-false-flag-operation-in-eastern-Ukraine
SPAR547 USAF Learjet 35 departing JBA after a ground stop-departed NW Arkansas Airport (Wal-Mart land) earlier.
Prolly back to Scott.
SPAR548 USAF Learjet 35 began descent to Nellis
another SPAR heading to Nellis
SPAR120 Learjet 35 from Scott.
It is shoot the runway day for the bigguns at Tinker
2 E-6B Mercury(s) and 2 E-3 Sentry AWACS goin' 'round
About 30 minutes until sunset dere