morning all
Hungary Tripled Gold Reserves as Central Banks Turn Buyers Again
Hungary tripled its gold reserves in one of the biggest purchases by a central bank in decades -- the latest sign of governments turning to the precious metal as a safeguard of value. The monetary authority raised its bullion holdings to 94.5 tons last month, it said in an emailed statement. At the same time, the latest data from the World Gold Council showed global central banks were net buyers of gold in February, led by India, which bought 11.2 tons.
Central banks helped underpin for gold prices for most of the last decade, but flipped to net sellers in the third quarter of 2020 as some producing nations cashed in on surging prices driven by investment demand. Now, with exchange-traded fund holdings of gold in a months-long contraction, the market is looking elsewhere for support. And as nations look to safeguard their finances in the wake of the pandemic, it’s not just Hungary turning to gold. Polish Central Bank Governor Adam Glapinski said last month the authority may buy at least 100 tons in the coming years to demonstrate the country’s economic strength. Serbia has also been making small but steady purchases since the start of 2019.
On a monthly basis, Hungary’s purchase would be the biggest since June 2019, when Poland bought 94.9 tons, according to WGC data.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/hungary-tripled-gold-reserves-as-central-banks-turn-buyers-again-1.1587147
Myanmar coup latest: Explosion reported at Yangon shopping mall
Thursday, April 8
4:00 p.m. A small explosion has been reported in Myanmar Plaza, a major shopping mall in Yangon, BBC Burmese has reported. No injury has yet been reported, and the explosion sounded like a grenade, according to the BBC citing a mall tenant.
10:30 a.m. Security forces launch a morning raid using heavy arms in the township of Kalay in the country's northwest, killing at least eight civilians. Kalay is close to the border with the Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram.
9:00 a.m. State-owned media announces an additional list of celebrities who have been charged for "spreading news to affect state stability." This is the fifth release of the lists, which began on April 2. Each list contains the names of 20 people and shows the Facebook account and profile photo of each "suspect," indicating the military's intent to curb dissent published on social media.
Wednesday, April 7
1:15 a.m. A sign of how new forms of media are springing up in the face of government restrictions.
After #Myanmar military regime blocks the internet and shuts down media outlets, a daily news pamphlet is born.#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar https://t.co/SInL3oSHvR
— Tan Hui Yee (@Tan_Hui_Yee) April 6, 2021
1:00 a.m. The Myanmar-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says 581 people have been killed by security forces since the Feb. 1 coup, with 2,750 people currently detained.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Myanmar-Coup/Myanmar-coup-latest-Explosion-reported-at-Yangon-shopping-mall
just for you wakes...
Archegos woes prompts Japan watchdog to probe risky transactions
Japan's Financial Services Agency and the Bank of Japan will conduct an investigation of domestic financial institutions, after U.S. investment firm Archegos Capital Management exposed the country's financial groups to losses, Nikkei has learned. The financial watchdog, along with the the central bank, will check risk management practices at financial institutions.
The agency's move is prompted by the seriousness of the Archegos meltdown, which has resulted in losses ranging from tens of millions to billions of dollars at major investment banks in Japan and Europe. Archegos is a family office that manages the personal assets of investor Bill Hwang. Regulatory oversight of such asset management firms is much lighter than for hedge funds. In principle, a family office is not obliged to register with the financial authorities.
Information disclosures at these offices are scant, making it difficult to piece together what happened at Archegos after it faced a margin call on debt-reliant trading positions. Credit Suisse Group suffered a loss of 520 billion yen ($4.7 billion) in transactions that appear related to Archegos. Nomura Holdings announced the possibility of a loss of about 220 billion yen. As the impact spreads to major financial institutions in Japan and overseas, the FSA and the BOJ seek a clearer picture of the situation. At the moment Japanese regulators consider Archegos an isolated case with no indication of market-wide systemic risk, but they will look into the circumstances leading up to the transactions, and whether their risk management was appropriate. The FSA and the central bank will check other financial institutions closely for similar transactions and risks. There are more than 10,000 family offices worldwide, mainly in Europe and the U.S, and their assets under management are estimated at about $6 trillion.
Japanese financial authorities plan to conduct integrated financial inspections starting this fiscal year, shifting to a regulatory system that allows the sharing of audit findings between the two institutions. Outside Japan, U.S authorities have expressed support for strengthening surveillance of family offices.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Finance/Archegos-woes-prompts-Japan-watchdog-to-probe-risky-transactions
and wutever they "find" FSA will instruct the BOJ to buy
Doormen Who Witnessed NYC Attack On Asian American Woman Fired
Aside from the actual attack itself, it was the talk of the town: two doormen who witnessed a Filipino-American woman brutally assaulted on the sidewalk outside of their building stood idly by and did nothing to help. Rather, they simply closed the door to their building.
Now, they've been fired.
The building's owners told its residents on Friday that the doormen have been fired for not following “required emergency and safety protocols.” “For this reason, their employment has been terminated, effective immediately,” Rick Mason, the executive director of management at the Brodsky Organization, wrote to the building's tenants.
Last Monday, 65 year old Vilma Kari was senselessly attacked and beaten on the street on her way to church. The video of the incident went viral and, in addition to the outrage over the attack, there has been widespread outrage about two doormen who appeared to witness the attack, yet did nothing to stop it.
The New York Times added this week, after review of a longer video, that the doormen may not have witnessed the attack immediately, but rather were alerted to it by a delivery person who was in the lobby. The attacked "lingered near the front of the building" after the attack, the Times also wrote.
Kyle Bragg, the president of 32BJ SEIU, the union that represents the staff members, said: “We believe we must root out systemic racism in all its forms. We believe that all union workers, especially workers of color who are often the subject of unfair treatment on the job, have a right to a fair process as outlined in their contract.” He said the two employees have initiated the process to file grievances.
38 year old Brandon Elliot was arrested and charged with the attack. The New York Post reported that Elliot yelled anti-Asian statements while he beat the woman, including, “F**k you, you don’t belong here.” Elliot was previously convicted of stabbing his mother to death in 2002, was released from prison in 2019, and is on lifetime parole. Elliott faces charges of assault as a hate crime, attempted assault as a hate crime, assault and attempted assault, according to police.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called the attack "absolutely disgusting and outrageous," adding that it was "absolutely unacceptable" that witnesses did nothing.
"I don’t care who you are, I don’t care what you do, you’ve got to help your fellow New Yorker," he said last week. "If you see someone being attacked, do whatever you can. Make noise. Call out what’s happening. Go and try and help. Immediately call for help. Call 911. This is something where we all have to be part of the solution. We can’t just stand back and watch a heinous act happening."
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/doormen-who-witnessed-nyc-attack-asian-american-woman-fired
SAM073 USAF G5 departed JBA west
This AC was SAM000 on it's departure from JBA to Los Angeles Int'l on 0404 and changed to ANON once on ground at LAX.
Overnight there and up to Eugene, OR on 0405 with another overnight
0406 depart to Yakima, WA for a ground stoop and back to JBA after
Also the first AF2 out from JBA on 0322-kneepads took 757 to Jacksonville also with AF2 call
none here either
if I travel will drive so that is limiting muh choices but no matter.
The airline biz got cheap with the pilots with the hub systems-never understood why a pilot made less than I did even years ago.
fuck them...the mask BS, vaccine passports the entire lot of 'em.
good luck with that.