tyb
>>50899 pb
RCH596T USAF C-17 heading to Salt Lake City for below
EXEC1F USAF C-40B State Dept AC tail #01-0041 departed JBA for Salt Lake City, UT
Jill Biden due in Salt Lake City this afternoon
https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2021/05/05/latest-jill-biden-due/
Privia Health Grp. sold by Pamplona Capital Mgmt: $361.05m-May 3
Privia Health : Announces Closing of Initial Public Offering and Full Exercise of Underwriters' Option to Purchase Additional Shares
https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/PRIVIA-HEALTH-GROUP-INC-122186759/news/Privia-Health-nbsp-Announces-Closing-of-Initial-Public-Offering-and-Full-Exercise-of-Underwriters-33145383/
Privia Health Group, Inc. Is a technology-driven, national physician-enablement company. The Company collaborates with medical groups, health plans, and health systems. Its platform is purpose-built, organizing physicians into primary-care centric networks bolstered by physician governance, and promotes a culture of physician leadership. The Privia Platform is powered by end-to-end, cloud-based technology solution that integrates both Privia-developed and third-party applications into a seamless interface and workflow that manages all aspects of Privia Physicians provision of healthcare services. Number of employees : 559 people.
https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/PRIVIA-HEALTH-GROUP-INC-122186759/company/
Alex Knaster is Chairman and CEO of Pamplona Capital Management, an investment management firm with private equity, hedge fund and fund of funds operations. Prior to founding Pamplona, from 1998 until 2004 Mr Knaster has served as Chief Executive Officer of Alfa Bank in Russia. Under his leadership, Alfa Bank has grown over ten-fold into Russia’s largest privately owned bank. From 1985 to 1998 Mr Knaster has held senior positions at Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, Bankers Trust Company and Simmons & Company International in Houston, New York, London and Moscow. Prior to beginning his career in investment banking, Mr Knaster spent three years with Schlumberger Ltd as an engineer working on offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Mr Knaster holds a PhD degree in Economics from the Russian Academy of Science, an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics from Carnegie-Mellon University.
https://www.london.edu/faculty-and-research/faculty-profiles/k/knaster-a
https://finviz.com/insidertrading.ashx?oc=1554914&tc=7&b=2
>>50899 pb
RCH795T USAF C-17 Globemaster on descent for Lake Charles, LA Chennault Airport
Joe Biden set to visit two Louisiana cities-Thursday May 6th
The White House announced today that President Joe Biden will be visiting both Lake Charles and New Orleans on Thursday May 6th as part of his “Getting America Back on Track” tour.
https://www.myarklamiss.com/louisiana-news/president-joe-biden-set-to-visit-two-louisiana-cities-next-week/
The Fed Finally Gets Some Tough Questions... And Fails To Answer Them
Last Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell showed how simple questions do not always get simple answers. When speaking to the media after the latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, some difficult questions were asked. So much so, Powell had to repeat one question to himself, asking:
When will the economy be able to stand on its own feet?
He immediately followed with: I'm not sure what the exact nature of that question is.
FOX News correspondent Edward Lawrence elaborated, asking when the Fed would lower the number of treasuries it buys, and when the economy would function “without having that support from the monetary side.” Powell found ways to avoid answering the idea of a nation which stands without central bank supports, but he did refer to various “tests” the Fed will do in order to make decisions like shrinking the balance sheet, explaining: we've articulated our test for that, as you know, and that is just we'll continue asset purchases at this pace until we see substantial further progress. He went on to say that prior to making any decisions, such as buying fewer treasuries, they will give the public a lot of notice beforehand.
There was also a question related to the Fed’s influence in the housing market: the housing market is strong, prices are up. And yet, the Fed is buying $40 billion per month in mortgage related assets. Why is that, and are those purchases playing a role at all in pushing up prices?
Despite amassing nearly $2.2 trillion of mortgage-backed securities (MBS), Powell defended the central bank on the grounds that: I mean, we started buying MBS because the mortgage-backed security market was really experiencing severe dysfunction, and we've sort of articulated, you know, what our exit path is from that. It's not meant to provide direct assistance to the housing market. To be clear, the “severe dysfunction” occurred over a decade ago, when the Fed entered the MBS market. As for the public knowing the exit path or not providing assistance to the housing market, both ideas are highly debatable, to say the least.
But even more puzzling is when Powell says that during the current COVID crisis: We bought MBS, too. Again, not intention to send help to the housing market, which was really not a problem this time at all. Strange, the Fed would commit to buying $40 billion a month of MBS when, according to the Chair, there were no problems in the market. He concludes that purchases will go to zero over time, but the “time is not yet.”
The final question asked was in regards to market intervention: if you get out of the markets, there aren't enough buyers for all of the Treasury debt? And so, rates would have to go way up. Bottom line question is what do we get for $120 billion a month that we couldn't get for less? Powell never explained what exactly “we get for $120 billion” a month, but assured us the Fed was looking to reach its goals, and this was part of its plan. However, he did comment on purchases, saying: But if we bought less, you know, no. I mean, I think the effect is proportional to the amount we buy… And we articulated the, you know, the test for withdrawing that accommodation. And we think, you know. So, we're waiting to see those tests to be fulfilled, both for asset purchases and for lift off of rates. And, you know, when the tests are fulfilled, we'll go ahead as, you know, we've done this before.
Between various tests to determine policy, vague responses, and a general avoidance of answering questions directly, not much was offered other than providing perpetual liquidity injections under accommodative monetary conditions. It was refreshing to see the mainstream media ask more questions about the plan ahead; we can only hope the mainstream economic community will do the same.
https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/fed-finally-gets-some-tough-questions-and-fails-answer-them
>>50899
RCH596T USAF C-17 west from a ground stop at Buckley AFB, Denver
likely heading to Travis AFB, CA
German AF GAF554 Airbus A310 on descent for Nellis AFB Las Vegas from Dulles Int'l depart and ground stop
Already with one go around at Nellis
Fed officials tamp down overheating worries as nervous investors look on
Inflation jitters are popping up in earnings call chatter, spooking investors and dominating business television talk shows. One place they aren’t taking over, it would appear, is the Federal Reserve.
America’s central bank is tasked with fostering maximum employment and stable inflation — making it the first line of defense against rising prices. Fed officials have been clear for months that they expect prices to pop this spring and summer as the economy reopens but that they think the jump will prove temporary. By and large, they are sticking to that script.
During a volley of speeches and appearances on Wednesday, central bank policymakers made it clear that they do not think incipient price pressures are going to prove painful or long-lasting. Some suggested they would even welcome what a hotter economy might have to offer. “You talk about the economy overheating, you kind of go: ‘Gosh, I kind of like producing as much as we can,’” Charles Evans, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, said during a call with reporters. “Why would you like unemployment to be higher when it can be lower? It depends on what the added cost is.” The Fed aims for inflation at 2 percent on average over time, so it is currently angling for a period of slightly higher price gains to offset years and years of very weak gains. Price pressures are picking up a bit as they lap very slow readings from the worst pandemic shutdown last year, and economists think supply bottlenecks could keep them elevated as producers try to ramp up amid reopening.
Officials have been clear they do not expect that situation to be long-lived and do not expect it to force them to rapidly dial back the policies they have in place to bolster the economy — which include buying $120 billion of government-backed bonds per month and keeping interest rates at rock-bottom. “My view is that this acceleration in the rate of price increases is likely to prove temporary,” Eric Rosengren, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, said in a speech Wednesday. “Toilet paper and Clorox were in short supply at the outset of the pandemic, but manufacturers eventually increased supply, and those items are no longer scarce.”
Still, Mr. Rosengren did counsel vigilance, saying the Fed should be paying attention to make sure the economy has not changed in ways that will make wages and prices more responsive to a tightening labor market.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/05/business/economy/federal-reserve-overheating-worries.html