TITAN25 USAF E-4B Nightwatch inbound to JBA from Brussels Int'l depart earlier
Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's Meeting with Euro Quad: France, Germany, and the U.K.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III met today with the Euro Quad: French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly, German Federal Minister of Defence Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, and U.K. Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace in Brussels, Belgium. This meeting represented the first Euro Quad Ministerial since 2014. The leaders discussed the implementation of deliverables from the June 14 NATO Summit and how the Alliance can best adapt to face increasing regional and global security challenges in an era of strategic competition. The four leaders agreed on the importance of continued close cooperation to strengthen the NATO Alliance, complete an orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan, uphold a rules-based international order, and counter the malign influence of shared strategic competitors.
https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2658127/readout-of-secretary-of-defense-lloyd-austins-meeting-with-euro-quad-france-ger/source/GovDelivery/
SAM629 USAF G5 departed JBA south
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SAM669 USAF C-40B appeared inbound from Brussels Int'l ground stop-depart of Ramstein earlier today
Departed 0613 for Ramstein from JBA
This AC used by State Dept and White House NSO in the past
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BOXER98 USAF C-40C climbing from Palm Springs Int'l en after a ground stop-inbound from Hickam AFB, Oahu
This AC departed JBA on 0613 and had a ground stop at Reno/Tahoe Int'l Airport for a refuel then on to Hickam AFB
USABC123 USAF U-2R up from Skunk Werks at 60k/ft
Turkish central bank says larger swap agreement with China recorded in accounts
An enlarged swap agreement with China has been recorded on the accounts of Turkey’s central bank, the bank said on Tuesday, in line with an announcement made two days earlier by President Tayyip Erdogan.
In a statement, the central bank said its swap agreement with China had been increased by 35.1 billion lira ($4.10 billion) and 23 billion Chinese yuan, to facilitate bilateral trade and to support financial stability. On Sunday, Erdogan announced that Turkey’s central bank had agreed with China to increase the currency swap facility to $6 billion from $2.4 billion.
https://www.reuters.com/article/turkey-cenbank/turkish-central-bank-says-larger-swap-agreement-with-china-recorded-in-accounts-idUSS8N2JI01G
These will only get bigger and moar common across the entire banking system....
call sign change from 98 to 45
U.S. IPOs hit annual record in less than six months
Wall Street’s record-breaking run for stock market flotations shows no signs of slowing down.
With more than six months until the year ends, U.S. initial public offerings have already totaled $171 billion, eclipsing the 2020 record of $168 billion, according to data from Dealogic.
Driving the IPO rush are sky-high corporate valuations in the stock market, inflated by the Federal Reserve’s low-interest rates and monetary stimulus in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has fueled a wave of speculative frenzy that benefit not just traditional companies going public, but also special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) formed strictly to raise money through IPOs. The IPO gold rush is set to reach new heights in the second half of 2021, as a number of high-profile startups such as China’s largest ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing Technology Co Ltd, online brokerage Robinhood Markets Inc and electric-vehicle maker Rivian Automative LLC prepare to launch multi-billion dollar share sales. “If the markets hang in anywhere near where they are right now, we are going to be incredibly busy this summer, and into the fall with IPOs,” said Eddie Molloy, co-head of equity capital markets for the Americas at Morgan Stanley. “Trees don’t grow to the sky forever, so you’re not going to have a record volumes every year. But assuming stability, we’d also expect a busy 2022.”
Excluding proceeds from SPAC IPOs, traditional listings of big names, including South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang Inc , have raked in $67 billion this year, keeping 2021 on track to be the biggest year for such IPOs. The average one-day gain for U.S. IPOs so far this year is 40.5%, compared with 28.2% during the same period in 2020 and 21.7% in 2019, according to Dealogic. The average one-week return for 2021 is 35.7%, higher than 32.2% in 2020 and 25.5% in 2019. Capital markets bankers and lawyers estimate that companies could end up raising close to $50 billion through traditional IPOs, excluding SPACs, before the end of the September quarter. IPO proceeds have touched $24.1 billion in the second quarter through June 15, according to Dealogic. Didi’s offering alone could raise close to $10 billion, sources have previously told Reuters.
By the end of the year, U.S. IPOs could raise $250 billion to $300 billion or more - a staggering sum once considered unthinkable, according to investment bankers.
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-ipos/u-s-ipos-hit-annual-record-in-less-than-six-months-idUSL3N2N841W
Billionaire Mackenzie Scott gives away another ÂŁ2bn
Billionaire MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has donated another $2.7bn (ÂŁ1.9bn) to a range of charities.
Ms Scott said in a blog post that she wanted to give the money to those "that have been historically underfunded and overlooked". She wrote that she had chosen 286 organisations working on racial inequality, the arts and education. Ms Scott is one of the world's richest women. Much of her fortune comes from her 2019 divorce from Mr Bezos, who is currently the world's richest man. As part of the deal, Ms Scott ended up with 4% of Amazon's shares, having helped Mr Bezos start the technology giant in 1994. The author has since posted about her charitable donations, such as in December, when she revealed she had donated more than $4bn in just four months to women-led charities, food banks and Black colleges. Despite the size of these donations, she is still the world's 22nd-richest person, worth $59.5bn, according to Forbes. In her most recent blog post on Tuesday, she said again that she was keen to redistribute her wealth, having worked with a team of researchers and her new husband, science teacher Dan Jewett, to pick who to donate to. "In this effort, we are governed by a humbling belief that it would be better if disproportionate wealth were not concentrated in a small number of hands, and that the solutions are best designed and implemented by others." Among the charities and organisations who received the "relatively large gifts" were also those working on "bridging divides" between different religions, as well as some colleges and universities.
In 2019, she signed the Giving Pledge, promising to give away most of her fortune. The Giving Pledge is a commitment by the world's richest individuals and families to dedicate the majority of their wealth to giving back. It was started by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett in 2010 and other signatories include the likes of Star Wars creator George Lucas. Mr Bezos has not yet signed the pledge, although Mr Jewett joined in March.
He said in a letter: "In a stroke of happy coincidence, I am married to one of the most generous and kind people I know - and joining her in a commitment to pass on an enormous financial wealth to serve others."
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57487967
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SPIT79 USAFSOC C-32B departed JB Lewis-McChord after an overnight sw to Hawaii