morning W
it matters today....so far
kek
SAMFOX USAF G5 ne from JBA
REVV82 USAF E-4B Nightwatch departed Wright-Patterson AFB sw
Dunno wut movie this is from...could be several...anyone?
C101 US Coast Guard G5 north from NAS Norfolk ground stop-returning to Reagan National
NICE28 USAF KC-135 tanker ober Not AF1 Joe who is still at the beach
Evergrande workers got a tough choice: Loan it cash or lose bonus
China’s most indebted company has seen its shares lose more than 80 percent of their value this year.
When the troubled Chinese property giant Evergrande was starved for cash earlier this year, it turned to its own employees with a strong-arm pitch: Those who wanted to keep their bonuses would have to give Evergrande a short-term loan.
Some workers tapped their friends and family for money to lend to the company. Others borrowed from the bank. Then, this month, Evergrande suddenly stopped paying back the loans, which had been packaged as high-interest investments. Now hundreds of employees have joined panicked homebuyers in demanding their money back from Evergrande, gathering outside the company's offices across China to protest last week.
Once China's most prolific property developer, Evergrande has become the country's most indebted company. It owes money to lenders, suppliers and foreign investors. It owes unfinished apartments to homebuyers and has racked up more than $300 billion in unpaid bills. Evergrande faces lawsuits from creditors and has seen its shares lose more than 80% of their value this year. Regulators fear that the collapse of a company Evergrande's size would send tremors through the entire Chinese financial system. Yet so far, Beijing has not stepped in with a bailout, having promised to teach debt-saddled corporate giants a lesson. The angry protests led by homebuyers - and now the company's own employees - may change that calculus. Evergrande is on the hook to buyers for nearly 1.6 million apartments, according to one estimate, and it may owe money to tens of thousands of its workers. As Beijing remains relatively quiet about the company's future, those who are owed cash say they are growing impatient.
"There isn't much time left for us," said Jin Cheng, a 28-year-old employee in the eastern city of Hefei who said he put $62,000 of his own money into Evergrande Wealth, the company's investment arm, at the request of senior management. As rumors rippled through the Chinese internet that Evergrande might go bankrupt this month, Jin and some of his colleagues gathered in front of provincial government offices to pressure authorities to step in.
In the southern city of Shenzhen, homebuyers and employees crowded into the lobby of Evergrande's headquarters last week and shouted for their money back. "Evergrande, give back my money I earned with blood and sweat!, some could be heard yelling in video footage.
moar
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/evergrande-gave-workers-a-choice-loan-us-cash-or-lose-your-bonus/articleshow/86363921.cms
Trump Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin Launches $2.5 Billion Private Equity Fund
Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has just sent the clearest signal yet that he likely wouldn't rejoin a potential second Trump Administration (despite being one of the more successful cabinet members) via reports that the ex-Goldmanite will raise $2.5 billion for a new private equity fund. Mnuchin isn't the only industry giant who is launching a new PE fund amid an explosion of dealmaking spurred in part by the Fed's policy response to the pandemic. Back in July, former Apollo founder Josh Harris announced fundraising plans for his own billion-dollar fund.
The news of Mnuchin's fund comes via Bloomberg.
Absolutely amazing SCOOP from @HeatherPerlberg and @sonalibasak:
*STEVEN MNUCHIN RAISES $2.5 BILLION FOR PRIVATE EQUITY FUND
"Most of the money is from sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund." more on @TheTerminal— Brian Chappatta (@BChappatta) September 20, 2021
According to the report, most of the money will come from the Middle East, including from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. Remember, Mnuchin was a key player who helped build the Trump Administration's increased closeness with the Middle East. Trump memorably visited Saudi Arabia for his first public official visit after taking office.
Mnuchin's success in raising the money is just the latest evidence that, far from being "ostracized" by polite society, many members of President Trump's former inner circle are moving on to big things. After spending nearly 2 decades at Goldman, Mnuchin famously reaped a massive windfall during the housing bust via being chairman of OneWest (formerly IndyMac) a failing mortgage provider that had been taken over by the FDIC before Mnuchin and his billionaire partners rescued and transformed it into a "foreclosure machine", helping Mnuchin and his partners make hundreds of millions in profits while throwing thousands out of their homes. More recently, Mnuchin ran a hedge fund called Dune Capital Management. Before serving as Trump's Treasury Secretary, he stepped up to become the Trump 2016 campaign's chief fundraiser.
Mnuchin's fund isn't exactly a secret, or a surprise (though the fact that it has raised so much from the Middle East is certainly newsworthy). Back in July, Mnuchin appeared on CNBC to generate press for his PE firm's $275MM investment in Cyberreason, a company that focuses on cyber security and preventing cyber attacks.
Such a firm would probably be well positioned to win some juicy government contracts if Trump or another GOPer wins back control of the White House.
Notably, the latest news about Mnuchin's PE firm follows last week's backlash to revelations by the regional Fed banks that Fed presidents including Robert Kaplan and Eric Rosengren actively traded in 2020, with Kaplan having placed the biggest trades. The news led Boston's Eric Rosengren and Kaplan to dump their holdings - just before stocks, which have been sliding all month, took another leg lower.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/trump-treasury-secretary-steve-mnuchin-launches-25-billion-private-equity-fund
kinda wondered when dis one would surface again....
kek
Gotta a problem out here in Del Rio, Texas mebby??
C202 US Coast G5 on descent for Del Rio Int'l Airport AFB from Reagan National depart
NEW: Per source, single adult male illegal immigrants are being loaded onto a U.S. Coast Guard aircraft at Del Rio airport, likely for repatriation. Not all migrants will be sent back. Many family units will be processed & released into US w/ a future court date. (NTA) @FoxNews
https://twitter.com/BillFOXLA/status/1439969047488118792
Twitter in $810 Million Settlement of Shareholder Suit on Growth
Twitter Inc. agreed to pay $809.5 million to settle a shareholder class action lawsuit that accused the social media company of painting an overly rosy picture of its future.
The suit, originally filed by Twitter shareholder Doris Shenwick, claimed executives misled investors over the company’s growth prospects in November 2014, promising an increase in monthly active users to 550 million in the “intermediate” term and more than a billion in the “longer term.” The company failed to deliver on either estimate and concealed that it had no basis for those projections, according to the complaint. The suit was filed in federal court in San Francisco in 2016, the year after the company’s stock took a nose dive after executives revealed the platform’s sluggish growth. After five years of litigation, the case had come down to three allegedly misleading statements made by Twitter executives concerning the growth of the platform. A trial set for Monday was postponed Friday ahead of the settlement.
The proposed settlement concludes without any admission of fault or wrongdoing by Twitter, according to a statement by the company on Monday. In its defense, Twitter had denied that its executives lied or knowingly made misleading statements. It also rejected the idea that statements by former chief financial officer Anthony Noto and former chief executive officer Dick Costolo caused the stock price to fall. Twitter didn’t immediately respond to a voicemail seeking comment on the agreement.
Under the pact, Twitter intends to use cash on hand to pay the settlement amount in the fourth quarter and expects to record a charge for the settlement during the third quarter of 2021. The case is In re Twitter Inc. Securities Litigation, 16-cv-05314, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/twitter-in-810-million-settlement-of-shareholder-suit-on-growth-1.1654710
Trump CFO’s Lawyer Says More Indictments Likely in N.Y. Case
Longtime Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg’s defense lawyer told a New York judge today that he expected additional indictments to be brought in the tax-fraud case by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
Weisselberg and the former president’s company had their first court appearance on Monday since pleading not guilty to the charges in July. Weisselberg lawyer Bryan Skarlatos complained that it was difficult to prepare a defense because the prosecution’s case was a “moving target” that was likely to expand to include other defendants. “We have strong reason to believe that there are other indictments coming,” Skarlatos said to Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.
Weisselberg and the Trump Organization engaged in a years-long scheme in which the company helped employees avoid income taxes by paying them in part with unreported perks like luxury housing and cars, according to the indictment announced in July by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Skarlatos said prosecutors had an unfair “tactical advantage” because the defense didn’t “know what we’re shooting at” in terms of where Vance’s case was going. The lawyer noted there were six million pages of evidence to review. Prosecutor Solomon Shinerock pushed back on Skarlato’s complaint about the volume of evidence, noting that the documents shouldn’t be new to his client. “They are almost exclusively and an overwhelmingly majority are Trump Organization records,” said Shinerock. “Mr. Weisselberg has been with the Trump Organization for 35 years and he’s the Chief Financial Officer. And while he may not have technical access to certain of the records, as to the financial records, Mr. Weisselberg is the boss.”
The judge set the next hearing in the case for Jan. 22, 2022, and said lawyers should expect that he’d set a trial date at the time. Merchan had earlier suggested a trial could begin in August or September 2022. In a statement released during the hearing, Weisselberg lawyers Skarlatos and Mary Mulligan repeated their earlier insistence that their client would fight the charges. “We have studied the indictment and it is full of unsupported and flawed factual and legal assertions regarding Allen Weisselberg,” the lawyers said. “We look forward to challenging those assertions in court.”
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/trump-cfo-s-lawyer-says-more-indictments-likely-in-n-y-case-1.1654712
Fed to reveal new projections with investors on alert for rate liftoff timing
U.S. Federal Reserve officials will lay bare how soon and how often they think the economy will need interest rates rises over the next three years when they release new forecasts at their policy meeting on Wednesday, with investors on alert for a faster pace of tightening.
The so-called “dot plot,” released quarterly, charts policymakers projections, on an anonymous basis, for economic growth, employment and inflation, as well as the timing of interest rate rises. It will show whether most are sticking to recently expressed views that the Delta variant of the coronavirus, which has dented economic activity, will have a short-lived effect on the recovery despite the current turbulence and uncertainty it is causing. This week’s set of dots also will include policymakers’ forecasts for 2024 for the first time.
Interest rates have been near zero since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic with the Fed vowing not to raise borrowing costs until the economy has fully healed. According to the Fed’s new framework, that means a greater emphasis on achieving maximum employment along with its 2% average inflation goal. Hotter-than expected inflation despite some recent moderation is testing policymakers’ commitment to that new framework and could cause the median of the Fed’s forecasts for a liftoff in interest rates to switch to 2022 from 2023 at the June meeting.
For that to happen, only three policymakers would need to bring forward their projections, and a shift of just two would result in a dead-heat split inside the Fed over whether liftoff is in the cards for next year or later. “We all know the dots are not promises or commitments, but it’s still the best that the market has to go by to what policy will be in the future,” said Roberto Perli, an economist at Cornerstone Macro and former Fed staffer. “The risks are skewed to the upside.”
There are rising expectations the central bank will at least use its upcoming meeting on Sept. 21-22 to signal it plans to start reducing its massive bond purchases, also put in place in early 2020 to support the economy’s recovery, in November if incoming data holds up, amid the fastest economic recovery in history from a brief recession last year.
Fed officials argue the asset purchase program has run its usefulness given that demand, which it most directly affects, has rebounded even if the supply of both labor and goods has been constrained.
The scaling back could be completed as early as mid-2022, clearing the way for the Fed to lift interest rates from near zero any time after that.
The consensus among economists polled by Reuters is for rates to remain near zero until 2023 but more than one-quarter of respondents in the September survey forecast the Fed raising rates next year.
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-fed-forecasts/fed-to-reveal-new-projections-with-investors-on-alert-for-rate-liftoff-timing-idUSKBN2GG0KL
same shit was going on wif Kīlauea in 2018
The west coast supposed to habs been taken out with that one too.
SAM359 (formerly SAMFOX) departed Boston-Logan Int'l After a ground stop sw
SAM165 USAF C-40B departed JBA ne (this is used by White House NSO and State Dept.)
AMUSE69 US Navy E-6B Mercury ogg shore from it's Pax River depart-prolly dropping it's VLF antenna-cap #2
Communications relay and strategic airborne command post aircraft. Provides survivable, reliable, and endurable airborne command, control, and communications between the National Command Authority (NCA) and U.S. strategic and non-strategic forces. Two squadrons, the "Ironmen" of VQ-3 and the "Shadows" of VQ-4 deploy more than 20 aircrews from Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. to meet these requirements. Boeing derived the E-6A from its commercial 707 to replace the aging EC-130Q in the performance of the Navy's TACAMO ("Take Charge and Move Out") mission. TACAMO links the NCA with naval ballistic missile forces during times of crisis. The aircraft carries a very low frequency communication system with dual trailing wire antennas. The Navy accepted the first E-6A in August 1989.
https://www.navair.navy.mil/product/E-6B-Mercury
Del Rio Mayor Calls Out Biden, Harris for Failing to Visit Border in Crisis: ‘Why Aren’t You Here?’
Democratic Del Rio Mayor Bruno Lozano has called out President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for failing to make an appearance at his town as it battles with an overwhelming illegal immigrant crisis that has left Border Patrol agents struggling to process thousands of people.
More than 15,000 illegal immigrants, including Haitian, Cuban, and Venezuelan nationals, have illegally entered the United States in recent days and taken shelter underneath the border bridge connecting Del Rio, a Texas town of about 35,000 people, to Ciudad Acuña, Mexico.
While numerous official figures and congressmen, including Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), have visited the town, shared images, and urged the Biden administration to take action, both Biden and Harris have been noticeably absent. On Sept.18, as Pfluger warned that the situation has “reached boiling point,” Harris made an appearance at Howard University where she led a coin toss at the university’s football event.
Questioning why the vice president, who in March was tasked with handling the border crisis, had not yet visited Del Rio, Lozano asked on Twitter on Saturday, “The VP is able to visit the fun events across the country, while American communities continue to grapple with failed immigration reform. Where is the visit to Del Rio, TX?”
In a separate post alongside aerial footage showing thousands of immigrants surrounding the overcrowded bridge in makeshift tents, the mayor wrote, “We need you to visit Del Rio, Texas.” Lozano also responded to a Twitter post shared by Harris on Saturday that read, “The U.S. is falling behind, on a global scale, on investing in childcare. We invest fewer public dollars in early childhood education and care relative to GDP than almost all other developed countries. With our Build Back Better Agenda, @POTUS and I are determined to change that.”
Questioning Harris and Biden’s failure to visit Del Rio again, he asked, “The US is failing to protect its borders. Why aren’t you here? @POTUS.”
The Del Rio Mayor also engaged the president, responding to a Twitter post that Biden shared on Saturday regarding his plan not to raise takes for anyone making under $400,000 a year.
Lozano replied, “The President has a plan for taxes. Where is the plan to protect our southern border?”
The mayor also asked Biden directly, “Where is your plan to protect American communities at the southern border? I spoke to Governor Abbott today. We have developed a temporary plan, we’d like to see yours.”
On Sunday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it will start expelling adult male illegal immigrants who have entered the United States at Del Rio. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz told Fox News that single adult men will be expelled under the federal government’s Title 42 rule.
However, most family units who have crossed the border illegally will be processed and released into the United States with a notice to appear in an immigration court.
Ortiz said at a Sept. 19 news conference that deportation flights sending some illegal immigrants back to Haiti have already begun.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/del-rio-mayor-calls-out-biden-harris-for-failing-to-visit-border-in-crisis-why-arent-you-here_4005693.html
SEC Expands U.S. Investor Warning on Chinese Stock Investments
Securities and Exchange Commission officials are expanding on their warnings for investors considering buying stock in Chinese companies that trade in U.S. markets.
In an investor alert on Monday, SEC staff detailed concerns it says people should weigh when evaluating share purchases, including the shell-company structure the Chinese companies use to list in the U.S. Since July, the regulator has refused to approve new listings for Chinese firms, and Chair Gary Gensler has warned that more than 250 companies already trading will soon face similar disclosure requirements.
The SEC, which urged investors to review companies’ annual reports, said some issues of particular concern include:
*The way the Chinese firms account for the shell-company relationships in their financial reports
*How the relationship is structured between a U.S.-listed shell company and the Chinese operating firm
*Risks that the Chinese government could crack down on the shell-company arrangements, known as VIEs, that firms use to list in the U.S.
*Risks around investing in China’s private-education businesses
*Potential conflicts of interest between the owners of a Chinese operating company and investors in the shell company that trades in the U.S.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/sec-expands-u-s-investor-warning-on-chinese-stock-investments-1.1654825
Thanks Gary...this would habs been moar useful to the masses months ago...and you still allow them to use VIE's....priceless!!!
What Is a Variable Interest Entity (VIE)?
A variable interest entity (VIE) refers to a legal business structure in which an investor has a controlling interest despite not having a majority of voting rights. Characteristics include a structure where equity investors do not have sufficient resources to support the ongoing operating needs of the business. In most cases, the VIE is used to protect the business from creditors or legal action. A business that is the primary beneficiary of a VIE must disclose the holdings of that entity as part of its consolidated balance sheet.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/v/variable-interest-entity.asp
>the sudden selloff in the last two hours leading up to the suspension was accompanied by a surge in trading volume that was about 14 times its average in the past year
Nuffin to see dhere..
If dis is still going on by Thursday (unless the chinese dump a ton of yuan in the overnight session-our Weds night) then you should start to see hedgies thinking really hard about selling cause the margin call(s) will be on everyone's mind as those come next.
kek
Empty tequila bottles on future Air Force One prompts Boeing probe
Boeing is looking into how two empty mini tequila bottles ended up on a future Air Force One jet, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The bottles were found sometime in September in San Antonio on an Air Force One plane being developed by Boeing, though it was unclear where exactly the bottles were found.
The situation was deemed a personnel matter by a spokesman for Boeing. The news outlet noted that Boeing has said it is trying to improve manufacturing and quality operations.
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Boeing was taking the discovery of the empty bottles seriously, one person familiar with the incident told the Journal. That source also said because alcohol is not allowed in any Boeing facilities it was being considered “foreign object debris."
In a statement to The Hill, Boeing said, "This is a personnel matter and for contractual reasons we are unable to comment further.”
The discovery of the empty bottles is particularly noteworthy because of its future passengers. Attorneys for Boeing said the planes were “effectively an airborne seat of government” in court documents, the Journal reported. Additional security clearance is required for anyone working on the jets. The White House referred questions about the incident to the Air Force, according to the Journal. A spokeswoman for the Air Force told the news outlet Boeing had notified it about the incident, which she said had not impacted aircraft-modification work.
She added the Air Force and Defense Contract Management Agency could hold “Boeing accountable to ensure the VC-25B program meets stringent quality-control requirements."
The Hill has reached out to the White House and the Air Force for further comment.
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/572961-empty-tequila-bottles-on-future-air-force-one-prompts-boeing-probe
Italian AF IAM3107 A319 inbound to JFK from Shannon, Ireland ground stop and Rome depart earlier today
Most likely Draghi arriving for UN General Assembly Meeting
Super Mario wants a G20 meeting on Afghanistan this week too...Italy holds the rotating presidency for dat this year.
BOXER44 USAF C-40C departed San Francisco Int'l after arriving from Mather Airport on 0915-the day after Ca's election.
On 0914 this AC departed JBA and had ground stops at NAS North Island and Los Angeles Int'l prior to arrival at Mather Airport, Sacto