Persian Gulf Countries 'Refused' UAE Call For Joint Attack On Iran
Via The Cradle
The UAE tried but failed to persuade neighboring states, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, to take part in a coordinated military attack on Iran, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed (MbZ) spoke by phone with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) and other regional leaders to propose the coordinated attacks, shortly after the US and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28, the sources said.
During the calls, MbZ argued that the states that formed the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) must act as a bloc to attack Iran alongside the US and Israel. However, his fellow Gulf leaders told him it was "not their war," according to the report.
When Saudi Crown Prince MbS refused to go along with the scheme, already shaky ties between the UAE and Saudi Arabia were further strained. The Saudi refusal also contributed to the Emirates' decision to leave OPEC and OPEC+, the oil-producing cartel, and deepen its existing ties to Israel.
The UAE ultimately carried out several strikes against Iran without support from other Gulf states in early March and in April. Iran targeted US bases and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia with drones in the first days of the war. Yet the kingdom focused its efforts on promoting Pakistani-mediated negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
Qatar considered joining the UAE in an attack after Iranian missile strikes hit Doha's Ras Laffan Industrial City, the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, causing extensive damage and major fires, a Gulf official said. However, Doha also ultimately chose to de-escalate and throw its support behind negotiations.
Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman joined Saudi Arabia and Qatar in rejecting the UAE plan. One source said US officials were aware of the UAE effort and that Washington pushed Saudi Arabia and Qatar to join a coordinated military response.
On Thursday, the Financial Times (FT) reported that Saudi Arabia had "floated" the possibility of reaching a "non-aggression pact" between Iran and neighboring states modeled on the 1975 Helsinki Accords, which eased tensions during the Cold War in Europe.
The Saudi-proposed pact for the day after the US-Israeli war on Iran ends reportedly has support from several European capitals, which view it as “the best way to avoid future conflict” and have urged Arab states to support it.
The British daily cites an unnamed Arab diplomat who says that such a pact would be welcomed “by most Arab and Muslim states, as well as by Iran,” although severe concerns remain about Israel's continued threats to reignite the war regardless of any deal.
Meanwhile, the two-day meeting of BRICS foreign ministers in New Delhi ended on Friday without a joint statement due to "differing views" on the US-Israeli war against Iran and the current situation in West Asia. The foreign ministers expressed "their respective national positions and shared a range of perspectives," according to a statement issued by India.
The statement added that one member state had "reservations" about issues related to Gaza, as well as security in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said during the meeting that "Iran is a country that cannot be divided. The era of American dominance is over." He also singled out the UAE for blocking the ministerial BRICS statement, and pointed out its “own special relationship with Israel.”
Tyler Durden
Sat, 05/16/2026 - 12:50
One Of Russia's Largest Fuel Facilities Spews 'Black Rain' Over Ryazan After Deadly Ukrainian Drone Strike
An early Friday drone strike triggered a major fire at the Ryazan Oil Refinery, one of Russia's largest fuel production facilities, according to local residents and Russian monitoring channels.
Residents reported multiple loud explosions after drones were seen flying over the city, with videos circulating online showing flames and thick smoke rising from the refinery.
VKontakte/Moscow Times
"An ASTRA OSINT analyst has determined that in addition to two high-rise buildings, an oil refinery in the city was damaged. Photos taken by witnesses were taken near the Olympic Town microdistrict, approximately 4 km from the Ryazan Oil Refinery," one independent Russian outlet wrote.
Two high-rise buildings in Ryazan were also struck, resulting in significant casualties:
A Ukrainian drone barrage killed at least four people and ignited a huge fire at an oil refinery in the city of Ryazan on Friday, in what appeared to be a direct retaliation for a deadly Russian strike on Kyiv a day earlier.
Ryazan region Governor Pavel Malkov confirmed the deaths in posts on Telegram, adding that dozens of people, including children, were wounded in the attack. He said drones struck two apartment buildings and an industrial site, which he did not identify by name.
There were also reports that "black rain" fell from the sky after the refinery was struck, which adds additional confirmation to serious damage at the fuel facility amid the ongoing emergency response:
The strike sparked a fire at the Ryazan oil refinery, leading to what some locals described as an "oil rain." Residents complained online of sticky black spots on their cars, windows, and building facades.
Ukrainian sources have alleged that both the Ryazan refinery and Gazprom's Astrakhan gas plant are considered critical components of Moscow's war infrastructure.
Via Meduza
Last week a brief ceasefire held. Soon on the heels of the successful 3-day and US-backed 'V-Day' ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, Russian forces went on to unleash several days of drone and missile barrages on Ukrainian cities, especially the capital. Some 1,500 missiles and drones were launched in just 48 hours.
BBC reported Thursday that "At least seven people have been killed, including a 12-year-old girl, in Kyiv after Russia launched a massive wave of drone and missile strikes on the Ukrainian capital and other regions, officials have said."
Sadly, the tit-for-tat 'revenge' strikes are only increasing, and more and more apartment blocks and civilian neighborhoods on each side have been coming under devastating attacks.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 05/16/2026 - 12:15
Lefty Union Paralyzes Long Island Rail Road As Strike Sets Commuter Chaos Countdown For Monday
Yet another reason for privatizing mass transportation emerged Saturday morning, after a left-wing rail union launched a strike set to snarl the nation's busiest commuter railroad network.
The labor action threatens to paralyze the Long Island Rail Road, a critical transportation artery spanning the New York City-to-Long Island corridor and linking Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens with Nassau and Suffolk counties.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen (BLET), which endorsed former left-wing and failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris, said its 3,500 members who work for the LIRR went on strike early Saturday morning.
"No agreement on wage increases was reached between a coalition of five unions, including BLET, and the LIRR. In accordance with the terms of the Railway Labor Act, the coalition's 3,500 members went on strike just after midnight," BLET wrote on X.
BLET's National Vice President Kevin Sexton was quoted by AP News as saying that negotiations between the union and the LIRR have collapsed.
"We're far apart at this point," Sexton said. "We are truly sorry that we are in this situation."
MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said LIRR "gave the union everything they said they wanted in terms of pay," and that to him it was apparent the unions always intended to walk out.
In fact, we detailed in August 2025 a comprehensive "Color Revolution: A Strategic Assessment (2025-2028)," outlining how left-wing unions and NGOs were planning "coordinated, targeted, and nonviolent strategic action such as national strikes and boycotts, large-scale disruption to economic activity and civil society, and other forms of mass political defiance designed to damage a government's legitimacy, authority, and capacity."
The rail strike threatens major disruption for roughly 270,000 daily riders and could cost the region an estimated $61 million in lost economic activity per day.
The labor action will likely backfire because LIRR riders are mostly middle-class, and the shutdown of the transportation network will hurt working households the most.
Limited shuttle bus service is planned beginning Monday, but capacity will cover only a fraction of normal ridership.
This is the first strike on the LIRR since 1994, and the timing could not be worse, as commuting across the service area will be a nightmare come Monday morning. This is also unfolding in a state controlled by unhinged Democrats, alongside a socialist mayor in NYC.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 05/16/2026 - 11:05
Samsung, South Korean Union Resume Talks As Strike Threat Risks Disrupting Memory Chip Fabs
Heavy selling swept across Asian markets on Friday, with South Korea's benchmark KOSPI plunging 6% as traders aggressively reduced exposure to the country's semiconductor sector. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix led the decline. The catalyst for the sell-off was labor action risk headlines at Samsung, where the company's union threatened a strike that could disrupt production lines at the world's largest memory chip manufacturer.
By Saturday morning, there was a major sigh of relief: Samsung and its labor union would resume government-mediated pay talks on Monday, according to a Reuters report.
The union released a statement earlier explaining that Samsung had replaced its negotiation team, and both sides would meet later Saturday for separate meetings ahead of Monday.
Chairman Jay Y. Lee issued a public apology over the labor dispute, alongside Samsung's decision to replace its lead negotiator:
"I sincerely apologize to customers around the world for causing anxiety and concern due to issues within our company," Lee said, telling reporters that he also "deeply bows in apology to the public."
South Korean officials, including the labor minister, prime minister, and finance minister, have urged both the union and Samsung to resolve their labor issues, as a strike could threaten production lines for some of the world's most advanced memory chips, which are critical for AI data center buildouts.
The collapse in talks on Friday sparked a sharp decline in the KOSPI, ending weeks of gains. It also comes as the world is suffering from a deepening memory supply crunch (read here).
Shares of Samsung in South Korea closed down 6.66%.
However, Taiwan-based market intelligence and research firm TrendForce wrote on X:
Samsung's strike is set to formally begin on May 21. Because the company's semiconductor fabs are already highly automated, the impact on production is expected to be limited.
However, there will likely be noticeable disruptions to packaging and logistics, R&D and design, and customer relations. In terms of unionization, about half of all employees across the Samsung Group are union members, most of whom work in the semiconductor division. Internally, management has already extended an olive branch to the DRAM division, but has not yet reached an agreement with union members in the Foundry and LSI divisions.
Given that memory is a critical component of data center buildouts, why would the union suddenly feel compelled to risk seizing up memory-chip production lines unless there was an ulterior motive?
In the U.S., unhinged socialist Bernie Sanders has pushed a data center bill moratorium, which is very suspicious because it would only allow China to catch up to the U.S.
Separately, it is worth noting that DEI has effectively been backronymed into "Data Centers, Electricity, and Infrastructure."
Tyler Durden
Sat, 05/16/2026 - 09:55
UK Moves To Ban New North Sea Oil & Gas Licenses Permanently
Via City AM,
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The UK government will introduce legislation banning new North Sea oil and gas exploration licences as part of its Energy Independence Bill.
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Critics argue the policy will increase Britain’s reliance on imported fossil fuels while damaging Scotland’s oil and gas industry.
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Rising oil prices and disruptions tied to the Iran conflict have intensified political pressure on Labour to reconsider the ban.
The government will make it illegal to grant new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, the King said at the state opening of Parliament, in a sign ministers are refusing to buckle in the face of a barrage of criticism that the policy is depriving the UK of billions of pounds in tax receipts without helping the environment.
As part of an Energy Independence Bill announced in the King’s Speech, the government will bake into law its pre-election pledge not to explore new oil and gas fields in a bid to “take control of our energy security”.
In its 2024 manifesto, the Labour Party made a ban on all new exploration and drilling licences in the North Sea a key pillar of its promise to turn Britain into a “clean energy superpower” by 2030.
But since entering government, the party has come under growing pressure to renege on the promise, with critics arguing it strangles one of Scotland’s most vibrant industries and fails to improve the UK’s environmental footprint.
Backlash against ‘deluded’ North Sea policy
Oil and gas still accounts for three-quarters of the UK’s energy mix. And the majority of those fossil fuels are now shipped in from abroad, meaning other economies benefit from the job creation and tax receipts that are derived from the lucrative drilling and refining processes.
Calls for the ministers to rethink the ban have grown louder since the outbreak of war in Iran led the price of crude oil to nearly double in a month.
Last week, Norway, which drills for oil in the same area of the North Sea as Britain, approved plans to reopen three gasfields that had been shut for decades to help sate the global demand for fossil fuels caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane.
Two of Labour’s main political opponents – Reform UK and the Conservatives – have both vowed to overturn the ban, in a move they say would help increase the UK’s tax take and inoculate it from any acute supply shocks.
The ban, which the government claims will help Britain off the “roller-coaster of fossil fuel markets”, has also drawn criticism from the US’s ambassador to the UK, who has used multiple interviews to urge Britain to make more of its reserves.
Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho accused her opposite number Ed Miliband of being “utterly deluded” for seeking to put the ban into the statute book.
“He is not making us more independent. He is making us more reliant on foreign imports,” she said.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 05/16/2026 - 09:20
Pentagon 'Blindsided' As Hegseth Pulls Plug On 4,000-Troop Deployment To Poland
President Trump's earlier previewed controversial troop cuts for the European continent may already be in progress, and could happen more rapidly than previously thought.
The US Army has canceled the deployment of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division to Poland, NBC reports this week. The deployment would have involved over 4,000 soldiers as well as military equipment.
Getty Images
Various reports say that top Pentagon staff were 'blindsided' by what is being characterized as War Secretary Pete Hegseth's sudden U-turn on the plan to send troops to Poland, amid Trump anger at Europe.
Politico says that troops and equipment had actually started arriving in the country:
The decision was even more surprising because troops and equipment had already started to arrive in the country. It sent fresh waves of anxiety through European capitals and inside the Pentagon on Thursday about whether such moves could embolden Russia — and which ally might turn into the next target.
“We had no idea this was coming,” said one of the U.S. officials, adding that European and American officials have spent the last 24 hours on the phone trying to understand the decision and figure out if more surprises are coming.
Some of this surprise and frustration was echoed in public, with Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, the former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe, stating that the Army’s role in Europe "is all about deterring the Russians, protecting America’s strategic interests and assuring allies."
But it remains that "now a very important asset that was coming to be part of that deterrence is gone." He added: "The Poles certainly have never criticized President Trump, and they do all the things that good allies are supposed to do. And yet, this happens."
There was no command announcement, with some troops learning of the deployment cancelation by text among their friends and members of their unit.
As for Trump's plan to reduce the US presence in Germany by 5,000, this is expected to take many months - possibly over a period of six months to a year.
The large US presence hearkens back to the post WWII division of Germany and post-war order, and is also a legacy of the Cold War. Ironically at this very moment European leaders have hyped a 'new Cold War' with Russia, as the Ukraine war continues raging.
"The officials characterized the move as a signal of President Trump's discontent with the level of assistance that European allies have offered in the U.S.-Iran war," CBS has noted previously.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 05/16/2026 - 08:45
41% Of Muslim Youth In Vienna Believe Their Religious Laws Take Precedence
Via Remix News,
A recent study conducted on behalf of the city of Vienna highlights a concerning trend among young Muslims regarding their religious and political views. This follows the recent announcement that Muslim children now comprise nearly 41 percent of the population in Vienna’s compulsory schools, making them the largest religious group.
The study, published on May 12, 2026, was led by Kenan Güngör. He classifies the results as “very worrying,” noting that religion occupies a much larger space in the lives of Muslim youth compared to their peers.
One of the most significant findings involves the hierarchy of legal and religious authority.
Forty-one percent of Muslim youth agree with the statement that their religious laws take precedence over the laws in Austria, compared to 21 percent of Christian youth, as reported in Austrian news outlet Der Standard.
Furthermore, 46 percent of Muslim respondents believe that one must be prepared to “fight and die in defense of one’s faith,” a view shared by 24 percent of Christians.
Specifically, 73 percent of Shiite and 68 percent of Sunni Muslims identify as religious, while only 41 percent of Catholic and 38 percent of Orthodox Christian youth say the same.
The study also delves into social and everyday religious expectations, showing that 36 percent of Muslim youth believe that all people should follow the rules of their religion, and more than half believe Muslim women should wear headscarves in public.
Additionally, 65 percent say Islamic regulations apply to all areas of everyday life and must be strictly observed. Regarding these figures, Güngör speaks of social pressure within these communities.
Views on governance and social equality also show a distinct divide. While 82 percent of Austrians view democracy as the best form of government, support drops to 47 percent for Syrians, 50 percent for Chechens, and 61 percent for Afghans.
Conservative gender roles are also prevalent among these groups, where almost half think men should make important decisions and a quarter do not want a woman as a boss. Only around a third consider homosexuality to be okay.
The research, which surveyed 1,200 individuals between the ages of 14 and 21 across 10 different ethnic backgrounds, indicates that a third of Muslim youth have become more religious recently. Their identity is shaped much more by religion than for Christians, manifesting in higher rates of praying, fasting, and mosque attendance.
However, the study authors state that religion alone was not the only factor. They suggest that lower education levels, authoritarian upbringing, social isolation, and the influence of radical content on the internet also play a role in shaping these perspectives.
Austria is not the only European country dealing with the troubling views seen within a worrying number of Muslims. In Germany and France, a majority of young Muslims also put their religion above the laws of the state, as two recent studies illustrate (here and here).
The contrasting belief systems have also led to tension. For example, a majority of Germans now believe that the country should generally stop taking in more Muslim immigrants.
Read more here...
Tyler Durden
Sat, 05/16/2026 - 08:10
Turkey Proposes $1.2B Fuel Pipeline To Reboot NATO's Eastern Flank Logistics
Just when it seemed as if the European energy landscape couldn't get any more fractured, Ankara is stepping up with a massive, off-grid proposal. Bloomberg reports Friday that Turkey has "proposed building a $1.2 billion (€1 billion) fuel pipeline for military use to help meet the energy needs of allies on NATO's eastern European flank, according to people familiar with the matter."
"Following a push by the alliance to expand its military pipeline network, Ankara is proposing that the new link be built from Turkey to Romania via Bulgaria, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity," the report adds.
Source: Envato
Insiders claim the Turkish route could cost a mere one-fifth of the alternative proposals, amid several alternative routes being floated of late, specifically via Greece or Romania’s western neighbors.
Officials told Bloomberg that Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and the escalating chaos in the Middle East - including recent supply shocks from the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz - have forced NATO to realize its current fuel supply model is dangerously brittle.
The timing of the quiet proposal comes ahead of the highly anticipated 2026 NATO Summit which will be held in Ankara on July 7-8. It will mark on the second time that Turkey has hosted the alliance's major annual summit.
Sources explicitly stated that this pipeline will be 100% restricted to military use. Exact capacity, flow rates, and technical specifications are being kept strictly classified, with no official statement out of Turkey's defense ministry.
More broadly, Turkey has long been seen as central to reducing Europe's dependence on Russian energy, with its Eurasian geography - and the fact that it has the second largest military in NATO - being key.
Turkish media and experts have been busy hyping Turkey's role in reshaping the alliance, including at an event this week in Washington:
The event, titled "The Turkish-American Alliance at the Heart of NATO's New Geopolitics," was organized by Türkiye's Directorate of Communications and the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) and moderated by Kadir Üstün, executive director of SETA in Washington.
The panel came ahead of the 2026 NATO summit scheduled for July 7-8 in Ankara, marking the second time that Türkiye will host a NATO summit following Istanbul in 2004. Communications Director Burhanettin Duran delivered a video message at the beginning of the panel. "In our 74-year journey with NATO, we have faced many challenges and difficulties. Each time, in keeping with the principle of mutual loyalty, we have managed to overcome these tests," Duran said.
He added: "With its geostrategic position, military capacity and deterrence capabilities, our country has been an indispensable central state in NATO's collective defense architecture and a geopolitical balancing factor from the Cold War to the present day."
And of course, related to this and high on the agenda will be utilizing Turkey's strategic location and ability to provide alternative energy routes which increasingly cut out Russia's ability to influence Europe's energy policy.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 05/16/2026 - 07:35
Peter Schiff: Printing Money Is Not the Cure for Cononavirus
In his most recent podcast, Peter Schiff talked about coronavirus and the impact that it is having on the markets.
Earlier this month, Peter said he thought the virus was just an excuse for stock market woes. At the time he believed the market was poised to fall anyway. But as it turns out, coronavirus has actually helped the US stock market because it has led central banks to pump even more liquidity into the world financial system.
All this means more liquidity — central banks easing. In fact, that is exactly what has already happened, except the new easing is taking place, for now, outside the United States, particularly in China.”
Although the new money is primarily being created in China, it is flowing into dollars — the dollar index is up — and into US stocks. Last week, US stock markets once again made all-time record highs.
In fact, I think but for the coronavirus, the US stock market would still be selling off. But because of the central bank stimulus that has been the result of fears over the coronavirus, that actually benefitted not only the US dollar, but the US stock market.”
In the midst of all this, Peter raises a really good question.
The primary economic concern is that coronavirus will slow down output and ultimately stunt economic growth. Practically speaking, the world would produce less stuff. If the virus continues to spread, there would be fewer goods and services produced in a market that is hunkered down.
Why would the Federal Reserve respond, or why would any central bank respond to that by printing money? How does printing more money solve that problem? It doesn’t. In fact, it actually exacerbates it. But you know, everybody looks at central bankers as if they’ve got the solution to every problem. They don’t. They don’t have the magic wand. They just have a printing press. And all that creates is inflation.”
Sometimes the illusion inflation creates can look like a magic wand. Printing money can paper over problems. But none of this is going to fundamentally fix the economy.
In fact, if central bankers were really going to do the right thing, the appropriate response would be to drain liquidity from the markets, not supply even more.”
Peter explained how the Fed was originally intended to create an “elastic” money supply that would expand or contract along with economic output. Today, the money supply only goes in one direction — that’s up.
The economy is strong, print money. The economy is weak, print even more money.”
Of course, the asset that’s doing the best right now is gold. The yellow metal pushed above $1,600 yesterday. Gold is up 5.5% on the year in dollar terms and has set record highs in other currencies.
Because gold is rising even in an environment where the dollar is strengthening against other fiat currencies, that shows you that there is an underlying weakness in the dollar that is right now not being reflected in the Forex markets, but is being reflected in the gold markets. Because after all, why are people buying gold more aggressively than they’re buying dollars or more aggressively than they’re buying US Treasuries? Because they know that things are not as good for the dollar or the US economy as everybody likes to believe. So, more people are seeking out refuge in a better safe-haven and that is gold.”
Peter also talked about the debate between Trump and Obama over who gets credit for the booming economy – which of course, is not booming.
We are living in crazy times. I have a hard time believing that most of the general public is not awake, but in reality, they are.
We've never seen anything like this; I mean not even under Obama during the worst part of the Great Recession."
Now the Fed is desperately trying to keep interest rates from rising. The problem is that it's a much bigger debt bubble this time around , and the Fed is going to have to blow a lot more air into it to keep it inflated.
The difference is this time it's not going to work."
It looks like the Fed did another $104.15 billion of Not Q.E. in a single day. The Fed claims it's only temporary. But that is precisely what Bernanke claimed when the Fed started QE1. Milton Freedman once said, "Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program." The same applies to Q.E., or whatever the Fed wants to pretend it's doing. Except this is not QE4, according to Powell. Right. Pumping so much money out, and they are accusing China of currency manipulation ? Wow! Seriously! Amazing!
Dump the U.S. dollar while you still have a chance.
Welcome to The Atlantis Report.
And it is even worse than that, In addition to the $104.15 billion of "Not Q.E." this past Thursday; the FED added another $56.65 billion in liquidity to financial markets the next day on Friday.
That's $160.8 billion in two days!!!! in just 48 hours.
That is more than 2 TIMES the highest amount the FED has ever injected on a monthly basis under a Q.E. program (which was $80 billion per month)
Since this isn't QE....it will be really scary on what they are going to call Q.E. Will it twice, three times, four times, five times what this injection per month
! It is going to be explosive since it takes about 60 to 90 days for prices to react to this, January should see significant inflation as prices soak up the excess liquidity. The question is, where will the inflation occur first
. The spike in the repo rate might have a technical explanation: a misjudgment was made in the Fed's money market operations. Even so, two conclusions can be drawn: managing the money markets is becoming harder, and from now on, banks will be studying each other's creditworthiness to a greater degree than before.
Those people, who struggle with the minutiae of money markets, and that includes most professionals, should focus on the causes and not the symptoms. Financial markets have recovered from each downturn since 1980 because interest rates have been cut to new lows. Post-2008, they were cut to near zero or below zero in all major economies. In response to a new financial crisis, they cannot go any lower. Central banks will look for new ways to replicate or broaden Q.E. (At some point, governments will simply see repression as an easier option).
Then there is the problem of 'risk-free' assets becoming risky assets. Financial markets assume that the probability of major governments such as the U.S. or U.K. defaulting is zero. These governments are entering the next downturn with debt roughly twice the levels proportionate to GDP that was seen in 2008.
The belief that the policy worked was completely predicated on the fact that it was temporary and that it was reversible, that the Fed was going to be able to normalize interest rates and shrink its balance sheet back down to pre-crisis levels. Well, when the balance sheet is five-trillion, six-trillion, seven-trillion when we're back at zero, when we're back in a recession, nobody is going to believe it is temporary. Nobody is going to believe that the Fed has this under control, that they can reverse this policy. And the dollar is going to crash. And when the dollar crashes, it's going to take the bond market with it, and we're going to have stagflation. We're going to have a deep recession with rising interest rates, and this whole thing is going to come imploding down.
everything is temporary with the fed including remaining off the gold standard temporary in the Fed's eyes could mean at least 50 years
This liquidity problem is a signal that trading desks are loaded up on inventory and can't get rid of it. Repo is done out of a need for cash. If you own all of your securities (i.e., a long-only, no leverage mutual fund) you have no need to "repo" your securities - you're earning interest every night so why would you want to 'repo' your securities where you are paying interest for that overnight loan (securities lending is another animal). So, it is those that 'lever-up' and need the cash for settlement purposes on securities they've bought with borrowed money that needs to utilize the repo desk.
With this in mind, as we continue to see this need to obtain cash (again, needed to settle other securities purchases), it shows these firms don't have the capital to add more inventory to, what appears to be, a bloated inventory. Now comes the fun part: the Treasury is about to auction 3's, 10's, and 30-year bonds. If I am correct (again, I could be wrong), the Fed realizes securities firms don't have the shelf space to take down a good portion of these auctions. If there isn't enough retail/institutional demand, it will lead to not only a crappy sale but major concerns to the street that there is now no backstop, at all, to any sell-off. At which point, everyone will want to be the first one through the door and sell immediately, but to whom?
If there isn't enough liquidity in the repo market to finance their positions, the firms would be unable to increase their inventory. We all saw repo shut down on the 2008 crisis. Wall St runs on money. . OVERNIGHT money. They lever up to inventory securities for trading. If they can't get overnight money, they can't purchase securities. And if they can't unload what they have, it means the buy-side isn't taking on more either.
Accounts settle overnight. This includes things like payrolls and bill pay settlements.
If a bank doesn't have enough cash to payout what its customers need to pay out, it borrows. At least one and probably more than one banks are insolvent. That's what's going on.
First, it can't be one or two banks that are short. They'd simply call around until they found someone to lend. But they did that, and even at markedly elevated rates, still, NO ONE would lend them the money. That tells me that it's not a problem of a couple of borrowers, it's a problem of no lenders. And that means that there's no bank in the world left with any real liquidity. They are ALL maxed out.
But as bad as that is, and that alone could be catastrophic, what it really signals is even worse. The lending rates are just the flip side of the coin of the value of the assets lent against. If the rates go up, the value goes down. And with rates spiking to 10%, how far does the value fall? Enormously! And if banks had to actually mark down the value of the assets to reflect 10% interest rates, then my god, every bank in the world is insolvent overnight. Everyone's capital ratios are in the toilet, and they'd have to liquidate. We're talking about the simultaneous insolvency of every bank on the planet. Bank runs. No money in ATMs, Branches closed. Safe deposit boxes confiscated. The whole nine yards, It's actually here. The scenario has tended to guide toward for years and years is actually happening RIGHT NOW! And people are still trying to say it's under control. Every bank in the world is currently insolvent. The only thing keeping it going is printing billions of dollars every day. Financial Armageddon isn't some far off future risk. It's here. Prepare accordingly.
This fiat system has reached the end of the line, and it's not correct that fiat currencies fail by design. The problem is corruption and manipulation. It is corruption and cheating that erodes trust and faith until the entire system becomes a gigantic fraud. Banks and governments everywhere ARE the problem and simply have to be removed. They have lost all trust and respect, and all they have left is war and mayhem. As long as we continue to have a majority of braindead asleep imbeciles following orders from these psychopaths, nothing will change.
Fiat currency is not just thievery. Fiat currency is SLAVERY.
Ultimately the most harmful effect of using debt of undefined value as money (i.e., fiat currencies) is the de facto legalization of a caste system based on voluntary slavery.
The bankers have a charter, or the legal *right*, to create money out of nothing.
You, you don't. Therefore you and the bankers do not have the same standing before the law. The law of the land says that you will go to jail if you do the same thing (creating money out of thin air) that the banker does in full legality.
You and the banker are not equal before the law. ALL the countries of the world; Islamic or secular, Jewish or Arab, democracy or dictatorship; all of them place the bankers ABOVE you.
And all of you accept that only whining about fiat money going down in exchange value over time (price inflation which is not the same as monetary inflation). Actually, price inflation itself is mainly due to the greed and stupidity of the bankers who could keep fiat money's exchange value reasonably stable, only if they wanted to.
Witness the crash of silver and gold prices which the bankers of the world; Russian, American, Chinese, Jewish, Indian, Arab, all of them collaborated to engineer through the suppression and stagnation of precious metals' prices to levels around the metals' production costs, or what it costs to dig gold and silver out of the ground.
The bankers of the world could also collaborate to keep nominal prices steady (as they do in the case of the suppression of precious metals prices). After all, the ability to create fiat money and force its usage is a far more excellent source of power and wealth than that which is afforded simply by stealing it through inflation. The bankers' greed and stupidity blind them to this fact. They want it all, and they want it now.
In conclusion,
The bankers can create money out of nothing and buy your goods and services with this worthless fiat money, effectively for free. You, you can't.
You, you have to lead miserable existences for the most of you and WORK in order to obtain that effectively nonexistent, worthless credit money (whose purchasing/exchange value is not even DEFINED thus rendering all contracts based on the null and void!) that the banker effortlessly creates out of thin air with a few strokes of the computer keyboard, and which he doesn't even bother to print on paper anymore, electing to keep it in its pure quantum uncertain form instead, as electrons whizzing about inside computer chips which will become mute and turn silent refusing to tell you how many fiat dollars or euros there are in which account, in the absence of electricity. No electricity, no fiat, nor crypto money.
It would appear that trust is deteriorating as it did when Lehman blew up .
Something really big happened that set off this chain reaction in the repo markets. Whatever that something is, we aren't be informed. They're trying to cover it up, paper it over with conjured cash injections, play it cool in front of the cameras while sweating profusely under the 5 thousands dollar suits. I'm guessing that the final high-speed plunge into global economic collapse has begun. All we see here is the ripples and whitewater churning the surface, but beneath the surface, there is an enormous beast thrashing desperately in its death throws. Now is probably the time to start tying up loose ends with the long-running prep projects, just saying. In other words, prepare accordingly, and
Get your money out of the banks. I don't care if you don't believe me about Bitcoin. Get your money out of the banks. Don't keep any more money in a bank than you need to pay your bills and can afford to lose.
The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free investigative journalists , researchers , Whistelblowers , truthers and many more
The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free investigative journalists , researchers , Whistelblowers , truthers and many more
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