Ukraine And The Fed
It’s pretty much a truism for those who have been paying attention to events since the beginning of the Covid hoax that events are being driven by the Globalist agenda for world domination. Key to that agenda has been the subjugation of Russia—the world’s and Europe’s key energy, resources, and food source. Of course, Russia isn’t the only source for energy, minerals and food, but it’s location at the heart of the Eurasian landmass give Russia a strategic importance second to none.
The strategy for subjugating Russia never relied on a military defeat for Russia in Ukraine. The strategy was to use Ukraine to provoke Russia and thus to provide the collective West—with the US as the military backup—with an excuse for launching an all out economic war on Russia, to collapse the Russian economy and oust the Globalists’ bête noire, Vladimir Putin. Giddy with the prospect of world domination, the collective West assumed this could be accomplished in short order, and thus with little harm to Western economies. Instead, farsighted Russian preparations for exactly this scenario—preparations that have been economic, financial, military, and diplomatic—have placed the economies of the collective West, and especially of Europe, already weakened by the Covid shutdown, on the edge of a precipice. The
Russian economy is surviving and, in important respects, thriving. The ruble, far from being reduced to rubble, is strong. The reduction of the Ukraine/NATO expeditionary forces proceeds apace. Putin goes from strength to strength in the diplomatic field, while Zhou falls on his face repeatedly and wide fissures appear in the supposedly unified West. Larry Johnson summarizes some of this as we await what looks like a major military turn by Russia:
WHAT IS RUSSIA PLANNING TO DO NEXT IN UKRAINE?
... evidence that implies Russia is beefing up for a new offensive ...
[Based on what General Surovikin has said publicly] the General, knowing the capability of the forces under his command and knowing the missions he and his staff are planning for them, is confident he has the means to force the surrender of Ukraine. No mention of negotiations. The word, “capitulation” is not ambiguous in its meaning.
All of this movement on the ground is taking place against developing political chaos in the West. The United States, under the leadership of the demented Joe Biden, has embarked on a foreign policy apparently designed to anger and offend ostensible allies. The Saudis find themselves being treated like lepers. ...
Instead of Biden’s national security team trying to make friends and influence others, they are pursuing a policy of pissing off friends and goading enemies. Not exactly a recipe for success. The reality is that the United States is taking actions that are likely to isolate it from other countries as global economic conditions worsen and the war in Ukraine turns increasingly sour for NATO. I suspect that Russia is including this factor in its overall planning for defeating Ukraine and neutering NATO.
This sure looks like bad news for the collective West—as if they needed more:
China has stopped sales of LNG to Europe to make sure its own households have enough gas for the winter, report says
Market Insider ^ | 10/17/22China told state-owned natural gas importers like Sinopec and CNOOC to halt LNG sales to Europe, per Bloomberg.
The order to halt resales comes as Beijing looks to protect domestic gas supplies for the winter.
China has been a crucial supplier of gas to Europe as the region faces a Russia-driven energy crisis.
...
Since the Ukraine invasion, China has been snapping up Russian fuel on the cheap, after sanctions and boycotts hit the Western market. At one point, China managed to get a 50% discount on LNG supply from Russia's Sakhalin 2 export plant.
But with European gas inventories quickly filling up and shipping costs at record highs, the appeal of the LNG resales dimmed, per Bloomberg.
...
Countries like Germany are on track to hit their winter gas inventory targets, after appealing for consumers to cut usage and scrambling to secure alternative [but much more expensive] supplies to those cut off by Russia.
Despite the optimistic sounding final paragraphy, enormous and long lasting damage has already been done. Shutting down fertilizer makers and aluminum smelters (among other facilities) as has already been done is not a short term problem. These are not facilities that operate at the flip of a switch. For example, it can take up to a year to get aluminum smelters functioning again. None of this was factored in or voted on before the rulers of the collective West went ahead with the war on Russia. Ask the man on the street about that:
But Russia just dangled this in front of the European man on the street:
Of great importance, if Tom Luongo’s Theory of Everything is correct, there are important divisions in the West on the core front—the economic front of the war on Russia. The signs of an approaching economic crisis on a global scale, for which few in the collective West have prepared, are everywhere being reported. For example:
Goldman Trader: I Said "This Reminds Me Of 2008" More Times This Week Than I Can Remember
Or the redoubtable Danielle DiMartino Booth, at some length:
Fed Sacrificing Markets & Global Economy In Crusade To Kill Inflation with Adam Taggart of Wealthion
DDB: The Fed is breaking developed economies, which is a new trick. There's no longer a question about a global recession. The only question is whether there will be a global financial crisis.
Our corporate bond market is a frickin' train wreck. That's where the leverage lives right now.
S&P To Drop To 3000, Possibly Lower? with Adam Taggart of Wealthion Part 2
Luongo himself started the day with this:
Tom Luongo (Give Deflation a Chance!)
Great article on @zerohedge's favorite spread (FRA-OIS) asking serious questions about the Fed and the USTreasury. Note the shout out near the end. @DiMartinoBooth made it clear, no FED pivot unless something systemic breaks. Cue Financial False Flag.
FRA-OIS Says Powell Didn't Pivot Yet, But Yellen Sure Did
Powell has not pivoted yet despite panic on the continent and in the UK.
However, I’m most interested in any signs—and there are such signs—that Luongo’s Theory of Everything is correct: That the Fed is at war with Davos. Last night I watched a Luongo interview that gets into more of that. I’ve embedded the Twitter link, but there’s also a link you can follow for the large Youtube screen. I’ve also provided a transcript cum summary of the segment that runs from about 33:00 to 40:00, out of a total that’s a bit over 50 minutes. The transcript is of the portion that bears most directly on my interests:
First the transcript portion:
Q: They're saying it's going to be over soon. What do you think about that? What's going on with the gilts?
TL: I have my ideas and some theories about what's going on with Bank of England. I'm gonna put something out for ya. I've been saying this to my patrons and I've said this in some recent [].
Isn't it funny that since Queen Elizabeth died and Liz Truss took power that the two financial centers that are important in Europe that are not a part of the European Union, England and Switzerland, Credit Suisse, were put under attack.
Credit Suisse? Simple whisper campaign: 'Oh, they're gonna go bankrupt,' over a long holiday weekend. [Crosstalk] And then the Bank of England [BoE]. I don't believe for a moment that the run on UK gilts was anything other than a George Soros style currency operation. And Blackrock stood there--which Zerohedge wrote about--Blackrock stood there and said, 'Yup, no, were not throwing any cash into the mix, the BoE has to come in and step in.' And they blackmailed the BoE. OK.
In what follows, please note that Luongo confused and conflated two names—Mark Carney and Andrew Bailey:
On 20 December 2019, Andrew Bailey was announced as the new Governor of the Bank of England, effective from 16 March 2020. Mark Carney completed his term on 15 March 2020. Mark Carney's appointment as Governor was approved by Her Majesty the Queen on 26 November 2012. He joined the Bank on 1 July 2013.
And then Mark Bailey came out yesterday, while in Washington, probably after having spoken to the guys at the Federal Reserve--if I'm right about this. I may be wrong. He could have spoken to the Biden administration and Bailey's actually working with the European Union to destroy the Truss government. It could be one or the other. You could flip a coin. Or Mark Bailey is working with the Fed and saying, at the end of the week, 'I got news for ya Blackrock, these are your leveraged, LDI, investment programs? You guys work it out, because we're not bailing anybody out. You guys come up with the number.' And Blackrock's going, [imitates whinging sound].
For purposes of the next paragraph, recall that when Jamie Dimon testified before Congress and was challenged on what he’s done for ESG, he shot back unabashedly: “Absolutely nothing.” Then expanded on why ESG is bad for America.
Well, Blackrock's got an earnings report coming out tomorrow. Their stock is tracing a fricking bankruptcy chart. As far as I'm concerned, they're the next Lehman Brothers. They went all in on Davos and ESG and DEI and all this rotten nonsense. Congress gave them access to the Fed Funds rate, where they were buying up suburban housing here in the United States. And Blackstone. At zero percent. Who else is getting screwed by the Fed raising interest rates? Blackrock! Why? Because they can't get access to cheap money any more. All that real estate that they bought at the peak, during Covid, at incredibly overvalued prices? [Gestures downward.] Housing prices in the United States are starting to drop.
All of that on $38 billion worth of shareholder equity. Blackrock has $38 billion dollars on its balance sheet that's theirs. They control over $1 trillion dollars or whatever in funds, but that's assets under management. Those aren't their assets. They act as the proxy for the asset owners. Right? So, they put people on the boards, they exercise power, but they don't actually control the funds, because the funds can be pulled out. Now we have state pension funds all across the United States and every fricking Republican state--pulling their money out of Blackrock. Huh! I wonder who gave them that order?
Now here’s a kind of sketchy sort of summary of the rest of the segment:
Truss' plan was basically reasonable in the circumstances, which is why the run on the pound looks like a currency operation--Soros style--to take down a government.
The Fed isn't raising rates to control inflation, it's raising rates to restore its credibility as a good steward of the currency. Inflation will have to run its course. The Fed can't control supply driven inflation because that's structural.
You raise rates to stop people from buying iPhones so the money will flow to restoring supplies of hard stuff like refined petroleum products, coal, wheat, corn, aluminum, natural gas, etc.
Gas cars have a 5-year depreciation curve of 50-60%. EVs? 90%.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/10/globalist-plot-remove-liz-truss-uk-prime-minister-gathers-pace/
"You do not do this for vehicles that are going to be placed in defensive positions along the border with Ukraine. It is an additional indicator that Russia and Belarus may be planning to launch a combined operation from the north that will pose a direct threat to Kiev."
Well, maybe. But let me suggest an alternative, and no, I have no hard information to back up the following speculation.
What if the Russians used their newly beefed up forces to strike south from Belarus, but instead of aiming at heavily defended Kiev, instead severed the land lines of communication through which Western military aid has to flow? Think of the operation as a super Stalingrad. There's a big empty border, nothing much in the way of defenses, and the terrain would favor the attacker. They might have to wait for the ground to freeze first, so that their tanks could go cross country, but the cold weather is coming soon., by which time they could finish their buildup.