BlackMask Breaking News

White House says Russia is planning to annex MORE of Ukraine by installing more proxy officials, making the ruble currency and forcing residents to apply for citizenship

The White House warned on Tuesday that Russia is preparing to annex more Ukrainian territory as the war enters its sixth month. ‘Russia is laying the groundwork to annex Ukrainian territory that it controls in direct violation of Ukraine sovereignty,’ National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said at the daily White House press briefing. He said Russia is trying to install proxy officials in areas of Ukraine it already controls. ‘We know their next moves. First, these proxy officials will arrange sham referendum and joining Russia then, Russia will use those sham referenda as a basis to try to claim annexation of sovereign Ukrainian territory,’ he said. He went on to say the Russian officials will force Ukrainians to apply for Russian citizenships and passports, to use the ruble as its currency, and to sabotage civilian internet access. ‘We will never recognize any purportedly annex territories belonging to Russia,’ Kirby said. Kirby also said the White House is expected to announce more military aid for Ukraine later this week. The aid is expected to include more High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, a critical weapon Ukrainian forces have been using with success in their fight to repel Russian troops.  The words of warning came the same day Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska visited the White House. President Joe Biden joined first lady Jill Biden in greeting her. The president carried a bouquet of yellow, sunflowers, blue hydrangeas, and white orchids that he gave to Zelenska. Blue and yellow are the national colors of the Ukraine. Jill Biden gave her Ukrainian counterpart a hug. Zelenska is on a tour of Washington D.C., to bring attention to Ukrainian humantarian issues and was not accompanied by her husband, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. She met with Secretary of State Tony Blinken on Monday and will address members of Congress on Wednesday. Zelenska was escorted by Ukraine’s Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova. The four posed for a photo before going inside.  Biden put his arm around Zelenska to escort her inside the White House. Zelenksa is making a private visit to Washington D.C. to highlight the human cost of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russian missiles struck cities and villages in eastern and southern Ukraine, hitting homes, a school and a community center on Tuesday as Russian President Vladimir Putin won strong support support from Iran for his country’s military operation. On the political front, Putin visited Tehran, where Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said the West opposes an ‘independent and strong’ Russia. Khamenei said that if Russia hadn´t sent troops into Ukraine, it would have faced an attack from NATO later, echoing Putin´s own rhetoric and reflecting increasingly close ties between Moscow and Tehran as they both face severe Western sanctions. NATO allies have bolstered their military presence in Eastern Europe and provided Ukraine with weapons to help counter the Russian attack. Putin and other officials at the Tehran meetings said little new about negotiations to unblock Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea.NN: Reality is Russia is winning. It is madness to suggest Ukraine has any chance of surviving without NATO troops on the ground. As we have continuously commented for the past 8 years Putin will slice and dice the Ukraine and eat her. As long as the world embraces assign energy policies that make Russia energy critical to the wolrd economy Putin get the win.

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Sacaramucci Predicts in the video below Bitcoin will hit $500,000 instead it wiped out his fund

Anthony Scaramucci’s Skybridge Capital suspended redemptions in one of its funds after sharp declines in stocks and cryptocurrencies, according to people familiar with the decision.  The Legion Strategies fund suspended redemptions because private companies, which are harder to sell, now make up about 20% of the portfolio, one of the people said. The fund is one of Skybridge’s smaller offerings, farming out most of its roughly $230 million of assets to hedge fund managers. FTX, the crypto exchange co-founded by billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, is among the fund’s private investments.  Scaramucci — who returned to money management after spending 11 days in the White House as the Trump administration’s communications director — made a big push into crypto, a move that has hurt Skybridge’s performance this year. An index of the 100 largest digital assets has tumbled 56% in 2022.   The Legion Strategies fund gained exposure to digital assets through other funds managed by Skybridge, including vehicles focused on Bitcoin, Ethereum and Algorand, according to a regulatory filing. As of Feb. 28, almost a quarter of Legion’s net assets were invested in such fund.  Skybridge runs a larger fund-of-funds, the Multi-Adviser Hedge Fund Portfolios, which managed about $2 billion as of March 31, according to a separate filing. That fund fell about 5.5% for the year through March 31. Redemptions for that fund are made through a tender offer by Skybridge. The firm told clients it will buy back 10% of the fund’s shares at the end of September, the next time investors are allowed to pull money, one of the people said. A representative for New York-based Skybridge didn’t reply to messages seeking comment.

The International Monetary Fund will cut its global economic growth outlook “substantially” in its next update, as finance chiefs grapple with a shrinking list of options to address the worsening risks. Surging food and energy prices, slowing capital flows to emerging markets, the ongoing pandemic and a slowdown in China make it “much more challenging” for policymakers, Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, the IMF’s director for strategy, policy and review, said at a Sunday panel in Bali, Indonesia. “It’s shock after shock after shock which are really hitting the global economy.”  She spoke after the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors ended their meeting on Saturday without reaching a communique, underlining the difficulty in coordinating a global response to surging inflation and recessionary fears.

Uncertainty is dominating the oil market this week, with recession fears being countered by physical tightness and growing supply risks. This week’s seesawing was in large part driven by the market expecting a 100 basis point hike, sending all global crude benchmarks crashing down to double digits, however as soon as the US Federal Reserve opted for a more modest 75 bps hike, ICE Brent bounced back to $102 per barrel. Following the recent hedge fund sell-off, it seems that there is still no consensus on the main driving trend in the markets – fears of economic recession are just as strong as the feeling of immediate physical tightness.  After President Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia senior US officials have confirmed that Washington is not expecting Riyadh to boost crude production immediately, lifting crude prices by $2/barrel in Friday’s trading. NN: Speaking of getting a bead on oil prices. I see jawboning pushing oil lower for now. Once oil gets into the eighties i am a buyer. I see this winter playing hell on world energy markets. With the crack spread at $50 pump price for gasoline are at $150 barrel oil equivalent. This will moderate for now. Realty is their is no spare oil anywhere in the world. And the idiots from the clown car that are global leaders are still clowning around. Coming sanctions on Russian oil will drive prices this time to $200 oil. Recession no recession people still have got to drive to work and heat their homes.

Prices of oil futures dropped in overnight trade while supply concerns fueled market uncertainty the previous week. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia announced that the country plans to increase oil production to 13 million barrels per day. Previously, Saudi Arabia stated that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its partners will continue to assess market conditions and take appropriate action. Meanwhile, rising cases of positive COVID-19 patients in China prompt concerns about nationwide lockdowns, seemingly reducing demand in the world’s biggest consumer.West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for deliveries in August fell by 1.39% to go for $96.23 per barrel at 8:58 pm ET, while Brent for September settlements plummeted by 1.04%, to sell for $99.51 per barrel at the same time. NN: markets are in turmoil. Its hard to get a bead on supplies verses demand, versus inflation, versus recession. Never make a trade when you are not clear on the fundamentals. These things have a way of sorting themselves out given a little bit of time.