BlackMask Breaking News

 

May 25 (UPI) — The United States on Wednesday sanctioned a sprawling international oil smuggling and money laundering network that the Biden administration said is led by Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Qods Force and is supported by Russia. The U.S. departments of Treasury and State announced the blacklisting of 10 people from four countries and nine companies based in six nations Wednesday, describing the network as having facilitated the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil for the IRGC-QF and Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group based in Lebanon. Both groups have been U.S. designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations. The United States said the network is run by two U.S. sanctioned individuals — IRGC-QF official Behnam Shahriyari and former official Rostam Ghasemi — and that there efforts are supported by senior levels of the Russian government as well as state-run organizations. The sanctions were imposed as the Biden administration seeks to resurrect a multination nuclear accord that aimed to deny Tehran from developing an atomic weapon that former President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from in 2018. Ned Price, the State Department spokesman, told reporters during a press briefing on Wednesday that the Biden administration has been clear about its intentions of wanting to implementation the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in full but that it will not tolerate the illicit activities of the IRGC-QF or its proxies. “We’re continuing down this dual path to attempt to put these strict limits back on Iran’s nuclear program just as we push back and hold Iran accountable for its other illicit activities, but also knowing that if and when we permanently and verifiably have Iran’s nuclear program once again contained and confined, we are going to be able to take on these other challenges together with our allies and partners … much more effectively,” he said. Among those sanctioned Wednesday include Kamaluddin Gulam Nabizada, a former Afghanistan ministry official in Moscow, who is accused of raising money for the IRGC-QF with the help of senior Russian government and intelligence officials. He was also the manager of Moscow-based RPP Limited Liability Company, which the Biden administration sanctioned on accusations of transferring millions of dollars from Russia for the IRGC-QF. Mihrab Suhrab Hamidi, the current RPP LLC manager of oil sales and transport, was also hit with sanctions. Zamanoil DMCC, a company based in the United Arab Emirates, was also blacklisted for working to ship Iranian oil to Europe with the Russian government and state-owned Rosneft, which was previously sanctioned by the United States. Several Iran-based individuals were targeted for being facilitators for the IRGC-QF as well as as several Turkey-based individuals and companies, including one in South Korea, that the Treasury accused of acting as a money laundering network for the espionage arm of the Iran military. A Hezbollah front company in Lebanon was also sanctioned as were several Chinese companies accused of being involved in the sale and purchase of tens of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil. The sanctions came less than a week after the Treasury sanctioned a Lebanese businessman and his network of associates and companies on accusations he uses it to fund Hezbollah. “While the United States continues to seek a mutual return to full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, we will strictly enforce sanctions on Iran’s illicit oil trade,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. “We will not hesitate to target those who provide critical support for the IRGC and Hezbollah and facilitate their access to the international financial system.” NN: The bureaucrats are buying their own bullshit. When have sanctions ever stopped anyone from anything. If people want food they will get food, if people want oil they will get oil and if people want drugs they will get drugs. The only question is quantity and price……

Iran’s foreign minister said on Thursday that NATO’s “provocative activities” are to blame for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, adding that Tehran does not view war as a solution. “NATO’s aggressive measures are at the basis of the Ukraine problem. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, whose nation has close connections with Russia, remarked on Twitter, “We do not see turning to war as a solution.” “It’s critical to establish a truce and work on a political and democratic solution,” Amir-Abdollahian remarked. In his tweet, he made no mention of Russia. Russian military invaded Ukraine by land, air, and water. Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin “has started a war with Ukraine and the whole democratic world.” Putin, Zelenskyy claimed, “wants to destroy our state, all we’ve built.” NN: From a Russian respective this war is about stopping NATO aggression in the former Soviet states. Reality is NATO pledged not to place Nukes, Rockets, SAM batteries near the border of Russia. That agreement was not honored.  Russia’s calculation is NATO is a toothless tiger. And he owns there energy supplies therefore he owns them. He is winning the war. Militarily and economically despite CNN US state department spin…

Oil prices rose on Thursday, extending a cautious rally this week on signs of tight supply while the European Union (EU) wrangles with Hungary over plans to ban imports from Russia, the world’s second-largest crude exporter, after it invaded Ukraine.

Federal Reserve officials are seeing increasing inflation risks due to coronavirus-related supply issues and higher energy prices, according to the highlights from the May meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee published on Wednesday.

The implications of the Russian invasion on Ukraine for the United States economy remain uncertain, the report added, arguing COVID-19 lockdowns across China have contributed to issues with global supply chains.

Most officials backed the 50 basis point increases in Fed interest rates at the upcoming FOMC meetings, noting a more “restrictive policy” could become appropriate. Many voting FOMC members saw the Fed as “well-positioned” for a post-tightening later this year. All participants at the Federal Reserve’s May 3-4 policy meeting backed a half-percentage-point rate increase to combat inflation they agreed had become a key threat to the economy’s performance and was at risk of racing higher without central bank action, newly released minutes of the session showed. The 50-basis-point rate increase this month was the first of that size in more than 20 years, and has set the Fed on course for a quick tightening of monetary policy, with “most participants” judging that further half-percentage-point increases would “likely be appropriate” at upcoming Fed sessions in June and July, according to the minutes, which were released on Wednesday.

A cryptic tweet from “Big Short” investor Michael Burry is adding to the grim mood on a day when markets are sliding and there are signs that the US housing boom is slowing down.

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It’s not clear exactly what Burry , who runs Scion Asset Management, meant. Twitter users urged him to specify what he believed would catalyze another financial collapse on the magnitude of the 2008 crisis. Burry — whose bet against the housing market before the 2008 financial crisis was immortalized in Michael Lewis’s book “The Big Short” —  is no stranger to drawing attention on Twitter, though he has a habit of deleting his posts. He warned retail traders about a year ago that the “mother of all crashes” was coming. His cryptic comment on Tuesday came as the S&P 500 has posted seven straight weekly declines, the worst losing streak since 2001. Government data also showed that sales of new homes had plummeted April, with high prices and a steep climb in mortgage rates appearing to cool a market that has been running hot for two years. NN: I have no doubt in my mind that the mother of all crashes is dead ahead. Its all a matter of TC… What is TC you might ask. Its the boogies men of all traders. Successful ones can cages these monsters know they can eventually escape and have to be caged and tamed again and again. Its Timing and Cash. You have got to do something very hard for humans to do and that is pick your entry spots. The next is balancing your leverage to your cash. Another very difficult thing to do. Now our beloved CFD’s are a great equalizer. But to be clear here 80% of GAMBLERS  in CFD’s lose money. And we will probable be among the losing masses…

Hedge funds globally are bracing for nearly $20 billion of investor redemptions for the rest of 2022, even after seeing a net inflow in the first quarter, according to a report from Citco Group Ltd. Investors are already scheduled to withdraw $13.5 billion from the industry in the current quarter and another $6.3 billion the rest of the year, said the fund administrator. While the numbers are smaller than the first-quarter redemptions of almost $39 billion, they can change significantly in either direction, depending on fund terms and investor actions. NN/; the only thing bigger then their redemptions are their losses….. So much for algoes and AI……

The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a small build this week for crude oil of 567,000 barrels. The draw comes even as the Department of Energy released 6 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves in Week Ending May 20.

U.S. crude inventories have shed some 75 million barrels since the start of 2021 and about 18 million barrels since the start of 2020, according to API data.

In the week prior, the API reported a draw in crude oil inventories of 2.445 million barrels after analysts had predicted a build of 1.533 million barrels. Oil prices had a modicum of calm on Tuesday, with WTI trading flat with 0% movement from Monday at $110.30 per barrel on the day at 11:21 a.m. ET—down roughly $4.50 per barrel on the week. Brent crude was trading up 0.20% on the day at $113.70—and down nearly $1 per barrel on the week, with the spread between the two benchmarks now completely evaporated. U.S. crude oil production rose to 11.9 million bpd in the week ending May 13. Crude production in the United States is down 1.2 million barrels per day from pre-pandemic times. This week, the API reported a large draw in gasoline inventories of 4.223 million barrels for the week ending May 20—on top of the previous week’s 5.102-million-barrel draw. Distillate stocks also saw a draw in inventory, of 949,000 barrels for the week compared to last week’s 1.075-million-barrel increase. Cushing saw a 731,000-barrel draw this week. Cushing inventories crashed to 25.839 million barrels in the week prior, as of May 13, according to EIA data—down from 59.2 million barrels at the start of 2021, and down from 37.3 million barrels at the end of 2021. NN: Is their any doubt in your mind their is a energy crises? Its tradable… We want to own oil at the right timing point. I believe we will see $150 and maybe even $200 OIL. This will be driven by the war. And i do not see any deescalation….. Oh by the way Putin is winning……. Because he is the sharpest tool in the box. (not hard to do when you consider the fucking idiots leading the worlds major democracy.

Billionaire George Soros warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has rattled Europe and could be the start of another world war. “Other issues that concern all of humanity — fighting pandemics and climate change, avoiding nuclear war, maintaining global institutions — have had to take a back seat to that struggle,” Soros, 91, said Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “That’s why I say our civilization may not survive.” Soros noted that the conflict “has shaken Europe to its core,” underlining that the European Union was designed to prevent such a thing from occurring. He emphasized that even when the conflict ends, the situation in Europe will never revert to what it was before. The billionaire warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin may not wait for the EU to develop alternative sources of energy before halting gas supplies to the region.”The best and perhaps the only way to preserve our civilization is to defeat Putin as soon as possible,” said Soros. In addition to that, he accused Chinese President Xi Jinping of knowing Putin’s plans for the “special military operation” in Ukraine, noting that both leaders rule by “intimidation.” NN: even though Wl Street wants the lemmings to buy the dip….. truth is its the worst time ever to own stocks…