Oil falls prospects for Iran nuclear deal
NEW DELHI, Feb 18 (Reuters) – Oil prices extended losses on Friday, and were headed for a weekly fall, as the prospect of extra supply from Iran returning to the market eclipsed fears of a possible supply disruption arising from a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Brent crude futures fell over $2,00. 47 (WTI) crude futures shed $2,21 Both benchmark contracts hit their highest levels since September 2014 on Monday, but were headed for their first weekly fall in nine weeks amid reports of a deal taking shape to revive Iran’s 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers. Diplomats said the draft accord outlines a sequence of steps that would eventually lead to granting waivers on oil sanctions. That would bring about 1 million barrels a day of oil back to the market, but the timing is unclear. Analysts do not expect prices to fall much in the near term, even with the prospect of more Iranian oil, with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, together called OPEC+, struggling to meet their production targets. “Oil markets are vulnerable to supply disruptions given global oil stockpiles are tracking near seven‑year lows and as OPEC+ spare capacity comes into question given disappointing OPEC+ supply growth,” Commonwealth Bank (CBA) analyst Vivek Dhar said in a note. With oil demand also recovering as air travel and road traffic picks up, CBA sees Brent holding in the $90 to $100 a barrel range in the short term and topping $100 “quite easily” if tensions escalate between Russia and Ukraine. US President Joe Biden is set to host a call on Friday on the Ukraine crisis with the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Britain, the European Union and NATO, the office of Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. NN: The market has gotten way way ahead of itself. If you look at the deal (I did) It will take at least a year for Iran to meet the conditions to left the embargo and the oil to flow. Something else they forget to mention. Iran is already producing and delivering its maxim capacity on the black market…….
Russia to stage massive Nuclear drills
The Russian military has announced massive drills of its strategic forces, a stark reminder of the country’s nuclear might amid Western fears that Moscow might be preparing to invade Ukraine. the defence ministry said Russian president Vladimir Putin will personally oversee the exercise on Saturday, which will involve multiple practice launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. The ministry said it planned the manoeuvres some time ago to check the readiness of Russia’s military command and personnel, as well as the reliability of its nuclear and conventional weapons. The war games follow US president Joe Biden’s warning on Thursday that Russia could invade Ukraine within days. Western fears focus on an estimated 150,000 Russian troops – including about 60% of Russia’s overall ground forces – concentrated near Ukraine’s borders. The Kremlin insists it has no plans to invade. But Moscow has demanded that the US and its allies keep Ukraine and other ex-Soviet nations out of Nato, not deploy weapons in Ukraine and pull back Nato forces from Eastern Europe. Washington and its allies bluntly rejected the Russian demands, and Moscow threatened to take unspecified “military-technical measures” if the West continues to stonewall. Russia holds massive drills of its strategic nuclear forces on an annual basis, but the manoeuvres planned for Saturday pointedly involve the Black Sea Fleet. The fleet is based on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine
U.S. Ramps Up Ukraine Warnings as Russia Denies Invasion Plans
The U.S. ramped up warnings of a possible Russian attack on Ukraine, with President Joe Biden saying a “false-flag” event may be underway and a top diplomat describing Moscow as moving toward an “imminent invasion.” Russian officials said no invasion of Ukraine was underway and none was planned. But the Kremlin said in an official response to the Biden administration’s proposed security assurances that the offers were unsatisfactory and Russia might have to resort to unspecified “military-technical measures.”
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine is “very high” but the door to a diplomatic solution remains open. Speaking to reporters as he departed the White House, Biden said that “every indication we have is that they’re prepared to go into Ukraine and attack Ukraine.” Asked how high the threat of Russian invasion was at the moment, Biden said, “It’s very high.” He added, “My sense is this will happen in the next several days.” Biden said Russia has not moved back its forces from the Ukrainian border and the United States has reason to believe Russia is engaged in a false flag operation that Moscow would use to justify an invasion. But Biden said a diplomatic solution remains possible, which is why he had asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken to go to the United Nations to make a statement on Thursday. “He’ll lay out what that path is,” Biden said. “There is a way through this.” Biden said there is no plan for him to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moments before Biden spoke, a senior State Department official said the United States has received Russia’s response to U.S. security proposals, but the president said he had not yet read it. Russia also expelled the No. 2 American diplomat in Moscow, U.S. deputy chief of mission to Russia Bart Gorman, a State Department spokesperson said, warning of a U.S. response to an “unprovoked” action. NN: Putin is playing Biden like a fine Stradivarius violin. Miscalculation aside Putin will not invade the Ukraine. He does not have to. He will get what he wants by simply rattling sabers…. He is a worthy opponent. Biden is playing tiddlywinks and Putin is playing Russian Roulette with loaded rockets.
Feds Bullard says inflation “could” get out of control… Try inflation IS out of control
https://youtu.be/4IBGtsvxTzs
- St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard cautioned that without action on interest rates, inflation could become an even more serious problem.
- “We’re at more risk now than we’ve been in a generation that this could get out of control,” he said during a panel talk at Columbia University.
- Bullard has called for a full percentage point in rate hikes by July.
NEW YORK — St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard cautioned Thursday that without central bank action on interest rates, inflation could become an even more serious problem. “We’re at more risk now than we’ve been in a generation that this could get out of control,” he said during a panel talk at Columbia University. “One scenario would be … a new surprise that hits us that we can’t anticipate right now, but we would have even more inflation. That’s the kind of situation that we want to … make sure it doesn’t occur.” Bullard has made news lately with his calls for aggressive Fed action. He has advocated for a full percentage point in rate increases by July in an effort to stem price surges that are running at the fastest pace in 40 years. In his remarks Thursday, Bullard repeated his assertion that the Fed should “front-load” rate hikes as way to get ahead of inflation running at a 7.5% clip over the past year. Fed officials had been resisting tightening policy, insisting for much of last year that the current run-up in prices was tied to pandemic-specific factors, such as clogged supply chains and outsized demand for goods over services, and would fade over time. “Overall, I’d say there’s been too much emphasis and too much mindshare devoted to the idea that inflation will dissipate at some point in the future,” Bullard said. “We’re at risk that inflation won’t dissipate, and 2022 will be the second year in a row of quite high inflation. So that’s why given this situation, the Fed should move faster and more aggressively than we would have in other circumstances.” The Fed has indicated it likely will start raising interest rates in March, which would be the first increase in more than three years. After that, markets are looking for an additional five or six increases in 25 basis-point increments. A basis point is equal to 0.01%. Bullard said the upcoming change in policy shouldn’t be viewed as an attempt to restrict the markets and the economy. “It’s not tight policy. Don’t let anybody tell you it’s tight policy,” he said. “It’s removal of accommodation that will signal that we take our responsibility seriously.” Market pricing for rate hikes has tempered over the past day or two, particularly after a release Wednesday of the January meeting minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee showed officials are looking to take a measured approach toward the removal of policy help. Traders are now pointing to a 25 basis-point hike in March after previously looking to a 50 basis-point move, according to CME data. The probability for seven hikes dropped Thursday to 43% after approaching 70% earlier in the week. NN: to get rates to neutral the Fed Fund rates have to be at 7%. So a 1% rise in March like they are talking about is a nothing burger. If you take the present rate of inflation against treasury yields they are a negative 7% and getting worse by the day. Recent data like the PPI proves that inflation is embedded. But the worst case is now the public’s Inflationary expectations are doing a moon shot. The FED has really really fucked up big time. And the hell is they are lost in their algos and out of touch with reality. Its beyond stuck on stupid!
US markets drop at close as Ukraine concerns rise
Wall Street suffered sharp losses at the close on Thursday as the potential conflict in Ukraine continues to unsettle market participants and launched gold to a June 2021 high. Russian forces are approaching Ukraine, according to a United Kingdom media report. Elsewhere, the United States added Chinese giants Alibaba and Tencent it “notorious markets” list. The Dow Jones Industrial Average index closed with a 1.78% or a 622-point loss as Salesforce fell 5.53%. The Nasdaq 100 decreased 2.96% at the close, pulled down by MercadoLibre’s 9.95% drop. The S&P 500 was 2.12% lower at the end of trading with Albemarle Corp, its worst performer, tumbling 19.91%. The euro was 0.19% down compared to the dollar, going for 1.13602 at 3:59 pm ET.
Oklahoma Physicians Are Not Prohibited From Prescribing Off-Label Medicines to Fight COVID-19
The Attorney General’s office finds no legal basis for a state medical licensure board to discipline a licensed physician for exercising sound judgement and safely prescribing an FDA-approved drug – like ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine – for the off-label purpose of treating a patient with COVID-19 Attorney General John O’Connor I stand behind doctors who believe it is in their patients’ best interests to receive ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine Our healthcare professionals should have every tool available to combat COVID-19. Public safety demands this. Physicians who prescribe medications and follow the law should not fear disciplinary action for prescribing such drugs The Attorney General’s office neither condones nor condemns a specific course of treatment for COVID-19. Our office maintains that proper healthcare decisions are to be made between a patient and his or her physician, and the government should not interfere with their relationship. FDA position unchanged….. NN: Finally a lawyer with a brain… Not like that assign Judge in New York
Blinken: Russia’s looming attack on Ukraine biggest threat
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said Russia’s plans for an invasion of Ukraine go beyond the use of “conventional” weapons and urged Moscow to renew diplomatic efforts rather than launch what would be the largest land invasion in Europe since the end of the Second World War. “Conventional attacks are not all that Russia plans to inflict upon the people of Ukraine,” said Mr Blinken, who addressed an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the ongoing crisis. Mr Blinken warned that the over 150,000 troops Russia has amassed on its side of Ukraine’s Eastern frontier, in Belarus, and in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian province of Crimea are “preparing to launch an attack against Ukraine in the coming days” and said Russian claims of a troop drawdown in the border region do not match what the US sees happening on the ground. He said Russia will begin by implementing plans to “manufacture a pretext for its attack”. “This could be a violent event that Russia will blame on Ukraine, or an outrageous accusation that Russia will level against the Ukrainian government. We don’t know exactly the form it will take,” he said. “It could be a fabricated so called terrorist bombing inside Russia, the invented discovery of a mass grave, a staged drone strike against civilians, or a fake — even a real attack —using chemical weapons,” he said. The top US diplomat also warned that Russia might describe the false flag attack as “ethnic cleansing” or “genocide,” a characterisation he said he did not “take lightly” as a descendant of Holocaust survivors. Next, he said Russia would “theatrically” begin high-level “emergency meetings” on the manufactured crisis, to be followed by “proclamations” from Moscow declaring the necessity of a response “to defend Russian citizens or ethnic Russians in Ukraine”. Mr Blinken said those proclamations would begin with “Russian bombs and missiles” raining down on Ukrainian territory, along with cyberattacks and electronic warfare to shut down “key Ukrainian institutions” and jam communications. “After that, Russian tanks and soldiers will advance on key targets that have already been identified and mapped out in detailed plans,” he said, adding that the US believes Moscow intends to target Kiev. The Secretary of State’s comments came just hours after US President Joe Biden told reporters the risk of a Russian attack against Ukraine remains “very high,” and followed Russia’s expulsion of Bartle Gorman, the deputy chief of the US mission in Moscow.
More follows…
Judge denies emergency order to give ivermectin
https://nypost.com/2022/02/16/judge-denies-demand-for-ivermectin-treatment-for-nyc-covid-patient/?utm_source=url_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons
A Manhattan judge says she won’t force a hospital to give an ailing post-COVID-19 patient the controversial drug ivermectin after the man’s wife sued for the non-FDA-approved treatment, according to a new ruling. Erika Quintero-Sherry brought a civil case against Mount Sinai Hospital on Jan. 26 seeking an emergency order to have the drug given to husband Benjamin Chernyavsky — who’s been “on death’s doorstep” after contracting the virus last month. Following two days of hearings in the case last week, including testimony from two Mount Sinai doctors, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Lynn Kotler said she wouldn’t grant the emergency request to force the hospital’s staff to administer the risky drug based on Quintero-Sherry’s “paltry” evidence and going against Chernyavsky’s treating doctor’s recommendations, as well as the recommendations from the medical community at large.
“Plaintiff would have this court order defendants to administer an unapproved treatment to her husband against defendants’ medical opinion rendered in the independent exercise of their professional judgment,” Kotler’s Tuesday decision reads. “Indeed, the record reveals that if prescribed ivermectin, Mr. Chernyavsky’s condition may very well worsen.” “The prevailing view in the medical community … is that ivermectin should not be prescribed,” Kotler said, noting that that is the opinion of the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and many other medical associations. “Plaintiff’s paltry showing is insufficient to overcome the mountain of evidence showing that ivermectin is not presently safe or effective in the treatment of COVID-19,” Kotler wrote. Kotler also noted testimony from a Mount Sinai doctor that Chernyavsky was likely no longer infected with COVID-19, but rather “now must recover from the effects the disease has had on his body and organs.” While the judge did not grant the emergency motion, the rest of the case must still play out in court. “Mount Sinai is committed to providing the highest quality care to all of our patients and uses evidence-based data in our clinical decision-making,” a hospital spokesperson said in a statement. “We are pleased with the judge’s decision to sustain the decis Quintero-Sherry’s lawyers did not immediately return a request for comment. The 60-year-old father of five contracted the virus on Jan. 9 and was eventually put into a medically induced coma and also placed on a ventilator. Quintero-Sherry argued that her husband had a less than 20 percent chance of survival. The wife also said that since the hospital had exhausted all the COVID-19 protocols for patients, rather than continuing the alleged “wait-and-see” approach, there was nothing to lose by treating her husband with ivermectin. The drug — a horse and cow de-wormer — raised headlines during the pandemic after COVID patients were reportedly using it to treat the bug.
It’s approved for human use to treat parasitic infections, head lice and some skin conditions, according to the FDA.
“The FDA has not authorized or approved ivermectin for use in preventing or treating COVID-19 in humans or animals,” the agency says on its website. ions of our clinicians to refrain from using ivermectin for treatment of COVID -19.” “Ivermectin has not been shown to be safe nor effective for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19, and the FDA has not authorized or approved this treatment for this use,” the statement continued. NN: Ivermectin a Nobel prize winning drug designated by the WHO as an essential medicine. Countless studies have shown it to be a powerful antiviral inhibiting the ACEII receptor. It has been administered in over a billion doses and is one of the safest medicines ever developed……
Ukraine accuses Russia of shelling Lugansk
Ukraine’s military accused Russia on Thursday of being behind the shelling attacks in eastern Ukraine. The military claimed Russian “occupying forces” fired on a village in the Lugansk region. Earlier, officials from the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) said five settlements in the region were shelled with mortars by Ukrainian forces, while Kiev denied carrying out any attacks. NN: This is the dangerous stage. You got steroid monsters facing off on the Ukraine Russian border. One accident and they could be in a serious shooting war no one really wants. Putin has to push things to the breaking point to achieve the concessions he is demanding.