BlackMask Breaking News

The US administration is seeking to adopt a more central role in implementing anti-money laundering regulations, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing a draft seen by the media outlet. According to the report, the current system gives regulators some access and prominence. However, they aim to have a more active role in efforts to revamp a system designed to catch illicit transactions by drug traffickers, terrorists, and other criminals. Issues in this front have been costly and ineffective. Former bank controllers and officials have long pressed for changes like this, criticizing existing regulations for focusing too much on technicalities and compliance without providing effective measures to address these problems. The Trump administration, along with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, believes that restrictions on banks have hindered economic growth.

NN: This is dangerous. Moving closer by the day to a cashless society. You know the US government has never confiscated guns. But they did make gold ownership and trading illegal. And they did confiscate gold and put gold hoarders in jail.

Behind the façade of calm oil markets, a gradual build-up in speculative positions could be undermining future prices of Brent or WTI as both benchmarks remain on their longest runs below their 100-day moving average in more than a year.  Open interest held in ICE Brent is now the highest in history – 5.5 million contracts as of this week – however investors hold more Dec 2026 contracts than any other month except for the prompt two, February and March, suggesting that the market wants to hedge itself against oversupply next year. Hedge funds have been raising their short positions on crude for the past two months, with ICE Brent now

posting the highest outright number of shorts on record (174,703 contracts in the week ending December 2).

Oil prices continue to search for direction as a supply scare from Iraq turned out to be short-lived, with most market speculation centred around Ukraine peace talks and US Federal Reserve policy. With ICE Brent still hovering around $63 per barrel, the Fed’s last gathering in 2025 could provide some temporary upside to prices, however it is unlikely to fundamentally break the current stalemate.

NN: You well know my cut in stone basic rule of trading:

When everyone else is selling i Buy and when everyone is buying i sell.

Well they sure as shit are buying.

United States President Donald Trump did not want to rule out the possibility of deploying ground forces to Venezuela in his interview with Politico on Tuesday. “I don’t want to talk to you about military strategy,” the US president said. At the same time, he reiterated his willingness to use force in Central and South America to fight drug smuggling. Tensions between the US and Venezuela have been on the rise in recent times, as Washington continued to amass military assets in the region, hinting at a possible military operation against the regime of the country’s President Nicolas Maduro

NN:  Trump is going in and Maduro will be going out in a body bag

United States President Donald Trump’s former Senior Counselor and Chief Strategist Steve Bannon said on Monday that Trump’s peace plan for Ukraine will not stop the war because the US doesn’t have the “capacity” to execute it. In an interview with The American Conservative, Bannon claimed that “America First [broke] the globalist mindset that we have the capacity to financially, economically, militarily, culturally govern everywhere and everything,” he said, describing both the Ukraine and the Gaza ceasefire plans as “side shows to our vital national security interests.” Furthermore, Bannon called for a total cessation of aid to Ukraine. “[We] need to cut it off. All of it. Money. Arms. Intelligence. Support,” he stressed.

NN: Bannon has taken those free stupid pills they are handing out. Lose Ukraine to Russia and Europe will not be far behind.

Orban: EU is preparing for war with Russia by 2030

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned on Monday that the European Union is “preparing for war” with Russia and that the bloc already designated 2030 as its target date for the start of that “war.” “The explicit goal of the rearmament program launched by Brussels is for the Union to be ready for war by 2030. The target date for Ukraine’s accelerated EU accession procedure is also 2030. And the EU’s founding treaty states that ‘in the event of an armed attack against the territory of one of the member states, the other member states are obliged to provide all assistance in their power to that state.’ Therefore, admitting Ukraine, which is at war, into the Union would result in an immediate entry into the war,” Orban said in a post on Facebook.The Hungarian prime minister also stated that next year’s Hungarian election will be the last one where “we can truly decide on the issue of war and peace.”

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas claimed on Saturday that the Russian military has significant power and an “enormous” budget, which it “will want to use again,” if not in Ukraine, “then somewhere else.” Speaking at the Doha Forum, Kallas insisted that, when it comes to the negotiations about a ceasefire in Ukraine, Russia, as the “aggressor,” cannot be rewarded with territory, as it would send the wrong message to the international community. She also noted that there are no “two parties” in the conflict, just Russia as the aggressor and Ukraine as the victim. Furthermore, Kallas confirmed that the EU is discussing the use of Russian frozen assets as a loan to Ukraine. She noted that the bloc consists of “27 democracies,” so it is a process that takes time.

Musk: How long before EU is gone?

Tesla Inc. and x.AI Corp. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk took to X on Saturday to express his wonder about “how long” it will be before the European Union disintegrates. “How long before the EU is gone?” Musk wrote on X, adding “AbolishTheEU.” In a previous post, the entrepreneur claimed that “the EU should be abolished and sovereignty returned to individual countries, so that governments can better represent their people,” Musk wrote on X. Musk’s comments came amid his ongoing feud with the EU after the bloc fined X €120 million for breaching its Digital Services Act (DSA).

NN: Make no mistake about it. Ukraine is the lab rat in Russia’s conquest of Europe.  I do not believe the lefty liberal commies realize how much of  a danger they are  in with Russian invasion of Ukraine. Its the start of their conquest of Europe

A loss of Venezuelan oil production in case of a U.S. military intervention will materially impact global benchmark prices as the market will have to replace Venezuela’s heavy crude—the bulk of Caracas’ crude exports, according to Rystad Energy.   Venezuela is estimated to pump about 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil at present. If the U.S.-Venezuela tension escalation into a U.S. incursion in the South American country, this volume of crude would be at risk, depending on the scale of military activity, the energy intelligence firm said.     “Although the volume is small in terms of global trade flows, the quality is unique as over 67% of the output is heavy,” Rystad Energy noted.  The U.S. military build-up in the southern Caribbean continues and a military intervention isn’t being ruled out.   If such an intervention occurs, Venezuela’s supply to China, its key and pretty much only customer, could be reduced or completely shut-in, according to Rystad Energy.   China depends on heavy crude supplies from Venezuela to maximize secondary conversion unit utilization. “The Venezuelan grades are an ideal fit for these refineries, and the loss of supply would tighten the heavy crude oil balance,” Rystad Energy reckons.  As a result, the overall tightening of the global heavy market would boost the prices for the heavy grades that the U.S. imports, especially the Canadian heavy crude grades. A temporary loss in Venezuelan production is also expected to push up the price of the Dubai benchmark against ICE Brent as Asia will scramble to replace the lost Venezuelan barrels, according to Rystad Energy.  Earlier this week, Kpler said that potential supply disruptions would shift Chinese and U.S. refiners toward alternative heavy grades across the Americas and Middle East. The closest substitutes for Venezuela’s flagship super heavy grade Merey in terms of API and sulfur are to be found in its vicinity—Colombian grades such as Castilla, Apiay, Magdalena, and Mares, according to Kpler’s analysts.

NN: And don’t forget Ukraine.  Russian Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov,  stated that Russia will continue with its military operations in Ukraine if Kiev does not negotiate. The lack of progress in the Ukraine peace talks spurred expectations that a peace agreement, which could restore Russian oil flows, is still not close to being concluded. 

 

Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov affirmed on Friday that Russia wants a peaceful settlement to the Ukrainian conflict, but warned that Moscow will continue military operations should Ukraine refuse to negotiate. In an interview with Russia Today, Peskov noted that the Russian pro-peace position was previously rejected by “Europeans and Ukrainians,” prompting Russian President Vladimir Putin to launch the military action. “Therefore, if we are unable to resolve the problem and achieve our goals through peaceful means, we will continue the SVO [special military operation] and do everything necessary to protect our interests,” he explained. Peskov also touched upon Putin’s ongoing state visit to India, noting that India has a “fairly balanced approach and is pro-peace” and that Moscow has a chance to discuss all nuances of its position during the dialogue between Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

NN: Their is no end to this war. And oil is starting to figure it out>

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in snippets from his interview with India Today, to be aired later on Thursday, that his country will take control of Donbass and Novorossiya by either military means or other methods. “It all comes down to this. Either we will liberate these territories by force of arms, or Ukrainian troops will leave these territories and stop fighting there,” Putin stressed. Furthermore, the Russian leader revealed that Moscow offered Kiev the opportunity to withdraw from Donbas and prevent military confrontation, but the Ukrainian authorities chose to enter into conflict. “We immediately told Ukraine, the Ukrainian troops: the people don’t want to live with you. They went out to the referendum and voted for independence. Withdraw your troops, and there will be no military action. No, they prefer to fight. Well, now they’ve had enough,” Putin emphasized.

NN: When you look at it beyond the spin its very simple. Trump is negotiating peace and Putin is negotiating Ukraine’s surrender