WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has agreed to meet a group of 10 Republican senators who have proposed spending about one-third of the $1.9 trillion he is seeking in coronavirus aid, though congressional Democrats are poised to move ahead without Republican support. Sunday’s invitation to the White House came hours after the lawmakers sent Biden a letter urging him to negotiate rather than try to ram through his relief package solely on Democratic votes. The House and Senate are on track to vote as soon as this week on a budget resolution, which would lay the groundwork for passing an aid package under rules requiring only a simple majority vote in the closely divided Senate. The goal is for passage by March, when extra unemployment assistance and other pandemic aid expires. The meeting offered by Biden would amount to the most public involvement for the president in the negotiations for the next round of virus relief. Democratic and Republican lawmakers are far apart in their proposals for assistance. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday that Biden had spoken with the leader of the group, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. Though Biden is wanting “a full exchange of views,” Psaki reiterated that he remains in favor of moving forward with a far-reaching relief package. A meeting could come in a matter of days. “With the virus posing a grave threat to the country, and economic conditions grim for so many, the need for action is urgent, and the scale of what must be done is large,” Psaki said. In challenging Biden to fulfill his pledge of unity, the group said in its letter that its counterproposal will include $160 billion for vaccines, testing, treatment and personal protective equipment and call for more targeted relief than Biden’s plan to issue $1,400 stimulus checks for most Americans. Winning the support of 10 Republicans would be significant for Biden in the 50-50 Senate where Vice President Kamala Harris is the tie-breaker. If all Democrats were to back an eventual compromise bill, the legislation would reach the 60-vote threshold necessary to overcome potential blocking efforts and pass under regular Senate procedures. “In the spirit of bipartisanship and unity, we have developed a COVID-19 relief framework that builds on prior COVID assistance laws, all of which passed with bipartisan support,” the Republican senators wrote. “Our proposal reflects many of your stated priorities, and with your support, we believe that this plan could be approved quickly by Congress with bipartisan support.” The plea for Biden to give bipartisan negotiations more time comes as the president has shown signs of impatience as the more liberal wing of his party considers passing the relief package through a process known as budget reconciliation. That would allow the bill to advance with only the backing of his Democratic majority. The Republicans did not provide many details of their proposal. One of the signatories, Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, said that it would cost about $600 billion. “If you can’t find bipartisan compromise on COVID-19, I don’t know where you can find it,” said Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, who also signed the letter. But even as Biden extended the invitation to the Republican lawmakers, Psaki said that $1,400 relief checks, substantial funding for reopening schools, aid to small businesses and hurting families, and more “is badly needed.” “As leading economists have said, the danger now is not in doing too much: it is in doing too little,” Psaki said. “Americans of both parties are looking to their leaders to meet the moment.” Biden also spoke on Sunday with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who are facing a growing push from the more liberal Democratic members to move forward with Biden’s legislation with or without Republican support. The other GOP senators invited to meet with Biden are Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Todd Young of Indiana, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Brian Deese, the top White House economic adviser who is leading the administration’s outreach to Congress, said earlier Sunday that administration officials were reviewing the letter. He did not immediately commit to a Biden meeting with the lawmakers. But Cedric Richmond, a senior Biden adviser, said the president “is very willing to meet with anyone to advance the agenda.” When asked about the senators’ plan, Richmond said, “This is about seriousness of purpose.” Deese indicated the White House could be open to negotiating on further limiting who would receive stimulus checks. Portman suggested the checks should go to individuals who make no more than $50,000 per year and families capped at $100,000 per year. Under the Biden plan, families with incomes up to $300,000 could receive some stimulus money. “That is certainly a place that we’re willing to sit down and think about, are there ways to make the entire package more effective?” Deese said. As a candidate, Biden predicted his decades in the Senate and his eight years as Barack Obama’s vice president gave him credibility as a deal-maker and would help him bring Republicans and Democrats to consensus on the most important matters facing the country. But less than two weeks into his presidency, Biden showed frustration with the pace of negotiations at a time when the economy exhibited further evidence of wear from the pandemic. Last week, 847,000 Americans applied for unemployment benefits, a sign that layoffs remain high as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage. “I support passing COVID relief with support from Republicans if we can get it. But the COVID relief has to pass — no ifs, ands or buts,” Biden said on Friday In the letter, the Republican lawmakers reminded Biden that in his inaugural address, he proclaimed that the challenges facing the nation require “the most elusive of things in a democracy: Unity.” Cassidy separately criticized the current Biden plan as “chock-full of handouts and payoffs to Democratic constituency groups.” “You want the patina of bipartisanship … so that’s not unity,” Cassidy said. Jared Bernstein, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said Biden remains willing to negotiate but that officials needed to see more details from Republicans. At the same time, Bernstein pressed the administration’s argument that doing too little to stimulate the economy could have enormous impact on the economy in the near- and long-term. “Look, the American people really couldn’t care less about budget process, whether it’s regular order, bipartisanship, whether it’s filibuster, whether it’s reconciliation,” Bernstein said. “They need relief, and they need it now.” Portman and Deese were on CNN’s “State of the Union,” and Deese also was interviewed on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Cassidy and Bernstein appeared on “Fox News Sunday” and Richmond was on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
GameStop trap set…. All thats left is to spring it!
Popular trading app Robinhood relaxed some of its restrictions on the trading of heavily shorted stocks such as GameStop on Monday, increasing the number of shares users can purchase of these companies. According to the updated rules, users can now buy four shares of GameStop instead of one. Additionally, Robinhood users can also buy up to 75 shares of AMC and 200 shares of Express. The news comes amid a report from the Wall Street Journal which said the broker managed to raise another $2.4 billion from shareholders amid the investing frenzy. Shares of electronics and video game retailer GameStop dropped nearly 30% an hour into Monday’s session amid what appeared to be profit-taking for some investors who have purchased the stock early in the standoff between WallStreetBets and hedge funds last month. On Sunday, it was reported the hedge fund Melvin Capital Management sustained a 53% loss in January amid the GameStop short squeeze. GameStop was as high as $483 now down to $230 per share losing over half its value. Nick Note: See the millennials are all in. They bought in low. But they kept buying and borrowing. Starting to book losses. Now they are getting them to stay in. See the message reprinted from the blogasphere. They will ride big profits into huge losses they always do!!!! And when they get their next happy check they will do it all over again. They just can’t help themselves
US manufacturing PMI hits record 59.2 in January
Manufacturing activity in the United States improved in January, a report by IHS Markit revealed on Monday. The index measuring the sector activity increased 2.1 points month-on-month to reach 59.2, the highest figure reported by the survey so far.
The upward trend was attributed mostly to strong client demand, and a significant rise in new orders. The report also noted that foreign client demand accelerated, due, in part, to eased coronavirus situation, but warned that supplier delays still posed a hindrance, much like the month prior, although not to the same extent.
“Demand from both domestic and export customers picked up sharply in January, buoyed by several driving forces. Consumer demand has improved while businesses are investing in more equipment and restocking warehouses, preparing for better times ahead as vaccine roll outs allow life to increasingly return to normal over the course of 2021,” IHS’s Chief Business Economist Chris Williamson said.
Greylock Capital Associates, Files for bankruptct LLC, No. 21-bk-22063
Greylock Capital Associates, LLC, No. 21-bk-22063 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y.)
- Case Title
- Greylock Capital Associates, LLC
- Case type
- Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
- Court
- U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York
- Index Number(s)
- 2021bk22063
- 21-bk-22063
- 21-22063
- Case Opened
- January 31, 2021
Search for this case: Greylock Capital Associates, LLC, No. 21-bk-22063 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y.)
Nick Note: In the dead of the night Sunday these FUCKS went belly up. As of this AM the financial media have not picked it up. Our algorithm search was given a priority to look for the hedge funds vulnerable in the Redditt Millennial short squeeze. This puts enormous pressure on the regulators to stop what is a market manipulation by blog. The biggest retirement funds in America are taking huge loses. I am telling you they will NOT NOT NOT let this happen.
Silver swept up by GameStop retail frenzy, prices soar
https://youtu.be/i5rplNntoi8
Silver prices surged to a five-month high on Monday, silver-mining stocks leapt and coin-selling websites were swamped as small-time investors piled in to the metal, the latest target of a retail-trading frenzy that has set financial markets on edge. Organised in online forums and traded with fee-free brokers, such as Robinhood, the phenomenon has driven a 1500 per cent rally in the shares of videogame retailer GameStop as the crowd targets assets big fund managers had bet against. The move into silver, following thousands of Reddit posts and hundreds of YouTube videos suggesting that a rise in the physical price could hurt large investors with bets on it falling, is a foray in to a much bigger and more liquid market. Spot silver leapt as much as 7.4 per cent in Asia to $28.99 an ounce, taking gains to about 15 per cent since last Wednesday and the price to its highest since mid August. “The Reddit crowd has turned its sights on a bigger whale in terms of trying to catalyse something of a short squeeze in the silver market,” said Kyle Rodda, an analyst at brokerage IG Markets in Melbourne. “This is their big, bold Moby Dick moment,” he said. Volumes in small miners’ stock in Australia were unprecedented and jumps in some exploration firms, which do not actually produce silver, topped 90 per cent. Bullion dealers had brisk trade. “Yeah, we’re seeing buying and it’s been sparked by this subreddit,” said Nicholas Frappell, global general manager at ABC Refinery in Sydney, adding such customers liked to buy kilogram bars or smaller because of the convenience. The Perth Mint said it noticed elevated demand for silver in the United States via online dealers. The popularity of dabbling in stockmarkets has grown during the COVID-19 pandemic as volatility, stimulus cheques and lockdowns have driven account openings and investment. The craze hit fever pitch last week when the GameStop pile-on resulted in a “short squeeze,” which turned price gains stratospheric as hedge funds with bets against the stock desperately bought it at high prices to close their positions. Discussion turned to silver late last week as Reddit posts suggested that higher prices could hurt big banks with large short positions, and said buying easy-to-access exchange-traded silver funds could quickly ramp up the metal’s value. “(The) gain in silver prices is a very solid lift … it certainly does suggest that the impact of messaging in social media is becoming much more significant,” said Michael McCarthy, strategist at broker CMC Markets in Sydney.
Global short interest in silver, or the cumulative value of bets it falls in price, is equivalent to about 900 million ounces – just short of global annual production. Banks and brokers hold most of that, with about 610 million ounces, though it is not clear whether they are net short on the metal or whether their bets offset very big physical holdings.
Nevertheless, the squeeze is moving money. Australia’s ETF Securities’ Physical Silver fund had a daily record A$40 million ($30.6 million) in inflows by Monday afternoon, ETF Securities’ head of product, Evan Metcalf told Reuters. “It’s quite a big day of flows on what was previously around a A$220-odd milion fund,” Metcalf said. “Our product being listed on the ASX kind of gave people a head start timing-wise as well because it’s open before US and European markets.” Those funds can drive silver prices because they end up paying for the physical metal to back the ETF’s units. A silver ETF in Japan surged 11 per cent and the flows could point to more gains for iShares’ US-listed $16.5 billion Silver Trust ETF which rose 5.6 per cent last week.
The broader showdown between small traders and professional short-sellers, besides making paper millionaires of the former, is testing brokers, regulators and other investors’ patience. Robinhood, the online broker used by many new investors has lifted some of the buying restrictions it imposed during wild trade last week, but limits remain on eight companies including GameStop, AMC Entertainment and BlackBerry. US regulators are circling both Robinhood and the Redditers’ forums, while hedge funds nurse their wounds. Melvin Capital, a hedge fund which bet against GameStop, lost 53 per cent in January. In South Korea, where retail traders dubbed “ants” have turbocharged a long equities rally by investing borrowed money are applying pressure to quash a government plan to lift a pandemic-imposed short-selling ban. It is unclear how much longer the Reddit-fuelled rally can run. “I’ll tell you one thing, absolute guarantee this ends in tears, I just don’t know when,” said CMC’s McCarthy. – Reuters. Nick Note: the millennial fucks are cursing for a bruising. I want to SHORT silver so bad i can taste. the dip shits do not understand the intricacies of the game. Holy fuck bat man!
Republicans press $600bln COVID-19 bill as Democrats ready Biden’s $1.9tln plan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Ten moderate Republican U.S. senators urged Democratic President Joe Biden on Sunday to significantly downsize his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package to win bipartisan support as Democrats in Congress prepared to push ahead with his plan this week.
A top White House economic adviser signaled willingness to discuss the ideas raised by Republican senators who floated a $600 billion alternative, but said the president was not willing to compromise on the need for a comprehensive bill to address the public health crisis and economic fallout.
“He is open to ideas, wherever they may come. … What he’s uncompromising about is the need to move with speed on a comprehensive approach here,” Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program. “A piecemeal approach … is not a recipe for success.” It was unclear whether the outreach by 10 of the 50 Republicans in the 100-seat chamber would shift plans by congressional Democrats to take up legislation in the coming days. Biden and fellow Democrats are seeking to make use of their control of the House of Representatives and Senate to move quickly on the president’s top goal of addressing the pandemic.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said his chamber would begin work on it as early as this week. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress would complete a preliminary step before the end of the week.
Congress enacted $4 trillion in COVID-19 relief last year.
Passage of the new relief legislation not only would impact Americans and businesses reeling during a pandemic that has killed about 440,000 people in the United States but also offers an early test of Biden’s promise to work to bridge the partisan divide in Washington. Biden took office on Jan. 20.
Biden’s proposal includes $160 billion for vaccines and testing, $170 billion for schools and universities, and funds to give certain Americans a $1,400 per-person stimulus check, among other provisions. Some Republicans have questioned the overall price tag, while others urged more targeted measures, particularly over the direct payments to individuals. In their letter to Biden, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney and seven other senators asked Biden for a meeting and said their compromise proposal could be quickly passed with bipartisan support, promising more details on Monday. They said their proposal sought more targeted assistance for families in need and additional funds for small businesses, while echoing Biden’s plan for more funding to boost vaccines and testing as well as support for schools and childcare centers. They also pointed to unspent money from previous COVID-19 relief bills. “Ours is about $600 billion. … We’re targeted to the needs of the American people,” Senator Bill Cassidy, one of the 10 senators, told “Fox News Sunday.” Deese said the White House was reviewing their letter but did not say whether Biden would meet with the group, which also included Republicans Shelley Moore Capito, Todd Young, Jerry Moran, Michael Rounds and Rob Portman. Senator Jon Tester, a Democrat from Montana, told CNN’s “State of the Union” program that the Republicans’ letter was “a positive sign that folks want to work together.” With the Senate split 50-50 and Vice President Kamala Harris wielding the tie-breaking vote, Democrats are considering using a parliamentary tool called “reconciliation” that would allow the chamber to approve the bill with a simple majority. Under Senate rules, legislation usually requires 60 votes for passage. Nick Note: happy checks are coming and soon and the money will be spent on stocks
The biggest losers from the GameStop turmoil
Interactive Brokers lifts GME options restrictions
(Reuters) – Online trading platform Interactive Brokers Group Inc said late on Saturday it has lifted all trading restrictions on options in GameStop Corp, AMC Entertainment Holdings Plc and others hit by recent market volatility. Nick Note: Game on!
Interactive Brokers Lifts All Trading Restrictions on Options Business Wire GREENWICH, Conn. Interactive Brokers Group (Nasdaq: IBKR), a global brokerage firm, announced today that on Friday it lifted all trading restrictions on options in AMC, BB, EXPR, GME, KOSS and other options that experienced recent market volatility. The options, as well as the underlying stocks, are currently subject to increased margin requirements, which are subject to change depending on market conditions. The firm continues to monitor these volatile markets. About Interactive Brokers Group, Inc.: Interactive Brokers Group affiliates provide automated trade execution and custody of securities, commodities, foreign exchange and their derivative products around-the-clock on over 135 markets in numerous countries and currencies, from a single IBKR Integrated Investment Account to clients worldwide. We service individual investors, hedge funds, proprietary trading groups, financial advisors and introducing brokers. Our four decades of focus on technology and automation has enabled us to equip our clients with a uniquely sophisticated platform to manage their investment portfolios. We strive to provide our clients with advantageous execution prices and trading, risk and portfolio management tools, research facilities and investment products, all at low or no cost, positioning them to achieve superior returns on investments. Barron’s ranked Interactive Brokers #1 with 5 out of 5 stars in its February 24, 2020, Best Online Broker Review. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210130005024/en/ Contact: Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. media@ibkr.com
Schumer: This Senate will deliver aid fast
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democrats in the U.S. Senate will act alone to approve a fresh round of coronavirus stimulus if Republicans do not support the measure, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday, the morning after securing a deal to exert his newly won leadership. “We want to work with our Republican colleagues to advance this legislation in a bipartisan way. But the work must move forward, preferably with our Republican colleagues, but without them if we must,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. President Joe Biden has made addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 420,000 Americans, thrown millions out of work and is currently infecting more than 173,000 people per day, a major focus of his first week in office. He’s calling on Congress to approve $1.9 trillion in spending, on top of the roughly $4 trillion authorized over the past year to address the heavy human and economic toll. Schumer’s comment comes the morning after top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell, the chamber’s former majority leader, agreed to dropped his blockade of a deal for a power-sharing agreement in the Senate, where each party controls 50 seats. The Democrats have control of the chamber because Vice President Kamala Harris holds the tie-breaking vote. Biden has called for unity and has urged bipartisan support of his plan, but Republicans have balked at the high price tag and senators of both parties have said they want the package to be more targeted. The White House has scheduled a call with members of the bipartisan group of lawmakers known as the Problem Solvers Caucus on Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. The White House is expected to detail how much money remains in the coffers after previous stimulus packages, in a follow-up to a weekend meeting. Meanwhile, congressional Democrats are introducing on Tuesday a bill that would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, one of the components of Biden’s coronavirus package, raising the possibility that lawmakers could take a more piecemeal approach to the legislation. Congressional Republicans have traditionally been opposed to such measures. In 2019, only three Republicans voted for a similar minimum wage hike in the House of Representatives. The federal minimum wage has not been changed since 2009, when it became $7.25 an hour. Nick Note: Just what we need a bunch of millennials with plenty of new cash to poor into the stock market. God Is GREAT!
Last Hurrah! 2 Trillion Stimulus Will Drive the market
Nick Bit: The main takeaway here is Biden said he will pass the stimulus bill with or without Republican vote. And he can do it. That means happy checks are on the way, And the millennias newline embolden will buy the crab out of stocks. And i want to be their for what i regard of the last wave up before the correction, look at the comments below
“It’s pretty crazy because I think I mean, I look at the whole GameStop thing with the stocks as a revenge of the nerds kind of attack on the big boys in Wall Street and against a lot of the big, big trading firms that are out there. This is one of the things with a small guy kind of triumphs. And I think this is the way Robinhood had to stop it, even though they’re one of those smaller, you would think, stealing from the rich, giving to the poor, that they would just let it rip. But I mean, I’m for it to a degree, until it gets out of control. The robo trading, if i t’s too much, it can really upend things. But I think it’s a good shot across the bow of the big… big traders.” “I think the little man finally got an ounce of what they deserve, and it was the assholes in there that took it from them, they delisted it, Ameritrade, Robinhood, Webull, they all can’t stand to have the little guy win. And that pisses me off. And that’s why it’s f***k the suit. It’s buy Bitcoin. It’s always been that for… for four decades. It shows you that you can be your own bank. You can do your own transactions, verifiable, permission-less, decentralized. It’s the future of commerce. And the assholes in there, they haven’t caught on to it yet. But Grayscale, Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy, they’re starting to dip their feet in. And this is the future of finance right here.” “I think it’s great that rich people are losing money because capitalism is destroying this world, and that’s all I have to say about that.”
STORY: GameStop shares jumped, awarding retail investors the advantage in the latest round of their week-long slugfest against major financial institutions that had shorted the video game retailer. The so-called “Reddit rally” has inflated stock prices for GameStop and other previously beaten-down companies that individual investors championed on social media forums. GameStop surged 83% on Friday (January 29) after brokers including Robinhood eased some restrictions on trading. On Thursday (January 28), GameStop shares slid following the trading halts from Robinhood and other trading apps, which drew outrage from politicians and calls for action from regulators. Headphone maker Koss more than doubled in value, although it and GameStop remained below peaks reached earlier this week. Hedge funds and other short sellers had bruising week. GameStop short sellers endured mark-to-market losses of $19.75 billion so far this year, according to S3. Even so, the stock remained highly shorted with $11.2 billion short interest. GameStop and other companies have said little about the volatility in their shares. Robinhood said Friday it had temporarily disabled a feature on its app that allows users to buy crypto securities instantly. Robinhood has been one of the hottest venues in the retail-trading frenzy but its sudden curbs on buying set off online protests as the firm tapped credit lines to ensure it could continue trading. The brokerage said it had raised more than $1 billion from its existing investors after high volumes and volatility of trading strained it this week. A website on the short squeeze strategy set up by one WallStreetBets participant, told traders with Robinhood accounts to “find a new broker asap,” listing rivals Vanguard, Ameritrade and Fidelity. Both Ameritrade and Charles Schwab placed some restrictions on trade on Thursday. Fidelity says it has not limited trading in the stocks. Nick Note: the game is still on. Once the happy check money runs out and they have leveraged their stocks to the moon… this rocket ship will run out of fuel and crash back to earth.