Pandemic Olympic Games Begin Lockdowns, phone hacking, spying, boycotts, politics, rules, rules, rules.. TV pushing woke agendas and misinformation..... The Russians are banned but they are still there.. Just another day at the office for the Olympic Games !!! This is NOT going to end well ... . or is it? Spawn of terrorists and trained communist, Chesa Boudin is the DA in San Francuba, as you know. In recent "police officer involved" cases, Boudin's office has withheld evidence that would have helped exonerate the police involved. Boudin says its not true. SF Police chief, Bill Scott, says "Yes it is"!! Your assistant DA's admitted you pressured them.. and "the SFPD will no longer cooperate with the DA's office on these investigations" WOW .. A few years back the SFPD signed a "memorandum of understanding" that instead of SFPD internal affairs dealing with officer involved incidents that the DA's office will run those. No more, according to Bill Scott.. Now, I don't think this is a giant deal for "officer involved" events because we are in the era of police body-cams and "everyone videos everything".. The problem is the Police force is DONE with the woke prosecutors office. You would THINK .. with crime ridden, homeless mess San Francuba spiraling into the sewer that people would vote someone like Boudin OUT of office. Prosecuting and jailing criminals would cut down on crime.. but.. George Soros has a ALOT of money for campaigns.. and he helped Boudin get there in the first place.. The Sarah Palin vs ny times libel and defamation trial is FINALLY underway. The suit is over the ny times claiming Palin and her political action committee "incited" a 2011 mass shooting. Palin argues the editor added in incitement language and knowingly published false claims".. because, "stories attacking Gov. Palin inflame passions which drives web clicks" .. now.. There is a "public figure" designation that makes Palin's case harder to win. She has to prove "actual malice" pursuant to the 1964 Supreme Court ruling in .. ironically (or maybe not) .. nytimes vs Sullivan case. The nytimes says she cannot prove actual malice because they made a mistake and a correction was issued. That is TYPICAL loser media tactic.. Lie to grab a headline (or clicks) .. then print a retraction a week later on page 14 where no one is looking. I am going to go out on a limb here.. I'm gonna say Palin loses this round but it ends up at the Supreme Court. Both Gorsuch and Thomas have called for "another look" at the Sullivan case. Thomas because, "it bears no relation to the text, history of structure of the Constitution" .. and Gorsuch argues the "shift in the media landscape calls for a rethinking of the actual malice standard" One guy watching this case closely (well.. his LAWYERS are.. and MAYBE him) is Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy. Dave was smeared by Business Insider over sexual assault allegations that are false.. and B.I. KNEW or SHOULD have known were false, with even cursory investigation... more below on that.. In Da Swamp: Even when something GOOD happens.. that Democrats AND Republicans agree is GOOD FOR AMERICA.. President Biden .. sorry.. Ron Klain and Susan Rice (yes, they run the Country) .. can't get it straight... President Biden spoke yesterday and said that at his direction US forces, "took out" the leader of isis... that is not exactly accurate... During the raid, the isis leader blew up himself and his house, killing himself and his family ...So.. its more accurate to say he "took himself out" before we could take him out.. Biden DID mention the terrorist detonating bombs later in the speech..and yes.. minor semantics.. but.. Just SAY IT upfront. Tell the ACTUAL truth instead of "make me look good" spin....anyways.. GOOD WORK President Biden (or whomever REALLY made the call).. The world is a safer place without that animal... and .. God Save the Queen .. Queen Elizabeth II will mark 70 years on the throne this Sunday. Congratulations .. and hopefully your family can avoid stupid scandals for the rest of your tenure .. SPORTS: GOLF: David Law on top in the UAE mid-second round .. and Matteo Manassero leads by two in Saudi Arabia.. Manassero was a young phenom that won at age 17 but did a swing change and hasn't been seen on a podium in 12 years. He dropped from 25 in the world to 1,805th and is trying to claw his way back. ..and.. PGA TOUR: AT&T Pro-Am .. The event is played at three courses over three days then a final round at Pebble Beach .. Tom Hoge is atop the leader board with a 63 but I think most would agree Seamus Power is the real leader. Power shot 64 as Spyglass Hill which is WAY harder than Monterey Peninsula or Pebble Beach. F-U GU !!! .. American snowboarder Eileen Gu is expected to medal in three events at the Olympics. Eileen was born and grew up in the USA... and trained in the USA her whole life. Gu's (self-described) Tiger Mom is originally from China.. Eileen Gu has elected to compete for CHINA.. Really? GO EFF YOURSELF and GO LIVE THERE .. You're gonna dump your Country, where you lived your whole life, got all your training, coaching and support... because you think its better for your "Brand".. I, for one, will be boycotting any sponsor she has for her short career .. NFL: Pro Bowl Sunday.. Giant waste of time..Boring to watch... Wanna make it more fun and have people watch? No helmets .. Flag Football.. Every Player on team has to play at least ONE full quarter .. The first 3 field goals or Extra Points have to be kicked by someone who is NOT on an NFL Roster as a kicker .. So. like a Tight End or something .. Let RAJ choose the cheerleaders... and winning team gets $1 million a man.. WINNAH WINNAH CHICKEN DINNAH.. Dave "El Presidente" Portnoy of Barstool Sports has been hit with a SECOND round of smears by the publication, "Business Insider" over alleged sexual assault. Portnoy produced for BI AND made public mounds of texts and direct messages from the "alleged victims" showing all interaction was consensual.. and in fact, repeatedly INITIATED and REQUESTED by the so called, "Victims". Portnoy is suing Business Insider and the writer of the articles. So, they will be watching the "public figure" decision (mentioned above) closely .. and.. WTF is a publication called "Business Insider" doing writing articles about sex between adults? What does THAT have to do with business? Other than an thinly veiled attempt to screw Barstools parent company Penn Gaming. If I were Penn Gaming, I would sue too !! Stick with the Suit, Dave. FCK THEM.. You might do more for America by b*tch slapping these people than you did with your COVID fund that saved small businesses.. and that is saying a LOT .. CELEBRIDIOTS: Love your work, Elton.. Respect for your career. You're an amazing performer.. .. But.. it should have been, "Thank you KANSAS City" after the show last night.. not "Arkansas City" .. A few extra letters on your Wordle there, Sir Elton!! .. We'll cut you a break .. You're from England.. I could easily confuse Coventry and Liverpool because I'm a Yank American.. My "guesswork" on the "resignation" of CNN loser Zucker was a little off base.. Yes he "Issued an insincere apology and resigned instead of being fired soon".. but there is A LOT more to the story. When Chris Cuomo was fired for violating company regulations he still was owed $18 million. Zucker wouldn't pay him. Cuomo went over CNN to their owner AT&T and sued saying, "Zucker has been having an affair for years, which is a violation of company regulations and he is still there. So, PAY me my $18 million" .. AT&T lawyers investigated the claim .. and it went something like this... "Zucker, tomorrow at 9am you are fired. If you would like to take the opportunity to resign before then, feel free" .. which he did... STOP IT !!! Rosie Huntington Whitely Statham!!! ..HERE.. we GET IT.. you're pregnant and happy about it.. We are happy FOR you .. but we DON'T want to see you're giant belly naked or in skin tight dresses (No, I will NOT link a photo)...Trust me .. Post Close-ups like this .. HERE. .. for a while, Rosie... From SeekingAlpha.com Jobs Day You know it's likely to be bad when the warnings keep pouring in about the January jobs report. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said she wants to "prepare" the public, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese is calling it "confusing" and even Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said to take the figures with a grain of salt. The non-farm payrolls report will come out at 8:30 a.m. ET and investors are bracing for another uncertain number, adding to the volatile market environment. What's going on? The Bureau of Labor Statistics collects jobs data during the pay period that includes the 12th day of the month. In January, that week coincided with new Omicron cases peaking in the U.S., when millions were calling out sick, quarantining or caring for others. If staff were not eligible for paid leave, they are going to be marked down as not working. January is also a month with extreme seasonal adjustments (think temporary holiday workers), while household survey data could be affected by new establishments and population controls. Recall that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has said he doesn't place a large amount of importance to any one month of jobs data, as the month-to-month figures can be volatile. The funny thing is, the big misses have happened multiple times in recent months (Dec. 199K vs. 400K, Nov. 210K vs. 550K, Sept. 194K vs. 500K, and Aug. 235K vs. 750K). Paid sick leave is also known to be available to 79% of civilian workers, according to government data, so the forecasts should reflect that. Over the course of 2021, 1.9M payroll additions were still added to the economy, but with severe misses over many months, do we need a better system to calculate non-farm payrolls or estimates? The good: "As far as [the jobs market] being weak, I don't know if anyone's going to give it much credence," said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at The Leuthold Group. "You've clearly got Omicron cases collapsing. You're seeing some high-frequency data showing some pretty significant pickups. I just think that calms a lot of the marketplace." The bad: "A weak jobs report means a longer runway for inflation until workers come back into the workforce to provide relief to widespread shortages," declared Bryce Doty of Sit Investment Associates. The ugly: "The January drop in employment is another reminder that the economy will not fully return to normal until the pandemic is over," added Gus Faucher, chief U.S. economist at PNC. Analyst estimates: Consensus forecasts from economists anticipate employers only added 150K jobs last month, but some are flagging (much) worse figures. Deutsche Bank sees a gain of 125K, Citigroup sees growth of 70K, while Standard Chartered forecasts a net addition of just 50K. A contraction is also possible, with Capital Economics suggesting that non-farm payrolls may have actually fallen by 200K, Goldman sees a 250K drop, Pantheon Macro puts the decline at 300K and PNC even projects a plunge of 400K. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is seen remaining unchanged at 3.9%, with average hourly earnings rising by 0.5%, boosting the annual increase to 5.2% from 4.7% in December. Prime earnings Facebook is still looking for friends after a massive plunge that saw parent Meta (FB) lose $251B in market value - the biggest single-day equity wipeout ever - but things were more welcoming elsewhere in Big Tech. Amazon (AMZN) reported a set of bumper earnings late Thursday that smashed operating income and EPS expectations, sending shares up 12% after the bell. In fact, the divergence in stock prices saw Mark Zuckerberg lose $29B in net worth, while Jeff Bezos added another $20B to his personal valuation. Catalysts: Investors cheered news that Prime annual membership will be hiked to $139, a $20 increase from the current subscription fee of $119. The price rise will go into effect on March 25 (and Feb. 18 for new members), reflecting higher wages and transportation costs. Amazon also received a big boost from its investments in electric vehicle company Rivian (RIVN), as well as surging revenue from its AWS cloud computing unit (+40% to $17.8B) and advertising businesses (+32% to $9.7B). "As expected over the holidays, we saw higher costs driven by labor supply shortages and inflationary pressures, and these issues persisted into the first quarter due to Omicron," said CEO Andy Jassy. "Despite these short-term challenges, we continue to feel optimistic and excited about the business as we emerge from the pandemic." A little short? Even with the forecast, Amazon expects Q1 revenue of $112B-$117B vs. a $121B consensus on Wall Street and operating income of $3B-$6B vs. a $6.35B consensus. Oil tops $90 With inventory levels in Cushing at multi-year, seasonally-adjusted lows, and prices for the U.S. crude grade encroaching on seaborne levels, WTI is trading above $90 for the first time since mid-2014. Currently, global crude inventories are at unusually low levels, meaning supply increases from OPEC+ and American shale will need to meet post-pandemic demand (if oil prices are to remain at current levels). Unfortunately for consumers and oil-price bears, OPEC+ continues to miss quotas, while shale heavyweights like Conoco (COP), Exxon (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) have all budgeted for flat, portfolio-wide output growth in 2022. Quote: "The oil market is so tight that any shock to production is going to send prices soaring," explained Ed Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA. Remember, the U.S. coordinated a release 50M barrels of oil from the U.S. Strategic Reserve in November, when prices were still under $80. While the move was meant to lower prices, the volumes announced were much less than the market was expecting and would need to be sustained over a longer period of time. A large portion of the barrels was also set to be exported to China and India, since the supplies comprised of sour crude, a type of oil that many American refiners are avoiding due to its high sulfur content and makes it more expensive to process. Next stop? A number of Wall Street analysts have already forecast $100 oil, with WTI up nearly 20% YTD, building on 2021's more than 50% gain. Geopolitical tensions have meanwhile sent jitters through the market, especially the recent standoff playing out between Russia and Ukraine. The trends are also highly inflationary, posing trouble for central bank policymakers around the globe. Citius, Altius, Fortius? The Beijing Winter Olympics officially kick off today, but you wouldn't know that from the latest slate of advertising campaigns. Many companies are facing pressure to acknowledge China's abuses of its minority Uyghur population in Xinjiang, along with other human rights issues and authoritarian control. Top American sponsors like Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB), Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) and Visa (NYSE:V) are lying low in their Olympic-themed commercials, and there hasn't been many displayed on TV or social media in the U.S. Bigger picture: It's a tough environment to navigate with their consumers and corporations are likely to get far less on their investment return in this situation. In fact, those who are advertising have largely steered clear of mentioning the location of the Games or any hint of politics. An example from Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) saw the "official airline of Team USA" release a commercial spotlighting skiers, snowboarders and figure skaters, but no where is "Beijing" or even a reference to the "Olympics" mentioned in the clip. While American athletes are free to compete, the U.S. government is boycottingthe 2022 Winter Olympics, meaning diplomatic personnel will be barred from the event. No major representatives from U.S.-aligned democratic nations will be present either (though France is sending its sports minister). In fact, Russia's Vladimir Putin will be among those greeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping today and attending the opening ceremony. Bottom line: "This is going to be the new-era Olympics, more triumphalist in design and tone," said Christopher Johnson, president of risk consultancy China Strategies Group in Washington. China's message is, "We're here, get used to it." Today's Markets In Asia, Japan +0.7%. Hong Kong +3.2%. China closed. India -0.2%. In Europe, at midday, London +0.2%. Paris -0.6%. Frankfurt -1.3%. Futures at 6:20, Dow -0.2%. S&P +0.2%. Nasdaq +0.9%. Crude +1.4% $91.55. Gold +0.5% at $1813.80. Ten-year Treasury Yield -1 bps to 1.81% Today's Economic Calendar 8:30 Non-farm payrolls 1:00 PM Baker-Hughes Rig Count Companies reporting earnings today » What else is happening... Divergence: Bank of England hikes rates; ECB stays on hold. Hong Kong soars 3% as traders return from Lunar New Year. Snap (NYSE:SNAP) skyrockets on first-ever quarterly net profit. Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) jumps as revenue, profits easily clear bar. Clorox (NYSE:CLX) stumbles on narrowing sales, margins and bleak outlook. Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) misses on earnings, sees user decline. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) bumps capex and dividends, not production. End of the boom in sight for U.S. shale drillers - WSJ analysis. Rivian (RIVN) vs. Lucid (LCID)? Morgan Stanley sees clear EV winner.
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