Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Modernity.news,

Exemplifying demographic changes taking place due to mass migration, the most popular name for boys in England and Wales last year was Muhammad.

The Arabic name, which is shared with the Prophet Muhammad, overtook Noah to become the most popular name for boys in 2023.

Although it is being reported that this is the first time Muhammad has topped the charts, it would have actually come in at number one in multiple previous years had all the different spellings of the name been combined.

Today we’ve released the most popular baby names for England and Wales in 2023👶

🥇 what’s no. 1
🥳 newcomers and movers in the top 10
⏫ names making it into the top 100
👋 names out of the top 100

Swipe and find out ⬇️

— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) December 5, 2024

“In 2023 there were 4,661 Muhammads born across England and Wales, up from 4,177 in 2022,” reports the Telegraph.

“In contrast, only 4,382 Noahs were born in 2023, down from 4,586 the previous year.”

The name Muhammad has been in the top 10 since 2016, the fact that it has now risen to number one in the space of 7 years underscores how rapidly the UK is being changed demographically by mass migration

The results of the 2021 census revealed that the UK has gone from being over 99 per cent ethnically white British in 1951 to just 76.8 per cent white British in 2021.

🚨Leicester – the multiculturalism poster boy:

➡️White population collapse:

1961: 97.8% vs 2021: 33.2%

➡️2021 – English not even the largest group:

White 33.2% vs Indian 34.3%

➡️Ethnic segregation – no such thing as assimilation en masse:

Maps:
🔴White
🟠Indian
⚫️Pakistani pic.twitter.com/WakHj2KFV4

— Wolf 🐺 (@WorldByWolf) November 10, 2024

England went from being 94 per cent white to just 81% white within the space of three decades.

Almost 6 per cent of the population are now Muslim, a figure that has more than doubled since 2001.

Last week it was revealed that net migration to the UK hit record high of 906,000 in year to June 2023.

This prompted left-wing Labour leader Prime Minister Keir Starmer to deliver an emergency speech asserting that the previous Tory government had been running an “open borders experiment” which “happened by design, not accident.”

The changes are most noticeably felt in major cities like Liverpool, where in a clip posted to X, a man takes a walk around the city center and notes how he can’t even find a fellow scouser.

Liverpool —my home city— is changing beyond all recognition.

It now houses hundreds of African and Middle-Eastern men, plus countless women in burqas. Few speak english.

What the hell is going on, @lpoolcouncil? @LCRMayor @LivEchonews @LpoolCityRegion @bbcmerseyside pic.twitter.com/6tYFnpxLa3

— Peter Lloyd (@Suffragent_) December 5, 2024

The news is part of the wider phenomenon taking place across the continent with Muhammad and its spelling variants already taking the top spot in major cities of other European countries.

The name became the most popular for baby boys in the Irish city of Galway in 2022, marking the first time an Islamic forename had topped the list for either gender in an Irish city.

Similarly, the name was the most popular for boys in the German capital of Berlin that same year.

In Brussels — the de facto capital of the European Union — two variations of the name made up the top three boys’ names in 2021. Mohamed was the most popular with 13,595 registrations. The second most common name was Jean, trailing in its wake at 6,089, while Mohammed took third being given to 4,835 newborns.

*  *  *

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

By Elad Vaida of Campus Reform

Several colleges and universities have expressed concerns over President-elect Donald Trump’s desire to crack down on illegal immigration, among other immigration measures that Trump hopes to enforce. 

Institutions of higher education are worried that future congressional legislation and executive action by Trump could impact the presence of illegal alien students in the U.S., as well as the status of international students, Politico noted.

Politico cited announcements from several schools.

Cornell University, for example, warned its community that “[t]he immigration landscape is likely to change under the new presidential administration.”

It told readers:

“A travel ban is likely to go into effect soon after inauguration,” and added that “[i]t is a good idea for international students, faculty, and staff from the above countries to be back in the U.S. in advance of the semester, which begins January 21, 2025.”

The University of Massachusetts Amherst also issued a “Holiday Break Travel Advisory” recommending that the school’s “international community” would “strongly consider returning to the United States prior to the presidential inauguration day of January 20, 2025 if they are planning on traveling internationally during the winter holiday break.”

The university noted that this announcement was made out of “an abundance of caution to hopefully prevent any possible travel disruption to members of our international community.”

“There’s a lot of interest, concern, anxiety and a desire to be truly prepared for how best to act when policies come,” said Miriam Feldblum, the co-founder and executive director of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, according to Politico. 

Politico also reported that Congress is considering legislation titled the “Crucial Communism Teaching Act,” which aims to teach high schoolers about the horrors and massacres committed by communist regimes.

The bill would make the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation nonprofit provide resources to teach high schoolers about communism, in order to help students “learn that communism has led to the deaths of over 100,000,000 victims worldwide,” “understand the dangers of communism and similar political ideologies,” and “understand that 1,500,000,000 people 20 still suffer under communism.”

In another stunning advance by Syrian jihadists led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Hama has become the second major Syrian city to fall to the anti-Assad insurgents since the shock campaign based out of Idlib began last week.

The Syrian national army confirmed in a Thursday statement that it has withdrawn from the city, redeploying its forces “to preserve civilian lives and prevent urban combat.”

Al Jazeera correspondent Resul Serdar observed of the “major development” that “In just over a week they have managed to take full control of Syria’s second-largest city, Aleppo, and now the fourth-largest city.”

The assault had been happening since Tuesday night, reportedly with violent clashes with the Syrian Army being most concentrated in the Jabal Zayn al-Abidin area, just north of Hama.

Hama is one-third of the way from Aleppo to Damascus, and puts the HTS jihadists a significant step closer to accessing Syria’s most populous government regions.

One of the largest Christian towns of Syria, neighboring Muhrada, is now under direct threat.

with a heavy heart, I report to you that Hama, my city, has officially fallen in the hands of terrorists.
May the Lord take our souls or theirs, we will never coexist with them. pic.twitter.com/qkp6dFBxty

— Jean ☦︎ 🔺ن (@poqanarii) December 5, 2024

Longtime Syrian al-Qaeda leader and head of HTS, Abu Mohammed al-Golani has issued a video statement telling outside Iranian-backed powers they must not intervene. The warning was specifically directed against Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi militias.

Pretty incredible footage of clashes between Syrian rebels and the Assad regime forces in town of Khattab pic.twitter.com/TTtk6dAg8T

— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) December 5, 2024

Golani said in reference to Iraq’s prime minister: “We urge him again to keep Iraq away from entering into the flames of a new war tied to what is happening in Syria.”

There have been days of reports of pro-Iranian militias pouring across the border in the multiple hundreds from Iraq, near the Abu Kamal area. US warplanes have also engaged Syrian national forces and militia in the Deir Ezzor region.

Another key faction within Golani’s group is the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army. Reuters summarized of a near-term of goal of these groups, “HTS and the other rebel groups are trying to consolidate their rule in Aleppo, bringing it under the administration of the so-called Salvation Government they established in their northwestern enclave.”

Footage by the Islamist fighters showing they have entered the center of the city of Hama:

Syrian rebels are inside Hama city pic.twitter.com/7ypodlNqnd

— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) December 5, 2024

Currently, people in Aleppo have said there are shortages of bread, food, and fuel – and that there are no longer any telecom services in the area.

The militants could seek to strike Homs next, but it’s likely that the Syrian government will muster most of its forces at the strategic city in anticipation of such an assault.

Takeover of Homs would give HTS easier access to all other parts of the country. At this point Hama’s populous Christian community has reportedly been fleeing, seeking shelter closer to the coast in the nearby ‘Valley of the Christians’ area, not trusting the pledges of Golani to ‘protect’ religious minorities.

By Joanna Insco of The College Fix

Expert raises concerns about academic integrity and risks to public health over flagged articles

Two prominent cancer researchers at Columbia and Pennsylvania State universities had their research articles retracted recently due to allegations of misconduct, including the use of manipulated data.

One, Deborah Kelly at Penn State, suggested prejudice against “LGBTQIA+” researchers could be to blame.

But a journalism scholar who reports on academic retractions told The College Fix that there are many reasons for the increasing number of retractions, including pressure from publishers to produce more work.

Sam Yoon, the chief of a cancer surgery division at Columbia University, had five research articles retracted and a sixth marked with an editor’s note for research conduct, The New York Times reported.

The retractions surrounded a 2010 study on the growth of tumors that was flagged for duplicate imaging. The images in research articles represent and reflect the data, so repeated imaging suggests unproofed results.

“With the latest retractions, the Columbia lab, led by Dr. Sam Yoon, has had more than a dozen studies pulled over suspicious results” this year, the New York Times reported. 

Ivan Oransky, who reports on the retraction of academic research papers, told The College Fix the issue in this case “was that nobody did anything about it.”

“That’s unfortunately typical in these cases. It’s a reputation hit for the university,” Oransky, co-founder of Retraction Watch, said.

Oransky said articles such as Yoon’s are used to inform clinical trials and decision-making, which means that research misconduct can put people directly in harm’s way.

“It’s important to correct the record whether you’re a newspaper reporter or a scientist,” he said.

He identified publisher pressure as a leading cause of research misconduct. Publishers push their researchers to produce high volumes of work in smaller time frames, leading to mistakes.

“This all trickles down to more doggy work, more fraud and so you’re seeing more retractions,” Oransky said.

Further, the recent influx in retraction may have more to do with an increase in investigations rather than simply an increase in misconduct.

“There has definitely been a growth in retraction,” Oransky said. “I think [the scientific community is] just finding more of it.”

He raised the question of whether stories like these could lead to science budget cuts. “Scientists really need to think about whether they lose trust when they cover things up … That could have a big impact on policy on budgets,” he said.

Similarly, articles by Penn State researcher Deborah Kelly were also recently flagged for unreliable data, Retraction Watch reported.

She lost a government-funded study and is facing the retraction of a paper after a review of her work identified “serious data integrity concerns,” according to emails obtained by Retraction Watch.

Like Yoon’s work, repeated figures and images were found within Kelly’s research, and electron microscopy maps that were included did not have the expected pixel sizes or features.

As a result, Penn State has banned Kelly, a biomedical engineering professor, “from conducting further research,” Inside Higher Ed reported.

When reached for comment, Kelly directed The College Fix to a November Substack post she wrote titled, “Deb Kelly: Setting the Record Straight,” in which she told her side of the story.

“I expect our work—and the people behind it—to be treated with respect and to be evaluated by the rules and established norms of the scientific process,” Kelly stated. 

She attributed her retractions to “thousands of harassing emails” which do “not meet that standard.” 

“Perhaps it is just an unfortunate coincidence that the harassers are male, and that many of my team identify as LGBTQIA+,” she stated. 

“I know that my work has authenticity, integrity, and impact, I will continue to defend it at every juncture,” she stated.

Further, Kelly said “constructive critiques” are an integral part of “peer review and scientific debate.” However, “the process only works if critique and debate is rigorous, respectful, and based in evidence,” she stated.

“Arguments need to be grounded in facts and data, not unsupported speculations and sketchy concoctions,” Kelly stated.

She also referenced the journal Nature, which reported over 10,000 research articles were retracted in 2023, “smashing annual records … as publishers struggle to clean up a slew of sham papers and peer-review fraud.”

Having topped $100,000 overnight ($peaking at $103,800)…

…bitcoin is not just at record highs vs the USDollar, but also relative to gold…

…and, arguably, the recent surge is down to one man (BTC is up 55% since the election), and – as always – he is not shy about mentioning it…

The rally has added $1.4 trillion to the crypto ecosystem’s market cap and pushed bitcoin above Saudi Aramco as the 7th largest ‘asset’ in the world.

Not everyone is happy though…

The crypto market has jumped by roughly $1.4 trillion since Trump’s US election victory. Trump said ‘you’re welcome’ after bitcoin hit $100,000 pic.twitter.com/P8ht09LWFN

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) December 5, 2024

Lizzy will not love this either – flows into BTC ETFs have exploded since Trump was elected…

And one ETF in particular has benefited greatly.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has surpassed $50 billion in assets under management, achieving the milestone in just 228 days – more than five times faster than any other ETF in history.

For context, it took GLD five and a half years to reach that level of AUM…

Speaking to Decrypt, Bitfinex analysts noted that fresh demand from new investors has played a major role in Bitcoin’s record-breaking year.

“The ability of BTC to make new ATHs every week, despite profit-taking, is due to the fresh demand coming into the market from new investors,” the analysts said.

“Any selling has been absorbed and outpaced by strong ETF inflows and subsequent buying from institutions.”

With anti-crypto SEC chair Gary Gensler’s departure and the nomination of Paul Atkins, a former SEC commissioner known for advocating market-friendly policies, analysts expect a shift toward a more collaborative regulatory framework for the crypto market.

Rather than being viewed as speculative assets, Bitcoin and crypto-backed ETFs like IBIT are increasingly viewed as tools for diversification and stability, especially as regulatory headwinds are predicted to ease.

However, the establishment remains ambivalent as Fed Chair Powell said in an exclusive interview with CNBC that Bitcoin is in competition with gold, not the U.S. dollar.

“People use bitcoin as a speculative asset — it’s like gold,” Powell said.

“It’s just like gold, only it’s virtual, it’s digital. People are not using it as a form of payment or as a store of value. It’s highly volatile. It’s not a competitor for the dollar, it’s really a competitor for gold,” he added.

BREAKING: 🇺🇸 Fed Chair Jerome Powell says #Bitcoin is a competitor to gold, not the US dollar. pic.twitter.com/YQHFiThTBo

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) December 4, 2024

Many would argue the opposite – preferring to spend their ‘fiat’ currency – a depreciating asset – and save in bitcoin – an appreciating asset.

Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA,

It’s clear that outgoing and embattled President Joe Biden no longer cares about public perception—using his pardon power to put his son above the law and now openly dozing off in front of world leaders. 

Biden was caught in a now-viral video seemingly asleep while resting his head on his hand during a summit in Angola.

WATCH: A much higher quality video of Biden’s nap during his meeting with world leaders in Africa.

Who’s running the country? pic.twitter.com/loUx6ru8Cp

— Jake Schneider (@jacobkschneider) December 4, 2024

Seated next to the sleepy president were the leaders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania and Zambia, as well as the Africa Finance Corporation. 

The summit sought to raise funds for a project to connect the African continent and boost its declining growth. Biden pledged a staggering $600 million in taxpayer dollars for the so-called rail plan. 

“Africa has been left behind for much too long… but not anymore,” Biden claimed, his voice raspy. “Africa is the future. I’m not being solicitous.” 

Despite the ambitious U.S.-funded project, Biden’s nap drew the most attention.

“Who’s running the country?” asked Republican official Jake Schneider, one of the first to share the video online. 

“President Biden isn’t even trying to fake it anymore. No need to count sheep here. Dude went straight snoozing,” one user wrote, sharing a screenshot of Biden seemingly asleep. 

Irish personality Chay Bowes similarly rebuked Biden on X, calling him “the singularly most useless and destructive” U.S. president in generations. 

Biden, the singularly most useless and destructive President of the United States in Generations

Literally sleeps his way through a meeting with African leaders.

A corrupt and devious liar, a shame to the decent people of America. pic.twitter.com/UJoot81piX

— Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) December 4, 2024

“Literally sleeps his way through a meeting with African leaders,” Bowes added. “A corrupt and devious liar, a shame to the decent people of America.”

Podcast host Chad Prather quipped that Biden would sleep “through the inauguration” of President-elect Donald Trump. 

Biden’s nap comes less than four months after he was forced to renounce the Democratic nomination amid leftist concerns that, at 81, he would inadvertently pave the way for a Trump second term. 

The White House tried to shield the president from viral videos exposing him as confused, startled, limping and walking stiffly.  

The cover-up unraveled after Americans directly witnessed Biden repeatedly stumble over his words during the first debate with the more energetic Donald Trump. 

While Biden exited the race in disgrace and endorsed his equally unpopular vice president, Kamala Harris, Trump emerged victorious in the 2024 election, sweeping all battleground states and gaining ground across nearly all the country’s counties. 

The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the first time rose modestly last week from 215k to 224k – still obviously very low numbers…

Source: Bloomberg

Hurricane-related states (Florida and North Carolina) have seen initial claims crash to near record lows

Source: Bloomberg

Additionally, WTF is going in California…?

In the week leading up to Thanksgiving, claims surged by almost 5,000…

…and then last week, claims crashed by almost 10,000?

Continuing Claims dropped back below 1.9mm Americans (1.871mm)

Source: Bloomberg

Not exactly rate-cutting-type numbers, eh?

S&P 500 futures are flat, holding near Wednesday’s record high, with WTI futures bouncing around after OPEC+ agreed to delay output hikes for 3 months. As of 8:00am, futures were flat in a quiet trading session ahead of NFP after closing at a new all-time high for the 56th time in 2024; Nasdaq futures are down 0.1% as Mag7 names are mostly lower premarket with Semis underperforming. Bond yields are 1-2bps higher. Financials indicated higher. Bitcoin topped $100,000 for the first time after President-elect Trump named crypto proponent Paul Atkins to head the SEC. Microstrategy, which has become a proxy for crypto in the world of stocks, was up 8% crushing the latest onslaught of shorts. French assets rose slightly as investors debated the implications of the collapse of Michel Barnier’s government. The CAC 40 stock index climbed 0.1% in Paris, tracking Europe’s regional Stoxx 600 gauge. Commodities are mixed while the USD extends losses for a third consecutive day. It is a relatively light macro data day with jobless claims, which is not thought to be catalytic given tomorrow’s NFP print.

In premarket trading, cryptocurrency stocks jumped on Thursday after Bitcoin rallied past $100,000 for the first time, boosted by President-elect Donald Trump’s embrace of digital assets. Microstrategy, Coinbase, Riot Platforms and MARA Holdings were among those sharply higher in premarket trading. Here are some other notable premarket movers

• AeroVironment (AVAV) falls 8% after the drone maker reported 2Q adjusted EPS that disappointed amid higher R&D spending.
• American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) tumbles 13% after the apparel retailer lowered its full-year comparable sales forecast.
• ChargePoint (CHPT) jumps 11% after the electric-vehicle charging company reported third-quarter revenue that beat average expectations.
• Fiserv (FI) drops 9% after President-elect Donald Trump tapped the fintech’s CEO Frank Bisignano to serve as the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration.
• Five Below (FIVE) jumps 14% after the discount retailer boosted its full-year net sales guidance and named former Forever 21 head Winnie Park as CEO.
• Nano-X Imaging (NNOX) rises 11% after the medical imaging technology company said it received FDA clearance for its Nanox.ARC x-ray system.
• NCino (NCNO) declines 19% after the banking software maker’s fourth-quarter revenue forecast fell short of estimates.
• SentinelOne (S) falls 15% after the cybersecurity software company posted 3Q profit that fell short of estimates.
• Synopsys (SNPS) declines 8% after the maker of electronic design automation software provider a weaker-than-expected forecast.

S&P 500 contracts were steady after the 56th record close of 2024 put the index on course for its best year since 2019. Fed Chair Jerome Powell buoyed sentiment on Wall Street by saying the US economy is in “remarkably good shape.” The dollar and Treasuries were lower. Attention turns next to today’s US jobless claims numbers before key non-farm payrolls data Friday.

In comments at the New York Times DealBook Summit in New York, Fed Chair Powell said downside risks from the labor market had receded. He also said Fed officials could afford to be cautious as they lower rates toward a neutral level — one that neither stimulates nor holds back the economy. Powell’s comments on the US economy did little to alter expectations implied by market pricing that the Fed will cut rates again when it meets later this month. Meanwhile, two surveys showed that US executives turned significantly more optimistic about the economy and prospects for their own businesses after Trump won the election.

France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen teamed up with a left-wing coalition to topple Barnier’s administration on Wednesday, pitching the country into further political turbulence. President Emmanuel Macron now needs to find another premier who can pass a budget for 2025 through the deeply divided parliament.

“The markets have partially anticipated this development, but repercussions can be expected,” said Alexandre Hezez, chief investment officer at Group Richelieu. “Any political or budgetary misstep could punish France much more severely on the markets.”

French assets rebounded slightly as investors debated the implications of the collapse of Michel Barnier’s government. The CAC 40 stock index climbed 0.1% in Paris, tracking Europe’s regional Stoxx 600 index which rose for a sixth straight session and French equities outperform in early Thursday trading amid optimism that tax hikes proposed by the toppled government will not materialize. French aerospace firm Safran was lagging behind as analysts didn’t approve of its new targets. Aurubis rose on a higher-than-expected dividend. Here are the biggest movers Thursday:

• Aurubis shares rise 14%, the most in 15 years, after the German copper producer announced a higher dividend than expected, which analysts called a positive surprise
• French equities rise after a no-confidence vote toppled Prime Minister Michel Barnier, amid optimism that his proposed tax hikes will not pass in parliament, with the CAC40 up as much as 0.7%
• HelloFresh shares gain as much as 12% on Thursday after Jefferies analysts raised their rating to buy from hold, saying the meal-kit firm’s stock is still trading “in value territory”
• Watches of Switzerland shares jump as much as 10%, hitting their highest level since January, after the watch retailer reported a much better set of revenue figures in its second quarter
• Avanza gains as much as 5.7% following an upgrade to buy at SEB, which expects the retail-trading platform’s outlook to be boosted by improving disposable incomes in Swedish households
• TotalEnergies gain as much as 1.9% after the French energy company was upgraded to outperform at RBC, which notes a stronger outlook for shareholder compensation, relative to peers
• Card Factory shares rise as much as 10%, the most since April 30, after the UK retailer’s acquisition of Minnesota-based Garven Holdings for $25 million
• Continental shares rise as much as 1.9% after Bernstein analysts upgraded the auto parts maker to market perform, saying they expect the company’s tire business to remain strong next year
• Safran shares drop as much as 5.5% after some analysts said the new targets outlined by the aerospace firm for the coming years are well below consensus expectations
• Serica Energy drops as much as 5.7% after the oil and gas producer warned it has had to shut production at the Triton FPSO because of more issues, resulting in another cut to FY production guidance
• Frasers Group shares fall as much as 15%, the biggest intraday drop since March 2020, after after the UK owner of retail outlets such as Sports Direct and House of Fraser cut its FY profit forecast
• Tullow Oil shares plunge as much as 11% after announcing it has started to search for a new head as Chief Executive Rahul Dhir will step down in 2025
• Synsam falls as much as 9.7% after its shareholder Theia Holdings offered as many as 16 million shares at a 9.9% discount compared to Wednesday’s close

In Asia, the MSCI Asia Pacific index was little changed as technology shares advanced while Korean stock losses extended amid a political turmoil with the country’s ruling party looking to prevent President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment by voting against a motion to initiate proceedings that may take place Saturday.  The MSCI Asia Pacific Index traded in a narrow range, with TSMC and other chip shares in the region tracking the sector’s gains on Wall Street overnight. Shares in Hong Kong declined, while Chinese equities listed in the city also snapped a four-day winning streak with traders awaiting a key policy meeting later this month. South Korean stocks slid for a second day, with the ruling and opposition parties set to clash over an impeachment motion to unseat

Bitcoin jumped as much as 6.1% to breach the $100,000 mark for the first time, boosted by Trump’s embrace of digital assets. Crypto tracking ETFs have seen huge inflows in recent days.

In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index slipped 0.1%, falling for the second straight day; the yen extended gains after Bank of Japan Board Member Toyoaki Nakamura said he didn’t object to an interest rate hike later this month. EUR/USD edged up 0.2% to $1.0530 after France’s Prime Minister Michel Barnier was toppled in a no confidence vote, as widely expected

In rates, treasuries are slightly cheaper across maturities, underperforming core European rates ahead of weekly jobless claims and Friday’s broader US employment report. The US 10-year yield is higher by 3 bps to 4.21% with comparable bunds and gilts little changed, while French 10-year bond rise, trades around 5bp richer vs US, and outperforming their German peers and narrowing the 10-year yield spread to the lowest level this week despite the collapse of Michel Barnier’s government. President Macron is scheduled to make a statement at 8 p.m.

In commodities, oil prices edged higher as OPEC+ meets to discuss a further delay to its plans to revive oil production. WTI rises 0.5% to $68.90.

The US economic data calendar includes November Challenger job cuts (7:30am New York time) and October trade balance and weekly jobless claims (8:30am). Fed speaker slate includes Barkin at 12:15pm

Market Snapshot

• S&P 500 futures little changed at 6,094.75
• Brent Futures up 0.2% to $72.45/bbl
• Gold spot down 0.3% to $2,642.18
• US Dollar Index down 0.13% to 106.19
• STOXX Europe 600 up 0.2% to 518.70
• MXAP little changed at 186.91
• MXAPJ little changed at 585.56
• Nikkei up 0.3% to 39,395.60
• Topix little changed at 2,742.24
• Hang Seng Index down 0.9% to 19,560.44
• Shanghai Composite up 0.1% to 3,368.86
• Sensex up 0.9% to 81,698.29
• Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 0.1% to 8,474.92
• Kospi down 0.9% to 2,441.85
• German 10Y yield little changed at 2.07%
• Euro up 0.2% to $1.0530

Top Overnight News

• BOJ’s Toyoaki Nakamura delivers somewhat dovish remarks, calling for policy tightening to proceed at a cautious pace and expressing doubt about the sustainability of wage growth. Bets on a BOJ rate hike this month fell to 37% WSJ
• South Korea’s main opposition leader said ousting President Yoon Suk Yeol may be difficult due to lack of support from the ruling party. BBG
• French stocks and bonds gained ahead of an address by Emmanuel Macron at 2 p.m. ET. As the president looks for a new PM, SocGen strategists see political uncertainty driving risk premium higher until new parliamentary elections. BBG
• The ECB may resort to yield-curve control if a surge in government borrowing costs damps the impact of rate cuts, ING said, though that would be a “bold call” and not its base-case scenario. BBG
• Ukrainian officials are holding high-level talks with the incoming Trump administration, seeking to narrow wide differences on achieving a settlement of Kyiv’s war with Russia even before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. WSJ
• US President-elect Trump picked Paul Atkins for SEC Chair, while he picked Faulkender for Deputy US Treasury Secretary and Gail Slater as assistant AG for the antitrust division at the Department of Justice. Trump also named former Senator Kelly Loeffler to serve as Administrator of the Small Business Administration and Frank Bisignano to serve as the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, while he named former Congressman Billy Long of Missouri to serve as the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.
• Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy has traveled to Qatar and Israel to kickstart the U.S. president-elect’s diplomatic push to help reach a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal before he takes office on January 20th. RTRS
• Bitcoin blew past $100,000 as traders took in the prospect of relaxed regulations under Donald Trump’s pick of crypto proponent Paul Atkins to lead the SEC. BBG
• China is accelerating its efforts to wean itself off of American semiconductors. FT
• US execs turned sharply optimistic after Donald Trump’s presidential win, with 67% confident about the economy, up from 26% in August, a survey showed. Business leaders plan to ramp up investments and hiring, despite inflation jitters. BBG
• Fed’s Daly (2024 voter) said they do not need to be urgent and need to carefully calibrate policy, while she will wait until the December meeting to make her decision. Daly also stated that inflation is still the number one challenge people are facing and there’s a lot more work to deliver on 2% inflation and durable expansion.

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

APAC stocks traded mixed and partially sustained the momentum from the fresh record levels on Wall St where tech led the advances with the help of earnings releases and softer yields following weak ISM Services data. ASX 200 eked slight gains with tech stocks taking inspiration from the outperformance stateside, while there was also an improvement in the latest trade and household spending data. Nikkei 225 gapped higher at the open but then gave back some of the initial spoils amid a choppy currency, while there was some intraday support seen after cautious rhetoric from BoJ’s Nakamura although the momentum waned shortly after. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were mixed with sentiment clouded after the PBoC’s operations resulted in another net liquidity drain and with a recent article in Chinese state media downplaying the pursuit of fast growth ahead of next week’s Central Economic Work Conference.

Top Asian News

• China Foreign Ministry has decided to impose sanctions on 13 US military firms and executives from December 5th, it announced. Some of the firms under sanctions include Teledyne Brown Engineering, Brinc Drones, Shield AI.
• South Korean army chief offered to resign, according to Yonhap
• Chinese state media warned against blindly pursuing faster growth and signalled more focus on supporting consumption in a flurry of articles ahead of the Central Economic Work Conference, according to Bloomberg.
• BoJ board member Nakamura said he is not confident about the sustainability of wage growth, while he added they are at a critical phase and must check many data and cautiously adjust the degree of monetary support in accordance with an improvement in the economy. Nakamura said that he sees a chance inflation may miss 2% from fiscal 2025 onward and noted that Japan’s economy has yet to move on course for a stable growth path. Furthermore, he said structural changes in Japan’s economy are required for inflation to stably hit 2% which will take a significant amount of time but also stated the adjustment of easy monetary policy will proceed gradually as the economy is expected to head toward a growth path. BoJ Board Member Nakamura later commented during a press conference that they will decide policy by examining data and he is not against a rate hike but believes it should be data-dependent.
• Japanese PM Ishiba said the government should mull what’s an appropriate FX level and there are no plans to change the government-BoJ joint stance.
• South Korean ruling party leader Han said the party will try to stop the impeachment motion from passing parliament but demanded that President Yoon leave the party, according to Yonhap. Furthermore, the opposition party said it plans to vote to impeach President Yoon at 7pm local time on Saturday.

European bourses opened flat but started grinding higher shortly after the open despite relatively quiet newsflow but potentially as some of the optimism potentially emanating from the gains on Wall Street. European sectors kicked off the session with a mild positive bias which later expanded as sentiment continued to improve shortly after the cash open. CAC 40 shrugged off the vote of no confidence which played out as expected, while President Macron is reported to be looking to announce a replacement before Saturday as opposed to taking the country to the polls. In terms of US equity futures, mild downward bias seen in the ES and NQ after yesterday’s session on Wall Street in which US stocks gained and the major indices printed fresh record highs with the Nasdaq leading advances amid outperformance in Tech and Consumer Discretionary and Communication names.

Top European News

• BoE Monthly Decision Maker Panel data November 2024: Year-ahead own-price inflation was expected to be 3.7% in the three months to November vs. 3.5% in October. Expectations for CPI inflation a year ahead rose from 2.6% to 2.7% in the three months to November.Three-year ahead CPI inflation expectations was unchanged at 2.6%. Firms reported that annual wage growth was 5.5% in the three months to November vs. 5.6% in October. Expected year-ahead wage growth dropped by 0.1ppt to 4.0% on a three-month moving-average basis in November
• French President Macron will address the nation on Thursday evening in a televised speech at 18:00 GMT, according to Sky News.
• French Far-right leader Marine Le Pen said they have some requirements for backing the next PM and will contribute to crafting a budget, while she is not calling for President Marcon’s resignation but noted that the pressure is piling up.
• Istat cut Italy’s 2024 GDP growth forecast to 0.5% (prev. 1.0% seen in June); cut 2025 GDP growth to 0.8% (prev. 1.1%).
• Moody’s said French no-confidence vote is “Credit Negative”.
• S&P said the fall of the French Govt. leaves France without a clear path towards reducing its budget.

FX

• USD remains on the backfoot vs. peers following yesterday’s ISM-induced move in yields. Commentary from Fed Chair Powell who noted that the Fed can afford to be cautious in finding neutral failed to cause a stir in markets. Today’s US Calendar is a lighter one with US challenger layoffs and Fed’s Barkin on deck. Tomorrow’s NFP release looms large. DXY briefly slipped below yesterday’s 106.09 low. The next target comes via the 106 mark; Monday’s low sits @ 105.78.
• EUR on a firmer footing vs. the USD with not much in the way of follow-through selling from the collapse of the French government (which was widely expected). Focus remains on the next steps and who (if anyone) Macron can appoint as PM. The main kicker is that the 2024 budget will likely be rolled into 2025. From a broader Eurozone perspective, pricing of a 50bps move at next week’s ECB meeting continues to be unwound with odds of a 25bps move now @ 86%. EUR/USD has made some progress on a 1.05 handle with the next upside target coming via the 21DMA @ 1.0561.
• JPY is one of the better performers vs. the USD on account of remarks from BoJ dove Nakamura who stated that he is not against a rate hike. Pricing around the December announcement remains particularly choppy. However, odds of an unchanged rate sit @ 62% vs. 42% seen at the start of the week. USD/JPY is currently tucked within Friday’s 149.51-151.22 range.
• GBP firmer vs. the USD for a third session in a row after shrugging off a dovish headline from the FT yesterday about BoE Governor Bailey’s view on the rate path (which appeared to in the end be more related to market pricing than his own view). MPC member Greene is due to speak later today. The BoE’s DMP (on which it places great weight) saw no follow-through into GBP. Cable has gained a firmer footing on a 1.27 handle and is now eyeing last Friday’s high @ 1.2749.
• Antipodeans are both firmer vs. the USD with slight outperformance in NZD/USD despite a lack of fresh NZ-specific drivers. NZD/USD is currently caged within yesterday’s 0.5829-0.5884 range and yet to approach the 0.59 mark. AUD/USD failed to garner much additional support from an improvement in Australian trade and household spending data. AUD/USD currently sits towards the middle of yesterday’s 0.6399-0.6488 range.

Fixed Income

• Mar’25 USTs are seeing a modest pullback from yesterday’s ISM-induced rally in US paper. The release further cemented expectations for the Fed to cut rates later this month with odds of such a move @ 73% before likely pausing in January. Comments from Fed Chair Powell yesterday did little to stand in the way of this pricing. A dovish outturn for NFP tomorrow could seal the deal on the FOMC.
• French paper remarkably calm after yesterday’s collapse of the French government. The outcome was as expected and attention now turns towards who, if anyone Macron can appoint as PM (there is currently no obvious replacement candidate). The main kicker is that the 2024 budget will likely be rolled into 2025 and policy will likely end up being less restrictive than initially thought. In response to recent events, Moody’s has cautioned that the no confidence vote is “credit negative”. The GE/FR spread has narrowed to just below 81bps having peaked just shy of 89bps on Monday with last week’s 12yr high at 90bps just above.
• Dec’24 Bunds are currently within yesterday’s 134.66-135.28 trading band with the corresponding 10yr yield around the 2.08% mark vs. yesterday’s 2.10% peak.
• Mar’25 Gilts are marginally softer and in-fitting with price action in global peers. From a UK-specific standpoint, yesterday’s FT headline on Governor Bailey caused a stir, however, desks are broadly of the view that his comments over four rate hikes next year were taken out of context as he was referring more to market pricing than his own view. Today’s DMP release saw expectations for CPI inflation a year ahead rose from 2.6% to 2.7% in the three months to November, expected year-ahead wage growth dropped by 0.1ppt to 4.0%; BoE pricing was little changed.
• France sold EUR 5bln vs exp. EUR 3-5bln 4.0% 2038, 0.5% 2040, 1.5% 2050, 0.5% 2072 OAT
• Spain sold EUR 2.447bln vs exp. EUR 2-3bln 2.70% 2030 & 3.45% 2034 Bono

Commodities

• Crude futures holding a modest upward bias after selling off in the US afternoon on Wednesday, which was later attributed to a bank offloading a large volume of US oil futures contracts ahead of today’s OPEC+ meeting. Sources today, so far, have failed to move prices.
• Precious metals trade with a softer bias despite the weaker Dollar with traders cautious as they look ahead to the US jobs report tomorrow ahead of the US CPI data due next week.
• Copper trades higher this morning with prices supported by the softer Dollar intraday coupled with the positive risk bias in Europe. Traders look ahead to next week’s Central Economic Work Conference which was hoped to provide fiscal stimulus, although Chinese press played this down in overnight reports.
• Russian oil producer Rosneft invested USD 20bln into India, according to an Indian Government statement citing Russian President Putin. Russia are reportedly ready to set up manufacturing operations in India.
• China’s Ministry of Commerce expresses strong concern over the EU’s plans to impose duties on Chinese titanium dioxide in 2025. China hopes the EU will conduct its investigation in line with WTO rules and avoid abusing trade remedies. Says it will firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.
• OPEC+ has a deal in principle to delay output hike, according to delegates cited by Bloomberg; OPEC+ still discussing duration of delay, with three months in focus.
• Several OPEC+ sources suggested a delay of output cuts for three months is the most likely outcome, while others have said a longer period is possible, according to Reuters sources.
• OPEC+ voluntary cuts are expected to be pushed back by 3 months and then the group collective cut is expected to be extended until the end of 2026, according to Energy Intel’s Bakr.

Geopolitics

• Israel’s cabinet will meet today to discuss the proposal for an exchange deal with Hamas, according to Israeli Media.
• Russia reportedly fired missiles from its bases in Tartus, targeting Syrian rebels near Hama, according to a journalist via X.

US Event Calendar

• 07:30: Nov. Challenger Job Cuts26.8% YoY, prior 50.9%
• 08:30: Nov. Initial Jobless Claims, est. 215,000, prior 213,000
• 08:30: Nov. Continuing Claims, est. 1.9m, prior 1.91m
• 08:30: Oct. Trade Balance, est. -$75b, prior -$84.4b

DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

It’s been a very eventful 24 hours for markets, with the French government losing a no-confidence vote for the first time since 1962, alongside ongoing political uncertainty in South Korea and some hawkish-leaning comments from Fed Chair Powell. But despite everything that’s happening, risk assets have been broadly unphased by the various developments, with the S&P 500 (+0.61%) closing at another record high yesterday, whilst Bitcoin has crossed the $100,000 mark overnight for the first time. Indeed, it now means the S&P 500 is up +27.6% so far in 2024, which is only a couple of points behind its 2013 gain (+29.6%) that still stands as the strongest annual advance of the 21st century so far.

In terms of the French situation, the National Assembly voted yesterday to oust the government of Michel Barnier, with 331 votes in favour out of 577. However, the result was broadly expected, so it’s little surprise that markets haven’t seen much of a reaction. Indeed, since Marine Le Pen’s announcement on Monday that her party would vote against the government, it was clear that the numbers were there to remove the government, so that was when the biggest market reaction took place.

For the time being, the existing government will remain in place, and if needed, they can use emergency legislation to collect taxes and spend money. So this doesn’t mean a US-style shutdown beckons. But it’s still not obvious what ends the impasse, as the National Assembly remains fractured between different groups, with no obvious majority capable of being assembled. After all, it took almost a couple of months before Macron chose Michel Barnier as PM in the first place. And under the French constitution, a new election can’t be held until a year after the last one, which isn’t until the summer. President Macron is set to make a statement this evening, so that’ll be in focus for the path forward. Macron has said he will serve out his presidential term until 2027, but Le Pen continued to pressure him to resign yesterday in order to break the gridlock.

Overnight, the Euro has seen little change in response to these developments, and is currently trading at $1.052. Otherwise, French assets closed ahead of the vote yesterday, but they put in a reasonably strong performance beforehand, with the Franco-German 10yr spread tightening another -1.3bps on the day to 83.8bps. Moreover, France’s CAC 40 (+0.66%) outpaced the Europe-wide STOXX 600 (+0.37%). That came as European risk assets did well across the board yesterday, with the Italian-German 10yr spread (-3.5bps) reaching its tightest in 3 years at 115.5bps. And over in credit, Euro IG spreads (-1bp) and HY spreads (-5bps) both tightened as well.

That strength among French assets was echoed in the US, with the S&P 500 (+0.61%) hitting another record high and posting its 11th gain in the last 12 sessions. That came as Fed Chair Powell said the US economy is “in remarkably good shape”, and the growth has been better than previously forecasted. He added that he feels “very good about where the economy is and where monetary policy is”, and said the FOMC “can afford to be a little more cautious as we try to find neutral.” In the meantime, several other Fed speakers made similar comments about moving slowly, with San Francisco President Daly saying that “We do not need to be urgent”, and St Louis Fed President Musalem saying that “the time may be approaching to consider slowing the pace of interest rate reductions or pausing”. Richmond Fed President Barkin, also said he was in favour of a slower rate cut path to get policy to a “somewhat restrictive level.”

But even as Fed speakers leant in a somewhat hawkish direction, US Treasury yields fell across the curve thanks to some weaker than expected data. In particular, the ISM services index was only at 52.1 in November (vs. 55.7 expected), ending a run of 4 consecutive monthly increases. And the employment component was down to 51.5, which dampened expectations ahead of tomorrow’s jobs report. There also wasn’t much optimism either from the ADP’s report of private payrolls, which came in at 146k (vs. 150k expected), but also contained a negative revision to the previous month of -49k.

In light of that, investors dialled up the likelihood of a December rate cut from the Fed, with futures taking the probability up to a three-week high of 77.5% by the close. So that helped to push down US Treasury yields, with the 2yr yield (-5.4bps) closing at a 1-month low of 4.13%, whilst the 10yr yield (-4.5bps) fell to 4.18%. In turn, that helped to lift US equities, particularly in some of the more cyclical sectors, and the S&P 500 ended the day up +0.61% at a new record. That was supported by a further gain for the Magnificent 7 (+1.58%) which also hit a fresh record.

Overnight in Asia, South Korean markets have lost further ground overnight, with the KOSPI down another -0.85%. The South Korean won did stabilise yesterday, strengthening +1.11% against the US Dollar, but it’s since fallen back a bit, weakening another -0.16% this morning. Otherwise though, there’s been a fairly steady performance across the region, with Japan’s Nikkei (+0.31%), China’s CSI 300 (-0.23%) and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 (+0.15%) not seeing any big moves in either direction. The only exception to that is the Hang Seng, which is down -1.15% this morning. And looking forward, US equity futures are only very slightly lower, with those on the S&P 500 down -0.05%.

To the day ahead now, and data releases from the US include the October trade balance and the weekly initial jobless claims. Meanwhile in Europe, we’ll get Euro Area retail sales, German factory orders and French industrial production for October, along with the November construction PMIs from Germany and the UK. Central bank speakers include the Fed’s Barkin, the ECB’s Vujcic and the BoE’s Greene.

Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Modernity.news,

A podcaster in the UK faces potential prison time after being charged for making “grossly offensive comments” in a YouTube video in which he stated, “Young white girls are being raped by these grooming gangs.”

Yes, really.

Carlisle Crown Court heard that 41-year-old Derek Heggie made the comments in two YouTube videos in early August during the rioting and unrest that took place across numerous cities in the aftermath of the Southport murders.

Heggie had been set to stand trial on a charge under the Malicious Communications Act, but instead “pleaded guilty to sending communication of an offensive nature.”

Prosecutors said Heggie’s comments were “particularly inflammatory” in the context of the riots and he is still being remanded in custody as he awaits sentencing later this month.

Why did he plead guilty!

This is what he said:

The court heard that, in videos referring to Muslims, Heggie made comments including “young white girls are being raped by these grooming gangs”.

Tell me what he said is wrong!!

https://t.co/qMN5ur59G2 pic.twitter.com/ba0MkJIor6

— Queen Natalie (@TheNorfolkLion) December 3, 2024

While Heggie may have made other comments that were deemed ‘inflammatory’, the only example cited in a BBC News report is him saying, “Young white girls are being raped by these grooming gangs.”

One wonders why the former boxer pled guilty given that this is a statement of fact.

As Sky News previously reported, “In a number of cities across the UK, gangs of predominantly British Pakistani men have been convicted for targeting vulnerable white young women and girls.”

If stating this fact is now a crime, one wonders when they’re going to start locking up journalists and researchers who publish statistics based on independently verifiable crime figures.

A report by the Quilliam Foundation published in 2017 found that, “264 people have been convicted for the specific crime of gang grooming since 2005, and of those offenders 222 or 84% were Asian.”

I guess we had better lock them up too.

Heggie’s treatment is another reminder of how people in the UK are being charged and thrown in prison for what amounts to thought crime.

As we previously highlighted, a 40-year-old man was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison for social media posts that contained “anti-establishment rhetoric.”

A 61-year-old man was also jailed for 18 months for chanting “who the fuck is Allah” and telling police officers “you’re not English anymore” during a protest outside Downing Street.

*  *  *

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.