Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

From a contrarian investing view, everyone remains bearish despite a market that corrected all of last year. I polled my Twitter followers recently to take their pulse on the market.

Of the 1280 votes cast in the poll, roughly 73% of respondents anticipate the market to be lower throughout 2023. That view also corresponds with our sentiment gauge of professional and retail investor sentiment, which, while improved from the October lows, remains depressed.

More importantly, investor allocations, particularly among professional investors, remain extremely light, suggesting a much higher level of caution. The following is the 4-week moving average of the National Association of Investment Managers bullish index. While the reading of 25.04 in October coincided with the market low, the current reading of 48.16 remains bearish.

As Bob Farrell’s Rule Number 9 states:

“When all the experts and forecasts agree – something else is going to happen.

As a contrarian investor, excesses are built by everyone betting on the same side of the trade. When the market peaked in January 2022, everyone was exceedingly bullish, and no one was looking for a 20% decline. Sam Stovall, the investment strategist for Standard & Poor’s, once stated:

“If everybody’s optimistic, who is left to buy? If everybody’s pessimistic, who’s left to sell?”

Today, everyone remains bearish, suggesting the possibility of the market doing something no one expects.

The Art Of Contrarianism

As we have often discussed, one of the investors’ most significant challenges is going “against” the prevailing market “herd bias.” However, historically speaking, contrarian investing often proves to provide an advantage. One of the most famous contrarian investors is Howard Marks, who once stated:

“Resisting – and thereby achieving success as a contrarian – isn’t easy. Things combine to make it difficult; including natural herd tendencies and the pain imposed by being out of step, particularly when momentum invariably makes pro-cyclical actions look correct for a while.

Given the uncertain nature of the future, and thus the difficulty of being confident your position is the right one – especially as price moves against you – it’s challenging to be a lonely contrarian.”

As noted, a majority of investors remain bearish. There are certainly ample reasons to BE bearish:

1. The Fed is remaining aggressive on monetary policy.

2. Central banks are reducing liquidity to markets.

3. Inflation remains problematic.

4. Earnings remain elevated.

5. The economy is slowing.

6. Consumers are running out of savings.

We certainly agree with the more dismal outlook and continue to suggest that investors should be more cautious in their portfolio allocations. However, this is also the point where investors make the most mistakes. Emotions make them want to avoid the risk of loss.

Given that many investors have never witnessed a “bear market,” the current bearing sentiment is unsurprising. The increased price volatility, and subsequent decline in prices, created a substantially higher level of instability. That instability creates “fear” and drives investors to the behavioral bias of “loss aversion.”

That increased volatility weighs on investor sentiment leading to poor investment decision-making and, ultimately, poor outcomes.

However, if the most fundamental premise of investing is to “buy when everyone is fearful,” investors may again be missing the contrarian opportunity.

With the market negatively positioned, the contrarian trade is an expectation of the unexpected.

• What if the markets have discounted an economic slowdown?

• What if earnings remain stronger than currently expected?

• Could the Fed reverse monetary policy?

• Have valuations declined enough?

The fundamentally bearish arguments of valuations, earnings, a Fed policy mistake, and a recession are certainly viable outcomes.

However, given that “everyone” is already expecting those outcomes, what happens if something else occurs?

Navigating A Contrarian Trade

Everyone is so bearish the markets could respond in a manner no one expects.

There are plenty of reasons to be very concerned about the market over the next few months. Given the market leads the economy, we must respect the market’s action today for potentially what it is telling us about tomorrow. Therefore, there are some actions we can take to navigate for whatever path the market chooses.

1. Move slowly. There is no rush to make dramatic changes. Doing anything in a moment of “panic” tends to be the wrong thing.

2. If you are overweight equities, DO NOT try and fully adjust your portfolio to your target allocation in one move. Again, after significant declines, individuals feel like they “must” do something. Think logically about where you want to be and use the rally to adjust to that level.

3. Begin by selling laggards and losers. These positions were dragging on performance as the market rose, and they led on the way down.

4. Add to sectors, or positions, that are performing with or outperforming the broader market if you need risk exposure.

5. Move “stop-loss” levels up to recent lows for each position. Managing a portfolio without “stop-loss” levels is like driving with your eyes closed.

6. Be prepared to sell into the rally and reduce overall portfolio risk. You will sell many positions at a loss simply because you overpaid for them to begin with. Selling at a loss DOES NOT make you a loser. It just means you made a mistake.

7. If none of this makes sense to you, please consider hiring someone to manage your portfolio. It will be worth the additional expense over the long term.

Just remember:

“In good times, skepticism means recognizing the things that are too good to be true; that’s something everyone knows. But in bad times, it requires sensing when things are too bad to be true. People have a hard time doing that.

The things that terrify other people will probably terrify you too, but to be successful, an investor has to be a stalwart. After all, most of the time the world doesn’t end, and if you invest when everyone else thinks it will, you’re apt to get some bargains.“

Follow your process.

The Ukrainian government on Tuesday confirmed the resignation of multiple high ranking officials amid large-scale corruption allegations, in what’s being called the biggest mass resignation and graft scandal since the Russian invasion began.

Some dozen officials have quit their posts after a huge political shake-up over allegations and probes into cases ranging from bribery, to mismanagement of aid funds for purchasing food, to embezzlement, to driving expensive cars while common people suffer under wartime conditions.

A top presidential adviser and four deputy ministers – among these two defense officials, along with five regional governors were forced out of their posts. And among the regional governors to step down included officials overseeing regions which have seen intense fighting, including the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, where Russian forces have lately reported gains.

In reference to the announcement by a senior government official, Oleg Nemchinov, international reports detail the following list: 

• Deputy Prosecutor General Oleskiy Symonenko

• Deputy Minister for Development of Communities and Territories Ivan Lukeryu

• Deputy Minister for Development of Communities and Territories Vyacheslav Negoda

• Deputy Minister for Social Policy Vitaliy Muzychenk

• And the regional governors of Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Sumy and Kherson

And separately, “the defense ministry had earlier announced the resignation of deputy minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov, who was in charge of the army’s logistical support, on the heels of accusations it was signing food contracts at inflated prices.” 

In this case regarding the food contracts, Shapovalov is accused of signing a deal with an unknown, shady firm. In his role as deputy defense minister, his is the most notable and visible resignation. Crucially he would have had no small part in overseeing the billions of dollars flowing from the pockets of US and European taxpayers as authorized defense aid.

He purchased military rations at inflated prices in what appears a scheme to line the pockets of contractors, and potentially involving kickbacks to himself.

Deputy Minister of Defense Vyacheslav Shapovalov has resigned over to the food procurement scandal. https://t.co/kP3U8CjHd2

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) January 24, 2023

While the defense ministry is still trying to downplay it as a “technical error” – Politico reviews of the details to the scandal: 

An exposé from the Ukrainian news website ZN.UA revealed last week that the defense ministry purchased overpriced food supplies for its troops. For instance, the ministry bought eggs at 17 hryvnias per piece, while the average price of an egg in Kyiv is around 7 hryvnias. According to ZN.UA, a contract for food procurement for soldiers in 2023 amounted to 13.16 billion hryvnias (€328 million).

This is two to three times higher than current rates for such food items, reports say. Shapovalov’s resignation letter indicated he’s stepping down so as “not to pose a threat to the stable supply of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a result of a campaign of accusations related to the purchase of food services.”

There’s also deputy head of the Zelensky administration Kyrylo Tymoshenko, who stands accused of living a lavish wartime lifestyle. Many current mainstream media reports on Tuesday are burying some of the key verified details. For example, BBC writes simply that “Tymoshenko was implicated in several scandals during his tenure, including in October last year when he was accused of using a car donated to Ukraine for humanitarian purposes.”

But starting in early December local Ukrainian outlets, angered at the posh lifestyle of Ukrainian leaders at a moment tens of millions are without power amid Russian aerial bombardment of the nation’s power grid, began confirming that Tymoshenko drove high-end sports cars in and out of the capital, to and from mansions which typically range in cost from $10,000 to $25,000 per month. 

Below are photos published by The New Voice of Ukraine, republished in Yahoo News, in early December of last year, showing Tymoshenko frequently behind the wheel of a shiny new Porsche Taycan…

One outlet published a photo series entitled Not the “martial law” of Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukraine’s Office of the President

US taxpayer dollars at work in Ukraine…

As another example of Western MSM seeking to downplay or soften this latest wave of graft-related forced resignations, the AFP writes, “Ukraine has long suffered endemic corruption, including among the political elite, but efforts to stamp out graft have been overshadowed by Moscow’s full-scale war that began in February.” And yet officials like Tymoshenko were spotted around Kiev and oligarchs’ neighborhoods driving luxury sports cars for months throughout the war.

Additionally, there’s this laughable and embarrassing line out of the AFP report: “Kyiv’s Western allies, who have allocated billions of dollars in financial and military support, have been pushing for anti-corruption reforms for years, sometimes as a precondition for aid.”

From a government supposedly “pushing anti-corruption reforms for years” to over $100 billion in US defense and foreign aid being pledged to Kiev’s coffers over the past year… to now this from within the heart of the Zelensky administration:

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the office of the president of Ukraine, confirms he submitted his resignation to Zelensky. In his IG post he thanks Ze for “the opportunity to do good deeds every minute of every day,” and many others including his family and Ukrainian officials. pic.twitter.com/AwAiH8txMb

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) January 24, 2023

It doesn’t stop at posh and expensive cars, but the controversy has even extended to luxury vacations abroad as Ukrainians suffer the deprivations of war at home. “The departure of Symonenko, a deputy prosecutor general, comes after media reports that he spent a holiday in Spain this winter, reportedly using a car belonging to a Ukrainian businessman.” The government has as a result now reportedly barred top officials from vacationing abroad as a result of the scandal.

Just prior to the wave of resignations, another official named Vasyl Lozynskiy was accused of receiving bribes to “facilitate” the purchase of generators at greatly hiked-up prices. Crucially, Lozynskiy as Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Development would have also been directly involved in overseeing how billions of dollars in Western humanitarian and infrastructure assistance gets doled out.

Commenting on this, mainstream media is now belatedly acknowledging a fact that’s long been well-known, but which would get a person ‘canceled’ in public discourse if they dared pointed it out:

“Transparency International ranked Ukraine 122 out of 180 in its corruption ranking for 2021,” the AFP now writes (the second most corrupt in Europe, with Russia the most at 136.)

And now Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov is under scrutiny related to the growing probe and scandal. Meanwhile, as news of the widening scandal hits world headlines…

Addressing a Chambers of Commerce meeting in Boca Raton today, Zelensky thanks BlackRock, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and others for their support of Ukraine. Adds that sending Ukraine heavier weapons, like Abrams tanks, represents a “big business” opportunity for US corporations pic.twitter.com/N1h8OVECLt

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) January 24, 2023

By John Kemp, senior market analyst

Portfolio investors have piled back into petroleum futures and options at the fastest rate for more than two years as concerns about a global business cycle downturn have eased.

Hedge funds and other money managers purchased the equivalent of 89 million barrels in the six most important petroleum contracts over the seven days ending on Jan. 17.

Purchasing was the fastest since November 2020 (shortly before the first successful coronavirus vaccine trials were announced) and before that April 2020 (when the first lockdowns started to be eased). The wave of buying was led by crude (+78 million barrels), especially Brent (+55 million), with smaller buying in NYMEX and ICE WTI (+23 million).

Total Brent positions climbed to 212 million barrels (44th percentile for all weeks since 2013) up from 157 million (22nd percentile) on Jan. 10 and a recent low of just 89 million (4th percentile) on Dec. 13.

Bullish long positions outnumbered bearish short ones in Brent by a ratio of 5.30:1 (63rd percentile) up from 3.07 (28th percentile) on Jan. 10 and 1.95 (6th percentile) on Dec. 13.

The increase in investors’ Brent positions was the largest since August 2018 and the sixth-largest out of 514 weeks since the time series began in 2013.

The sudden turn around seems to have been driven by a combination of low initial positioning and a sudden increase in confidence about the outlook for the global economy and oil consumption. Recent inflation data have shown the rate of price increases is moderating, which has raised hopes for an early peak in the interest rate cycle.

With gas and electricity prices declining in recent weeks, some major forecasters now expect the euro zone as well as the United States to avoid a formal recession in 2023. China also appears to be pressing ahead with re-opening the economy after three years of intermittent and disruptive lockdowns.

Given the speed of transmission, the current infection wave is likely to be completed by the end of February or early March. By April, there is likely to be a very large increase in domestic and international passenger travel by air, rail and road, driving a large increase in fuel consumption.

China’s re-opening industrial economy is also likely to stimulate domestic diesel consumption and spill-over stimulus to other economies in Asia.

Ironically, the biggest risk to the economy and oil consumption is that the economic revival rekindles inflationary pressures and forces the major central banks to persist in raising interest rates longer and higher.

The battle over Twitter is often made to appear complex and chaotic, but it can all be boiled down to a simple dichotomy – It’s about the people who demand censorship in favor of the establishment narrative vs. the people who want free speech and fair rules applied to everyone equally. 

Everything else is noise and distraction.

The complications arise when we try to define free speech when it comes to social media.  Private companies are not subject to many legal boundaries related to free speech rights.  This is an argument that the political left and government representatives made constantly during the massive purge of conservative and liberty oriented accounts by Big Tech companies since 2016.  And, as we saw with Twitter previous to Elon Musk’s takeover, governments took full advantage of this legal loophole in order to silence people using social media websites as middlemen.  

The ongoing release of the Twitter Files proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that collusion between Big Tech and governments for the sake of censorship is a reality.  In America, at least, this is a constitutional no-no.  The fact that politicians and agencies like the FBI were actively seeking out and targeting ideological opponents and having them silenced on Twitter is a direct violation of the 1st Amendment and these people should be subject to prosecution (the FBI even shelled out at least $3 million to Twitter for services rendered). 

Prosecution might never happen, but at least the evidence is undeniable today after years of the public being lied to.

The reality that Twitter was acting as an enforcement agent for government censorship around the world tells us exactly why so many establishment officials have been up in arms over Musk’s purchase of the platform.  Until now, every single major Big Tech company has been operating in lock-step with the establishment narrative.  People couldn’t even talk about Hunter Biden’s laptop, let alone talk about the inconvenient facts surrounding “climate change” or the covid mandates and vaccines.

This is a dynamic that elitists would still like to keep in place, and they are looking to use international trade rules as a means to pressure Musk into conforming. 

EU Commissioner for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová makes a statement from the frozen doorstep of Davos arguing that Twitter is subject to EU rules for preventing “harm to society”.

“The time of the Wild West is over,” Jourova told EuroNews.

“We will have the Digital Services Act [DSA]. We will have the Code of Practice as a part of this legislation.”

“So, after Mr Musk took over Twitter with his ‘freedom of speech absolutism,’ we are the protectors of freedom of speech as well,” she added.

“But at the same time, we cannot accept, for instance, illegal content online and so on. So, our message was clear: we have rules which have to be complied with, otherwise there will be sanctions.”

Who is Věra Jourová to determine what type of speech is harmful to society? She’s a bureaucrat who has long insisted that “hate speech” laws utilized in the EU should be instituted in the US.  In other words, she’s nobody.  

But two very important conclusions can be derived from her statements here. 

• First, she is essentially admitting that the EU Commission was working directly with the previous Twitter leadership to censor the public in a bid to control their behavior. 

• Second, establishment bureaucrats overseas assume that they should have the power to dictate the policies of private media companies in the US when it comes to communication. 

It should be noted that these same bureaucrats were defending Twitter operations as a private company only a year ago (as long as company policies fell in line with government messaging).  As soon as Twitter started to allow more free speech, suddenly its operations as a private company became an international problem. 

Again, the conflict is about one question – Should people be allowed say what they want and share the information that they want within the confines of constitutional law?  For those that believe the answer is no, we have to then ask “Why?”  What about free speech is so threatening to them?  Can mere speech really do damage to society? Is this really about public safety?  Or, is it about power, and the means to lie to the public while removing their ability to contradict?       

The United States is once again putting pressure on China over its alleged behind the scenes assistance to Russia as it executes the war in Ukraine.

“The Biden administration has confronted China’s government with evidence that suggests some Chinese state-owned companies” may be providing assistance, Bloomberg reports, while seeking to “ascertain if Beijing is aware of those activities, according to people familiar with the matter.”

The sources cited in the report said the support involved non-lethal military aid and economic assistance that “stops short of wholesale evasion of the sanctions regime” put in place by the US and its allies on Russia. 

It’s believed that non-lethal equipment such as helmets and flak jackets are being transferred, which US officials say is still “concerning” – and Secretary of State Tony Blinken is expected to inquire about the issue when he travels to China within coming weeks.

Washington has since the start of the Russian invasion worried that Moscow and Beijing’s mutual declaration of having a “friendship without limits” at the Putin-Xi summit on Feb. 4, 2022 will turn into supplying the Russian war machine militarily. 

There have even been suggestions coming out of US officials that President Xi knew about the invasion beforehand, something Beijing as firmly denied. The timing of Putin’s cozy visit with this Chinese counterpart, having come just weeks before he ordered the Ukraine invasion, has long raised eyebrows.

The issue of potential sanctions-violating items sent to Russia by state-owned companies has been raised directly with top Chinese government officials in the foreign ministry. “The trend is worrying enough that US officials have raised the matter with their Chinese counterparts and warned about the implications of supplying material support for the war,” Bloomberg details.

But then even if the Chinese government is shown to have had direct knowledge of its state-owned firms sanctions-busting activities, the question remains of how far the Biden administration is will to go in terms of punishment. 

If Russia loses, China is next on the US list https://t.co/hYbLbAaYnI

— Elijah J. Magnier 🇪🇺 (@ejmalrai) January 18, 2023

The Bloomberg report highlights the dilemma in the following: “And if Biden and his advisers determined China’s government was involved in or tacitly accepted the actions of those state-owned enterprises, they would be forced to decide how much to push back.”

And further: “That could risk opening a whole new area of dispute at a time when the US has sought to balance its desire for stabilized ties with Beijing against moves to limit Chinese access to high-end mircochips and confront China over what it sees as a more aggressive posture toward Taiwan.”

The Kremlin potentially being able to tap China as a reliable military supplier would have huge repercussions for its war effort especially given the widespread assumption that Russia is fast depleting its artillery reserves. A large, powerful secret backer which could keep up fresh supply would be a game-changer, also at a moment the Ukrainian side is desperate for more from its Western backers. US intelligence has lately eyed North Korea too as a culprit in aiding the Russian invasion via equipment and ammo. The US has recently alleged Pyongyang is arming the Wagner private military firm in particular.

The Russian navy is set to participate alongside the Chinese and South African navies in exercises set for February off South Africa, Russia’s state TASS has announced. 

Importantly, the Russian frigate named ‘Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov’ is armed with hypersonic cruise missiles, after it entered deployment in the Atlantic Ocean three weeks ago.

The Zircon hyperonics it is carrying are believed to be able to fly at nine times the speed of sound, with a range of over 620 miles. The ship is expected to traverse the Mediterranean, making its way to Russia’s port at Tartus, before heading south.

“‘Admiral Gorshkov’ … will go to the logistic support point in Syria’s Tartus, and then take part in joint naval exercises with the Chinese and South African navies,” TASS reported.

The South African National Defense Force has also confirmed the drills, which will run February 17-26 and be located off the port cities Durban and Richards Bay, describing that the exercise aims “to strengthen the already flourishing relations between South Africa, Russia and China.”

The South African military also pointed out it will be the second joint drills involving the three countries, after a 2019 exercise.

Interestingly, the timing of the new drills will correspond with the one year anniversary of Russia’s Feb.24 invasion of Ukraine. Given that it remains a US ally, South Africa is coming under heavy criticism for hosting the drills, and for also allowing Russian warships at its ports.

South Africa had been among the some three dozen countries to abstain from a UN vote last year to condemn Russia’s annexation over the four eastern Ukrainian territories. 

The New York Times reported of the US reaction as follows: 

The United States, which has fostered a decades-long strategic partnership with South Africa, immediately expressed disapproval. David Feldmann, a spokesman for the United States Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, said in a statement, “We note with concern” the plan by South Africa to move ahead with the joint exercises “even as Moscow continues its brutal and unlawful invasion of Ukraine.”

“We encourage South Africa to cooperate militarily with fellow democracies that share our mutual commitment to human rights and the rule of law.” Feldmann said further.

The NY Times further notes on the significance of South Africa’s defiant and independent stance: “The naval drill is a show of diplomatic independence for South Africa, analysts said.” And further, “South Africa is part of an alliance with Brazil, Russia, India and China — known by the acronym BRICS — and this naval exercise reasserts South Africa’s position that it will not allow the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to dictate its diplomatic relations.”

Via SchiffGold.com,

Last week, the Producer Price Index data finally showed some cooling of wholesale prices. That coupled with better-than-expected CPI data further buoyed hope that the Fed is winning the war on inflation. But in his podcast, Peter Schiff emphasized that easing inflation is transitory. And a weakening dollar will be a big part of the story.

Markets rallied after the PPI data came out last week.

The markets liked this number and that was part of the reason for a rally that day — the reaction to this better-than-expected news on inflation. But you have to remember that all of this better-than-expected news on inflation is transitory. So, it wasn’t the increase in inflation that was transitory. That’s permanent. What is transitory is this slight decrease that we’re enjoying now.”

It’s important to remember that even though the rate of increase is slowing down, prices are still going up.

They’re just not going up as fast as they were. But all of that is temporary because the reason that we saw a decline in the rate of increase in prices was because we got a correction in commodities, in particular oil prices. We’ve also got a decline in longer-term interest rates. That has affected mortgage rates and probably other debt payments that are being made. That is helping to reduce somewhat the rate of increase in costs businesses are experiencing. But all these factors are temporary.”

Peter noted that commodity prices have already reversed their decline.

One of the reasons commodity prices fell was the strength of the dollar. But the dollar completely reversed in the fourth quarter. On Sept. 27, just before the start of Q4, the dollar index reached 114.11. That was the highest level of the year. From there the dollar index fell by nearly 8%. Today, the DIX is hovering just above 101.

Peter said he expects this dollar weakness to continue for the balance of the year.

I still think that 2023 could end up being one of the worst years ever, and maybe the worst year ever for the US dollar, and that weakness is going to help propel consumer prices much higher. So, I believe that after this transitory reduction in the acceleration of the inflation rate, I think we’re going to head higher again and that before the year is over, we’re going to be printing year-over-year increases in the CPI that will eclipse the high from last year.”

Peter also covered some of the most recent economic data that came out last week. For instance, the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index for January came in weak. And existing home sales also underscored the growing weakness in the housing market. In 2022, existing home sales fell by 34%. That was the single biggest drop in home sales ever.

That means the drop is bigger than it was during COVID. It’s bigger than it was at any point during the 2008-2009 financial crisis.”

Peter said this has very ominous implications for the economy in 2023 because a lot of economic activity that shows up in GDP is related to home sales.

So, all those people who are still clinging to the false hope that the economy is going to experience a soft landing are not reading any of the very bold upper-case letters clearly written on this collapsing wall.”

In this podcast, Peter also talks about the rollover in growth stocks, gold making a 9-month high last week, job losses in the tech sector, the wasteful meeting in Davos, and how a Netflix documentary on Bernie Madoff proves more regulations won’t help us.

Elon Musk is once again standing by his story that he thought he had “funding secured” at the time he Tweeted it out, mid-trading day, back in 2018.

This time Musk is recounting the events while testifying at a trial in an investor lawsuit that claims Musk’s Tweets cost shareholders millions of dollars. The suit says Musk “artificially boosted Tesla’s stock price” with his August 2018 “funding secured” Tweet and that the ensuing whipsaws of the share price cost them money.

Yesterday was Musk’s second day of testimony in federal court in San Francisco, FT reported. During his appearance, he said that he thought a deal for the company with the Saudis was a “done deal” and that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund would support taking Tesla private at $420 per share. 

But Musk also acknowledged there was no contract at the time, and that “many details” had not been worked out. 

“It’s important for the jury to know that,” Musk said, telling the jury that his shares in SpaceX would have made up for any shortfall, if the Saudis had not been able to commit what was needed to purchase the company. He testified that the PIF had “many multiples” of what was needed to take Tesla private at the time. 

Musk testified it was “difficult to say” whether or not he thought shares would rise or fall in reaction to his Tweet. The proposed takeover price, meanwhile, was about 20% higher than Tesla’s stock price at the time. 

He said his Tweet was made on a “split second” decision after he found out FT was preparing a report about the Saudi PIF taking a $2 billion stake in Tesla. 

“I expected that there (would) probably be some increase in the stock price — seems likely. If you say that you’re considering taking a company private or acquiring a company . . . there is going to be some premium . . . In this case, I’m clear about what the premium would be,” he said, according to FT. 

When questioned about the nonsensical-looking $420 per share proposed price, Musk answered: “There is some karma around 420, although I’d question (whether it) is good or bad karma, at this point.”

When questioned about why he didn’t consult the board about the offer, Musk responded: “I, as the bidder, am not allowed to have detailed discussions with the board because it represents the counterparty. So, it would be collusion if I discussed in detail with the board.”

So far, Musk has been able to dodge a litany of courtroom bullets during his tenure as Tesla’s CEO. Let’s see if that pattern continues…

Authored by Grzegorz Adamczyk via Remix News,

Only 8.5 percent of all EU and G7 companies have actually left Russia, according to research from the University of St. Gallen and the IMD business school in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Before the outbreak of war, there were more than 2,400 company branches and 1,400 companies from the EU and G7 operating in Russia. By the end of November last year, only 120 companies had left Russia or sold their company there. 

The research indicates that the news of a mass exodus of Western firms from Russia has been largely exaggerated.

In fact, businesses have resisted calls from governments, media, and civil society, according to the Belgian daily newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.

Companies remain skeptical and reluctant about leaving Russia over fears of losing their business and staff.

Those who have left have ended up transferring assets into Russian hands, even for a single symbolic ruble or euro, as was the case with Renault and Nissan. 

According to Forbes, the biggest beneficiary was oligarch Wladimir Potanin, whose Interros company bought Rosbank from Societe Generale, making nearly 50 billion rubles (€667 million) in the process.

The second-biggest earner was Vladyslav Sviblov, whose Highland Gold Mining bought the assets of Canada’s Kinross corporation, which netted him almost 40 billion rubles.

Not far behind was Ivan Tirishkin from SPB, who bought 49.5 percent of the shares in HKF-Bank LLC, making over 35 billion rubles.

Fourth on the list was the state research center FSUE NAMI, which took over the plants owned by Renault and Nissan, gaining assets worth just under 35 billion rubles. 

When it comes to sexual deviancy among priests who are supposed to be celebrate, it’s not just about the kids – although pedophilia does come up in this report.

According to The Sunday Times, the Vatican is now investigating allegations of a lockdown ‘sex party’ in the priest’s quarters at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Newcastle, UK.

“A number of complaints were made by individuals within the diocese after information came to light about a sex party taking place in the priests’ living quarters attached to Newcastle cathedral,” a diocese source told the outlet. A second source said: “The cathedral had become a laughing stock.”

And in a letter seen by the Times, the investigation has been assigned to the Archbishop of Liverpool, who’s been ordered to produce “an in-depth report into the events leading up to Bishop Byrne’s resignation.”

There is no suggestion that Byrne, who served both Hexham and Newcastle, participated in the alleged party inside a property adjoining St. Mary’s Cathedral, Newcastle, curing the Covid-19 lockdowns, nor whether he was aware of it.

The churches had remained closed for much of the pandemic lockdowns, with only religious funerals allowed. But Father Micael McCoy, who Byrne installed in 2019, is said to have approached several worshippers, asking if they would like to attend “a party” at the cathedral, according to a source close to the investigation.

McCoy notably committed suicide in April 2021 after finding out that he was under investigation by Northumbria police’s child and adult protection department over a historical child sex abuse allegation made against him (there it is).

And in another related pedo investigation, the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (CSSA) will focus on convicted sex offender, Father Tim Gardner, and his relationship with the diocese. Gardner admitted in a London court to making and/or possessing thousands of indecent images of children.

He was caught with more than 500 pictures of children and more than 5,000 prohibited images downloaded on to his computer. Gardner, aged 42 at the time, who was teaching religious education at a Catholic school in north London, also pleaded guilty to ten counts of making indecent images of children and one count of possession of prohibited images. He was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years. -The Times

Gardner was allegedly offered an opportunity to stay at the ‘orgy’ accommodation within the Newcastle diocese after his conviction, a move which senior figures within the diocese stepped in to block, according to allegations contained in the report.

A letter from the Liverpool Archbishop has put priests on noticed that the CSSA  review will include “clergy former and present, staff former and present, lay volunteers former and present, victims as appropriate.”

The investigation is a rare move by the Dicastery for Bishops – the department within the Vatican tasked with nominating bishops and overseeing their performance worldwide, and which answers directly to the pope. Last week the CSSA confirmed that it had begun an “unscheduled safeguarding audit” in the Hexham and Newcastle diocese.

“The scope of the investigatory work will cover any reported abuses, alleged abuses, safeguarding concerns and the culture of safeguarding in the diocese as a whole,” said Steve Ashley, CSSA CEO, adding that their work was “independent” and had “full autonomy over our findings.”

“There should be no doubt that we will leave no stone unturned when it comes to keeping people safe, and this includes investigating the safeguarding culture in Hexham and Newcastle,” said Nazir Afzal, chairman of the CSSA and former chief prosecutor for the northwest of England.