China and the Philippines are locked in an aggressive war of words and mutual denunciations after their vessels collided on Tuesday in contested waters near Second Thomas Shoal. The US backs the Philippines in the dispute, setting the stage for broader regional tensions and potential US naval intervention.

The Chinese Coast Guard said in the wake of the collisions that Manila “violated its commitments and deliberately sent two coastguard ships and two supply ships” to a make-shift claimed military outpost. As cited The South China Morning Post, the statement continued: “The Philippines is dishonest in its dialogue, deliberately stirs up trouble, maliciously incites and sensationalizes, and continues to undermine peace and stability in the South China Sea region.”

But the Philippine Coast Guard countered by saying their vessels “faced dangerous maneuvers and blocking” and said China’s “reckless and illegal actions led to a collision.” Reportedly four four Filipino crew members were injured as a result. Watch the collision below:

And more from the response to Beijing:

“The Philippines demands that Chinese vessels leave the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal immediately,” the Phillippines Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, using the United States ally’s term for the Spratly Islands feature.

Since coming into power in 2022 Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has taken a much harder line when it comes to China’s claims to the South China Sea. 

At the same time, Manilla has also been emboldened by the fact that the Pentagon is beefing up its assets both in the Philippines and in regional waters. China has meanwhile been on a years-long campaign to bolster its expansive claims by establishing a series of manmade islands and subsequently militarizing them.

The situation remains highly dangerous given that Washington and Manilla have a military treaty (called the US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty). However, for now at least, Philippine President Marcos told reporters Wednesday: “I do not think that it is a time or the reason to invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty.”

Update (1410ET): Having seen shares collapse over 40% before being halted for ‘news pending’, we have the news…

Bloomberg reports that New York Community Bancorp plans to announce an equity investment of more than $1 billion led by Steven Mnuchin’s Liberty Strategic Capital, Hudson Bay Capital and Reverence Capital Partners, according to a spokesperson for the bank.

Liberty will invest $450 million, Hudson Bay $250 million and Reverence $200 million as part of the transaction, the spokesperson said.

In connection with the deal, NYCB will reduce the board to nine members, adding new directors, including Mnuchin and Joseph Otting, former comptroller of the currency.

Secretary Steven Mnuchin stated:

“In evaluating this investment, we were mindful of the Bank’s credit risk profile. With the over $1 billion of capital invested in the Bank, we believe we now have sufficient capital should reserves need to be increased in the future to be consistent with or above the coverage ratio of NYCB’s large bank peers.”

Non-Executive Chairman Sandro DiNello stated,

“We welcome the approach that Liberty and its partners took in its evaluation of the Bank and look forward to incorporating their insights going forward. The strategic investment involving former Secretary Steven Mnuchin, former Comptroller Joseph Otting and Milton Berlinski, along with the other institutional investors is a positive endorsement of the turnaround that is underway and allows us to execute on our strategy from a position of strength. We enter this next chapter with a strong balance sheet and liquidity position supported by a diversified and retail focused deposit base. Our new leadership team, with the support of the reconstituted Board, will continue to take the actions that are necessary to improve earnings, profitability and drive enhanced value for shareholders.”

Secretary Mnuchin stated,

“We decided to make this investment because we believe Sandro, alongside new management, has taken the appropriate actions to stabilize the Company and to position NYCB to become a best-in-class $100+ billion national bank with a diversified and de-risked business model that supports long term profitability. We are delighted that former Comptroller Otting will be NYCB’s new CEO and believe that the actions taken by NYCB establish a strong foundation for future growth through our new relationship with other new Board members and investors. We are confident that NYCB is poised to generate sustainable shareholder value.”

The question, of course, is just how diluted the current equity holders just got…

In connection with the equity capital raise transaction, NYCB will sell and issue, in the aggregate, to the Investors shares of common stock of the Company at a price per share of $2.00 and a series of convertible preferred stock with a conversion price of $2.00, for an aggregate investment amount of $1.05 billion.

In addition, investors will receive 60% warrant coverage to purchase non-voting, common-equivalent stock with an exercise price of $2.50 per share, a 25% premium to the price paid on common stock.

NYCB was trading at $1.86 before the halt (but that sounds like a lot of dilution above).

*  *  *

And the hits just keep coming…

Once the darling of the small banking crisis comeback, New York Community Bancorp has crashed 45% to fresh 30 year lows after The Wall Street Journal reports the bank is seeking to raise equity capital in a bid to shore up confidence in the troubled regional lender.

According to people familiar with the matter, NYCB has dispatched bankers to gauge investors’ interest in buying stock in the company.

There’s no guarantee there will be a deal, or that one would succeed in addressing the bank’s challenges, which as of Wednesday morning had led to a roughly 80% decline in its stock price since January.

This is not a good picture for a bank… Would you hold your deposits there?

Last month, DiNello laid out a series of options the bank could explore to bolster its balance sheet, including selling assets from certain non-core businesses. The bank has also considered turning to newfangled financial instruments that would share the risks of those loans with outside investors, people familiar with the matter said.

As WSJ reports, finding takers for those assets, at least at prices that would make a deal worthwhile, has been challenging and U.S. officials have expressed reservations with banks pursuing credit-risk transfers that would shift the burden of potential losses to entities outside of the regulated banking system.

Finally, as a reminder, NYCB is not alone. The red line below shows ‘small banks’ are in trouble absent The Fed’s BTFP facility…

Oh, and this is fine…

The delinquency rate among large banks hits 3%, the highest in 11 years.

The delinquency rate among small banks hits 7.80%, the highest on record. pic.twitter.com/oVWuj2doBl

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 2, 2024

And perhaps that’s why the broad regional bank index is also getting hit today…

Beware the Ides of March as RRP liquidity evaporates.

Think this is isolated?

Think again.

Dear @federalreserve maybe allowing Countrwide Financial And WaMu to buy the assets of insolvent NYCB which bought the assets of insolvent Signature Bank is not the best idea.

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 6, 2024

As Chris Whalen details below via The Institutional Risk Analyst, the short answer as to what happens next is that we think that the bank may be sold, one way or another. The profitable Flagstar residential servicing business could be offered for sale in order to make a downpayment for the cleanup of the NYCB legacy multifamily portfolio. But in the wake of credit downgrades, NYCB itself may need to be acquired by another bank.

KBW said in a research note that NYCB could tap into its $78 billion in unpaid balances of mortgage-servicing rights to raise capital through a potential sale. The portfolio has a carrying value of $1.1 billion, analysts said. That is a mere downpayment, however, on a larger mess emanating from the bank’s impaired multifamily assets.

Without an investment grade credit rating, banks cannot hold escrow balances for conventional or government loans. We cannot see how NYCB keeps the billions in conventional and government escrow deposits long-term. The whole Flagstar servicing platform and more than $300 billion in residential loan servicing, mostly for third parties like nonbank mortgage issuers, needs a new home.

Obviously the shareholders of Flagstar are coming to rue the decision to join forces with NYCB, an under-managed community bank with a portfolio of performing but ultimately unsalable multifamily assets. Thanks to the New York State legislature’s 2019 rent control law, which was supported by Governor Kathy Hochul, all banks in New York City that hold rent stabilized assets on the books are now capital impaired.  Several of these banks in New York City may fail as a result of Albany’s actions.

So who might acquire NYCB?

First, we take JPMorgan (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC) off the table. The former is already the largest residential mortgage servicer in the US and the latter is exiting the residential mortgage business with finality. The departure of Wells from residential mortgages is bad news for consumers and cause for glee among progressive cadres in the Biden Administration. In any event, neither bank wants any part of the Ginnie Mae sub-servicing book inside Flagstar.  

Next is Citigroup (C), an intriguing possibility for a bank that badly needs new ideas and revenue streams. Citi has been in and out of residential mortgages for the past 50 years. In the 1980s, Citi introduced the first no-doc mortgage in the US market.

Since subprime consumer credit is a big part of Citi’s business, why not add a good sized residential mortgage business and get back into the housing finance game?  There are few other industry segments that have enough size to matter to Citi. Flagstar is the number two warehouse lender after JPM. Overnight, Citi becomes the top bank servicer in the Ginnie Mae market and a significant issuer of MBS. 

After Citi the obvious candidate for NYCB is U.S. Bancorp (USB), which is now the second largest residential bank loan producer after Chase. Although USB is still digesting the acquisition of Union Bank of California, they are a player in residential servicing and loan administration. USB could easily acquire the NYCB mortgage platform and billions in escrow deposits.

The idea of NYCB losing stable escrow deposits argues against the sale of the Flagstar mortgage platform and in favor of selling or recapitalizing the whole bank. But is this possible short of an FDIC intervention? Again, the actions taken by Albany in 2019 make NYCB and other New York banks unsalable short of an FDIC takeover.

If you are an investor looking at NYCB, the big question is the 40% of total loans and leases in multifamily assets. If NYCB were to either sell or risk-share a substantial portion of the rent stabilized multifamily assets, then the prospects for the business improve significantly. But given the disclosures about weak controls over loan underwriting, investors are going to be very cautious about making any assumptions on valuation. And risk-sharing is not yet broadly relevant for commercial assets.

Looking at the volume of risk-sharing deals done by banks so far, virtually all of the transactions are for consumer facing assets. Banco Santander (SAN) leads the pack on risk sharing auto and consumer loans. Commercial loans are far more difficult.  Western Alliance (WAL) and Texas Capital Bank (TCBI) have done risk sharing deals in prime RMBS and warehouse loans, but commercial mortgages will likely be handled as customized, bespoke arrangements done on single loans.  Selling the loans outright to hard money investors may be easier. 

NYCB might want to consider creating a separate “bad bank” containing rent stabilized assets from the legacy NYCB to put pressure on Governor Hochul and the New York legislature to come and clean up their mess. Indeed, FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg ought to lead that discussion with Governor Hochul. His agency – and all the FDIC insured banks he represents – now hold the bag on billions in eventual losses on rent-stabilized Signature Bank commercial mortgage loans as well as loans held by other banks. The intemperate actions of the State of New York caused these losses. 

We expect to see a number of creative structures being rolled out to address the impairment of multifamily commercial mortgages on the books of US banks. Risk-sharing is useful and can actually reduce the risk weighted assets of a bank and improve capital ratios, but at a cost to the bank in terms of income. Other techniques involve selling the low-coupon mortgage and replacing it with risk-free collateral that generates a similar cash flow, but frees up regulatory capital for other purposes.

Despite the promise of risk-sharing transactions, at the end of the day raising new capital and managing the delinquency may be a better approach. In the case of NYCB, raising new equity is not feasible. Indeed, any prospective buyer may demand some form of loss sharing from the FDIC on the multifamily book. If, for example, we assume a conservative 20% haircut on rent-stabilized buildings in NYC, many of the smaller institutions are insolvent.

That said, we would not be surprised to see an arranged marriage involving NYCB and a larger player that wants a bigger role in aggregating, selling and servicing residential mortgages. Even the likes of Goldman Sachs (GS), which has a significant presence in lending on residential warehouse loans and mortgage servicing rights, might find NYCB a compelling opportunity — given the proper incentives from FDIC, of course.

Bloomberg columnist Max Abelson wrote an epitaph of sorts for NYCB this week:

“How NYCB got here is a tale of percolating financial risks, changing rules and shifting regulators. New rent restrictions became law in 2019, but instead of acknowledging a hit to its loan book, the bank got bigger. Back-to-back acquisitions, first Flagstar and then parts of Signature Bank, almost doubled the firm’s size and set it on a collision course with new rules for banks holding more than $100 billion of assets.”

We still own NYCB, but we strongly recommend that our readers stand clear until management gives shareholders a very specific roadmap to recovery. The economics of the bank’s multifamily book are gnarly at best. Does the FDIC want to resolve another $100 plus billion asset regional bank? Hell no. Because the mess flows downhill, it may be time for creativity on the part of the FDIC and the State of New York.

FDIC Chairman Gruenberg ought to tell Governor Hochul and New York State to take over the rent stabilized loans from Signature, NYCB and other lenders or face an old fashioned FDIC liquidation as and when any banks fail. The number of public housing units in New York City will soar, placing enormous pressure on the city’s finances. If the multifamily building cannot be financed by a bank, then the City of New York likely will end up as the owner.

Imagine if FDIC went “by the book” and next week sold all of the rent stabilized Signature Bank multifamily assets for whatever hard money bid is available. New York would face a political crisis. Governor Hochul and progressives in Albany caused this mess, which now threatens the solvency of a number of New York banks. The State of New York should take ownership of its fine work and repeal the 2019 rent control legislation.

By Ven Ram, Bloomberg Markets Live reporter and strategist

The yen is perky this morning on suggestions that at least one member of the Bank of Japan may be willing to exit negative rates as soon as this month, but the currency has a long way to go before closing its valuation gap.

Overnight indexed swaps are assigning about a 50% chance of a 10-basis point hike this month and some 80% in April. Regardless of when the BOJ actually gets to the zero-bound on the policy rate, the yen has some significant heavy lifting to do.

A key part of that is the currency’s negative carry. The carry bleed on portfolios that are long the yen against the dollar is significant. For instance, such an exposure since the start of the year would have led to about 6% in losses.

Which is why investors haven’t really flocked to the yen this year even though indication after every indication from the BOJ is that it will be done with negative rates in a matter of time. However, just getting to zero-bound won’t do the trick for the yen. With realized inflation still running above 2%, the BOJ’s policy rate needs to get a lot higher for inflation-adjusted rates to start biting — and for the yen to keep climbing from here.

Even so, the next 5% or so is the relatively easy part of the yen to climb against the dollar. But its potential goes far beyond — and a lot of that will come down how far the BOJ is willing to go.

One must consider whether the radical left-wing eco-terrorist group that attacked the German power grid on Tuesday to paralyze Tesla’s Gigafactory near Berlin, genuinely aims to save the planet through the shuttering of the plant, or if adversaries of Elon Musk orchestrated this attack to thrust Tesla into turmoil.

Bloomberg reported that the attack suspended Model Y utility vehicle production at the Gigafactory plant in Gruenheide, Germany, for the second day. The factory turns out an average of 6,000 Model Ys per week, which might lead to lower vehicle delivery expectations for the current quarter. 

In a note to clients this morning, Ben Kallo, an analyst at Baird Equity Research, highlighted the need to adjust the automaker’s vehicle deliveries lower for the quarter. He forecasted that Tesla would deliver around 421,100 vehicles in the first quarter, roughly 67,900 less than the Wall Street consensus. 

Kallo, who turned bearish on the stock in late January, said, “A series of one-time production disruptions have added further complexity to the setup” for the first quarter. 

Compounding troubles for Tesla have also been headlines from China, where Gigafactory Shanghai recently logged a slowdown in vehicle shipments. Tesla shares in New York have lost almost $70 billion, or about 11% of market capitalization, so far this month. 

The decline in Tesla has also dented Elon Musk’s wealth, dethroning him as the world’s richest person. He lost that title to Jeff Bezos. 

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

MSNBC’s salty anchor Rachel Maddow once again cut away from Donald Trump giving a victory speech after winning 15 of the Super Tuesday states, reasoning that it is “irresponsible to allow” Trump to “knowingly lie.”

As Trump was speaking, Maddow interjected “Yeeeaaaah okay,” while one of the other clowns laughed in the background.

The anchor then stated, “I will say it is a decision that we revisit constantly in terms of the balance between allowing somebody to knowingly lie on your air about things they have lied about before and you can predict they are going to lie about, so therefore, it is irresponsible to allow them to do that.”

Maddow continued, “It is a balance between knowing that that is irresponsible to broadcast and also knowing that as the de facto soon to be de facto nominee of the Republican party, this is not only the man who is likely to be the Republican candidate for president, but this is the way he is running.”

MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle chimed in “Well here is how to balance it. We fact check the hell out of him.”

“Yes, and we do that after the fact,” Maddow responded, adding “That is the best remedy that we’ve got. It does not fix the fact we broadcast it.”

Watch:

Rachel Maddow cuts away from Trump’s victory speech while one of her minions laughs, then tells viewers it’s “irresponsible” to allow Trump to have a platform to “knowingly lie.” What did he lie about? Report and full UNCENSORED speech here: https://t.co/Ejidq4lVR1 pic.twitter.com/aSZleeEJlR

— m o d e r n i t y (@ModernityNews) March 6, 2024

MSNBC and CNN do this all the time.

So what awful lies was Trump spreading this time?

He was talking about the revelation widely reported everywhere this week following a FOIA lawsuit, that the Biden regime secretly flew in thousands of illegal immigrants from foreign countries to at least 43 different American airports from January through December 2023.

Labelling Biden “the worst president in the history of our country,” Trump added “Today it was announced that 325,000 people were flown in from parts unknown. Migrants were flown in airplanes, not going through borders, not going through that great Texas barrier…”

Trump continued, “today it was just announced before I came out, it was unbelievable. I said, that must be a mistake. They flew 325,000 migrants, flew them in over the borders, in, into our country. So that really tells you where they’re coming from.”

“They want open borders and open borders are going to destroy our country. We need borders and we need free and fair election,” he added.

Wow, what an “irresponsible” thing to “knowingly lie” about. We wouldn’t want Americans to hear about such awful lies now would we.

Here is the full uncensored speech:

Here is Trump’s full speech from Super Tuesday… UNCENSORED. MSNBC cut away from it last night, claiming it is “irresponsible.” Watch it and decide for yourself because it should be your choice to decide that. Report here: https://t.co/Ejidq4lVR1 pic.twitter.com/VuPr5DrVrp

— m o d e r n i t y (@ModernityNews) March 6, 2024

As we earlier highlighted, as the Super Tuesday results rolled in, Maddow, along with other MSNBC panelists including Jen Psaki, mocked Americans who think the border crisis is a serious election issue.

*  *  *

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.

After declines in US job openings accelerated in the last few months of 2023, prompting economists to pat themselves on the back for predicting a soft landing and validating their expectations for Fed rate cuts, only to see the trend reverse dramatically last month when job openings unexpectedly surged back over 9 million, moments ago the BLS came out with the latest, January data (which as a reminder always lags the BLS by a month) and which showed another mixed report which revealed that in January job openings dipped modestly from a downward revised December print, but came right on top of expectations, even as both hiring and quits continued their recent slide. 

According to the Biden’s Labor Department, in January the number of job openings dropped by just 42K in January to 8.863MM from 8.889MM. And speaking of the December print, last month we said that “we are certain will be revised lower next month as has been the case with everything under the Biden admin“, and sure enough the number was indeed revised lower from 9026K to 8889K.

According to the DOL, in January, job openings increased in nondurable goods manufacturing (+82,000) but decreased in private educational services (-41,000). Government job openings also dropped by 105K to 900K.

And speaking of revisions, just like in the payrolls report, here too the BLS appears to be tasked with making a great, if erroneous, first impression then quietly revising it lower, and sure enough, 6 of the past 8 months have seen job openings revised lower!

Accurate or not, the modest decline in the number of job openings meant that in January, the number of job openings was 2.739 million more than the number of unemployed workers (which the BLS reported was 6.124 million), up modestly from last month’s 2.621 million.

Said otherwise, in January the number of job openings to unemployed rose to 1.45, a sharp rebound from the October print of 1.35 which was the lowest level since August 2021 and almost back to pre-covid levels of 1.3… and then everything was revised.

But what was more interesting than the increase in the number of job openings in December – which we are certain will be revised lower again next month as has been the case with everything under the Biden admin – was the number of quits: here we find that the number of people quitting their jobs – an indicator traditionally closely associated with labor market strength as it shows workers are confident they can find a better wage elsewhere – tumbled again, sliding by 54K to 3.385MM, which is below the 3.4 million level reported in Feb 2020, just before the covid shutdown.

The number of quits increased in information (+23,000) but decreased in real estate and rental and leasing (-16,000). And unlike last month when the slide in quits was offset by increased hiring, in January there was no silver lining here with the number of workers hired slumped by 100K to 5.687MM. In short: ugly all around.

Finally, no matter what the “data” shows, let’s not forget that it is all just estimated, and it is safe to say that the real number of job openings remains still far lower since half of it – or some 70% to be specific – is guesswork. As the BLS itself admits, while the response rate to most of its various labor (and other) surveys has collapsed in recent years, nothing is as bad as the JOLTS report where the actual response rate remains near a record low 33%

In other words, more than two thirds, or 70% of the final number of job openings, is estimated!

And at a time when it is critical for Biden to still maintain the illusion that at least the labor market remains strong when everything else in Biden’s economy is crashing and burning, we’ll let readers decide if the admin’s Labor Department is plugging the estimate gap with numbers that are stronger or weaker (we already know that they always get revised lower next month).

Oil prices are rising this morning after Saudi Arabia unexpectedly increased prices of its main grade to buyers in Asia and broader financial markets rebounded from Monday’s losses.

Traders will be closely watching Powell’s testimony before the House Financial Services Committee for more detail on the possible timing of interest rate cuts that the market is expecting this year.

“Public enemy No 1 of a protracted rally and the $90/bbl oil price is the uncertainty surrounding interest rate cuts,” Tamas Varga, an analyst at oil broker PVM, wrote in a Tuesday research note.

“The Fed chair’s testimony and the ECB interest rate decision on Thursday could revive hopes for a June reduction in borrowing costs,” Varga said.

Crude was supported technically (at its 200DMA) and by last night’s smaller than expected crude build.

API

• Crude +423k (+1.3mm exp)

• Cushing +500k

• Gasoline -2.8mm (-1.4mm exp)

• Distillates -1.8mm (-400k exp)

DOE

• Crude +1.37mm (+1.3mm exp)

• Cushing +701k

• Gasoline -4.46mm (-1.4mm exp) – biggest draw since Nov

• Distillates -4.13mm (-400k exp) – biggest draw since May

Large product draws dominated the official data with a crude build that met expectations…

Source: Bloomberg

The Biden administration added to the SPR last week once again, +706k barrels…

Source: Bloomberg

US Crude production declined by 100k b/d…

Source: Bloomberg

WTI traded up just shy of $80 ahead of the official data and extended gains after…

The light crude build and products draws come as traders mull a weakening Chinese economy, after the No.1 importer again steered clear of stimulus measures amid a debt crisis in its real-estate sector as it set a 5% growth goal for its gross domestic product this year.

“China’s GDP growth target remained modest and none of the announcements so far have been able to spark optimism,” Saxo Bank noted.

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

A report in the New York Times suggests that X owner Elon Musk secretly met with Donald Trump at Mar-A-Lago Sunday, with some sources close to Musk saying the world’s richest man has decided that Biden needs to be defeated in November.

The Times report intimates that Musk was part of a delegation of wealthy donors who visited Trump’s home in Florida as the former president looks to counter record fundraising by Biden’s campaign.

The report further notes that while Trump and Musk have not seen eye to eye in the past, it is possible that the Tesla CEO has decided Trump is the only realistic candidate that can defeat Biden come election time.

Both Trump and Musk’s private jets were spotted at the same airport in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 2, sparking off the rumours, which were then ‘confirmed’ by three separate sources, according to the Times.

Flew from Austin, Texas, US to West Palm Beach, Florida, US 24 hours ago.
Apx. flt. time 1 Hour : 54 Mins. pic.twitter.com/l1R2K0eNhS

— ElonJet but Delayed (@ElonJetNextDay) March 4, 2024

Trump’s jet and Elon Musk’s jet have just both landed at West Palm Beach International. Within 10 minutes of each other.

— Jack Sweeney (@Jxck_Sweeney) March 3, 2024

Elon Musk, worth over $200 billion, could certainly single handedly provide the funding Trump needs after being dragged through courts by Democrats on what he has consistently described as a witch hunt.

Trump is believed to have raised $30 million this year so far, while Biden campaign filings show $56 million raised.

Musk has repeatedly slammed the Biden administration over mass illegal immigration, this week warning that a catastrophic event on the scale of 9/11 is likely in the works.

After it was revealed that Biden has secretly flown at least 320,000 illegal immigrants from Latin American airports to 43 U.S. cities, Musk continued his tirade Tuesday against the regime on X:

Treason indeed! Ushering in vast numbers of illegals is why Secretary Mayorkas was impeached by the House.

They are importing voters. This is why groups on the far left fight so hard to stop voter ID requirements, under the absurd guise of protecting the right to vote. https://t.co/WhtVFyS6sa

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 5, 2024

Someone should download the CBP One app and make a step by step video of this insanity.

That’s a lot of planes and a lot of airports. Amazing that they kept this secret for so long. https://t.co/THm7o5sVzy

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 5, 2024

Moreover the “Border Protection” bill would have allowed Mayorkas to place new illegals on a fast-track to US citizenship. This fact is almost never mentioned. https://t.co/qDLhMTM1cm

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 5, 2024

America will fall if it tries to absorb the world. That is why I am banging the drum so much about this issue. https://t.co/9MrkJghzx9

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 5, 2024

Musk also has beef with Biden over persistent government harassment concerning the business practices of X, Tesla and Starlink, and has said he will not vote for Biden:

🚨 BREAKING: Elon Musk says he will not vote for Joe Biden in 2024

pic.twitter.com/QJKfW3z2gq

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) November 29, 2023

While the meeting has not been verified as really taking place, MSNBC clowns suggested that Trump met with Musk because he is “afraid” of Biden.

*  *  *

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.

In prepared remarks, released ahead of his ‘Humphrey-Hawkins’ testimony this morning, Fed Chair Powell reiterated to lawmakers that the US central bank is in no rush to cut interest rates until policymakers are convinced they have won their battle over inflation.

“The committee does not expect that it will be appropriate to reduce the target range until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%,” Powell confirmed.

The snoozer of prepared remarks simply reiterate the more-hawkish stance that has appeared recently after proclaiming the pivot prompted rational exuberance in every quarter of the markets.

Fed whsiperer Nick Timiraos was even non-plussed by the remarks:

Fed Chair Jay Powell’s testimony to Congress

1) He characterizes last year’s slowdown in core inflation as “notable” and “widespread”

2) The forward guidance around rate cuts is little changedhttps://t.co/BxIRu0KPkW pic.twitter.com/61huWjQNSJ

— Nick Timiraos (@NickTimiraos) March 6, 2024

Powell is set to testify to the House Financial Services Committee at 10 a.m…(watch live here)

Full prepared remarks below:

Chairman McHenry, Ranking Member Waters, and other members of the Committee, I appreciate the opportunity to present the Federal Reserve’s semiannual Monetary Policy Report.

The Federal Reserve remains squarely focused on our dual mandate to promote maximum employment and stable prices for the American people. The economy has made considerable progress toward these objectives over the past year.

While inflation remains above the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) objective of 2 percent, it has eased substantially, and the slowing in inflation has occurred without a significant increase in unemployment. As labor market tightness has eased and progress on inflation has continued, the risks to achieving our employment and inflation goals have been moving into better balance.

Even so, the Committee remains highly attentive to inflation risks and is acutely aware that high inflation imposes significant hardship, especially on those least able to meet the higher costs of essentials, like food, housing, and transportation. The FOMC is strongly committed to returning inflation to its 2 percent objective. Restoring price stability is essential to achieve a sustained period of strong labor market conditions that benefit all.

I will review the current economic situation before turning to monetary policy.

Current Economic Situation and Outlook
Economic activity expanded at a strong pace over the past year. For 2023 as a whole, gross domestic product increased 3.1 percent, bolstered by solid consumer demand and improving supply conditions. Activity in the housing sector was subdued over the past year, largely reflecting high mortgage rates. High interest rates also appear to have been weighing on business fixed investment.

The labor market remains relatively tight, but supply and demand conditions have continued to come into better balance. Since the middle of last year, payroll job gains have averaged 239,000 jobs per month, and the unemployment rate has remained near historical lows, at 3.7 percent. Strong job creation has been accompanied by an increase in the supply of workers, particularly among individuals aged 25 to 54, and a continued strong pace of immigration. Job vacancies have declined, and nominal wage growth has been easing. Although the jobs-to-workers gap has narrowed, labor demand still exceeds the supply of available workers. The strong labor market over the past two years has also helped narrow long-standing disparities in employment and earnings across demographic groups.

Inflation has eased notably over the past year but remains above the FOMC’s longer-run goal of 2 percent. Total personal consumption expenditures (PCE) prices rose 2.4 percent over the 12 months ending in January. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core PCE prices rose 2.8 percent, a notable slowing from 2022 that was widespread across both goods and services prices. Longer-term inflation expectations appear to have remained well anchored, as reflected by a broad range of surveys of households, businesses, and forecasters, as well as measures from financial markets.

Monetary Policy
After significantly tightening the stance of monetary policy since early 2022, the FOMC has maintained the target range for the federal funds rate at 5-1/4 to 5-1/2 percent since its meeting last July. We have also continued to shrink our balance sheet at a brisk pace and in a predictable manner. Our restrictive stance of monetary policy is putting downward pressure on economic activity and inflation.

We believe that our policy rate is likely at its peak for this tightening cycle. If the economy evolves broadly as expected, it will likely be appropriate to begin dialing back policy restraint at some point this year. But the economic outlook is uncertain, and ongoing progress toward our 2 percent inflation objective is not assured. Reducing policy restraint too soon or too much could result in a reversal of progress we have seen in inflation and ultimately require even tighter policy to get inflation back to 2 percent. At the same time, reducing policy restraint too late or too little could unduly weaken economic activity and employment. In considering any adjustments to the target range for the policy rate, we will carefully assess the incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks. The Committee does not expect that it will be appropriate to reduce the target range until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent.

We remain committed to bringing inflation back down to our 2 percent goal and to keeping longer-term inflation expectations well anchored. Restoring price stability is essential to set the stage for achieving maximum employment and stable prices over the longer run.

To conclude, we understand that our actions affect communities, families, and businesses across the country. Everything we do is in service to our public mission. We at the Federal Reserve will do everything we can to achieve our maximum employment and price stability goals.

Thank you. I am happy to take your questions.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley plans to end her campaign as early as Wednesday morning following her dismal results on Super Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with her plans. 

Nikki Haley plans to suspend her Republican presidential primary bid in a speech Wednesday morning: WSJ

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 6, 2024

During last night’s not-so-super-Tuesday, she only secured only a victory in one state – Vermont – out of the 15 states that held GOP contests; to go along with her ‘victory’ in the swamp (DC).

According to the NBC News delegate tracker, former President Trump led with 1057 delegates, significantly outpacing Haley’s total of 92. 

WSJ sources expanded more on what Haley is likely to discuss in Charleston this morning around 1000 ET: 

Haley won’t announce an endorsement Wednesday, the people said. She will encourage Donald Trump, who is close to having the delegates needed to win the GOP nomination, to earn the support of Republican and independent voters who backed her.

She is expected to emphasize that she will continue to advocate for the conservative domestic and foreign policies she supports and caution against some of the dangers, such as isolationism and a lack of fiscal discipline, that she sees coming from Washington.

Haley was the first major candidate to challenge Trump for the nomination and the last to stand down, showing determination even as she came under significant attack by the former president and his supporters.

MSNBC will be disappointed…

Reacting to the results of Super Tuesday late last night, Haley said a large number of Republican voters continue to have “deep concerns” about the former president.

“We’re honored to have received the support of millions of Americans across the country today, including in Vermont where Nikki became the first Republican woman to win two presidential primary contests,” Haley’s campaign said in a statement.

“Unity is not achieved by simply claiming ‘we’re united’. Today, in state after state, there remains a large block of Republican primary voters who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump,” she added.

A wild note on exit polls from The Federalist’s Sean Davis:

The exit polls about Nikki Haley’s voters’ views on Biden and the economy are WILD. 

These results, which are from Virginia, show that 92 PERCENT of Haley’s voters approve of Joe Biden’s performance as president, and 87 PERCENT of Haley’s voters say they’re satisfied with how things are going in America right now. 

Haley’s voters aren’t just Democrats. They’re the most rabid, left-wing, delusional, anti-Trump members of the Democrat party’s already left-wing and delusional base.

With Haley’s departure from the race, Trump has all but guaranteed the Republican party’s nomination to a November showdown with President Joe Biden.