It was just a couple of days ago we first noted that Tesla was getting blowback in China, where it has slashed prices in order to try and spur demand for its vehicles. Over the last few days, that anger towards the company appears to be ramping up in the U.S., as well, after Tesla also slashed prices domestically.

Such was the takeaway from a new Bloomberg article that spoke to several Tesla owners and “fans”, who didn’t seem happy about the company’s recent move to slash prices.

One 32 year old Tesla “fan girl” named Marianne Simmons told Bloomberg: “I feel like I got duped. I feel like I got taken advantage of as a consumer. Right off the bat, I’m out $13,306. It’s such a large reduction that it’s going to affect a lot of people who just bought a vehicle.”

She had just shelled out $77,000 for a white Model Y. “I would not buy a Tesla again. That’s saying a lot for me. I was a huge Tesla fan girl. I’d go with a competitor like Lucid or Rivian,” she added.

Ivan Drury, director of insights for research website Edmunds.com told Bloomberg: “For any existing owner it’s a kick to the teeth. Anyone who bought a Tesla recently will feel an immediate impact and wish they leased it.” 

Another new Tesla owner, Andrew Checketts, from Santa Barbara, California, told Bloomberg that Tesla was “hounding” him about discounts at the time he made his purchase – but if he had waited, he could have saved far more money. He said: “I have solar scheduled to be installed soon. Really having a hard time giving Tesla any more of my money and can’t even look at the car this morning.”

Owner Jack Bradham, who purchased a black Model Y long-range edition in December, is irked that the vehicle got a $12,000 discount right after he purchased it. He said customer service from Tesla has been non-existent: “There’s no one to contact. I called and tweeted to them, no response.”

The price drops are hitting the resale value of Teslas also. Austin Flack, another owner, tried to list his 2018 Model 3 with the Full Self-Driving Beta software package for $51,000 last month. He has since reduced the price to $36,000 and fears he’ll have to try and cut it to $30,000. 

As the report notes, the base price of the Model Y is down an astonishing 20% to start the year, with the vehicle now listed at $53,000. The Model S plaid is down 14%. 

The situation in the U.S. echoes that of China, where customers stormed  showrooms to protest price cuts. 

Customers were demanding rebates and credits, claiming that they had overpaid for the same cars that weren’t marked down at the time they were purchased, a new report from Reuters says. Prices of Tesla vehicles in China are now between 13% and 24% lower than they were in September. 

By Sebatsian Bea of One River Asset Management

It was all about the Fed – or was it? US policy rates rocketed higher last year, dominating broader market dynamics. That’s all you needed to know. But there were quiet outliers. Turkey was the top-performing equity market in US dollar terms – a surprise given the unexpectedly rapid Fed tightening. Stablecoin being stable in both price and assets was probably not on your bingo card under the digital-1929-crash column.  

Financial strains are a stress test for any ecosystem. Heed the things that live on, and respect how others became extinct. This is routine in the natural world. The pine tree adapted to fire by seeding only after a blaze when the soil is rich, and the sun isn’t obstructed by a canopy. After the burn, we see a scorched earth. Yet, seeds protected by pinecones are dispersed by fire, a resilience formed by nature’s trial and error.  

Stablecoin not only survived the digital downturn – it thrived. Settlement of US dollar stablecoin to the blockchain hit a record high last year, at more than $9 trillion. It is especially impressive given that the capitalization of the digital ecosystem fell by more than two-thirds. If investors were going to give up on digital, they would have left for traditional banking. They didn’t. Assets for the top-four stablecoin were stable, averaging $142 billion in 2022.  

The scorched earth of the digital economy brings the focus back to the “boring” basics. Market conditions demand this refocus. After all, Bitcoin and Ethereum are now a 64% share of the non-stablecoin capitalization, leaving the alternative asset universe at a modest $271 billion. And for a digital application like stablecoin to be resilient, so, too, must be the rails it’s built upon. Ethereum is that dominant base rail, running a 75% share of stablecoin supply. 

Ethereum was not only the base layer of choice for the most resilient application, it also successfully executed the migration to proof of stake last year. The number of Ethereum validators crossed 500,000 this week, up nearly 2-times from a year earlier – not bad for a bear market! Both are strong votes of confidence. But staking assets is still a one-way street. You can stake Ethereum and earn yield, but you cannot redeem…yet.  

That’s about to change. The Ethereum Foundation is set to launch its testing network to allow for withdrawals from staking nodes, the next big milestone. For investors, staking ether has been an exercise in patience. The annual ETH yield from staking has averaged roughly 10% since its introduction, a modest reward judged against ether’s 95% realized volatility over the period. Downside volatility has overwhelmed yield – 71% of ether staked is in a loss position.  

Will the unlocking of staked ether be a catalyst for another wave of rapid selling pressure? There is one natural vehicle for forced selling – ETH derivatives, like liquid staking. Liquid staking appeared as a solution for investors to earn some yield reward and stay liquid. These pools account for a substantial 33% of staked ETH. Liquidity is managed by reserves, like a central bank – 59% of reserves in stETH, the largest provider, are staked, and 41% are liquid.  

stETH traded at a significant discount to ether during last year’s stress (Figure 2). Think of this as a liquidity premium. Rapid sales of stETH led to a draining of liquid reserves. As reserves in staked ETH rose, redemptions were less likely to be met with the return of ether. If 100% of stETH reserves were staked, the only way to get liquidity is to sell stETH into the open market. The discount captures the liquidity premium needed to attract a buyer and clear the market.  

Ether selling pressure can build once the staking withdrawal mechanism is live. Trading at a discount, an investor could buy stETH, withdraw staked ether, sell the ether proceeds, and profit from the discount in the process. But with the current discount at a modest 68 basis points, this is unlikely to dominate. Options markets send the same signal – the skew to ETH puts is small with no differentiation around the expected date of the withdrawal mechanism going live.  

Ether staking withdrawals are unlikely to be a bearish event. On the contrary, there are positive impulses to ETH demand.  

For one, shorter lockup periods are associated with a higher rate of staking deposits. Ethereum’s staking rate is currently 13% versus 60% for assets with lockups of less than three days – where ether is headed (Figure 3).  

Further, ETH real yields are running high, at 5%-to-7% adjusted for its inflation (5.1% now). The average real yield for the top 22 assets is currently 3.2%, and even lower for other low-inflation assets (Figure 4).  

Ethereum won’t leap to the norm of other protocols – ETH ownership is less concentrated, and the low inflation rate means the cost of not staking is less. But the direction of traffic is clear – and positive. The bond math tells you that ether is the cheapest on the block(chain).

Germany’s Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht has stepped down on Monday after what’s widely reported as a series of blunders and PR disasters, and amid accusations she’s been too slow and inept in providing Ukraine defense aid.

A member of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), she’s been a headache for the Scholz government, and alongside rising criticism over the handling of Ukraine, she’s been accused of bungling Germany’s own defense readiness. 

Lambrecht made reference to some recent embarrassing PR moments in her resignation letter, which said in part: “Months of media focus on me doesn’t allow for fact-based reporting and discussion about soldiers, the army and security policy in the interest of German citizens.”

“The valuable work of the soldiers and many motivated people in the defense area needs to be in the foreground,” the letter added.

Criticism grew most fierce over the last two weeks over an awkward New Year’s Eve message and video her office published, as Deutsche Welle (DW) describes: 

The move comes after German media outlets reported on Friday that the defense chief intended to step down after a much-criticized New Year’s Eve message she posted on social media. 

In her message, Lambrecht mentioned the war in Ukraine with the sound of fireworks in the background. Members of the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) called out the message as tone-deaf and urged her to resign.

According to the same publication, “Her gaffes included taking her adult son on an official trip to a unit in northern Germany in a German Armed Forces helicopter, only to continue with him on vacation in Sylt.” Talk of her imminent resignation began on Sunday.

The New Year video that set off the most recent widespread criticism: 

Fireworks in Berlin on New Year’s Eve in the background – and the German defense minister talking about war in Europe in the foreground.

Christine Lambrecht’s New Year’s address posted on her Instagram sparked outrage and again increased calls for her resignation. pic.twitter.com/hQNE2T88Gu

— DW Politics (@dw_politics) January 2, 2023

Perhaps more importantly she’s been seen as emblematic of Berlin’s hesitancy to step up defense aid to Ukraine, amid pressure from other NATO allies. For example, she once came under fire for saying that 5,000 military helmets to Ukraine was “a very clear signal that we stand by your side.”

Currently, the Scholz government is coming under more and more pressure as other European countries like the UK and Poland begin sending heavy tanks to the Ukraine conflict. Already, Berlin agreed to send 40 Marder armored personnel carriers, as well as a Patriot air-defense missile battery to Ukrainian forces.

Via Off-Guardian.org,

WEF conference looks set to focus on what the globalist elite can learn from the failures of their “pandemic” narrative…

The World Economic Forum’s annual meet-up kicks off today. Politicians, corporate giants, “philanthropists” and all manner of elite monstrosities gather for a weekend of telling each other how smart they are and making the world generally worse.

But what’s on the menu this year?

Well, here are the five main items up for discussion, according to the WEF’s website:

See if you can notice a pattern:

1. Addressing the Current Energy and Food Crises in the context of a New System for Energy, Climate and Nature

2. Addressing the Current High Inflation, Low Growth, High Debt Economy in the context of a New System for Investment, Trade and Infrastructure

3. Addressing the Current Industry Headwinds in the context of a New System for Harnessing Frontier Technologies for Private Sector Innovation and Resilience

4. Addressing the Current Social Vulnerabilities in the context of a New System for Work, Skills and Care

5. Addressing the Current Geopolitical Risks in the context of a New System for Dialogue and Cooperation in a Multipolar World

Now, none of this is news. A “new system” for energy is a “green new deal”, a “new system” for international cooperation is some type of global governance, and a “new system” for investment and trade covers a lot of topics, including digital currency.

Like I said, nothing new, but it’s always refreshing to see it in print, with no effort to hide it.

It’s also interesting that they don’t use the phrases “new normal”, “great reset” or “build back better” anywhere on the page, despite the fact it’s obviously what they’re talking about.

A little victory for the alternate media, who have clearly raised enough awareness that those phrases are now considered too tainted to use.

In fact, the WEF brotherhood is clearly concerned about losing control of the narrative, as this article from a few days ago highlights:

The world’s biggest problem solvers need to craft better narratives

It argues:

People are more persuaded by the information presented within a narrative because a good narrative helps to ease information processing. Those trying to solve the world’s most pressing challenges must take notice of this.

The whole article is essentially a very long-winded way of saying “we need to tell better lies”.

We must name the real antagonists: irresponsible politicians, bought scientists and some companies failing to live up to the needs of the transition to net-zero.

We must also stop pretending that there is a debate over the facts of climate change. A false balance is a phenomenon that occurs when a news organization or other media outlet presents an issue as being the subject of a debate, even when there is no actual debate or disagreement among experts on the matter.

The author is talking about climate change, but his points about shifting blame and shutting down debate apply across the board.

Look for a shift of narrative “villains” this year, as well as increased emphasis on positivity and “unity”. Unity likely means attempting to woo back some of the fringe-mainstream elements pushed further to the alternative by the Covid narrative (as they did with Ukraine).

Elsewhere – and on a related note – there is likely to be talk of censorship – or, sorry, “countering misinformation” – as discussed in this WEF article from 6 days ago, headlined:

Digital safety: Applying human rights in the digital world

The article details the “challenges” facing the WEF’s “Global Coalition for Digital Safety” in their efforts to tackle…

the likes of child sexual abuse and exploitation, terrorism and hate speech, misinformation and content related to self-harm and suicide.

Notice how “hate speech” and “misinformation” are thrown in there with the actual crimes? To quote Sesame Street, “one of these things is not like the other”. But that’s no surprise in the age of “legal but harmful”.

To be clear, these people do not care about any of those things. Not at all.

Their businesses exploit children, their state agencies fund terrorism, and their media outlets spit out misinformation at 50 words a minute.

They only really care about control. In this instance that means controlling the internet – more specifically, controlling what you are allowed to say and hear on the internet.

Another potential focus for discussion, highlighted in a couple of places, will be a push for more direct action. What they seem to be calling “tangible solutions”.

The head of Amnesty International – who will be in attendance – has called for Davos attendees to focus on:

tangible solutions that we already know work, rather than opting to protect the existing global economic system at any cost.

Underlining that “now is the time for action” not “empty gestures”, and simultaneously echoing the “new system” messaging.

The “tangible solutions” line is repeated in the “narratives” article mentioned earlier, by financial consultancy giant Mercer on their page about Davos, a WEF “expert panel”, and by Forbes in their article on young leaders at Davos.

Of course “solutions-based thinking” has been corporate talk for decades, and “now is the time for action” is a cliche which does the rounds at every meeting, summit or conference.

Nobody in history has ever said “now is not the time for action, now is the time for gestures”.

So, of course, it could be empty words designed to make the speakers (and their meeting) feel important.

But it could be something else, perhaps a sign that the propaganda stage of the “great reset” is over, and now we transition to the next stage. Signalling a move away from passive manipulation and psychology-driven control mechanisms and toward more direct enforcement.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Either way, you can broadly define the Davos agenda as four main themes:

• “A new system”: Reforming the global systems of politics and finance

• “controlling the narrative”: Telling more believable lies & limiting public debate

• “countering misinformation”: Censorship, especially of the internet

• “tangible solutions”: Taking more direct action via enforcement and policy.

The Davos talking points, it seems, will be a retrospective focusing on what they can learn from the shortcomings of their “pandemic” narrative.

One final thought, an (unconfirmed) story doing the rounds is both hilarious and telling…if true:

Apparently, DAVOS attendees are deliberately seeking out unvaccinated pilots. Make of that what you will.

US equity futures dipped ahead of the MLK day holiday, while global equities were little changed after their best start to a year in a generation as investors assessed whether the recent torrid rally has gone too far given the outlook for inflation, growth and earnings. European stocks rose, while Asian stock fell, erasing earlier gains.

As of 8am, US equity futures traded around 4,010, down 0.2% from the Friday close and erasing modest earlier gains. Futures dipped as the dollar snapped a three-day losing streak and reversed an earlier drop that pushed it to an 8 month low, before gaining 0.2% against a basket of currencies, as investors await a slew of US economic data, speeches by ECB President Christine Lagarde and a policy meeting by the Bank of Japan where outgoing head Kuroda may expand the BOJ’s Yield Curve Control from 0.50% to 1.00%.

The MSCI ACWI Index slipped for the first time in seven days after posting the biggest advance for the first two weeks in data going back to 1988.

While inflation in the US appears to have peaked, continued policy tightening by the Federal Reserve “just to make sure” and other central banks risks pushing the global economy into a recession that could hurt corporate profits. The World Bank last week added to the gloomy outlook, warning of “one of the sharpest slowdowns we have seen in the past five decades.”

“The fear of missing out currently represents a key driver for equities,” Credit Agricole CIB strategists led by Jean-François Paren wrote in a note. “The market is getting a bit ahead of itself right now.”

European stocks picked up where they left off last week, adding to their best start to the year on record. Stoxx 600 rises 0.2% with real estate, health care and financial services leading gains while travel and miners fall. Here are some of the biggest European movers on Monday:

• Temenos shares rise as much as 6.4% as investors greet the Swiss software company’s CEO change as a positive; ZKB says move should help to rebuild investor confidence over time
• Yspomed shares climb as much as 12% after Credit Suisse raised the Swiss company’s shares to outperform, saying it’s the fastest-growth European mid-cap med-tech company
• Verbund shares rise as much as 2.8% after being raised to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse, with the broker saying the Austrian power firm’s shares now look fairly valued
• Sika shares rise as much as 1.3% after the Swiss construction material manufacturer agreed to sell some concrete additive assets to Ineos to win approval for its acquisition of MBCC Group
• Covestro shares drop as much as 5.1% after preliminary results that analysts said looked weak and would likely put pressure on the chemicals company’s dividends
• Just Eat and HelloFresh shares fall in early Monday trading after Exane BNP Paribas downgrades both stocks to neutral, taking a more cautious stance on the online food sector
• Proximus falls as much as 6.1% after the Belgian telecom operator said it would cut its dividend by half from 2024 to reduce leverage
• ITM Power slumped as much as 19% after issuing a profit warning, which RBC said shows there are still uncertainties related to the timing of large purchase orders and ramp-up costs
• Tecan Group shares fall as much as 5.6% after Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Maja Pataki cut the recommendation to hold from buy, citing “limited upside nearer term”
• AutoStore falls as much as 14% after DNB initiated coverage of the shares with a sell recommendation, calling it an “exciting company with an overly stretched valuation”
• IQE shares plunge as much as 21% after the semiconductor wafer-products maker said that demand from existing customers could take a hit from industry-wide “some destocking”

Asian stocks edged lower as investors braced for another possible surprise from the Bank of Japan later this week, while Chinese shares continued to rally on hopes for reopening and eased regulation. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gave up gains of as much as 0.6% to fall 0.4%, dragged by consumer discretionary and industrial shares. Japanese stocks faltered as the yen strengthened ahead of the BOJ’s policy decision Wednesday. The onshore Chinese market and the Philippines led gains around the region. China’s CSI 300 Index jumped 1.6% to an almost five-month high as overseas investors stepped up purchases of the nation’s shares amid broader optimism on border reopening. Also boosting sentiment was news that Didi Global Inc. has secured the green light to resume signing up new users, another sign that China’s tech crackdown is over.

Meanwhile, the People’s Bank of China added less cash than expected into the banking system via policy loans while keeping the rate unchanged this month, even with funding demand increasing into Lunar New Year holidays. China’s reopening rally has “more to go” and “there will be a rotation in the region, which is already playing out from India and Australia, which were the leaders in 2022, to North Asia, China, and Korea,” said Sunil Koul, Asia Pacific equity strategist at Goldman Sachs, in a Bloomberg TV interview. While Chinese stocks have been among the region’s best performers this year, Japanese shares have ranked among the worst. Investors have been cautious on Japan equity as the yen climbed with the BOJ expected to continue to move away from its years of ultra-easy monetary policy after lifting a cap on bond yields last month

In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Index slipped its lowest level since April, before gaining 0.2% as traders weigh the prospects of slowing Fed hikes. Investors await a slew of US economic data, speeches by European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and a policy meeting by the Bank of Japan for more clues into how much further the battered US currency can weaken. The euro edged up to 1.0874, its highest in eight months, before easing in European trade.

Selling in the greenback petered out as macro accounts picked up dollars in thin trade after the London open, two Europe-based traders say, adding that volumes were around around 70% of recent averages as US market are closed for Martin Luther King Day.

Market participants are increasingly expecting more weakness in the dollar, given growing confidence that the Federal Reserve may pause its interest rate rises in the coming months. Short-term US inflation expectations cooled in early January to the lowest level since April 2021, the University of Michigan’s preliminary survey reading showed.

“Positive risk sentiment and rising speculation of an impending Fed pause has driven the US dollar steadily lower in the past week,” Alvin Tan, strategist at RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a note. The dollar could be in for more losses this week if a raft of US economic data, including retail sales, PPI industrial production and the Fed’s Beige Book, suggest price pressures continue to ease. Focus will also be on two speeches by the ECB’s Lagarde later in the week at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“Markets are set to pay great attention to Lagarde’s remarks following evidence that price pressure is easing in many countries worldwide and given the further EUR/USD appreciation at the start of 2023,” Unicredit analysts wrote in a note. Given its revised forecast for the ECB to raise rates more than the Fed this year, Unicredit has raised its EUR/USD targets to 1.12 for Q4 23 and 1.16 for Q4 24, compared with its previous targets for 1.07 and 1.12, respectively. “A tighter difference between the two policy rates this year and even more in 2024 calls for a higher EUR-USD,” they write.

The Bank of Japan’s rate review on Wednesday will also be a key focus, as investors remain on high alert for further policy tweaks after December’s shock decision to raise the bar on yield movements

In rates, European bonds decline with 10-year borrowing costs in Germany and the UK climbing 4bps and 5bps respectively. Treasury futures are also lower, with no cash trading today due to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday

In commodities, WTI drifts 0.3% lower to trade near $79.60. Spot gold falls roughly $3 to trade near $1,917/oz.

Bitcoin slipped below $21,000 following a rebound over the weekend, when it surged amid optimism that it may have bottomed.

While US calendar is empty Monday with the US closed for MLK day, earnings will be a key catalyst moving forward as traders assess whether companies were able to navigate headwinds including higher interest rates. The busy week will also be punctuated by corporate earnings, including top banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

Additionally, a host of Fed officials will be speaking this week, providing more clues for investors. The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting kicks off in Davos, Switzerland, with speakers there including European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and the International Monetary Fund’s Kristalina Georgieva.

Market Snapshot

• S&P 500 futures down 0.4% to 4,002.25
• STOXX Europe 600 up 0.2% to 453.40
• MXAP down 0.3% to 165.60
• MXAPJ up 0.3% to 545.98
• Nikkei down 1.1% to 25,822.32
• Topix down 0.9% to 1,886.31
• Hang Seng Index little changed at 21,746.72
• Shanghai Composite up 1.0% to 3,227.59
• Sensex down 0.3% to 60,087.56
• Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 0.8% to 7,388.18
• Kospi up 0.6% to 2,399.86
• German 10Y yield little changed at 2.20%
• Euro down 0.1% to $1.0819
• Brent Futures down 0.5% to $84.87/bbl
• Brent Futures down 0.5% to $84.87/bbl
• Gold spot down 0.3% to $1,915.19
• U.S. Dollar Index up 0.16% to 102.37

Top Overnight News

• Didi Wins Okay to Relaunch Apps as China Tech Crackdown Ebbs
• Oil’s Advance Takes Breather as Investors Assess China Reopening
• Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
• FOMO Stirs Again in Bitcoin’s Best Start Since Before Pandemic
• Citi Names Tibor Pandi as Singapore Country Head
• Lithium’s Next Big Risk Is Grand Supply Plans Falling Short
• China Reopening Will Boost Global Economy at Crucial Moment
• Energy, Chips, Taiwan: Flashpoints for 2023 in a Fractured World
• Ukraine Latest: Zelenskiy Says Donbas Is Key to Stopping Russia
• Biden Missteps on Secret Papers Create Self-Inflicted Crisis
• At Least 68 Dead as Nepal Plane Crashes Seconds Before Landing
• GOP Lawmaker’s ‘Won’t Budge’ on Debt Limit Softened by McCarthy
• Stock Buyers Can Finally Catch Their Breath as Volatility Eases

For the second time in weeks, another bulk carrier hauling farm goods from Ukraine has run aground in a critical waterway, causing disruptions to shipping traffic. 

Early Monday morning, MKK 1 (IMO: 8902929), a bulk carrier hauling 13,000 tons of peas from Ukraine, was grounded in Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait, a strait that connects the Black Sea with global markets. 

Footage on social media shows the bow of the bulk carrier lodged into the ground near the coastline on the Asian side of the Bosphorus. 

The good news is that an army of tugboats managed to refloat the vessel. CNN Turk television said the ship experienced a “steering” failure. 

Ukrayna’dan İstanbul’a seyir halindeyken Beykoz Anadolu Kavağı önlerinde dümen arızası nedeniyle karaya oturan MKK-1 isimli 142 metre boyundaki dökme yük gemisi, römorkörler ile çekilerek oturduğu yerden hareket ettirildi. pic.twitter.com/POqu1SdCAR

— 41 Saat Haber (@41SaatHaber) January 16, 2023

Kıyı Emniyeti Genel Müdürlüğü, bu sabah Ukrayna’dan İstanbul’a seyir halindeyken Umuryeri’nde karaya oturan MKK-1 isimli 142 metre boyundaki dökme yük gemisinin kurtarıldığını bildirdi.https://t.co/FwF5FEdybO pic.twitter.com/j9MYwbUHOi

— ANKA Haber Ajansı (@ankahabera) January 16, 2023

#repost @salvage_and_wreck
Bulk carrier MKK-1 grounded in the #Bosphorus strait on January 16 2023.

The vessel was underway from Ukraine to Turkey, carrying cargo under the UN’s Black Sea grain initiative. pic.twitter.com/DpLA4j1EZu

— ⚓️MarioDeFenza⚓️ (@MarioDeFenza) January 16, 2023

MKK-1 isimli gemi, balık adam ekibimizin incelemesi sonrası bulunduğu yerden kurtarılıp yüzdürülerek İstanbul GTH Merkezimiz koordinasyonunda Kurtarma Uzmanımız, NENE HATUN Gemimiz, NAZIM TUR, KURTARMA- 8, 9 Römorkörlerimiz ve KEGM-8 Botumuz refakatinde Büyükdere’ye demirletildi. pic.twitter.com/LNt4Nxf2RW

— KEGM (@kiyiemniyet) January 16, 2023

Reuters quoted the Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul, which operates the UN-brokered Black Sea grain deal mission, said the MKK 1 was traveling from Pivdennyi, a commercial seaport in the Ukrainian city of Yuzhne near Odesa, to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Mersin.

No damage on MKK 1 has been found. Even though the vessel was refloated, Bloomberg said, “the strait has not yet reopened to shipping traffic.”

Less than a week ago, another bulk carrier hauling Ukrainian farm goods suffered “equipment failure” and went aground in the Suez Canal. The vessel was refloated, and canal traffic was restored before major disruptions plagued the Egyptian waterway.  

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

If you only play one video this year, the video below is the one you should play…

Annual CO2 emissions chart from Data in Our World.

This is an absolutely brilliant speech by British satirist, Konstantine Kisin.

Brilliant speech addressed to our ‘woke’ youth fighting #climatechange by Konstantine Kisin. pic.twitter.com/mFS8w0t2ip

— Brandon Taylor Moore (@LetsGoBrando45) January 14, 2023

Is Kisin’s Video For You?

• If you think that you, president Biden, Gretta, Al Gore, or anyone in government will do anything that matters about climate change, the video is for you.

• If you think that you, president Biden, Gretta, Al Gore, or anyone in government will not do anything that matters about climate change, the video is also for you.

It’s less than seven minutes long. Play it.

Play the video then think about the lead chart and the path of China and India while noting the whole continent of Africa is not even on the scale. 

By the way, the population of India will soon to surpass China. 

Importantly, and on a personal level, the single best thing you can do for the environment is to not have kids. 

Climate Deniers

I have been accused of being a climate denier. Mercy. Actually, I am a climate realist.

Climate change is real and constant and has been ever since the earth formed. 

The debate is over how much is manmade and even more importantly, what to do about it, whether it’s manmade or not.

Regarding what percentage is manmade, I don’t know, nor does anyone else. But let’s say you disagree. 

Then OK, I agree with you. Let’s assume recent climate change is 100% manmade. So what do we do about it?

That has been my line of questioning for a long time. I just have never been able to express my line of thinking as clearly as Kisin in the above video.

A Big Green Mess in Germany With Coal a Stunning 31 Percent of Electricity

Assume there is a problem, then if there is a solution, it will not be the like of Gretta, AOC, Al Gore, president Biden, or the Green Party hypocrites who will fix it.

Look no further than the Big Green Mess in Germany for what happens when politicians are faced with the decision to heat homes cheaply or cut back on CO2. 

The EU plans to tax other nations for not addressing climate change, while Germany bulldozes a town to increase the size of a coal mine. It’s also lignite coal, the dirtiest kind.

Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, a Green who is Germany’s economy and climate minister, defended the agreement as “a good decision for climate protection” that fulfills many of the environmentalists’ demands and saves five other villages from demolition.

World’s Largest Tax Scheme

For discussion of the EU’s hypocritical carbon tax scheme, please see EU Imposes the World’s Largest Carbon Tax Scheme.

Meanwhile, the US is marching down an idiotic path towards electric vehicle mandates with no plan on where to get the minerals for the batteries. Nor does president Biden have an reasonable plan for the infrastructure needed. 

Fed Chair Warns President Biden “We will not be a climate policymaker”

Preposterous ideas have gotten so out of hand that Fed Chair Warns President Biden “We will not be a climate policymaker”

“Without explicit congressional legislation, it would be inappropriate for us to use our monetary policy or supervisory tools to promote a greener economy or to achieve other climate-based goals. We are not, and will not be, a climate policymaker,” said Jerome Powell.

I am not one who often praises the Fed, but that paragraph deserves a standing ovation. 

Constant Hype

The hype is constant and has been consistently wrong. In 2019 I noted Ocasio-Cortez Says World Will End in 12 Years: Here’s What to Do About It

The world will still be here in 2050.

On October 29, 2022, I noted UN Seeks $4 to 6 Trillion Per Year to Address Climate

Yeah right. Politicians are going to give Africa, India, and third world countries trillions of dollars and tax the hell out of them if they don’t comply.

The Hope of Fusion vs the Pomp of Politicians and Climate Activists

If there is a climate problem, science will find the answer, not politicians or activists.

For discussion, please see The Hope of Fusion vs the Pomp of Politicians and Climate Activists

Nonetheless, there’s A Mad Rush to Build More EV Factories despite the fact we have no idea or plan to secure the minerals needed for the batteries. 

And Germany has turned to bulldozing towns to produce more coal. 

What a hoot.

*  *  *

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A junior forward on the #4 Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball team has been charged with capital murder after an early-morning shooting near the school’s Tuscaloosa campus.  

The player, 23-year-old Darius Hairston Miles, is one of two men facing murder charges following the shooting death of a woman, 23-year-old Jamea Jonae Harrison, of Birmingham, who was mother to a five-year-old. 

“It appears at this time that the shooting was the result of a minor argument that occurred between the victims and suspects after they encountered each other along the strip,” said Tuscaloosa Police Captain Jack Kennedy. The Strip is an area of bars, restaurants and retail shops along University Boulevard, and is a focal point of the college town’s night life. 

As a handcuffed Miles was escorted from Tuscaloosa County Jail into a police vehicle, he could be seen crying, “I swear, I love you more than you imagine.” It wasn’t clear whom he was addressing. The capital murder charge springs from the fact that fatal shots were fired into a vehicle. 

Alabama basketball player Darius Miles has been arrested in connection with the savage, brutal and heartless slaughter of a young woman.

He faces execution if convicted of capital murder. pic.twitter.com/HAEzvskJNC

— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) January 16, 2023

The incident involved four people in two cars. At approximately 1:45 am, the driver of a vehicle approached campus police near the Walk of Champions at Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium. He said someone had shot into his vehicle, striking his passenger, Harrison. The driver said he’d returned fire and thought he’d hit someone. 

23-year-old Jamea Jonae Harris life ended tragically early Sunday morning following a shooting near The Strip in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Harris’ death has been on hard on her entire family. Former @AlabamaMBB player Darius Miles and another man face capital murder charges. pic.twitter.com/sJsENt18BU

— Juan Hustle (@JuanHustle) January 16, 2023

Police arrested Miles and 20-year-old Michael Lynn Davis of Charles County, Maryland. Of the four, only Miles was affiliated with the university.

After interviewing witnesses and viewing surveillance video, police quickly identified their two suspects. One of the them was treated for non-life-threatening gunshot wound, but police didn’t say who that was. Nor have they said who fired at the other car.

Earlier in the season, Miles missed a few games because of an unspecified “personal matter.” Before  Alabama’s Saturday afternoon 106-66 home rout of the LSU Tigers, the sports information department announced that he was out for the season with an ankle injury. Though he played substantial minutes off the bench last season, the Washington DC native played only 40 minutes in six games during the 2022-23 campaign.

Alabama says he’s been “removed from campus” and is no longer on the team. His biography page has been wiped from the Crimson Tide athletic site.  

An Associated Press photo captured a jubilant Miles celebrating a play during Saturday’s game…just a matter of hours before a “minor argument” would put him on a potential path to lethal injection. It’s a reminder to all of us that de-escalation is an essential skill in being a proficient self-defender. 

Update: Alabama’s Darius Miles will be out for the remainder of the season (murder) https://t.co/S9qsJJTwcv

— jared z ⛵️ (@SheWentToJared4) January 16, 2023

Alabama’s Darius Miles has entered the prison portal

— ArtPlugFLA (@RealArtPlug_Fla) January 16, 2023

Authored by Charles Kennedy via OilPrice.com,

Norway became Germany’s single-largest natural gas supplier in 2022, overtaking Russia, as total German gas imports dropped by 12.3% compared to 2021, the German Federal Network Agency, Bundesnetzagentur, said on Friday.

Norway provided 33% of the gas Germany imported last year, followed by Russia, whose share fell to 22% for last year, compared to a 52% share in 2021, said the German regulator.

Last year, Russia started gradually cutting gas supply via the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany in June until shutting down the pipeline in early September, claiming an inability to repair gas turbines for the pumping stations due to Western sanctions.    

The lack of gas deliveries from Russia was partly compensated for by additional imports, including from the Netherlands, Belgium, and Norway, the German network agency said today.

Europe’s biggest economy also saved a lot of gas in 2022, partly due to household saving and to industrial production curtailments due to soaring gas prices.

According to Bundesnetzagentur, Germany’s natural gas consumption dropped by 14% in 2022 compared to the average consumption for the past four years. Industrial demand fell by 15% compared to the average for the past four years. Between October and December, industrial gas consumption fell by 23%, and consumption by private consumers and businesses was 21% below the previous years.

As supply from Russia fell and then stopped in early September, Germany started looking at importing LNG and began construction of regasification terminals to be able to welcome cargoes. The first such terminal, a floating LNG import terminal, officially opened at the end of 2022 at Wilhelmshaven on Germany’s North Sea coast. 

Earlier this week, Germany welcomed the first tanker carrying LNG at the newly opened LNG import terminal at Wilhelmshaven, with the cargo arriving from the Calcasieu Pass export facility in the United States.