Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) is super pissed after Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte referred him to the DOJ for criminal prosecution over alleged mortgage fraud.

On Thursday, Swalwell lashed out, saying in a statement “As the most vocal critic of Donald Trump over the last decade and as the only person who still has a surviving lawsuit against him, the only thing I am surprised about is that it took him this long to come after me,” adding “Like James Comey and John Bolton, Adam Schiff and Lisa Cook, Letitia James and the dozens more to come — I refuse to live in fear in what was once the freest country in the world.“

The accusations against Swalwell are connected to a DC property, according to CBS News. 

Hilariously, Democrats and their media lapdogs are SHOCKED that Trump, who they went after hammer and tong for a decade, would investigate their actual (alleged!) crimes and go after them. 

Pulte, has leveled similar accusations against several other officials, including Democrats New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Sen. Adam Schiff, and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. 

James was indicted on one count of bank fraud and one count of making false statements to a financial institution last month and pleaded not guilty. President Trump moved to fire Cook in August after Pulte accused her of making misrepresentations on mortgage documents. But Cook filed a lawsuit arguing her removal was unlawful, and the Supreme Court will hear arguments in January on whether Mr. Trump can fire her from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. –CBS News

In September, Swalwell said that he “fully” expects to be prosecuted by the Trump administration – while also confronting FBI Director Kash Patel during a congressional appearance that same month, noting that Patel had referred to him as a “government gangster.” 

“You identified 60 individuals in that book. You put me on that list at the top of the list,” Swalwell said, adding “Thank you. My children find it flattering… Twenty of those individuals have been investigated or have had adverse actions.” As part of his statement, Swalwell told President Trump to “do better. Be better.” 

And then he got tricked into banging another Chinese spy (kidding!).

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

President Donald Trump delivered a game-changing pitch on healthcare during an address Wednesday, calling for a radical shift in how federal funds are distributed under Obamacare.

Putting Americans first, Trump proposed redirecting massive subsidies away from wealthy insurance companies and straight into the pockets of everyday people.

“I am calling today for insurance companies NOT to be paid. But for this massive amount of money be paid DIRECTLY to the people so they can buy their own healthcare!” Trump stated, highlighting the inefficiencies of the current system.

🚨 WOW! President Trump has the Democrats TOTALLY CORNERED on Obamacare

“I am calling today for insurance companies NOT to be paid. But for this massive amount of money be paid DIRECTLY to the people so they can buy their own healthcare!”

“Their stocks have gone up 1,000%!… pic.twitter.com/V8gWK8RdSo

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 13, 2025

He slammed the status quo, noting, “Their stocks have gone up 1,000%! Because our country STUPIDLY pays them so much money with this Obamacare scandal.”

Emphasizing empowerment, Trump added, “I want the money to go directly to YOU, the PEOPLE!” and vowed, “We will pay a lot of money to the people, and FORGET this Obamacare madness!”

This innovative approach positions Democrats in a tough spot, as opposing direct aid to citizens could prove politically toxic.

The Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, has long been criticized for funneling billions in taxpayer dollars to insurance giants through premium subsidies that reduce costs for enrollees.

Currently, these payments go directly to insurers, with over 90% of marketplace participants qualifying for enhanced subsidies in 2025 alone. Republicans, including Trump, have decried this as a giveaway that has bloated insurer profits, with major health insurance stocks soaring post-ACA implementation—some by as much as 1,000% as Trump noted.

This system has driven up costs for families while enriching corporations, leading to premium hikes averaging 26% in 2026. Critics argue it’s a bureaucratic mess that prioritizes big business over individuals, a point Trump’s proposal aims to rectify by cutting out the middlemen and letting Americans choose their own plans.

Trump has been a fierce opponent of Obamacare since his first term, repeatedly vowing to repeal and replace the flawed law. In 2017, he pushed for legislation to dismantle it, though congressional efforts fell short.

During his 2024 campaign, Trump reiterated his commitment, stating in debates that he aimed to “terminate” the ACA and introduce “brand new beautiful health care.” He has consistently argued that Obamacare destroys choice and inflates costs, promising alternatives that expand affordable options and end surprise billing.

In previous remarks, Trump outlined a vision for healthcare that reduces drug prices, increases fairness, and empowers consumers—principles now embodied in his direct-payment idea. This latest push builds on executive actions from his prior administration, such as rescinding rules that limited drug spending in Medicaid and Medicare.

The current Trump administration maintains a strong focus on dismantling Obamacare’s inefficiencies while prioritizing American families.

Recent executive orders have rolled back burdensome regulations, emphasizing trade policies to lower costs and tariffs to fund potential dividends. Officials like those in the Department of Health and Human Services have backed legal immunity for reforms and affirmed Trump’s authority to redirect funds.

Amid the recent government shutdown, Trump urged Senate Republicans to prioritize direct payments, potentially through health savings accounts, to bypass insurers and foster competition.

This aligns with broader goals to cut Medicaid funding and ACA subsidies that balloon federal spending, putting power back in the hands of the people rather than corporations. As experts note, such moves could transform healthcare into a more efficient, consumer-driven system, despite pushback from entrenched interests.

Trump has also masterfully framed his proposal as a populist boon for everyday Americans, promising to cut out corporate middlemen and deliver funds directly to individuals for better, more personalized healthcare choices.

By emphasizing that this would allow people to “buy their own healthcare” and even have “money left over,” Trump positions the plan as an improvement over Obamacare’s bloated system, putting the American people first and forcing Democrats into a defensive posture.

Opposing direct payments risks being seen as siding with wealthy insurers over struggling families, a narrative that could prove disastrous in swing districts.

Democrats like Rep. Adam Schiff have dismissed the idea, but policy analysts warn that rejecting such consumer-focused reforms might alienate voters amid rising premiums.

Trump’s call to redirect subsidies directly to citizens cleverly ties into broader America First themes, making it challenging for opponents to counter without appearing to defend corporate profits over public welfare. This strategic approach not only energizes his base but also pressures bipartisan support for overhauling a system long criticized for inefficiency.

This proposal exemplifies Trump’s commitment to bold, America-first reforms, challenging Democrats to defend a system that has enriched insurers at taxpayers’ expense while promising real relief for millions.

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.

Kim Kardashian’s brand Skims has closed a major new funding round, raising $225 million at a $5 billion valuation, per Lauren Hirsch. The Goldman Sachs Alternatives–led round, with BDT & MSD Partners participating, underscores how far the brand has grown beyond its shapewear origins, according to DealBook.

Founded in 2019 by Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede, Skims is profitable and expects to top $1 billion in net sales this year. Its last round in 2023 valued it at $4 billion.

The company plans to use the new capital to expand its retail footprint. Skims has 18 stores across U.S. cities like New York, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta and Boca Raton, and aims to grow internationally, especially in emerging markets. Kardashian said the raise “validates the hard work of our incredible team and partners … becoming a global omnichannel retail brand.”

DealBook writes that the brand is also pushing into new categories, including the high-profile NikeSkims collaboration announced in February, with apparel now and footwear and accessories planned. Skims remains the official underwear partner of the W.N.B.A., N.B.A. and USA Basketball.

Skims is building out beauty, having repurchased the 20 percent stake previously sold to Coty and hiring Ami Colé founder Diarrha N’Diaye to lead the effort. A recent hint came via the $48 Seamless Sculpt Face Wrap that uses its “signature sculpting fabric.”

New investors include Goldman Sachs Alternatives and BDT & MSD Partners, joining Wellington Management, Greenoaks, D1 Capital, Imaginary Ventures and Thrive Capital. Goldman’s Beat Cabiallavetta said Skims excels at “pioneering new categories and redefining everyday wear.”

As for an I.P.O., speculation continues, but Grede recently downplayed near-term plans, saying, “We might make that position in the future, but that’s not what I’m thinking about.”

The worsening power bill crisis across the Mid-Atlantic region, a combination of nation-killing climate change policies colliding with surging load growth from data centers, has forced Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro to sign legislation allowing the state to abandon the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).

The Pennsylvania legislature ended the state’s RGGI participation in the new state budget, which also cut funding tied to the climate initiative, effectively reversing the state’s 2019 entry under former Governor Tom Wolf.

Senate Republicans have opposed RGGI for years, which, through its carbon-pricing structure, effectively penalizes the state’s energy sector, increasing costs for the very plants that anchor the state’s power grid and industrial economy. In return, power plants pay for CO₂ allowances that only send wholesale electricity prices higher, and result in higher power bills for businesses and families.

It’s straightforward: climate taxes = higher power bills. 

Independent reports (from grid operator PJM and state regulators) have warned RGGI would:

• pressure to close gas and coal plants early

• loss of grid resilience

• higher risk of capacity shortages

Given surging load growth from data centers, RGGI was a disaster waiting to happen that would’ve stripped the grid of spare capacity, destabilized regional power supply, and effectively paralyzed the state into a power crisis, as its neighbors just south, in Maryland, have done through failed globalist climate crisis policies.

“For years, the Republicans who’ve led the Senate have used RGGI as an excuse to stall substantive conversations about energy production; today that excuse is gone,” Shapiro told reporters during a press conference minutes before signing the budget.

Shapiro noted, “I am looking forward to aggressively pushing for policies that create more jobs in the energy sector, bring more clean energy onto our grid and reduce the cost of energy for all Pennsylvanians.”

The question becomes whether other surrounding states, many of which are experiencing power bill crises, thanks to horrible green policies that strip stable spare capacity from grids and replace it with unreliable solar and wind, which collide with expanding load growth from data centers, quietly exit RGGI.

It’s time to bring common sense back to Mid-Atlantic politics after decades of failed Democratic policies that have sparked a cost-of-living crisis. And for those leftist-controlled states still pushing the climate-crisis narrative, remember this: even Bill Gates has acknowledged that many of the extreme claims around climate policy have been overstated.

By the way, the whole climate crisis hoax delayed America’s ability to add new reliable spare capacity on the grid – now it must play catch up (all detailed in this epic report).

Authored by Vince Dioquino via Decrypt.co,

• Judges found GEMA’s claims valid, ordering OpenAI to cease reproduction and provide damages and disclosure.

• The court said GPT-4 and GPT-4o “memorized” lyrics, amounting to reproduction under EU copyright rules.

• The decision, not yet final, could set a major European precedent on AI training data.

Germany’s national music rights organization secured a partial but decisive win against OpenAI after a Munich court ruled that ChatGPT’s underlying models unlawfully reproduced copyrighted German song lyrics.

The ruling orders OpenAI to cease reproduction, disclose relevant training details, and compensate rights holders.

It is not yet final, and OpenAI may appeal.

If upheld, the decision could reshape how AI companies source and license creative material in Europe, as regulators weigh broader obligations for model transparency and training-data provenance.

The case marks the first time a European court has found that a large language model violated copyright by memorizing protected works.

In its decision, the 42nd Civil Chamber of the Munich I Regional Court said that GPT-4 and GPT-4o contained “reproducible” lyrics from nine well-known songs, including Kristina Bach’s “Atemlos” and Rolf Zuckowski’s “Wie schön, dass du geboren bist.”

The court held that such memorization constitutes a “fixation” of the original works in the model’s parameters, satisfying the legal definition of reproduction under Article 2 of the EU InfoSoc Directive and Germany’s Copyright Act.

“At least in individual cases, when prompted accordingly, the model produces an output whose content is at least partially identical to content from the earlier training dataset,” a translated copy of the written judgement provided by the Munich court to Decrypt reads.

The model “generates a sequence of tokens that appears statistically plausible because, for example, it was contained in the training process in a particularly stable or frequently recurring form,” the court wrote, adding that because this “token sequence appeared on a large number of publicly accessible websites“ it meant that it was “included in the training dataset more than once.”

In the pleadings, GEMA argued that the model’s output lyrics were almost verbatim when prompted, proving that OpenAI’s systems had retained and reproduced the works.

OpenAI countered that its models do not store training data directly and that any output results from user prompts, not from deliberate copying.

The company also invoked text-and-data-mining exceptions, which allow temporary reproductions for analytical use.

“We disagree with the ruling and are considering next steps,” a spokesperson for OpenAI told Decrypt. “The decision is for a limited set of lyrics and does not impact the millions of people, businesses, and developers in Germany that use our technology every day.” 

OpenAI claims systems like theirs do not store or contain training data and thus do not hold copies of lyrics or other texts. Instead, these models learn patterns and generate new outputs based on patterns, OpenAI said.

The company told Decrypt that treating a model as if it contains stored works reflects a misunderstanding of how the technology works.

The court rejected those defenses, ruling that full reproductions embedded in a model’s structure fall outside the scope of data-mining exemptions.

“Training the models is not to be regarded as a usual and expected form of use that the rights holder must anticipate,” the court wrote. “This applies all the more when—as in the present case—the works are reproduced in the model, something that even the defendants themselves consider undesirable and against which countermeasures are taken.”

Decrypt reached out separately to GEMA for comment but has yet to receive a response by press time.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has made some fresh remarks to the press which reveal a deep irony while demonstrating the limited effectiveness of far-reaching anti-Moscow sanctions on the course of the war in Ukraine. The United States has nearly run out of effective targets for sanctions against Russia, he conceded in a frank moment Wednesday, coming soon on the heels of the Trump admin decision to impose new penalties on two of the country’s biggest oil producers.

“We’ve sanctioned their main oil firms – exactly what everyone’s been asking for,” Rubio told reporters following a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Canada. “At this point, there’s not much left to target. We’re running out of options.” His attitude in answering the question seemed to be one of quiet exasperation or frustration and conveyed a sense of ‘what more do you want from us?’…

Secretary of State Rubio says the U.S. has nearly exhausted its options for new sanctions against Russia. “There’s almost nothing left to sanction. We’ve already hit their largest oil companies,” he said. The focus now shifts to enforcing existing sanctions and targeting Russia’s… pic.twitter.com/zq0gNsYjZV

— NOELREPORTS 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@NOELreports) November 13, 2025

Rubio had previously said President Trump approved sanctions on energy giants Lukoil and Rosneft largely at the urging of Ukraine and its European backers.

According to more from the comments:

The secretary of state also touched upon the issue of the so-called shadow fleet that Russia uses to bypass oil restrictions. He described the fight against it as “an enforcement mechanism” rather than a reason for introducing new sanctions. Rubio expressed the view that European partners should play a more active role in this process, as a significant number of the vessels operate closer to their territories.

When asked whether Russia truly seeks peace, Rubio replied that such things can only be judged by actions. In his opinion, Moscow has “stated clearly what they want is they want the rest of Donetsk, and obviously the Ukrainians aren’t going to agree to that”.

Rubio also interestingly seemed to acknowledge the current futility of sending more equipment to protect Ukraine’s pummeled energy infrastructure:

According to Rubio, discussions are underway on providing both specialised equipment and defensive weapons to protect energy facilities. However, the key problem remains the high risk that the equipment could be destroyed shortly after installation.

“If that equipment is ultimately destroyed a week later after it’s installed, that remains a problem. And that’s been the history of the last two or three years,” Rubio concluded.

All of this illustrates perhaps why Trump has lately signaled he’s ready to wash his hands of involvement in trying to achieve Ukraine peace, and why he’s done with doing ‘direct’ weapons transfers to Kiev.

NEW!! G7 Demands Immediate Ceasefire in Ukraine, Vows to Increase Sanctions on Russia

Niagara summit targets global ‘enablers’ of Kremlin war effort; Foreign Ministers agree current contact line should be the starting point of negotiations

Joint Statement on Ukraine 👇 pic.twitter.com/SZmF22uLUp

— Alex Raufoglu (@ralakbar) November 12, 2025

Meanwhile Moscow insists that it has adapted successfully by redirecting trade toward non-Western markets, particularly major BRICS countries, despite India recently scaling back its purchases of Russian oil. The EU’s years-long strategy has been sanctions package after sanctions package – and we’re up to at least 19 at this point.

Authored by Travis Gillmore via The Epoch Times,

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff, Dana Williamson, was indicted by a federal grand jury on 23 charges related to public corruption, according to a Nov. 12 statement from the Department of Justice.

U.S. Attorney Eric Grant alleged that Williamson, 53, of Carmichael, California, committed bank and wire fraud, conspired to defraud the government and obstruct justice, filed false tax returns, and made false statements to investigators.

“This is a crucial step in an ongoing political corruption investigation that began more than three years ago,” Grant said in the statement. “As it always has, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to protect the people of California from political corruption.”

According to the charges, Williamson allegedly helped divert about $225,000 in funds from a “dormant political campaign” to an associate’s personal account using a money laundering scheme to fund a “no-show job” between February 2022 and September 2024.

🚨🚨🚨 WHOA: Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff, Dana Williamson, was arrested today after a three-year joint FBI-IRS investigation and charged with bank fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruct justice.

Charges include illegally funneling… pic.twitter.com/eXQX4QUcaB

— Susan Crabtree (@susancrabtree) November 12, 2025

She is also charged with conspiring to create illegitimate, backdated contracts to thwart a federal investigation into Paycheck Protection Loans made to a business he owned.

Williamson also allegedly filed false tax returns, deducting luxury purchases of home goods and handbags, as well as private jet flights and hotel stays, according to the indictment.

She helped lead Newsom’s office for nearly two years before being replaced in December 2024.

Newsom is not named in the indictment. The campaign accounts in question belong to an unnamed politician identified as “Public Official 1” in the charging documents.

The governor’s office reacted to the breaking news on Nov. 12.

“Ms. Williamson no longer serves in this administration,” a spokesperson for Newsom’s office told The Epoch Times by email. “While we are still learning details of the allegations, the Governor expects all public servants to uphold the highest standards of integrity.”

Newsom’s office urged patience as the judicial process plays out.

“At a time when the President is openly calling for his Attorney General to investigate his political enemies, it is especially important to honor the American principle of being innocent until proven guilty in a court of law by a jury of one’s peers,” Newsom’s spokesperson said.

The indictment was returned on Nov. 7 but was kept sealed until Williamson was arrested on the morning of Nov. 12, according to the statement.

Agents with the FBI played a role in the joint investigation, together with federal partners, including the IRS, among others.

“Today’s charges are the result of three years of relentless investigative work, in partnership with IRS Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Sid Patel, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Sacramento office, said in the statement. “The FBI will remain vigilant in its efforts to uncover fraud and corruption, ensuring our government systems are held to the highest standards.”

Investigators said pursuing the fraudulent use of business deductions is a priority for the IRS.

“Disguising personal luxuries as business expenses—especially to claim improper tax deductions or to willfully file fraudulent tax returns is a serious criminal offense with severe consequences,” said IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Oakland Field Office Special Agent in Charge Linda Nguyen. “IRS-CI will pursue charges against those who deliberately exploit their business for personal enrichment.”

Williamson pleaded not guilty during her first appearance at the U.S. courthouse in Sacramento, California, at 2 p.m. PDT.

She faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of bank and wire fraud and respective conspiracy charge, as well as up to five years in prison and $250,000 fines for the conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statement counts. Each count of subscribing to a false tax return carries a potential penalty of $100,000 in fines and three years of imprisonment.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was hospitalized on Thursday after suffering facial injuries from a fall during a walk near his Western Pennsylvania home. 

According to a spokesperson, the Democrat Senator was transported to a Pittsburgh hospital “out of an abundance of caution.”

“During an early morning walk, Senator Fetterman sustained a fall near his home in Braddock,” a spokesperson said. 

“Upon evaluation, it was established he had a ventricular fibrillation flare-up that led to Senator Fetterman feeling light-headed, falling to the ground and hitting his face with minor injuries,” the statement continues. “He is doing well and receiving routine observation at the hospital. He has opted to stay so doctors can fine-tune his medication regimen.”

Fetterman joked about the injury – saying “If you thought my face looked bad before, wait until you see it now!”

Perhaps the pressure of crossing party lines to reopen the government and giving several ‘WTF is my party doing?’ interviews was too much for Fetterman, who returned home after voting with Senate Republicans on Monday.

His media appearances coincide with the Tuesday release of his memoir, “Unfettered,” which covers his experiences with clinical depression following his 2022 stroke and start of his term in Washington. 

In addition to telling Fox News that Democrats are rudderless, he also told CNN that fellow Democrats are complete dicks.

🚨NEW: John Fetterman *STUNS* CNN’s Dana Bash by telling her how Left crueler than Right🚨

FETTERMAN: “The Right would say really rough things and names … but on the Left, it was like they want me to die or that ‘We’re cheering for your next stroke’ … they even have a gif… pic.twitter.com/iMRyVTssgs

— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) November 12, 2025

We’re sure they’ve sent flowers… 

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Authored by Jonathan Turley,

“It’s a bold statement, isn’t it?”

Those words of Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin hardly capture the moment.

Yesterday, Conyears-Ervin declared that her office would no longer invest in U.S. Treasury bonds to protest what she called the “authoritarian regime” of President Donald Trump. It is more bonkers than bold. It makes about as much sense as President Trump saying that he will not eat deep-dish pizza to protest Chicago.

My hometown of Chicago is facing an economic meltdown due to towering debt and massive spending. Mayor Ben Johnson and the unions have pushed self-destructive tax schemes and borrowing plans that would only accelerate the flight from the city and the collapse of the city’s finances.

Now, the person in charge of investing that money is declaring that politics rather than economics will guide investments.

It is the ultimate virtue signaling at the cost of others. She is given a fiduciary duty to properly maintain and protect the investments of the city, which is currently facing a rising debt crisis. She is saying that the city will not invest in what Ald. Bill Conway (34th), a former investment banker, correctly described as “by far the most liquid and secure debt instrument in the history of the world.”

Chicago has held almost a quarter of a billion dollars in Treasury bonds in the last three years due to its healthy return for citizens. To forego such investments is Kamikaze economics, destroying your own portfolio and investors as a demonstration of true faith.

The position hurts only Chicagoans.  However, the loss to the citizens could still provide gains to Conyears-Ervin, who is running to replace radical Chicago congressman, Danny Davis. Her announcement is meant to tap into the rage as she declared: “Chicagoans do not want us to bankroll the regime — the authoritarian regime — of Donald Trump where he has waged a war on our city. It’s a bold statement, isn’t it? And we need it to be.”

So, a city collapsing under debt will forego investing in one of the most secure debt instruments in the world.

Let’s recap. Mayor Johnson wants to float massive bonds to avoid cutting the budget while taxing large businesses for every new person that they employ. At the same time, the city will not invest in bonds that guarantee the most secure investment of money currently in city coffers.

This is coming in a week when many are questioning the logic of the government shutdown. After losing billions and putting many families and travelers into duress, the Democrats agreed to basically the identical clean CR that was offered over a month earlier. Yet, Conyears-Ervin makes that effort seem brilliant in comparison.

It is the same logic as burning money as a way to prevent its theft.

It is not clear where the money will go.

Antifa does not currently offer an investment fund option that guarantees a total political return with no capital gains. On the other hand, over $200 billion is practically hard to stuff in the mattress of Conyears-Ervin.

This could work out in the end, resulting in practically no loss due to the new investment policies. As Johnson virtually chases businesses out of the city, there will be less money to invest. Problem solved.

Oil prices are bouncing modestly off of yesterday’s ugly drop driven by OPEC+’s outlook for a sizable surplus (glut) ahead. The IEA also flagged a deteriorating outlook for a sixth consecutive month, saying in a report on Thursday that supply will exceed demand by just over four million barrels a day next year.

“There’s a lot of oil supply that’s coming back from the OPEC+ countries,” Chevron Corp. Chief Executive Officer Mike Wirth told Bloomberg Television.

“There’s a period of time when it would appear we’re going to see more supply coming into the market than demand will be able to absorb.”

At the same time, Bloomberg reports that the Trump administration has moved to raise the pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine, including sanctions on Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC. An oil trading firm that’s a unit of Russian oil giant Lukoil is starting to terminate jobs with days to go until sanctions fully kick in.

“The latest round of sanctions appear significant and there’s clear risk to supply,” Toril Bosoni, head of the oil markets division at the International Energy Agency, said in a Bloomberg TV interview.

That, coupled with Ukraine attacks against Moscow’s energy infrastructure, has helped to support fuel prices and offer a support to oil markets otherwise weighed down by oversupply fears.

Overnight, API reported a modest crude build.

Quick reminder that this week’s data won’t include the effect of the US government shutdown on aviation and, therefore, jet fuel demand and inventories. That will come in next week’s data after airlines began curtailing flights on Nov. 7. 

API

• Crude +1.3mm

• Cushing -43k

• Gasoline -1.4mm

• Distillates +944k

DOE

• Crude +6.413mm – biggest build since July

• Cushing -346k

• Gasoline -945k

• Distillates -637k

Crude inventories surged higher for the second week in a row (biggest build since July), modestly offset by small drawdowns for products (down for six straight weeks)…

Source: Bloomberg

The last two weeks have lifted US crude stocks to their highest in five months, but we note on a seasonal basis, it continues to lag recent years…

Source: Bloomberg

US Crude production surged by over 200k b/d last week to a new record high despite the ongoing slide in the rig count…

Source: Bloomberg

WTI is holding on top its modest gains off yesterday’s plunge lows for now…

Source: Bloomberg

The bearish outlook for next year has triggered a key indicator – WTI’s prompt spread – to sink into contango…

Source: Bloomberg

That pricing pattern, with the nearest contracts trading at discounts to further-out ones, signals ample short-term supplies, though it also recovered Thursday.