Member Info for mrtibbles

Lachlan Markay
?
@lachlan

NEW: Sen. Kelly Loeffler sold between $1.2M and $3.1M worth of stock in the three weeks beginning on Jan 24—the day of a closed-door, all-Senator briefing on the coronavirus https://www.thedailybeast.com/sen-kelly-loeffler-dumped-millions-in-stock-after-coronavirus-briefing?ref=wrap …

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/03/20/demands-resignations-more-gop-senators-accused-smash-and-grab-stock-dumps-ahead
After news of Republican Sen. Richard Burr's stock sell-off ahead of the coronavirus-induced market crash prompted more digging into financial disclosure documents Thursday night, at least three additional GOP senators and one Democrat were found to have unloaded holdings just before the pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a tailspin.

Some of the sales that were highlighted on social media, such as those by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), appeared to be unconnected to the coronavirus crisis, analysts pointed out—while also urging that the transactions be closely examined.

But others looked far more suspicious on their face, sparking accusations of insider trading and demands for resignations. The Daily Beast reported late Thursday that Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), the newest member of the Senate, sold off millions of dollars worth of stock holdings following a private Jan. 24 Senate Health Committee meeting on the coronavirus threat.

Loeffler, according to The Daily Beast, "reported the first sale of stock jointly owned by her and her husband on Jan. 24, the very day that her committee, the Senate Health Committee, hosted a private, all-senators briefing from administration officials, including the CDC director and Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on the coronavirus."

Considerably longer, especially today, SP seems stuck for some time now!

Could this be because the US is getting ready to open up?

Everything rally returns; Nasdaq futures hit 'limit up'
Mar. 20, 2020 5:02 AM ET|By: Yoel Minkoff, SA News Editor

Big gains were seen across every asset class overnight as policymakers pulled out all the stops and adopted a "whatever it takes" approach to mitigate economic fallout from COVID-19.

The latest moves will see the Fed increase the access to dollars to global central banks grappling with liquidity shortages, while governments around the world pledged or are considering as much as $3T in fiscal support.

Don't forget that it's also quad witching day, which refers to the simultaneous expiration of market index futures, stock futures, market index options and stock options.

The event can lead to higher volatility and more trading volume, giving speculators an opportunity for quick arbitrage opportunities.

Hi Bob,
where is the best place to see these shorts for those of us that don't have access to a subscription trading portal?

Donald Trump reportedly just tried to buy exclusive access to a Coronavirus vaccine ... for the US only!
Billions of dollars are needed to develop vaccines and it’s hard to mass produce them - so richer countries often compete to get their hands on them, leaving poorer countries without. But this is a global crisis and we need a global vaccine -- no-one should be left behind!

Our decision-makers know this isn’t the time for business as usual. World Leaders at a G7 Summit just told Trump that medical firms must share research on a coronavirus vaccine and coordinate internationally, but we need to hold them to account!

If one million of us rally behind this one global call, it will become that much harder for leaders like Trump to prioritise politics over public health. And Big Pharma will realise how deeply unpopular they’ll become if they push for profit during a global crisis.

So let’s make our call massive. Sign and share now and let’s demand an affordable vaccine for all!

https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/coronavirus_vaccine_31/?brtqjhb&v=123923&cl=16827202248&_checksum=dff2837a590ab4de27b06f06d56361d790f3fcbbd23841f90452f98213185604

Hi Bob,
Thank you for the explanation, although i have to be honest and say that I don't understand how this works if I am honest.
There is a lot of talk about market regulation, but it seems that this present system of operation affords the trade players i.e. Brokers, institutions,FX traders great advantage over the private investor, so although regulated the markets are certainly not a level playing field or fair!
The way things operate with this after normal close to the 'plebs"exclusive trading club is rather like a form of Freemasonry, trust the markets indeed, if a bookies shop operated in such a manner it would get closed down!
It seems that the stock markets are corrupt and in the main serve no really useful purpose other than to give a group of the privileged inner circle the opportunity to keep creating even more wealth for themselves at the expense and subsidised by the majority of ordinary people.
Yet none of the politicians seem willing to acknowledge the existence of this great inequality and lack of transparency and they certainly show no interest in sorting things out so that the stock market is a level playing field for everyone and is of benefit to the many rather than the privileged few!

Profits in Gold Bullion 'Sold to Cover Other Losses' as US T-Bonds See Record-Wild Swings
Thursday, 3/19/2020 14:49
GOLD BULLION fell back against the rising US Dollar on Thursday, but it held unchanged for Eurozone investors after the European Central Bank announced €750 billion of new quantitative easing aimed at reducing credit stresses for the 19-nation currency union's governments and business borrowers as economic activity halts amid the worsening coronavirus pandemic.

US claims for jobless benefits meantime leapt on figures released today, pulling the 4-week average up to its highest since January 2018 and snapping the last decade's relentless decline to 50-year lows.

"We are officially declaring that the US economy has fallen into a recession," says a new note Thursday from US finance giant Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, "joining the rest of the world.

"It is a deep plunge. Jobs will be lost, wealth will be destroyed and confidence depressed."

Commodity prices bounced however on Thursday from the lowest levels in over 4 decades, with crude oil edging back above $25 per barrel.

Government bond prices continued their steep volatility, pulling 10-year US yields 13 basis points lower as German Bund yields initially jumped.

Both in basis-point terms and as a percentage move, US yields have never whipped as violently either up or down as they have already this month.
https://www.bullionvault.com/gold-news/gold-bullion-031920201

Will see what I can do chaps!

I may be imagining it but it seems the past few days our SP has been subject to a sharp knock back just prior to the market closing to ordinary investors/

Thank you Bob,
Glad to hear that your wife is still well though!
Yes Axa moto "Redefining healthcare" they certainly are!
Your post intrigued me to do some research on this I am also thinking of consulting the ombudsman although I will make sure to make more people aware of the small print in the Axa health insurance on this issue as they have been very sneaky and many policy holders may not be aware until it is too late!

Agreed Cowichan,
Especially as the share price is now 94.44p (down -18.96%) on google finance !
Will write!

"Mr.President, the only answer is to shut down the country for the next 30 days and close the borders," said activist investor Bill Ackman, founder and CEO of the $8bn Pershing Square Capital Management funds, on Twitter.

"Tell all Americans that you are putting us on an extended Spring Break at home with family. Keep only essential services open. The government pays wages until we reopen. No one defaults, no one forecloses."

Back in gold investing, holdings in the giant GLD gold-backed ETF were unchanged Tuesday, snapping 5 sessions of investor outflows.

The next largest US gold ETF shrank for the 3rd session running, however, with the iShares IAU product now shrinking 1.8% from last Thursday's fresh record peak.

No.1 physical platform BullionVault meantime saw client gold holdings rise to 40 tonnes, a new all-time record, with net demand so far this month hitting its highest since the depths of the global financial crisis in March 2009.
https://www.bullionvault.com/gold-news/gold-prices-031820201

It is , the same with animal medication through a vets practice

I don't wish to dwell on personal matter but I was suffering pain and discomfort in both legs due to varicose veins, on one leg the veins were starting to break through the skin.
I consulted with my GP who was sympathetic and said that I was in danger of developing varicose ulcers and that I should carry some gauze pads at all times in case the veins broke through the skin.
My GP advised that I really needed surgery by a vascular surgeon on both leg but that the NHS commissioners had decided that varicose veins weren't life threatening and purely cosmetic, so the NHS would no longer fund any surgery costs and instead the funding saved would be diverted to NHS cancer & diabetes treatment.
I won't bore you all with lot's of details, but I will say that even though the operations were not pleasant dealing with AXA/Saga has been far worse in many ways!
So I am now recovering after 4 operations no thanks to the NHS, and although Saga/Axa refused to officially pay for the consultant's recommended procedures they have reluctantly made a goodwill payment to the BMI hospital which equates to the total bill for my treatment!
However whilst I was in the BMI hospital I remarked how busy it was and I learnt that this was due to the amount of NHS work being referred to the BMI private hospital because the local NHS hospital cannot cope with the demand .
The local NHS trust is paying the BMI private rates with a small negotiated discount!

The whole system is unfit for purpose, the monetary & fiscal policies don't work and a system that depends on ever more consumerism can never be right!
The retirement age should be lowered to around 55 for basic state pension with the option to enhance this if people choose to pay extra contributions or wish carry on working part time or mentoring younger people.
It is stupid to have a system where people are working long past retirement age to make make ends meet and yet there are so many younger people wanting a job.
Some of the Scandinavian countries are doing away with the benefit system as we know it to replace it with a basic allowance for everyone, if people want to add or increase that amount then they can by taking paid work and paying the tax on the extra income.
This is a much more efficient and fairer way of ensuring that everyone has the basic minimum amount and of course everyone then has some disposable income to spend in the community.
The efficiencies gained and administrative cost savings of doing away with all the present allowances and rebates involved in the existing system is substantial indeed.

I agree, far too much money wasted in the NHS, but the private sector does rip it off on the contract side and should be challenged more by those that are purchasing & running contracts on behalf of the nhs.

It is the same with civil engineering contractors , they tender for a job (Hs2) they agree to do it for a price including a contingency sum for unforeseen problems or required changes etc, but they have no intention of sticking to the agreed price because they know once they start the job its a blank cheque because nobody has the balls to pull them up for fear of the political backlash!

The labour government built hospitals and schools under the pfi initiative, it was a disaster the the hospitals and schools built were barely fit for purpose, overpriced and poor quality , the private contactors had the public sectors pants down and is still ripping off the tax payer even now

So the UK people have suffered over a decade of austerity, public service cuts and QE to provide the banks with lots of the peoples money on the cheap to bail them out of their failed trading strategies and to enable them to keep doing more of the same in City casino!
Our present government is spending £62 billion and destroying thousands of square acres of ancient woodland to subsidise the greedy and incompetent private sector to build a rail line hat will be out of date before it is completed and the ordinary people wont be able to afford to ride on in order the enable the better off to get to the outskirts of some northern city 20mins sooner!
In the meantime because our NHS has been so starved of funding during the years of austerity and is unable to cope with normal day to day demand,let an alone Covid -19 a large proportion of innocent ordinary people are advised to incarcerate themselves from life for weeks or months at a time!
Why not forget HS2 , reopen some of the old branch rail lines and spend the money saved on an fit for purpose health service?

Sorry typo!

Should read "Big respect to Cowichan!"