Russian Crew Of Seized Tanker Finally Freed By US, On Their Way Home: Kremlin

Washington has quietly released two Russian sailors detained earlier this month by the US Navy's enforcement arm of Venezuela sanctions, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Wednesday. "Two Russian sailors have been released and are on their way home to Russia," she announced.

The men were part of the crew aboard the Russian-flagged oil tanker Marinera (formerly Bella 1), which was intercepted and seized on January 7 in the North Atlantic after being tailed by US authorities from the Caribbean.

Source: Marine Traffic

US officials claim the vessel - chartered by a private company - was skirting Washington's oil embargo on Venezuela. "We welcome this decision and express our gratitude to the US leadership," Zakharova had also said.

The tanker's multinational crew totaled 28, including 17 Ukrainians, six Georgians, three Indians, and just two Russians - the latter now released - underscoring once again how US sanctions enforcement routinely sweeps up foreign nationals far removed from Washington's geopolitical score-settling.

American officials had earlier threatened that the Marinera's crew could face prosecution in the United States, which Russia warned would be "categorically unacceptable."

Russia's foreign ministry threatened serious escalation at a moment both sides are seeking to improve delicate bilateral relations, saying such a move will "only result in further military and political tensions," adding that it was worried by "Washington's willingness to generate acute international crisis situations."

But days ago the Kremlin previewed that the US was preparing to release the Russian nationals "in response to our request" - while the fate of the other detained crewmembers remains unknown, and their respective embassies are likely lobbying for their swift release.

But a real and potentially explosive crisis has thankfully been avoided here, and the Kremlin disclosed that it directly appealed to the Trump administration to quickly release the Russian crewmembers.

The explosive situation could have easily spiraled, given also the rare presence of a Russian submarine so near in proximity to US maritime forces.

As for US policy in post-Maduro Venezuela, the US is making slow moves to reopen the embassy in Caracas, amid ongoing talks with interim leader Delcy Rodríguez (or should we say 'directives' given to...).

On Tuesday, Reuters reported that the US is preparing to issue a general license - a move that would enable a sweeping rollback of sanctions, replacing the piecemeal waiver system used until now.

Tyler Durden Wed, 01/28/2026 - 16:45

Meta Stock Jumps Despite Soaring Capex, Expense Forecast

As we wrote in our Mag 7 earnings preview, investor sentiment has soured considerably on META since the Q3 25 print when it became abundantly clear that Zuckerberg’s foot remains firmly pressed down on the OpEx/capex accelerator.

To date, investors have seen little tangible evidence that the Meta Superintelligence Lab is capable of producing a leading edge model, and as JPM sais, "we won’t receive clarity on that issue this print. (But we may get some in the March/April timeframe when Avocado might launch.)" Looking at this quarter specifically, investors’ attention will be focused squarely on the 2026 OpEx guide (can’t be bigger than feared) as well the Q1 26 Revenue guide (needs to show a modest FXN acceleration on an easier comp). All told, investor sentiment on META heading into this print was at best ‘timid’, with many looking for the trade-off between massive capex and returns on investment.

Going into earnings, Goldman's desk wrote that investor positioning is 7/10, and notes that the stock has been a relative short amongst Mag7 peers for investors since the last earnings print on ROI debates + Product visibility (LLMs? New products? Other?). Into the print, focus on visibility into Meta's expense profile in 2026 (for context, Goldman sits at $125bn of capex in ’26 and $152bn of total expenses) relative to Revenue trends (Goldman models nearly ~20% ad revs growth in CY26). The options implied move of the stock is 6%. 

With that in mind, here is what Meta reported moments ago for Q4.

• Revenue $59.89 billion, +24% y/y, beating estimate $58.42 billion 
  • Advertising rev. $58.14 billion, +24% y/y, beating estimate $56.79 billion
  • Family of Apps revenue $58.94 billion, +25% y/y, beating estimate $57.47 billion
  • Reality Labs revenue $955 million, -12% y/y, missing estimate $962.7 million
  • Other revenue $801 million, +54% y/y, beating estimate $718.8 million

• Operating income $24.75 billion, +5.9% y/y
  • Family of Apps operating income $30.77 billion, +8.6% y/y, estimate $30 billion
  • Reality Labs operating loss $6.02 billion vs. loss $4.97 billion y/y, estimate loss $5.8 billion
     
• Operating margin 41% vs. 48% y/y
   
• EPS $8.88 vs. $8.02 y/y, beating estimates of $8.19

Some other Q4 details:

• Ad impressions +18% vs. +6% y/y, estimate +12.2%
  • Average price per ad +6% vs. +14% y/y, estimate +9.07%
• Average Family service users per day 3.58 billion, +6.9% y/y, estimate 3.56 billion

What is probably more important to investors is where did capex end in Q4: the answer, $21.4BN, up more than 50% YoY from $14.4BN a year ago.

Some more comments from management on the quarter:

• “We had strong business performance in 2025,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. “I’m looking forward to advancing personal superintelligence for people around the world in 2026”
• “We expect first quarter 2026 total revenue to be in the range of $53.5-56.5 billion.”
• “Despite the meaningful step up in infrastructure investment, in 2026 we expect to deliver operating income that is above 2025 operating income.”
• “Absent any changes to our tax landscape, we expect our full year 2026 tax rate to be 13-16%.”
• “We expect full year 2026 total expenses to be in the range of $162-169 billion.”
• The company will continue monitoring legal and regulatory headwinds in the EU and the US. It continues to see scrutiny on youth-related issues, which may result in material loss

In a nutshell, the historical numbers were solid. What about the future? This is the company's outlook:

Q1 revenue in the range of $53.5-56.5 billion, higher than the $51.3BN estimate (assumes FX is a ~4% tailwind to year-over-year total revenue growth)

Full year 2026 total expenses to be in the range of $162-169 billion, much higher than the $151BN expected.

• company says the majority of expense growth will be driven by infrastructure costs, which includes third-party cloud spend, higher depreciation, and higher infrastructure operating expenses)
• The second-largest contributor to total expense growth is employee compensation, driven by investments in technical talent. This includes 2026 hires to support our priority areas, particularly AI, as well as a full year of expenses from 2025 hires.
• At a segment level, we expect expense growth to be driven by the Family of Apps, with Reality Labs operating losses remaining similar to 2025 levels.

Last but not least, META's 2026 capex forecast was an absolute stunner: the company said that it anticipates 2026 capital expenditures to be in the range of $115-135 billion.

• The majority of expense growth will be driven by infrastructure costs, which includes third-party cloud spend, higher depreciation and higher infrastructure operating expenses.
• The second-largest contributor to total expense growth is employee compensation, driven by investments in technical talent. This includes 2026 hires to support our priority areas, particularly AI, as well as a full year of expenses from 2025 hires.

This number is much, much higher than the $110.62BN median estimate, and represents a doubling in capex YoY.

Putting it together, the Q4 beat, and the Q1 guidance beat, are up against the concerns about that spending figure. If Meta hits the high range of that estimate, it’s close to a 90% year-over-year jump in capex. And while the kneejerk reaction was the punish the stock, some algo ended up liking the mindblowing capex spending projection, and has pushed META almost $100 from its after hours low. 

Indeed, META has dumped and pumped after hours: after initially dumping on the report of the blowout expense/capex surge, it was as if a relentless buyer stepped in and moved the stock from the session low of $637 to what has so far been an after hours high of $721.

So how it is possible that the stock is surging on the exact same setup which sent it crashing last quarter? It appears that Meta ad growth is letting investors brush off the eye-popping spending increase. It’s a different story over at Microsoft, whose shares are currently sharply lower after increased spending alarmed shareholders. Microsoft released its earnings around the same time as Meta.

Yet we would be very cautious chasing the stock here as the exact same questions that emerged last quarter are bound to resurface, namely just what return is Meta expecting to generate on this mindblowing capex spending.

Tyler Durden Wed, 01/28/2026 - 16:30

Rubio Says We Must "Preemptively Prevent" Iran From Attacking US Forces Already In Region

Update(1629ET): One Mideast regional analyst has pointed to a significant contradiction in the current White House stance and rhetoric on Iran, amid the military threats and build-up, and suggests this time the warnings of US action are much more serious:

If you read Trump's latest post on Iran carefully, you will understand what America's real worry is. Until now, Trump was talking about the protesters. But today, he said time is running out for Iran to make a nuclear deal. "No nuclear weapons", he wrote. If you remember correctly, after the June 22 attack on Iran, Trump had claimed that he had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear program. And Iran's nuclear program had gone dark after the June war because Iran denied access to the IAEA to the bombed facilities. If Trump had obliterated Iran's nuclear program in June 2025, why does he want a nuclear deal in January 2026

"This is the core issue, not democracy and human rights," the analyst, Stanly Johny, writes. Indeed in the halls of power it's very unlikely that Western officials actually believe this is all about "standing with Iranian protesters" (which by the way many days ago subsided). Another X commenter pointed back to the several regime change conflicts of the last couple decades:

"Free Iran" means exactly what "Free Iraq," "Free Libya," and "Free Syria" meant. That is the material reality, however you try to spin it. Either you’re calling for another US-engineered destruction, or you’re so politically naive your opinion can be automatically disregarded.

In the meantime, America's top diplomat has just come up with a whole new category and 'justification' for potential US attack on Iran: "preemptively prevent"... Watch below:

Rubio says US forces are amassing in the region to potentially "preemptively prevent" Iran from attacking US forces already in the region. Pristine logic. Especially after Trump just announced he's sending a "Massive Armada," and threatened a "far worse" attack than last June pic.twitter.com/dbHMXuUhC9

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) January 28, 2026

Rubio said during the Wednesday Senate Foreign Relations Hearing focused on Venezuela, "And so I think it’s wise and prudent to have a force posture within the region that could respond and potentially, not necessarily what’s going to happen, but if necessary, preemptively prevent the attack against 1000s of American servicemen and other facilities in the region. And our allies." But ironically this is just after admitting the US ordered additional assets to the region in the first place, which are the same assets now supposedly under threat by Tehran.

"I hope it doesn’t come to that, but that’s I think what you’re seeing now is the ability to posture assets in the region to defend against what could be an Iranian threat against our personnel," the secretary of state said. 

* * *

Things between Tehran and Washington are moving fast according to an eerily familiar pattern hearkening back to the lead-up to the 12-day June war, when there was some wrangling over negotiations - and talk of good faith efforts at dialogue - just before the US greenlighted a surprise Israeli attack which also saw US entry into the conflict by the close of it (whereupon nuclear facilities were hit by American bombers).

"Our stance is clear," Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Wednesday as the US has expressed the desire to strike a deal. "Negotiations don’t go along with threats, and talks can only take place when there are no longer menaces and excessive demands."

• IRAN SAYS WILL RESPOND TO US 'LIKE NEVER BEFORE' IF PUSHED
• IRAN SAYS READY FOR TALKS WITH US BASED ON MUTUAL RESPECT
• OIL PARES GAINS AS IRAN SAYS ITS READY FOR TALKS WITH US

Araqchi confirmed his country has had no recent communication with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and has not sought talks with Washington. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that another US "armada" was moving "beautifully" toward Iran, but he hoped Tehran would ultimately strike a deal and avoid conflict.

via The Australian 

The Iranian FM noted, however, that unnamed intermediaries were "holding consultations" and remained in touch with Iranian officials.

Separately, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday that Tehran supports any process "within the framework of international law" that helps avert war. The Saudis have joined the UAE in declaring that the US cannot use its airspace for aggression against Iran. 

This shouldn't pose too big a challenge for the Pentagon, however, which has a build-up of assets at its Qatar base and with a carrier group near Iran in regional waters.

But The Wall Street Journal disagrees, saying this could be a significant setback if the White House wishes to pursue war plans:

The declarations from the two Gulf states represent a foreign policy setback for the Trump administration as it seeks to ratchet up pressure on Tehran, which has defied Washington’s demand that it halt uranium enrichment and end the suppression of protesters.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto leader, outlined his country’s position while talking by phone with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. 

A Saudi readout of the Tuesday call said the crown prince had stressed that the kingdom “will not allow its airspace or territory to be used for any military actions against Iran.”

Previously, during Monday remarks, President Trump said "They want to make a deal. I know so. They called on numerous occasions. They want to talk." He added ominously, "We have a big armada next to Iran. Bigger than Venezuela."

US forces stationed across the Middle East are also meanwhile taking part in large-scale war games aimed at showcasing combat readiness, as Washington ramps up its military footprint, and as Trump is presented with an array of 'options'. All of this supposedly steps from Washington 'concern' for large-scale protests from earlier this month, where thousands died - but which also included the deaths of police and security services.

In a statement which kicked off the week, US Central Command said: "Ninth Air Force will be conducting a multi-day readiness exercise to demonstrate the ability to deploy, disperse, and sustain combat airpower across the Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility."

President Trump issued the following "time is running" out message Wednesday morning:

Trump tells the Iranian regime that "time is running out", saying that if there is no deal, the "next attack will be far worse" than Operation Midnight Hammer pic.twitter.com/FnziIVAxRt

— Faytuks News (@Faytuks) January 28, 2026

The command added that "this exercise is designed to enhance asset and personnel dispersal capability, strengthen regional partnerships and prepare for flexible response execution throughout CENTCOM."

The sweeping drills are unfolding against the backdrop of sharply rising tensions with Tehran in which an oil blockade and potential strikes on senior officials in the Islamic Republic are being considered. But in terms of blockades, two can play at that game, as the Strait of Hormuz remains among the most vital waterways for the global market, and the IRGC has threatened that its forces can shut it to international transit.

Tyler Durden Wed, 01/28/2026 - 16:29

Deranged Nurse Fired After Urging Poisoning & Paralyzing Of ICE Agents

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

A nurse at Virginia Commonwealth University Health has been terminated after posting a series of videos urging sabotage against ICE agents, including injecting them with paralytic drugs and poisoning their food and drinks.

Yes, really.

The unhinged suggestions highlight the escalating threats faced by law enforcement amid leftist campaigns to obstruct deportations of criminal illegal aliens.

Meet Melinda, a healthcare worker at @VCUHealth. She posted a series of videos encouraging people to inject ICE agents with succinylocholine, a temporary paralysis drug, and spray poison on them. She also encourages woman to go on dates with agents and drug their food.

Any… pic.twitter.com/CMJN12GhOc

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 27, 2026

In videos exposed by Libs of TikTok, the nurse, identified as Melinda, detailed various “resistance tips” targeted at ICE personnel.

She advised medical providers to “grab some syringes with needles on the end have them full of saline or succinylcholine you know whatever,” adding that succinylcholine “is a temporary paralyzing agent. It will eventually wear off and there will be no way to detect it afterwards.”

“So, if you see them struggling to breathe, you can definitely inject that into one of their muscles or veins and walk away and there will be no way to prove it,” she stated.

BREAKING: Nurse at @VCUHealth who called to poison and drug ICE agents has been FIRED following our report https://t.co/HWFfTHJYZf pic.twitter.com/fWzoFo2ZfD

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 28, 2026

In another clip, she suggested harvesting poison ivy or oak, mixing it with water, and using a water gun to fire it in the faces of agents.

For single women, she proposed going on dates via apps like Tinder or Hinge to “find these guys, they’re around,” and to bring poison with them on dates, then “put it in their drinks, get them sick.”

She claimed, “You know, nobody’s going to die, just enough to incapacitate them, get off the street for the next day,” calling the tactic “easily deniable.”

She also urged targeting agents’ food sources: “Let’s get them where they eat… Where’s the hotel where they eat? Who makes that breakfast? Let’s find them you know let’s make their lives fucking miserable.”

Additional ideas included making living conditions bad, such as hiding “dead fish somewhere in the room,” and to “just stay toxic.”

Following the videos going viral, VCU Health launched an investigation and confirmed in a statement: “Following an investigation, the individual involved in the social media videos is no longer employed by VCU Health. In addition, VCU Health has fulfilled its reporting requirements under Virginia state law.”

According to reports, the matter has been referred to authorities, with potential legal consequences for the former employee.

What kind of deranged lunatic has these ideas and then goes ahead and makes a video incriminating themselves? 

The development comes as ICE faces a surge in harassment from radical activists opposed to the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts.

As we earlier highlighted, DHS recently released audio of deranged individuals leaving threatening voicemails wishing death on agents’ families. 

 

The culprits stole the personal data of agents by running number plates and then attempted to call them, before leaving the sickening recordings.

Again, this highlights how these mentally unwell morons don’t care about, or more likely haven’t even got the foresight to comprehend that they are incriminating themselves.

DHS has vowed to track down such agitators, with Border Czar Tom Homan establishing databases to expose harassers to their employers.

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.

Tyler Durden Wed, 01/28/2026 - 16:25

Peter Schiff: Printing Money Is Not the Cure for Cononavirus



In his most recent podcast, Peter Schiff talked about coronavirus and the impact that it is having on the markets. Earlier this month, Peter said he thought the virus was just an excuse for stock market woes. At the time he believed the market was poised to fall anyway. But as it turns out, coronavirus has actually helped the US stock market because it has led central banks to pump even more liquidity into the world financial system. All this means more liquidity — central banks easing. In fact, that is exactly what has already happened, except the new easing is taking place, for now, outside the United States, particularly in China.” Although the new money is primarily being created in China, it is flowing into dollars — the dollar index is up — and into US stocks. Last week, US stock markets once again made all-time record highs. In fact, I think but for the coronavirus, the US stock market would still be selling off. But because of the central bank stimulus that has been the result of fears over the coronavirus, that actually benefitted not only the US dollar, but the US stock market.” In the midst of all this, Peter raises a really good question. The primary economic concern is that coronavirus will slow down output and ultimately stunt economic growth. Practically speaking, the world would produce less stuff. If the virus continues to spread, there would be fewer goods and services produced in a market that is hunkered down. Why would the Federal Reserve respond, or why would any central bank respond to that by printing money? How does printing more money solve that problem? It doesn’t. In fact, it actually exacerbates it. But you know, everybody looks at central bankers as if they’ve got the solution to every problem. They don’t. They don’t have the magic wand. They just have a printing press. And all that creates is inflation.” Sometimes the illusion inflation creates can look like a magic wand. Printing money can paper over problems. But none of this is going to fundamentally fix the economy. In fact, if central bankers were really going to do the right thing, the appropriate response would be to drain liquidity from the markets, not supply even more.” Peter explained how the Fed was originally intended to create an “elastic” money supply that would expand or contract along with economic output. Today, the money supply only goes in one direction — that’s up. The economy is strong, print money. The economy is weak, print even more money.” Of course, the asset that’s doing the best right now is gold. The yellow metal pushed above $1,600 yesterday. Gold is up 5.5% on the year in dollar terms and has set record highs in other currencies. Because gold is rising even in an environment where the dollar is strengthening against other fiat currencies, that shows you that there is an underlying weakness in the dollar that is right now not being reflected in the Forex markets, but is being reflected in the gold markets. Because after all, why are people buying gold more aggressively than they’re buying dollars or more aggressively than they’re buying US Treasuries? Because they know that things are not as good for the dollar or the US economy as everybody likes to believe. So, more people are seeking out refuge in a better safe-haven and that is gold.” Peter also talked about the debate between Trump and Obama over who gets credit for the booming economy – which of course, is not booming.

We are living in crazy times. I have a hard time believing that most of the general public is not awake, but in reality, they are. We've never seen anything like this; I mean not even under Obama during the worst part of the Great Recession." Now the Fed is desperately trying to keep interest rates from rising. The problem is that it's a much bigger debt bubble this time around , and the Fed is going to have to blow a lot more air into it to keep it inflated. The difference is this time it's not going to work." It looks like the Fed did another $104.15 billion of Not Q.E. in a single day. The Fed claims it's only temporary. But that is precisely what Bernanke claimed when the Fed started QE1. Milton Freedman once said, "Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program." The same applies to Q.E., or whatever the Fed wants to pretend it's doing. Except this is not QE4, according to Powell. Right. Pumping so much money out, and they are accusing China of currency manipulation ? Wow! Seriously! Amazing! Dump the U.S. dollar while you still have a chance. Welcome to The Atlantis Report. And it is even worse than that, In addition to the $104.15 billion of "Not Q.E." this past Thursday; the FED added another $56.65 billion in liquidity to financial markets the next day on Friday. That's $160.8 billion in two days!!!! in just 48 hours. That is more than 2 TIMES the highest amount the FED has ever injected on a monthly basis under a Q.E. program (which was $80 billion per month) Since this isn't QE....it will be really scary on what they are going to call Q.E. Will it twice, three times, four times, five times what this injection per month ! It is going to be explosive since it takes about 60 to 90 days for prices to react to this, January should see significant inflation as prices soak up the excess liquidity. The question is, where will the inflation occur first . The spike in the repo rate might have a technical explanation: a misjudgment was made in the Fed's money market operations. Even so, two conclusions can be drawn: managing the money markets is becoming harder, and from now on, banks will be studying each other's creditworthiness to a greater degree than before. Those people, who struggle with the minutiae of money markets, and that includes most professionals, should focus on the causes and not the symptoms. Financial markets have recovered from each downturn since 1980 because interest rates have been cut to new lows. Post-2008, they were cut to near zero or below zero in all major economies. In response to a new financial crisis, they cannot go any lower. Central banks will look for new ways to replicate or broaden Q.E. (At some point, governments will simply see repression as an easier option). Then there is the problem of 'risk-free' assets becoming risky assets. Financial markets assume that the probability of major governments such as the U.S. or U.K. defaulting is zero. These governments are entering the next downturn with debt roughly twice the levels proportionate to GDP that was seen in 2008. The belief that the policy worked was completely predicated on the fact that it was temporary and that it was reversible, that the Fed was going to be able to normalize interest rates and shrink its balance sheet back down to pre-crisis levels. Well, when the balance sheet is five-trillion, six-trillion, seven-trillion when we're back at zero, when we're back in a recession, nobody is going to believe it is temporary. Nobody is going to believe that the Fed has this under control, that they can reverse this policy. And the dollar is going to crash. And when the dollar crashes, it's going to take the bond market with it, and we're going to have stagflation. We're going to have a deep recession with rising interest rates, and this whole thing is going to come imploding down. everything is temporary with the fed including remaining off the gold standard temporary in the Fed's eyes could mean at least 50 years This liquidity problem is a signal that trading desks are loaded up on inventory and can't get rid of it. Repo is done out of a need for cash. If you own all of your securities (i.e., a long-only, no leverage mutual fund) you have no need to "repo" your securities - you're earning interest every night so why would you want to 'repo' your securities where you are paying interest for that overnight loan (securities lending is another animal). So, it is those that 'lever-up' and need the cash for settlement purposes on securities they've bought with borrowed money that needs to utilize the repo desk. With this in mind, as we continue to see this need to obtain cash (again, needed to settle other securities purchases), it shows these firms don't have the capital to add more inventory to, what appears to be, a bloated inventory. Now comes the fun part: the Treasury is about to auction 3's, 10's, and 30-year bonds. If I am correct (again, I could be wrong), the Fed realizes securities firms don't have the shelf space to take down a good portion of these auctions. If there isn't enough retail/institutional demand, it will lead to not only a crappy sale but major concerns to the street that there is now no backstop, at all, to any sell-off. At which point, everyone will want to be the first one through the door and sell immediately, but to whom? If there isn't enough liquidity in the repo market to finance their positions, the firms would be unable to increase their inventory. We all saw repo shut down on the 2008 crisis. Wall St runs on money. . OVERNIGHT money. They lever up to inventory securities for trading. If they can't get overnight money, they can't purchase securities. And if they can't unload what they have, it means the buy-side isn't taking on more either. Accounts settle overnight. This includes things like payrolls and bill pay settlements. If a bank doesn't have enough cash to payout what its customers need to pay out, it borrows. At least one and probably more than one banks are insolvent. That's what's going on. First, it can't be one or two banks that are short. They'd simply call around until they found someone to lend. But they did that, and even at markedly elevated rates, still, NO ONE would lend them the money. That tells me that it's not a problem of a couple of borrowers, it's a problem of no lenders. And that means that there's no bank in the world left with any real liquidity. They are ALL maxed out. But as bad as that is, and that alone could be catastrophic, what it really signals is even worse. The lending rates are just the flip side of the coin of the value of the assets lent against. If the rates go up, the value goes down. And with rates spiking to 10%, how far does the value fall? Enormously! And if banks had to actually mark down the value of the assets to reflect 10% interest rates, then my god, every bank in the world is insolvent overnight. Everyone's capital ratios are in the toilet, and they'd have to liquidate. We're talking about the simultaneous insolvency of every bank on the planet. Bank runs. No money in ATMs, Branches closed. Safe deposit boxes confiscated. The whole nine yards, It's actually here. The scenario has tended to guide toward for years and years is actually happening RIGHT NOW! And people are still trying to say it's under control. Every bank in the world is currently insolvent. The only thing keeping it going is printing billions of dollars every day. Financial Armageddon isn't some far off future risk. It's here. Prepare accordingly. This fiat system has reached the end of the line, and it's not correct that fiat currencies fail by design. The problem is corruption and manipulation. It is corruption and cheating that erodes trust and faith until the entire system becomes a gigantic fraud. Banks and governments everywhere ARE the problem and simply have to be removed. They have lost all trust and respect, and all they have left is war and mayhem. As long as we continue to have a majority of braindead asleep imbeciles following orders from these psychopaths, nothing will change. Fiat currency is not just thievery. Fiat currency is SLAVERY. Ultimately the most harmful effect of using debt of undefined value as money (i.e., fiat currencies) is the de facto legalization of a caste system based on voluntary slavery. The bankers have a charter, or the legal *right*, to create money out of nothing. You, you don't. Therefore you and the bankers do not have the same standing before the law. The law of the land says that you will go to jail if you do the same thing (creating money out of thin air) that the banker does in full legality. You and the banker are not equal before the law. ALL the countries of the world; Islamic or secular, Jewish or Arab, democracy or dictatorship; all of them place the bankers ABOVE you. And all of you accept that only whining about fiat money going down in exchange value over time (price inflation which is not the same as monetary inflation). Actually, price inflation itself is mainly due to the greed and stupidity of the bankers who could keep fiat money's exchange value reasonably stable, only if they wanted to. Witness the crash of silver and gold prices which the bankers of the world; Russian, American, Chinese, Jewish, Indian, Arab, all of them collaborated to engineer through the suppression and stagnation of precious metals' prices to levels around the metals' production costs, or what it costs to dig gold and silver out of the ground. The bankers of the world could also collaborate to keep nominal prices steady (as they do in the case of the suppression of precious metals prices). After all, the ability to create fiat money and force its usage is a far more excellent source of power and wealth than that which is afforded simply by stealing it through inflation. The bankers' greed and stupidity blind them to this fact. They want it all, and they want it now. In conclusion, The bankers can create money out of nothing and buy your goods and services with this worthless fiat money, effectively for free. You, you can't. You, you have to lead miserable existences for the most of you and WORK in order to obtain that effectively nonexistent, worthless credit money (whose purchasing/exchange value is not even DEFINED thus rendering all contracts based on the null and void!) that the banker effortlessly creates out of thin air with a few strokes of the computer keyboard, and which he doesn't even bother to print on paper anymore, electing to keep it in its pure quantum uncertain form instead, as electrons whizzing about inside computer chips which will become mute and turn silent refusing to tell you how many fiat dollars or euros there are in which account, in the absence of electricity. No electricity, no fiat, nor crypto money. It would appear that trust is deteriorating as it did when Lehman blew up . Something really big happened that set off this chain reaction in the repo markets. Whatever that something is, we aren't be informed. They're trying to cover it up, paper it over with conjured cash injections, play it cool in front of the cameras while sweating profusely under the 5 thousands dollar suits. I'm guessing that the final high-speed plunge into global economic collapse has begun. All we see here is the ripples and whitewater churning the surface, but beneath the surface, there is an enormous beast thrashing desperately in its death throws. Now is probably the time to start tying up loose ends with the long-running prep projects, just saying. In other words, prepare accordingly, and Get your money out of the banks. I don't care if you don't believe me about Bitcoin. Get your money out of the banks. Don't keep any more money in a bank than you need to pay your bills and can afford to lose.











The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free investigative journalists , researchers , Whistelblowers , truthers and many more













The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free investigative journalists , researchers , Whistelblowers , truthers and many more

The FBI released a summary of its file from the Hillary Clinton email investigation on Friday, showing details of Clinton's explanation of her use of a private email server to handle classified communications. The release comes nearly two months after FBI Director James Comey announced that although Clinton's handling of classified information was "extremely careless," it did not rise to the level of a prosecutable offense. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced the next day that she would not pursue charges in the matter. "We are making these materials available to the public in the interest of transparency and in response to numerous Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests," the FBI noted in a statement sent to reporters with links to the documents. The documents include notes from Clinton's July 2 interview with agents, as well as a "factual summary of the FBI's investigation into this matter," according to the FBI release. Throughout her interview with agents, Clinton repeatedly said she relied on the career professionals she worked with to handle classified information correctly. The agents asked about a series of specific emails, and in each case Clinton said she wasn't worried about the particular material being discussed on a nonclassified channel.