@claytoonz 

A looming solar storm is putting electric grids and airlines on notice while bringing prospects of dazzling Northern Lights to U.S. skies

Space weather

Notes today:

 

• Mitch McConnell just said Clarence Thomas should NOT recuse himself from 1/6 cases even though his wife directly participated in the effort to steal the election. He says Thomas and the Supreme Court “should feel free to ignore” elected officials calling for his recusal.

• FT: “In the first meeting between the countries since Russia started the war a month ago, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi told his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, that “the two sides’ will to develop bilateral ties is even firmer..." 

• Big new green energy and LNG programs in EU, especially Germany…AND big rearmament programs in EU, especially Germany. 

• David Corn: The former president of the United States just asked a brutal dictator who is destroying cities and killing civilians in an illegal and barbarous war to help him dig up dirt on a political opponent. - I told you: there is no bottom. 

• "Give Koch Industries credit for consistency: It’s aiding the foes of democracy at home AND abroad." - Dana Milbank (in the WaPo) 

• A star has been discovered some 13 billion light years away from earth — almost 4 billion light years further than the edge of what has been seen so far. 

• Concrete is the second-most used resource on Earth after water, and is responsible for 8% of man-made carbon emissions. 

• Water levels at Lake Powell, the 2nd largest manmade reservoir in the U.S., dropped to their lowest level ever since the lake was created by damming the Colorado River in 1963. 

• Citizens for Ethics: After the insurrection Coca-Cola  suspended all political giving, pledging to consider January 6th in future giving. But Coca-Cola has now given $15,000 to the NRSC, which could help elect Sedition Caucus members like John Kennedy. Shame on Coca-Cola.

 Fertilizer / Ammonia price at record

Notes Today:

• Sniffer dogs detecting Long COVID 

• Kaspersky blacklisted by FCC alongside China Telecom and China Mobile
• All three were added to list as they posed national security risks. 

• The Pentagon plans to accelerate production of Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and Javelin anti-tank missiles so it can refill its own depleted stocks as it continues to send the vital systems to Ukrainian forces fighting the Russian invasion.”   --  made by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.. (semi log scale below)

AP: Nebraska state Sen. Bruce Bostelman apologized Monday after he publicly cited a persistent but debunked rumor alleging that schools are placing litter boxes in school bathrooms to accommodate children who self-identify as cats.  

Share of consumer expenditure on food

Top 50 brands continuing to operate in Russia

Bloomberg suspends operations in Russia and Belarus.👍

Yen  is having a bit of trouble: Overdone?

and long term..

Today’s priceless Doonesbury 

Notes Today: 

• Russian precision-guided missiles are failing up to 60% of the time in Ukraine, three U.S. officials with knowledge of intelligence on the issue told Reuters, a possible explanation for the poor progress of Russia's invasion. 

• In the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance, Russia appeared to scale back its war ambitions, its defense ministry saying that the first stage of its mission had “generally been accomplished”. 

• The International Monetary Fund approved a $45bn debt restructuring program for Argentina after more than a year of negotiations. 

• Ice Shelf About the Size of Los Angeles Collapses in Antarctica

• JohnAuthers: I’ve learned since Feb. 24that I’m not a military expert, a refreshing change after two years of learning how little I knew about epidemiology. Like the pandemic before it, the war in Ukraine is a great reminder to investors and everyone else of the virtues of humility, and recognizing what you don’t know.

Russian Basic Goods

• reuters.com India is considering restrictions on sugar exports for the first time in six years and may cap exports at around 8 million tonnes in an effort to prevent domestic prices surging #sugar 

Sugar in the lead..

Quick Overview is up to date

Look out Russia!

All wheat US planted acreage:

Chart of interest: Soy  / Corn Ratio

Chart of interest: wheat

 Chart of interest: Soybeans

 Chart of interest: Corn

Chart of interest: Canadian $

 Utopia Street  Art

Quick Overview is up to date 

Notes Today:

 

• From a Telegram channel: "Vladimir Putin's general mental state has recently caused alarm among people who can be attributed to the president's inner circle. Putin is in a depressed state, often breaks down on loved ones and withdraws into himself. 

• The U.S. Treasury sanctions African Gold Refinery, one of the continent’s biggest processors of the metal, for allegedly contributing to conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

• Stocks in Mexico hit all time high

• US existing home sales at 6-month low

• South Carolina prisons gives green light to carry out executions by firing squad. 

• Nestle refuses to withdraw from Russia even after a desperate plea from Ukraine’s prime minister. 

• The coldest location on the planet has experienced an episode of warm weather this week unlike any ever observed, with temperatures over the eastern Antarctic ice sheet soaring 50 to 90 degrees above normal. (WP) 

• Remember when former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: "Do you think Americans care about fucking Ukraine"? 

• U.S. House of Representatives voted 424-8 to permanently reauthorize the Global Magnitsky Act. The following reps voted against: Andy Biggs, Dan Bishop, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Glenn Grothman, Thomas Massie and Chip Roy.

A man was seated next to a kid ..

Commodity Traders Make Record Profits — And Now Want a Bailout

 

Quick Overview is up to date

Happy St. Patrick’s Day 

Diageo

Brekshire  Hathaway at $518,438 per share - remarkable!

Notes today: 

• Because of the war in Ukraine, the American biopharmaceutical company AbbVie has suspended the supply of Botox and fillers to Russia - the most popular products in Russian aesthetic medicine. Oligarch’s wife’s AND Mistresses will be seriously upset. 
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• Move over, real estate. Used-car prices are rising so quickly that some consumers are selling their vehicles for a tidy profit (Bloomberg)

• Russia Ally Uzbekistan Rebukes Ukraine Invasion, Won’t Recognize Moscow-Backed Separatist States.

• The U.S. House has voted to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus.

 

Notes today:

 

•  Biden Calls Putin "A War Criminal" and is approving armed drones for Ukraine

• Fed raises rates a quarter point and signals more hikes ahead.

• When Russia sanctioned Canada, it barred leaders from all major federal parties, including conservative leaders. But when Russia sanctioned the U.S., it barred Democratic leaders only. It didn’t name a single GOP leader. The signal couldn’t be clearer. @GeorgeTakei 

• Hong Kong's Hang's Hang Seng index on pace for its best day since the financial crisis - gaining some 9%
• China's state council has just:
• *Pledged to keep capital markets stable
• *Vowed to support overseas stock listings
• *Said dialogue with US re ADRs is 'good'
• *Promised to handle risks for property developers
• *Clarified regulation of Big Tech will end 'soon'

Still supporting Russia ??

• Some of the Russian Yachts confiscated so far..
• Lady M superyacht, owned by Russian billionaire Alexey Mordashov, at the port in Imperia, Italy, on March 7.
• The yacht Lena, belonging to Gennady Timchenko, an oligarch close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the port of San Remo on the Italian Riviera on March 5.
• The SY A yacht, owned by Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko
• Authorities in Spain seized Sergei Chemezov's Valerie, a 279-foot superyacht that had been moored in Barcelona.
• Amore Vero, a yacht owned by a company linked to Igor Sechin, the CEO of the Russian energy giant Rosneft, in a shipyard in La Ciotat in southern France on March 3.
• For Life party Viktor Medvedchuk’s yacht, Royal Romance, was seized in Croatia on March 16 following sanctions imposed amid Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.

Russian c.bank halts purchases of gold from banks to meet household demand

(Reuters) - The Russian central bank said it will suspend the buying of gold from banks from Tuesday to meet increased demand for the precious metal from households, its latest attempt to weather the storm on Russian markets in the face of Western sanctions.

The Bloomberg Commodity Spot Index posted this month its biggest weekly increase in data going back to 1960, up more than 13%

Notes today:

• US Senate unanimously passes resolution declaring Putin a war criminal

• Blinken: There will be an independent Ukraine "a lot longer than there's going to be a Vladimir Putin."

• Tail risk? Russia may soon default on $150bn of foreign currency debt. 
• Bond payments on Wednesday.  
• Its currency has collapsed, and its debt is junk!

No words.

• Russian prosecutors call for Alexei Navalny to serve 13 years in prison  Bill Browder  @Billbrowder   Phone bill data of Judge who is deciding whether Alexei Navalny should receive 13 years shows she received seven calls from the Kremlin during the trial.

• Nickel trading will resume on the LME on Wednesday morning

• China is scrambling to contain its worst outbreak of Covid-19 since the pandemic began.

  
  

China’s Market Meltdown Has Traders Rushing to Buy Protection 

FT: Investors in Taiwan seek to hedge against risk of conflict with China

Living in states run by a Republican governor is dangerous to your health.

..the 14 states with the highest death rates were all run by Republican governors.