TheFrontPageCover
~ Featuring ~
Markets Plummet Over Oil Games
Thomas Gallatin
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Saudi Arabia, Russia Raise
Stakes in Oil Price War
By Rania El Gamal and Olesya Astakhova
{ freebeacon.com } ~ Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it would increase its crude oil supply to a record high, raising the stakes in its price war with Russia and effectively rejecting Moscow’s overtures for new talks... The clash of the two oil titans sparked a 25% slump in oil prices on Monday, triggering panic selling and heavy losses on Wall Street’s main stock indexes, already hit badly by the coronavirus outbreak. On Tuesday, Amin Nasser, chief executive of Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) said the oil giant would increase supply to 12.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in April for customers inside the kingdom and abroad. That’s 300,000 bpd above its maximum production capacity, indicating Aramco may also free up crude from storage. Saudi Arabia has also agreed with Kuwait to resume output from jointly operated oilfields in the so-called Neutral Zone, production which is not accounted for under Aramco’s output capacity of 12 million bpd. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Russia’s ambassador to the United States on Monday that energy markets needed to stay "orderly" amid rising concerns that extra supply from Saudi Arabia and Russia could trigger bankruptcies among higher-cost U.S. shale oil producers. Saudi Arabia has been pumping around 9.7 million bpd in the past few months. The kingdom holds hundreds of millions of barrels of oil in storage so its can supply oil above its production capacity. Brent oil prices jumped 10% on Tuesday above $37 per barrel after Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said Moscow was ready to discuss new measures with OPEC, effectively offering an olive branch to Riyadh. But Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman appeared to rebuffed the idea. "I fail to see the wisdom for holding meetings in May-June that would only demonstrate our failure in attending to what we should have done in a crisis like this and taking the necessary measures," Prince Abdulaziz told Reuters... https://freebeacon.com/uncategorized/saudi-arabia-russia-raise-stakes-in-oil-price-war/?utm_source=actengage&utm_campaign=FreedomMail&utm_medium=email .
The Danger of Democrats' Distorting
Legal Arguments Against Impeachment
by Alan M. Dershowitz
{ gatestoneinstitute.org } ~ It has now been a month since the Senate acquitted U.S. President Donald J. Trump, but the lies persist. Democratic leaders and the media continue to put on trial what they have denominated as "The Dershowitz Doctrine"... namely that a president can do anything -- even commit serious crimes -- as long as he believes his election was in the public interest. Congressman scumbag/liar-Adam Schiff described it as a "lawless" variation on the "Nixon" doctrine that whatever a president does is, by definition, lawful. Senator scumbag-Schumer said that under "my" doctrine, former President Richard M. Nixon did not commit any impeachable offense, despite evidence of his numerous crimes. Ignoring my explicit statement that I supported Nixon's impeachment. Media pundits went even further: Joe Lockhart, former Press Secretary to President scumbag/liar-Bill Clinton, accused me of making arguments that would justify the genocides of Hitler and Stalin. What then did I say to warrant such demonization? In response to a question whether it matters "If there were a quid pro quo," I said that would depend on "If the quo were in some way unlawful." If the politician's motive were "corrupt" -- for example, if he were seeking a kickback, that would be an impeachable crime. But if his entirely lawful act had "mixed motives," including his re-election, that would not turn a lawful act into a crime or impeachable offense. I went on to say that all politicians have mixed motives for their political actions: they act in the public interest with an eye toward their electability. I emphasized that if a politician does something that would otherwise be legal, the fact that he was motivated in part by personal political advantage would not, by itself, turn his legal actions into illegal corruption. Put another way, a self-serving political motive -- a desire to be re-elected -- is not necessarily a "corrupt" motive. I also said that if the politician sought anything -- a "quo" -- that was "in some way illegal," that would "make a quid pro quo unlawful." Indeed, the main thrust of my hour-long opening presentation was that a president could be impeached if he committed crimes or criminal-like behavior akin to treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors -- regardless of his motivation. I made this self-evident point in response to arguments by the House Managers that mixed motives could turn innocent conduct into a crime, if any part of the motive were corrupt, and that a motive to help one's own re-election could be corrupt... https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15703/distorting-legal-arguments .
Coronavirus cases in US exceed 1,000,
as Michigan sees its first cases
By David Aaro
{ foxnews.com } ~ The total amount of coronavirus cases in the U.S. surpassed 1,000 on Tuesday night, with the virus officially being reported in all but 12 states... Various events have been canceled throughout the country as health officials warn about attending large-scale gatherings. At least 28 deaths have been reported. "We would like the country to realize that as a nation, we can't be doing the kinds of things we were doing a few months ago," Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top official at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said during a White House press briefing. He referenced guidelines by the White House advising people to clean their hands regularly and avoid handshakes. You should also start making habits like covering coughs and sneezes and refraining from touching your face. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is advising those over 60 with underlying health conditions to avoid crowded places, unnecessary travel, and to stock up on supplies. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., announced the state's first cases on Tuesday night and declared a state of emergency "to harness our resources across state government to slow the spread of the virus." One case is an adult female from Oakland County with recent international travel and the other is an adult male from Wayne County with recent domestic travel. "It's crucial that all Michiganders continue to take preventative measures to lower their risk, and to share this information with their friends, family and co-workers," she added. The patient from Wayne County is currently under isolation and officials recommend residents continue to practice prevention measures to slow the spread of COVID-19. Local health departments are working to identify anyone who had come into close contact with those cases... https://www.foxnews.com/health/us-nears-1000-coronavirus-cases-first-infected-confirmed-in-michigan-report.
House Can Access Mueller Grand Jury Info,
Appeals Court Rules
by ANDREW KERR
{ dailycaller.com } ~ The House of Representatives can review secret grand-jury information cited and redacted from former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report into Russian election interference in 2016... a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. In a 2-1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a previous ruling by a D.C. District Court judge who sided with the Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee’s request to review redacted materials from the Mueller report, The Wall Street Journal reported. In her majority opinion, Judge Judith Rogers wrote the Judiciary Committee has an established need to evaluate the redacted materials because Mueller didn’t issue a definitive conclusion about whether President Donald Trump committed an impeachable offense during his investigation. “The committee has established that it cannot fairly and diligently make a final determination about the conduct described in both volumes of the Mueller Report without the grand jury material referenced therein,” Rogers wrote. The lone dissenting judge, Neomi Rao, argued that the Judiciary Committee doesn’t have standing to obtain a court order to release the documents, noting that Trump has already been impeached by the House and acquitted by the Senate. If the ruling stands, members of the House would have access to a fully unredacted version of the Mueller report, as well as underlying interviews and memos cited in the report, Politico reported. It’s unclear if the Justice Department will ask the appeals court to reevaluate its ruling or if it will appeal to the Supreme Court. The Justice Department did not immediately return a request for comment. https://dailycaller.com/2020/03/10/appeals-court-mueller-grand-jury/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=12189 .
FISA Deal – House Rules Committee Releases
Text of FISA Agreement
by sundance
{ theconservativetreehouse.com } ~ The House Rules Committee is releasing text of proposed changes to FISA... The “deal” is intended to reauthorize the FISA “business records provision”, the “roving wiretap” provision, the “lone wolf” provision, and the more controversial bulk metadata provisions Call Detail Records (CDR), all parts of the Patriot Act....
FNC’s Kurtz Criticizes Network Colleagues
for Questioning loose lips liar-Joe Biden’s
Mental Health
by DANIEL FLEMING
{ steadfastloyalty.com } ~ FNCs Howard Kurtz has a bone to pick with his colleagues. He is upset that they say that Dementia loose lips liar-Joe is going senile... Going? Gone. But my mother always used to say that the great thing about going senile is that when it happens you won’t realize that. Her greatest fear was that when she died, God would put her in charge of the nursery. I guess the eight kids she had was all she could take. Kurtz says that when commentators make a statement about Trump’s mental health he fights them too. Well, I say Mickey Mantle was a great ball player but I don’t say the same thing about Ossie Schregangost. There is a reason for it. Get the picture, Howie? If you have been paying attention at all, it has not been an occasional gaffe, it’s a daily thing with loose lips liar-Biden. He even introduced his wife as his sister. Now, that’s just a little creepy. With loose lips liar-Biden, his head ism a hotel and his brains have checked out and left no forwarding address. He has no idea what day it is or what city he is in or even what office he is running for. He told one group that he was running for the Senate. This reminds me of 2012. We all knew rino-Romney was too weak to defeat scumbag/liar-nObama but we had no choice because no one stepped forward. The Democrats are willing to settle for Dementia loose lips liar-Joe because commie-Bernie Sanders scares them out of their wits. On Super Tuesday, after loose lips liar-Biden won the majority of delegates, Brit Hume asked, “How many of the people who voted for him tonight would agree that he’s senile? Or getting there?”....
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Markets Plummet Over Oil Games
Thomas Gallatin Following last week’s volatility in the stock market over Wuhan coronavirus fears and the impact the virus may have on the global economy, the unexpected news of an “oil war” erupting between Russia and Saudi Arabia over the weekend sent the markets plummeting once again on Monday morning. As The Wall Street Journal reports, “Oil prices fell through the floor Monday with Brent crude closing at $34.36 a barrel, down 24% from Friday and 50% from its recent peak on Jan. 6. The shock triggered a fall in equities around the world, as investors fled to gold and bonds, with the Dow falling 7.8% Monday. A morning plunge of more than 7% triggered the New York Stock Exchange ‘circuit breaker’ to pause trading for the first time since 1997.”
Fortunately, the market appears to be gaining a good bit of that back as we go to press, but stay tuned.
Yet again, the ridiculous Democrat and Leftmedia narrative that President Donald Trump was Vladimir Putin’s puppet is once again refuted by reality. Russia’s actions against Saudi Arabia are in many ways directed at the U.S. and Trump in particular. As reported by CNBC, “It was only three weeks ago that the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Russian oil giant Rosneft for transporting Venezuelan oil. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo believes that in helping Venezuela sell oil, Russia is effectively propping up the Maduro regime. Rosneft is run by Igor Sechin, a former employee and close friend of Putin.” It appears then that Putin’s actions are ultimately a retaliation directed at the U.S. oil industry.
Lower gas prices are great, but this is not good news for the U.S. economy, which has been humming along with record-low unemployment levels and a lot of other good indicators. The bottom falling out of the oil market would produce a much more serious blow to the economy than media-ginned panic over COVID-19. To help prevent a serious economic slowdown, President Trump called on Congress to pass a temporary payroll-tax cut and expanded sick leave. “It’s not their fault. It’s not our country’s fault,” Trump argued in pressing Congress to act on his plan. “The main thing is we’re taking care of the American public.”
Predictably, the Democrats who have been longing for an economic downturn in the hopes of pinning it on Trump have no interest in working with the president.
The Federal Reserve last week announced an emergency interest-rate cut in hopes of combating the presumed negative economic impact of the virus and to stabilize markets. Now CNBC is reporting, “The New York Fed said Monday it will increase the amount of money it is offering to banks for their short-term funding needs. To make sure the funding, or repo, markets are working properly, the central bank said it will up the amount it offers in overnight operations from $100 billion to $150 billion through Thursday.”
Wall Street is obviously worried, but the “oil war” between Saudi Arabia and Russia could be short-lived, especially if Trump reminds Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman who’s had his back in his conflict with both Iran and Yemen and encourages him to pull back on production. In the meantime, if you have any disposable income and some patience, now might be a great time to buy energy stocks. ~The Patriot Post
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