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Friday, February 24, 2023

Investors piled $354 billion into cash since Ukraine war - BofA

Global investors have allocated $354 billion to cash since Russia's invasion of Ukraine first shook global financial markets in February 2022, according to data released by Bank of America on Friday.

The rush to cash is a sign of the profound economic uncertainty triggered by Russia's invasion, which sent energy prices and global inflation soaring.

The price shock forced central banks to hike interest rates, clobbering stock and bond markets in the process.

Since February 2022, investors have pulled $135 billion from bond funds, BofA said, citing figures from financial data company EPFR. Meanwhile, they have put $40 billion into equity funds but pulled $12 billion from gold.

"The war in Ukraine started only a few weeks before the US led the developed market global hiking cycle," said Jim Reid, a strategist at Deutsche Bank, in a note to clients on Friday.

"So although the backdrop for the bond sell-off was already in place with the extreme COVID stimulus, it wasn't until the central banks started hiking that the bond dam broke."

One of the most common ways for investors to allocate their money to cash is by putting it into money market mutual funds. They invest in cash and cash-like securities such as short-dated U.S. Treasuries.

Investors have become more positive at the start of 2023, especially about bonds, even as the Ukraine war drags on.

Flows into bond funds continued for the eighth straight week last week, BofA said, at $4.9 billion. That was the longest streak since November 2021.

Equities saw outflows of $7 billion, although they remained solidly positive for the year.

An improved economic picture in Europe and the United States is cheering some investors, although others remain nervous that central banks still look far from finished with rate hikes.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/investors-piled-354-billion-cash-141819165.html

Mysterious White Dust Blankets Parts Of West Virginia, Maryland

A Facebook page that tracks emergencies across the Panhandle of West Virginia posted multiple reports late Thursday of mysterious white dust falling from the sky and accumulating on cars and other surfaces outside.

Eastern Panhandle Working Fires said the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection "requested anybody experiencing these issues call 911 immediately and have their local fire department respond. They also advise to shut doors and windows and avoid outdoors at this time as a common sense approach until it can be identified."

Another post by the group that has more than 100,000 followers showed Hampshire County 911 Center in Romney, West Virginia, said:

"We are aware of recent reports of an unknown dust-like substance accumulating on cars and surfaces outside. This is reportedly occurring across the tri-state region. We are aware of another social media site that has advised you to contact 911 if you witness this situation."

Many folks from the region tweeted images and videos of the mysterious white dust, blanketing everything in sight.

Last night, temperatures in Morgantown, West Virginia, hovered around 50 degrees Fahrenheit, putting to rest any claims of snow.

There's no word from the county, state, or federal authorities on the origin of the white dust. However, local media outlet WHSV's Chief Meteorologist Aubrey Urbanowicz pointed out it could be from a dust storm in the Midwest.

... and another meteorologist agrees with Urbanowicz.

The reports of white dust are located about 100 miles south of the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/mysterious-white-dust-blankets-parts-west-virginia

Physicians & Surgeons Official Statement On Transgender Procedures For Minors

by Mimi Nguyen Ly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) on Feb. 20 made an official statement outlining its stance on “gender-affirming care” for minor children.

In its statement, the nonprofit association warned of “unknown and unknowable long-term risks” it says are inherent to “gender-affirming care” in minors, adding that the consequences of gender transition surgery are irreversible.

“Gender affirming” procedures include so-called puberty blockers, sex hormones, and surgery, such as castration, penectomy, and mastectomy, the group noted.

Founded in 1943, the non-partisan professional association represents doctors in all specialties nationwide and seeks to preserve the practice of private medicine. Over the years, the group has been a strong proponent of patient autonomy and freedom of discourse in medicine.

The AAPS warns that gender transition procedures are “generally irreversible and have a high probability of causing sterilization.”

The procedures also “commit a patient to a lifelong need for medical, surgical, and psychological care.”

Such procedures in minors are also medically and ethically contraindicated due to a lack of informed consent, the AAPS stated.

“Physicians and medical professionals should refuse to be mandated or coerced to participate in procedures to which they have ethical or scientific objections or which they believe would harm a patient.”

Biological Sex Can’t Be Changed: AAPS

The nonprofit association maintains that while medical, surgical, and other methods can be used to change the physical appearance of a person’s body, they cannot change a person’s biological sex.

Biological sex is determined at conception by genotype, and with the exception of rare circumstances that could result in ambiguous genitalia, biological sex is “indeed obvious” and is correctly identified at birth, the AAPS states.

Biological sex, or genotype, then determines the role of a person in reproduction. The group states: “Reproduction requires a male gamete (sperm), which can only be produced by a person of XY genotype, and a female gamete (egg), which can only be produced by a person of XX genotype. Primordial germ cells are present at birth.”

In recent months, some laws in the United States have attempted to curtail or outlaw gender-related procedures for minors, while other proposals would ensure access to gender-altering hormones and surgeries.

The governor of Mississippi said on Feb. 21 he will sign a ban on “gender-affirming care” passed in the state, joining governors in Utah and South Dakota. Meanwhile, judges have temporarily blocked similar laws in Arkansas and Alabama.

Gender Fluidity Is ‘Controversial’: AAPS

The group states: “The construct of gender fluidity in the current cultural discourse is controversial.”

“There has been an explosive increase in persons who identify with the construct of gender different from sex, at an age where identity is easily malleable and brain development is not fully concluded,” part of the official AAPS statement reads.

“Conflicting motivations have led to a growing industry dedicated to providing ‘gender-affirming’ procedures,” the statement reads.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/major-association-us-doctors-makes-official-statement-transgender-procedures-minors

Jamie Dimon Accused of Concealing Evidence In Epstein-JPMorgan Sex-Trafficking Lawsuits

Plaintiffs in two separate lawsuits accusing JPMoprgan of facilitating Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking operation want the judge in both (consolidated) cases, Jed Rakoff, to compel CEO Jamie Dimon to turn over additional documents they say are being withheld.

In separate Thursday filings in Manhattan federal court, both the US Virgin Islands and an Epstein victim accused the bank of refusing to turn over Dimon documents from 2014 - August 2019, the month Epstein was found dead in his jail cell while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, Bloomberg reports.

Both suits accuse Dimon of knowingly keeping Epstein as a client after his sex abuse became publicly known.

Epstein was a JPMorgan client between 1998 and 2013, however the US Virgin Islands says the bank's allegedly unlawful conduct occurred beyond that date - the details of which were redacted in Thursday's filing.

Jane Doe 1, meanwhile, says JPMorgan has refused to turn over Dimon documents from prior to 2006 - with the bank arguing that complying with the request would present an undue burden.

"JPMC cannot seriously contend that only documents after 2006 are relevant to Doe’s claims when the genesis of its relationship with Epstein began at least eight years prior," said Doe's attorneys in the Thursday filing. "Indeed, as the complaint makes clear, between (at least) 2000 and 2005, Epstein provided clients to JP Morgan and, in exchange, JP Morgan allowed Epstein to do as he pleased with his JP Morgan accounts."

Both suits focus on the relationship between Epstein and former JPMorgan private banking head Jes Staley, alleging the latter was aware of his client’s illegal activities. The bank has contended that allegations that Staley “personally observed” sexual abuse or exchanged emails with Epstein don’t show that he had knowledge of crimes that can be imputed to JPMorgan.
Epstein victims who sued JPMorgan claim the bank chose to profit from Epstein’s sex-trafficking venture rather than follow the law, collecting millions of dollars from handling his accounts. -Bloomberg

On Wednesday, JPMorgan responded to accusations that emails between Staley and Epstein referencing Disney princesses don't prove anything.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/jamie-dimon-accused-concealing-evidence-epstein-jpmorgan-sex-trafficking-lawsuits

Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech SE (NASDAQ: BNTX) have submitted an FDA supplemental marketing application for approval of omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent COVID-19 vaccine as a primary series and booster dose(s) for 12 years and older.
In January, the FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) voted to harmonize the composition of COVID-19 vaccines across booster and primary series doses.
If this supplemental application is approved, people 12 or older can receive the companies' omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent COVID-19 vaccine for their primary series rather than completing their primary series with the original before having access to the bivalent vaccine.
The submission is supported by clinical, pre-clinical, and manufacturing data demonstrating the bivalent vaccine's safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity.
Among study participants over 55, the bivalent vaccine met the criteria for superiority over the original vaccine for Omicron BA.4/BA.5-neutralizing antibodies elicited. The safety and tolerability profile of the bivalent vaccine remained similar to that of the original vaccine.
Compared to the original vaccine, the bivalent vaccine also induced a more robust neutralizing antibody response against newer Omicron sublineages in participants 55 and older.
For XBB.1, neutralizing antibody titers increased 4.8-fold following a booster dose of the companies' bivalent vaccine and 1.5-fold following a booster dose of the companies' original vaccine.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pfizer-biontech-seek-expanded-approval-170348997.html

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