'Austin kept Pentagon in the dark about prostate cancer surgery that caused absence'

 Not even Lloyd Austin’s colleagues knew the defense secretary had undergone surgery to treat prostate cancer last month — complications from which put him out of commission for five days last week, a Pentagon spokesman admitted Tuesday.

Austin underwent the initial prostatectomy on Dec. 22 and developed “severe abdominal, hip and leg pain” from a urinary tract infection late on New Year’s Day, his doctors announced.

“As far as the situation in terms of what the elective surgery was, we’re providing that information to you as we received it,” Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters moments later from the Pentagon briefing room. “We got it this afternoon and provided it literally minutes before I stepped in here.”

Austin, 70, was released from Walter Reed Army Medical Center one day after the initial procedure to remove his prostate. 

But he was back in the hospital a little more than a week later and was moved into intensive care on Jan. 2.

Between Jan. 1 and Jan. 5, Austin was unable to execute his duties — while the Pentagon failed to inform not only President Biden of the situation, but also Austin’s deputy, Kathleen Hicks, who was on vacation in Puerto Rico at the time.

The White House said Monday that Austin has since resumed his work from his hospital bed.

Lloyd Austin has been hospitalized since Monday, an Air Force general said.REUTERS

Hospital officials said the infection has “cleared” and that they expect Austin to make a full recovery, “although this can be a slow process.”

Austin’s chief of staff Kelly Magsamen issued a memorandum Tuesday announcing that the DoD’s director of administration and management would “immediately lead a review” of the incident and “evaluate the processes and procedures through which the deputy secretary of defense was notified that she should carry out” Austin’s functions.

Ryder told reporters that the Pentagon “recognize[s] that we have to do a better job in terms of timeliness and transparency when it comes to, especially, the secretary’s health.”

“We’re going to look at what we could have done better to include within my own organization on the public affairs side and making sure that we are acknowledging and asking those hard questions about ensuring that the public … Congress, and the news media have a timely and accurate understanding of the Scretary’s status,” he said.

https://nypost.com/2024/01/09/news/lloyd-austin-absence-caused-by-prostate-cancer-surgery-hospital/

SEC Will Rule on Bitcoin ETFs Tomorrow, What Should We Expect?

 SEC faces a Wednesday deadline to approve or reject the first funds to hold the cryptocurrency. Expect some ETF approvals.

Bloomberg reports The Crypto Industry Holds Its Breath in Anticipation of the First Spot Bitcoin ETFs

Excitement about the ETFs drove the price of bitcoin above $45,000 in recent days, its highest level in nearly two years. The token more than doubled last year in a rally that was turbocharged in June when BlackRock—the world’s largest money manager, with a near-perfect record of ETF approvals—threw its hat into the ring. Bitcoin is currently hovering around $44,000.

“People who bought bitcoin at low prices are sitting on really high unrealized profits,” said Julio Moreno, head of research at the data provider CryptoQuant. “Historically, when that happens, the price tends to correct.”

He predicted that bitcoin could fall to $32,000 if traders take advantage of the ETF launch to take some profits off the table.

The SEC faces a final deadline Wednesday to approve or reject the first applicant: a fund run by a joint venture of Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management and the crypto asset manager 21Shares. The agency previously deferred that decision three times. If the SEC changes its tune, it is expected to approve similar applications from other asset managers at the same time to avoid any perceived favoritism.

“It is completely unprecedented because historically we have not seen a situation where multiple issuers are going to be lined up to launch a high-demand product on the same day,” said Nate Geraci, president of ETF Store, an investment-advisory firm.

The wild card in the race is Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which intends to convert to a spot bitcoin ETF upon SEC approval. The trust, which already has about $27 billion in assets under management, currently charges a 2% management fee. 

Grayscale’s chief executive, Michael Sonnenshein, has said the firm will reduce the fee immediately upon conversion. The firm’s ad for its fund, known by its ticker, GBTC, has been spotted at more than a dozen major airports in the U.S. 

“It’s going to be brutal particularly for some of the smaller issuers to compete with the likes of BlackRock and Grayscale,” said James Seyffart, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “But the end investor is going to win here because that’s going to drive fees down.”

Another potential hiccup? Because of the cumbersome operational work involved, not all of the funds are expected to be ready to launch immediately, even if they are approved. Asset managers must open accounts with their custodians, set up data flows and complete other crucial steps ahead of time. Behind the scenes, Coinbase Global is listed as the bitcoin custodian on at least nine of the applications.

Fee Wars Break Out

Fee War Synopsis

How Many ETFs Needed?

What About Coinbase?

What Approvals to Expect

The SEC is highly likely but not guaranteed to approve something. I suspect multiple ETFs, including Blackrock, perhaps restricted to ETFs able to run within a week or two.

Sell the News?

I don’t know, but if so, for how long? No one knows that either. But absurd predictions abound.

Bitcoin to $1 million in Weeks

Bitcoin Will Hit $60,000 to $80,000 Tomorrow

If the only reason Bitcoin is not $60,000 to $80,000 now, then logic dictates Bitcoin will surge to at least $60,000 tomorrow.

It’s possible. $1 million in a week is not realistically possible.

Selling Stocks to Buy Bitcoin?

https://mishtalk.com/economics/the-sec-will-rule-on-bitcoin-etfs-tomorrow-what-should-we-expect/

Meta to restrict content for teens on Facebook, Instagram

 Meta Platforms announced Tuesday it will soon begin hiding "age-inappropriate" content for teen users on Facebook and Instagram, adding new restrictions aimed at bolstering protections for youth.

The company detailed the new policies in a blog post, saying it will start removing content from teens' feeds on sensitive topics like self-harm, suicide and eating disorders, and that the changes will be complete across Facebook and Instagram within months.

Meta announced it will soon restrict teens from seeing sensitive content on Facebook and Instagram. (Photo Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via / Getty Images)

Accounts for users under age 18 on the platforms will also automatically be placed in the most restrictive content control settings, and Meta is also making it more difficult for teens to search for sensitive topics.

Meta's new restrictions come as the company faces increased scrutiny from regulators to protect young people from harmful content on its apps, and lawsuits over the sites' impact on teens.

Meta is under pressure both in the U.S. and Europe over allegations that its apps are addictive and have helped fuel a youth mental health crisis.

Meta sign at its headquarters at Menlo Park, California, on Aug. 5, 2023. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via / Getty Images)

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
META	META PLATFORMS INC.	358.66	+6.71	+1.91%

Meta Platforms, Inc.

Dozens of states sued the company in October alleging its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, have "profoundly altered the psychological and social realities of a generation of young Americans." 

The lawsuit, which involves 33 states, alleges Meta "misled its users and the public by boasting a low prevalence of harmful content," while being "keenly aware" its platforms’ features "cause young users significant physical and mental harm." 

The filing says that Meta’s recommendation algorithm promotes "compulsive use," which the company does not disclose. The lawsuit also claims that social comparison features like "Likes" promote mental health harms for young users, while visual filters are known to promote body dysmorphia and eating disorders.

Meta and other social media companies have been hit with lawsuits over their platforms' impact on young users. (Photo Illustration by Onur Dogman/SOPA Images/LightRocket via / Getty Images)

Reacting to the lawsuit at the time, Meta said in a statement, "We’re disappointed that instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps teens use, the attorneys general have chosen this path," Reuters reported. 

Hundreds of lawsuits have also been filed against Google’s YouTube and Chinese-owned ByteDance’s TikTok on behalf of children and school districts over the platforms’ addictiveness.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/meta-restrict-content-teens-facebook-instagram

Fed’s Barr Signals Emergency Loan Program Won’t Be Extended

 

• Vice chair says that he expects use to continue until March 11
• Fed’s Bank Term Funding Program set up in regional bank crisis

The Federal Reserve’s top bank watchdog signaled that the central bank is unlikely to extend an emergency loan program that it started last year during the regional banking crisis.

Michael Barr, the Fed’s vice chair for supervision, said during an event in Washington that the Fed’s Bank Term Funding Program had functioned as intended to ease stress in the financial system. The temporary program is set to expire on March 11.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-09/fed-s-barr-signals-that-emergency-loan-program-won-t-be-extended

Park Service Scraps Plans To Remove Philly William Penn Statue After Public Outcry

 With Ivy League institutions finally revealed as Marxist, plagiarist echo chambers, it appears the public is also officially done with another "woke" ritual: removing statues.

Just hours after the National Park Service announced they would be removing a statue of William Penn at Philadelphia's Welcome Park, located in the Old City section of the city, the service swiftly reversed course.

Though Zero Hedge can't confirm that the outlet received significant pushback on the idea, social media was littered yesterday with objectors to the statue removal. As we noted yesterday, the modest sized Penn statue is located at the site of of William Penn's former home.

The "Welcome Park" site was completed in its current form back in 1982, according to 6ABC, who said yesterday that park officials wanted to "reenvision the park and expand the interpretation of the Native American history of Philadelphia to make it more welcoming and inclusive for visitors."

The initiative involved consultation with representatives from various indigenous groups such as the Haudenosaunee, Delaware Nation, Delaware Tribe of Indians, Shawnee Tribe, and Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, the report said.

House Republican Leader, state Rep. Bryan Cutler had called the plan "another sad example of the left in this country scraping the bottom of the barrel of wokeism to advance an extreme ideology and a nonsensical view of history."

But it could be the residents of the city who may have had the final say in the matter. By the end of the day yesterday, the Park Service had reversed course, publishing a mea culpa that stated: " Independence National Historical Park has withdrawn the review of a draft proposal to rehabilitate Welcome Park and closed the public comment period."

It continues: "The preliminary draft proposal, which was released prematurely and had not been subject to a complete internal agency review, is being retracted.  No changes to the William Penn statue are planned."  

Said one person on social media, responding to the flip flop: "Everything is a test. From this memorial of Penn, to the taking over the bridges and freeways out West, highways here on the East Coast to Ireland and the UK and beyond, Covid Isolation, trampling on the 1st Amendment. They're seeing how far they can go."

We couldn't agree more. 

Even Democrat governor Josh Shapiro weighed in, stating the Park Service made the right decision. He wrote on social media last night: "My team has been in contact with the Biden Administration throughout the day to correct this decision."

Shapiro continued: "I’m pleased Welcome Park will remain the rightful home of this William Penn statue — right here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Penn founded."

We're glad he stepped in before South Philly had to get involved...

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/national-park-service-scraps-plans-remove-william-penn-statue-after-public-outcry

Catalent Shares Rise After Providing FY24 Outlook From GLP-1 Drugs

 Catalent shares rose after the company said at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference that it expects revenue from manufacturing of GLP-1 drugs to be less than $100 million for the fiscal year 2024.

GLP-1 agonists, like Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Eli Lilly's Zepbound are medications that help lower blood sugar levels and promote weight loss.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/catalent-shares-rise-after-providing-fy24-outlook-from-glp-1-drugs-086a5991

US Defense Official Visits Guyana Over Venezuela Threat To Oil-Rich Essequibo

 By Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com

As tensions with Venezuela continue to simmer over President Nicolas Maduro’s attempt to annex oil-rich Essequibo from Guyana, the U.S. is sending a top defense official to Guyana to discuss the situation. 

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Western Hemisphere Daniel P. Erikson is visiting Guyana on Monday and Tuesday in what the U.S. Embassy in Guyana referred to as a push for a “bilateral defense and security partnership in support of regional stability”. Erikson will be meeting with the Guyanese government and military leaders, as well as with the regional bloc, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). 

In December, Guyana and Venezuela vowed to avoid the use of force in the dispute, which escalated earlier last month after Maduro held a referendum to annex Essequibo, then vowing to force the exit of foreign oil producers who refused to comply. 

The Venezuelan parliament has yet to pass a law establishing Venezuela’s jurisdiction over the Essequibo region, which represents two-thirds of the territory of Guyana and is where its oil riches are concentrated.

Maduro is facing elections this year, and there has been significant speculation that the subject of the rightful ownership of Essequibo–a popular topic among Venezuelans–is being used to create a state-of-emergency situation that could justify the postponing of the elections. 

In the meantime, an easing of U.S. sanctions on Venezuela, which remains in place despite Maduro’s moves on Essequibo where Exxon has made massive discoveries offshore, Venezuela’s oil exports rose 12% last year, reaching nearly 700,000 barrels per day.

However, this pace of increase of crude oil exports remains slower than last year, with gains limited in part by a lack of investment necessary to boost production, Reuters reports. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/us-defense-official-visits-guyana-over-venezuela-threat-oil-rich-essequibo