Yes, there are active accusations of a cover-up and secrecy surrounding a deadly laboratory incident in Siberia, though the pathogen involved is suspected to be pneumonic plague rather than the flu.
A 28-year-old female laboratory worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute in Siberia contracted the disease and died. The secrecy stems primarily from the official response:
• Withholding the Name: Irkutsk Regional Governor Igor Kobzev has publicly refused to explicitly name the illness, labeling it only as “a dangerous infectious disease” while canceling public events across the region.
• Severe Containment Measures: Despite the vague public statements, authorities have treated the incident with extreme urgency. They quarantined the Shelekhov Hospital where she died, suspended lab testing, and placed nearly 200 close contacts under strict medical observation. Anna Popova, the head of Russia’s public health watchdog, rushed 2,600 miles from Moscow to oversee the containment.
• Unclear Exposure: The exact circumstances of how she was exposed remain unconfirmed. Reports from Russian media conflict, suggesting she may have accidentally broken a test tube containing live bacteria, been bitten by an infected lab rat, or brought it back from a field trip to the Mongolian border.
While independent sources and media outlets linked to Russian security services have identified the illness as pneumonic plague—a highly contagious, severe form of plague that spreads via respiratory droplets—the state’s refusal to openly name the pathogen has fueled widespread international criticism and accusations of a regime cover-up.

I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

Pneumonic plague outbreak hits Siberia as lab worker dies after breaking test tube

The US is now off-shoring ownership of domestic production.

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/where-onshoring-ubs-questions-white-house-investment-boom-foreign-money-flows-takeovers

This would explain some of the USD strength, $20tn flowing into the country in the last 21 months. Who has been selling to the foreigners, and where have they been putting the $20tn they have received? Is this why the SM is showing so much resilience in the face of so many strong headwinds?

And what happens after say, just hypothetically, an Indian company buys an American producer. Could that brand value and technology end up being used to produce stuff in India, or other even lower cost countries, that otherwise could have been produced in the US of A and exported?

https://www.drive.com.au/news/range-rover-and-sport-to-be-built-outside-uk/   (since 2011)

come to papa! soee’s charts

watch it

A piece from KWN ( a bit sensationalistic at times), but does bring up potential scenarios:

Here is the real pressure point: Japan is one of the largest foreign holders of Treasuries. If Tokyo ever starts selling in size, yields spike, liquidity tightens, and the shock hits banks, pensions, and risk assets worldwide. That is why Washington is leaning on the Bank of Japan to stay put.

Meanwhile, China is hedging.

Beijing has been stacking gold for years. The yuan has been firmer against the dollar at times. Hong Kong and Shanghai have built gold-settlement plumbing that can clear without going through the dollar. 

Yuan-denominated gold trading infrastructure is live. That is a parallel system, not a replacement for the dollar.

The CCP can never replace the dollar, but they’re taking advantage of the situation in real time.

Why it matters: If confidence in Treasuries cracks, paper assets do not drift lower politely. Gold can reprice violently. China wants an escape hatch if that day comes. 

It’s going to be steep and deep. I don’t need the exact bottom. Scaling my way in

That’s what happens when you live in a blue state. They sack the city

I see it dropped below 60 around noon today. Although it recovered a bit that’s still not good.

Denver Water jacked my water up 26%. Look at stamps too. I love sticking it them

theleahfiles
@leahfiles
Inflation numbers came out today, and the official story is that inflation went down. What the headline number doesn’t tell you is that the government changed how inflation is calculated in the same release. A month ago, they said July inflation was 3.7%. Today, they recalculated July with the new formula and it dropped to 3.36%. If you measure August the same way as the months before it, inflation comes out around 3.8%, which means it went up. They didn’t bring inflation down, they just changed how they calculate it.
Bessent did something similar with CPI last month. You only modify the way you calculate if they numbers are that bad. They genuinely thought we wouldn’t notice…

https://x.com/leahfiles/status/2105491272018366722

https://americas.miningforum.com/participating-companies/?layout=grid

“This was a rough week for us.”

You got that right Bro, but the turn is nigh! If not … then back to the drawing board.

Ipso – a little short covering or maybe buying into the close. Hopefully a sign of better things ahead. This was a rough week for us.

Rates really turned today, they were down big after the jobs report but ended over 4 bips higher – a 10 point turnaround.

maddog – pretty big reversal for oil too. Rates and oil sort of explain the action in the metals, Funny how the SM just sails along no matter what happens.

…going green on the day.

Here we can see the Hit on Gold and ram in Oil…..both 15 minute charts Note the way Oil broke down then was immediately rammed higher, not once but twice…no was was Oil going to be allowed to break……hopefully Bessant will onto this.

Gold rallies $ 40 bucks then drop $ 100 all in 4 hrs ..then goes to sleep at the lows…..no normal mkt does that .

… for about 19 seconds …

I agree. It certainly strengthens the dollar, the cleanest shirt in the dirty laundry basket! The moneyed class is packing their bags.

Cheers

Voila

……and this also rationalizes the argument as to why the US $ is so strong ( even in the face of a weaker jobs market in the US). French/Euro money looking to leave European markets and will be parked elsewhere ( US). Coupled with the Russia/Euro war drums beating louder and louder; also strengthens out flow of money from Euroland…..

Michael A. Arouet
@MichaelAArouet
Most people don’t yet grasp what is happening in France. Markets are pricing French sovereign debt as junk, rating agencies will eventually have to follow. This will have two major impacts:

1. Most French banks are already rated at or just below the sovereign, so a move toward junk would likely drag domestically focused lenders with it. Credit to households and firms would slow sharply, hurting the economy and widening the fiscal deficit even further, a vicious cycle.

2. For the ECB, the constraint is legal as well as financial. A fall below investment grade would force sales by ratings-bound investors while making any backstop harder to justify under current rules.

The next euro crisis will begin in France. The first, which began in Greece, will feel like a walk in the park compared with what comes next.

Looks like they had $60 silver planned for the weekly close all week. This is just brute force paper selling that started at the open.

No idea why the metals were up yesterday. They must’ve needed some players to puke.🤮