Mark A

I live I rural Nebraska. All 4 sides around my home are corn fields. Not a farmer - but the agri business that owns most of the land around my town is out pre fertilizing the fields prior to planting - right now - I’m watching him from my window. I suspect most of the large farm operators have stocks of fertilizer. The smaller operators- maybe not. My only claim to expertise is that corn sweat is real. Look it up.

Dear followers, if anyone is expert on Corn please lmk in the comments. Currently looking into Corn because is the crop where the use of Nitrogen fertilisers made off Natural Gas is the most intense and there are going to be significant shortages of this soon because of Hormuz

“….Most people cannot relate to trillion-dollar figures on a government ledger. So consider this: divide every number by 100 million — drop eight zeros — and federal finances look like a household budget in freefall. That household earns $52,446 and spends $73,378 — running a $20,932 annual deficit. Its total liabilities and unfunded promises amount to $1,361,788 against just $60,554 in assets, leaving it $1.3 million in the hole. Uncle Sam, by any accounting standard, is insolvent. Congress has clearly lost control of the nation’s finances. America is facing a fiscal catastrophe. The reckoning, long deferred, is becoming impossible to ignore.”

The Treasury just declared the U.S. insolvent. The media missed it fortune.com/2026/03/23/us-…

@AdamBLiv Best summary of the situation I’ve read yet. Total theatre.

The funniest part of this entire market is that we are supposedly living in the age of nuclear powers, drone warfare, and planetary-scale geopolitical brinkmanship, yet the real commander in chief is still the 10-year Treasury yield. A few basis points higher and suddenly everybody discovers the healing power of diplomacy. Trump starts talking about “productive discussions,” the algos start foaming at the mouth, the S&P adds $2 trillion in under an hour, and for one glorious cocaine-soaked moment Wall Street pretends peace has broken out because a politician said something on the internet. Then Iran says, “no contact, actually,” and a trillion dollars evaporates like a Vegas magician made of leverage and Adderall. The deeper story is even funnier. Oil was supposed to be the thing. War in the Middle East, Strait of Hormuz panic, energy shock, end of civilization, all the usual trailer music. But no. The actual panic signal was the bond market coughing up a hairball at 4.5% on the 10-year and reminding everyone that the United States is basically a giant debt refinery with an army attached. America can posture like Rome, threaten like Caesar, and tweet like a divorced casino owner at 3 a.m., but if the 10-year starts pushing too high, the whole production gets rewritten in real time. Hawkishness becomes diplomacy. Escalation becomes “measured response.” World War III gets workshopped into a press release because the interest expense math starts looking demonic. So now markets are trapped in this grotesque little regime where geopolitics matters, but only through the lens of duration stress. “Will this create a yield spike large enough to force a narrative pivot by breakfast?” That is where we are. A nation of 330 million people, the reserve currency of the world, eleven aircraft carriers, thousands of nuclear weapons, and the policy response function is basically: “If bond vigilantes get too excited, somebody get Trump on the phone and tell him to tweet peace.” This is late-stage fiat imperial management in its purest form. Headline manipulation desperately trying to keep financial plumbing from backing up all over the carpet. And the market still trades it.

@DataRepublican @theammind Simply amazing. For those wondering who “they” are and what “their” goals are…

Honored to have my first byline published by @theammind . For 40 years, the democracy-promotion establishment protected Khamenei while claiming to oppose him. When the strikes came, they dispatched the protest machine to protect the regime. Why? americanmind.org/salvo/the-fall…

@cryptomanran There’s a copycat bitcoin murderer now trying to imitate Jane Street

I thought you said Jane Street stopped selling at 10am Eastern.🤣

@GovTimWalz Was that a typo? Didn’t you mean NON-binary triggers?

Today I’m proposing a ban on assault rifles, high-capacity magazines, binary triggers, firearms without serial numbers, and more.

I’m a stinky poo face

@RepDonBacon I'm embarrassed that you are my representative. Glad I have the excuse that I just moved to NE and have never voted for you. Extremely glad you are retiring. TDS is an ugly affliction.

Went straight to the source. The Constitution is clear. Article I, Section 8 gives Congress authority over taxes and tariffs.

@DarioCpx @DarioCpx - really appreciate your insights and posts on what’s happening. Definitely a wild ride being a silver stacker for the last 5 years. Thank you for all you do!

This is the most incredible thing I believe ever happened in the history of commodity markets in Asia. ⚠️👇 1,396,553 contracts traded at the SHFE this morning on the Apr26 silver futures ALONE, equivalent to 674,328,157.94 oz of physical silver. In the whole morning overal contracts traded equivalent to 1,343,900,000 oz of physical silver or almost double the ANNUAL silver mined. This is NOT retail; this was a brutal short-selling attack to crash the Chinese silver market intentionally. But guess what? Prices remain at a big premium vs Comex/LBMA, and silver nevertheless remained in backwardation, again, signalling these paper games aren't changing the fundamentals whatsoever

Do some research. This is a coordinated COMEX slam timed to counteract Shanghai SHFE market open. Over the past few days SHFE has erased the US business hours COMEX slams during overnight hours so now the big US banks have coordinated to offset that dynamic. JPM moved their entire metals trading desk to Singapore in December for this exact reason.

Silver is getting slammed in China. We peons think we have plenty of information but the manipulation is beyond what I ever thought could happen. We have a USA conference on silver with our government promising a floor on silver and the Chinese lower the price 15%.

- More effectively arbitrage the price gaps - Reduce reliance on a New York-centric operation that might be disadvantaged when major price action emerges during Asian hours - Potentially sidestep some U.S. regulatory scrutiny or operational constraints In short: If the pattern is COMEX being used to counteract SHFE-driven strength, relocating the metals desk to Singapore gives JPM far better tools to monitor, react to, and potentially profit from (or dampen) those exact cross-market dynamics in real time. **User:** Is this illegal behavior by JPM / comex participants who are doing this? Is it ethical? **Grok:** **Legality** The behavior—coordinated "price slams" or large-scale dumping of silver futures on COMEX timed precisely with SHFE openings to suppress prices—could be illegal under U.S. regulations if it involves manipulative intent or deceptive practices. Key points: - The CFTC prohibits spoofing, wash trading, and coordinated suppression under the Commodity Exchange Act and Dodd-Frank. - Historical precedent: JPMorgan paid $920 million in 2020 to settle spoofing and manipulation charges in precious metals (2008–2016). Traders were convicted and sentenced. Other banks (Deutsche, Scotia) also settled silver manipulation cases. - In the current 2025–2026 context, there are widespread claims of ongoing manipulation (flash crashes, timed slams, margin hikes forcing liquidations), but no new formal charges or settlements have been announced for these specific activities. Allegations remain unproven without regulatory evidence. - JPM’s metals desk move to Singapore is not illegal by itself—it’s a business decision—but if used to facilitate manipulation, it could become part of a violation. **Ethics** If it’s deliberate manipulation to suppress prices against genuine market forces (Asian industrial demand), most in the financial and metals community consider it unethical because: - It distorts fair pricing and erodes trust in benchmarks like COMEX - It harms investors relying on accurate signals - It can discourage real mining/investment, potentially creating future shortages JPM’s historical fines and dominant position (massive physical vaults + large paper positions) amplify the ethical concerns. However, if the activity is legitimate hedging/market-making, it would be ethical and necessary for market function. Without definitive proof, it remains a gray area—but many view the pattern itself as inherently unethical due to power imbalances. --- Feel free to copy the whole block above (or edit out any parts you don’t want) and paste it into your reply to @DarioCpx . Let me know if you’d like me to shorten it, rephrase anything, or add/remove sections before you send it.

**Conversation thread about the silver slam / SHFE vs COMEX dynamics – Feb 2026** (with @Grok) **User:** x.com/dariocpx/statu… **Grok:** - The post details a stark $21 premium between SHFE February 2026 silver futures at ~107$/oz equivalent and Comex at ~86$/oz, exacerbated by a 0.7$ backwardation, underscoring persistent physical supply tightness. - Backwardation in silver futures, where near-term contracts trade above later ones, signals immediate shortages; recent data confirms Comex February 2026 at 86.01$/oz versus SHFE's higher implied pricing in CNY/kg terms. - Timed price drops coinciding with SHFE opens, as shown in the attached futures table, align with claims of intervention by major institutions to cap prices amid surging Asian industrial demand. **User:** Grok - did this silver slam happen during SHFE open hours? If so, why does @DarioCpx blame (presumably) US banks for the manipulation? **Grok:** Yes, the silver price drop (or "slam") described in the post occurred exactly when SHFE trading began, which falls within its open hours. SHFE silver futures have a night session from 9:00 PM to 1:00 AM Beijing Time and a day session from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM Beijing Time (with short breaks). The post was made around 10:06 AM Beijing Time on February 5, 2026, shortly after the day session opened, and it explicitly notes the slam timing with that opening. @DarioCpx appears to blame "banksters" (a term often used for major financial institutions, typically implying US-based ones like those active on COMEX) because the suppression is alleged to involve dumping large volumes of paper futures on COMEX to cap prices, even as physical demand in Asia drives premiums on SHFE. This timing aligns with SHFE opens to mask or counteract the real supply tightness revealed there, maintaining artificial lows on the global paper market despite the backwardation and premium signals. **User:** So these price drops were on the comex but timed to counteract SHFE open, correct? Does JPM’s recent movement of their metals deal likely have a root in being able to counter this exact situation? **User (correction):** *metals desk **Grok:** Yes, that's correct—the price drops (or "slams") you're referring to occurred on **COMEX** (the primary Western paper pricing venue for silver futures) and were deliberately timed to coincide with **SHFE** (Shanghai Futures Exchange) opening hours. This pattern is a recurring observation in precious metals communities: heavy selling/futures dumping on COMEX often ramps up right as Asian trading sessions begin (especially the SHFE day session starting ~9:00 AM Beijing time), which can blunt or reverse upward momentum that starts showing in the physical-premium-driven Asian markets. The goal, according to critics like @DarioCpx, is to cap global benchmark prices (COMEX sets the reference price most of the world uses) before the tightness visible on SHFE can fully influence sentiment or trigger broader arbitrage flows. Regarding **JPMorgan's recent movement of their metals desk**, yes — it very plausibly has roots in positioning to better handle (or even exploit) exactly this kind of East-West pricing dislocation and arbitrage dynamic. Here's the key context from late 2025 developments: - Reports indicate **JPMorgan abruptly relocated its entire precious metals trading desk** (gold, silver, and related products) from New York to **Singapore** around late November / December 2025. This involved moving 50+ traders and their families on very short notice. - Singapore offers real-time overlap with Asian trading hours, lower latency for reacting to SHFE moves, and stronger access to physical metal flows in Asia — where industrial/actual demand has been strongest. - This shift came amid exploding **COMEX vs. SHFE premiums**, backwardation signals on SHFE, and accusations of paper-price suppression on COMEX. Moving the desk eastward positions JPM to:

Feb26 Shanghai silver futures are currently trading at ~107$/oz eqv. vs Comex futures at ~86$ after another timely slam exactly when SHFE trading began, taking the price down from 90$ - clearly a level the banksters are defending 21$ premium + 0.7$ backwardation? Good luck

@honzacern1 Great explanation - thank you!

Even .9999 bars still have to go back to a refiner for a few very practical reasons: Chain of custody & assay liability Dealers can’t legally “re-sell as wholesale metal” just because it says .9999. Refiners must re-assay, re-melt, and certify the metal to reset liability. One bad bar poisons the whole batch. Form factor matters Retail bars/rounds ≠ industrial or wholesale formats. Refiners consolidate into Good Delivery bars, grain, or industrial feedstock. That requires melting, not just stacking. Anti-fraud & compliance Counterfeit .9999 bars exist. Refiners verify purity, origin, and composition. Dealers aren’t equipped (or insured) to do that at scale. Inventory mismatch When retail demand is hot, refiners want input metal, not finished retail products. They’re not “refining purity” — they’re re-routing metal into the supply chain. Capacity bottlenecks Right now refiners are maxed out. Everything is queued, even high-purity metal. That’s why payment delays and “send to refiner” excuses are appearing. So no — it’s not because your bar isn’t pure. It’s because metal has to re-enter the system cleanly, legally, and in the right form. And yes… When even .9999 needs to be melted again, it’s usually a sign of tight physical conditions, not abundance. 😉

🚨 UNPRECEDENTED SIGNAL FROM REFINERS 🚨 Elemetal and Metalor have paused purchases of scrap gold and suspended price locks for dealers. Let that sink in. First scrap silver. Now scrap gold. This isn’t about demand — it’s about capacity, credit limits, and cashflow. Refiners are sitting on billions in metal waiting to be processed, but they can’t move fast enough and don’t want to take price risk. So dealers are pushed into pool accounts, waiting weeks to get paid. When top-tier refiners refuse locks, the message is clear: 📉 Paper pricing no longer reflects physical reality ⏳ Settlement time > price 💰 Cashflow is now king This has major ripple effects across the entire precious metals market. We are officially in uncharted territory. #Silver #Gold #PhysicalMetal #SupplyChain #Liquidity #Cashflow #Refining #PaperVsPhysical #Commodities

@Observe4602596 @chrishardman ???? South England. 1990. Documented in my mission journal. Have a blessed day!

@MEA6380 @chrishardman I heard this story before but it was with a dog not a guy.

You think your sales team is hungry? You think your grindset is real? My people take 18-year-old kids who have never done their own laundry, put them in cheap suits, and drop them in the middle of foreign countries. Their quota? Save souls. Their product? A book about ancient American wars and creating eternal families. Their territory? Places where they get doors slammed in their face 50 times a day. And they do it for two years. For free. In fact, they pay to do it. You are trying to compete with a culture that mass-produces rejection-proof warriors. We are playing a different game. We are inevitable. If you served, tell me the wildest thing someone threw at you (or said to you) while tracting.

@sciencegirl Excellent way to improve retail value

Resident cuts a structural column on the 6th floor of a 20-story building to improve the view

@Matt_Pinner 20 for 20.

10 for me!!….I feel confident nobody Has all 20!! How many for you?

@kateiswell Thank you for posting this! What a message! What a man and prophet. He lived these words - as we all do.

@TheBTCTherapist Not if you own gold and silver as well as bitcoin.

The hardest part of owning Bitcoin right now is not the -30% drawdown. That is NOTHING for long term hodlers. The hardest part is watching gold and silver go on a generational bull run while we underperform as the asset that claims to be “digital gold”.