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INDIVA REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2022 RESULTS

INDIVA REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2022 RESULTS
Canada NewsWire
LONDON, ON, May 19, 2022

Indiva Launches New Consumer Brand Indiva Life and Remains the National Market Share Leader in the Edibles Category
LONDON, ON, May 19, 2022 /CNW/ – Indiva Limited (…

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INDIVA REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2022 RESULTS

Canada NewsWire

Indiva Launches New Consumer Brand Indiva Life and Remains the National Market Share Leader in the Edibles Category

LONDON, ON, May 19, 2022 /CNW/ - Indiva Limited (the "Company" or "Indiva") (TSXV: NDVA) (OTCQX: NDVAF), the leading Canadian producer of cannabis edibles and other cannabis products, is pleased to announce its financial and operating results for the first fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2022. All figures are reported in Canadian dollars ($), unless otherwise indicated. Indiva's financial statements are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"). For a more comprehensive overview of the corporate and financial highlights presented in this news release, please refer to Indiva's Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for the Three Months Ended March 31, 2022, and the Company's Consolidated Financial Statements for the Three Months Ended March 31, 2022 and 2021, which are filed on SEDAR and available on the Company's website, www.indiva.com.

"We are pleased to report very strong year-over-year revenue growth in the first quarter of 2022, and continued gross margin improvement compared to fiscal 2021. According to data from Hifyre Inc., Indiva continues as the dominant national market share leader in edibles," said Niel Marotta, President and Chief Executive Officer of Indiva. "Looking forward, we have many new products and brands to introduce in 2022, as we leverage our distribution across all 13 provinces and territories in Canada. Specifically, Indiva will continue to delight its customers and clients and drive margin-accretive top line growth in 2022 with the introduction of Grön Pearl gummies and Grön Pips candy-coated chocolates, Dime Industries Vapes, as well as new edible and extracts products to be listed under our new in-house consumer brand 'Indiva Life'. We will launch new edible and extract products in Q2 and in the second half of 2022 under the Indiva Life brand, which will come to market as a result of Indiva's own in-house innovation."

HIGHLIGHTS
Quarterly Performance
  • Gross revenue in Q1 2022 at $9.7 million, representing a 6.6% sequential decrease from Q4 2021, and a 41.2% increase year-over-year from Q1 2021.

  • Net revenue in Q1 2022 was $8.95 million, representing a 5.4% sequential decrease from Q4 2021, and a 43.8% increase year-over-year from Q1 2021, driven primarily by higher sales of category leading edibles including Wana Sour Gummies and Bhang Chocolate, offset by seasonal impacts and lower non-edible revenue.

  • Net revenue from edible products grew to $8.5 million, up 3% from $8.2 million in Q4 2021 and up 54% from $5.5 million in the prior year period. Edible product sales represent 95% of net revenue in Q1 2022.

  • Gross profit before fair value adjustments, impairments and one-time items improved year-over-year, but declined sequentially, to $2.7 million, or 30.0% of net revenue, versus 31.7% in Q4 2021 and 19.0% in Q1 2021. The decline in gross margin percentage sequentially was due to additional labour required in processing, higher shipping costs, lower overhead absorption on goods sold in the quarter, and some returns of product, which are more one-time in nature, as it related to past contract manufacturing agreements. The Company expects margins to improve in the second half of 2022 as new automation for production and packaging comes online.

  • In Q1 2022, Indiva sold products containing 54.3 million milligrams of distillate, the active ingredient in edible products, which represents a 10% decrease when compared to the 60.4 million milligrams in product sold in Q4 2021, and a 84% increase compared to 29.4 million milligrams sold in Q1 2021. The sequential decline was a function of lower sales due to seasonality and mix shift away from multi-pack SKUs.

  • Impairment charges in the quarter totaled $0.85 million. This impairment includes a write off of aged finished goods and bulk cannabis as well as certain packaging for contract manufacturing arrangements no longer in place, offset by a recovery on oil-based products which continue to sell. The Company will continue to work to monetize any impaired inventory which remains saleable.

  • Operating expenses in the quarter decreased 14% sequentially, representing 39.2% of net revenue, versus 43.0% in Q4 2021 and 35.9% in Q1 2021. Operating expenses declined due to lower general and administrative costs, including lower professional fees and lower research and development costs, offset by higher marketing costs and sales commissions.

  • Adjusted EBITDA improved sequentially in Q1 2022 to a loss of $0.33 million, versus a loss of $0.49 million in Q4 2021, due to lower sales and margins offset by lower operating expenses. Q1 2022 improved versus a loss of $0.51 million in Q1 2021, driven by higher sales and improved margins. See "Non-IFRS Measures", below.

  • Comprehensive net loss of $3.0 million included one-time expenses and non-cash charges for impairment of inventory and property, plant and equipment totaling $1.1 million. Excluding these charges, comprehensive loss declined to $2.0 million versus an adjusted loss of $2.3 million in Q4 2021 and $1.5 million in Q1 2021.
Operational Highlights for the First Quarter 2022
  • Indiva achieved national distribution, across all 10 provinces and 3 territories, adding a supply agreement with Nunavut in Q1 2022.

  • The OCS accepted four Grön Pearl gummie listings, with initial deliveries expected in July 2022.

  • Two new SKUs were launched under the Jewels brand. The cannabis tarts, available in Strawberry and Raspberry 1:1 flavours, are perfect for micro dosing at 1 mg per tablet.

  • Indiva launched Bhang THC Toffee and Salt Milk Chocolate in BC.

  • Wana Quick Midnight Berry launched in Ontario, BC and Alberta, and experienced strong sell-in, quickly becoming one of the most popular CBN products in the country. Indiva also introduced two additional gummie SKUs nationally, including under the Wana Quick brand, Lemon Cream and Island Punch.

  • Indiva launched a new craft cultivar called Platinum Jelly by Stinky Greens, under the Artisan Batch brand.
Events Subsequent to Quarter End
  • Dime Industries ("Dime"): Indiva signed an exclusive licensing and manufacturing agreement with Dime. The agreement has a five year term which automatically renews for three additional five year terms. Indiva intends to launch Dime's proprietary and innovative vape products, including disposable vapes, 510-thread carts and custom batteries beginning in Q3 2022, marking Indiva's first entrance into the vape category.

  • Awards: Artisan Batch was awarded Best in Grow from Cannabis NB for best Indica flower, namely Sour Glue, produced by Purplefarm Genetics.

  • Indiva launched additional SKUs subsequent to quarter end including Wana Passion Fruit and Artisan Batch Mimosa Live Rosin.

  • Indiva introduced its new consumer brand Indiva Life at the 2022 Lift&Co conference. The initial cannabis products to be launched under the Indiva Life brand will include edibles, extracts and pre-rolls, all of which have received preliminary acceptance from provincial wholesalers.

  • Indiva continues to receive strong interest in new product and SKU offerings from provincial wholesalers. In the most recent OCS product call, Indiva submitted 42 new SKUs for listing including Grön Pearl Gummies and Pips candy-coated chocolates, Dime Vapes, Indiva Life edibles, extracts and pre-rolls, as well as new Artisan Batch flower and pre-rolls.
Market Share
  • Sell through data from Hifyre Inc. for the first quarter of 2022 shows strong sell-through of Indiva edible products. With 34.2% share of sales, Indiva continues to lead in the #1 market share position in the edibles category:
  •  
    • Ontario: #1 with 33.1% market share.

    • Alberta: #1 with 32.8% market share.

    • British Columbia: #1 with 41.5% market share.

    • Saskatchewan: #1 with 21.5% market share.

    • Manitoba: #1 with 37.1% market share.

    • Wana™ Sour Gummies led the edibles category, with 28.0% category share, and 37.6% sub-category share, and Bhang® continued to lead the chocolate category with 34.8% sub-category share.

    • Product Ranking in Q1 2022 showed the top 6 of the Top 10 edible SKUs are from Indiva, led by Wana Pomegranate Blueberry Acai.

    • Based on Hifyre Inc. data from British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, the edibles category declined very slightly in Q1 2022 to $51.2 million in retail sales from a record $51.8 million in Q4 2021.
Outlook
  • The Company expects Q2 2022 net revenue to be higher sequentially, driven by new product introduction and continued strength in our core products. In the second half of the year, the Company expects robust sequential and year-over-year growth, due to the introduction of several new products and SKUs including, Pearls gummies, Pips candy-coated chocolates, Dime Industries vape products, as well as new Indiva Life branded products, resulting from in-house innovation, namely Double-Stuffed Vanilla Cookies and Double Stuffed Fudge Cookies, as well as Wild Cherry THC Lozenges and Lemon THC Lozenges.

  • Margins are expected to benefit in the second half of 2022 due to the implementation of automation in the production and packaging of edible products. The Company expects to deliver on its commitments for existing or new listings of products, despite some delays in receiving equipment due to global COVID-19-related lockdowns.

  • Indiva also expects to continue to introduce additional craft cannabis flower SKUs under the Artisan Batch brand, with special focus on high THC potency, robust terpene content, premium buds and fresh harvest dates.
OPERATING AND FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2022

Three months ended

March 31

(in thousands of $, except gross margin %

and per share figures)

2022

2021

Gross revenue

9,698.8

6,870.2

Net revenue

8,945.1

6,221.1

Gross margin before fair value adjustments

and impairments

2,679.7

1,183.1

Gross margin before fair value adjustment

and impairments (%)

30.0%

19.0%

Loss and comprehensive loss

3,026.0

3,028.8

Adjusted EBITDA[1]

(330.2)

(513.7)

Earnings per share – basic and diluted

(0.02)

(0.03)

Comprehensive earnings per share – basic

and diluted

(0.02)

(0.03)

See "Non-IFRS Measures", below.

Operating Expenses

Three months ended

March 31

(in thousands of $)

2022

2021

General and administrative

1,448.2

1,125.5

Marketing and sales

1,733.9

872.5

Research and development

110.7

-

Share-based compensation

111.4

111.2

Depreciation of property, plant

 and equipment

47.1

56.2

Amortization of intangible

 assets

51.9

52.0

Expected credit loss

1.8

-

Total operating expenses

3,504.9

2,229.7

Separately, the Company announces that the board of directors of the Company has approved the grant of an aggregate of 222,222 restricted share units ("RSUs") to a certain consultant pursuant to its amended and restated omnibus incentive plan (the "Plan").

All of the RSUs will vest on the one year anniversary of the date of grant. Each vested RSU will entitle the holder thereof to receive a cash payment equal to the closing price of the common shares of the Company on the last trading date prior to the vesting date, or at the discretion of the board of directors of the Company, one common share of the Company or any combination of cash and common shares.

COVID-19

Government and private entities are still assessing the present and future effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Indiva has continued to operate with enhanced health and safety protocols in place to protect its employees. The Company continues to assess the customer, supply chain, and staffing implications of COVID-19 and is committed to making continuous adjustments to minimize disruption and impact. Indiva will remain proactive in its response to the pandemic and compliant with any and all provincial and/or federal policy enacted to protect Canadians.

CONFERENCE CALL - Thursday, May 19, 2022 at 8:30 a.m. (EST):

The Company will host a conference call to discuss its results on Thursday, May 19, 2022 at 8:30 a.m. (EST). Interested participants can join by dialing 416-764-8658 or 1-888-886-7786. The conference ID number is 53550245.

A recording of the conference call will be available for replay following the call. To access the recording please dial 416-764-8691 or 1-877-674-6060. The replay ID is 550245#. The recording will remain available until Sunday, June 19, 2022.

ABOUT INDIVA

Indiva sets the standard for quality and innovation in cannabis. As a Canadian licensed producer, Indiva produces and distributes award-winning cannabis products nationally, including Bhang® Chocolate, Wana Sour Gummies, Slow Ride Bakery Cookies, Jewels Chewable Tablets, Ruby® Cannabis Sugar, Grön edibles, Dime IndustriesTM vape products, as well as capsules, edibles, extracts, pre-rolls and premium flower under the INDIVA, Indiva Life and Artisan Batch brands. Click here to connect with Indiva on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, and here to find more information on the Company and its products.

DISCLAIMER AND READER ADVISORY
General

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) has in any way passed upon the merits of the contents of this news release and neither of the foregoing entities accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release or has in any way approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release.

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the parties' current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information relating to, among other things, (i) the Company's outlook for and expected operating margins and future financial results, (ii) the projected growth of its business and operations (including existing and new segments thereof), and the future business activities of, and developments related to, the Company within such segments after the date of this news release, including the anticipated introduction of new product offerings (iii) the Company's ability to capture and/or maintain its market share in any jurisdiction, and (iv) the Company's ability to deliver on its commitments for existing or new listings of products. Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to the Company, and include, without limitation, assumptions about the Company's future business objectives, goals, and capabilities, the cannabis market, the regulatory framework applicable to the Company and its operations, and the Company's financial resources. Although the Company believes that the assumptions underlying, and the expectations reflected in, forward-looking statements in this news release are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. A number of factors could cause actual events, performance or results to differ materially from what is projected in the forward-looking statements. Specifically, readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company, as applicable, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, risks and uncertainties related to: (i) the available funds of the Company and the anticipated use of such funds, (ii) the availability of financing opportunities, (iii) legal and regulatory risks inherent in the cannabis industry, (iv) risks associated with economic conditions, (v) dependence on management, (vi) public opinion and perception of the cannabis industry, (vii) risks related to contracts with third-party service providers, (vii) risks related to the enforceability of contracts, (viii) reliance on the expertise and judgment of senior management of the Company, and ability to retain such senior management, (ix) risks related to proprietary intellectual property and potential infringement by third-parties, * risks relating to the management of growth and/or increasing competition in the industry, (xi) risks associated to cannabis products manufactured for human consumption, including potential product recalls, (xii) risks related to the economy generally, and (xiii) risk of litigation.

The forward-looking information contained in this news release is made as of the date hereof and the Company is not obligated to, and does not undertake to, update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions inherent in forward-looking information, investors should not place undue reliance on forward looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.

This news release contains future-oriented financial information and financial outlook information (collectively, "FOFI") about the Company's prospective results of operations, which are subject to the same assumptions, risk factors, limitations, and qualifications as set out in the above paragraph. FOFI contained in this news release was approved by management as of the date of this news release and was provided for the purpose of providing further information about the Company's future business operations. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any FOFI contained in this news release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required pursuant to applicable law. Readers are cautioned that the FOFI contained in this document should not be used for purposes other than for which it is disclosed herein.

Non-IFRS Measures

This news release makes reference to certain non-IFRS measures. These measures are not recognized measures under IFRS, do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS, and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Rather, these measures are provided as additional information to complement those IFRS measures by providing further understanding of our results of operations from management's perspective. Accordingly, these measures should not be considered in isolation nor as a substitute for analysis of our financial information reported under IFRS.

The non-IFRS measure used in this news release includes "Adjusted EBITDA". The Company calculates Adjusted EBITDA as a sum of net revenue, other income, cost of inventory sold, production salaries and wages, production supplies and expense, general and administrative expense, and sales and marketing expense, as determined by management. Adjusted license fee eliminates 50% of the fee which is equivalent to the Company's share of the joint venture company to which the license fee is paid. Adjusted EBITDA is provided to assist readers in determining the ability of the Company to generate cash from operations and to cover financial charges. Management believes that Adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to investors as it is an important indicator of an issuer's ability to generate liquidity through cash flow from operating activities and equity accounted investees. Adjusted EBITDA is also used by investors and analysts for assessing financial performance and for the purpose of valuing an issuer, including calculating financial and leverage ratios. The most directly comparable financial measure that is disclosed in the financial statements of the Company to which the Non-IFRS measure relates is income (loss) from operations.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/indiva-reports-first-quarter-2022-results-301551015.html

SOURCE Indiva Limited

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Analysts issue unexpected crude oil price forecast after surge

Here’s what a key investment firm says about the commodity.

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Oil is an asset defined by volatility.

U.S. crude prices stood above $60 a barrel in January 2020, just as the covid pandemic began. Three months later, prices briefly went negative, as the pandemic crushed demand.

By June 2022 the price rebounded all the way to $120, as fiscal and monetary stimulus boosted the economy. The price fell back to $80 in September 2022. Since then, it has bounced between about $65 and $90.

Over the past two months, the price has climbed 15% to $82 as of March 20.

Oil prices often trade in a roller-coaster fashion.

Bullish factors for oil prices

The move stems partly from indications that economic growth this year will be stronger than analysts expected.

Related: The Fed rate decision won't surprise markets. What happens next might

Vanguard has just raised its estimate for 2024 U.S. GDP growth to 2% from 0.5%.

Meanwhile, China’s factory output and retail sales exceeded forecasts in January and February. That could boost oil demand in the country, the world's No. 1 oil importer.

Also, drone strokes from Ukraine have knocked out some of Russia’s oil refinery capacity. Ukraine has hit at least nine major refineries this year, erasing an estimated 11% of Russia’s production capacity, according to Bloomberg.

“Russia is a gas station with an army, and we intend on destroying that gas station,” Francisco Serra-Martins, chief executive of drone manufacturer Terminal Autonomy, told the news service. Gasoline, of course, is one of the products made at refineries.

Speaking of gas, the recent surge of oil prices has sent it higher as well. The average national price for regular gas totaled $3.52 per gallon Wednesday, up 7% from a month ago, according to the American Automobile Association. And we’re nearing the peak driving season.

Another bullish factor for oil: Iraq said Monday that it’s cutting oil exports by 130,000 barrels per day in coming months. Iraq produced much more oil in January and February than its OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) target.

Citigroup’s oil-price forecast

Yet, not everyone is bullish on oil going forward. Citigroup analysts see prices falling through next year, Dow Jones’s Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) reports.

More Economic Analysis:

The analysts note that supply is at risk in Israel, Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Venezuela. But Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, and Russia could easily make up any shortfall.

Moreover, output should also rise this year and next in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, and Guyana, the analysts said. Meanwhile, global demand growth will decelerate, amid increased electric vehicle use and economic weakness.

Regarding refineries, the analysts see strong gains in capacity and capacity upgrades this year.

What if Donald Trump is elected president again? That “would likely be bearish for oil and gas," as Trump's policies could boost trade tension, crimping demand, they said.

The analysts made predictions for European oil prices, the world’s benchmark, which sat Wednesday at $86.

They forecast a 9% slide in the second quarter to $78, then a decline to $74 in the third quarter and $70 in the fourth quarter.

Next year should see a descent to $65 in the first quarter, $60 in the second and third, and finally $55 in the fourth, Citi said. That would leave the price 36% below current levels.

U.S. crude prices will trade $4 below European prices from the second quarter this year until the end of 2025, the analysts maintain.

Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024

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How The Democrats Plan To Steal The Election

How The Democrats Plan To Steal The Election

Authored by Llewellyn Rockwell via LewRockwell.com,

Biden and Trump have clinched the nominations…

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How The Democrats Plan To Steal The Election

Authored by Llewellyn Rockwell via LewRockwell.com,

Biden and Trump have clinched the nominations of their parties for President. Everybody is gearing up for a battle between them for the election in November. It’s obvious that Biden is “cognitively impaired.” In blunter language, “brain-dead”. Partisans of Trump are gearing up for a decisive victory.

But what if this battle is a sham? What if Biden’s elite gang of neo-con controllers won’t let Biden lose?

How can they stop him from losing? Simple. If it looks like he’s losing, the elite forces will create enough fake ballots to ensure victory. Our corrupt courts won’t stop them. They have done this before, and they will do it again, if they have to.

I said the Democrats have done this before.

The great Dr. Ron Paul explains one way they did this in 2020. The elite covered up a scandal that could have wrecked Biden’s chances:

“Move over Watergate. On or around Oct. 17, 2020, then-senior Biden campaign official Antony Blinken called up former acting CIA director Mike Morell to ask a favor: he needed high-ranking former US intelligence community officials to lie to the American people to save Biden’s lagging campaign from a massive brewing scandal.

The problem was that Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, had abandoned his laptop at a repair shop and the explosive contents of the computer were leaking out. The details of the Biden family’s apparent corruption and the debauchery of the former vice-president’s son were being reported by the New York Post, and with the election less than a month away, the Biden campaign needed to kill the story.

So, according to newly-released transcripts of Morell’s testimony before the House judiciary Committee, Blinken “triggered” Morell to put together a letter for some 50 senior intelligence officials to sign – using their high-level government titles – to claim that the laptop story “had all the hallmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign.”

In short, at the Biden campaign’s direction Morell launched a covert operation against the American people to undermine the integrity of the 2020 election. A letter signed by dozens of the highest-ranking former CIA, DIA, and NSA officials would surely carry enough weight to bury the Biden laptop story. It worked. Social media outlets prevented any reporting on the laptop from being posted and the mainstream media could easily ignore the story as it was merely “Russian propaganda.”

Asked recently by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) why he agreed to draft the false sign-on letter, Morell testified that he wanted to “help Vice President Biden … because I wanted him to win the election.”

Morell also likely expected to be named by President Biden to head up the CIA when it came time to call in favors.

The Democrats and the mainstream media have relentlessly pushed the lie that the ruckus inside the US Capitol on Jan. 6th 2021 was a move by President Trump to overthrow the election results. Hundreds of “trespassers” were arrested and held in solitary confinement without trial to bolster the false narrative that a conspiracy to steal the election was taking place.

It turns out that there really was a conspiracy to steal the election, but it was opposite of what was reported. Just as the Steele Dossier was a Democratic Party covert action to plant the lie that the Russians were pulling strings for Trump, the “Russian disinformation campaign” letter was a lie to deflect scrutiny of the Biden family’s possible corruption in the final days of the campaign.

Did the Biden campaign’s disinformation campaign help rig the election in his favor? Polls suggest that Biden would not have been elected had the American electorate been informed about what was on Hunter Biden’s laptop. So yes, they cheated in the election.

The Democrats and the mainstream media are still at it, however. Now they are trying to kill the story of how they killed the story of the Biden laptop. This is a scandal that would once upon a time have ended in resignation, impeachment, and/or plenty of jail time. If they successfully bury this story, I hate to say it but there is no more rule of law in what has become the American banana republic.” See here.

But the main way the election can be rigged is by fraudulent “voting.” It’s much easier to do this with digital scanning of votes than with old-fashioned ballot boxes.

Dr. Naomi Wolf explains how electronic voting machines make it easier to steal elections:

“People could steal elections in this ‘analog’ technology of paper and locked ballot boxes, of course, by destroying or hiding votes, or by bribing voters, a la Tammany Hall, or by other forms of wrongdoing, so security and chain of custody, as well as anti-corruption scrutiny, were always needed in guaranteeing accurate election counts. But there was no reason, with analog physical processing of votes, to query the tradition of the secret ballot.

Before the digital scanning of votes, you could not hack a wooden ballot box; and you could not set an algorithm to misread a pile of paper ballots. So, at the end of the day, one way or another, you were counting physical documents.

Those days are gone, obviously, and in many districts there are digital systems reading ballots.” See here.

This isn’t the first time the Left has stolen an election. It happened in the 2020 presidential election too. Ron Unz offers his usual cogent analysis:

“There does seem to be considerable circumstantial evidence of widespread ballot fraud by Democratic Party forces, hardly surprising given the apocalyptic manner in which so many of their leaders had characterized the threat of a Trump reelection. After all, if they sincerely believed that a Trump victory would be catastrophic for America why would they not use every possible means, fair and foul alike, to save our country from that dire fate?

In particular, several of the major swing-states contain large cities—Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Atlanta—that are both totally controlled by the Democratic Party and also notoriously corrupt, and various eye-witnesses have suggested that the huge anti-Trump margins they provided may have been heavily ‘padded’ to ensure the candidate’s defeat.” See here.

In a program aired right after Biden’s pitiful State of the Union speech, the great Tucker Carlson pointed out that Biden’s “Justice” Department has already confessed that it plans to rig the election. It will do this by banning voter ID laws as “racist.” This permits an unlimited number of fake votes:

“If Joe Biden is so good at politics, why is he losing to Donald Trump, who the rest of us were assured was a retarded racist who no normal person would vote for? But now Joe Biden is getting stomped by Donald Trump, but he’s also at the same time good at politics? Right.

Again, they can’t win, but they’re not giving up. So what does that tell you? Well, they’re going to steal the election. We know they’re going to steal the election because they’re now saying so out loud. Here is the Attorney General of the United States, the chief law enforcement officer of this country in Selma, Alabama, just the other day.

[Now Carlson quotes the Attorney General, Merrick Garland:]

“The right to vote is still under attack, and that is why the Justice Department is fighting back. That is why one of the first things I did when I came into office was to double the size of the voting section of the Civil Rights Division. That is why we are challenging efforts by states and jurisdictions to implement discriminatory, burdensome, and unnecessary restrictions on access to the ballot, including those related to mail-in voting, the use of drop boxes and voter ID requirements. That is why we are working to block the adoption of discriminatory redistricting plans that dilute the vote of Black voters and other voters of color.

[Carlson then comments on Garland:]

“Did you catch that? Of course, you’re a racist. That’s always the takeaway. But consider the details of what the Attorney General of the United States just said. Mail-in balloting, drop boxes, voter ID requirements. The chief law enforcement officer of the United States Government is telling you that it’s immoral, in fact racist, in fact illegal to ask people for their IDs when they vote to verify they are who they say they are. What is that? Well, no one ever talks about this, but the justification for it is that somehow people of color, Black people, don’t have state-issued IDs. Somehow they’re living in a country where you can do virtually nothing without proving your identity with a government-issued ID without government-issued IDs. They can’t fly on planes, they can’t have checking accounts, they can’t have any interaction with the government, state, local, or federal. They can’t stay in hotels. They can’t have credit cards. Because someone without a state-issued ID can’t do any of those things.

But what’s so interesting is these same people, very much including the Attorney General and the administration he serves, is working to eliminate cash, to make this a cashless society. Have you been to a stadium event recently? No cash accepted. You have to have a credit card. In order to get a credit card you need a state-issued ID, and somehow that’s not racist. But it is racist to ask people to prove their identity when they choose the next President of the United States. That doesn’t make any sense at all. That’s a lie. It’s an easily provable lie, and anyone telling that lie is advocating for mass voter fraud, which the Attorney General is. There’s no other way to read it. So you should know that. You live in a country where the Attorney General is abetting, in fact calling for voter fraud, and that’s the only chance they have to get their guy re-elected.” See here.

Because of absentee ballots, the voting can be spread out over a long period of time. This makes voting fraud much easier. Mollie Hemingway has done a lot of research on this topic:

“In the 2020 presidential election, for the first time ever, partisan groups were allowed—on a widespread basis—to cross the bright red line separating government officials who administer elections from political operatives who work to win them. It is important to understand how this happened in order to prevent it in the future.

Months after the election, Time magazine published a triumphant story of how the election was won by “a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information.”  Written by Molly Ball, a journalist with close ties to Democratic leaders, it told a cheerful story of a “conspiracy unfolding behind the scenes,” the “result of an informal alliance between left-wing activists and business titans.”

A major part of this “conspiracy” to “save the 2020 election” was to use COVID as a pretext to maximize absentee and early voting. This effort was enormously successful. Nearly half of voters ended up voting by mail, and another quarter voted early. It was, Ball wrote, “practically a revolution in how people vote.” Another major part was to raise an army of progressive activists to administer the election at the ground level.

Here, one billionaire in particular took a leading role: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg’s help to Democrats is well known when it comes to censoring their political opponents in the name of preventing “misinformation.” Less well known is the fact that he directly funded liberal groups running partisan get-out-the-vote operations. In fact, he helped those groups infiltrate election offices in key swing states by doling out large grants to crucial districts.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, an organization led by Zuckerberg’s wife Priscilla, gave more than $400 million to nonprofit groups involved in “securing” the 2020 election. Most of those funds—colloquially called “Zuckerbucks”—were funneled through the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), a voter outreach organization founded by Tiana Epps-Johnson, Whitney May, and Donny Bridges. All three had previously worked on activism relating to election rules for the New Organizing Institute, once described by The Washington Post as “the Democratic Party’s Hogwarts for digital wizardry.”

Flush with $350 million in Zuckerbucks, the CTCL proceeded to disburse large grants to election officials and local governments across the country. These disbursements were billed publicly as “COVID-19 response grants,” ostensibly to help municipalities acquire protective gear for poll workers or otherwise help protect election officials and volunteers against the virus. In practice, relatively little money was spent for this. Here, as in other cases, COVID simply provided cover.

According to the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), Georgia received more than $31 million in Zuckerbucks, one of the highest amounts in the country. The three Georgia counties that received the most money spent only 1.3 percent of it on personal protective equipment. The rest was spent on salaries, laptops, vehicle rentals, attorney fees for public records requests, mail-in balloting, and other measures that allowed elections offices to hire activists to work the election. Not all Georgia counties received CTCL funding. And of those that did, Trump-voting counties received an average of $1.91 per registered voter, compared to $7.13 per registered voter in Biden-voting counties.

The FGA looked at this funding another way, too. Trump won Georgia by more than five points in 2016. He lost it by three-tenths of a point in 2020. On average, as a share of the two-party vote, most counties moved Democratic by less than one percentage point in that time. Counties that didn’t receive Zuckerbucks showed hardly any movement, but counties that did moved an average of 2.3 percentage points Democratic. In counties that did not receive Zuckerbucks, “roughly half saw an increase in Democrat votes that offset the increase in Republican votes, while roughly half saw the opposite trend.” In counties that did receive Zuckerbucks, by contrast, three quarters “saw a significant uptick in Democrat votes that offset any upward change in Republican votes,” including highly populated Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb, and DeKalb counties.

Of all the 2020 battleground states, it is probably in Wisconsin where the most has been brought to light about how Zuckerbucks worked.

CTCL distributed $6.3 million to the Wisconsin cities of Racine, Green Bay, Madison, Milwaukee, and Kenosha—purportedly to ensure that voting could take place “in accordance with prevailing [anti-COVID] public health requirements.”

Wisconsin law says voting is a right, but that “voting by absentee ballot must be carefully regulated to prevent the potential for fraud or abuse; to prevent overzealous solicitation of absent electors who may prefer not to participate in an election.” Wisconsin law also says that elections are to be run by clerks or other government officials. But the five cities that received Zuckerbucks outsourced much of their election operation to private liberal groups, in one case so extensively that a sidelined government official quit in frustration.

This was by design. Cities that received grants were not allowed to use the money to fund outside help unless CTCL specifically approved their plans in writing. CTCL kept tight control of how money was spent, and it had an abundance of “partners” to help with anything the cities needed.

Some government officials were willing to do whatever CTCL recommended. “As far as I’m concerned I am taking all of my cues from CTCL and work with those you recommend,” Celestine Jeffreys, the chief of staff to Democratic Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich, wrote in an email. CTCL not only had plenty of recommendations, but made available a “network of current and former election administrators and election experts” to scale up “your vote by mail processes” and “ensure forms, envelopes, and other materials are understood and completed correctly by voters.”

Power the Polls, a liberal group recruiting poll workers, promised to help with ballot curing. The liberal Mikva Challenge worked to recruit high school-age poll workers. And the left-wing Brennan Center offered help with “election integrity,” including “post-election audits” and “cybersecurity.”

The Center for Civic Design, an election administration policy organization that frequently partners with groups such as liberal billionaire Pierre Omidyar’s Democracy Fund, designed absentee ballots and voting instructions, often working directly with an election commission to design envelopes and create advertising and targeting campaigns. The Elections Group, also linked to the Democracy Fund, provided technical assistance in handling drop boxes and conducted voter outreach. The communications director for the Center for Secure and Modern Elections, an organization that advocates sweeping changes to the elections process, ran a conference call to help Green Bay develop Spanish-language radio ads and geofencing to target voters in a predefined area.

Digital Response, a nonprofit launched in 2020, offered to “bring voters an updated elections website,” “run a website health check,” “set up communications channels,” “bring poll worker application and management online,” “track and respond to polling location wait times,” “set up voter support and email response tools,” “bring vote-by-mail applications online,” “process incoming [vote-by-mail] applications,” and help with “ballot curing process tooling and voter notification.”

The National Vote at Home Institute was presented as a “technical assistance partner” that could “support outreach around absentee voting,” provide and oversee voting machines, consult on methods to cure absentee ballots, and even assume the duty of curing ballots.

A few weeks after the five Wisconsin cities received their grants, CTCL emailed Claire Woodall-Vogg, the executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, to offer “an experienced elections staffer that could potentially embed with your staff in Milwaukee in a matter of days.” The staffer leading Wisconsin’s portion of the National Vote at Home Institute was an out-of-state Democratic activist named Michael Spitzer-Rubenstein. As soon as he met with Woodall-Vogg, he asked for contacts in other cities and at the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Spitzer-Rubenstein would eventually take over much of Green Bay’s election planning from the official charged with running the election, Green Bay Clerk Kris Teske. This made Teske so unhappy that she took Family and Medical Leave prior to the election and quit shortly thereafter.

Emails from Spitzer-Rubenstein show the extent to which he was managing the election process. To one government official he wrote, “By Monday, I’ll have our edits on the absentee voting instructions. We’re pushing Quickbase to get their system up and running and I’ll keep you updated. I’ll revise the planning tool to accurately reflect the process. I’ll create a flowchart for the vote-by-mail processing that we will be able to share with both inspectors and also observers.”

Once early voting started, Woodall-Vogg would provide Spitzer-Rubenstein with daily updates on the numbers of absentee ballots returned and still outstanding in each ward­­—prized information for a political operative.

Amazingly, Spitzer-Rubenstein even asked for direct access to the Milwaukee Election Commission’s voter database:

“Would you or someone else on your team be able to do a screen-share so we can see the process for an export?” he wrote.

“Do you know if WisVote has an [application programming interface] or anything similar so that it can connect with other software apps? That would be the holy grail.”

Even for Woodall-Vogg, that was too much.

“While I completely understand and appreciate the assistance that is trying to be provided,” she replied, “I am definitely not comfortable having a non-staff member involved in the function of our voter database, much less recording it.”

When these emails were released in 2021, they stunned Wisconsin observers. “What exactly was the National Vote at Home Institute doing with its daily reports? Was it making sure that people were actually voting from home by going door-to-door to collect ballots from voters who had not yet turned theirs in? Was this data sharing a condition of the CTCL grant? And who was really running Milwaukee’s election?” asked Dan O’Donnell, whose election analysis appeared at Wisconsin’s conservative MacIver Institute.

Kris Teske, the sidelined Green Bay city clerk—in whose office Wisconsin law actually places the responsibility to conduct elections—had of course seen what was happening early on. “I just don’t know where the Clerk’s Office fits in anymore,” she wrote in early July. By August, she was worried about legal exposure: “I don’t understand how people who don’t have the knowledge of the process can tell us how to manage the election,” she wrote on August 28.

Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich simply handed over Teske’s authority to agents from outside groups and gave them leadership roles in collecting absentee ballots, fixing ballots that would otherwise be voided for failure to follow the law, and even supervising the counting of ballots. “The grant mentors would like to meet with you to discuss, further, the ballot curing process. Please let them know when you’re available,” Genrich’s chief of staff told Teske.

Spitzer-Rubenstein explained that the National Vote at Home Institute had done the same for other cities in Wisconsin. “We have a process map that we’ve worked out with Milwaukee for their process. We can also adapt the letter we’re sending out with rejected absentee ballots along with a call script alerting voters. (We can also get people to make the calls, too, so you don’t need to worry about it.)”

Other emails show that Spitzer-Rubenstein had keys to the central counting facility and access to all the machines before election night. His name was on contracts with the hotel hosting the ballot counting.

Sandy Juno, who was clerk of Brown County, where Green Bay is located, later testified about the problems in a legislative hearing. “He was advising them on things. He was touching the ballots. He had access to see how the votes were counted,” Juno said of Spitzer-Rubenstein. Others testified that he was giving orders to poll workers and seemed to be the person running the election night count operation.

“I would really like to think that when we talk about security of elections, we’re talking about more than just the security of the internet,” Juno said. “You know, it has to be security of the physical location, where you’re not giving a third party keys to where you have your election equipment.”

Juno noted that there were irregularities in the counting, too, with no consistency between the various tables. Some had absentee ballots face-up, so anyone could see how they were marked. Poll workers were seen reviewing ballots not just to see that they’d been appropriately checked by the clerk, but “reviewing how they were marked.” And poll workers fixing ballots used the same color pens as the ones ballots had been filled out in, contrary to established procedures designed to make sure observers could differentiate between voters’ marks and poll workers’ marks.

The plan by Democratic strategists to bring activist groups into election offices worked in part because no legislature had ever imagined that a nonprofit could take over so many election offices so easily.

“If it can happen to Green Bay, Wisconsin, sweet little old Green Bay, Wisconsin, these people can coordinate any place,” said Janel Brandtjen, a state representative in Wisconsin.

She was right. What happened in Green Bay happened in Democrat-run cities and counties across the country. Four hundred million Zuckerbucks were distributed with strings attached. Officials were required to work with “partner organizations” to massively expand mail-in voting and staff their election operations with partisan activists. The plan was genius. And because no one ever imagined that the election system could be privatized in this way, there were no laws to prevent it.

"Such laws should now be a priority.” See here.

Let’s do everything we can to publicize the steal. That way, we have a chance to prevent it.

Tyler Durden Wed, 03/20/2024 - 19:00

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Analyst revamps MicroStrategy stock price target after Bitcoin buy

Here’s what could happen to MicroStrategy shares next.

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How does Michael Saylor feel about bitcoin? We'll let him tell you in his own words.

"Bitcoin is a swarm of cyberhornets serving the goddess of wisdom, feeding on the fire of truth, exponentially growing ever smarter, faster, and stronger behind a wall of encrypted energy," the executive chairman and co-founder of MicroStrategy  (MSTR)  once said.

Too subtle? Still not sure how the former CEO of the software intelligence company feels about the world's largest cryptocurrency? 

Maybe this will help.

"Bitcoin is a bank in cyberspace, run by incorruptible software, offering a global, affordable, simple and secure savings account to billions of people that don't have the option or desire to run their own hedge fund," Saylor said.

Okay, so the guy really likes bitcoin. And on March 19, the first day of spring, MicroStrategy took a bigger bite out of bitcoin when the company said it had bought 9,245 bitcoins for $623 million between March 11 and March 18.

MicroStrategy said it a completed a $603.75 million convertible debt offering — its second in a week — to raise money to buy bitcoin.

The company now holds about $13.5 billion of bitcoin, which adds up to more than 1% of the 21 million bitcoin that will ever exist, according to CoinDesk.

An analyst adjusts his price target for MicroStrategy

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Committed to developing bitcoin network

MicroStrategy said in a regulatory filing that it had paid roughly $7.53 billion for its bitcoin stash, an average of $35,160 per coin.

The company's stock fell on Tuesday, while bitcoin posted its biggest single-day loss since November 2022. MicroStrategy was off slightly to $1,416 at last check on Wednesday and bitcoin was up 2.3% to $63.607.

Related: Analyst unveils Nvidia stock price 'line in the sand'

Phong Le, MicroStrategy’s president and CEO, told analysts during the company’s Feb. 6 fourth-quarter-earnings call that "we remain highly committed to our bitcoin strategy with a long-term focus.."

"We consider MicroStrategy to be the world's first bitcoin development company," he said. "We are a publicly traded operating company committed to the continued development of the bitcoin network through activities in the financial markets, advocacy, and technology innovation."

MicroStrategy earned $4.96 a share in the quarter, beating the FactSet consensus of a loss of 64 cents, and light years beyond the year-ago loss of $21.93 a share.

Revenue totaled $124.5 million, compared with FactSet's call for $133 million and the year-earlier tally of $132.6 million.

During the call, Saylor told analysts that "2024 is the year of birth of bitcoin as an institutional-grade asset class."

MicroStrategy, he said, completed the first 15 years of the bitcoin life cycle, back when it was largely unregulated and misunderstood. 

"The next 15 years, I would expect, will be a regulated, institutional, high-growth period of bitcoin, very, very different in many ways from the last 15 years," Saylor said.

Crypto's dark days

"Bitcoin itself is performing well for a number of reasons, but one reason is because it represents the digital transformation of capital," he added.

Of course, life with bitcoin wasn't always sunshine and roses. 

More Wall Street Analysts:

We take you back now to those less-than-thrilling days yesteryear, when covid-19 was on the rampage and the price of bitcoin fell 30% from March 8 to March 12 2020.

By the end of 2021, bitcoin had fallen nearly 30%. And 2023 saw the cryptocurrency sector wracked with bankruptcy and scandal, with the likes of FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried being convicted of fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering. 

SBF, as he has been known, is scheduled to be sentenced in Manhattan federal court on March 28. He faces a long stretch.

But bitcoin rose about 160% in 2023 and hit a record $73,750 on March 14.

Saylor recently said that his high hopes for bitcoin this year stemmed largely from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approving spot bitcoin ETFs and the upcoming bitcoin halving, where when bitcoin's mining reward is split in half.

MicroStrategy is the first bitcoin development company, Saylor told analysts, but perhaps not for long. 

"We've published our playbook, and we're showing other companies how to do it," he said.

TD Cowen analyst Lance Vitanza cited MicroStrategy's latest bitcoin acquisition when he adjusted his price target for the company's shares on March 20.

The analyst cut the investment firm's price target on MicroStrategy to $1,450 from $1,560 and affirmed an outperform rating on the shares. 

He says the shares remain an attractive vehicle for investors looking to gain bitcoin exposure.

Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024

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