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McCOY GLOBAL ANNOUNCES SECOND QUARTER 2022 RESULTS

McCOY GLOBAL ANNOUNCES SECOND QUARTER 2022 RESULTS
Canada NewsWire
EDMONTON, AB, Aug. 5, 2022

EDMONTON, AB, Aug. 5, 2022 /CNW/ – McCoy Global Inc. (“McCoy,” “McCoy Global” or “the Corporation”) (TSX: MCB) today announced its operational and financi…

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McCOY GLOBAL ANNOUNCES SECOND QUARTER 2022 RESULTS

Canada NewsWire

EDMONTON, AB, Aug. 5, 2022 /CNW/ - McCoy Global Inc. ("McCoy," "McCoy Global" or "the Corporation") (TSX: MCB) today announced its operational and financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2022.

Second Quarter Highlights:
  • Net earnings remained strong at $1.1 million compared to $1.2 million in 2021 (of which $2.4 million related to loan forgiveness of the Corporation's US Paycheck Protection Program borrowings), and improved by $0.9 million from $0.2 million in the first quarter of 2022;
  • Adjusted EBITDA1 improved more than tenfold to $2.3 million, or 18% of revenue, compared with $0.2 million, or 3% of revenue, in 2021. Sequentially, Adjusted EBITDA improved by $1.1 million from $1.4 million, or 16% of revenue, reported in the first quarter of 2022;
  • Revenue more than doubled to $12.9 million compared with $6.1 million in 2021;
  • Subsequent to June 30, 2022, McCoy received $11.3 million of orders received for Hydraulic Power Tongs, Casing Running Tools (CRT) and McCoy Torque Turn systems and related parts and accessories from a customer based in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, resulting in backlog of $27.4 million as at August 4, 2022, a level not experienced since Q1 2015;
  • Twelfth (12th) quarter of positive Adjusted EBITDA, demonstrating solid earnings performance and operating leverage despite the unprecedented market conditions presented by the COVID-19 pandemic; and
  • Advanced its Digital Technology Roadmap:
  •  
    • Successfully completed customer field trials for McCoy's smartCRTTM , an intelligent, connected enhancement of our conventional casing running tool that offers superior safety, efficiency and simplified operating procedure with a Middle East National Oil Company. With this achievement behind us, we have also accepted an order for two of the smartCRTTM tools, scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2022.
    • Reported the first two commercial sales for McCoy's FMS, the hydraulic rotary flush mounted spider that when fully connected (smartFMSTM), handles casing while providing information on the state of the tool to the driller's display in real-time as well as the ability to integrate with the smartCRT™.

"McCoy's strong second quarter financial results reflect steadily increasing customer demand and demonstrate the solid financial operating leverage we expect to deliver as our order book continues to build. With recent order intake activity, our backlog now sits at the highest levels we've seen since 2015 and we are solidly positioned to deliver on our financial results for the second half of 2022." said Jim Rakievich, President & CEO of McCoy. "Despite current economic uncertainty and commodity price volatility, increased drilling activity levels over the medium term paired with new international market entrants will serve to further enhance commercial opportunities. The strategic priorities we executed upon in 2020 and 2021 to first optimize cost structure and second, to advance our investments in developing smart technologies, positions us to capitalize on opportunities as market activity improves."

"Our second quarter performance demonstrated continued strength in several of our financial metrics. McCoy's continued fiscal discipline resulted in a more than tenfold increase in Adjusted EBITDA1 of $2.3 million or 18% of revenue for the second quarter (Q2 2021 – Adjusted EBITDA of $0.2 million, or 3% of revenue). Though operating cashflows were impacted by $4.2 million investment in working capital, this was largely driven by an increase in trade receivable balances related to the large volume of customer shipments that took place near the end of the quarter. Despite the many supply chain challenges faced globally, successful supply chain management has also allowed us to not only navigate cost headwinds, but also successfully sustain inventory investment levels in conjunction with increasing order intake activity." said Lindsay McGill, Vice President & CFO of McCoy. "As of June 30, 2022, McCoy reported net cash of $4.1 million with an additional US$2.5 million available under an undrawn operating facility, which will well position McCoy for revenue growth in the year ahead."

Second Quarter Financial Highlights:
  • Total revenue of $12.9 million, compared with $6.1 million in Q2 2021;
  • Adjusted EBITDA1 increased to $2.3 million, or 18% of revenue, compared with $0.2 million, or 3% of revenue, in Q2 2021;
  • Net earnings of $1.1 million, compared to net earnings of $1.2 million in Q1 2021 of which $2.3 million related to forgiveness for first-round funding under the US Paycheck Protection Loan Program (PPP);
  • Booked backlog2 of $14.6 million at June 30, 2022, up from $10.2 million in the second quarter of 2021, additional order intake received subsequent to June 30, 2022 bolstered backlog levels to $27.4 million as at August 4, 2022;
  • Book-to-bill ratio3 was 0.88 for the three months ended June 30, 2022, compared with 1.21 in the second quarter of 2021;
Financial Summary

Revenue of $12.9 million for three months ended June 30, 2022, continued to benefit from improved global drilling activity levels, particularly with respect to capital equipment and related parts and accessories. Revenue for the second quarter of 2021 of $6.1 million was impacted by the decline in order intake experienced as a result of second and third waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gross profit, as a percentage of revenue for the three months June 30, 2022, was 32%, a six percentage point improvement from the second quarter of 2021. Although product mix has been more heavily weighted towards capital equipment, which typically commands higher material cost and in turn lower product line margins, the unfavourable shift in product mix experienced throughout Q2 2022 was more than offset by the benefit of increased production throughput. Despite the many supply chain challenges faced globally, successful supply chain management has also allowed us to navigate cost headwinds, maintain, and in some cases improve, product margins.

For the three months June 30, 2022, general and administrative expenses (G&A) was consistent with the comparative period as the Corporation continues to maintain discipline around overhead expenditures, further demonstrating the solid financial operating leverage we expect to deliver as our order book builds.

Sales and marketing expenses for the second quarter of 2022 increased by $0.1 million from the comparative period to $0.5 million due to additional travel activity to support rebounding order intake and maintain our market leading customer engagement.

During the three months June 30, 2022, with $0.1 million of capitalized development expenditures, McCoy further advanced its Digital Technology Roadmap initiative through the continued development of 'smart' product offerings which will be digitally integrated into its automated tubular running system smartTRTM.

For the three months ended June 30, 2022, other gains, net was nominal. In the comparative period, other gains, net of $2.1 million was comprised primarily of US $2.0 million loan forgiveness of the US Paycheck Protection Program, government assistance payments related to the Canadian Emergency Wage and Rent Subsidies, as well as gains on the disposal of property, plant and equipment, offset by a one-time retroactive payment to employees and foreign exchange losses.

Net earnings for the three months ended June 30, 2022 was $1.1 million or $0.04 per basic share, compared with net earnings of $1.2 million, which included $2.3 million related to forgiveness for first-round funding under the US Paycheck Protection Loan Program (PPP), or $0.04 per basic share in the second quarter of 2021.

Adjusted EBITDA1 for the three months ended June 30, 2022 was $2.3 million compared with $0.2 million for the second quarter of 2021.

As at June 30, 2022 the Corporation had $8.4 million in cash and cash equivalents, of which $0.8 million was restricted under the conditions of the Corporation's credit facility.

Selected Quarterly Information

($000 except per share amounts and percentages)

Q2 2022

Q2 2021

% Change

Total revenue

12,863

6,086

111 %

Gross profit

4,077

1,566

160 %

as a percentage of revenue

32 %

26 %

6 %

Net earnings

1,051

1,151

(9 %)

per common share – basic

0.04

0.04

8 %

per common share – diluted

0.04

0.03

42 %

Adjusted EBITDA1

2,296

174

1,220 %

per common share – basic

0.08

0.01

712 %

per common share – diluted

0.08

0.01

700 %

Total assets

59,375

53,505

11 %

Total liabilities

17,395

17,802

(2 %)

Total non-current liabilities

5,413

9,872

(45 %)

Summary of Quarterly Results

The second quarter of 2022 represents McCoy's twelfth (12th) consecutive quarter of positive Adjusted EBITDA performance and demonstrates the Corporation's solid earnings performance and operating leverage despite the unprecedented market conditions presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

($000 except per share
amounts)

Q2
2022

Q1
2022

Q4
2021

Q3
2021

Q2
2021

Q1
2021

Q4
2020

Q3
2020

Revenue

12,863

8,891

9,451

9,855

6,086

7,374

9,369

7,621

Net earnings (loss)

1,051

174

2,464

621

1,151

(158)

(2,150)

(720)

   per share – basic

0.04

0.01

0.09

0.02

0.04

(0.01)

(0.08)

(0.03)

   per share – diluted

0.04

0.01

0.08

0.02

0.04

(0.01)

(0.08)

(0.03)

EBITDA1

1,943

1,146

3,504

1,550

2,077

749

(1,116)

312

Adjusted EBITDA1

2,296

1,461

1,213

1,376

174

673

153

365

Outlook and Forward-Looking Information

The oil & gas extraction complex has experienced an increasingly volatile pricing environment and growing public and investor pressure to reduce its impact on the environment and improve safety. In turn, producers have been acutely focused on managing their costs and adapting their business strategy to demonstrate compliance with broader sustainability efforts.

McCoy has a reputation of expertise and innovation within tubular running services (TRS) operations globally. The Corporation has extensive experience launching new products into the markets it serves, offering the highest quality and safety standards available, unparalleled customer support, and has done so for more than three decades.

McCoy believes the TRS space is primed for transformation employing automation and machine learning. Tools and processes used in TRS today are mechanical, highly repetitive, require significant labour inputs, have a high rate of personnel safety exposure, and maintain minimal well integrity data. Recognizing this opportunity, McCoy has conceptualized a 'Smart' TRS system that will operate autonomously using the Corporation's cloud-based data repository and machine learning to improve effectiveness. Our cloud-based platform and digital infrastructure that was developed in 2019, will enable future digital product offerings and enhancements. This cloud based, real time, remote data transmission infrastructure will support our ability to integrate, digitize, and automate the historically manual processes of tubular make up through our smartTRTM automated casing running system. The product suite includes five 'Smart' products: Virtual Thread-RepTM, smartCRTTM, smartFMSTM, McCoy's smartTong, and McCoy's smart tailing stabbing arm (smartTSATM).

McCoy is engaged with three key customer groups:

Service Companies and Drilling Contractors - Producers are challenging contractors, across the board, to reduce costs. In many cases, their largest cost is people. With five years of decreasing oil and gas activity, personnel have left the industry to the point where there is now a critical shortage of skilled and experienced labour. Personnel safety, the shortage of experienced people, and the reality that 65% of TRS cost is directly attributable to labour, is a driving force behind the transition to an increasingly automated system.

Producers – McCoy's Virtual Thread RepTM consolidates data on every connection made in a Producer's completion program. This repository of data supports verifiable and reliable well integrity that validates Environmental Social Governance (ESG) initiatives. In addition to providing enhanced data, remote operation can reduce up to 85% of the labour costs associated with TRS for our Producer group.

Tubular Manufacturers – Threaded connection integrity is the standard that all manufacturers are measured by. Tubular connections at wellsite, which are currently made up by people, will be controlled, and torqued to factory specifications by McCoy's 'Smart' tools, leveraging autonomous machine learning. OEM's and manufacturers will benefit from reduced operational risk with systems in place to ensure connections are made correctly and in accordance with specifications related to project parameters, reducing the environmental impact of faulty connections and leaking wells.

McCoy's digital strategy will meet this demand. Our cloud platform is the nucleus of the Corporation's digital strategy and serves as a repository for real-time, complete well integrity data.

Including the $11.3 million of orders received for Hydraulic Power Tongs, Casing Running Tools (CRT) and MTT systems and related parts and accessories from a customer based in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in July, as at August 4, 2022, McCoy's backlog totals $X.X million (US$X.X million). McCoy's order book has not been at this level since the first quarter of 2015, and this magnitude of backlog will support strong revenue and earnings performance for the second half of 2022 and into 2023.

Although we expect the shift in product mix from these capital equipment orders to compress gross margin to some degree, as our capital equipment product lines typically command higher material costs in comparison to aftermarket products, this is expected to be partially offset by the benefit of increased production throughput against our fixed production overheads.

Despite current economic uncertainty and commodity price volatility, over the medium term, market fundamentals continue to be robust. Increased drilling activity levels paired with new international market entrants will serve to further enhance commercial opportunities for our smartCRTTM. We also expect that the tightening labour market faced by our customers will serve to accelerate adoption of many of our new smart technology offerings, particularly in the US land region in both the near and long term.

As 2022 progresses, we continue to focus on our key strategic initiatives to deliver value to all of our stakeholders:

  • Growing market adoption of new and recently developed 'smart' portfolio products;
  • Taking advantage of the current market trajectory by focusing on revenue generation while continuing to successfully mitigate supply chain and logistic challenges;
  • Continuing to build our equipment rental fleet to offer flexible solutions to customers where meaningful returns are expected;
  • Prudently investing in technology development initiatives; and
  • Generating cashflow from operations through fiscal discipline and continued working capital efficiency.

Subsequent to June 30, 2022, the Corporation committed to pursuing a sale and leaseback arrangement for its real estate located in Cedar Park, Texas currently held at net book value of $3.4 million. Proceeds from a potential sale transaction are expected to be used to repay the Corporation's US$3.4 million term loan bearing interest at US Prime plus 4.95% in addition to funding current working capital increases and providing financial flexibility for future strategic growth.

In its continuing evaluation of opportunities to unlock shareholder value, the Corporation also intends to pursue the implementation of a normal course issuer bid (NCIB), subject to Toronto Stock Exchange approval.

We believe this strategy, together with our committed and agile team, McCoy's global brand recognition, intimate customer knowledge and global footprint will further advance McCoy's competitive position, regardless of the market environment.

About McCoy Global Inc.

McCoy Global is transforming well construction using automation and machine learning to maximize wellbore integrity and collect precise connection data critical to the global energy industry. The Corporation has offices in Canada, the United States of America, and the United Arab Emirates and operates internationally in more than 50 countries through a combination of direct sales and key distributors.

Throughout McCoy's 100-year history, it has proudly called Edmonton, Alberta, Canada its corporate headquarters. The Corporation's shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and trade under the symbol "MCB".

1 EBITDA is calculated under IFRS and is reported as an additional subtotal in the Corporation's consolidated statements of cash flows. EBITDA is defined as net earnings (loss), before depreciation of property, plant and equipment; amortization of intangible assets; income tax expense (recovery); and finance charges, net. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure defined as net (loss) earnings, before: depreciation of property, plant and equipment; amortization of intangible assets; income tax expense (recovery); finance charges, net; provisions for excess and obsolete inventory; other (gains) losses, net; restructuring charges; share-based compensation; and impairment losses. The Corporation reports on EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA because they are key measures used by management to evaluate performance. The Corporation believes adjusted EBITDA assists investors in assessing McCoy Global's current operating performance on a consistent basis without regard to non-cash, unusual (i.e. infrequent and not considered part of ongoing operations), or non-recurring items that can vary significantly depending on accounting methods or non-operating factors. Adjusted EBITDA is not considered an alternative to net (loss) earnings in measuring McCoy Global's performance. Adjusted EBITDA does not have a standardized meaning and is therefore not likely to be comparable to similar measures used by other issuers. For comparative purposes, in previous financial disclosures 'adjusted EBITDA' was defined as "net earnings (loss) before finance charges, net, income tax expense (recovery), depreciation, amortization, impairment losses, restructuring charges, non-cash changes in fair value related to derivative financial instruments and share-based compensation."

($000 except per share amounts and percentages)

Q2 2022

Q2 2021

Net earnings

1,051

1151

Depreciation of property, plant and equipment

440

490

Amortization of intangible assets

269

194

Finance charges, net

183

242

EBITDA

1,943

2,077

Provisions for (recovery of) excess and obsolete inventory

234

(112)

Other gains, net

(2)

(2,125)

Share-based compensation

121

334

Adjusted EBITDA

2,296

174

2 McCoy Global defines backlog as orders that have a high certainty of being delivered and is measured on the basis of a firm customer commitment, such as the receipt of a purchase order. Customers may default on or cancel such commitments, but may be secured by a deposit and/or require reimbursement by the customer upon default or cancellation. Backlog reflects likely future revenues; however, cancellations or reductions may occur and there can be no assurance that backlog amounts will ultimately be realized as revenue, or that the Corporation will earn a profit on backlog once fulfilled. Expected delivery dates for orders recorded in backlog historically spanned from one to six months.

3 The book-to-bill ratio is a measure of the amount of net sales orders received to revenues recognized and billed in a set period of time. The ratio is an indicator of customer demand and sales order processing times. The book-to-bill ratio is not a GAAP measure and therefore the definition and calculation of the ratio will vary among other issuers reporting the book-to-bill ratio. McCoy Global calculates the book-to-bill ratio as net sales orders taken in the reporting period divided by the revenues reported for the same reporting period.

4 New product and technology offerings as products or technologies introduced to our portfolio in the past 36 months.

Forward-Looking Information

This News Release contains forward looking statements and forward looking information (collectively referred to herein as "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward looking statements. Forward looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "could", "should", "can", "anticipate", "expect", "objective", "ongoing", "believe", "will", "may", "projected", "plan", "sustain", "continues", "strategy", "potential", "projects", "grow", "take advantage", "estimate", "well positioned" or similar words suggesting future outcomes. This New Release contains forward looking statements respecting the business opportunities for the Corporation that are based on the views of management of the Corporation and current and anticipated market conditions; and the perceived benefits of the growth strategy and operating strategy of the Corporation are based upon the financial and operating attributes of the Corporation as at the date hereof, as well as the anticipated operating and financial results. Forward looking statements regarding the Corporation are based on certain key expectations and assumptions of the Corporation concerning anticipated financial performance, business prospects, strategies, the sufficiency of budgeted capital expenditures in carrying out planned activities, the availability and cost of labour and services and the ability to obtain financing on acceptable terms, which are subject to change based on market conditions and potential timing delays. Although management of the Corporation consider these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to them, they may prove to be incorrect. By their very nature, forward looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties (both general and specific) and risks that forward looking statements will not be achieved. Undue reliance should not be placed on forward looking statements, as a number of important factors could cause the actual results to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates and intentions expressed in the forward looking statements, including inability to meet current and future obligations; inability to complete or effectively integrate strategic acquisitions; inability to implement the Corporation's business strategy effectively; access to capital markets; fluctuations in oil and gas prices; fluctuations in capital expenditures of the Corporation's target market; competition for, among other things, labour, capital, materials and customers; interest and currency exchange rates; technological developments; global political and economic conditions; global natural disasters or disease; and inability to attract and retain key personnel. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive. The reader is further cautioned that the preparation of financial statements in accordance with IFRS requires management to make certain judgments and estimates that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses. These judgments and estimates may change, having either a negative or positive effect on net earnings as further information becomes available, and as the economic environment changes. The information contained in this News Release identifies additional factors that could affect the operating results and performance of the Corporation. We urge you to carefully consider those factors. The forward looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward looking statements included in this News Release are made as of the date of this New Release and the Corporation does not undertake and is not obligated to publicly update such forward looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless so required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE McCoy Global Inc.

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The Coming Of The Police State In America

The Coming Of The Police State In America

Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times,

The National Guard and the State Police are now…

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The Coming Of The Police State In America

Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times,

The National Guard and the State Police are now patrolling the New York City subway system in an attempt to do something about the explosion of crime. As part of this, there are bag checks and new surveillance of all passengers. No legislation, no debate, just an edict from the mayor.

Many citizens who rely on this system for transportation might welcome this. It’s a city of strict gun control, and no one knows for sure if they have the right to defend themselves. Merchants have been harassed and even arrested for trying to stop looting and pillaging in their own shops.

The message has been sent: Only the police can do this job. Whether they do it or not is another matter.

Things on the subway system have gotten crazy. If you know it well, you can manage to travel safely, but visitors to the city who take the wrong train at the wrong time are taking grave risks.

In actual fact, it’s guaranteed that this will only end in confiscating knives and other things that people carry in order to protect themselves while leaving the actual criminals even more free to prey on citizens.

The law-abiding will suffer and the criminals will grow more numerous. It will not end well.

When you step back from the details, what we have is the dawning of a genuine police state in the United States. It only starts in New York City. Where is the Guard going to be deployed next? Anywhere is possible.

If the crime is bad enough, citizens will welcome it. It must have been this way in most times and places that when the police state arrives, the people cheer.

We will all have our own stories of how this came to be. Some might begin with the passage of the Patriot Act and the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security in 2001. Some will focus on gun control and the taking away of citizens’ rights to defend themselves.

My own version of events is closer in time. It began four years ago this month with lockdowns. That’s what shattered the capacity of civil society to function in the United States. Everything that has happened since follows like one domino tumbling after another.

It goes like this:

1) lockdown,

2) loss of moral compass and spreading of loneliness and nihilism,

3) rioting resulting from citizen frustration, 4) police absent because of ideological hectoring,

5) a rise in uncontrolled immigration/refugees,

6) an epidemic of ill health from substance abuse and otherwise,

7) businesses flee the city

8) cities fall into decay, and that results in

9) more surveillance and police state.

The 10th stage is the sacking of liberty and civilization itself.

It doesn’t fall out this way at every point in history, but this seems like a solid outline of what happened in this case. Four years is a very short period of time to see all of this unfold. But it is a fact that New York City was more-or-less civilized only four years ago. No one could have predicted that it would come to this so quickly.

But once the lockdowns happened, all bets were off. Here we had a policy that most directly trampled on all freedoms that we had taken for granted. Schools, businesses, and churches were slammed shut, with various levels of enforcement. The entire workforce was divided between essential and nonessential, and there was widespread confusion about who precisely was in charge of designating and enforcing this.

It felt like martial law at the time, as if all normal civilian law had been displaced by something else. That something had to do with public health, but there was clearly more going on, because suddenly our social media posts were censored and we were being asked to do things that made no sense, such as mask up for a virus that evaded mask protection and walk in only one direction in grocery aisles.

Vast amounts of the white-collar workforce stayed home—and their kids, too—until it became too much to bear. The city became a ghost town. Most U.S. cities were the same.

As the months of disaster rolled on, the captives were let out of their houses for the summer in order to protest racism but no other reason. As a way of excusing this, the same public health authorities said that racism was a virus as bad as COVID-19, so therefore it was permitted.

The protests had turned to riots in many cities, and the police were being defunded and discouraged to do anything about the problem. Citizens watched in horror as downtowns burned and drug-crazed freaks took over whole sections of cities. It was like every standard of decency had been zapped out of an entire swath of the population.

Meanwhile, large checks were arriving in people’s bank accounts, defying every normal economic expectation. How could people not be working and get their bank accounts more flush with cash than ever? There was a new law that didn’t even require that people pay rent. How weird was that? Even student loans didn’t need to be paid.

By the fall, recess from lockdown was over and everyone was told to go home again. But this time they had a job to do: They were supposed to vote. Not at the polling places, because going there would only spread germs, or so the media said. When the voting results finally came in, it was the absentee ballots that swung the election in favor of the opposition party that actually wanted more lockdowns and eventually pushed vaccine mandates on the whole population.

The new party in control took note of the large population movements out of cities and states that they controlled. This would have a large effect on voting patterns in the future. But they had a plan. They would open the borders to millions of people in the guise of caring for refugees. These new warm bodies would become voters in time and certainly count on the census when it came time to reapportion political power.

Meanwhile, the native population had begun to swim in ill health from substance abuse, widespread depression, and demoralization, plus vaccine injury. This increased dependency on the very institutions that had caused the problem in the first place: the medical/scientific establishment.

The rise of crime drove the small businesses out of the city. They had barely survived the lockdowns, but they certainly could not survive the crime epidemic. This undermined the tax base of the city and allowed the criminals to take further control.

The same cities became sanctuaries for the waves of migrants sacking the country, and partisan mayors actually used tax dollars to house these invaders in high-end hotels in the name of having compassion for the stranger. Citizens were pushed out to make way for rampaging migrant hordes, as incredible as this seems.

But with that, of course, crime rose ever further, inciting citizen anger and providing a pretext to bring in the police state in the form of the National Guard, now tasked with cracking down on crime in the transportation system.

What’s the next step? It’s probably already here: mass surveillance and censorship, plus ever-expanding police power. This will be accompanied by further population movements, as those with the means to do so flee the city and even the country and leave it for everyone else to suffer.

As I tell the story, all of this seems inevitable. It is not. It could have been stopped at any point. A wise and prudent political leadership could have admitted the error from the beginning and called on the country to rediscover freedom, decency, and the difference between right and wrong. But ego and pride stopped that from happening, and we are left with the consequences.

The government grows ever bigger and civil society ever less capable of managing itself in large urban centers. Disaster is unfolding in real time, mitigated only by a rising stock market and a financial system that has yet to fall apart completely.

Are we at the middle stages of total collapse, or at the point where the population and people in leadership positions wise up and decide to put an end to the downward slide? It’s hard to know. But this much we do know: There is a growing pocket of resistance out there that is fed up and refuses to sit by and watch this great country be sacked and taken over by everything it was set up to prevent.

Tyler Durden Sat, 03/09/2024 - 16:20

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Low Iron Levels In Blood Could Trigger Long COVID: Study

Low Iron Levels In Blood Could Trigger Long COVID: Study

Authored by Amie Dahnke via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

People with inadequate…

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Low Iron Levels In Blood Could Trigger Long COVID: Study

Authored by Amie Dahnke via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

People with inadequate iron levels in their blood due to a COVID-19 infection could be at greater risk of long COVID.

(Shutterstock)

A new study indicates that problems with iron levels in the bloodstream likely trigger chronic inflammation and other conditions associated with the post-COVID phenomenon. The findings, published on March 1 in Nature Immunology, could offer new ways to treat or prevent the condition.

Long COVID Patients Have Low Iron Levels

Researchers at the University of Cambridge pinpointed low iron as a potential link to long-COVID symptoms thanks to a study they initiated shortly after the start of the pandemic. They recruited people who tested positive for the virus to provide blood samples for analysis over a year, which allowed the researchers to look for post-infection changes in the blood. The researchers looked at 214 samples and found that 45 percent of patients reported symptoms of long COVID that lasted between three and 10 months.

In analyzing the blood samples, the research team noticed that people experiencing long COVID had low iron levels, contributing to anemia and low red blood cell production, just two weeks after they were diagnosed with COVID-19. This was true for patients regardless of age, sex, or the initial severity of their infection.

According to one of the study co-authors, the removal of iron from the bloodstream is a natural process and defense mechanism of the body.

But it can jeopardize a person’s recovery.

When the body has an infection, it responds by removing iron from the bloodstream. This protects us from potentially lethal bacteria that capture the iron in the bloodstream and grow rapidly. It’s an evolutionary response that redistributes iron in the body, and the blood plasma becomes an iron desert,” University of Oxford professor Hal Drakesmith said in a press release. “However, if this goes on for a long time, there is less iron for red blood cells, so oxygen is transported less efficiently affecting metabolism and energy production, and for white blood cells, which need iron to work properly. The protective mechanism ends up becoming a problem.”

The research team believes that consistently low iron levels could explain why individuals with long COVID continue to experience fatigue and difficulty exercising. As such, the researchers suggested iron supplementation to help regulate and prevent the often debilitating symptoms associated with long COVID.

It isn’t necessarily the case that individuals don’t have enough iron in their body, it’s just that it’s trapped in the wrong place,” Aimee Hanson, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge who worked on the study, said in the press release. “What we need is a way to remobilize the iron and pull it back into the bloodstream, where it becomes more useful to the red blood cells.”

The research team pointed out that iron supplementation isn’t always straightforward. Achieving the right level of iron varies from person to person. Too much iron can cause stomach issues, ranging from constipation, nausea, and abdominal pain to gastritis and gastric lesions.

1 in 5 Still Affected by Long COVID

COVID-19 has affected nearly 40 percent of Americans, with one in five of those still suffering from symptoms of long COVID, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Long COVID is marked by health issues that continue at least four weeks after an individual was initially diagnosed with COVID-19. Symptoms can last for days, weeks, months, or years and may include fatigue, cough or chest pain, headache, brain fog, depression or anxiety, digestive issues, and joint or muscle pain.

Tyler Durden Sat, 03/09/2024 - 12:50

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February Employment Situation

By Paul Gomme and Peter Rupert The establishment data from the BLS showed a 275,000 increase in payroll employment for February, outpacing the 230,000…

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By Paul Gomme and Peter Rupert

The establishment data from the BLS showed a 275,000 increase in payroll employment for February, outpacing the 230,000 average over the previous 12 months. The payroll data for January and December were revised down by a total of 167,000. The private sector added 223,000 new jobs, the largest gain since May of last year.

Temporary help services employment continues a steep decline after a sharp post-pandemic rise.

Average hours of work increased from 34.2 to 34.3. The increase, along with the 223,000 private employment increase led to a hefty increase in total hours of 5.6% at an annualized rate, also the largest increase since May of last year.

The establishment report, once again, beat “expectations;” the WSJ survey of economists was 198,000. Other than the downward revisions, mentioned above, another bit of negative news was a smallish increase in wage growth, from $34.52 to $34.57.

The household survey shows that the labor force increased 150,000, a drop in employment of 184,000 and an increase in the number of unemployed persons of 334,000. The labor force participation rate held steady at 62.5, the employment to population ratio decreased from 60.2 to 60.1 and the unemployment rate increased from 3.66 to 3.86. Remember that the unemployment rate is the number of unemployed relative to the labor force (the number employed plus the number unemployed). Consequently, the unemployment rate can go up if the number of unemployed rises holding fixed the labor force, or if the labor force shrinks holding the number unemployed unchanged. An increase in the unemployment rate is not necessarily a bad thing: it may reflect a strong labor market drawing “marginally attached” individuals from outside the labor force. Indeed, there was a 96,000 decline in those workers.

Earlier in the week, the BLS announced JOLTS (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey) data for January. There isn’t much to report here as the job openings changed little at 8.9 million, the number of hires and total separations were little changed at 5.7 million and 5.3 million, respectively.

As has been the case for the last couple of years, the number of job openings remains higher than the number of unemployed persons.

Also earlier in the week the BLS announced that productivity increased 3.2% in the 4th quarter with output rising 3.5% and hours of work rising 0.3%.

The bottom line is that the labor market continues its surprisingly (to some) strong performance, once again proving stronger than many had expected. This strength makes it difficult to justify any interest rate cuts soon, particularly given the recent inflation spike.

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