Saturday, 14 March 2015

Weekend Update – March 14 2015.



Baltic Dry Index. 562 +02    Brent Crude 54.67

LIR Gold Target in 2019: $30,000.  Revised due to QE programs.

“Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Putin (he was so much surprised, that for the moment he quite forgot how to speak good English).”

With apologies to Lewis Carroll.

Kaspersky Lab Uncovers More Evidence Linking NSA to Infamous Hackers

00:21 12.03.2015
Researchers from the Russia-based cybersecurity group Kaspersky Lab have uncovered more evidence tying the United States’ National Security Agency to a shadowy group of hackers.

The hacking collective, dubbed “Equation Group,” must have been sponsored by a nation-state with vast resources in order to operate, Kaspersky analysts assert.

The strongest evidence connecting the NSA to Equation Group is the string "BACKSNARF_AB25," which was embedded in a sample of the Equation Group cyberespionage platform known as "EquationDrug."

"BACKSNARF," according to page 19 of an undated NSA presentation that was obtained by Ars Technica, was the name of a project tied to the NSA's Tailored Access Operations.

“While the presence of the 'BACKSNARF' artifact isn't conclusive proof it was part of the NSA project by that name, the chances that there were two unrelated projects with nation-state funding seems infinitesimally small,” Dan Gooding of Ars Technica points out.

A new report published Wednesday by Kaspersky notes that timestamps stored inside the Equation Group malware showed that hackers almost exclusively worked Monday through Friday. Assuming they worked from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., employees likely were working in the eastern part of the US.

It is unlikely the timestamps were intentionally manipulated, the report states, since the years listed in various executable files match the availability of computer platforms the files ran on.

Last month, Kaspersky revealed details about an Equation Group operation the led to some 500 infections in at least 30 countries, including Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Syria. The operation targeted banks, foreign governments, embassies, energy and infrastructure, media, telecommunications sectors and Islamist groups.

While those revelations triggered media reports about the US National Security Agency being behind the espionage, Kaspersky has stopped short of ever saying Equation Group was the handiwork of the NSA.

Another connection is the similarity between Equation Group’s interdiction and that of the NSA, as evidenced in documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
More

At the Comex silver depositories Friday final figures were: Registered 68.86 Moz, Eligible 107.48 Moz, Total 176.34 Moz.  

Crooks and Scoundrels Corner

The bent, the seriously bent, and the totally doubled over.

Today, Friday the thirteenth explained. Simple! 

2015 has three Friday the 13ths. What are the odds?

March 13, 2015 is a Friday, ushering in Act II of this year’s epic Friday the 13th trilogy. We had a Friday the 13th in February, too – exactly four weeks before March’s Friday the 13th! Then we’ll have a Friday the 13th in November – exactly 39 weeks (3 x 13 weeks) after Friday, February 13, 2015!

Not that we at EarthSky suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia – an irrational fear of Friday the 13th – but, gosh darn, it’s Friday the 13th three times over in 2015. What’s more, last year’s lone Friday the 13th on June 13, 2014, occurred exactly 39 weeks (3 x 13 weeks) before this Friday the 13th in March 2015. Also, next year’s lone Friday the 13th on May 13, 2016, will happen exactly 26 weeks (2 x 13 weeks) after the Friday the 13th in November 2015. Follow the links below to learn more about why some people fear this day and about 2015’s three Friday the 13ths.

----In 2015, blame Thursday. The year 2015 started on a Thursday. Whenever a common year of 365 days starts on a Thursday, it’s inevitable that the months of February, March and November will start on a Sunday. And any month starting on a Sunday always has a Friday the 13th.

Of course, February has exactly four weeks in a non-leap year. So, for that reason, the days of the week have to match up with the same dates in both February and March during any common year. In any year, the days of the week always fall on the same dates in both March and November. In short, because the year 2015 started on a Thursday, that means February, March and November all have to start on a Sunday and all must have a Friday the 13th.

The February-March-November Friday the 13th trilogy repeats … More often than you might imagine! The last February-March-November Friday the 13th year happened six years ago, in 2009, for the first time in the 21st century (2001-2100). It will next happen eleven years from now, in 2026. After that, the following February-March-November Friday the 13th year will happen eleven years after 2026, in the year 2037.

A grand total of eleven February-March-November Friday the 13th years takes place in the 21st century (2001-2100):

2009, 2015, 2026, 2037, 2043, 2054, 2065, 2071, 2082, 2093 and 2099

Because the Gregorian calendar has a 400-year cycle, we also know the February-March-November Friday the 13th years will repeat exactly 400 years later in the 25th century (2401-2500):

2409, 2415, 2426, 2437, 2443, 2454, 2465, 2471, 2482, 2493 and 2499
More

The monthly Coppock Indicators finished February

DJIA: +120 Down. NASDAQ: +213 Down. SP500: +169 Down.  

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