ect their individuals that they represent. And I also want to, sometimes it works to have an attorney present, sometimes it doesn't but councilor Maysson was instrumental in making this come together. So I want to thank him for his leadership helping us navigate through this really difficult ordinance. So that's it. Thank you, Councilor Busher. What is ready to, Councilor Pine? Well, we just received an email tonight about why the ACLU continues to oppose this. I was a little bit surprised to get it at this hour but I thought maybe committee members could or perhaps Mr. Ward could speak to some of those issues. I'm not sure who to attract this question to but according to Jay Diaz of ACLU, there's a number of outstanding issues in sections four through six regarding civil liberties it looks like and due process and perhaps some other stuff. If you could speak to that, I'd appreciate it. So I'm certainly happy to feel that. Councilor Maysson. Unfortunately that did come in at 750 so I have to confess I haven't had the opportunity to digest but certainly the ACLU was raising a number of concerns particularly relating to those with mental illnesses about additional protections. Those were fully vetted, presented both to code enforcement and to the attorney's office and ultimately the decision was they were putting a lot of onuses on code enforcement for example to diagnose a mental illness or be cognizant that code enforcement simply felt was beyond their capability. I also think there was a recognition that these are very real issues that we as a community are struggling with and it will require the assistance of other social service agencies and shifting that responsibility entirely upon the city did not seem at least I'll speak for myself to be a fair balance, excuse me between competing needs of maintaining some ability to deal with very challenging situations. So that, I don't know, Bill you have something else but that was my assessment of and I will confess I haven't gone through point by point but that's generally the concerns that Mr. Diaz was raising. Thank you Councilor Maysson for that clarification. Other Councillors hearing none. All those in favor of approval we are the action is that we are waiving the second reading and adopting the ordinance. All those in favor of that please say aye. Aye. Aye, any opposed? Passes unanimously. Thank you for the work on that ordinance committee and Councilor Mason. Item number 5.09 is another ordinance fire protection and prevention. Councilor Mason. Thank you President Wright. I'd like to waive the second reading, adopt the ordinance and ask for the floor back after a second briefly. Seconded by Councilor Bush or Councilor Mason you have the floor back. Thank you President Wright. This one was far less time consuming and controversial. I know Chief Locke, Mr. Simes are both here if we have questions but the explanation that we were provided when we took this up was in essence it was some updating. There were a number of, there was significant language in the ordinance that was somewhat dated and no longer applicable from a technological perspective. So from that sense it's nearly an update of the ordinance. I know Councilor Nodell also prudently asked like what does this mean to residents if I'm asked and I think the response back was really nothing. This is for the average homeowner or for any homeowner this is, these are updating changes and not going to impact anyone. Thank you. Thank you Councilor Mason. Councilor Busher. So yes, I think that there is little that the general public will need to know about this but it is a rewarding and an updating as Councilor Mason stated it changes the titles to reflect the current structure of the fire department and it increased fees for radio boxes and modified some other fees for permit reviews. And it also did something which I think is important. In the budget we used to transfer general fund dollars from one department to another. We'd charge somebody and we'd move that money from that department to another department. It was just shifting money around and this eliminates that and talks about it and says city-owned properties no fee shall be required for the portion of the estimated cost of any work and construction that is to be owned by a department of the city of Burlington whose primary source of revenue is the general fund. So I thought that was another important update in this ordinance so anyways thank you. Thank you Councilor Busher, others who want to speak to Councilor Dean. Just to thank you President Wright, a question about the radio callbacks technology. Is that something that's consistent with best practices around the country and is this something that will exist in five to 10 years? Yes, yes. I mean it certainly is one of the more communities are switching to it. There's very quick notifications so instead of having a third party monitor the fire alarm, it immediately ranks into the dispatch center which probably cuts about a minute to, you test other centers, a minute off the notifications so yes it is. And it's not something that would be done over data rather than having a separate system. Perhaps sometime in the future but today a radio system is a contemporary system. Thank you. Anyone else? Hearing none, all those in favor of taking action to waive the second reading and adopt the ordinance, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? I think probably. That passes unanimously. Thank you very much. And again, thank you to the ordinance committee and Chair Mason. Item number 5.10 is in a resolution, approval of residential electric vehicle rate tariff came out of the Board of Finance. Councilor Paul, would you like to move that? I think you do. I'll, thank you so much President Wright. I'll waive the reading and ask the floor back briefly after a second. Seconded by Councilor Nodell. Councilor Paul. Thank you. So this is about the tariff for electric vehicles and we did have a fairly lengthy conversation about this at the Board of Finance. If there are any questions, we have two people here from BED to answer them. Thank you. Councilor Paul. Questions for BED on this issue? President. Councilor Busher. Well, do you want someone to just say what this will offer? It's only one alternative that's gonna be put forward. So just for the public so they know about this. Certainly. That's a good question. General Manager Lenderville, give us a brief. Thank you. I will try to do this in one sentence, one more sentence. The EV charging rate that we're proposing will provide an overnight EV charging rate of 45% less than our current rate. Provided that if a customer elects to opt into this rate, that they charge at no other times during the day. So the period of charging would be between 10 p.m. at night and 12 p.m. noon the next day. So it'd be a 14 hour window where they may charge for what would be the equivalent of about a 8 cent per kilowatt hour charge, which is about 45% less than our standard residential, 14.7% 13.7 cent per kilowatt hour rate. This would be the first of its kind in Vermont. We're very excited to do it. Mr. Mayor. Thank you, President Wright. Just to add a sentence or two, because I think it's important and looks like Digger could have the exclusive here. I think this is big news. What's about to happen here if the council passes this and then the regulators pass this is Berlintonians will, if they choose to buy an electric car or lease an electric car instead of a gasoline car, we'll be able to get around for the equivalent of about 80 cents a gallon, which is so much ink is spilt when small changes in gasoline prices happen. This is huge news that Berlintonians with this rate would be able to really fundamentally change the economics of their transportation. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Councillor Dean. Just one half sentence that I wanted to confirm. I was able to be at the board of finance and see the presentation that Director Wunderbill did. It's my understanding that the electric cars can actually program the time when they start charging so that a customer does not inadvertently circumvent this and be charged a surcharge. Is that true? The technology, usually with the chargers, the cars themselves, plus there's add-on technology at the car for some reason can't do that. So the technology exists in many forms to allow that to happen. And my staff has actually tested it with the BED-owned electric vehicles and verified that you can program those charging times and that will reliably, you can plug it in and then it delays to start it charging. That's why we've selected a rate where the hours of off-peak time are the same every day of the month, every month of the year, weekend, weekday. We decided that no one wanted to reprogram their cars bi-weekly. Thank you, Councillor Dean. We're down to half sentences now. Councillor Powell. Okay, thank you. This actually is really good news for people who own electric vehicles. I mean, having owned a few of them, most people charge their vehicles at home at night. So there's no effort involved here because people are gonna do it anyway. I assume that it's to a large degree and I'm trying to remember the presentation mostly because of the fact that that's a time of low usage anyway. So it works to your, it works to BED's advantage, it works to the homeowner's advantage. I mean, the person who owns the electric vehicle, it's a win-win for everyone. It is, I'll just say very quickly, we've had a three-part strategy to move electric vehicles in the city. One is improving the convenience, but public charging, two is to lower the upfront cost, which we've done through our rebates and special financing, and three is reducing the ongoing cost which this special EV rate would do. And we think long-term, we will get people out of gasoline-powered vehicles if we make it easy as possible for them to buy an EV, charge it in their home overnight, and use it, using our 100% renewable power here at Brompton Electric. I agree, thank you. Thank you, Councilor Powell. You see, I knew you did want to move that, Councilor Powell. I did. Okay, so. Anyone else, any other? Councilor Zhang. I echo the sentiment of all the Councillors. This is a great and wonderful idea. Thank you, but just a quick question. Why this is not moved by the TUC Committee, but instead the Board of Finance? I'm not sure I'm always as well-versed as I should be on the appropriate channels, but generally we advance economic issues through Board of Finance. We have our, also I would note, our Electric Commission did approve this and asked for your approval of this. We met with them on three different occasions and briefed them out on this as recently as May for the final tariff that's before you tonight. Thank you. All right, I think we're ready to vote. All those in favor of waiving the reading and adopting the resolution, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Passage unanimously. And we will now go to item number 5.11, implementation of a Market Factor Adjustment for the General Manager of Burlington Electric Department and I will recognize Councilor Paul again. We're not quite there. Councilor Paul. So thank you, President Wright. I'll waive the reading. I don't know if there is someone who's here to speak to this. After a second I wasn't planning on speaking to this so I don't need the floor back. So you don't need the floor back. I don't know if there is. The mayor, I think the mayor can say a few words. Okay. So we have the motion on the table and we have a second from Councilor Nodell. Thank you, Councilor Nodell. And Mr. Mayor, would you like to say a few words about this? Yes, President Wright. Thank you. I'll try to be brief. I think this is another important item before the council. In some sense, this item is overdue. The council will recall that about four years ago or less than four years ago, I think it was closer, three years ago, under general manager Lunderville's direction, the council approved a substantial reorganization of the Burlington Electric Department which eliminated multiple senior executive positions within the organizational chart for the Burlington Electric Department and then we went from, it's been a while since I looked at the ArtChart wordchats but I think three senior executive positions were eliminated totalling annual savings of approximately half a million dollars a year which is a substantial part of the more than a million dollars a year of savings to ratepayers that reorganization achieved. The net impact of eliminating those three positions was to put more responsibility in part upon the general manager to turn that position even more so than it had been before into what some have described as a sort of player manager position. This is a position that requires hard work. And currently it is not the highest paid or even close to the highest paid position within the Burlington Electric Department salary structure. This board of finance unanimously recommended resolution before you would change that would increase the salary for the general manager, the next general manager, not the current general manager but the next general manager to be approximately 15% higher than the next highest employees within BED. It will still in some arguable empirical sense be less compensated than many competitors but we think the combination of what will be I think a very appropriate compensation combined with how outstanding opportunity running the Burlington Electric Department at this point in its history is we are optimistic that this will result in a highly qualified candidate to be the next general manager. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Do we have Councilor Nodell for a motion to suspend the rules? Yes, President Rod, I moved to suspend the rules to continue my work beyond 1030 and that we complete our agenda which includes the additional executive session. Okay, thank you, Councilor Nodell. Second to that motion, Councilor Hartnett. This requires a two-thirds vote. All those in favor of suspending the rules are completed our work and Councilor City Attorney Blackwood, we actually have to, when we get done with this meeting, we have to actually go back into the work session anyway. So, okay, so. Point of information. Point of information, Councilor Paul. Thank you. Does this include item 6789? Yes, she included, complete our work on the agenda. Okay, thank you. Those should not take a long time. But it's up to the Council. But so this requires a two-thirds vote. So all those in favor of approval of this motion to suspend our rules and complete the agenda, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, that passes unanimously. We've suspended our rules and are there, with that, back to the agenda item that we're on, the general manager issue. Is there any questions for the mayor, for general manager Lunderville or how much for the council? Councilor Jang. Thank you, I have several questions and that'd be great if Neil can come to the floor. General manager Lunderville. Yeah, thank you. And I think, just before this item, you again provided an excellent review of your department that you've been leading for how many years now? Four years. Four years. And also during those four years, I was just wondering if there was any proposal in adjusting the salaries back then and what was your response? Just for the record. Yeah, we've focused over the last four years, the mayor and I have focused on making sure that the structure and the compensation for the employees of Burlington Electric has been at the top of our list. We wanna make sure that we are able to retain top quality employees. Both the mayor and I believed that adjusting the general manager's salary would create a public debate that could detract from the important work of making sure we're taking care of the employees who work so hard for Burlington. And again, I'm sorry. But I was just asking if there was a proposal put forward to you in adjusting your salary while you were at your... The mayor and I talked about it and we both thought that it would be better to focus on our employees instead of focusing on the general manager's salary, which tends to draw more attention and more attention away from where it rightly should be. However, I believe this is the appropriate time to address the compensation for the general manager. Yeah, so me, I mean, personally I do think that it would have been great, wonderful for the city to consider this aspect one year or 12 months after we hire a general manager to continue to do the job because you already laid the foundation. You already laid the vision. You already built a team, a strong team. And on top of all of that, you have at least four managers or more in under your leadership. And we also know that if we bring a new manager, general manager here to Burlington, he will just try to carry the footstep, your footstep, also the vision you already put forward. And I think also it is important for Burlingtonians and also for the city of Burlington to try to attract people here, not based on money, but based on what Burlington has to offer in terms of the lake, in terms of the place to live, to work, to raise kids, to highlight that aspect instead of the number of dollars that you will be getting paid. But for all of those reasons, I do think it is very important, it is very important for us to bring, to try to attract people that have knowledge, that have expertise, and we also know that already with the managers that you currently have under your leadership, the general manager won't be able to have that much of a work to do, that much of the vision to do. Of course he will, but my point is, you already have other managers, one of them is in innovation, one of them is in public service, et cetera. But I wanted to just propose an amendment, maybe to move this resolve clause instead of, and to be the city council, approve the change, compensation range of the position of general manager, Burlington Electric Department from the current range, to the new range of 275 to 229 per year, effective upon 12 months after hiring the general manager. That's just an amendment that I want to put forward. Okay, Councilor Chang, you have offered an amendment, and I actually need you to repeat that amendment. So now be it further resolved that the city council approve to change in compensation range for the position of general manager of the Burlington Electric Department from the current range of 136.189 to 189.483, to the range of 175 to 229 per year, 194 per year, effective upon 12 months after the hiring of the new general manager. So basically not effective right now, effective 12 months after. Okay, Councilor Chang, so Councilor Chang has changed the numbers that have been proposed. Point of information, Councilor Wright. Point of information, Councilor Nodell. May I state my understanding? Sure. That Councilor Chang has not changed the numbers. Under his amendment, the new salary would only become effective. 12 months. 12 months after a new general manager took office. Thank you for that clarification. I knew that he had done that, but I thought he also changed the level. Okay, so Councilor Chang has proposed an amendment to have this not take effect until 12 months after the new general manager takes office, takes his position. We need a second. Is there a second to this motion? Hearing none, that amendment fails for lack of a second. So we are back now on the motion to approve. Is there any other comments from the city council? With that, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Councilor Chang opposes. The vote is 11 to one in favor. And we have passed that reclassification of the GM position for BED. Now we'll move to item 5.12, which was item 4.07. And that was a resolution approval of agreement to transfer ownership of shares in the Highgate interconnection between Burlington Electric Department and Nexra Energy Transmission. Councilor No-Dell. President Wright, I would move adoption, waive the reading and request the floor after a second. Seconded by Councilor Hartnett. Councilor No-Dell, you have the floor back. Thank you. We, as the council knows, the council had some executive session discussion earlier tonight. I think it would be good to have a brief summary of what this action is, and I'll leave that to the gentleman at the table. And then after their presentation, could I just have a few remarks? Certainly. Thank you. So we'll turn it over to the team. Thank you, and thank you for making the time this late in the evening, and I'm glad we can hear each other a little bit better now. Hopefully our answers will be clear. The proposal that is before you tonight is to sell our share of the Highgate converter station, which is a 7.7% share of that piece of equipment to Nexra Energy operating as NEET, NEET. We are proposing to do this because they, without going into the confidential terms of the agreement, they made us a offer that is substantially greater than the net book value of this asset. And we believe that is, because this asset is not core to our central mission, it's not something that we use or really will ever use in the future, that we've largely lost control of the asset from a regulatory point of view that we have increasing administrative burdens. And then finally, very importantly, that we believe the proceeds we put to better use now, we would like the council's approval to proceed with the deal that's been put in front of us. I wanna make a couple other points just to answer questions that came up before. We had some questions about the timing on this sale. We went back and did some research. It is the term sheet, which is a term sheet that was presented to us by Next Era that we signed, but it's not binding in a sense that only the council can bind our action to sell this. But it did have dates in it. The dates included having a finalized purchase and sale on this by June 4th. So that date's already gone by. We would have this going to the regulators by July 30th, and we would have the closing of this by November 30th. So in question to the answer before, we've already kind of moved by one of our dates in that term sheet. We have alerted Next Era that the council is considering this. They're working with us on that. However, if for some reason, they feel like we're not moving forward on that because we've already sort of, we've already moved by one of the dates. They would be within their right to withdraw that term sheet. We don't believe that they're there now because we are obviously working in good faith on this. Another question was regarding what our partner in this, if you will, Stowe is thinking. I did have a chance to speak with Ellen Burt, who is the general manager of Stowe Electric this evening. They are counting on this sale to advance projects in their district. And if we're not moving forward in July, they would advance without us because they need to advance to regulatory filing by July 30th and get the paperwork ready to do so in order to meet their deadlines to finance a project, a facility within their district. I wanted to make just two other final points and clarification of the points we made earlier. We are looking to make an immediate reinvestment of the fund, the proceeds from this sale. Those proceeds, the largest share of those proceeds would go directly into our capital program, which is a $10 million capital program. $2.44 million of that capital program would go to purchasing Velco equity in fiscal 19. So we would be making a substantial investment in Velco equity in fiscal 19. We have consistently made purchases in Velco equity over all four years that I've been here. And certainly I think many, many years before that our proceeds, I believe my rough calculation is that we now have over $40 million in Velco equity. That is, so we take our annual equity stake, we move forward on that. And so this will help us move forward with our annual equity take of Velco if we move forward with the sale of these proceeds, which we think is important. Also important is that we are localizing an investment that's really a far away investment for us now, completely disconnected from our grid. It's something we can't touch, feel, see. All we really get is a financial stream from it, which is important. We believe there is a more lucrative financial stream that will help our customers in here and now. And we believe that way is the long-term revenue stream that we would have. Finally, I wanna point out that as a utility with our power supply, we've always sought to manage our risk very closely. And we've sought to mitigate that risk where possible. Earlier, I shared with you a two-page document that one page had some lines on it. There was a red line that showed where our invest, that would be the sale of the proceeds from the sale of this. That red line represents our no-risk line. We know if we move on the sale of the proceeds, we are not taking any additional risk of owning this or investing in a possible deal with Velco. In the other two scenarios, we could face diminished return through federal regulatory action. We could face increased capital cost by needing to upgrade the high gate converter facility, which is a real thing because we did that as recently as 2012. So from time and again, we have to put money in there. So we believe the red line represents the lowest risk. In fact, sort of a no-risk scenario, we would take the proceeds and we would know what we have in hand without chanceing the future. So I wanted to make those points and happy to answer any other questions that you may have. And thank you for your additional consideration of this. Councilor Nodal. Thank you, President Wright. Appreciate the additional information. I've been, I'm prepared to support this, but I in principle had some reservations because I think that we also always need to think about the next generation of leaders. And when you have an appreciating asset that it is bad form to use them all up today. That we need to make sure that we leave some assets for future generations. But as I get more information, I've concluded that this is not necessarily an appreciating asset that the point at which this becomes a better investment to hang on to it is fairly far in the future and lots of things could happen to change that. So because I trust the team, a lot of my support tonight is because I trust the team that's bringing this to us tonight. So I am prepared to support it. Thank you, President Wright. Thank you, Councilor Nodal. Any other questions? Comments from the Council on this? Councilor Tracey, that, I'm sorry, that's right. Councilor Tracey, you were in the queue. So thank you very much. Thank you for sharing all this information with us. I have a slightly different interpretation while I appreciate all the additional information that has been shared. I have a really hard time on a theoretical and principled level in selling city assets in terms of just the long-term gains. I think that a lot of municipalities that have sold assets look back and say, why did we do that? And while we're in good shape now, I understand that there are these headwinds coming at us in some senses, but I would rather have those conversations when we're actually in a bad place and really in a place of necessity. We're not necessarily in that place right now. We're in a very strong position, both in terms of the position of BED as well as the city's finances. And so I think that we should hold on to city assets until it's absolutely necessary to sell them. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Tracy, Councillor Shannon and then Councillor Bushert. Thank you. I do not wanna wait until the city is in a bad place to sell an asset that we do not need and cannot find a use for in the foreseeable future. I do agree with Councillor Nodell that we need to take seriously selling city assets. This is a wonderful opportunity. I think will be a great benefit to the city to move forward with this. If we wait until we're in a bad place, I don't think that we will have the kind of offers that we have today. So thank you for this opportunity and I will be supporting it. Thank you, Councillor Shannon, Councillor Bushert and then Councillor Jang. Thank you. I was all prepared to vote against this, but your explanation with how you would reinvest some of the funds to bring a greater return, a more secure return really changed my mind completely. So I'm really glad you explained that. If it was there in paper, I didn't pick up on it. So thank you and like Councillor Nodell, I have a lot of confidence in BED and the management structure and the recommendations that they bring forward. So anyways, I'll be supporting those things. Thank you, Councillor Bushert, Councillor Jang. Thank you, President. So just to clarify a couple of things, just for all of us to understand that an asset that's bringing $200,000 a year is a good asset and those $200 a year, we can save it for something else. I think it is imperative. Once it starts, it never stops. And I think also you made it very clear here to us in the memos that the mayor has sent to all of us that utilities, it's a changing field. Things change all the time. And if we have our foot into this asset, like with the other entities, I think we should keep it. I think we should keep it. And I think President Nodell made it very clear not for us, but for the next generation. Everything that we are doing here, it's not for today. It's not for tomorrow, but it's so for the next generation that are coming. Let's think about our grandchildren. For those reasons, I think it is important for me to not give my vote to selling this city asset. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Jang. I think that we are ready to vote. All those in favor of approval of this resolution, please say aye. Those opposed. And that is Councillor Jang and Councillor Tracy. And so the vote is 10 to two in favor of this resolution of sale of the Highgate converter. Thank you. Thank you. And so we obviously we do not need to have that. And we all need to remember that some of this. Point of order. It's not 10 to two. So we have a recusal. I'm sorry. Thank you, Councillor Powell for that point of order. Point of order is well taken. Councillor Mason has recused himself on this issue. So it's nine to two, my mistake. And we need to remember that some of this obviously was in the executive session earlier. We heard what was in the open session. So thank you. Appreciate that. And we will now move forward onto item number six, which is committee reports. Point of order. Councillor Shannon, point of order. I just wanted to clarify that once we voted on this, I'm not completely clear on what was executed. I thought that it was confidential up until we voted, but I just was hoping we could. Well, that's what I was saying, that we had to remember that. It's hard to remember now what was in executive session and what was in open session. We're not, we're finalizing the terms of the sale, the sale price, the sale price and a couple other of the key terms. I'm happy to send all, share with the board of finance the fully unredacted contract, full contract. I'd be happy to share with you any of those terms, but the key price, the sale price is confidential until we can finalize it with. That's the one thing that we share tonight that we wouldn't, we would want to keep confidential. To the finalize. Thank you for the. Point of information. The two sided economic. No, hold on one minute. Councillor Jang, please finish. The two sided economic analysis that was handed out. You can derive the sale price for it. So that document was confidential. Okay. Thank you. Councillor Jang, you had a point of information. Yeah. So why are we putting on an issue knowing that we don't have the, we don't have the sale price yet. Just one, I don't understand. We've already voted on this. They've explained why that sale price is a, that was an executive session and we, that's been explained, but we've already voted on this. So we're not going to go back and redebate it. I'm sorry. Further point of clarification. Councillor, no doubt. Thank you. So under, on our consent agenda under 4.07, there are a number of documents that were posted on board docs. Are those available for the public?  We posted a contract with only the sale price and a couple of the key terms. Thank you. And that's all public. And when we finalize the deal, the numbers will just need to get over the finish line. Thank you. There are points of information. All right. Thank you. Appreciate that. Those are good clarifications. And so with that, we will move into committee reports. Any committee chair who would like to report to the city council hearing none, we will close out committee reports and go to city council on general city affairs, council Hartnett and then council Nodell. Thanks. I'll be brief one week from tomorrow night. Probably the best night in Burlington. All eyes are on us July 3rd. It's really a great event. And it starts at noon time with activities at the waterfront. I hope everybody that's listening gets down here. You won't need your jackets. We're gonna be pushing 100 degrees on July 3rd. It's gonna be great. So it's gonna be a beautiful night. Come on down, enjoy the fireworks, the food, grab some fried dough. It's just one of the best nights here in the city by far. And I hope everybody will come down and enjoy it. It should be a really great night. So I hope to see everybody. Thanks. Thank you, council Hartnett. Councilor Nodell then council Roof. Thank you, president Wright. My bad on consent agenda item 4.05 I should have recused myself and I failed to. So I'm just requesting that the minutes that I'm stating now my recusal it's on the consolidated plan one year action plan. And I'm hoping that that can be reflected in the minutes and I apologize to the council. Okay, so city clerk's office, councilor Nodell at least have that in the minutes that she recused herself on item 4.05 on the consent agenda. Councilor Roof. Thank you. I'd just like to let members of the council and members of the community know that tomorrow here on con toys at 5.30 we'll be doing, there will be a presentation and an opportunity to provide feedback on the neighborhood projects, which is as many of us know, a project looking at the housing dynamics in near campus neighborhoods. So if you'd like to get an update on that and participate and give feedback, please be here tomorrow con toys at 5.30. Thank you, president Wright. Thank you, councilor Roof. Any other councilor on general city affairs? Hearing none, we will close out general city affairs. Item number eight, item number nine is president updates. I just want to, I know there are counselors who have asked me a number of counselors about the implicit racial bias training for the council and I want to make sure counselors know that I haven't forgotten about that. I'm not going to do that until after the summer's over at this point though, but we will be doing that when summer is over when we move into fall. I also want to just say that I attended the parent university. The councilor Jang invited me to at Flynn theater last week and thank you, councilor Jang for inviting me. Wonderful event. There were 55 refugees, citizens who graduated from parent university. It was a great event, as I said, and I'm honored that I was invited to speak at it. So thank you, councilor Jang for all your hard work on that really valuable program. And lastly, I just say, I know councilor Hartnett is so confident of a weather report that's a week ahead, but I'm guessing that his confidence is based on the fact that the mayor told us that if we passed the budget that he would provide good weather on July 3rd. So I'm guessing that councilor Hartnett has his confidence placed squarely on the mayor and the passage of the budget. Thank you. And with that, we'll close that out and Mr. Mayor will take us home or into executive session at least. All right, excellent present right. It is always fortunate, yes, that the third of July follows in the new fiscal year, when the coffers were replenished for the municipal weather initiative. It's served us well in the past. Let's hope that it continues forward and the record of positive weather on as councilor Hartnett note, it's one of the, it's the marquee event of the year. The one that we see more people down in the Burlington waterfront than everything else holds. It is going to be an exciting night again. Couple of just quick notes from me. I know it's late. Thank you to the counselors. I think it was most counselors who were able to make the special meeting last week with the school board. I thought it was a really helpful discussion in a number of areas. And just want the council to know that we are gonna follow up on the debt policy discussion as quickly as possible given the implications of that on votes as soon as this fall. We do anticipate going back to the board of finance in July and continuing that discussion. Any counselors who have further thoughts or want updates if you weren't part of the conversation, the mayor's office is happy to respond. And then there was an event yesterday down on this block right out here, what we call the BTV Block Party. It was somewhat the first time we've on Church Street had an event like that. It was a little bit like the police department's neighborhood party that they've had the past couple of years but it had all right on Church Street, a number of city vehicles and tabling from most, almost all the city departments and it was a really well attended event and much appreciated by the public. We've gotten lots of positive feedback on that and just want to note that. I think that some are gonna try to do again in future years and note that one of the people that worked hard to make it possible was Katie Vain from the mayor's office along with the Church Street Marketplace team and just wanted to give her a shout out as this will be her, the last city council meeting which Katie is staffing here. And she's been a tremendous part of the mayor's office for two years and we're gonna miss her a lot and we wish her well with all that comes next. She's gonna go write the great American novel and onto other success we're sure and we wish you well, Katie. With that, that's our report. Our loss is California's gain. Katie, we'll miss you. Best of luck. And with that, we will entertain a motion to adjourn because then we have to go back into the special work session. Counselor Nodell. Move the adjournment. Seconded by Councilor Roof. All those in favor of adjourning the regular city council meeting, please say aye. Aye. Those opposed, we are adjourned and now I will go back into the special city.


Throughout February, I'll be visiting places across the country where infrastructure projects are making a real difference in the lives of Canadians, whether it's new bridges, roads, or housing. And I know that in the GTA, one of the biggest things on people's minds is transit. Here in Vaughn, people count on the GO train to get around, whether it's to get to work during the week or to catch a Jays game on the weekend, although at the start of February, summer baseball season seems a long way off. The GO is convenient, and it cuts out the daily hassle of getting stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the 401 or the 400. But for people who need to get where they need to go on time, there has to be good service. After all, it's frustrating to be crammed into an already full train or to miss your ride because you can't find a spot to park. Our government has invested more than $595 million for the GO expansion project in the Barrie Corridor to deliver faster service, one part of over $1.8 billion for GO transit across the Greater Golden Horseshoe. That means less time waiting for the train and more flexibility for people's schedules. It's also an investment in improvements for this station. If you arrive by car, soon you'll be able to use the new parking garage and then walk right to your train. And if you cycle, there will be a new storage space for your bike, and it'll be easier to get to the platform. Of course, these projects don't happen overnight. Construction is underway right now so that people see good results as soon as possible. With today's weather, it's pretty clear why that's important. No one wants to stand outside in the chilly rain, even though that's exactly what we're doing this morning. Beautiful weather, having a transport network as reliable is a good news for everyone. People can spend more time in families, making savings, and help reduce climate change. During the month of infrastructure, I will travel across the country to visit cities where new projects make a real difference in the Canadian city, whether it's because they allow them to move faster, because they help improve the quality of the air, or because they create good jobs for the average class. Here at the Maple Go station, it's clear that smart, targeted investments are the key to making people's lives better today and setting our communities up for a successful tomorrow.


We're on a mission from God. So who we got here? Reuben. Reuben! How do you, Reuben? I'm 15. Pretty tall for 15, damn. Are you the tallest in your class? No. You've got someone tall in your class. A teacher. No, no, this guy, right? It's like... Tyler had a s***. Shout out to Tyler, man. Tyler, big boy. Do you have a girlfriend? He doesn't. Do you? I do. Hey! Do you want to come shopping with me? I'm gonna buy us some presents right back there. We're on a mission from God. But what are you gonna get her? Something from Makar. Makeup or whatever? I've got some spray, but, you know, it's not my money. Whose money is it? It's my parents. How come you're not saving money? I don't have a job anymore. I've got my ways, you know. Does that mean they like her? Yeah, they do. May God have mercy on your soul, my girl. She must be very special. What's her name? Alicia. Shout out to Alicia. Happy birthday, mate. Good thanks. Good thanks. Good thanks.


What's going on guys welcome to another video We're chance going the best first shots as girlfriends over there We're uh making a late-night run tournaments tomorrow morning, and I lost a few things So we're gonna come here and stock up on a little bit of tackle I just made a video here, but literally the next day when I went out I lost like I spent $80 worth I lost like 70 so I'm gonna buy a few things all right I'm stalking back up on crankbaits. I got I got one of these I bought a few the other day, but this one actually goes to eights This is a DT6. It's not the exact color. I've been wanting that coach pretty pretty good, too He's got He's got the same eight to 12. That one's a 10 foot. That's a DT 10. I got I got this I like this one. They don't have too many colors here. They'd be getting like dirty water Probably gonna pick this guy up He's a bomber that's six to eight foot I like how it has a chartreuse and the in the red on it as a black bag He's bombers pretty good or I was gonna get this one. I'm gonna start I'm gonna use this is like a skinny dipper on top of the water I'm gonna try like a darker color. So it's trying white before I think it's darker colors on where brother How are you? No, it nice to meet you and so Sick man. Hey, I got it. I got a video rolling. You want to say anything? What's your name? What's your Instagram? You might forget a picture with you You live over here Thank you, buddy. It's nice meeting you man. Thank you. That's so cool You know, that's like the best part of what I do is like seeing people come up, you know, talk into one That's definitely the best part. So a few other people in there that that I could tell knew who I was But they didn't want to say anything Which sucks because you know, I want to Don't feel like you're weird or bugging me like come up to me and talk I like that more than like if you if you're just like looking at me Like man, I wish you could come up to me if you come up to me. I'm like, I respect that guy. That guy's cool Man, I love that. Seriously. That's great Chance is actually going him and his girlfriend gonna go get some Chick-fil-A before they close and The bass first off just closed. I didn't get to film much. So I'm going to both stores right now I'm actually gonna go get all my taco ready and we'll film there. I'll show you everything I bought I'll show you what he bought why we bought it all that good stuff. I'll catch you guys both storage Just got the boat storage. I got a few I got some more more stuff right here. I'm gonna show you guys I'm about to rig up everything Get everything rolling for tomorrow. I'm so excited so pumped.  You got to be prepared I mean preparation, you know anything not just fishing anything in life, you know preparation It's a big key big key to success Ignore that mess That's what I got All right This is a big song again. It's about two ounce Flipping weight punch and weight Got that DT6 Crawl color. I should I should do the trick the one I have on right now is a little different I'll show you in a minute black and blue jig I've also got This little sweet crankberry here by bandit. This thing is 8 to 12 foot These are similar to a skinny dipper. I'm gonna be running at the top of the water and on top of lily pads Will flip and jig I need for that. That was another $65 purchase Look bomber crankberry here. So I got red and chartreuse on it a Booyah spinnerbait with some colorado blades got one gold blade one chrome blade on there a Little striking series three crankbait and red. That's what I got should do the trick Right there. This thing's so expensive. It's like 12 bucks 12 bucks for that little weight That's what you call a tournament preparation right here. Dang Look at this is crazy This is just we're all over the place and it is beyond hot man. They even funny Wait till you see my shark road. All right guys get all my poles This is probably the most rod you'll ever see on my deck and it's not because like I don't know what I'm gonna be Throwing it's just because like this is all the tools to my toolbox. I need For tomorrow, so got this little DT6 spinnerbait skinny dipper Texas rig Flipping or punching buzz bait punch and flipping. I got two rigged up that one's monster daddy You only know about that and I thought I Can make a 10-pounder skirt across the water on that right there got all our poles rigged up everything's good and Now we're actually about to go put some gas load it up in the boat I was really late right now, but on town on a Friday so many people supposedly a speedboat Film in the tournament is gonna be really cool so pumped about it If you guys want to check out like results stuff like that because by the time you see the video of course Terms gonna be over Go check it out. I'll have I'll be pushing updates on Instagram all kinds of stuff like that Go check out my Instagram. Go check out check out my Facebook stuff like that Thank you guys so much for watching and we'll catch you guys in the next video


אני שעול בן חי, ועד היום אנחנו נסתכל על קוברנטיס בלין-ספוט והעדות של סיסטם-סיסטם-ספוט. אז, קצת על אני, אני סיכריטי-רסורציה, בפריזמה-קלואו, בפלו-אלטו-נטוורק, ואני עושה סיכריטי-רסורציה ותתתפעת בקלואו-אקוסיסטם, ואני גם עושה על אופן-סורסי-רסורציה ובולנרביליטי-מנגמנט. אז,our lineup topic for today will start to talk about container escape and Kubernetes second stage attack. We will explore this concept and understand why they are so critical for cloud security, then we will try to understand better system pods about their function and privileges. Following that we will talk about the system pods paradox, פריבליג'ה against risk ושיחות של מיוחדת האחרית עוד נכון לתאירון המלכון של המלכון אנחנו תתאר על תאירון המלכון בין שני מלכון המלכון בו ולמה אנחנו נעבור את הכי תלמידי ובספרות היו. אז, כשתמיד כשחררון היו נעבור את השכה, אנחנו נראה יותר וכי חררון והשאלה שאנחנו צריכים להכתיב על ourselves הוא, כדי שהכתיבה נכון נכון There's no doubt that containers are great for packaging and deploying software This is the reason why we all use them But they are weak security boundary Mostly because of the shared kernel And containerscape will probably continue to happen And it's here to stay Even because vulnerability Or even because misconfiguration The most known one is Village container with access to the host So We must understand what is the impact What is the impact of container escape And the obvious impact In Kubernetes at least Is a compromise node An attacker escaped from one container Or one pod And now to control over the entire node But let's imagine that our an attacker Is an ambitious one And he might be not satisfied with only single compromise node He might want to take over the entire cluster Maybe for more business logic Or more compute resources for crypto mining for example So one of the questions That we will try to answer today Is if a scenario of a single container escape Could be escalated to full cluster admin And what is the part of system pods In this kind of scenario So before we will dive in We need to understand a little bit better What is exactly second stage attack in Kubernetes So of course Attack against some initial access To our environment And now we want to escalate these privileges Or move literally So our starting point is that container escape Already happened So how exactly we make sure That our environment is protected and strong enough That even if container escape happened An attacker could not be doing Any significant damage So let's try to think as an attacker What we will focus and what we will look for In this second stage attack So as an attacker probably I won't focus on demon set pods Because Sorry, deployment pods As an attacker I probably not focus on deployment pods Because deployment pods And the application instance And compromise them Probably not allow me to access some infrastructure In our cluster And I really don't know where I land In the cluster So there is no guarantee That I will met with deployment pods Same for user configuration And user management pod The chance to find some misconfiguration Or vulnerability and well configure And well management pod Are significantly reducing And of course low privileges pod Our goal is to escalate our privileges And Give ourselves a higher level of control In our cluster So this is a list That what an attacker will not focus on And anybody want to guess Which kind of pod attacker will focus In second stage attack Demon set Demon set guarantee us That no matter what No matter where we land our cluster We will meet demon set pod in every each node In our cluster Same for non-user configuration And user management The chance to find any kind of vulnerability Or misconfiguration In non-user or non-management pod Are significantly increased And of course high privileges Because compromise high privileges pod Provise extensive control Over the cluster So which kind of pod fit to those requirements Exactly system pods In most cases system pods Deploy as a demon set There was already there when we launch our cluster We didn't configure them We didn't set their permission We just inherited them by creating a cluster And by their nature And in order to operate They need high privileges So we understood that system pods Are very special pods So let's try to understand and get to know them better So as a definition we can say that They are responsible for executing key tasks And maintaining the cluster overall functionality And play pivotal role in managing critical component And ensure smooth operation of the cluster And basically they are the architecture behind the scenes And with this kind of operation They need to evaluate privilege to perform this critical task So we all know that great power comes With great responsibility As this privileges is much better in nature We must have in order to operate But we must use it wisely To ensure the security and the integrity of our cluster So in the following slide We will explore a couple of different groups Of system pods in Kubernetes This is not all the groups But probably the most common ones So the first group is storage pods And do their function They need access to sensitive paths Which significantly increase the attack surface Of our cluster And makes them very attractive for attackers Because if an attacker can exploit vulnerability Or misconfiguration in storage pods He could gain unauthorized access to sensitive data That's stored on the host The next group is monitoring and logging and aggregation pods Maintaining healthy and secure cluster Require monitoring and logging, right? So those pods play critical role by collecting And aggregating data from various pods within the cluster But they also increase our attack surface And part of the collection process of those pods Require level of interaction with pods, nodes And the Kubernetes API itself So this group also expands the attack surface of our cluster Another group Is secret management pods Which play critical role in managing life cycle of secret Used within the Kubernetes environment And they have very high permission because they need access They have access to API token, password, certificate That's stored within the cluster So this group also increases our attack surface And the final group is network pods That's responsible for mapping network routing And enhancing within the Kubernetes cluster And attacker may target these pods to manipulate network traffic Intercept communication between pods or services Or even launch a denial of service attack So this table summarizes everything we said About the different group of system pods Which high privilege each group has How each group increased the attack surface of our cluster And why the attractive target for an attacker It was very easy to know that system pods are very special They are essential for core functionality But also introduce a security risk This is exactly what creates the system pods paradox The heart of the paradox lays on the fundamental tension The need to privileges to ensure core functionality Versus inherit security risk associated to those privileges Without system pods The cluster will not be able to function properly So they require avalanche privileges Included resource manipulation Like the ability to create, modify or delete resources Network setting like configure the pod communication within the cluster And the price of this power Is that any kind of misconfiguration in those pods Will be a critical misconfiguration That probably allow some unauthorized access to our cluster Which make those pods a very high value target As an attacker it's worth to spend some time To find any kind of security or vulnerability in those kind of pods Because probably they will allow us to move literally And in the best case or the worst case is depend Allow us complete compromise of the cluster And some optimistic notes This paradox is manageable With proactive approach that mitigate the inherit security risk We can grant them the only minimum level of access they need to operate And limit the network access of system pods whatever is possible And finally, and of course the proactive monitoring and logging system pods activity By treating every operation as a potential suspicious activity So it was a lot of information in very short time So let's do some short recap We talk about container escape that unfortunately will continue to happen And we emphasize the importance to shift the focus to the second stage attack What happened after container escape will happen Then we will dive into the critical role of system pods in Kubernetes And finally we talk about the security patterns That with great power comes great responsibility So now that we are all aligned We can move on to the artistic part of the talk The dual privilege escalation chain This chain combining two misconfiguration, two default misconfiguration in GKE And each misconfiguration Not allow an attacker to do any significant damage But combine them together Allow us to escalate our privileges and operate as a cluster admin So let's get to know the component of the chain The first component is Fluent Bit Fluent Bit become last year the official logging agent of every GKE cluster It's deployed as a demon set And just we describe at the table About logging and monitoring by their nature They need access to some privileges to every pod in the cluster Which increase our attack surface for privileges escalation This is the reason why I look for some misconfiguration in Fluent Bit The second component is Anthos Service Smash Which is the Google Implementation for Istio Project It's an add-on in GKE which need to be enabled As we saw in the previous table Network pods needs avalanche privileges in order to manage network routing And load balancing and pod communication So we have two prerequisite in our attack First is container escape Because we are talking about second stage attack And the second prerequisite is Anthos Service Smash will be enabled So two days ago here in KubeCon Google have a great talk about Anthos Service Smash And according to them the number of users enabling Anthos is simply huge And they are implementing it in more and more feature So it's not quite rare that Anthos Service Smash is enabling in our cluster The first misconfiguration is that the Fluent Bit Mounted the varlib kubelet pods volume And it's not necessary in order to operate And under this volume We can find the service account token of each pod in our node So it's nice We can map the entire cluster But our goal is cluster admin So what next? So with the first misconfiguration of Fluent Bit I can control the Anthos Service Smash container network interface token And the misconfiguration in Anthos That it keeps its high privileges after the first installation In the first installation the installation of CNI Need high privileges to create pod Configure the network and so on But after the first installation completed It doesn't need it anymore So this was the second misconfiguration That the CNI demonset retain its high privileges And after the first installation So I escaped from container And I met two demonset And with the help of the misconfiguration in Fluent Bit I can reach the service account token of the Anthos Service Smash Which allow me to impersonate And take advantage of the fact that it retains its privileges And create a pod Cool, very nice But not enough Because I want to be a cluster admin So Luckily for me In GKE The cube system namespace Offer a number of preinstalled Extremely powerful service account And the cluster role aggregation controller service account Which I call Crack Is the leading candidate As it can add arbitrary permission To existing cluster role So I can update the cluster role bound to Crack To possess all privileges So let's connect it all together I will grant the Crack service account To the pod I can create with the Anthos Service Smash permission And save the token In one of the volume folder Which I have access with the first misconfiguration of Fluent Bit And once I have control on the Crack service account token I could escalate my own privileges And operate as a cluster admin So enough talking Let's see it in action So, just a sec Okay I'm using here My own script that imitates Container escape And also installing Cube Cattle and static bash Another thing that I need to launch the attack And now I'm taking control On the Fluent Bit pod All the attack is operated From the Fluent Bit pod only Here I verify that I'm on the Fluent Bit pod And now I'm taking the advantage that Now I can see that I have only permission to To get a pod This is the only permission that I have in Fluent Bit pod And now I'm taking advantage The fact that Fluent Bit mounts The varly Cubelet Pods Volume So now I can see all the folders All the volumes of all the pods In my nodes So I'll go straight to the Istio CNI installer And look under this folder Where is token located So I find this token Now I will check which kind of permission I have when I'm controlling The CNI installer token So As you can see now I Have more permission and I Can create a pod So I prepare to advance some Pod YAML To create a simple pod And grant it The cluster wall aggregation controller service account token And immediately Escalate Its own privileges To be able to Do any kind of operation In any kind of name space In the cluster And save the token In some TXT file Under some shared volume That I have access to With the Fluent Bit misconfiguration So I will create the pod I verify that the pod is running And back to the Varly Cubelet Pods And search for this TXT file That will be under one of the volumes So I found it And now I can use it I'm going to the pod where this file is located And I will see which kind of operation Which kind of permission I have with this token And I see that my RBAC is full of stars Which means that I can do any kind of operation within the cluster And operate as a cluster admin Thank you So About the disclosure and fixes So at the end of 2023 GKE fixed both issue By reducing and hardening the Fluent Bit permission In no longer mount the Varly Pod Cubelet Pods volume And do some architecture change In the enter service mesh And now we cannot create pod Anymore after the first installation completed You can see the fixed inversion And for some key recommendation So just like in Marathon Securing Kubernetes is not a one-time effort It's an ongoing process that requires continuous Sustain effort and commitment System pods deserve special security intention Because they are the gatekeeper of our cluster And in order to manage the paradox We need special security intention And special treatment for those system pods Every interaction, every permission Every configuration Related to system pods Required justification And as it comes to system pods We need extra caution When configuring them permission So we must ensure that each action An access level is justified And aligned with the security best practices So this is a QR code To the dual privilege escalation blog That I wrote in last December It's a very detailed and technical blog That elaborates more about the attack And I would like to take any question If you have and feel free also To come offline and ask some questions


Hello. Good evening, everybody. Once again, my name is Ali Hmedi, consultant for TechMill on their webinar series, going through what futures are and explaining how they work in the market. In this evening, as we've done over the last few webinars, we'll be discussing a specific sector within the futures that are offered, it will be the S&P 500 index today. Just like the last few webinars, we've discussed other various sectors from energy and metals and agriculture to interest rates, and we'll be discussing the S&P 500 index this evening. And as we speak right now, the S&P 500 is trading at $41.19 and a half, and it's about flat on the day. So it's been very volatile for those that are paying attention to the markets, obviously over the last few weeks, it's been a very volatile year for that matter. But with the interest rates increasing and so forth, it's creating that volatility to increase and provide opportunity as well as ways to protect yourself depending on what type of portfolio you are running and managing. To get into tonight's webinar, as I discussed, you know, we're going to be talking about the S&P 500. This chart here gives us, larger for you, gives us an indication of how, since its inception, the S&P 500 has done. It's updating back to 1920s, here you see here, the Great Depression, and all the way through the years, where it is now from its inception, it's plus or minus 12%, 11 and a half, 12% increase the S&P 500. As you know, year to date, at the time of putting this together, the S&P 500 year to date is down 13%, 13% or so percent, it's been down as low as 21% on the year. It's made somewhat of a, let's say, a bullish kick, if you will, over the last three weeks or so, mainly the last two weeks, last week of July, it's made a surge based on the earnings from several tech giants, Apple and Google and so forth, beating expectations, which in the tech sector, we'll discuss further and later on in the webinar this evening, but the way that the S&P 500 works, it's based on weighted capitalization. So the most weighted capitalization by sector in the S&P 500, number one is the technology sector, number two is the healthcare sector, and number three is the financial sector. So whenever you get positive or negative news coming out of the tech sector, it's going to show up and the activity immediately on the S&P 500. But this just gives you a graph here of sense and section how it's done over the last, you know, close to 100 years plus or minus and throughout its history. What we're going to be discussing tonight are outlooks. And before we get into outlooks at the time of this particular slide yesterday put together. So this is the current ES or the S&P 500 mini contract. I was trading in 360 for the month of June 2022. And it trades, you know, get four contract cycles on the S&P 500. You have March, June, September and December. So you got four months. This is the September. So if you look at the current one, as of yesterday, it was priced in at 360 spot 40. In December of 2022 futures contract was trading at 360 134. And if we go out to June 2023, it's trading it, it was trading yesterday at 360 178. So you're not seeing too much, let's say fluctuation in the futures price between the December and the June December 2022 and June 2023 pricing. It has moved quite a bit in the last, the index that is has moved quite a bit here in the last two weeks, mainly last week specifically. And now getting into the outlook itself and what it what what goes on and what's happening in the index itself, the E mini S&P 500, it has a contract size so we're going to have a refresher we've discussed this along with other futures contracts that are traded and future securities within specific sectors. If this if you can recall for those of the that have been following along the webinar series from the very beginning, we were discussing, you know what futures are and how they're used and what specific contracts are available on the tick mill platform and learning how to value each sector because each tick value varies from sector to sector. And as a refresher, I'm doing this refresher here because the E mini S&P 500 is the most traded futures contract in the market at the moment. So it has a contract size of $50 times the value of the S&P 500, it's traded on the CME that's Chicago Mercatile Exchange and other international exchanges it allows investors to hedge or speculate on the price movements of the S&P 500 index. And just as I mentioned it is the most actively traded to E mini contract in the world and contracts are available for March, June, September, December expiry days on each calendar year. Now the E mini S&P moves and their tick increments and quarter points, 0.25 point increments and each one of those increments equates to a $12.50 US dollar value, depending on what side of the trade we're on. But each way it moves for or against it's a $12.50 move and therefore a one point move or four ticks would equate to a $50 gain or loss. Now, at the time of this yesterday it was trading at 41.30 the S&P 500 right now is currently trading at 41.23 and a half. So, in the year day performance through through the end of July. So we're talking about last Friday today's Tuesday so we're talking to trading days to go a close for the first half of the year. In year to date it's down 13.89%. Now the S&P 500 all time high was at 4818, which was also reached this calendar year way back at the turn of the year and on January 3. The S&P 500 is a market cap weighted index I'm using that at the beginning of the webinar and the performance of the index is largest constituents will play a major role in whether or not the S&P 500 falls or gains further the remainder of the year. Now, tech I told you is the highest weight to the index, followed by healthcare and then financials. This is coming from Forbes and article out of Forbes. Now, I think that have been following along with where with my webinar series I like to provide bits and pieces of data information and analytical research analysis, etc. That's relevant to the topic that we're discussing throughout a broad timeframe, not necessarily been wanted to where we are today. And I do that for reasons so that, you know, for investors or traders looking to get into futures themselves we already know that they have a level of sophistication and needs to be understood properly, but at the same time, not to get carried away with the current news and the type of trend that the media will lead traders and investors, the narrative that they want to everyone to follow along with. So I go out and I find bits and pieces, just to let you know that there's a lot of information out there specifically when it comes to this particular security itself, the S&P 500 as an index, so that you're going to have a broad range of opinions. So this goes back to a lot of the you've heard you hear me say every single webinar you've got to be able to do your research and come up with your own strategy and so forth but when it comes to the S&P 500 it could not be more relevant not that it's more relevant than any others, but you're going to find a whole lot more of information out there on this particular security. And you could end up getting lost and you've really got to focus in and find relevance and where we are today with the current environment based on where we were historically. We are in uncharted territory. We can't say this is an exact, let's say photocopy of what we were back in the 80s or back in the 70s or back in the 20s etc. But we can take some correlations when it comes to interest rate, how did the market do raising interest rates, how did they do inflation, rising inflation environment, how did the market do etc etc. So from Forbes, you know they come out with a brutal start to the year the markets got only worse in June 2022 so we're going back now a month or a little more than a month. And the S&P closed out the first half of the year down 21%.  So at the time of this writing, you know they're talking about what happened at the end of June and it was down 21%, which was the steepest first half loss seen in more than five decades, leaving the index firmly in bear market territory. So we've reached 500 posted daily declines on a 56% of trading days this year, which is an about face which is a complete opposite from the trend over the prior decade when daily gains were more typical, occurring 55% of the trading days. So we have basically a complete shift and change or paradigm of what has been happening over the last decade as to what's happened in the first half of this year. A myriad of related factors explains the widespread route in the markets June saw another spike in key inflation and the key inflation report after prices have been rising at the fastest pace in decades. The Fed aggressively ratcheting out interest rates to tame this inflation, and there are continued supply chain issues stemming from COVID-19 disruptions and the ongoing war in Ukraine, all of which has contributed to increased worries of another recession is coming. Now, speaking of recession, the data has come out in theory, not in theory, and black and white terminology, we are in a recession because we've had now two quarters back to back with negative growth, which is the definition of recession, but you're going to have a lot of these analysts come out and say well this or well that, but we're not getting into what I think and why I think is better than what they think we're not going to get into that type of debate is just where we are and what's happened with the economy in the US specifically dealing with the S&P 500 index. And as you recall this came out at the end of June so one month has passed. This is from global investments. The portfolio manager's name is Tom Barton, and regarding recession so much attention is being paid to the timing and how bad will it be. And impact on stock prices are most relevant when thinking about the next recession, there are a lot of wall carbs going forward for and July offers a lot of good information for assessing the strength of the economy. When you have when you have increased uncertainty you want to reduce the risk you are taking in your portfolio. He also highlights that value versus growth with that debate growth stocks versus value stocks for much of the year value stocks were outperforming growth stocks value stocks are, you know, they're all large capitalized stocks in the S&P 500, and how you define or differentiate between a growth stock and a value stock is pretty much which one is paying dividends or higher dividends than others so companies that are paying no dividends to very small dividends are more growth oriented than companies that are paying higher dividends throughout their quarterly reports and earnings. This is from ax investments the CEO there is Greg Besuke. Now, this coming out at the end of January at the end of June apologies, we think July is going to be very reflective or similar to similar to what we have seen in June the uncertainty and volatility that's been happening in the market and the underlying factors, driving that are very likely to continue. As long as inflation remains a big topic, it makes sense to invest in inflation sensitive assets like commodities cyclical stocks that historically did well and prices are rising and tips which are treasury inflation securities. So, here we have this investment bank we have the CEO coming out in their forecast that after the first half of the year quarter end of June, expecting much of the same that happened in June to play out in July well here we are now today being August and we know that the market pulled back should pull back came back bounce back eight percentage points and you know has had a strong show last week and it's trading, you know right now it's up 10 points at 4128 back to almost the time that when I made this slide show yesterday. So, you can see the, I don't want to call it discrepancy but the differences of, you know, what financial firms and analysis come out with based on their narrative and their strategy of what and how they are dissecting and saying the market. So, you know, here he comes at the end of June saying we're going to see the same type of market volatility in behavior that we saw in June, and the reality of it, it just wasn't the case. I found an article from markets. Business Insider.com with a bank from an analysis from Bank of America, the S&P 500 could fall another 23% from where we are now in a worst case scenario as the stock market prices in one third chance of recession says Bank of America. Okay. The S&P 500 could tumble to 3000 by the year end of 2022. Now note, this would have the S&P 500 down approximately 37% for the year 2022. This article came also at the end of the first half of this year, end of June beginning of July. At that point in time the market was down 20, 21%. You had another 23%. Well, I'm sorry. The market at the time of this was down 18% when this article came out.  They're not saying that this is going to happen. They're not forecasting it, but they're forecasting a worst case scenario that they could see the S&P 500 drop down to the 3,000, maybe 3100 level from where it is now, which would be a 1,000 point drop 1,100 point drop from where it's trading right now. Analysts pointed out that the current bear market is the 27th bear market since 1929 and historically they have resulted in a 35% average decline. This falls in line with B of A's worst case scenario using its equity risk premium framework. So they have their, let's call it software that they use to work on the analytical and the numbers and the data, etc, etc. What, from a historical sense, when a bear market is in play, what they're saying is that the average result is a 35% decline in the market. And if you took, if you take it from the time of when this article was was printed and released in their factoring in a 37% worst case scenario drop in the market this year. Well, it's, you know, 35, 37 that's close enough for it to fall in line with the previous historical data of the 27 bear markets that have historically happened. Now Bank of America recommended staying long on on the energy sector and avoid consumer discretionary stocks pointing out that energy has outperformed the S&P 500 this year by 44%. Now, how is this possible? Well, this gets back to what's going on geopolitically and within the commodities sector specifically, we saw oil spike up and we're still seeing the ramifications of high gasoline prices in the United States and worldwide for that matter.  They've made billions of dollars in the last quarter combined if I recall it was close to, I think 40, 50 billion dollars between those three conglomerates, they were profitable. You can see now how that 44% beat of the market took place or is taking place. This is from Yahoo Finance from this is a technical analyst. This is a technical analysis article that came out in July 1st. So this is also dated one month just to show you how things play out. So if you read something that's dated today that doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be accurate or 100% true or false for that matter but this is why I give this information and discuss the outlook in an informal discussion. This is from Christopher Lewis. The S&P 500 has gone back and forth during trading sessions as we continue to see a lot of lackluster performance in this market. Ultimately, I think this is a market that goes lower, perhaps trying to test the 3700 level, which we've broken by the way, rallies at this point are to be sold into at first signs of exhaustion. Now, what that means is we're considered in a rally based on, okay, if 3700 is level, we're 400 points above that. And if you start to see a kind of spotter where today's trading flat, you're not seeing a large increase in percentage points on the day to the upside, but if this were to continue, let's say day in and day out and starts to get tiring, that's what he means by the exhaustion of it, then sell the rally. That's what he means by that and he believes that it's not until we break about 4000, the 4000 level that you can take or take it really as being serious. Now, if we break that level, we could overcome a large round psychologically significant figure, we would take out of the 50 day exponential moving average. That would be bullish, perhaps sending the market up to the 4200 level, we were not too far away from the 4200 level as we speak right now. A break above the 4200 level obviously is a very strong sign as well and at that point I would consider buying until then the markets need to prove itself to me, meaning him, or the Fed needs to change its monetary policy. So, right now the Fed hasn't changed its monetary policy, they're still tightening, and they're still shrinking their balance sheet interest rates are still rising to combat inflation. But, what has happened specifically over the last week is that earnings reports coming from the tech sector mainly have really given a push, a big push to the markets because Apple beat expectations significantly. As did Google and other in the technology sector. So, whether they did well or not, but they're beating expectations is what the market's looking for for any signs of positivity as a signal to say okay, is this the bottom or have we reached a turning point for us to get back in or what. So, based on this this is one month old from this technical analysis, analysts, and we're right about that level where he would consider getting back into the market, feeling confident that we are back in a bullish trend, and not in a bull trap. Okay. So, CNBC.com, Tom Lee at Fundstrap. Now I'm going to give you some of the other side where he already has come out. So, CNBC and other outlets as well but he's already saying that the 2022 bear market is over and stocks could hit new highs before year in. So, you, you saw the worst case scenario that Bank of America and their research provided, and now we have another highest in the market, well known at Fundstrap, it's coming out saying it's over and you know I'm predicting all time highs by year in, we had an all time high at the beginning of the year and beginning of the year, and he is also saying that we could reach that level or by year in. Leading indicators show that the CPI will be under 2% in six months, the CPI is the consumer price index, which is the inflation rate, right now it's at 9.1%. And that's what the Fed is trying to take head on by raising the interest rates, but for it to come back down to 2% within six months, that is very aggressive. It's taken the course of where we were at the beginning of the year to get to 9.1% in six months for it to come down further than where it was at the beginning of the year to get back to where the Fed is their advantage for inflation, which is two to two and a half percent within six months is very aggressive. So, and he's seeing that the S&P 500 by year in would be above the 4800 level from Citibank. They're also in line that when they say overweight in US equities they're going back in taking long positions they're taking up positions in the market within companies in this particular index specifically S&P 500 and they feel that they are confident enough to take these positions because they feel that there is a market shift and turn around for them to do so. Now, from several others you have Ritt holds wealth management Morgan Stanley JP Morgan UBS, you know common staples or, you know, household names if you will within the financial markets. Josh Brown CEO, you know he comments, I don't think the Fed has the appetite right now of getting gasoline prices down to where they've worked so hard to get it down that they would invert the yield curve deliberately if the Fed shrinks the balance sheet it will negatively affect stocks. So basically he's saying now, the market is in the court of the Fed. Okay, the Fed has the ball in our court. And if they continue the monetary tightening and the, the raiser the rise and in rates. So we're going to create this invert yield which gets back to a couple webinars ago that we had speaking of interest rates where, if you have the two year Treasury, the United States Treasury bonds which are considered, you know those are the bench for the risk free rate of return. So your two years trading, as it was just a couple of days on Friday it was trading at 270 if I'm not mistaken. Okay, 2.7%. Okay, for a two year US Treasury that means you would invest in that bond and you would receive 2.7% interest for a two year time Now, go to the 10 year, the US 10 year. What kind of yield or interest was it providing. It was at 2.8. So if you think about it, you know you can get a two year US Treasury for 2.7%. Why would you buy the 10 year for 2.8%. Okay, and if you even go up to the 30 year the 30 year was trading at maybe 320. If I'm not mistaken 3.2%. So you can see that's what he means by the inverted yield curve where the short end of the Treasury curve is yielding higher than the longer end which in theory it shouldn't be the longer you hold an investment the more return you should get in the shorter investment the less return you should get the CIO Lisa shallot from Morgan Stanley the chief investment officer. A recession could likely be shallower and less damaging to corporate earnings this is coming from Morgan Stanley than recent downturns damage to corporate earnings tends to be more modest during inflation driven recessions compared to credit driven recession seeing during the great financial crisis and the dot com bubble. So her point here is getting back to what happened in 2000 with the dot com bubble in 2008 with the great financial crisis where those were credit driven crisis or crises. So here this is inflation driven she's alluding it to being an inflation driven, and it will not be as severe, meaning it's going to be shallow than expected, and the damage to the corporate earnings will be more modest than severe. When they come out which has been the case with we saw last week with as these corporations, you know we're in earnings season right now from JP Morgan. The analytical team in general they hold a positive outlook for the US financial sector now their speed speaking specifically about a sector here so that we don't clock the whole S&P 500. In this particular but I'm pointing out the US financial sector is the third largest weighted or weighted third large weighted by cap in S&P 500. Hold a positive outlook for the financial sector they stated that banks have historically performed well under inflationary conditions, which we're in right now, but it's have suffered during recessions, which we are also in now if you look at it from a black and white perspective. Higher inflation and slow but growing GDP is a good environment for banks. Now, we are in high inflation. There, last week there was good reported good reports from the earnings, but growing GDP, you know, where we were flat to slightly negative, which that gets back to the technical terminology of whatever session would be. So, they, they're pretty much in the ballpark but they're focusing their attention on the financial sector with this particular data from UBS UBS, they did not give any forecast or predictions for the remainder of this year or beyond. But they did advise that if equity markets were to see a further slow at a level down to 3300 investors can improve resilience of equity portfolios by investing in value stocks and healthcare so getting back to value stocks. They pay higher dividend and healthcare is the second weight, the second largest by weight cap in the SP 500. So their target for, let's say getting back into the market would be the 3300 level for the SP 500 index. Key takeaways, what we want to look at from where we are today what we've seen the first half of the year for six months and then what happened in July and then what we're going to be going through for the remainder of the year. We're going to look at the SP 500 forecasts, the important it is very important to keep in mind that the forecast and price targets can be wrong. So I just gave you throughout this webinar so far, a wide variation of, you know, we're going to be at all time by the end of the year to worst case scenario we're going to look with by year and we could be down 35 to 40% year to date. And that's a very big range and anything in between is fair game. So this is why I say, when you build your narrative and you build your strategy, and you are going to use this particular product with future in the futures market. You can, you can do very well from a hedging standpoint. And if you speculate, you've got to put in the parameters to protect yourself in case you don't get it right. You can speculate and you know, pick any of the choices and anything in between that I just mentioned tonight, and that resonates best with you and your mentality and what your thought process is, is, is giving you.  When you do have, you know, when you hit your target of profitability, get out reassess and see what's happening. Analysts provide both ends of the forecast spectrum from dropping further to reaching approximately a 40% downfall on year to reaching all times high, all time highs which I just discussed. And as always, you've got to do your research. This particular, this particular security is the most traded security in the futures market, the e-mini S&P 500. So you're going to find a lot of information out there. So, by no means keep your, do not keep your blinders on and find, you know, that one bit of information or analysis that you want to believe in and ignore the rest. You've got to be able to, to look at it candidly and objectively and say, okay, how many analysts out there fall in line with what I'm thinking and how I'm trying to build out my portfolio or protect my portfolio, and just put it on a spreadsheet and see, okay, well, out of all of the X amount of research that I've done, and looking at from a technical analysis from a fundamental analysis point of view, 30% fall in line with what I think 40% on the other opposite end, and then you've got 30% somewhere in between and that will give you some sort of gauge of, you know, how accurate or inaccurate analysis may be. And then getting back to point number one on the key takeaways is that nobody knows where it's going to go. You know, you have people, you can see them on TV, you can see them through articles, or, you know, any type of financial information outlet and you'll see people so adamant that, you know, this is the end or we're going to go into a session it's going to put us possibly into a depression by 2024 to 2026, and you're going to see all kinds of stuff out there.  It's because that's what they firmly believe in and they they are dealing with institutional money, and they are positioning institutional money you're talking hundreds of millions to billions of dollars, based on a particular strategy. And what you're listening to is what their strategy is for the market, most often more than not is in within a short time from you're talking anywhere from one quarter to maximum two quarters worth of money management because they're very dynamic they're going to buy and sit on something and just let it sit until they say oh okay well I've had this position for years. Now it's time for us to do something with it so you've got to understand the mindset and what the investment policy of these investment banks and analysts are coming from, so you can't just take it at face value and say, okay, I like what he said I believe it makes sense.  As always, I like to leave with a quote, the biggest risk of all is not taking one. Now, it's always be it's always easier to come out and say something in hindsight, especially if you didn't do something or if you did do something and say yeah I should or I would have if I had done that or do this back I would have had a whole lot more money etc etc. Yeah, if we all bought Bitcoin back in 2010, we would all be in a different situation now, so that doesn't really help. Okay, so don't get that what I'm getting at here is if you're going to take risk, which if you already have an investment portfolio. So, there is risk involved, because financial markets do carry risk futures are a sophisticated product that allow you to enhance your portfolio performance, as well as protect the portfolio that you have. If you want ways to protect, and you want a sophisticated way to speculate within parameters. This is an opportunity for you in this type of environment, specifically with future securities. This came from Melody Hobson. She's an American business woman she's the President and CEO of Aerial Investments and she's also the chairwoman of Starbucks, Starbucks Corporation. So, with that being said, right now, the S&P 500 is up 16 and a half points trading at 4135, slightly up on the day, and, you know, we'll see how it does the remainder of this week as earnings continue to come out through several sectors in the market. With that being said, I'll open it up now to any questions if anybody has any questions, please feel free to send it to me on chat, and I can answer them the best way that I possibly can. Any questions?  All right, everybody have a very good rest of the trading week. Stay sharp, stay focused, do your research, and Tick Mill will be getting back in touch with me and everyone else when we'll be continuing. I'm going to be pushing to see if we can continue the market outlook within the future series again next week, and we'll keep you posted. And this will also, this webinar will be up on Tick Mill's YouTube platform as well for you to view later on on your own time. Have a great evening. And thank you very much. And we will talk later. Bye bye.