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AMD Stock Projection: Price Could Soar Over 50%

A stock market pullback often makes investors question what they should be doing with their investments. Throw in geopolitical tensions, and the uncertainty grows exponentially. But when a pullback ends, it opens up the opportunity to pick up stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), or any other securities for a lower price. And there’s also the potential to ride a decent rally.

But not all stocks are created equal. You can’t just buy any stock and expect it to move high enough for a decent return. You must still do your due diligence and identify stocks with the momentum to rally enough to make it worth your time and money. 

Semiconductors are one of the sub-sectors that have driven the rally from the October 2022 low to the July 2023 high. Bring up a chart of the semiconductor sub-industry, such as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ($SOX), and you’ll notice that the index is battling with the downward-sloping trendline. A break above that trendline would be a positive for semiconductor stocks.

CHART 1: PHILADELPHIA SEMICONDUCTOR INDEX ($SOX) COULD BREAK OUT ABOVE ITS DOWNWARD-SLOPING TRENDLINE. A breakout would be positive for semiconductor stocks.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.Several semiconductor stocks are showing signs of rotation, and one that shouldn’t be ignored is Advanced Micro Devices (ticker symbol: AMD).

Analyzing AMD Stock

The monthly chart of AMD shows a clear uptrend in the stock since 2016. During the October 2022 low, price dipped below its 50-month simple moving average (SMA), but since then, AMD stock has managed to hold above it. It’s now holding on to the support of its 21-month exponential moving average (EMA). So, overall, the trend is upward bound.

CHART 2: MONTHLY CHART OF AMD STOCK. Over the long term, AMD has been trending higher. It pulled back at the end of 2022, but the downtrend has reversed.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

The weekly chart shows an interesting picture. While the overall trend is lower, the price action is displaying the formation of a bullish flag pattern. Price is breaking above this flag, which means there’s a chance the stock could come close to its November 2021 high. But before getting there, it has to break above the trendline that connects the November 2021 high and the high at the beginning of the flag pattern.

CHART 3: WEEKLY CHART OF AMD. The bullish flag pattern is helpful in projecting a price target for AMD after a breakout.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

Let’s shift to the daily chart and see if it aligns with the longer-term charts.

CHART 4: CALCULATING PRICE TARGET FROM FLAG BREAKOUT. AMD’s stock price could go as high as around $162, close to its all-time high of $164.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

The bull flag is clearer in the daily AMD stock chart, and price has broken out of the flag pattern. The pattern can be used to project how far AMD stock could rise. To estimate a price target after a flag breakout, calculate the distance between when the stock broke out of its last downtrend and the high of the flag pattern.

Returning to the weekly chart of AMD, the breakout from the last downtrend (purple dashed line on the weekly chart) took place in January 2023 at around $75. So the distance from there to the high of the flag, which is around $130, is about $55. Add 55 to the price at the flag breakout—around $107—bringing you to a price target of around $162.

It’s also worth noting that the StockCharts Technical Ranking (SCTR) score has crossed above 70, which indicates the stock is showing strength and has room to run before it hits the 90+ levels of other semiconductor stocks, such as NVIDIA Corp. (ticker symbol: NVDA). The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at around 60, indicating that momentum is strong but hasn’t reached levels that make it excessively strong. And relative strength is also improving. All indicators suggest the stock has room to run.

The first resistance AMD’s stock price could hit would be the 100-day moving average, which isn’t far off. A break above this moving average would bring it to the trendline in the monthly chart of around $120. Beyond that, the stock could reach the November high of around $164, which coincides with the flag pattern breakout price target.

Final Thoughts

If you get in relatively soon, AMD’s stock price could give you a return of over 50%. But that doesn’t mean it’ll be smooth sailing. Nothing is guaranteed in the stock market, especially since more geopolitical tensions have surfaced.

As always, watch overall market conditions, especially in the semiconductor industry. It’s a great indicator of the overall performance of the stock market. In addition, keep an eye on AMD’s SCTR score, the overall trend of AMD, and its performance against a benchmark such as the S&P 500.

If you buy shares of AMD at current levels and the stock moves in your favor, watch for excessive momentum. If you think the momentum is too high, sellers may dominate and bring the price down. If signs of strength weaken, you must diligently tighten your stops.

Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The ideas and strategies should never be used without first assessing your own personal and financial situation, or without consulting a financial professional.

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The Halftime Show: Are Oversold Conditions Real? The Bullish Percent Says So

On this week’s edition of StockCharts TV‘s Halftime, Pete reviews the bullish percent index; with all the market talking about oversold conditions, the bullish percent makes that narrative make more sense. He then reviews the 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) and deciphers what is happening on the chart. Last week, Pete noted that if you were playing it on the short side, it was time to take some profits, but keep some short for the full ride. This week, he explains why he still sees this going lower.

With the tensions in the Middle East, Pete also reviews the natural gas ETF, UNG. He then takes a look at UGA and USO for perspective; UNG looks to be breaking out. Lastly, he runs a specialty screen on the Chaikin Power Gauge Software that allow him to see where the experts are behind in their downgrades, and shows a full list before reviewing a few names.

This video originally premiered on October 10, 2023. You can watch on our dedicated Halftime by Chaikin Analytics page on StockCharts TV, or click this link to watch on YouTube.

You can view all previously recorded episodes of Halftime by Chaikin Analytics with Pete Carmasino at this link.

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A Closer Look at Long Bonds and The US Dollar

The next direction of the long bonds is crucial in determining the macro.

First, after a wrecking ball crash and ahead of the FOMC, we could surmise that a bottoming-like action defines the last several trading days. Our Real Motion indicator shows a mean reversion. The 10-day moving averages (cyan line) has not been pierced since September 1. Hence, with the rally in SPY (up .60%) and TLT closing slightly red (-.20%), we can say that as our Big View ratios go, risk remains on.

With so many different opinions, watching what TLT does versus the SPY makes it simple enough for you to form your own opinions about bonds, inflation, soft landing, recession, or–WHAT WE THINK IS–stagflation. If bonds remain underperformers to the SPY, even if both fall further from these levels, it keeps a risk on environment intact. Although, if stagflation becomes more obvious, it may not necessarily mean that equities are attractive to buy and hold.

Should TLT begin to outperform SPY, and we imagine TLT clearing the 10-DMA is a good start especially if SPY begins to sputter, than we can more readily say recession is in the cards and again, stagflation might be the more appropriate term.

The dollar (cash index illustrated).

Although the dollar rose from July until the peak high last week, until it fails 105.50, this correction from the peak looks like that–a correction, not a top. What has been so interesting is how the stronger dollar has given angst to foreign countries dealing with a higher chance of recession than the US is dealing with. However, certain commodities are unfazed, such as cattle, oil, sugar, and orange juice. Other commodities, by contrast, are more impacted, such as gold, while grains are more muted.

In a stagflation environment, the dollar and the long bonds (yield curve) could stay steady for longer. Commodities can still rise because of other conditions (war, weather, unrest, etc.), yet equities will most likely remain in a trading range or at least test a support level, with yields and the greenback strong. If the dollar and yields fall, commodities and equities can rise together, but at some point, commodities can continue going up until the rates are forced higher again.

It is a slippery slope for the FED and investors. Stagflation is the most difficult economic condition to reckon with.

Please join Geoff Bysshe on Wednesday October 11th at 8 PM ET as he reveals the 3 most important principles behind the success I have enjoyed as a veteran trader.

Tired of looking for shortcuts to trading that only lead to fleeting success? This webinar is for you!

This is for educational purposes only. Trading comes with risk.

For more detailed trading information about our blended models, tools and trader education courses, contact Rob Quinn, our Chief Strategy Consultant, to learn more.

If you find it difficult to execute the MarketGauge strategies or would like to explore how we can do it for you, please email Ben Scheibe at Benny@MGAMLLC.com.

“I grew my money tree and so can you!” – Mish Schneider

Get your copy of Plant Your Money Tree: A Guide to Growing Your Wealth and a special bonus here.

Follow Mish on Twitter @marketminute for stock picks and more. Follow Mish on Instagram (mishschneider) for daily morning videos. To see updated media clips, click here.

Mish in the Media

Mish joins Business First AM to discuss the market reaction to the war in Gaza in this video.

Mish discusses what’s needed for a market bottom on the Financial Sense Newshour podcast with Jim Puplava.

Mish takes over as guest host for David Keller, CMT on the Monday, October 9 edition of StockCharts TV’s The Final Bar, where she shares her thoughts in the daily Market Recap during a day of uncertain news.

To quote Al Mendez, “The smartest woman in Business Analysis @marketminute [Mish] impresses Charles with her “deep dive” to interpret the present Market direction.” See Mish’s appearance on Fox Business’ Making Money with Charles Payne here!

Mish covers bonds, small caps, transports and commodities-dues for the next moves in this video from Yahoo! Finance.

In this video from Real Vision, Mish joins Maggie Lake to share what her framework suggests about junk bonds and investment-grade bonds, what she’s watching in commodity markets, and how to structure a portfolio to navigate both bull and bear markets.

Mish was interviewed by Kitco News for the article “This Could Be the Last Gasp of the Bond Market Selloff, Which Will be Bullish for Gold Prices”, available to read here.

Mish presents a warning in this appearance on BNN Bloomberg’s Opening Bell — before loading up seasonality trades or growth stocks, watch the “inside” sectors of the US economy.

Watch Mish and Nicole Petallides discuss how pros and cons working in tandem, plus why commodities are still a thing, in this video from Schwab.

Mish talks TSLA in this video from Business First AM.

See Mish argue investors could jump into mega-tech over value and explain why she is keeping an eye on WTI prices on BNN Bloomberg’s Opening Bell.

Even as markets crumble, there are yet market opportunities to be found, as Mish discusses on Business First AM here.

Mish explains how she’s preparing for the next move in Equities and Commodities in this video with Benzinga’s team.

Mish shares why the most important ETFs to watch are Retailers (XRT) and Small Caps (IWM) in this appearance on the Thursday, September 20 edition of StockCharts TV’s The Final Bar with David Keller, and also explains MarketGauge’s latest plugin on the StockCharts ACP platform. Mish’s interview begins at 19:53.

Mish talks Coinbase in this video from Business First AM!

Mish looks at some sectors from the economic family, oil, and risk in this appearance on Yahoo Finance!

As the stock market tries to shake off a slow summer, Mish joins Investing with IBD to explain how she avoids analysis paralysis using the six market phases and the economic modern family. This edition of the podcast takes a look at the warnings, the pockets of strength, and how to see the bigger picture.

Coming Up:

October 11: CNBC Asia

October 12: Dale Pinkert, F.A.C.E.

October 26: Schwab and Yahoo! Finance at the NYSE

October 27: Live in-studio with Charles Payne, Fox Business

October 29-31: The Money Show

Weekly: Business First AM, CMC Markets

ETF Summary

S&P 500 (SPY): 435 resistance.Russell 2000 (IWM): 177 resistance.Dow (DIA): 338 resistance.Nasdaq (QQQ): 368 pivotal.Regional Banks (KRE): 39.80-42.00 range.Semiconductors (SMH): 150 resistance, 143 support.Transportation (IYT): 237 resistance, 225 support.Biotechnology (IBB): 120-125 range.Retail (XRT): 57 key support; if can climb over 61, get bullish.

Mish Schneider

MarketGauge.com

Director of Trading Research and Education

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Trading the Swing within the Pattern: IGV Example

Chartists looking to get the jump on a bigger breakout can turn to the swings within a developing pattern. For example, a Symmetrical Triangle after an advance is a bullish continuation pattern. We can get the jump on a breakout by trading a downswing reversal within the pattern. Let’s look at an example using the Software ETF (IGV).

Note that I featured the Software ETF (IGV) on September 28th and October 10th in the Chart Trader Report and Video. Click here to learn more.

The first chart shows IGV advancing from November to July and hitting new highs in July. In the bottom window, the Trend Composite turned positive in early February and remains at +5, which means all five indicators signal uptrend. The Trend Composite is part of the TIP Indicator Edge Plugin for StockCharts ACP.

IGV peaked in July and moved into a consolidation the last few months. A consolidation within an uptrend is typically a bullish continuation pattern that represents a rest within the trend. The blue lines on the next chart show a Symmetrical Triangle forming and a breakout would signal a continuation of the long-term uptrend.

The green and red dashed lines show the swings within this pattern. The swing was down in September and IGV reversed this downswing with a short-term breakout here in October. This breakout is the early clue that IGV is ready to move higher and break out of the Symmetrical Triangle. And finally, notice that the Momentum Composite became oversold in late September with a dip to -3. A short-term oversold condition within an uptrend is often an opportunity.

Chart Trader at TrendInvestorPro features setups like these for ETFs and stocks. We are looking for names that are in leading uptrends and forming bullish continuation patterns. Reports and videos also feature broad market analysis and group work to find the leaders. Click here to learn more and gain immediate access.  

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Payrolls soared by 336,000 in September, defying expectations for a hiring slowdown

Job growth was stronger than expected in September, a sign that the U.S. economy is hanging tough despite higher interest rates, labor strife and dysfunction in Washington.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 336,000 for the month, better than the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 170,000 and more than 100,000 higher than the previous month, the Labor Department said Friday in a much-anticipated report. The unemployment rate was 3.8%, compared to the forecast for 3.7%.

Stock market futures turned sharply negative following the report and Treasury yields jumped. Dow futures were down more than 250 pints, while the 10-year Treasury yield soared 0.17 percentage point to 4.87%, up around its highest levels since the early days of the financial crisis.

The payrolls increase was the best monthly number since January.

“Slowdown? What slowdown? The U.S. labor market continues to exhibit amazing strength, with the number of new jobs created last month nearly twice as large as expected,” said George Mateyo, chief investment officer at Key Private Bank.

Investors have been on edge lately that a resilient economy could force the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates high and perhaps even hike more as inflation remains elevated.

Wage increases, however, were softer than expected, with average hourly earnings up 0.2% for the month and 4.2% from a year ago, compared to respective estimates for 0.3% and 4.3%.

Still, traders in the fed funds futures market increased the odds of a rate increase before the end of the year to about 44%, according to the CME Group’s tracker.

“Clearly it’s moving up expectations that the Fed is not done,” said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab. “All else equal, it probably moves the start point for rate cuts, which has been a moving target, to later in 2024.”

Sonders said the bond market is “in the driver’s seat” as far as stocks go, a trend that accelerated earlier in the week after the Labor Department reported a jump in job openings for August.

From a sector perspective, leisure and hospitality led with 96,000 new jobs. Other gainers included government (73,000), health care (41,000) and professional, scientific and technical services (29,000). Motion picture and sound recording jobs fell by 5,000 and are down 45,000 since May amid a labor impasse in Hollywood.

Service-related industries contributed 234,000 to the total job growth, while goods-producing industries added just 29,000. Average hourly earnings in the leisure and hospitality industry were flat on the month, though up 4.7% from a year ago.

The private sector payrolls gain of 263,000 was well ahead of a report earlier this week from ADP, which indicated an increase of just 89,000.

In addition to the powerful September, the previous two months saw substantial upward revisions. August’s gain is now 227,000, up 40,000 from the prior estimate, while July went to 236,000, from 157,000. Combined, the two months were 119,000 higher than previously reported.

The household survey, used to calculate the unemployment rate, was a bit lighter, rising 215,000.

The labor force participation rate, or those working against the total size of the workforce, held steady at 62.8%, still a half percentage point below the pre-Covid pandemic level. The rate for those in the 25-to-54 age group also was unchanged at 83.5%. A more encompassing measure of unemployment that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time positions for economic reasons edged down to 7%.

The September report comes at a critical time for the markets and economy.

Treasury yields have surged and stocks have slumped amid concern that a still-hot economy could keep Federal Reserve policy tight. The central bank has raised interest rates 5.25 percentage points since March 2022 in an attempt to curb inflation that is still running well ahead of the Fed’s 2% target.

In recent days, multiple policymakers have said they are still concerned about inflation. They largely have cautioned that while another rate hike before the end of the year is an open question, rates are almost certain to stay at an elevated level for “some time.”

Though market pricing puts little chance on the Fed hiking again, the higher-for-longer narrative has been causing angst for investors. Higher interest rates raise the cost of capital and run counter to the easy monetary policy that has underpinned Wall Street strength for much of the past 14 years.

A strong job market is central to the rates equation.

Policymakers feel that a tight labor picture will continue to put upward pressure on wages which then will push prices higher. Fed officials have said they don’t believe wages played a role in the initial inflation surge in 2021-22, but have become more of a factor lately.

More from CNBC:

NBA can shift the balance of power in media with its next rights dealHyundai and Kia to adopt Tesla’s EV charging tech next yearGM’s stock hits three-year low amid UAW strike, potential air bag recall

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS
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‘Kill us or send us home’: Amazon workers in Saudi Arabia say they were exploited by labor supply and recruiting firms

This story was reported in collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism and The Guardian.

Momtaj Mansur flew to Saudi Arabia in September 2021, excited to work at one of the world’s biggest companies, Amazon. He was promised a well-paying job and planned to use the money to help his family back in Nepal.

Less than a year later, he said he was living in a crowded room with seven other men, jammed with bunk beds infested with bed bugs. The water was often salty and undrinkable. His hopes were shattered, and he was deep in debt.

Momtaj Mansur is one of more than 50 current and former workers who said they were misled and exploited by firms that supply labor to Amazon in Saudi Arabia and by their network of recruiting agencies in Nepal.

All the workers said they had to pay fees to recruiters to get hired, ranging from the equivalent of $830 to $2,040, even though fees that large are illegal, according to the Nepali government. To pay those fees, many workers needed to take out loans at high interest rates. They also all said they were duped by recruiters into working for labor supply companies rather than directly for Amazon.

The workers were interviewed as part of an international reporting collaboration with NBC News, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism, Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism and The Guardian.

Click here to read the ICIJ’s version of this story.

About a dozen workers like Mansur agreed to speak on the record. Others, fearful that speaking out would hurt their chances for other employment, were interviewed with the agreement that their names would not be published. To substantiate their accounts, the journalists reviewed photographs, emails, receipts, messages and other documentation from their time working at Amazon.

After being presented with the findings, Amazon told NBC News it had conducted its own investigation and found labor violations. The company promised measures to fix the problems, including compensating workers who paid recruiting fees to the companies supplying labor.

“We are deeply concerned that some of our contract workers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia … were not treated with the standards we set forth, and the dignity and respect they deserve,” John Felton, Amazon’s senior vice president of worldwide operations, said in a written statement.

“We appreciate their willingness to come forward and report their experience,” Felton wrote. “Our supply chain audit process and our own investigation surfaced violations of our standards.”

In particular, the company cited recruiting fees and squalid housing among the violations it found, but declined to offer more details or discuss other labor violations.

A kitchen where Momtaj Mansur and other workers shared housing in Saudi Arabia.Courtesy of Momtaj Mansur

A key player for Amazon is a labor supply company that gets workers from other countries — the Saudi-based Abdullah Fahad Al-Mutairi Co. Amazon is among several large corporations that has contracted Al-Mutairi, which has billed itself as “a leading provider of human resource solutions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” Forty-nine of the 54 workers interviewed were hired through Al-Mutairi.

Amazon said it considered “suspending” the company “when these allegations came to light.” Instead, it decided to work with Al-Mutairi to make “significant changes to their operations.”

Al-Mutairi did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

To get workers, Al-Mutairi has worked with recruiting companies in Nepal and elsewhere to attract laborers. 

Momtaj Mansur in Nepal was one of them.

When he came to Saudi Arabia, he worked at Amazon’s vast two-story warehouse called RUH 6, in the capital city, Riyadh. He spent his nights as a “picker,” hustling up and down aisles grabbing iPhones, packs of Red Bull and other items ordered by Amazon’s customers across the Arabian Peninsula. He recalled that Amazon managers berated him for being slow, even as he exceeded company targets to pick 70 to 80 items an hour from shelves and boxes.

Then things got worse. In May 2022, Mansur said, he was among a group of workers who were let go without warning or explanation — without work, wages or enough food.

Mansur said he pleaded with Al-Mutairi: If there was no more work at Amazon, let them return to Nepal.

“I told them: Either kill us or send us home, but don’t give us so much pain.” 

He said the labor supply firm told him that the only way he could return home was to pay the company an exit fee of more than $1,300 as a penalty for leaving before the end of his two-year contract. It was an enormous sum for his family, which subsisted on about $300 a month, along with rice, wheat and peas grown on a fifth of an acre shared with relatives. 

The labor firm was “heartless,” Mansur said. “How could I pay that amount? By selling our house or my kidney?”

In the end, his family sunk itself even deeper in debt by taking out a loan — at 36% interest — to pay the exit fee.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS
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Biden interviewed by special counsel about classified documents

President Biden was interviewed as part of an investigation into his handling of classified documents by Special Counsel Robert Hur, the White House counsel’s office said.

The interview was voluntary and concluded Monday, White House Counsel’s Office spokesperson Ian Sams told Fox News.

‘The voluntary interview was conducted at the White House over two days, Sunday and Monday, and concluded Monday,’ he said. 

The investigation is being led by Hur, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to oversee the probe.

‘As we have said from the beginning, the President and the White House are cooperating with this investigation, and as it has been appropriate, we have provided relevant updates publicly, being as transparent as we can consistent with protecting and preserving the integrity of the investigation,’ Sams said. 

‘We would refer other questions to the Justice Department at this time,’ he added. 

The interview played out as war broke out in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas. Biden was speaking with foreign leaders about the matter and meeting with his national security team. 

The probe stems from a batch of records from President Biden’s time as vice president, including a ‘small number of documents with classified markings,’ that were discovered at the Penn Biden Center by the president’s personal attorneys on Nov. 2, 2022. 

The documents were found in a locked closet while preparing to vacate office space at the center, which the president used from mid-2017 until he began the 2020 campaign. The National Archives were notified of the finding and took possession of the documents on Nov. 3, 2022, Sauber said. 

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team negotiated with lawyers for then-President Donald Trump for an interview but Trump never sat for one. His lawyers instead submitted answers to written questions.

President George W. Bush sat for a 70-minute interview as part of an investigation into the leak of the identity of a CIA operative. President Bill Clinton in 1998 underwent more than four hours of questioning from independent counsel Kenneth Starr before a federal grand jury.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Louis Casiano is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to louis.casiano@fox.com.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
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GOP senators call on Biden to freeze $6 billion in Iranian ‘ransom’

FIRST ON FOX: Amid Israel’s deadly war, a group of Republican senators led by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn, are urging the Biden administration to freeze Iran’s $6 billion in assets that were released to Qatar from South Korean accounts in exchange for American prisoners last month. 

‘To stand by and allow Iran access to these funds as Hamas infiltrates Israel and murders, rapes, and mutilates countless Israelis is unconscionable,’ lawmakers wrote in a letter to Biden Monday evening. 

While the administration said the funds can only be used for humanitarian aid and other resources for Iranian citizens, lawmakers argue that the ‘money is fungible’ — meaning that a unit of currency is interchangeable with another unit of the same value. 

‘Your administration claims these funds are only available for humanitarian use, but money is fungible, and there is a significant risk they could be used to further efforts by Iran or Hamas against Israel,’ they wrote. ‘Moreover, allowing $6 billion to flow into Iran’s economy, even if the purpose is for humanitarian aid, allows the Iranian regime to reallocate even more funds to supporting terrorism.’

The lawmakers added: ‘The State Department should immediately rescind the waivers that allowed Iranian funds to be converted and moved to more accessible bank accounts, as well as work with U.S. ally Qatar to immediately freeze the accounts containing these funds.’

A group of 20 Republicans in the upper chamber, including Blackburn and Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; John Thune, R-S.D.; Mike Lee, R-Utah; Rick Scott, R-Fla.; James Lankford, R-Okla.; John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., among others, signed the letter.

The report comes as nearly 800 casualties have been reported, and 11 Americans have been killed, the U.S. State Department confirmed Monday. 

Blackburn told Fox News Digital in a statement that ‘President Biden is refusing to freeze the $6 billion ransom payment to Iran because he is afraid to admit it was a catalyst for the attacks.’

‘He still has time to limit the damage,’ she said, adding that Biden should immediately freeze the funds. 

Hamas militant terrorists also took more than 100 people hostage when they launched the surprise attack on Saturday. Israeli soldiers, grandmothers, infants and teenagers were all victims of the hostage-taking. 

The deal, which was reached last month, allowed the transfer of Iran’s frozen assets held in a South Korean bank to accounts in Qatar. The administration said the money can only be used for humanitarian purposes and the U.S. will have oversight as to how and when the funds are used. 

However, Hamas spokesperson Ghazi Hamad told the BBC that they had Iran’s support for the attacks, which began Saturday. A bombshell Wall Street Journal report Sunday also said Hamas and Hezbollah helped Iran plan the attack, contradicting the administration’s statements.

Israel formally declared war on Hamas after the attack. President Biden affirmed Israel’s right to defend itself as the Pentagon catapulted assistance to Israel Defense Forces over the weekend. 

In a post Saturday, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that ‘the deal to bring U.S. citizens home from Iran has nothing to do with the horrific attack on Israel.’ 

‘Not a penny has been spent, and when it is, it can only go for humanitarian needs like food and medicine. Anything to the contrary is false,’ Miller wrote.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment. 

Jamie Joseph is a writer who covers politics. She leads Fox News Digital coverage of the Senate. 

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Pakistan’s UN Human Rights Council member fails to honor Israelis murdered by Hamas in moment of silence

The United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday held a moment of silence in memory of the ‘innocent lives’ lost in the ‘occupied Palestinian territory and elsewhere,’ while failing to honor those who died in Israel from attacks by Hamas.

Ambassador Zaman Mehdi, the deputy permanent representative of Pakistan to the U.N. in Geneva was seen in a post by the U.N. on X, formerly known as Twitter, speaking to members of the Human Rights Council just before a moment of silence.

‘On behalf of the IOC member states, we express our deep concerns over the loss of innocent lives in the occupied Palestinian territory and elsewhere,’ Mehdi said. ‘Regrettably, this huge loss of lives and unabated violence is a sad reminder of more than seven decades of illegal foreign occupation, aggression and disrespect for the international law, including UNESCO resolutions.’

He went on to say the 16 years of what he termed illegal blockage of Gaza continued to raise questions over the applicability of international law and fundamental freedoms of the innocent civilian population. As a result, efforts to normalize the area is ‘breeding violence,’ Mehdi said.

‘In this context, the so-called declaration of war and attacks on civilian population and their properties is deeply distressing,’ he said. ‘We remain concerned about the human cost of the escalating situation.’

A video of the moment of silence showed all members of the Human Rights Council standing, despite omitting the innocent lives of those lost in Israel.

U.S. Permanent Representative to the Human Rights Council Michèle Taylor also requested a moment of silence on Monday, asking to commemorate the lives of people killed in the Hamas attack on Israel.

Taylor said, with a ‘heavy heart,’ that the calamity on Oct. 7, 2023, and the days since resulted in the deaths of ‘hundreds and hundreds of innocent civilian lives lost,’ and the count continues to go up.

She also said thousands were injured and more than a hundred men, women, children, people with disabilities and elderly individuals were kidnapped.

‘The United States unequivocally condemns these heinous acts of terrorism. We extend our deepest condolences to the families affected and express our solidarity with the people and government of Israel in these trying times,’ Taylor said before requesting a moment of silence from the council. ‘As we stand in silence, let us reaffirm our collective commitment to promoting peace, justice, and human rights across the globe, and let our silence resound as a united stand against terrorism and violence.’

Likewise, all members of the council stood to honor the lives lost.

Andrea Vacchiano of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.

Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
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UAE warns Syria to not get involved in Israel-Hamas war: report

The United Arab Emirates warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to refrain from intervening in the Israel-Hamas war or allow attacks on Israel from Syrian soil. 

Axios reported the news first, citing two UAE sources briefed on the matter. 

Foreign leaders outside Israel are concerned the war could spill into neighboring Lebanon or escalate into a regional conflict, the news outlet said. 

Officials from the UAE sent their messages to high-level Syrian officials and briefed the Biden administration about their communication with the Syrians, according to the two sources. Following the attacks on Israel by Hamas, the UAE foreign ministry condemned the fighting. 

‘Civilians on both sides must always have full protection under international humanitarian law and must never be a target of conflict,’ the ministry said. 

The UAE in 2020 became the first Gulf nation to normalize relations with Israel. 

Syria is currently still involved in a civil war. Most of Southern Syria is controlled by al-Assad’s government, which has seen support from Russia and Iran.  

On Monday, leaders from the United States, Germany, Britain, France and Italy issued a joint statement condemning the attacks on Israel by Hamas. 

‘In recent days, the world has watched in horror as Hamas terrorists massacred families in their homes, slaughtered over 200 young people enjoying a music festival, and kidnapped elderly women, children, and entire families, who are now being held as hostages,’ said the statement by President Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

‘Over the coming days, we will remain united and coordinated, together as allies, and as common friends of Israel, to ensure Israel is able to defend itself, and to ultimately set the conditions for a peaceful and integrated Middle East region,’ the statement said. 

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes following attacks in which Hamas terrorist fighters infiltrated Israel and killed and kidnapped civilians and some military personnel. 

In addition, Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terror group in Lebanon, has fired rockets into Israel. 

Louis Casiano is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to louis.casiano@fox.com.

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